Romans 11:25

Rom_11:25-27

For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery.

The mystery of the conversion of the Jews

I. To what mystery does the apostle refer?

1. That blindness has happened to Israel This blindness--

(1) Is national blindness (1Co_3:14).

(2) Is in no wise a contradiction to God s dealings--for God foresaw it, and predicted it (Isa_29:10-14; cf. Rom_11:7-10).

(3) Is but partial (Rom_11:5).

2. This blindness is temporary.

(1) What led to it (see Rom_11:20; cf. Deu_28:15; Deu_28:29; Joh_8:24).

(2) What followed (Rom_11:11; Rom_11:15)? Blessings came from the fall of the Jew, but still greater blessings would come from his restoration.

(3) Now we readily gather from this, that God is not unfaithful (Rom_11:29).

(4) But furthermore. This blindness is only until the fulness of the Gentile shall come in.

In Luk_21:24. the same truth is laid down. Now to see exactly what this time is, refer to Act_15:13, etc. The Lord is acting with the whole Gentile world in this manner: sending His gospel for a witness. Then men come out of the world and are a people elect--the true Church. And when this work shall have been accomplished, then the Lord will restore Israel. Therefore, from comparing these Scriptures together, we may draw this conclusion, that the time will come when the Jews shall be restored (verses 11, 23; Jer_32:37, etc.). Nor is there anything improbable in this. At the present moment there are materials which have only to be put together to form cites which will hold ten, or twenty, or thirty thousand inhabitants. And moreover, the thorns and briars as protecting them from decay and injury.

II. What is said of this mystery. The day is gone by when it was considered absurd to speak of these things; but still there are numbers who think that this is an unnecessary or unimportant study. But the apostle, writing to the Gentiles, says, I would not that ye should be ignorant of it. Why?

1. Because he would not, that you should be ignorant of the Bible; for many passages of Scripture convey no idea whatever till we understand that Jerusalem means Jerusalem, and Israel Israel.

2. But independently of this. If God has mercy in store for these people, may not we also look forward to Gods mercy, backsliders and sinners as some of us are? And where do we find this warranted but in Gods own Word.

III. The ground of his anxiety. Lest ye should be wise in your own conceits. This Epistle was addressed to the Church of Rome? Now, note one or two of the leading features of this Church.

1. They keep the Scriptures back from the people. And what is the consequence of that? Many of them remain in perfect blindness as regards the truth. They keep the traditions of men, and therefore believe what is told them of Romes power, and of no one but those connected with Rome being safe for heaven; whereas, if they had only the Scriptures before them, they would see what a place Rome will hold in the last great day.

2. Rome upholds a formal religion. How many externals had the Jew! and what did the externals profit him?

3. Rome is completely eaten up, as it were, with its own conceit (Rev_18:7). And therefore the apostle says, I would not … lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; for you may indeed speak of your greatness, but you shall fall, while Jerusalem shall stand in that day. Conclusion:

1. Beware--

(1) Of trusting to external privileges.

(2) Of giving countenance to any unbelief whatever. It was unbelief which led to the fall of Israel.

2. Encourage yourselves with the remembrance that the time is very short for your sojourning in this world.

3. Help forward this blessed work. (Bishop Villiers.)

The Mystery of the calling of the Jews

I. The calling of the Jews is a mystery. Seek not further than is revealed, and believe that. If thou askest how, and when? I know not, because I find not revealed. God knows, which satisfies me. He that too earnestly looks upon the sun comes in the end to see nothing, and he that stands too near fire may burn himself instead of warming him. Secret things are for the Lord, but things revealed for us and our children for ever.

II. The end of the world shall not be till the Jews are called, and how long after that none yet can tell.

1. There are certain foolish prophecies dispersed that the world shall end within so many years. In Pauls time there were such, and they would have fathered their brainless toys upon Paul (2Th_2:1-2). So also from Pauls time to this day--a note of great folly and rashness.

(1) Because there are no plain Scriptures for it but against it.

(2) Because the grounds of their conceit are uncertain, idle and frivolous: as from Peters saying, that a thousand years is but as a day, and from divers mystical numbers in Daniel and the Revelation.

(3) If the last day be unknown (as all acknowledge), then the day before the last, and so by consequence the last week, month, year, age.

(4) All the diviners about this point have been hitherto shamed. Such, therefore, that shall yet attempt it must expect the same as a just recompense of their madness.

2. It is not possible to know nor lawful to inquire. If it had been for the Churchs profit to have known it God would have revealed it.

3. Whensoever the time comes it shall come well for Gods children; prepare for it that it may be a joyful and not a dismal time unto thee. If God should now come to judgment, how ready art thou?

III. Till the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. There is an emptiness among the Gentiles, both in regard of number and of grace, which last is a great impediment to the calling of the Jews. The idolatry of some, and the profaneness of others are a stumbling-block unto them. Let us remove it that we may make a passage for their calling.

IV. Come in. Whither? Into the Church. All they which believe are within; without are unbelievers. It is our Fathers house, where is bread enough; without is nothing but hogs meat. Examine how thou art within, whether as Ham in the ark, as Judas among the apostles, as chaff in flour; for in respect of their bodies many are within, who in respect of faith and obedience are without. It is all one to be without and to deserve to be without.

V. Blindness or obstinacy is in part come to Israel, but in the end all Israel shall be saved. An obstinate man is not in the state of salvation. Who have this obstinate heart? The Jews; but we need not seek a Jew to find it. Concerning which note--

1. The misery of an obstinate heart. There are two estates of the heart most fearful: to feel sin too much; and to be past feeling. The soft repenting heart is a heavenly heart.

2. The means whereby we come to such a state.

(1) Custom in sinning. Even as a path is hardened by the continual trampling of the passengers, so by custom in evil is the conscience by little and little crushed and made insensible.

(2) Neglect of the means of grace offered. This shut up the Jews in obstinacy; and ordinarily for this is this judgment of God inflicted upon men.

3. Its effects.

(1) A. departing from the faith, broaching the doctrines of devils, denying manifest truth, and holding and seeming anything to obtain our own ends (1Ti_4:1-3; Eph_4:18). As when men will be Papists, Protestants, neuters, anything, nothing, as they see it best serve their politic plots.

(2) Committing and delighting in sin.

4. Its signs.

(1) When no judgment.

(2) When no mercy can move to remorse. When the word, which is a hammer, a sword, and water can neither by the thundering of judgment, bruise, or make any dent into our hearts, not by the pleasing sound of mercy, molify us and make us relent; there is hardness unspeakable. (Elnathan Parr, B.D.)

Why do we hope for the conversion of the Jews?

I. Because it is predicted--

1. By Paul (verse 25). Their blindness is partial and temporary.

2. By the Old Testament prophets (verses 26, 27). They shall acknowledge Christ and share in the promise of the new covenant.

II. Because the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.

1. Their exclusion is for a temporary purpose.

2. Their election permanent.

3. The purpose of God unalterable (verses 28, 29).

III. Because of Gods plan of procedure with the Gentiles.

1. Once excluded by their own unbelief.

2. Now accepted through the unbelief of Israel.

3. So they also shall obtain mercy.

4. That God may have mercy upon all. (J. Lyth, D.D.)

Our duty to the Jew

I. How we should regard him.

1. Not with contempt, but with respect.

2. Not as cast away, but blinded.

II. What we should hope for him.

1. His restoration with the fulness of the Gentiles.

2. Not simply the conversion of a few, but of the nation.

III. How we should treat him. We should--

1. Hate his self-righteousness.

2. Love himself.

3. Seek his Salvation. (J. Lyth, D. D.)

The fulness of the Gentiles.--

The fulness of the Gentiles and the conversion of the Jews

Take as an illustration the case of a river bed nearly dry from long-continued drought. What water there is flows languidly, and produces no effect on an islet in mid-stream. Rain comes and the volume of water is increased and the flow becomes stronger and more rapid. In proportion to the copiousness of the rain, and therefore to the power of the current the islet is affected. By little and little its banks are washed away, and more and more of its surface is covered by the victorious waters which gradually rise. The rain becomes a flood, and the river bed now full, and the river a mighty torrent, the islet, after long resistance, ultimately succumbs, and is covered or washed away. So the conversion of the Jews will be proportionate to the amount of missionary energy, fed by Divine grace, on the part of the Gentile Churches. And when the fulness of grace shall fill all Christian agencies with a fulness of enthusiasm we may expect Judaism to be submerged. Or to change the figure. A king returns from his journey into a far country and finds his whole kingdom in a state of revolt. He first appeals to that province with which he has the closest and tenderest ties. But his claims are ignored and his overtures treated with contempt. Collecting, however, a loyal few, he marches forth to subjugate his own provinces. The work is a long and arduous one, and the fortunes of the brave band are varied. Victory is followed by defeat. Here a subjugated territory maintains its allegiance, there another revolts as soon as the army is withdrawn, and has to be conquered again. But the army is ever increasing, and year by year there is less and less to conquer, and each conquered territory sends its contingent to reduce the rest. Eventually the work is done, and the whole kingdom brought to subjection with the exception of the province to which the king made his first appeal. All through the campaign individual citizens have come over, but there is now a stubborn residuum left. On this the whole of the now loyal empire concentrates its forces, and partly perhaps from a sense of helplessness, but, mostly from a sense of the rectitude of the conquerors claims, it yields, and the kingdom is once more united under one rightful head. So Christ, the King of man, made His first appeal to the Jews; but rejected by them, His kinsmen, He with His apostles turned to the Gentiles, and not in vain, as the history of the bye-gone centuries with all their vicissitudes for His cause has proved. Much yet remains to be done, but past successes are prophetic of future triumphs, and Jesus will yet have the heathen for His inheritance, etc. The power of Christian influence will then be irresistible and Israel will yield.

I. The fulness of the Gentiles will be the result of a full outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The gift of Pentecost was only the earnest of a larger blessing. That equipped the Church for her warfare, this will inaugurate her triumph. Special manifestations of the Spirit have been vouchsafed in every age, and these have been uniformly followed by an outburst of missionary zeal. It is not, then, incredible that God should literally pour out His Spirit on all flesh, and thus bring the fulness of the Gentiles in.

II. The fulness of the Gentiles will be the full Christianisation of the Gentiles.

1. As yet this is only partial. Vast tracts lie outside Christian influence, but these are being narrowed every year.

2. A great mass of Christianised Gentilism is only nominal. Multitudes have only the form without the power, and wear a name they only disgrace.

3. The time will come when both in name and reality all tribes and kingdoms and tongues will become Christians.

III. The fulness of the Gentiles will have an irresistible effect on the Jews. During the process of filling this effect has been more or less marked, and will, we may well believe, be more marked still as the Galilean goes on conquering and to conquer. But when the Jew looks back and sees religion after religion overthrown, and nation after nation brought into obedience to the faith of Christ and His religion, and his nation the only one left--the time will not be far distant when overwhelming external pressure will combine with overwhelming internal conviction to bring Israel to the feet of Christ. Conclusion:

1. What a glorious outlook! What an argument for Christian missions! (J. W. Burn.)

And so all Israel shall be saved.--

The salvation of Israel

I. Their present blindness.

1. Awful in its character.

2. Partial in extent.

3. Fixed in its period.

II. Its removal.

1. Complete.

2. General.

3. Certain.

Conclusion. Consider--

1. Its aspect on the Jews.

2. Its proper effect upon your own kinds. (C. Simeon, M.A.)

The restoration of Israel

I. The event.

1. All Israel, as a nation--

2. Shall be saved, delivered from the curse which has so long rested upon them.

II. The means by which it shall be accomplished.

1. The deliverer, Christ--

2. Shall come out of Zion--

3. And take away their sin (Isa_59:17-21).

III. The certainty of it.

1. The covenant--

2. Of salvation (Jer_31:31). (J. Lyth, D.D.)

For this is My covenant with them.

The new covenant

I. Unto whom sent.

1. To all who believe.

2. Not only Jews but Gentile.

II. What does it include.

1. The promise of the Spirit (Isa_59:21; Jer_31:31).

2. Of eternal salvation (Isa_55:3).

III. How it is sealed. In the pardon of sin. (J. Lyth, D. D.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rom 11:25-27. For, &c. — And this I now declare, because I would not have you ignorant of this mystery — Of the mysterious dispensation under consideration, which, on the first view of it, may appear very unaccountable; lest you should be wise in your own conceits — Should have too high an opinion of yourselves, on account of your being made the people of God in place of the Jews. The apostle calls the rejection of the Jews for a time, and their restoration after the conversion of the Gentiles is completed, a mystery; because it was a matter of the greatest importance to mankind, and because it had hitherto been kept a secret, like the doctrine of the mysteries among the Greeks, which was discovered to none but the initiated. See on Eph 1:9. That blindness in part — That is, as to the greatest part of them, a remnant only being now brought to the faith; is happened to Israel — For a certain time, for Israel is neither totally nor finally rejected; until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in — Here the Christian Church is represented as a great temple, erected for all nations to worship in. And the coming of the Gentiles into this temple, or church, to worship, signifies their conversion to Christianity; a conversion which has hitherto only taken place in a small degree. For, as Whitby observes, (Appen. to Romans xi,) “If the known regions of the world be divided into thirty parts, the Christian part is only as five, the Mohammedan as six, and the idolatrous as nineteen.” And, alas! of the part said to be Christian, how few are Scriptural Christians, possessed of the Spirit of Christ, without which we are none of his! And so all Israel shall be saved — Shall be brought to believe in Jesus as the true Messiah, and so shall be put into the way of obtaining salvation, being convinced of the truth by the coming in of the Gentiles. As it is written, Isa 59:20, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer — Being the son of David, he is said, by the apostle, to come out of Sion, the city of David, and the seat of his kingdom, rather than ενεκεν Σιων, for the sake of Sion, the words used by the LXX.; whose translation of this passage, in other respects, the apostle adopts. It differs, however, in some degree, from the Hebrew original, both in this and the next clause; for that is, the Redeemer shall come to Sion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, which, no doubt, was the exact sense of the prophet’s words. But since the coming of Christ as a deliverer to the Jews was all that the apostle’s argument required, he quotes the passage merely to prove that point, and does not notice the variation of the Greek translation from the original Hebrew. It being certain, however, that the general tenor of God’s covenant with Israel gave no hope of their deliverance and restoration, after rejection and chastisement, but in a way of repentance and reformation, the apostle properly observes, that when the deliverer came, he should turn away ungodliness from Jacob — Which, as it was not done by Christ at his first coming, will doubtless be accomplished in some future period by an extraordinary display of his mercy and grace. For this is my covenant unto — Or rather with them, when I shall take away their sins — That is, when their sins, as a nation, are remitted, it shall be to bring them again into covenant with myself.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

3. The full conversion of the Gentiles will result in the full Recovery of the Jews, Rom_11:25-32.

25. Mystery—A mystery of the divine counsel; a fact concealed until this time of revelation.

Conceits—Puffed up with your superiority to the fallen Jew.

In part—To a part of Israel.

Happened—Taken place, but not in the sense of accident.

Fulness of the Gentiles—We have little doubt that Paul’s mind half unconsciously here recurs to our Lord’s words in Luk_21:24 : “Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles until the fulness of the Gentiles be gathered in.” (See our note on that passage.) By the word fulness we understand not necessarily absolutely all the Gentiles, but such a plenitude, foreseen by God, as will, as it were, drown out the infidelity of the Jews; and then the conversion of the Jews will reflow to drown out the unbelief of the Gentiles. Thereby a Christianity more or less pure and perfect may fill the earth.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Chapter 24

THE RESTORATION OF ISRAEL DIRECTLY FORETOLD: ALL IS OF AND FOR GOD

Rom_11:25-36

THUS far St. Paul has rather reasoned than predicted. He has shown his Gentile friends the naturalness, so to speak, of a restoration of Israel to Christ, and the manifest certainty that such a restoration will bring blessing to the world. Now he advances to the direct assertion, made with a Prophets full authority, that so it shall be. "How much rather shall they be grafted into their own Olive?" The question implies the assertion; nothing remains but to open it in full.

For I would not have you ignorant, brethren, of this mystery, this fact in Gods purposes, impossible to be known without revelation, but luminous when revealed; (that you may not be wise in your own esteem, valuing yourselves on an insight which is all the while only a partial glimpse); that failure of perception, in a measure, in the case of many, not all, of the nation, has come upon Israel, and will continue until the fulness of the Gentiles shall come in, until Gentile conversion shall be in some sense a flowing tide. And so all Israel, Israel as a mass, no longer as by scattered units, shall be saved, coming to the feet of Him in whom alone is mans salvation from judgment and from sin; as it stands written, {Psa_14:7, Isa_59:20, with Isa_27:9} "There shall come from Sion the Deliverer; He shall turn away all impiety from Jacob; and such they shall find the covenant I shall have granted, such shall prove to be My promise and provision, ordered and sure, when I shall take away their sins," in the day of My pardoning and restoring return to them.

This is a memorable passage. It is in the first place one of the most definitely predictive of all the prophetic utterances of the Epistles. Apart from all problems of explanation in detail, it gives us this as its message on the whole; that there lies hidden in the future, for the race of Israel, a critical period of overwhelming blessing. If anything is revealed as fixed in the eternal plan, which, never violating the creatures will yet is not subject to it, it is this. We have heard the Apostle speak fully, and without compromise, of the sin of Israel; the hardened or paralysed spiritual perception, the refusal to submit to pure grace, the restless quest for a valid self-righteousness, the deep exclusive arrogance. And thus the promise of coming mercy, such as shall surprise the world, sounds all the more sovereign and magnificent. It shall come; so says Christs prophet Paul. Not because of historical antecedents, or in the light of general principles, but because of the revelation of the Spirit, he speaks of that wonderful future as if it were in full view from the present; "All Israel shall be saved."

We read "no date prefixed." As far as this chapter is concerned, years and days are as if they were not. On the whole, surely, a large range of process is in his view; he cannot expect to see fulfilled within a narrow season the accomplishment of all the preliminaries to the great event. But he says nothing about this. All we gather is that he sees in the future a great progress of Gentile Christianity; a great impression to be made by this on the mind of Israel; a vast and comparatively sudden awakening of Israel, by the grace of God, however brought to bear; the salvation of Israel in Christ on a national scale; "the receiving of them again"; and "life from the dead" as the result-life from the dead to the world at large. However late or soon, with whatever attendant events, divine or human, thus it shall be. The "spiritual failure of perception in part" shall vanish. "The Deliverer shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob." "All Israel shall be saved."

"Believest thou the Prophets?" The question, asked of Agrippa by St. Paul, comes to us from this prediction of his own. "Lord, we believe." Our Master knows that for us in our day it is not easy. The bad air of materialism, and the profound and stolid fatalism which it involves, is thick around us. And one symptom of its malign influence is the growing tendency in the Church to limit, to minimise, to explain if possible away, from the Scriptures, the properly and distinctively superhuman, whether of work or word. Men bearing the Christian name, and bearing it often with loyal and reverent intention, seem to think far otherwise than their Lord thought about this very element of prediction in the holy Book, and would have us believe that it is no great thing to grasp, and to contend for. But as for us, we desire in all things to be of the opinion of Him who is the eternal Truth and Light, and who took our nature, expressly, as to one great purpose, in order to unfold to us articulately His opinion. He lived and died in the light and power of predictive Scripture. He predicted. He rose again to commission His Apostles, as the Spirit should teach them, to see "things to come". {Joh_16:13} To us, this oracle of His "chosen Vessel" gives us articles of faith and hope. We do not understand, but we believe, because here it is written, that after these days of the prevalence of unbelief, after all these questions, loud or half articulate, angry or agonising, "Where is the promise?" the world shall see a spiritual miracle on a scale unknown before. "All Israel shall be saved." Even so, Lord Jesus Christ, the Deliverer. Fill us with the patience of this hope, for Thy chosen race, and for the world.

It is almost a pain to turn from this conspectus of the passage to a discussion of some of its details. But it is necessary; and for our purpose it need be only brief. Whatever the result may be, it will leave untouched the grandeur of the central promise.

1. "Until the fulness of the Gentiles come in." Does this mean that the stream of Gentile conversions shall have flowed and ceased, before the great blessing comes to Israel? Certainly the Greek may carry this meaning; perhaps, taken quite apart, it carries it more easily than any other. But it has this difficulty, that it would assign to the "salvation" of Israel no influence of blessing upon the Gentile world. Now Rom_11:12 has implied that "the fulness" of Israel is to be the more-than-wealth of "the world," of "the Gentiles." And Rom_11:15 has implied, if we have read it aright, that it is to be to "the world" as "life from the dead." This leads us to explain the phrase here to refer not to the close of the ingathering of the Gentile children of God, but to a time when that process shall be, so to speak, running high. That time of great and manifest grace shall be the occasion to Israel of the shock, as it were, of blessing; and from Israels blessing shall date an unmeasured further access of divine good for the world.

2. As we pass, let us observe the light thrown by these sentences on the duty of the Church in evangelising the Gentiles for the Jews, as well as the Jews for the Gentiles. Both holy enterprises have a destined effect outside themselves. The evangelist of Africa, India, China, is working for the hour of the "salvation of all Israel." The evangelist of the Hebrew Dispersion is preparing Israel for that hour of final blessing when the "saved" nation shall, in the hand of God, kindle the world with holy life.

1. "All Israel shall be saved." It has been held by some interpreters that this points to the Israel of God, the spiritual sons of Abraham. If so, it would be fairly paraphrased as a promise that when the Gentile conversions are complete, and the "spiritual failure of perception" gone from the Jewish heart, the family of faith shall be complete. But surely it puts violence on words, and on thought, to explain "Israel" in this whole passage mystically. Interpretation becomes an arbitrary work if we may suddenly do so here, where the antithesis of Israel and "the Gentiles" is the very theme of the message. No; we have here the nation, chosen once to a mysterious specialty in the spiritual history of man, abeyant. A blessing is in view for the nation; a blessing spiritual, divine, all of grace, quite individual in its action on each member of the nation, but national in the scale of its results. We are not obliged to press the word "all" to a rigid literality. Nor are we obliged to limit the crisis of blessing to anything like a moment of time. But we may surely gather that the numbers blessed will be at least the vast majority, and that the work will not be chronic but critical. A transition, relatively swift and wonderful, shall show the world a nation penitent, faithful, holy, given to God.

2. The quotations from Psalms and Prophets (Rom_11:26-27) offer more questions than one. They are closely interlaced, and they are not literal quotations. "Out of Sion" takes the place of "for Zion." "He shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob" takes the place of "For them that turn from transgression in Jacob." "This is the covenant" takes the place of "This is His blessing." And there are other minute points of variation. Yet we reverently trace in the originals and the citations, which all alike are the work of prophetic organs of the Spirit, the great ruling thought, identical in both, that "the Deliverer" belongs primarily to "Zion," and has in store primarily a blessing for her people.

Are we, with some devout interpreters, to explain the words, "The Deliverer shall come out of Sion," as predicting a personal and visible return of the Ascended Jesus to the literal Zion, in order to the salvation of Israel, and an outgoing of Him from thence to the Dispersion, or the world, in millennial glory? We deliberately forbear, in this exposition, to discuss in detail the great controversy thus indicated. We leave here on one side some questions, eagerly and earnestly asked. Will Israel return to the Land as Christian or as anti-Christian? Will the immediate power for their conversion be the visible Return of the Lord, or will it be an effusion of His Spirit, by which, spiritually, He shall visit and bless? What will be the attendant works and wonders of the time? All we do now is to express the conviction that the prophetic quotations here cannot be held to predict unmistakably a visible and local Return. If we read them aright, their import is satisfied by a paraphrase somewhat thus: "It stands predicted that to Zion, that is, to Israel, belongs the Deliverer of man, and that for Israel He is to do His work, whenever finally it is done, with a specialty of grace and glory." Thus explained, the "shall come" of Rom_11:26 is the abstract future of divine purpose. In the eternal plan, the Redeemer was, when He first came to earth, to come to, for, and from "Zion." And His saving work was to be on lines, and for issues, forever characterised by that fact.

Assuredly the Lord Jesus Christ is, personally, literally, visibly, and to His peoples eternal joy, coming again; "this same Jesus, in like manner." {Act_1:11} And as the ages unfold themselves, assuredly the insight of the believing Church into the fulness and, if we may say so, manifoldness of that great prospect grows. But it still seems to us that a deep and reverent caution is called for before we attempt to treat of any detail of that prospect, as regards time, season, mode, as if we quite knew. Across all lines of interpretation of unfulfilled prophecy-to name one problem only - it lies as an unsolved riddle how all the saints of all ages are equally bidden to watch, as those who "know not what hour their Lord shall come."

But let us oftener and oftener, however we may differ in detail, recite to one another the glorious essence of our hope. "To them that look for Him will He appear the second time, without sin, unto salvation"; "We shall meet the Lord in the air"; "So shall we be ever with the Lord." {Heb_9:28, 1Th_4:17}

We shall never quite understand the chronology and process of unfulfilled prophecy, till then.

Now briefly and in summary the Apostle concludes this "Epistle within the Epistle"; this oracle about Israel. As regards the Gospel, from the point of view of the evangelisation of the world apart from Judaism, that "gospelling" which was, as it were, precipitated by the rebelling of Israel, they are enemies, on account of you, permitted, for your sakes, in a certain sense, to take a hostile attitude towards the Lord and His Christ, and to be treated accordingly; but as regards the election, from the point of view of the divine choice, they are beloved, on account of the Fathers; for irrevocable are the gifts and the call of our God. The "gifts" of unmerited choice, of a love uncaused by the goodness of its object, but coming from the depth of the Eternal; the "call" which not only invites the creature, but effects the end of the invitation; these are things which in their nature are not variable with the variations of man and of time. The nation so gifted and called, "not according to its works," is forever the unalterable object of the eternal affection.

May we not extend the reference of a sentence so absolute in its oracular brevity, and take it to speak the secret of an indefectible mercy not only to nation, but to individual? Here as elsewhere we shall need to remember the rule which bids us, in the heights and depths of all truth, "go to both extremes." Here as elsewhere we must be reverently careful how we apply the oracle, and to whom. But does not the oracle say this, that where the eternal Love has, without merit, in divine specialty, settled upon a person, there, not arbitrarily but by a law, which we cannot explain but which we can believe, it abides forever? Still, this is a reflection to be made only in passing here. The immediate matter is a chosen people, not a chosen soul; and so he proceeds: For as once you obeyed not our God, but now, in the actual state of things, in His grace, found mercy, on occasion of their disobedience; so they too now obeyed not, on occasion of your mercy, in mysterious connection with the compassion which, in your pagan darkness, revealed salvation to you, that they too may find mercy. Yes, even their "disobedience," in the mystery of grace, was permitted in order to their ultimate blessing; it was to be overruled to that self-discovery which lies deep in all true repentance, and springs up towards life eternal in the saving "confidence of self-despair." The pagan (chap. 1) was brought to self-discovery as a rebel against God indicated in nature; the Jew (chap. 2) as a rebel against God revealed in Christ. This latter, if such a comparison is possible, was the more difficult and as it were advanced work in the divine plan. It took place, or rather it is taking and shall take place, later in order, and nearer to the final and universal triumph of redemption. For God shut them all up into disobedience, that He might have mercy upon them all. With a fiat of judicial permission He let the Gentile develop his resistance to right into unnatural outrage. He let the Jew develop his into the desperate rejection of his own glorious Messiah. But He gave the fiat not as a God who did not care, a mere supreme Law, a Power sitting unconcerned above the scene of sin. He let the disease burst into the plague spot in order that the guilty victim might ask at last for His remedy, and might receive it as mere and most astonishing mercy.

Let us not misuse the passage by reading into it a vain hope of an indiscriminate actual salvation, at the last, of all individuals of the race; a predestinarian hope for which Scripture not only gives no valid evidence, but utters against it what at least sound like the most urgent and unequivocal of its warnings. The context here, as we saw in another connection just now, has to do rather with masses than with persons; with Gentiles and Jews in their common characteristics rather than taken as individuals. Yet let us draw from the words, with reverent boldness, a warrant to our faith wholly to trust the Eternal to be, even in the least fathomable of His dealings, true to Himself, true to eternal Love, whatever be the action He shall take.

Here the Apostles voice, as we seem to listen to it, pauses for a moment, as he passes into unspoken thoughts of awe and faith. He has now given out his prophetic burthen, telling us Gentiles how great has been the sin of Israel, but how great also is Israels privilege, and how sure his coming mercy. And behind this grand special revelation there still rise on his soul those yet more majestic forms of truth which he has led us to look upon before; the Righteousness of God, the justifying grace, the believing souls dominion over sin, the fulness of the Spirit, the coming glory of the saints, the emancipated Universe, the eternal Love. What remains, after this mighty process of spiritual discoveries, but to adore? Listen, as he speaks again, and again the pen moves upon the paper:

Oh depth of wealth of Gods wisdom and knowledge too! How past all searching are His judgments, and past all tracking are His ways! "For who ever knew the Lords mind? Or who ever proved His counsellor?" Or who ever first gave to Him, and requital shall be made to the giver? Because out of Him, and through Him, and unto Him, are all things: to Him be the glory, unto the ages. Amen.

Even so, Amen. We also prostrate our being, with the Apostle, with the Roman saints, with the whole Church, with all the company of heaven, and give ourselves to that action of pure worship in which the creature, sinking lowest in his own eyes, yea out of his own sight altogether, rises highest into the light of his Maker. What a moment this is, what an occasion, for such an approach to Him who is the infinite and personal Fountain of being, and of redemption! We have been led from reason to reason, from doctrine to doctrine, from one link to another in a golden chain of redeeming mercies. We have had the dream of human merit expelled from the heart with arrows of light; and the pure glory of a grace most absolute, most merciful, has come in upon us in its place. All along we have been reminded, as it were in fragments and radiant glimpses, that these doctrines, these truths, are no mere principles in the abstract, but expressions of the will and of the love of a Person; that fact full of eternal life, but all too easily forgotten by the human mind, when its study of religion is carried away, if but for an hour, from the foot of the Cross, and of the Throne. But now all these lines converge upwards to their Origin. By the Cross they reach the Throne. Through the Work of the Son-One with the Father, for of the Son too it is written {Col_1:16} that "all things are through Him, and unto Him"-through His Work, and in it, we come to the Fathers Wisdom and Knowledge, which drew the plan of blessing, and as it were calculated and furnished all its means. We touch that point where the creature gravitates to its final rest, the vision of the Glory of God. We repose, with a profound and rejoicing silence, before the fact of mysteries too bright for our vision. After all the revelations of the Apostle we own with him in faith, with an acquiescence deep as our being, the fact that there is no searching, no tracking out, the final secrets of the ways of God. It becomes to us wonderfully sufficient, in the light of Christ, to know that "the Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious," is also Sovereign, Ultimate. His own eternal Satisfaction; that it is infinitely fit and blessed that, as His Will is the true efficient cause of all things, and His Presence their secret of continuance, so He is Himself their final Cause, their End, their Goal; they fulfil their idea, they find their bliss, in being altogether His; "all things are unto Him."

"To whom be the glory, unto the ages. Amen." The advancing "ages," αίωνες, the infinite developments of the eternal life, what do we know about them? Almost nothing, except the greatest fact of all; that in them forever the redeemed creature will glorify not itself but the Creator; finding an endless and ever fuller youth, an inexhaustible motive, a rest impossible to break, a life in which indeed "they cannot die any more," in surrendering always all its blissful wealth of being to the will and use of the Blessed One.

In these "ages" we already are, in Christ. We shall indeed grow forever with their eternal growth, in Him, to the glory of the grace of God. But let us not forget that we are already in their course, as regards that life of ours which is hid with Christ in God. With that recollection, let us give ourselves often, and as by the "second nature" of grace, to adoration. Not necessarily to frequent long abstractions of our time from the active services of life; we need only read on into the coming passages of the Epistle to be reminded that we are hallowed, in our Lord, to a life of unselfish contact with all the needs around us. But let that life have for its interior, for its animation, the spirit of worship. Taking by faith our all from God, let us inwardly always give it back to Him, as those who not only own with the simplest gratitude that He has redeemed us from condemnation and from sin, but who have seen with an adoring intuition that we and our all are of the "all things" which, being "of Him," and "by Him," are also wholly "unto Him," by an absolute right, by the ultimate law of our being, as we are the creatures of the eternal Love.

William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.

11:25 Paul usually uses the word mystery to refer to an event of the last days that has already been determined by God. Such a mystery already exists in heaven and is revealed to God’s people in the Christian era (see 16:25; 1 Cor 2:1, 7; 4:1; 15:51; Eph 1:9; 3:3, 4, 9; 6:19; Col 1:26, 27; 2:2; 4:3; 1 Tim 3:9, 16). Here, the mystery is the relationship of Jews and Gentiles in the plan of salvation, which is at the heart of this entire passage (Rom 11:11-32).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Rom 11:25. Μυστήριον, a mystery) Paul does not always apply the term, mysteries, to those doctrines, which from the very first are necessary to be known by believers, but to the secrets, which were unknown even to many believers, until, as the case required, for the sake of faith or love they were opened up to them from the Scriptures, heretofore in this respect sealed. Comp. 1Co 15:51, and on a similar occasion Eph 3:3. The calling of the Gentiles had been a mystery, ch. Rom 16:25. But now the conversion of Israel is likewise a mystery. [Therefore something different is intimated from such conversions, as were exhibited day by day in the times of Paul.—V. g.] Each of these forms a great part of that mystery, which is confirmed in Rev 10:7. Furthermore, since it is a mystery, they ought to be treated with patient forbearance who do not recognise it so quickly, and we should hope for the time, when it will be recognised by all.—[123] φρόνιμοι, wise) dreaming, that the church at Rome cannot fail. Cluverus. The very term, mystery, checks the reader’s pride. Hence the admonition is repeated at. ch. Rom 12:16, which is already to be found at Rom 11:20, note.—ἀπὸ μέρους, in part) He speaks in a way softening the unwelcome truth; for οἱ πωρωθέντες, those, who were hardened, were as “the sand of the sea,” Rom 11:7; comp. with ch. Rom 9:27. Therefore, in the following verse, the conversion, which will not be in part [as their hardening was, which yet comprised as many as the sand], but will include all Israel (see foll. verse), will be by far the most abundant. And in the mean time also, there are always some being converted, and for this desirable object it becomes believers to be always on the watch.—πλήρωμα, fulness) a most abundant supply; the antithesis is in part. No nation shall remain, to which the Gospel shall not have been preached in the whole world; although a great part of mankind will still continue to be wicked.—εἰσέλθῃ, shall come in) Joh 10:9; Joh 10:16. For many ages, now, many obstacles retard [put a drag on the wheels of] this coming in, obstacles which will be broken through at the proper time, so that the fulness of the Gentiles, who have been long since called, may entirely come in; and then the hardening of Israel will terminate, Psa 126:2-3. Paul provokes the Israelites to Christian jealousy; and this presupposes the conversion of the Gentiles before that of Israel, and yet the remaining abundance of the Gentiles may afterwards be gained by the full conversion of Israel, Rom 11:11-12; Rom 11:15; Rom 11:31; Eze 39:7; Eze 39:21-27.

[123] We should never consider a mystery for the sake of curiosity: we should always seek to be humbled before it.—V. g.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rom_11:25-32. The formal and unconditional promise of the collective conversion of the Jews, and the confirmatory proof of this promise, now follow down to Rom_11:32.

γάρ] introduces the corroboration of the previous ἐγκεντρισθήσονται: they shall be grafted in, I say; for be it not withheld from you, etc.

οὐ θέλω ὑμᾶς ἀγνοεῖν] not a mere formula of announcement generally (Rückert), but always of something important, which Paul desires to be specially noticed, Rom_1:13; 1Co_10:1; 1Co_12:1; 2Co_1:8; 1Th_4:13. That which is addressed, under the fervent addition of the ἀδελφοί embracing all readers, is the whole church, although it stands before the apostles eyes such as it was, namely, in its predominantly Gentile-Christian character. Comp. Rom_11:13; Rom_11:28; Rom_11:30.

τὸ μυστήριον] has not in the N. T. the sense in which profane writers speak of mysteries (something mysterious in itself, comprehensible only by the initiated, and to be concealed from the profane). See on μύειν and μυστήρ., Creuzer on Plotin. de Pulcr. p. 357 f.; Lennep. Etymol. p. 441; comp. Lobeck, Aglaoph. I. p. 85 ff. But it signifies that which, undiscerned by men themselves, has been made known to them by divine ἀποκάλυψις, and always refers to the relations and the development of the Messianic kingdom (Mat_13:11). Thus it frequently denotes with Paul the divine counsel of redemption through Christ,as a whole, or in particular parts of it,because it was veiled from men before God revealed it (Rom_16:25; 1Co_2:7-10; Eph_3:3-5). Whether the contents of a mystery have already become known through the preaching of the gospel, may be gathered from the scope of the particular passages. That, however, which Paul here means by μυστήρ., is something the ἀποκάλυψις of which he is conscious of having received by divine illumination (just as in 1Co_15:51), and he declares it as a prophet ἐν ἀποκαλύψει (1Co_14:6; 1Co_14:30); without presupposing that the church, personally still strange to him, was already acquainted with the peculiar point of doctrine, as is evinced by ἵνα μὴ ἦτε ἐν ἑαυτοῖς φρόν. He desires, namely, by a disclosure of the μυστήριον, to take care that his readers, from their Gentile-Christian standpoint, should not, under a misapprehension of the divine counsel, hold for truth their own views on the exclusion of the Israelitish people, and therewith be wise in themselves (ἐν ἑαυτ., see the critical notes), i.e. in their own judgment (comp. Jam_2:4). What Luther has: that ye be not proud (comp. Erasmus, Beza, Calvin, Calovius), is not directly expressed, but is rightly pointed out by Theodoret as a consequence. Comp. Isa_5:21; Soph. El. 1055 f.

ὅτι κ.τ.λ.] Contents of the μυστήρ., namely, the duration of the hardening of Israel, which will not be permanent.

πώρωσις] See on Rom_11:7.

ἀπὸ μέρους] is to be connected with γέγονεν, not, as by Estius, Semler, Koppe, Fritzsche, contrary to the construction, with τῷ Ἰσραήλ. Hardening has partially befallen the people, in so far as οὐ πάντες ἠπίστευσαν· πολλοὶ γὰρ ἐξ ἐκείνων ἐπίστευσαν (Theodoret). Comp. Rom_15:15. It is therefore to be understood extensively (comp. οἱ λοιποί, Rom_11:7; τινές, Rom_11:17), not intensively, as Calvin takes it (attaching it to πώρωσις): quodammodo, which was intended to soften the severity of the notion. So taken, it would not modify the conception, but alter it (Rom_11:7 ff.). Köllner finds in ἀπὸ μ. the statement of a single ground of the divine arrangement, leaving it undecided whether other reasons, and what, were in the mind of the apostle: on the one part the hardening had been decreed by God over Israel only for the end, that first, etc. But in that case ἀπὸ μ. must have referred to an expressed ἵνα or the like. The temporal view, for a while (Hofmann), is here as contrary to usage as in 2Co_1:14; 2Co_2:5. Paul would have known how to express this sense possibly by τὸ νῦν, or by the classical τέως.

γέγονεν] from whom? is known from Rom_11:8.

ἄχρις οὗ] usque dum intraverit. Thenwhen this shall have taken placethe hardening of Israel shall cease. Calvins ita ut is intended, in spite of the language, to remove the idea of a terminus ad quem; and for the same reason Calovius and others employ much artifice in order to bring out the sense, that down to the end of the world the partial hardening will endure, and therefore, too, the partial conversion, but only that which is partial.

τὸ πλήρ. τῶν ἐθνῶν] In opposition to Gusset, Wolfburg, and others named by Wolf, also Wolf himself, Michaelis, Olshausen, Philippi, who understand only the complementum ethnicorum serving to make up for the unbelieving Jews (the recruitment from the Gentiles, Michaelis), the usus loquendi is not decisive; for according to usage that, with which something else is made full, might certainly be expressed by the genitive with πλήρωμα (Mar_8:20, and see on Mar_6:43; comp. Ecc_4:6). But how enigmatically, and in a manner how liable to misapprehension, would Paul have indicated the supposed thought, instead of simply and plainly writing τὸ πλήρωμα αὐτοῦ τὸ ἐκ τῶν ἐθνῶν! especially as already, in Rom_11:12, the analogous expression τὸ πλήρωμα αὐτῶν was used in the sense of their full number. Fritzsche also finds too little: caterva gentilium, so that only a great multitude is meant. Comp. on Eph_3:19. We must observe the correlation of ἀπὸ μέρους … πλήρωμα … πᾶς: a part of Israel is hardened, until the Gentiles collectively shall have come in, and, when that shall have taken place, then all Israel will be saved. The conversion of the Gentiles ensues by successive stages; but when their totality shall be converted, then the conversion of the Jews in their totality will also ensue; so that Paul sees the latterwhich up to that epoch certainly also advances gradually in individual casesensuing, after the full conversion of the Gentiles, as the event completing the assemblage of the church and accomplishing itself probably in rapid development. All this, therefore, before the Parousia, not by means of it. Comp. on Act_3:20. The expression τὸ πλήρωμα τ. ἐθνῶν is therefore to be taken numerically: the plena copia of the Gentiles (of whom in the first instance only a fraction has come and is coming in), their full number. Rightly Theophylact: πάντες, but with arbitrary limitation he adds: οἱ προεγνωσμένοι ἐθνικοί. Just so, in substance, Augustine, Oecumenius, and many others, including even van Hengel: plenus numerus gentilium, quotquot comprehendebant proposita Dei, comp. Krummacher: only the elect among the Gentiles. The collective multitude of the Gentiles in the strict sense Hofmann seeks to get rid of, by making τὸ πλήρωμα serve only to emphasize the fact that τὰ ἔθνη is to be thought of in the full compass of the notion, so that by τὸ πλήρ. τ. ἐθνῶν no other full amount is intended than that which would be expressed by τὰ ἔθνη itself. Thus there would result as the sense: until no people of the Gentile world is any longer found outside the church. This is decidedly at variance with Rom_11:12, and with the whole context down to its evident concluding verse (Rom_11:32), according to which not the peoples as such (in the lump, as it were), but all persons who compose them, must be the subjects of the entrance into the church and of the divine mercy. The above interpretation is a process of rationalizing, artificial and far-fetched, and contrary to the language and the context, by interpreting what is said of the individuals as applying to the nations; just as Beyschlag, p. 75, understands the two great groups of mankind to be thought of here and in Rom_11:26.

εἰσέλθῃ] namely, into the community prefigured by the holy olive tree, i.e. into the people of God. There is not yet mention of the kingdom of Messiah; its establishment is later. The passage Col_1:13 is wrongly employed with a view to supply εἰς τ. βασιλ. Θεοῦ. See in loc.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rom 11:25-32 . In this concluding section Paul abandons the ground of argument for that of revelation. He has discussed the problems arising out of the rejection of Israel and the calling of the Gentiles, when taken in connection with the promises of God to His people; and he has tried to make it clear that in all His dealings with His people, God has acted righteously, that for all that has befallen them the Jews have full responsibility, and that a Divine purpose, with blessing in it to both Jew and Gentile, has indirectly been getting itself carried into effect through this perplexing history. The rejection of the Jews has led to the calling of the Gentiles, and the calling of the Gentiles, by provoking the Jews to jealousy, is eventually to lead to their conversion too. All this, it may be said, is matter of argument; it is more or less convincing as the argument appeals with less or greater force to our minds. It is Paul’s construction and interpretation of the facts before him, and his anticipation of the result in which they are likely to issue; but it has no greater authority than the reasoning by which he supports it, or the motives which suggest one line of reasoning upon the facts rather than another. We can understand how patriotism, and religious faith in God’s promise, and insight into the psychological influences which determine human conduct, all contribute some weight to his argument; but he is not content to rest upon argument alone the central truth he has been expounding that the hardening of Israel is temporary as well as partial, and that when “the fulness of the Gentiles” has come in the hardening will cease, and all Israel be saved. He expressly puts this truth forward as a revelation ( μυστήριον , Rom 11:25 ). What this means psychologically we cannot tell, but it is clear that for Paul it was an essential part of the true religion, so far as he could make out the manner of its working in the world. He might try to lead the mind up to it along various lines of argument, or to confirm it by considerations of various kinds; but for him it had a Divine authority, antecedent to argument and independent of it. He sought arguments to make it credible and intelligible, not for his own sake, but for the sake of others. How much a revelation of this kind will weigh with the modern reader depends on the extent to which on general grounds he can recognise in Paul an inspired interpreter of Christianity. History, it must be admitted, throws no light on his words. The Gentiles are not fully gathered in; the time to say whether Israel as a whole is to have any distinct or decisive place in the final fulfilment of God’s gracious purpose is therefore not yet. One feels as if the nationalism of the passage fell short of Paul’s great word, There is neither Greek nor Jew; but there the Jews are, a problem to unbelief as well as to faith; think what we will of it, it is of them salvation comes; and it is at least as credible as the reverse (without considering Paul’s arguments at all) that Providence is not preserving them for nothing, and that in some such way as is here indicated there is a close connection between their salvation and the salvation of the world.

Rom 11:25 . οὐ γὰρ θέλω ὑμᾶς ἀγνοεῖν : cf. Rom 1:13 , 1Co 10:1 ; 1Co 12:1 , 2Co 1:8 , but especially 1Th 4:13 , where as here it is used to introduce a revelation. An often-repeated phrase tends to be formal, but the thing of which Paul would not have his readers ignorant is usually important. As the phrase is invariably followed by ἀδελφοί , the latter also tends to be formal: it is at least a mistake to see anything of peculiar intimacy or affection in it in such connections. As Rom 11:28 and Rom 11:30 prove, in which they are contrasted with the Jews, the ἀδελφοί are Gentiles, and they are practically identical with the Roman Church. τὸ μυστήριον τοῦτο : the word μυστήριον only occurs once in the Synoptical Gospels (Mar 4:11 and parallels) and not at all in John; but Paul uses it often (twenty-one times, including two in 1 Tim.). It always refers to something which though once hidden, or in its nature a secret, is now revealed. In some passages it is applied to the Christian revelation as a whole ( e.g. , in Rom 16:25 , 1Co 2:1 , Eph 1:9 , Col 2:2 : in the last it is identified simpliciter with Christ). In others it is applied to the Christian revelation as a whole, but with some special aspect of it in view: thus in Eph 3:3 the special aspect of “revelation” or “mystery” for it is all one in the Gospel is the destined inclusion of the Gentiles among the people of God, while in Col 1:26 f. it is the indwelling Christ, as the pledge of immortality. In others, again, any particular element in the great revelation is called a “mystery”. Thus in 1Co 15:51 the truth communicated about those who live to see the second advent is described by this name, and it might have been used in the similar passage in 1Th 4:15 , where Paul says instead that he speaks ἐν λόγῳ κυρίου . This is merely to claim for his words the authority of revelation in another way. The passage before us comes under this last head. It is a piece of revelation something which has been communicated to Paul ἐν ἀποκαλύψει for the good of the Church that hardening in part has come upon Israel until the fulness of the Gentiles has come in. The new ideas in this revelation are the limits in extent ( ἀπὸ μέρους ) and in time ( ἄχρι οὗ ). ἵνα μὴ ἦτε ἐν ἑαυτοῖς φρόνιμοι : it would tend to self-conceit if the Gentiles in ignorance of this Divine appointment concluded off-hand that the Jews could never be converted as a whole, and that they themselves therefore were in a place of permanent and exclusive privilege. For ἐν ἑαυτοῖς ( [11] [12] ) πορʼ ἑαυτοῖς is found in [13] [14] [15] [16] , etc. Both occur in LXX but the former is much more likely to have been changed. τὸ πλήρωμα τῶν ἐθνῶν = the full number, totality, of the Gentiles. It does not mean a number pre-determined beforehand, which has to be made up, whether to answer to the blanks in Israel or to the demands of a Divine decree, but the Gentiles in their full strength. When the Gentiles in their full strength have come in, the power which is to provoke Israel to jealousy will be fully felt, with the result described in Rom 11:26 .

[11] Codex Alexandrinus (sæc. v.), at the British Museum, published in photographic facsimile by Sir E. M. Thompson (1879).

[12] Codex Vaticanus (sæc. iv.), published in photographic facsimile in 1889 under the care of the Abbate Cozza-Luzi.

[13] Codex Sinaiticus (sæc. iv.), now at St. Petersburg, published in facsimile type by its discoverer, Tischendorf, in 1862.

[14] Codex Ephraemi (sæc. v.), the Paris palimpsest, edited by Tischendorf in 1843.

[15] Codex Claromontanus (sæc. vi.), a Græco-Latin MS. at Paris, edited by Tischendorf in 1852.

[16] Codex Angelicus (sæc. ix.), at Rome, collated by Tischendorf and others.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Vv. 25, 26a. “For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in own your conceits:that a hardening in part hath befallen Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in; and so all Israel shall be saved.”

The form of expression: “I would not that ye should be ignorant,” always announces a communication the importance of which the apostle is concerned to impress. The style of address: brethren, leaves no room to doubt that the apostle is here speaking to the church as a whole. Now it is indubitable that in Rom 11:28; Rom 11:30 those readers whom he addresses with the word ye are of Gentile origin. This proof of a Gentile majority in the church of Rome seems to us incontrovertible.

Paul uses the word mystery to designate the fact he is about to announce. He does not mean by this, as might be thought from the meaning this term has taken in ecclesiastical language, that this fact presents something incomprehensible to reason. In the N. T. the word denotes a truth or fact which can only be known by man through a communication from above, but which, after this revelation has taken place, falls into the domain of the understanding. The two notions mystery and revelation are correlative; comp. Eph 3:3-6. The apostle therefore holds directly from above the knowledge of the event he proceeds to announce; comp. 1Co 15:51 and 1Th 4:15.

Before stating the fact he explains the object of this communication: “that ye be not wise in your own eyes.” The reference here is not, as in Rom 11:19, to proud thoughts arising from the preference which God seems now to have given to the Gentiles. It is the wisdom of self whose inspirations Paul here sets aside. The converted Gentiles composing the church of Rome might form strange systems regarding Israel’s rejection and future history. Paul is concerned to fix their ideas on this important point, and leave no place in their minds for vain and presumptuous speculations. He borrows his expressions from Pro 3:7. Instead of παῤ ἑαυτοῖς, beside yourselves, two Alexs. read ἐν ἑαυτοῖς, within yourselves. The copyists may possibly have changed the original ἐν (in) into παρά, under the influence of the text of the LXX. The meaning is substantially the same.

The contents of the mystery are declared in the end of this verse and the first words of the following: “hardness is happened.” Paul had already pointed out this, Rom 11:7; but he adds: in part, ἀπὸ μέρους. This word is explained, as it seems to me, by the expression of Rom 11:7: “the rest were hardened,” and by the term some, Rom 11:17. Hence it follows that we must here give the word in part a numerical sense. Judgment has not fallen on the totality of Israel, but on a part only; such is also the meaning to which we are led by the antithesis of the all Israel of Rom 11:26; comp. 2Co 2:5. It is a mistake in Calvin to apply this word: to the degree, of the hardening which according to him still left room for partial blessings; and in Hofmann, in a more forced way still, to apply it to the restricted time during which it is to last.

But even this judgment, which has overtaken one entire portion of the nation, will have an end: to make it cease, God waits till the totality of the Gentile nations shall have made their entry into the kingdom of God. This is the people which should have introduced all the other peoples into it; and for their punishment the opposite is what will take place, as Jesus had declared: “The first shall be last.” It is almost incredible how our Reformers could have have held out obstinately, as they have done, against a thought so clearly expressed. But they showed themselves in general rather indifferent about points of eschatology, and they dreaded in particular everything that appeared to favor the expectation of the thousand years’ reign which had been so much abused in their time. Calvin has attempted to give to the conj. ἄχρις οὖ, until that, the impossible meaning of in order that; which in sense amounted simply to the idea of Rom 11:11-12. Others gave to this conjunction the meaning of as long as, to get this idea: that while the Gentiles are entering successively into the church, a part of the Jews undoubtedly remain hardened, but yet a certain number of individuals are converted, from which it will follow that in the end the totality of God’s people, Jews and Gentiles (all Israel, Rom 11:26), will be made up. This explanation was only an expedient to get rid of the idea of the final conversion of the Jewish people. It is of course untenable—1st. From the grammatical point of view the conj. ἄχρις οὖ could only signify as long as, if the verb were a present indicative. With the verb in the aor. subjunctive the only possible meaning is: until. 2d. Viewed in connection with the context, the word Israel has only one possible meaning, its strict meaning: for throughout the whole chapter the subject in question is the future of the Israelitish nation. 3d. How could the apostle announce in a manner so particular, and as a fact of revelation, the perfectly simple idea that at the same time as the preaching of the gospel shall sound in the ears of the Gentiles, some individual Jews will also be converted? Comp. Hodge.

The expression: the fulness of the Gentiles, denotes the totality of the Gentile nations passing successively into the church through the preaching of the gospel. This same whole epoch of the conversion of the Gentile world is that which Jesus designates, Luk 21:24, by the remarkable expression: καιροὶ ἐθνῶν, the times of the Gentiles, which he tacitly contrasts with the theocratic epoch: the times of the Jews (Luk 19:42; Luk 19:44). Jesus adds, absolutely in the same sense as Paul, “that Jerusalem shall be trodden down until those times of the Gentiles be fulfilled;” which evidently signifies that after those times had elapsed, Jerusalem shall be delivered and restored. In this discourse of Jesus, as reported by Matthew (Mat 24:14) and Mark (Mar 13:10), it is said: “The gospel of the kingdom shall be preached unto the Gentiles throughout all the earth; and then shall the end come.” This end includes the final salvation of the Jewish people.

Olshausen and Philippi suppose that the complement of the word πλήρωμα, fulness, is: “of the kingdom of God,” and that the genitive ἐθνῶν, of the Gentiles, is only a complement of apposition: “Until the full number of Gentiles necessary to fill up the void in the kingdom of God, made by the loss of Israel, be complete.” This is to torture at will the words of the apostle; their meaning is clear: Till the accomplishment of the conversion of the Gentiles, there will be among the Jews only individual conversions; but this goal reached, their conversion en masse will take place.

Ver. 26a Καὶ οὕτως cannot be translated “and then;” the natural meaning is: and thus; and it is quite suitable. Thus, that is to say, by means of the entrance of the Gentiles into the church, comp. Rom 11:31. When Israel shall see the promises of the O. T., which ascribe to the Messiah the conversion of the Gentiles to the God of Abraham, fulfilled throughout the whole world by Jesus Christ, and the Gentiles through His mediation loaded with the blessings which they themselves covet, they will be forced to own that Jesus is the Messiah; for if the latter were to be a different personage, what would this other have to do, Jesus having already done all that is expected of the Messiah?—Πᾶς ᾿Ισραήλ, all Israel, evidently signifies Israel taken in its entirety. It seems, it is true, that the Greek expression in this sense is not correct, and that it should be ᾿Ισραὴλ ὁλος. But the term πᾶς, all (every), denotes here, as it often does, every element of which the totality of the object is composed (comp. 2Ch 12:1: πᾶς ᾿Ισραὴλ μετ᾿ αὐτοῦ, all Israel was with him); Act 2:36; Eph 2:21. We have already said that there can be no question here of applying the term Israel to the spiritual Israel in the sense of Gal 6:16. It is no less impossible to limit its application, with Bengel and Olshausen, to the elect portion of Israel, which would lead to a tautology with the verb shall be saved, and would suppose, besides, the resurrection of all the Israelites who had died before. And what would there be worthy of the term mystery (Rom 11:25) in the idea of the salvation of all the elect Israelites!

Paul, in expressing himself as he does, does not mean to suppress individual liberty in the Israclites who shall live at that epoch. He speaks of a collective movement which shall take hold of the nation in general, and bring them as such to the feet of their Messiah. Individual resistance remains possible. Compare the admirable delineation of this period in the prophet Zechariah (Rom 12:10-14).

Two prophetic sayings are alleged as containing the revelation of this mystery.

Vv. 26b, 27. “As it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: and this is the covenant I will make with them when I shall take away their sins.”

Two passages are combined in this quotation, as we have already found so often; these are Isa 59:20; Isa 27:9. As far as the word when, all belong to the first passage; with this conjunction the second begins. Both in Isaiah refer to the last times, and have consequently a Messianic bearing. Paul follows the LXX. in quoting, with this difference, that instead of ἐκ Σιών, from Sion, they read ἕνεκεν Σιών, “in favor of Sion.” The form of the LXX. would have as well suited the object of the apostle as that which he employs himself. Why, then, this change? Perhaps the prep. ἕνεκεν, in favor of, was contracted in some MSS. of the LXX. so as to be easily confounded with ἐκ, from. Or perhaps the apostle was thinking of some other passage, such as Psa 110:2, where the Messiah is represented as setting out from Sion to establish His kingdom. But what is singular is, that neither the one nor the other form corresponds exactly to the Hebrew text, which says: “There shall come to Sion (the Zion), and to them who turn from their sins in Jacob.” It is probable that instead of leschave (“them that turn”) the LXX. read leschov (to turn away); and they have rendered this infinitive of aim by the future: he will turn away. Hence the form of our quotation. However that may be, the meaning is that He who shall deliver Sion from its long oppression, will do so by taking away iniquity from the entire people. Such is, in fact, the bearing of the term ᾿Ιακώβ, Jacob, which denotes the whole nation collectively. It is therefore on this second proposition of Rom 11:26 that the weight of the quotation properly rests. As to the first proposition, it may be regarded as a simple introduction; or we may find in it the idea, that after setting out from Sion, the preaching of the gospel, having made the round of the world, will return to Israel to purify it, after all the other nations; or, finally, it may be held, with Hofmann, that the words from Sion denote the place whence the Lord will make His glory shine forth, when He shall fulfil this last promise on the earth.

Vv. 25 contains the announcement of the fact; Rom 11:26-27 quote some prophecies bearing on it; Rom 11:28-29 conclude as to Israel; finally, Rom 11:30-32 sum up the whole divine plan in relation to Israel and to the Gentiles.

Frédéric Louis Godet — Commentaries on Luke, John, Romans, and 1 Corinthians — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1870s–1890s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rom_11:25

For I would not, brethren, have you ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits, that blindness in part has happened unto Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. Although the interpretations given of this and the following verses are very numerous, they are all modifications of one or the other of the two following general views of the passage.

1. Many understand the apostle as not predicting any remarkable future conversion of the Jewish nation, but merely declaring that the hardening or blinding of the nation, was not such as to prevent many Jews entering the Christian church, as long as the Gentiles continued to come in. Thus all the true Israel, embracing Jews as well as Gentiles, should ultimately be saved.

2. The second general view supposes the apostle, on the contrary, to predict a great and general conversion of the Jewish people, which should take place when the fullness of the Gentiles had been brought in, and that then, and not till then, those prophecies should be fully accomplished which speak of the salvation of Israel.

The former of these views was presented, in different forms, by the great body of the authors who lived about the time of the Reformation; who were led by the extravagancies of the Millennarians, who built much on this passage, to explain away its prophetic character almost entirely.‹63› Olshausen, in order to show the hostile feeling entertained by the Reformers towards the Jews, quotes a passage from Luther, which does not admit of translation: Ein jüdisch Herz ist so stoch-stein-eisen-teufelhart, das mit keiner Weise zu bewegen ist; es sind junge Teufel zur Hölle verdammt, diese Tellfelskinder zu bekehren ist unmöglich, wie etliche solchen Wahn schöpfen aus der Epistel an die Römer.

The second view has been the one generally received in every age of the church, with the exception of the period just referred to. That it is the correct interpretation, appears evident for the following reasons:

1. The whole context and drift of the apostles discourse is in its favor. In the preceding part of the chapter, Paul, in the plainest terms, had taught that the conversion of the Jews was a probable event, and that it would be in the highest degree beneficial and glorious for the whole world. This idea is presented in various forms; and practical lessons are deduced from it in such a way as to show that he contemplated something more than merely the silent addition of a few Israelites to the church during successive ages.

2. It is evident that Paul meant to say, that the Jews were to be restored in the sense in which they were then rejected. They were then rejected not merely as individuals, but as a community, and therefore are to be restored as a community; see Rom_11:11, Rom_11:15. How can the latter passage (Rom_11:15,) especially, be understood of the conversion of the small number of Jews which, from age to age, have joined the Christian Church? This surely has not been as life from the dead, for the whole world.

3. It is plain from this and other parts of the discourse, that Paul refers to a great event; something which should attract universal attention.

4. In accordance with this idea, is the manner of introducing this verse, I would not have you ignorant, brethren; see 1Co_10:1; 1Co_12:1, and elsewhere. Paul uses this form of address when he wishes to rouse the attention of his readers to something specially important.

5. The gradual conversion of a few Jews is no mystery, in the scriptural sense of the word. The word μυστήριον, secret, is not generally used, in the New Testament, in the sense of the word mystery. It means simply, what is hidden, or unknown; whether because it is an unrevealed purpose of God; or because it is future; or because it is covered up in parables or symbols, (as the mystery of the seven candlesticks, Rev_1:20;) or because it lies beyond the reach of the human mind, Eph_5:32. It is only in the last mentioned case that μυστήριον answers to our word mystery. Whatever needs an ἀποκάλυψις, to become an object of knowledge, is a μυστήριον. It is therefore used in reference to all the doctrines of the gospel which are not the truths of reason, but matters of divine revelation; Rom_16:25; 1Co_2:7; 1Co_4:1; Eph_6:19, etc. Hence ministers are called stewards of the mysteries (i.e., of the revelations) of God. It is also used of some one doctrine, considered as previously unknown and undiscoverable by human reason, however simple and intelligible in its own nature. Thus, the fact that the Gentiles should be admitted into the church of God, Paul calls a mystery, Eph_1:9; Eph_3:4. Any future event, therefore, which could be known only by divine revelation, is a mystery. The fact that all should not die, though all should be changed, was a mystery, 1Co_15:51. In like manner, here, when Paul says, I would not, brethren, have you ignorant of this mystery, he means to say, that the event to which he referred, was one which, depending on no secondary cause, but on the divine purpose, could be known only by divine revelation. This description is certainly far more suitable to the annunciation of a prophecy, than to the statement of a fact which might have been confidently inferred from what God had already revealed.

6. The words, all Israel, in the next verse, cannot, as the first interpretation mentioned above would require, be understood of the spiritual Israel; because the word is just before used in a different sense, blindness in part has happened unto Israel. This blindness is to continue until a certain time, when it is to be removed, and then all Israel is to be saved. It is plain, that Israel in these cases must be understood as referring to the same class of persons. This is also clear from the opposition between the terms Israel and Gentile.

7. The words (ἄχρις οὗ), correctly rendered in our version, until, cannot, so consistently with usage, be translated, as long as, or so that, followed as they are here by the aorist subjunctive; see Rev_15:8; Rev_17:17; compare Heb_3:13.

8. The following verses seem to require this interpretation. The result contemplated is one which shall be a full accomplishment of those prophecies which predicted the salvation of the Jews. The reason given in Rom_11:28, Rom_11:29, for the event to which Paul refers, is the unchangeableness of Gods purposes and covenant. Having once taken the Jews into special connection with himself, he never intended to cast them off for ever. The apostle sums up his discourse by saying, As the Gentiles were formerly unbelieving, and yet obtained mercy, so the Jews who now disbelieve, shall hereafter be brought in; and thus God will have mercy on all, both Jews and Gentiles.

From all these considerations, it seems obvious that Paul intended here to predict that the time would come when the Jews, as a body, should be converted unto the Lord; compare 2Co_3:16. The prediction contained in this verse is to be explained by the context. The rejection of the Jews at the time of Christ, did not involve the perdition of every individual of that nation. Thousands, and even myriads, believed and were saved. So the restoration here foretold is not to be understood as including every individual of the Jewish people, but simply that there is to be a national restoration.

Lest ye should be wise in your own conceits. This is given as the reason why the apostle wished the Gentiles to know and consider the event which he was about to announce. This clause may mean either, Lest ye proudly imagine that your own ideas of the destiny of the Jews are correct; or, Lest ye be proud and elated, as though you were better and more highly favored than the Jews. The former is perhaps most in accordance with the literal meaning of the words (ἐν ἑαυτοῖς φρόνιμοι;) see Pro_3:7.

Blindness in part, i.e. partial blindness; partial as to its extent and continuance. Because not all the Jews were thus blinded, nor was the nation to remain blind for ever. The words ἀπὸ μέρους are not to be connected with πώρωσις nor with τῷ Ἰσραήλ; but with γέγονεν. Blindness has partially happened to Israel. The reference, however, is not to the degree, but to the continuance of this blindness. It is not final and hopeless; it is only for a time. The word (πώρωσις) rendered blindness, is more correctly rendered, in Mar_3:5, hardness; compare Eph_4:18; see Rom_11:7, and Rom_9:18.

Until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. Until ἄχρις οὗ, marks the terminus ad quem. This blindness of Israel is to continue until something else happened. There were to be, and have been numerous conversions to Christianity from among the Jews, in every age since the advent; but their national conversion is not to occur until the heathen are converted. What, however, is definitely meant by the πλήρωμα τῶν ἐθνῶν, it is not easy to determine. The question is not to be decided by the mere signification of the words. In whatever way they may be explained, the general idea is the same. The πλήρωμα of the Gentiles may mean, that which makes the Gentiles, as to number, full. Or, according to others, the Gentiles themselves are the πλήρωμα, i.e. the complement; they make full the vacancy left by the rejection of the Jews. Or, as is commonly assumed, πλήρωμα is to be taken in a secondary sense, for multitude. Compare Gen_48:19 : Multitude (literally fullness) of nations; and Isa_31:4, Multitude (fullness) of shepherds. This does not mean the totality of the Gentiles. It is not Pauls doctrine, that all Gentiles who ever lived are to be introduced into the kingdom of Christ. Nor does it mean, that all the Gentiles who may be alive when the Jews are converted, shall be true Christians. All that can be safely inferred from this language is, that the Gentiles, as a body, the mass of the Gentile world, will be converted before the restoration of the Jews, as a nation. Much will remain to be accomplished after that event; and in the accomplishment of what shall then remain to be done, the Jews are to have a prominent agency. Their conversion will be as life from the dead to the church. We must remember that Paul is here speaking as a prophet, ἐν ἀποκαλύψει, 1Co_14:6, and therefore his language must be interpreted by the rules of prophetic interpretation. Prophecy is not proleptic history. It is not designed to give us the knowledge of the future which history gives us of the past. Great events are foretold; but the mode of their occurrence, their details, and their consequences, can only be learned by the event. It is in the retrospect that the foreshadowing of the future is seen to be miraculous and divine.

Charles Hodge — Commentary on Romans (1835), First Corinthians (1857), and Ephesians (1856) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The blindness of the Jews is neither so universal that the Lord hath no elect in that nation, neither shall it be continual: for there shall be a time wherein they also (as the Prophets have forewarned) shall effectually embrace that which they do now so stubbornly for the most part reject and refuse.

That ye be not proud within yourselves.

Into the Church.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

For I would not . . . that ye should be ignorant of this mystery--The word "mystery," so often used by our apostle, does not mean (as with us) something incomprehensible, but "something before kept secret, either wholly or for the most part, and now only fully disclosed" (compare Rom 16:25; Co1 2:7-10; Eph 1:9-10; Eph 3:3-6, Eph 3:9-10).

lest ye should be wise in your own conceits--as if ye alone were in all time coming to be the family of God.

that blindness--"hardness"

in part is happened to--"hath come upon"

Israel--that is, hath come partially, or upon a portion of Israel.

until the fulness of the Gentiles be--"have"

come in--that is, not the general conversion of the world to Christ, as many take it; for this would seem to contradict the latter part of this chapter, and throw the national recovery of Israel too far into the future: besides, in Rom 11:15, the apostle seems to speak of the receiving of Israel, not as following, but as contributing largely to bring about the general conversion of the world--but, "until the Gentiles have had their full time of the visible Church all to themselves while the Jews are out, which the Jews had till the Gentiles were brought in." (See Luk 21:24).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 25. I would not-that ye should be ignorant of this mystery] Mystery, μυστηριον, signifies any thing that is hidden or covered, or not fully made manifest. The Greek word seems to have been borrowed from the Hebrew מסתר mistar, from the root סתר sathar, to hide, conceal, c. though some derive it from μυεισθαι, to be initiated into sacred rites, from μυειν, to shut up. In the New Testament it signifies, generally, any thing or doctrine that has not, in former times, been fully known to men: or, something that has not been heard of, or which is so deep, profound, and difficult of comprehension, that it cannot be apprehended without special direction and instruction: here it signifies the doctrine of the future restoration of the Jews, not fully known in itself, and not at all known as to the time in which it will take place. In Ro 16:25 it means the Christian religion, not known till the advent of Christ. The apostle wished the Romans not to be ignorant of this mystery, viz. that such a thing was intended; and, in order to give them as much instruction as possible on this subject, he gives them some characteristic or sign of the times when it was to take place.

Lest ye should be wise in your own conceits] It seems from this, and from other expressions in this epistle, that the converted Gentiles had not behaved toward the Jews with that decorum and propriety which the relation they bore to them required. In this chapter the apostle strongly guards them against giving way to such a disposition.

Blindness in part is happened to Israel] Partial blindness, or blindness to a part of them; for they were not all unbelievers: several thousands of them had been converted to the Christian faith; though the body of the nation, and especially its rulers, civil and spiritual, continued opposed to Christ and his doctrine.

Until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.] And this blindness will continue till the Church of the Gentiles be fully completed-till the Gospel be preached through all the nations of the earth, and multitudes of heathens every where embrace the faith. The words πληρωμα των εθνων may be borrowed from the מלא הגוים melo haggoyim, a multitude of nations, which the Septuagint translate by πληθος εθνων. By the πληρωμα, or fulness, a great multitude may be intended, which should be so dilated on every hand as to fill various regions. In this sense the words were understood by Solomon ben Melec, ארצות הגוים שימלאו מהם. The nations of the Gentiles shall be filled with them: the apostle, therefore, seems to give this sense of the mystery-that the Jews will continue in a state of blindness till such time as a multitude of nations, or Gentiles, shall be converted to the Christian faith; and the Jews, hearing of this, shall be excited, by a spirit of emulation, to examine and acknowledge the validity of the proofs of Christianity, and embrace the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We should not restrict the meaning of these words too much, by imagining,

1. That the fulness must necessarily mean all the nations of the universe, and all the individuals of those nations: probably, no more than a general spread of Christianity over many nations which are now under the influence of Pagan or Mohammedan superstition may be what is intended.

2. We must not suppose that the coming in here mentioned necessarily means, what most religious persons understand by conversion, a thorough change of the whole heart and the whole life: the acknowledgment of the Divine mission of our Lord, and a cordial embracing of the Christian religion, will sufficiently fulfil the apostle's words. If we wait for the conversion of the Jews till such a time as every Gentile and Mohammedan soul shall be, in this especial sense, converted to God, then-we shall wait for ever.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

25. I would not, etc. Here he rouses his hearers to a greater attention, while he avows that he is going to declare something that was secret. Nor did he do this without reason; for he wished to conclude, by a brief or plain sentence, a very perplexed question; and yet he declares what no one could have expected. But the words, Lest ye should be proud in yourselves, show what was his designed object; and that was, to check the arrogance of the Gentiles, lest they should exult over the Jews. This admonition was also necessary, lest the defection of that people should immoderately disturb the minds of the weak, as though the salvation of them all was to be forever despaired of. The same is still not less useful to us at this day, so that we may know, that the salvation of the remnant, whom the Lord will at length gather to himself, is hid, sealed as it were by his signet. And whenever a long delay tempts us to despair, let us remember this word mystery; by which Paul clearly reminds us, that the mode of their conversion will neither be common nor usual; and hence they act absurdly who attempt to measure it by their own judgment; for what can be more unreasonable than to regard that as incredible which is far removed from our view? It is called a mystery, because it will be incomprehensible until the time of its revelation. It is, however, made known to us, as it was to the Romans, that our faith may be content with the word, and support us with hope, until the event itself come to light.

That blindness in part, etc. “In part,” I think, refers not simply to time, nor to the number, but means, in a manner, or in a measure; by which expression he intended, as it seems to me, only to qualify a declaration which in itself was severe. Until does not specify the progress or order of time, but signifies the same thing, as though he had said, “That the fullness of the Gentiles,” etc. The meaning then is, — That God had in a manner so blinded Israel, that while they refused the light of the gospel, it might be transferred to the Gentiles, and that these might occupy, as it were, the vacated possession. And so this blindness served the providence of God in furthering the salvation of the Gentiles, which he had designed. And the fullness of the Gentiles is to be taken for a great number: for it was not to be, as before, when a few proselytes connected themselves with the Jews; but such was to be the change, that the Gentiles would form almost the entire body of the Church.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(25) Mystery.—The word always means throughout St. Paul’s writings something which, though not to be known or fully comprehended by unassisted human reason, has been made known by direct divine revelation. It is therefore not to be taken in this passage in its usual sense, of something hidden and concealed from all except a few, but rather of all such truths as though previously hidden, had been made manifest by the gospel.

It is thus applied to the whole or any part of the Christian system. To the whole, as in Rom_16:25; 1Co_2:7-10; Eph_1:9; Eph_6:19; Col_1:26-27; Col_2:2; 1Ti_3:9; 1Ti_3:16. To any part, as (a) the admission of the Gentiles, Eph_3:3 et seq., and partly here; (b) the mystical union of Christ and His Church which is typified in marriage, Eph_5:32; (c) the transformation of the “quick” at the resurrection, 1Co_15:51; and (d) the opposition of Antichrist to the gospel, 2Th_2:7.

Here the reference is to the whole of the divine purpose as shown in the dealings with Jew and Gentile, and especially in the present exclusion and future re-admission of the former. This last point the Apostle goes on to prove.

Blindness.—Rather, as in the margin, hardness, a hardening of the heart so that the gospel could not find entrance into it.

In part.—These words qualify “Israel.” The hardness extends over some, but not over all. There were Jewish as well as Gentile converts in Rome itself.

The fulness of the Gentiles.—As above, the complete number; the full complement of the Gentiles.

(25-32) There was a deep meaning underlying the temporary rejection of Israel, of which he has been speaking—a meaning which has hitherto been kept secret, but now to be revealed as a corrective to any possible pride on the part of the Gentiles.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

25. For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant] Same word as Rom_1:13; 1Co_10:1; 1Co_12:1; 2Co_1:8; 1Th_4:13.—Here St Paul leaves the image of the Olive Tree, which he had used to facilitate to his reader’s conception the idea of a restoration of Jews to the Church of the Messiah, now become the Universal Church. He now, in plain terms, reveals and predicts a great future Restoration.

“For:”—the connexion indicated is somewhat thus: “My parable of the Olive Tree is no conjecture or peradventure, when it suggests a brighter future for Israel. For such a future is to come, in the purposes of God.”

ignorant] Whether for want of information, or want of reminders. Possibly the precise revelation of the future here made had never been made, in terms, before, though suggestions and intimations of it had often been heard. (Cp. perhaps Luk_21:24.) So in another place, (1Th_4:13,) where the Apostle uses the same formula:—the hope of Resurrection had been abundantly revealed in a general way, but the precise fact that the buried saints should rise before the living saints should be transfigured was probably then first made known.

mystery] Here, as consistently in N. T., the Gr. word means a truth undiscoverable by reason, but now revealed. Our use of the words “mystery” and “mysterious,” is often misleading in these connexions, as it easily suggests the thought of what cannot be understood. The Gr. means, in fact, a secret, which, when told, may be found either partially to transcend the grasp of man’s conception, or to be quite within it. Thus in 1Co_15:51 we have a “mystery” revealed as a fact which yet (in detail at least) we cannot clearly conceive: in the present passage we have a “mystery” revealed which is far more within our reach of thought, viz. judicial blindness inflicted on the Jews as a body, and hereafter, at a definite point in the Plan of God, to be removed.

wise in your own conceits] Same word as Rom_12:16.—“Conceits:”—i.e. opinion. The Gr. is, more literally, wise, or sensible, at your own bar; i.e. judged in the court of self-complacency.—The “wisdom” or “thoughtfulness” here in view is such as that rebuked in Rom_11:19; that of a Gentile convert who thought much of his large insight into the Divine Plan because he saw in the rejection of the Jews not an accident but a deliberate opening of the door of grace to the world—and there dismissed the subject, careless whether there were, or not, any future mercy for Israel in the same Divine Plan.

blindness] See on Rom_11:7, “were blinded.” The noun here is cognate to the verb there. It occurs elsewhere in N. T., Mar_3:5; Eph_4:18.

in part] This gracious qualification is not necessary to the statement, in which the “blindness” or “hardening” is the emphatic thing. But St Paul will not omit to remind the Gentile Christian that even in the dark ages of Israel there ever has been, is, and will be, a “holy seed,” (Isa_6:13,) an “election,” who behold and welcome the promised Salvation. Thus the hardening is never total; it is partial, though, alas, the hardened “part” is the large majority, till the great call of grace.—See further, long note above on Rom_11:1.

until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in] The Gr. equally allows the rendering until the fulness &c. come in. This would not necessitate (as E. V. does) the inference that the call of grace to Israel was not to come till the in-coming of the “fulness of the Gentiles” was over. In Rom_11:15 (q. v.) we have had it intimated that the conversion of Israel should be a means of immense grace to the world; as indeed it must be, in the nature of the case. In view of this, it seems best to explain the present verse as predicting that the in-coming of the nations to the Church of Christ shall have largely, but not perfectly, taken place when Israel is restored to grace; so that the closing stages of the in-coming may be directly connected with the promised revival of Israel, and may follow it in respect of time.—“Come in”:—to the Fold, the Refuge, the City, of Messiah’s salvation.

the fulness of the Gentiles] Cp. note on “fulness” in Rom_11:12. The word here plainly means the full destined number of the Gentile Church, with the underlying idea of the greatness of that number. Cp. Rev_7:9.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For I would not, brethren,.... The apostle in order to raise the attention of the Gentiles to what he was about to deliver to them, not only styles them "brethren", expressing his affection for them, and their relation to him and other believing Jews, and to one another, being all one in Christ Jesus, partakers of the same grace, and heirs of the same glory; but also tells them, that what he had to acquaint them with was a "mystery", a thing secret and hidden, which had not been heard of and known, at least not so fully and clearly as he was about to reveal it; and because of his great respect for them, he was unwilling, as he says,

that ye should be ignorant of this mystery; he was desirous that they should abound and improve in all spiritual knowledge and judgment, and, among the rest, be better informed of this particular article, the call of the Jews: and his view in apprizing them of it is expressed in the following clause,

lest ye should be wise in your own conceits: lest they should imagine that they were the only wise and knowing persons, and be elated in their minds with their knowledge and understanding, and look with contempt upon the poor, blind, ignorant Jews, as if they were always to remain in such a state of darkness and infidelity. The thing he had to inform them of is,

that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in; by Israel is meant the Jews, the descendants of Jacob, whose name was Israel. Philo the Jew observes (b), that this name signifies , "the vision of God"; indeed, Jacob had it given him when he wrestled with the angel, and saw God face to face, though it does not seem to be for that reason; however, blindness had now befallen the Jews, who had been favoured with a divine revelation, with the knowledge of God, his will and worship; and none were more blind than those who were called the servants and messengers of the Lord of hosts, as the Scribes and Pharisees, the priests and princes of the Jewish world. This "blindness" designs their unbelief, the hardness of their hearts, and darkness of their understandings with respect to God himself, whom they knew not in Christ; not as the Father of Christ; nor even the perfections of his nature, particularly his righteousness; which was the reason of their setting up their own righteousness, and of their non-submission to the righteousness of Christ: they were blind as to the Messiah; they knew him not, when he came; they saw no beauty and comeliness in him; could not discern the characters of him in Jesus, though they were so manifest; and rejected him notwithstanding the clear evidence of his ministry and miracles. They were in the dark about the sense of the prophecies of the Old Testament; a vail was upon their hearts when they read them, so that they understood them not, and could not see their accomplishment in Christ; they were even ignorant of the law, the spiritual nature, true use, and right end and scope of it; and it is no wonder that the Gospel should be hidden from them. This blindness "happened" to them not by chance, but befell them by the decree, and according to the will of God, who hardens whom he pleases; and according to various predictions in the Old Testament, cited in Mat 13:14; and in righteous judgment, for since they liked not to retain God and his Christ in their knowledge, it was but just in God to give them up to reprobate minds, to judicial blindness, and hardness of heart: but then this blindness only happened to them "in part"; not that it was only in some measure or some degree, for it was total, they were darkness itself, and had no spiritual and evangelic light at all on whom it fell; but that this blindness was not general with respect to persons, there were some few, a seed, a remnant, that were delivered from it, though the far greater part of the nation were involved in it, and continue in it to this day; and will do, "until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in": that is, till the whole number of God's elect among them, be called and brought into the Gospel church state, which in the latter day will be very great; when the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea; when the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our Lord and his Christ; and the abundance of the sea shall be converted, and the forces of the Gentiles shall come to the church, and multitudes of them shall flock thither, as doves to their windows: and since the blindness of the Jews is not yet removed, it seems plain that the full number of God's chosen ones among the Gentiles is not yet completed in regeneration; for as soon as ever they are all called and brought in, the vail will be taken away from the Jews, and they will be turned unto the Lord.

(b) De Temulentia, p. 251. & De Sacrificiis Abel & Cain, p. 151.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

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 part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.

Ver. 25. That blindness in part] It is neither total nor perpetual. Lyra was a famous English Jew. Tremellius was also a Jew born; they are but methe mispar, a very few that are yet converted. They pretend (but maliciously) that those few that turn Christians in Italy are none other than poor Christians hired from other cities to impersonate their part. But when God shall have united those two sticks, Eze 37:19, and made way for those kings of the East, Rev 16:12, then it shall be said of Jacob and Israel, "What hath God wrought?" Num 23:23. Jachiades (a Jewish doctor) upon those words, Dan 12:4, would have us believe that God sealed up the time of the coming of the Messiah; that for their sins, which are many, it is deferred, &c., but concludeth his animadversions there with this truth, Verum enimvero Deus nos dignabitur clarissima visione; cum Deus reducet Zionem, tunc intelligemus res ipsas, prout sunt, i.e. God shall vouchsafe us a most clear vision at that time when he shall bring back the captivity of Zion, and then we shall understand things even as they are.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Ignorant of this mystery - The word “mystery” means properly what is “concealed, hidden, or unknown.” And it especially refers, in the New Testament, to the truths or doctrines which God had reserved to himself, or had not before communicated. It does not mean, as with us often, that there was anything unintelligible or inscrutible in the nature of the doctrine itself, for it was commonly perfectly plain when it was made known. Thus, the doctrine, that the division between the Jews and the Gentiles was to be broken down, is called a mystery, because it had been, to the times of the apostles, concealed, and was then revealed fully for the first time; Rom 16:25; Col 1:26-27; compare 1Co 15:51; Mar 4:11; Eph 1:9; Eph 3:3. Thus, the doctrine which the apostle was stating was one that until then had been concealed, or had not been made known. It does not mean that there was anything unintelligible or incomprehensive in it, but until then it had not been made known.

Lest ye should be wise in your own conceits - Paul communicated the truth in regard to this, lest they should attempt to inquire into it; should speculate about the reason why God had rejected the Jews; and should he elated with the belief that they had, by their own skill and genius, ascertained the cause. Rather than leave them to vain speculations and self-gratulation, he chose to cut short all inquiry, by stating the truth about; their present and future state.

Blindness - Or hardness; see Rom 11:7.

In part - Not totally, or entirely. They are not absolutely or completely blinded. This is a qualifying expression; but it does not denote what part or portion, or for what time it is to continue. It means that the blindness in respect to the whole nation was only partial. Some were then enlightened, and had become Christians; and many more would he.

To Israel - To the Jews.

Until the fulness of the Gentiles ... - The word “fulness” in relation to the Jews is used in Rom 11:12. It means until the abundance or the great multitude of the Gentiles shall be converted. The word is not used elsewhere in respect to the Gentiles; and it is difficult to fix its meaning definitely. It doubtless refers to the future spread of the Gospel among the nations; to the time when it may be said that the great mass, the abundance of the nations, shall be converted to God. At present, they are, as they were in the times of the apostle, idolators, so that the mass of mankind are far from God. But the Scriptures have spoken of a time when the gospel shall spread and prevail among the nations of the earth; and to this the apostle refers. He does not say, however, that the Jews may not be converted until all the Gentiles become Christians; for he expressly supposes Rom 11:12-15 that the conversion of the Jews will have an important influence in extending the gospel among the Gentiles. Probably the meaning is, that this blindness is to continue until great numbers of the Gentiles shall be converted; until the gospel shall be extensively spread; and then the conversion of the Jews will be a part of the rapid spread of the gospel, and will be among the most efficient and important aids in completing the work. If this is the case, then Christians may labor still for their conversion. They may seek that in connection with the effort to convert the pagan; and they may toil with the expectation that the conversion of the Jews and Gentiles will not be separate, independent, and distinct events; but will be inter-mingled, and will be perhaps simultaneous. The word “fulness” may denote such a general turning to God, without affirming that each individual shall be thus converted to the Christian faith.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

I would not have you ignorant, brethren, of this mystery, this hidden truth of God’s justice and mercy, that blindness in part hath happened in Israel, or to part of them, until the fulness of the Gentiles should come in, by the conversion of all nations: and then all Israel should be saved, when they shall submit to the faith of Christ: as it is written by the prophet Isaias, (lix. 20.) there shall come out of Sion he that shall deliver; that is, their Redeemer, Christ Jesus, who is indeed come already, but who shall then come to them by his powerful grace. This is my covenant with them. (Witham)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Here he shows there is not only a possibility and probability, but a certainty of the Jews’ conversion and calling. This he calleth a

mystery, or a secret; though it was revealed in the Scripture, (as you will hear), yet it was not understood; nay, the manner, the number, and the time of their conversion, is still concealed and hid from us. The calling of the Gentiles was a mystery, and a great secret; see Eph 3:3; and so is the calling and restoration of the Jews. There are three particulars of this mystery, which he makes known to the Gentiles (and he doth it the rather, lest they should swell with a high conceit of themselves, and proudly despise the Jews): two of them are in this verse; and the first is,

that blindness is happened to Israel in part only; i.e. they were not all blinded or hardened; or this blindness should not last always, but for a time. The latter sense agrees best with the word mystery; for it was no secret that some of the Jews believed; this was told them before, Rom 11:2,5,7. Secondly, another part of this mystery was, that this blindness of the Jews should continue till

the fulness of the Gentiles came in. By fulness here, (as in Rom 11:12), understand a great number or multitude of the Gentiles; greater, by far, than was in the apostles’ days. There is another exposition of this clause, which I submit to consideration: by the Gentiles, here, you may understand the Romans, or the Roman monarchy and power; {see Act 4:27; 21:11} and by the coming in of their fulness may be understood, the full time of their reign and continuance; after which their ruin follows. And so here is foretold the time of the calling of the Jews, which will be soon after the destruction of antichrist and the Roman monarchy.

Query: Whether this doth not agree with the prediction of our Saviour? Luk 21:24.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Vers. 25-27. For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that hardness (pwrwsiv ; see ver. 8) in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles he come in. And so all Israel shall be saved. Pav Israh here must mean the whole nation; not, as Calvin explains, "complebitur salus totius Israel Dei (i.e. of the spiritual Israel, as in Gal_6:16) quam ex utrisque i.e. with Jews and Gentiles colligi oportet;" for "Israel" must surely be understood in the same sense as in the preceding verse, where it denotes the Jewish nation as opposed to the Gentiles. Swyhsetai , as seems required by the whole context, means coming into the Church. (cf. Act_2:47, O de kuriov prosetiyei tounouv kay hmeran th ekklhsia) As it is written, There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: and this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. Referring, as throughout the Epistle, to the Old Testament for confirmation, St. Paul here, as in former instances, combines passages, and quotes freely, perhaps from memory. The main citation is from Isa_59:20, Isa_59:21, with an addition from Isa_17:9, the LXX being followed. The citations are relevant, being specimens of many others that might have been adduced, predicting the final pardon and restitution of the house of Israel itself, not withstanding judgments, through the Redeemer who was to come.

What follows, to ver. 33, is in the way of summary and further comment.

Vers. 25-32. The Divine philosophy of history.

The apostle has cautioned them not to be high-minded because of any seeming preference shown to them; he now guards against their gross speculations as to the nature of Israel"s rejection by setting forth emphatically its true character and intent. And in so doing he takes also a bird"s-eye view of the religious history and destinies of the world, especially as regards the mutual relations of Jews and Gentiles. We have here the religious dualism and universalism of the natural history of mankind.

I THE DUALISM. As Godet very strikingly says, "The entire course of the religious history of the world is determined by the antagomism created among mankind by the calling of Abraham, between a people specially destined by God to receive his revelations, and the other nations given over to themselves. From that moment (Genesis 12) there begin to be described those two immense curves which traverse the ages of antiquity in opposite directions, and which, crossing one another at the advent of Christianity, are prolonged from that period in inverse directions, and shall terminate by uniting and losing themselves in one another at the goal of history.

1. The early period of the history of the world, after the call of Abraham, consisted of the contrast between believing Israel and the unbelieving nations. The Gentiles, as the beginning of the Epistle reminded us, were given over to their ignorance and sin. Why? Because they "were disobedient to God." Theirs was a negative discipline to fit them for the reception of the truth. They were "shut up unto disobedience," that they might be prepared to receive unmerited mercy at the hands of God. And the discipline did its work. For them there came a "fulness of the times." They became sick of their own endeavours after wisdom and righteousness, and when Christ was preached unto them they received him.

2. How had it been with the Jews? They were chosen by God to receive his truth, and the preparations for his salvation, in trust for the world. Theirs was a positive discipline. But the same sinful nature was in them as in the Gentiles, and it operated against the truth. They became hardened. Their very privileges became a snare to them. And at last, the "fulness of the times" having arrived for them also, when their own Christ came unto them, they received him not!

3. The later period of the world"s history, after Christ, consisted of a contrast, which itself was in contrast with the former one. The Jews were given over, are given over still, to their hardness of unbelief. They are the stoutest opponents of the gospel. They are "enemies." God was compelled to cast them off, that the gospel which they refused might be set free for the acceptance of the world. And the Gentiles are reaping the benefits of their rejection still. Not as dogs, eating the crumbs from the children"s table, but themselves admitted to the forsaken festal board.

II THE UNIVERSALISM. The dualism shall not always last; God is preparing the way for the religious fusion of all the peoples of the world; they shall become one in Christ.

1. The gospel which the Jews despised, and the salvation of their own Saviour, is leavening the Gentile world; the nations, one by one, are passing out of heathendom into Christendom. Apart from the question of the conversion to true spiritual religion of individuals, the world is being won for Christ.

2. But what of Israel? "The fulness of the Gentiles" shall "come in; and so all Israel shall be saved." Oh, the strange irony of history! By the agency of the Israelites the world should have been won; now by the example and agency of Gentiles the Israelites shall be won. Yes; the hardening was but "in part," some being believers from the first; but likewise only temporary For they are still the people fitted by their gifts for God"s great work, and therefore his call is not revoked. And the very working of their disobedience, as in the case of the heathen nations once, is but to fit them to receive his grace. And according to their own prophecies the Deliverer shall come, and "from Jacob" ungodliness shall be turned away. So then God will "have mercy upon all.

Let us learn his ways of judgment. He will give us up to our sins, if we persist in cherishing them, till we repent. But let us learn also his marvellous love: repenting, he will receive us freely! T.F.L.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

St. Paul calls any truth known but to a few, a mystery. Such had been the calling of the gentiles: such was now the conversion of the Jews. Lest ye should be wise in your own conceits - Puffed up with your present advantages; dreaming that ye are the only church; or that the church of Rome cannot fail. Hardness in part is happened to Israel, till - Israel therefore is neither totally nor finally rejected. The fulness of the gentiles be come in - Till there be a vast harvest amongst the heathens.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

fullness

The "fullness of the Gentiles" is the completion of the purpose of God in this age, viz. the outcalling from among the Gentiles of a people for Christ’s name, "the church which is His body" Eph 1:22; Eph 1:23 Cf; Act 15:14; Eph 4:11-13; 1Co 12:12; 1Co 12:13. It must be distinguished from "the times of the Gentiles" Luk 21:24.

mystery See note,

(See Scofield "Mat 13:11").

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The fullness of the Gentiles and all Israel:

v. 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 part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in.

v. 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;

v. 27. for this is my covenant unto them when I shall take away their sins.

There is here no basis for the millennial dream of the final conversion of all Jews, but the apostle speaks of Israel in the same sense that he has employed almost exclusively in the entire letter. Paul had stated that the total hardening would not take place in the case of all the members of the Jewish race, but that there is a possibility of the conversion of some of them throughout the entire New Testament era. But in connection herewith the apostle intends to impart to his brethren, the members of the congregation at Rome, which was composed largely of Gentile Christians, a secret: I do not want you to remain in ignorance of this mystery, this secret, in order that you be not wise within yourselves. The secret of which Paul speaks is this: That obduration, blindness, in part has happened to Israel, until the full number of the heathen be come in, and thus all Israel will be saved. In order that the Roman Christians might not form their own opinion in regard to the matter, might not follow the drift of their own thoughts, he feels that it is best to tell them this at once. The blinding or hardening that he had been speaking of did not affect every member of the nation, but affected them only in part, namely, in so far as some of them had been finally rejected; but of the rest it was true that some of them were continually and gradually being converted and saved. While the fullness of the heathen is being gathered for Christ, while the number of those out of the Gentiles that will finally make up the body of those that are destined for salvation is being called through the Gospel, souls will also be gained from the midst of the Jews. Until the day of the revelation of Jesus Christ in His glory, therefore, there will always be some from the midst of the self-hardened Israelites that will come to the knowledge of the Savior. And thus the final result will be that all Israel will be saved, all those that are in deed and truth the children of Abraham, not according to the flesh only, but according to the spirit. These are the ones, from every nation under the sun, whom the Lord has chosen as His own and whom His saving call will reach sooner or later.

That this is the correct understanding of the text appears also from the Messianic prophecy which the apostle now quotes: There will come out of Zion the Deliverer; He will turn away godlessness from Jacob. And this is My covenant toward them, what I have firmly decided within Myself with regard to them when I shall take away their sins. This is a combination of various prophetical sayings, Isa 59:20-21; Isa 10:11-12; Isa 27:9; Jer 31:31-34. In the principal prophecy to which the apostle has reference those members of the Jewish race that persist in their rejection of the mercy of God are placed in contrast with those that will be converted to the Messiah. When Jesus, the Messiah, came to Israel, He brought deliverance, He turned away godlessness from Jacob. And His covenant consisted in the forgiveness of their sins; therein was His covenant realized. The benefit of the Messiah’s work was therefore not confined to the children of Israel according to the flesh, but included all those that accepted the Redeemer as their Deliverer and entered into that wonderful covenant with Him whereby their sins were forgiven.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Here the apostle fully proves, that the rejection of the Jews was neither total nor final; not total, because blindness in part only, happened unto Israel; that is, part of the Jews only are left in unbelief, and under the power of spiritual blindness. Nor is their rejection final, but for a time only; namely, till the fulness of the Gentiles be come in: that is, till the Gentile churches be advanced to an honourable state and fulness. And then all the Israel of God, the faithful seed of Abraham, and the main body of the Jews, shall make up the catholic church, and be saved from their unbelief; according to that gracious promise, The Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob: and this is my covenant with them, My Spirit shall not depart from thy seed, nor thy seed’s seed, from henceforth and forever. Isa 59:20-21.

Learn hence, That there shall be a general calling of the Jews to the faith of the gospel before Christ’s second coming, is not only possible and probable, but infallible, sure, and certain, and that from the prophecies and predictions of the prophets of God; let us therefore believe it firmly, pray for it fervently, and live in the expectation of it continually.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

ALL ISRAEL TO BE SAVED

25. “For I do not wish you to be ignorant as to this mystery, in order that you may not be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part has happened unto Israel till the fullness of the Gentiles may come in.” The present awakening of the Jews is an argument that the end of the Gentile times is nigh. Thousands of Jews, especially in Russia, where they are more numerous than in any other country, are now being converted to Christ. Eleven colonization societies are working to bring the Jews back to Palestine. When I was there three years ago, one hundred and twenty thousand had already arrived, more than twice the whole number who returned under Nehemiah. The Jews in all lands are turning their eyes back to the prophetic hills of their holy patrimony. When I visited the wailing place of the Jews in Jerusalem and heard them crying to the God of their fathers to restore their inheritance, bring back the wandering children of Abraham and rebuild their temple, I felt that God heard that mournful cry and would answer those wailing martyrs. The Lunar Chronology runs out the Gentile times seven years ago, the Calendar thirty-five years hence, and the Solar seventy years hence. Daniel 12 gives the Tribulation forty-five years, which is to intervene between the rapture of the saints and the ushering in of the Millennium. According to all these chronologies we are rapidly approaching the end of the Gentile times and the coming of the Lord.

William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

["The future conversion of Israel," says Gifford, "having been proved to be both possible and probable, is now shown to be the subject of direct revelation."] For I would not, brethren, have you ignorant [This form of expression is used by the apostle to indicate a most important communication to which he wishes his readers to give special attention, as something strange and contrary to their expectation ( Rom_1:3 ; 1Co_10:1 ; 1Co_12:1 ; 2Co_1:8 ; 1Th_4:13 )--in this case, a revelation from God] of this mystery [The word musterion is used twenty-seven times in the New Testament. As digested and classified by Tholuck, it has three meanings; thus: 1. Such matters of fact as are inaccessible to human reason, and can only be known through revelation ( Rom_16:25 ; 1Co_2:7-10 ; Eph_1:9 ; Eph_3:4 ; Eph_6:19 ; Col_1:26 ; etc.). 2. Such matters as are patent facts, but the process of which can not be entirely taken in by the reason ( 1Co_14:2 ; 1Co_13:2 ; Eph_5:32 ; 1Ti_3:9 ; 1 Tim 16). 3. That which is no mystery in itself, but by its figurative import ( Mat_13:11 ; Rev_1:20 ; Rev_17:5 ; 2Th_2:7 ). The first is the meaning here. Paul is about to communicate a revelation which was given of God, and could never have been divined by any process of the human intellect. As the conversion of the Gentiles was so unthinkable that it had to be made known to the Jew by revelation ( Eph_3:1-6 ; Act_10:11 ), so here the conversion of the Jew was so unbelievable that it also had to be made known to the Gentile by revelation], lest ye be wise in your own conceits [This revelation of the conversion and ultimate elevation of Israel to his former position of leadership comes to Paul, and is imparted by him to the Gentiles, to prevent them from following their own vain and mistaken opinions as to the relative theocratic positions of Jews and Gentiles, by which they would flatteringly deceive themselves into thinking too well of themselves as occupying permanently Israel's ancient post of honor, and too ill of Israel as thrust out and cast off forever. The reversal of the Jews and Gentiles in fortune and honor was but a temporary affair. It is significant that this publication of a revelation, and accompanying rebuke of the opposing self-conceit of human opinion and judgment, should be addressed to the Church of Rome! The more one ponders it, the more portentous it becomes], that a hardening in part hath befallen Israel [Here is the first term of the threefold revelation. Calvin and others connect "in part" with "hardening," so that the meaning is that a partial hardening has befallen Israel. But hardening, as mentioned at Rom_9:18 or Rom_11:7 ; is not qualified as partial. "In part" is properly connected with "Israel." A portion of Israel is hardened. This agrees with the entire context, which tells of a remnant saved ( Rom_11:5 ), and the rest or larger portion fallen ( Rom_11:12 ), cast away ( Rom_11:15 ), and hardened. So "in part" stands for "the rest" of Rom_11:7 , and in contrast to the "some" of Rom_11:17 . The bulk of the Jewish nation, persistently and rebelliously refusing to believe in Christ, had, as their punishment, a dulling of their perceptions and a deadening of their sensibilities sent upon them. We can understand this punishment better if we compare it with its counterpart which befell the Gentiles. As they dishonored the form or body of God by presuming to make degrading, beast-shaped images of it, so God gave them up to degrade their own bodies ( Rom_1:23-24 ). As they preferred lies to truth in things pertaining to God, he gave them up to prefer lying, deceptive, unnatural uses of themselves, to the true and natural uses ( Rom_1:25-27 ). As they refused to have a right mind about God, he gave them up to a reprobate mind ( Rom_1:28-32 ). So here, in his parallel treatment of the Jew, he found them steeling their hearts against his love ( Joh_3:16 ) and against the drawing power of the cross ( Joh_8:28 ; Joh_12:32 ), and he gave them up to the hardness which they chose and desired. Now follows the second term of the revelation which makes known how long this hardness should endure; viz.], until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in [The hardness of the Jews shall cease, and the veil which blinds their eyes shall fall ( 1Co_3:14-15 ), when the number of saved which God has allotted to be gathered during the Gentile dispensation (or "times of the Gentiles"-- Luk_21:24 ) has been made complete, and has "come in," to the theocratic olive-tree. In other words, as the Gentiles were "given up" ( Rom_1:23 ; Rom_1:25 ; Rom_1:28 ) during the entire period of the Jewish dispensation, so the Jews are to be "hardened" during the entire period of the Gentile dispensation. The millennium, or final dispensation, which is to follow this present Gentile dispensation, will be given into the hands of Jew and Gentile jointly, and will be as life from the dead to both parties, because of the glorious season of revival which shall characterize it almost to its end. "Fulness of the Gentiles" is, therefore, "not the general conversion of the world to Christ, as many take it," says Brown; "for this would seem to contradict the latter part of this chapter, and throw the national recovery of Israel too far into the future: besides, in verse 15, the apostle seems to speak of the receiving of Israel, not as following, but as contributing largely to bring about, the general conversion of the world--but, until the Gentiles have had their full time [as possessors] of the visible church all to themselves while the Jews are out, which the Jews had till the Gentiles were brought in. See Luk_21:24 ." And this brings us to the conditions, or developments, which succeed the hardening, or the third term of the mystery or revelation which Paul is here making known; viz.];

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

25–27. I would not … have you ignorant of this mystery. Any secret thing, known to but a few, is called “a mystery.” The mystery that Paul is about to unfold is concerning the conversion of Israel. He unfolds it lest the Gentile Christians may have incorrect views, or be wise in their own conceits. The first thing noted in explaining this mystery, is that hardening hath happened to Israel. This blindness, or hardening, had been due to Israel's sins, especially to unbelief. The second fact is that it would continue until the fulness of the Gentiles had come in, or the greater part of the Gentile world been converted.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

I do not want you to be uninformed

Here Paul uses a double negative. You can translate this in a positive form. AT: "I very much want you to be aware" (See: Double Negatives)

brothers

Here "brothers" means fellow Christians, including both men and women.

I

The pronoun "I" refers to Paul.

you ... you ... your

The pronouns "you" and "your" refer to the Gentile believers.

in order that you will not be wise in your own thinking

Paul does not want the Gentile believers to think they are wiser than the Jewish unbelievers. AT: "so that you will not think you are wiser than you are" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

a partial hardening has occurred in Israel

Paul speaks of "hardening" or stubbornness as if it were a hardening of physical organs in the body. Some Jews have refused to accept salvation through Jesus. AT: "many people of Israel continue to be stubborn" (See: Metaphor)

until the completion of the Gentiles come in

The word "until" here implies that some Jews will believe after God has finished bringing the Gentiles into the church.

translationWords

brother

mystery

wise

Israel

Gentile

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

25–32. The argument is summed up in a picture of the wide and patient purpose of GOD: the end is to bring both Jew and Gentile under His mercy: in the process both have sinned (cc. Rom 1:18-23) and experienced His wrath, owing to the same cause in them. But the waywardness of man has no counterpart in GOD: His gifts and calling are not withdrawn or changed, and will triumph in the end.

25. οὐ θέλω ὑ. ἀγνοεῖν. Cf. Rom 1:13; 1Co 10:1; 1Co 12:1 alibi, always with ἀδελφοί; a solemn emphasis of a fundamental truth.

τὸ μυστήριον τοῦτο. This secret of GOD’s providential government; cf. Rom 16:25; 1Co 15:51. The word in S. Paul always has the sense of a secret of GOD’s purpose now revealed. In its fullest sense, it is the purpose of redemption in Christ, especially as including all mankind: so of the Incarnation (1Ti 3:16), of the crucifixion (1Co 2:1; 1Co 2:7), of the consummation (Eph 1:9), of the inclusion of the Gentiles (Eph 3:3-4; Col 1:26-27, infra Rom 16:25); here of the final reunion of Jew and Gentile in one Church (cf. Eph 2:11 f.). S. H.

ἐν ἑαυτοῖς φρόνιμοι. φρ. has special reference to plans devised for effecting their salvation: they must take GOD’s plan, not find one in their own imaginings; cf. Rom 12:16 1Co 4:10. There is nothing quite parallel in the use of the verb; but cf. σοφός 1Co 1:19 f., and σοφίας Rom 11:33.

ὅτι πώρωσις κ.τ.λ. The briefest possible summary of the whole argument.

ἄχρι οὗ κ.τ.λ. Cf. Luk 21:24.

τὸ πλήρωμα. Cf. on Rom 11:12.

εἰσέλθῃ. Of entering into the kingdom; cf. Mat 7:21; Mat 7:13; Luk 13:24, S. H.; so also σωθήσεται.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

25-32.] Prophetic announcement that this re-engrafting shall actually take place (25-27), and explanatory justification of this divine arrangement (28-32).

25.] For (I do not rest this on mere hope or probability, but have direct revelation of the Holy Spirit as to its certainty) I would not have you ignorant, brethren (see reff.,—used by the Apostle to announce, either as here some authoritative declaration of divine truth, or some facts in his own history not previously known to his readers), of this mystery (μυστ. Tholuck in his 4th edition classifies the meanings thus: (1) such matters of fact, as are inaccessible to reason, and can only be known through revelation: (2) such matters as are patent facts, but the process of which cannot be entirely taken in by the reason. He adds a third sense,—that, which is no mystery in itself, but by its figurative import. Of the first, he cites chap. 16:25; 1Co 2:7-10; Eph 1:9; Eph 3:4; Eph 6:19; Col 1:26, al., as examples: of the second, 1Co 14:2; 1Co 13:2; Eph 5:32; 1Ti 3:9, 1Ti 3:16: of the third, Mat 13:11; Rev 1:20; Rev 17:5; 2Th 2:7.

The first meaning is evidently that in our text:—‘a prophetic event, unattainable by human knowledge, but revealed from the secrets of God’) that ye be not wise in your own conceits (that ye do not take to yourselves the credit for wisdom superior to that of the Jews, in having acknowledged and accepted Jesus as the Son of God,—seeing that ye merely ἠλεήθητε τῇ τούτων ἀπειθείᾳ, ver. 30),—that hardening (not ‘blindness:’ see above on ver. 7, and Eph 4:18 note) has happened in part (Calvin explains it ‘quodammodo.… qua particula voluisse mihi duntaxat videtur temperare verbum alioqui per se asperum,’—but there is no trace of such a desire above, ver. 7;—the τινες ver. 17 establishes the ordinary acceptation, that a portion of Israel have been hardened. ἀπὸ μ. may be joined with πώρωσις, or with γέγονεν: from the arrangement of the words, best with the former) to Israel, until (ἄχρις οὗ has been variously rendered by those who wish to escape from the prophetic assertion of the restoration of Israel. So Calv.: “donec non infert temporis progressum vel ordinem, sed potius valet perinde ac si dictum foret, ut plenitudo gentium;”—al., “while … shall come in:’ but Thol. well observes that ἄχρ. οὗ with an ind., if any thing actually happening is spoken of, may have the meaning of ‘while,’ even with an aor.: but with a subj. of the aorist, a possible future event is indicated, which when it enters puts an end to the former: see reff.) the completion of the Gentiles shall have come in (scil. to the Church or Kingdom of God, where we, the Apostle and those whom he addresses, are already: as we use the word ‘come in’ absolutely, with reference to the place in which we are. Or the word may be used absolutely, as it seems to be in Luk 11:52, of entering into the Kingdom of God.

In order to understand τὸ πλήρ. τ. ἐθν., we must bear in mind the character of the Apostle’s present argument. He is dealing with nations: with the Gentile nations, and the Jewish nation. And thus dealing, he speaks of τὸ πλήρ. τ. ἐθν. coming in, and of πᾶς Ἰσραήλ being saved: having no regard for the time to the individual destinies of Gentiles or Jews, but regarding nations as each included under the common bond of consanguinity according to the flesh. The πλήρωμα τῶν ἐθνῶν I would regard then as signifying ‘the full number,’ ‘the totality,’ of the nations, i.e. every nation under heaven, the prophetic subjects (Mat 24:14) of the preaching of the gospel. Stuart denies that πλήρωμα will admit of this meaning. But the sense which he allows to it of “completion, i. q. πλήρωσις” (?), amounts in this case to the same thing: that completion not arriving till all have come in: the πλήρωμα τῶν ἐθνῶν importing that which πληροῖ τὰ ἔθνη. The idea of an elect number, however true in itself (‘plenitudo gentium in his intrat, qui secundum propositum vocati,’ Aug. cited by Tholuck), does not seem to belong to this passage).

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

25-36. St. Paul’s argument is now drawing to a close. He has treated all the points that are necessary. He has proved that the rejection of Israel is not contrary to Divine justice or Divine promises. He has convicted Israel of its own responsibility. He has shown how historically the rejection of Israel had been the cause of preaching the Gospel to the heathen, and this has led to far-reaching speculation on the future of Israel and its ultimate restoration; a future which may be hoped for in view of the spiritual character of the Jewish race and the mercy and power of God. And now he seems to see all the mystery of the Divine purpose unfolded before him, and he breaks away from the restrained and formal method of argument he has hitherto imposed upon himself. Just as when treating of the Resurrection, his argument passes into revelation, ‘Behold, I tell you a mystery’ (1Co 15:51): so here he declares not merely as the result of his argument, but as an authoritative revelation, the mystery of the Divine purpose.

25. οὐ γὰρ θέλω ὑμᾶς ἀγνοεῖν: cf. 1:13; 1Co 10:1; 1Co 12:1; 2Co 1:8; 1Th 4:13: a phrase used by St. Paul to emphasize something of especial importance which he wishes to bring home to his readers. It always has the impressive addition of ‘brethren.’ The γάρ connects the verse immediately with what precedes, but also with the general argument. St. Paul’s argument is like a ladder; each step follows from what precedes; but from time to time there are, as it were, resting-places which mark a definite point gained towards the end he has in view.

τὸ μυστήριον τοῦτο. On the meaning of ‘mystery’ in St. Paul see Lightfoot, Colossians, i. 26; Hatch, Ess. in Bibl. Gk. p. 57 ff. Just at the time when Christianity was spreading, the mysteries as professing to reveal something more than was generally known, especially about the future state, represented the most popular form of religion, and from them St. Paul borrows much of his phraseology. so in Col 1:28, 1Co 2:6 we have τέλειον, in Php 4:12 μεμύημαι, in Eph 1:13 σφραγίζεσθαι; so in Ign. Ephes. 12 Παύλου σύμμυσται. But whereas among the heathen μυστήριον was always used of a mystery concealed, with St. Paul it is a mystery revealed. It is his mission to make known the Word of God, the mystery which has been kept silent from eternal ages, but has now been revealed to mankind (1Co 2:7; Eph 3:3, Eph 3:4; Rom 16:25). This mystery, which has been declared in Christianity, is the eternal purpose of God to redeem mankind in Christ, and all that is implied in that. Hence it is used of the Incarnation (1Ti 3:16), of the crucifixion of Christ (1Co 2:1,1Co 2:7), of the Divine purpose to sum up all things in Him (Eph 1:9), and especially of the inclusion of the Gentiles in the kingdom (Eph 3:3, Eph 3:4; Col 1:26, Col 1:27; Rom 16:25). Here it is used in a wide sense of the whole plan or scheme of redemption as revealed to St. Paul, by which Jews and Gentiles alike are to be included in the Divine Kingdom, and all things are working up, although in ways unseen and unknown, to that end.

ἵνα μὴ ἦτε παρʼ ἑαυτοῖς φρόνιμοι: ‘that you may not be wise in your own conceits,’ i. e. by imagining that it is in any way through your own merit that you have accepted what others have refused: it has been part of the eternal purpose of God.

ἐν ἑαυτοῖς ought probably to be read with A B, Jo.-Damasc. instead of παρʼ ἑαυτοῖς א C D L &c., Chrys. &c., as the latter would probably be introduced from 12:16. Both expressions occur in the LXX. Isa 5:21 οἱ συνετοὶ ἐν ἑαυτοῖς, Pro 3:7 μὴ ἴσθι φρόνιμος παρὰ σεαυτῷ.

πώρωσις κ.τ.λ.: ‘a hardening in part’ (cf. ἐκ μέρους 1Co 12:27). St. Paul asserts once more what he has constantly insisted on throughout this chapter, that this fall of the Jews is only partial (cf. vv. 5, 7, 17), but here he definitely adds a point to which he has been working up in the previous section, that it is only temporary and that the limitation in time is ‘until all nations of the earth come into the kingdom’; cf. Luk 21:24 ‘and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.’

τὸ πλήρωμα τῶν ἐθνῶν: the full completed number, the complement of the Gentiles, i. e. the Gentile world as a whole, just as in ver. 12 τὸ πλήρωμα is the Jewish nation as a whole.

There was a Jewish basis to these speculations on the completed number. Apoc. Baruch 23:4 quia quando peccavit Adam et decreta fuit mors contra eos qui gignerentur, tunc numerata est multitudo eorum qui gignerentur, et numero illi praeparatus est locus ubi habitarent viventes et ubi custodirentur mortui, nisi ergo compleatur numerus praedictus non vivet creatura … 4 (5) Ezr 2:40, Ezr 2:41 (where Jewish ideas underlie a Christian work) recipe, Sion, numerum tuum et conclude candidatos tuos, qui legem Domini compleverunt: filiorum tuorum, quos optabas, plenus est numerus: roga imperium Domini ut sanctificetur populus tuus qui vocatus est ab initio.

εἰσέλθῃ was used almost technically of entering into the Kingdom or the Divine glory or life (cf. Mat 7:21; Mat 18:8; Mar 9:43-47.), and so came to be used absolutely in the same sense (Mat 7:13; Mat 23:13; Luk 13:24).

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mystery [μυστηριον] . In the Septuagint only in Daniel. See ch. Rom 2:18, 19, 27, 28, 30, of the king's secret. It occurs frequently in the apocryphal books, mostly of secrets of state, or plans kept by a king in his own mind. This meaning illustrates the use of the word in passages like Mt 13:11, "mysteries of the kingdom of heaven" - secret purposes or counsels which God intends to carry into effect in His kingdom. So here; Rom 16:25; Eph 1:9; Eph 3:9; Col 1:26, 27; Col 2:2; Col 4:3; Rev 10:7. In Justin Martyr (second century) it is commonly used in connection with sumbolon symbol, tupov type, parabolh parable, and so is evidently closely related in meaning to these words. Compare Rev 1:20; Rev 17:7, This meaning may possibly throw light on Eph 5:32. In early ecclesiastical Latin musthrion was rendered by sacramentum, which in classical Latin means the military oath. The explanation of the word sacrament, which is so often founded on this etymology, is therefore mistaken, since the meaning of sacrament belongs to musthrion and not to sacramentum in the classical sense.

In Eph 3:3 - 6, Paul uses the word as here, of the admission of the Gentiles.

Wise [φρονιμοι] . See on the kindred noun fronhsiv wisdom, Luk 1:17. Mostly in the New Testament of practical wisdom, prudence; thus distinguished from sofia which is mental excellence in its highest and fullest sense; and from sunesiv intelligence, which is combinative wisdom; wisdom in its critical applications. See Col 1:9, and compare Eph 1:8.

Blindness [πωρωσις] . See on ver. 7. Rev., hardening.

In part [απο μερους] . Merov part is never used adverbially in the Gospels, Acts, and Revelation. In the Epistles it is rarely used in any other way. The only exceptions are 2Co 3:10; 2Co 9:3; Eph 4:9, 16. Paul employs it in several combinations. With ajpo from (1Co 1:14; 1Co 2:5), and ejk out of (1Co 12:27; 1Co 13:9, 10, 12), in which a thing is conceived as looked at from the part, either [απο] as a simple point of view, or [εκ] as a standard according to which the whole is estimated. Thus 1Co 12:27, " members ejk merouv severally, i e., members from a part of the whole point of view. Also with ejn in, as Col 2:16, with respect to, literally, in the matter of. With ajna up, the idea being of a series or column of parts reckoned upward, part by part. Merov ti with regard to some part, partly, occurs 1Co 11:18; and kata merov, reckoning part by part downward; according to part, particularly, Heb 9:5.

Construe here with hath happened : has partially befallen. Not partial hardening, but hardening extending over a part.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.