28—32.
ὡμοιώθημεν”.) 30. Τί οὖν ἐροῦμεν; ὅτι ἔθνη τὰ μὴ” διώκοντα δικαιοσύνην κατέλαβε} δικαιοσύνην, δικαιοσύνην δὲ τὴν ἐκ πίστεως °
> AY x / , , > , ΄ 1 5 21. ᾿Ισραὴλ δὲ διώκων νόµον δικαιοσύνης εἰς νόµον δικαιοσύνης Ἰ οὐκ
Ἰφθασε."
24; Phil. iii. 12, 17.
2. Stati; ὅτι οὐκ ἐκ πίστεως, GAN ὡς: ἐξ ἔργων νόµου”. 3 ? PY μ.
667
on Ch. if. 14.
o Ch. xii. 13, xiv. 19; I Cor. xiv. 1; 1 Tim. vi. 11: 2 Tim. ii.22.
p 1 Cor. ix.
q Phil. iii. 16. τ Philem. ver. 14,
1 Om. second δικαιοσυνης $!ABDG, all edd. 2 vopov om. NABF 47, vulg., and most edd. Alf. is doubtful.
preted by the analogy of clay in its rela- tion to the potter; in other words, that moral and spiritual experiences can be construed and made intelligible through what are merely physical categories. But this is not the case. And if it be said that justice is not done, by the in- terpretation given in this commentary, to the expression σκεύη ὀργῆς, it may also be said that justice is not done, by the interpretation of Meyer and Lipsius, to the expression ἐν πολλῇ µακροθυµίᾳ. Each of these allegations may be said to neutralise the other—that is, neither is decisive for the interpretation of the passage; and the Apostle’s meaning re- mains to be determined by the general movement of his thought. In spite of the great difficulties of the section as a whole, I cannot hesitate to read it as above.
CHAPTER IX.—Ver. 30-X. 21. We come now to the second main division of that part of the epistle in which Paul discusses the problem raised by the relation of the Jews to the Gospel. He has shown in chap. ix. 6-29 that they have no claim as of right to salvation: their whole history, as recorded and interpreted in the Scriptures, exhibited God acting on quite a different principle; he now proceeds to show more definitely that it was owing to their own guilt that they were rejected. They followed, and per- sisted in following, a path on which salvation was not to be found; and they were inexcusable in doing so, inasmuch as God had made His way of salvation plain and accessible to all.
Ver. 30 f. τί οὖν épotpev; usually, as in ver. 14, this question is followed by another, but here by an assertion. The conclusion of the foregoing dis- cussion is—not that God has been faithless or unjust, but—this paradoxical position: Gentiles (ἔθνη, not τὰ ἔθνη) that did not follow after righteousness attained righteousness, the righteousness which comes of faith; while Israel, which followed after a law of righteous- ness, did not attain that law. διώκειν and καταλαμβάνειν are correlative terms: see
Wetstein. The repetition of δικαιοσύνη is striking: it is the one fundamental conception on which Paul’s_ gospel rests; the questions at issue between him and the Jews were questions as to what it was, and how it was to be attained. τὰ μὴ διώκοντα δικαιοσύνην is not an unfair description of the pagan races as contrasted with the Jews; how to be right with God was not their main interest. δικαιοσύνην δὲ τὴν ἐκ πίστεως for the form of the explanatory clause with δὲ cf. iii. 22, 1 Cor. ii. 6. It is not surprising that a righteousness of this sort should be found even by those who are not in quest of it; its nature is that it is brought and offered to men, and faith is simply the act of appropriating it. *lopanA δὲ κ.τ.λ.: this is the astonishing thing which does need _ explanation. διώκων νόµον δικαιοσύνης. The idea is not that Israel was in quest of a law of righteousness, in the sense of a rule by the observance of which righteousness would be attained: every Israelite be- lieved himself to be, and already was, in possession of such a law. It must rather be that Israel aimed incessantly at bringing its conduct up to the standard. of a law in which righteousness was certainly held out, but was never able to achieve its purpose. The νόμος δικαιο- σύνης, the unattained goal of Israel’s. efforts, is of course the Mosaic law; but it is referred to, not definitely, but in its characteristic qualities, as law, and as exhibiting and enjoining (not bestowing) righteousness. «ls vépov οὐκ ἔφθασεν : did not attain to, arrive at, that law—it remained out of their reach. Legal religion proved a failure.