Translation commentary on Romans 9:29

It is important to construe properly the meaning of before. This is not a reference to Isaiah’s speaking before Hosea did. It is Isaiah speaking in anticipation of the judgment.

The scripture reference in this verse comes from the Septuagint of Isaiah 1.9. Lord Almighty is translated “Lord of Hosts” in most translations. This phrase was used in the Old Testament frequently as a name for God, and originally meant “Lord of the armies,” a name which described the Lord’s strength in battle. A translation such as “Lord of Hosts” conveys nothing to the English reader, and the nearest equivalent appears to be “the Lord, the Almighty.” It may be translated as “the Lord who is all powerful,” “the Lord who has all strength,” or “the Lord who is the strongest of all.”

Some descendants in this particular context may be translated as “some persons to continue the lineage” or “some persons of our same tribe.”

In some languages it may be useful to employ a classifier with Sodom and Gomorrah—for example, “we would become like the city of Sodom; we would become like the city of Gomorrah.” In other languages it may be necessary for stylistic reasons to coalesce these into one—for example, “we would become like the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.” At this point a brief marginal note, a cross reference, or an identification of the significance of Sodom and Gomorrah in a glossary is important.

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Romans. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1973. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Romans 9:29

9:29a–c

These words are an exact quote of an ancient Greek translation (about 200 BC) of the Hebrew in Isaiah 1:9. If you indicate the location of quotes from the Old Testament with cross-references, you may want to do so here.

9:29a

The Greek of 9:29a begins with a word that is often translated as “and.” This verse supports 9:27b–c, like 9:28 supports it. So Paul used “and” here. In some language it may be more natural to omit this word and leave the connection to 9:28 implicit, as the Berean Standard Bible does.

Isaiah foretold: This clause introduces words from the Old Testament. In some languages such words are clearly shown to be from there. For example:

And as Isaiah foretold ⌊in God’s word⌋

Isaiah: If you explained in your translation that Isaiah was a prophet in 9:27, you may not need to explain it again here. For example, the Contemporary English Version does not add the words “the prophet” here.

foretold: This word indicates that Isaiah spoke about something that would happen later. The Greek tense indicates that Isaiah spoke before Paul’s time and that his words are still in effect. For example:

had said before (Good News Translation)

9:29b–c

Unless the Lord of Hosts had left us descendants, we would have become like Sodom, we would have resembled Gomorrah: The Greek grammar indicates that God had left some Israelites alive after he punished them. The unless-clause asks what might have happened if he had not left some and then answers what might have been in that case. Some languages have a special grammar or word to indicate that. For example:

The Lord of only strength did not leave off with striking us had-that-happened, we became as Sodom and Gomora had-that-happened
-or-
If the Lord Almighty did not leave us(inc) his ancestors, they would have been destroyed like the people of Sodom, and they would have died also like the people from Gomorrah

English uses Unless…had in the first part and would have become in the second part to indicate this meaning.

9:29b

the Lord of Hosts: Here the word Hosts refers to armies. God has very many angels who would fight for him. Here are other ways to translate this phrase:

the Lord of Armies (God’s Word)
-or-
the Lord of heaven’s armies

This phrase implies that God is very powerful. Some English versions like the New International Version have “Lord Almighty” here, but “Almighty” is a different word in the Hebrew.

had left us descendants: This refers to God allowing some of the children of the Israelites to live. Here are other ways to translate this phrase:

left us some descendants (Good News Translation)
-or-

If the Lord of hosts had not left us offspring (English Standard Version)
-or-
kept safe for us ⌊some of⌋ our descendants

descendants: The Greek here is literally “seed,” singular, but referring to plural seeds as a group. Some languages can use a literal translation for the correct meaning. For example:

seed

Some languages must use the plural and translate without the metaphor. See the examples above.

9:29c

we would have become like Sodom: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible literally translates as become means that Israel would have resembled Sodom. God destroyed the city of Sodom and all its people (Genesis 19:1–28). Here are other ways to translate this clause:

we would have been like Sodom (English Standard Version)
-or-
we (incl.) would be like the people in the town Sodom…, all dead

we would have resembled Gomorrah: The Greek is literally “and we would have been made like Gomorrah.” God also destroyed the city of Gomorrah and all its people (Genesis 19:1–28). Here are other ways to translate this clause:

and have been made like Gomorrah (New American Bible, Revised Edition)
-or-
and ⌊God⌋ would have made us to be like ⌊the people in⌋ ⌊the town of⌋ Gomorrah, ⌊also all dead⌋

Sodom…Gomorrah: God destroyed these two cities and all the people in them because of the great evil that they were doing. If readers of your translation are not familiar with the story in Genesis about these cities, you may want to translate literally and explain the story briefly in a footnote. Here is an example footnote:

God destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and all the people in them because of the great evil that they were doing. See Genesis 19:1–28.

Note that this is a quote, so you may not want to add implied words to it.

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Commentaire sur la traduction de la lettre aux Romains 9.29

C’est encore ce qu’avait prédit Ésaïe est litt. « et comme prédit Ésaïe ». Les différentes versions soulignent qu’il s’agit d’un nouvel exemple, C’est encore (Traduction œcuménique de la Bible), « Et comme le même Ésaïe l’avait dit auparavant » (Bible en français courant). Le verbe utilisé veut dire « prévenir », « dire auparavant » (Bible en français courant, Segond Révisée) ou « dire d’avance » (Nouvelle Bible Segond). Dans la pensée de Paul, il s’agit de la prédiction par Ésaïe d’un fait qui allait se réaliser dans l’avenir.

Encore une fois, la citation du prophète présente une affirmation en forme de condition-conséquence : Si le Seigneur… ne nous avait laissé… nous serions devenus…. La première proposition présente un fait réel, « si le Seigneur n’avait pas… », proposition qui implique que le Seigneur a, en fait, fait ceci. La deuxième proposition, nous serions devenus… ne s’est pas réalisée, autrement dit, « ils ne sont pas devenus… » Cette structure peut être reproduite dans de nombreuses langues. Dans les deux propositions, nous renvoie au peuple juif.

le Seigneur des armées rend l’expression grecque, κύριος Σαβαὼθ kurios Sabaôth, un nom de Dieu utilisé très fréquemment dans l’AT. Elle n’apparait que rarement dans le NT. Voir Jacq 5.4. Dans plusieurs versions, cette expression est rendue comme dans la Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, « Dieu, Seigneur des armées ». En effet, ce nom apparaît souvent dans des contextes militaires (1 Sam 15.2 ; 17.45). La version La Bible du Semeur propose une traduction similaire « Dieu des armées célestes ». Cependant, de nos jours, cette traduction est souvent contestée, les versions adoptant une traduction reflétant la domination de Dieu sur l’univers, ainsi : « le Seigneur de l’univers » (Bible en français courant), « le Seigneur Dieu de l’univers » (Parola del Signore), « le Seigneur, le souverain du monde » (Die Gute Nachricht), « le Seigneur tout-puissant » (Good News Bible, Dios Habla Hoy). Dans certaines langues, ce sera « le Seigneur qui est plus fort que tout » ou « le Seigneur, maître de toutes choses ».

ne nous avait laissé une descendance : le prophète affirme que Dieu leur a, en fait, laissé une descendance, utilisant encore le terme grec. σπέρμα sperma. Voir Rom 1.7. Dans la culture biblique, et chez les Juifs, avoir une descendance est extrêmement importante, ne pas en avoir un grand malheur, voir une honte. La Bible en français courant parle de « quelques descendants », peut-être en rapport avec l’idée de « reste » en Rom 9.27, mais il est important de citer le texte tel que Paul le cite ici.

nous serions devenus comme Sodome, semblables à Gomorrhe : en écoutant ou en lisant ces lignes, ceux qui connaissaient la Torah allaient reconnaître tout de suite les références à Sodome et Gomorrhe, deux villes détruites par Dieu (voir Gen 19.13-28). Si cette histoire n’est pas familière, on spécifiera « comme la ville de Sodome, comme la ville de Gomorrhe » (Parole de Vie). Nous serions devenus exprime un événement hypothétique qui ne s’est pas réalisé. C’est ce qui allait se passer si la condition de la première proposition tenait. Dans beaucoup de langues, il vaut mieux rendre explicite : « nous serions détruits » ou peut-être plus spécifiquement encore, « nous resterions sans descendance comme Sodome et Gomorrhe ».

Au lieu d’introduire la citation par un « Si » conditionnel, la Parole de Vie reformule la phrase, indiquant qu’il s’agit d’un fait, et non d’une éventualité, en disant « Le Dieu tout-puissant nous a laissé quelques enfants. Sinon, nous serions devenus comme la ville de Sodome… » Cette traduction ne rend ni la poésie ni la force de l’original. Les traducteurs devront essayer de rendre et le sens et le style et l’émotion.

Source: Margot, Jean-Claude & Zogbo, Lynell. La lettre aux Romains – Manuel de traduction – Commentaire linguistique et exégétique de la Bible. Alliance biblique universelle, 2021.