And as Isaiah said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodom, and been made like unto Gomorrah.
29. And ] Q. d., “And again, the small number of Jewish believers fulfils another prediction.”
said before ] Lit., and better, hath said before; i.e. “as we have it in his book.” “ Before ” refers not to the quotation of an earlier chapter, but to the words as a prediction. The quotation is from Isa 1:9, and exactly with LXX., which gives “a seed” where the Heb. gives the equivalent, “a small remnant.” St Paul instructs us that this passage not only describes a state of distress contemporary with the Prophets, but also predicts, through this as a type, the spiritual future. “ Sabaoth ” : the Gr. transliteration of Ts’vth, the Heb. word meaning Hosts, Armies.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And as Esaias said – Isa 1:9.
Before – The apostle had just cited one prediction from the tenth chapter of Isaiah. He now says that Isaiah had affirmed the same thing in a previous part of his prophecy.
Except the Lord of Sabaoth – In Isaiah, the Lord of Hosts. The word Sabaoth is the Hebrew word rendered hosts (armies). It properly denotes armies or military hosts organized for war. Hence, it denotes the hosts of heaven, and means:
(1) The angels who are represented as marshalled or arranged into military orders; Eph 1:21; Eph 3:10; Eph 6:12; Col 1:16; Col 2:15; Jud 1:6; 1Ki 22:19, I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him; Psa 103:21; Psa 148:2.
(2) The stars; Jer 33:22, As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, etc. Isa 40:26; Deu 4:19, etc. God is called the Lord of hosts, as being at the head of all these armies; their King and their Commander. It is a phrase properly expressive of his majesty and power, and is appropriately introduced here, as the act of saving the seed was a signal act of power in the midst of great surrounding wickedness.
Had left – Had preserved, or kept from destruction. Here their preservation is ascribed to God, and it is affirmed that if God had not interposed, the whole nation would have been cut off. This fully establishes the doctrine of the apostle, that God might cast off the Jews, and extend the blessings to the Gentiles.
A seed – The Hebrew in Isaiah means one surviving or escaping, corresponding with the word remnant. The word seed commonly means in the Scriptures descendants, posterity. In this place it means a part, a small portion; a remnant, like the small portion of the harvest which is reserved for sowing.
We had been as Sodoma – The nation was so wicked, that unless God had preserved a small number who were pious from the general corruption of the people, they would have been swept off by judgment, like Sodom and Gomorrah. We are told that ten righteous men would have saved Sodom; Gen 18:32. Among the Israelites, in a time of great general depravity, a small number of holy men were found who preserved the nation. The design of the apostle here was the same as in the previous verses – to show that it was settled in the Jewish history that God might cast off the people, and reject them from enjoying the special privileges of his friends. It is true that in Isaiah he has reference to the temporal punishments of the Jews. But it settles a great principle, for which Paul was contending, that God might cast off the nation consistently with his promises and his plans. We may learn here,
- That the existence of religion among a people is owing to the love of God. Except the Lord had left us, etc.
(2)It is owing to his mercy that any men are kept from sin, and any nation from destruction.
(3)We see the value of religion and of pious people in a nation. Ten such would have saved Sodom; and a few such saved Judea; compare Mat 5:13-14.
- God has aright to withdraw his mercies from any other people, however exalted their privileges, and leave them to ruin; and we should not be high-minded, but fear; Rom, Mat 10:20.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 29. And as Esaias said before] What God designs to do with the Jews at present, because of their obstinacy and rebellion, is similar to what he has done before, to which the same prophet refers, Isa 1:9: Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah: i.e. had not God, who commands and overrules all the powers in heaven and earth, in mercy preserved a very small remnant, to keep up the name and being of the nation, it had been quite cut off and extinct, as Sodom and Gomorrah were. Thus we learn that it is no new thing with God to abandon the greatest part of the Jewish nation, when corrupt, and to confine his favour and blessing to a righteous, believing few.
Instead of remnant, sarid, both the Septuagint and the apostle have , a seed, intimating that there were left just enough of the righteous to be a seed for a future harvest of true believers. So the godly were not destroyed from the land; some remained, and the harvest was in the days of the apostles.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
As Esaias said before; in Isa 1:9.
The Lord of sabaoth; or, of hosts: the mighty God, whose hosts all creatures are, which execute his will, as soldiers the will of their commander.
Had left us a seed: he means by a seed, the same that he meant before by a remnant, a small number. These were left as a little seed, out of a great heap of corn: that which is chosen, and left for seed, is little in comparison of the whole crop.
We had been as Sodoma, and been made like unto Gomorrha; i.e. utterly wasted and destroyed as they were, Jer 50:40.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
29. And as Esaias said“hathsaid”
beforethat is,probably in an earlier part of his book, namely, Isa1:9.
Except the Lord ofSabaoththat is, “The Lord of Hosts”: the word isHebrew, but occurs so in the Epistle of James (Jas5:4), and has thence become naturalized in our Christianphraseology.
had left us a seedmeaninga “remnant”; small at first, but in due time to be a seedof plenty (compare Psa 22:30;Psa 22:31; Isa 6:12;Isa 6:13).
we had been“become”
as Sodom, &c.Butfor this precious seed, the chosen people would have resembled thecities of the plain, both in degeneracy of character and in meriteddoom.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And as Esaias said before,…. In the beginning of his prophecy, in Isa 1:9.
Except the Lord of sabaoth had left us a seed; the title and character the great God goes by here, is “Lord of sabaoth”, that is, “of hosts”, or “armies”; the Septuagint often leave the word untranslated, as here and elsewhere, as in 1Sa 1:11. He is Lord of the hosts of heaven, the sun, moon, and stars, whom he brings forth by number, calls by their names, and them to praise him; of the angels, the multitude of the heavenly host, that do his pleasure, fight under him, and for him; and of the hosts of nations, of the several kingdoms of the world, who are all under his government, and among whom he acts according to his sovereign will and pleasure. Kimchi on the place says, he is called so,
“because of “the hosts above”, and because of “the hosts below”, who are the Israelites, that are called “hosts”; wherefore he would not consume us all, as we deserved:”
no, according to the council of his own will, he left them “a seed”; or as it is in Isaiah, a very small remnant”: and so the Syriac here,
, a remnant”; both signify one and the same, namely, a few persons only: “a remnant” signifies a few, which remain out of a large number; and so does “seed”, which is reserved for sowing again, after the whole stock is sold off, or consumed: and the leaving of this small number designs God’s gracious acts of reserving in the election of a people for himself; the calling them by his grace in time, and preserving them from general corruption; which if he had not done among the Jews, as Jarchi on the text says,
“of himself, and by his mercies, and not for our righteousnesses,”
we had been as Sodoma, and been made like unto Gomorrha; the cities which God destroyed with fire and brimstone from heaven, for their iniquities: had it not been for electing grace, they would have been like the inhabitants of these cities for wickedness; and the case would have been the same with us and with the whole world, had it not been for God’s act of election, choosing some to holiness here, and happiness hereafter. The decree of election is so far from being a door to licentiousness, that it is the true spring and source of all real holiness, that has been, or is in the world; and had it not been for this, there would have been no such thing as holiness in the world; and consequently not only Judea, but thee whole world, were it not for this, must have been long before now, like Sodom and Gomorrah, in their punishment.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Hath said before (). Perfect active indicative of (defective verb). Stands on record in Isa 1:9.
Had left (). Second aorist active indicative of old verb , to leave behind. Condition of second class, determined as unfulfilled, with and as the conclusions (both first aorist passives of and , common verbs).
A seed (). The remnant of verse 27.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Said before [] . Not in a previous passage, but by way of prediction.
Seed. Following the Septuagint, which thus renders the Hebrew remnant. See ver. 27. Like the remnant of corn which the farmer leaves for seed.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And as ‘Esaias said before,” (kai kathos proeireken Isaias) “And as Isaias has previously said,” said before the previously quoted passages. Paul respected as authentic, trustworthy, or true, the words of Isaiah regarding God’s fulfillment of his promises to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Israel.
2)“Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed,” (ei me kurios sabaoth egkatelipen hemin sperma) “except the Lord of hosts, of the armies of destruction, had left to us a seed;” a remnant seed, Isa 1:9; Isa 10:20; Gal 4:4-5. Paul believed that God almighty preserved them for his future glory, Luk 1:32-33.
3) “We had been as Sodom,” (hos (Sodoma an egenethemen) “We would have become, or now existed as Sodom,” God’s mercy and grace spared Israel from destruction, as it did Lot from destruction in Sodom, else Israel would have no longer existed. This is Paul’s contention; La 3:22; Mal 3:6.
4) “And been made like unto Gomorrha,” (kai hos Gomorra an homiothemen) “And we would have been likened to or compared with Gomorrha;” a symbol of divine wrath and judgment upon the rebellious, Isa 13:19; Jer 50:40. It was God’s mercy that granted Gentiles “repentance unto life,” Act 3:19. It was by his mercy and is thru it a seed of natural and now national Israel has been preserved for God’s future glory.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
29. And as Isaiah had before said, etc. (314) He brings another testimony from the first chapter, where the Prophet deplores the devastation of Israel in his time: and as this had happened once, it was no new thing. The people of Israel had indeed no pre-eminence, except what they had derived from their ancestors; who had yet been in such a manner treated, that the Prophet complained that they had been so afflicted, that they were not far from having been destroyed, as Sodom and Gomorrah had been. There was, however, this difference, that a few were preserved for a seed, to raise up the name, that they might not wholly perish, and be consigned to eternal oblivion. For it behoved God to be ever mindful of his promise, so as to manifest his mercy in the midst of the severest judgments.
(314) Isa 1:9. The words of the Septuagint are given literally, and differ only in one instance from the Hebrew; “seed” is put for “remnant;” but as “seed” in this case evidently means a small portion reserved for sowing, the idea of the original is conveyed. [ Schleusner ] refers to examples both in [ Josephus ] and [ Plato ] , in which the word “seed,” is used in the sense of a small reserved portion. Its most common meaning in Scripture is posterity.
Paul has given “Sabaoth” from the Septuagint, which is the Hebrew untranslated. This word, in connection with God, is variously rendered by the Septuagint: for the most part in Isaiah, and in some other places, it is found untranslated as here; but in the Psalms and in other books, it is often rendered τῶν δυναμέων, that is, Jehovah or Lord “of the powers,” and often παντοκράτωρ, “ omnipotent; ” and sometimes ὁ ἃγιος “the holy one.” But our version, “Jehovah” or “Lord of hosts,” is the proper rendering. It means the hosts of animate and inanimate creatures; in fact, the whole universe, all created things; but, according to the context, it often specifically refers to material things, or to things immaterial. — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(29) Said beforei.e., in an earlier part of his book. The Book of Isaiah was at this time collected in the form in which we have it. In Act. 13:33, we find an express reference to the present numbering of the PsalmsIt is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. (Some authorities read first, the two psalms being arranged as one, but second is probably the true reading.)
A seed.Equivalent to the remnant of Rom. 9:27. The point of the quotation is, that but for this remnant the rejection of Israel would have been utter and complete.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
29. Esaias said before That is, he said this (Isa 1:9) before, or earlier in time than (Rom 10:20-21) the above quoted. The present passage corroborates the doctrine of the former, that the fewness of faithful Jews accords with divine foresight.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And, as Isaiah has said before, “Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had become as Sodom, and had been made like to Gomorrah”.’
This picture is then seen as confirmed by Isa 1:9, where, apart from ‘a seed’ left to them by God (the seed of Abraham mentioned in Rom 9:7? The holy seed of Isa 6:12), all Israel were to be destroyed by God’s judgment in the same way as Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed. Once again those who were acceptable to God, and therefore saved, were only a remnant out of Israel. These three verses confirm that what the whole passage from Rom 9:6 has been about was the election of a minority of Israel who would alone remain as God’s people, being supplemented by large numbers of Gentiles, who would also become God’s people. This incorporating of Gentiles into Israel to form the true Israel is confirmed in Rom 11:17-25; Gal 3:29; Gal 6:16; Eph 2:11-22; 1Pe 1:9; etc.
‘The Lord of Sabaoth.’ A transliteration of the Hebrew which means ‘the Lord of Hosts.’
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Rom 9:29. Except the Lord of Sabaoth, &c. Lord of Hosts, &c. Instead of a seed, the words in Isaiah are, a very small remnant.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Rom 9:29 . Since the preceding prophecy was not introduced by or , we must here punctuate , , . . ., so that Paul adopts as his own the words of Isa 1:9 (closely following the LXX.): “ And, as Isaiah has prophesied, if the Lord of Zebaoth had not left behind to us a seed (in the sense of the apostle, this is that very of Rom 9:27 , which, like seed out of which new fruit grows, preserves and continues the true people of God), we should have become as Sodom, and like to Gomorrha; ” the whole nation (by exclusion from Messianic salvation) would have without exception perished (fallen unto ).
] Not to be understood, with Baumgarten-Crusius and van Hengel, following Erasmus, Beza, Calvin, Grotius, Michaelis, and others: has said at an earlier place , for local specifications of this kind are quite unusual in quotations with Paul, and here such reference would be without significance. It is used in the prophetic sense; the prophet has said of the fate of the people in his time, with a forecast of its corresponding fate in the present time, what holds good of Israel’s present; the mass of its people is hardened by divine judgment, and forfeits salvation, and only a holy is left to it. Comp. on ., Act 1:16 ; Plato, Rep . p. 619 C; Lucian, Jov. Frag . 30; Polyb. vi. 3. 2.
.] Two modes of conception are intermixed: become like , and become as , LXX., Hos 4:6 ; Eze 32:2 ; Fritzsche, ad Marc . p. 140 f. Compare the classical connection of and with and .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
29 And as Esaias said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodoma, and been made like unto Gomorrha.
Ver. 29. Except the Lord of Sabaoth ] That is, of hosts. God is commander-in-chief of all creatures. The Rabbis well observe that he hath Magnleh Cheloth, and Matteh Cheloth, two general troops, as his horse and foot, the upper and lower troops ready pressed. (Kimchi.)
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
29 .] Another proof of a remnant to be saved, from a preceding part of the same prophecy. (Such seems to be the sense of . here, and so Beza, Calv., Grot., al.; De W., Thol., al., prefer ‘prophesied;’ but surely there is no necessity for affixing an unusual sense to the word, where the ordinary one (see all the reff.) suits much better.)
“ is a construction in which two ideas, ‘to become as,’ and ‘to become like to,’ are mingled, as in Heb. , Psa 49:13 , 21; compare Mar 4:30 .” Tholuck. On ‘Jehovah Sabaoth,’ Bengel remarks, “Pro Hebraico in libro 1 Sam. et Jesaia ponitur; in reliquis libris omnibus .” (This is not strictly the case: is found in several places: and occurs in Zec 13:2 B [90] .)
[90] 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 .
The citation is verbatim from the LXX, who have put for the Heb. , ‘residuum,’ implying a remnant for a fresh planting.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Rom 9:29 . But his last quotation is in verbal agreement with the LXX Isa 1:9 , and transparently clear. The or seed which God leaves is the same as the . The figure is not to be pressed. The remnant is not the germ of a new people; Paul expects Israel as a whole to be restored.
With this the theodicy proper closes. The unbelief of the Jews was a great problem to the Apostolic age, and one which easily led to scepticism concerning the Gospel. The chosen people without a part in the kingdom of God impossible. This chapter is Paul’s attempt to explain this situation as one not involving any unrighteousness or breach of faith on the part of God. It is not necessary to resume the various stages of the argument as they have been elucidated in the notes. The point of greatest difficulty is no doubt that presented by Rom 9:22-23 . Many good scholars, Meyer and Lipsius for example, hold that Paul in these verses is not withdrawing from, but carrying through, the argument from God’s absoluteness stated so emphatically in Rom 9:21 . They hold that the would not be at all, if their repentance and amendment were conceivable; and although God bears long with them that is, defers their destruction it is only in order that He may have time and opportunity to manifest the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy. But the answer to this is plain. It assumes that human life, in its relation to God, can be interpreted by the analogy of clay in its relation to the potter; in other words, that moral and spiritual experiences can be construed and made intelligible through what are merely physical categories. But this is not the case. And if it be said that justice is not done, by the interpretation given in this commentary, to the expression , it may also be said that justice is not done, by the interpretation of Meyer and Lipsius, to the expression . Each of these allegations may be said to neutralise the other that is, neither is Iecisive for the interpretation of the passage; and the Apostle’s meaning remains to be determined by the general movement of his thought. In spite of the great difficulties of the section as a whole, I cannot hesitate to read it as above.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Except = If (App-118. a) not (App-105.)
Sabaoth = Hosts. Only here and Jam 5:4. First occurance: 1Sa 1:11. Quoted from Isa 1:9. App-107.
left. Greek. enkataleipo. See Act 2:27.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
29.] Another proof of a remnant to be saved, from a preceding part of the same prophecy. (Such seems to be the sense of . here,-and so Beza, Calv., Grot., al.; De W., Thol., al., prefer prophesied; but surely there is no necessity for affixing an unusual sense to the word, where the ordinary one (see all the reff.) suits much better.)
is a construction in which two ideas, to become as, and to become like to, are mingled, as in Heb. , Ps. 49:13, 21; compare Mar 4:30. Tholuck. On Jehovah Sabaoth, Bengel remarks, Pro Hebraico in libro 1 Sam. et Jesaia ponitur; in reliquis libris omnibus . (This is not strictly the case: is found in several places: and occurs in Zec 13:2 B[90].)
[90] 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.
The citation is verbatim from the LXX, who have put for the Heb. , residuum,-implying a remnant for a fresh planting.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Rom 9:29. -) Isa 1:9, LXX., .-, said before) Before the event, or before the prophecy quoted at Rom 9:28.-) In 1 Samuel and in Isaiah, is put for the Heb. word ; in all the other books it is translated , Ruler over all. From this circumstance there is strong ground for conjecturing, that one or perhaps several persons were employed to translate those two books, and that different persons translated the rest. And in the same first book of Sam. Scripture beings to give this title to God, although others had been formerly used as it were in its place.-Exo 34:23.-, a seed) There is denoted 1) a small number at the present time, 2) the propagation of a multitude after deliverance from captivity.- , as Sodom) where not a single citizen escaped; no seed was left.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Rom 9:29
Rom 9:29
And, as Isaiah hath said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had become as Sodom, and had been made like unto Gomorrah.-And as Isaiah had said of their former captivity, unless the Lord of hosts had spared a few as a seed, they would have been utterly destroyed, as had been the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. God had proposed to save Sodom, if only a few righteous persons could be found. The remnant in Israel saved it from the utter destruction that came upon Sodom.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Lord of
LORD of hosts. Isa 1:9.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
Except: Isa 1:9, Isa 6:13, Lam 3:22
Sabaoth: Jam 5:4
we had been: Gen 19:24, Gen 19:25, Isa 13:19, Jer 49:18, Jer 50:40, Lam 4:6, Amo 4:11, Zep 2:6
Sodoma: Gomorrah, 2Pe 2:6, Jud 1:7
Reciprocal: Luk 10:13 – for
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
:29
Romans 9:29. Lord of Sabaoth means Lord of hosts. Left us a seed applies to the remnant of verse 27, and to the “elect” for whose sake the days of the siege of Jerusalem were to be shortened according to Mat 24:22. The reference to Sodoma and Go-morrha is to show how complete the destruction of Israel would have been had it not been for the mercy of God.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Rom 9:29. And, as Isaiah hath said before, or, beforehand. The punctuation we adopt, involves this explanation of the passage: And, even as Isaiah has predicted (so I repeat his words), Except etc. Another view explains: And (it is) as Isaiah has predicted. The former is preferable, since Paul is thus preparing the way for his own prophetic utterances in chap. 11. Before can scarcely refer to the place of the passage in the Book of Isaiah, since this is a matter of no importance in this connection. The rendering beforehand indicates that this was said before the fulfilment.
Except the Lord of Sabaoth, etc. The Septuagint version of Isa 1:9 is cited word for word.
Seed. So the LXX. renders the Hebrew word, meaning remnant, which occurs in the original prophecy. This suggests an idea found in Isa 6:13 (comp. Ezr 9:2), that the remnant should be a holy seed. In fact the Jewish Christians, who escaped the judgment which fell on their nation at the destruction of Jerusalem, constituted such a seed for the Christian Church.
Became is to be substituted for been.
As regards the application made by Paul of this prophecy, it will seem all the more appropriate when the full scope of the original prediction is considered. The prophet with a few ground-strokes gathers up the whole future of the people of Israel. He announces a period of judgment as an unavoidable passage way; then, again, a time of salvation. But the period of judgment comprehends in itself all the judgments then standing without as yet: every visitation, of which history from that time on knows aught, is a proof of this word of prophecy, a fulfilment of it.. Just so is the period of salvation conceived as the sum-total of all fulfilment in general, since the complete realization of all Gods promises will bring what will still all the longing and the thirsting of the human heart from thenceforth and forever (Dreschler). With this thought of the rejuvenation of Israel, through a remnant which is also a germ, the Apostle passes to the other side of the dark problem, namely, the unbelief of the Jews as the human cause of their rejection. This phase of the subject is introduced in Rom 9:30, with which, therefore, we begin another section.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
And, as Isaiah hath said before [This may mean, Isaiah has said this before me, so that I need not prophesy myself, but may appropriate his word, or, as earlier expositors (Erasmus, Calvin, Grotius, etc.) render it, Isaiah spoke the words which I am about to quote earlier than those which I have already quoted, the latter being Isa 10:22-23; and the former being at Isa 1:9 . Since the apostle is proving his case by the Scripture and not resting it upon his own authority, the former reading seems out of place. It would be somewhat trite in Paul to state that Isaiah wrote before him! It is objected that the latter rendering states an unimportant fact. What difference can it make which saying came first or last? But it is not so much the order as the repetition of the saving that the apostle has in mind. Isaiah did not see some moment of national disaster in a single vision, and so cry out. He saw this destruction of all save a remnant in the very first vision of his book, and it is the oft-repeated burden and refrain of a large portion of his prophecies], Except the Lord of Sabaoth [Hebrew for “hosts”] had left us a seed [for replanting], We had become as Sodom, and had been made like unto Gomorrah. [Like “cities of which now,” as Chalmers observes, “no vestige is found, and of whose people the descendants are altogether lost in the history or our species.” (Comp. Jer 50:40) In contrast with these, the Jews, though few in number, have ever been found in the kingdom of God. Since the section just finished is the stronghold of Calvinism, we should not leave it without noting that Simon Peter warns us not to put false construction upon it. He says: “Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for these things” (a new heaven and a new earth), “give diligence that ye may be found in peace, without spot and blameless in his [God’s] sight, and account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also, according to the wisdom given to him, wrote unto you; as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; wherein are some things hard to be understood, which the ignorant and unstedfast wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction. Ye therefore, beloved, knowing these things beforehand, beware lest, being carried away with the error of the wicked, ye fall from you” own stedfastness” (2Pe 3:14-17). Now, Paul uses the word “longsuffering” ten times. Seven times he speaks of the longsuffering of men. Once he speaks of the longsuffering of Christ extended to him personally and individually as chief of sinners. Twice (Rom 2:4-11; Rom 9:19-29) he fills the measure of Peter’s statement, and writes that men should “account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation.” As the first of these passages (Rom 2:4-11) has never been in dispute, it follows either that all have wrested it, or that none have wrested it, so that in either case its history does not comply with Peter’s description. The passage before us, then, is the one which the ignorant and unsteadfast have wrested, and that so seriously that it has compassed their destruction. In further support of this identification, note (1) that this passage was, as we have seen, addressed to the Jews, and it therefore answers to the “wrote unto you” of Peter’s letter, which was also addressed to Jews; (2) while “the longsuffering of God,” etc., is not prominent in all Paul’s Epistles, as we have just shown, the doctrine of election, which is the stumbling-block here, is a common topic with the apostle. Since, then, Peter warns us against wresting this section, let us see who wrests it. According to Peter, it is those who get a soul-destroying doctrine out of it, and such is Calvinism. It is those who derive from it a doctrine which palsies their effort, so that, believing themselves impelled by inexorable will and sovereign, immutable decree, they hold they can do nothing either to please or displease God, and therefore cease to “give diligence that they may be found in peace, without spot and blameless in his sight,” and cease to “account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation,” and thus, “being carried away with the error of the wicked” that human effort is of no avail, they cease to make any, and so “fall from their own stedfastness.” Surely with so plain a warning from so trustworthy a source we are foolish indeed if we wrest this Scripture so as to make it contradict the doctrines of human free will and responsibility so plainly taught in other Scriptures.]
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
29. And as Isaiah before said: Unless the Lord of hosts left unto us a seed, we were as Sodom and we become like unto Gomorra. Hence you see that the Jews were neither exterminated nor utterly cast away, Gods merciful eye following the faithful remnant in all their peregrinations upon the face of the whole earth, keeping the covenant which He made with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Moses, and finally gathering them back to the land of their holy patrimony.
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
Verse 29
Said before; viz., Isaiah 1:9.–The Lord of Sabaoth; the Lord of hosts.–A seed; a remnant.–We had been as Sodoma; that is, we should have been utterly destroyed. The idea is that, so far were the Jews from being of course secure of the favor of God, they are in one case represented by the prophet as just escaping absolute extermination.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
9:29 And as Esaias said before, Except the Lord of {c} Sabaoth had left us a {d} seed, we had been as Sodoma, and been made like unto Gomorrha.
(c) Armies, by which word the greatest power that exists is attributed to God.
(d) Even as very few.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
If God had not tempered His judgment with mercy He would have destroyed Israel as completely as He had Sodom and Gomorrah. The remnant of believers among the mass of racial Jews is proof of God’s mercy to the children of Israel.