QUICK FACTS:
DOES ROMANS 9:5 REALLY CALL JESUS “GOD OVER ALL”?
WHAT DID PAUL ACTUALLY MEAN?
PART ONE
INTRODUCTION
Romans 9:5 is frequently used as evidence that the apostle Paul explicitly called:
JESUS:
“GOD OVER ALL.”
Some modern translations make this interpretation appear extremely clear.
But there is a problem.
The earliest Greek manuscripts did not contain the modern punctuation that translators place into the sentence.
And punctuation can substantially affect how:
ROMANS 9:5
is understood.
So before building an important doctrine upon this verse, we should ask:
WHAT DOES THE GREEK ACTUALLY SAY?
HOW SHOULD THE SENTENCE BE PUNCTUATED?
AND:
DOES PAUL'S INTERPRETATION ELSEWHERE HELP US IDENTIFY THE:
“GOD OVER ALL”?
QUICK FACT 1 — LOOK FIRST AT ROMANS 9:5 IN THE BLB
The Berean Literal Bible reads:
“whose are the patriarchs, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, being over all, God blessed to the ages. Amen.”
— Romans 9:5, BLB
Notice the wording carefully:
“THE CHRIST ACCORDING TO THE FLESH,
BEING OVER ALL,
GOD BLESSED TO THE AGES.
AMEN.”
The difficulty is determining exactly how the final words relate to what precedes them.
QUICK FACT 2 — SOME MODERN TRANSLATIONS MAKE THE INTERPRETATION MUCH MORE EXPLICIT
Compare translations that render the passage essentially as:
THE CHRIST,
WHO IS:
GOD OVER ALL.
That punctuation and word arrangement immediately encourages the reader to conclude:
PAUL CALLED JESUS:
GOD.
But the important question is:
DID PAUL HIMSELF SUPPLY THAT MODERN PUNCTUATION?
NO.
The punctuation represents:
A TRANSLATIONAL DECISION.
Therefore we should distinguish:
THE INSPIRED GREEK WORDS
from:
THE LATER PUNCTUATION USED TO INTERPRET THOSE WORDS.
QUICK FACT 3 — ANCIENT GREEK MANUSCRIPTS DO NOT SETTLE THE QUESTION WITH A MODERN COMMA OR FULL STOP
This is the heart of the problem.
Ancient manuscripts such as:
CODEX VATICANUS
and:
CODEX SINAITICUS
do not give us Romans 9:5 with the complete modern punctuation system found in today's English Bibles.
Therefore translators must decide how the sentence should be punctuated.
And that matters enormously.
One punctuation can produce the sense:
CHRIST...
WHO IS GOD OVER ALL.
Another can separate the concluding praise so that it refers to:
GOD,
WHO IS OVER ALL,
BLESSED FOREVER.
Therefore:
PUNCTUATION
becomes part of the interpretation.
QUICK FACT 4 — PAUL TELLS US VERY CLEARLY WHO HIS “ONE GOD” IS
This is where Paul's undisputed statements become extremely important.
Paul writes:
“Yet to us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things and we for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and we through Him.”
— 1 Corinthians 8:6, BLB
Notice Paul's words:
“ONE GOD,
THE FATHER.”
Then Paul separately identifies:
“ONE LORD,
JESUS CHRIST.”
Paul does NOT say:
ONE GOD:
THE FATHER AND JESUS CHRIST.
His explicit statement is:
“ONE GOD,
THE FATHER.”
QUICK FACT 5 — PAUL ALSO TELLS US WHO IS “OVER ALL”
This is particularly important for Romans 9:5.
Paul writes:
“One God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”
— Ephesians 4:6, BLB
Who does Paul explicitly say is:
“OVER ALL”?
THE:
“ONE GOD AND FATHER OF ALL.”
Therefore compare:
ROMANS 9:5 — DISPUTED:
“GOD...
OVER ALL...”
WITH:
EPHESIANS 4:6 — CLEAR:
“ONE GOD AND FATHER OF ALL,
WHO IS OVER ALL.”
This should immediately make us cautious about claiming that Romans 9:5 unquestionably identifies:
JESUS
as:
“GOD OVER ALL.”
QUICK FACT 6 — PAUL CALLS THE FATHER THE GOD OF JESUS
Paul repeatedly writes:
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ...”
— Ephesians 1:3, BLB
Notice:
JESUS CHRIST:
HAS A GOD.
And Paul identifies Him as:
THE FATHER.
Therefore Paul's normal distinction is:
GOD:
THE FATHER.
AND:
THE LORD JESUS CHRIST:
GOD'S SON.
QUICK FACT 7 — PAUL USES VERY SIMILAR “BLESSED FOREVER” LANGUAGE FOR THE FATHER
This is one of the strongest pieces of comparative evidence.
Paul writes:
“The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, the One being blessed to the ages, knows that I am not lying.”
— 2 Corinthians 11:31, BLB
Notice:
“THE GOD AND FATHER OF THE LORD JESUS”
is:
“BLESSED TO THE AGES.”
Now compare Romans 9:5:
“GOD BLESSED TO THE AGES.
AMEN.”
The language is strikingly similar.
Therefore the concluding words of Romans 9:5 can reasonably be investigated as:
A DOXOLOGY OF PRAISE TO GOD.
QUICK FACT 8 — PAUL DOES SOMETHING SIMILAR EARLIER IN ROMANS
Romans 1:25 speaks about:
“the Creator, who is blessed to the ages. Amen.”
— Romans 1:25, BLB
Again:
THE CREATOR
↓
“BLESSED TO THE AGES”
↓
“AMEN.”
Compare:
ROMANS 1:25:
“BLESSED TO THE AGES. AMEN.”
ROMANS 9:5:
“GOD BLESSED TO THE AGES. AMEN.”
This is important Pauline evidence.
Paul unquestionably uses this kind of doxological language concerning:
GOD.
QUICK FACT 9 — THEREFORE WE SHOULD COMPARE PAUL WITH PAUL
Rather than allowing punctuation in one disputed verse to determine our theology, compare Paul's clear statements:
“ONE GOD, THE FATHER.”
— 1 Corinthians 8:6
“ONE GOD AND FATHER OF ALL, WHO IS OVER ALL.”
— Ephesians 4:6
“THE GOD AND FATHER OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST.”
— Ephesians 1:3
“THE GOD AND FATHER OF THE LORD JESUS, THE ONE BEING BLESSED TO THE AGES.”
— 2 Corinthians 11:31
And:
“THE CREATOR, WHO IS BLESSED TO THE AGES. AMEN.”
— Romans 1:25
Then return to:
ROMANS 9:5.
Does Paul suddenly contradict this pattern and identify:
JESUS
as:
“GOD OVER ALL”?
Or should the final words be understood consistently with Paul's repeated praise of:
GOD THE FATHER?
That is the real question.
QUICK FACT 10 — WE DO NOT NEED TO ACCUSE THE GREEK TEXT OF BEING WRONG
The problem is not:
THE ORIGINAL GREEK.
The question concerns:
HOW THE GREEK IS PUNCTUATED AND TRANSLATED.
That distinction is extremely important.
The Greek text should be:
EXAMINED.
The punctuation should be:
TESTED.
The translation should be:
COMPARED.
And Paul's other writings should be allowed to:
INTERPRET PAUL.
We should never build a major doctrine merely upon punctuation supplied centuries after:
THE APOSTLE PAUL.
CONTINUED IN:
PART TWO — FINAL CONCLUSION
In Part Two we will finish the investigation.
We will examine:
THE ALTERNATIVE PUNCTUATION OF ROMANS 9:5.
WHETHER “OVER ALL” MUST REFER TO JESUS.
PAUL'S OTHER DOXOLOGIES TO GOD.
THE ARGUMENT THAT THE GREEK GRAMMAR FAVOURS APPLYING “GOD” TO CHRIST.
AND:
WHETHER ROMANS 9:5 CAN HONESTLY BE CALLED PROOF THAT:
JESUS IS GOD.
Then we will reach our final conclusion.
SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES.
COMPARE THE TRANSLATIONS.
EXAMINE THE GREEK.
COMPARE PAUL WITH PAUL.
DISTINGUISH THE ORIGINAL WORDS FROM TRANSLATOR-SUPPLIED PUNCTUATION.
TEST EVERY INTERPRETATION.
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QUICK FACTS:
DOES ROMANS 9:5 REALLY CALL JESUS “GOD OVER ALL”?
WHAT DID PAUL ACTUALLY MEAN?
PART TWO — FINAL CONCLUSION
CONTINUED FROM PART ONE
QUICK FACT 11 — THE CENTRAL QUESTION IS HOW THE FINAL WORDS SHOULD BE UNDERSTOOD
Romans 9:5 in the Berean Literal Bible reads:
“whose are the patriarchs, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, being over all, God blessed to the ages. Amen.”
— Romans 9:5, BLB
The crucial words are:
“BEING OVER ALL,
GOD BLESSED TO THE AGES.
AMEN.”
The question is:
DO ALL THESE WORDS DESCRIBE CHRIST?
Or does Paul move from speaking about:
CHRIST
to giving praise to:
GOD?
This is why Romans 9:5 cannot simply be quoted without discussing:
GRAMMAR.
PUNCTUATION.
CONTEXT.
AND:
PAUL'S OTHER WRITINGS.
QUICK FACT 12 — THE ORIGINAL GREEK DID NOT CONTAIN THE MODERN ENGLISH SENTENCE STRUCTURE
The Greek words themselves are ancient.
But the modern:
COMMAS.
FULL STOPS.
CAPITAL LETTERS.
AND:
SENTENCE STRUCTURE
found in English translations were not written by:
PAUL.
Therefore when a translation presents Romans 9:5 in a way that appears to say unmistakably:
“CHRIST, WHO IS GOD OVER ALL,”
the reader should understand:
THAT WORDING REFLECTS A TRANSLATIONAL INTERPRETATION OF THE GREEK.
The translation may be defended grammatically.
But the punctuation itself should not be treated as though:
PAUL PERSONALLY PLACED IT THERE.
QUICK FACT 13 — THERE IS A REAL ARGUMENT FOR APPLYING THE WORDS TO CHRIST
To examine the verse fairly, we must acknowledge the other side.
Many scholars and translators understand the Greek construction as referring continuously to:
CHRIST.
Under this interpretation Paul is saying that Christ is:
“OVER ALL”
and:
“GOD BLESSED TO THE AGES.”
This interpretation should not simply be dismissed because it is:
TRINITARIAN.
The real question is:
DOES THE GRAMMAR REQUIRE IT?
And:
DOES IT BEST FIT PAUL'S NORMAL LANGUAGE ABOUT GOD AND CHRIST?
Those are much stronger questions.
QUICK FACT 14 — PAUL'S CLEAR STATEMENTS PROVIDE AN IMPORTANT CONTROL
When a passage is grammatically disputed, Paul's unmistakable statements deserve enormous weight.
Paul says:
“Yet to us there is one God, the Father...”
— 1 Corinthians 8:6, BLB
Paul says:
“One God and Father of all, who is over all...”
— Ephesians 4:6, BLB
Paul says:
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ...”
— Ephesians 1:3, BLB
Therefore Paul repeatedly distinguishes:
THE ONE GOD:
THE FATHER.
FROM:
JESUS CHRIST:
THE LORD.
This does not automatically settle every grammatical question in Romans 9:5.
But it provides essential context for interpreting it.
QUICK FACT 15 — “OVER ALL” IS EXPLICITLY USED BY PAUL OF THE FATHER
This deserves special emphasis.
Romans 9:5 is sometimes presented as proving Jesus is:
“GOD OVER ALL.”
But Paul explicitly says elsewhere:
“One God and Father of all, who is over all...”
— Ephesians 4:6, BLB
Here there is no uncertainty about whom Paul means.
It is:
THE ONE GOD AND FATHER.
Therefore we already know that Paul's theology contains the declaration:
THE FATHER:
IS:
“OVER ALL.”
This makes it reasonable to question whether Romans 9:5 should really be used as unquestionable proof that:
JESUS IS “GOD OVER ALL.”
QUICK FACT 16 — PAUL'S DOXOLOGIES PROVIDE ANOTHER IMPORTANT CLUE
Paul writes:
“the Creator, who is blessed to the ages. Amen.”
— Romans 1:25, BLB
And:
“The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, the One being blessed to the ages...”
— 2 Corinthians 11:31, BLB
Compare the language:
ROMANS 1:25:
“BLESSED TO THE AGES.
AMEN.”
2 CORINTHIANS 11:31:
“THE GOD AND FATHER OF THE LORD JESUS...
BLESSED TO THE AGES.”
ROMANS 9:5:
“GOD BLESSED TO THE AGES.
AMEN.”
This demonstrates an important fact:
PAUL USES THIS KIND OF DOXOLOGICAL LANGUAGE WHEN PRAISING GOD.
Therefore understanding the end of Romans 9:5 as praise directed toward:
GOD
is not foreign to Paul's writing style.
QUICK FACT 17 — JESUS BEING “OVER ALL” WOULD NOT MAKE HIM ABOVE HIS GOD AND FATHER
Even if:
“BEING OVER ALL”
is applied to:
JESUS,
we must still interpret those words within the wider New Testament.
Jesus says:
“The Father is greater than I.”
— John 14:28, BLB
Paul also teaches that God exalted Jesus.
God granted Jesus authority.
And ultimately:
“the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One having subjected all things to Him...”
— 1 Corinthians 15:28, BLB
Therefore Christ's enormous authority does not make Him:
ABOVE THE FATHER.
Jesus can be exalted:
OVER ALL CREATION
while remaining subject to:
THE GOD WHO GAVE HIM THAT AUTHORITY.
QUICK FACT 18 — JESUS' AUTHORITY IS GIVEN TO HIM
Jesus says:
“All authority in heaven and on the earth has been given to Me.”
— Matthew 28:18, BLB
Notice:
“HAS BEEN GIVEN TO ME.”
If authority was:
GIVEN
to Jesus,
then there is:
THE ONE WHO GIVES
and:
THE ONE WHO RECEIVES.
Paul likewise says:
“Therefore God also highly exalted Him...”
— Philippians 2:9, BLB
Therefore the exalted position of Christ does not require us to identify Christ as:
THE GOD WHO EXALTED HIM.
QUICK FACT 19 — PAUL NEVER PRESENTS THE FATHER AND JESUS AS THE SAME PERSON
Throughout Paul's letters we repeatedly find:
GOD OUR FATHER
AND:
THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.
For example:
“Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
— Romans 1:7, BLB
Paul distinguishes:
GOD OUR FATHER
from:
THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.
This distinction appears again and again throughout his writings.
Therefore Romans 9:5 should be interpreted within Paul's consistent distinction between:
GOD
and:
HIS SON.
QUICK FACT 20 — ROMANS 9:5 IS NOT A TRINITY STATEMENT
This is another simple but important fact.
Whatever interpretation someone gives Romans 9:5, the verse does NOT say:
GOD IS THREE PERSONS.
It does not mention:
THE FATHER, SON AND HOLY SPIRIT
as:
ONE TRIUNE GOD.
It does not say:
JESUS IS GOD THE SON.
It does not say:
JESUS IS THE SAME GOD AS THE FATHER.
Therefore even if someone interprets Romans 9:5 as applying:
“GOD”
to Christ,
there would still be additional theological steps required to establish:
THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY.
Romans 9:5 itself does not state that doctrine.
QUICK FACT 21 — WE SHOULD NOT BUILD A MAJOR DOCTRINE UPON DISPUTED PUNCTUATION
This is perhaps the most important lesson from Romans 9:5.
If the interpretation of a verse depends partly upon:
HOW A GREEK SENTENCE IS PUNCTUATED,
then that verse should not be presented as though:
NO OTHER INTERPRETATION IS POSSIBLE.
Especially when Paul gives us much clearer statements elsewhere.
Paul explicitly says:
“ONE GOD, THE FATHER.”
— 1 Corinthians 8:6
And:
“ONE GOD AND FATHER OF ALL, WHO IS OVER ALL.”
— Ephesians 4:6
These statements require no complicated punctuation argument to identify:
THE ONE GOD.
QUICK FACT 22 — SO DOES ROMANS 9:5 PROVE THAT JESUS IS “GOD OVER ALL”?
The answer is:
ROMANS 9:5 SHOULD NOT BE PRESENTED AS UNQUESTIONABLE PROOF THAT JESUS IS “GOD OVER ALL.”
The Greek sentence permits serious discussion concerning:
GRAMMAR
and:
PUNCTUATION.
And Paul's wider writings repeatedly identify:
THE FATHER
as:
THE ONE GOD.
Paul explicitly calls:
THE FATHER:
“OVER ALL.”
And Paul repeatedly uses:
“BLESSED FOREVER”
language in praise of:
GOD.
Therefore there is substantial contextual reason to consider an interpretation in which the concluding praise of Romans 9:5 refers to:
GOD.
FINAL CONCLUSION
Romans 9:5 is a perfect example of why serious Bible study requires more than simply reading:
ONE ENGLISH TRANSLATION.
We must ask:
WHAT DOES THE GREEK SAY?
WHAT PUNCTUATION HAS BEEN SUPPLIED?
WHAT OTHER TRANSLATIONS SAY?
AND:
HOW DOES PAUL USE THE SAME LANGUAGE ELSEWHERE?
Paul's clearest confession is:
“Yet to us there is one God, the Father...”
— 1 Corinthians 8:6, BLB
Paul also identifies:
“ONE GOD AND FATHER OF ALL”
as the One:
“WHO IS OVER ALL.”
— Ephesians 4:6, BLB
And Paul calls:
THE GOD AND FATHER OF THE LORD JESUS
the One:
“BLESSED TO THE AGES.”
— 2 Corinthians 11:31, BLB
Therefore we should be extremely cautious about taking the disputed punctuation and syntax of Romans 9:5 and declaring:
PAUL CLEARLY TAUGHT THAT JESUS IS:
“GOD OVER ALL.”
That conclusion is:
AN INTERPRETATION OF A DIFFICULT GREEK SENTENCE.
It is not the only evidence that must be considered.
The safest method is:
COMPARE PAUL WITH PAUL.
And Paul's repeated distinction is:
ONE GOD:
THE FATHER.
↓
ONE LORD:
JESUS CHRIST.
↓
THE FATHER:
IS OVER ALL.
↓
JESUS:
RECEIVES AUTHORITY FROM GOD.
↓
GOD:
EXALTS JESUS.
↓
AND JESUS REMAINS:
THE SON AND MESSIAH OF GOD.
Therefore Romans 9:5 should never be isolated from the much clearer testimony found throughout:
PAUL'S OWN WRITINGS.
SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES.
USE THE BEREAN LITERAL BIBLE.
COMPARE THE TRANSLATIONS.
EXAMINE THE GREEK.
DISTINGUISH THE ORIGINAL WORDS FROM LATER PUNCTUATION.
COMPARE PAUL WITH PAUL.
TEST EVERY INTERPRETATION.
FOLLOW THE BIBLICAL EVIDENCE WHEREVER IT LEADS.
END OF QUICK FACTS STUDY
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