The Meaning of Romans 9:32 Explained

Romans 9:32

KJV: Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone;

YLT: wherefore? because -- not by faith, but as by works of law; for they did stumble at the stone of stumbling,

Darby: Wherefore? Because it was not on the principle of faith, but as of works. They have stumbled at the stumblingstone,

ASV: Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by works. They stumbled at the stone of stumbling;

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Wherefore?  Because  [they sought it] not  by  faith,  but  as  it were by  the works  of the law.  For  they stumbled  at that stumblingstone; 

What does Romans 9:32 Mean?

Context Summary

Romans 9:25-33 - Stumbling Over The Cornerstone
There has been a notable transference of privilege from the Jew to the Gentile believer. This is not due to fickleness on God's part, but to a fatal defect in the Hebrew people. The vessel that was marred in the potter's hand suffered not from the clumsiness of the potter, but from some inherent flaw in the clay. The Chosen People stumbled over the law of faith and rejected their Messiah. The Gentiles, on the other hand, have exercised faith in Him, and have thereby attained a justifying righteousness. There is no caprice with God, "neither shadow that is cast by turning," James 1:17. Any apparent change in His dealings is determined by our attitude toward Him.
Jesus is a stone of stumbling to the blind, but all who confide in Him and rest on Him shall not be put to shame. God has laid the foundation of our salvation deep in the waters of death and judgment. In the death of Christ He condemned sin in the flesh, and now we who are built into Him, as a stone is clamped to the foundation, shall rest secure when the last great storms sweep over land and sea. [source]

Chapter Summary: Romans 9

1  Paul is sorry for the Jews
7  All of Abraham not of the promise
18  God's sovereignty
25  The calling of the Gentiles and rejecting of the Jews, foretold
32  The cause of their stumbling

Greek Commentary for Romans 9:32

They stumbled at the stone of stumbling [προσεκοπσαν τωι λιτωι του προσκομματος]
The quotation is from Isaiah 8:14. Προσκοπτω — Proskoptō means to cut (κοπτω — koptō) against (προς — pros) as in Matthew 4:6; John 11:9. The Jews found Christ a σκανδαλον — skandalon (1 Corinthians 1:23). [source]
Not by faith [οὐκ ἐκ πίστεως]
A.V. and Rev. supply the ellipsis, they sought it not. [source]
They stumbled [προσέκοψαν]
“In their foolish course Israel thought they were advancing on a clear path, and lo! all at once there was found in this way an obstacle upon which they were broken; and this obstacle was the very Messiah whom they had so long invoked in all their prayers” (Godet). [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Romans 9:32

Romans 14:13 Stumbling-block [πρόσκομμα]
Compare Romans 9:32, Romans 9:33; Romans 14:20. Σκάνδαλον occasionof falling is also rendered stumbling-block in other passages. Some regard the two as synonymous, others as related to different results in the case of the injured brother. So Godet, who refers stumbling-block to that which results in a wound, and cause of stumbling to that which causes a fall or sin. [source]
Romans 14:13 That no man put a stumbling block in his brother‘s way or an occasion of falling [το μη τιτεναι προσκομμα τωι αδελπωι η σκανδαλον]
Articular present active infinitive of τιτημι — tithēmi in apposition with τουτο — touto accusative case after κρινατε — krinate “Judge this rather, the not putting a stumbling block (see note on Romans 9:32 for προσκομμα — proskomma) or a trap (σκανδαλον — skandalon Romans 9:33) for his brother” (αδελπωι — adelphōi dative of disadvantage). [source]
Romans 9:30 Attained [κατέλαβεν]
See on perceived, Acts 4:13, and see on taketh, Mark 9:18; see on John 1:5. Compare attained ( ἔφθασεν , Romans 9:31). Rev., arrive at. See on Matthew 12:28. The meaning is substantially the same, only the imagery in the two words differs; the former being that of laying hold of a prize, and the latter of arriving at a goal. The latter is appropriate to following after, and is carried out in stumbling (Romans 9:32). [source]
Galatians 2:16 By the works of the law [ἐξ ἔργων νόμου]
Lit. out of the works, etc. Comp. Romans 3:20. Works are characteristic of a legal dispensation. Paul often puts “works” alone as representing legal righteousness. See Romans 4:2, Romans 4:6; Romans 9:11, Romans 9:32; Romans 11:6; Ephesians 2:9. [source]
1 Peter 2:8 And [και]
Peter now quotes Isaiah 8:14 and gives a new turn to the previous quotation. To the disbelieving, Christ was indeed “a stone of stumbling (λιτος προσκομματος — lithos proskommatos) and rock of offence (πετρα σκανδαλου — petra skandalou),” quoted also by Paul in Romans 9:32. See note on Romans 9:32 for discussion. Προσκομμα — Proskomma (from προσκοπτω — proskoptō to cut against) is an obstacle against which one strikes by accident, while σκανδαλον — skandalon is a trap set to trip one, but both make one fall. Too much distinction need not be made between λιτος — lithos (a loose stone in the path) and πετρα — petra (a ledge rising out of the ground). [source]

What do the individual words in Romans 9:32 mean?

Because of why Because [it was] not by faith but as by works They stumbled over the stone - of stumbling
διὰ τί ὅτι οὐκ ἐκ πίστεως ἀλλ’ ὡς ἐξ ἔργων προσέκοψαν τῷ λίθῳ τοῦ προσκόμματος

διὰ  Because  of 
Parse: Preposition
Root: διά  
Sense: through.
τί  why 
Parse: Interrogative / Indefinite Pronoun, Accusative Neuter Singular
Root: τίς  
Sense: who, which, what.
ὅτι  Because  [it  was] 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: ὅτι  
Sense: that, because, since.
πίστεως  faith 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Feminine Singular
Root: πίστις  
Sense: conviction of the truth of anything, belief; in the NT of a conviction or belief respecting man’s relationship to God and divine things, generally with the included idea of trust and holy fervour born of faith and joined with it.
ἔργων  works 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Neuter Plural
Root: ἔργον  
Sense: business, employment, that which any one is occupied.
προσέκοψαν  They  stumbled 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Active, 3rd Person Plural
Root: προσκόπτω  
Sense: to strike against.
τῷ  over  the 
Parse: Article, Dative Masculine Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
λίθῳ  stone 
Parse: Noun, Dative Masculine Singular
Root: λίθος  
Sense: a stone.
τοῦ  - 
Parse: Article, Genitive Neuter Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
προσκόμματος  of  stumbling 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Neuter Singular
Root: πρόσκομμα  
Sense: a stumbling block.