King James Version
Romans 10
21 verses with commentary
Righteousness by Faith
Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved</strong>—Paul's <em>eudokia</em> (εὐδοκία, "good pleasure, heart's desire") and <em>deēsis</em> (δέησις, "petition, supplication") express both emotional longing and intercessory prayer for his kinsmen's salvation. Despite Israel's rejection of Christ (9:30-33), Paul models Christ-like love for enemies an...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
X.
(1) **My heart’s desire.**—Strictly, *the goodwill of my heart.* The earlier portion of this chapter is occupied with a more particular exposition of the cause of Israel’s rejection, which has been just alleged. They sought to do a hard thing—to work out a righteousness for themselves—instead of an easy thing—simply to believe in Christ.
This chapter, like the last, is introduced by an expressi...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**12. Wherefore--**that is, Things being so; referring back to the whole preceding argument.
**as by one man--**Adam.
**sin--**considered here in its guilt, criminality, penal desert.
**entered into the world, and death by sin--**as the penalty of sin.
**and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned--**rather, "all sinned," that is, in that one man's first sin. Thus death reac...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 10
Chapter Outline
The apostle's earnest desire for the salvation of the Jews.(1-4)
The difference between the righteousness of the law, and the righteousness of faith.(5-11)
The Gentiles stand on a level with the Jews, in justification and salvation.(12-17)
The Jews might know this from Old Testament prophecies.(18-21)
**Verses 1-4**
The Jews built on a false fou...
Read full commentary →For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge</strong>—Paul testifies (<em>martyreō</em>, μαρτυρέω, "bear witness") that Israel possesses <em>zēlos</em> (ζῆλος, "zeal, fervor") for God, but <em>ou kat' epignōsin</em> (οὐ κατ' ἐπίγνωσιν, "not according to full knowledge/recognition"). This is misdirected religious passion—sincere but fatally wrong. The ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(2) **A zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.**—It would be difficult to find a more happy description of the state of the Jews at this period. They had “a zeal for God.” “The Jew,” said Josephus, “knows the Law better than his own name . . . The sacred rules were punctually observed . . . The great feasts were frequented by countless thousands . . . Over and above the requirements of the L...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**13-14. For until the law sin was in the world--**that is during all the period from Adam "until the law" of Moses was given, God continued to treat men as sinners.
**but sin is not imputed where there is no law--**"There must therefore have been a law during that period, because sin was then imputed"; as is now to be shown.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 10
Chapter Outline
The apostle's earnest desire for the salvation of the Jews.(1-4)
The difference between the righteousness of the law, and the righteousness of faith.(5-11)
The Gentiles stand on a level with the Jews, in justification and salvation.(12-17)
The Jews might know this from Old Testament prophecies.(18-21)
**Verses 1-4**
The Jews built on a false fou...
Read full commentary →For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God</strong>—Israel's failure was epistemological (<em>agnoeō</em>, ἀγνοέω, "be ignorant of, not understand") and volitional (<em>ou hypetagesan</em>, οὐ ὑπετάγησαν, "did not submit"). <em>Agnoeō</em> indicates not mere lack of inform...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(3) **God’s righteousness.**—See Romans 1:17; Romans 3:21.
**Their own righteousness.**—A righteousness founded on their own works.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**13-14. For until the law sin was in the world--**that is during all the period from Adam "until the law" of Moses was given, God continued to treat men as sinners.
**but sin is not imputed where there is no law--**"There must therefore have been a law during that period, because sin was then imputed"; as is now to be shown.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 10
Chapter Outline
The apostle's earnest desire for the salvation of the Jews.(1-4)
The difference between the righteousness of the law, and the righteousness of faith.(5-11)
The Gentiles stand on a level with the Jews, in justification and salvation.(12-17)
The Jews might know this from Old Testament prophecies.(18-21)
**Verses 1-4**
The Jews built on a false fou...
Read full commentary →For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth</strong>—<em>Telos nomou Christos</em> (τέλος νόμου Χριστός): Christ is the <em>telos</em> (τέλος) of the law. This crucial word means both "termination" and "goal/fulfillment." Christ is the law's terminus: it no longer functions as a means of justification for believers (Gal 3:23-25; Eph 2:15). But Christ is a...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(4) **The end of the law.**—“End,” in the proper sense of termination or conclusion. Christ is that which brings the functions of the Law to an end by superseding it. “The Law pursues a man until he takes refuge in Christ; then it says, Thou hast found thine asylum; I shall trouble thee no more, now thou art wise; now thou art safe.” (Bengel.)
**For righteousness to every one that believeth.**—So ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**15. But--**"Yet," "Howbeit."
**not as the offence--**"trespass."
**so also is the free gift--**or "the gracious gift," "the gift of grace." The two cases present points of contrast as well as resemblance.
**For if, &c.--**rather, "For if through the offense of the one the many died (that is, in that one man's first sin), much more did the grace of God, and the free gift by grace, even ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 10
Chapter Outline
The apostle's earnest desire for the salvation of the Jews.(1-4)
The difference between the righteousness of the law, and the righteousness of faith.(5-11)
The Gentiles stand on a level with the Jews, in justification and salvation.(12-17)
The Jews might know this from Old Testament prophecies.(18-21)
**Verses 1-4**
The Jews built on a false fou...
Read full commentary →For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them</strong>—Paul quotes Leviticus 18:5, which establishes the law's principle: <em>do and live</em>. <em>Poieō</em> (ποιέω, "do, perform, practice") combined with <em>zaō</em> (ζάω, "live") presents perfect obedience as the condition for life. The law's standard is absolute—"th...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(5) **For Moses describeth.**—The Law required an actual literal fulfilment. Its essence consisted in works. “The man which *doeth* these things shall live.”
**By them.**—The true reading is, probably, *in it*—*i.e.,* the righteousness just mentioned. “The man who doeth this righteousness” (according to a more correct text) “shall live in and by it.”
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**16. And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift--**"Another point of contrast may be mentioned."
**for the judgment--**"sentence."
**was by one--**rather, "was of one," meaning not "one man," but, as appears from the next clause, "one offense."
**to condemnation, but the free gift--**"gift of grace."
**is of many offences unto justification--**a glorious point of contrast. "The ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 5-11**
The self-condemned sinner need not perplex himself how this righteousness may be found. When we speak of looking upon Christ, and receiving, and feeding upon him, it is not Christ in heaven, nor Christ in the deep, that we mean; but Christ in the promise, Christ offered in the word. Justification by faith in Christ is a plain doctrine. It is brought before the mind and heart of...
Read full commentary →But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:)
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:)</strong>—Paul creatively applies Deuteronomy 30:12-14 (Moses' exposition on law-accessibility) to gospel-accessibility. <em>Hē ek pisteōs dikaiosynē</em> (ἡ ἐκ πίστεως δικαιοσύνη, "the righteousness of faith") is personified as spe...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(6) **But the righteousness.**—In opposition to this righteousness of works, so laborious and so impracticable, the Apostle adduces another quotation to show that the righteousness which depends on faith is much easier and simpler.
The original of the quotation has, indeed, a quite different application. It referred to that very law which the Apostle is depreciating. Moses had described the *Law* ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**17. For if by--**"the"
**one man's offence death reigned by one--**"through the one."
**much more shall they which receive--**"the"
**abundance of grace and of the gift of--**justifying
**righteousness ... reign in life by one Jesus Christ--**"through the one." We have here the two ideas of Ro 5:15 and Ro 5:16 sublimely combined into one, as if the subject had grown upon the apostle as h...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 5-11**
The self-condemned sinner need not perplex himself how this righteousness may be found. When we speak of looking upon Christ, and receiving, and feeding upon him, it is not Christ in heaven, nor Christ in the deep, that we mean; but Christ in the promise, Christ offered in the word. Justification by faith in Christ is a plain doctrine. It is brought before the mind and heart of...
Read full commentary →Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)</strong>—The second rhetorical question, <em>Tis katabesetai eis tēn abysson?</em> (τίς καταβήσεται εἰς τὴν ἄβυσσον; "Who shall descend into the abyss?"), parallels Deuteronomy 30:13's "beyond the sea" but intensifies it to <em>abyss</em> (ἄβυσσος)—the realm of the dead, Hades, Sheol. Paul interprets th...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(7) **Into the deep.**—In the original, *beyond the sea.* The word which St. Paul uses is found in the LXX. for “the sea,” but here means *the abyss of Hades.*
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**18. Therefore--**now at length resuming the unfinished comparison of Ro 5:12, in order to give formally the concluding member of it, which had been done once and again substantially, in the intermediate verses.
**as by the offence of one judgment came--**or, more simply, "it came."
**upon all men to condenmation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came--**rather, "it came."
...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 5-11**
The self-condemned sinner need not perplex himself how this righteousness may be found. When we speak of looking upon Christ, and receiving, and feeding upon him, it is not Christ in heaven, nor Christ in the deep, that we mean; but Christ in the promise, Christ offered in the word. Justification by faith in Christ is a plain doctrine. It is brought before the mind and heart of...
Read full commentary →But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach</strong>—<em>Engys sou to rhēma estin</em> (ἐγγύς σου τὸ ῥῆμα ἐστιν, "near you the word is")—the gospel is accessible, present, close at hand. <em>Rhēma</em> (ῥῆμα) emphasizes the spoken word, the proclaimed message, not abstract truth. It is <em>en tō stomati sou kai ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**19. For, &c.--**better, "For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, even so by the obedience of the One shall the many be made righteous." On this great verse observe: First, By the "obedience" of Christ here is plainly not meant more than what divines call His active obedience, as distinguished from His sufferings and death; it is the entire work of Christ in its obedi...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 5-11**
The self-condemned sinner need not perplex himself how this righteousness may be found. When we speak of looking upon Christ, and receiving, and feeding upon him, it is not Christ in heaven, nor Christ in the deep, that we mean; but Christ in the promise, Christ offered in the word. Justification by faith in Christ is a plain doctrine. It is brought before the mind and heart of...
Read full commentary →That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved</strong>—This is Christianity's most famous conversion formula. <em>Homologeō</em> (ὁμολογέω) means "confess, acknowledge publicly, declare allegiance." The confession's content: <em>kyrion Iēsoun</em> (κύριον Ἰησοῦν, "Jesus is Lord")—the ea...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(9) **If thou shalt confess with thy mouth.—**Interesting as containing the earliest formal confession of faith; that in Acts 8:37 (see Note there) is not genuine.
There is no opposition between the outward confession and the inward act of faith. The one is regarded as the necessary consequence and expression of the other. In the next verse this takes the form of Hebrew parallelism, in which the b...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**20-21. Moreover the law--**"The law, however." The Jew might say, If the whole purposes of God towards men center in Adam and Christ, where does "the law" come in, and what was the use of it? Answer: It
**entered--**But the word expresses an important idea besides "entering." It signifies, "entered incidentally," or "parenthetically." (In Ga 2:4 **the same word is rendered, "came in privily.")...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 5-11**
The self-condemned sinner need not perplex himself how this righteousness may be found. When we speak of looking upon Christ, and receiving, and feeding upon him, it is not Christ in heaven, nor Christ in the deep, that we mean; but Christ in the promise, Christ offered in the word. Justification by faith in Christ is a plain doctrine. It is brought before the mind and heart of...
Read full commentary →For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation</strong>—Paul unpacks verse 9's order, explaining the relationship between internal faith and external confession. <em>Kardia pisteuetai eis dikaiosynēn</em> (καρδίᾳ πιστεύεται εἰς δικαιοσύνην, "with heart it is believed unto righteousness")—the present passive emphasizes ongoing belie...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**20-21. Moreover the law--**"The law, however." The Jew might say, If the whole purposes of God towards men center in Adam and Christ, where does "the law" come in, and what was the use of it? Answer: It
**entered--**But the word expresses an important idea besides "entering." It signifies, "entered incidentally," or "parenthetically." (In Ga 2:4 **the same word is rendered, "came in privily.")...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 5-11**
The self-condemned sinner need not perplex himself how this righteousness may be found. When we speak of looking upon Christ, and receiving, and feeding upon him, it is not Christ in heaven, nor Christ in the deep, that we mean; but Christ in the promise, Christ offered in the word. Justification by faith in Christ is a plain doctrine. It is brought before the mind and heart of...
Read full commentary →For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed</strong>—Paul quotes Isaiah 28:16 (also cited in Rom 9:33), emphasizing <em>pas ho pisteuōn</em> (πᾶς ὁ πιστεύων, "everyone/whosoever believing"). The universality of the promise prepares for verse 12's declaration that "there is no difference between Jew and Greek." <em>Ou kataischynthēsetai</em> (οὐ καταισχυνθήσεται...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(11) **Whosoever believeth.**—*All* who believe shall be saved, for, &c.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 5-11**
The self-condemned sinner need not perplex himself how this righteousness may be found. When we speak of looking upon Christ, and receiving, and feeding upon him, it is not Christ in heaven, nor Christ in the deep, that we mean; but Christ in the promise, Christ offered in the word. Justification by faith in Christ is a plain doctrine. It is brought before the mind and heart of...
Read full commentary →For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him</strong>—<em>Ou gar estin diastolē Ioudaiou te kai Hellēnos</em> (οὐ γὰρ ἐστιν διαστολὴ Ἰουδαίου τε καὶ Ἕλληνος, "for there is no distinction between Jew and Greek"). This echoes Romans 3:22-23's declaration that all have sinned—now Paul announces all may be saved on equ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(12) **For the same Lord over all is rich.**—Rather, *for the same Lord* (is Lord) ov*er all, abounding,* &c. Christ is the Lord alike of Jew and of Gentile. (Comp. Ephesians 4:5.)
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
CHAPTER 6 Ro 6:1-11. The Bearing of Justification by Grace upon a Holy Life.
**1. What, &c.--**The subject of this third division of our Epistle announces itself at once in the opening question, "Shall we (or, as the true reading is, "May we," "Are we to") continue in sin, that grace may abound?" Had the apostle's doctrine been that salvation depends in any degree upon our good works, no such...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 12-17**
There is not one God to the Jews, more kind, and another to the Gentiles, who is less kind; the Lord is a Father to all men. The promise is the same to all, who call on the name of the Lord Jesus as the Son of God, as God manifest in the flesh. All believers thus call upon the Lord Jesus, and none else will do so humbly or sincerely. But how should any call on the Lord Jesus, ...
Read full commentary →For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved</strong>—Paul quotes Joel 2:32, a prophecy concerning the Day of the Lord when "whosoever shall call on the name of Yahweh shall be delivered." <em>Pas gar hos an epikalesētai to onoma kyriou sōthēsetai</em> (πᾶς γὰρ ὃς ἂν ἐπικαλέσηται τὸ ὄνομα κυρίου σωθήσεται)—<em>pas</em> (πᾶς, "all, everyone, whosoever") combined with <e...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(13) **Upon the name of the Lord.**—Originally, as meaning “of Jehovah,” but with especial reference to the Messianic Advent. Here, therefore, it is applied to our Lord.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**2. God forbid--**"That be far from us"; the instincts of the new creature revolting at the thought.
**How shall we, that are dead, &c.--**literally, and more forcibly, "We who died to sin (as presently to be explained), how shall we live any longer therein?"
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 12-17**
There is not one God to the Jews, more kind, and another to the Gentiles, who is less kind; the Lord is a Father to all men. The promise is the same to all, who call on the name of the Lord Jesus as the Son of God, as God manifest in the flesh. All believers thus call upon the Lord Jesus, and none else will do so humbly or sincerely. But how should any call on the Lord Jesus, ...
Read full commentary →The Message for All People
How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?</strong>—Paul's chain logic (<em>sorites</em>) moves backward from calling (v. 13) to establish evangelistic necessity. Four rhetorical questions with one answer: gospel proclamation is essential. <em>Pōs oun epikalesōnta...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(14-21) Thus there is a distinct order—belief, confession, invocation. But before either the last or the first of these steps is taken the gospel must be preached. The Jew, however, cannot plead that the gospel has not been preached to him. It *has* been preached both to Jew and Gentile. Both Moses and Isaiah had foretold the conversion of the Gentiles, and Isaiah had also foretold the unbelief of...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**3. Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ--**compare 1Co 10:2.
**were baptized into his death?--**sealed with the seal of heaven, and as it were formally entered and articled, to all the benefits and all the obligations of Christian discipleship in general, and of His death in particular. And since He was "made sin" and "a curse for us" (2Co 5:21; Ga 5:13), "bearing...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 12-17**
There is not one God to the Jews, more kind, and another to the Gentiles, who is less kind; the Lord is a Father to all men. The promise is the same to all, who call on the name of the Lord Jesus as the Son of God, as God manifest in the flesh. All believers thus call upon the Lord Jesus, and none else will do so humbly or sincerely. But how should any call on the Lord Jesus, ...
Read full commentary →And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!</strong>—The fifth question: <em>Pōs de kēryxōsin ean mē apostalōsin?</em> (πῶς δὲ κηρύξωσιν ἐὰν μὴ ἀποστάλωσιν; "How shall they preach unless they are sent?"). <em>Apostellō</em> (ἀποστέλλω, "send forth with commission...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(15) The happy consequences of this preaching were already intimated by the prophet Isaiah.
**Preach the gospel of peace.**—These words are omitted in the group of oldest MSS., and should be left out in the text. The whole of the quotation is not given by St. Paul.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**4. Therefore we are--**rather, "were" (it being a past act, completed at once).
**buried with him, by baptism into death--**(The comma we have placed after "him" will show what the sense is. It is not, "By baptism we are buried with Him into death," which makes no sense at all; but, "By baptism with Him into death we are buried with Him"; in other words, "By the same baptism which publicly ent...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 12-17**
There is not one God to the Jews, more kind, and another to the Gentiles, who is less kind; the Lord is a Father to all men. The promise is the same to all, who call on the name of the Lord Jesus as the Son of God, as God manifest in the flesh. All believers thus call upon the Lord Jesus, and none else will do so humbly or sincerely. But how should any call on the Lord Jesus, ...
Read full commentary →But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? our report: Gr. the hearing of us? report: or, preaching?
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?</strong>—<em>All' ou pantes hypēkousan tō euangeliō</em> (ἀλλ' οὐ πάντες ὑπήκουσαν τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ, "But not all obeyed the gospel"). <em>Hypakouō</em> (ὑπακούω, "obey, submit to, heed") treats gospel-belief as obedience (cf. Rom 1:5; 16:26, "obedience of faith"). Faith is not mere intellectual ackn...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(16) Applying this condition of the necessity of preaching to the gospel, we nevertheless see that, as a matter of fact, all did not accept it. Just as Isaiah had said.
The argument does not run quite smoothly. The Apostle has two thoughts in his mind: (1) the necessity that the gospel should be preached before it could be believed; (2) the fact that, although it was preached (and accepted by many...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**5. For if we have been planted together--**literally, "have become formed together." (The word is used here only).
**in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection--**that is, "Since Christ's death and resurrection are inseparable in their efficacy, union with Him in the one carries with it participation in the other, for privilege and for duty alike." The f...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 12-17**
There is not one God to the Jews, more kind, and another to the Gentiles, who is less kind; the Lord is a Father to all men. The promise is the same to all, who call on the name of the Lord Jesus as the Son of God, as God manifest in the flesh. All believers thus call upon the Lord Jesus, and none else will do so humbly or sincerely. But how should any call on the Lord Jesus, ...
Read full commentary →So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God</strong>—<em>Ara hē pistis ex akoēs, hē de akoē dia rhēmatos Christou</em> (ἄρα ἡ πίστις ἐξ ἀκοῆς, ἡ δὲ ἀκοὴ διὰ ῥήματος Χριστοῦ, "So then faith [comes] from hearing, and hearing through the word/message of Christ"). This is the golden text on faith's origin. <em>Pistis</em> (πίστις, "faith") is not self-generated or innate—it...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(17) **So then faith cometh.**—Inference from the prophecy just quoted. Before men can believe, there must be something for them to believe. That something is the word of God, which we preach and they hear. It must be remembered that the word for “report” in Romans 10:16, and for “hearing” in Romans 10:17, is the same, but with a slight difference of meaning. In the first place, both the act of he...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**6-7. Knowing this, &c.--**The apostle now grows more definite and vivid in expressing the sin-destroying efficacy of our union with the crucified Saviour.
**that our old man--**"our old selves"; that is, "all that we were in our old unregenerate condition, before union with Christ" (compare Col 3:9, 10; Ep 4:22-24; Ga 2:20; 5:24; 6:14).
**is--**rather, "was."
**crucified with him--**in...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 12-17**
There is not one God to the Jews, more kind, and another to the Gentiles, who is less kind; the Lord is a Father to all men. The promise is the same to all, who call on the name of the Lord Jesus as the Son of God, as God manifest in the flesh. All believers thus call upon the Lord Jesus, and none else will do so humbly or sincerely. But how should any call on the Lord Jesus, ...
Read full commentary →But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world</strong>—Paul answers potential objection: perhaps Israel didn't hear? <em>Menoun ge eis pasan tēn gēn exēlthen ho phtongos autōn</em> (μενοῦν γε εἰς πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν ἐξῆλθεν ὁ φθόγγος αὐτῶν, "Indeed, into all the earth went out their sound"). He quotes Psalm 19:4, David...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(18) **Have they not heard?**—The relations of hearing to belief suggest to the Apostle a possible excuse for the Jews, and the excuse he puts forward interrogatively himself: “But, I ask, did they (the Jews) not hear?” Yes, for the gospel was preached to them, as indeed to all mankind.
**Their sound.**—Here, the voice of the preachers; in the original of Psalms 19, the unspoken testimony of the w...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**6-7. Knowing this, &c.--**The apostle now grows more definite and vivid in expressing the sin-destroying efficacy of our union with the crucified Saviour.
**that our old man--**"our old selves"; that is, "all that we were in our old unregenerate condition, before union with Christ" (compare Col 3:9, 10; Ep 4:22-24; Ga 2:20; 5:24; 6:14).
**is--**rather, "was."
**crucified with him--**in...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 18-21**
Did not the Jews know that the Gentiles were to be called in? They might have known it from Moses and Isaiah. Isaiah speaks plainly of the grace and favour of God, as going before in the receiving of the Gentiles. Was not this our own case? Did not God begin in love, and make himself known to us when we did not ask after him? The patience of God towards provoking sinners is wo...
Read full commentary →But I say, Did not Israel know? First Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>But I say, Did not Israel know? First Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you</strong>—A second objection: perhaps Israel didn't understand? <em>All' legō, mē Israēl ouk egnō?</em> (ἀλλ' λέγω, μὴ Ἰσραὴλ οὐκ ἔγνω; "But I say, did Israel not know/understand?"). <em>Ginōskō</em> (γινώσκω, "know, understand, perceive") im...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(19) Did not Israel know that the preaching of the gospel would be thus universal, and pass over from them to the Gentiles? Yes, certainly, for Moses had warned them of this.
**First.**—In the order of time and of Scripture.
**I will provoke you.**—In requital for the idolatries of the Jews, Moses prophesied that God would bestow his favour on a Gentile nation, and so provoke their jealousy; and t...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**8. Now if we be dead--**"if we died."
**with Christ, &c.--**See on Ro 6:5.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 18-21**
Did not the Jews know that the Gentiles were to be called in? They might have known it from Moses and Isaiah. Isaiah speaks plainly of the grace and favour of God, as going before in the receiving of the Gentiles. Was not this our own case? Did not God begin in love, and make himself known to us when we did not ask after him? The patience of God towards provoking sinners is wo...
Read full commentary →But Esaias is very bold, and saith, I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>But Esaias is very bold, and saith, I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me</strong>—Paul quotes Isaiah 65:1, where God laments Israel's rebellion and announces His availability to those who didn't seek Him. <em>Ēsaias de apotolma kai legei</em> (Ἠσαΐας δὲ ἀποτολμᾷ καὶ λέγει, "Isaiah is very bold and says")—<em>apotolmaō</em> (ἀποτολμάω...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(20) **Is very bold.**—Comes forward and tells them the naked truth.
**I** **was found.**—The original of the quotation referred to the apostate Israel; St. Paul here applies it to the Gentiles.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**9-11. Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him--**Though Christ's death was in the most absolute sense a voluntary act (Joh 10:17, 18; Ac 2:24), that voluntary surrender gave death such rightful "dominion over Him" as dissolved its dominion over us. But this once past, "death hath," even in that sense, "dominion over Him no more."
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 18-21**
Did not the Jews know that the Gentiles were to be called in? They might have known it from Moses and Isaiah. Isaiah speaks plainly of the grace and favour of God, as going before in the receiving of the Gentiles. Was not this our own case? Did not God begin in love, and make himself known to us when we did not ask after him? The patience of God towards provoking sinners is wo...
Read full commentary →But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people</strong>—The tragic conclusion: <em>Pros de ton Israēl legei, Holēn tēn hēmeran exepetasa tas cheiras mou pros laon apeithonta kai antilegonta</em> (πρὸς δὲ τὸν Ἰσραὴλ λέγει, ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν ἐξεπέτασα τὰς χεῖράς μου πρὸς λαὸν ἀπειθοῦντα καὶ ἀντιλέγοντα). Paul continues quoting Isai...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(21) **To Israel.**—With regard to Israel.
**He saith.**—Isaiah, speaking as the mouthpiece of God.
**All day long.**—This quotation is from the next verse to the preceding, and there is no such distinction in the persons to whom it is addressed as the Apostle here draws.
**Gainsaying.**—A people which refused the proffered salvation.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
Text Courtesy of Bib...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**9-11. Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him--**Though Christ's death was in the most absolute sense a voluntary act (Joh 10:17, 18; Ac 2:24), that voluntary surrender gave death such rightful "dominion over Him" as dissolved its dominion over us. But this once past, "death hath," even in that sense, "dominion over Him no more."
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 18-21**
Did not the Jews know that the Gentiles were to be called in? They might have known it from Moses and Isaiah. Isaiah speaks plainly of the grace and favour of God, as going before in the receiving of the Gentiles. Was not this our own case? Did not God begin in love, and make himself known to us when we did not ask after him? The patience of God towards provoking sinners is wo...
Read full commentary →