How should we translate the first part of 9:7?

Explanation:

There are two ways to translate the clause οὐδʼ ὅτι εἰσὶν σπέρμα Ἀβραὰμ πάντες τέκνα. Paul could be saying, Not all who are children of Abraham are his seed, or, Nor because they are descendants of Abraham are they children (of God). To make a decision, we need to choose whether to take σπέρμα (seed) or τέκνα (children) in a positive sense.

Given the immediate context, we should likely take σπέρμα in a positive sense. Paul will go on to use the term two more times, and in both cases he uses it in a positive sense. First, in Romans 9:7b he uses it when he quotes from the Septuagint translation of Genesis 21:12: Through Isaac shall your descendants be named. The point is that while Abraham had many τέκνα (children), only those of Isaac are his σπέρμα (seed).

Paul goes on in Romans 9:8 to write that only the children of the promise are counted as σπέρμα (seed), again using the term in a positive sense. Of course, that Paul uses the term positively in both Romans 9:7b and Romans 9:8 suggests that he also uses it positively in Romans 9:7a. So we ought to prefer the translation, Not all who are children of Abraham are of his seed.

Counterargument:

There is a problem with this argument. Specifically, while Paul does seem to use σπέρμα (seed) positively in both Romans 9:7b and Romans 9:8, he also uses the term τέκνα (children) positively. For in Romans 9:8 Paul writes that the τέκνα of promise are counted as offspring. Here, the term is used positively to refer to the children of Isaac who are the children of promise. Of course, if τέκνα is used positively in Romans 9:8 it should also be used positively in Romans 9:7a, so we should prefer the translation, Not because they are descendants of Abraham are they children (of God).

Response to counterargument:

According to this counterargument, since τέκνα (children) is taken positively in Romans 9:8, we ought to take it positively in Romans 9:7a. Of course, we have argued that because σπέρμα (seed) is taken positively in both Romans 9:7b and Romans 9:8, σπέρμα should be taken positively. So we seem to be at an impasse, but this impasse can be broken. For when we consider Romans 9:7 in light of Romans 9:6, there is a parallelism between all of the children (Romans 9:7) and all who are from Israel.⁴ That is, just as not all who are from Israel are Israel, so not all who are of the children of Abraham are his σπέρμα. Of course, this parallelism suggests that we take τέκνα (children) in a negative sense, lending further support to taking σπέρμα (“seed’) in a positive sense. So Paul is saying, Not all who children of Abraham are his seed.

Explanation:

We know from other passages that Paul uses the term σπέρμα in a theologically significant sense. For example, in Romans 4:13 Paul writes that the promise to Abraham and his σπέρμα (seed) to inherit the world is through faith. Likewise in Romans 4:16 Paul writes that the promise to Abraham’s σπέρμα (seed) rests on grace. Likewise, in Galatians 3:16 Paul explains to the Galatians that the promise to Abraham’s σπέρμα (seed) was actually a promise to Jesus Christ.⁵ Given the theological significance of the term σπέρμα (seed) and it is likely that Paul uses it in a theologically significant sense in Romans 9:7a. That is, likely he uses it to refer to the children of promise. So we should translate Romans 9:7a as, Not all who are children of Abraham are his seed.

Counterargument:

While Paul sometimes uses the term σπέρμα (seed) with some theological significance, he also uses it in a neutral sense to denote natural descent.⁶ We find this usage in Romans 11:1 when Paul refers to himself as a descendant (σπέρμα) of Abraham. In this context, Paul simply means that he was naturally descended in a neutral sense from the line of Abraham. Paul does something similar in 2 Corinthians 11:22 when he refers to himself as descended (σπέρμα) from Abraham in the sense of being an ethnic Hebrew. So Paul uses the term σπέρμα in both a theologically significant and neutral sense, which means we cannot decide on his meaning in Romans 9:7 simply based on his use of σπέρμα.

Response to counterargument:

While it is true that Paul sometimes uses σπέρμα (seed) in a neutral sense, the point here is that he also uses it in a theologically significant sense, so we ought to consider if he has such a theologically significant sense in mind in Romans 9:7a. Of course, given the immediate context, he likely does use σπέρμα (seed) in a theologically significant sense in Romans 9:8, for he has in mind the children of promise through Isaac (Romans 9:7b; Romans 9:8), which is the same theologically significant use of σπέρμα we find in Romans 4:13, Romans 4:16, and Galatians 3:16. Thus, given that Paul sometimes uses σπέρμα (seed) to refer to the children of promise elsewhere, and that this is his usage in Romans 9:7b and Romans 9:8, he likely uses it to refer to the children of promise in Romans 9:7a. This means we should translate Romans 9:7a as not all who are children of Abraham are his seed.

One weakness of this view is that on the face of it, the word order of Romans 9:7a prefers the translation nor because those descended of Abraham are all children. Still, since word order can be flexible in Greek, the translation not all who are children of Abraham are his seed is grammatically acceptable.

Explanation:

We ought to translate Romans 9:7a as, Nor because they are descendants of Abraham are all children (of God). In other words, Paul is saying that although one is from the seed of Abraham, this does not mean that one is a child of God. We can detect that we should take Paul this way because there is a parallelism between Romans 9:7 and Romans 9:8. Specifically, in Romans 9:8 Paul will explain that the children of the flesh are not the children of God; rather, it is the children of promise who are.⁷ In other words, there is a parallelism between Paul’s mention of all the children in Romans 9:7 and his mention of the children of promise in Romans 9:8. Just because they are Abraham’s descendants does not mean that are all God’s children, for it is not the children of flesh but the children of the promise who are God’s children.

Counterargument:

This view does not establish a parallelism between Romans 9:7 and Romans 9:8 that allows us to determine that τέκνα (children) refers to the children of promise, while σπέρμα (seed) refers to Abraham’s descendants. For Paul not only uses the term τέκνα to refer to the children of God in Romans 7:8, but he also uses it to refer to the children of the flesh. Thus, the parallelism may be between not τέκνα in Romans 9:7 and children of God, but τέκνα and children of the flesh. In this case, Paul is saying that not all children of Abraham are of his seed, because the children of the flesh are not necessarily the children of God. Unfortunately, the parallelism cannot help us decide between these.

Explanation:

It was commonly acknowledged by the Jews that not all of Abraham’s seed were God’s children. For we know that Ishmael was of the seed of Abraham, but no Jew would have considered his line to have the same status with God as Israel.⁸ Thus, it is easy to see that Paul is saying not all who are of the seed of Abraham are God’s children. Rather, God’s children are those of the promise.

Counterargument:

Unfortunately, this argument does not help us choose between alternative translations. That is, this argument does not help us decide whether we should translate Romans 9:7 as, Nor because they are descended of Abraham are all children (of God) as opposed to, Not all who are descended of Abraham are his seed. That is because this argument is consistent with both translations. In the first case, Paul is saying that just because some are of Abraham’s seed does not mean they are children of promise. In the second case, Paul says not all of Abraham’s children are his seed, as in, children of promise.

One weakness of this view is that it is grammatically awkward. For according to this view Paul says, Nor because those descended of Abraham are all children. That the term πάντες (all) modifies τέκνα (children) makes this an awkward construction. For if Paul wants us to take τέκνα (children) as the narrow positive category, we expect πάντες to modify σπέρμα (seed), so he would say,, Not because all who are descended of Abraham are children.