Quick Facts: Does Romans 9:5 Really Call Jesus “God Over All”? What Did Paul Actually Mean?

 

A detailed Quick Facts Bible study image examining Romans 9:5 and the disputed phrase “God over all.” The study compares different ways the Greek sentence can be understood and examines Paul’s statements in 1 Corinthians 8:6, Ephesians 4:6, Ephesians 1:3, 2 Corinthians 11:31 and Romans 1:25 using the Berean Literal Bible.

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.

FOLLOW THE BIBLICAL EVIDENCE WHEREVER IT LEADS. 

What Did Isaiah See? A Bible Study of Isaiah 6:1 and John 12:41

 

What did Isaiah really see? A careful Bible study of Isaiah 6:1 and John 12:41 comparing Yahweh’s throne vision with Isaiah’s prophecies concerning the coming Messiah.

QUICK FACTS:

ISAIAH 6:1 AND JOHN 12:41
DID ISAIAH REALLY SEE JESUS AS YAHWEH GOD?

A CAREFUL EXAMINATION OF ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT TRINITARIAN PROOF TEXTS

INTRODUCTION

John 12:41 is frequently presented as powerful evidence that Jesus is Yahweh, the God whom Isaiah saw upon the throne in Isaiah 6.

The argument is usually very simple:

ISAIAH SAW YAHWEH.

↓

JOHN SAYS ISAIAH SAW “HIS GLORY.”

↓

THE CONTEXT IN JOHN CONCERNS JESUS.

↓

THEREFORE:

ISAIAH SAW JESUS.

↓

THEREFORE:

JESUS IS YAHWEH.

At first sight this can appear to be a powerful argument.

But is that actually what John is teaching?

Does John explicitly say:

JESUS IS YAHWEH?

Does he say:

THE PERSON ISAIAH SAW SITTING ON THE THRONE WAS JESUS CHRIST?

Or is John connecting Isaiah's prophetic visions and words with:

THE GLORY OF THE COMING MESSIAH

and:

THE REJECTION OF THE MESSIAH?

To answer this properly, we cannot isolate:

JOHN 12:41.

We must examine:

ISAIAH 6.

ISAIAH 53.

JOHN 12:37–41.

ISAIAH'S TEACHING ABOUT YAHWEH.

ISAIAH'S TEACHING ABOUT THE SERVANT.

AND:

THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN GOD AND HIS MESSIAH.

QUICK FACT 1 — ISAIAH 6 DESCRIBES A VISION OF THE LORD

Isaiah writes:

“In the year of the death of King Uzziah, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up...”

— Isaiah 6:1

Then the seraphim proclaim:

“Holy, holy, holy, is LORD of Hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory.”

— Isaiah 6:3

The Hebrew text identifies the one being praised as:

YHWH OF HOSTS.

Therefore there is no dispute that Isaiah 6 concerns:

THE GLORY OF YAHWEH.

The real question is:

DOES JOHN 12:41 IDENTIFY JESUS HIMSELF AS THIS YAHWEH?

QUICK FACT 2 — ISAIAH CONSISTENTLY DESCRIBES YAHWEH AS THE ONE GOD

Before deciding that Isaiah's God is actually Jesus, we should first ask:

HOW DOES ISAIAH HIMSELF DESCRIBE GOD?

Isaiah says:

“O LORD our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone are the LORD.”

— Isaiah 37:20

Notice:

“YOU ALONE ARE THE LORD.”

Isaiah repeatedly uses this kind of exclusive language concerning Yahweh.

QUICK FACT 3 — ISAIAH SAYS THERE IS NO GOD BESIDES YAHWEH

Isaiah records Yahweh saying:

“I am the LORD, and there is no other; besides Me there is no God.”

— Isaiah 45:5

Again:

“I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me.”

— Isaiah 46:9

Again:

“Is there a God besides Me? There is no Rock; I know not any.”

— Isaiah 44:8

Whatever theological interpretation we eventually adopt, Isaiah's language is unmistakably:

MONOTHEISTIC.

There is:

ONE GOD.

NO OTHER GOD BESIDES HIM.

QUICK FACT 4 — ISAIAH CALLS YAHWEH “YOUR HOLY ONE”

Isaiah records:

“I am the LORD, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King.”

— Isaiah 43:15

Notice the singular language:

“I.”

“YOUR HOLY ONE.”

“YOUR KING.”

Throughout Isaiah, Yahweh speaks as:

THE ONE GOD OF ISRAEL.

Therefore if someone claims Isaiah teaches that the Messiah is this same God, that conclusion needs to be demonstrated from the text rather than assumed.

QUICK FACT 5 — ISAIAH ALSO SPEAKS OF A SERVANT CHOSEN BY GOD

Now something extremely important happens.

Isaiah does not merely speak about:

YAHWEH.

He also speaks about:

YAHWEH'S SERVANT.

God says:

“Behold My Servant, whom I uphold, My Chosen One in whom My soul delights. I have put My Spirit upon Him...”

— Isaiah 42:1

Notice the distinction:

GOD:

SPEAKS.

↓

GOD HAS:

A SERVANT.

↓

GOD:

CHOSES HIM.

↓

GOD:

DELIGHTS IN HIM.

↓

GOD PUTS:

HIS SPIRIT UPON HIM.

The most natural reading presents:

THE ONE WHO SENDS

and:

THE ONE WHO IS SENT

as distinguishable.

QUICK FACT 6 — ISAIAH 53 ALSO DISTINGUISHES YAHWEH FROM THE SUFFERING SERVANT

This distinction becomes even clearer in:

ISAIAH 53.

We read:

“the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”

— Isaiah 53:6

Notice:

YAHWEH:

LAYS THE INIQUITY

ON:

THE SERVANT.

Then Isaiah describes the servant as:

“stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.”

— Isaiah 53:4

Again we have:

GOD

and:

THE SUFFERING SERVANT.

This distinction is central to Isaiah's prophecy.

QUICK FACT 7 — THE SERVANT IS THE ONE WHO SUFFERS AND DIES

Isaiah says the servant was:

“pierced for our transgressions.”

— Isaiah 53:5

He was:

“cut off out of the land of the living.”

— Isaiah 53:8

And:

“poured out His soul to death.”

— Isaiah 53:12

The New Testament applies this suffering-servant prophecy to:

JESUS CHRIST.

Therefore Isaiah gives us a powerful prophetic pattern:

YAHWEH:

THE GOD WHO PURPOSES SALVATION.

↓

THE SERVANT:

THE ONE THROUGH WHOM GOD'S SAVING PURPOSE IS ACCOMPLISHED.

QUICK FACT 8 — JESUS HIMSELF DESCRIBES HIS MISSION AS DOING THE WILL OF THE ONE WHO SENT HIM

Jesus says:

“For I have come down from heaven, not that I should do My will, but the will of the One having sent Me.”— John 6:38, BLB

Notice:

JESUS HAS:

A WILL.

↓

THE ONE WHO SENT HIM HAS:

A WILL.

↓

JESUS CAME TO DO:

THE WILL OF THE ONE WHO SENT HIM.

This fits naturally with Isaiah's distinction between:

GOD

and:

HIS SERVANT.

QUICK FACT 9 — JOHN 12 QUOTES TWO DIFFERENT PASSAGES FROM ISAIAH

Now we come to the crucial evidence.

John writes:

“Though He had done so many signs before them, they still were not believing in Him.”

— John 12:37

Then John quotes Isaiah:

“Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”

— John 12:38

This quotation comes from:

ISAIAH 53:1.

That is extremely important.

John is explicitly connecting the unbelief surrounding Jesus with:

ISAIAH'S SUFFERING-SERVANT PROPHECY.

But John then gives another Isaiah quotation:

“He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart...”

— John 12:40

This comes from:

ISAIAH 6:10.

Therefore John deliberately brings together:

ISAIAH 53

and:

ISAIAH 6.

Any serious interpretation of John 12:41 must acknowledge:

BOTH PASSAGES.

QUICK FACT 10 — JOHN THEN SAYS ISAIAH “SAW HIS GLORY”

John concludes:

“Isaiah said these things because he saw His glory and spoke concerning Him.”

— John 12:41, BLB

This is the central verse.

The Trinitarian argument is:

“HIS”

refers to:

JESUS.

Therefore:

ISAIAH SAW JESUS' GLORY.

And because Isaiah 6 describes:

YAHWEH'S GLORY,

the conclusion is:

JESUS IS YAHWEH.

But there is an important question:

DOES SEEING THE GLORY OF THE MESSIAH IN PROPHETIC VISION NECESSARILY MEAN THAT THE MESSIAH IS IDENTICAL TO YAHWEH?

That conclusion does not automatically follow.

QUICK FACT 11 — PROPHETS COULD “SEE” FUTURE MESSIANIC EVENTS

Jesus says something remarkable concerning Abraham:

“Abraham your father rejoiced that he should see My day; and he saw it and rejoiced.”

— John 8:56, BLB

Abraham:

“SAW”

CHRIST'S DAY.

But this does not mean Abraham literally saw Jesus physically standing before him during Jesus' earthly ministry.

The language concerns:

PROPHETIC PERCEPTION

of a future reality.

Likewise Isaiah could:

SEE CHRIST'S GLORY

and:

SPEAK ABOUT CHRIST

through prophecy without this automatically meaning:

ISAIAH BELIEVED JESUS WAS YAHWEH.

QUICK FACT 12 — JESUS HIMSELF SAYS THE PROPHETS SPOKE ABOUT HIM

After His resurrection Jesus says:

“Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?”

— Luke 24:26, BLB

Then:

“having begun from Moses and from all the Prophets, He interpreted to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.”

— Luke 24:27, BLB

Notice the connection:

THE PROPHETS:

SPOKE ABOUT CHRIST.

↓

CHRIST:

SUFFERS.

↓

CHRIST:

ENTERS INTO HIS GLORY.

Therefore John saying Isaiah:

“SAW HIS GLORY AND SPOKE CONCERNING HIM”

can naturally be understood within the broader New Testament teaching that:

ISAIAH PROPHETICALLY SAW AND SPOKE ABOUT THE MESSIAH.

QUICK FACT 13 — JOHN 12:41 DOES NOT CONTAIN THE SENTENCE “JESUS IS YAHWEH”

This simple fact matters.

John does not write:

ISAIAH SAW JESUS BECAUSE JESUS IS YAHWEH.

He does not write:

THE LORD SITTING UPON THE THRONE IN ISAIAH 6:1 WAS JESUS.

He writes:

“ISAIAH SAID THESE THINGS BECAUSE HE SAW HIS GLORY AND SPOKE CONCERNING HIM.”

Therefore:

JESUS IS YAHWEH

is:

AN INTERPRETIVE CONCLUSION

drawn from the passage.

It is not:

AN EXPLICIT STATEMENT MADE BY JOHN.

CONTINUED IN:

PART TWO

In Part Two we will examine the strongest challenge to this interpretation:

IF JOHN 12:40 DIRECTLY QUOTES ISAIAH 6:10, DOES “HIS GLORY” IN JOHN 12:41 REFER BACK TO ISAIAH'S VISION OF YAHWEH?

We will examine:

ISAIAH 6:1–10.

JOHN 12:37–41.

ISAIAH 53:1.

THE TWO ISAIAH QUOTATIONS JOHN PLACES TOGETHER.

THE GLORY OF GOD.

THE GLORY OF THE MESSIAH.

AND:

WHETHER SHARING OR REVEALING GOD'S GLORY MAKES JESUS THE SAME BEING AS GOD.

Then we will compare this with the many passages describing Jesus as:

AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD.

The central question remains:

DID JOHN REALLY IDENTIFY JESUS AS YAHWEH—

OR:

DID ISAIAH PROPHETICALLY SEE THE GLORY OF GOD'S COMING MESSIAH?

SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES.

COMPARE THE TRANSLATIONS.

EXAMINE THE ORIGINAL CONTEXT.

TEST EVERY INTERPRETATION.

FOLLOW THE BIBLICAL EVIDENCE WHEREVER IT LEADS.