Romans 14:11

Rom_14:11-12

As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God.

The final subjection of mankind to God will be

I. Universal.

II. Complete. It includes--

1. An acknowledgment of His supremacy.

2. Submission at His feet.

3. The confession of every tongue.

II. Certain. God--

1. Has sworn.

2. Is true.

3. Is able to effect it. (J. Lyth, D.D.)

Two-fold subjugation of humanity to God

(text and Exo_10:17; Act_9:6). This passage is taken from Isa_45:23, and predicts the universal subjugation of mankind to the Divine will. This does not mean universal salvation, for there is a twofold subjugation--the one represented by Pharaoh and the other by Paul.

I. The one is by conviction of Gods terrible power; the other, by conviction of His love. An overwhelming sense of Gods great power compelled Pharaoh to bow his knee before the Almighty. He felt that further rebellion would be his ruin; and for a moment he yielded. Pauls subjugation sprung from a conviction of Gods love in Christ. The voice said to him, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. This brought him down, smote his rebellious will, reduced him to subjection. So it is ever; wicked men and devils are made to bow by a sense of Gods force and Gods power. Good men and angels bow from a sense of His love.

II. The one subjugation involves moral anguish, the other moral enjoyment. What a state of agony and alarm was Pharaoh in! But what joy came into Paul at the heavenly voice of Mercy! The one subjugation therefore involves heaven, the other, hell.

1. In the one, there is the sense of slavery; in the other, a sense of freedom.

2. In the one, there is a sense of overwhelming terror; in the other, a sense of hopefulness.

3. In the one, there is the sense of Divine favour; in the other, the sense of Divine antagonism.

III. The one becomes a ministry of destruction to others; the other, a ministry of salvation. Pharaoh, the moment the panic abated, rushes on and brings destruction on himself and his hosts. Paul begins a beneficent ministry which issues in the salvation of thousands. Conclusion: In which way wilt thou be subjugated? It is not for thee to determine whether thou shalt bow thy knee or not: thy knee must bow, thy tongue must confess; but it is with thee to determine how thou wilt do it--by a sense of Gods power or of His love, by coercion or by choice. (D. Thomas, D.D.)

So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.--

The last account

I. By whom rendered.

1. By ourselves.

2. Respecting all that we have done, enjoyed, or suffered.

II. Before whom.

1. God.

2. The searcher of hearts.

3. Who sees in secret and rewards openly. (J. Lyth, D.D.)

Human accountability

The argument of this chapter goes to prove that Christians are not mutual judges, but fellow-servants of Christ. The truths wrapped up in these words are principles to guide us in our daily life, as well as predictions about the great day. These principles are--

I. The universality of human accountability. Every one of us. The old and young, rich and poor, ignorant and cultured, rejector of religion and professor, etc. I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God.

II. Its individuality. Of himself. Christianity, while in some aspects the true socialism, is also the great individualiser. It teaches the right use of the pronoun I It empties it of pride, but crowns it with responsibility. In the judgment, the books will be opened, and amongst them Memory and Conscience. These will be quite sufficient to condemn. Their revealings have made kings tremble on their thrones, and will make sinners quake before the judgment seat of Christ.

III. Its solemnity. It is to God. He with whom we have to do, is the All-wise, All-holy, All-good. And all sin is against Him, though it be also against His creatures. Conclusion: Our subject gives light--

1. On our tendency to pass judgment on others. We may not judge; but we all must be judged.

2. On the intervention of sacerdotal authority. All priestism is, by the principles of our text, cleared away, that the relationship of man to God may be intense, close, vivid.

3. The erection of social standards of right and wrong. We are to guide our life, not by maxims of markets, professions, Churches, but the law of Him to whom we must give account. (U. R. Thomas.)

Human accountability

I. The account to which the text refers (verse 10) is--

1. Certain. It must be given.

2. Individual. Every one of us.

3. Particular. Every one shall give an account of all the deeds done in the body.

4. Near. Though the reference is to the day of judgment, death will summon us to an immediate interview with our Judge.

II. The being to whom this account must be given. God.

1. Who is omniscient, and cannot therefore be deceived (Psa_139:1-4).

2. Who is just, and cannot therefore be biased in His decisions (Rom_2:6-11).

3. Who is omnipotent, and able therefore to carry into full effect the sentence which He pronounces.

III. The influence which the prospect should have upon you. It should induce you--

1. To apply immediately to Christ for His saving grace, and to devote yourselves unreservedly to His service.

2. Solemnly to think of your last account, until your souls are affected with such a strong and abiding sense of it, as shall give it an influence on your whole conduct. (Essex Congregational Remembrancer.)

Personal responsibility

These words assert with great precision individual responsibility. This dealing in judgment with each separate soul according to its special history makes the judgment incomparably more awful. For not only does it imply a closer act of scrutiny, but it also individualises the shame which will belong to the wicked in that day. This truth of individual accountability needs, however, to be vindicated from the misapprehensions which are apt to cloud it.

I. Let us regard the individual in relation to himself. Every one of us shall give account of himself. The exact meaning of the words is more specific: it is concerning himself, just as if a steward were called to give account of the particular properties entrusted to his management. God has laid to every mans charge the care of himself; not to each man the care of some other man; the dying flesh, but above all the never-dying soul. I do not mean that each mans care is to be a selfish one for himself alone, or that we are not called to labour for other mens souls as well as for our own. But this still springs from our solemn charge of ourselves. It must be our opportunities and powers, not the opportunities and powers of other men, of which we must make use. It is still the right use of ourselves, though it be for the good of others, for which we are responsible.

II. Let us look at the individual in relation to other men, and to our actions in common with other men. Man can never act alone, and least of all in this age of associated effort. We act together, and thus we gain an idea of common action in which we drown out of sight our individual responsibility. However devout a congregation may be, for instance, there will be cause lament over some careless faces some unbended knees, some silent tongues. Think you that, were each of them placed singly face to face with the awfulness of God, they would dare to act in His presence if they stood alone, as they act in His house amid the general crowd of worshippers? Or, to take another case, can we doubt that tile vastness of the number of unsaved souls in the world diminishes to each mans consciousness the awfulness of being an unsaved soul? In reality the number fearfully increases it, for Heaven might weep over such a spectacle as a world of lost souls.

III. Let us look at the individual in relation to God and to the duty that he owes Him. For here another common error at once starts to view. It is the notion of some men that the individual obligation of work and toil and self-sacrifice for God is lessened, because others share the obligation with ourselves. It is our duty to do our share, we say, but why should we take more than our fair proportion of the burden? Thus we are led, instead of doing each one his best in the service of our Master, to measure out just what we think to be our own share of the common work. Whether it be money, or labour, or talent, or time, we are asked to contribute, let us do it, each one for himself and to the utmost of his opportunity. If each man did his duty all men would do their duty.

IV. There yet remains another aspect of the matter, which belongs equally to all these three relations. It suggests the motive, graciously supplied in the rich harmony of the Divine dealings, which shall stimulate the effort that it sweetens. For the doctrine of individual accountability has its complement in the doctrine of individual recompense. If the obligation be personal, so will be the reward which will crown the discharge of it. (Canon Garbett.)

Human accountability

Bishop Butler was once walking with his chaplain, Dr. Forster, when he suddenly turned towards him, and, with much earnestness, said, I was thinking, Doctor, what an awful thing it is for a human being to stand before the moral Governor of the world, to give an account of all his actions in this life.

Scrutiny of the judgment day

The headlight of a locomotive is terrible, if you stand near enough to catch the full glare of it. As it sweeps around the Horse-shoe Curve of the Alleghanies, or along the edges of the Sierra Nevadas, how far ahead, and how deep down, and how high up it flashes, and there is instantaneous revelation of mountain peak and wild beasts hieing themselves to their caverns, and cascades a thousand feet tall clinging in white terror to the precipices! But more intense, more far-reaching, more sudden, swifter, and more tremendous is the headlight of an advancing Judgment Day, under which all the most hidden affairs of life shall come to discovery and arraignment. I quote an overwhelming passage of Scripture, in which I put the whole emphasis on the word secret: God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good or evil. (T. De Witt Talmage.)

God will require an account of items

Recollect, again, that your account will have to be particular. God will go into all the items of it. At the day of judgment you will not have to cast up a hurried account in the gross, but every item shall be read. Can you prove that? Yes. For every idle word that man shall speak, he shall be brought into account at the day of judgment. Now, it is in the items that men go astray. Well, says one, if I look at my life in the bulk, I am not very much ashamed, but it is those items, those little items--they are the troublesome part of the account that one does not care to meddle with. Do you know that all yesterday was made up of littles? And the things of to-day are all little, and what you do to-morrow will all be little things. Just as the tiny shells make up the chalk hills, and the chalk hills together make up the range, so the trifling actions make up the whole account, and each of these must be pulled asunder separately. You had an hour to spare the other day--what did you do? You had a voice--how did you use it? You had a pen--you could use that--how did you employ it? Each particular shall be brought out, and there shall be demanded an account for each one. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Individual responsibility

How helpful is it to read that Paul, who stood so far above us all, should confess himself to be one of us! It was a singular mark of the apostolic character that each and all emphasised their close relation to the community in which they ministered. In this they followed His steps who said, I am among you as one that serveth. What a rebuke to all spiritual pride and ecclesiastical assumption! Let him who is chief among you be the servant of all. And yet, whilst the apostle claimed this community, he drew the lines of individuality with no hesitating hand. Every one of us. We have in the text--

I. A solemn summons, in the midst of all that is opposed to the Divine will. By this summons there are certain facts very plainly implied.

1. If every one of us is to give an account unto God, then the dream of the materialist is certainly false. There is a God, and with that God man has to do. The traditions of all people, the consent of the moral sense in man everywhere endorse that which the Scripture so explicitly implies.

2. This accountability before God is an ever-present fact. Do not postpone it until death comes. It is a constant relation in which man stands. To bring the whole nature into accord with the law and character of God--this is the dictate of our sense of true accountability.

3. But beyond this life work there is a final criticism and judgment to come. This is involved in the very relations we hold to this God, and the solemn thought of such an assize is constrained by the anticipation of death itself.

II. A definite limitation. Himself.

1. We are responsible in our mutual relations for the influence that we exert over one another. No man liveth to himself, etc. But our responsibility for each other ends there. Our accountability for ourselves is more immediate, and cannot be evaded. We are not our brothers keeper in this world except for his good. Look well to thyself. Leave others to God. Thou hast enough to do with thine own vineyard.

2. But the account is not the less varied because it is so individual. Think of how many component parts you are formed, and for each one a responsibility exists before God. Therefore let other people alone, and look to your own house.

III. A suggested preparation. We may give an account now; we shall do it finally in a more manifest way.

1. Recognise your individuality. Look yourselves in the face. Never allow yourself to be lost in the family, the Church, or in society. You came into the world subject to this solitary responsibility; you will go out of the world in the same way. It is the condition in which the gospel of Jesus Christ comes to you.

2. Train your conscience to utter distinct commands and prohibitions to you as an individual. Take not the worldly maxims of common living in this world; take not the practice of the Church. There is no rule except that which is contained in the character and the life of the God-man. (S. H. Tyng, D.D.)

Personal responsibility

1. The revelation of a judgment to come is one of the chief guarantees of human morality, and one of the most impressive illustrations of human greatness. Are we not in danger all of us of losing the vivid sense of personal responsibility for our own life? And if the sense of personal responsibility is lost, reverence for duty is lost too. There can be no morality apart from moral freedom, and it is to this that the revelation of future judgment appeals. Nearly everything else has been determined for you, but for your moral conduct you yourself are responsible.

2. Most of us had very little freedom of choice as to the trade or the profession that we should follow; but we can work honestly or dishonestly in the trade or profession in which we are engaged. It did not lie within our choice what language we should speak, but it does lie within our choice whether we shall speak the truth or not. The limits of our physical health and vigour are determined for us by the constitution with which we were born; but it lies with ourselves whether we will be sober or drunkards. It did not lie within our choice whether we would be born in a heathen or in a Christian land, among Romanists or among Protestants; but it does, lie within every mans choice whether he will honour and welcome whatever light comes to him.

3. In many of us, in these days, the sense of our personal responsibility is faint and feeble. We are awed by the vast range and irresistible action of material forces. What are we that we should assert a freedom that does not belong to the planets or to the ocean? But I decline to surrender my dignity in the presence of material immensity. The tides rise and fall by an eternal necessity, but the passions which ebb and flow in my heart I can check and control. The planets are bound by irreversible forces to the orbits in which they travel; but instead of being irresistibly swung by a force over which I have no control, I choose for myself the rough path of duty which leads to heights where I breathe the air of heaven and see its glory, or the smoother path which descends to darkness and death. I am greater than the planets and the sea: they are subject, I am sovereign; they are hound, I am free. My own conscience assures me of this, and it is confirmed by the voice of God. The living God who is above Nature declares that I, too, am above Nature, and that I must give an account of myself to Him.

4. Then the physiologist comes, and he tells me that I inherit in my very blood, in the structure of my brain, in the vigorous or feeble fibre of my nervous organisation the results of the vices and the virtues of a long line of ancestors. But though the conditions of life have been determined for me, my life itself is my own, and that has not been determined for me; the material in which I shall work has been given, the way in which I shall treat it has not been given. I may have been born with a craving for physical excitement; is that to be my excuse if I go home drunk? And to God some of the noblest forms of moral life may be found where, to your eyes and to mine, there is the least dignity and grace. One man is placed under conditions--not of his own choice--which make it possible for him to do very little beyond getting the rough ore of goodness out of the black and gloomy mine; he has got it with the sweat of his brow, with pain and peril. To him God will say: Well done! Another man has the ore at his feet to start with. It is not enough for him to bring that to God; he must bring pure metal extracted from it. And the third has the metal to begin with. He fails, and fails disastrously, unless he works it into form of noble usefulness and gracious beauty. Each man will have to give account of himself to God. And God only can judge of the worth of each mans work, because God only knows the conditions under which each mans work is being carried on. Channings schoolmaster said to one of his schoolfellows: Why are not you a good child like William Channing? Ah! said the little boy, it is so easy for William Channing to be good. And perhaps we have looked round upon friends of ours to whom a conflict that we have to maintain is altogether unnecessary. The foes we have to fight with they never meet; the victories which we have to win for ourselves were won for them generations ago by the ancestors whose blood is in their veins. Shall we complain? God forbid! Let us do for our posterity what their ancestors have done for them; and let us take the rough conditions of our actual life, making the best of them, rejoicing in this, that we have to give account of ourselves to God.

5. This conception of the relations between man and God relieves human life of its awful gloom and confusion, and contains the promise of a Divine order. You tell me that there are great masses of men that have never had a chance of moral goodness. They have to give an account of themselves without their chance, if so it be. And this conception of our relationship to God invests with dignity the life alike of the obscurest and most illustrious of our race. The material triumphs of which we are so proud are the result of a spiritual energy that has come to us from generations which believed that man was the lord of all. And when that consciousness of sovereignty has been extinguished, we shall decline to meaner levels and to inferior forms of life. But this is not to be our destiny. We are free, and we know it; and if to this freedom there are mysterious limitations, if achievement hesitates and falters, and follows far behind purpose, the Christian gospel has its word of power and of grace for us in this great trouble. (R. W. Dale, LL. D.)

Responsibility, unavoidable

Rev. John Thomas of Serampore was one day, after addressing a crowd of natives on the banks of the Ganges, accosted by a Brahmin as follows: Sir, dont you say that the devil tempts man to sin? Yes, answered Mr. Thomas. Then, said the Brahmin, certainly the fault is the devils: the devil, therefore, and not man, ought to suffer the punishment. Mr. Thomas, observing a boat with several men on board descending the river, replied, Brahmin, do you see yonder boat? Yes. Suppose I was to send some of my friends to destroy every person on board, and bring me all that is valuable in the boat: who ought to suffer punishment--I for instructing them, or they for doing this wicked act? Why, answered the Brahmin, with great emotion, you ought all to be put to death together. Ah, Brahmin, replied Mr. Thomas; and if you and the devil sin together, the devil and you will be punished together.

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

14:11 This quotation is from Isa 49:18; 45:23. In its original context, Isa 45:23 is surrounded by assertions of God’s sovereignty (Isa 45:22, 24). Only the sovereign God has the right to stand in judgment (Rom 14:10, 12).

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

Rom 14:11. Γέγραπται, it is written) Christ is God; for He is called Lord and God: It is He Himself to whom we live and die. He swears by Himself.—ζῶ ἐγὼ, λέγει Κύριος· ὃτι—καὶ πᾶσα γλῶσσα ἐξομολογήσεται τῷ Θεῷ) Isa 45:22-23, LXX., ἐγὼ εἰμι ὁ Θεὸς καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ἄλλος—ὃτι—καὶ ὀμεῖται πᾶσα γλῶσσα τὸν Θεὸν.[147] I am God and there is none else, and every tongue shall swear by God.

[147] Ἐξομολογήσεται, shall confess) seriously. The oath of believers corresponds to the oath of God, Isa 45:23.—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_14:11. Scripture proof for the πάντες παραστησόμεθα κ.τ.λ., Rom_14:10. The point of its bearing on the matter lies in the universality, as is clear from the reference of πᾶν and πᾶσα, Rom_14:11, to πάντες above, Rom_14:10. Thus the proposition of Rom_14:10, πάντες γὰρ κ.τ.λ.although in and by itself it required no scriptural proofreceives, nevertheless, a hallowed confirmation, which makes the injustice of the previously censured judging and despising the more apparent, because it encroaches on the universal final judgment of God.

The citation is Isa_45:23, quoted very freely with deviations, partly of memory, partly intentional, from the LXX., and abbreviated. In Isaiah, God certifies upon His oath that all men (including the Gentiles) shall render to Him adoring homage. This divine utterance

Messianic, because promising the universal triumph of the theocracyis here taken by Paul in the light of that highest final historical fulfilment which will take place at the judgment of the world.

ζῶ ἐγώ] Instead of κατʼ ἐμαυτοῦ ὀμνύω, as the LXX. following the Hebrew have it, Paul uses, by a variation of memory, a frequently-occurring verbal formula of the divine oath: חַי אָני (Num_14:21; Num_14:28; Deu_32:40, et al.; Dan_12:7; Rth_3:13; Jdt_2:12).

λέγει κύριος] is added by Paul according to the elsewhere familiar O. T. formula. Comp. Rom_12:19.

ὅτι] that, because in ξῶ ἐγώ is involved the assurance on oath, that, etc. Comp. 2Ch_18:13; 1Sa_14:44; Jdt_11:7 and Fritzsche in loc.

ἐμοί] to me, as the Judge (so in the sense of the apostle), for homage and submission.

ἐξομολογ. τ. Θεῷ] departing from the LXX., which, following the Hebrew, has ὀμεῖται πᾶσα γλ. τὸν Θεόν, for the reading of Cod. A of the LXX. (also א on the margin), ἐξομολογήσεται instead of ὀμεῖται, was probablyseeing that the Septuagint has very frequently undergone similar alterations of the text from N. T. citationsfirst introduced from our passage, and not a reading which Paul found in his copy of the LXX. (Fritzsche), as is too rashly inferred from Php_2:11. The variation itself isas was allowed by the freedom in the handling of Messianic proof-passagesintentional, because Paul required, instead of the oath of God, a more general conception, which, however, lies at the basis of that special conception; for the swearing is the actual acknowledgment and glorification of God as the Judge. The correct explanation is: and every tongue shall praise God (as the Judge), and therewith submit to His judicial authorityparallel in sense to ἐμοὶ κάμψει πᾶν γόνυ. ἐξομολογεῖσθαι with the dative always denotes to praise (Rom_15:9; Mat_11:25; Luk_10:21; frequently in the LXX. and Apocrypha, see Biel and Schleusner, s.v.): it only denotes to confess, as in later Greek, with the accusative of the object, Mat_3:6 : Jam_5:16; Tob_12:22. Hence the explanation of Er. Schmid, Reiche, Köllner, following Chrysostom, Oecumenius, Theophylact, is erroneous: to confess sins, which would only then be admissible if the parallelism obviously suggested the supplying of τὰς ἁμαρτίας.

With the reading τῷ βήματι τοῦ Χριστοῦ, Rom_14:10, Theodore of Mopsuestia, Theodoret, Oecumenius, Luther, Calvin, and many others, including Philippi, have found in τῷ Θεῷ a proof for the divinity of Christ. There would rather be implied the idea, that it is God, whose judgment Christ is entrusted by the Father to hold; and this thought is contained also in the reading τ. β. τ. Θεοῦ Rom_14:10.

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 14:11 . γέγραπται γάρ : the universal judgment proved from Scripture, Isa 45:23 . Paul follows the LXX, but very freely. For ζῶ ἐγὼ λέγει κύριος the LXX has κατʼ ἐμαυτοῦ ὀμνύω . The same passage is quoted more freely still in Phi 2:10 f. to describe the exaltation of Christ. In Isaiah it refers to the coming of God’s kingdom, when all nations shall worship Him. ἐξομολογήσεται τῷ θεῷ = shall give thanks or praise to God: Rom 15:9 , Mat 11:25 , and often in LXX = הוֹדָה . In the sense of “confess” it takes the accusative.

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

Vv. 11, 12. “For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then, every one of us shall give account of himself to God.”

In Rom 14:11, Paul quotes Isa 45:23, where the universal homage is described, which all creatures will render to God at the end of the world. This homage supposes and implies the judgment, by which they shall all have been brought to His feet. If we read of Christ, and not of God, at the end of Rom 14:10, it must be held that the apostle sees this last royal manifestation of Jehovah, proclaimed by Isaiah, finding its realization in Christ; comp., indeed, Php 2:10-11, where the words of Isaiah in our verse are applied to Jesus glorified.

The form of affirmation in the original text is: I have sworn by myself. Paul substitutes, unintentionally no doubt, a somewhat different form of oath, but one which is also frequent in the O. T.: “I am living that”...the meaning of which is: “As truly as I am the eternally living One, so truly shall this come to pass.” The words: saith the Lord, are here added by the apostle. Then he substitutes for the expression: shall swear by me (as the one true God), the term “shall do me homage” (ἐξομολογεῖσθαι). This word, which strictly signifies to confess, might allude to the judgment which will lay every man low in the conviction of his guilt, and draw forth from the heart of all an acknowledgment of God’s holiness and righteousness. But all that this term expresses may simply be the homage of adoration, which proclaims God as the one being worthy to be glorified; comp. Luk 2:38; Php 2:11.

The words to God are the paraphrase of the to me, in Isaiah.

In Rom 14:12, Paul applies to every individual in particular what has just been said of all in general. The preceding context signified: “Judge not thy brother, for God will judge him;” this verse signifies: “Judge thyself, for God will judge thee.”

Paul here repeats the expression τῷ Θεῶ, to God, rather than say τῷ Χριστῷ, to Christ, because he wishes to contrast in a general way divine, the alone truly just judgment, with human judgments.

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_14:11

For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess. This quotation is from Isa_45:23, I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, that unto me every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall swear. The apostle, it will be perceived, does not adhere to the words of the passage which he quotes, but contents himself with giving the sense. As I live, being the form of an oath, is a correct exhibition of the meaning of the phrase, I have sworn by myself. And since to swear by any being, is to recognize his power and authority over us, the expressions, every tongue shall swear, and every tongue shall confess, are of similar import. Both indeed are parallel to the clause, every knee shall bow, and are but different forms of expressing the general idea that every one shall submit to God, i.e. recognize his authority as God, the supreme ruler and judge. The apostle evidently considers the recognition of the authority of Christ as being tantamount to submission to God, and he applies without hesitation the declarations of the Old Testament in relation to the universal dominion of Jehovah, in proof of the Redeemers sovereignty. In Pauls estimation, therefore, Jesus Christ was God. This is so obvious, that commentators of all classes recognize the force of the argument hence deduced for the divinity of Christ. Luther says: So muss Christus rechter Gott sein, weil solches vor seinem Richterstuhl geschehen. Calvin: Est etiam insignis locus ad stabiliendam fidem nostram de aeterna Christi divinitate. Bengel: Christus est Deus, nam dicitur Dominus et Deus. Ipse est, cui vivimus et morimur. Ipse jurat per se ipsum. Even Koppe says, Quae Isa_45:23, de Jehova dicuntur, eadem ad Christum transferri ab apostolo, non est mirandum, cum hunc illi artissime conjunctum cogitandum esse, perpetua sit tum Judaeorum, quoties cunque de Messia loquuntur, tum imprimis Pauli et Joanis sententia. This verse may be considered as in tended to confirm the truth of the declaration at the close of the one preceding: We shall all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ; for it is written, To me every knee shall bow. And this seems the natural relation of the passage. Calvin understands this verse, however, as designed to enforce humble submission to the judgment of Christ: We should not judge others, since we are to be judged by Christ; and to his judgment we must humbly bow the knee. This is indeed clearly implied; but it is rather an accessory idea, than the special design of the passage.

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

Shall acknowledge me from God.

This is a form of an oath, proper to God only, for he and none but he liveth, and hath his being of himself.

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

For it is written-- (Isa 45:23).

As I live, saith the Lord--Hebrew, JEHOVAH.

every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God--consequently, shall bow to the award of God upon their character and actions.

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

11. As I live, etc. He seems to me to have quoted this testimony of the Prophet, not so much to prove what he had said of the judgment-seat of Christ, which was not doubted among Christians, as to show that judgment ought to be looked for by all with the greatest humility and lowliness of mind; and this is what the words import. He had first then testified by his own words, that the power to judge all men is vested in Christ alone; he now demonstrates by the words of the Prophet, that all flesh ought to be humbled while expecting that judgment; and this is expressed by the bending of the knee. But though in this passage of the Prophet the Lord in general foreshows that his glory should be known among all nations, and that his majesty should everywhere shine forth, which was then hid among very few, and as it were in an obscure corner of the world; yet if we examine it more closely, it will be evident that its complete fulfillment is not now taking place, nor has it ever taken place, nor is it to be hoped for in future ages. God does not now rule otherwise in the world than by his gospel; nor is his majesty otherwise rightly honored but when it is adored as known from his word. But the word of God has ever had its enemies, who have been perversely resisting it, and its despisers, who have ever treated it with ridicule, as though it were absurd and fabulous. Even at this day there are many such, and ever will be. It hence appears, that this prophecy is indeed begun to be fulfilled in this life, but is far from being completed, and will not be so until the day of the last resurrection shall shine forth, when Christ’s enemies shall be laid prostrate, that they may become his footstool. But this cannot be except the Lord shall ascend his tribunal: he has therefore suitably applied this testimony to the judgment-seat of Christ.

This is also a remarkable passage for the purpose of confirming our faith in the eternal divinity of Christ: for it is God who speaks here, and the God who has once for all declared, that he will not give his glory to another. (Isaiah 42:8.) Now if what he claims here to himself alone is accomplished in Christ, then doubtless he in Christ manifests himself. And unquestionably the truth of this prophecy then openly appeared, when Christ gathered a people to himself from the whole world, and restored them to the worship of his majesty and to the obedience of his gospel. To this purpose are the words of Paul, when he says that God gave a name to his Christ, at which every knee should bow, (Philippians 2:10:) and it shall then still more fully appear, when he shall ascend his tribunal to judge the living and the dead; for all judgment in heaven and on earth has been given to him by the Father.

The words of the Prophet are, “Every tongue shall swear to me:” but as an oath is a kind of divine worship, the word which Paul uses, shall confess, does not vary in sense: for the Lord intended simply to declare, that all men should not only acknowledge his majesty, but also make a confession of obedience, both by the mouth and by the external gesture of the body, which he has designated by the bowing of the knee.

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.

(11) As I live.—The original has, “I have sworn by Myself,” for which St. Paul, quoting from memory, substitutes another common Hebrew formula—“As I live,” or, “by my life.”

Shall confess . . .—The Greek word is capable of two renderings—“confess” and “praise:” Most commentators prefer the latter, but it is not quite clear that the English version is wrong. That the word can bear this meaning is, especially in view of Jas_5:16, unquestionable, and the sense seems to agree better with the next verse.

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

11. it is written] Isa_45:23. The Heb. there runs, “By myself have I sworn … to me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.” The LXX. runs, “By myself I swear, … that to me every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall swear (by) God.” Here St Paul substitutes one frequent formula of Divine Oaths for another; and paraphrases “shall swear to me” by its practical equivalent, “shall confess (my sovereignty) before me.” (Cp. Psa_63:11; where to “swear by God” is to take the oath of faithful allegiance to Him.)

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 it is written,.... In Isa 45:23; though Justin Martyr (o) cites a like passage with what follows, as out of Ezekiel 37, but no such words appear there, either in the Hebrew text, or Septuagint version:

as I live, saith the Lord; the form of an oath used often by the Lord; who because he could swear by no greater, he swore by himself, by his own life; signifying, that what he was about to say, would as surely come to pass, as that he lived; and in the original text in Isaiah it is, "I have sworn by myself"; which being generally expressed, the apostle, perfectly agreeable to the meaning of it, gives the particular form of oath he swore, as in Isa 49:18;

every knee shall bow to me; which is not to be understood literally of bowing of the knee at the name of Jesus, which has no foundation in this, nor in any other passage of Scripture, but figuratively, of the subjection of all creatures to Christ, both voluntary and involuntary. The Complutensian edition adds, "of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth", as in Phi 2:10, from whence these words seem to be taken:

and every tongue shall confess to God; that is, everyone that has a tongue, every man, be he who he will, a good or a bad man, shall own at the last day, that Christ is God and Lord of all; see Phi 2:10. It may be asked, how this passage appears to be a proof of what the apostle had asserted, for which purpose it seems to be cited, since here is nothing said of Christ, nor of his judgment seat, nor of all standing before it? to which may be returned, that it is clear from the context in the prophet, that the Messiah is the person speaking, who is said to be a just God and Saviour; and is represented as calling upon, and encouraging all sorts of persons to look to him for salvation; and as he in whom the church expected righteousness and strength, and in whom all the seed of Israel shall be justified, and shall glory; and which the Chaldee paraphrase all along interprets of , "the Word of the Lord"; the essential Word of God, the true Messiah: moreover, the bowing of the knee, and swearing, or confessing, to him, relate to his lordship and dominion over all; and suppose him as sitting on his throne of glory, as Lord of all, or as a judge on his judgment seat, in a court of judicature, where such like actions as here mentioned are performed; and whereas every knee is to bow, and every tongue to confess to him, which include all mankind, it follows then, that all the saints shall stand before him, bow unto him, own him as their Lord, and be judged by him. Kimchi says (p), that this shall be , "in the last days": and which the apostle rightly refers to the day of the general judgment. This place affords a considerable proof of Christ's true and proper deity, being in the prophet styled "Jehovah", and by the apostle "God"; and such things being ascribed to him, as swearing by himself, which no creature may do, and the subjection and confession of all creatures to him, whether they will or not.

(o) Apolog. 2. pro Christianis, p. 87. (p) In Isa 45:23.

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

11 For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.

Ver. 11. As I live, saith the Lord] As true as I live, is an oath, as appears here, and Num 14:21; cf. Psa 95:11. Forbear it, therefore.

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.

For it is written - This passage is recorded in Isa 45:23. It is not quoted literally, but the sense is preserved. In Isaiah there can be no doubt that it refers to Yahweh. The speaker expressly calls himself Yahweh, the name which is appropriate to God alone, and which is never applied to a creature; Rom 14:18. In the place before us, the words are applied by Paul expressly to Christ; compare Rom 14:10. This mode of quotation is a strong incidental proof that the apostle regarded the Lord Jesus as divine. On no other principle could he have made these quotations.

As I live - The Hebrew is, “I have sworn by myself.” One expression is equivalent to the other. An “oath” of God is often expressed by the phrase “as I live;” Num 14:21; Isa 49:18; Eze 5:11; Eze 14:16, etc.

Saith the Lord - These words are not in the Hebrew text, but are added by the apostle to show that the passage quoted was spoken by the Lord, the Messiah; compare Isa 45:18, Isa 45:22.

Every knee shall bow to me - To bow the knee” is an act expressing homage, submission, or adoration. It means that every person shall acknowledge him as God, and admit his right to universal dominion. The passage in Isaiah refers particularly to the homage which “his own people” should render to him; or rather, it means that all who are saved shall acknowledge “him” as their God and Saviour. The original reference was not to “all men,” but only to those who should be saved; Isa 45:17, Isa 45:21-22, Isa 45:24. In this sense the apostle uses it; not as denoting that “all men” should confess to God, but that all “Christians,” whether Jewish or Gentile converts, should alike give account to Him. “They” should all bow before their common God, and acknowledge “his” dominion over them. The passage originally did not refer particularly to the day of judgment, but expressed the truth that all believers should acknowledge his dominion. It is as applicable, however, to the judgment, as to any other act of homage which his people will render.

Every tongue shall confess to God - In the Hebrew, “Every tongue shall swear.” Not swear “by God,” but “to him;” that is, pay to him our vows, or “answer to him on oath” for our conduct; and this is the same as confessing to him, or acknowledging him as our Judge.

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

The apostle here gives a remarkable proof of the divinity of our Saviour. He could not possibly be more express. He had said in the preceding verse, that all men should appear before the tribunal of Christ; to prove this assertion, he adduces this testimony of the prophet Isaias: "As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bend before me, and every tongue shall confess to God." (Isaias chap. xlv.) Thus shall all acknowledge the power, the divinity, and sovereign dominion of Christ, by bending the knee; and by confessing to him, shall acknowledge him for the master and judge of all mankind. (Calmet)

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).

This verse proves what was before asserted, that all must stand before the judgment-seat of Christ. The proof is from Isa 45:23. The prophet speaks only of God’s swearing; the apostle sets down the form of his oath; which form is frequently mentioned in Scripture: see Num 14:21,28; Jer 22:24; Eze 5:11; 14:16,18; 20:3. And instead of every tongue shall swear; the apostle, following the Seventy, saith, every tongue shall confess; and we are told, Phi 2:2, what it shall confess, viz. that Jesus Christ is Lord. That which is generally spoken of Jehovah being here in a peculiar manner applied to Christ, it evidently showeth, that he is supreme Judge, and sovereign Lord, unto whom all knees must bow in token of subjection; and before whose tribunal all persons, will they, or will they not, must appear.

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

11. Written—Isa_45:23, quoted substantially, not verbally. The prophet is describing the supremacy of Jehovah in the blessed future, and the apostle applies it to Christ in that his highest act of supremacy is the judgment of the world.

Every tongue shall confess—In the prophet, Every tongue shall swear; that is, swear, or confess by oath, allegiance to God. The words describe not a universal salvation, but a universal subjection, willing or unwilling, to the divine judgment.

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

As I live - An oath proper to him, because he only possesseth life infinite and independent. It is Christ who is here termed both Lord and God; as it is he to whom we live, and to whom we die. Every tongue shall confess to God - Shall own him as their rightful Lord; which shall then only be accomplished in its full extent. The Lord grant we may find mercy in that day; and may it also be imparted to those who have differed from us! yea, to those who have censured and condemned us for things which we have done from a desire to please him, or refused to do from a fear of offending him. Isaiah xlv, 23

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

11. “For we shall all stand at the judgment seat of God.

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

For it is written [and hence was an already established doctrine, and not one just now promulgated by Paul], As I live, saith the Lord, to me every knee shall bow, And every tongue shall confess to God . [The quotation gives the sense of Isa_45:23 . Comp. Phi_2:10-11 ]

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.

11. For it is written. In Isaiah 45:23. The passage quoted declares that the whole world will yet make humble acknowledgment of the sovereignty of Jehovah.

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.

11. γέγραπται γὰρ. Isa 45:23; Isa 49:18 (conflat.).

ἐξομολογήσεται. Cf. Rom 15:9; Mat 11:25; cf. Php 2:11.

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.

11.] The citation is according to the present Alexandrine text, except that our ζῶ ἐγώ = κατʼ ἐμαυτοῦ ὀμνύω.

ἐξομ.] shall praise, see reff. LXX-1.3a following the Heb. has ὀμεῖται (ὀμνῖται א1) πᾶσα γλῶσσα τὸν θεόν (κύριον א).

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

11. St. Paul supports his statement of the universal character of God’s judgement by quoting Isa 45:23 (freely acc. to the LXX). In the O. T. the words describe the expectation of the universal character of Messianic rule, and the Apostle sees their complete fulfilment at the final judgement.

ἐξομολογήσεται τῷ Θεῷ, ‘shall give praise to God,’ according to the usual LXX meaning; cf. 15:9, which is quoted from Ps. 17:50 (18:50).

ζῶ ἐ͂γώ, λέγω Κύριος is substituted for κατʼ ἐμαυτοῦ ὀμνὑω, cf. Num 14:28 &c.; for πᾶσα γλῶσσα κ.τ.λ. the LXX reads ὀμεῖται π. γ. τὸν Θεόν.

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

As I live, etc. From Isa 45:23. Hebrew : By myself I swear... that to me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. Septuagint the same, except shall swear by God.

Shall confess [εξομολογησεται] . Primarily, to acknowledge, confess, or profess from [εξ] the heart. To make a confession to one's honor; thence to praise. So Luk 10:21 (Rev., in margin, praise for thank); Rom 14:9. Here, as Rev. in margin, shall give praise. See on Mt 11:25.

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