Rom 9:4-8 | TNotes | STEP | 9:4 Up to this point in Romans, Paul has called the Jewish people Jews. His shift to people of Israel , here and throughout most of chs 9–11 , is significant. Jew connotes national identity, but Israel emphasizes the covenant relationship of the people with God. • chosen to be God’s adopted children: The Old Testament called Israel God’s son or child to emphasize that God had selected Israel to be his own people (e.g., Exod 4:22 ; Jer 3:19 ; 31:9 ; Hos 11:1 ). Israel’s adopted status meant that they received God’s blessing and promises, not that they were necessarily saved. • covenants: The Old Testament includes several covenants between God and the people of Israel: one with Abraham (Gen 17 ), one with the nation through Moses at Mount Sinai (Exod 19–24 ), and one with David (2 Sam 7:8-16 ; 23:5 ).

9:4 ^a Up to this point in Romans, Paul has called the Jewish people Jews. His shift to people of Israel, here and throughout most of chs 9–11 ^b, is significant. Jew connotes national identity, but Israel emphasizes the covenant relationship of the people with God.

• chosen to be God’s adopted children: The Old Testament called Israel God’s son or child to emphasize that God had selected Israel to be his own people (e.g., Exod 4:22 ^c; Jer 3:19 ^d; 31:9 ^e; Hos 11:1 ^f). Israel’s adopted status meant that they received God’s blessing and promises, not that they were necessarily saved.

• covenants: The Old Testament includes several covenants between God and the people of Israel: one with Abraham (Gen 17 ^g), one with the nation through Moses at Mount Sinai (Exod 19–24 ^h), and one with David (2 Sam 7:8-16 ⁱ; 23:5 ^j).
9:5 ^k Christ came from the people of Israel, and God first made his promises of salvation to them.
9:6 ^l are truly members of God’s people (literally are Israel): “Israel” can refer to the people of Israel in a biological sense, i.e., everyone descended from Jacob. But in the latter part of the Old Testament and in Judaism, the idea of a “righteous remnant” within Israel developed (see Isa 11:10-16 ^m). On at least one occasion in the New Testament, Israel refers to everyone, Jew and Gentile, who belongs to God in a spiritual sense (Gal 6:16 ⁿ). Paul is stating that there is now an “Israel within Israel,” a community consisting of both Jews and Gentiles who truly believe (cp. Rom 11:16-17 ^o; Gal 6:16 ^p).
9:7 ^q This quotation is from Gen 21:12 ^r, which God spoke to Abraham when he was reluctant to follow Sarah’s advice to banish his son Ishmael, who was born to the slave woman Hagar. God assured Abraham that Sarah’s child, Isaac, was the son through whom God’s promises would be fulfilled.