Romans 15:9 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Romans 15:9
And that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy; as it is written, For this cause I will confess to thee among the Gentiles, and sing unto thy name.
to render (or esteem) glorious (in a wide application) · verb — aorist active infinitive
Gentiles
ἔθνηethnē
G1484
a race (as of the same habit) · noun — accusative plural neuter
glorify
δοξάζωdoxázō
G1392
to render (or esteem) glorious (in a wide application)
God
θεὸνtheon
G2316
figuratively · noun — accusative singular masculine, a title
for
ὑπὲρhuper
G5228
"over" · preposition
mercy
ἐλέουςeleous
G1656
compassion (human or divine · noun — genitive singular neuter
as
καθὼςkathōs
G2531
just (or inasmuch) as · conjunction
written
γέγραπται·gegraptai
G1125
to "grave" · verb — perfect passive indicative, 3rd person singular
For
διὰdia
G1223
through (in very wide applications · preposition
cause
τοῦτοtoûto
G5124
that thing
confess
ἐξομολογήσομαίexomologēsomai
G1843
to acknowledge or (by implication · verb — future middle indicative, 1st person singular
thee
σοίsoí
G4671
to thee
among
ἐνen
G1722
"in · preposition
Gentiles
ἔθνεσινethnesin
G1484
a race (as of the same habit) · noun — dative plural neuter
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
sing
ψαλῶ.psalō
G5567
compare G5597 (ψώχω)) · verb — future active indicative, 1st person singular
unto
ὀνόματίonomati
G3686
a "name" (literally or figuratively) (authority · noun — dative singular neuter
thy
σοῦsoû
G4675
of thee
name
ὄνομαónoma
G3686
a "name" (literally or figuratively) (authority
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
2 Samuel 22:50 Therefore I will give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the heathen, and I will sing praises unto thy name.
Psalms 18:49 Therefore will I give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the heathen, and sing praises unto thy name.
Romans 3:29 Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also:
Matthew 9:8 But when the multitudes saw it, they marvelled, and glorified God, which had given such power unto men.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Romans 15:7-12
The apostle here returns to his exhortation to Christians. What he says here (Rom 15:7) is to the same purport with the former; but the repetition shows how much the apostle's heart was upon it. "Receive one another into your affection, into your communion, and into your common conversation, as there is occasion." He had exhorted the strong to receive the weak (Rom 14:1), here, Receive one another; for sometimes the prejudices of the weak Christian make him shy of the strong, as much as the pride of the strong Christian makes him shy of the weak, neither of which ought to be. Let there be a mutual embracing among Christians. Those that have received Christ by faith must receive all Christian…
that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy--A number of quotations from the Old Testament here follow, to show that God's plan of mercy embraced, from the first, the Gentiles along with the Jews.
as it is written-- (Psa 18:49).
I will confess to--that is, glorify
thee among the Gentiles.
Adam Clarke on Romans 15:9
And that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy - As the Jews were to glorify God for his truth, so the Gentiles were to glorify God for his mercy. The Jews received the blessings of the Gospel by right of promise, which promise God had most punctually and circumstantially fulfilled. The Gentiles had received the same Gospel as an effect of God's mere mercy, having no right in consequence of any promise or engagement made with any of their ancestors, though they were originally included in the covenant made with Abraham; and the prophets had repeatedly declared that they should be made equal partakers of those blessings with the Jews themselves; as the apostle proceeds to prove.
I will…
And that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy,.... In choosing them in Christ as vessels of mercy, and in redeeming them by Christ as well as the Jews, and in regenerating and calling them by his abundant grace; and which as they clearly show that Christ has received them, and therefore are not to be censured and judged as irreligious persons, because of the use of their Christian liberty; so these things lay them under obligations to glorify God, to show forth his praise both by lip and life, since what they enjoy is not by promise, as the Jews, but of mere mercy; not but that promises arise from grace and mercy, though the accomplishment of them is owing to truth and faithfulness;…
The Church Fathers
It is written in the seventeenth psalm [LXX] that the Gentiles will be admitted to the grace of God in order to receive salvation. For this is the voice of Christ, which predicted what would happen in the future.
Paul deprives the Jews of presumption when he teaches that it was foretold that the Gentiles would be saved, even though this was not announced to them. Christ accepts those Gentiles who have received mercy because they too belong to his body.
"And that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy." But what he means is this. Those of the Jews would have had promises, even though they were unworthy. But thou hadst not this even, but wast saved from love towards man alone, even if, to put it at the lowest, they too would not have been the better for the promises, unless Christ had come. But yet that he might amalgamate (or temper) them and not allow them to rise up against the weak, he makes mention of the promises. But of these he says that it was by mercy alone that they were saved. Hence they are the most bound to glorify God. And a glory it is to God that they be blended together, be united, praise with one mind, bear the weaker, neglect not the member that is broken off. Then he adds testimonies, in which he shows that the man of the Jews ought to blend himself with those of the Gentiles; and so he says, "As it is written, For this cause I will confess to Thee among the Gentiles, O Lord, and will sing unto Thy Name."
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Achaia — The name originally of a narrow strip of territory in Greece, on the north-west of the Peloponnesus. Subsequently it was applied by the Romans to the whole Peloponnesus, now called the Morea, and the…
Gentiles · CONVERSION OF — CONVERSION OF
Glorifying God · Mercy and truth — Mercy and truth
Heathen, The · Salvation provided for — Salvation provided for
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Romans 15:7-12
7. Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God.
7. Itaque suscipite vos mutuo, quemadmodum Christus vos suscepit, in gloriam Dei.
8. Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers:
8. Dico autem Iesum Christum ministerium fuisse circumcisionis super veritate Dei ad promissiones Patrum confirmandas:
9. And that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy; as it is written, For this cause I will confess to thee among the Gentiles, and sing unto thy name.
9. Gentes autem pro misericordia glorificare debent Deum; quemadmodum scriptum est, Propter hoc conf…
These quotations from the Old Testament all emphasize God’s promise that Gentiles would join with Jews in praising God. Gentiles are now full members of God’s people.
