known his true character. On the other hand, the salvation of the right- eous is designed to display the riches of his grace. Both in the punish- ment of the one class, and the salvation of the other, most important and benevolent ends were to be answered. And since for these ends it was necessary that some should be punished, while others might be pardoned, as all are equally undeserving, it results from the nature of the case that the decision between the vessels of wrath and the vessels of mercy must be left to God. The apostle would, moreover, have it remarked that even in the necessary punishment of the wicked, God does not proceed with any undue severity, but, on the contrary, deals with them with the greatest long-suffering and tenderness. Such seems to be the general purport and object of these difficult verses.
The attentive reader will perceive that even with the insertion of the word what, which has nothing to answer to it in the original, and with a sign of interrogation at the end of v. 24, the construction of the passage in our version remains ungrammatical and the sense incomplete. As the difficulty exists in the Greek text, and not merely in our translation, the explanations which have been proposed are very numerous. The most natural explanation is the following, ' What if God, willing to show his wrath, bore with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath ; (and what if willing) to manifest the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy,' &c. According to this interpretation the second clause of v. 22, and the first clause of V. 23, are co-ordinate, both depending on the beginning of v. 22. 'What right have we to object if God, for the display of his righteous jus- tice, punishes the wicked, and for the manifestation of his glory pardons the vessels of mercy.' This gives a good sense, and one consistent with the context. It assumes, indeed, that the construction of the passage is irregular; but this assumption must be made whatever interpretation is adopted.
The two objects which Paul here specifies as designed to be answered by the punishment of the wicked, are the manifestation of the wrath of God, and the exhibition of his power. The word wrath is used here as in ch. 1 : 18, for the divine displeasure against sin, the calm and holy disapprobation of evil, joined with the determination to punish those who commit it. The power of God is conspicuously displayed in the destruc- tion of the wicked, no matter how mighty or numerous they may be. Though the inherent ill-desert of sin must ever be regarded as the pri- mary ground of the infliction of punishment, a ground which would remain in full force, were no beneficial results anticipated from the misery of the wicked, yet God has so ordered his government that the evils which sinners incur shall result in the manifestation of his character, and the consequent promotion of the holiness and happiness of his intelligent creatures throughout eternity.
God treats the wicked, not as a severe judge, but with much long-suf- fering. The expression vessels of wrath no doubt suggested itself from the illustration of the potter used in the preceding verse ; though the term
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