But I ask, didn’t Israel know? First Moses says, “I will provoke you to jealousy with that which is no nation. I will make you angry with a nation void of understanding.”
Parallel Translations
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But I ask, didn’t Israel know? First Moses says, “I will provoke you to jealousy with that which is no nation. I will make you angry with a nation void of understanding.”
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But I demaunde whether Israel dyd knowe or not? Fyrst Moses sayth: I will provoke you for to envy by the that are no people and by a folisshe nacion I will anger you.
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But I demaund, Did not Israel knowe God? First Moses sayth, I will prouoke you to enuie by a nation that is not my nation, and by a foolish nation I will anger you.
Cross-references (19)
Passages linked to Romans 10:19 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Deuteronomy 32:21 They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God. They have provoked me to anger with their vanities. I will move them to jealousy with those who are not a people. I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.
- Romans 11:11 I ask then, did they stumble that they might fall? May it never be! But by their fall salvation has come to the Gentiles, to provoke them to jealousy.
- Romans 11:14 if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh, and may save some of them.
- Titus 3:3 For we were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.
- 1 Peter 2:10 In the past, you were not a people, but now are God’s people, who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.
- Psalms 115:5-8 They have mouths, but they don’t speak. They have eyes, but they don’t see. They have ears, but they don’t hear. They have noses, but they don’t smell. They have hands, but they don’t feel. They have feet, but they don’t walk, neither do they speak through their throat. Those who make them will be like them; yes, everyone who trusts in them.
- Isaiah 44:18-20 They don’t know, neither do they consider: for he has shut their eyes, that they can’t see; and their hearts, that they can’t understand. No one thinks, neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say, “I have burned part of it in the fire. Yes, I have also baked bread on its coals. I have roasted meat and eaten it. Shall I make the rest of it into an abomination? Shall I bow down to a tree trunk?” He feeds on ashes. A deceived heart has turned him aside; and he can’t deliver his soul, nor say, “Isn’t there a lie in my right hand?”
- 1 Corinthians 1:12 Now I mean this, that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” “I follow Apollos,” “I follow Cephas,” and, “I follow Christ.”
- Jeremiah 10:8 But they are together brutish and foolish, instructed by idols! It is just wood.
- Jeremiah 10:14 Every man has become brutish and without knowledge. Every goldsmith is disappointed by his engraved image; for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.
- Hosea 2:23 I will sow her to me in the earth; and I will have mercy on her who had not obtained mercy; and I will tell those who were not my people, ‘You are my people;’ and they will say, ‘My God!’ ”
- Romans 1:21-22 Because knowing God, they didn’t glorify him as God, and didn’t give thanks, but became vain in their reasoning, and their senseless heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
- Romans 3:26 to demonstrate his righteousness at this present time; that he might himself be just, and the justifier of him who has faith in Jesus.
- Romans 10:18 But I say, didn’t they hear? Yes, most certainly, “Their sound went out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.”
- 1 Corinthians 7:29 But I say this, brothers: the time is short, that from now on, both those who have wives may be as though they had none;
- 1 Corinthians 10:19 What am I saying then? That a thing sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything?
- 1 Corinthians 11:22 What, don’t you have houses to eat and to drink in? Or do you despise God’s assembly and put them to shame who don’t have enough? What shall I tell you? Shall I praise you? In this I don’t praise you.
- 1 Corinthians 12:2 You know that when you were heathen, you were led away to those mute idols, however you might be led.
- 1 Corinthians 15:50 Now I say this, brothers, that flesh and blood can’t inherit God’s Kingdom; neither does the perishable inherit imperishable.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 19. But I say, has not Israel known? This…
19. But I say, has not Israel known? This objection of an opponent is taken from the comparison of the less with the greater. Paul had argued, that the Gentiles were not to be excluded from the knowledge of God, since he had from the beginning manifested himself to them, though only obscurely and through shadows, or had at least given them some knowledge of his truth. What then is to be said of Israel, who had been illuminated by a far different light of truth? for how comes it that aliens and the profane should run to the light manifested to them afar off, and that the holy race of Abraham should reject it when familiarly seen by them? For this distinction must be ever borne in mind, “What nation is so renowned, that it has gods coming nigh to it, as thy God at this day descends to thee?” It was not then without reason asked, why knowledge had not followed the doctrine of the law, with which Israel was favored.
First, Moses saith, etc. He proves by the testimony of Moses, that there was nothing inconsistent in God in preferring the Gentiles to the Jews. The passage is taken from that celebrated song, in which God, upbraiding the Jews with their perfidiousness, declares, that he would execute vengeance on them, and provoke them to jealousy by taking the Gentiles into covenant with himself, because they had departed to fictitious gods. “Ye have,” he says, “by despising and rejecting me, transferred my right and honor to idols: to avenge this wrong, I will also substitute the Gentiles in your place, and I will transfer to them what I have hitherto given to you.” Now this could not have been without repudiating the Jewish nation: for the emulation, which Moses mentions, arose from this, — that God formed for himself a nation from that which was not a nation, and raised up from nothing a new people, who were to occupy the place from which the Jews had been driven away, inasmuch as they had forsaken the true God and prostituted themselves to idols. For though, at the coming of Christ, the Jews were not gone astray to gross and external idolatry, they had yet no excuse, since they had profaned the whole worship of God by their inventions; yea, they at length denied God the Father, as revealed in Christ, his only-begotten Son, which was an extreme kind of impiety.
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Observe, that a foolish nation, and no nation, are the same; for without the hope of eternal life men have properly no existence. Besides, the beginning or origin of life is from the light of faith: hence spiritual existence flows from the new creation; and in this sense Paul calls the faithful the work of God, as they are regenerated by his Spirit, and renewed after his image. Now from the word foolish, we learn that all the wisdom of men, apart from the word of God, is mere vanity.
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.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain The defender and maintainer of the Jews’ cause goeth…
The defender and maintainer of the Jews’ cause goeth on still to ask, whether the Jews also knew not God which called them. Isaiah (saith the Apostle) denieth it: and witnesseth that the Gospel was translated from them to the Gentiles, because the Jews neglected it. And therewithall the Apostle teacheth, that that outward and universal calling, which is set forth by the creation of the world, sufficeth not to the knowledge of God: yea, and that the particular also which is by the word of God, is of itself of small or no efficacy, unless it be apprehended or laid hold on by faith, by the gift of God: otherwise by unbelief it is made unprofitable, and that by the only fault of man, who can pretend no ignorance.
He calleth all profane people, a nation that is no nation, that they are not said to live but to die, which are appointed for everlasting condemnation.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 19 But I say, Did not Israel know? First…
19 But I say, Did not Israel know? First Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you.
Ver. 19. Did not Israel know] sc. That the Gentiles were to be called? they were often told of it.
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.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Here he proves by three testimonies out of the…
Here he proves by three testimonies out of the Old Testament, that the Jews must needs have heard the sound of the gospel, together with the Gentiles; only they rejected it, when the other embraced it. And so he layeth the ground of what he was purposed to handle in the following chapter, concerning the receiving of the Gentiles, and the casting off, and after calling, of the Jews.
Did not Israel know; here something must be supplied to make up the sense neither God, or the gospel, or the righteousness of faith, or the conversion of the Gentiles. The Israelites could not well pretend ignorance, considering what Moses and Isaiah had said, in whom, or in whose writings, they were conversant.
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Moses saith; viz. in Deu 32:21. Still he follows the translation of the Seventy.
I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you; here God threateneth the Jews, that he would punish them with jealousy and anger, by preferring the Gentiles before them; at the sight whereof, their hearts should be sore vexed; to behold all their privileges taken from them, and given to a people whom they accounted most vile and despicable, to be no people in regard of them, to be dogs and beasts rather than men: see Act 13:45. Read the cited place in Deuteronomy Deu 32:21 and you will find that God speaks of this as a fit punishment upon the Jews for their idolatry. They had chosen to themselves such as were no gods; and therefore, to requite them, God would take to him such as were no people: they had chosen to themselves (as it were) another husband; and God, to be even with them, had chosen another wife.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain Did not Israel know, that is, of the preaching…
Did not Israel know, that is, of the preaching of the gospel to the Gentiles, and of their own infidelity in rejecting it? This they might have known both from the testimony of Moses and Esaias.
First, from Moses’ testimony, who says, I will provoke you (Jews refusing to believe) unto jealousy by them that are (yet) no people (of God); and by a foolish nation (so the Gentiles were accounted by the conceited Jews) I will anger you. Deu 32:21.
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When God preferred the Gentiles before the Jews, the hearts of the latter were vexed with jealousy and anger, to behold all their privileges taken from them, and given to the former, whom they accounted a people most vile and despicable.
The second testimony is that of Esaias, who the apostle says was very bold; that is, very plain and express, in foretelling God’s calling of the Gentiles and rejecting of the Jews: calling the Gentiles by his free grace, and seeking them that first sought him not; and casting off the Jews, who, after all his forbearance and long suffering, did continue obstinately to reject the offers of his grace and the tenders of his mercy.
Here note, 1. The holy courage of this evangelic prophet Isaiah, in the discharge of his office: with great boldness and freedom he foretells the calling of the Gentiles and casting off the Jews, although it cost him dear, even his life, being sawn asunder with a wooden saw, as some affirm. There ought to meet in the ministers and messengers of God both courage and impartiality; courage in fearing no faces, impartiality in sparing no crimes.
Note, 2. What little cause or reason the ministers of God have to sit down in despondency, after so many unwearied attempts made in vain to reclaim sinners from their wicked ways; when they consider the infinite patience of God towards them, who stretches forth his hands all the day long to a disobedient and gainsaying people; that is, patiently contends with their obstinacy and perverseness!
Lord! why should we, that are sinners ourselves, think much to bear with sinners? Let us rather imitate thy example in waiting upon them with the offers of grace and mercy, and follow them with our melting entreaties and passionate importunities, till we either overcome their obstinacy, or leave them totally inexcusable.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain But I say, did not Israel know? Some supply…
But I say, did not Israel know? Some supply the word "God", did not Israel know God? verily, they did; they knew the being and perfections of God, the unity of God, and the trinity of persons in the divine essence; they knew the will of God, and the right way of worshipping him; for they were favoured with a divine revelation; to them were committed the oracles of God, and to them belonged the giving of the "Gospel", did not Israel know the Gospel? yes, they did; they not only heard it, but knew it; not spiritually and experimentally, but nationally and speculatively, and, against the light and conviction of their own minds, obstinately rejected it with contempt: but I rather think this question refers to the calling of the Gentiles, and their own rejection; and the sense is, did not Israel know, that the Gentiles were to be called by the grace of God, and that they themselves were to be cast off? they did know this, at least something of it, though not so clearly as it is now revealed to the holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; but in some measure they could not but know it, since there were such strong hints of it in the writings of the Old Testament, some of which are hereafter produced:
first Moses saith; not "Moses the first", as if there was another, or a second Moses, but either Moses, who is the first of the inspired writers, and chief of the prophets; or rather this regards order of time, Moses in the first place says so and so, for other testimonies are after cited; the passage in Moses referred to, is Deu 32:21.
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I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you. The Gentiles are here designed by "them that are no people": who before God, and in his sight, as all nations are, were as a drop of the bucket, as the small dust of the balance: nay, even as nothing, yea, less than nothing and vanity: likewise they were no people of any account, of any name; they were mean and contemptible, neglected and overlooked by God himself, and treated with contempt by the Jews, his professing people: and besides, they were not as yet openly and visibly the people of God; they neither called upon his name, nor were they called by his name; he had not as yet taken from among them a people for his name: these are also meant by "the foolish nation"; Jarchi (m) says, the Cuthites, or Samaritans, are intended; who were neighbours to the Jews, and greatly hated by them: but it may more rightly be applied to all the Gentiles in general, who notwithstanding their large pretensions to natural, civil, and moral wisdom, yet being without a true knowledge of God, Christ, and the Gospel, were a foolish people; and in nothing more did their folly appear, than in their idolatry and superstition. Now the Lord threatened by these people to provoke the Jews to jealousy, and to anger them; and this was but just, and by way of retaliation; for since they provoked him to jealousy and anger, by worshipping strange gods, which plainly declared their want of faith in him, affection for him, and their departure from him; it was a righteous thing in him to provoke them to jealousy of him, as if he had no affection for them, who had been so long, in some sense, an husband to them all; and as about to cast them off; and to anger them, by sending his Gospel among the Gentiles, and calling them by his grace, and making them partakers of his special favours; whereby this prophecy had its full accomplishment: for though the Jews rejected and despised the Gospel themselves, yet nothing more provoked them than that it should be carried among the Gentiles; see Act 22:21. Now from these words of Moses, the Israelites must needs know, they could not but know that it was the will of God to call the Gentiles, and reject them.
(m) In Deut. xxxii. 21.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain But hath not Israel known - They might have…
But hath not Israel known - They might have known, even from Moses and Isaiah, that many of the gentiles would be received, and many of the Jews rejected. I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are not a nation - As they followed gods that were not gods, so he accepted in their stead a nation that was not a nation; that is, a nation that was not in covenant with God. A foolish nation - Such are all which know not God. Deut. xxxii, 21
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 19. But I say, Did not Israel know?]…
Verse 19. But I say, Did not Israel know?] You object to this preaching among the Gentiles; but is not this according to the positive declaration of God? He, foreseeing your unbelief and rebellion, said by Moses, De 32:21, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you. As you have provoked me to jealousy with worshipping those that are no gods, I will provoke you to jealousy by those which are no people. This most evidently refers to the calling or inviting of the Gentiles to partake of the benefits of the Gospel; and plainly predicts the envy and rage which would be excited in the Jews, in consequence of those offers of mercy made to the Gentiles.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain But I say ... - Still further to meet…
But I say ... - Still further to meet the objection, he shows that the doctrine which he was maintaining was actually taught in the Old Testament.
Did not Israel know? - Did not the Jews understand. Is it not recorded in their books, etc. that they had full opportunity to be acquainted with this truth? This question is an emphatic way of affirming that they did know. But Paul does not here state what it was that they knew. That is to be gathered from what he proceeds to say. From that it appears that he referred to the fact that the gospel was to be preached to the Gentiles, and that the Jews were to be cast off. This doctrine followed from what he had already maintained in Rom 10:12-13, that there was no difference in regard to the terms of salvation, and that the Jew had no particular privileges. If so, then the barrier was broken down; and if the Jews did not believe in Jesus Christ, they must be rejected. Against this was the objection in Rom 10:14-15, that they could not believe; that they had not heard; and that a preacher had not been sent to them. If, now, the apostle could show that it was an ancient doctrine of the Jewish prophets that the Gentiles should believe, and that the Jews would not believe, the whole force of the objection would vanish. Accordingly he proceeds to show that this doctrine was distinctly taught in the Old Testament.
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First - First in order; as we say, in the first place.
I will provoke you - These words are taken from Deu 32:21. In that place the declaration refers to the idolatrous and wicked conduct of the Jews. God says that they had provoked him, or excited his indignation, by worshipping what was not God, that is, by idols; and he, in turn, would excite their envy and indignation by showing favors to those who were not regarded as a people; that is, to the Gentiles. They had shown favor, or affection, for what was not God, and by so doing had provoked him to anger; and he also would show favor to those whom they regarded as no people, and would thus excite their anger. Thus, he would illustrate the great principle of his government in 2Sa 22:26-27, “With the merciful thou wilt show thyself merciful; with the pure, thou wilt show thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt show thyself unsavory,” that is, froward. Psa 18:26. In this passage the great doctrine which Paul was defending is abundantly established - that the Gentiles were to be brought into the favor of God; and the cause also is suggested to be the obstinacy and rebellion of the Jews. It is not clear that Moses had particularly in view the times of the gospel; but he affirms a great principle which is applicable to those times - that if the Jews should be rebellious, and prove themselves unworthy of his favor, that favor would be withdrawn, and conferred on other nations. The effect of this would be, of course, to excite their indignation. This principle the apostle applies to his own times; and affirms that it ought to have been understood by the Jews themselves.
That are no people - That is, those whom you regard as unworthy the name of a people. Those who have no government, laws, or regular organization; who wander in tribes and clans, and who are under no settled form of society. This was the case with most barbarians; and the Jews, evidently regarded all ancient nations in this light, as unworthy the name of a people.
A foolish nation - The word “fool” means one void of understanding. But it also means one who is wicked, or idolatrous; one who contemns God. Psa 14:1, “the fool hath said in his heart, there is no God.” Pro 1:7, “fools despise wisdom and instruction.” Here it means a nation who had no understanding of the true God ἀσυνέτῳ asunetō.
I will anger - My bestowing favors on them will excite your anger. We may remark here,
That God is a sovereign, and has a right to bestow his favors on whom he pleases.
(2)That when people abuse his mercies, become proud, or cold, or dead in his service, he often takes away their privileges, and bestows them on others.
(3)That the effect of his sovereignty is to excite people to anger.
Proud and wicked people are always enraged that he bestows his favors on others; and the effect of his sovereign dealings is, to provoke to anger the very people who by their sins have rejected his mercy. Hence, there is no doctrine that proud man hates so cordially as he does the doctrine of divine sovereignty; and none that will so much test the character of the wicked.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain A people whom you have always despised, as not…
A people whom you have always despised, as not being worthy to be numbered amongst mankind, I will make my beloved people. I will enrich with my graces those whom you have contemned; I will give them the grace of adoption, thus to stir you up to jealousy and rage. And in effect, what greater rage ever was there, than that of the Jews against the converted Gentiles? In persecution, the Jews were always most busy. Thus were the Jews plainly informed of the truth of the gospel, by the Gentiles converted before their face. (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).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain But I say, Did not Israel know?--know, from their…
But I say, Did not Israel know?--know, from their own Scriptures, of God's intention to bring in the Gentiles?
First--that is First in the prophetic line [DE WETTE].
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Moses saith, &c.--"I will provoke you to jealousy ('against') [them that are] not a nation, and against a nation without understanding will I anger you" (Deu 32:21). In this verse God warns His ancient people that because they had (that is, in aftertimes would) moved Him to jealousy with their "no-gods," and provoked Him to anger with their vanities, He in requital would move them to jealousy by receiving into His favor a "no-people," and provoke them to anger by adopting a nation void of understanding.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 19. Israel know—Know is parallel to heard in Rom_10:18.…
19. Israel know—Know is parallel to heard in Rom_10:18. St. Paul uses the word to indicate that Israel did know what they ignored in Rom_10:3. Know is evidently equivalent to heard; for St. Paul shows that they knew by hearing it from the predictions of the prophets. They knew because they heard just what they ignored in Rom_10:3; namely, that they were in danger of refusing the righteousness of God, of being supplanted by the Gentiles, and having a record of gainsaying left against them, (19-21.)
First Moses—Earliest in the line of warning prophets. The quotation is from Deu_32:21, according to the Septuagint. Indisputably the no people were the Gentiles, and the Jews were at the present moment exhibiting to Paul the very jealousy and anger predicted.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 19. But I say, &c.] Another objection is anticipated…
19. But I say, &c.] Another objection is anticipated and met, (as indeed it has been already met, less explicitly,) viz., that Israel had no prophetic warning of the Gentiles’ enlightenment and their own unbelief.
know?] i.e. “know the prospect” of the spread of Messiah’s Gospel, and their own rejection of it.
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Moses saith] Deu_32:21; verbatim with LXX. and Heb., except that “you” is substituted for “them,” probably to make the reference unmistakable. The words occur in the sublime prophetic Song of Moses, so full of the mysterious future of both judgment and mercy for Israel. The point of the sentence (see the whole of the verse in Deut.) clearly is that the God of Israel would adopt other nations as Israel had adopted other gods.—The clause is more strictly rendered Moses is the first to say. But the difference is not important.
no people … a foolish nation] i.e., probably, in the opinion of Israel. Israel had taken up deities despised of God; He would take up a people despised of Israel. At the same time the description would be true of the Gentiles in respect of their lack of previous privilege and revelation.
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.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (19) Did not Israel know that the preaching of…
(19) Did not Israel know that the preaching of the gospel would be thus universal, and pass over from them to the Gentiles? Yes, certainly, for Moses had warned them of this.
First.—In the order of time and of Scripture.
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I will provoke you.—In requital for the idolatries of the Jews, Moses prophesied that God would bestow his favour on a Gentile nation, and so provoke their jealousy; and the Apostle sees the fulfilment of this in his own day.
No people . . . a foolish nation.—Terms used by the Jews of their Gentile neighbours. They were “no people,” because they did not stand in the same recognised relation to God. They were “a foolish nation,” because they had not received the same special revelation, but, on the contrary, worshipped stocks and stones.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain But I say, Did not Israel know? (see explanation…
But I say, Did not Israel know? (see explanation given above). First, Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no nation; by a foolish nation I will anger you. It may be observed that in the Greek we have the same word, eynei , in both classes of the sentence, though, in order to bring out the supposed meaning in the first clause, it is there, in the Authorized Version, rendered "people," and in the second, "nation." The passage occurs in the song attributed to Moses in Deu_32:21, and expresses the idea of God, in consequence of the defaults of Israel, favouring those who were so far, as it were, no nation at all, so as to provoke Israel to jealousy. It is therefore aptly cited as an intimation in the Pentateuch itself of the calling of the Gentiles in place of unbelieving Israel. The idea involved in "provoke you to jealousy in the sense of moving to emulation, so that Israel itself as a nation might, through the calling of the Gentiles, in the end be saved is pursued, as will be seen, in the chapter that follows.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 19–21. Did not Israel know? Why, the Jew is…
19–21. Did not Israel know? Why, the Jew is supposed to object, if the gospel has been extended so widely, is the greater portion of Israel in ignorance that the Gentiles were to be saved? Paul replies that Israel should have known: (1) Moses foretells the call of another people to the favor of God.
(2)
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.
William B. Godbey 1900 · Public Domain 19-21. Here Paul beautifully alludes to God’s merciful call…
19-21. Here Paul beautifully alludes to God’s merciful call of the Gentiles, simultaneously bewailing the stupidity and perversity of the Jews.
“I was found unto those who sought not after me.” This is a vivid allusion to the call of the Gentiles, to them a universal surprise. Not only is this true of the Gentile world, but millions of individuals have been saved speedily, and to their own unutterable surprise, when they went seeking curiosity and fun, suddenly caught in the lasso of the Holy Ghost and wonderfully saved. The proud, haughty ‘squire in West Virginia took his wife and daughter and went to a camp-meeting. The afternoon is wearing away, he and his wife are in the carriage homeward bound. The daughter lingers unseen in the crowd till their patience flickers, and the mother goes to hunt her up and bring her. Finding the proud, giddy girl all torn to pieces, prostrate in the straw and crying for mercy, and, undertaking to get her away, she too is thunderstruck, falling in the straw. The haughty ‘squire, his patience all ebbed away, raging mad, with bold threats, rushes into the red-hot altar to pull away his wife and daughter and take them home. Meanwhile a strange weakness pervades his entire body so he can do nothing, and thinks only of personal escape. Running ten steps, he falls prostrate on the ground, is carried back to the altar and laid down with his wife and daughter to spend the ensuing night in mutual agony, crying to God for the salvation which, with the glorious day-dawn, breaks in on them with a heavenly sunburst, so, to their unutterable surprise, they all mount the carriage and go home, shouting happy in the kingdom of God.
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Twenty-seven years ago a very intelligent wicked man came to my meeting, cursing me and making fun of what he called my “converting machine.”
That man got wonderfully saved and turned preacher. Oh, the infinite mercy of God in thus surprising millions with the salvation which they never sought till He caught them with the lasso of the thunderbolt of conviction.
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain But I say [Again I ask a question to…
But I say [Again I ask a question to give my Jewish objector the benefit of every loophole of escape. See Rom_10:18 ], Did Israel not know? [This question also requires a negative answer, and thus, being like the preceding question, the negative of a negative, it amounts to a strong affirmative. Assuredly Israel knew. But knew what? Why, the fact just asserted, to wit, that the gospel should sound out to all, both Jew and Gentile, as freely as light and sunshine, according to the world-wide commission or command of Christ. Did this fact take Israel by surprise? Was the issuing of a world-wide commission a thing untaught in their Scriptures, allowing them to plead ignorance of it? Had Paul cited the promise to Abraham, "In thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed" ( Gen_12:3 ), then the Jew would have claimed that this promise must be fulfilled by their all becoming Jews ( Act_15:1 ). But he begins with Moses, the first writer of Scripture, and cites a passage which precludes the idea of blessing by absorption or amalgamation, for it is plainly blessing in rivalry and opposition.] First Moses saith ["First in the prophetic line" (De Wette). First in point of time and place, as Isaiah was near the last. His two citations therefore suggest the entire trend of Scripture, from beginning to end. Compare the "said before" of Rom_9:29 ], I will provoke you to jealousy with that which is no nation, With a nation void of understanding will I anger you . [The passage cited is Deu_32:21 . The Jews had moved God to jealousy by their "no-gods" (idols), and had provoked his to anger by their vanities; he therefore prophetically announces that he will provoke them to like jealousy and anger by adopting in their stead a "no-people," a foolish nation. A "no-people" describes a nation which has no covenant relation with God, and hence is not recognized as his people. A "foolish nation" describes one made wise by no revelation. The weight of the citation was greatly increased by the name of Moses attached to it, and by the remoteness of the period when uttered. Many utterances of the prophets sounded harsh and hostile, but no one had ever doubted the loyal friendship of Moses to Israel; yet Moses said this even in his day.]
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.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Moreover, I say, "Did Israel not know?"
Moreover, I say, "Did Israel not know?"
Paul uses a question for emphasis. The word "Israel" is a metonym for the people who lived in the nation of Israel. AT: "Again I tell you the people of Israel did know the message" (See: Rhetorical Question and Metonymy)
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First Moses says, "I will provoke you ... I will stir you up
This means that Moses wrote down what God said. "I" refers to God, and "you" refers to the Israelites. AT: "First Moses says that God will provoke you ... God will stir you up" (See: Forms of You and Direct and Indirect Quotations)
by what is not a nation
"by those you do not consider to be a real nation" or "by people who do not belong to any nation"
By means of a nation without understanding
Here "without understanding" means that the people do not know God. AT: "By a nation with people who do not know me or my commands" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
I will stir you up to anger
"I will make you angry" or "I will cause you to become angry"
you
This refers to the nation of Israel. (See: Forms of You)
translationWords
Israel
Moses
jealous
nation
anger
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 10:19 rouse your jealousy . . . provoke your…
10:19 rouse your jealousy . . . provoke your anger: This quotation from Deut 32:21 concerns God’s punishment of Israel for their idolatry. In Paul’s day, Israel remained guilty of idolatry because it put the law in place of God himself. God’s punishment involved using the Gentiles, people who are not even a nation, to make Israel jealous and angry (Rom 11:12-32 elaborates on this theme).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.