성경 주석서

사도는 유대인의 버림받음이라는 저 위대한 진리를 조상들에게 주신 약속과 조화시킨 후에, 이 장에서는 그 진리가 지닌 가혹함을 한층 더 누그러뜨리고, 또한 그것을 하나님의 선하심 일반과 조화시키고자 애쓰고 있다. 혹자는 이렇게 말할 수도 있을 것이다. "그렇다면 하나님께서 자기 백성을 버리셨는가?" 그러므로 사도는 이 장에서 이 반론에 답하기로 작정하고, 두 가지 방식으로 응답한다.—I. 그는 이 진노와 더불어 섞여 있는 긍휼이 무엇인지를 상세히 보여 준다(롬 11:1-32). II. 그는 거기에서 하나님의 무한하신 지혜와 주권을 추론해 내며, 그것을 경배함으로써 이 장과 주제를 마무리한다(롬 11:33-36).

하나님께서는 이스라엘을 보편적으로도 최종적으로도 버리지 않으셨다. 또한 그들이 현재 모두 복음을 거절하는 자들도 아니다. 선지자 엘리야 시대에 그러했듯이 지금도 참된 신자들의 남은 자가 있기 때문이다, 로마서 11:1-5. 이들은 복음을 받아들였고, 율법의 행위가 아니라 은혜로 구원받는다, 로마서 11:6. 이스라엘 사람들의 대다수는 이것을 거절했기 때문에 다윗의 예언적 선언에 따라 눈이 어두워졌다, 로마서 11:7-10. 그러나 그들은 최종적으로 버림받을 정도로 실족한 것은 아니다. 오히려 그들의 넘어짐을 통해 구원이 이방인에게 이르렀다, 로마서 11:11-14. 그들이 회복될 소망이 있으며, 그 민족이 아직 거룩한 백성이 될 소망도 있다, 로마서 11:15, 로마서 11:16. 회심한 이방인들은 넘어진 유대인들을 두고 우쭐대지 말아야 한다. 후자는 믿지 않음으로 넘어졌고, 전자는 믿음으로 서 있기 때문이다, 로마서 11:17-20. 본래 가지인 유대인들은 참감람나무에서 꺾였고, 이방인들은 그 자리에 접붙임을 받았으므로 바르게 행해야 한다. 그렇지 않으면 그들도 찍혀 버릴 것이다, 로마서 11:21, 로마서 11:22. 유대인들도 믿지 아니하는 데 머무르지 않으면 다시 접붙임을 받을 것이다. 그리고 이방인의 충만한 수가 들어올 때, 위대한 구원자가 하나님의 언약에 따라 야곱에게서 경건하지 않은 것을 돌이키실 것이다, 로마서 11:23-27. 그들의 조상들 때문에 하나님께서는 그들을 사랑하시며, 다시 그들을 부르시고 자신의 은사들을 그들에게 전달하실 것이다, 로마서 11:28, 로마서 11:29. 복음은 지금 이방인들에게 보내진 것처럼 다시 그들에게도 보내질 것이다, 로마서 11:30-32. 이 절차는 하나님의 지혜와 지식의 광대함과 헤아릴 수 없는 판단에 따른 것이다. 하나님은 만물의 창조자요 보존자요 통치자시며, 모든 경배는 그분께 마땅히 드려져야 한다, 로마서 11:33-36.

이 장은 예언적 성격을 가진다. 사도는 예언의 영으로 유대인들의 버림받음을 미리 보았다. 그는 앞의 두 장에서 그것을 전제한다. 그가 이 서신을 쓸 때 그들은 실제로 버림받은 상태가 아니었기 때문이다. 그들의 국가 체제와 교회가 그때에는 아직 서 있었다. 그러나 그 사건은 그가 참된 선지자였음을 입증했다. 우리가 알듯이 이 편지가 기록된 뒤 약 십 년 또는 십일 년 후에 성전이 파괴되고, 유대인의 국가 체제가 무너졌으며, 유대인들은 약속의 땅에서 쫓겨났고, 오늘날까지 그것을 회복하지 못했다.

이 사실은,

1. 이방인의 부르심을 확립하기 위해 사도가 제시한 논증들을 확증한다. 유대인들은 실제로 버림받았기 때문이다. 따라서 우리의 부르심은 모세 경륜의 영속성과 관련하여 그들이 제시한 어떤 것에 의해서도 실제로 무효화되지 않는다. 오히려 그 경륜이 완전히 무너졌으므로, 하나님의 교회와 백성의 특권에 대한 우리의 권리는 분명하고 강하게 서 있다. 우리의 주장에 대해 이의를 제기할 수 있었던 것은 유대 제도뿐이었으며, 그 사건은 그 방면에서 오는 모든 이의를 잠잠하게 했다.

2. 유대인들이 실제로 버림받은 것은 바울이 예수 그리스도의 참된 사도이며 하나님의 영으로 말했음을 입증한다. 그렇지 않았다면 그는 아직 오지 않았고, 이 서신을 쓸 당시의 사정 속에서는 아무 조짐도 없던 한 사태에 대해 이처럼 충분히 논증할 수 없었을 것이다. 바로 이 사정은 우리로 하여금 이 장에 큰 주의를 기울이게 해야 한다. 여기서 그는 자기 동족의 버림받음의 범위와 기간에 관해 말하며, 이방인 그리스도인들이 그들을 모욕하고 멸시하지 못하게 하려 한다.

(1) 이 버림받음의 범위에 관해서 말하면, 그것은 절대적으로 보편적인 것이 아니다. 유대인들 가운데 일부는 복음을 받아들였고, 믿는 이방인들과 함께 그리스도교 교회 안으로 편입되었다. 그는 이 믿는 유대인들의 경우에 대해 로마서 11:1-7에서 논평한다.

(2) 그 기간에 관해서 말하면, 그것은 최종적이고 영구적인 것이 아니다. 지금은 눈이 어두워진 온 이스라엘, 곧 유대 민족이 언젠가는 구원을 받거나 하나님의 나라 또는 언약 안으로 다시 이끌려 들어올 것이기 때문이다. 그는 이 눈먼 유대인들의 상태에 대해 로마서 11:7부터 장 끝까지 논평한다. 이 주제에 대해 논의한 그의 목적은 그 사실 자체를 알리는 데만 있지 않았다. 한편으로는 믿지 않는 유대인의 주의를 끌고, 그의 호의를 얻으며, 가능하다면 그가 복음의 계획 안으로 들어오도록 이끌려는 것이었다. 다른 한편으로는 이방인 그리스도인들이 유대인들을 멸시로 대하지 않도록 하려는 것이었다. 이방인들은 현재 누리는 모든 복을 유대 민족의 조상인 족장들에게서 받았고, 유대인들이 꺾여 나간 좋은 감람나무에 접붙임을 받았기 때문이다. 또한 유대인들의 넘어짐을 보고 경고를 받으며, 종교적 특권을 잘 활용하여, 믿지 않음으로 그들 가운데 누구도 이교로 되돌아가거나 마지막 날에 마침내 멸망하지 않도록 권면하려는 것이었다.

그의 논의의 흐름은 이방인들과 유대인들을 향한 하나님의 여러 경륜을 일반적으로 살피고 비교하는 데로 그를 이끈다. 그리고 그는 세상에 세워진 여러 제도 속에서 역사하신 하나님의 지식과 지혜의 깊이를 경배하는 것으로 이 고찰을 마친다, 로마서 11:30-36.

INTRODUCTION TO Romans 11

The apostle having spoken of the calling of the Gentiles, and given a hint of the perverseness of the Jews in slighting the Gospel, proceeds in this chapter to treat of their rejection; in which he shows, that it was not universal, though of the greater part in his time; and which he confirms by some passages out of the Old Testament, and then points at the end and design of God in the casting them off; and exhorts the Gentiles not to insult them, but to learn to be humble and cautious by what was done to them; and foretells the conversion of the Jews in the latter day, which will be general, so that their rejection is not final; and resolves the whole dispensation of God, both with respect to Jews and Gentiles, into the unsearchable wisdom and sovereign will of God: he begins with an objection he saw would be made upon what he had said, concerning the calling of the Gentiles, and the unbelief of the Jews, that then God had wholly cast off his people, Romans 11:1, to which he answers with a "God forbid", by way of detestation; and by instancing in himself, who was of the people of the Jews, and yet was called; and by distinguishing between some and others among them: there were some who were foreknown, loved, and chosen of God from everlasting: these were not cast off, but others who were not foreknown, Romans 11:2, and then he illustrates the present case of the Jews by observing how it was with them in the times of Elias; who though he complained of their apostasy and cruelty, and imagined that there were none left but himself that worshipped the true God, yet there were then seven thousand, which were preserved from the idolatry of Baal, Romans 11:2, and so the apostle observes it was now, Romans 11:5, there was a small number whom God of his free grace had chosen, and reserved for himself, and so were not all cast away, as the objection suggested; and having called this choice an election of grace, he argues the contrariety and inconsistency of grace and works in this affair, Romans 11:6, and since it appeared that there were two sorts of people among them, one that were chosen and the other not, hence it was, that though Israel did not obtain the righteousness they sought for, yet they that were chosen obtained it, and so were not cast away, when the rest were, Romans 11:7, and that so it should be, or that this should be the case of the greater part of the Jews, that they should be given up to blindness and hardness of heart, the apostle proves by some testimonies of Isaiah and David, which he produces, Romans 11:8, hence follows an objection, that if this be the case, then God had appointed them to stumble, that they might fall even all of them, and always continue fallen; to which the apostle answers with a "God forbid", as usual, when anything is objected which is abhorred; and by observing the view, event, and order of things; showing, that the fall of the Jews issued in the salvation of the Gentiles; and the salvation of the Gentiles was to provoke the Jews to seek the same mercy, Romans 11:11, and then follows an improvement and illustration of this end, or event of their fall, Romans 11:12, that if the fall and lessening of the Jews were the means of enriching the Gentiles with the riches of Christ and his grace, what a glory must be brought to them, when they should all of them be converted and join them! and that the rejection of the Jews was neither total nor final, the apostle argues from his office, even as an apostle of the Gentiles, whom he addresses as such, Romans 11:13, and from his view and end in executing that office, which was to provoke the Jews to emulate the Gentiles, and so save some of them, Romans 11:14, and then he repeats in other words, Romans 11:15, the argument he had used in Romans 11:12, and proves the future conversion of the Jews, from the instances of conversion and sanctification, which had been, and were then among them; which were as the firstfruits to the lump, and the root to the branches; and were pledges and tokens of a general conversion and sanctification of them hereafter, Romans 11:16, and by occasion of the metaphor of the root and branches before used, he expresses the rejection of the Jews, by the breaking off some of the branches, and the reception of the Gentiles by their ingrafting into a Gospel church state among the converted Jews, enjoying the same privileges with them, Romans 11:17, and since they were originally of a wild olive tree, and merely of grace partook of the root and fatness of the good olive of the Gospel church state, as consisting first of the Jews, they ought not to be haughty and insolent, and boast and brag over the Jews, since they were beholden to them, and not the Jews to them, Romans 11:18, and whereas an objection might be made, that the Jews were cast out, to make room for the Gentiles, Romans 11:19, and therefore the one must be more deserving than the other; the apostle replies to it, Romans 11:20 by granting, that the one were broken off, or rejected, that the other might be ingrafted, or taken in but then as it was owing to unbelief in the Jews that they were cast off, in which the Gentiles were before conversion as well as they, so it was by faith they stood in their church relation, which was the gift of God, and owing to his grace; so that their ingrafting and continuance in a Gospel church state were not the effect of merit in them; wherefore he gives them this good advice, not to be proud and lifted up with their privileges, as though they were of their own deserving, but to fear the Lord and his goodness, from whence they sprung; and suggests, that they should be so far from making such an use of the rejection of the Jews, that it ought rather to engage them to caution, care, and fear; for they were the natural branches in the olive tree, and if these were not spared when behaving disagreeably, they must not expect to fare otherwise, who were originally of the wild olive tree, should they act unworthy of the privileges they enjoyed, Romans 11:21, wherefore the apostle recommends to their serious consideration the severity of God in the casting off of the Jews, and his goodness in taking in them, the Gentiles; and threatens them with cutting off, should they slight, neglect, or misuse the goodness of God to them in his house and ordinances, Romans 11:22, and on the other hand, an intimation is given, that the Jews, though broken off shall be grafted in again, should their unbelief discontinue, and faith in Christ be given them, which was not impossible with God; he is able both to remove their unbelief, give them faith, and reinstate them in a church relation, Romans 11:23, and as it is without doubt he can do it, it looks very likely that he will; which may be argued from the ingrafting of the Gentiles, who were like the olive tree, wild by nature; were cut out from thence, and, contrary to nature, grafted into the good olive tree; wherefore by an argument from the lesser to the greater, much more may it be thought, that the Jews, the natural branches, will, in God's own time, be grafted in their former church state, some of their ancestors were in, Romans 11:24, yea, the apostle argues the certainty of their conversion, and reinstatement into the Gospel church, from the design of Providence in suffering blindness in part to happen to them; which was not intended always to continue, only until all the elect of God are gathered in among the Gentiles; and this mystery of Providence and grace, he thought fit to acquaint the Gentiles with, lest they should be conceited of themselves, as if they only shared the favour of God, and were deserving of it, to the contempt of the Jews, Romans 11:25, Moreover, the apostle affirms that all Israel shall be saved, Romans 11:26, which is consequentially deduced from what he had said, and which he proves by a passage, out of Isaiah 59:20, and by its being a principal part of the covenant, which God has made with them, which he will not break, but shall be fulfilled; when he shall make them sensible of their sins, and take them away by the application of his pardoning grace, Romans 11:27, and whereas the implacable enmity of the Jews to Christ and his Gospel might be objected to such a gracious procedure of God towards them, the apostle removes the objection, by granting that they were enemies to the Gospel on account of the Gentiles, to whom it was preached; but then there was a chosen people among them, who were beloved of God; which would be made manifest, because of the oath and promise made unto their their fathers, Romans 11:28, wherefore as the purposes, promises, and covenant of God are immutable, so the gifts of his grace, and the calling of his people included in them, are things certain and irrevocable, Romans 11:29, and so the calling of the Jews, and the gifts of his grace designed for them, which is another proof of their calling and conversion; and which is further argued, and made both more probable and certain, by comparing the case of the Jews and Gentiles together; as for the Gentiles, they were formerly infidels and obtained mercy, through the unbelief of the Jews, Romans 11:30, wherefore arguing from the less probable to that which is more so, the Jews, though for the present unbelievers, yet it may be thought, that through the mercy the Gentiles had received, they would some time or other be provoked to seek for, and so obtain the same mercy, Romans 11:31, and the rather this may be given into and received, not only because they both have been in a state of unbelief, but the end and design of God in concluding them in it, were to have mercy on each of them, Romans 11:32, which dispensation of God both to one and to the other by turns, in different ways, was so amazing and unaccountable to the apostle, that he breaks out into admiration at the wisdom and knowledge of God: which were so abundant, that they could not be searched out, conceived of, and expressed, Romans 11:33, the reasons of which lay in his own breast, and are only known to himself no one having known his mind, or been his counsellor, Romans 11:34, nor is he obliged to give an account of his matters, and the reasons of his proceedings, to any of his creatures; he is not indebted to them for anything, nor does he any injustice to any of them, by whatsoever steps he takes in Providence and grace; let that appear, and recompense will be made, Romans 11:35, everything must be resolved into his sovereign will and pleasure, and so this of choosing some, and leaving others, of rejecting the Jews, and receiving the Gentiles, and also that of calling the Jews again; as it is reasonable everything should, since all things are from him, through him, and to him, Romans 11:36, and so all glory is due unto him, and here ends the doctrinal part of this epistle.

XI.

The eleventh chapter may be divided into three sections; still dealing with the rejection of Israel, and containing (1) Romans 11:1-10, limitations and qualifications to this; (2) Romans 11:11-24, compensations; (3) Romans 11:25-32, consolations; the whole being closed with a doxology.

F. ELECTION (Cch. 8, 9–11)

It is almost needless to say that the Election spoken of in ch. 8 &c. is variously explained. A large and important school of Theology (the Arminian) interprets it as a personal election, but contingent upon foreseen faith and perseverance. Another school[58] interprets it as an election not personal at all, but (so to speak) social; an election, like the election of the Jewish Nation, not to life eternal but to a vantage-ground for attaining it.

[58] Or, more properly, other schools, with important differences among themselves in other respects.

Without forgetting for a moment the awful mysteries of the subject, we yet feel that both these theories, with all (and it is very much) that can be said for them, do not fit the language of ch. 8. and of St Paul’s (not to quote St John’s) general teaching. “Not according to our works” is surely the tone of this chapter and of the whole previous epistle, and of the next three chapters. And it seems to us impossible, on any other theory than that of a Personal Election to Life, antecedent to “our works” and mercifully prevailing in its purpose, quite naturally to explain the tone of rapturous joy which marks the closing passages of the chapter.

In the Seventeenth English Article, a masterpiece of careful expression, this result of the humble belief in an Election personal and effectual (but, observe, taking effect through moral means,) is strongly stated:—“The godly consideration of Predestination, and our Election in Christ, is full of sweet, pleasant, and unspeakable comfort, to godly persons, &c.”

See the whole Article; and especially the closing paragraph, in which the word “generally” is technical, and means “with regard to the genus;”—i.e. probably, mankind. The Article warns us to begin with faith in the promises to man as man, not with the question of personal election.

G. PREDESTINATION (Ch. 9)

See note on chap. Romans 8:30, on the original word.

On this great mystery, brought up with such stern force in ch. 9, we quote a few sentences from one who certainly spoke from no cold or unsympathetic heart—Martin Luther. His Prœfatio in Ep, ad Romanos (translated into Latin from Luther’s German by his friend Justus Jonas) is indeed, as Tholuck describes it, “admirable, and breathing the very spirit of St Paul.” There is a very noble contemporary English paraphrase of it, by Tyndale, from which we take the following passage (Tyndale’s Doctrinal Treatises, Parker Soc. Edition, p. 505):—

“In the ninth, tenth, and eleventh chapters he (Paul) treateth of God’s predestination, whence it springeth altogether whether we shall believe or not believe … By which predestination our justifying and salvation are clean taken out of our hands, and put in the hands of God only. For we are so weak and so uncertain, that, if it stood in us, there would of a truth be no man saved; the devil, no doubt, would deceive us. But now is God sure, that His predestination cannot deceive Him, neither can any man withstand or let Him; and therefore have we hope and trust against sin.

“But here must a mark be set to those unquiet, busy, and high-climbing spirits which begin first from an high (sic) to search the bottomless secrets of God’s predestination, whether they be predestinate or not. These must needs either cast themselves down headlong into desperation, or else commit themselves to free chance, careless. But follow thou the order of this Epistle, and noosel thyself[59] with Christ, and learn to understand what the Law and the Gospel mean, and the office of both the two; that thou mayest in the one know thyself, and how thou hast of thyself no strength but to sin, and in the other the grace of Christ; and then see thou fight against sin and the flesh, as the seven first chapters teach thee. After that, when thou art come to the eighth chapter, and art under the cross and suffering of tribulation, the necessity[60] of predestination will wax sweet, and thou shalt well feel how precious a thing it is. For except thou have borne the cross of adversity and temptation, and hast felt thyself brought into the very brim of desperation, yea, and unto hell-gates, thou canst never meddle with the sentence of predestination without thine own harm, and without secret wrath and grudging inwardly against God; for otherwise it shall not be possible for thee to think that God is righteous and just … Take heed therefore unto thyself, that thou drink not wine, while thou art yet but a suckling. For … in Christ there is a certain childhood, in which a man must be content with milk for a season, until he wax strong and grow up unto a perfect man in Christ, and be able to eat of more strong meat.”

[59] I.e. find shelter, as a child with a nurse. This striking clause is not in the Latin of the Præfatio.

[60] Necessitas, fixed certainty.

And to the last, surely, the dark problems that gather round the central and insoluble mystery of Sin will be safely approached only with the remembrance that “the Judge of all the earth” will “do right;” that He is the Eternal, and that His “ways” must therefore be “past finding out;” and that He “so loved the world that He gave His Only-begotten Son.”

H. REPROBATION (Ch. 9)

In the last note but one on Romans 9:22 we have alluded to the tenet that the lost are personally and positively fore-doomed to ruin. To this tenet Calvin was led, not by a passionless rigidity, from which his deep and sensitive temperament, and truly ample mind, were far removed; but by the conviction that it was inexorably demanded by Scripture and reason. But St Augustine, the great patristic teacher of Predestination, carefully avoided such a tenet; teaching that, however little we can fathom the mystery, man’s sin, running its proper course, is the only cause of man’s ruin; while yet special grace is the only cause of his salvation.

CHAPTERS 9–11. With the eighth chapter Paul concludes the positive exposition of his gospel. Starting with the theme of Romans 1:16 f., he showed in Romans 1:18 to Romans 3:20 the universal sinfulness of men—Gentile and Jew; in Romans 3:21 to Romans 5:21 he explained, illustrated and glorified the gospel of justification by faith in Christ, set forth by God as a propitiation for sin; in Romans 6:1 to Romans 8:39 he has vindicated this gospel from the charge of moral inefficiency, by showing that justification by faith is inseparably connected with a new life in the Spirit, a life over which sin has no dominion and in which the just demands of God’s law are fulfilled. He has even carried this spiritual life on, in hope, to its consummation in glory: and no more remains to be said. With chap. 9 a new subject is introduced. There is no formal link of connection with what precedes. Structurally, the new division of the epistle stands quite apart from the earlier; it might have been written, and probably was written, after a break. But though no logical relation between the parts is expressed, a psychological connection between them is not hard to discover. The new section deals with a problem which presented great difficulty to the early Church, and especially to men of Jewish birth, a problem which haunted the Apostle’s own mind and was no doubt thrust on his attention by his unbelieving countrymen, a problem all the more painful to him as he realised more completely the greatness and glory of the Christian salvation. This was the problem constituted by the fact that the Jews as a whole did not receive the Gospel. They were God’s chosen people, but if the Christian Gospel brought salvation they had no share in it. The Messiah was to spring from them, but if Jesus was the Messiah this privilege meant not redemption but condemnation, for they rejected Him almost with one consent. In short, if the birth of the Christian Church and the gathering of Gentiles into it represented the carrying out of God’s purpose to bless and save men, God must have turned His back upon Himself; He must have broken His promise to Israel, and cast off His chosen people. But as this must seem impossible, the Jewish inference would be that the Gospel preached by Paul could not be of God, nor the Gentile Churches, as Paul asserted, God’s true Israel. This is the situation to which the Apostle addresses himself in the ninth and the two following chapters. It is a historical problem, in the first instance, he has to deal with, not a dogmatic one; and it is necessary to keep the historical situation in view, if we are to avoid illegitimate inferences from the arguments or illustrations of the Apostle. After the introductory statement (Romans 9:1-5), which shows how deeply his heart is pledged to his brethren after the flesh, he works out a solution of the problem—or an interpretation of the position—along three lines. In each of these there are many incidental points of view, but they can be broadly discriminated. (1) In the first, chap. Romans 9:6-29, Paul asserts the absolute freedom and sovereignty of God as against any claim, made as of right, on the part of man. The Jewish objection to the Gospel, to which reference is made above, really means that the Jewish nation had a claim of right upon God, giving them a title to salvation, which God must acknowledge; Paul argues that all God’s action, as exhibited in Scripture, and especially in the history of Israel itself—to say nothing of the essential relations of Creator and creature—refutes such a claim. (2) In the second, chap. Romans 9:30 to Romans 10:21, Paul turns from this more speculative aspect of the situation to its moral character, and points out that the explanation of the present rejection of the Jews is to be found in the fact that they have wilfully and stubbornly rejected the Gospel. Their minds have been set on a righteousness of their own, and they have refused to submit themselves to the righteousness of God. (3) In the third, chap. 11, he rises again to an absolute or speculative point of view. The present unbelief of the Jews and incoming of the Gentiles are no doubt, to a Jew, disconcerting events; yet in spite of them, or rather—which is more wonderful still—by means of them, God’s promises to the fathers will be fulfilled, and all Israel saved. Gentile Christianity will provoke the unbelieving Jews to jealousy, and they too will enter the Messianic Kingdom. In the very events which seem to throw the pious Jewish mind out of its reckoning, there is a gracious providence, a depth of riches and wisdom and knowledge which no words can express. The present situation, which at the first glance is heart-breaking (Romans 9:2), is only one incident in the working out of a purpose which when completed reveals the whole glory of God’s mercy, and evokes the loftiest and most heartfelt praise. “He shut up all unto disobedience that He might have mercy on all.… Of Him and through Him and to Him are all things. Unto Him be glory for ever.” Since Baur’s time several scholars have held that the mass of the Roman Church was Jewish-Christian, and that these three chapters, with their apologetic aim, are specially addressed to that community, as one which naturally felt the pressure of the difficulty with which they deal. But the Roman Church, as these very chapters show (cf. Romans 9:3, my kinsmen, not our; Romans 11:13, ὑμῖν δὲ λέγω τοῖς ἔθνεσιν), was certainly Gentile, whatever influence Jewish modes of thought and practice may have had in it; and it was quite natural for the Apostle, in writing what he evidently meant from the first should be both a systematic and a circular letter, to include in it a statement of his thoughts on one of the most difficult and importunate questions of the time. The extraordinary daring of chap. 11 ad fin. is not unrelated to the extraordinary passion of chap. 9 ad init. The whole discussion is a magnificent illustration of the aphorism, that great thoughts come from the heart.

CHAPTER 11. On the place of this chapter in the argument, see introduction to chap. 9 above. Briefly, the ninth chapter means, God is sovereign, and the tenth chapter means, Israel has sinned. Both of these are presented in relative independence as explanations of the perplexing fact which confronted the Apostle, namely, that the Jews did not receive the Gospel, while the Gentiles did; in this chapter, the two are brought into relation to each other, and we are shown (to some extent) how in the sovereign providence of God even the sin of Israel is made to contribute to the working out of a universal purpose of redemption—a redemption in which Israel also shares, in accordance with the inviolable promise of God. The chapter can be naturally divided into three sections: (1) Romans 11:1-10, in which the question immediately arising out of chap. 10 is discussed, viz., whether the unbelief of which Israel as a whole has been convicted involves God’s rejection of the chosen people; (2) Romans 11:11-24, in which the result to be attained by the partial and temporary exclusion of the Jews from the Messianic kingdom is enlarged upon, and the Gentiles warned against self-exaltation; and (3) Romans 11:25-36, in which Paul magnifies the unsearchable wisdom, love and faithfulness of God, as revealed in securing by a common method the salvation alike of Israel and the Gentiles.

CHAPTER 11

Romans 11:1. After τ. λαὸν αὐτοῦ, A D* א** and some Fathers have ὃν προέγνω. So Lachm. in brackets. An addition from Romans 11:2.

Romans 11:2. After Ἰσραήλ Elz. has λέγων, against decisive evidence.

Romans 11:3. τὰ θυσιαστ.] Elz.: καὶ τὰ θυς., against so important witnesses, that καί would appear a connective addition. Comp. the LXX.

Romans 11:6. The addition in Elz., εἰ δὲ ἐξ ἔργων, οὐκέτι ἐστὶ χάρις· ἐπεὶ τὸ ἔργον οὐκέτι ἐστὶν ἔργον, is wanting in A C D E F G P א*, 47, Copt. Sah. Arm. Vulg. It. Dam. Rufin., and all the Latin Fathers. An old interpolation (found already in B L א**, Syr. Arr. Chrys.), with a view to the completion of the proof; rejected by Erasmus, Grotius, Wetstein, Griesbach, Scholz, Lachm.; adopted, indeed, by Tisch. 7, but again omitted in ed. 8; after Beza, Bengel, Matthiae, Rinck, defended most thoroughly by Fritzsche and Reiche (in opp. to his Commentary) in the Comment. Crit. I. p. 68 ff. But considering the preponderance of the opposing testimony, the completely superfluous character of the proposition in the argument, and the anomalous form in which the words appear in the principal Codex which contains them (B: εἰ δὲ ἐξ ἔργων, οὐκέτι χάρις· ἐπεὶ τὸ ἔργον οὐκέτι ʼστιν χάρις), and also the other variations in detail (see Tisch. 8), the defences of them are not convincing. See also van Hengel. The argument for retaining them, on the ground that an interpolator would have framed them more closely in conformity with the first half of the verse, is weakened by the fact that very ancient authorities have ἐστίν instead of γίνεται also in the first half of the verse.

Romans 11:7. τοῦτο] Elz.: τούτου, against decisive evidence. An emendation in accordance with the usual construction.

Romans 11:13. γάρ] Lachm., Tisch. 8 : δέ, according to A B P א, min. Syr. Copt. Damasc. Theodoret. MS.; C has οὖν; Aeth. utr. no particle. With such divided testimony, δέ is the best supported, and to be preferred; it came to be glossed by more definite particles.

μέν] is wanting in D E F G, min., which was occasioned by the apparent absence of reference for the μέν. Lachm., Tisch. 8 : μὲν οὖν, according to A B C P א, Copt., which has therefore the external attestation decidedly in its favour, but is to be explained from the fact that the unrelated μέν was glossed by οὖν (a new sentence was commenced with ἐφʼ ὅσον); therefore these authorities indirectly pass over to the side of the otherwise weakly accredited Recepta.

Romans 11:17. τῆς ῥίζης καί] This καί is wanting in B C א*, Copt. Omitted by Tisch. 8; but how easily it might be suppressed, owing to the homoeoteleuta! In D* F G, codd. It. Ir., τῆς ῥίζης is also wanting from the like cause.

Romans 11:19. κλάδοι] So Rinck, Scholz, Lachm., Tisch. 8, according to decisive testimony. But Elz. and Tisch. 7 have οἱ κλάδοι, the article being mechanically introduced in imitation of τῶν κλάδων, Romans 11:17-18. Were οἱ original, and had it been desired through its omission to designate the τινὲς τῶν κλάδων in Romans 11:17 (Matth., Fritzsche), it would have more readily occurred to the mechanical tendency of copyists to insert τινές instead of οἱ.

Romans 11:20. ὑψηλοφρόνει] Lachm. and Tisch. 8 : ὑψηλὰ φρόνει, according to A B א. Resolution of the word—which is only found besides in 1 Timothy 6:17—into its elements in conformity with Romans 12:16.

Romans 11:21. μήπως] is wanting in A B C P א, min., Copt. Damasc. Ruf. Aug. Omitted by Lachm. and Tisch. 8. But the offence which was taken partly at the apparent unrelatedness of μήπως (which is therefore exchanged in Or. for πόσῳ μᾶλλον and πόσῳ πλέον), partly at the following future, readily induced the omission. For φείσηται, which Elz. has instead of φείσεται, is very feebly supported by evidence, and has manifestly come in accordance with the original μήπως; wrongly defended anew by Rinck. See the exegetical notes; comp. also Beng. Apparat. Crit.

Romans 11:22. In the second clause Lachm. and Tisch. have, instead of ἀποτομίαν, ἀποτομία, and instead of χρηστότητα, χρηστότης Θεοῦ; the former according to A B C א*, 67**, Or. Damasc.; the latter according to A B C D* (א has χρηστότητος Θεοῦ), 67**, Arm. Or. Eus. Damasc. Rightly; the common reading is a hasty grammatical emendation. Θεοῦ, too, bears, in its belonging to the reading χρηστότης, the stamp of genuineness.

Romans 11:25. παρʼ ἑαυτ.] Lachm. and Tisch. 7 : ἐν ἑαυτ., according to A B, Damasc. The latter is to be preferred (παρʼ ἑαυτ. was introduced through a comparison of Romans 12:16), and it explains, too, the origin of the bare ἑαυτοῖς in F G; for by the omission of the N the preposition would easily come to be dropped.

Romans 11:30. ὑμεῖς] Elz., Scholz: καὶ ὑμεῖς, against decisive evidence.

Romans 11:31. Before ἐλεηθ. B D* א, Copt. Dam. have νῦν; so Lachm. in brackets, and Tisch. 8. Inappropriate addition, arising from misconception, instead of which some min. have ὕστερον.

Romans 11:32. τοὺς πάντας] Instead of the first τ. π., D. Ir. et al. have τὰ πάντα, and F G πάντα. Also Vulg. It. express the neuter, which, however, is taken from Galatians 3:22.

CONTENTS:

After the humiliation hitherto expressed, there now follows the consolation in respect to the exclusion of a large part of Israel. (1) God has not cast off His people, but has allowed a part of them, according to a gracious election, to attain to salvation, and has hardened the remainder, Romans 11:1-10. (2) Yet God wills not their final destruction; nay, their unbelief subserves the salvation of the Gentiles, and their conversion will have yet more happy consequences. This is matter for hope, and the Gentile Christians may not therefore give way to self-exaltation, Romans 11:11-24. (3) For the hardening of a portion of the people will last no longer than until the whole of the Gentiles have become Christians; and then Israel will obtain salvation, Romans 11:25-32. How unfathomable are the riches, wisdom, and knowledge of God! To Him be glory! Romans 11:33-36.