Romans 9:8

This means ¹  it is not the children of the flesh ²  who are the children of God; rather, the children of promise are counted as descendants.

In other words, it is not the natural children who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring.

That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants.

This means that Abraham’s physical descendants are not necessarily children of God. It is the children of the promise who are considered to be Abraham’s children.

That means that Israelite identity was never racially determined by sexual transmission, but it was [God] -determined by promise.

That is, it is not the children of the flesh, but the children of God’s undertaking, who are named as the seed.

This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as descendants.

That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed.

This means ¹  it is not the children of the flesh ²  who are the children of God; rather, the children of promise are counted as descendants.

¹ tn Grk “That is,” or “That is to say.”

² tn Because it forms the counterpoint to “the children of promise” the expression “children of the flesh” has been retained in the translation.

sn The expression the children of the flesh refers to the natural offspring.