18-21. *Og, who) Paul shows, that the faith, to which justi- fication is ascribed, is no frail thing, but an extraordinary power.
18. ria^’ iXvrlda W hXffiht I'Tr/ffrsufcv, past [against] hope
believed in hope) We lay hold of one and the same object both by faith and by hope ; by faith , as a thing, which is truthfully enunciated [proclaimed] ; by hope , as an object of joy, which for certain both can and will be realized. He believed in the hope of the promise, past [ beyond , ( praeter’] the hope of reason, [which reason would have suggested]. ‘Trap a and Jcr/, past
[against] and m, the particles opposed to each other, produce a striking oxymoron.1 — ovrojg, so) as the stars, Gen. xv. 5. lxx. also, ovrug. — gov. Comp. Gal. iii. 8, notes.
19. Mj} atOivTiffag, being not weak) Reason [had he hearkened to it] might have afforded causes of weakness. — sdvrov — Zappag, his own — of Sarah! s) The old age of both the husband and wife, and the previous barrenness of the latter, increase the difficulty, and prove the birth of Isaac to have been miraculous. The course of the history shows, that Sarah gave birth to Isaac only [not save , ‘ nonnisi ’] in conjunction with Abraham. The renewed vigour of his body remained even in his marriage with Keturah. — warovraWrig ttov, when he was about a hundred years old) After Shem, we read of no one begetting children, who was a hundred years of age, Gen. xi.
20. E/c, at) The promise was the foundation of his confi- dence.— ov diexp/6r), did not [stagger or] doubt) It is clear, what doubt is, from its opposite was strong. We should observe, that it is the reverse of doubting. — dovg, giving) These things, giving glory to God , and being fully persuaded , are very closely connected. — do%av) the glory of truth (its opposite is stigmatized in 1 John v. 10, in the case of him, who does not believe) and of power.
22. dio, therefore ) namely, because he gave glory to God.
-Y. g.
23. A/’ dvrovj for his sake ) who wTas dead long before. — o y/, that.
A/’ h flag, for us) who ought to be stirred up by the example of Abraham. — Y. g.
See Appendix.