Romans 15:17

CRITICAL NOTES

Rom_15:17.—The things of the ministry committed to Paul of God are the things in which he will glory.

Rom_15:18.—St. Paul will not take any glory to himself. There is nothing done by him which Christ did not work; to Him be all the praise.

Rom_15:19.—It might have been expected that Paul would mention Damascus, the place of his spiritual birth, as the centre of his missionary operations; but he begins at Jerusalem. Christ first sent His gospel to Jerusalem sinners. Here is a gracious centre and an ever-widening circle. It enlarges itself westward; it comprehends Greece, Asia Minor, the Grecian islands, the country between Asia Minor and Jerusalem, Phœnicia, Syria, part of Arabia, Rome the world’s metropolis, and probably Spain.

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Rom_15:17-21

St. Paul as a missionary.—History is precept teaching by example; history is recorded experience; and this is especially so when the history is the biography of one individual. We should read the noble actions of others, so as to be stimulated to heroic deeds. Here is a piece of autobiography which has in it much instruction. Let us seek to be inspired with love to Christ and to humanity, and we shall find our missionary sphere. It lies round about us. Some people pine because they cannot reach the distant Illyricum, while they neglect the Jerusalem of home and of country.

I. The missionary’s travels.—In St. Paul’s days travelling was very difficult when it was not done by sea, for carriage roads and vehicles hardly existed. There were no luxurious first-class carriages by which to be carried from one scene of labour to another. When it is calm, the seas over which Paul sailed are delightful; but they have also suddenly their caprices—the ship may run aground in the sand, and all that one can do is to seize on a plank. There were perils everywhere. Paul, it seems, journeyed almost always on foot, existing doubtless on bread, vegetables, and fruit. What a life of privations and trials is that of the wandering devotee! The police were negligent and brutal. St. Paul was not backed up by any great scientific or missionary societies. He was not attended by a number of followers armed with breech-loaders, prepared to shoot down barbarians as if they were so many rabbits. Almost alone the great traveller went from Jerusalem and round about unto Illyricum. It lay beyond Macedonia, on the north-east coast of the Adriatic Gulf. The journey was somewhere about one thousand three hundred miles in a straight line; and when taken in all its windings, with its towns, populous districts, pleasant valleys, stern mountain ranges, and barren climes, shows his indefatigable zeal. St. Paul did not go in search of lovely scenery. Had he done so, he might have pleased his fancy as he journeyed, say from Antioch to Seleucia, where on all sides are copses of myrtles, arbutus, laurels, green oaks, while prosperous villages are perched upon the sharply cut ridges of the mountains. To the left the plain of Orontes unfolds to view its splendid cultivation. On the south the wooded summits of the mountains of Daphne bound the horizon. Often the route is hard; certain cantons are peculiarly rugged, barren; still Paul in his journeys would touch certain points which were veritable paradises. St. Paul did not go to admire works of art: had he done so, he might have gratified his taste and stayed at Athens on the way to Corinth; for Athens had then even the appearance of being ornamented with almost all her masterpieces of art. The monuments of the Acropolis were intact; the sanctity of that immaculate temple of the beautiful was not changed. Pœcile, with its brilliant decoration, was as fresh as it was on the first day. There were the Propylæum, that chef-d’œuvre of grandeur; the Parthenon, which absorbed every other grandeur save its own; the Temple of Victory, worthy of the battles which it consecrated; and the Erechthæum, a prodigy of elegance and finish. Needless, however, to follow St. Paul in this discussion of the negative. He went from Jerusalem round about unto the borders of Illyricum to win hearts unto Jesus Christ, the true King, the Sovereign of the universe.

II. The missionary’s work.—His work is to preach the gospel of Christ. The missionary is to preach whether men will hear or will forbear. He is to preach the old message instinct with fresh life and feeling. The old message adapts itself to all states of society and to all conditions of men. Thank God, our missionaries are preaching still, and among great varieties of places and people, amid many forms of outer life, amid many gradations of human comforts and human resources. Some labour among the most glorious manifestations of creative might, others upon scorched and arid plains—some in the busy life of cities, others in lonely isles. In labours abundant, in perils oft, by example, by preaching, by prayers, everywhere they seek to approve themselves unto God, and serve their generation according to His will. Politicians may lecture them; men of science may undervalue them; time-serving editors may pour on them their scorn; they may be called enthusiasts, or be socially despised; but steadfast in faith, unmoved by reproach or praise, they will reply, Whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God; or whether we be sober, it is for your cause. Our meat is to do the will of Him that sent us, and to finish His work.

III. The missionary’s originality.—We do not mean his originality as a genius, though St. Paul was that in spite of his detractors. We do not refer to his originality as the founder of a new ethical system, though St. Paul’s system was different from and superior to any system previously propagated. We allude to St. Paul’s desire to be the first in order. He would not build upon another man’s foundation. That is how second-rate builders work. What are we modern builders doing but placing our petty pretentious cornices on the glorious temples raised by the giants of former times? Well, let us do our best. A cornice is not to be despised. If we can only take out a few decaying stones and put fresh material in the place, let us be thankful that we have done something for God’s great cathedral.

IV. The missionary’s beneficent design.—To make the Gentiles obedient by word and deed. Conversion here set forth:

1. In its nature—obedience to Christ;

2. In its Author—Christ Himself working by His Spirit;

3. In the means employed—the gospel preached and lived by men. The Church of the future in foreign lands, properly formed, will be inspired with a lofty humanity. It shall sweep away all the forms of cruelty and of wrong which have lowered tribes and nations in the estimation of their fellows. Its earnest life shall be fed with large-hearted love, which yearns to draw all men back to the Father and to bring about perfect union between man and man. Possessing a martyr’s faith, it shall hold to purest principles with a martyr’s constancy. Honest missionary agencies have determined the broad gauge on which the great highway of the nations shall be constructed, and have laid down in many great centres of movement the first lines of the permanent way. Earnest workers have heard and obeyed the divine call: Go through the gates; cast up the highway; lift up a standard for the people. By their labours every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain. All difficulties shall be overcome; all divisions and separations between men closed for ever. Man shall be linked with man, and there shall be no more sea. With one heart, though of many names, the tribes of earth shall journey together to the city of God. The redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs, with everlasting joy upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON Rom_15:17-21

Gospel miracles authentic.—“Through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God.” It is not likely that Paul would have made mention at all of these miracles had they not been wrought at Rome as well as in other places along his apostolical tour where Churches had been planted by him. At all events he, in epistles to other Churches, does appeal to the miracles which had been wrought in the midst of them. For example, in the free and fearless remonstrance which he held with the Galatians, he puts the question with all boldness: “O foolish Galatians, … he that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?” (Gal_3:1; Gal_3:5.) And in the enumeration which he makes of the powers conferred on various of the Church office-bearers, he tells the Corinthians that to one is given by the Spirit of God the working of miracles; and, more specifically still, to another the gifts of healing, and to another divers kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues (1Co_12:9-10). And again, in another epistle to the same people, he says, “Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds” (2Co_12:12). In this respect he tells them that they were not inferior to other Churches; nor is it probable that he would have written of these miracles to his converts at Rome had they been in this state of inferiority to others. There cannot then be imagined a more satisfactory historical evidence for these high and undoubted credentials of a divine mission, than we are able to adduce for the miracles which abounded in the primitive Churches, and for those in particular which were worked by Paul’s own hands. He indeed, in common with the other apostles, possessed the endowment in a degree that might be called transcendental—insomuch as, besides having the gift of miracles, they had the power, by the laying on of their hands, of conferring this gift upon others (Act_8:18, etc.). Now whatever exhibition might have been made of such things at Rome, certain it is that for miracles both at Corinth and in Galatia we have testimony in such a form as makes it quite irresistible. Here we have, in the custody of these two Churches from the earliest times, the epistles which they had received from Paul; the original documents have been long in their own possession, while copies of them were speedily multiplied and diffused over the whole Christian world. In these records do we find Paul, in vindication of his own apostleship, and in the course of a severe reckoning with the people whom he addresses, make a confident appeal to the miracles which had been wrought before their eyes. Had there been imposture here the members of these two Churches would not have lent their aid to uphold it. They would not have professed the faith which they did in pretensions which they knew to be false, and that for the support of a claim to divine authority now brought to bear in remonstrance and rebuke against themselves. We might multiply at pleasure our suspicions of Paul, and conjure up all sorts of imaginations against him, but no possible explanation can be found for the acquiescence of his converts in the treachery of the apostle, or rather of their becoming parties to his fabrication, if fabrication indeed it was. One can fancy an interest which he might have in a scheme of deception; but what earthly interest can we assign for the part which they took in the deception, knowing it to be so? Or on what other hypothesis than the irresistible truth of these miracles can we explain their adherence to the gospel, and that in the face of losses and persecutions, nay, even of cruel martyrdoms, but over and above all this the taunts and cutting reproaches to the bargain of the very man who could tell them of the miracles which themselves had seen as the vouchers of his embassy from God, and threatened, if necessary, to come amongst them with a rod and make demonstration in the midst of them of his authority and power? Had there been deceit and jugglery in the matter, why did they not let out the secret, and rid themselves at once and for ever of this burdensome visitation? The truth is, that the overpowering evidence from without, and their own consciences within, would not let them. There is no other historical evidence which in clearness and certainty comes near to this; and whether we look to the integrity of these original witnesses, men faithful and tried, or to the abundant and continuous and closely sustained testimony which flowed downward in well-filled vehicles from the first age of the apostles, we are compelled to acknowledge a sureness and a stamp of authenticity in the miracles of the gospel, not only unsurpassed, but unequalled by any other events, the knowledge of which has been transmitted from ancient to modern times.—Dr. Chalmers.

Gospel to be preached as a witness.—Even where St. Paul preached with little or no success, he might be said to have no more place in that part—no more, for example, at Athens, although he left it a mass of nearly unalleviated darkness—just as our Lord’s immediate apostles might well be said to have no more place in those towns that rejected their testimony, and against which they were called to shake off the dust of their feet, and then to take their departure—fleeing from the cities which either refused or persecuted them, and turning to others. The way in fact of apostles or ministers, the outward instruments in the teaching of Christianity, is the same with the way of the Spirit, who is the real agent in this teaching, by giving to their word all its efficacy. He may visit every man, but withdraws Himself from those who resist Him—just as the missionaries of the gospel might visit every place, and have fulfilled their work even in those places where the gospel has been put to scorn, and so become the savour of death unto death to the people who live in them. Yet we must not slacken in our endeavours for the evangelisation of the whole earth, although the only effect should be that the gospel will be preached unto all nations for a witness, and the success of the enterprise will be limited by the gathering in of the elect from the four corners of heaven. It is a matter of unsettled controversy whether Paul ever was in Spain, or was able to fulfil his purpose of a free and voluntary journey to Rome, his only recorded journey there being when taken up as a prisoner in chains. At the beginning of the epistle he tells them of his prayer, and here expresses his hope of again seeing them in circumstances of prosperity, when, after a full and satisfactory enjoyment of their society, he might be helped forward by them on his way to the country beyond. Let me here notice, in passing, how accordant the movements both of Paul beyond Judœa and of our Saviour and the apostles within its limits, as described in the gospels and Acts, are with the abiding geography of towns and countries still before our eyes. It is in itself a pleasing exercise to trace this harmony of Scripture with the known bearings and distances of places still; and even serves the purpose of confirmation as a monumental evidence to the truth of Christianity.—Dr. Chalmers.

The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rom 15:17. Καύχησιν, glorying) Paul had a large heart; so he says at Rom 15:15, more boldly, and Rom 15:20, “I have strived ambitiously,” φιλοτιμούμενον.—ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ, in Christ Jesus) This is explained in the following verse. My glorying with respect to those things, which pertain to God, has been made to rest [rests] in Christ Jesus.—τὰ πρὸς Θεὸν, in those things, which pertain to God) Paul makes this limitation; otherwise he was poor and an outcast in the world, 1Co 4:9, etc.

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

Rom_15:17. How readily might what was said in Rom_15:16 carry with it the appearance of vain self-boasting! To obviate this, the apostle proceeds: I have accordingly (in pursuance of the contents of Rom_15:16) the boasting (τὴν καύχησιν, see the critical notes) in Christ Jesus in respect of my relation to God; i.e., my boasting is something which, by virtue of my connection with Christ (whose λειτουργός I am, Rom_15:16), in my position towards God (for I administer Gods gospel as an offering priest, Rom_15:16), properly belongs to me. The ἔχω is prefixed with emphasis: it does not fail me, like a something which one has not really as a possession but only ventures to ascribe to himself; then follows with ἐν Χ. Ἰ. and τὰ πρ. τ. Θ., a twofold more precisely defined character of this ethical possession, excluding everything selfish.[22] Accordingly, we are not to explain as though ἐν Χ. Ἰ. bore the main stress and it ran ἐν Χριστῷ οὖν τὴν καύχησιν ἔχω κ.τ.λ. (which is Fritzsches objection to the reading τὴν καύχ.); and καύχησις is neither here nor elsewhere equivalent to καύχημα (materies gloriandi), but is gloriatio (comp. 1Co_15:31), and the article marks the definite self-boasting concerned, which Paul makes (Rom_15:16; Rom_15:18). Reiche connects ἐν Χ. with τ. καύχησιν, so that to τὸ καυχᾶσθαι ἐν Χ. is to be explained as the boasting onself of Christ (of the aid of Christ). Comp. also Ewald. Admissible linguistically, since the construction καυχᾶσθαι ἐν (Rom_5:3, Rom_2:17; Rom_2:23; Php_3:3) allowed the annexation without the article; but at variance with the sequel, where what is shown is not the right to boast of the help of Christ (of this there is also in Rom_15:16 no mention), but this, that Paul will never boast himself otherwise than as simply the instrument of Christ, that he thus has Christ only to thank for the καυχᾶσθαι, only through Him is in the position to boast.

τὰ πρὸς τ. Θεόν] Comp. Heb_2:17; Heb_5:1. Semler and Rückert take the article in a limiting sense: at least before God. But the at least is not expressed (τὰ γε πρ. τ. Θ., or πρὸς γε τ. Θ., or τὰ πρ. τ. Θ. γε), and Paul has indeed actually here and elsewhere frequently boasted before men, and with ample warrant, of his sacred calling.

We may add that this whole assertion of his calling, Rom_15:17-21, so naturally suggested itself to the apostle, when he was on the point of extending his activity to Rome and beyond it to the extreme west of the Gentile world, that there is no sufficient ground for seeking the occasion of it in the circumstances and experiences of the Corinthian church at that time (so especially Rückert, comp. also Tholuck and Philippi); especially since it is nowhere indicated in our epistle (not even in Rom_16:17), that at that time (at a later epoch it was otherwise, Php_1:15 ff.) anti-Pauline efforts had occurred in Rome, such as had emerged in Corinth. See Introd. § 3.

[22] Not exactly specially the consciousness of superior knowledge or singular spirituality, Hofmann. Comp. generally 1Co_15:10.

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 15:17 . ἔχω οὖν καύχησιν : I have therefore ground of boasting. In spite of the apologetic tone of Rom 15:14 f. Paul is not without confidence in writing to the Romans. But there is no personal assumption in this; for he has it only in Christ Jesus, and only τὰ πρὸς τὸν θεόν in his relations to God. Cf. Heb 2:17 ; Heb 5:1 .

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

Vv. 17-19. “I have therefore whereof I may glory through Jesus Christ in the service of God. For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ hath not wrought by me, for the obedience of the Gentiles, by word and by deed, in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Spirit of God;so that from Jerusalem, and the countries round about, as far as Illyria, I have accomplished [the preaching of] the gospel of Christ.”

Therefore: in virtue of that weighty commission by which I have felt myself authorized to write you as I have done. If we read the article τήν before καύχησιν, “the glorying,” the meaning is: “I have therefore this cause of glorying (that of being Christ’s minister to the Gentiles).” But the last words: in the service of God, are thus made superfluous. The article must therefore be rejected; the meaning is this: “I have truly occasion to glory in what concerns the service of God.” The expression τὰ πρὸς Θεόν, literally, “what concerns God,” is a sort of technical phrase in the Jewish liturgical language to denote the functions of worship (Heb 2:17; Heb 5:1, etc.). This term therefore belongs to the same order of ideas as all those of the preceding verse (ἱερουργεῖν, λειτουργός, προσφορά, ἡγιασμένη).

The words: through Jesus Christ, soften the too startling force which the term glorying might have. This verse, while recalling the work already done by Paul in God’s service, completes the justification of what Paul had called the τολμηρότερον, the somewhat bold character of his conduct. Nothing assuredly could have a more authentic character than such a passage.

This Rom 15:17 is at the same time the transition to what follows. As a confirmation of his apostolic mission to the Gentiles, Paul expounds the extraordinary results which he has obtained—(1) from the viewpoint of the nature of the work, Rom 15:18-19 a; (2) from the viewpoint of the extension of the work accomplished, Rom 15:19 b

Vv. 18. The words: “I will not dare to speak of any of those things,” signify, according to Meyer and others, that to exalt himself he will not take the liberty of inventing facts which Christ had not really wrought by him. But did this odious supposition need to be denied? Such a defence of his veracity might be in place in the Epistles to the Corinthians, but not in that to the Romans. Besides, the expression τι ὧν, any of the things which, naturally refers only to real facts. To designate fictitious facts, he must have used, not τι ὧν, but τι ὅ, anything which. Finally, all the following qualifications: “for the obedience..., by word and by deed”..., can be applied only to real facts. Hofmann thinks Paul means that he will not take advantage here of any other grounds of glorying than those which enter into the service of Christ; that he will omit, for example, all those he enumerates (Php 3:4 et seq.). But in that case the subject Χριστός, Christ, should be at the head of the proposition. And what motive could the apostle have to allude in this passage to the advantages which he might have possessed before being a Christian? The only possible meaning of these words: I will not dare, is this: “It would imply some hardihood on my part to indicate a single mark of apostleship whereby God has not deigned to set His seal on my ministry to the Gentiles.” It is a very delicate form of saying, that it would be easier to convict him of falsehood in the signs of apostolic power which he might omit in speaking of his work, than in those which he enumerates here. This: I will not dare, is, as it were, the acme of the καύχησις, of that glorying of which he spoke in Rom 15:17. It would be vain for him to seek a divine manifestation which Christ has not wrought by him; he would not discover it. This mode of speaking does not come of boastfulness; it is the expression of a holy jealousy in behalf of the Gentiles, that domain which God has assigned him, and which He has privileged by the apostleship of Paul, no less than the Jewish world has been by the apostleship of the Twelve; comp. 2Co 12:11-12.

In the expression: by word, are embraced all his teachings, public and private; and in the expression: by deed, his labors, journeys, collections, sufferings, sacrifices of all kinds, and even miracles, though these are mentioned afterward as a category by themselves.

The expression: the power of signs, is explained by Meyer in this sense: “the power (my power over men) arising from signs.” It seems to me more natural to understand: “the (divine) power breaking forth in signs.” Miraculous facts are called signs in relation to the meaning which God attaches to them and which men ought to see in them, and wonders (τέρας) in relation to nature and its laws, on the regular basis of which the miracle is an inroad.

The power of the Spirit may designate the creative virtue inherent in this divine breath; but here the complement seems to me to be the person of Paul: “the power with which the Spirit fills me.”

It is better to read, with the T. R., the Spirit of God than the Holy Spirit (with 6 Mjj.), for it is force that is in question rather than holiness.

In the second part of the verse Paul passes from the nature of his activity to the extent of the results obtained. The latter is the effect of the former; hence the ὥστε, so that. For the previous subject, Christ, there is substituted the personal pronoun I, because in the act of preaching it is the human agent who is in view. There has been found (by Hofmann and others) in the word κύκλῳ, in a circle, an indication of the course followed by the apostle in his work of evangelizing, to the effect that Paul did not proceed from Jerusalem to Illyria by a straight line, but by describing a vast ellipse. This idea is far from natural, and would have a shade of boastfulness. It is much simpler to understand the word in a circle (or with its surroundings) as intended to widen the point of departure indicated by the word Jerusalem: “Jerusalem, with the surrounding countries.” In fact, it was strictly at Damascus, then in Arabia, that Paul had begun to evangelize. But Jerusalem being the point best known to western Christians, he names only this capital.

If we refuse, with Meyer, to give to the word εὐαγγέλιον the meaning of preaching of the gospel, it is impossible to find a natural meaning here for the word πληροῦν, to fill. To translate, with Luther: “to fill every place with the gospel,” is contrary to grammar. Meyer understands: to give the gospel its full development (by spreading it everywhere). But one feels how forced this manner of expression would be in this sense. We have only to represent to ourselves the act of preaching the gospel in the east as a task to be fulfilled or an ideal to be reached, and the meaning of πληροῦν becomes clear. It is in this same sense that we have seen πλήρωμα νόμου signify the fulfilment of the law, Rom 13:10. Baur has here found manifest exaggeration, and therein a sign of unauthenticity. But it is clear that Paul was not claiming to have finished the work of preaching in relation to the small towns and country districts of the lands he had evangelized. He regarded his apostolic task as entirely fulfilled when he had lighted the torch in the great centres, such as Thessalonica, Corinth, and Ephesus. That done, he reckoned on the churches founded in those capitals continuing the evangelization of the provinces. The same critic has pronounced the fact here mentioned of the apostle’s preaching in Illyria to be inadmissible. None of the apostle’s journeys known to us had led him into this “rude and inhospitable country.” The rudeness of a country did not arrest St. Paul. From the fact that this mission is not mentioned in the Book of Acts, must it be concluded that it is a fable? But this book does not speak of the three years passed by Paul in Arabia, according to Gal 1:17; must it therefore be concluded that the statement is false, and that the Epistle to the Galatians is unauthentic? A forger would have taken good care, on the contrary, not to implicate himself in other facts of the apostle’s life than those which were generally known. Besides, what is there improbable in the statement that during the time which elapsed from his leaving Ephesus (Pentecost 57 or 58) till his arrival at Corinth (December 58) the apostle, who spent that time in Macedonia, should have made an excursion to the shores of the Adriatic? For that only a few days were needed. The Book of Acts is not at all intended to relate in detail the life of Peter or of Paul.

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_15:17

I have therefore whereof to glory through Jesus Christ in those things which pertain to God. That is, seeing I have received this office of God, and am appointed a minister of the gospel to the Gentiles, I have (καύχησιν) confidence and rejoicing. As, in the previous verses, Paul had asserted his divine appointment as an apostle, he shows, in this and the following verses, that the assertion was well founded, as God had crowned his labors with success, and sealed his ministry with signs and wonders. He, therefore, was entitled, as a minister of God, to exhort and admonish his brethren with the boldness and authority which he had used in this epistle. This boasting, however, he had only in or through Jesus Christ, all was to be attributed to him; and it was in reference to things pertaining to God, i.e. the preaching and success of the gospel, not to his personal advantages or worldly distinctions. There is another interpretation of the latter part of this verse, which also gives a good sense. I have therefore ground of boasting, (i.e., I have) offerings for God, viz., Gentile converts. (The words τὰ πρὸς τὸν θεόν are understood as synonymous with the word προσφορά of the preceding verse, προσενεχθέντα being supplied.) The common view of the passage, however, is more simple and natural.

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

He commendeth his Apostleship highly by the effects, but yet so that moreover and besides that he speaketh all things truly, he giveth all the glory to God as the only author: and doth not properly respect himself, but this rather: that men might less doubt of the truth of the doctrine which he propoundeth unto them.

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

The apostle here gives some account of himself and of his own affairs. Having mentioned his ministry and apostleship, he goes on further to magnify his office in the efficacy of it, and to mention to the glory of God the great success of his ministry and the wonderful things that God had done by him, for encouragement to the Christian church at Rome, that they were not alone in the profession of Christianity, but though, compared with the multitude of their idolatrous neighbours, they were but a little flock, yet, up and down the country, there were many that were their companions in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ. It was likewise a great confirmation of the truth of the Christian doctrine that it had such strange success, and was so far propagated by such weak and unlikely means, such multitudes captivated to the obedience of Christ by the foolishness of preaching. Therefore Paul gives them this account, which he makes the matter of his glorying; not vain glory, but holy gracious glorying, which appears by the limitations; it is through Jesus Christ. Thus does he centre all his glorying in Christ; he teaches us so to do, Co1 1:31. Not unto us, Psa 115:1. And it is in those things which pertain to God. The conversion of souls is one of those things that pertain to God, and therefore is the matter of Paul's glorying; not the things of the flesh. Whereof I may glory, echō oun kauchēsin en Christō lēsou ta pros Theon. I would rather read it thus: Therefore I have a rejoicing in Christ Jesus (it is the same word that is used, Co2 1:12, and Phi 3:3, where it is the character of the circumcision that they rejoice - kauchōmenoi, in Christ Jesus) concerning the things of God; or those things that are offered to God - the living sacrifices of the Gentiles, Rom 15:16. Paul would have them to rejoice with him in the extent and efficacy of his ministry, of which he speaks not only with the greatest deference possible to the power of Christ, and the effectual working of the Spirit as all in all; but with a protestation of the truth of what he said (Rom 15:18): I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ hath not wrought by me. He would not boast of things without his line, nor take the praise of another man's work, as he might have done when he was writing to distant strangers, who perhaps could not contradict him; but (says he) I dare not do it: a faithful man dares not lie, however he be tempted, dares be true, however he be terrified. now, in this account of himself, we may observe,

I. His unwearied diligence and industry in his work. He was one that laboured more abundantly than they all.

1. He preached in many places: From Jerusalem, whence the law went forth as a lamp that shineth, and round about unto Illyricum, many hundred miles distant from Jerusalem. We have in the book of the Acts an account of Paul's travels. There we find him, after he was sent forth to preach to the Gentiles (Acts 13), labouring in that blessed work in Seleucia, Cyprus, Pamphylia, Pisidia, and Lycaonia (Acts 13 and 14), afterwards travelling through Syria and Cilicia, Phrygia, Galatia, Mysia, Troas, and thence called over to Macedonia, and so into Europe, Acts 15 and 16. Then we find him very busy at Thessalonica, Berea, Athens, Corinth, Ephesus, and the parts adjacent. Those that know the extent and distance of these countries will conclude Paul an active man, rejoicing as a strong man to run a race. Illyricum is the country now called Sclavonia, bordering upon Hungary. Some take it for the same with Bulgaria; others for the lower Pannonia: however, it was a great way from Jerusalem. Now it might be suspected that if Paul undertook so much work, surely he did it by the halves. "No," says he, "I have fully preached the Gospel of Christ - have given them a full account of the truth and terms of the gospel, have not shunned to declare the whole counsel of God (Act 20:27), have kept back nothing that was necessary for them to know." Filled the gospel, so the word is; peplērōkenai to euangelion, filled it as the net is filled with fishes in a large draught; or filled the gospel, that is, filled them with the gospel. Such a change does the gospel make that, when it comes in power to any place, it fills the place. Other knowledge is airy, and leaves souls empty, but he knowledge of the gospel is filling.

2. He preached in places that had not heard the gospel before, Rom 15:20, Rom 15:21. He broke up the fallow ground, laid the first stone in many places, and introduced Christianity where nothing had reigned for many ages but idolatry and witchcraft, and all sorts of diabolism. Paul broke the ice, and therefore must needs meet with the more difficulties and discouragements in his work. Those who preached in Judea had upon this account a much easier task than Paul, who was the apostle of the Gentiles; for they entered into the labours of others, Joh 4:38. Paul, being a hardy man, was called out to the hardest work; there were many instructors, but Paul was the great father - many that watered, but Paul was the great planter. Well, he was a bold man that made the first attack upon the palace of the strong man armed in the Gentile world, that first assaulted Satan's interest there, and Paul was that man who ventured the first onset in many places, and suffered greatly for it. He mentions this as a proof of his apostleship; for the office of the apostles was especially to bring in those that were without, and to lay the foundations of the new Jerusalem; see Rev 21:14. Not but that Paul preached in many places where others had been at work before him; but he principally and mainly laid himself out for the good of those that sat in darkness. He was in care not to build upon another man's foundation, lest he should thereby disprove his apostleship, and give occasion to those who sought occasion to reflect upon him. He quotes a scripture for this out of Isa 52:15, To whom he was not spoken of, they shall see. That which had not been told them, shall they see; so the prophet has it, much to the same purport. This made the success of Paul's preaching the more remarkable. The transition from darkness to light is more sensible than the after-growth and increase of that light. And commonly the greatest success of the gospel is at its first coming to a place; afterwards people become sermon-proof.

II. The great and wonderful success that he had in his work: It was effectual to make the Gentiles obedient. The design of the gospel is to bring people to be obedient; it is not only a truth to be believed, but a law to be obeyed. This Paul aimed at in all his travels; not his own wealth and honour (if he had, he had sadly missed his aim), but the conversion and salvation of souls: this his heart was upon, and for this he travailed in birth again. Now how was this great work wrought? 1. Christ was the principal agent. He does not say, "which I worked," but "which Christ wrought by me," Rom 15:18. Whatever good we do, it is not we, but Christ by us, that does it; the work is his, the strength his; he is all in all, he works all our works, Phi 2:13; Isa 26:12. Paul takes all occasions to own this, that the whole praise might be transmitted to Christ. 2. Paul was a very active instrument: By word and deed, that is, by his preaching, and by the miracles he wrought to confirm his doctrine; or his preaching and his living. Those ministers are likely to win souls that preach both by word and deed, by their conversation showing forth the power of the truths they preach. This is according to Christ's example, who began both to do and teach, Act 1:1. - Through mighty signs and wonders: en dunamei sēmeiōn - by the power, or in the strength, of signs and wonders. These made the preaching of the word so effectual, being the appointed means of conviction, and the divine seal affixed to the gospel-charter, Mar 16:17, Mar 16:18. 3. The power of the Spirit of God made this effectual, and crowned all with the desired success, Rom 15:19. (1.) The power of the Spirit in Paul, as in the other apostles, for the working of those miracles. Miracles were wrought by the power of the Holy Ghost (Act 1:8), therefore reproaching the miracles is called the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost. Or, (2.) The power of the Spirit in the hearts of those to whom the word was preached, and who saw the miracles, making these means effectual to some and not to others. It is the Spirit's operation that makes the difference. Paul himself, as great a preacher as he was, with all his might signs and wonders, could not make one soul obedient further than the power of the Spirit of God accompanied his labours. It was the Spirit of the Lord of hosts that made those great mountains plain before this Zerubbabel. This is an encouragement to faithful ministers, who labour under the sense of great weakness and infirmity, that it is all one to the blessed Spirit to work by many, or by those that have on power. The same almighty Spirit that wrought with Paul often perfects strength in weakness, and ordains praise out of the mouths of babes and sucklings. This success which he had in preaching is that which he here rejoices in; for the converted nations were his joy and crown of rejoicing: and he tells them of it, not only that they might rejoice with him, but that they might be the more ready to receive the truths which he had written to them, and to own him whom Christ had thus signally owned.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

I have therefore whereof I may glory--or (adding the article, as the reading seems to be), "I have my glorying."

through--"in"

Christ Jesus in those things which pertain to God--the things of the ministry committed to me of God.

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 17. I here therefore whereof I may glory] Being sent of God on this most honourable and important errand, I have matter of great exultation, not only in the honour which he has conferred upon me, but in the great success with which he has crowned my ministry.

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

17. I have then, etc. After having in general commended his own calling, that the Romans might know that he was a true and undoubted apostle of Christ, he now adds testimonies, by which he proved that he had not only taken upon him the apostolic office conferred on him by God’s appointment, but that he had also eminently adorned it. He at the same time records the fidelity which he had exhibited in discharging his office. It is indeed to little purpose that we are appointed, except we act agreeably to our calling and fulfill our office. He did not make this declaration from a desire to attain glow, but because nothing was to be omitted which might procure favor and authority to his doctrine among the Romans. In God then, not in himself, did he glory; for he had nothing else in view but that the whole praise should redound to God.

And that he speaks only negatively, it is indeed an evidence of his modesty, but it availed also to gain credit to what he was proceeding to announce, as though he said, “The truth itself affords me such cause for glowing, that I have no need to seek false praises, or those of another, I am content with such as are true.” It may be also that he intended to obviate the unfavorable reports which he knew were everywhere scattered by the malevolent, he therefore mentioned beforehand that he would not speak but of things well known.

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.

(17) This is really the title on which I rest my claim. I can boast of a specially sacred office and ministry, given to me by Christ, and not merely of my own devising. The sphere of this office is a religious sphere, it relates to “the things pertaining to God.”

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

17. I have therefore, &c.] Lit., with the best reading, I have therefore my exultation in Christ Jesus as to things God-ward. The words “I have” are slightly emphatic, indicating the reality of his commission, labours, and success; and so the reality of his right to speak as a Teacher to the Roman Christians.

glory] He exults in the “grace given to him,” (Rom_15:15-16), and in its results (Rom_15:19).

through] Lit., and better, in. It is as in union with Christ that he labours, and so his exultation is “in Christ.”

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 will not dare to speak of any of those things,.... He suggests that the false teachers did speak of things which were not done by them at all, and much less were what Christ had done by them; and signifies that he was a conscientious man, and could speak nothing but what was truth; his conscience would not suffer him, nor could he allow himself to make mention of anything, that was not done by him, as if it was; nor of anything that was done by himself, nor of anything that was done, as if it was done by himself, but as it was wrought by Christ; nor had he any need to speak of any other things which he had wrought himself, as he could not of what he had not wrought at all; or, as he says,

which Christ hath not wrought by me: signifying that what he had wrought, and which he could with good conscience speak of to the honour of Christ, and the glory of his grace, were not wrought by himself, but what Christ wrought by him; he was only the instrument, Christ was the efficient cause: as a Christian, it was not he that lived, but Christ lived in him; as a minister, it was not he that spoke, but Christ spoke in him; nor was it he that laboured, but the grace of Christ that was with him; much less was it he that converted souls, but Christ did it by him:

to make the Gentiles obedient; the nations of the world, who had been brought up in blindness and ignorance of God, in rebellion and disobedience to him. The Gospel was sent among them, and was blessed unto them, to make them, of disobedient, obedient ones; not to men, but to God; not to magistrates and ministers, though they were taught to be so to both, but to Christ; to him as a priest, by being made willing to be saved by him, and him only, renouncing their own works, and disclaiming all other ways of salvation; and to submit to his righteousness for their justification before God, and acceptance with him; and to deal with his precious blood for pardon and cleansing; to rely on his sacrifice for the atonement of their sins, and to make use of him as the new and living way to the Father, as their one and only mediator, advocate, and intercessor; and to him as a prophet, to the faith of the Gospel, and the doctrines of it; not barely by hearing it, and notionally assenting to it, but by embracing it heartily, and professing it publicly and sincerely; and to him as a King, by owning him as such, and as theirs; and by subjecting to his ordinances, and obeying his commands in faith and fear, and from love to him: the means whereby these persons were brought to the obedience of Christ, and of faith, are

by word and deed; or "deeds", as the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Ethiopic versions read: by the former is meant, the word of the Gospel and the preaching of it, being sent unto them, and coming with power, and not as the word of man, but as the word of God; and by the latter, either the labour of the apostle, the pains he took, the hardships he endured, in ministering: the Gospel to them; or his agreeable life and conversation, which were a means of recommending the word, and of engaging an attention to it; or rather the miraculous works and mighty deeds which were wrought by the apostle, in confirmation of the doctrine he preached, as it seems to be explained in Rom 15:19.

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

17 I have therefore whereof I may glory through Jesus Christ in those things which pertain to God.

Ver. 17. I have therefore, &c.] So have all God’s faithful ministers at this day against the contempts and contumelies cast upon them by the mad world, ever beside itself in point of salvation. There is a pamphlet lately published that sticks not to make that sacred and tremendous function of the ministry to be as mere an imposture, as very a mystery of iniquity, as arrant a fraud, as the Papacy itself. (The Compas. Samaritan.)

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.

I have therefore ... - I have cause of glorying. I have cause of rejoicing that God has made me a minister to the Gentiles, and that he has given me such success among them. The ground of this he states in Rom 15:18-22.

Glory - Of “boasting” καύχησιν kauchēsin, the word usually rendered “boasting”); Jam 4:16; Rom 3:27; 2Co 7:14; 2Co 8:24; 2Co 9:3-4; 2Co 10:15; 2Co 11:10, 2Co 11:17. It means also “praise, thanksgiving,” and “joy;” 1Co 15:31; 2Co 1:12; 2Co 7:4; 2Co 8:24; 1Th 2:19. This is its meaning here, that the apostle had great cause of “rejoicing” or “praise” that he had been so highly honored in the appointment to this office, and in his success in it.

Through Jesus Christ - By the assistance of Jesus Christ; ascribing his success among the Gentiles to the aid which Jesus Christ had rendered him.

In those things which pertain to God - Compare Heb 5:1. The things of religion; the things which God has commanded, and which pertain to his honor and glory. They were not things which pertained to “Paul,” but to “God:” not worked by Paul, but by Jesus Christ; yet he might rejoice that he had been the means of diffusing so far those blessings. The success of a minister is not for “his own” praises, but for the honor of God; not by his skill or power, but by the aid of Jesus Christ; yet he may rejoice that “through” him such blessings are conferred upon people.

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

q.d. Having received this grace of apostleship, anti having had great success in my labours, multitudes being converted by my ministry: I have whereof to glory, or, I have matter of glorying and rejoicing. But then he adds, that this glorying of his was not in himself, but in and

through Jesus Christ, by whose grace he did what he did: see 1Co 15:10. And also, that it was not in any thing that concerned himself, but in things pertaining to God, which concerned his worship and service, and wherein his ministry consisted. In the foregoing verse he described his apostleship in terms that were borrowed from the Levitical priesthood: and here, contriving the same metaphor, he calleth the execution of his function, a performing of things pertaining to God. which is that for which the priests of old were ordained, Heb 5:1.

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

17. I may glory—Notwithstanding his denunciation of all boasting in the argument of the epistle, yet through Christ, St. Paul claims the right to boast, and to boast of what he had accomplished, yet claiming that Christ had wrought by him.

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

I have therefore whereof I may glory through (rather, I have my boasting in) Christ Jesus in the things that pertain unto God (ta pron the same phrase as is used in Heb_5:1 with reference to priestly service). St. Paul"s purpose in this and the four following verses is to allege proof of his being a true apostle with a right to speak with authority to the Gentiles. It is evident, he says, from the extent and success of my apostolic labours, and the power of God that has accompanied them. So also, still more earnestly and at length, in 2Co 11 and 2Co 12. As to his reason for frequently thus insisting on his true apostleship, and for asserting it in writing to the Romans, see note on Rom_1:1.

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

I have whereof to glory through Jesus Christ - All my glorying is in and through him.

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

Paul’s praise of his apostleship:

v. 17. I have, therefore, whereof I may glory through Jesus Christ in those things which pertain to God.

v. 18. For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ hath not wrought by me to make the Gentiles obedient by word and deed,

v. 19. through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and round about unto Illyricum I have fully preached the Gospel of Christ.

v. 20. Yea, so have I strived to preach the Gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man’s foundation;

v. 21. but as it is written, To whom he was not spoken of, they shall see, and they that have not heard shall understand.

The apostle is anxious to have his readers understand just what this gift of his apostleship includes, and why it was incumbent upon him to write so boldly in both instruction and exhortation: I have, then, glorying in Christ Jesus, namely, in that which pertains to God. As an apostle to the Gentiles, to whom the Gospel of Jesus Christ has been entrusted, he has reason to boast and to be proud of his work for God, of the call which was given him by God. At the same time he is conscious always that his boasting is in Christ Jesus, is done on account of His grace, and not on account of his personal ability or worthiness for the office. Of what he is proud and in what way, he states very plainly: For I shall not dare to speak anything of those things which Christ did not effect through me for the obedience of the Gentiles by word and deed, in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Spirit of God, so that I from Jerusalem and round about unto Illyricum have fulfilled, completed, fully preached, the Gospel, vv. 18-19. The purpose of Christ’s calling has been realized; he has succeeded in doing much for the obedience of the Gentiles, to establish the obedience of faith among the Gentiles. This he has effected by word and deed, mainly through his preaching, but also through the example of his life. Success has come to him through signs and wonders, miracles of various kinds which he performed and which served to substantiate his preaching. But mainly he ascribes the effect of his labors to the power of the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of God. The Holy Ghost is in the Word of the Gospel and works faith, the obedience of the Gospel, through this very Word. Paul has done successful work through all the countries from Jerusalem to Illyricum. In Jerusalem he had received the command to be God’s messenger to the heathen, Act 22:21. He had not hesitated to testify of Christ in the very city which had known him as a blasphemer, Act 9:20 ff. And then he had visited all the countries which lie between Jerusalem and Illyricum, forming a sort of semicircle around the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea. Illyricum, the country west of Macedonia, Paul had but recently visited, on his third missionary journey. In all these countries Paul has fulfilled the Gospel of Jesus Christ, completed it, carried out its ministry to the end, preached the full counsel of God for the salvation of men, bringing about an understanding and an acceptance of the Gospel by his work as apostle, Col 1:25. That is the business, the aim of the Gospel with regard to all people of the earth, namely, that it be made known and accepted everywhere; and this work of the Gospel Paul has carried out. And yet, in spite of the success which has attended his efforts, Paul would not dare to take credit and to speak of something in a boasting manner unless Christ had accomplished it through him; the real effectiveness and efficiency of Gospel preaching he properly ascribes to Christ alone. Like every preacher of the Gospel, Paul was an organ, an instrument, of Christ and of His Spirit.

In his restless activity in mission-work Paul has another factor in mind, namely, to work only where the Gospel was as yet unknown, so that the evidence of his apostleship might be undeniable: But so I have made it a point of honor to preach the Gospel not where the name of Christ was called upon, in order that I might not build upon the foundation of another man, v. 20. Paul was sensitive on this point, not in a spirit of rivalry, but in his ambition to work for the Lord: he had never sought to preach Christ where Christianity had already been established, he had never interfered with another man’s work, had never built upon a foundation which he had not himself laid; he was willing to take the blame for any mistakes, just as he gave all honor to Christ. This maxim of his work he found in Isa 52:15: The people to whom nothing was proclaimed of Him, they shall see, and they that have heard nothing shall understand. The prophet had plainly said that the kings and nations of the earth would, at the time of the Messiah’s coming, hear and see something which had not penetrated to them before, namely, the glorious news of the Servant of God. Therefore Paul brought the Gospel to such places and countries where it had been unknown before, although this principle did not hinder him from writing to, and communicating with, such congregations as had not been founded by him, that of Rome itself being an example. His office as apostle of the Gentiles made this obligatory.

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

I have therefore my glorying in Christ Jesus in things pertaining to God . ["Therefore" refers back to verse 15. I have therefore a right to address you boldly in things pertaining to God, for I am not contemptible in such matters, being able to glory, not in myself, but in reference to Christ Jesus in that I am called by him to be his apostle. My boldness in glorying, therefore, is not in myself, but in my apostleship and its resultant spiritual duties and powers. Compare 2Co_12:1-13 ; Col_1:25-29 ]

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.

17–21. I have therefore whereof I may glory. Because of his wonderfully successful ministry among the Gentiles. Yet he glories not in himself, but only through Jesus Christ. See 1 Cor. 15:31. In those things which pertain to God. In his ministry as an apostle of Christ.

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.

For I will not dare to speak of anything ... These are things done by word and action, by the power of signs and wonders, and by the power of the Holy Spirit

You can translate this double negative in a positive form. Here "these are things" refers to what Christ has accomplished through Paul. AT: "For the sake of the obedience of the Gentiles, I will only speak of what Christ has accomplished through me in my words and actions and by the power of signs and wonders through the power of the Holy Spirit" (See: Double Negatives and Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

signs and wonders

These two words mean basically the same thing and refer to various kinds of miracles. (See: Doublet)

so that from Jerusalem, and round about as far as Illyricum

This is from the city of Jerusalem as far as the province of Illyricum, a region close to Italy.

translationWords

Jesus

obey

Gentile

power

miracle

Holy Spirit

Jerusalem

good news

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

17. ἔχω οὖν. οὖν refers to the preceding statement of his mission—being in this relation to Christ Jesus and engaged on this work for Him, I am bold beyond what I should be if I were acting on my own account; shows how this statement justifies τολμ. ἔγραψα.

ἔχω καύχησιν = καυχῶμαι, emphasising the durative action.

ἐν Χρ. Ἰ. In my union with and service of Christ Jesus.

τὰ πρὸς τὸν θεόν. As regards my relation to GOD: accus. of ref. Blass, p. 94; cf. Heb 2:17.

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.

17-22.] The Apostle boasts of the extent and result of his apostolic mission among the Gentiles, and that in places where none had preached before him. I have therefore (consequent on the grace and ministry just mentioned) my boasting (i.e. ‘I venture to boast:’ not = ἔχω καύχημα, ‘I have whereof I may glory,’ as E. V., but, as De W., = ἔχω καυχᾶσθαι, ‘I can, or dare, boast’) in Christ Jesus (there is no stress on ἐν χρ. Ἰης.,—it merely qualifies τὴν καύχησιν as no vain glorying, but grounded in, consistent with, springing from, his relation and subserviency to Christ) of (concerning) matters relating to God (my above-named sacerdotal office and ministry).

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

17. ἔχω οὖν τὴν καύχησιν. The τήν should be omitted (see below). ‘I have therefore my proper pride, and a feeling of confidence in my position, which arises from the fact that I am a servant of Christ, and a priest of the Gospel of God.’ St. Paul is defending his assumption of authority, and he does so on two grounds: (1) His Apostolic mission, διὰ τὴν χάριν τὴν δοθεῖσάν μοι, as proved by his successful labours (vv. 18-20); (2) the sphere of his labours, the Gentile world, more especially that portion of it in which the Gospel had not been officially preached. The emphasis therefore is on ἐν Χρ. Ἰ., and τὰ πρὸς τὸν θεόν. With καύχησιν cf. 3:27, 1Co 15:31; with the whole verse, 2Co 10:13 ἡμεῖς δὲ οὐχὶ εἰς τὰ ἄμετρα καυχησόμεθα … 17 ὁ δὲ καυχώμενος ἐν Κυρίῳ καυχάσθω.

The RV. has not improved the text by adding τήν before καύχησιν. The combination א A L P, Boh., Arm., Chrys., Cyr., Theodrt. is stronger than that of B D E F G in this Epistle. C seems uncertain.

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

Whereof I may glory [την καυχησιν] . Rather, as Rev., my glorying, denoting the act. The ground of glorying would be kauchma as in ch. 4 2; Gal 6:4, etc.

Those things which pertain to God [τα προς τον θεον] . A technical phrase in Jewish liturgical language to denote the functions of worship (Heb 2:17; Heb 5:1). According with the sacerdotal ideas of the previous verse.

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