Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible · Romans 第14章

Romans 14:1, &c. Him that is weak, &c.— By Aquila and Priscilla, who were come from Rome, and with whom St. Paul was familiar for a considerable time (Acts 18:2-3.), or by some other hand, the Apostle had a particular account of the state of the Christian church at Rome, and was informed that there was no good agreement between the Jewish and Gentile convertsabout meats and days. The Jewish Christian retaining a veneration for the laws of Moses, abstained from certain meats, and was observant of certain days; while the Gentile, understanding that the Christian religion laid him under no obligations to such ceremonial points, had no regard to either. The Jew censured the Gentile as a latitudinarian, little better than a mere heathen, and likely to relapse into idolatry. The Gentile censured the Jew, as a man of narrow, superstitious principles, and defective in the faith of the Gospel. The Apostle exhorts, that in such things as are not essential to religion, and in which both parties, in their different way of thinking, might have an honest meaning and serious regard to God, difference of sentiments might not hinder Christian fellowship and love; but that they would mutually forbear each other, make candid allowances, and especially not carry any Gospel liberties so far, as to disgust a weak brother or Jewish Christian against the Gospel itself, and tempt him to renounce Christianity. His rules and exhortations are still of great use, and happy would the Christian world be, if they were more generally practised. By him that is weak in the flesh, is meant the Jew, who the Apostle knew assuredly was in the wrong; yet he uses him very tenderly, and avoids saying any thing of him that was harsh and overbearing, and only represents him as weak in the faith. The reception here spoken of is, "the receiving into familiar and ordinaryconversation," as is evident from ch. Rom 15:7 where the Apostle, directing them to receive one another mutually, uses the same word προσλαμβανεσθε . "Live together in free and friendly manner, the weak with the strong, andthe strong with the weak, without any regard to the differences among you about the lawfulness of any indifferentthing."Doubtfuldisputationsimply"debatesanddistinctionsaboutmatters in doubt between you." Dr. Whitby explains the word διακρισεις of discriminating persons, according to their inward thoughts and reasonings on these heads. Dr. Doddridge, remarking upon this verse the strength of the Apostle's reasoning in favour of candour and mutual condescension, observes with the true spirit of that candour which he has so strongly enforced, "that when it shall please God to awaken in the governors of established protestant churches such a spirit of moderationandgoodness, joined with a true zeal for religion, as to leave certain things in that natural state of indifference, in which almost all sensible men confess it is best they should be left, many separations will cease of course, and the healers of such breaches will do a noble service to their country, be honoured by all who love Christianity, and amply rewarded by the great Head of the church."

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Romans 14:2. Eateth herbs— Some of the Jews used to eat no flesh at all, and others looked upon it as a very high pitch of virtue to abstain from it in Gentile countries, and to subsist entirely on vegetables, from an apprehension, that the flesh sold in the shambles might have been offered to idols, or at least have contracted some ceremonial pollution. Possibly some of these Jewish converts might have been of the sect of the Essenes, who were peculiarly strict on this head, insomuch that they abstained not only from flesh, but from fruit. See Whitby and Doddridge.

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Romans 14:3. Let not him that eateth, despise, &c.— By him that eateth, St. Paul seems to mean the Gentiles, who were less scrupulous in the use of indifferent things; and by him that eateth not, the Jews, who made great distinction of meats, and days, and placed in them a great and, as they thought, necessary part of the worship of the true God.To the Gentiles the Apostle gives this caution, that they should not contemn the Jews as weak, narrow-minded men, who laid so much stress on matters of such smallmoment,andthoughtreligionsomuchconcernedinthose indifferent things. On the other side, he exhorts the Jews not to judge that those who neglected the Jewish observances of meats and days, were still heathens, or would soon apostatize to heathenism again; for he reasons, that God had received them into his family, and that theyhad no authority to judge whether they were of that family, or would continue so, on account of these unessential points: "That," says he, "belongs only to the master of the family; but notwithstanding your censure or hard thoughts of them, God is able and willing to continue them in his family, if they cleave to him in faith; not withstanding you suspect, from their free use of things indifferent, that they incline too much, or approach too near to Gentilism." See Locke.

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Romans 14:4. Standeth or falleth, &c.— Falleth is here used in the destructive sense, and signifies being totally cast off. Comp. ch. Romans 11:11-12. Dr. Whitby explains the last clause, of God's convincing the Jewish converts in general of the indifference of the Mosaic ritual, by putting a speedy period to the very possibility of observing it, in the destruction at Jerusalem; which would have a peculiar efficacy to wean men's minds from an attachment to it, when considered in connection with Christ's predictions of that event. But a more extensive interpretation of the passage is both more obvious, and less liable to objection.—"Let me tell you, he shall be continued in God's favour, and established as a true member of his family, if he continue to cleave to him by faith; for it is not only consistent with the honour of God, but it is his good pleasure, that he should be continued and established, notwithstanding his neglect of the ritual law; if he persevere in walking with him by faith." See Whitby, and Doddridg

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Romans 14:5. One man esteemeth one day, &c.— The Apostle having, in the foregoing verse, used the phrase κρινων αλλοτριον οικετην, for judging any one to be or not to be another man's servant,—seems here to continue the use of the word τρινειν in the same signification; that is, for judging a day to be more particularly God's. Critics have observed, that the word πληροφορεισθω, rendered fully persuaded, is most properly applied to a ship, which is carried on by the wind and tide with all its sails spread to forward it, and nothing to obstruct its course. So that the meaning is, "Let him go on in his own way, without impediment:—let every man enjoy his own sentiments freely in these things." See Raphelius, Doddridge, and Bennet's Appendix to his Irenicum, p. 120, &c.

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Romans 14:8. We are the Lord's— These words give an easy interpretation to the phrases of eating and living, &c. to the Lord; for they make them plainly to refer to what the Apostle had said at the latter end of Rom 14:3 for God hath received him; signifying, that God had received all those who professed and possessed the power of the Gospel, and had given their names up to Jesus Christ, into his family, and thus made them his domestics; and therefore we should not judge of or censure one another, for that every Christian was the Lord's domestic, appropriated to him as his servant; so that all he did in that state and in that spirit, was to be looked upon as done to the Lord, and not be accounted for to any one else. See Locke.

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Romans 14:9. Might be Lord— This must be so understood here as to agree with the foregoing verse: there it was, "We, that is, we Christians, whether we live or die, are the Lord's property: for the Lord died, and rose again, that we, whether living or dying, should be his." See Locke.

See commentary on Rom 14:7

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Romans 14:10. But why dost thou judge thy brother, &c.— The superstitious are prone to judge, and those who are not superstitious are prone to despise. Heylin.

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Romans 14:13. Let us not therefore judge— He had before reproved the weak for censuring the strong in the use of their liberty: he comes now to restrain the strong from offending the weak, by a too free use of their liberty, in not forbearing the use of it, where it might give offence to the weak. The word rendered judge, has two different senses, and seems to be used in both in this verse. In the first place, it signifies to censure and condemn; in the other, to determine, as a matter of importance. See Hammond, Locke, and Raphelius. Some say that σκανδακον signifies properly "a piece of wood that supports a trap, which falls on its being moved;" and so may with peculiar propriety signify whatever may be the occasion of ensnaring another, and drawing him into sin and mischief.

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Romans 14:15. But if thy brother be grieved, &c.— If then thy brother be offended with thy meat, thou walkest no longer charitably. It hence appears, that grieving a person does not signify merely putting himout of humour, but leading him into sin. The grief therefore is that which arises from a consciousness of having acted amiss, in conformity to the example of a person considered as superior, whether in rank or genius, knowledge or piety. See Hammond, Locke, and Doddridge.

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Romans 14:16. Let not then your good be evil spoken of— "Let not your liberty, which is a good that you enjoy under the Gospel, be evil spoken of." See 1 Corinthians 10:29-30.

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Romans 14:17. For the kingdom of God is not meat, &c.— "The kingdom of God neither prohibits nor enjoins such things as these, nor is it taken up with such little matters; but the great design of it is to regulate the temper of its professors, and in the most effectual manner to cultivate and promote righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost; that is, a serene temper and a holy joy, supported by a consciousness of strict integrity, established on principles of universal love, and inspired by the blessed Spirit of God." See Scott's Christian Life, vol. 1: p. 285.

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Romans 14:20. The work of God— That is, a Christian. See 1 Corinthians 9:1, Ephesians 2:10, Philippians 1:6. Destroying him here, and in Romans 14:15, is causing him to apostatize, or renounce the Christian faith. Some read, for the sake of meats, &c. and instead of pure,—clean.

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Romans 14:21. Is offended, or is made weak— That is, drawn to the doing of any thing, of the lawfulness of which not being fully persuaded, it becomes a sin to him. See Locke.

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Romans 14:22. Hast thou faith?— There is no necessity for reading the first clause interrogatively; and it seems more agreeable to the structure of the Greek;—Thou hast faith: as if he had said, "I own you have a right persuasion." Farther, there is an anadiplosis in the words εχεις and εχε: the first signifies simply have, the latter hold fast. "You have a right persuasion concerning your Christian liberty, and I advise you to hold your profession steadfastly,with respect to yourself in the sight of God." Εχω, have, has frequently this emphatical signification. See Matthew 25:29. Instead of to thyself, the Greek would be more properly rendered with respect to,—as pertaining to; that is, "so far as it concerns yourself, hold it in the sight of God." It is anexhortation,—nottokeepitprivateto himself, not to suppress his sentiments,—but to retain them steadily, and never do or say any thing inconsistent with them: as it follows, "Happy is the man who condemns not himself, by doing or professing any thinginconsistent with what he is assured in his own conscience is right." The Apostle puts this in, that the Christian Gentile might not mistake his meaning, or imagine that he was persuading him to be indifferent to the truth, to dissemble it, to give it up, or act contrary to it upon some occasions: this was far from the Apostle's intention, who only exhorts him to think charitably of a weak brother, and to abstain from any indifferent actions which might disgust him, or prove a snare or temptation to him. Without this caution, hisdiscourse would have been imperfect, and not well guarded.

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