Bible Strands
Romans 9:18
Therefore God has mercy on whom He wants to have mercy, and He hardens whom He wants to harden.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Paul addresses the Roman church, closing his argument on divine election after citing Pharaoh’s raised purpose in Romans 9:17 and before the reader’s objection in Romans 9:19.
The words — θέλει (thelei) translates “He wants” or “He wills,” and ἐλεεῖ (eleei) translates “He shows mercy,” anchoring the verse’s declaration in God’s active choice.
The thread — The pattern of divine hardening and mercy runs through Exodus 4:21 and Joshua 11:20, while Paul directly quotes the mercy clause in Romans 9:15.
Why it lands — The text states that God exercises mercy and hardening according to His own will, requiring the reader to acknowledge divine sovereignty without demanding a defense of human accountability.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.
Cross-references
- Exodus 4:21 The LORD instructed Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders that I have put within your power. But I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go.
- Joshua 11:20 For it was of the LORD to harden their hearts to engage Israel in battle, so that they would be set apart for destruction and would receive no mercy, being annihilated as the LORD had commanded Moses.
- Romans 9:15 For He says to Moses: “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”
- Romans 11:7 What then? What Israel was seeking, it failed to obtain, but the elect did. The others were hardened,
- 2 Thessalonians 2:10 and with every wicked deception directed against those who are perishing, because they refused the love of the truth that would have saved them.
- Deuteronomy 2:30 But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass through, for the LORD your God had made his spirit stubborn and his heart obstinate, that He might deliver him into your hand, as is the case this day.
- Romans 5:20 The law came in so that the trespass would increase; but where sin increased, grace increased all the more,
- Exodus 7:13 Still, Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, just as the LORD had said.
- Isaiah 63:17 Why, O LORD, do You make us stray from Your ways and harden our hearts from fearing You? Return, for the sake of Your servants, the tribes of Your heritage.
- Acts 28:26 ‘Go to this people and say, “You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.”