present the nature of this rite in its true light, he reverses the statement of the previous verse. Circumcision cannot profit any one if the law is Droken ; and the want of it cannot invalidate the promise, if the law is kept. In other words circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but keeping the commandments of God. The rite, in itself considered, is of no avail. If a man should faithfully perform all the conditions of a contract, the absence of the seal would not, in the judg- ment of equity, invalidate his claim, any more than the possession of the seal, while the conditioHS remained unperformed, would entitle him to the specified reward.
The word uncircumcision, in the beginning of the verse, obviously means an uncircumcised person, by a commoft metonymy, but, in the latter clause, it is to be taken literally. The righteousness of the law, * the prescriptions of the law ;' its various demands. Paul does not say that any heathen does fully answer the demands of the law, the case is merely stated hypothetically to show the little weight due to circumci- sion. The last clause, his uncircumcision shall be counted for circumci- sion, is an example of a very common Hebrew idiom; according to which the preposition here rendered for is placed after verbs signifying to be, to become, or to be regarded, where, in Greek, the nominative would be used. The apostle's meaning is obvious. ' The one shall be regarded and treated as though it were the other.'
(27) And shall not uncircumcision, which is by nature, judge thee, &c. As pointed and understood by our translators, this verse expresses more than the preceding one. The obedient Gentile would not only be accepted, although uncircumcised, but he would rise up and condemn the more favoured Jew. Which is by nature, i. e. which is natural. Judge thee, i. e. condemn thee, as this word is often used, see v. 1. Render thy condemnation and its justice more conspicuous. As the men of Nineveh and the queen of the south are to rise in judgment against the neglecters of Christ and his gospel and condemn them. Matt. 13 : 41, 43. The Jew is here described as one ' who by the letter and circumcision trans- gresses the law.' The word for letter means not only an alphabetic cha- racter, but also any thing written ; John 5 : 47, " If they believe not his writings ;" 2 Tim. 3 : 15, " Thou hast known the sacred Scriptures." It means here the written law, see v. 29, and ch. 7:6, " Not according to the oldness of the letter," i. e. the old written law ; 2 Cor. 3:6, " Hath made us ministers, not of the letter, but of the spirit," that is, ' not of the written law, but of the spiritual dispensation.' The preposition here rendered by, "by the letter and circumcision," may often be rendered with, and should be so translated here ; ' Who with the letter and cir- cumcision ;' that is, ' who, although possessed of the letter, i. e. the written law, and circumcision, art a transgressor of the law ;' see ch. 4 : 11. Heb. 9: 14. The words "letter and cricumcision" might, by a common figure, be taken to mean literal circumcision ; but this is, in the