Romans 9:23

Romans 9:23. And that, or, ‘also that,' in order that the omission of ‘and' by some authorities was probably due to an effort to relieve the difficult construction. The simplest view is to translate ‘also that,' and connect the verse with ‘endured.' Besides His great long-suffering toward the vessels of wrath, He had another purpose in the endurance, one with reference to ‘vessels of mercy.' To this it is objected that it makes the purpose in reference to the vessels of mercy secondary, but in our view the long-suffering suggests the thought of the revelation of God's glory, which is fully carried out here. Alford supplies ‘what if this took place,' others repeat ‘willing,' which is inadmissible if ‘although willing' is the correct explanation in Romans 9:22. To join this verse with ‘fitted for destruction' gives an unwarranted sense. Some would supply ‘if,' taking this verse as the purpose of the calling mentioned in Romans 9:24; but this only increases the grammatical difficulties.

The riches of his glory. This phrase, which Godet thinks was suggested by the request of Moses (comp. Romans 9:15): ‘Shew me thy glory' (Exodus 33:18), refers to the fulness of the divine glory, in its beneficence, in its bestowal of blessing; riches of ‘goodness, grace, mercy, wisdom, omnipotence' (Bengel). This making known is something which occurs throughout the gospel dispensation, as Romans 9:24 indicates.

On vessels of mercy. This may be joined with ‘make known,' or, with ‘riches'; the former being preferable. The vessels are the object of divine mercy in every age, but especially in the gospel dispensation.

which he before prepared. The verb does not mean ‘predestined,' nor is it to be explained as ‘prepared by providence and grace,' since the latter involves a process, while the tense here used points to a single act, which takes place ‘before' these providential and gracious dealings, probably referring to the actual constitution of the individual, as clay in the hands of the potter, the result of election, yet distinct from it.

For glory. The end of the preparation is the possession of the full and eternal glory of the kingdom of heaven. Alford remarks, that the theological difficulties here ‘are inherent, not in the Apostle's argument, nor even in revelation, but in any consistent belief of an omnipotent and omniscient God.' Yet, the variations between the description of the two classes are so marked, as to show that the Apostle distinguishes between God's agency in the salvation of the one class and in regard to the destruction of the other. Two different words are chosen to express the preparation; in this verse we have ‘before,' which is wanting in Romans 9:22; here ‘He' is mentioned as preparing the objects of mercy, there the indefinite passive is used; here a single act (in eternity) is spoken of, there a process, the former referring to the beginning of a development, the latter to its result. These differences cannot be accidental.