and confesses, " Against thee only have I sinned ; that thou mighiest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged," i. e. that thy rectitude, under all circumstances, might be seen and ac- knowledged. In this quotation Paul follows the Septuagint translation of Ps. 51:4. The Hebrew runs thus, ' That thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.' The general sen- timent is in either case the same, v. 12. God is just, and will always be found to be so.
(5) But if our unrighteousness commend the righteousness of Gody what shall we say? Is God unrighteous, who taketh vengeance? I speak as a man. This is another cavilling objection of the Jew. ' Not only is God's fidelity pledged for our salvation, but the very fact of our being unrighteous will only render his righteousness the more conspicuous ; and consequently it would be unjust in him to punish us for what glori- fies himself.' This passage is somewhat obscure from being presented in the interrogative form, and from being the language of the apostle, though expressing the sentiment of an objector. It is obvious, however, that the point of the argument is, that God cannot consistently punish those whose unrighteousness serves to display his own rectitude. It is easy to perceive that these objections all suppose the Jew to have felt secure within the precincts of God's covenant with his forefathers. The fidelity of God rendered certain the bestowing of all promised blessings; and the unworthiness of the Jews, as it rendered the goodness and faith- fulness of God the more conspicuous, was no reason why they should be condemned. The words righteousness and unrighteousness are generic terms, the one including all moral excellence, and the other just the re- verse. What, therefore, before and after, is expressed by the more defi- nite terms, faithfulness and unfaithfulness, truth and falsehood, is here expressed more generally. The word rendered to commend signifies either to recommend, as one person to another, Rom. 16: 1 ; or to exhi- bit in a conspicuous manner ; see 5 : 8, " God commendeth his love to- wards us ;" 2 Cor. 7 : 11, " in all things ye have exhibited yourselves as clear in this matter;" Gal. 2 : 18, " I make myself (exhibit myself) as a transgressor." This is obviously the meaning of the word in this case.
* If our unrighteousness render the righteousness of God conspicuous, what shall we say 1 What inference is to be drawn from this fact ! Are we to infer that God is unrighteous who taketh vengeance ? Far from it.' The word for vengeance is that which, in ch. 1 : 18, 2 : 5, is ren- dered wrath, and here is obviously taken for its effect, i. e. punishment ;
* who inflicts punishment.' In order to make it evident that he was not expressing his own sentiments in using the language of this verse, Paul adds, I speak as aman. This phrase, which means, in general, ' as men are accustomed to speak' (or act), is of frequent occurrence, and is va- riously modified as to its import by the context. It means, at times, ' in a manner adapted to the comprehension of men,' Rom. 6:19; as when God is said to speak or act after the manner of men ; or, secondly, ' as