Romans 9:28
in Romans 9For the Lord will carry out His sentence on the earth thoroughly and decisively.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
for the Lord will execute his word upon the earth, finishing it and cutting it short.
KJV
For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth.
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This verse in Romans 9
Commentary
14 notes on this verseAnd this is what he says: "For he is completing and shortening the word in equity: because the Lord will make a shortened word upon the earth." The word is shortened where many are called but few are chosen.
This site's exposition
Isaiah cries out concerning Israel
on Romans 9:27-29
Isaiah 10:22 and 23 says the nation may be like the sand of the sea, and only the remnant will be saved. Isaiah 1:9 gives the reason any remain. The Lord of Hosts left descendants, or Israel would have become like Sodom and Gomorrah.
This site's exposition
carry out His sentence on the earth
Clarke hears a court in Isaiah's words, a case tried and the sentence carried out on the earth without delay. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown render it a reckoning finished and cut short. Wesley reads the result as a small remnant saved.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
This has been done in Christ, who said: "Moses wrote about me."
Accordingly, when He uttered such denunciations as, "Thou shalt do no murder; thou shalt not commit adultery; thou shalt not steal; thou shalt not bear false witness," He taught me to refrain from doing to others what I should be unwilling to have done to myself; and therefore the precept developed in the Gospel will belong to Him alone, who anciently drew it up, and gave it distinctive point, and arranged it after the decision of His own teaching, and has now reduced it, suitably to its importance, to a compendious formula, because (as it was predicted in another passage) the Lord-that is, Christ" was to make (or utter) a concise word on earth."
"He will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness," he says, "because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth." What he means then is somewhat of this sort. There is no need of fetching a circuit, and of trouble, and the vexation of the works of the Law, for the salvation is by a very short way. For such is faith, it holds salvation in a few short words. "For if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." Now you see what this, "the Lord shall make a short word upon earth," is. And what is indeed wonderful is, that this short word carries with it not salvation only, but also righteousness.
The Medieval Church2 voices
Now he shows how the remnant will be saved, and says that there is no need to labor, to go far, and to exhaust oneself with works of the law. God, he says, who brings to completion and accomplishes the word of faith in a …
Second, at for he shall finish his word, he cites the cause of salvation: first, the efficacy of the word of the Gospel, saying: for he shall finish his word and cut it short in equity. Note here a twofold efficacy of the evangelical word. …
6 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
So the fathers generally apply it. Some understand it of the evangelical law and covenant, which Christ has introduced and established in the world: he has in that finished the work, put an end to the types and ceremonies of the Old Testament. Christ said, It is finished, and then the veil was rent, echoing as it were to the word that Christ said upon the cross.
For he is finishing or cutting short his account - In rigorous justice, will leave but a small remnant. There will be so general a destruction, that but a small number will escape.
For he will finish the work,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
For he will finish the work, and cut it short, etc. - These appear to be forensic terms, and refer to the conclusion of a judicial proceeding; the Lord has tried and found them guilty, and will immediately execute upon them the punishment due to their transgressions.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Esaias also crieth--"But Isaiah crieth"--an expression denoting a solemn testimony openly borne (Joh 1:15; 24:21). concerning Israel, Though the number of the children--"sons" of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a--"the" remnant--that is, the elect remnant only shall be saved.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
For he will finish the work, and cut--"is finishing the reckoning, and cutting it" it short in righteousness; because a short work--"reckoning" will the Lord make upon the earth-- (Isa 10:22, 23), as in the Septuagint.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:81%@v26-28
The words behind it
10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| λόγον | logon | [The] sentence | G3056 → | 329 times |
| γὰρ | gar | for | G1063 → | 1039 times |
| συντελῶν | suntelon | concluding | G4931 → | |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| συντέμνων | suntemnon | bringing swiftly | G4932 → | |
| ποιήσει | poiesei | will perform [the] | G4160 → | 569 times |
| κύριος | kurios | Lord | G2962 → | 711 times |
| ἐπὶ | epi | upon | G1909 → | 883 times |
| τῆς | tes | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| γῆς. | ges | earth. | G1093 → | 248 times |
λόγον[The] sentence
logonG3056 →329 times
γὰρfor
garG1063 →1039 times
συντελῶνconcluding
suntelonG4931 →
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
συντέμνωνbringing swiftly
suntemnonG4932 →
ποιήσειwill perform [the]
poieseiG4160 →569 times
κύριοςLord
kuriosG2962 →711 times
ἐπὶupon
epiG1909 →883 times
τῆςthe
tesG3588 →19766 times
γῆς.earth.
gesG1093 →248 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
Revelation 19:11Then I saw heaven standing open, and there before me was a white horse. And its rider is called Faithful and True. With righteousness He judges and wages war.
it leads to
- Psalms 96:13
before the LORD, for He is coming— He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in His faithfulness.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 98:9
before the LORD, for He comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with equity.
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 11:3–5
And He will delight in the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by what His eyes see, and He will not decide by what His ears hear,
- Psalms 50:6
And the heavens proclaim His righteousness, for God Himself is Judge. Selah
- Psalms 96:13
Through
Acts 17:31For He has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the Man He has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising Him from the dead.”
it leads to
- Romans 2:16
on the day when God will judge men’s secrets through Christ Jesus, as proclaimed by my gospel.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Matthew 25:31–46
When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, He will sit on His glorious throne.
- 2 Peter 3:7
And by that same word, the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
- 2 Corinthians 5:10
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive his due for the things done in the body, whether good or bad.
- Romans 2:16
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies20
On this chapter
About Romans
This page draws on 13 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Ambrosiaster, COMMENTARY ON PAUL'S EPISTLES; Charles Hodge, Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, Homily on Romans 16; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Origen of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS; Robert Haldane, Exposition of the Epistle to the Romans; Tertullian, Against Marcion Book IV; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Romans and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Romans.