Bible Commentaries

Romans 15:1-13. The fourteenth chapter has a certain completeness in itself, and we can understand that if the Epistle to the Romans was sent as a circular letter to different churches, some copies of it might have ended with Romans 14:23 : to which the doxology, Romans 16:25-27, might be loosely appended, as it is in A. L. and many other MSS. But it is manifestly the same subject which is continued in Romans 15:1-13. The Apostle still treats of the relations of the weak and the strong, though with a less precise reference to the problems of the Roman Church at the time than in chap. 14. His argument widens into a plea for patience and forbearance (enforced by the example of Christ) and for the union of all Christians, Jew and Gentile, in common praise. It seems natural to infer from this that the distinction between weak and strong had some relation to that between Jew and Gentile; the prejudices and scruples of the weak were probably of Jewish origin.

Romans 15:1. ὀφείλομεν δὲ: what constitutes the obligation is seen in chap. 14. It arises out of our relation to others in Christ. Looking at them in the light of what He has done for them as well as for us, and in the light of our responsibility to the Judge of all, we cannot question that this is our duty, ἡμεῖς οἱ δυνατοὶ: Paul classes himself with the strong, and makes the obligation his own. δυνατοὶ is of course used as in chap. 14: not as in 1 Corinthians 1:26. τὰ ἀσθενήματα τῶν ἀδυνάτων: the things in which their infirmity comes out, its manifestations: here only in N.T. Paul says “bear” their infirmities: because the restrictions and limitations laid by this charity on the liberty of the strong are a burden to them. For the word βαστάζειν and the idea see Matthew 8:17, Galatians 6:2; Galatians 6:5; Galatians 6:17. μὴ ἑαυτοῖς ἀρέσκειν: it is very easy for self-pleasing and mere wilfulness to shelter themselves under the disguise of Christian principle. But there is only one Christian principle which has no qualification—love.

Romans 15:2. τῷ πλησίον ἀρεσκέτω: this rule is qualified by εἰς τὸ ἀγαθὸν πρὸς οἰκοδομήν. Without such qualification it is “men-pleasing” (Galatians 1:10) and inconsistent with fidelity to Christ. Cf. 1 Corinthians 10:33, where Paul presents himself as an example of the conduct he here commends. For εἰς and πρὸς in this verse cf. chap. Romans 3:25 f. According to Gifford εἰς marks the “aim”—the advantage or benefit of our neighbour—and πρὸς the standard of reference; the only “good” for a Christian is to be “built up” in his Christian character.

Romans 15:3. καὶ γὰρ ὁ Χριστὸς κ.τ.λ. The duty of not pleasing ourselves is enforced by the example of Christ: He did not please Himself either. If this required proof, we might have expected Paul to prove it by adducing some incident in Christ’s life; but this is not what he does. He appeals to a psalm, which is in many places in the N.T. treated as having some reference to Christ (e.g., John 2:17 = Psalm 69:9, John 15:25 = Psalm 69:4, Matthew 27:27-30 = Psalm 69:12, Matthew 27:34 = Psalm 69:21, Romans 11:9 = Psalm 69:22, Acts 1:20 = Psalm 69:25 : see Perowne, The Psalms, i., p. 561 f.); and the words he quotes from it—words spoken as it were by Christ Himself—describe our Lord’s experiences in a way which shows that He was no self-pleaser. If He had been, He would never have given Himself up willingly, as He did, to such a fate. It is hardly conceivable that σε in Paul’s quotation indicates the man whom Christ is supposed to address: it can quite well be God, as in the psalm. Some have argued from this indirect proof of Christ’s character that Paul had no acquaintance with the facts of His life; but the inference is unsound. It would condemn all the N.T. writers of the same ignorance, for they never appeal to incidents in Christ’s life; and this summary of the whole character of Christ, possessing as it did for Paul and his readers the authority of inspiration, was more impressive than any isolated example of non-selfpleasing could have been.

Romans 15:4. Here Paul justifies his use of the O.T. ὅσα γὰρ προεγράφη = the whole O.T. εἰς τὴν ἡμετέραν διδασκαλίαν ἐγράφη: was written to teach us, and therefore has abiding value. 2 Timothy 3:16. ἵνα introduces God’s purpose, which is wider than the immediate purpose of the Apostle. Paul meant to speak only of bearing the infirmities of the weak, but with the quotation of Psalm 69:9 there came in the idea of the Christian’s sufferings generally, and it is amid them that God’s purpose is to be fulfilled. διὰ τῆς ὑπομ. κ. τῆς παρακλ. τῶν γραφῶν κ.τ.λ.: “that through the patience and the comfort wrought by the Scriptures we may have our hope”. τὴν ἐλπίδα is the Christian hope, the hope of the glory of God; and the Christian has it as he is able, through the help of God’s Word in the Scriptures, to maintain a brave and cheerful spirit amid all the sufferings and reproaches of life. Cf. Romans 5:2-5. This is, if not a digression, at least an expansion of his original idea, and at

Romans 15:5 Paul returns to his point in a prayer: the God of the patience and comfort just spoken of grant unto you, etc. τὸ αὐτὸ φρονεῖν ἐν ἀλλήλοις κατὰ Χριστὸν Ἰησοῦν: cf. Romans 12:16, where, however, τὸ αὐτὸ φρονεῖν with εἰς ἀλλήλους is not quite the same. Paul wishes here that the minds of his readers—their moral judgment and temper—may all be determined by Jesus Christ (for κατὰ, expressing the rule according to which, see chap. Romans 8:27): in this case there will be the harmony which the disputes of chap. 14 disturbed.

Romans 15:6. ἵνα introduces the ultimate aim of this unanimity. ὁμοθυμαδόν here only in Paul, but eleven times in Acts. ἐν ἑνὶ στόματι: in Greek writers usually ἐξ ἑνὸς στόματος. τὸν θεὸν καὶ πατέρα τοῦ Κ. ἡμῶν Ἰ. Χ. The A.V. renders, “God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,” making τοῦ Κυρίου depend on πατέρα only. This rendering does not make God the God of Christ, but defines the only true God as the Father of Christ. It is defended by Weiss, who appeals to the passages in which “God and Father” is found with no genitive: 1 Corinthians 15:24, Ephesians 5:20, Colossians 3:17, Jam 1:27; Jam 3:9. The argument is not convincing, especially in view of Ephesians 1:17 (ὁ θεὸς τοῦ Κ. ἡμῶν Ἰ. Χ., ὁ πατὴρ τῆς δόξης) and John 20:17 : hence the R.V. is probably right (“the God and Father of our Lord”). When the Church glorifies such a God with one heart and one mouth it will have transcended all the troubles of chap. 14. It is this accordant praise of all Christians which is the ruling idea in Romans 15:7-13.

Romans 15:7. διὸ προσλαμβάνεσθε ἀλλήλους: διὸ = that such praise may be possible. For προσλαμβ. see Romans 14:1-3. καθὼς καὶ ὁ Χριστὸς προσελάβετο ὑμᾶς. ὑμᾶς covers both parties in the Church, however they are to be distinguished; if Christ received both, they are bound to receive each other. The last words, εἰς δόξαν τοῦ θεοῦ, are probably to be construed with προσλαμβάνεσθε ἀλλήλους; they resume the idea of Romans 15:6 (ἵνα … δοξάζητε); the διὸ with which Romans 15:7 begins starts from that idea of glorifying God, and looks on to it as the end to be attained when all Christians in love receive each other. But the clause has of course a meaning even if attached to what immediately precedes: ὁ Χριστὸς προσελ. ὑμᾶς. Cf. Php 2:11, Ephesians 1:12-14. Christ’s reception of the Jews led to God’s being glorified for His faithfulness; His reception of the Gentiles to God’s being glorified for His mercy. So Weiss, who argues that in what follows we have the expansion and proof of the idea that God’s glory (the glory of His faithfulness and of His mercy) is the end contemplated by Christ’s reception alike of Jew and Gentile.

Romans 15:8. λέγω γὰρ Χριστὸν διάκονον γεγενῆσθαι περιτομῆς = what I mean is this—Christ has been made, etc. διάκονον περιτομῆς is usually understood as “a minister to the Jews, to circumcised people” (cf. Romans 3:30, Romans 4:9), and this seems to me the only intelligible explanation. In exercising this ministry (and He exercised directly no other: Matthew 15:24) Christ was of course circumcised Himself and set from His birth (Galatians 4:4 f.) in the same relation to the law as all who belonged to the old covenant; but though this is involved in the fact that Christ was sent to the Jews, it is not what is meant by calling Him διάκονον περιτομῆς. ὑπὲρ ἀληθείας θεοῦ: in the interest of God’s truth (cf. Romans 1:5 : ὑπὲρ τοῦ ὀνόματος αὐτοῦ). The truth of God, as the giver of the promises to the fathers, was vindicated by Christ’s ministry; for in Him they were all fulfilled, 2 Corinthians 1:20. τὰς ἐπαγγ. τῶν πατέρων: the promises belonged to the fathers, because they were originally made to them.