Being descendants of Abraham doesn’t make them truly Abraham’s children. For the Scriptures say, “Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted,” though Abraham had other children, too.
Parallel translations
- WEB Neither, because they are Abraham’s offspring, are they all children. But, “your offspring will be accounted as from Isaac.”
- KJV Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called.
- BSB Nor because they are Abraham’s descendants are they all his children. On the contrary, “Through Isaac your offspring will be reckoned.”
- NKJV nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, “In Isaac your seed shall be called.”
- NASB nor are they all children because they are Abraham’s descendants, but: “through Isaac your descendants shall be named.”
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
Being Abraham's physical offspring does not automatically make one his true child, for God specified that the line of promise runs through Isaac. Descent alone does not secure the promise.
Overview
Paul illustrates the principle of v. 6 from Abraham's own family. Though Abraham had other offspring (such as Ishmael), God declared that the covenant line would be reckoned through Isaac (Genesis 21:12). Thus God himself, by sovereign choice, distinguished the children of promise from mere physical descendants, establishing that election, not biology, defines the people of God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Gen 21:12God said to Abraham, “Don’t let it be grievous in your sight because of the boy, and because of your servant. In all that Sarah says to you, listen to her voice. For your offspring will be accounted as from Isaac.
- Heb 11:18to whom it was said, “your offspring will be accounted as from Isaac”;
- John 8:37–39I know that you are Abraham’s offspring, yet you seek to kill me, because my word finds no place in you.
- Gal 4:23However, the son by the servant was born according to the flesh, but the son by the free woman was born through promise.
- Luke 3:8Therefore produce fruits worthy of repentance, and don’t begin to say among yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father;’ for I tell you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones!
- Phil 3:3For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh;
- Luke 16:24–25He cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue! For I am in anguish in this flame.’
- Luke 16:30“He said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’
- John 8:33They answered him, “We are Abraham’s offspring, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How do you say, ‘You will be made free’?”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 9:7 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.