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These nine translations say that the Fathers/patriarchs are grouped together with Jesus who is over all, meaning the
head of the Church (Eph 1:22, 5:23, Col 1:18). God blessed them all.
Or they could be read that the Fathers/Patriarchs and the Christ according to his flesh is linked to the prior statement
regarding the Israelites. God is over all and blessed forever (Eph 4:6.)
Summary:
Based on twenty one different translations the bible is divided on the meaning of Romans 9:5.
The first group of nine translations say that the Fathers/patriarchs are grouped together with Jesus who is over all, or
the head of the Church (Eph 1:22, 5:23, Col 1:18). And that God blessed them all.
The second group of ten translations say "the Christ, who is God over all" or something very similar. The NIRV and
the NLT are extremely to the point that Jesus is God.
The third group of two can be read in two ways, the first that Jesus' ancestry is God, and the other that Jesus is God.
Because of the very different ways the different translators have interpreted and presented the passage, we really have
to find our understanding in the context or look elsewhere for our doctrine on this subject.
In the book of Romans alone, Paul uses the term sarx/flesh on twenty six occasions in his efforts to tell the people of
the difficulties in pleasing God because of their fleshly desires being in opposition to their spiritual desires. Thirteen
of those times are in chapter eight and three in chapter nine. He is also reminding them of their heritage to the
Patriarchs and their brother Paul who is talking to them and their brother Jesus Christ who has an even higher
standing than they do.
Vs9 Paul begins to explain, with three Old Testament illustrations, the part of the promise he is referring to. This time
referring to Sarah giving birth in her old age.
Vs10-14 Explains God's decision for the yet unborn children of Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Esau.
Vs15-18 Further explanation, including Pharoah, on why God can chose who He wants to chose
Summary:
As is often the case, it is the context that gives us the answer to our dilemma. The entire point of this passage is to
explain to the Jews why Jesus who had descended directly from Abraham, therefore all the way to Adam and to God,
was not here only for the Jews but for the Gentiles. Paul's anguish was because the Jews had rejected the gospel of
Christ, even though Christ was a direct descendent of Abraham.
If we try to understand vs5 to say that Jesus is God, it is completely out of context and has nothing to do with the
flow of the passage. It would disrupt what Paul is relaying to his readers. And for Paul to call Christ "God blessed
forever" makes no sense.
2/ The Fathers are tied together with Christ because he is over all as their head, or leader, the head of the
Church.
Part 3 Romans 1:3 Tells us that Jesus, in the flesh or his ancestry, had descended from the line of David. This
meant his other ancestors included Abraham and Isaac and therefore Adam and God.
Romans 4:1 Abraham was, according to the flesh, Paul's ancestor
This is supporting evidence for Romans 9:5 showing that although Jesus' did not have a human father, his
mother and Joseph were descended from the line of the patriarchs.
In the book of Romans alone, Paul uses the term sarx/flesh on twenty six occasions in his efforts to tell the
people of the difficulties in pleasing God because of their fleshly desires being in opposition to their
spiritual desires. Thirteen of those times are in chapter eight and three in chapter nine. He is also reminding
them of their heritage to the Patriarchs and their brother Paul who is talking to them and their
brother Jesus Christ
who has an even higher standing than they do.
Part 4 It is the context that gives us the answer to our dilemma. The entire point of this passage is to explain to the
Jews why Jesus who had descended directly from Abraham, therefore all the way to Adam and to God, was not
here only for the Jews but for the Gentiles. Paul's anguish was because the Jews had
rejected the gospel of
Christ, even though Christ was a direct descendent of Abraham.
If we try to understand vs5 to say that Jesus is God, it is completely out of context and has nothing to do with
the flow of the passage. It would disrupt what Paul is relaying to his readers. And for Paul to call Christ "God blessed
forever" makes no sense.
Part 5 If you believe that Romans 9:5 says Jesus is God according to the flesh, then it is in direct contradiction to
those that say Jesus is God only in his divine nature.
Final Conclusion:
Despite the fact that the translators were/are very divided on how they interpret vs5, we can see from looking at the
Greek text that the words "fathers" and "Christ" are directly linked together and whatever the rest of the verse means
it is in reference to both the "fathers" and the "Christ."
In addition to the Greek text, we know from the context and the flow of Paul's writings that he was discussing those
directly descended from God through lineage, and this included Christ. After just saying that Christ came from the
line of the Patriarchs, something about which the Jews were suspicious, a eulogy to the Father would assure the Jews
that there was no idolatry or false elevation of Christ intended, but that he was part of the great blessing of God.
Christian doctrine should not depend on ambiguous points of language about which many could not reasonably be
asked to make a judgment and experts disagree.
Because of these points, and at the least this verse is ambiguous, nothing in Romans 9:5 says that Christ is God