of a theological kind. It is said to be inconsistent with the apostle's character to wish that he should be accursed from Christ. But to this it may be answered, 1. Paul does not say that he did deliberately and actually entertain such a wish. The expression is evidently hypothetical and conditional, ' I could wish, were the thing allowable, possible or proper.' So far from saying he actually desired to be thus separated from Christ, he impliedly says the very reverse. ' I could wish it, were it not wrong; or, did it not involve my being unholy as well as misera- ble, but as such is the case, the desire cannot be entertained.' This is the proper force of the imperfect indicative when thus used ; it implies the presence of a condition which is known to be impossible. 2. Even if the words expressed more than they actually do, and the apostle were to be understood as saying that he could wish to be cut off from Christ, yet, from the nature of the passage, it could fairly be understood, as meaning nothing more than that he was Willing to suffer the utmost misery for the sake of his brethren. The difficulty arises from pressing the words too far, making them express definite ideas, instead of strong and indistinct emotions. The general idea is, that he considered himself as nothing, and his happiness as a matter of no moment, in view of the salvation of his brethren.
(4) The object of the apostle in the introduction to this chapter, con- tained in the first five verses, is to assure the Jews of his love and of his respect for their peculiar privileges. The declaration of his love he had just made, his respect for their advantages is expressed in the enumera- tion of them contained in this verse. Who are Israelites, i. e. the peculiar people of God. This includes all the privileges which are afterwards mentioned. The word Israel means one who contends with God, or a prince with God. Hos. 12 : 3, " He took his brother by the heel in the womb, and by his strength he had power with God." As it was given to Jacob as an expression of God's peculiar favour. Gen. 32 : 28, its appli- cation to his descendants, implied that they, too, were the favourites of God. To whom pertaineth the adoption. As Paul is speaking here of the external or natural Israel, the adoption or sonship which pertained to them, as such, must be external also, and is very different from that which he had spoken of in the preceding chapter. They were the sons of God, i. e. the objects of his peculiar favour, selected from the nations of the earth to be the recipients of peculiar blessings and to stand in a pe- culiar relation to God. Ex. 4 : 22, " Thou shalt say unto Pharoah, Israel is my son, even my first-born ;" Deut. 14 : 1, " Ye are the children of the Lord your God ;" Jer. 31 : 9, " I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my first-born."
.And the glory. These words are variously explained. They may be connected with the preceding, as explanatory of the adoption or as quali- fying it, and the two words be equivalent to glorious adoption. But as every other specification in this verse is to be taken separately, so