Romans 9:1-5

1. Deep Sorrow of the Apostle for the Unbelief of the Jews, his Brethren, and God's Covenant People, from whom the Messiah came.

The pathos of the partially apologetic opening of this division of the Epistle is so great, that it has survived the interminable discussions which have been called forth by Romans 9:3; Romans 9:5. Probably he will interpret both passages most nearly aright who approaches them with the most vivid apprehension of the Apostle's feelings; it is ‘a fervent outburst of Israelitish patriotism, the more sorrowful by contrast with the blessedness of the Christian previously extolled and so deeply experienced by the Apostle himself' (Meyer). The language is that of sorrowful sympathy, deprecatory in tone, ‘to take at once the ground from those who might charge him, in the conduct of his argument, with hostility to his own alienated people' (Alford).

In conclusion, the Apostle breaks forth into a doxology to the grace and wisdom of God, who will thus solve the enigma of the world's history, and lead all things to the glory of His name and the best interest of His kingdom (chap. Romans 11:33-36).