Bible Strands
Romans 9:27
Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the Israelites is like the sand of the sea, only the remnant will be saved.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Paul addresses the question of ethnic Israel's standing in God's plan, immediately following his declaration in verse 26 that Gentiles will be called sons of God. He invokes Isaiah's prophetic declaration to explain the current state of Jewish unbelief and the future hope of a preserved group.
The words — κράζει (krazei) translates literally as "cries out" or "proclaims with a loud voice," emphasizing the urgent, public nature of the prophetic announcement. ἐὰν (ean) functions as a concessive "though" or "even if," establishing the contrast between vast numerical presence and limited salvific outcome.
The thread — The remnant motif appears in Isaiah 1:9 and Isaiah 10:20, where God preserves a small surviving group of Jacob despite national judgment. Paul later echoes this pattern in Romans 11:4 by citing the seven thousand who did not bow to Baal as a present-day parallel.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that numerical identity or historical covenant status does not guarantee salvation. It requires the reader to accept divine sovereignty in preserving a chosen few while leaving the rest to their own course.
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
Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved:
Cross-references
- Isaiah 10:20 On that day the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no longer depend on him who struck them, but they will truly rely on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel.
- Romans 11:4 And what was the divine reply to him? “I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”
- Isaiah 1:9 Unless the LORD of Hosts had left us a few survivors, we would have become like Sodom, we would have resembled Gomorrah.
- Hosea 1:10 Yet the number of the Israelites will be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or counted. And it will happen that in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’
- Jeremiah 5:10 Go up through her vineyards and ravage them, but do not finish them off. Strip off her branches, for they do not belong to the LORD.
- Ezekiel 6:8 Yet I will leave a remnant, for some of you will escape the sword when you are scattered among the nations and throughout the lands.
- Isaiah 11:11 On that day the Lord will extend His hand a second time to recover the remnant of His people from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.
- Genesis 22:17 I will surely bless you, and I will multiply your descendants like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will possess the gates of their enemies.
- Isaiah 1:1 This is the vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah son of Amoz saw during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
- Micah 5:3 Therefore Israel will be abandoned until she who is in labor has given birth; then the rest of His brothers will return to the children of Israel.