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pinnacle of faith (chap, viii.) he now shows the highest degree of love, which was kindled by the Divine love. The thing, which he had wished, could not have been done, but his prayer ■was pious and solid, although under the tacit condition, if it were possible to be done ; comp. Rom. viii. 38, I am persuaded ; Ex. xxxii. 33. — aero toj Xpnrrou , from Christ) So aero from 1 Cor. i. 30 ; or, as Christ, being made a curse , was abandoned by the Father ; so Paul, filled with Christ, wished in place of the Jews to be forsaken by Christ , as if he had been accursed. He is not speaking of excommunication from the everlasting society of the church. There is a difference between these two things, for zurupu rttp, curse , has the greater force of the two, and implies something more absolute : D“in, anathema , something relative, Gal. i. 8, 9, 1 Cor. xvi. 22, the former is rather more severe, the latter milder ; the former expresses the power of reconciliation by the cross of Christ ; the latter is more suitable to [more applicable as regards] Paul ; nor can the one be sub- stituted for the other, either here, or in the passages quoted. — Tfa) The apostle is speaking of the whole multitude, not of indi- viduals.— ahz\<pfa [aov, for my brethren) This expresses the cause of his so great love toward them. — cvyyzvfa pov xara ffdpxa, my kinsmen according to the flesh) This expresses the cause of his prayer, showing why the prayer, other things being supposed to be equal [ cceteris panbus , supposing there were no objection on other grounds], was right ; and by adding kinsmen , he shows that the word brethren is not to be understood, as it usually is, of Christians, but of the Jews. Christ was made a curse for us, because we were his kinsmen .
4. o/V/vsr, inasmuch as being those who) He now explains the cause of his sorrow and grief : viz. the fact that Israel does not enjoy so great benefits. He uses great c euphemia’ [softening of an unwelcome truth. Append.] in words. — fa q vtoQetrla — znayyz- X/a /, ichose is the adoption of [as] sons — the promises) Six privi- leges are enumerated by three pairs of correlatives ; and in the first pair, regard is had to God the Father ; in the second, to Christ ; in the third, to the Holy Spirit : with which comp. Eph. iii. 6, note. — j? u/oto'a zui r\ doga, tfie adoption of sons and the glory) i.e. that Israel is the first-born son of God, and the God of glory is their God, Deut. iv. 7, 33, 34 ; Ps. cvi. 20,
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