Romans 9:8Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

For there was not only one people that came from him, but myriads throughout the earth who are appointed as children to Abraham. This is true if they are indeed children according to promise and walk in the steps of the faith that he had while uncircumcised (Rom. 4:12), as it is written. For as blessed Paul himself writes somewhere: "The promise to Abraham or to his seed, that he should be heir of the world, was not through the law but through the righteousness of faith. For if those who are of the law are heirs," he says, "faith is made void and the promise is made of no effect" (Rom. 4:13-14). Therefore, when the seed from Abraham is recognized as being in Isaac, that is, according to promise, the word of promise is this: "At this time I will come, and Sarah shall have a son." Then it can be entirely evident that "the children of the flesh" are not necessarily and in every respect to be counted children of God. Rather, the children according to promise, that is, the children according to faith, will have such glory in themselves.

9:1-4), and even despite the fact that "from them is Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen" (Rom. 9:5), the Apostle adds this remark: "But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are of Israel are Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his seed." That is, "it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are reckoned as the true seed" of Abraham (Rom. 9:6-8). Only one son of Sarah was born by the power of promise (Rom. 9:9). This means that Abraham's other children, for example by Hagar and Keturah, were only his children according to the flesh. Concerning them God had promised absolutely nothing. From this it follows, though the Apostle does not state it literally, that the Jews, though descended from Abraham, may still not be reckoned by God's judgment as true descendants of Abraham, the forefather of the Jews. The Apostle explains this vividly by the example of Rebecca's sons. Although both were born of her from one father, Isaac, and were even conceived at the same time (Rom. 9:10), God chose only one, and indeed the younger, even before they were born. "So that," the Apostle adds, "the purpose of God according to election might stand, not from works, but from Him who calls," whether to one destiny or another. "As it is written: Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated" (Rom. 9:11-13; cf. Mal. 1:2).

Those who were not such could not expect the fulfillment of the promises. Thus in their rejection there is no sufficient ground for seeing the promise as unfulfilled. For "such is the promise," says St. John Chrysostom: "Isaac was formed and born by the word of God. Although the woman's womb and body contributed to the birth, it was not the power of the womb, but the power of the promise, that produced the child. So also we are born by the word of God. For that which begets and forms us in the font of water is the word of God, because when we are baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, we are born. Such a birth is not according to nature, but according to the promise of God." Then, turning attention to the second example of exclusion from the inheritance of promise, shown in Esau, he says: "Why is Isaac alone called Abraham's seed, although Abraham was the father of Ishmael and many others? Was it because Ishmael's mother was a slave? But how does this fall upon the son? Yet I will not dispute it. But what shall be said of the children of Keturah? Were they not free, and were they not born of a free woman? Why then were they not counted worthy of the privileges given to Isaac? And what need is there to speak of Keturah's children? Rebecca was Isaac's only wife, and she bore two sons, both from Isaac. Yet those who were born of one father and one mother, of the same blood and the same womb, and moreover were twins, received unequal rights." "Why, then. Should it be wondered at if some of the Jews were saved and others were not?" "If we understand who is called the seed of Abraham, we shall see to what seed the promise was given, and we shall know that the word of God did not remain unfulfilled."

Then those who believed in Christ entered the inheritance of the promise as true children of Abraham and children of God. Those who did not believe were estranged from Him.

Our interpreters directly see in these words, and in those that follow, an indication of what takes place in Christ Jesus our Lord.

St. Chrysostom says: "The meaning of these words of the Apostle is this: those born according to the pattern of Isaac are the children of God and the seed of Abraham. For this reason it was said, 'In Isaac shall your seed be called.' How, then, was Isaac born? Not according to the law of nature or by the power of the flesh, but by the power of the promise."

That is, by the action of God's power, as we also are born in the font. See blessed Theophylact.

Blessed Theodoret writes directly: "By children of the flesh the Apostle means those born according to the natural order. By children of the promise he means those who have been made sons by grace."

Ambrosiaster also explains this as follows: "The Apostle gives us to understand that not all are already worthy simply because they are sons of Abraham, but only those who are sons of the promise. That is, those whom God foreknew would receive the promise, whether from the Jews or from the Gentiles.

Only those are worthy to be called Israelites, that is, those who behold God, who believe. If one understands bodily and simply, 'In Isaac shall your seed be called,' then all Jews are sons of Abraham, because their whole race comes from Abraham through Isaac.

But since, as I have said, only those who inherit what was given in Isaac are truly sons of Abraham, it is clear that the others, who do not inherit this promise, should not be counted sons of Abraham.

Abraham, as a believer, received Isaac, and in him the promise, because 'he believed God' (cf. Rom 4:3). In this the mystery of future faith was prefigured, so that those would be Isaac's brothers who would possess the same faith by which Isaac was born.

Isaac was born according to the promise as a figure of the Savior. Thus the one who believes in Christ Jesus, promised to Abraham, is a son of Abraham and a brother of Isaac.

It was said to Abraham: 'In your seed all the nations shall be blessed' (cf. Gen 22:18). This was not fulfilled in Isaac, but in Him Who was promised to Abraham in Isaac, that is, in Christ, in Whom all believing nations are blessed.

Therefore it is clear that the other Jews, the unbelieving ones, are sons of the flesh. They are deprived of the promise and should not be counted in Abraham's seed, since they do not follow the faith by which Abraham appeared worthy of the promise.

Therefore the Apostle added: 'That is, the children of the flesh are not the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as seed.' Can children of the flesh be children of God? The former are born of fleshly desire. The latter are born through faith by the Spirit.

Only those should be counted in Abraham's seed who believe."

Let us add from blessed Theophylact: "Therefore the word of God did not fail. God granted what was promised to the true seed, that is, to the believers from the Gentiles, who became children of God, as Isaac also did, because they too are from the promise.

If the Jews say that the words, 'In Isaac shall your seed be called,' mean that those born from Isaac are counted as Abraham's seed, then the Edomites and all who came from him must be regarded as Abraham's seed. Their forefather Esau was Isaac's son.

Yet the Edomites are not only not called sons of Abraham, but are even very foreign to the Israelites and are called aliens."

Thus our interpreters see in the Apostle's quoted words a foreshadowing of what, in the proper sense, has already been fulfilled in Christ Jesus, among those who believe in Him. Yet this is tangibly seen by them in the words that follow.