Romans 9:29

“And as Isaiah said beforehand: If the Lord Tsevaot had not left us offspring, we would have become like Sodom, and would have been made like Gomorrah.”
Romans 9:29 · direct translation from the Greek

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With the Greek beneath

AndκαὶasκαθὼςIsaiahἨσαΐαςsaid beforehand:προείρηκενIfΕἰthe LordκύριοςTsevaotΣαβαὼθhad notμὴleftἐγκατέλιπενusἡμῖνoffspring,σπέρμαwe would have becomeἂν ἐγενήθημενlikeὡςSodom,Σόδομαandκαὶwould have been madeἂν ὡμοιώθημενlikeὡςGomorrah.Γόμορρα

Quotation · Isaiah 1:9

Go to Isaiah 1:9

Where the Hebrew says “a small remnant,” Romans says “offspring” (literally “seed”).

Formula: καθὼς προείρηκεν Ἠσαΐας “as Isaiah said beforehand” (Romans 9:29)

See the original texts

Greek of the New Testament: καὶ καθὼς προείρηκεν Ἠσαΐας Εἰ μὴ κύριος Σαβαὼθ ἐγκατέλιπεν ἡμῖν σπέρμα ὡς Σόδομα ἂν ἐγενήθημεν καὶ ὡς Γόμορρα ἂν ὡμοιώθημεν

Hebrew (Masoretic text): לוּלֵי יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת הוֹתִיר לָנוּ שָׂרִיד כִּמְעָט כִּסְדֹם הָיִינוּ לַעֲמֹרָה דָּמִינוּ

Septuagint (Isaiah 1:9 in the Septuagint numbering): καὶ εἶ μὴ Κύριος σαβαὼθ ἐγκατέλιπεν ἡμῖν σπέρμα, ὡς Σόδομα ἂν ἐγενήθημεν, καὶ ὡς Γόμορρα ἂν ὡμοιώθημεν.

The Greek of the NT matches the Septuagint word for word in 16 consecutive words: “Εἰ μὴ κύριος Σαβαὼθ ἐγκατέλιπεν ἡμῖν σπέρμα ὡς Σόδομα ἂν ἐγενήθημεν καὶ ὡς Γόμορρα ἂν ὡμοιώθημεν.”

Septuagint, Swete’s text, First1KGreek transcription (with reading errors), CC BY-SA 4.0

Romans 9:29, word by word

IsaiahἨσαΐαςĒsaias

Isaiah

Isaiah, the prophet of Judah whose book announces the Messiah and God's salvation.

Where else “Ēsaias” appears

said beforehandπροείρηκενproeirēken

tell beforehand

Say beforehand, foretell.

Where else “proeirēken” appears

the Lordκύριοςkyrios

Lord

The Lord: God, whose name is YHWH; also Jesus.

Where else “kyrios” appears

TsevaotΣαβαὼθSabaōth

Tsevaot

Tsevaot: a Hebrew word, "of armies", in the title of God, "the Lord Tsevaot"; Greek writes it "Sabaoth".

Where else “Sabaōth” appears

leftἐγκατέλιπενenkatelipen

leave behind

To leave something behind, like children.

Where else “enkatelipen” appears

offspringσπέρμαsperma

offspring

Someone's children and descendants.

Where else “sperma” appears

we would have becomeἐγενήθημενegenēthēmen

become

To turn into something new, different from before.

Where else “egenēthēmen” appears

SodomΣόδομαSodoma

Sodom

See it on the map Where else “Sodoma” appears

would have been madeὡμοιώθημενhōmoiōthēmen

become like

To become like another, to take on their likeness.

Where else “hōmoiōthēmen” appears

GomorrahΓόμορραGomorra

Gomorrah

Gomorrah: a city destroyed together with Sodom.

Where else “Gomorra” appears

Translation note

Isaiah 1:9, according to the Greek. The Greek has “Sabaoth,” a transcription of the Hebrew “Tsevaot,” “of armies,” as in the revised Old Testament.

Parallel passages

Other books that tell the same thing or quote these words.

Quotation · Isaiah 1:9

Where the Hebrew says “a small remnant,” Romans says “offspring” (literally “seed”).

See them side by side

Romans 9:29

²⁹And as Isaiah said beforehand: If the Lord Tsevaot had not left us offspring, we would have become like Sodom, and would have been made like Gomorrah.

Isaiah 1:9

⁹Unless YHWH Tsevaot had left us a few survivors, we would have been like Sodom, we would have resembled Gomorrah.

Places in this verse

Approximate location. A “?” means it is not known for sure where it was.

Sodom ?
Today: disputed; perhaps south or northeast of the Dead Sea
A city of the Jordan plain; its site is not known for certain, perhaps near the Dead Sea.
Its people were very wicked (Gen 13:13). God destroyed it with fire, and saved Lot (Gen 19:24-25).
Genesis 19:24 Genesis 13:13 Genesis 18:20 Matthew 10:15

The context

28for the Lord will carry out his word on the earth, completing it and cutting it short.

29 · This verse (above)

30What then shall we say? That nations that did not pursue righteousness obtained righteousness, namely, the righteousness that is from faith;

Read all of Romans 9

To study Romans 9 in a group

1. What it says
What does Paul feel for his people, the Israelites, and what does he say about them? (vv. 1-5)
2. What it means
What does Paul's sorrow show us about how he saw his people? (vv. 1-3)
3. How I live it
Paul grieved for people he loved. How can you accompany with care and respect someone you love who sees faith differently?

How to use it