127
frequently olrog this, ver. 9. The mode of expression in this chapter becomingly assumes the Hebrew idiom, so ver. 28, etc.
9. ’ ErayyzX/ag, of promise) It corresponds to the expression, of the promise , ver. 8. — ovrcg, this) viz., is. — xara rov xaipbv rovrov eXzvffofiai, xa/ ’Ur at rjj 'Sappy viog) A.t this time will I come , and Sarah shall have a son. lxx., Gen. xviii. 10 : ibov havaffrpzpuv ri%u rrpog <sz xara. rov xuipov rovrov ztg wpag, xal z^zi viov 2 dppa i] yvvrj troy; comp. Gen. xvii. 21.
10. Ov [aovov 5s, and not only so) That is : it is wonderful, what I have said; what follows is still more wonderful. Ishmael under Abraham, Esau under Isaac, and those, who resembled Ishmael and Esau under Israel, rebelled. — *P zBzxxa, Rebecca) viz., hr iv, is, i.e. occurs in this place. She, the mother, and presently after Isaac the father, are named. — Ig zvog, by one) Isaac was now separated from Ishmael, and yet under Isaac himself, in whom Abraham’s seed is called, Esau also is separated from Jacob. Ishmael and Isaac were born not of the same mother, nor at the same time, — and Ishmael was the son too of a bondmaid, Isaac of a free woman. Jacob and Esau were born both of the same mother, and she a free woman, and at the same time. — xotrr,v) so lxx. for ; it often occurs, e.g. Lev. xviii. 20, oy buoztg xo/ryv frrep/uarog, said of the man, which is opposed to the phrase zyziv xoiryv, of the woman in this passage.
11. Mtjctw yewrjOevrwv, when they were not yet borr) Carnal descent profiteth nothing, John i. 13. — ^bz <rpa%dvruv, and when they had done nothing) This is added, because some one might think as to Ishmael, that he was driven out, not so much be- cause he was the son of a bondmaid, as because he was a mocker ; although this slave-like scurrility afterwards shows itself in [lays hold of] the son of the bondmaid, so that he [pnvft, and xuxoZyhog rov pmr] laughs and mocks at Isaac, whom he envies and insults. — xar hXoyrii) The purpose, which is quite free, has its reason founded on election alone ; comp, nura ch. xvi. 25 ; Tit. i. 9. It might be said, in Latin, propositum Dei electivum, the elective pur- pose of God. — [j/zvri, might stand [remain]) incapable of being set aside. It is presupposed that the ‘rpodzav, the purpose, is prior to the, might stand. — ovx if zpyuv, not of works) not even of works foreseen. Observe, it is not faith, which is opposed to election, but works. — lx roy xaXovvrog, of Him that calleth) even Him, who
128