What Does Romans 9:22 Mean in the King James?
What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The verse holds God’s wrath and destruction beside his long restraint, showing power in what he bears as well as in what he judges.
THE MEANING
God’s wrath and power are real, and the verse also names his prolonged bearing with the vessels described as fitted for destruction. It leaves the tension between restraint and destruction unresolved; it does not say who fitted them or when the destruction comes.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the belief that divine anger must mean immediate destruction: it names wrath and prolonged restraint in the same breath.
THE ROOT
μακροθυμίᾳ
makrothymia
GROWS FROM
μακρο- + θυμός (makro- + thymos)
Long + heat or anger: slow to heat.
“Longsuffering” carries the image of heat held back over time. The verse places this slowness beside wrath, so restraint is not the absence of anger; it is what God’s anger does while he bears with those described as headed for destruction.
ALSO GROWS
makrothymos: Slow to heat; patient.
μακρόθυμος
This related form makes the verse’s prolonged restraint audible in the word itself.
makrothymeō: To remain slow to heat over time.
μακροθυμέω
This verb carries the same quality into action: bearing with someone rather than acting in haste.
THE PATTERN
God’s patience stretches judgment into a long interval without erasing its reality.
The LORD is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation.Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.THE THREAD
Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?“Longsuffering” in both verses comes from μακροθυμία (makrothymia), “slowness to heat.” Romans 2:4 shows that this restraint is part of God’s goodness, making room for turning while Romans 9:22 leaves the outcome of the vessels of wrath in view.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us