Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel:
Parallel translations
- WEB But it is not as though the word of God has come to nothing. For they are not all Israel, that are of Israel.
- BSB It is not as though God’s word has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.
- ESV But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel,
- NKJV But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel who are of Israel,
- NASB But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel;
- NLT Well then, has God failed to fulfill his promise to Israel? No, for not all who are born into the nation of Israel are truly members of God’s people!
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Israel's widespread unbelief does not mean God's word has failed, because not all who descend from Israel are the true Israel. God's promise always targeted a believing people, not mere physical descent.
Overview
Paul addresses the obvious objection: if God's chosen people have rejected Christ, has God's promise collapsed? His answer is no, for the promise was never to ethnic Israel as such. There is an Israel within Israel, the true children of promise. This distinction governs the rest of chapter 9 and upholds both God's faithfulness and his freedom in election.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Rom 2:28–29For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
- Gal 6:16And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.
- Rom 11:1–2I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.
- Rom 4:12–16And the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised.
- Rom 3:3For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?
- John 1:47Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!
- Isa 55:11So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
- Num 23:19God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?
- Matt 24:35Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
- 2 Tim 2:13If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.
- John 10:35If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;
- Heb 6:17–18Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath:
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Christ at the center
Paul unfolds the gospel in full: Christ our righteousness received by faith, the second Adam in whom many are made righteous, in whose death and resurrection we are buried and raised.
How Romans 9:6 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.