Paul wrote that the Lord richly blesses all who call (ἐπικαλουμένους, a form of ἐπικαλέω) on him.¹  When he was sent by the Lord to Paul (then called Saul) Ananias said, Lord, I have heard from many people about this man, how much harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem, and here he has authority from the chief priests to imprison all who call on (ἐπικαλουμένους, a form of ἐπικαλέω) your name!²  As Paul [Saul] began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “This man is the Son of God (υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ).”  All who heard him were amazed and were saying, “Is this not the man who in Jerusalem was ravaging those who call on (ἐπικαλουμένους, a form of ἐπικαλέω) this name, and who had come here to bring them as prisoners to the chief priests?”³

For everyone who calls (ἐπικαλέσηται, another form of ἐπικαλέω) on the name of the Lord will be saved,⁴ Paul continued in Romans, quoting the same verse from the prophet Joel that Peter quoted in his first sermon on Pentecost.⁵  Then he asked a series of rhetorical questions:  How are they to call on (ἐπικαλέσωνται, another form of ἐπικαλέω) one they have not believed in (ἐπίστευσαν, a form of πιστεύω)?  And how are they to believe (πιστεύσωσιν, another form of πιστεύω) in one they have not heard of (ἤκουσαν, a form of ἀκούω)?  And how are they to hear (ἀκούσωσιν, another form of ἀκούω) without someone preaching (κηρύσσοντος, a form of κηρύσσω) to them?  And how are they to preach (κηρύξωσιν, another form of κηρύσσω) unless they are sent (ἀποσταλῶσιν, a form of ἀποστέλλω)?⁶

To put this back into temporal order: 1) The Lord sent Apostles to preach.  2) The Apostles preached to those who heard.  3) Those who heard believed.  4) Those who believed called on the name of the Lord.  5) [E]veryone who calls (ἐπικαλέσηται, another form of ἐπικαλέω) on the name of the Lord will be saved.  Then Paul capped off this section with what has always sounded to me like a eulogy of the Apostles’ feet, but the NET translators cracked the idiom and present it as a eulogy of God’s timing: How timely is the arrival of those who proclaim the good news.⁷   But I think to really grasp what Paul was wrestling with I have to add another step, his assumption that 6) all Israel will be saved, as it is written…⁸

But not all have obeyed (ὑπήκουσαν, a form of ὑπακούω) the good news,⁹ Paul continued.    To translate ὑπήκουσαν obeyed here, disrupts the obvious flow of Paul’s thought.  Paul referred back to step 3) above, And how are they to believe (πιστεύσωσιν, another form of πιστεύω) in one they have not heard of (ἤκουσαν, a form of ἀκούω)?  Here are the possible definitions of ὑπήκουσαν in the NET online Bible: “1) to listen, to harken 1a) of one who on the knock at the door comes to listen who it is, (the duty of a porter) 2) to harken to a command 2a) to obey, be obedient to, submit to.”  I think Paul deliberately equated ὑπήκουσαν with ἤκουσαν.  But not all have [listened to] the good news, for Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed (ἐπίστευσεν, another form of πιστεύω) our report (ἀκοῇ, a form of ἀκοή)?”¹⁰

Consequently faith (πίστις) comes from what is heard (ἀκοῆς, another form of ἀκοὴ), Paul continued, and what is heard (ἀκοὴ) comes through the…word (ρήματος, a form of ῥῆμα) of Christ.¹¹  I deliberately left out the word preached (preached word of Christ) because as I said elsewhere I believe that Paul meant something like what is heard comes through the word (or, utterance) of Christ (or, God).  The note (21) in the NET reads: “The genitive could be understood as either subjective (‘Christ does the speaking’) or objective (‘Christ is spoken about’), but the latter is more likely here.”  And I am contending, more likely to whom? to Paul?

Two men heard the same Gospel preached by the same Apostle.  The πόρνος believed.  The Pharisee did not.  It is common to assume that the difference was something intrinsic to the believer, some wisdom, some virtue.  After all we call the believer good and the unbeliever evil.  The good believe and are saved.  The evil do not believe and are not saved.  But Paul knew that he was not looking for Christ when he was arrested on the road to Damascus.  Christ’s salvation was what happened to him while he was busy making other plans.¹²

I don’t think Paul was looking to the human individual for a reason why some believe and some do not, but to God.  I think Paul wrote that faith comes from what is heard, the Gospel he preached, and what is heard comes through the…word of Christ, that is Christ (or God) saying something like, “hear…now.”  Perhaps this becomes clearer in the negative in the next chapter when Paul wrote about a remnant chosen by grace:¹³  The rest were hardened, as it is written, “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear, to this very day.”¹⁴

The first thing that came to my mind when I began to hear Paul that way was, “Why does [God] still find fault?  For who has ever resisted his will?”¹⁵  Of course, Paul already knew my objection and countered it in the previous chapter (Romans 9:20-23 NET):

But who indeed are you – a mere human being – to talk back to God?¹⁶  Does what is molded say to the molder, “Why have you made me like this?”¹⁶ Has the potter no right to make from the same lump of clay one vessel for special use and another for ordinary use?  But what if God, willing to demonstrate his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience the objects of wrath prepared for destruction?  And what if he is willing to make known the wealth of his glory on the objects of mercy that he has prepared beforehand for glory…

But I ask, have they not heard (ἤκουσαν, a form of ἀκούω)?¹⁷ Paul continued.  And his answer was, Yes, they have (μενοῦνγε),¹⁸ in the sense that the message has gone out and they were “endowed with the faculty of hearing;” they were “not deaf.”  Their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.¹⁹  But there are other meanings listed in the NET online Bible for ἤκουσαν:  “1) to be endowed with the faculty of hearing, not deaf 2) to hear 2b) to attend to, consider what is or has been said 2c) to understand, perceive the sense of what is said 3) to hear something 3a) to perceive by the ear what is announced in one’s presence 3b) to get by hearing learn 3c) a thing comes to one’s ears, to find out, learn 3d) to give ear to a teaching or a teacher 3e) to comprehend, to understand.”  I doubt that Paul meant definitions 2b) through 3e), with the possible exception of 3) and 3a).  What they lacked was that ρήματος Χριστοῦ (word of Christ)

But again I ask, didn’t Israel understand (ἔγνω, a form of γινώσκω)?  First Moses says, “I will make you jealous by those who are not a nation; with a senseless nation I will provoke you to anger.”  And Isaiah is even bold enough to say, “I was found by those who did not seek me; I became well known to those who did not ask for me.”²⁰  Here Paul allowed the expected negative response to his question to stand, and reinforced his first question:  Yes, they were told what to expect by Moses and Isaiah, but no, they did not understand the message.  For ignoring (ἀγνοοῦντες, a form of ἀγνοέω literally, being ignorant of) the righteousness that comes from God, and seeking instead to establish their own righteousness, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.²¹

But about Israel [Isaiah] says, Paul concluded, “All day long I held out my hands to this disobedient (ἀπειθοῦντα, a form of ἀπειθέω) and stubborn (ἀντιλέγοντα, a form of ἀντίλεγω) people!”²²  I’ll conclude this essay with the definitions from the NET online Bible.

ἀπειθοῦντα: “1) not to allow one’s self to be persuaded 1a) to refuse or withhold belief 1b) to refuse belief and obedience 2) not to comply with.”

ἀντιλέγοντα: “1) to speak against, gainsay, contradict 2) to oppose one’s self to one, decline to obey him, declare one’s self against him, refuse to have anything to do with him.”

Addendum: September 15, 2025
According to a note (6) in the NET, Paul quoted from Deuteronomy 29:4 and Isaiah 29:10 in Romans 11:8. The following tables compare the Greek of that quotation with the Septuagint.

Tables comparing Deuteronomy 29:4 (29:3) and Isaiah 29:10 in the Tanakh, KJV and NET, and comparing the Greek of Deuteronomy 29:4 (29:3) and Isaiah 29:10 in the Septuagint (BLB and Elpenor) follow.