Vv. 25-27. The doxology. St. Paul’s letters, as a rule, terminate with a bene- diction, and even apart from the questions of textual criticism, connected with it, this doxology has given rise to much discussion. The closest analogies to it are found in the doxology at the end of Ephes., chap. iii., and in Jude (vv. 24 and 25); there is something similar in the last chapter of Hebrews (xiii. 20 f.), though not quite at the end; Pauline doxologies as a rule are briefer (i. 25, ix. 5, xi. 36, Phil. iv. 20), and more closely related to what immediately precedes. This one, in which all the leading ideas ot the Epistle to the Romans may be discovered, though in a style which re- minds one uncomfortably of the Pastoral Epistles rather than of that to which it is appended, would seem more in place if it stood where AL and an immense num-
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24. Ἡ χάρις τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν “lnood Χριστοῦ μετὰ πάντων ὑμῶν. σαι ca ἁμήν.ὶ 25. TO δὲ δυναµένω Spas στηρίξαι κατὰ τὸ εὐαγγέλιόν µου Eph. iii.” καὶ τὸ κήρυγμα ᾿Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ, κατὰ ' ἀποκάλυψιν μυστηρίου χρόνοις
3 3 . pate αἰωνίοις ™ σεσιγηµένου, 26. φΦανερωθέντος δὲ νῦν, διά τε γραφῶν προ-
ο 1. ~ ’
N.T. . φητικῶν, κατ ἐπιταγὴν τοῦ αἰωνίου Θεοῦ, eis ὑπακοὴν πίστεως cis
1 This verse is wanting in ABC; ins. ἵπ DFL. See Introduction, Ρ. 578.
ber of MSS. place it—after xiv. 23. It may represent the first emergence and conscious apprehension of thoughts which were afterwards to become fa- miliar ; but it cannot be denied that the many distinct points of contact with later writings give it, in spite of all it has of imposing, a somewhat artificial char- acter, and it may not belong to the Epistle to the Romans any more than the doxology in Matt. vi. belongs to the Lord’s Prayer.
Ver. 25 {. τῷ δὲ δυναµένῳ: cf. Eph. iii, 20, Jude v. 24. στηρίξαι: this word takes us back to the beginning of the epistle (i. 11.) Paul wished to impart to them some spiritual gift, to the end that they might be established ; but only God is able (cf. xiv. 4) to effect this result. The stablishing is to take place κατὰ τὸ εὐαγγέλιόν pov: in agreement with the gospel Paul preached. When it is achieved, the Romans will be settled and confirmed in Christianity as it was under- stood by the Apostle. For τὸ εὐαγγέλιόν µου cf. ii. 16, 2 Tim. ii. 8: also 1 Tim. 1. II, τὸ εὐαγγέλιον . . - ὃ ἐπιστεύθην ἐγώ. The expression implies not only that Paul’s gospel was his own, in the sense that he was not taught it by any man (Gal. i. 11 f.), but also that it had something characteristic of himself about it. The characteristic feature, to judge by this epistle, was his sense of the abso- lute freeness of salvation (justification by faith, apart from works of law), and of its absolute universality (for. every one that believeth, Jew first, then Greek). τὸ κήρυγμα ᾿Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ is practically the same as τὸ εὐαγγέλιόν µου. It was in a preaching (1 Cor. ii. 4, xv. 14, ΤΗ. i. 3) of which Jesus Christ was the object that Paul declared the characteristic truths of his gospel: and this preaching, as well as the gospel, may be said to be the rule according to which the Romans are to be established as Christians. κατὰ ἀποκάλυψιν μυστηρίου . . . γνωρισ- θέντος. This passage ‘‘ goes not with στηρίξαι, but with κήρυγμα ” (Sanday and Headlam). This is the simplest con- struction: the gospel Paul preaches, the
gospel in accordance with which he would have them established, is itself in accordance with—we may even say identical with—the revelation of a mys- tery, etc. The µνυστήριον here referred to is God’s world-embracing purpose of redemption, as it has been set out con- spicuously in this epistle. One aspect of this—one element of the mystery—is referred to where µυστήριον is used in xi. 25; but the conception of the Gospel as a µυστήριον revealed in the fulness of ‘he time dominates later epistles, especially Ephesians (cf. Eph. i. Q, Πε, 3, 4,9, Vi. 19). The Gospel as Paul understood it was a µυστήριον, be- cause it could never have been known except through Divine revelation: µυσ- τήριον and ἀποκάλνψις are correlative terms. xpévois αἰωνίοις: the dative ex- presses duration. Winer, p. 273; cf. 2 Tim. i. 9, Tit. i. 2, For φΦανερωθέντος δὲ viv cf. iii. 21. The aorist refers to Christ’s appearing, though the signifi- cance of this had to be made clear by revelation (Weiss). διά τε γραφῶν προφητικῶν .. . Ὑνωρισθέντος: for τε αν ii. 16. The connection is meant to be as close as possible: the yvwpifew follows the ¢gavepotv as a matter of course. The γραφαὶ προφητικαί are the O.T. Scriptures of which Paul made constant use in preaching his gospel (cf. κατὰ Tas γραφὰς in 1 Cor. xv. 3, 4). For him the O.T. was essentially a Christian book. His gospel was wit- nessed to by the law and the prophets (i. 2, iii, 21, iv., passim), and in that sense the mystery was made known through them. But their significance only came out for one -who had the Christian key to them—the knowledge of Christ which revelation had given to Paul. Kar’ ἐκιταγὴν τοῦ αἰωνίον Gcod:: ενα, Tims & apieTit. 3. oe idea is that only an express command of the Eternal God could justify the pro- mulgation of the secret He had kept so long. For the ‘Eternal God” <¢/. Gen. xxi. 33, 1 Tim. i. 17 (τῷ βασιλεῖ τῶν αἰώνων). els ὑπακοὴν πίστεως: cf. i. 5. εἰς πάντα τὰ ἔθνη: ini. 5 it is ἐρ