Commenting
on the weak patristic evidence that interpreted the Father was the referent of θεος in Rom 9:5 and not Jesus, Bruce
Metzger noted:
Relatively few patristic writers took the
words ο ων κ.τ.λ. as
referring to God the Father. Among the orthodox Greek Fathers one can mention
only Diodore of Tarsus (In Cranmer’s Catenae
in Sancti Pauli Epistolam ad Romanos [Oxford, 1844], p. 162, lines 25-27)
and Photius (Contra Manichaeos iii,
14 [Migne, P.G. cii, 157 B]).
In assessing the wright o the patristic
evidence one must put it within its proper perspective. On the one hand, certainly
the Greek Fathers must be supposed to have possessed a unique sensitivity to
understand the nuances of a passage written in their own language.
On the other hand, however, in the present
case the possibility must be allowed that dogmatic interests may have swayed
(and in many instances undoubtedly did sway) their interpretation. It is
therefore prudent to refrain from assigning much weight to the overwhelming
consensus of patristic interpretation of the meaning of the passage in
question. (Bruce M. Metzger, New
Testament Studies: Philological, Versional, and Patristic [New Testament
Tools and Studies Volume X; Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1980], 65)
