Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Romans 9:12

"it was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger." — Romans 9:12 (ASV)

“Not only that” (v.10). Something more needs to be said, for any Jew could point out that the nation of Israel looked back to their origin in Isaac rather than in Ishmael. It was only natural that the son of Sarah should be chosen rather than the son of Hagar the bondwoman. So Paul feels impelled to cite the case of the twin brothers, both of them sons of Isaac and Rebekah. According to ordinary human expectation, they should stand on equal terms before God in his dealings with them. But it was not so. Natural generation from Isaac, the promised seed of Abraham, did not assure them of the same place in God’s plan. God made a distinction between them before they were born—before their characters had been shaped or any deeds had been performed that might form a basis for evaluation. The freedom and sovereignty of God were thus safeguarded. He deliberately disturbed the normal pattern of the culture into which the children were born by decreeing that the elder should serve the younger.

By quoting Mal 1:2–3 here, Paul lifts the discussion from what might appear to be a purely personal one to the plane of corporate, national life. God’s love for Jacob and his hatred for Esau should not be construed as temperamental. Malachi is appealing to the course of history as fulfilling the purpose of God declared long before. Hatred in the ordinary sense will not fit the situation, since God bestowed many blessings on Esau and his descendants. The “hatred” is simply a way of saying that Esau was not the object of God’s electing purpose (cf. the use of “hate” in Lk 14:26). The value of using these two brothers is to make clear that in election God does not wait until individuals or nations are developed and then make a choice on the basis of character or achievement. If he did so, this would make a mockery of the concept of election, because it would locate the basis in a human being rather than in God. God’s love for Jacob, then, must be coupled with election rather than explained by some worthiness found in him (cf. Dt 7:6–8).