who are Israelites; whose is the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service, and the promises;
Parallel Translations
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who are Israelites; whose is the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service, and the promises;
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which are the Israelites. To whom pertayneth the adopcion and the glorie and the covenauntes and the law that was geven and the service of God and the promyses:
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Which are the Israelites, to whome perteineth the adoption, and the glory, and the Couenants, and the giuing of the Lawe, and the seruice of God, and the promises.
Cross-references (55)
Passages linked to Romans 9:4 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Ephesians 2:12 that you were at that time separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of the promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
- Psalms 147:19 He shows his word to Jacob, his statutes and his ordinances to Israel.
- Genesis 17:2 I will make my covenant between me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.”
- Romans 9:6 But it is not as though the word of God has come to nothing. For they are not all Israel that are of Israel.
- Deuteronomy 7:6 For you are a holy people to Yahweh your God. Yahweh your God has chosen you to be a people for his own possession, above all peoples who are on the face of the earth.
- Acts 2:39 For the promise is to you, and to your children, and to all who are far off, even as many as the Lord our God will call to himself.”
- Exodus 4:22 You shall tell Pharaoh, ‘Yahweh says, Israel is my son, my firstborn,
- Hebrews 9:1 Now indeed even the first covenant had ordinances of divine service and an earthly sanctuary.
- 1 Kings 8:11 so that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud; for Yahweh’s glory filled Yahweh’s house.
- Psalms 89:3 “I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn to David, my servant,
- Acts 3:25-26 You are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘All the families of the earth will be blessed through your offspring.’ God, having raised up his servant Jesus, sent him to you first to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your wickedness.”
- Romans 8:15 For you didn’t receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”
- Hebrews 6:13-17 For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he could swear by no one greater, he swore by himself, saying, “Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you.” Thus, having patiently endured, he obtained the promise. For men indeed swear by a greater one, and in every dispute of theirs the oath is final for confirmation. In this way God, being determined to show more abundantly to the heirs of the promise the immutability of his counsel, interposed with an oath,
- Genesis 17:7 I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God to you and to your offspring after you.
- Deuteronomy 14:1 You are the children of Yahweh your God. You shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead.
- Jeremiah 31:33 “But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” says Yahweh: “I will put my law in their inward parts, and I will write it in their heart. I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
- Luke 1:69-75 and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David (as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets who have been from of old), salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us; to show mercy toward our fathers, to remember his holy covenant, the oath which he swore to Abraham our father, to grant to us that we, being delivered out of the hand of our enemies, should serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life.
- John 1:17 For the law was given through Moses. Grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.
- Hebrews 9:10 being only (with meats and drinks and various washings) fleshly ordinances, imposed until a time of reformation.
- Genesis 15:18 In that day Yahweh made a covenant with Abram, saying, “I have given this land to your offspring, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates:
- Genesis 17:10 This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you. Every male among you shall be circumcised.
- Genesis 32:28 He said, “Your name will no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have fought with God and with men, and have prevailed.”
- Exodus 12:25 It shall happen when you have come to the land which Yahweh will give you, as he has promised, that you shall keep this service.
- Exodus 19:3-6 Moses went up to God, and Yahweh called to him out of the mountain, saying, “This is what you shall tell the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel: ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings, and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice, and keep my covenant, then you shall be my own possession from among all peoples; for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.”
- Exodus 24:7-8 He took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people, and they said, “We will do all that Yahweh has said, and be obedient.” Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, “Look, this is the blood of the covenant, which Yahweh has made with you concerning all these words.”
- Exodus 34:27 Yahweh said to Moses, “Write these words; for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.”
- Exodus 40:34 Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and Yahweh’s glory filled the tabernacle.
- Numbers 7:89 When Moses went into the Tent of Meeting to speak with Yahweh, he heard his voice speaking to him from above the mercy seat that was on the ark of the Testimony, from between the two cherubim; and he spoke to him.
- Deuteronomy 29:1 These are the words of the covenant which Yahweh commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, in addition to the covenant which he made with them in Horeb.
- Deuteronomy 29:14 Neither do I make this covenant and this oath with you only,
- Deuteronomy 31:16 Yahweh said to Moses, “Behold, you shall sleep with your fathers. This people will rise up and play the prostitute after the strange gods of the land where they go to be among them, and will forsake me and break my covenant which I have made with them.
- 1 Samuel 4:21-22 She named the child Ichabod, saying, “The glory has departed from Israel!” because God’s ark was taken, and because of her father-in-law and her husband. She said, “The glory has departed from Israel; for God’s ark has been taken.”
- Nehemiah 9:13-14 “You also came down on Mount Sinai, and spoke with them from heaven, and gave them right ordinances and true laws, good statutes and commandments, and made known to them your holy Sabbath, and commanded them commandments, statutes, and a law, by Moses your servant,
- Nehemiah 13:29 Remember them, my God, because they have defiled the priesthood, and the covenant of the priesthood and of the Levites.
- Psalms 63:2 So I have seen you in the sanctuary, watching your power and your glory.
- Psalms 73:1 Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.
- Psalms 78:61 and delivered his strength into captivity, his glory into the adversary’s hand.
- Psalms 89:34 I will not break my covenant, nor alter what my lips have uttered.
- Psalms 90:16 Let your work appear to your servants, your glory to their children.
- Isaiah 5:2 He dug it up, gathered out its stones, planted it with the choicest vine, built a tower in the middle of it, and also cut out a wine press in it. He looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes.
- Isaiah 41:8 “But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the offspring of Abraham my friend,
- Isaiah 46:3 “Listen to me, house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, that have been carried from their birth, that have been carried from the womb.
- Isaiah 60:19 The sun will be no more your light by day; nor will the brightness of the moon give light to you, but Yahweh will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory.
- Jeremiah 31:9 They will come with weeping. I will lead them with petitions. I will cause them to walk by rivers of waters, in a straight way in which they won’t stumble; for I am a father to Israel. Ephraim is my firstborn.
- Jeremiah 31:20 Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he a darling child? For as often as I speak against him, I still earnestly remember him. therefore my heart yearns for him. I will surely have mercy on him,” says Yahweh.
- Jeremiah 33:20-25 “Yahweh says: ‘If you can break my covenant of the day and my covenant of the night, so that there will not be day and night in their time; then may my covenant also be broken with David my servant, that he won’t have a son to reign on his throne; and with the Levites the priests, my ministers. As the army of the sky can’t be counted, and the sand of the sea can’t be measured; so I will multiply the offspring of David my servant and the Levites who minister to me.’ ” Yahweh’s word came to Jeremiah, saying, “Don’t consider what this people has spoken, saying, ‘Has Yahweh cast off the two families which he chose?’ Thus they despise my people, that they should be no more a nation before them.” Yahweh says: “If my covenant of day and night fails, if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth;
- Ezekiel 20:11-12 I gave them my statutes, and showed them my ordinances, which if a man does, he will live in them. Moreover also I gave them my Sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am Yahweh who sanctifies them.
- Hosea 11:1 “When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.
- Matthew 21:33 “Hear another parable. There was a man who was a master of a household, who planted a vineyard, set a hedge about it, dug a wine press in it, built a tower, leased it out to farmers, and went into another country.
- Luke 1:54-55 He has given help to Israel, his servant, that he might remember mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and his offspring forever.”
- John 1:47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and said about him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!”
- Acts 13:32-33 We bring you good news of the promise made to the fathers, that God has fulfilled this to us, their children, in that he raised up Jesus. As it is also written in the second psalm, ‘You are my Son. Today I have become your father.’
- Hebrews 8:6-10 But now he has obtained a more excellent ministry, by so much as he is also the mediator of a better covenant, which on better promises has been given as law. For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. For finding fault with them, he said, “Behold, the days come”, says the Lord, “that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah; not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers, in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; for they didn’t continue in my covenant, and I disregarded them,” says the Lord. “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel. After those days,” says the Lord; “I will put my laws into their mind, I will also write them on their heart. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
- Hebrews 9:3 After the second veil was the tabernacle which is called the Holy of Holies,
- Romans 3:2 Much in every way! Because first of all, they were entrusted with the revelations of God.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 4. Who are Israelites, etc. Here the reason is…
4. Who are Israelites, etc. Here the reason is now more plainly given, why the destruction of that people caused him so much anguish, that he was prepared to redeem them by his own death, namely because they were Israelites; for the relative pronoun is put here instead of a causative adverb. In like manner this anxiety took hold on Moses, when he desired that he should be blotted out of the book of life, rather than that the holy and chosen race of Abraham should be reduced to nothing. (Exodus 32:32.) Then in addition to his kind feeling, he mentions also other reasons, and those of a higher kind, which made him to favor the Jews, even because the Lord had, as it were, by a kind of privilege, so raised them, that they were separated from the common order of men: and these titles of dignity were testimonies of love; for we are not wont to speak thus favorably, but of those whom we love. And though by their ingratitude they rendered themselves unworthy to be esteemed on account of these gifts of God, yet Paul continued justly to respect them, that he might teach us that the ungodly cannot so contaminate the good endowments of God, but that they always deserve to be praised and admired: at the same time, those who abuse them acquire thereby nothing but a greater obloquy. But as we are not to act in such a manner as to contemn, through a detestation of the ungodly, the gifts of God in them; so, on the other hand, we must use prudence, lest by our kind esteem and regard for them we make them proud, and especially lest our praises bear the appearance of flattery. But let us imitate Paul, who conceded to the Jews their privileges in such a manner, that he afterwards declared that they were all of no worth without Christ. But it was not in vain that he mentioned this as one of their praises, — that they were Israelites; for Jacob prayed for this as a great favor, that they should be called by his name. (Genesis 48:16.)
Whose are the adoption, etc. The whole drift of Paul’s discourse is to this purpose, — that though the Jews by their defection had produced an ungodly divorce between God and themselves, yet the light of God’s favor was not wholly extinguished, according to what he had also said in Romans 3:3. They had indeed become unbelievers and had broken his covenant; but still their perfidy had not rendered void the faithfulness of God; for he had not only reserved for himself some remnant seed from the whole multitude, but had as yet continued, according to their hereditary right, the mime of a Church among them.
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But though they had already stripped themselves of these ornaments, so that it availed them nothing to be called the children of Abraham, yet as there was a danger, lest through their fault the majesty of the gospel should be depreciated among the Gentiles, Paul does not regard what they deserved, but covers their baseness and disgraceful conduct by throwing vails over them, until the Gentiles were fully persuaded, that the gospel had flowed to them from the celestial fountain, from the sanctuary of God, from an elect nation. For the Lord, passing by other nations, had selected them as a people peculiar to himself, and had adopted them as his children, as he often testifies by Moses and the prophets; and not content simply to give them the name of children, he calls them sometimes his first-begotten, and sometimes his beloved. So the Lord says in Exodus 4:22, —
“My first-begotten son is Israel; let my son go, that he may serve me.”
In Jeremiah 31:9, it is said,
“I am become a Father to Israel, and Ephraim is my first-begotten:”
and again, “Is not my son Ephraim precious to me? Is he not a delightful child? Hence troubled for him are my bowels, and I will yet pity him.” By these words he means, not only to set forth his kindness towards the people of Israel, but rather to exhibit the efficacy of adoption, through which the promise of the celestial inheritance is conveyed.
Glory means the excellency into which the Lord had raised up that people above all other nations, and that in many and various ways, and especially by dwelling in the midst of them; for besides many other tokens of his presence, he exhibited a singular proof of it in the ark, where he gave responses, and also heard his people, that he might show forth his power in helping them: and for this reason it was called “the glory of God.” (1 Samuel 4:22.)
As he has distinguished here between covenants and promises, we may observe this difference, — that a covenant is that which is expressed in distinct and accustomed words, and contains a mutual stipulation, as that which was made with Abraham; but promises are what we meet with everywhere in Scripture; for when God had once made a covenant with his ancient people, he continued to offer, often by new promises, his favor to them. It hence follows, that promises are to be traced up to the covenant as to their true source; in the same manner as the special helps of God, by which he testifies his love towards the faithful, may be said to flow from the true fountain of election. And as the law was nothing more than a renewal of the covenant, and more fully sanctioned the remembrance of it, legislation, or the giving of the law, seems to be here peculiarly applied to the things which the law decreed: for it was no common honor conferred on the Jewish people, that they had God as their lawgiver. For if some gloried in their Solons and Lycurguses, how much more reason was there to glory in the Lord? of this you have an account in Deuteronomy 4:32. By worship he understands that part of the law in which the legitimate manner of worshipping God is prescribed, such as rites and ceremonies. These ought to have been deemed lawful on account of God’s appointment; without which, whatever men devise is nothing but a profanation of religion.
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 Of the judicial Law.
Of the judicial Law.
The ark of the covenant, which was a token of God’s presence.
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The tables of the covenant: and this is spoken by the figure Metonymy.
The ceremonial Law.
Which were made to Abraham and to his posterity.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 4 Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption,…
4 Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises;
Ver. 4. The adoption] For Israel was God’s firstborn, and so "higher than the kings of the earth," Psa 89:27.
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And the glory] The ark of the covenant, 1Sa 4:21, whence Judea is called "the glorious land," Dan 11:41. As for the ark, it is elsewhere called God’s face, Psa 105:4. Yea, God himself, Psa 132:5.
The covenants] The moral law in two tables.
The giving of the law] The judicial law.
The service] The ceremonial law.
The promises] Of the gospel made to Abraham, and his seed for ever. These promises are a precious book, every leaf whereof drops myrrh and mercy.
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 In this and the following verse, he rehearseth the…
In this and the following verse, he rehearseth the privileges and advantages the Jews had from God, above all other nations of the earth; and this he doth to show, that he had good reason to make such a wish, as in the foregoing verse; as also, that what he should declare concerning the Jews, and their ejection, did not proceed from any disrespect or disesteem of them.
Israelites; i.e. the offspring of that holy patriarch Israel: this was the Jews’ first title of honour, that they descended from him, who by God himself was surnamed Israel, or a prince that had power with God, and prevailed, Gen 32:28.
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The adoption; adoption is not here to be understood as before, in Rom 8:15, or as in Eph 1:5, and elsewhere. But thereby we must understand the peculiar privilege of the seed of Jacob; that they, of all the nations of the earth, were pitched upon to be nearly related to God, to be his children (as they are called) and his firstborn: see Exo 4:22; Deu 14:1; Jer 31:9,20; Mt 15:26.
The glory; the ark and the temple; so called, because in them God did manifest his glorious presence, 1Sa 4:21,22; Psa 26:8; 78:61.
The covenants; some understand by covenants, the tables of the law: see Heb 9:4. Others rather understand the covenant made with Abraham, Gen 15:8; 17:2,7; and with the Jewish nation, Exo 24:7,8; Exo 34:27, &c. Circumcision also may be intended, for that is called God’s covenant, Gen 17:10.
The giving of the law; the judicial, ceremonial, but especially the moral law. This is spoken of as a great privilege, Deu 4:8,32. It may refer both to the law itself, and to the circumstances, also, with which the law was given.
The service of God; the true manner of worshipping God, which was a great privilege. Other nations knew there was a God, and that he must be worshipped, but they knew not how; and so they ran into superstition and idolatry.
The promises; of this life, and that to come; particularly of the Messiah, and of the benefits and blessings by him. These are found in Moses and the prophets, and were entailed upon the Jews and their children, Act 2:39; Eph 2:12, till God at last cut off the entail.
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 Our apostle, to vindicate himself for bearing such a…
Our apostle, to vindicate himself for bearing such a passionate affection to the Jews, and for being so highly concerned for their eternal welfare, doth in these two verses recount and sum up the high privileges and prerogatives belonging to the Jews above any other nation under heaven: namely these, They were Israelites, that is, the seed and posterity of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
To whom pertaineth the adoption; that is, national adoption, not personal; God adopting the nation of the Jews to be an holy people to himself, and Jews to be an holy people to himself, and calling them his sons and his first-born.
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And the glory; that is, the covenant made with Abraham and Moses, the old and new covenant, And the giving of the law Jer 31:32 : it was the prerogative of this people, that all their laws, ceremonial, judicial, and moral were composed and delivered to them by God himself.
And the service of God: that is, they only had the true worship of God amongst them, and no other nation could have the like, but by being a debtor to them for it.
And the promise; that is, in general, all the blessings promised to them in the land of Canaan; and in particular, the promise of the Messiah, or God’s gracious purpose and intention to send his Son into he world to accomplish its redemption.
Whose are the fathers; that is, the beloved fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, were their ancestors, and they their offspring.
Of whom, as concerning the flesh, Christ came, that is, of which Israelites Chrsit came; the promsied Messias, according to the flesh or human nature, was their offspring even he who, according to his divine nature, was over all, God blessed for evermore.
Note here, 1. How the apostle reserves the greatest privilege for the last: Christ’s being born one of their nation, and according to the flesh descended from the Jewish stock, this was the topping privilege.
Note, 2. That this restrictive clause, according to the flesh, plainly supposeth another nature in Christ, according to which he came not from the Israelites, which can be no other but the Divine Nature of Godhead, which in the following words is attributed to him: Who is over all, God blessed for evermore.
Which glorious title given to Christ as it highly exalts the prerogative of the Jews as being a people of whom so blessed and great a Person descended, so on the other hand it aggravates their sin and condemnation, in rejecting a person of such infinite worth and dignity, notwithstanding he descended from them.
Now from the whole, learn, 1. That a fullness or richness of instituted means of grace, for the true knowledge and worship of God, is matter of high dignation and gracious condescension from God to man: here the glory, the covenants, the service of God, &c. are numbered amongst the great and gracious respects vouchsafed by God to the Jews.
Learn, 2. That the highest privileges and vouchsafements from God may be conferred upon a people who are neither pleasing ot God, nor accepted with him. Such were the Jews, to whom the fore-mentioned privileges did belong: a people rejected by God for their obduracy and unbelief.
Learn, 3. That it is no small honour to be of the race of kindred of such as have been holy saints and faithful servants of the most high and holy God. The Jews here were very honourable, as they were the seed of Abraham; but much more so, had they trod in the steps, and done the works, of their father Abraham.
Learn, 4. That Jesus Christ, who was the seed of Abraham according to the flesh, was yet, according to his divine nature, Lord over all, God blessed for evermore; he is over all, that is, over all things, and over all persons; and he is blessed for evermore, which is the constant title given to him that is God, and to none but him.
The Socinians, to avoid the force of this text, which fully proves the divinity of Chrsit, turn the words into a thanksgiving for Christ, and read them thus: Of whom Christ was according to the flesh; God, who is over all, be blessed forever.
A manifest perversion of the sense of the apostle’s words, which was to show that according to the flesh he descended from Abraham: but that he had another nature, which was not derived from Abraham, even a Divine nature, according to which he was over all, God blessed for evermore.
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 Whose are the fathers,.... Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; for,…
Whose are the fathers,.... Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; for, according to the (a) Jewish writers,
"they call none in Israel "fathers", but three, and they are Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and they call none "mothers" but four, and they are, Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah:''
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their descent from these fathers was a privilege, though they valued themselves too highly upon it; but what was the crown and glory of all, and which they took the least, though the apostle took the most notice of, is,
and of whom, as concerning the flesh, Christ came; that is, either of the fathers, or of the Israelites, from whom Christ, according to his human nature, sprung; being a son of Abraham, of the tribe of Judah, of the seed of David, and the son of Mary; hence the Messiah is called , "the Messiah or Christ of Israel" (b):
who is described as
over all, angels and men, being the creator, upholder, and governor of them; and as having another nature, a divine one, being
God, truly and properly God,
blessed for evermore; in himself, and to be blessed and praised by all creatures. The apostle alludes to that well known periphrastic name of God so much used by the Jews, , "the holy, blessed God"; to which, by way of assent and confirmation, the apostle puts his
Amen. Now all these particular privileges are mentioned by him, as what heightened his concern for these people; it filled him with heaviness and sorrow of heart, when he considered, that persons who had been partakers of such favours, and especially the last, that the Messiah should spring from them, be born of them, and among them, and yet that they should be given up to ruin and destruction.
(a) T. Bab. Beracot, fol. 16. 2. & Gloss. in ib. (b) Targum in Isa. xvi. 1, 5. Mic. iv. 8.
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 Whose is the adoption, &c. - He enumerates six…
Whose is the adoption, &c. - He enumerates six prerogatives, of which the first pair respect God the Father, the second Christ, the third the Holy Ghost. The adoption and the glory - That is, Israel is the first-born child of God, and the God of glory is their God, Deut. iv, 7; Psalm cvi, 20. These are relative to each other. At once God is the Father of Israel, and Israel are the people of God. He speaks not here of the ark, or any corporeal thing. God himself is "the glory of his people Israel." And the covenants, and the giving of the law - The covenant was given long before the law. It is termed covenants, in the plural, because it was so often and so variously repeated, and because there were two dispositions of it, Gal. iv, 24, frequently called two covenants; the one promising, the other exhibiting the promise. And the worship, and the promises - The true way of worshipping God; and all the promises made to the fathers.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 4. Who are Israelites] Descendants of Jacob, a…
Verse 4. Who are Israelites] Descendants of Jacob, a man so highly favoured of God, and from whom he received his name Israel-a prince of God, Ge 32:28; from which name his descendants were called Israelites, and separated unto God for his glory and praise. Their very name of Israelites implied their very high dignity; they were a royal nation; princes of the most high God.
The adoption] The Israelites were all taken into the family of God, and were called his sons and first-born, Ex 4:22; De 14:1; Jer 31:9; Ho 11:1; and this adoption took place when God made the covenant with them at Horeb.
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The glory] The manifestation of God among them; principally by the cloud and pillar, and the Shekinah, or Divine presence, appearing between the cherubim over the mercy-seat. These were peculiar to the Jews; no other nation was ever thus favoured.
The covenants] The covenants made with Abraham, both that which relates to the spiritual seed, and that which was peculiar to his natural descendants, Ga 3:16, Ga 3:17; which covenants were afterwards renewed by Moses, De 29:1. Some suppose that the singular is here put for the plural, and that by covenants we are to understand the decalogue, which is termed ברית berith, or covenant, De 4:13. But it is more likely that the apostle alludes to the great covenant made with Abraham, and to its various renewals and extensions at different times afterwards, as well as to its twofold design-the grant of the land of Canaan, and the rest that remains for the people of God.
The giving of the law] The revelation of God by God himself, containing a system of moral and political precepts. This was also peculiar to the Jews; for to no other nation had he ever given a revelation of his will.
The service] λατρεια. The particular ordinances, rites, and ceremonies of their religious worship, and especially the sacrificial system, so expressive of the sinfulness of sin and the holiness of God.
The promises] The land of Canaan, and the blessings of the Messiah and his kingdom; which promises had been made and often repeated to the patriarchs and to the prophets.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Rom 9:4. Who are Israelites — The seed of…
Rom 9:4. Who are Israelites — The seed of Jacob, that eminent patriarch, who, as a prince, had power with God and prevailed. The apostle, with great address, enumerates these privileges of the Jews, both that he might show how honourably he thought of them, and that he might awaken their solicitude, not to sacrifice that divine favour, by which they had been so eminently and so long distinguished. To whom pertaineth the adoption — That is whom God hath taken into a special covenant with himself, whereby he stands engaged ever to act the part of a God and Father to them, and to own them for his children. It is true, this adoption of the Jews was but a shadow of the heavenly adoption of believers in Christ; yet was it, simply considered, a prerogative of a very sacred import. And the glory — The visible symbol of the divine presence which rested above the ark, was called the glory, 1Sa 4:21, and the glory of the Lord. Hence the introduction of the ark into the temple, is called the entrance of the King of glory, Psa 24:7; and upon the carrying away of the ark by the Philistines, the wife of Phineas, now at the point of death, said, The glory is departed from Israel. But God himself was the glory of his people Israel, and by many visible testimonies of his presence with them, shed a glory upon them, and caused their brightness to shine throughout the world. So Isaiah, The Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory. These two last-mentioned particulars are relative to each other: Israel is the firstborn son of God, and the God of glory is his God. And the covenants — That with Abraham, Gen 15:8; Gen 17:2; Gen 17:7; and that with the Jewish nation by the ministry of Moses, Exo 24:7-8; Exo 34:27; including the seals of these covenants, namely, circumcision, the seal of the former, Gen 17:10; and the sprinkling of blood the seal of the latter, Exo 24:8. He says covenants, in the plural, also, because God’s covenant with his people was often and variously repeated. And the giving of the law — The glorious promulgation of the moral law by God himself, by the mediation of his angels upon mount Horeb; not excluding the more private delivery of the various judicial and political laws appointed for the government of that commonwealth. The covenant, in the first dispensation of it, was given long before the law. And the worship of God — The way of worshipping God according to his will, prescribed in the ceremonial law for the people, till Christ should come in the flesh: and the promises — Of the Messiah, and of spiritual and eternal blessings by him.
By enumerating these privileges of the Jews, the apostle, as above observed, not only meant to show them that he respected them on account of these advantages, but to make them sensible of the loss they were about to sustain by God’s casting them off. “They were to be excluded from the better privileges of the gospel church, of which their ancient privileges were but the types. For their relation to God as his people, signified by the name Israelites, prefigured the more honourable relation which believers, the true Israel, stand in to God. Their adoption as the sons of God, and the privileges they were entitled to thereby, were types of believers being made partakers of the divine nature by the renewing of the Holy Ghost, and of their title to the inheritance of heaven. The residence of the glory, first in the tabernacle and then in the temple, was a figure of the residence of God, by his Spirit, in the Christian Church, his temple on earth, and of his eternal residence in that church, brought to its perfect form in heaven. The covenant with Abraham was the new, or gospel covenant, the blessings of which were typified by the temporal blessings promised to him and to his natural seed: and the covenant of Sinai, whereby the Israelites, as the worshippers of the true God, were separated from the idolatrous nations, was an emblem of the final separation of the righteous from the wicked for ever. In the giving of the law, and the formation of the Israelites into a nation, or community, the formation of the city of the living God, and of the general assembly and church of the firstborn, was represented. Lastly, the heavenly country, the habitation of the righteous, was typified by Canaan, a country given to the Israelites by God’s promise.” — Macknight.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Who are Israelites - Descended from Israel, or Jacob;…
Who are Israelites - Descended from Israel, or Jacob; honored by having such an ancestor, and by bearing a name so distinguished as that of his descendants. It was formerly the honorable appellation of the people of God.
To whom pertaineth - To whom it belongs. It was their elevated external privilege.
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The adoption - Of the nation into the family of God, or to be regarded as His special people; Deu 7:6.
And the glory - The symbol of the divine presence that attended them from Egypt, and that finally rested over the ark in the first temple - “the Shechinah;” Exo 13:21-22; Exo 25:22.
And the covenants - The various compacts or promises which had been made from time to time with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and with the nation; the pledges of the divine protection.
The giving of the law - On Mount Sinai; Exo. 20; compare Psa 147:19.
And the service of God - The temple service; regarded by them as the pride and ornament of their nation.
And the promises - Of the Messiah; and of the spread of the true religion from them as a nation.
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 To whom belongeth the adoption of children. Literally, whose…
To whom belongeth the adoption of children. Literally, whose is the adoption. He mentions the favours which God had done to his people, the Jews. As, 1. That God had adopted them for his elect people. 2. That he had glorified them with so many miracles. 3. That he had made a particular covenant and alliance with them. 4. Given them a written law. 5. Prescribed the manner they should worship him. 6. Promises of divers blessings. 7. Who are from the Fathers. Literally, whose are the Fathers; i.e. who descended from the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, &c. 8. Of whose race, i.e. of the family of David, Jesus Christ, as man, was born. --- Who is over all things God,[2] blessed for ever. Amen. Though the apostles did not often, in express words, call Jesus Christ, the God, lest the heathens, when they were not sufficiently instructed, should imagine that there were many gods, (as divers of the fathers take notice) yet here, and in several places, they clearly delivered the divinity of our Saviour, Christ. The Socinians might here observe, that the apostle calls him the God blessed for ever, and with the Greek article. (Witham)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain Who are Israelites--See Rom 11:1; Co2 11:22; Phi 3:5.
Who are Israelites--See Rom 11:1; Co2 11:22; Phi 3:5.
to whom pertaineth--"whose is"
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the adoption--It is true that, compared with the new economy, the old was a state of minority and pupilage, and so far that of a bond-servant (Gal 4:1-3); yet, compared with the state of the surrounding heathen, the choice of Abraham and his seed was a real separation of them to be a Family of God (Exo 4:22; Deu 32:6; Isa 1:2; Jer 31:9; Hos 11:1; Mal 1:6).
and the glory--that "glory of the Lord," or "visible token of the Divine Presence in the midst of them," which rested on the ark and filled the tabernacle during all their wanderings in the wilderness; which in Jerusalem continued to be seen in the tabernacle and temple, and only disappeared when, at the Captivity, the temple was demolished, and the sun of the ancient economy began to go down. This was what the Jews called the "Shekinah."
and the covenants--"the covenants of promise" to which the Gentiles before Christ were "strangers" (Eph 2:12); meaning the one covenant with Abraham in its successive renewals (see Gal 3:16-17).
and the giving of the law--from Mount Sinai, and the possession of it thereafter, which the Jews justly deemed their peculiar honor (Deu 26:18-19; Psa 147:19-20; Rom 2:17).
and the service of God--or, of the sanctuary, meaning the whole divinely instituted religious service, in the celebration of which they were brought so nigh unto God.
and the promises--the great Abrahamic promises, successively unfolded, and which had their fulfilment only in Christ; (see Heb 7:6; Gal 3:16, Gal 3:21; Act 26:6-7).
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 4. Israelites—Their loftier title, derived not from Jacob, the…
4. Israelites—Their loftier title, derived not from Jacob, the supplanter, nor, like Jews, from a single remnant tribe (Judah) alone; but derived from their great founder, and from his name given as wrestler and overcomer with God.
Paul in these two verses enumerates the glories of Israel in the true enthusiasm of an Israelite, to show how he sympathized in Israelite greatness. The passage is parallel with Rom_3:2; Rom_2:17-20, where see notes.
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The adoption—By which Abraham and his race were called from among the nations to be the sons of God. (See note on Mat_2:15.)
The glory—The Shekinah, upon the mercy seat between the cherubim and at other times. (See note on Act_7:2.)
Covenants—Formed with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at different times, (Gen_15:9-21; Gen_17:4; Gen_17:7; Gen_17:10; Gen_26:24; Gen_28:13,) and with all Israel at Sinai, (Gen_24:2; Gen_24:8, etc.)
Giving of the law—The law-giving, the legislation, of which the centre was the two tables of the decalogue, and then the entire pentateuchal system.
The service—The full and formal worship by which Israel, freed from idolatry, worshipped the true Jehovah.
Promises—Of the Messiah and the salvation through him. Sad if Israel, to whom these promises were given, should himself fail of their fruition! (See note on Rom_9:6.)
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 4. Israelites] “The absolute name, that which expressed the…
4. Israelites] “The absolute name, that which expressed the whole dignity and glory of a member of the theocratic nation, of the people in peculiar covenant with God, was Israelite.” (Abp Trench, New Testament Synonyms.) It was thus distinguished from both Hebrew and Jew (Judœus,) of which (1) relates rather to language, and (2) to the national (rather than theocratic) difference between the People and the Gentiles.
the adoption] See Exo_4:22; Hos_11:1; also Deu_14:1; Isa_63:16. Israel, as a nation, was taken into a relationship with God altogether peculiar, as to nearness and affection. See Hos_11:8 for some wonderful utterances of the Divine Paternity. This son-ship was indeed (unlike that in ch. 8) of the mass rather than of individuals. But it was a grant of high privilege and mercy.
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the glory] In the special sense of the Shechinah, the mysteriously visible manifestation of the Divine Presence “between the Cherubim” on the mercy-seat. See Exo_25:22; Lev_16:2; Psa_80:1; Psa_99:1; Isa_37:16.—It does not appear that this Light was perpetual; but anywise it was a pledge of sacred privilege and a means of communication entirely unique on earth. This Shechinah is, in the Targums, often used as a paraphrase for the Holy Name, and in Isa_6:1 the LXX have the phrase “glory of God” where the Hebrew has the Holy Name.—This special reference of the word “glory” is more in keeping with the enumeration here than any wider reference.
the covenants] With Abraham, Moses, Levi, David. See Gen_17:4; Gen_17:11; Gen_17:19; Exo_31:16; Exo_34:28; Mal_2:4-5; Psa_89:28; Psa_89:34. The reference here is of course not (as in Gal_4:24) to the Old and New Covenants of Works and Grace respectively.
the giving of the law] the Legislation. The privilege of the possession of a Divine Code is dwelt on, Deu_4:8; Neh_9:13-14.
the service] The Gr. specially signifies the Temple-worship. Cp. Heb_9:1. The solemn round of ordinances, all “mysteriously meant,” under the Old Covenant is specially remarkable in contrast to the comparative absence of detailed directions for worship under the New.—The words “of God” are an explanatory addition in E. V.
the promises] Of the Land, and of the Messiah. The latter promise was a possession of Israel in the sense that it was to be fulfilled exclusively through, though not exclusively for, Israel. See Joh_4:22. In Him who is “the Son of David, the Son of Abraham,” (Mat_1:1,) the great Fulfilment remains for ever a special glory of the ancient People.—Here, as everywhere, St Paul looks to the Prophecies as a preeminent reality in the dealings of God with Man. To him they were no “national aspirations,” but voices from eternity.
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 (4) The adoption.—They are the theocratic people, the people…
(4) The adoption.—They are the theocratic people, the people whom God had, as it were, adopted to Himself, and taken into the special filial relation. (Comp. Hos_11:1, “I called my son out of Egypt;” Exo_4:22, “Israel is my son, even my firstborn;” et al.)
The glory.—The Shechinah, or visible symbol of God’s presence. (Comp. Exo_16:10; Exo_24:16; Exo_40:34-35; 1Sa_4:22; 1Ki_8:10-11; Eze_1:28; Heb_9:5.)
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The covenants.—Not the two tables of stone, but the several compacts made by God with Abraham and his descendants (Gen_12:1-3; Gen_12:7; Gen_13:14-17; Gen_15:1-21; Gen_17:1-22; Gen_22:15-18; Gen_26:2-5; Gen_26:34; Gen_28:13-15; Gen_35:9-12; Gen_46:3-4).
The service of God.—The temple service and ritual.
The promises.—Especially the Messianic promises, a term correlative to the “covenants” above.
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 Vers. 4, 5. Who (oitinev , with its usual…
Vers. 4, 5. Who (oitinev , with its usual sense of quippe qui) are Israelites; whose is the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the Law, and the service of God, and the promises; whose are the fathers, and from whom is Christ as concerning the flesh, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen. Here "the adoption" (uioyesia) means the selection of Israel to be God"s peculiar people. (cf. Exo_4:22, "Israel is my son, even my firstborn;" Deu_14:1, "Ye are the children of the Lord your God;" Hos_11:1, "When Israel was a child, I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt;" also Exo_19:5. Cf. also tekna tou Yeou in ver. 8 below) It is, of course, a different idea from that of the spiritual uioyesia of believers, (at present as in Rom_8:15, or to come as in Rom_8:23) though it might be typical of it. "The glory" (hh doxa) seems best explained by reference to 2Co_3:7-18, where the visible glory, said to have rested on the mercy-seat and to have illuminated for a time the face of Moses, is regarded as expressing the glory, in a higher sense, of the old dispensation, which, however, was destined to fade away in the greater glory of the revelation of God in Christ. The word may be thus taken to denote, not simply the Sheehinab, or the glory on Mount Sinai, but rather what was signified by these manifestations. It was probably a recognized term in use with reference to the giving of the Law. "The covenants" (ai diayhkai), and "the promises" (ai epaggeliai), both in the plural, include those made with and given to Abraham and the other patriarchs, as well as the Mosaic ones. The former word is wrongly taken by some as denoting the tables of the covenant. H latreia is obviously the divinely appointed ceremonial worship, the typical significance of which is explained at length in the Epistle to the Hebrews, where the same word is used. "The fathers" (oi paterev) are the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the original recipients of the promises, descent from whom was made such account of by the Jews, as being the foundation of their privileges. (cf. Mat_3:9 Luk_3:8 Luk_13:28 Joh_8:39; and, for the use of paterev in this sense, cf. Act_3:22 Act_13:32; Romans Heb_1:1) The last and crowning distinction of the Jewish race is mentioned last, viz. the fleshly descent therefrom of Christ, even of him who in his higher nature is "over all, God blessed for ever." This is certainly the most obvious meaning of the conclusion of ver. 5, as far as the language is concerned, and the one understood by all ancient commentators. Some moderns, however, as is well known, have raised objections to this interpretation of the clause, based solely on the supposed improbability that St. Paul would have so designated Christ. Some would, therefore, get over this imagined difficulty by putting a full stop after kata sarka , and taking what follows as a doxology to God the Father, thus: "God, who is over all, be blessed for ever." The apostle is supposed, according to this interpretation, to have been moved to this parenthetical utterance by his contemplation of the Divine favours to Israel, which he had been recounting. Some have suggested the full stop being put after pantwn , so as to refer o wn epi pantwn to Christ, and take only what follows as a doxology, or, as some would have it, as a statement. But, in either case, the idea of so unlikely a breaking up of the sentence may be dismissed as untenable. Others, without thus breaking up the sentence, take the whole of it, beginning with o wn , to be, not a doxology, but a statement, thus at- tempting to meet the objection to its being a doxology (to be noticed presently), arising from the collocation of the words. But a mere assertion that God is blessed for ever would seem peculiarly uncalled for and purposeless here. Meyer, being a critic of deserved repute, and an upholder of the modern interpretation of the clause, taking the whole of it together as a doxology to the Father, it may suffice to state his arguments.
(1) That St. Paul, though regarding the Son of God as the image of God, of the essence of God, the agent in creation and preservation, the judge of all, the object of prayer, and the possessor of Divine glory and fulness of grace, (Rom_1:4 Rom_10:12 Php_2:9 4:6 Col_1:15, etc.; Eph_1:20, etc.; 1Co_8:6 2Co_4:4 2Co_8:9) never expressly calls him Yeov , but always clearly distinguishes him as the Kuriov from Yeov ; and that the passages in which Yeov has been supposed by some to apply to him (as in 2Th_1:12, Kata thrin tou Yeou hmwn kai Kuriou Ihsou Cristou ; and Eph_5:5 Tit_1:4) are wrongly so understood; ov , not Yeov , being also undoubtedly the original reading in 1Ti_3:16. (Of St. Paul"s usual distinction between Yeov and Kuriov , when he is referring to the economy of redemption, other instances are found in 1Co_8:6 1Co_12:4, 1Co_12:5, 6 Eph_4:4, Eph_4:5, Eph_4:6. That he does usually so distinguish is undoubted)
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(2) That, according to the old ecclesiastical interpretation, "Christ would be called here, not only God, but even God over all, and consequently would be designated as Yeotwr , which is absolutely incompatible with the entire view of the New Testament as to the dependence of the Son on the Father.
(3) That "in the properly apostolical writings (2Pe_3:18 does not belong to them, nor does Heb_13:21) we never meet with a doxology to Christ in the form which is usual in doxologies to God." Meyer adds in a note, "2Ti_4:18 certainly refers to Christ; but this is just one of the traces of post-apostolic composition.
Now, to these arguments it may be replied as follows: To (1) that, though it may be true that St. Paul in no other passage expressly calls Christ Yeov , yet his doctrine with respect to his Divine nature is in accordance with the expression; for surely the term Yeo is applicable to him who is spoken of, as e.g. in Php_2:6 and Col_1:15, etc.; that his usual distinction between the supreme God and Christ as Mediator by no means precludes his declaring in express terms Christ"s essential Deity in a passage where such a declaration is suitable and called for; that even St. John, who is acknowledged by all to have peculiarly set forth the Divine essence of Christ, only once uses the expression, Yeogov , or any exactly equivalent to it. To argument (2) it may be replied that the language used does not identify Christ with the Father as o pantokratwr Yeov , especially if we suppose a comma after pantwn , so that the meaning would he, "Christ who is over all, God blessed for ever." That Christ is "over all" is what is distinctly declared elsewhere by St. Paul, and Yeov , etc., may be appended predicatively to denote his Divine essence. As to argument (3), it is necessary to exclude not only 2 Peter and Hebrews, but also 2 Timothy from the list of apostolical writings in order to give it any force. But even so it would be irrelevant; for the sentence before us is not a doxology, but an assertion: it is, according to the ancient interpretation, not "Blessed be Christ as God for ever;" but" Christ, who is God blessed for ever." The positive reasons for retaining the ancient interpretations may be stated as follows:
(1) Not one of the Greek or other Fathers, or any interpreter before Erasmus, is known to have understood it otherwise.
(2) It gives the most obvious sense of the words themselves. It may well be contended that no other would have been thought of, but for the supposed discrepancy with the apostle"s usual way of speaking of Christ.
(3) Whereas a doxology to God the Father does not seem called for here, or to have any very obvious bearing on the writer"s train of thought, some assertion of the Divine greatness of Christ seems wanted to complete the representation of the final and crowning privilege of the race of Israel. O wn epi pantwn would indeed suffice for this purpose, if it could be dissevered from what follows. But, as has been said above, it is not allowable so to break up the sentence. Cf. also Rom_1:4, where the statement that Christ had been born of the seed of David, according to the flesh, is followed by an assertion also of his Divine Sonship.
(4) If the sentence had been intended as a doxology, euloghtov ought properly to have preceded Yeov (cf. Luk_1:68, Euloghtoriov o Yeo ; Eph_1:3, Euloghto Pathr , 1Pe_1:3, etc. where the same expression occurs); whereas in every other passage where euloghtov follows the subject of the sentence, it is an assertion, and not a doxology. (cf. Rom_1:25 2Co_11:31)
(5) The whole objection to the ancient interpretation rests solely on the views of modern critics as to what they think St. Paul was likely to mean not on what his language most obviously intimates that he did mean a very unsafe principle of interpretation. Our safe conclusion seems to be that modern criticism has not made out a sufficient case for departing from the unanimous ancient interpretation of this passage.
HOMILIES BY S.R. ALDRIDGE Ver. 4. The right use of privileges.
The apostle turned from his rapt meditation on the present and future glory of the Christian dispensation, to think of the race of Israel excluding themselves from participation in its benefits, and he felt his soul charged with heaviness on their behalf. They hated him as overturning venerable customs, and as lowering their dignity by admitting the Gentiles to the blessing of the covenant on such easy terms. But in reply he vehemently asserted his still subsisting love for his "kinsmen," and for those whom in the past God had so signally honoured. None can look without emotion on the face and form of a Jew, who consider his history and destiny.
I THE SUPREME DISTINCTIONS OF LIFE ARE THOSE WHICH CONCERN OUR RELATIONSHIP TO GOD. All the items particularized are connected with the Divine manifestations granted to Israel. The apostle cares little for the story of military prowess, or even of skill in literature; but all that appertained to the knowledge and worship of God, this was worth dwelling upon. It becomes a speedy test of judgment when we know the things on which a man prides himself. Does he point with chief delight to his acquisition of lands or goods, or to his rank in society, or to his fame in science or. art circles? or does he account his position in the family of the Most High, and the revelation vouchsafed of Divine mercy and grace, as his possession of greatest worth? Which in our hearts do we deem the most highly favoured nation Greece, or Rome, or Israel? The true wealth and place of a modern empire should be reckoned, not according to its material resources and fighting strength, but rather by its widespread distribution of moral and religious truth. This means real refinement and enduring prosperity. Many opportunities occur to all of us to exhibit our, genuine opinion in the lives we lead, the money and time devoted to the highest pursuits, the notions cherished in the family, the books read, and the amusements indulged in. Missionary enthusiasm rests on a sure basis when the value is perceived of an acquaintance with the things of God. Such a knowledge is the best legacy that can be bequeathed to children.
II THE HIGHEST RELIGIOUS PRIVILEGES WILL NOT PROFIT UNLESS USED ARIGHT. In spite of their advantages, the Jews were found wanting, and, like unfruitful branches, were broken off. Before the exile they fell into idolatry, and sought to nullify their glory by equalling the abominations of the heathen. Could a stronger proof be furnished of the seductiveness of sinful practices and the blindness of man? And the coming of Christ was a further testing season. Their "zeal of God" was shown to be unintelligent, depending upon external rather than spiritual views of religious grandeur and service. It behoves us not only to enjoy but to improve our privileges. Attendance at the sanctuary, the public prayers and reading, unless they exert a living influence upon us, increase our condemnation, as the presence and works of Christ multiplied woes upon the cities of the sea. The tendency is strong that would lull our souls into comfortable dreams of security, from which there could only be a terrible awakening. The religious pride of the Jews hardened into fossilism an unreceptive soil for new truth. Instead of guiding their steps by the Law, they looked at it till they were dazzled by its glare, and could not recognize the coming of the "Light of the world.
III THE ADVANTAGES ENJOYED BY NATIONS OR INDIVIDUALS ARE NOT CONFERRED FOR THEIR OWN EXCLUSIVE BENEFIT. The Israelites were stewards of the mysteries for the world around and the times to follow. Very important functions they discharged, keeping the lamp of truth alight, preventing the world from lapsing into barbaric atheism. Especially in relation to Christianity do we discern these advantages as preparatory. The "sacrifices" had respect to the offering of Christ, and in part explain its meaning. The "Law" acted as a pedagogue to bring us to the school of Christ. The temple "service" illustrates the obedience of the Christian priests, and the promises fulfilled confirm our faith. Israel was a nursery where choicest plants were reared with which to stock the wilderness till it should blossom as the rose. And the same principle holds good of every advantage the goodness of our God bestows. The Christian Church is to be as a city set on a hill; its members are lights in the world, pilgrim-soldiers, ambassadors for Christ. It is ours to guard the gift entrusted, to transmit to others the revelation received, the spiritual heirlooms of liberty and intelligence, lest we fail to deliver up a proper account of our stewardship. S.R.A.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Who are Israelites.
Rom_9:4-5
Who are Israelites.
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The literal and the true Israelites
I. The literal enjoyed the adoption as Gods people among whom God revealed Himself gloriously--the true enjoy the adoption of sons and the glorious indwelling of the Spirit.
II. The literal were privileged with the patriarchal covenants and the giving of the law--the true are privileged with the New Testament covenant, and the dispensation of the Spirit.
III. The literal rejoiced in the Levitical service, and the promises of better things to come--the true worship God in the Spirit, and rejoice in the hope of eternal life.
IV. The literal could boast of the fathers and anticipate the Messiah--the true have their apostles, martyrs, and confessors, and look for the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour. (J. Lyth, D.D.)
The Israelites and their privileges
The name Israelites was a most honourable one, and dear to them all. The relationship which it signalised was fitted to remind them that by the condescension of the Omnipotent One, there was something princely within their reach (Gen_32:28; Hos_12:3).
I. The adoption. Under the Old Testament the Divine adoption realised itself specifically in the collective theocratic people as a people (Exo_4:22; cf. Jer_31:9; Hos_11:1). The collective people were for great theocratic purposes adopted into a relation of Divine sonship, and thus into a relation of peculiar Divine privilege; not, however, because of a feeling of partiality in the heart of God toward a section of His human family, but because His benignant Messianic purposes, widespreading to the ends of the earth, required some arrangement of the kind. Such was the Divine plan in Old Testament ages. The Israelites were Gods son, daughter, or daughter of His people. At times the representation tended anticipatively toward the grander principle of personal individuality; as when it is said, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against Me. But it was reserved for the New Testament age to give emphasis to the idea of personal individualism in relation to the Divine adoption (Joh_1:12; Gal_3:26; 1Jn_3:1).
II. The glory. The reference is to that peculiar symbol of the Divine presence which guided the Israelites out of Egypt and through the wilderness, overshadowing them by day and illuminating them by night (Exo_13:21-22; Exo_14:19). This was in some external respects Gods glory par excellence (Exo_24:16). It was a magnificent symbol of Divine guidance and protection, and was denominated the Shekinah. Wherever it was to be found, there God was to be found; not indeed as in His palace-home, the house not made by hands, but as in His temporary tent beside His tented people in the period of their pilgrimage--a very present Helper and Defence.
III. The covenants. These were engagements on the part of God to confer distinguishing privileges on the patriarchs and the Israelites in general, on condition of responsive appreciation on their part, and the observance, in all the affairs of life, of His regulative will (Gen_15:1-6; Gen_17:1-8; Gen_17:15-19; Exo_19:1-9). But these engagements, while thus involving, as is suggested by the Hebrew term Berith, a certain ineradicable conditionality, were at the same time in accordance with the Greek suntheke, spontaneous and unencumbered dispositions of goods and distributions of benefits, just as if they had been actually willed to them by testamentary deed. God disposed of certain portions of His means and goods for the benefit of His national son, though it was impossible that He could alienate the goods from Himself, or alienate Himself from both His present usufruct and His perpetual right of property.
IV. The giving of the Law, i.e., the Divine legislative enactments published from Sinai, and constituting in their sum the code which is known as the moral law. It is incomparably the best of all bases for the innumerable details of practical jurisprudence. It goes back, indeed, in its form to that primitive era when duty was, to a most preponderating extent, identified with moral self-restraint. Hence its injunctions are wisely set forth in negations. But when the detailed expanse of the decalogue is condensed into the summation of the duologue, the phase of representation is become affirmative; and nothing can excel the duological enactments in comprehensiveness, completeness, simplicity, and direct authority over the reason and the conscience.
V. The service, i.e., the temple service--a grand ritual, here regarded as a Divine appointment or grant of grace. Being in its many and varied details instinct with practical significance, it was fitted to recall to the minds of the worshippers what was due to God on the one hand, and how much was graciously provided by Him on the other.
VI. The promises--announcements of coming favours--avant-couriers of the favours themselves, and sent forth to stimulate expectation and support the heart. All the Old Testament dispensations were replete with Messianic promises. His coming was the promise--the one running promise made to the fathers (Act_13:32), and involved all other Messianic blessings, such as the atonement, the kingdom of heaven, the reign to be continued as long as the sun, the new earth, the inheritance of the world (Rom_4:13-14). It involved peace, joy, hope, all of them unspeakable and full of glory (Rom_5:1-11).
VII. The fathers--the patriarch fathers, the band of whom Abraham was the leader and typical representative. They were far indeed from being men without blemish. But perhaps most of the sinister bars in their escutcheon were parcels of the heritage which they had received from their ancestors. But notwithstanding their blemishes they were at once childlike in faith and reverential in spirit. Their thoughts rose up on high. They sought a heavenly country and looked for a city whose builder and architect was God (Heb_11:10-14). It was no little advantage to be descended from such sires.
VIII. The Christ. The Messiah emerged from among the Hebrews, and thus salvation was of the Jews. It was their crowning prerogative. Jesus was a Jew. But His own people knew not their privilege, and they perceived not that it was the time of tide in the day of their merciful visitation (Joh_1:11; cf. Mat_21:39). When the apostle said so far as His human nature was concerned, his mind was already mounting the infinite height which rose beyond. Who is over all, God, to be blessed for ever. (J. Morison, D.D.)
Israelites and their privileges
To no nation under the sun does there belong so proud, so magnificent a heraldry. No minstrel of a countrys fame was ever furnished so richly with topics; and the heart and fancy of our apostle seem to kindle at the enumeration of them. They were first Israelites, or descendants of a venerable patriarch--then, selected from among all the families of the earth, they were the adopted children of God, and to them belonged the glory of this high and heavenly relationship; and with their ancestors were those covenants made which enveloped the great spiritual destinies of the human race; and the dispensation of the Law from that mountain which smoked at the touch of the Divinity was theirs; and that solemn temple service where alone the true worship of the Eternal was kept up for ages was theirs; and as their history was noble from its commencement by the fathers from whom they sprung, so at its close did it gather upon it a nobility more wondrous still by the mighty and mysterious descendant in whom it may be said to have terminated--even Him who at once is the root and the offspring of David, and with the mention of whose name our apostle finishes this stately climax of their honours--of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all God blessed for ever. Amen. They are far the most illustrious people on the face of the world. There shines upon them a transcendental glory from on high; and all that the history whether of classical or heroic ages hath enrolled of other nations are but as the lesser lights of the firmament before it. (T. Chalmers, D.D.)
The covenants.
I. The term itself bears a special Messianic meaning, as always having in view the fidelity of God to the design of human redemption through the sacrifice of His Son. The Hebrew Berith almost always translated in the LXX. by diatheke, signifies, not a compact as between man and man, but the disposition or arrangement assumed by the one supreme purpose of grace. Unlike human compacts it is invariably connected with sacrifice. The Hebrew contains an allusion to the custom of cutting and passing between the parts of a divided animal on the ratification of a covenant. The first express revelation of the covenant to Abraham (Gen_15:18) gives the key to all its history. There all is based on a free Divine promise. The animals divided denoted the two parties to the great transaction; and the flame passing through was God, in His future Son, the Shekinah, uniting the parties alone, and thus ratifying His own covenant. The New Testament term diatheke does not preserve the original allusion; but it is never disconnected from the idea. The one covenant of grace has been ratified by an eternal sacrifice; which is at the same time the death of the Testator, who disposes the promise of eternal inheritance according to the counsel of His own will.
II. The covenant of redemption, or of grace, has always been connected with Christ, its unrevealed Mediator. As its Mediator He is the medium through whom, or rather in whom, all its blessings are conveyed: that grace which is the one name and blessing of the covenant, the free bestowment of favour on sinful man, or the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ (2Co_13:14). Therefore the term, which has a wider meaning than its relation to a compact, may be applied to Christ as the yet unknown Redeemer who was at once the ground of the covenant, and its promise, and its virtual administrator. After He came and was revealed, it is the term surety that more precisely expresses His mediatorship in the order of grace: in His Divine-human atoning personality, He is the Pledge to man of the bestowment by God of all blessings procured through His atoning work, and the Pledge to God on behalf of mankind of compliance with all the conditions of the covenant. In the Old Testament the future Redeemer is not termed either the Mediator or the Surety; though He was in the profoundest sense both as the Angel or Messenger of the covenant (Mal_3:1), and Himself the embodied Covenant reserved for the future (Isa_49:8). What was thus given to Him by promise becomes the heritage of His people through faith, who as Christs are heirs according to the promise (Gal_3:18-19; Gal_3:29).
III. This one covenant has taken three forms in the history of revelation.
1. As entered into with mankind, represented by Adam, its revelation began with the Fall, was ratified for the world with Noah, and was con- firmed to Abraham as the representative of all believers to the end of time.
2. But the covenant with Abraham for the world in all ages also introduced the special compact with his descendants after the flesh. The latter was established through Moses, its mediator; and blended the covenant of grace with a covenant of works. The law was given by Moses; and as an appended form or condition of the original institute of grace, perpetually convicted the people of their sin and impotence, drove them to take refuge in the hope of a future grace, the ground of which was kept before them in the institute of sacrifice.
3. Finally the new covenant, established on better promises (Heb_8:6), was ratified in the death of Christ. It was at once the abrogation of the Mosaic, or later old covenant, so far as concerns its national relation and its legal condition, and the renewal unto perfection of the more ancient covenant, always in force and never superseded, with mankind. (W. B. Pope, D.D.)
The giving of the law.--
1. The act as described (Exo_20:18; Deu_4:32, etc.).
2. The law itself. System of laws given (Deu_4:5-8; Psa_147:19-20). A distinction exalting Israel above every other nation, served--
(1) For instruction.
(2) For restraint.
(3) For conviction.
Prepared the way for the promised Saviour (Gal_3:21). Its observance brought national blessings in its train. (T. Robinson, D.D.)
The service of God.--A technical term for Divine worship. The apostle is detailing the privileges which constituted Israel a peculiar people. This was one of the most conspicuous. For the service of Jehovah was distinguished from all heathen cults:--
I. In its origin. This was Divine. God Himself arranged the whole Hebrew ritual down to its minutest details. Man was not left to his own blind instincts as to the manner in which his Maker was to be approached. No doubt all worship was Divine in its origin, and were we able to thread the labyrinths of heathen devotion we should arrive ultimately at a primitive revelation. But this is impossible; and the great mass of heathen worship is the offspring of irrational superstition when it was not the device of a fraudulent priesthood.
II. In its nature.
1. It was spiritual. The forms were materialistic as all forms must necessarily be; but it was not mere form as heathen worship was. Time after time it was carefully explained that the sacrifices, etc., were symbolic, and that without the corresponding spiritual reality they were an abomination to Deity. To what an extent this was realised by the best spirits of the nation, the Psalms and prophets abundantly testify.
2. It was intelligent. The heathen worshipped they knew not what. To worship all the objects presented to their devotion was an impossibility, and had it been possible, ineffectual, for prayers offered to one God would have been neutralised by those offered to another. And the intelligent heathen, while he conformed to the superstitions of his fellow-country-men, knew the host of Olympus to be a myth. The Hebrews knew whom they worshipped. The Shekinah glory was a standing evidence of the Divine existence and presence, and the revelations of His character from time to time exhibited Him as worthy of the homage of rational beings.
III. In its effects. These were--
1. Humbling. The whole system was calculated to reveal the Divine greatness and holiness on the one hand and human insignificance and sinfulness on the other, and thus was discouraging to pride and self-confidence. It was not the fault of the system if men thanked God that they were not as other men were. Heathen worship encouraged no such notions of God or man, and hence humility was never a heathen virtue.
2. Joyful. God was served with gladness; and the joy of the Lord was the peoples strength for services. The great festivals are proofs of this. Heathenism had plenty of hilarity, but little joy. How could it have had when their worship brought no manifestation of the Divine presence and no consciousness of the Divine favour?
3. Moral. Holiness unto the Lord was the legitimate and only issue of the Mosaic system: whereas we know that many heathen gods were served with obscene rites, and that the whole tendency of idolatry was degrading to intellect, heart and life. Conclusion: The comparative value of heathen and Hebrew worship may be seen in their devotional manuals. To estimate this let the Book of Psalms be read side by side with the Vedas, Shasters, etc. (J. W. Burn.)
The promises.--
1. Of blessings in general (Lev_26:43; Deu_28:1-14).
2. Of the Messiah in particular. Given various times and in various ways (Heb_1:1; Rom_1:2). Some already fulfilled in Christs first coming (Act_3:18; Act_3:22-26). Others yet to be fulfilled in Israels experience (Eze_37:1-28; Isa_66:1-24.). All the promises of God, yea and amen in Christ (2Co_1:20). Gentiles by faith made fellow-heirs of the promises (Eph_3:6; Gal_3:29). Promises all fulfilled at Christs second appearing (chap. 11:26; Act_1:6; Act_3:19-21). Mentioned last as the transition to Christ Himself. (T. Robinson, D.D.)
Whose are the fathers, and of whom, as concerning the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever.--
The fact of facts in human history
Here is--
I. The crowning fact in Jewish history. Of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came. In the preceding verses the apostle points to the most illustrious facts in the history, facts in which the Jews passionately gloried. They were Israelites. No national appellation in their estimation was so distinguished as this; Greek and Roman were contemptible by its side. Theirs was the adoption. To them pertained the glory. They had the covenants. The covenants with Abraham, with Jacob, and with Moses, were with them. To them pertained the giving of the law. The best commentary on these words is to be found by Moses himself (Deu_4:32-36). To them also pertained the service of God. He mentions these in order to prepare the way for the announcement of a fact before whose splendour all others pale their lustre, and that is this: Of whom, as concerning the flesh, Christ came. This was the crowning fact of their history. He does not disparage the other facts; on the contrary, he is patriotically proud of them. When will the Jew come to see that Jesus of Nazareth is the glory of Israelitish history? Here is--
II. The greatest fact in human history.
1. There are many great facts in the history of the world.
(1) Physical, such as deluges, earthquakes, wars, pestilences, etc.
(2) Political, such as the rise and fall of empires.
(3) Social, such as discoveries in science, inventions in art, reformations in customs and manners.
(4) Religious, such as the birth, growth, and decay of theological systems and ceremonial observances.
2. But of all facts there is not one approaching the great one in the text, viz., that Christ Jesus came into the world.
(1) No fact is better attested.
(2) No fact is so central in the worlds history as this.
(3) No fact involves such vital influence to the world as this. (D. Thomas, D.D.)
Christ is
I. God
1. Supreme.
2. Infinite.
3. Eternal.
II. Over all.
1. Nature.
2. The world.
3. Heaven.
III. Ever blessed.
1. Self-sufficient.
2. Holy.
3. Good; hence--
4. Happy.
IV. Acknowledged.
1. Conscience.
2. Gratitude.
3. Hope--say, Amen. (J. Lyth, D.D.)
Christ over all
I. In the sublimity of His origin. All others came into existence in the natural order of generation, received a bias to wrong from their parents, and never in the case of the best quite lost their earthliness. On the contrary, Christ came down from the pure heavens of God. He had a pre-incarnate existence (Pro_8:1-36.; Joh_1:1-2). He was in the bosom of the Father, and while there was morally over all.
II. In the character of His doctrines. These were--
1. Realities of which He Himself was conscious. They were not matters of speculation. All the forms and voices of eternal truth were matters of consciousness to Him.
2. Moral in their influence. They are so congruous with mans sense of right, consciousness of need, feeling of God, desire for immortality, that the believing soul sees them as Divine reality.
3. Pre-eminently Divine. They concerned God Himself, His words, thoughts, feelings, purposes. Christ does not teach what men call sciences; but God Himself, the root, centre and circumference of all truth.
III. In the affection of the father.
1. No one shared the Divine love so much as He. God loves all. He is love. But Christ is His well-beloved, and as such He loves Him with infinite complacency.
2. None ever deserved it as Christ did. He never offended the Father in His conduct, or misrepresented Him in His teaching. He always did those things which pleased Him.
3. None ever had such demonstrations of it. All power is given unto Me.
IV. In the extent of his endowment. God giveth not His Spirit by measure unto Him. It pleased the Father that in Him should all fulness dwell.
V. In the necessity of His mission. Faith in Him is essential to mans eternal well-being. (D. Thomas, D.D.)
Christ over all, God blessed for ever
Let us in imagination pass the angel guardians of those gates where no error enters, and, entering that upper sanctuary which no discord divides, no heresy disturbs, let us find out who worship and who are worshipped there. The law, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve, extends to heaven as well as to earth; so that if our Lord is only the highest of all creatures, we shall find Him on His knees--not the worshipped, but a worshipper; and from His lofty pinnacle, and lonely, and to other creatures unapproachable pinnacle, looking up to God, as does the highest of the snow-crowned Alps to the sun, that, shining above it, bathes its head in light. We have sought Him, I shall suppose, in that group where His mother sits with the other Marys, sought Him among the twelve apostles, or where the chief of the apostles reasons with angels over things profound, or where David, royal leader of the heavenly choir, strikes his harp, or where the beggar, enjoying the repose of Abrahams bosom, forgets his wrongs, or where martyrs and confessors and they which have come out of great tribulation, with robes of white and crowns of glory, swell the song of salvation to our God which sitteth on the throne. He is not there. Rising upwards, we seek Him where angels hover on wings of light, or, with feet and faces veiled, bend before a throne of dazzling glory. Nor is He there. He does not belong to their company. Verily He took not on Him the nature of angels. Eighteen hundred years ago Mary is rushing through the streets of Jerusalem, speed in her steps, wild anxiety in her look, one question to all on her eager lips, Have you seen my Son? Eighteen hundred years ago on those same streets, some Greeks accosted a Galilean fisherman, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus. Now, were we bent, like His mother on finding Him, like those Greeks on seeing Him, to stay a passing angel, and accost him in the words, Sir, we would see Jesus, what would he do? How would his arm rise, and his finger point upward to the throne as he fell down to worship, and worshipping to swell that flood of song which in this one full stream mingles the name of the Father, and of the Son--Blessing and honour and glory and power be unto Him that sitteth on the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever. Such a glorious vision, such worship, the voices that sounded on Johns ear as the voice of many waters, the distant roar of the ocean, are in perfect harmony with the exalted honour and Divine dignity which Paul assigns to Him who is over all, God blessed for ever. (T. Guthrie, D.D.)
Christs supremacy
I. Over spirits (Mat_8:16).
II. Over nature (verse 26; 17:27).
III. Over man (Joh_2:14-16; Joh_18:6). (T. Robinson, D.D.)
Christs supremacy
I. Over what. Over--
1. The sublimest created intelligences (Heb_1:1-14.).
2. The greatest human potentates (Rev_19:16; Psa_110:1. cf. Mat_22:43; Mat_11:42).
3. The most glorious of material edifices (Mat_12:46).
4. The universe of matter as its Creator (Joh_1:3).
5. The universe of mind as its Ruler and Judge (Mat_28:18; Joh_5:22; Joh_5:25).
6. His Church as its Redeemer, Legislator, Sovereign (Col_1:18-19).
7. In a word--all things (Col_1:16-17; 1Co_15:27).
II. Why? Can there be any other answer but that in the text?--because He is God. (J. W. Burn.)
The Divine supremacy of Christ
Various constructions have been put on these words in order to set aside so clear an assertion of the Godhead of Jesus; but most of the highest authorities agree in regarding the present construction as most true to the original: and, if so, a more full and unmistakable declaration of Christs Divinity it is almost impossible to conceive. Were it our intention to argue the point of our Redeemers Godhead, we would look upon the question--
1. In the light of general history, and develop three facts.
(1) That the system of Jesus has become one of the most mighty powers in the human world, and is evidently tending to universal dominion. The Anglo-Saxon race is, in its literature, laws, customs, institutions and spirit, mightily influenced by it, and that race is rapidly advancing to the throne of the world.
(2) That there was a period in the history of the world when this mighty creed had no existence. When Homer sang, and Socrates reasoned; when Alexander fought his campaigns, and Demosthenes hurled his fulminations over Greece, Christianity was not.
(3) There was everything in the external history of the Founder of Christianity, as well as in the spiritual purity of its doctrines and precepts, to have led one antecedently to suppose that it would never make any way in the world. Christ was born of a despised people; lived in the most obscure part of their country; and came of humble parents; and so thoroughly did His doctrines clash with the feelings, and prejudices, and habits of the people, that the proclamation of them ended in His being executed as a malefactor. These facts show that the power which Christianity has gained in the world is a phenomenon which cannot be explained on the hypothesis of His being nothing more than a mere man; and that gives a strong presumption in favour of His Divinity.
2. In the light of Divine revelation, we would also state three facts.
(1) That whoever created the universe is our God, by whatever name you call the great originating agent. We cannot form an idea of a higher being than a Creator.
(2) That the Bible unquestionably refers the work of creation to Christ (Joh_1:3; Col_1:16).
(3) As a necessary conclusion, that unless the Bible is false, Christ is God. But our object is to offer a few remarks concerning Christs Divine supremacy, which is--
I. co-extensive with the universe. Over all. How much is included in this all! The visible and invisible, the proximate and remote, the minute and vast, the material and the spiritual. The subjects of His dominion may be divided into four classes. Those which He governs--
1. Without a will; all inanimate matter and vegetable life. Plants germinate, grow, and die; oceans ebb and flow; stars and systems revolve by His will entirely. They have no will.
2. With their will. All irrational existences have volition. By this they move. They cannot move contrary to their instinct. Whether they roam in the forest, wing the air, or sport in mighty oceans, they move with their will, and He controls them thus.
3. By their will. Holy intelligences He governs thus. He gives them laws, and supplies them with motive, and leaves them free. They move by their will, yet He governs them.
4. Against their will. These are wicked men and devils. He makes their wrath to praise Him. He is over all these.
II. Exercised with perfect happiness. Blessed for ever. He is the blessed and only Potentate. Christ is happy on the throne. If so, we infer--
1. That He can have no doubt of His capacity to meet every conceivable emergency. The sovereign who doubts his power can never be happy. How many monarchs, like Herod, are miserable from fear? Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown. Christ has all power. He is not afraid of insurrections or rebellions.
2. That He can have no misgivings as to the rectitude of His position. The monarch who has got power by fraud or violence, by treading on the rights of others if he has conscience, can never be happy on his throne. But Christ has a consciousness that He has a right to the power He wields. His subjects are His creatures, His property, etc.
3. That He must be ever under the sway of benevolent affections. Envy, anger, revenge, ambition, are all the fruits of selfishness, and are elements of misery; and they cannot co-exist with benevolence.
4. That happiness is the law of the universe. He that is happy ever seeks to make others so. Misery is an accident; happiness is a necessity; for Christs being is a necessity. Misery had a beginning; happiness is eternal. Misery is local; happiness is universal. The misery of the universe, as compared with the happiness, is only as one blighted leaf in an immeasurable forest.
III. Heartily acquiesced in by the good. Amen; i.e., So be it--I would have it so.
1. Conscience says amen to Christs supremacy.
2. Gratitude. What has He done for us! Recount His victories--His mercies.
3. Hope. What higher security can we have, either for the future well-being of our race or selves than this? (D. Thomas, D.D.)
The Deity of Christ
In defence of the received version of our text, we have to urge--
I. That it is in strict conformity with every principle of just interpretation. It violates no rule of construction; it infringes on no idiom of the Greek language; it deviates from no general usage of the sacred writers. There is no rude disjointure of the passage; no referring of the terms who is to a person afterwards to be named, instead of the person named before; no mutilation of the passage; no addition; but--so far as the English language will admit of it--the very order is preserved in which the passage stands in the original.
II. The qualification of the statement, that the Messiah was of the Israelites only according to the flesh, strongly countenances, not to say renders necessary, this reading; involving, as it does, the supposition that there was something else, according to which He was not of them; and at least justifying the conclusion that if anything else be named before the final closing of the sentence by which the contrast can be completed, and according to which the Messiah was not of the Jews, it was intended to be so taken and applied. Now, in our text that something else is clearly pointed out--namely, His Deity. According to the flesh, He is of the Israelites; according to another, and a Divine nature, He is over all, God blessed for ever. Thus the contrast is complete; both parts of the antithesis are supplied, and our Emmanuel is seen to be precisely as St. John represented Him--truly man, and truly God.
III. That this is the proper rendering of the text we argue from the existing ancient versions of this epistle. The most ancient of the versions of the New Testament, and that which stands highest in critical authority, is the Old Syriac, made, some suppose, before the death of the apostle John, but certainly at the close of the first century, or the beginning of the second. This ancient version thus renders the passage:--And from them was manifested Messiah in the flesh, who is God that is over all; whose are praises and blessings to the ages of ages. Amen. Nothing can be more clear than this; nothing more express. The version which stands next to the Syriac, and which may be said almost to rival it, is the Old Latin, denominated the Italic. This was executed, as is supposed, at the beginning of the second century, and is of no small importance in Biblical criticism. It renders our text thus;--From whom is Christ according to the flesh, who is over all things, God blessed for ever. Amen. The Ethiopic, translated in the fourth century, omits the words over all, and reads--Of whom is Christ according to the flesh, who is God blessed for ever. Amen. And the Armenian, translated at the end of the fourth or the beginning of the fifth century, reads--Of whom the Christ came according to the flesh; who is also over all things, God blessed for ever. Amen.
IV. All the ancient Christian writers who have either professedly cited or translated the passage, or who have referred to the apostles design in writing it, have given the construction for which we are contending. Irenaeus, who flourished in the second century, and who was the disciple of Polycarp, who had been personally acquainted with the apostle John, speaking of the generation of Jesus Christ, says--He is called God with us, lest by any means one should conceive that He was only a man; for the Word was made flesh, not by the will of man, but by the will of God; nor should we, indeed, surmise Jesus to have been another, but know Him to be one and the same God. This very thing St. Paul has interpreted. Writing to the Romans, he said--Whose are the fathers, and of whom Christ came according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Tertullian, about the year 211, writes thus:--I will follow the apostle; so that if I have occasion to mention the Father and the Son together, I will use the appellations God the Father, and Jesus Christ the Lord. But when I am speaking of Christ alone, I will call Him God; as the apostle says, of whom is Christ, who is, saith he, God over all things, blessed for ever. And in another passage Tertullian states:--Paul also hath called Christ very God: Whose are the fathers, and of whom Christ came according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed for ever Cyprian, who wrote about the year 240, thus cites the passage, in a work written to prove that Christ is God:--Of whom are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is God over all, blessed for ever. Novatian, about the year 251, thus expostulated with the opposers of the Saviours Godhead:--But if, when it belongs to God alone to know the secrets of the heart, Christ looks into the secrets of the heart; but if, when it belongs to God alone to forgive sins, Christ forgives sins; but if, when it is not the possible act of any man to come down from heaven, Christ in His advent descended from heaven; but if, when no man can utter this sentence, I and my Father are one, Christ alone, from a consciousness of His Divinity, declared, I, etc.; but if the apostle Paul, too, in his writings says, Whose are the fathers, and of whom is Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed for ever, it follows that Christ is God. Athanasius, about the year 326, states:--Paul thus writes in his Epistle to the Romans: Of whom are the fathers, and of whom Christ came according to the flesh, who is over all, God. Here, by not adding the doxology, blessed for ever, Athanasius has incontrovertibly proved that he understood the words as applying to Christ. Theodoret, Epiphanius, and Gregory of Nyssa have quoted them in the same manner. Hilary, who wrote A.D. 324, has left the following testimony:--Paul was not ignorant that Christ is God, saying, Of whom are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all things, God. And, now, what shall we say to this? If the consent of the whole professing Christian world--with the exception of a few individuals within the last three centuries--be not sufficient to prove the proper construction of a passage like this, on what authority are we to depend? But if it be sufficient, then an inspired apostle has assuredly written that Christ is over all, God blessed for ever. (Thos. Allin.)
Blending of the human and Divine in Christ
The picture produced in the stereopticon is fuller, rounder, and more natural than the same picture seen without the use of that instrument. But to produce the stereoscopic picture there must be two pictures blended into one by the use of the stereopticon, and both the eyes of the observer are brought into requisition at the same time, looking each through a separate lens. Thus Christ is only seen in His true and proper light when the record of His human nature and the statement of His Divine are blended. It is a flat, unfinished Christ with either left out. But it is as seen in the Word, with the moral and mental powers of our being both engaged in the consideration, and thus only, that we get the full and true result.
Pre-eminence of Christ:--We have seen in mountain lands one majestic peak soaring above all the rest of the hills which cut the azure of the horizon with their noble outline, burning with hues of richest gold in the light of the morning sun; and so should the doctrine of Christ incarnate, crucified, risen, and reigning, be pre-eminent above the whole chain of fact, doctrine, and sentiment which make up the sublime landscape--the magnificent panorama--which the Christian preacher (or teacher) unfolds, and makes to pass in clear form and brilliant colour before the eyes of his peoples faith. (Evangelical Magazine.)
Christs Divine human personality
I. Christs humanity.
1. Real flesh.
2. Of the seed of Abraham.
3. Compassed about with infirmities.
II. Christs divinity.
1. Supreme.
2. Eternal.
3. Blessed for ever. Amen. (J. Lyth, D.D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 4. Who are Israelites. He now enumerates some of…
4. Who are Israelites. He now enumerates some of the glories of the Jewish race. Jacob, their ancestor, had been called Israel (Gen. 32:28) by the angel. This means a Prince with God, and this proud title was borne by his descendants. Whose is the adoption. Six high privileges of the chosen people are named in the 4th and 5th verses. They were adopted as the chosen people (Deut. 7:6). And the glory. The presence of the ark of God and the glory of the Divine Presence (1 Sam. 4:21). The covenants. The covenants made with Abraham and at Sinai. The giving of the law. The law of Moses given to the children of Israel. And the service of God. The worship of the tabernacle and temple. And the promises. Especially the blessed promise 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.
William B. Godbey 1900 · Public Domain 4-10. He here recapitulates the signal and extraordinary blessings…
4-10. He here recapitulates the signal and extraordinary blessings which God conferred on the Jews, and bewails their apostasy, at the same time observing that the true Israel were in harmony with Christ, representing the seed of Abraham.
ELECTION OF THE MESSIANIC PROGENITORSHIP IN CONTRADISTINCTION TO THE ELECTION OF GRACE
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If you do not recognize and keep before you this distinction, you get much tangled in both Testaments. While the election of grace determinative of heaven or hell is optionary with man, that of the progenitorship was utterly independent of human volition, absolute and unchangeable in this sense. The Jews were elected and the Gentiles reprobated; Isaac elected and Ishmael reprobated, and Jacob elected and Esau reprobated.
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 who are Israelites [The first distinction of the chosen…
who are Israelites [The first distinction of the chosen people was their descent from and right to the name "Israel": a name won by Jacob when, wrestling, he so prevailed with God that he was called Israel, or prince of God ( Gen_32:28 ), and also won for himself the unique honor of having all his descendants bear his name, and be accepted as God's covenant people]; whose is the adoption [i. e., the Sonship. Israel is always represented as the Lord's son or first-born, in contradistinction to the Gentiles, who are his creatures-- Exo_4:22-23 ; Exo_19:5 ; Deu_7:6 ; Deu_14:1 ; Isa_1:2 ; Jer_31:9 ; Hos_11:1 ; Mal_1:6 ], and the glory [The glory of having God manifested visibly as their friend and protector. This glory was called the Shekinah and appeared in the pillar of cloud by day and fire by night ( Exo_13:21-22 ), and rested on Mt. Sinai ( Exo_24:16 ) and on the tabernacle ( Exo_29:43 ), and in the tabernacle ( Exo_40:34-38 ; Lev_9:23-24 ), and enlightened the face Moses ( Exo_34:29-35 ; 2Co_3:7-18 ), and filled Solomon's temple ( 1Ki_8:10-11 ), and is thought to have abode between the cherubim, over the mercy-seat of the ark of the covenant ( Exo_25:22 ; Exo_29:43 ; Heb_9:5 ), whence it is also thought that the ark itself is once called "the glory of Israel"-- 1Sa_4:21 ], and the covenants [Especially the Messianic and promised-land covenants given to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to which may be added the covenants with Aaron ( Exo_29:9 ) and Phinehas ( Num_25:10-13 ), and those made with Israel on the plains of Moab ( Deu_29-30 ) and at Shechem ( Jos_24:25 ), and the throne covenant with David-- 2Sa_7:12-17 ], and the giving of the law [It was given at Mt. Sinai directly from the person of God himself, and its retention in Israel was a notable mark of distinction between them and all other people, for it placed them under the divine government, as the peculiar heritage of Jehovah], and the service of God [The order of praise and worship in tabernacle and temple under charge of Levites and priests and explained at length in the Epistle to the Hebrews. "The grandest ritual," says Plumer, "ever known on earth, with its priests, altars, sacrifices, feasts, and splendid temple"], and the promises [The term "promise" is about the same as "covenant" ( Act_2:39 ; Rom_15:8 ; Gal_3:16 ; Eph_2:12 ; Heb_11:17 ). If there is any distinction to be drawn between the two words, covenant is the larger, including threatenings as well as assurances of grace. In the promises the threatenings are omitted, and the details of the good are enlarged];
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.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 9:4 Up to this point in Romans, Paul has…
9:4 Up to this point in Romans, Paul has called the Jewish people Jews. His shift to people of Israel, here and throughout most of chs 9–11, is significant. Jew connotes national identity, but Israel emphasizes the covenant relationship of the people with God. • chosen to be God’s adopted children: The Old Testament called Israel God’s son or child to emphasize that God had selected Israel to be his own people (e.g., Exod 4:22; Jer 3:19; 31:9; Hos 11:1). Israel’s adopted status meant that they received God’s blessing and promises, not that they were necessarily saved. • covenants: The Old Testament includes several covenants between God and the people of Israel: one with Abraham (Gen 17), one with the nation through Moses at Mount Sinai (Exod 19–24), and one with David (2 Sam 7:8-16; 23:5).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.