is to extend; but what is this limit in λpwμa τwv ïðvwv? As it would be difficult to answer this question, so it seems altogether more facile and congruous, to take λýpwμa in the sense of copia, an abundance, great numbers, multitudes. How great this number or abundance must be, the apostle does not say; much less does he say, (as some have argued), that all the Gentiles must first be converted to Christianity, before the Jews can be brought into the pale of the church. The subject must therefore remain, as he has left it, indefinite as to the extent of Gentile conversions before the time when the Jews will return. Of course, Christians are not debarred from hope in labouring and praying for the Jews at the present period; although as yet but comparatively a small part of the Gentiles have been converted to the Christian faith. It is true, even now, that there is a great multitude of Gentile converts. May we not hope that the time is near at hand, when there will be a λnρwμa of them? Καὶ οὕτω Ajpwμɑ of (26) Καὶ οὕτω . . . . σωθήσεται, and then all Israel shall be saved; when the nρwua of the Gentiles shall have been joined to the Lord, then his ancient convenant people shall also be reclaimed. means, literally, and so, i. e. when it shall be so that the the Gentiles shall be brought in, then, &c. That καὶ οὕτω is used in the same way as Kaì TÓTɛ, see Acts vii. 8. xvii. 33. xx. 11. xxviii. 14.Ilãs here means all, in opposition to the ȧò pépove of the preceding verse. Whether this means strictly every individual, it would be difficult indeed to determine. "HEɛl Ék.... 'Iakúß, a deliverer shall come from Zion, and turn away ungodliness from Jacob. This is apparently a citation from Is. lix. 20, where the Hebrew runs thus: "A deliverer for Zion shall come, and for those who forsake ungodliness in Jacob." The Septuagint reads ἕνεκεν Σιών, instead of ἐκ Σιών but in other respects it conforms to the quotation of the apostle. We can only say of the apostle's quotation, that it gives the general sense of the passage, viz. it conveys the idea, that deliverance for Zion is to be accomplished, and that penitents of the house of Jacob are to be saved. It is a very striking instance of free quotation, as to the general sense of a passage, while the particular costume of it is disregarded. Whether Isaiah, in lix. 20, had respect to the salvation of gospel times, has been called in question. But the context seems to me very clearly to indicate this. And even if he had respect to temporal deliverance, there can be no difficulty in the apostle's using his words as the vehicle of conveying his own thoughts, with regard to spiritual deliverance. (27) Καὶ αὕτη . . . . διαθήκη, and this is my covenant with them, This is generally supposed to come from the next succeeding verse in Isaiah, viz. lix. 21, as it agrees verbatim with the Septuagint there. But here the quotation stops, according to this supposition, and the next succeeding clause, ὅταν ἀφέλωμαι τὰς ἁμαρτίας αὐτῶν, is taken from Is. xxvii. 9, where the words stand in the midst of a verse which has relation to the punishment of the Jews, and their consequent moral reformation. I should, therefore, prefer the supposition, that the apostle here quotes and abridges Jer. xxxi. 33, 34, (the same passage which is quoted at length in Heb. viii. 8-12). There the words avrη ǹ diaðýên μov occur in ver. 33; and in ver. 34, Jehovah is represented as saying: ἵλεως ἔσομαι ταῖς ἀδικίαις αὐτῶν, καὶ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν αὐτῶν οὐ μνησθῶ ἔτι· so that nothing is easier, than to suppose that the apostle quotes ad sensum these last passages, when he says ἀφέλωμαι τὰς ἁμαρτίας αὐτῶν. There is this advantage also in this last supposition, viz. that the whole passage in Jeremiah most evidently refers to a new dispensation, to gospel-times; which would be altogether appropriate to the apostle's purpose, for the very point he is labouring to establish, is, that there will be a general conversion of the Jews to the Christian religion. (28) While the apostle admits that the Jews, the once beloved people of God, have now become alienated and his enemies, he still maintains that this evil, exceedingly great in itself, has been overruled for the accomplishment of very important purposes, in respect to the salvation of the Gentiles. Karà μèv .... vμãs, in respect to the gospel, they have become enemies on your account; i. e. they have become έxpoì roũ lɛov, have apostatized from him, or have been rejected by him, and are no longer treated as his friends. That Otov is implied after ixpoi, (and not evayyeλíov, nor poú as Theodoret, Luther, Grotius, Cameron, Baumgarten, and others, have supposed), is clear by comparing with exopoi its antithesis ȧyanηrol for in respect to this latter word, it is clear that Oɛou is implied after it. It follows, therefore, that the ellipsis to exopol must be supplied in the same way. Ai vμãs, on your account, i. e. to your advantage. In other words, the rejection of the gospel by the Jews, has been the occasion of its being more widely diffused among the Gentiles; so that, in this respect, the loss of the Jews has been the gain of the Gentiles. Karà dè.... Tarépaç, but in respect to the election, they are beloved for their fathers' sake; i. e. in so far as God chooses men to salvation κатà тην πрÓÐεσɩy avrov (viii. 28), and without being moved thereto by any merit on their part (xi. 5, 6), he will have special regard to the Jews, because of the many and precious promises which he made to their fathers. How Tholuck can find here only an election to external privileges, I am unable to see. Is the question, then, which the apostle is here discussing, one which concerns the external privileges of Christianity merely; or does it go deep to the very foundation of the whole, viz. to the spiritual blessings of the gospel? It does seem to me impossible to doubt here what the answer must be, unless one is led to do so, by other considerations than those of simple exegesis. The apostle appears plainly to aver, that although God has mercy on whom he will have mercy (ix. 18); and although men do not become the heirs of eternal life by any merits of their own, but merely by the good pleasure of his grace (xi. 5, 6); yet in bestowing that grace, he may have regard to his promises made in ancient days to the distinguished patriarchs of the Jewish nation; he may have regard to his original design that the seed of Abraham by faith, and the seed which also were lineally descended from him, should be "as the stars of heaven for multitude." That salvation is entirely of free grace, and not of merit, of course leaves it open for the sovereign Lord of all to choose the objects of his mercy where and when he pleases. That he always does this with good and adequate reason, yea the best of reasons, his own infinite wisdom and goodness are a sure and perfect pledge. But that men are always acquainted with these reasons, or that he has revealed them, is not asserted, and is not capable of being proved. (29) God will not disappoint the hopes which he has excited, nor violate the promises which he has made. The blessings which he promised to bestow, and the calling of Abraham's posterity to be his spiritual seed, will surely not fail. 'Aμeraμéλnta.... Oxov, for the gifts and calling of God, he will not repent of; lit. are not the subjects of repentance. The meaning is, that God will never repent of the promises which he made to the fathers, and therefore never change his purpose in regard to the bestowment of spiritual blessings upon their offspring. Here again Tholuck construes λñσ of the external calling of the Jews; the fear of gratia irresistibilis urging him to the adoption of this sentiment. But the reader is desired merely to turn back and compare chap. viii. 28-30 with this whole passage, and also vs. 5-7 above. No other answer need be given to the objection against the sense here maintained. Above all, when one compares the sequel, vs. 30—36, with vs. 28, 29, can he constrain himself to believe, that external privileges only are here the subject of the apostle's discussion? Could these excite in him such wonder, admiration, and gratitude, as he evidently expresses in vs. 33-36? And is this the obtaining of mercy, of which ver. 30 speaks? Let every unprejudiced reader examine and judge! (30) Ὥσπερ γὰρ .... ἀπειθείᾳ, but as you were formerly disobedient to God, but have now obtained mercy through their unbelief. This refers to the former heathenish and unbelieving state of the Gentiles, and to the fact that the Gospel was preached to them and they became believers, in consequence of the Jews having rejected it, in the sense before explained. Tap introduces a clause added for the sake of confirmation. (31) Οὕτω καὶ . . . . ἐλεήθωσι, so also they have now become disobedient, [yet] so that they also may become the subjects of mercy, through the mercy shewn to you. Here are two cases presented, parallel in some respects, but differing in others. (1) The Jews reject the gospel, and occasion its being preached to the Gentiles, who thus become believers. (2) The Gentiles, by the blessings bestowed on them in consequence of their faith, provoke the Jews to jealousy, and occasion their seeking to be restored to their former place as the people of God; comp. vs. 13, 14. The parallelism consists in this, viz. that each party occasions the blessings of salvation to come to the other, i. e. each is (apopμnτɩkāç) the cause of salvation to the other. The difference is, that the Jews give occasion to this, by their unbelief; but the Gentiles by their belief, which provokes the Jews to jealousy and leads them to seek after the privileges of the gospel. May the time speedily come, when the example of Christians will have a better tendency to excite such a jealousy among the Jews, than it has ever yet done! The position of iva here is somewhat peculiar. We should naturally expect to find it before 7 vμɛrép but there are examples of its standing after the first words that begin a sentence; comp. 1 Cor. ix. 15. 2 Cor. ii. 4. Gal. ii. 10. Eph. iii. 18. (32) Συνέκλεισε . . . . ἐλεήσῃ, for God hath given up all to unbelief, so that he might have mercy on all; i. e. God hath left both Jew and Gentile to fall into unbelief or disobedience, in order that the true nature of sin might fully appear, and that he might thus magnify the riches of his grace, in pardoning multiplied and aggravated transgressions; comp. Rom. v. 20, 21, where the very same sentiment is developed. The fathers, in speaking of this subject, compare sin to a fever, which, before it reaches a certain height, does not so develope itself that the physician applies its appropriate remedy. They also compare it to a tree, which is permitted to grow up to full height and to spread forth all its branches and leaves, before it is felled. So when sin had reached its acme, the Redeemer appeared and struck the mortal blow. F F In regard to avrέkλege, it seems to be the best illustrated by a re all of הִסְבִּיר לְהִסְבִּיר אֶל הִסְבִּיר בְּיַד ference to the IIebrew which (from 2) mean, to deliver over to, to give up to the power of.— Táp explicantis, i. e. added to a clause which is designed to illustrate the subject under consideration.-The whole verse, and also chap. v. 20, 21, seems plainly to teach, that God had a special purpose to answer, in giving man over to the power or dominion of sin and unbelief, viz. to expose the "exceeding sinfulness of sin," and to magnify the riches of his pardoning mercy. It may be But if any are not satisfied with the sense here given to the word OUVÉRALE, and insist that it is to be taken in a more active sense, they may compare it with Rom. v. 20, and also with ix. 18. understood here, in the same sense as okλnpúra in ix. 18. more objection to the one than to the other. συνέκλεισε does not seem to be necessary here. But such a sense of (33) Here then, to say the least, is some deep and mysterious proceeding on the part of God, which the human mind cannot fathom, and which it should only wonder at and adore. 9 Báloç.... Oɛov, O the boundless goodness and wisdom and knowledge of God! Πλούτου means riches, when literally understood. But a reference to ver. 12 shews, that the apostle had in his mind the abundant blessings of the gospel bestowed on the Gentiles, when he chose this term; comp. Eph. iii. 8. 2 Cor. viii. 2.—Yogíac, the wisdom of God, viz. the wisdom displayed in thus making the unbelief of the Jews subservient to the purpose of bringing salvation to the Gentiles, in thus educing good out of evil; and also in finally bringing the Jews back to their filial relation, through the mercy granted to the Gentiles; important ends, which no human foresight or wisdom could have accomplished.-Frwoewe, boundless knowledge; for what less than omniscience could foresee the effects to be thus produced, the good effects that would flow from present and apparent evil? What human or angelic foresight could divine, that such consequences would follow from such means? Tholuck refers the whole simply to divine compassion, and says that 'the words are contra decretum absolutum of Augustine.' This may be truc, if Augustine meant what Tholuck supposes he did-fatality. But did he mean this? This excellent critic seems to find frequent matter of difficulty in the assertions of Paul here; so strongly is he exercised with the fear of the decretum absolutum of Augustine and Calvin. Ne.... ocoì avrov, how unsearchable are his proceedings, and his ways past finding out! Understanding all this as of course having a |