an interrogative pronoun · interrogative pronoun — accusative singular neuter
he
μέμφεται;memphetai
G3201
to blame · verb — present middle or passive deponent indicative, 3rd person singular
yet
ἔτιeti
G2089
"yet · adverb
fault
μέμφομαιmémphomai
G3201
to blame
For
γὰρgar
G1063
properly · conjunction
who
τίςtis
G5101
an interrogative pronoun · interrogative pronoun — nominative singular masculine
resisted
ἀνθέστηκεν;anthestēken
G436
to stand against · verb — perfect active indicative, 3rd person singular
his
αὐτοῦautou
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — genitive singular masculine
will
βουλήματιboulēmati
G1013
a resolve · noun — dative singular neuter
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
Daniel 4:35 And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabit…
2 Chronicles 20:6 And said, O LORD God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in thine hand…
1 Corinthians 15:12 Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?
1 Corinthians 15:35 But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come?
Genesis 50:20 But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.
Job 9:12-15 Behold, he taketh away, who can hinder him? who will say unto him, What doest thou?
Job 9:19 If I speak of strength, lo, he is strong: and if of judgment, who shall set me a time to plead?
Job 23:13-14 But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth.
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…
Thou shalt say then unto me, Why--"Why then" is the true reading.
doth he yet find fault? for who hath resisted--"Who resisteth"
his will?--that is, "This doctrine is incompatible with human responsibility"; If God chooses and rejects, pardons and punishes, whom He pleases, why are those blamed who, if rejected by Him, cannot help sinning and perishing? This objection shows quite as conclusively as the former the real nature of the doctrine objected to--that it is Election and Non-election to eternal salvation prior to any difference of personal character; this is the only doctrine that could suggest the objection here stated, and to this doctrine the objection is plausible. What now is…
Why doth he yet find fault? - The apostle here introduces the Jew making an objection similar to that in Rom 3:7 : If the truth of God hath more abounded through my lie unto his glory, that is, if God's faithfulness is glorified by my wickedness, why yet am I also judged as a sinner? Why am I condemned for that which brings so much glory to him? The question here is: If God's glory be so highly promoted and manifested by our obstinacy, and he suffers us to proceed in our hardness and infidelity, why does he find fault with us, or punish us for that which is according to his good pleasure?
The Church Fathers
Paul teaches us first that nobody can resist God's will because he is more powerful than anyone else. Next he teaches us that God is the Father of all and therefore does not want anyone to suffer evil. What God has made he wants to remain unharmed.
It is superfluous, then, what you say to the Apostle, O you who oppose: "Why then does he still find fault? For who resists his will?" It is certain indeed that no one withstands the will of God; but it is fitting that we know his will to be just and right. For that we should be good or evil is a matter of our own will; but to what sort of stripes the evil man is destined, and to what sort of glory the good man, is a matter of God's will.
Having given his conclusion [in the last verse] Paul plays devil's advocate by asking a rhetorical question.… He responds to this question in a sensible way so that we might understand that the basic rewards of faith and of unbelief are made plain only to spiritual people and not to those who live according to the earthly man. Likewise with the way God in his foreknowledge elects those who will believe and condemns unbelievers. He neither elects the ones because of their works nor condemns the others because of theirs, but he grants to the faith of the ones the ability to do good works and hardens the unbelief of the others by deserting them, so that they do evil. This understanding, as I have said, is given only to spiritual people and is very different from the wisdom of the flesh. Thus Paul counters his inquirer so that he may understand that he first must put away the man of clay in order to be worthy to investigate these things by the Spirit.
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
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).
Anthropomorphisms · .Will — .Will
Murmuring · 7:10; — 7:10;
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).
John Gill on Romans 9:19
Thou wilt say then unto me,.... That is, thou wilt object to me; for this is another objection of the adversary, against the doctrine the apostle was advancing: and it is an objection of a mere natural man, of one given up to a reprobate mind, of an insolent hardened sinner; it discovers the enmity of the carnal mind to God; if is one of the high things that exalts itself against the knowledge of him; it is with a witness a stretching out of the hand against God, and strengthening a man's self against the Almighty; it is a running upon him, even upon the thick bosses of his bucklers; it carries in it the marks of ill nature, surliness, and rudeness, to the last degree:
why doth he yet find…
Romans 9:19-21
19. Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?
19. Dices itaque mihi, Quid adhuc conqueritur? voluntati ejus quis re-stitit?
20. Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?
20. Atqui, O homo, tu quis es qui contendis judicio cum Deo! hum dicit fictile figulo, cur me sic fecisti?
21. Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?
21. An non habet potestatem fi-gulus luti ex eadem massa, faciendi, aliud quidem vas in honorem, aliud in contumeliam?
19. Thou wilt then say…
he chooses to harden the hearts of others so they refuse to listen: Pharaoh refused to let Israel go because his heart was hardened. God hardened Pharaoh’s heart (Exod 9:12), and Pharaoh hardened his own heart (Exod 8:15).
