King James Version
Romans 11
36 verses with commentary
A Remnant of Israel
I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid . For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.
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KJV Study Commentary
Paul opens with a rhetorical question: <strong>Hath God cast away his people?</strong> (μὴ ἀπώσατο ὁ θεὸς τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ;). His emphatic response—<em>mē genoito</em> (μὴ γένοιτο, "God forbid!")—is the strongest Greek negation, expressing horror at the suggestion. Paul then offers himself as <em>proof</em>: <strong>I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin</strong>. T...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(1) **I** **say then.**—Are we to infer from the language of Isaiah just quoted that God has cast away his people? Far be the thought. The Apostle is himself too closely identified with his countrymen to look upon it with anything but horror.
**I also.**—This appeal to his own descent from Abraham seems to be called forth by the Apostle’s patriotic sympathy with his people, and not merely by the t...
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
Chapter 11
Chapter Outline
The rejection of the Jews is not universal.(1-10)
God overruled their unbelief for making the Gentiles partakers of gospel privileges.(11-21)
The Gentiles cautioned against pride and unbelief, The Jews shall be called as a nation, and brought into God's visible covenant again.(22-32)
A solemn adoring of the wisdom, goodness, and justice of God.(33-36)...
Read full commentary →God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying, of Elias: Gr. in Elias?
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew</strong>—the verb <em>proegnō</em> (προέγνω, "foreknew") denotes God's electing love from before creation, not mere prescience. This foreknowledge grounds Israel's security in God's eternal decree, not their performance. Paul then appeals to <em>Scripture</em> (1 Kings 19:10-14), citing Elijah's intercession <em>against</em> Israel (<em>k...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(2) **Which he foreknew.**—This must not be pressed too far, as implying an absolute indefectibility of the divine favour. God, having in His eternal counsels set His choice upon Israel as His peculiar people, will not readily disown them. Nor is their case really so bad as it may seem. Now, as in the days of Elijah, there are a select few who have not shared in the general depravity.
**Of Elias.*...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**12. Let not sin therefore--**as a Master
**reign--**(The reader will observe that wherever in this section the words "Sin," "Obedience," "Righteousness," "Uncleanness," "Iniquity," are figuratively used, to represent a Master, they are here printed in capitals, to make this manifest to the eye, and so save explanation).
**in your mortal body, that ye should obey it--**sin.
**in the lusts t...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 11
Chapter Outline
The rejection of the Jews is not universal.(1-10)
God overruled their unbelief for making the Gentiles partakers of gospel privileges.(11-21)
The Gentiles cautioned against pride and unbelief, The Jews shall be called as a nation, and brought into God's visible covenant again.(22-32)
A solemn adoring of the wisdom, goodness, and justice of God.(33-36)...
Read full commentary →Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life.
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KJV Study Commentary
Paul quotes Elijah's complaint verbatim from 1 Kings 19:10, 14 (LXX): <strong>Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life</strong>. The verb for "killed" is <em>apekteinan</em> (ἀπέκτειναν), indicating completed action—the prophets were systematically murdered. The phrase <em>monos hypoleiphthen</em> (μόνος ὑπολείφθην, "I alone am l...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(3) **I am left alone**—*i.e.,* of the prophets.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**13. Neither yield ye your members instruments of unrighteousness unto Sin, but yield yourselves--**this is the great surrender.
**unto God as those that are alive from the dead, and--**as the fruit of this.
**your members--**till now prostituted to sin.
**instruments of righteousness unto God--**But what if indwelling sin should prove too strong for us? The reply is: But it will not.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 11
Chapter Outline
The rejection of the Jews is not universal.(1-10)
God overruled their unbelief for making the Gentiles partakers of gospel privileges.(11-21)
The Gentiles cautioned against pride and unbelief, The Jews shall be called as a nation, and brought into God's visible covenant again.(22-32)
A solemn adoring of the wisdom, goodness, and justice of God.(33-36)...
Read full commentary →But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>But what saith the answer of God unto him?</strong> (<em>ho chrēmatismos</em>, ὁ χρηματισμός)—the noun denotes a divine oracle or authoritative response. God corrects Elijah's despair with stunning revelation: <strong>I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal</strong>. The verb <em>kateleipsa</em> (κατέλειψα, "reserved") emphasizes God's...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(4) **To the image of** **Baal.**—The name “Baal” is here, as frequently in the LXX., in the feminine gender, and it is to account for this that our translators have inserted the word “image.” How the feminine really came to be used is uncertain. Some have thought that the deity was androgynous, others have conjectured that the feminine is used contemptuously. Baal was originally the sun-god. The ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**14. For Sin shall not have dominion over you--**as the slaves of a tyrant lord.
**for ye are not under the law, but under grace--**The force of this glorious assurance can only be felt by observing the grounds on which it rests. To be "under the law" is, first, to be under its claim to entire obedience; and so, next under its curse for the breach of these. And as all power to obey can reach th...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 11
Chapter Outline
The rejection of the Jews is not universal.(1-10)
God overruled their unbelief for making the Gentiles partakers of gospel privileges.(11-21)
The Gentiles cautioned against pride and unbelief, The Jews shall be called as a nation, and brought into God's visible covenant again.(22-32)
A solemn adoring of the wisdom, goodness, and justice of God.(33-36)...
Read full commentary →Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant</strong>—<em>leimma</em> (λεῖμμα) means a remainder or residue, used in the LXX for survivors of judgment. Paul draws a direct parallel: <em>houtōs oun</em> (οὕτως οὖν, "just so, therefore") connects Elijah's era to his own. The remnant exists <em>kata eklogen charitos</em> (κατ᾽ ἐκλογὴν χάριτος), <strong>according to the election o...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(5, 6) As there was a remnant then, so also is there a remnant now. That there should be so is due not to any human merit on the part of those exempted from the fate of their nation, but to the spontaneous act of the divine grace selecting them from the rest. These two things,” grace” and “works,” really exclude each other.
The Apostle reverts somewhat parenthetically, and because his mind is full...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**15-16. What then? ... Know ye not--**it is a dictate of common sense.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 11
Chapter Outline
The rejection of the Jews is not universal.(1-10)
God overruled their unbelief for making the Gentiles partakers of gospel privileges.(11-21)
The Gentiles cautioned against pride and unbelief, The Jews shall be called as a nation, and brought into God's visible covenant again.(22-32)
A solemn adoring of the wisdom, goodness, and justice of God.(33-36)...
Read full commentary →And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And if by grace, then is it no more of works</strong>—Paul establishes an absolute antithesis between <em>charis</em> (χάρις, "grace") and <em>erga</em> (ἔργα, "works"). The Greek uses emphatic negation: <em>ouketi ex ergōn</em> (οὐκέτι ἐξ ἔργων, "no longer from works"). Grace and works are mutually exclusive bases for salvation. The reasoning is logical: <strong>otherwise grace is no more...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(6) **And** **if by grace.**—The true text of this verse differs considerably from that which is translated in the Authorised version, “But if by grace, then is it no more of works, otherwise grace is no more seen to be grace.”
The preservation of the remnant cannot be due to grace and works at the same time; it must be due to one or the other.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**15-16. What then? ... Know ye not--**it is a dictate of common sense.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 11
Chapter Outline
The rejection of the Jews is not universal.(1-10)
God overruled their unbelief for making the Gentiles partakers of gospel privileges.(11-21)
The Gentiles cautioned against pride and unbelief, The Jews shall be called as a nation, and brought into God's visible covenant again.(22-32)
A solemn adoring of the wisdom, goodness, and justice of God.(33-36)...
Read full commentary →What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded blinded: or, hardened
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for</strong>—<em>ho epitēdei</em> (ὃ ἐπιτηδεῖ) refers to righteousness and covenant blessing. National Israel as a whole failed to obtain the goal pursued, because they pursued it by works (9:31-32). <strong>But the election hath obtained it</strong>—<em>hē ekloge</em> (ἡ ἐκλογή, "the elect") refers to the remnant chosen by grace. T...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(7) What is the result? Not only did Israel fail to obtain the salvation which it sought, and which the select few succeeded in obtaining, but it was consigned to a state of complete spiritual apathy and torpor, and its very blessings became a curse and a snare.
**Were blinded.**—An erroneous translation, arising from a confusion of two similar words. The correct rendering, “were hardened,” is giv...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**17. But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of Sin--**that is, that this is a state of things now past and gone.
**but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you--**rather, "whereunto ye were delivered" (Margin), or cast, as in a mould. The idea is, that the teaching to which they had heartily yielded themselves had stamped its own impress upon them.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 11
Chapter Outline
The rejection of the Jews is not universal.(1-10)
God overruled their unbelief for making the Gentiles partakers of gospel privileges.(11-21)
The Gentiles cautioned against pride and unbelief, The Jews shall be called as a nation, and brought into God's visible covenant again.(22-32)
A solemn adoring of the wisdom, goodness, and justice of God.(33-36)...
Read full commentary →(According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day. slumber: or, remorse
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KJV Study Commentary
Paul now supports verse 7's hardening claim with Scripture: <strong>(According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber</strong>—<em>pneuma katanyxeōs</em> (πνεῦμα κατανύξεως), literally "spirit of stupor" or deep sleep. This conflates Isaiah 29:10 and Deuteronomy 29:4, showing a divine judicial act. God <em>gave</em> (<em>edōken</em>, ἔδωκεν) this stupor—the hardening is not me...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(8) **The spirit of slumber.**—This phrase, again, has a curious history. Etymologically, the word translated “slumber” would seem to agree better with the marginal rendering, “remorse.” It comes from a root meaning to “prick or cut with a sharp instrument.” There happens to be another root somewhat similar, but certainly not connected, which means “drowsiness,” “slumber.” Hence, where the word in...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**18. Being then--**"And being"; it is the continuation and conclusion of the preceding sentence; not a new one.
**made free from Sin, ye became the servants of--**"servants to"
**Righteousness--**The case is one of emancipation from entire servitude to one Master to entire servitude to another, whose property we are (see on Ro 1:1). There is no middle state of personal independence; for which...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 11
Chapter Outline
The rejection of the Jews is not universal.(1-10)
God overruled their unbelief for making the Gentiles partakers of gospel privileges.(11-21)
The Gentiles cautioned against pride and unbelief, The Jews shall be called as a nation, and brought into God's visible covenant again.(22-32)
A solemn adoring of the wisdom, goodness, and justice of God.(33-36)...
Read full commentary →And David saith, Let their table be made a snare , and a trap , and a stumblingblock , and a recompence unto them:
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KJV Study Commentary
Paul quotes Psalm 69:22-23 (LXX), a Messianic psalm: <strong>And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them</strong>. The <em>table</em> (<em>trapeza</em>, τράπεζα) represents blessing, provision, fellowship. What should nourish becomes an instrument of judgment—a <em>snare</em> (<em>pagida</em>, παγίδα) and <em>trap</em> (<em>thēran<...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(9) **And David** **saith.**—It appears highly improbable that this Psalm was really written by David. Nor can the Davidic authorship be argued strongly from this passage, as “David” merely seems to stand for the Book of Psalms, with which his name was traditionally connected.
St. Paul is quoting freely from the LXX. In the original of Psalms 69 these verses refer to the fate invoked by the psalmi...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**19. I speak after the manner of men--**descending, for illustration, to the level of common affairs.
**because of the infirmity of your flesh--**the weakness of your spiritual apprehension.
**for as ye have yielded--**"as ye yielded," the thing being viewed as now past.
**your members servants to Uncleanness and to Iniquity unto--**the practice of
**iniquity; even so now yield your membe...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 11
Chapter Outline
The rejection of the Jews is not universal.(1-10)
God overruled their unbelief for making the Gentiles partakers of gospel privileges.(11-21)
The Gentiles cautioned against pride and unbelief, The Jews shall be called as a nation, and brought into God's visible covenant again.(22-32)
A solemn adoring of the wisdom, goodness, and justice of God.(33-36)...
Read full commentary →Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back alway.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see</strong>—<em>skotisthētōsan</em> (σκοτισθήτωσαν) is an aorist passive imperative, expressing David's prayer for judicial blinding. The continuation of Psalm 69:23 adds: <strong>and bow down their back alway</strong> (<em>synkampson dia pantos</em>, σύγκαμψον διὰ παντός). This depicts permanent subjugation, a bent back that cannot straighten...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(10) **Let their eyes be darkened.**—In the Apostle’s sense, “Let them be spiritually blinded, incapable of discerning or receiving the truth, and let their backs be bowed with the yoke of spiritual thraldom!” The Hebrew is, “Let their eyes be darkened, that they see not, and make their loins continually to shake.” On which Perowne remarks: “The darkening of the eyes denotes weakness and perplexit...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**20. For when ye were the servants--**"were servants"
**of Sin, ye were free from--**rather, "in respect of"
**Righteousness--**Difficulties have been made about this clause where none exist. The import of it seems clearly to be this:--"Since no servant can serve two masters, much less where their interests come into deadly collision, and each demands the whole man, so, while ye were in the s...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 11
Chapter Outline
The rejection of the Jews is not universal.(1-10)
God overruled their unbelief for making the Gentiles partakers of gospel privileges.(11-21)
The Gentiles cautioned against pride and unbelief, The Jews shall be called as a nation, and brought into God's visible covenant again.(22-32)
A solemn adoring of the wisdom, goodness, and justice of God.(33-36)...
Read full commentary →Gentiles Grafted In
I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid : but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy.
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KJV Study Commentary
Paul asks a second crucial question: <strong>Have they stumbled that they should fall?</strong> The verb <em>ptaiō</em> (πταίω, "stumble") differs from <em>piptō</em> (πίπτω, "fall"). Did Israel trip in order to fall <em>completely</em>? Paul's answer: <em>mē genoito</em> (μὴ γένοιτο, <strong>God forbid</strong>)—again the strongest negation. Israel's stumble is not final or total collapse. <stron...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(11-24) In this section the Apostle goes on to consider further the bearings of the rejection, and here, first (Romans 11:11-16), he considers the more hopeful side of it as regards the Jews themselves; their fall was not to be final, and there was every reason to think that their reconversion would more than make up for their fall; secondly (Romans 11:17-24), he turns to the Gentiles and bids the...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
21. What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? **for the end of those things is death--**What permanent advantage, and what abiding satisfaction, have those things yielded? The apostle answers his own question:--"Abiding satisfaction, did I ask? They have left only a sense of 'shame.' Permanent advantage? 'The end of them is death.'" By saying they were "now ashamed," he ma...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 11-21**
The gospel is the greatest riches of every place where it is. As therefore the righteous rejection of the unbelieving Jews, was the occasion of so large a multitude of the Gentiles being reconciled to God, and at peace with him; the future receiving of the Jews into the church would be such a change, as would resemble a general resurrection of the dead in sin to a life of righ...
Read full commentary →Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness? diminishing: or, decay, or, loss
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world</strong>—<em>paraptōma</em> (παράπτωμα, "fall/trespass") and <em>hēttēma</em> (ἥττημα, <strong>diminishing</strong>) both describe Israel's rejection. Yet this produced <em>ploutos</em> (πλοῦτος, <strong>riches</strong>) for the world—Gentile salvation. Paul argues <em>a fortiori</em> (from lesser to greater): <strong>how much more their f...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(12) And if the fall of the Jews had such good results, much more might be expected from their reinstatement.
**Diminishing . . . fulness.**—It is, perhaps, difficult to suggest a better translation. The Apostle seems to have in view not only the supersession of the Jews by the Gentiles, but also, under the figure of a defeat in battle, the reduction of their numbers to a small remnant. And, on th...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**22. But now--**as if to get away from such a subject were unspeakable relief.
**being made free from Sin, and become servants to God--**in the absolute sense intended throughout all this passage.
**ye have--**not "ought to have," but "do have," in point of fact.
**your fruit unto holiness--**"sanctification," as in Ro 6:19; meaning that permanently holy state and character which is built u...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 11-21**
The gospel is the greatest riches of every place where it is. As therefore the righteous rejection of the unbelieving Jews, was the occasion of so large a multitude of the Gentiles being reconciled to God, and at peace with him; the future receiving of the Jews into the church would be such a change, as would resemble a general resurrection of the dead in sin to a life of righ...
Read full commentary →For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office:
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles</strong>—<em>hymin legō tois ethnesin</em> (ὑμῖν λέγω τοῖς ἔθνεσιν). Paul now addresses Gentile believers directly, reminding them of his apostolic calling (Acts 9:15; 22:21; Galatians 2:7-8). He is <em>ethnōn apostolos</em> (ἐθνῶν ἀπόστολος), commissioned specifically to Gentiles. The phrase <strong>I magnify mine o...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(13-16) In this I am speaking to you Gentiles. It is you who will benefit by the restoration of the Jews. And this is the real reason why, as Apostle of the Gentiles, I make the most of my office. I do it in order to incite to emulation my own countrymen, knowing that the effects of their rejection lead us to infer the very happiest effects from their readmission. For their end will be as their be...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**23. For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through--**"in"
**Jesus Christ our Lord--**This concluding verse--as pointed as it is brief--contains the marrow, the most fine gold, of the Gospel. As the laborer is worthy of his hire, and feels it to be his due--his own of right--so is death the due of sin, the wages the sinner has well wrought for, his own. But "eternal...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 11-21**
The gospel is the greatest riches of every place where it is. As therefore the righteous rejection of the unbelieving Jews, was the occasion of so large a multitude of the Gentiles being reconciled to God, and at peace with him; the future receiving of the Jews into the church would be such a change, as would resemble a general resurrection of the dead in sin to a life of righ...
Read full commentary →If by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, and might save some of them.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>If by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh</strong>—<em>ei pōs parazēlōsō mou tēn sarka</em> (εἴ πως παραζηλώσω μου τὴν σάρκα). The phrase "my flesh" (<em>mou tēn sarka</em>) refers to Paul's ethnic kinsmen, fellow Jews. The verb <em>parazēloō</em> (παραζηλόω) means to provoke to jealousy or emulation—the same word from Deuteronomy 32:21 (v. 11). Paul's Gentile mini...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 11-21**
The gospel is the greatest riches of every place where it is. As therefore the righteous rejection of the unbelieving Jews, was the occasion of so large a multitude of the Gentiles being reconciled to God, and at peace with him; the future receiving of the Jews into the church would be such a change, as would resemble a general resurrection of the dead in sin to a life of righ...
Read full commentary →For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world</strong>—<em>apobolē</em> (ἀποβολή, "casting away") parallels "fall" and "diminishing" (v. 12). Israel's temporary rejection facilitated <em>katallagē kosmou</em> (καταλλαγὴ κόσμου, "reconciling of the world")—Gentile salvation. Paul now poses his strongest <em>a fortiori</em> argument: <strong>what shall the receiving of them...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(15) **Reconciling of the world.**—The gospel could not be preached to the Gentiles until it had first been offered to and rejected by the Jews. Hence the casting away of the Jews might be said to have caused the reconciling of the rest of the world.
**Life from the dead.**—The reconversion of the Jews will be a signal to inaugurate that reign of eternal life which will be ushered in by the resurr...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
CHAPTER 7 Ro 7:1-25. Same Subject Continued.
Relation of Believers to the Law and to Christ (Ro 7:1-6).
Recurring to the statement of Ro 6:14, that believers are "not under the law but under grace," the apostle here shows how this change is brought about, and what holy consequences follow from it.
**1. I speak to them that know the law--**of Moses to whom, though not themselves Jews (see on...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 11-21**
The gospel is the greatest riches of every place where it is. As therefore the righteous rejection of the unbelieving Jews, was the occasion of so large a multitude of the Gentiles being reconciled to God, and at peace with him; the future receiving of the Jews into the church would be such a change, as would resemble a general resurrection of the dead in sin to a life of righ...
Read full commentary →For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy</strong>—<em>aparche</em> (ἀπαρχή, "firstfruit") refers to the firstfruits offering (Numbers 15:17-21). When the first portion is consecrated, the whole batch shares that holiness. Paul likely refers to the patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob) as the firstfruit, making their descendants (the <em>lump</em>, <em>phyrama</em>, φύραμα) holy—se...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(16) And we have the strongest reason for believing in this reconversion of the Jews. Their forefathers were the first recipients of the promise, and what they were it is only natural to hope that their descendants will be. When a piece of dough is taken from the lump to make a consecrated cake, the consecration of the part extends over the whole; and the character which is inherent in the root of...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**2-3. if her husband be dead--**"die." So Ro 7:3.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 11-21**
The gospel is the greatest riches of every place where it is. As therefore the righteous rejection of the unbelieving Jews, was the occasion of so large a multitude of the Gentiles being reconciled to God, and at peace with him; the future receiving of the Jews into the church would be such a change, as would resemble a general resurrection of the dead in sin to a life of righ...
Read full commentary →And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree; among them: or, for them
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KJV Study Commentary
Paul introduces the olive tree metaphor: <strong>And if some of the branches be broken off</strong>—<em>tines tōn kladōn</em> (τινες τῶν κλάδων) refers to unbelieving Israel. They are <em>branches</em>, not the root—part of the covenant people but now broken off through unbelief. <strong>And thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them</strong>—<em>agrielaios</em> (ἀγριέλαιος, "wild o...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(17-24) The admission of the Gentile to the privileges of the Jew is no ground for boasting on his part. It is merely an *admission.* The Gentile is, as it were, a branch grafted into a stem that was none of his planting. Nor is his position absolutely secured to him. It is held conditionally on the tenure of faith. He ought, therefore, anxiously to guard against any failure in faith. For the mome...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**2-3. if her husband be dead--**"die." So Ro 7:3.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 11-21**
The gospel is the greatest riches of every place where it is. As therefore the righteous rejection of the unbelieving Jews, was the occasion of so large a multitude of the Gentiles being reconciled to God, and at peace with him; the future receiving of the Jews into the church would be such a change, as would resemble a general resurrection of the dead in sin to a life of righ...
Read full commentary →Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Boast not against the branches</strong>—<em>mē katakauchō</em> (μὴ κατακαυχῶ) is a present imperative prohibition: "stop boasting" or "do not boast." Paul addresses Gentile arrogance toward unbelieving Jews (broken-off branches). The warning is sharp: <strong>But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee</strong>. Gentiles did not produce the covenant; they are <em>sustai...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(18) **Thou bearest not the root.**—There can be no boasting, for the privileges which the Gentiles possess are derived, and not original.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**4. Wherefore ... ye also are become dead--**rather, "were slain."
**to the law by the body of Christ--**through His slain body. The apostle here departs from his usual word "died," using the more expressive phrase "were slain," to make it clear that he meant their being "crucified with Christ" (as expressed in Ro 6:3-6, and Ga 2:20).
**that ye should be married to another, even to him that i...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 11-21**
The gospel is the greatest riches of every place where it is. As therefore the righteous rejection of the unbelieving Jews, was the occasion of so large a multitude of the Gentiles being reconciled to God, and at peace with him; the future receiving of the Jews into the church would be such a change, as would resemble a general resurrection of the dead in sin to a life of righ...
Read full commentary →Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in.
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KJV Study Commentary
Paul anticipates a Gentile objection: <strong>Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in</strong> (<em>ereis oun</em>, ἐρεῖς οὖν, "you will say then"). This voice represents Gentile presumption: "God removed Jews to make room for us; we're the replacements." The objector sees Jewish unbelief as creating <em>opportunity</em> for Gentiles, therefore something to cel...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(19, 20) It might be possible for the Gentile to claim a special providence in his substitution for the Jew. He should rather be reminded that there is a condition—faith—which is attached to this substitution; this he must be careful to observe, or else he will lose all that he has gained.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**5. For when we were in the flesh--**in our unregenerate state, as we came into the world. See on Joh 3:6 and Ro 8:5-9.
**the motions--**"passions" (Margin), "affections" (as in Ga 5:24), or "stirrings."
**of sins--**that is, "prompting to the commission of sins."
**which were by the law--**by occasion of the law, which fretted, irritated our inward corruption by its prohibitions. See on Ro...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 11-21**
The gospel is the greatest riches of every place where it is. As therefore the righteous rejection of the unbelieving Jews, was the occasion of so large a multitude of the Gentiles being reconciled to God, and at peace with him; the future receiving of the Jews into the church would be such a change, as would resemble a general resurrection of the dead in sin to a life of righ...
Read full commentary →Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear:
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KJV Study Commentary
Paul concedes the point factually—<strong>Well; because of unbelief they were broken off</strong> (<em>tē apistia exeklasthēsan</em>, τῇ ἀπιστίᾳ ἐξεκλάσθησαν). The cause of their breaking off was <em>unbelief</em> (<em>apistia</em>, ἀπιστία), not divine caprice. But Paul adds the Gentile's standing: <strong>and thou standest by faith</strong> (<em>sy de tē pistei hestēkas</em>, σὺ δὲ τῇ πίστει ἕστ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**6. But now--**On the same expression, see on Ro 6:22, and compare Jas 1:15.
**we are delivered from the law--**The word is the same which, in Ro 6:6 and elsewhere, is rendered "destroyed," and is but another way of saying (as in Ro 7:4) that "we were slain to the law by the body of Christ"; language which, though harsh to the ear, is designed and fitted to impress upon the reader the violence ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 11-21**
The gospel is the greatest riches of every place where it is. As therefore the righteous rejection of the unbelieving Jews, was the occasion of so large a multitude of the Gentiles being reconciled to God, and at peace with him; the future receiving of the Jews into the church would be such a change, as would resemble a general resurrection of the dead in sin to a life of righ...
Read full commentary →For if God spared not the natural branches , take heed lest he also spare not thee.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For if God spared not the natural branches</strong>—<em>ei gar ho theos tōn kata physin kladōn ouk epheisato</em> (εἰ γὰρ ὁ θεὸς τῶν κατὰ φύσιν κλάδων οὐκ ἐφείσατο). The phrase <em>kata physin</em> (κατὰ φύσιν, "according to nature") emphasizes Israel's natural position as covenant people. If God broke off <em>natural</em> branches due to unbelief, the warning to Gentiles is sobering: <str...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(21) **Take heed lest** **. . .**—The better reading seems to be to omit these words, *neither will He spare thee.*
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**7-8. What ... then? Is the law sin? God forbid!--**"I have said that when we were in the flesh the law stirred our inward corruption, and was thus the occasion of deadly fruit: Is then the law to blame for this? Far from us be such a thought."
**Nay--**"On the contrary" (as in Ro 8:37; 1Co 12:22; Greek).
**I had not known sin but by the law--**It is important to fix what is meant by "sin" he...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 11-21**
The gospel is the greatest riches of every place where it is. As therefore the righteous rejection of the unbelieving Jews, was the occasion of so large a multitude of the Gentiles being reconciled to God, and at peace with him; the future receiving of the Jews into the church would be such a change, as would resemble a general resurrection of the dead in sin to a life of righ...
Read full commentary →Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell , severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God</strong>—<em>chrēstotēta kai apotomian theou</em> (χρηστότητα καὶ ἀποτομίαν θεοῦ). The word <em>chrēstotēs</em> (χρηστότης, "goodness/kindness") and <em>apotomia</em> (ἀποτομία, "severity/sharpness") present God's dual character: merciful yet just. Paul calls Gentiles to <em>behold</em> (<em>ide</em>, ἴδε), to contemplate both aspects simul...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(22) As Providence had been appealed to, the Apostle states the true Providential aspect of God’s rejection of Israel. It had a double side—one of goodness towards the Gentile, one of deserved severity towards the Jew. But, at the same time, the fact that the covenant was made originally with the Jew, and that he was the natural heir to the promises which it contained, is a guarantee for his resto...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**7-8. What ... then? Is the law sin? God forbid!--**"I have said that when we were in the flesh the law stirred our inward corruption, and was thus the occasion of deadly fruit: Is then the law to blame for this? Far from us be such a thought."
**Nay--**"On the contrary" (as in Ro 8:37; 1Co 12:22; Greek).
**I had not known sin but by the law--**It is important to fix what is meant by "sin" he...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 11
Chapter Outline
The rejection of the Jews is not universal.(1-10)
God overruled their unbelief for making the Gentiles partakers of gospel privileges.(11-21)
The Gentiles cautioned against pride and unbelief, The Jews shall be called as a nation, and brought into God's visible covenant again.(22-32)
A solemn adoring of the wisdom, goodness, and justice of God.(33-36)...
Read full commentary →And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graffed in: for God is able to graff them in again.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graffed in</strong>—<em>kan ekeinoi ean mē epimenōsin tē apistia enkentristhēsontai</em> (κἂν ἐκεῖνοι ἐὰν μὴ ἐπιμένωσιν τῇ ἀπιστίᾳ ἐγκεντρισθήσονται). The condition is clear: if Israel does <em>not remain</em> in unbelief, they will be re-grafted. The passive voice (<em>enkentristhēsontai</em>, "shall be grafted in") indicates Go...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**9. For I was alive without the law once--**"In the days of my ignorance, when, in this sense, a stranger to the law, I deemed myself a righteous man, and, as such, entitled to life at the hand of God."
**but when the commandment came--**forbidding all irregular desire; for the apostle sees in this the spirit of the whole law.
**sin revived--**"came to life"; in its malignity and strength it ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 11
Chapter Outline
The rejection of the Jews is not universal.(1-10)
God overruled their unbelief for making the Gentiles partakers of gospel privileges.(11-21)
The Gentiles cautioned against pride and unbelief, The Jews shall be called as a nation, and brought into God's visible covenant again.(22-32)
A solemn adoring of the wisdom, goodness, and justice of God.(33-36)...
Read full commentary →For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert graffed contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be graffed into their own olive tree?
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature</strong>—<em>ei gar sy ek tēs kata physin exekopēs agrielaiou</em> (εἰ γὰρ σὺ ἐκ τῆς κατὰ φύσιν ἐξεκόπης ἀγριελαίου). Paul reminds Gentiles of their origin: the <em>wild</em> olive, outside the covenant. <strong>And wert graffed contrary to nature into a good olive tree</strong>—<em>para physin</em> (παρὰ φύσιν, "contrary t...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**10-11. And--**thus.
**the commandment, which was, &c.--**designed
**to--**give
**life--**through the keeping of it.
**I found to be unto death--**through breaking it.
**For sin--**my sinful nature.
**taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me--**or "seduced me"--drew me aside into the very thing which the commandment forbade.
**and by it slew me--**"discovered me to myself...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 11
Chapter Outline
The rejection of the Jews is not universal.(1-10)
God overruled their unbelief for making the Gentiles partakers of gospel privileges.(11-21)
The Gentiles cautioned against pride and unbelief, The Jews shall be called as a nation, and brought into God's visible covenant again.(22-32)
A solemn adoring of the wisdom, goodness, and justice of God.(33-36)...
Read full commentary →The Mystery of Israel's Salvation
For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. blindness: or, hardness
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery</strong>—<em>ou gar thelō hymas agnoein to mystērion touto</em> (οὐ γὰρ θέλω ὑμᾶς ἀγνοεῖν τὸ μυστήριον τοῦτο). Paul introduces a <em>mystērion</em> (μυστήριον, "mystery")—truth once hidden, now revealed. The purpose: <strong>lest ye should be wise in your own conceits</strong> (<em>hina mē ēte par heautois phronimoi</em>...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(25-32) There was a deep meaning underlying the temporary rejection of Israel, of which he has been speaking—a meaning which has hitherto been kept secret, but now to be revealed as a corrective to any possible pride on the part of the Gentiles.
(25) **Mystery.**—The word always means throughout St. Paul’s writings something which, though not to be known or fully comprehended by unassisted human r...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**10-11. And--**thus.
**the commandment, which was, &c.--**designed
**to--**give
**life--**through the keeping of it.
**I found to be unto death--**through breaking it.
**For sin--**my sinful nature.
**taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me--**or "seduced me"--drew me aside into the very thing which the commandment forbade.
**and by it slew me--**"discovered me to myself...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 11
Chapter Outline
The rejection of the Jews is not universal.(1-10)
God overruled their unbelief for making the Gentiles partakers of gospel privileges.(11-21)
The Gentiles cautioned against pride and unbelief, The Jews shall be called as a nation, and brought into God's visible covenant again.(22-32)
A solemn adoring of the wisdom, goodness, and justice of God.(33-36)...
Read full commentary →And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And so all Israel shall be saved</strong>—<em>kai houtōs pas Israēl sōthēsetai</em> (καὶ οὕτως πᾶς Ἰσραὴλ σωθήσεται). The phrase <em>pas Israēl</em> (πᾶς Ἰσραὴλ, "all Israel") has been debated: does it mean (1) every individual Jew, (2) the fullness of elect Jews (all Israel = elect Israel), or (3) Israel as a nation corporately? Most likely, it means the <em>corporate</em> salvation of Is...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(26) When this ingathering of the Gentiles is complete, then the turn of Israel will come round again, and the prophecies of their conversion will be fulfilled.
**There shall come** **. . .**—This prophecy is peculiarly appropriate, as it refers to the exiles who had apostatised in Babylon. Then, as now, a part of the nation had remained true, and those who had not would come back to their obedien...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**12-13. Wherefore--**"So that."
**the law is--**"is indeed"
**good, and the commandment--**that one so often referred to, which forbids all lusting.
holy, and just, and good.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 11
Chapter Outline
The rejection of the Jews is not universal.(1-10)
God overruled their unbelief for making the Gentiles partakers of gospel privileges.(11-21)
The Gentiles cautioned against pride and unbelief, The Jews shall be called as a nation, and brought into God's visible covenant again.(22-32)
A solemn adoring of the wisdom, goodness, and justice of God.(33-36)...
Read full commentary →For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins</strong>—<em>kai hautē autois hē par emou diathēkē, hotan aphelōmai tas hamartias autōn</em> (καὶ αὕτη αὐτοῖς ἡ παρ᾽ ἐμοῦ διαθήκη, ὅταν ἀφέλωμαι τὰς ἁμαρτίας αὐτῶν). This continues the Isaiah quotation, echoing Jeremiah 31:31-34 (the New Covenant). God's <em>covenant</em> (<em>diathēkē</em>, διαθήκη) with Israel includes ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(27) The second part of the quotation, “For (rather, *and*)*,* this is my covenant with them,” &c., appears to be taken from the LXX. version of Isaiah 27:9. The connecting-links between the two are the removing of transgression from Jacob, and the form of the phrase, “This is my covenant with them.” (“This is his blessing,” Isaiah 27:9, LXX.)
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**12-13. Wherefore--**"So that."
**the law is--**"is indeed"
**good, and the commandment--**that one so often referred to, which forbids all lusting.
holy, and just, and good.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 11
Chapter Outline
The rejection of the Jews is not universal.(1-10)
God overruled their unbelief for making the Gentiles partakers of gospel privileges.(11-21)
The Gentiles cautioned against pride and unbelief, The Jews shall be called as a nation, and brought into God's visible covenant again.(22-32)
A solemn adoring of the wisdom, goodness, and justice of God.(33-36)...
Read full commentary →As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes : but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers' sakes.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes</strong>—<em>kata men to euangelion echthroi di hymas</em> (κατὰ μὲν τὸ εὐαγγέλιον ἐχθροὶ δι᾽ ὑμᾶς). With regard to the gospel, Israel is currently in <em>enmity</em> (<em>echthroi</em>, ἐχθροὶ)—not God's enemies, but enemies <em>of</em> the gospel, opposing it. This enmity serves a purpose: <strong>for your sakes</strong> (Gentile ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(28) The real position of the Jews is this: They have been suffered to fall into a state of estrangement in order to make room for the Gentiles. But this does not abrogate God’s original choice of them. They are still His beloved people, for the sake of their forefathers, the patriarchs, if not for their own.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**14. For we know that the law is spiritual--**in its demands.
**but I am carnal--**fleshly (see on Ro 7:5), and as such, incapable of yielding spiritual obedience.
**sold under sin--**enslaved to it. The "I" here, though of course not the regenerate, is neither the unregenerate, but the sinful principle of the renewed man, as is expressly stated in Ro 7:18.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 11
Chapter Outline
The rejection of the Jews is not universal.(1-10)
God overruled their unbelief for making the Gentiles partakers of gospel privileges.(11-21)
The Gentiles cautioned against pride and unbelief, The Jews shall be called as a nation, and brought into God's visible covenant again.(22-32)
A solemn adoring of the wisdom, goodness, and justice of God.(33-36)...
Read full commentary →For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance</strong>—<em>ametamelēta gar ta charismata kai hē klēsis tou theou</em> (ἀμεταμέλητα γὰρ τὰ χαρίσματα καὶ ἡ κλῆσις τοῦ θεοῦ). The word <em>ametamelēta</em> (ἀμεταμέλητα, "irrevocable") means God does not change His mind (<em>meta-meleō</em>, to regret or repent). The <em>gifts</em> (<em>charismata</em>, χαρίσματα) likely refer to the ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(29) **Without repentance.**—Not to be revoked or withdrawn, not even to he regretted.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**15-16. For, &c.--**better, "For that which I do I know not"; that is, "In obeying the impulses of my carnal nature I act the slave of another will than my own as a renewed man?"
**for, &c.--**rather, "for not what I would (wish, desire) that do I, but what I hate that I do."
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 11
Chapter Outline
The rejection of the Jews is not universal.(1-10)
God overruled their unbelief for making the Gentiles partakers of gospel privileges.(11-21)
The Gentiles cautioned against pride and unbelief, The Jews shall be called as a nation, and brought into God's visible covenant again.(22-32)
A solemn adoring of the wisdom, goodness, and justice of God.(33-36)...
Read full commentary →For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief: believed: or, obeyed
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For as ye in times past have not believed God</strong>—<em>hōsper gar hymeis pote ēpeithēsate tō theō</em> (ὥσπερ γὰρ ὑμεῖς ποτε ἠπειθήσατε τῷ θεῷ). Paul addresses Gentiles' past: you were <em>disobedient</em> (<em>ēpeithēsate</em>, ἠπειθήσατε), unbelieving, outside the covenant. <strong>Yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief</strong>—<em>nyn de ēleēthēte tē toutōn apeitheia</e...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(30, 31) **Have not believed** **. . .** **unbelief** **. . .** **not believed** **. . .**—Rather, *disobeyed* . . . *disobedience . . . disobeyed.*
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**15-16. For, &c.--**better, "For that which I do I know not"; that is, "In obeying the impulses of my carnal nature I act the slave of another will than my own as a renewed man?"
**for, &c.--**rather, "for not what I would (wish, desire) that do I, but what I hate that I do."
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 11
Chapter Outline
The rejection of the Jews is not universal.(1-10)
God overruled their unbelief for making the Gentiles partakers of gospel privileges.(11-21)
The Gentiles cautioned against pride and unbelief, The Jews shall be called as a nation, and brought into God's visible covenant again.(22-32)
A solemn adoring of the wisdom, goodness, and justice of God.(33-36)...
Read full commentary →Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy. believed: or, obeyed
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy</strong>—<em>houtōs kai houtoi nyn ēpeithēsan tō hymeterō eleei hina kai autoi nyn eleēthōsin</em> (οὕτως καὶ οὗτοι νῦν ἠπείθησαν τῷ ὑμετέρῳ ἐλέει ἵνα καὶ αὐτοὶ [νῦν] ἐλεηθῶσιν). The parallelism is chiastic: Gentiles' past disobedience → mercy through Israel's unbelief; Israel's present disobedienc...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(31) **Through your mercy**—*i.e.,* through the mercy vouchsafed to you. The sight of the admission of the Gentiles is to act as a stimulus upon the Jews, and so lead to a renewal of their faith and obedience.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**17. Now then it is no more I--**my renewed self.
**that do it--**"that work it."
**but sin which dwelleth in me--**that principle of sin that still has its abode in me. To explain this and the following statements, as many do (even Bengel and Tholuck), of the sins of unrenewed men against their better convictions, is to do painful violence to the apostle's language, and to affirm of the unre...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 11
Chapter Outline
The rejection of the Jews is not universal.(1-10)
God overruled their unbelief for making the Gentiles partakers of gospel privileges.(11-21)
The Gentiles cautioned against pride and unbelief, The Jews shall be called as a nation, and brought into God's visible covenant again.(22-32)
A solemn adoring of the wisdom, goodness, and justice of God.(33-36)...
Read full commentary →For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all. concluded: or, shut them all up together
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all</strong>—<em>synekleisen gar ho theos tous pantas eis apeitheian hina tous pantas eleēsē</em> (συνέκλεισεν γὰρ ὁ θεὸς τοὺς πάντας εἰς ἀπείθειαν ἵνα τοὺς πάντας ἐλεήσῃ). The verb <em>synekleisen</em> (συνέκλεισεν, "concluded/shut up together") depicts God imprisoning all (<em>tous pantas</em>, τοὺς πάντας) in dis...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(32) Unhappy as the fate of the world might seem, first the Gentiles and then the Jews being consigned to a state of disobedience, this has really had a merciful object in the end. It will lead to a happy and complete reunion, “one flock under one shepherd.”
**For God hath concluded them all in unbelief.**—A weighty sentence embracing the whole course of human history, and summing up the divine ph...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**18. For, &c.--**better, "For I know that there dwelleth not in me, that is in my flesh, any good."
**for to will--**"desire."
**is present with me; but how to perform that which is good--**the supplement "how," in our version, weakens the statement.
**I find not--**Here, again, we have the double self of the renewed man; "In me dwelleth no good; but this corrupt self is not my true sel...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 11
Chapter Outline
The rejection of the Jews is not universal.(1-10)
God overruled their unbelief for making the Gentiles partakers of gospel privileges.(11-21)
The Gentiles cautioned against pride and unbelief, The Jews shall be called as a nation, and brought into God's visible covenant again.(22-32)
A solemn adoring of the wisdom, goodness, and justice of God.(33-36)...
Read full commentary →A Hymn to God's Wisdom
O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
Paul erupts in doxology: <strong>O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!</strong> (<em>ō bathos ploutou kai sophias kai gnōseōs theou</em>, ὦ βάθους πλούτου καὶ σοφίας καὶ γνώσεως θεοῦ). The word <em>bathos</em> (βάθος, "depth") conveys unfathomable profundity. God's <em>riches</em> (<em>ploutos</em>, πλοῦτος), <em>wisdom</em> (<em>sophia</em>, σοφία), and <em>knowledge<...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(33-36) This grand and comprehensive view of the divine purposes makes so deep an impression upon the Apostle that he breaks out into an impassioned ascription of praise, with which the first (doctrinal) portion of the Epistle is brought to a close.
(33) **Riches.**—The two substantives which follow may be taken as dependent upon “riches.” This is the construction adopted in the Authorised version...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**19-21. For, &c.--**The conflict here graphically described between a self that "desires" to do good and a self that in spite of this does evil, cannot be the struggles between conscience and passion in the unregenerate, because the description given of this "desire to do good" in Ro 7:22 is such as cannot be ascribed, with the least show of truth, to any but the renewed.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 11
Chapter Outline
The rejection of the Jews is not universal.(1-10)
God overruled their unbelief for making the Gentiles partakers of gospel privileges.(11-21)
The Gentiles cautioned against pride and unbelief, The Jews shall be called as a nation, and brought into God's visible covenant again.(22-32)
A solemn adoring of the wisdom, goodness, and justice of God.(33-36)...
Read full commentary →For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?
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KJV Study Commentary
Paul quotes Isaiah 40:13 (LXX): <strong>For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?</strong> (<em>tis gar egnō noun kyriou, ē tis symboulos autou egeneto</em>, τίς γὰρ ἔγνω νοῦν κυρίου ἢ τίς σύμβουλος αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο). The rhetorical questions expect the answer: <em>no one</em>. The <em>mind</em> (<em>nous</em>, νοῦς) of the Lord refers to His thoughts, plans, intention...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(34) **For who hath known the mind of the Lord?**—The two clauses in this verse are illustrative of the wisdom and knowledge of God, just as the next verse is illustrative of His “riches.”
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**19-21. For, &c.--**The conflict here graphically described between a self that "desires" to do good and a self that in spite of this does evil, cannot be the struggles between conscience and passion in the unregenerate, because the description given of this "desire to do good" in Ro 7:22 is such as cannot be ascribed, with the least show of truth, to any but the renewed.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 11
Chapter Outline
The rejection of the Jews is not universal.(1-10)
God overruled their unbelief for making the Gentiles partakers of gospel privileges.(11-21)
The Gentiles cautioned against pride and unbelief, The Jews shall be called as a nation, and brought into God's visible covenant again.(22-32)
A solemn adoring of the wisdom, goodness, and justice of God.(33-36)...
Read full commentary →Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?
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KJV Study Commentary
Paul cites Job 41:11 (LXX): <strong>Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?</strong> (<em>ē tis proedōken autō, kai antapodothēsetai autō</em>, ἢ τίς προέδωκεν αὐτῷ καὶ ἀνταποδοθήσεται αὐτῷ). The question targets human presumption of merit. No one has <em>given first</em> (<em>proedōken</em>, προέδωκεν) to God such that God <em>owes</em> recompense. Salvation is...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(35) The depth of God’s knowledge none can penetrate, and the counsels of His wisdom admit of no assessor. The means by which God works are not supplied to Him from without, but proceed from the boundless stores of His omnipotence.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**19-21. For, &c.--**The conflict here graphically described between a self that "desires" to do good and a self that in spite of this does evil, cannot be the struggles between conscience and passion in the unregenerate, because the description given of this "desire to do good" in Ro 7:22 is such as cannot be ascribed, with the least show of truth, to any but the renewed.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 11
Chapter Outline
The rejection of the Jews is not universal.(1-10)
God overruled their unbelief for making the Gentiles partakers of gospel privileges.(11-21)
The Gentiles cautioned against pride and unbelief, The Jews shall be called as a nation, and brought into God's visible covenant again.(22-32)
A solemn adoring of the wisdom, goodness, and justice of God.(33-36)...
Read full commentary →For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen. whom: Gr. him
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
The doxology climaxes: <strong>For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things</strong>—<em>hoti ex autou kai di autou kai eis auton ta panta</em> (ὅτι ἐξ αὐτοῦ καὶ δι᾽ αὐτοῦ καὶ εἰς αὐτὸν τὰ πάντα). Three prepositions declare God's total sovereignty: <em>ex</em> (ἐκ, "from")—God is the source; <em>dia</em> (διά, "through")—God is the means/sustainer; <em>eis</em> (εἰς, "to")—God is the go...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(36) **Of him, and through him, and to him.**—All things proceed from God, all things are made or wrought by Him, and all things exist for His glory, and to carry out His ends. It is a mistake to see in this, as some of the older commentators have done, an allusion to the Trinity. This can hardly be. The subject of the whole verse appears to be God the Father, and the prominent idea is rather the ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**22. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man--**"from the bottom of my heart." The word here rendered "delight" is indeed stronger than "consent" in Ro 7:16; but both express a state of mind and heart to which the unregenerate man is a stranger.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 11
Chapter Outline
The rejection of the Jews is not universal.(1-10)
God overruled their unbelief for making the Gentiles partakers of gospel privileges.(11-21)
The Gentiles cautioned against pride and unbelief, The Jews shall be called as a nation, and brought into God's visible covenant again.(22-32)
A solemn adoring of the wisdom, goodness, and justice of God.(33-36)...
Read full commentary →