Rom. 1:1- 7

1:1 Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God,

1:2 (Which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,)²

1:3 Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh;

1:4 And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:³

1:5 By whom⁴ we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name:

1:6 Among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ:⁵

1:7 To all that be in Rome,⁶ beloved of God, called to be saints:Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.

1. The date of this Epistle is very precisely fixed by the following statements contained in it:—

(1.) St. Paul had never yet been to Rome (Rom. 1:11, 13, 15).

(2.) He was intending to go to Rome, after first visiting Jerusalem (Rom. 15:23-28). This was exactly his purpose during his three months’ residence at Corinth. See Act. 19:21.

(3.) He was going to bear a collection of alms from Macedonia and Achaia to Jerusalem (Rom. 15:26 and 31). This he did carry from Corinth to Jerusalem at the close of this three-months’ visit. See Act. 24:17.

(4.) When he wrote the Epistle, Timothy, Sosipater, Gains, and Erastus were with him (Rom. 16:21, 23); of these, the first three are expressly mentioned in the Acts as having been with him at Corinth during the three-months’ visit (see Act. 20:4); and the last, Erastus, was himself a Corinthian, and had been sent shortly before from Ephesus (Act. 19:22) with Timothy on the way to Corinth. Compare 1Co. 16:10, 11.

(5.) Phoebe, a deaconess of the Corinthian port of Cenchrea, was the bearer of the Epistle (Rom. 16:1) to Rome.

Rom. 1:8- 17

1:8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.

1:9 For God is my witness, whom I serve⁷ with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers;

1:10 Making request, if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you.

1:11 For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established;

1:12 That is, that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me.

1:13 Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you, (but was let hitherto,) that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among other Gentiles.

1:14 I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise.

1:15 So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also.

1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ:for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.⁸

1:17 For therein is the righteousness⁹ of God revealed from faith to faith:as it is written, The just shall live by faith.¹⁰

7. The addition of "with my spirit" qualifies the verb, which was generally applied to acts of outward worship. As much as to say, "My worship of God is not the outward service of the temple, but the inward homage of the spirit." See the corresponding substantive similarly qualified, Rom. 12:1.

8. St. Paul uses the word for "Greek" as the singular of the word for "Gentiles," because the singular of the latter is not used in the sense of a Gentile. Also the plural "Greeks" is used when individual Gentiles are meant; "Gentiles" when Gentiles collectively are spoken of.

9. God’s righteousness. Not an attribute of God, but the righteousness which God considers such; and which must, therefore, be the perfection of man’s moral nature. This righteousness may be looked on under two aspects: in itself, as a moral condition of man; in its consequences, as involving a freedom from guilt in the sight of God. Under the first aspect, it is the possession of a certain disposition of mind called faith. Under the second aspect, it is regarded as something reckoned by God to the account of man — an acquittal of past offences.

10. Hab. 2:4 (LXX) Quoted also Gal. 3:11,and Heb. 10:38.

Rom. 1:18- 32

1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold¹¹ the truth in unrighteousness;¹²

1:19 Because that which may be known¹³ of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.

1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

1:21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

1:22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,

1:23 And changed the glory¹⁴ of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.

1:24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves:

1:25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.

1:26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections:for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:

1:27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.

1:28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate¹⁵ mind, to do those things which are not convenient;

1:29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy,¹⁶ murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,

1:30 Backbiters, haters of God,¹⁷ despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,

1:31 Without understanding, covenant-breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:

1:32 Who knowing the judgment of God,¹⁸ that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

11. For this meaning of the verb, compare 2Th. 2:6.

12. By living in wickedness.

13. That which can be known by men as men, without special supernatural communication.

14. This is nearly a quotation from Psa. 106:20 (LXX). The phrase used there and here meaning to forsake one thing for another; to change one thing against another.

15. There is a play upon the words here (cast out — outcast). A translation should, if possible, retain such marked characteristics of St. Paul’s style. A paronomasia upon the game words is found 2Co. 13:6, 7.

16. Perhaps this may be here used for lust , as it is at Eph. 5:3 and elsewhere; see the notes there, and also see Hammond, and Jowett, in loco.

17. We venture to consider this adjective active, against the opinion of Winer, Meyer, and De Wette; relying first, on the authority of Suidas; and secondly, on the context

18. How did they know this? By the law of conscience (see Rom. 2:14), confirmed by the laws of nature (Rom. 1:20).

Rom. 2:1- 11

2:1 Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest:for wherein thou judgest¹ another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things.

2:2 But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth² against them which commit such things.

2:3 And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?

2:4 Or despisest³ thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?

2:5 But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against⁴ the day of wrath and revelation⁵ of the righteous judgment of God;

2:6 Who will render to every man according to his deeds:

2:7 To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory⁶ and honor and immortality, eternal life:

2:8 But unto them that are contentious,⁷ and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath,

2:9 Tribulation and anguish, upon⁸ every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile;

2:10 But glory, honor, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile:

2:11 For there is no respect of persons with God.

1. Inexcusable in doing evil (not in judging) is evidently meant, just as it is before (Rom. 1:20) by the same word. St. Paul does not here mean that "censoriousness is inexcusable;" but he says "thy power to judge the immoralities of others involves thy own guilt; for thou also violatest the laws of thy conscience."

2. This appears to be the meaning of "re-cording to truth."

3. Literally, "is it the rich abundance of His kindness, &c, which thou despisest?"

4. Not against, but manifested in.

5. This means to disclose to sight what has been hidden; the word reveal does not by itself represent the full force of the original term, although etymologically it corresponds with it.

6. "Glory and honor and immortality," an hendiadys for "immortal glory and honor."

7. This noun seems to mean selfish party intrigue, conducted in a mercenary spirit, and more generally, selfish cunning; being derived from a verb denoting to undertake a work for hire . It occurs also 2Co. 12:20; Php. 1:16, Php. 2:3; Gal. 5:20. The participle is used for intriguing partisans by Aristotle (Polit. v. 3). The history of this word seems to bear a strong analogy to that of our term job.

8. Observe the change of construction here. The nouns in the latter clause are in the nominative.

Rom. 2:12- 16

2:12 For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law:and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law;⁹

2:13 (For not the hearers of the law¹⁰ are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.

2:14 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves:

2:15 Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)¹¹

2:16 In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.

9. We have remarked elsewhere (but the remark may be repeated with advantage) that the attempts which were formerly made to prove that [greek word], when used with and without the article by St. Paul, meant in the former case a moral law in general, and in the latter only the Mosaic Law, have now been abandoned by the best interpreters. See note on Rom. 3:20.

10. The Jews were "hearers of the Law" in their synagogues, every Sabbath.

11. The clause in brackets (or some equivalent) must be interpolated, to render the connection clear to an English reader. The verbs are in the present, because the conscientious judgment described takes place in the present time; yet they are connected with in the Day (as if they had been in the future), because the manifestation and confirmation of that judgment belongs to "the Day of the Lord."

Rom. 2:17- 24

2:17 Behold,¹² thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God,

2:18 And knowest his will,¹³ and approvest the things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the law;

2:19 And art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them which are in darkness,

2:20 An instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which hast the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law.

2:21 Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal?

2:22 Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege?¹⁴

2:23 Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonorest thou God?

2:24 For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles¹⁵ through you, as it is written.

12. If we follow some of the best MSS., the translation must run thus:"But what, if thou callest thyself," &c.; the apodosis beginning with verse 21.

13. The verb means to test (as a metal by fire ). See 1Pe. 1:7. Hence to give judgment upon (here). "Things that are excellent," or rather "things that differ," mean (as explained by Theophylact), "what we ought to do and what we ought not to do." The same phrase occurs Php. 1:10. See also Rom. 12:2.

14. Compare Act. 19:37. [See above, p. 475. — H.]

15. Isa. 52:5 (LXX)

Rom. 2:25- 29

2:25 For circumcision verily profiteth, if thou keep the law:but if thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision.

2:26 Therefore if the uncircumcision keep the righteousness of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision?

2:27 And shall not uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfil the law, judge thee, who by the letter and circumcision dost transgress the law?

2:28 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:

2:29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men,¹⁶ but of God.

16. The Pharisees and Pharisaic Judaizers sought to gain the praise of men by their outward show of sanctity; which is here contrasted with the inward holiness which seeks no praise but that of God. The same contrast occurs in the Sermon on the Mount.

Rom. 3:1- 8

3:1 What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision?

3:2 Much every way:chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God.

3:3 For what if some did not believe?¹ shall their² unbelief make the faith of God without effect?³

3:4 God forbid:yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.⁴

3:5 But if our unrighteousness commend the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unrighteous who taketh vengeance? (I speak as a man)⁵

3:6 God forbid:for then how shall God judge the world?

3:7 For⁶ if the truth of God hath more abounded through my lie unto his glory; why⁷ yet am I also judged as a sinner?

3:8 And not rather, (as we be slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say,) Let us do evil, that good may come? whose⁸ damnation is just.

1. "Faithless to the trust" refers to the preceding "entrusted." For the meaning of the word, compare 2Ti. 2:13.

2. See note on Gal. 3:21.

3. That is, shall we imagine that God will break His covenant with the true Israel, he-cause of the unfaithfulness of the false Israel? Compare Rom. 11:1-5.

4. Psa. 51:4 (LXX.). The whole context is as follows:"I acknowledge my transgression, and my sin is ever before me; against Thee only have I sinned, and done this evil in Thy sight; that Thou mightest be justified in Thy sayings, and mightest overcame when Thou art judged."

5. For this phrase, see note on Gal. 3:15. And compare also 1Co. 15:32, and Rom. 6:19.

6. In this most difficult passage we must bear in mind that St. Paul is constantly referring to the arguments of his opponents, which were familiar to his readers at Rome, but are not so to ourselves. Hence the apparently abrupt and elliptical character of the argument, and the necessity of supplying something to make the connection intelligible.

7. The ellipsis is supplied by understanding "why" from the preceding clause, and "say" from the following; the complete expression would have been, "why should we not say?"

8. Viz., men who deduce immoral consequences from sophistical arguments.

Rom. 3:9- 20

3:9 What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise:for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin;

3:10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:

3:11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.

3:12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

3:13 Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:

3:14 Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:

3:15 Their feet are swift to shed blood:

3:16 Destruction and misery are in their ways:

3:17 And the way of peace have they not known:

3:18 There is no fear of God before their eyes.⁹

3:19 Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law:that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.

3:20 Therefore¹⁰ by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight:¹¹ for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

9. This whole passage is quoted (and all but verses 10 and 11 verbatim) from Psa. 14:1, 2, 3 (LXX.). Portions of it also occur in Psa. 53:3, Psa. 5:9, Psa. 140:3, Psa. 10:7; Isa. 59:7; Psa. 36:1.

10. See note on Rom. 2:12. That the absence of the article makes no difference is shown by verses 28 and 29. At the same time, it must be observed that the Law is spoken of as a moral, not as a ceremonial law.

11. Psa. 143:2, almost verbatim from LXX. "Enter not into judgment with Thy servant; for in Thy sight shall no man be justified." No doubt the preceding words were in St. Paul’s recollection, and are tacitly referred to, being very suitable to his argument.

Rom. 3:21- 31

3:21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested,¹² being witnessed by the law and the prophets;

3:22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe:¹³ for there is no difference:

3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; ¹⁴

3:24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

3:25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins¹⁵ that are past, through the forbearance of God;

3:26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness:that he might be just,¹⁶ and the justifier of him¹⁷ which believeth in Jesus.

3:27 Where is boasting then?¹⁸ It is excluded.¹⁹ By what law? of works? Nay:but by the law of faith.

3:28 Therefore we conclude²⁰ that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.²¹

3:29 Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also:

3:30 Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith.

3:31 Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid:yea, we establish the law.

12. Not by the Law, but by something else . See Rom. 3:28, and Rom. 4:6.

13. In order to render more clear the connection between the words for "faith" and "believe," it is desirable to translate the latter have faith (instead of believe) wherever it is possible.

14. Literally, all fall short of the glory of God. We have "God’s glory" as analogous to "Christ’s glory" ( 2Co. 8:23, or 2Co. 3:18). It may also mean God’s heavenly glory ( Rom. 5:2, and 2Th. 2:14). Meyer and others render it "the praise which comes from God," which is contrary to St. Paul’s use of the phrase. Indeed St. John is the only writer in the New Testament who furnishes any analogy for this rendering (Joh. 12:43).

15. The A.V. here is a mistranslation. Cf. Act. 17:30, and the note on St. Paul’s speech at Lystra, p. 172, n. 2.

16. The first wish of a translator of St. Paul’s Epistles would be to retain the same English root in all the words employed as translations of the various derivatives of kawv, viz. dikaiosunh, dikaioun, dikaiwma, dikaiwsiv dikaiwv, and dikaiokrisia. But this is impossible, because no English root of the same meaning has these derivatives; for example, taking righteous to represent dikaiov, we have righteousness for dikaiosunh, but no verb from the same root equivalent to dikaioun. Again, taking just for dikaiov, we have justify for dikaioun, but no term for dikaiosunh, which is by no means equivalent to justice, nor even to justness, in many passages where it occurs. The only course which can be adopted, therefore, is to take that root in each case which seems best to suit the context, and bring out the connection of the argument.

17. The original is not fully represented by the A.V. It means "him whose essential characteristic is faith," "the child of faith." Compare Gal. 3:7, and Gal. 3:9. The word "Jesus" is omitted by some of the best MSS., and is introduced in others with variations, which looks as if it had been originally an interpolation. It is omitted by Tischendorf.

18. The Greek has the article before the word for "boasting."

19. The aorist seems used here (as often) in a perfect sense. See note on 2Co. 7:2, and on Rom. 5:5.

20. We have adopted the reading "for" instead of "therefore," because the authority of MSS. and Fathers is pretty equally divided between the two readings, and it suits the context better to make this clause a proposition supporting the preceding, and defended by the following, than to make it the conclusion from the preceding arguments.

21. See note on verse 21.

Rom. 4:1- 12

4:1 What shall we say then¹ that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh,² hath found?

4:2 For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God.

4:3 For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.³

4:4 Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.

4:5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth⁴ the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.

4:6 Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, ⁵

4:7 Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.⁶

4:8 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.

4:9 Cometh this blessedness then upon the circumcision only, or upon the uncircumcision also? for we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness.⁷

4:10 How was it then reckoned? when he was in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision.

4:11 And he received the sign⁸ of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised:that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also:

4:12 And the father of circumcision to them⁹ who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised.

1. The "therefore" here is very perplexing, as the argument seems to require "for." Nor is the difficulty removed by saying dogmatically that this passage is "not a proof but a consequence" of the preceding. For it is unquestionably given by St. Paul as a. proof that the law is consistent with his doctrine of faith. The "therefore" is probably repeated from the preceding "therefore," just as "for" is repeated in v. 7.

2. Literally, gained in the way of the flesh. The order of the Greek forbids us to join "after the flesh" with "father," as in A.V.

3. Genesis 15:6 (LXX.).

4. See note on Rom. 3:26.

5. See again note on Rom. 3:21.

6. Psalms 32:1-2 (LXX.).

7. Genesis 15:6 (LXX.) repeated.

8. The full meaning of sign is an outward sign of things unseen.

9. Viz., the faithful of Jewish birth.

Rom. 4:13- 25

4:13 For the promise,¹⁰ that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.

4:14 For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect:

4:15 Because the law worketh wrath:¹¹ for where no law is, there is no transgression.

4:16 Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise¹² might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,

4:17 (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,)¹³ before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.

4:18 Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations,¹⁴ according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.¹⁵

4:19 And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah’s womb:

4:20 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but¹⁶ was strong in faith, giving glory to God;

4:21 And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.

4:22 And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.

4:23 Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him;

4:24 But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead;

4:25 Who was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification.¹⁷

10. "The land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever," Gen. 13:15. St. Paul (according to his frequent practice in dealing with the Old Testament) allegorizes this promise. So that, as Abraham is (allegorically viewed) the type of Christian faith, he is also the heir of the world, whereof the sovereignty belongs to his spiritual children, by virtue of their union with their Divine Head.

11. Literally, wrath; i.e. the wrath of God punishing the transgressions of the Law.

12. This passage throws light on Gal. 3:18 and 20. It should be observed that St. Paul restricts "the seed of Abraham" to the inheritors of his faith; and to all this seed (he declares) the promise must stand firm.

13. Gen. 17:5 (LXX.). It is impossible to represent in the English the full force of the Greek, when the same word means nations and Gentiles.

14. Gen. 17:5. See the previous note.

15. Gen. 15:5 (LXX.). In such quotations, a few words were sufficient to recall the whole passage to Jewish readers; therefore, to make them intelligible to modern readers, it is some times necessary to give the context. It should be observed that this quotation alone is sufficient to prove that the majority of those to whom St. Paul was writing were familiar with the Septuagint version; for to none others could such a curtailed citation be intelligible. The hypothesis that the Roman Christians had originally been Jewish proselytes, of Gentile birth, satisfies this condition. See the introductory remarks to this epistle.

16. Literally, he was in-strengthened (i.e., strengthened inwardly) by faith.

17. i.e. that we might have an ever-living savior as the object of our faith, and might through that faith be united with Him, and partake of His life, and thus be justified, or accounted righteous, and (for St. Paul does not, like later theologians, separate these ideas) have the seed of all true moral life implanted in us. Compare v. 10.

Rom. 5:1- 11

5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

5:2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace¹ wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

5:3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also:knowing that tribulation worketh patience;

5:4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope:

5:5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is² given unto us.

5:6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.

5:7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die:yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.

5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

5:9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood,³ we shall be saved from wrath⁴ through him.

5:10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by⁵ his life.

5:11 And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.

1. "By faith" is omitted in the best MSS.

2. Olshausen translates "was given unto us," viz. on the day of Pentecost. But we have elsewhere shown the mistake of those who will never allow St. Paul to use the aorist in a perfect sense. See note on 2Co. 7:2. Dr. Alford, who objects to translate one aorist participle (in the 5th verse) "having been given," is obliged himself inconsistently to translate another (in the 9th verse) "having been justified," and an aorist verb (11th verse) "we have received," and to consent to the junction of both these aorists with "now," a junction which is conclusive as to its perfect use.

3. Justified in His blood, i.e. by participation in His blood; that is, being made partakers of His death . Compare Rom. 6:3-8; also Gal. 2:20.

4. The original has the article before "wrath."

5. This "in" should be distinguished from the preceding "by."

Rom. 5:12- 21

5:12 Wherefore, as⁶ by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

5:13 (For until the law sin was in the world:but sin is not imputed when there is no law.

5:14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.

5:15 But not as the offense, so also is the free gift. For if through the offense of one many⁷ be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.⁸

5:16 And not as it was by one that sinned,⁹ so is the gift:for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offenses unto justification.

5:17 For if by one man’s offense death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)

5:18 Therefore as by the offense of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one¹⁰ the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.¹¹

5:19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

5:20 Moreover the law entered, that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded,¹² grace did much more abound:

5:21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

6. Much difficulty has been caused to interpreters here by the "as" (which introduces the first member of the parallel) having no answering "so" (nor any thing equivalent to it) to introduce the second. The best view of thepassage is to consider "as" as used elliptically for [the case is] as what follows; in which sense it is used Mat. 25:14, where it is similarly without any answering "so." Another view is to suppose the regular construction lost sight of in the rapidity of dictation:the second member of the parallel being virtually supplied in verses 15 to 20.

7. Not "many" (A.V.), but the many, nearly equivalent to all.

8. We take grace and gift together. Compare the same expression below, in verse 17; literally, the free gift and the boon of God, an hendiadys for the freeness of God’s bounty.

9. Literally, the boon is not as [that which was] wrought by one man who sinned.

10. We take [greek word] here in the same sense as in verse 16, because, first, it is difficult to suppose the same word used in the very same passage in two such different meanings as Recte factum, and Decretum absolutorium (which Wahi and most of the commentators suppose it to be). And, secondly, because otherwise it is necessary to take "one" differently in two parallel phrases (masculine in the one, and neuter in the other), which is unnatural.

11. Literally, appertaining to life.

12. A light is thrown on this very difficult expression by 7:13; see note on that verse.

Rom. 6:1- 14

6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we¹ continue in sin, that grace may abound?

6:2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead² to sin, live any longer therein?

6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?

6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death:³ that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

6:5 For if we have been planted⁴ together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:

6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified⁵ with him, that the body of sin⁶ might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

6:7 For he that is dead is freed⁷ from sin.

6:8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:

6:9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.

6:10 For in that he died, he died unto sin once:but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.

6:11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.⁸

6:12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.

6:13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin:but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.

6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you:for ye are not under the law,⁹ but under grace.

1. This was probably an objection made by Judaizing disputants (as it has been made by their successors in other ages of the Church) against St. Paul’s doctrine. They argued that if (as he said) the sin of man called forth so glorious an exhibition of the pardoning grace of God, the necessary conclusion must be, that the more men sinned the more God was glorified. Compare Rom. 3:7-8, and verse 15 below. We know, also, that this inference was actually deduced by the Antinomian party at Corinth (see p. 392), and therefore it was the more necessary for St. Paul to refute it.

2. The A.V. "are dead" does not preserve the reference in the original to a past transaction. We might here keep the aorist to its in our former edition) who died to sin [when we became followers of Christ]; but this rendering is less simple and natural than the other.

3. This clause, which is here left elliptical, is fully expressed in Col. 2:12. This passage cannot be understood unless it be borne in mind that the primitive baptism was by immersion. See p. 384.

4. Literally, have become partakers of a vital union [as that of a graft with the tree into which it is grafted] of the representation of his death [in baptism]. The meaning appears to to be, if we have shared the reality of his death, whereof we have undergone the likeness.

5. Observe the mistranslation in the A.V. "is crucified."

6. With "body of sin" compare "body of flesh," Col. 2:11.

7. Is justified, meaning that if a criminal charge is brought against a man who died before the perpetration of the crime, he must be acquitted, since he could not have committed the act charged against him.

8. The best MSS. omit "our Lord."

9. To be "under the law," in St. Paul’s language, means to avoid sin from fear of penalties attached to sin by the law. This principle of fear is not strong enough to keep men in the path of duty. Union with Christ can alone give man the mastery over sin.

Rom. 6:15- 23

6:15 What then? shall we sin,¹⁰ because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.

6:16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?

6:17 But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.

6:18 Being then made free from sin,¹¹ ye became the servants of righteousness.

6:19 I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh:¹² for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.

6:20 For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.

6:21 What fruit had ye¹³ then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.

6:22 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness,¹⁴ and the end everlasting life.

6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.¹⁵

10. See note on first verse of this chapter.

11. Literally, the mould of teaching into which you were transmitted. The metaphor is from the casting of metals.

12. There is a striking resemblance between this passage and the words of Socrates recorded by Xenophon Mem. I. 5. For the apologetic phrase here, compare Rom. 3:5 and Gal. 3:15.

13. It has been alleged that "fruit" (in N. T.) always means "actions; the fruit of a man considered as a tree;" and that it never means "the fruit of his actions." But in fact the metaphor is used both ways:sometimes a man is considered as producing fruit; sometimes as gathering or storing fruit. In the former case "bear fruit," in the latter "have fruit," is appropriately used. Compare Rom. 1:13, and also Rom. 15:28; Php. 1:22; 2Ti. 2:6.

14. Literally, the fruit which you possess tends to produce holiness. In other words, the reward of serving God is growth in holiness.

15. We must give "Lord" its full meaning here. Sin was our master (verses 16, 17):Christ is now our master.

Rom. 7:1- 6

7:1 Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,)¹ how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth?

7:2 For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.

7:3 So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress:but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.

7:4 Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.

7:5 For when we were in the flesh,² the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.

7:6 But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.

1. Or are you ignorant? the or (which is omitted in A.V.) referring to what has gone before, and implying, if you deny what I have said, you must be ignorant of, &c.; or, in other words, you must acknowledge what I say, or be ignorant of, &c. The reference here is to the assertion in verses 14 and 15 of the preceding chapter, that Christians "are not under the law." For the argument of the present passage, see the marginal summary. St. Paul’s view of the Christian life, throughout the sixth, seventh, and eighth chapters, is that it consists of a death and a resurrection; the new-made Christian dies to sin, to the world, to the flesh, and to the Law; this death he undergoes at his first entrance into communion with Christ, and it is both typified and realized when he is buried beneath the baptismal waters. But no sooner is he thus dead with Christ than he rises with Him; he is made partaker of Christ’s resurrection; he is united to Christ’s body; he lives in Christ, and to Christ; he is no longer "in the flesh," but "in the spirit."

2. The best MSS. have the participle in the nom. plural. It is opposed to "when we were in the flesh," of the preceding verse. To make it clear, this verse should have a comma after the Greek participle. As to the sense in which Christians are "dead," see the preceding note.

Rom. 7:7- 11

7:7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law:for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.³

7:8 But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead.

7:9 For I was alive⁴ without the law once:but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.

7:10 And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death.

7:11 For sin, taking occasion by the commandment,⁵ deceived me, and by it slew me.

3. Exo. 20:17 (LXX.). This illustration appears conclusive against the view of Erasmus and others who understood the following statement ("without the Law, sin it dead") to mean that the Law irritates and provokes sin into action, on the principle of "nitimur in vetitum." For the lust of concupiscence is quite as active in an ignorant Heathen as in an instructed Pharisee.

4. For this meaning of "live" see 1Th. 3:8.

5. Literally, by the commandment; which denounced death against its violators. See note on 1Co. 15:56.

Rom. 7:12- 13

7:12 Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.

7:13 Was then that which is good made death unto me?⁶ God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin⁷ by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.

6. Literally, is it become? equivalent to do I say that it became? If with several good MSS. we replace the perfect by the aorist, the difficulty is removed. We must supply "become death" again after "sin."

7. This explains Rom. 5:20. In both passages, St. Paul states the object of the law to be to lay down, as it were, a boundary line which should mark the limits of right and wrong; so that sin, by transgressing this line, might manifest its real nature, and be distinctly recognized for what it is. The Law was not given to provoke man to sin (as some have understood, Rom. 5:20), but to stimulate the conscience into activity.

Rom. 7:14- 25

7:14 For we know that the law is spiritual:⁸ but I am carnal,⁹ sold under sin.

7:15 For that which I do I allow not:for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.

7:16 If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.

7:17 Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.

7:18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing:for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.

7:19 For the good that I would I do not:but the evil which I would not, that I do.

7:20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I¹⁰ that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.

7:21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.

7:22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:

7:23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

7:24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

7:25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself¹¹ serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

8. It may be asked, how this is consistent with many passages where St. Paul speaks of the Law as a carnal ordinance, and opposes it as letter to spirit? The answer is, that here he speaks of the Law under its moral aspect, as is plain from the whole context.

9. Scarcely any thing in this Epistle has caused more controversy than the question whether St. Paul, in the following description of the struggle between the flesh and the spirit, wherein the flesh gains the victory, meant to describe his own actual state. The best answer to this question is a comparison between Rom. 6:17 and 20 (where he tells the Roman Christians that they are no longer the slaves of sin ), Rom. 7:14 (where he says I am CARNAL, a slave sold into the captivity of sin ), and Rom. 8:4 (where he includes himself among those who live not the life of the flesh, but the life of the spirit, i.e. who are NOT CARNAL). It is surely clear that these descriptions cannot be meant to belong to the same person at the same time. The best commentary on the whole passage (Rom. 7:7 to 8:13) is to be found in the condensed expression of the same truths contained in Gal. 5:16-18: Walk in the spirit, and YE SHALL NOT FULFIL THE DESIRE OP THE FLESH; for the desire of the flesh fights against the spirit, and the desire of the spirit fights against the flesh; and this variance between the flesh and the spirit would hinder you from doing that which your will prefers; but if you be led by the spirit, you are not under the Law.

10. The "I" in I will is emphatic.

11. [greek word] tov egw, I in myself, i.e. without the help of God. This expression is the key to the whole passage. St. Paul, from verse 14 to verse 24, has been speaking of himself as he was in himself, i.e. in his natural state of helplessness, with a conscience enlightened, but a will enslaved; the better self struggling vainly against the worse. Every man must continue in this state, unless he be redeemed from it by the Spirit of God. Christians are (so far as God is concerned) redeemed already from this state; but in themselves, and so far as they live to themselves, they are still in bondage. The redemption which they (potentially, if not actually) possess is the subject of the 8th chapter. Leighton (though his view of the whole passage would not have entirely coincided with that given above) most beautifully expresses the contrast between these two states (of bondage and deliverance) in his sermon on Rom. 8:35:"Is this he that so lately cried out, O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me? that now triumphs, O happy man! who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Yes, it is the same. Pained then with the thoughts of that miserable conjunction with a body of death, and so crying out, who will deliver? Now he hath found a deliverer to do that for him, to whom he is forever united. So vast a difference is there betwixt a Christian taken in himself and in Christ." Against the above view of verse 25, it may be said that the more natural and obvious meaning of aujtov egw "I Paul myself," "I myself who write this;" as has lately been urged with much force by Dean Alford. He advocates the distinction between this verse and Rom. 8:4, which is maintained by Olshausen and others, who think the spiritual man is described as "serving the flesh by the law of sin," but yet as "not walking after the flesh." According to this interpretation, St. Paul here declares that he himself is in bondage to the law of sin, in his flesh; but means only that "the flesh is still, even in the spiritual man, subject (essentially, not practically) to the law of sin." (Alford). We would not venture dogmatically to pronounce this view untenable:yet its advocates must acknowledge that it is extremely difficult to reconcile it with the slavery of Rom. 6:17-20.

Rom. 8:1- 13

8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus,¹ who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus² hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

8:3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned³ sin in the flesh:⁴

8:4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.⁵

8:5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.

8:6 For⁶ to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

8:7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God:for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

8:8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.

8:9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

8:10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life⁷ because of righteousness.

8:11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his⁸ Spirit that dwelleth in you.

8:12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.

8:13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die:but if ye through the Spirit do mortify ⁹ the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

1. The clause which follows, from "who walk" to "Spirit," is omitted in the best MSS., having (it would seem) been introduced by a clerical error from verse 4.

2. Winer wishes to join in "Christ Jesus" with the verb "freed," not with the preceding words; but there are so many examples of a similar construction in St. Paul’s

3. Literally, condemned, i.e. put it to rebuke, worsted it . Compare Heb. 11:7.

4. "In the flesh," that is to say, in the very seat of its power.

5. The contrast between the victory thus obtained by the spirit, with the previous subjection of the soul to the flesh, is thus beautifully described by Tertullian:— "When the Soul is wedded to the Spirit, the Flesh follows — like the handmaid who follows her wedded mistress to the husband’s home — being thenceforward no longer the servant of the Soul, but of the Spirit." The whole passage forms an excellent commentary on this part of the Epistle. See a fuller extract in the larger editions.

6. Winer sneers at Tholuck’s remark (which the latter has since modified), that the conjunction (for, A.V.) is a mere transition particle here; but yet what else is it. when it does not introduce a reason for a preceding proposition? In these cases of successive clauses each connected thus with the preceding, they all appear to refer back to the first preceding clause, and therefore all but the first conjunction might be represented by and. Just in the same way as but is used in English; as, for example, "But ye are washed, but ye are sanctified."

7. The word here used is in St. Paul’s writings scarcely represented adequately by life; it generally means more than this, viz. life triumphant over death.

8. The MSS. are divided here. One reading must be translated because of instead of by. This will make the clause exactly parallel with the end of verse 10. Tholuck gives an able summary of the arguments in favor of the accusative reading.

9. This translation is necessary to represent the reference to death as expressed in the preceding verb (mortify, A.V.).

Rom. 8:14- 27

8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they¹⁰ are the sons of God.

8:15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear;¹¹ but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.¹²

8:16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

8:17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

8:18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed¹³ in us.

8:19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.

8:20 For the creature was made subject to vanity,¹⁴ not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected¹⁵ the same in hope,¹⁶

8:21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.¹⁷

8:22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.

8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which¹⁸ have the firstfruits¹⁹ of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption,²⁰ to wit, the redemption of our body.

8:24 For we are saved by hope:²¹ but hope that is seen is not hope:for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?²²

8:25 But if we hope²³ for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.

8:26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities:for we know not what we should pray for as we ought:but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

8:27 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit,²⁴ because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

10. They and they alone, they and not the carnal seed of Abraham.

11. Back again. Compare Gal. 4:9.

12. See note on Gal. 4:6.

13. Which is about to be revealed, which shall icon be revealed.

14. The word used here (vanity, A.V.) means the transitory nature which causes all the animated creation so rapidly to pass away.

15. God is probably meant by "him who subjected." The difficulties which have been felt with regard to this expression are resolvable (like all the difficulties of Theism) into she permission of evil. This awful mystery St. Paul leaves unsolved; but he tells us to wait patiently for its solution, and encourages us to do so by his inspired declarations, in this and other places (as 1Co. 15:25, &c), that the reign of evil will not be eternal, but that good will ultimately and completely triumph. It should be observed that Evil is always represented in Scripture as in its nature opposed to God, not as included necessarily in His plan; even where God is represented as subjecting His creatures to its temporary dominion.

16. We agree with Dean Alford that it is better here not to render, as some do, "in hope that;" for, were this correct, the words "the creation itself" would not be so emphatically repeated. See his commentary on the passage.

17. Literally, the freedom which belongs to the glorification of the Sons of God.

18. Literally, continuing to suffer the pangs of labor even until now. St. Paul here suggests an argument as original as it is profound. The very struggles which all animated beings make against pain and death show (he says) that pain and death are not a part of the proper laws of their nature, but rather a bondage imposed upon them from without. Thus every groan and tear is an unconscious prophecy of liberation from the power of evil. St. Augustine extends the same argument in the Confessions (book xiii.) as follows:— "Even in that miserable restlessness of the spirits, who fell away and discovered their own darkness when bared of the clothing of Thy light, dost Thou sufficiently reveal how noble Thou madest the reasonable creature; to which nothing will suffice to yield a happy rest, less than Thee." See also De Civ. Dei, 1. 22, c. 1:— "The nature which enjoyed God shows that it was formed good, even by its very defect, in that it is therefore miserable because it enjoyeth not God." (Oxford translation, Library of Fathers.)

19. See note on 1Co. 1:22.

20. Adoption to sonship; by which a slave was emancipated, and made "no longer a slave, but a son." (Gal. 4:7.) In one sense St. Paul taught hat Christians had already received this adoption (compare ( Rom. 7:15, Gal. 4:5, Eph. 1:5); they were already made the sons of God in Christ. ( Rom. 8:16, Gal. 3:26.) So, in a yet lower sense, the Jews under the old dispensation had the adoption to sonship; see Rom. 9:4. But in this passage he teaches us that this adoption is not perfect during the present life; there is still a higher sense, in which it is future, and the object of earnest longing to those who are already in the lower sense the sons of God.

21. Literally, we were saved, i.e. at our conversion; for the context does not oblige us to take the aorist here as a perfect. The exact translation would be, "the salvation whereto we were catted lies in hope."

22. The verb denotes, we long earnestly for the future; the prepositional phrase implies, with steadfast endurance of the present.

23. After in like manner, we must supply as we long from the preceding clause; and the object of long is our redemption (by verse 23).

24. This passage is well explained by Archbishop Leighton, in the following beautiful words: "The work of the Spirit is in exciting the heart, at times of prayer, to break forth in ardent desires to God, whatsoever the words be, whether new or old, yea possibly without words; and then most powerful when it words it least, but vents in sighs and groans that cannot be expressed. Our Lord understands the language of these perfectly, and likes it best; He knows and approves the meaning of His own Spirit; He looks not to the outward appearance, the shell of words, as men do." Leighton’s Exposition of Lord’s Prayer.

Rom. 8:28- 39

8:28 And we know that all things²⁵ work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed²⁶ to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

8:30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called:and whom he called, them he also justified:and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

8:31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?

8:32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

8:33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.²⁷

8:34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.

8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

8:36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.²⁸

8:37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

8:38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers,²⁹ nor things present, nor things to come,

8:39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

25. All things, viz. whether sad or joyful. We must remember that this was written in the midst of persecution, and in the expectation of bonds and imprisonment. See verses 17, 18, and 35, and Act. 20:23.

26. Like in suffering seems meant. Compare Php. 3:10:"The fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable to His death." [Does not this limit it too much? Compare 2Co. 3:18:"We are gradually transformed into the same likeness." And see also 1Co. 15:49. — H.]

27. St. Paul is here writing and thinking of his own case, and that of his brethren, liable daily to be dragged by their accusers before the tribunals. No accusers could harm them, because God acquitted them; no judicial condemnation could injure them, because Christ was the assessor of that tribunal before which they must be tried. The beauty and eloquence of the passage (as well as its personal reference to the circumstances of its writer and its readers) are much marred by placing marks of interrogation after justifies and died.

28. Psa. 44:22 (LXX).

29. The expressions principalities and powers were terms applied in the Jewish theology to divisions of the hierarchy of angels, and, as such, were familiar to St. Paul’s Jewish readers. Compare Eph. 1:21, and Col. 1:16.

Rom. 9:1- 13

9:1 I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost,

9:2 That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart.

9:3 For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh:

9:4 Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises;

9:5 Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.

9:6 Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel:

9:7 Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children:but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called.¹

9:8 That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God:but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.

9:9 For this is the word of promise, At this time will I come, and Sarah shall have a son.²

9:10 And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac;

9:11 (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;)³

9:12 It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger.⁴

9:13 As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.⁵

1. Gen. 21:12 (LXX.). Compare Gal. 4:22. The context is, "Let it not be grievous in thy sight, because of the lad [Ishmael] and because of thy bondwoman [Hagar], for in Isaac shall thy seed be called."

2. Gen. 18:10, from LXX., not verbatim, but apparently from memory.

3. Literally, coming not from works, but from the Caller.

4. Gen. 25:23 (LXX.). The context is, "The two nations are in thy womb, and the elder shall serve the younger."

5. Mal. 1:2, 3 (LXX).

Rom. 9:14- 29

9:14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.

9:15 For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.⁶

9:16 So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.

9:17 For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.⁷

9:18 Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.

9:19 Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?

9:20 Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?⁸

9:21 Hath not the potter power over the clay,⁹ of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor?

9:22 What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:

9:23 And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,

9:24 Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?

9:25 As he saith also in Osee, I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved.¹⁰

9:26 And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God.¹¹

9:27 Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant¹² shall be saved:

9:28 For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness:because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth.¹³

9:29 And as Esaias said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodoma, and been made like unto Gomorrha.¹⁴

6. Exo. 33:19 (LXX).

7. Exo. 9:16, according to LXX., with two slight changes.

8. "Thou wilt say."… Here comes the great question — no longer made from the standing-point of the Jew, but proceeding from the universal feeling of justice. St. Paul answers the question by treating the subject as one above the comprehension of the human intellect when considered in itself objectively. If it be once acknowledged that there is any difference between the character and ultimate fate of a good and a bad man, the intellect is logically led, step by step, to contemplate the will of the Creator as the cause of this difference. The question "why hast thou made me thus?" will equally occur and be equally perplexing in any system of religion, either natural or revealed. It is in fact a difficulty springing at once from the permitted existence of evil. Scripture considers men under two points of view; first, as created by God; and secondly, as free moral agents themselves. These two points of view are, to the intellect of man, irreconcilable; yet both must be true, since the reason convinces us of the one, and the conscience of the other. St. Paul here is considering men under the first of these aspects, as the creatures of God, entirely dependent on God’s will. It is to be observed that he does not say that God’s will is arbitrary, but only that men are entirely dependent on God’s will. The reasons by which God’s will itself is determined are left in the inscrutable mystery which conceals God’s nature from man.

The objection and the answer given to it, partly here and partly chap. 3:6, may be stated as follows:—

Objector. — If men are so entirely dependent on God’s will, how can He with justice blame their actions?

Answer. — By the very constitution of thy nature thou art compelled to acknowledge the blame-worthiness of certain actions and the justice of their punishment (Rom. 3:6); therefore it is self-contradictory to say that a certain intellectual view of man’s dependence on God-would make these actions innocent; thou art forced to feel them guilty whether thou wilt or no, and (Rom. 9:20) it is vain to argue against the constitution of thy nature, or its Author.

The metaphysical questions relating to this subject which have divided the Christian world are left unsolved by Scripture, which does not attempt to reconcile the apparent inconsistency between the objective and subjective views of man and his actions. Hence many have been led to neglect one side of the truth for the sake of making a consistent theory:thus the Pelagians have denied the dependence of man’s will on God, and the Fatalists have denied the freedom of man’s moral agency.

We may further observe that St. Paul does not here explicitly refer to eternal happiness or to its opposite. His main subject is the national rejection of the Jews, and the above more general topics are only incidentally introduced.

9. Isa. 45:9. Not literally from either LXX. or Hebrew, but apparently from memory out of LXX. There is also a very similar passage in Isa. 29:16, where, however, the context has less bearing on St. Paul’s subject than in the place above cited.

10. Jer. 18:6, not quoted literally, but according to the sense. In this and in other similar references to the Old Testament, a few words were sufficient to recall the whole passage to St. Paul’s Jewish readers (compare Rom. 4:18); therefore, to comprehend his argument, it is often necessary to refer to the context of the passage from which he quotes. The passage in Jeremiah referred to is as follows:—

"Then I went down to the potter’s house, and behold he wrought a work on the wheels. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hands of the potter:so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the Lord. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in my hand,O house of Israel. At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up and to pull down and to destroy it; if that nation against whom I have pronounced turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; if it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good wherewith I said I would benefit them. "

Similar passages might be quoted from the Apocryphal books; and it might be said that the above-cited passage of Isaiah was referred to here. Yet this from Jeremiah is so apposite to St. Paul’s argument, that he probably refers especially to it.

11. Hos. 2:23 (LXX. almost verbatim)

12. Hos. 1:10 (LXX)

13. Compare remnant, Rom. 11:5, left a remnant , Rom. 11:4, and left a seed remaining , Rom. 9:29; all referring to the same subject, viz. the exclusion of the majority of the Israelites from God’s favor.

14. Isa. 1:9 (LXX) .

Rom. 9:30- 33

9:30 What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith.

9:31 But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness.

9:32 Wherefore? Because¹⁵ they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone;

9:33 As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offense:and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.¹⁶

15. Observe that in the preceding part of the chapter God is spoken of as rejecting the Jews according to His own will; whereas here a moral reason is given for their rejection. This illustrates what was said in a previous note of the difference between the objective and subjective points of view.

16. Isa. 28:16, apparently from LXX., but not verbatim, "stone of stumbling and rock of offence" being interpolated, and not found exactly anywhere in Isaiah, though in Rom. 8:14 there are words nearly similar. Com-pare also Mat. 21:44.

Rom. 10:1- 13

10:1 Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.

10:2 For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.¹

10:3 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.

10:4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.

10:5 For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them.²

10:6 But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven?³ (that is, to bring Christ down from above:)

10:7 Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)

10:8 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;

10:9 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.

10:10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

10:11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.⁴

10:12 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.

10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.⁵

1. The word for knowledge here is very forcible; and is the same which is used in 1Co. 13:12, Rom. 1:28, and Col. 1:10.

2. Lev. 18:5 (LXX); quoted also Gal. 3:12

3. Deut. 30:12. St. Paul here, though be quotes from the LXX. (verse 8 is verbatim), yet slightly alters it, so as to adapt it better to illustrate his meaning. His main statement is, "the Glad-tidings of salvation is offered, and needs only to be accepted;" to this he transfers the description which Moses has given of the Law, viz., "the Word is nigh thee," &c.; and the rest of the passage of Deuteronomy he applies in a higher sense than that in which Moses had written it (according to the true Christian mode of using the Old Testament), not to the Mosaic Law, but to the Gospel of Christ. The passage in Deuteronomy is as follows:—

"This commandment which I command thee this day is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that thou shouldst say, Who shall go up for us to heaven and bring it unto us, that we may hear it and do it? Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, who shall go over the sea for us and bring it unto us, that we may hear it and do it? But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it."

4. Isa. 28:16 (LXX). See 9:33

5. Joe. 2:32 (LXX).

Rom. 10:14- 21

10:14 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?

10:15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent?⁶ as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!⁷

10:16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?⁸

10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing,⁹ and hearing by the word of God.

10:18 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.¹⁰

10:19 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.¹¹

10:20 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.¹²

10:21 But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands¹³ unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.¹⁴

6. This is a justification of the mission of the Apostles to the Gentiles, which was an offence to the Jews. See Act. 22:22.

7. Isa. 52:7, apparently from the Hebrew, and not LXX.

8. Isa. 53:1 (LXX).

9. There is no English word which precisely represents ajkohin its subjective as well as objective meaning. See note on 1Th. 2:13.

10. Psa. 19:4 (LXX.). In the psalm this is said of "the heavens," which by their wonderful phenomena declare the glory of their Creator. There seems to be no comparison in the psalm (as some have thought) between the heavens and the word of God. St. Paul here quotes the Old Testament (as he so often does), not in its primary meaning, but applying it in a higher sense, or perhaps only as a poetical illustration. As to the assertion of the universal preaching of the Gospel, Dean Alford well observes that it is not made in a geographical, but in a religious sense. The Gospel was now preached to all nations, and not to the Jews alone.

11. Deu. 32:21 (LXX).

12. Isa. 65:1 (LXX with transposition)

13. The metaphor is of a mother opening her arms to call back her child to her embrace. In this attitude the hands are spread open, and hence the "hands."

14. Isa. 65:2 (LXX).

Rom. 11:1- 10

11:1 I say then,¹ Hath God cast away his people?² God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.

11:2 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,

11:3 Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life.³

11:4 But what saith the answer of God unto him? I⁴ have reserved to myself⁵ seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal.

11:5 Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.

11:6 And if by grace, then is it no more of works:otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it is no more grace:otherwise work is no more work. ⁶

11:7 What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded.

11:8 (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.⁷

11:9 And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them:

11:10 Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back alway. ⁸

1. The particle here asks a question expecting a negative answer = is it true that? must we think that? Also see note on Gal. 3:21.

2. Alluding to Psa. 94:14:" Jehovah shall not utterly cast out his people." (LXX.) No doubt St. Paul’s antagonists accused him of contradicting this prophecy.

3. 1Ki. 19:10 (LXX. but not verbatim).

4. 1Ki. 19:18, more nearly according to the Hebrew than LXX.

5. The verb corresponds to the noun in the next verse and in Rom. 9:27. See note there.

6. By work is here meant work which earns wages . Compare Rom. 4:4-5. The latter clause of this verse, however, is omitted by the best MSS.

7. This quotation seems to be compounded of Deu. 29:4, and Isa. 29:10 (LXX.), though it does not correspond verbatim with either.

8. Psa. 69:23, 24 (LXX nearly verbatim)

Rom. 11:11- 15

11:11 I say then,⁹ 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.

11:12 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?

11:13 For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office:

11:14 If by any means I may provoke¹⁰ to emulation them which are my flesh, and might save some of them.

11:15 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?

9. Literally, I say then, shall we conclude that, &c. See note on verse 1.

10. Deu. 32:21 (LXX.), quoted above, Rom. 10:19.

Rom. 11:16- 24

11:16 For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy:¹¹ and if the root be holy, so are the branches.

11:17 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;

11:18 Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee.

11:19 Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in.

11:20 Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear:

11:21 For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.

11:22 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.

11:23 And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graffed in:for God is able to graff them in again.

11:24 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?

11. St. Paul alludes to the heave-offering prescribed Num. 15:20: "Ye shall offer up a cake of the first of your dough for a heaven offering."

Rom. 11:25- 36

11:25 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 part¹² is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.

11:26 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:

11:27 For this is my covenant unto them,¹³ when I shall take away their sins.¹⁴

11:28 As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes:but as touching the election, they are beloved for the father’s sakes.

11:29 For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.

11:30 For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief:¹⁵

11:31 Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.

11:32 For God hath concluded¹⁶ them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.

11:33 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!

11:34 For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?¹⁷

11:35 Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed¹⁸ unto him again?

11:36 For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things:to whom be glory for ever. Amen.

12. For the phrase used here, compare 2Co. 1:14, 2Co. 2:5, Rom. 15:15.

13. Isa. 59:20 (LXX. nearly verbatim).

14. Isa. 27:9 (LXX. nearly verbatim).

15. Throughout this passage in the A.V., the word for disobedience is translated as if it were equivalent to unbelief, which it is not. Compare 1:30: "disobedient to parents."

16. "Shut up." Compare Gal. 3:22.

17. Isa. 40:13 (LXX. nearly verbatim). Quoted also (omitting the middle and adding the end of the verse) 1Co. 2:16.

18. Job. 41:11 (according to the sense of the Hebrew, but not LXX.).

Rom. 12:1- 21

12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable¹ service.

12:2 And be not conformed to this² world:but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove³ what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

12:3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.⁴

12:4 For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office:

12:5 So we, being many,⁵ are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.

12:6 Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us,⁶ whether prophecy, let us prophesy⁷ according to the proportion of faith;

12:7 Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering:or he that teacheth, on teaching;

12:8 Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation:he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.

12:9 Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.

12:10 Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honor preferring one another;

12:11 Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;

12:12 Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;

12:13 Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality.

12:14 Bless them which persecute you:bless, and curse not.

12:15 Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.

12:16 Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to⁸ men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.

12:17 Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men.⁹

12:18 If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.

12:19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath:¹⁰ for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.¹¹

12:20 Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink:for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.¹²

12:21 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

1. Reasonable worship, as contrasted with the unreasonable worship of those whose faith rested only on outward forms. See note on Rom. 1:9.

2. See note on 1Co. 1:20.

3. See note on Rom. 2:18.