Ver. 8. ἐγγύς σου τὸ ῥῆμά ἐστιν... Tour ἔστιν τὸ ῥῆμα τῆς πίστεως ὃ κηρύσσομεν. What is in the lips of the preacher is near to all who hear. In Deut. the word is of course the Mosaic law; here it is the Gospel, the word which deals with that πίστις on which
5-11.
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. ἁ hs - us ἄβυσσον; τοῦτ ἔστι Χριστὸν ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀναγαγεῖν. 8. ἀλλὰ tii Heb. xlii.
ie cee , \ cm kes 2 a ͵ ’ y = k Acts x. 37 λέγει; “Εγγύς σου τὸ ῥῆμά " ἐστιν, ἐν τῷ στόµατί σου καὶ ἐν THX ACIS? ο
καρδία cou” tour ἔστι τὸ ῥῆμα | τῆς πίστεως ὃ κηρύσσοµεν * ὅτι Eph.v. pdia σου UT υ pnp ης : 5 πρ µ 9. 26, Vi. 17. 34 ε , 9 a , , , a \ , > < . ἐὰν ὁμολογήσης ἐν TO στόµατί σου Κύριον ᾿Ιησοῦν.! καὶ πιστεύσης ἐν | Acts x. 37; μολογησης στοµα Pp η 3 ne ms 1 Pet. 1.45.
A , a 5 ‘ 3 ‘ 4 3 ~ , = TH καρδίᾳ σου ὅτι 6 Θεὸς αὖτον ἤγειρεν ἐκ νεκρῶν, σωθήσῃ ΄ 10, καρδία γὰρ πιστεύεται εἰς δικαιοσύνην, στόµατι δὲ ὁμολογεῖται els
σωτηρίαν. 11. Λέγει γὰρ ἡ γραφή, “Nas 6 πιστεύων ἐπ᾽ αὐτῷ οὗ
1 οµολογησης εν τω στοµατι σου Κυριον Ίησουν: this is the reading of most MSS., and is retained by Weiss and on the marg. by W. and H. For Κυριον ήσουν B and Clem. Alex. have ott Kuptos Ίήσους, which W. and H. put in their text, and Lachm. and Treg.onmargin. But B. and Clem. Alex. also insert το ρηµα before εν τω στοµατι gov, and this also W. and Η. putin text. Weiss regards it as a thoughtless repetition from ver. 8, to give an object to οµολογησῃς; whether the further change of Κυριον Invovy into ott Κυριος Ίησους (to conform to the parallel clause) took place before
or after this can hardly be decided.
the righteousness of God depends. τῆς πίστεως is objt. gen. The whole idea of the verses is that righteousness has not to be achieved, but only appropriated. Ver. g. Apparently this verse gives the content of what the Apostle de- scribes as ‘‘the word of faith which we preach”, ὅτι - νίΖ. The reference both to heart and mouth in Deut. suits his purpose, and he utilises it; the closing words in the LXX (καὶ ἐν ταῖς χερσί σου ποιεῖν αὐτό) he disregards. ὁμολογήσῃς τὸ ῥῆμα . . . ὅτι Κύριος Ιησοῦς: the putting of the confession before the faith which inspires it, and of which it is the confession, seems to be due simply to the fact that in the Ο.Τ. passage present to the Apostle’s mind ἐν τῷ στόµατί gov precedes ἐν ‘Th καρδίᾳ σον. τὸ ῥῆμα is virtually = the Gospel, as God’s word concerning His Son and faith in Him. We confess it when we say, Jesus is Lord. Cf. 1 Cor. xii. 3, Phil. ii. 11. The exaltation of Jesus is the fundamental Christian confession, and presupposes the resurrec- tion; and it is this exaltation which here Κας in the other passages referred to) is meant by His Lordship. Itis mechanical to say that the first part of ver. 9 (Jesus is Lord) refers to the doubting question in ver. 6, and therefore means a con- fession of the incarnation ; and the second part of it (God raised Him from the dead) to the doubting question of ver. 7. Paul nowhere connects the Lordship of Christ with His incarnation, and there is certainly no reference to His Divine nature here. The confession of the first part of the verse answers to the faith in the second; he who believes in his heart ‘that God raised Christ from the dead can
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confess with his mouth (on that ground and in that sense) that Jesus is Lord. On the basis of such mutually inter- preting faith and confession he is saved, This does not deprive the death of Christ of the significance which Paul ascribes to it elsewhere. Christ could not be raised unless He had first died, and when He is raised it is with the virtue of His sin-atoning death in Him. His exalta- tion is that of one who has borne our sins, and the sense of this gives passion to the love with which believers confess Him Lord.