Romans 9:19-21

“ Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who can resist His will? Much rather, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the vessel of clay say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Or hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor? ”

The word then proves that the interlocutor accepts the answer made to his first objection (Romans 9:14), but that he starts from it to raise a new one. The ἔτι, yet, after τί, signifies: yet, after hardening me. The verb μέμφεσθαι, to find fault, to speak with anger, applies to the perdition with which God threatens sinners who are hardened by Him. When He hardens any one, God cannot ask that he should not harden himself. The question, Who can resist His will? literally signifies, Who hath resisted, or rather Who resisteth?...For the perfect of the verb ἵστημι and its compounds has really the sense of the present: “I have placed myself there, and continue there.” It is therefore clear that the question: “Who is he that resisteth Him?” signifies: “Who is he that can resist Him?” Hofmann thinks that the interlocutor means: Who, in this case (that of my hardening), hath resisted God? Answer: “Nobody; for in hardening myself I have done nothing but obey Him.” This meaning is not impossible; it is ingenious, but more far-fetched than the preceding.