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Selected Verse: Romans 9:23 - King James

Verse	Translation	Text
Ro 9:23	King James	And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,

Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse

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A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]
And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy--that "glorious exuberance of Divine mercy" which "was manifested in choosing and eternally arranging for the salvation of sinners."

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]

And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy--that "glorious exuberance of Divine mercy" which "was manifested in choosing and eternally arranging for the salvation of sinners."

Vincent's Word Studies, by Marvin R. Vincent [1886]
And that He might make known The connection is variously explained. Some make and that dependent on He endured: "If, willing to show His wrath.... God endured... and also that." Others make that dependent on fitted: "Vessels fitted to destruction and also that He might make known," etc. Godet supplies He called from Rom 9:24 : "And called that He might make known," etc. The difficulty is resolved by the omission of καὶ and. So Westcott and Hort, on the single authority of B. See Rev., in margin. His glory See on Rom 3:23. Godet thinks the phrase was suggested by Moses' request, "Show me thy glory," Exo 33:18. Afore prepared (προητοίμασεν) Only here and Eph 2:10. The studied difference in the use of this term instead of καταρτίζω to fit (Rom 9:22), cannot be overlooked. The verb is not equivalent to foreordained (προορίζω). Fitted, by the adjustment of parts, emphasizes the concurrence of all the elements of the case to the final result. Prepared is more general. In the former case the result is indicated; in the latter, the previousness. Note before prepared, while before is wanting in Rom 9:22. In this passage the direct agency of God is distinctly stated; in the other the agency is left indefinite. Here a single act is indicated; there a process. The simple verb ἑτοιμάζω often indicates, as Meyer remarks, to constitute qualitatively; i.e., to arrange with reference to the reciprocal quality of the thing prepared, and that for which it is prepared. See Luk 1:17; Joh 14:2; Co1 2:9; Ti2 2:21. "Ah, truly," says Reuss, "if the last word of the christian revelation is contained in the image of the potter and the clay, it is a bitter derision of all the deep needs and legitimate desires of a soul aspiring toward its God. This would be at once a satire of reason upon herself and the suicide of revelation. But it is neither the last word nor the only word; nor has it any immediate observable bearing on the concrete development of our lives. It is not the only word, because, in nine-tenths of Scripture, it is as wholly excluded from the sphere of revelation as though it had been never revealed at all; and it is not the last word, because, throughout the whole of Scripture, and nowhere more than in the writings of the very apostle who has faced this problem with the most heroic inflexibility, we see bright glimpses of something beyond. How little we were intended to draw logical conclusions from the metaphor, is shown by the fact that we are living souls, not dead clay; and St. Paul elsewhere recognized a power, both within and without our beings, by which, as by an omnipotent alchemy, mean vessels can become precious, and vessels of earthenware be transmuted into vessels of gold" (Farrar). See note at end of ch. 11.

Vincent's Word Studies, by Marvin R. Vincent [1886]

And that He might make known

The connection is variously explained. Some make and that dependent on He endured: "If, willing to show His wrath.... God endured... and also that." Others make that dependent on fitted: "Vessels fitted to destruction and also that He might make known," etc. Godet supplies He called from Rom 9:24 : "And called that He might make known," etc. The difficulty is resolved by the omission of καὶ and. So Westcott and Hort, on the single authority of B. See Rev., in margin.

His glory

See on Rom 3:23. Godet thinks the phrase was suggested by Moses' request, "Show me thy glory," Exo 33:18.

Afore prepared (προητοίμασεν)

Only here and Eph 2:10. The studied difference in the use of this term instead of καταρτίζω to fit (Rom 9:22), cannot be overlooked. The verb is not equivalent to foreordained (προορίζω). Fitted, by the adjustment of parts, emphasizes the concurrence of all the elements of the case to the final result. Prepared is more general. In the former case the result is indicated; in the latter, the previousness. Note before prepared, while before is wanting in Rom 9:22. In this passage the direct agency of God is distinctly stated; in the other the agency is left indefinite. Here a single act is indicated; there a process. The simple verb ἑτοιμάζω often indicates, as Meyer remarks, to constitute qualitatively; i.e., to arrange with reference to the reciprocal quality of the thing prepared, and that for which it is prepared. See Luk 1:17; Joh 14:2; Co1 2:9; Ti2 2:21. "Ah, truly," says Reuss, "if the last word of the christian revelation is contained in the image of the potter and the clay, it is a bitter derision of all the deep needs and legitimate desires of a soul aspiring toward its God. This would be at once a satire of reason upon herself and the suicide of revelation. But it is neither the last word nor the only word; nor has it any immediate observable bearing on the concrete development of our lives. It is not the only word, because, in nine-tenths of Scripture, it is as wholly excluded from the sphere of revelation as though it had been never revealed at all; and it is not the last word, because, throughout the whole of Scripture, and nowhere more than in the writings of the very apostle who has faced this problem with the most heroic inflexibility, we see bright glimpses of something beyond. How little we were intended to draw logical conclusions from the metaphor, is shown by the fact that we are living souls, not dead clay; and St. Paul elsewhere recognized a power, both within and without our beings, by which, as by an omnipotent alchemy, mean vessels can become precious, and vessels of earthenware be transmuted into vessels of gold" (Farrar). See note at end of ch. 11.

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65]
That he might make known - What if by showing such longsuffering even to "the vessels of wrath," he did the more abundantly show the greatness of his glorious goodness, wisdom, and power, on the vessels of mercy; on those whom he had himself, by his grace, prepared for glory. Is this any injustice?

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65]

That he might make known - What if by showing such longsuffering even to "the vessels of wrath," he did the more abundantly show the greatness of his glorious goodness, wisdom, and power, on the vessels of mercy; on those whom he had himself, by his grace, prepared for glory. Is this any injustice?

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826
And that he might make known - God endured with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath: 1. To show his wrath, and to make his power known. And also, 2. That he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy. Which he had afore prepared unto glory - The Jews were fitted for destruction long before; but the fittest time to destroy them was after he had prepared the believing Gentiles unto glory. For the rod of the Messiah's strength was to be sent out of Zion, Psa 110:2. The Jewish nation was to supply the first preachers of the Gospel, and from Jerusalem their sound was to go forth into all the earth. Therefore the Jewish state, notwithstanding its corruptions, was to be preserved till the Messiah came, and even till the Gospel preached by the apostles had taken deep root in the Gentile world. Another thing which rendered the time when the Jewish polity was overthrown the most proper, was this, because then the immediate occasion of it was the extensiveness of the Divine grace. They would not have the Gentiles admitted into the Church of God; but contradicted, and blasphemed, and rejected the Lord that bought them: thus, then, the extensiveness of the Divine grace occasioned their infidelity, Rom 9:33; Rom 10:3; Rom 11:11, Rom 11:12, Rom 11:15, Rom 11:28, Rom 11:30. Thus the Jews were diminished by that abundance of grace which has enriched the Gentiles. And so the grace of God was illustrated; or, so God made known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy - the apostles and primitive believers among the Jews, and the Gentile world, which received the Gospel by the preaching of the apostles and their successors.

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826

And that he might make known - God endured with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath:

1. To show his wrath, and to make his power known. And also,

2. That he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy.

Which he had afore prepared unto glory - The Jews were fitted for destruction long before; but the fittest time to destroy them was after he had prepared the believing Gentiles unto glory. For the rod of the Messiah's strength was to be sent out of Zion, Psa 110:2. The Jewish nation was to supply the first preachers of the Gospel, and from Jerusalem their sound was to go forth into all the earth. Therefore the Jewish state, notwithstanding its corruptions, was to be preserved till the Messiah came, and even till the Gospel preached by the apostles had taken deep root in the Gentile world. Another thing which rendered the time when the Jewish polity was overthrown the most proper, was this, because then the immediate occasion of it was the extensiveness of the Divine grace. They would not have the Gentiles admitted into the Church of God; but contradicted, and blasphemed, and rejected the Lord that bought them: thus, then, the extensiveness of the Divine grace occasioned their infidelity, Rom 9:33; Rom 10:3; Rom 11:11, Rom 11:12, Rom 11:15, Rom 11:28, Rom 11:30. Thus the Jews were diminished by that abundance of grace which has enriched the Gentiles. And so the grace of God was illustrated; or, so God made known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy - the apostles and primitive believers among the Jews, and the Gentile world, which received the Gospel by the preaching of the apostles and their successors.

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