Romans 9:26
in Romans 9and, “It will happen that in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And it shall be, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, There shall they be called sons of the living God.
KJV
And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God.
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This verse in Romans 9
Commentary
9 notes on this verseAnd even, what is more important, sons of the living God. If someone should say that this was spoken about the Jews who had conducted themselves ungratefully but were afterwards received into grace, such an argument does not harm our explanation. For if this acceptance …
This site's exposition
As He says in Hosea
on Romans 9:25-26
Paul takes Hosea's words over Israel after judgment, from Hosea 2:23 and 1:10, and applies them to the Gentiles. God names as His own a people once told they were none of His, and calls them sons of the living God.
This site's exposition
sons of the living God
In Hosea 1:10 the promise comes right after God disowned the northern kingdom of Israel, and Clarke keeps that place in view. Chrysostom answers the objection that Hosea meant Israel alone. Either way, a people once told they were not God's people is called sons of the living God.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
"For even they shall be called," he says, "the children of the living God." But if they should assert that this was said of those of the Jews who believed, even then the argument stands. For if with those who after so many benefits were hard-hearted and estranged, and had lost their being as a people, so great a change was wrought, what is there to prevent even those who were not estranged after being taken to Him, but were originally aliens, from being called, and, provided they obey, from being counted worthy of the same blessings?
A commentator
Origen of AlexandriaCOMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS · Written before 253.
proposed
But this is what we ought to attend to more sharply: that those others also obtained mercy, and were called the people of God, and were beloved of God; but because they did not know how to keep the grace they had received, it is said to them: "In the things wherein the dwelling of Israel committed adultery, I put her away, and gave her the bill of divorce into her hands"; and again elsewhere: "You have become a surfeit to me, I will no longer forgive your sins." And through Jeremiah the Lord says: "My inheritance has become to me like the cave of a hyena." Lest perhaps we too, who were not the people of God, but through the riches of his glory he called us his people, and who were not beloved, but have been made beloved, and sons of the living God — if we do not walk as sons of light and sons of God, if we do not so act as the people of God, "that men, seeing our good works, may glorify our Father who is in heaven" — it is to be feared that we may incur that saying of the Apostle in which he says: "For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. As he says in Hosea: I will call that which was not my people, my people; and her that was not beloved, beloved; and her that had not obtained mercy, her that had obtained mercy. And it shall be: In the place where it was said to them, You are not my people, there they shall be called sons of the living God." This testimony, indeed, which the Apostle takes from Hosea, so far as pertains to the passage of the prophet itself, seems to be spoken not about the Gentiles, but about the people of Israel themselves. […]
The Medieval Church1 voice
Then, when he says and it shall be in the place, he cites another text from Hosea in which they are promised the dignity of being sons of God (Hos 1:10), about which the Jews boasted because, as it says in Isaiah: sons have I …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And it shall come to pass that in the place,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
And it shall come to pass, etc. - These quotations are taken out of Hosea, Hos 1:10, where (immediately after God had rejected the ten tribes, or kingdom of Israel, Hos 1:9, then saith God, Call his name Lo-ammi; for ye are not my people, and I will not be your God), he adds, yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered: and it shall come to pass, that in the place in which it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
And it shall come to pass - It shall happen, or take place. This is a continuation of the quotation from the prophet Hosea Hos 1:10, designed to confirm the doctrine which he was establishing. Both these quotations have the same design, and are introduced for the same end. In Hosea they did not refer to the calling of the Gentiles, but to the recalling the rejected Jews. God says, after the Jews had been rejected and scattered for their idolatry; after they had forfeited his favor, and been cast off as if they were not his people; he would recall them, and bestow on them again the appellation of sons. The apostle does not quote this as having original reference to the Gentiles, but for the following purposes: (1) If God formerly purposed to recall to himself a people whom he had rejected; if he bestowed favors on his own people after they had forfeited his favor, and ceased to be entitled to the name of “his people:” then the same thing was not to be regarded as absurd if he dealt in a similar manner with the Gentiles - also a part of his original great family, the family of man, but long since rejected and deemed strangers. (2) The dealings of God toward the Jews in the time of Hosea settled “a general principle of government.” His treatment of them in this manner was a part of his great plan of governing the world. On the same plan he now admitted the Gentiles to favor. And as this “general principle” was established; as the history of the Jews themselves was a precedent in the case, it ought not to be objected in the time of Paul that the “same principle” should be carried out to meet the case also of the Gentiles. In the place - The place where they may be scattered, or where they may dwell. […]
The words behind it
17 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| ἔσται | estai | It will happen that | G1510 → | 2333 times |
| ἐν | en | in | G1722 → | 2738 times |
| τῷ | to | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| τόπῳ | topo | place | G5117 → | 94 times |
| οὗ | hou | where | G3757 → | 24 times |
| ἐρρέθη | errethe | it was said | G2046 → | 47 times |
| αὐτοῖς· | autois | to them; | G846 → | 5565 times |
| οὐ | ou | Not | G3756 → | 1664 times |
| λαός | laos | people | G2992 → | 141 times |
| μου | mou | of Mine [are] | G3165 → | 1936 times |
| ὑμεῖς, | humeis | You yourselves, | G4771 → | 2973 times |
| ἐκεῖ | ekei | there | G1563 → | |
| κληθήσονται | klethesontai | they will be called | G2564 → | 147 times |
| υἱοὶ | huioi | sons | G5207 → | 377 times |
| θεοῦ | theou | of God | G2316 → | 1312 times |
| ζῶντος. | zontos | [the] living. | G2198 → | 139 times |
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
ἔσταιIt will happen that
estaiG1510 →2333 times
ἐνin
enG1722 →2738 times
τῷthe
toG3588 →19766 times
τόπῳplace
topoG5117 →94 times
οὗwhere
houG3757 →24 times
ἐρρέθηit was said
erretheG2046 →47 times
αὐτοῖς·to them;
autoisG846 →5565 times
οὐNot
ouG3756 →1664 times
λαόςpeople
laosG2992 →141 times
μουof Mine [are]
mouG3165 →1936 times
ὑμεῖς,You yourselves,
humeisG4771 →2973 times
ἐκεῖthere
ekeiG1563 →
κληθήσονταιthey will be called
klethesontaiG2564 →147 times
υἱοὶsons
huioiG5207 →377 times
θεοῦof God
theouG2316 →1312 times
ζῶντος.[the] living.
zontosG2198 →139 times
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
Romans 8:16The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.
it leads to
- 1 John 4:13
By this we know that we remain in Him, and He in us: He has given us of His Spirit.
- 2 Corinthians 1:22
placed His seal on us, and put His Spirit in our hearts as a pledge of what is to come.
- 2 Corinthians 5:5
And God has prepared us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a pledge of what is to come.
- Ephesians 1:13
And in Him, having heard and believed the word of truth—the gospel of your salvation—you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,
- 1 John 4:13
Through
Galatians 3:26You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
it leads to
- Ephesians 1:5
He predestined us for adoption as His sons through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of His will,
- 2 Corinthians 6:18
And: “I will be a Father to you, and you will be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”
- John 1:12–13
But to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God—
- 1 John 3:1–2
Behold what manner of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God. And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is…
- Ephesians 1:5
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies21
About Romans

This page draws on 9 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); John Chrysostom, Homilies 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.
