Albert Barnes Commentary Romans 9:29

"And, as Isaiah hath said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, We had become as Sodom, and had been made like unto Gomorrah." — Romans 9:29 (ASV)

And as Isaiah said (Isaiah 1:9).

Before. The apostle had just cited one prediction from the tenth chapter of Isaiah. He now says that Isaiah had affirmed the same thing in a previous part of his prophecy.

Except the Lord of Sabaoth. In Isaiah, this is "the Lord of Hosts." The word Sabaoth is the Hebrew word rendered hosts. It properly denotes armies or military hosts organized for war. Hence it denotes the hosts of heaven, and means:

1. The angels, who are represented as marshalled or arranged into military orders (Ephesians 1:21; Ephesians 3:10; Ephesians 6:12; Colossians 1:16; Colossians 2:15; Jude 1:6). An example is found in 1 Kings 22:19: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him (Psalms 148:2).
2. The stars (Jeremiah 33:22, As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, etc.; Isaiah 40:26; Deuteronomy 4:19, etc.). God is called the Lord of hosts, as being at the head of all these armies—their King and their Commander. It is a phrase properly expressive of his majesty and power, and is appropriately introduced here, as the act of saving "the seed" was a signal act of power in the midst of great surrounding wickedness.

Had left. This means God had preserved, or kept them from destruction. Their preservation is here ascribed to God, and it is affirmed that if God had not intervened, the whole nation would have been cut off. This fully establishes the apostle's doctrine that God might reject the Jews and extend the blessings to the Gentiles.

A seed. The Hebrew in Isaiah means one surviving or escaping, corresponding with the word remnant. The word seed commonly means descendants or posterity in the Scriptures. In this place, it means a part, a small portion, a remnant—like the small portion of the harvest which is reserved for sowing.

We had been as Sodoma. The nation was so wicked that unless God had preserved a small number who were pious from the general corruption of the people, they would have been swept away by judgment, like Sodom and Gomorrah. We are told that ten righteous men would have saved Sodom (Genesis 18:32). Among the Israelites, in a time of great general depravity, a small number of holy men were found who preserved the nation. The apostle's design here was the same as in the previous verses: to show that it was settled in Jewish history that God might reject the people and exclude them from enjoying the special privileges of his friends. It is true that in Isaiah, he refers to the temporal punishment of the Jews. But it settles a great principle for which Paul was contending: that God might reject the nation consistently with his promises and his plans. We may learn here:

1. That the existence of religion among a people is owing to the love of God: Except the Lord had left us, etc.
2. It is owing to his mercy that any men are kept from sin, and any nation from destruction.
3. We see the value of religion and of pious men in a nation. Ten such would have saved Sodom, and a few such saved Judea .
4. God has a right to withdraw his mercies from any other people, however exalted their privileges, and leave them to ruin; and we should not be arrogant, but fear (Romans 10:20).