Beginning with this verse and going through verse 29, Paul introduces a series of Old Testament passages to validate what he has said in verse 24. That is, that God’s call extends both to the Jews and to the Gentiles, though neither all of the Jews nor all of the Gentiles have responded to this call.

Paul says, literally, “in Hosea,” but this is merely a Semitic way of saying in the book of Hosea. The quotation comes from the Septuagint of Hosea 2.23 with a few minor alterations. In the original context Hosea is addressing himself to the northern kingdom of Israel. Hosea has named his daughter “Without Mercy” and his son “Not-my-People” (Hosea 1.6, 9) to indicate the fallen condition of the northern tribes of Israel. Now Hosea is saying that God will show mercy to Israel and restore them, so that they will once again be his people. However, it is clear that Paul is applying this verse to the Gentiles.

In the introductory statement of verse 25 (This is what he says …), it may be necessary to specify that it is God who is speaking—for example, “this is what God says, as written in the book of Hosea” or “… as Hosea wrote.”

It is not easy to translate idiomatically an expression such as The people who were not mine, I will call “My People.” In some languages the closest equivalent may be “I will use the words My-People when I speak of people who are really not mine” or “I will give the name of My-People to those people who are not mine.”

“Her” of the Revised Standard Version is actually a feminine article in Greek; it is translated by the Good News Translation and others (New English Bible, Jerusalem Bible) as the nation. The Good News Translation also transforms a passive construction in Greek (“the [nation] that was not loved”) to an active construction: the nation that I did not love (see also Jerusalem Bible). As in the case of the first line of the quoted passage, one may also employ for this second line some such translation as “I will use the words My-Beloved when I talk about the nation that I did not love,” or “I will use the words I-Love-You when I talk about the nation that I did not love.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Romans. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1973. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .