Romans 9:18
in Romans 9Therefore God has mercy on whom He wants to have mercy, and He hardens whom He wants to harden.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
So then he hath mercy on whom he will, and whom he will he hardeneth.
KJV
Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.
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This verse in Romans 9
Commentary
14 notes on this verseBut as for what he says, "Therefore he has mercy on whom he wills, and whom he wills he hardens," he seems to take it from what is written in Exodus. For there he says: "I will harden Pharaoh's heart, that he may not let the people go." Now Pharaoh's heart was hardened in this way. God was unwilling to bring upon him a sudden and full vengeance.
This site's exposition
I raised you up for this very purpose
on Romans 9:17-18
Pharaoh is the counter-case to Moses. God raised him up to display His power in him and to have His name proclaimed in all the earth, and verse 18 states plainly that God hardens whom He wants to harden. Calvin reads the hardening as God's own act, and Jamieson, Fausset and Brown set beside it the record of Exodus, where Pharaoh hardens his own heart before the LORD hardens it.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
Here Paul assumes the role of an objector who makes these assumptions.
A commentator
Augustine of HippoPREDESTINATION OF THE SAINTS 8.14 · Written in the 5th century.
proposed
Why does the Father not teach all people in order that they might come to Christ, unless it is that all those whom he teaches, he teaches because of mercy, but those whom he does not teach, he does not teach because of judgment?
You must believe that the man whom God permits to go astray and to become hardened has deserved this evil, while in the case of the man upon whom he has mercy, you must acknowledge with an unswerving faith that this is a case of the grace of God, who is rendering not evil for evil but good for evil.
He enables the one on whom he has mercy to do good, and he leaves the one whom he hardens to do evil. But that mercy is the result of the prior merit of faith, and that hardening is the fruit of prior unbelief, so that we do good deeds by the gift of God and evil deeds because of his punishment. Yet in either case free will is not taken away from man, whether it is to believe in God, so that mercy on us might follow, or to disbelieve in him, so that punishment on us might be the result.
"Therefore He hath mercy on whom He will have mercy, and whom He will He hardeneth. Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he then find fault? For who hath resisted His will?" See what pains he takes to embarrass the subject in every way. And the answer he does not produce forthwith, it being a useful thing not to do so, but he first stops the disputant's mouth, saying as follows.
7 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church2 voices
He draws a conclusion and proves that one should not demand an account from God. God has mercy on whom He wills, as He did with the Israelites who cast the calf, and hardens whom He wills, as happened with Pharaoh. What then does "hardens" …
Then when he says, therefore, he has mercy on whom he wills, he draws a conclusion from the two texts cited. From the statement I will have mercy upon whom I will have mercy, he concludes: therefore he has mercy upon whom he wills: the …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Had he mercy on the Gentiles? It was because he would have mercy on them. It was because it was his own pleasure to deny them softening grace, and to give them up to their chosen affected unbelief.
Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will - This is the apostle’s conclusion from the facts already laid down: that God, according to his own will and wisdom, in perfect righteousness, bestows mercy; that is to say, his blessings upon one part of mankind, (the Jews of old, and the Gentiles of the present time), while he suffers another part (the Egyptians of old, and the Jews of the present day) to go on in the abuse of his goodness and forbearance, hardening themselves in sin, till he brings upon them a most just and exemplary punishment, unless this be prevented by their deep repentance and general return to God through Jesus the promised, the real Messiah.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Therefore hath he--"So then he hath." The result then is that He hath mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth--by judicially abandoning them to the hardening influence of sin itself (Ps 81:11, 12;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Therefore hath he mercy ... - This is a conclusion stated by the apostle as the result of all the argument. Whom he will he hardeneth - This is not stated in what the Scripture said to Pharaoh, but is a conclusion to which the apostle had arrived, in view of the case of Pharaoh. The word “hardeneth” means only to harden in the manner specified in the case of Pharaoh. It does not mean to exert a positive influence, but to leave a sinner to his own course, and to place him in circumstances where the character will be more and more developed; see the note at Joh 12:40. It implies, however, an act of sovereignty on the part of God in thus leaving him to his chosen course, and in not putting forth that influence by which he could be saved from death. Why this is, the apostle does not state. We should, however, not dispute a fact everywhere prevalent; and should have sufficient confidence in God to believe that it is in accordance with infinite wisdom and rectitude.
The words behind it
9 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ἄρα | ara | So | G686 → | 49 times |
| οὖν | oun | then | G3767 → | 497 times |
| ὃν | hon | to whom | G3739 → | 1405 times |
| θέλει | thelei | He wants | G2309 → | 208 times |
| ἐλεεῖ, | eleei | He shows mercy, | G1653 → | 32 times |
| ὃν | hon | whom | G3739 → | 1405 times |
| δὲ | de | now | G1161 → | 2765 times |
| θέλει | thelei | He wants | G2309 → | 208 times |
| σκληρύνει.¶ | sklerunei | He hardens. | G4645 → |
ἄραSo
araG686 →49 times
οὖνthen
ounG3767 →497 times
ὃνto whom
honG3739 →1405 times
θέλειHe wants
theleiG2309 →208 times
ἐλεεῖ,He shows mercy,
eleeiG1653 →32 times
ὃνwhom
honG3739 →1405 times
δὲnow
deG1161 →2765 times
θέλειHe wants
theleiG2309 →208 times
σκληρύνει.¶He hardens.
skleruneiG4645 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Exodus 4:21The LORD instructed Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders that I have put within your power. But I will harden his heart so that…
it leads to
- Exodus 14:8
And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt so that he pursued the Israelites, who were marching out defiantly.
- Isaiah 63:17
Why, O LORD, do You make us stray from Your ways and harden our hearts from fearing You? Return, for the sake of Your servants, the tribes of Your heritage.
- Joshua 11:20
For it was of the LORD to harden their hearts to engage Israel in battle, so that they would be set apart for destruction and would receive no mercy, being annihilated as the LORD…
- Exodus 7:13
Still, Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, just as the LORD had said.
- Exodus 9:12
But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not listen to them, just as the LORD had said to Moses.
- Exodus 14:8
Through
Joshua 11:20For it was of the LORD to harden their hearts to engage Israel in battle, so that they would be set apart for destruction and would receive no mercy, being annihilated as the LORD…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 20:16–17
However, in the cities of the nations that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, you must not leave alive anything that breathes.
- Exodus 4:21
The LORD instructed Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders that I have put within your power. But I will harden his heart so that…
- Deuteronomy 7:16
You must destroy all the peoples the LORD your God will deliver to you. Do not look on them with pity. Do not worship their gods, for that will be a snare to you.
- Deuteronomy 20:16–17
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Romans
This page draws on 14 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ambrosiaster, COMMENTARY ON PAUL'S EPISTLES; Augustine of Hippo, PREDESTINATION OF THE SAINTS 8.14; Augustine of Hippo, GRACE AND FREE WILL 23.45; Augustine of Hippo, AUGUSTINE ON ROMANS 62; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Calvin, Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans; John Chrysostom, Homily on Romans 16; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Origen of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Romans and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Romans.