Romans 9:4 is Paul listing the gifts God gave to the people of Israel, the descendants of Jacob, before he turns to the question of why many of them had not believed in Jesus. In plain terms, the verse says Israel was chosen and privileged in specific ways: adoption as God’s people, the visible glory of God’s presence, the covenants, the law, the temple worship, and the promises. Paul wrote this letter to the church in Rome, a mostly mixed congregation of Jewish and Gentile believers, and he speaks here with deep personal grief about his fellow Israelites.
Who are Israelites; whose is the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service, and the promises…
Romans 9:4 (WEB)
What Romans 9:4 Means
The verse begins by naming the people: Israelites. Paul is not talking about an abstract group but about his own kin, the nation descended from Jacob, whom God renamed Israel. The list that follows is a catalogue of what God had already done for them. “Adoption” points to the way God took Israel as his firstborn son (see Exodus 4:22). “Glory” most likely refers to the visible presence of God among his people, the cloud and fire of the wilderness and the Holy of Holies in the temple.
The rest of the list names the covenants God made with Abraham, Moses and David, the law given at Sinai, the temple service that structured Israel’s worship, and the promises that pointed forward to a coming king and a renewed world. What the verse does not do is promise that every person who receives these gifts will automatically be saved. Paul’s point is that the gifts were real and given freely, and that this makes Israel’s unbelief in Christ all the more sorrowful to him.
The Context of Romans 9:4
Paul wrote Romans around the middle of the first century, most likely from Corinth, and the letter lays out the gospel in full for a church he had not yet visited. Chapters 9 through 11 form a section where Paul wrestles with the apparent failure of Israel to receive the Messiah. He opens chapter 9 by swearing to the truth of his grief, even wishing he could be cut off from Christ if it would save his kinsmen. Verse 4 is the first step in a careful argument that God’s word has not failed (verse 6).
Just after the list, Paul names Christ as coming from Israel according to the flesh, and then argues that being a physical descendant of Abraham does not automatically make someone a true child of God. Read this way, the gifts of verse 4 are shown to be real but not self-guaranteeing, and the verse becomes the starting point for Paul’s explanation of God’s faithful, sovereign election.
Key Phrases in Romans 9:4
Exodus 19:5-6
5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice, and keep my covenant, then you shall be my own possession from among all peoples; for all the earth is mine; 6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.”
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God calls Israel his treasured possession at Sinai, showing the covenant relationship that Paul names in Romans 9:4 as part of Israel’s privileged status.
Romans 9:6
But it is not as though the word of God has come to nothing. For they are not all Israel, that are of Israel.
(WEB)
Paul’s next statement explains that God’s word has not failed, because being descended from Israel is not the same as belonging to God’s true people.
A Short Prayer From Romans 9:4
Father, you gave my people and my heart so many gifts, the promises, the covenants, your presence and your word. Thank you that you have never been careless with what you have given. When I think of people I love who have heard about Jesus all their lives and still stand outside his light, let my heart break for them the way Paul’s did. Give me patience to pray for them, honesty to speak truthfully, and trust that your promises are not empty. Keep me from taking my own privileges for granted, and draw everyone I love into the life you have prepared for them in Christ. Amen.