For he will finish the work, and cut [it] short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth.
28. for he will finish, &c.] These words agree closely with the letter of the LXX., but not with that of the Heb. They convey the point of the Heb., however, quite enough for the purpose of the quotation; and St Paul thus adopts them. In some important documents the quotation ends with “cut it short;” but the evidence is not conclusive. The main purport of this verse is clear: the Prophet foretells summary and severe judgments on Israel, such as to leave ere long only a “remnant” able and willing to “return.” “ In righteousness: ” i.e. “in righteous severity ”
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 28. For he will finish the work, and cut it short, c.] These appear to be forensic terms, and refer to the conclusion of a judicial proceeding the Lord has tried and found them guilty, and will immediately execute upon them the punishment due to their transgressions.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
This verse is also found in that forecited place, Isa 10:22, 23. The apostle in this, and in the other citations, follows the Seventy, which was a received translation, and had been in request about three hundred years, though in this, and in other places, it is very different from the Hebrew text. That which God is said to finish, and cut short, is his work; the Greek is , which signifies his word, or the account, as some read it. This is brought in as a reason why a remnant only should be saved; because God would shorten the acconnt, or (as we read it) make a short work, in the Jewish World. He would bring a sudden destruction upon that people. Sennacherib and the Assyrians, or Titus Vespasian and the Romans, shall make a complete and speedy conquest of them; few of them shall remain, the greater part being involved, first in infidelity, then in destruction. The apostle makes those few to be a type of Gods elect among that people, that should be saved by faith in Jesus Christ.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
28. For he will finish the work, andcut“is finishing the reckoning, and cutting it”
it short in righteousness;because a short work“reckoning”
will the Lord make upon theearth (Isa 10:22; Isa 10:23),as in the Septuagint. The sense given to these words by theapostle may seem to differ from that intended by the prophet. But thesameness of sentiment in both places will at once appear, if weunderstand those words of the prophet, “the consumption decreedshall overflow with righteousness,” to mean that while a remnantof Israel should be graciously spared to return from captivity, “thedecreed consumption” of the impenitent majority should be”replete with righteousness,” or illustriously displayGod’s righteous vengeance against sin. The “short reckoning”seems to mean the speedy completing of His word, both in cutting offthe one portion and saving the other.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
For he will finish the work,…. This passage has some difficulty in it: some, instead of “work”, read “account”, and suppose it is an allusion to the balancing of accounts, when the remainder is cut off, which commonly is but little; and so regards the small number of the Jews that shall be called and saved, as before: others read it “the word”, and differently explain it; some understanding it of the incarnate Word, of his being emptied, and made of no reputation, of his being cut off in a very short time, a few years after he had entered upon his public ministry, and of the few persons converted under it; others of the law, of the cutting off, or abolishing the ceremonial law, perfecting or completing the moral law, and abbreviating it, or reducing it into a short compendium; others of the Gospel, bringing in and revealing a perfect righteousness, for the justification of sinners, which the law could not do; all foreign to the apostle’s purpose. Those who think God’s work, his strange work is meant, his work of punitive justice he will finish,
and cut it short in righteousness, because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth, when he cut off and destroyed the greater part of the people of the Jews, and saved a remnant, seem to come nearer the mind of the prophet and the apostle’s design, in citing this passage. The words as in Isaiah, I would choose to render and explain thus;
, “the absolute”, or “precise degree”, so Aben Ezra, interprets it, , “that which is decreed by God”, the decree concerning the salvation of the remnant, , “he”, i.e. God “shall cause to overflow in righteousness”, Isa 10:22, as an overflowing river; that is, he shall abundantly execute it, he shall completely fulfil it, to finish and cut it short in the most righteous manner, consistent with all his divine perfections; , “for the decree and that determined”, so Aben Ezra, , “the decree decreed” by God, “the Lord God of hosts”, , “shall execute”, accomplish, make short and full work of it, “in the midst of all the land”, Isa 10:23, that is, of Judea: so that the words contain a most strong and invincible reason, why the remnant shall be saved; because God has made an absolute decree, concerning the salvation of it, which he will accomplish in the fullest manner, agreeably to his justice and holiness: the , or “word”, the apostle from the prophet speaks of, that should be finished, and cut short and accomplished in righteousness, is the sentence, counsel, or decree, conceived in the divine mind, concerning this matter: hence as the decree of election stands firm and sure, not upon the works of men, but upon the absolute, sovereign, and efficacious will of God; so the salvation of his chosen people is not precarious, but a most sure and certain thing.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Finishing it and cutting it short ( ). Present active participles and note – with each (perfective use of the preposition, finishing completely as in Lu 4:13, cutting off completely or abridging and here only in N.T.) The quotation is from Isa 28:22.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
For the reading of the A. V. read as Rev. The Lord will execute His word upon the earth, finishing and cutting it short. Difficulty arises on account of the variation in the Greek text and the difference between the reading adopted by the best authorities and the Septuagint, and again on account of the variation of the latter from the Hebrew. The Hebrew reads : Extirpation is decided, flowing with righteousness, for a consumption and decree shall the Lord of hosts make in the midst of all the land. The Rev. adopts the shorter reading of the Septuagint.
Work [] . It does not mean work, but word, utterance, doctrine; not decree, which logov never means, though the idea may underlie it. Better reckoning.
Finish – cut short [ – ] . The preposition sun together signifies summarily; bringing to an end at the same time. Compare the peculiar word ejkolobwqhsan should be shortened, in Mt 24:22, and see note. Omit in righteousness.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “For he will finish the work,” (Logon gar suntelon) “For accomplishing an account, record, or assignment,” What God purposes and begins, he completes or finishes, for he is a perfect God. The work (account refers to both national and spiritual redemption in Christ as promised thru Abraham and his seed, Gen 12:1-3; Gal 4:4-5; Luk 1:30-33.
2) “And cut it short in righteousness,” (kai suntemnon) “and cutting it short;” His judgment upon Israel, in securing the remnant of her people in the last days, will be in righteousness, based on his warnings and promises; The days of his tribulation wrath will be cut short or abbreviated, Deu 28:15; Deu 28:62; Deu 28:67; Deu 30:3.
3) “Because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth,” (poiesei kurios epi tes ges) “The Lord will do or perform upon the earth;” Isa 65:8-9; Mat 24:21-22; Zec 13:8-9; As the Lord “finishes or completes” redemption in every believer in Christ, so will he finish what he has purposed and begun in the natural seed of Abraham, Php_1:6; Rev 12:7-12.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
28. For I will finish and shorten the matter, etc. (312) Omitting various interpretations, I will state what appears to me to be the real meaning: The Lord will so cut short, and cut off his people, that the residue may seem as it were a consumption, that is, may have the appearance and the vestige of a very great ruin. However, the few who shall remain from the consumption shall be a proof of the work of God’s righteousness, or, what I prefer, shall serve to testify the righteousness of God throughout the world. As word often in Scripture means a thing, the consummated word is put for consumption. Many interpreters have here been grossly mistaken, who have attempted to philosophize with too much refinement; for they have imagined, that the doctrine of the gospel is thus called, because it is, when the ceremonies are cut off, a brief compendium of the law; though the word means on the contrary a consumption. (313) And not only here is an error committed by the translator, but also in Isa 10:22; Isa 28:22; and in Eze 11:13; where it is said, “Ah! ah! Lord God! wilt thou make a completion of the remnant of Israel ?” But the Prophets meant to say, “Wilt thou destroy the very remnant with utter destruction? ” And this has happened through the ambiguity of the Hebrew word. For as the word, כלה , cale, means to finish and to perfect, as well as to consume, this difference has not been sufficiently observed according to the passages in which it occurs.
But Isaiah has not in this instance adopted one word only, but has put down two words, consumption, and termination, or cutting off; so that the affectation of Hebraism in the Greek translator was singularly unseasonable; for to what purpose was it to involve a sentence, in itself clear, in an obscure and figurative language? It may be further added, that Isaiah speaks here hyperbolically; for by consumption he means diminution, such as is wont to be after a remarkable slaughter.
(312) Sermonem enim consummans et abbrevians,” etc.; Λόγον γὰρ, etc. It is literally the Septuagint except in two instances: Paul puts in γὰρ, and substitutes ἐπὶ τὢς γὢς for ἐν τὣ οἰκουμένὟ ὅλὟ. It is a difficult passage in Hebrew: but the following rendering will make it materially consistent with the words of the Apostle, who evidently did not intend to give the words literally.
A destruction, soon executed, Shall overflow in righteousness; For completed and soon executed shall it be; The Lord, Jehovah of hosts, shall do it, In the midst of the whole land.
The word rendered above “soon executed,” means literally, abbreviated or cut short, signifying the quick execution of a thing or work. “Shall overflow in righteousness,” imports, “ shall justly or deservedly overflow.” — Ed.
(313) There are many venerable names in favour of this opinion, such as [ Ambrose ] , [ Chrysostom ] , [ Augustine ] , etc. Not knowing the Hebrew language, they attached a classical meaning to the expression, λόγον συντετμημένον, wholly at variance with what the Hebrew means, as [ Calvin ] justly observes. The word, συντετμημένον, in this passage, as [ Schleusner ] says, bears a meaning different from what it has in the classics; it imports what is cut short, that is, quickly executed. — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(28) For he will finish.Literally, according to the correct reading, For a sentence, accomplishing and abridging it, will the Lord execute upon the earth; in other words, A short and summary sentence will the Lord execute upon the earth. The severity of the sentence is a proof that only a remnant can be saved from it. St. Paul follows the LXX., with but slight deviation. The sense of the Hebrew appears to be somewhat different:For though thy people. O Israel, were as the sand of the sea, but a remnant of them shall return: a destruction is decreed overflowing with righteousnessi.e., penal justice. For destruction by a sure decree will Jehovah of Hosts perform in the midst of all the earth. (Cheyne.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
28. For The apostle’s words are nearly a verbatim quotation from the Septuagint, and so quite different from the English translation.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Rom 9:28 . The Hebrew runs: . Extirpation is decided, streaming justice ( i.e. penal justice ); for extirpation and decision (penal decision) the Lord Jehovah Zebaoth makes ( i.e. is on the point of executing) in the midst of the whole earth (on Zion). The LXX. did not understand these words, and translated them incorrectly (on how they came to do so, see Fritzsche, also Maier, in the Theol. Jahrb . 1845, I. p. 190 f.). This cannot be denied; nor are we, with Olshausen, to attempt to conceal or smooth over the fact by arbitrary interpretation of the Hebrew. Paul has nevertheless felt no scruple in abiding by their translation with a few unimportant deviations, since its sense is not less suitable than that of the original to the connection and object which the declaration here subserves. The words, as Paul has them, mean: “ For utterance-accomplishing and (as matter of fact, through a speedy execution of it) shortcutting in righteousness (is He); for a short-cut utterance ( i.e. a saying in which the whole penal decision is summarily included) will the Lord bring to pass on the earth .” In reference to single expressions, remark: (1) , which belongs to both participles, is neither decree (usually so taken, but this is not its meaning), nor matter of fact (Beza, Melancthon, Castalio, Calvin, Koppe, Reithmayr, formerly also Hofmann, Weissag. u. Erf. II. p. 213, and various others), which it never denotes with Paul, nor reckoning , which, in connection with , would be contrary to idiom, but dictum , an utterance , which He has delivered; and this indeed, in the first clause of the verse, which expresses the executive justice of God in general , is to be understood quite generally; comp. Erasmus, Paraphr .: “quicquid dixit, plene praestet et quidem compendio.” In the second clause, on the other hand, which adduces proof of that general description of God with the concrete case , the occurrence of which is predicted, the divine saying of Rom 9:27 , delivered through the prophet , is intended. (2) , used of something that is said (speeches, answers, and the like), like , never denotes in Greek anything else than to cut short (Plato, Protag . p. 334 D, Eph 3 , p. 318 B; Aeschines, p. 32. 23; Euripides, Iph. A . 1249, Aeol. fr . v. 2; Lucian, bis. accus . 28; Soph. fragm . 411, Dind.; 2Ma 10:10 ; Pflugk, ad Eur. Hec . 1180), and it is therefore inadmissible to depart from this signification of the (Plato, Phaedr . p. 267 B). We must, however, observe that in this “ comprising in short ” must be a matter of fact , consisting in the short summary despatch of the matter (comp. LXX. Isa 28:22 ; Eur. Rhes . 450), like our “ cut it short; ” while, on the other hand, ( perfect ) refers to the concise, short, and stern style in which the saying itself is conceived ( !). Passages in which denotes overtake and the like (as Soph. Ant . 1090) have no bearing on the present one. Neither are we to adopt what Tholuck reads into it, that God will accomplish the promise delivered in Isa 10:20-21 , only with great limitation of the number of the people , which would, besides, be not at all suitable to the perfect participle . Moreover, the LXX. cannot have meant of the word of promise, but, according to the sense of the original, only of the penal judicial declaration. (3) does not stand for the righteousness of faith (Fritzsche), but is to be referred, according to the context, as in the Hebrew, to the judicial righteousness of God. (4) The participles . and require only to be supplied. See Hermann, ad Viger . p. 776; Bernhardy, p. 470; Khner, II. 1, p. 37. And (5) as respects the argumentative force of the , it lies in the fact that, if God causes such a penal judgment to be issued on Israel, the part of the people remaining spared, which obtains salvation, can only be the out of the mass, that which remains over. Incorrectly Hofmann, in accordance with his erroneous interpretation of Rom 9:27-28 , explains: So long as this present world-period endures, Israel’s final salvation might remain in suspense; “ but Jehovah leaves it not on this footing, He makes an end, and settles accounts with the world, and the remnant which is then Israel’s people returns to Him and attains to salvation .”
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
28 For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth.
Ver. 28. A short work ] When once he sets to work to cut off hypocrites.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
28 .] The reference of this latter part of the citation is not very plain. It is almost verbatim from the LXX, the (which is found in A [89] but not in B) being perhaps adopted by the Apostle as continuing the testimony, = ‘for the prophet proceeds,’ and the LXX having for (see digest), and for . The literal rendering of the Heb. is, “The consummation (or consumption) decided, overfloweth with righteousness: for a decision (or consumption) and a decree shall the Lord Jehovah of Sabaoth make in the midst of all the land.” As it stands in the LXX, the meaning seems to be, the Lord will complete and soon fulfil His word in righteousness (viz. his denunciation of consuming the Assyrian and liberating the remnant of His people): for the Lord will make a rapidly accomplished word in the midst of all the land . The E. V., Calv., and others, render , ‘work,’ a signification which it never has. If the above interpretation be correct, and the view which I have taken of the analogy of prophecy, it will follow that this verse is adduced by the Apostle as confirming the certainty of the salvation of the remnant of Israel, seeing that now, as then, He with whom a thousand years are as a day, will swiftly accomplish His prophetic word in righteousness.
[89] The CODEX SINAITICUS. Procured by Tischendorf, in 1859, from the Monastery of St. Catherine on Mount Sinai. The Codex Frederico-Augustanus (now at Leipsic), obtained in 1844 from the same monastery, is a portion of the same copy of the Greek Bible, the 148 leaves of which, containing the entire New Testament, the Ep. of Barnabas, parts of Hermas, and 199 more leaves of the Septuagint, have now been edited by the discoverer. A magnificent edition prepared at the expense of the Emperor of Russia appeared in January, 1863, and a smaller edition containing the N.T. &c., has been published by Dr. Tischendorf. The MS. has four columns on a page, and has been altered by several different correctors, one or more of whom Tischendorf considers to have lived in the sixth century. The work of the original scribe has been examined, not only by Tischendorf, but by Tregelles and other competent judges, and is by them assigned to the fourth century . The internal character of the text agrees with the external, as the student may judge for himself from the readings given in the digest. The principal correctors as distinguished by Tischendorf are: A, of the same age with the MS. itself, probably the corrector who revised the book, before it left the hands of the scribe, denoted therefore by us -corr 1 ; B (cited as 2 ), who in the first page of Matt. began inserting breathings, accents, &c., but did not carry out his design, and touched only a few later passages; C a (cited as 3a ) has corrected very largely throughout the book. Wherever in our digest a reading is cited as found in 1 , it is to be understood, if no further statement is given, that C a altered it to that which is found in our text; C b (cited as 3b ) lived about the same time as C a , i.e. some centuries later than the original scribe. These are all that we need notice here 6 .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
finish = close. Greek. sunteleo. See Act 21:27.
work = account. Greek. logos. App-121.
cut . . . short. Greek. suntemno. Only here and next clause.
righteousness. App-191.
the Lord. App-98.
upon. App-104. Quoted almost verbatim from the Septuagint of Isa 10:22, Isa 10:23. App-107.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
28.] The reference of this latter part of the citation is not very plain. It is almost verbatim from the LXX, the (which is found in A[89] but not in B) being perhaps adopted by the Apostle as continuing the testimony, = for the prophet proceeds,-and the LXX having for (see digest), and for . The literal rendering of the Heb. is, The consummation (or consumption) decided, overfloweth with righteousness: for a decision (or consumption) and a decree shall the Lord Jehovah of Sabaoth make in the midst of all the land. As it stands in the LXX, the meaning seems to be, the Lord will complete and soon fulfil His word in righteousness (viz. his denunciation of consuming the Assyrian and liberating the remnant of His people): for the Lord will make a rapidly accomplished word in the midst of all the land. The E. V., Calv., and others, render , work, a signification which it never has. If the above interpretation be correct, and the view which I have taken of the analogy of prophecy, it will follow that this verse is adduced by the Apostle as confirming the certainty of the salvation of the remnant of Israel, seeing that now, as then, He with whom a thousand years are as a day, will swiftly accomplish His prophetic word in righteousness.
[89] The CODEX SINAITICUS. Procured by Tischendorf, in 1859, from the Monastery of St. Catherine on Mount Sinai. The Codex Frederico-Augustanus (now at Leipsic), obtained in 1844 from the same monastery, is a portion of the same copy of the Greek Bible, the 148 leaves of which, containing the entire New Testament, the Ep. of Barnabas, parts of Hermas, and 199 more leaves of the Septuagint, have now been edited by the discoverer. A magnificent edition prepared at the expense of the Emperor of Russia appeared in January, 1863, and a smaller edition containing the N.T. &c., has been published by Dr. Tischendorf. The MS. has four columns on a page, and has been altered by several different correctors, one or more of whom Tischendorf considers to have lived in the sixth century. The work of the original scribe has been examined, not only by Tischendorf, but by Tregelles and other competent judges, and is by them assigned to the fourth century. The internal character of the text agrees with the external, as the student may judge for himself from the readings given in the digest. The principal correctors as distinguished by Tischendorf are:-A, of the same age with the MS. itself, probably the corrector who revised the book, before it left the hands of the scribe, denoted therefore by us -corr1; B (cited as 2), who in the first page of Matt. began inserting breathings, accents, &c., but did not carry out his design, and touched only a few later passages; Ca (cited as 3a) has corrected very largely throughout the book. Wherever in our digest a reading is cited as found in 1, it is to be understood, if no further statement is given, that Ca altered it to that which is found in our text; Cb (cited as 3b) lived about the same time as Ca, i.e. some centuries later than the original scribe. These are all that we need notice here6.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Rom 9:28. ) a thing heard, and therefore spoken, Isa 28:22.- ) supply, as is often necessary in Hebrew, the word is, comp. Act 24:5; 2Pe 1:17; Heb. and . The Lord , will consummate His word [decree] concerning Israel, in respect to the appointed [fixed] punishment (so that it becomes , consummated, completed); and at the same time , cuts short His word, in respect to the termination [will make a speedy termination] of the punishment (so that becomes , this decree becomes consummated). The word Lord is to be supplied from the following clause; and the owrd may be taken either as the subject, or rather, since the article is wanting, as a part of the predicate [the Lord is about to consummate, etc.]- , . Isa 10:22.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Rom 9:28
Rom 9:28
for the Lord will execute his word upon the earth, finishing it and cutting it short.-God, after long forbearance, will finish the work of dealing with the Jews, and in righteousness and fidelity he will speedily punish them as their sins demand.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Lord
Adonai Jehovah. Isa 10:23.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
work: or, account
and cut: Isa 28:22, Isa 30:12-14, Dan 9:26, Dan 9:27, Mat 24:21
in righteousness: Psa 9:8, Psa 65:5, Isa 5:16, Act 17:31, Rev 19:11
Reciprocal: Isa 10:22 – the consumption Isa 28:17 – Judgment Hos 1:10 – the number Mic 5:3 – then
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
:28
Romans 9:28. The first application of this verse as well as the preceding one, is that only a remnant of the Jewish nation was to return from the Babylonian captivity. The context of the passage cited in Isa 10:22-23 shows clearly that such is the meaning. Then later the nation was reduced still more by the wars with the Romans.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Rom 9:28. This verse presents unusual difficulties, both as to the Greek text, the English translation, and the principle of citation which led the Apostle to use it
The weight of authority supports the briefer reading, although that reading can be explained as due to an oversight on the part of a transcriber. The longer reading may be translated thus: For he (i.e., the Lord) is finishing and cutting short his word in righteousness, because a short (lit, cut-short) word will the Lord execute upon the earth. This longer reading does not vary materially from the LXX.; hence it may have been enlarged to correspond with that. But the variations from the Hebrew are considerable, as may be seen from the following translation:
Consumption (extirpation) is decided, flowing with righteousness;
For a consumption and decree shall the Lord of hosts make,
In the midst of all the land.
The question is whether the LXX. has varied from the meaning of the original prophecy as well as from its form. We think that the LXX., especially as here applied by the Apostle, has preserved most fully the thought of the original prophecy, in fact conveying it to the mind of a reader familiar with Greek more clearly than could have been done by a literal rendering of the Hebrew.
For is inserted by the Apostle to strengthen the connection.
Finishing and cutting short his word, not, work, as in the E. V. The Greek word has been rendered decree, to correspond more closely with the Hebrew, but this is not its meaning, though the idea of such a decree underlies Pauls use of the passage. Word is preferable, i.e., a word of promise and threatening (to the remnant and the mass respectively). Others prefer in view of the reference to numbers, to translate make a reckoning, instead of execute a word, but it is doubtful whether the phrase has this meaning. His is properly supplied in English. Finishing and cutting short then refer to the rapid accomplishment of the word uttered by the Lord. This applies, as we think, to both the threatening and the promise, and that too, whichever reading be accepted. Some have interpreted the whole of Gods mercy, of His cutting short judgment. But this explanation gives to righteousness the sense of mercy. Moreover it is foreign to the Hebrew, and quite inappropriate here, where the Apostle is emphasizing the fact that only a remnant will be saved. The fathers had the fantastic notion that the short word is the gospel as an abridged doctrine of salvation, in antithesis to the elaborateness of the Old Testament Other fanciful interpretations are all too numerous. While the original reference was to the Jews in the time of Isaiah, the Apostle here makes a prophecy of more general validity, applying it to the sad fact, discussed in this part of the Epistle, that most of the Jews were cut off, but including the other fact that the remnant should be saved. Both points are closely connected with the great thought of this section, the freedom of God in election, and this application does no violence to the original sense of the prophecy.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Vv. 28 explains this idea of a saved remnant. This time, indeed, judgment will be carried out neither by halves nor over a long period. It will be, says Isaiah, a sudden and summary execution which will fall not upon this or that individual, but on the nation as a whole. Such is the meaning of the Hebrew and of the LXX., though the latter have somewhat modified the form of the original. Isaiah says literally: Destruction is resolved on; it makes righteousness overflow; for the Lord works on the earth destruction and decree. The LXX. translate: The Lord fulfils the sentence; He cuts short righteously, because He will execute a summary reckoning upon all the earth. Paul reproduces this second form while abridging it; for it is probable we should prefer the shortest reading, that of the oldest Mjj. and of the Peshito (see the note), since that of the T. R. merely restores the text of the LXX. The word might undoubtedly signify decree; but in connection with the terms number and remnant of Rom 9:27, as well as with the two participles and , consummating and cutting short, the word ought here to preserve its natural meaning of reckoning: God will this time make His reckoning with Israel by a short and summary process. In this threatening the feeling of indignation prevails. Paul subjoins to it a second saying, Rom 9:29, which rather breathes sadness and compassion; it is taken from Isa 1:9. He no longer quotes it with the word , he cries; he uses the calmer term , he said before. Some expositors explain this preposition , before, contained in the verb, by the circumstance that in the Book of Isaiah this passage occurs before that which had just been quoted, Rom 9:27-28. This meaning is puerile; for the position has no importance. Paul wishes to bring out the idea that the prophetical mouth of Isaiah having once declared the fact, it must be expected that one day or other it would be realized. The meaning of this saying is, that without a quite peculiar exercise of grace on the part of the Lord, the destruction announced Rom 9:27-28 would have been more radical still, as radical as that which overtook the cities of the plain, of which there remained not the slightest vestige., a germ, a shoot; this word expresses the same idea as , the remnant, Rom 9:27. But, as is well said by Lange, it adds to it the idea of the glorious future which is to spring from that remnant.
Instead of saying: we should have been made like to, Paul says, with the LXX., made like as, thus heaping up two forms of comparison, so as to express the most absolute assimilation. Such would have been the course of justice; and if Israel will find fault, they have only one thing for which to blame God, that is, for not having annihilated them utterly.
No, certainly; by concluding a special covenant with Israel, God had not abdicated the right of judging them, and alienated His liberty in respect of them and of the rest of mankind. His promise had never had this bearing, and the rejection of Israel does it no violence. But thus far the problem had been treated only from the formal point of view; the question had been only as to God’s right. The apostle now enters upon the matter involved. The right being established, it remains to examine what use God has made of it. This is the subject treated by the apostle in the following passage, which extends from Rom 9:30 to the end of chap. 10.
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
for the Lord will execute his word upon the earth, finishing it and cutting it short. [Isa 10:22-23 . This prophecy, like that of Hosea, refers to the return of the ten tribes in the latter days, and is therefore an unfulfilled prophecy, save as it had a preliminary and minor literal fulfillment in the destruction of Jerusalem, a few years after Paul wrote this Epistle, which was the climax of rejection for the generation to which Paul wrote, and the full establishment of that age-long rejection of the majority which pertains unto this day. Daniel, dealing with its spiritual fulfillment, foretold that the labors of the Christ “confirming the covenant” with Israel would only last a week–a jubilee week having in it eight years, or from A. D. 26 to A. D. 34 (Dan 9:27). How small the remnant gathered then! In the centuries since how small the ingathering! And, alas! now that we have come to the “latter days” and the last gathering, and the final literal and spiritual fulfillment of the prophecy, it gives us assurance of no more than a mere remnant still! Rom 9:28; as given in full by Isaiah, is thus happily paraphrased by Riddle, “He (the Lord) is finishing and cutting short the word (making it a fact by rapid accomplishment) in righteousness, for a cut-short word (one rapidly accomplished) will the Lord make (execute, render actual) upon the earth.” When we consider that the Lord reckons a thousand years as but a day, how short was the spiritual privilege of the eight years exclusive ministry of Jesus and his apostles! and how brief was the forty years’ (A. D. 30-70) temporal privilege between the crucifixion and the destruction of Jerusalem! Isaiah’s word shows us that the final fulfillment will be also a brief season, a cut-short word, doubtless a repetition of Daniel’s week.]
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
28. For perfecting and cutting it short, the Lord will verify his work upon the earth. When Gods time comes to restore the Jews, I know He will astonish the world by the miracles of His summary prophetical fulfillments.
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
9:28 For he will finish the work, and cut [it] {b} short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth.
(b) God chooses and goes about to reduce the unkind and unthankful people to a very small number.