Romans 11:25-32. The formal and unconditional promise of the collective conversion of the Jews, and the confirmatory proof of this promise, now follow down to Romans 11:32.

γάρ] introduces the corroboration of the previous ἐγκεντρισθήσονται: “they shall be grafted in, I say; for be it not withheld from you,” etc.

οὐ θέλω ὑμᾶς ἀγνοεῖν] not a mere formula of announcement generally (Rückert), but always of something important, which Paul desires to be specially noticed, Romans 1:13; 1 Corinthians 10:1; 1 Corinthians 12:1; 2 Corinthians 1:8; 1 Thessalonians 4:13. That which is addressed, under the fervent addition of the ἀδελφοί embracing all readers, is the whole church, although it stands before the apostle’s eyes such as it was, namely, in its predominantly Gentile-Christian character. Comp. Romans 11:13; Romans 11:28; Romans 11:30.

τὸ μυστήριον] has not in the N. T. the sense in which profane writers speak of mysteries (something mysterious in itself, comprehensible only by the initiated, and to be concealed from the profane). See on μύειν and μυστήρ., Creuzer on Plotin. de Pulcr. p. 357 f.; Lennep. Etymol. p. 441; comp. Lobeck, Aglaoph. I. p. 85 ff. But it signifies that which, undiscerned by men themselves, has been made known to them by divine ἀποκάλυψις, and always refers to the relations and the development of the Messianic kingdom (Matthew 13:11). Thus it frequently denotes with Paul the divine counsel of redemption through Christ,—as a whole, or in particular parts of it,—because it was veiled from men before God revealed it (Romans 16:25; 1 Corinthians 2:7-10; Ephesians 3:3-5). Whether the contents of a mystery have already become known through the preaching of the gospel, may be gathered from the scope of the particular passages. That, however, which Paul here means by μυστήρ., is something the ἀποκάλυψις of which he is conscious of having received by divine illumination (just as in 1 Corinthians 15:51), and he declares it as a prophet ἐν ἀποκαλύψει (1 Corinthians 14:6; 1 Corinthians 14:30); without presupposing that the church, personally still strange to him, was already acquainted with the peculiar point of doctrine, as is evinced by ἵνα μὴ ἦτε ἐν ἑαυτοῖς φρόν. He desires, namely, by a disclosure of the μυστήριον, to take care that his readers, from their Gentile-Christian standpoint, should not, under a misapprehension of the divine counsel, hold for truth their own views on the exclusion of the Israelitish people, and therewith be wise in themselves (ἐν ἑαυτ., see the critical notes), i.e. in their own judgment (comp. Jam 2:4). What Luther has: “that ye be not proud” (comp. Erasmus, Beza, Calvin, Calovius), is not directly expressed, but is rightly pointed out by Theodoret as a consequence. Comp. Isaiah 5:21; Soph. El. 1055 f.

ὅτι κ.τ.λ.] Contents of the μυστήρ., namely, the duration of the hardening of Israel, which will not be permanent.

πώρωσις] See on Romans 11:7.

ἀπὸ μέρους] is to be connected with γέγονεν, not, as by Estius, Semler, Koppe, Fritzsche, contrary to the construction, with τῷ Ἰσραήλ. Hardening has partially befallen the people, in so far as οὐ πάντες ἠπίστευσαν· πολλοὶ γὰρ ἐξ ἐκείνων ἐπίστευσαν (Theodoret). Comp. Romans 15:15. It is therefore to be understood extensively (comp. οἱ λοιποί, Romans 11:7; τινές, Romans 11:17), not intensively, as Calvin takes it (attaching it to πώρωσις): quodammodo, which was intended to soften the severity of the notion. So taken, it would not modify the conception, but alter it (Romans 11:7 ff.). Köllner finds in ἀπὸ μ. the statement of a single ground of the divine arrangement, leaving it undecided whether other reasons, and what, were in the mind of the apostle: on the one part the hardening had been decreed by God over Israel only for the end, that first, etc. But in that case ἀπὸ μ. must have referred to an expressed ἵνα or the like. The temporal view, “for a while” (Hofmann), is here as contrary to usage as in 2 Corinthians 1:14; 2 Corinthians 2:5. Paul would have known how to express this sense possibly by τὸ νῦν, or by the classical τέως.

γέγονεν] from whom? is known from Romans 11:8.

ἄχρις οὗ] usque dum intraverit. Then—when this shall have taken place—the hardening of Israel shall cease. Calvin’s ita ut is intended, in spite of the language, to remove the idea of a terminus ad quem; and for the same reason Calovius and others employ much artifice in order to bring out the sense, that down to the end of the world the partial hardening will endure, and therefore, too, the partial conversion, but only that which is partial.

τὸ πλήρ. τῶν ἐθνῶν] In opposition to Gusset, Wolfburg, and others named by Wolf, also Wolf himself, Michaelis, Olshausen, Philippi, who understand only the complementum ethnicorum serving to make up for the unbelieving Jews (“the recruitment from the Gentiles,” Michaelis), the usus loquendi is not decisive; for according to usage that, with which something else is made full, might certainly be expressed by the genitive with πλήρωμα (Mark 8:20, and see on Mark 6:43; comp. Ecclesiastes 4:6). But how enigmatically, and in a manner how liable to misapprehension, would Paul have indicated the supposed thought, instead of simply and plainly writing τὸ πλήρωμα αὐτοῦ τὸ ἐκ τῶν ἐθνῶν! especially as already, in Romans 11:12, the analogous expression τὸ πλήρωμα αὐτῶν was used in the sense of “their full number.” Fritzsche also finds too little: caterva gentilium, so that only a great multitude is meant. Comp. on Ephesians 3:19. We must observe the correlation of ἀπὸ μέρους … πλήρωμα … πᾶς: a part of Israel is hardened, until the Gentiles collectively shall have come in, and, when that shall have taken place, then all Israel will be saved. The conversion of the Gentiles ensues by successive stages; but when their totality shall be converted, then the conversion of the Jews in their totality will also ensue; so that Paul sees the latter—which up to that epoch certainly also advances gradually in individual cases—ensuing, after the full conversion of the Gentiles, as the event completing the assemblage of the church and accomplishing itself probably in rapid development. All this, therefore, before the Parousia, not by means of it. Comp. on Acts 3:20. The expression τὸ πλήρωμα τ. ἐθνῶν is therefore to be taken numerically: the plena copia of the Gentiles (of whom in the first instance only a fraction has come and is coming in), their full number. Rightly Theophylact: πάντες, but with arbitrary limitation he adds: οἱ προεγνωσμένοι ἐθνικοί. Just so, in substance, Augustine, Oecumenius, and many others, including even van Hengel: “plenus numerus gentilium, quotquot comprehendebant proposita Dei,” comp. Krummacher: “only the elect among the Gentiles.” The collective multitude of the Gentiles in the strict sense Hofmann seeks to get rid of, by making τὸ πλήρωμα serve only to emphasize the fact that τὰ ἔθνη is to be thought of “in the full compass of the notion,” so that by τὸ πλήρ. τ. ἐθνῶν no other full amount is intended than that which would be expressed by τὰ ἔθνη itself. Thus there would result as the sense: until no people of the Gentile world is any longer found outside the church. This is decidedly at variance with Romans 11:12, and with the whole context down to its evident concluding verse (Romans 11:32), according to which not the peoples as such (in the lump, as it were), but all persons who compose them, must be the subjects of the entrance into the church and of the divine mercy. The above interpretation is a process of rationalizing, artificial and far-fetched, and contrary to the language and the context, by interpreting what is said of the individuals as applying to the nations; just as Beyschlag, p. 75, understands the two great groups of mankind to be thought of here and in Romans 11:26.

εἰσέλθῃ] namely, into the community prefigured by the holy olive tree, i.e. into the people of God. There is not yet mention of the kingdom of Messiah; its establishment is later. The passage Colossians 1:13 is wrongly employed with a view to supply εἰς τ. βασιλ. Θεοῦ. See in loc.

Romans 11:25-32. In this concluding section Paul abandons the ground of argument for that of revelation. He has discussed the problems arising out of the rejection of Israel and the calling of the Gentiles, when taken in connection with the promises of God to His people; and he has tried to make it clear that in all His dealings with His people, God has acted righteously, that for all that has befallen them the Jews have full responsibility, and that a Divine purpose, with blessing in it to both Jew and Gentile, has indirectly been getting itself carried into effect through this perplexing history. The rejection of the Jews has led to the calling of the Gentiles, and the calling of the Gentiles, by provoking the Jews to jealousy, is eventually to lead to their conversion too. All this, it may be said, is matter of argument; it is more or less convincing as the argument appeals with less or greater force to our minds. It is Paul’s construction and interpretation of the facts before him, and his anticipation of the result in which they are likely to issue; but it has no greater authority than the reasoning by which he supports it, or the motives which suggest one line of reasoning upon the facts rather than another. We can understand how patriotism, and religious faith in God’s promise, and insight into the psychological influences which determine human conduct, all contribute some weight to his argument; but he is not content to rest upon argument alone the central truth he has been expounding—that the hardening of Israel is temporary as well as partial, and that when “the fulness of the Gentiles” has come in the hardening will cease, and all Israel be saved. He expressly puts this truth forward as a revelation (μυστήριον, Romans 11:25). What this means psychologically we cannot tell, but it is clear that for Paul it was an essential part of the true religion, so far as he could make out the manner of its working in the world. He might try to lead the mind up to it along various lines of argument, or to confirm it by considerations of various kinds; but for him it had a Divine authority, antecedent to argument and independent of it. He sought arguments to make it credible and intelligible, not for his own sake, but for the sake of others. How much a revelation of this kind will weigh with the modern reader depends on the extent to which on general grounds he can recognise in Paul an inspired interpreter of Christianity. History, it must be admitted, throws no light on his words. The Gentiles are not fully gathered in; the time to say whether Israel as a whole is to have any distinct or decisive place in the final fulfilment of God’s gracious purpose is therefore not yet. One feels as if the nationalism of the passage fell short of Paul’s great word, There is neither Greek nor Jew; but there the Jews are, a problem to unbelief as well as to faith; think what we will of it, it is of them salvation comes; and it is at least as credible as the reverse (without considering Paul’s arguments at all) that Providence is not preserving them for nothing, and that in some such way as is here indicated there is a close connection between their salvation and the salvation of the world.

25. For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant] Same word as Romans 1:13; 1 Corinthians 10:1; 1 Corinthians 12:1; 2 Corinthians 1:8; 1 Thessalonians 4:13.—Here St Paul leaves the image of the Olive Tree, which he had used to facilitate to his reader’s conception the idea of a restoration of Jews to the Church of the Messiah, now become the Universal Church. He now, in plain terms, reveals and predicts a great future Restoration.

“For:”—the connexion indicated is somewhat thus: “My parable of the Olive Tree is no conjecture or peradventure, when it suggests a brighter future for Israel. For such a future is to come, in the purposes of God.”

ignorant] Whether for want of information, or want of reminders. Possibly the precise revelation of the future here made had never been made, in terms, before, though suggestions and intimations of it had often been heard. (Cp. perhaps Luke 21:24.) So in another place, (1 Thessalonians 4:13,) where the Apostle uses the same formula:—the hope of Resurrection had been abundantly revealed in a general way, but the precise fact that the buried saints should rise before the living saints should be transfigured was probably then first made known.

mystery] Here, as consistently in N. T., the Gr. word means a truth undiscoverable by reason, but now revealed. Our use of the words “mystery” and “mysterious,” is often misleading in these connexions, as it easily suggests the thought of what cannot be understood. The Gr. means, in fact, a secret, which, when told, may be found either partially to transcend the grasp of man’s conception, or to be quite within it. Thus in 1 Corinthians 15:51 we have a “mystery” revealed as a fact which yet (in detail at least) we cannot clearly conceive: in the present passage we have a “mystery” revealed which is far more within our reach of thought, viz. judicial blindness inflicted on the Jews as a body, and hereafter, at a definite point in the Plan of God, to be removed.

wise in your own conceits] Same word as Romans 12:16.—“Conceits:”—i.e. opinion. The Gr. is, more literally, wise, or sensible, at your own bar; i.e. judged in the court of self-complacency.—The “wisdom” or “thoughtfulness” here in view is such as that rebuked in Romans 11:19; that of a Gentile convert who thought much of his large insight into the Divine Plan because he saw in the rejection of the Jews not an accident but a deliberate opening of the door of grace to the world—and there dismissed the subject, careless whether there were, or not, any future mercy for Israel in the same Divine Plan.

blindness] See on Romans 11:7, “were blinded.” The noun here is cognate to the verb there. It occurs elsewhere in N. T., Mark 3:5; Ephesians 4:18.

in part] This gracious qualification is not necessary to the statement, in which the “blindness” or “hardening” is the emphatic thing. But St Paul will not omit to remind the Gentile Christian that even in the dark ages of Israel there ever has been, is, and will be, a “holy seed,” (Isaiah 6:13,) an “election,” who behold and welcome the promised Salvation. Thus the hardening is never total; it is partial, though, alas, the hardened “part” is the large majority, till the great call of grace.—See further, long note above on Romans 11:1.

until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in] The Gr. equally allows the rendering until the fulness &c. come in. This would not necessitate (as E. V. does) the inference that the call of grace to Israel was not to come till the in-coming of the “fulness of the Gentiles” was over. In Romans 11:15 (q. v.) we have had it intimated that the conversion of Israel should be a means of immense grace to the world; as indeed it must be, in the nature of the case. In view of this, it seems best to explain the present verse as predicting that the in-coming of the nations to the Church of Christ shall have largely, but not perfectly, taken place when Israel is restored to grace; so that the closing stages of the in-coming may be directly connected with the promised revival of Israel, and may follow it in respect of time.—“Come in”:—to the Fold, the Refuge, the City, of Messiah’s salvation.

the fulness of the Gentiles] Cp. note on “fulness” in Romans 11:12. The word here plainly means the full destined number of the Gentile Church, with the underlying idea of the greatness of that number. Cp. Revelation 7:9.

Romans 11:25. Μυστήριον, a mystery) Paul does not always apply the term, mysteries, to those doctrines, which from the very first are necessary to be known by believers, but to the secrets, which were unknown even to many believers, until, as the case required, for the sake of faith or love they were opened up to them from the Scriptures, heretofore in this respect sealed. Comp. 1 Corinthians 15:51, and on a similar occasion Ephesians 3:3. The calling of the Gentiles had been a mystery, ch. Romans 16:25. But now the conversion of Israel is likewise a mystery. [Therefore something different is intimated from such conversions, as were exhibited day by day in the times of Paul.—V. g.] Each of these forms a great part of that mystery, which is confirmed in Revelation 10:7. Furthermore, since it is a mystery, they ought to be treated with patient forbearance who do not recognise it so quickly, and we should hope for the time, when it will be recognised by all.—[123] φρόνιμοι, wise) dreaming, that the church at Rome cannot fail. Cluverus. The very term, mystery, checks the reader’s pride. Hence the admonition is repeated at. ch. Romans 12:16, which is already to be found at Romans 11:20, note.—ἀπὸ μέρους, in part) He speaks in a way softening the unwelcome truth; for οἱ πωρωθέντες, those, who were hardened, were as “the sand of the sea,” Romans 11:7; comp. with ch. Romans 9:27. Therefore, in the following verse, the conversion, which will not be in part [as their hardening was, which yet comprised as many as the sand], but will include all Israel (see foll. verse), will be by far the most abundant. And in the mean time also, there are always some being converted, and for this desirable object it becomes believers to be always on the watch.—πλήρωμα, fulness) a most abundant supply; the antithesis is in part. No nation shall remain, to which the Gospel shall not have been preached in the whole world; although a great part of mankind will still continue to be wicked.—εἰσέλθῃ, shall come in) John 10:9; John 10:16. For many ages, now, many obstacles retard [put a drag on the wheels of] this coming in, obstacles which will be broken through at the proper time, so that the fulness of the Gentiles, who have been long since called, may entirely come in; and then the hardening of Israel will terminate, Psalm 126:2-3. Paul provokes the Israelites to Christian jealousy; and this presupposes the conversion of the Gentiles before that of Israel, and yet the remaining abundance of the Gentiles may afterwards be gained by the full conversion of Israel, Romans 11:11-12; Romans 11:15; Romans 11:31; Ezekiel 39:7; Ezekiel 39:21-27.

[123] We should never consider a mystery for the sake of curiosity: we should always seek to be humbled before it.—V. g.

Verses 25-27. - For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that hardness (πώρωσις; see ver. 8) in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles he come in. And so all Israel shall be saved. Πᾶς Ισραὴλ here must mean the whole nation; not, as Calvin explains, "com-plebitur salus totius Israel Dei [i.e. of the spiritual Israel, as in Galatians 6:16] quam ex utrisque [i.e. with Jews and Gentiles] colligi oportet;" for "Israel" must surely be understood in the same sense as in the preceding verse, where it denotes the Jewish nation as opposed to the Gentiles. Σωθήσεται, as seems required by the whole context, means coming into the Church (cf. Acts 2:47, Ὁ δὲ κύριος προσετίθει τοὺς σωζομένους καθ ἡμέραν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ). As it is written, There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: and this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. Referring, as throughout the Epistle, to the Old Testament for confirmation, St. Paul here, as in former instances, combines passages, and quotes freely, perhaps from memory. The main citation is from Isaiah 59:20, 21, with an addition from Isaiah 17:9, the LXX. being followed. The citations are relevant, being specimens of many others that might have been adduced, predicting the final pardon and restitution of the house of Israel itself, notwithstanding judgments, through the Redeemer who was to come. What follows, to ver. 33, is in the way of summary and further comment. Romans 11:25Mystery (μυστήριον)

In the Septuagint only in Daniel. See Daniel 2:18, Daniel 2:19, Daniel 2:27, Daniel 2:28, Daniel 2:30, of the king's secret. It occurs frequently in the apocryphal books, mostly of secrets of state, or plans kept by a king in his own mind. This meaning illustrates the use of the word in passages like Matthew 13:11, "mysteries of the kingdom of heaven" - secret purposes or counsels which God intends to carry into effect in His kingdom. So here; Romans 16:25; Ephesians 1:9; Ephesians 3:9; Colossians 1:26, Colossians 1:27; Colossians 2:2; Colossians 4:3; Revelation 10:7. In Justin Martyr (second century) it is commonly used in connection with σύμβολον symbol, τύπος type, παραβολή parable, and so is evidently closely related in meaning to these words. Compare Revelation 1:20; Revelation 17:7, This meaning may possibly throw light on Ephesians 5:32. In early ecclesiastical Latin μυστήριον was rendered by sacramentum, which in classical Latin means the military oath. The explanation of the word sacrament, which is so often founded on this etymology, is therefore mistaken, since the meaning of sacrament belongs to μυστήριον and not to sacramentum in the classical sense. In Ephesians 3:3-6, Paul uses the word as here, of the admission of the Gentiles.

Wise (φρόνιμοι)

See on the kindred noun φρόνησις wisdom, Luke 1:17. Mostly in the New Testament of practical wisdom, prudence; thus distinguished from σοφία which is mental excellence in its highest and fullest sense; and from σύνεσις intelligence, which is combinative wisdom; wisdom in its critical applications. See Colossians 1:9, and compare Ephesians 1:8.

Blindness (πώρωσις)

See on Romans 11:7. Rev., hardening.

In part (ἀπὸ μέρους)

Μέρος part is never used adverbially in the Gospels, Acts, and Revelation. In the Epistles it is rarely used in any other way. The only exceptions are 2 Corinthians 3:10; 2 Corinthians 9:3; Ephesians 4:9, Ephesians 4:16. Paul employs it in several combinations. With ἀπό from (1 Corinthians 1:14; 1 Corinthians 2:5), and ἐκ out of (1 Corinthians 12:27; 1 Corinthians 13:9, 1 Corinthians 13:10, 1 Corinthians 13:12), in which a thing is conceived as looked at from the part, either (ἀπὸ) as a simple point of view, or (ἐκ) as a standard according to which the whole is estimated. Thus 1 Corinthians 12:27, "members ἐκ μέρους severally, i.e., members from a part of the whole point of view. Also with ἐν in, as Colossians 2:16, with respect to, literally, in the matter of. With ἀνά up, the idea being of a series or column of parts reckoned upward, part by part. Μέρος τι with regard to some part, partly, occurs 1 Corinthians 11:18; and κατὰ μέρος, reckoning part by part downward; according to part, particularly, Hebrews 9:5.

Construe here with hath happened: has partially befallen. Not partial hardening, but hardening extending over a part.

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