Romans 9:27-29
“Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved.”
King James Version
Paul cites Isaiah 10:22-23 and 1:9: though Israel be as the sand of the sea, 'a remnant shall be saved' — and except the Lord had left a seed, 'we had been as Sodoma.' Israel's story is never total apostasy nor total preservation, but always a preserved core through judgment.
Fulfillment References
Isaiah 10:22-23 Isaiah 1:9 Romans 11:5
How Traditions Read This Prophecy
Apostolic (Oneness) PentecostalThe remnant thread runs unbroken: 7,000 in Elijah's day, 120 in the upper room, and 'the remnant according to the election of grace' now — God's work never depended on the majority.
JewishShe'erit Yisrael (the remnant of Israel) is a fixture of the liturgy; survival-through-catastrophe is the empirical shape of Jewish history.
CatholicThe remnant becomes the seed of the renewed people of God — continuity, not replacement.
ProtestantPaul's remnant doctrine explains how national unbelief and covenant fidelity coexist — the promises never required every Israelite, only the elect line.
AcademicThe remnant motif (shear) structures Isaiah (Shear-jashub, 7:3); Paul's catena follows the LXX and applies the principle to the Jewish-Christian minority of his day.
Scholarship & Sources
Isaiah's remnant theology surveyed in standard OT theologies (von Rad); Paul's use in Moo (Romans, NICNT) ad loc.
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Bible Prophecy Explorer · based on J. Barton Payne’s Encyclopedia of Biblical Prophecy catalogue · an openly Apostolic (Oneness) Pentecostal study resource — all traditions presented fairly. Pastor: C. Myles Young, PhD · Bishop: Nathaniel J. Wilson, Ed.D.