Romanos 9
Theodoret of Cyrus · Comentário Patrístico (catena)
Romanos 9:2
The construction here is incomplete. Paul should have added that his unceasing anguish was due to the rejection or unbelief of the Jews. — INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS
Romanos 9:7
Although it was beyond the capacity of nature, Abraham became a father by divine generosity. Paul says this, even though Ishmael was also Abraham's son and moreover, he was the firstborn. Therefore why do you boast, O Jew, that you are the only one to be descended from Abraham? For if you think that Ishmael does not count because he was the son of a slave, you are wrong. Holy Scripture reckons descent through the father and not through the mother. After all, the holy apostle could have mentioned the children born to Abraham through Keturah and shown that although they were born to a free woman they were not recognized as Abraham's seed. It would also have been easy for Paul to show that the twelve sons of Jacob had different mothers, and four of them were the children of slaves, yet all of them belonged to Israel, and none of them was hurt by his mother's slavery.… Here Paul wanted to insist that it was not the entire race of Abraham which received the blessing. Rather, only one of his sons was blessed, and the others were rejected. — INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS
Romanos 9:10
Paul reinforces here what he said earlier about Sarah and Isaac, in case someone might think that the election depended on the mother. For although Rebecca had twins, only one of them was chosen. — INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS
Romanos 9:13
Thus God chose Isaac and rejected Ishmael and the children of Keturah. So also he chose Jacob over Esau, even though both were formed together in the womb. Why be surprised then, if God does the same thing nowadays, by accepting those of you who believe and rejecting those who have not seen the light? — INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS
Romanos 9:20
If you did not have your own independence, and if you did not choose what you do by your own free will, you would have to be quiet in the way that inanimate objects are and simply acquiesce in what is given to you. But as it is you have reason, and you can both describe and do the things which are shown to you. Instead you do not like what has happened and are trying to investigate the causes of the divine plan. — INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS
Romanos 9:21
Those who are called vessels for menial use have chosen this path for themselves.… This is clear from what Paul says to Timothy: "If anyone purifies himself from what is ignoble, then he will be a vessel for noble use, consecrated and useful to the master of the house, ready for any good work." — INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS
Romanos 9:25
This passage originally applied to Jews, not to Gentiles.… It meant that God's people would lose their status and be called "Not my people" and "Not beloved." But then God promised that the rejected Jews would be called back again. Thus from having been God's people and then rejected they would return.… The Gentiles, on the other hand, would become God's people for the first time, having never been his people before. — INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS
Romanos 9:33
People stumble when they stop paying attention to where they are going and look elsewhere. This is what happened to the Jews. Because they were so busy adding extras to the law, they failed to notice the stone which the prophets predicted. — INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS