Romans 9:17 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Romans 9:17
For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.
properly · verb — present active indicative, 3rd person singular
Pharaoh
ΦαραὼPharaō
G5328
Pharao (i.e. Pharoh) · noun — dative singular masculine, a title
for
εἰςeis
G1519
to or into (indicating the point reached or entered) · preposition
this
τοῦτοtoûto
G5124
that thing
same
αὐτὸauto
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — accusative singular neuter
purpose
τοῦτοtoûto
G5124
that thing
raised
ἐξήγειράexēgeira
G1825
to rouse fully · verb — aorist active indicative, 1st person singular
thee
σέsé
G4571
thee
up
ἐξεγείρωexegeírō
G1825
to rouse fully
that
ὅπωςhopōs
G3704
what(-ever) how · conjunction
shew
ἐνδείξωμαιendeixōmai
G1731
to indicate (by word or act) · verb — aorist middle subjunctive, 1st person singular
my
μοῦmoû
G3450
of me
power
δύναμίνdunamin
G1411
force (literally or figuratively) · noun — accusative singular feminine
in
ἐνen
G1722
"in · preposition
thee
σοίsoí
G4671
to thee
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
that
ὅπωςhopōs
G3704
what(-ever) how · conjunction
my
μοῦmoû
G3450
of me
name
ὄνομάonoma
G3686
a "name" (literally or figuratively) (authority · noun — accusative singular neuter
declared
διαγγελῇdiangelēa
G1229
to herald thoroughly · verb — second aorist passive subjunctive, 3rd person singular
throughout
ἐνen
G1722
"in · preposition
all
πάσῃpasē
G3956
all · adjective — dative singular feminine
earth
γῇ.gēa
G1093
soil · noun — dative singular feminine
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
Exodus 9:16 And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up, for to shew in thee my power; and that my name may be declared throughout all the ear…
Proverbs 16:4 The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.
Exodus 10:1-2 And the LORD said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh: for I have hardened his heart, and the heart of his servants, that I might shew these my s…
Exodus 14:17-18 And I, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them: and I will get me honour upon Pharaoh, and upon all hi…
Exodus 15:14-15 The people shall hear, and be afraid: sorrow shall take hold on the inhabitants of Palestina.
Joshua 9:9 And they said unto him, From a very far country thy servants are come because of the name of the LORD thy God: for we have heard the fame of…
1 Samuel 2:7-8 The LORD maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up.
Esther 4:14 For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; bu…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Romans 9:14-24
The apostle, having asserted the true meaning of the promise, comes here to maintain and prove the absolute sovereignty of God, in disposing of the children of men, with reference to their eternal state. And herein God is to be considered, not as a rector and governor, distributing rewards and punishments according to his revealed laws and covenants, but as an owner and benefactor, giving to the children of men such grace and favour as he has determined in and by his secret and eternal will and counsel: both the favour of visible church-membership and privileges, which is given to some people and denied to others, and the favour of effectual grace, which is given to some particular persons a…
For the scripture saith to Pharaoh--observe here the light in which the Scripture is viewed by the apostle.
Even for this same--"this very"
purpose have I raised--"raised I"
thee up, &c.--The apostle had shown that God claims the right to choose whom He will: here he shows by an example that God punishes whom He will. But "God did not make Pharaoh wicked; He only forbore to make him good, by the exercise of special and altogether unmerited grace" [HODGE].
that I might--"may"
show my power in thee--It was not that Pharaoh was worse than others that he was so dealt with, but "in order that he might become a monument of the penal justice of God, and it was with a view to this that God…
For the Scripture saith unto Pharaoh - Instead of showing the Israelites mercy he might justly have suffered them to have gone on in sin, till he should have signalized his wisdom and justice in their destruction; as appears from what God in his word declares concerning his dealings with Pharaoh and the Egyptians, Exo 9:15, Exo 9:16 : For now, saith the Lord, I had stretched forth my hand, (in the plague of boils and blains), and I had smitten thee and thy people with the pestilence; and thou hadst (by this plague) been cut off from the earth; (as thy cattle were by the murrain); but in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up - I have restored thee to health by removing the boils and…
The Church Fathers
God's power is patience, and it is a very great power indeed. For who would not be overawed by the enormous patience of God? For he says that it is for this reason that he has agreed to let Pharaoh rule, that it may be shown how patient he is.
We read in Exodus [10:1] that Pharaoh's heart was hardened, so that he was not moved even by clear signs. Therefore, because Pharaoh did not obey the commands of God he was punished. No one can say that this hardness of heart came upon Pharaoh undeservedly; it came by the judgment of God who was giving him just punishment for his unbelief. Nor should it be thought that Pharaoh did not obey because he could not, on the ground that his heart had already been hardened. On the contrary, Pharaoh had deserved his hardness of heart by his earlier unbelief.For in those whom God has chosen it is not works but faith which is the beginning of merit, so that they might do good works by the gift of God. And in those whom he condemns unbelief and unfaithfulness are the beginning of punishment, so that by that very punishment they are permitted to do what is evil.
And all these things were being carried out by the opposing powers at work against the teaching of Christ, reckoning that they could extinguish from the life of men the providence of God and faith concerning the resurrection of the Lord. And just as the excessive hardness of Pharaoh was not softened by the many wonders done through Moses, so, or even more, the hardness of the heart of these men was not only not bent by the signs and wonders done, but they did not even believe the guards reporting, "who came into the city and reported all things whatsoever had been done." And to "Pharaoh" indeed it was said: "for this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show in you my power, and that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth," but as for these, the magnanimity of God "bore with them," "vessels of wrath prepared for destruction," so that there might be "salvation among the Gentiles."
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
Providence — Literally means foresight, but is generally used to denote God’s preserving and governing all things by means of second causes (Ps. 18:35; 63:8; Acts 17:28; Col. 1:17; Heb. 1:3). God’s providence…
Sovereignty — Of God, his absolute right to do all things according to his own good pleasure (Dan. 4:25, 35; Rom. 9:15-23; 1 Tim. 6:15; Rev. 4:11).
Predestination · 19:25; — 19:25;
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).
For the Scripture saith unto Pharaoh,.... , "The Scripture saith", is a Talmudic (l) way of speaking, used when any point is proved from Scripture; and is of the same signification with , "the merciful God says"; and so the sense of it here is, God said to Pharaoh; the testimony here cited, stands in Exodus 9:16; where it is read thus, "for this cause have I raised thee up", or "made thee stand", "for to show in thee my power, and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth"; and is produced by the apostle in proof of the other branch of predestination, called reprobation, and to vindicate it from the charge of unrighteousness: in which may be observed, that the act of raising u…
Romans 9:14-18
14. What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.
14. Quid ergo dicemus? num in-justitia est apud Deum? Absit:
15. For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
15. Moses enim dicit, Miserebor cujus miserebor, et miserebor quem miseratus fuero.
16. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.
16. Ergo non volentis neque cur-rentis, sed miserentis est Dei.
17. For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared t…
God told Pharaoh: At God’s direction, Moses had asked Pharaoh to let the people of Israel leave Egypt for their own land (Exod 9:16). When Pharaoh stubbornly refused, God displayed miracle after miracle to convince Israel, Pharaoh, and the Egyptians of God’s power and authority (see Exod 6:7; 7:5; 9:14-16; 14:31).
