The Exegetical Challenge of Romans 9:5b

The closing doxology of Rom. 9:5, “the one being over all God blessed forever” [ὁ ὢν ἐπὶ πάντων θεὸς εὐλογητὸς εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας], has engendered “one of the most difficult questions of exegesis in the epistle.”¹ As a matter of punctuation and syntax, if the statement stands independently, it would apply to God the Father (cf. 1:25), rendered “… the Christ. God who is over all be blessed for ever” (RSV, NRSV) or “the Christ … who is over all, God blessed forever” (ASV, NASB, KJV). On the other hand, if taken as a relative clause, it would apply to Christ: “the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever” (ESV, CSB, NET, NIV, NKJV). 

Grammar and Style Vs. Theology

The first option may be challenged stylistically and grammatically in that Paul’s doxologies normally complete a preceding thought rather than standing separately (cf. 1:25; 2 Cor. 11:31). The latter option may be challenged theologically in that Paul does not typically call Jesus “God” in such explicit fashion.² However, parallel teachings and implicit allusions in the midst of the apostle’s high Christology make a strong case for the latter. 

Paul’s High Christology

In v. 33 Paul quotes Isaiah 8:14, wherein the “rock of offense” is Yahweh (God's personal name), contextually applicable to Christ (v. 5; 10:4).³ In 10:9-13, affirming the requisites of confessing “the Lord Jesus” and calling upon “the Lord,” Joel 2:32 is quoted, “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” In the original text of Joel’s prophecy, the name to be called upon is Yahweh. The Lord [Yahweh] of Joel 2 is the Lord Jesus of Romans 10.⁴ Further, in 14:10 the judgment seat is God’s, while in 2 Cor. 5:10 the judgment seat is Christ’s. 

In Rom. 14:11 Paul quotes Isaiah 45:23, where every knee shall bow to Yahweh ’ĕl[ōhīm](“the Lord God”), whereas in Phil. 2:10-11 the same OT passage is alluded to yet applied to Jesus Christ. This follows Phil. 2:6, where the pre-incarnate Christ is described as “existing in the form of God,” who “counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped” (ASV).⁵  Paul is not introducing or trying to prove or defend a new theology but is pragmatically calling for a Christlike mindset by appealing to what Christians already know and accept about Jesus.⁶

Intentional Ambiguity?

It is not improbable that the apostle is intentionally ambiguous here to prevent strict partitioning of the divine essence and losing sight of the unified working of the Godhead, seeing that ὁ κύριος (“the Lord”) is applied in Romans just as readily to God⁷ as it is to Jesus Christ,⁸ along with references that are less-than-precise (16:2, 8, 11, 12, 13, 22) or even more ambiguous (10:12; 12:11; 14:4-8). As history confirms, interpretive ambiguities force readers to think more deeply than they probably would have otherwise.⁹

Amen

The brief doxology closes with “Amen” [ἀμήν] (cf. 1:25; 11:36; 15:33; 16:27),¹⁰ an affirmation of truth, signifying “so be it” or “truly.” This Hebraic expression served as a Jewish liturgical formula (BAGD 45) spoken by the congregation at the end of a prayer, a reading of scripture, or a prophetic declaration (1 Chron. 16:36; Neh. 5:13; 8:6), adopted by Christians (cf. 1 Cor. 14:16) and by Paul in particular.¹¹

--Kevin L. Moore

Endnotes:

     ¹ C. K. Barrett, Romans 178. See also F. F. Bruce, Romans 176. 

     ² Notwithstanding scholarly debates about authorship, the so-called hymn or hymn fragment of 1 Timothy 3:16 begins with the relative pronoun ὅς (“who”) in the NA²⁸/UBS⁵ text, but θεός (“God”) in the BMT/TR, applicable to Christ Jesus (v. 13).

     ³ Cf. 1 Pet. 2:4-7. More explicitly, see Col. 1:15-19; 2:9.

     ⁴ By the second century BC, the Jews considered the name Yahweh to be so sacred that when reading the Hebrew scriptures the term adonai (“Lord”) was substituted. This practice is reflected in the LXX in that the Greek κύριος (“Lord”) is consistently used for the divine name. In fact, of the 8,000+ occurrences of κύριος in the LXX, 6,700 are in the place of Yahweh. Those in the first century AD who were familiar with the LXX and heard Jesus addressed as κύριος could surely make this connection.

     ⁵ The term “existing” is the present tense of ὑπάρχω – already in possession of and continuously existing – in the “form” of God. The word “form” is μορφή, signifying the embodiment of the divine essence. His “equality with God” was not something Jesus selfishly “grasped.” Although ἁρπαγμός is a rare term (used only here in the NT) and could refer to the act of seizing, Paul applies it to something Jesus already possesses. In order to carry out the redemptive plan, Jesus did not “take advantage of” or “retain with an eager grasp” his equal status with God. Instead, he “emptied himself” in becoming human so he could suffer death (vv. 7-8). While Jesus maintained his divine essence, he willingly took on a subordinate role.

     ⁶ J. M. Boice, Philippians 126; P. E. Harrell, Philippians 87; G. D. Fee and D. Stuart, How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth 71.

     ⁷ Rom. 4:8; 9:27-29; 10:13, 16; 11:3, 34; 12:19; 14:11; 15:11.

     ⁸ Rom. 1:4, 7; 4:24; 5:1, 11, 21; 6:23; 7:25; 8:39; 10:9; 13:14; 14:9, 14; 15:6, 30; 16:18, 20.

     ⁹ See K. L. Moore, “Interpretive Ambiguities,” Moore Perspective (30 Oct. 2019), <Link>.

     ¹⁰ With textual variation, see also 16:20, 24 (N/KJV).

     ¹¹ Outside of Romans, see Gal. 1:5; 6:18; Eph. 3:21; Phil. 4:20; 1 Tim. 1:17; 6:16; 2 Tim. 4:18; cf. 2 Cor. 1:20; even more occurrences in the Byzantine Majority Text.

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