The Meaning of Romans 9:9 Explained

Romans 9:9

KJV: For this is the word of promise, At this time will I come, and Sara shall have a son.

YLT: for the word of promise is this; 'According to this time I will come, and there shall be to Sarah a son.'

Darby: For this word is of promise, According to this time I will come, and there shall be a son to Sarah.

ASV: For this is a word of promise, According to this season will I come, and Sarah shall have a son.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

For  this  [is] the word  of promise,  At  this  time  will I come,  and  Sara  shall have  a son. 

What does Romans 9:9 Mean?

Verse Meaning

God did not choose to bless Isaac after his birth only because he was Abraham"s son. Rather He promised Abraham before Isaac"s birth that He would provide and bless a son for the patriarch supernaturally. His unusual birth confirmed God"s choice of Isaac, as the channel of special blessing, to his parents.

Context Summary

Romans 9:1-13 - Longing For His Kinsmen
Our consciences should be continually bathed in the light and warmth of the Holy Spirit, Romans 9:1, that the inward witness may be maintained in its integrity. We must love as Moses and Paul did, Romans 9:3, before we can understand Exodus 32:32 and Galatians 3:10. The Hebrew nation was marvelously privileged by adoption as God's firstborn, by having the Shekinah glory and by being called to maintain the witness of the Temple and its services, Romans 9:4. But these privileges were granted, not for the nation itself, but for the blessing of mankind. This is the meaning of election. There are elect races, elect nations, elect souls, that they may be able to impart of what they have received, and communicate whatever advantages have been entrusted.
The sorrowful admission must be made that a very large proportion of the Hebrew race had missed the privileges to which they were entitled, because they had regarded these merely as intended for their own comfort and enrichment, Romans 9:6. This was the outstanding difference between Esau and Jacob. It is plain that the hatred in Romans 9:13 means nothing more than relative repudiation, as it does in Matthew 6:24 and Luke 14:26. No personal animosity can obtain in the nature of the God of love except that He withholds from the recreant soul the full manifestation and outflow of His love. [source]

Chapter Summary: Romans 9

1  Paul is sorry for the Jews
7  All of Abraham not of the promise
18  God's sovereignty
25  The calling of the Gentiles and rejecting of the Jews, foretold
32  The cause of their stumbling

Greek Commentary for Romans 9:9

A word of promise [επαγγελιας ο λογος ουτος]
Literally, “this word is one of promise.” Paul combines Genesis 18:10,14 from the lxx. [source]
This is the word of promise []
The A.V. obscures the true sense. There is no article, and the emphasis is on promise. “I say 'a word of promise,' for a word of promise is this which follows.” Or, as Morison, “this word is one of promise.” [source]
At this time [κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν τοῦτον]
Rev., according to this season. The reference is to Genesis 18:14, where the Hebrew is when the season is renewed or revives; i.e., next year at this time. The season is represented as reviving periodically. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Romans 9:9

Acts 12:1 About that time [κατ εκεινον τον καιρον]
Same phrase in Romans 9:9. That is, the early part of a.d. 44 since that is the date of Herod‘s death. As already suggested, Barnabas and Saul came down from Antioch to Jerusalem after the persecution by Herod at the end of 44 or the beginning of 45. [source]
Galatians 4:23 By promise [δἰ ἐπαγγελίας]
Most editors retain the article, the promise of Genesis 17:16, Genesis 17:19; Genesis 18:10. Comp. Romans 9:9. In virtue of the promise; for according to natural conditions he would not have been born. [source]
1 Thessalonians 4:15 By the word of the Lord [ἐν λόγῳ κυρίου]
Or in the word. Λόγος of a concrete saying, Romans 9:9; Romans 13:9. We do not say this on our own authority. Comp. 1 Corinthians 7:10, 1 Corinthians 7:12, 1 Corinthians 7:25. No recorded saying of the Lord answers to this reference. It may refer to a saying transmitted orally, or to a direct revelation to Paul. Comp. Galatians 1:12; Galatians 2:2; Ephesians 3:3; 2 Corinthians 12:1, 2 Corinthians 12:9. [source]

What do the individual words in Romans 9:9 mean?

Of [the] promise for the word [is] this At the time this I will come and there will be - to Sarah a son
ἐπαγγελίας γὰρ λόγος οὗτος Κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν τοῦτον ἐλεύσομαι καὶ ἔσται τῇ Σάρρᾳ υἱός

ἐπαγγελίας  Of  [the]  promise 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Feminine Singular
Root: ἐπαγγελία  
Sense: announcement.
λόγος  word 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: λόγος  
Sense: of speech.
οὗτος  [is]  this 
Parse: Demonstrative Pronoun, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: οὗτος  
Sense: this.
Κατὰ  At 
Parse: Preposition
Root: κατά 
Sense: down from, through out.
καιρὸν  time 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Masculine Singular
Root: καιρός  
Sense: due measure.
τοῦτον  this 
Parse: Demonstrative Pronoun, Accusative Masculine Singular
Root: οὗτος  
Sense: this.
ἐλεύσομαι  I  will  come 
Parse: Verb, Future Indicative Middle, 1st Person Singular
Root: ἔρχομαι  
Sense: to come.
ἔσται  there  will  be 
Parse: Verb, Future Indicative Middle, 3rd Person Singular
Root: εἰμί  
Sense: to be, to exist, to happen, to be present.
τῇ  - 
Parse: Article, Dative Feminine Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
Σάρρᾳ  to  Sarah 
Parse: Noun, Dative Feminine Singular
Root: Σάρρα  
Sense: the wife of Abraham.
υἱός  a  son 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: υἱός  
Sense: a son.