Romans 9:4

the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory and the covenants; theirs the giving of the law, the temple worship, and the promises.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Paul writes to a mixed congregation in Rome, mid-lament (v. 3), cataloguing Israel's concrete privileges before turning to the problem of unbelief.

The words — υἱοθεσία (huiothesia) is a legal term for adoption, not biological sonship; it carries the sense of a formal, divinely enacted transfer of status.

The thread — The covenant language echoes Genesis 17:2, the giving of the law is tied to Jacob in Psalms 147:19, and Ephesians 2:12 frames these same privileges as what Gentiles were once excluded from.

Why it lands — Paul lists institutional, tangible realities rather than abstract blessings, so the reader must reckon with the weight of what Israel held before he explains why possession did not guarantee acceptance of Christ.

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

Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises;

Cross-references

Ephesians 2:12 remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.
Psalms 147:19 He declares His word to Jacob, His statutes and judgments to Israel.
Genesis 17:2 I will establish My covenant between Me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly.”
Romans 9:6 It is not as though God’s word has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.
Deuteronomy 7:6 For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for His prized possession out of all peoples on the face of the earth.
Acts 2:39 This promise belongs to you and your children and to all who are far off—to all whom the Lord our God will call to Himself.”
Exodus 4:22 Then tell Pharaoh that this is what the LORD says: ‘Israel is My firstborn son,
Hebrews 9:1 Now the first covenant had regulations for worship and also an earthly sanctuary.
1 Kings 8:11 so that the priests could not stand there to minister because of the cloud. For the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD.
Psalms 89:3 You said, “I have made a covenant with My chosen one, I have sworn to David My servant: