* The part of Isa. Ixv. 1 which is not quoted here (I said, Behold Me, behold Me, unto a nation that was not called by My name) is meant, as usually pointed, to refer to the Gentiles, and this tradition of its application Paul may have learned from Gamaliel (Cheyne); but the pointing is wrong: see Cheyne.
18-41.
ἀσυνέτῳ παροργιῶ spas”.
675
20. ‘Hoatas δὲ Ἱ ἀποτολμᾷ καὶ λέγει, q Here only.
“«Εὐρέθην τοῖς] ἐμὲ μὴ ζητοῦσιν, ἐμφανὴς ἐγενόμην τοῖς ἐμὲ μὴ
3 aA 32 ἐπερωτῶσι .
ἐξεπέτασα τὰς χεῖράς µου πρὸς λαὸν ἀπειθοῦντα καὶ " ἀντιλέγοντα ”.
21. πρὸς δὲ τὸν ᾿Ισραὴλ λέγει, “Ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν "sys Acts
ii.
». Xiil. 45; XXviii. 22.
1 ενρεθην τοις RACD*®*®LP; but εν τοις BD'FG. Sanday and Headlam call this
‘a Western reading which has found its way into B”,
have been a message to the Jews, which they could not misunderstand; it should have opened their eyes as with a light- ning flash to the position in which they stood—that of men who had forfeited their place among the people of God— and provoked them, out of jealousy, to vie with these outsiders in welcoming the righteousness of faith.
Ver. 21. πρὸς δὲ τὸν ᾿Ισραὴλ λέγει: That is what he says of the Gentiles, but as for Israel, he says, etc., Isa. Ixv. 2. For πρὸς = with reference to, see Heb. i. 7 f., Luke xii. 41. The arms outstretched all the day long are the symbol of that incessant pleading love which Israel through all its histery has consistently despised. It is not want of knowledge, then, nor want of intelligence, but wilful and stubborn disobedience, that explains the exclusion of Israel (meanwhile) from the Kingdom of Christ and all its bless- ings. This is not inconsistent with ver. 3, if we go to the root of the matter. For the ignorance there spoken of is one which has its root in the will, in the pride of a heart which is determined to have a righteousness of its own without coming under any obligation to God for it, and which therefore cannot assume the attitude to which the Gospel becomes credibly Divine ; while the ignorance suggested as a plea for unbelief is that of men to whom the Gospel has never been presented at all. The latter igno- rance might annul responsibility ; the former gives its full significance to guilt.
CuHapTER XI. On the place of this chapter in the argument, see introduc- tion to chap. ix. above. Briefly, the ninth chapter means, God is sovereign, and the tenth chapter means, Israel has sinned. Both of these are presented in relative independence as explanations of the perplexing fact which confronted the Apostle, namely, that the Jews did not receive the Gospel, while the Gentiles did ; in this chapter, the two are brought into relation to each other, and we are shown (to some extent) how in the sovereign providence of God even the ‘sin of Israel is made to contribute to the
W. and H. put ev in marg.
working out of a universal purpose of re- demption—a redemption in which Israel also shares, in accordance with the in- violable promise of God. The chapter can be naturally divided into three sections: (I) vers. 1-10, in which the question immediately arising out of chap. x. is discussed, viz., whether the unbelief of which Israel as a whole has been convicted involves God’s rejection of the chosen people; (2) vers. 11-24, in which the result to be attained by the partial and temporary exclusion of the Jews from the Messianic kingdom is en- larged upon, and the Gentiles warned against self-exaltation ; and (3) vers. 25- 36, in which Paul magnifies the un- searchable wisdom, love and faithfulness of God, as revealed in securing by a common method the salvation alike of Israel and the Gentiles.
(1) Vv. 1-10. λέγω οὖν: the οὖν in- timates that it is with the conclusion reached in chap. x. before his mind that Paul puts the following question: the unbelief of Israel naturally suggested it. μὴ Grdcato 6 Beds τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ; For the words, cf. Ps. xciv. 14 (xciii. LXX), 1 Sam. xii. 22. In both places the pro- mise is given οὐκ ἀπώσεται ὁ K. τ. λ. αὐτοῦ, and the familiar words give the effect of asking, Has God broken His express and repeated promise? μὴ sug- gests the negative answer, which is ex- pressed more passionately in μὴ γένοιτο. Cf. iii. 6, ix. 14. Israel may be faithless to Him, but He abides faithful. καὶ yap ἐγὼ ᾿Ἱσραηλίτης εἰμί: This is often read as if it were an argument in favour of the negative answer ; as if Paul meant, God has not cast off His people, I my- self am a living proof to the contrary. But this is hardly conciliatory, to say the least; and it is better to take the words as explaining why Paul puts the question with pa (suggesting the nega- tive answer), and why he then gives the denial with such*vehemence. ‘I, too, am an Israelite, to whom the very idea of God’s rejection of His people is an impious and incredible idea, to be re- pelled with horror.” ἐκ σπέρ. Αβραάμ: