What does 'I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy' mean (Exodus 33:19, Romans 9:15)?

Whosoever Will, The Grammar of Romans: So read what is around it in Exodus. Chapter 32: Israel has just made the golden calf. God says He will destroy them. Moses pleads. God relents. Then, in 33:19, God says He is free to be gracious to whom He will. The freedom He is declaring is the freedom to PARDON a nation that had just earned destruction. It is not the freedom to pick the damned. And the very next thing He says about Himself, 34:6, is “merciful and gracious, longsuffering.” The sentence “I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious” is a way of saying “and I will not explain myself.” It declines to give reasons. It does not say there are none. So the verse doing that much work in the argument is a verse about God pardoning people who had earned destruction. Scripture, King James Version: Exodus 33:19, "And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy."; Romans 9:15, "For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.".

Verified. Every scripture quotation on this page has been checked word-for-word against the King James text. Last reviewed 2026-10-18.