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Israel is neither wholly

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A.U.C.cir.811. also am an Israelite, of the seed of which the foreknew.

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SAY then, Hath God cast away || Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. A.M.cir.4062 his people? God forbid. For, 'I 2 God hath not cast away his people

1 Sam. 12. 22. Jer. 31. 37.

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A. D. cir. 58. An. Olymp. cir. CCIX. 2. A.U.C.cir.811.

NOTES ON CHAP. XI.

patriarchs, the ancestors of the Jewish nation, and were in

broken,) and to admonish them to take warning by the fall of the Jews, to make a good improvement of their religious privileges, lest, through unbelief, any of them should relapse into heathenism, or perish finally at the last day.

This chapter is of the prophetic kind. It was by the Spirit || grafted into the good olive-tree, whence the Jews had been of prophecy, that the apostle foresaw the rejection of the Jews, which he supposes in the two preceding chapters; for when he wrote the Epistle, they were not in fact rejected ; || seeing their polity and church were then standing. But the event has proved that he was a true prophet; for we know that in about ten or eleven years after the writing of this letter, the temple was destroyed, the Jewish polity overthrown, and the Jews expelled out of the promised land, which they have never been able to recover to the present day.

The thread of his discourse leads him into a general survey and comparison of the several dispensations of God towards the Gentiles and Jews; and he concludes this survey with adoration of the depths of the divine knowledge and wisdom exercised in the various constitutions erected in the world, ver. 30-36. See Taylor's notes, p. 340.

Verse 1. I say then, Hath God cast away his people?] Has he utterly and finally rejected them? for this is necessarily the apostle's meaning, and is the import of the Greek word aπwears, which signifies to thrust or drive away; from año, from, and whew to thrust or drive; has he thrust them off, and driven them eternally from him? God forbid, by no means, This rejection is neither universal nor final. For, I also am an Israelite, I am a regular descendant from Abraham, through Israel or Jacob, and by his son Benjamin. And I stand in the church of God; and in the peculiar covenant; for the rejection is only of the obstinate and disobe dient; for those who believe on Christ, as I have done, are continued in the church.

This-1. confirms the arguments which the apostle had advanced to establish the calling of the Gentiles. For the Jews are, in fact, rejected; consequently, our calling is, in fact, not invalidated by any thing they suggested, relative to the perpetuity of the Mosaic dispensation. But that dispensation being wholly subverted, our title to the privileges of God's church and people stands clear and strong; the Jewish constitution only, could furnish objections against our claim; and the event has silenced every objection from that quarter. 2. The actual rejection of the Jews proves Paul to be a true apostle of Jesus Christ, and that he spoke by the Spirit of God; otherwise, he could not have argued so fully upon a case which was yet to come, and of which there was no appearance in the state of things when he wrote this Epistle. || And this very circumstance should induce us to pay great attention to this chapter, in which he discourses concerning the extent and duration of the rejection of his countrymen, to prevent their being insulted and despised by the Gentile Christians. (1) As to the extent of this rejection, it is not absolutely universal; some of the Jews have embraced the || gospel, and are incorporated into the Christian church, with the believing Gentiles. Upon the case of these believing Jews he comments, ver. 1-7. (2) As to the duration of it, it is not final and perpetual, for all Israel, or the nation of the Jews, which is now blinded, shall one day be saved, or brought again into the kingdom or covenant of God. Upon the state of these blinded Jews he comments, ver. 7. to|| the end of the chapter. His design in discoursing upon is to the following effect; God hath not universally thrust this subject, was not only to make the thing itself known; || but partly to engage the attention of the unbelieving Jew; to conciliate his favour, and if possible, to induce him to come into the gospel scheme, and partly to dispose the Gentile Christians not to treat the Jews with contempt; (considering that they derived all their present blessings from the

Verse 2. God hath not cast away his people, which he foreknew] God has not finally and irrecoverably rejected a people, whom he has loved, (or approved,) so long, ovpoeyvw, for this is evidently the meaning of the word in this place, as we have already seen, chap. viii. 29. and is a very general meaning of the original verb yadá, in Hebrew, and ywwxw, in Greek: as I have had often occasion to notice in different parts of this work, and what none will deny, who consults the original. See Schleusner, Parkhurst, &c.

Wot ye not what the scripture saith] Ovx oidare, do ye not know what the scripture saith; The reference is to 1 Kings xix. 10, 14. And the apostle's answer to the objecting Jew,

away his people, for whom, in the promise to Abraham, he intended, and to whom decreed to grant his special favour and blessing; but the case is now, much as it was in the days of Elijah; that prophet, in his addresses to God, made his complaint against Israel thus:

Verse 3. Lord, they have killed thy prophets] They will

General depravity of the Jews

CHAP. XI.

in the time of Elijah.

A. M.cir.4062. what the scripture saith of Elias? || sand men, who have not bowed the A. M.cir.4062. An. Olymp. how he maketh intercession to God knee to the image of Baal.

A. D. cir. 58. cir. CCIX. 2.

A.U.C.cir.811. against Israel, saying,

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A. D. cir. 58. An. Olymp. cir. CCIX. 2.

5 Even so then, at this present A.U.C.cir.811. time also, there is a remnant according to the election of grace.

6 And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace:

Gr. in Elias?- -b1 Kings 19. 10, 14.-1 Kings 19. 18.

Ch. 9. 27. ch. 4. 4, 5. Gal. 5.4. See Deut. 9. 4, 5.

not permit any person to speak unto them in thy name; and they murder those who are faithful to the commission which they have received from thee.

Digged down thine altars] They are profligate and profane beyond example, and retain not the slightest form of religion.

they are brought in, precisely in the same way as God has brought in the Gentiles; the one having no more worthiness to plead than the other; both being brought in, and continued in, by God's free grace, and not by any observance of the Mosaic law.

And this is done according to the election of grace, or the I am left alone] There is no prophet besides myself left, rule of chusing any persons to be the people of God upon the and they seek to destroy me. footing of grace; which takes in all that believe in his Son Verse 4. But what suith the answer of God] The answer Jesus Christ: some of the Jewish people did so believe; which God made, assured him that there were seven thou- therefore, those believing Jews are a remnant according to sand, that is, several or many thousands, for so we must un-the election of grace. They are saved in that way, in which derstand the word seven, a certain, for an uncertain number. alone, God will save mankind. These had continued faithful to God; but because of Jezebel's persecution, they were obliged to conceal their attachment to the true religion; and God, in his providence, preserved them from her sanguinary rage.

Who have not bowed the knee] Baal was the god of Jezebel; or, in other words, his worship was then the worship of the state; but there were several thousands of pious Israelites, who had not acknowledged this idol; and did not partake in the idolatrous wor-hip.

Verse 5. Even so then, at this present time] As in the present day, the irreligion of the Jews is very great; yet there is a remnant, a considerable number, who have accepted of the grace of the gospel.

According to the election of grace] And these are saved just as God has saved all believers from the beginning; they are chosen by his grace; not on account of any worth or excellence in themselves, but through his goodness are they chosen to have a place in his church, and continue to be his people, entitled to all the privileges of the new covenant. The election of grace simply signifies God's gracious design in sending the Christian system into the world, and saving under it all those who believe in Christ Jesus, and none else. || Thus, the believers in Christ are chosen to inherit the blessings of the gospel; while those who seek justification by the works of the law, are rejected.

Verse 6. And if by grace] And let this very remnant of picus Jews, who have believed in Christ Jesus, know that

And if by grace] Then let these very persons remember, that their election and interest in the covenant of God, has no connexion with their old Jewish works; for, were it of works, grace would lose its proper nature, and cease to be what it is, a free undeserved gift.

But if it be of works] On the other hand, could it be made appear that they are invested in these privileges of the kingdom of Christ, only by the observance of the law of Moses, then GRACE would be quite set aside; and if it were not, work, or the merit of obedience, would lose its proper nature, which excludes favour and free gift. But it is not, and cannot be of WORKS; for those very Jews who now believe, and are happy in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ are so, according to the election of grace, which does not mean a particular act of God's sovereignty, which has singled out some of the Jews who deserved to have been cast off, as well as the rest; but it is that general scheme of grace, according to which God purposed to take into his church and kingdom, any among either Jews or Gentiles, who should believe on Christ. And the remnant here mentioned were not selected from their countrymen, by such a sovereign act of God's grace as might have taken in the whole if it had so pleased; but they were admitted into, and received the privileges of the Messiah's kingdom; because they believed on the Lord Jesus, and received him as their only Saviour, and thus came into that scheme of election which God had appointed. And we may observe farther, that out of this election,

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was not of this world.

they, as well as the others, would have been excluded, had Messiah, and therefore they rejected him, whose kingdom they, like the rest, remained in unbelief; and into this election of grace all the Jews, to a man, notwithstanding they were all sinners, would have been taken, had they believed in Christ Jesus. This is the true notion of the election of grace. See Taylor.

Verse 7. What then] What is the real state of the case before us? Israel, the body of the Jewish people, have not obtained that which they so earnestly desire, i. e. to be continued, as they have been hitherto, the peculiar people of God; but the election hath obtained it; as many of them as have believed in Jesus Christ, and accepted salvation through him; this is the grand scheme of the election by grace; God chuses to make those his peculiar people who believe in his Son, and none other shall enjoy the blessings of his kingdom. Those who would not receive him are blinded; they have shut their eyes against the light, and are in the very circumstances of those mentioned by the prophet Isaiah, chap.

xxix. 10.

Verse 8. God hath given them the spirit of slumber] As they had wilfully closed their eyes against the light; so God has, in judgment, given them up to the spirit of slumber. The very word and revelation of God which should have awakened their consciences, and opened their eyes and ears, have had a very different effect; and because they did not receive the truth in the love thereof, that, which would otherwise have been the savour of life unto life, has become the savour of death unto death; and this continues to the present day.

Verse 9. And David saith, Let their table, &c.] And from their present disposition, it is reasonable to conclude, that the same evils will fall upon them as fell upon the disobedient in former times, as predicted by David, Psalm Ixix. 22, 23. that their very blessings should become curses to them; and their temporal mercies be their only recompence; and yet, even these earthly blessings, by not being enjoyed in the Lord, should be a stumbling-block, over which they should fall; and instead of being a blessing, should be the means of their punishment. They would have a worldly

Verse 10. Let their eyes be darkened] All these words are declarative, and not imprecatory. God declares what will be the case of such obstinate unbelievers; their table, their common providential blessings, will become a snare, a trap, a stumbling-block, and the means of their punishment. Their eyes will be more and more darkened, as they persist in their unbelief, and their back shall be bowed down always; far from becoming a great and powerful nation, they shall continue ever in a state of abject slavery and oppression, till they acknowledge Jesus as the promised Messiah ; and submit to receive redemption in his blood.

Verse 11. Have they stumbled that they should fall] Have the Jews, now for their disobedience and unbelief rejected, so sinned against God, as to be for ever put out of the reach of his mercy? By no means. Are they, as a nation, utterly irrecoverable? This is the sense of the place, and here the prophecy of the restoration of the Jewish nation commences.

But rather, through their fall, salvation is come] The church of God cannot fail; if the Jews have broken the everlasting covenant, Isaiah xxiv. 5. the Gentiles shall be taken into it; and this very circumstance shall be ultimately the means of exciting them to seek and claim a share in the blessings of the new covenant; and this is what the apostle terms provoking them to jealousy, i. e. exciting them to emu lation, for so the word should be understood. We should observe here, that the fall of the Jews was not, in itself, the cause or reason of the calling of the Gentiles; for whether the Jews had stood or fallen, whether they had embraced or rejected the gospel; it was the original purpose of God to take the Gentiles into the church; for this was absolutely implied in the covenant made with Abraham and it was in virtue of that covenant, that the Gentiles were now called; and not BECAUSE of the unbelief of the Jews. And hence we see that their fall was not the necessary means of the sal vation of the Gentiles; for certainly the unbelief of the Jew! could never produce faith in the Gentiles. The simple state of the case is; the Jews, in the most obstinate and unprin

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cipled manner, rejected Jesus Christ and the salvation offered them in his name: then the apostles turned to the Gentiles, and they heard and believed. The Jews themselves perceived that the Gentiles were to be put in possession of similar privileges to those which they, as the peculiar people of God, had enjoyed; this they could not bear, and put forth all their strength in opposition and persecution. The calling of the Gentiles, which existed in the original purpose of God, became in a certain way accelerated, by the unbelief of the Jews, through which they forfeited all their privileges, and fell from that state of glory and dignity in which they had been long placed as the peculiar people of God. See Taylor.

Verse 12. Now, if the fall of them] The English reader may imagine that, because fall is used in both these verses, the original word is the same. But their fall, and the fall of them, is raparтwμa, the same word which we render offence, chap. v. 15, 17, 18. and might be rendered lapse. Whereas that they should fall, (ver. 11.) is, iva TEOWσI NOW, TITTW to fall, is used in a sense so very emphatical as to signify being slain. So Homer Il. viii. ver. 475.

Ηματι τῳ, οτ' αν οι μεν επι πρυμνησι μαχώνται,
Στείνει εν αινοτάτῳ, περί πατρόκλοιο πεσόντος"
Ως γαρ θέσφατον εςι.

And for Patroclus slain, the crowded hosts
In narrow space, shall at the ships contend.
Such the Divine decree.

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fall, and the fall of them, he means no more than such a lapse as was recoverable; as in the case of Adam's offence. See Dr. Taylor.

The riches of the world] If, in consequence of their unbelief, the riches of God's grace and goodness be poured out on the whole Gentile world; how much more shall that dispensation of grace and mercy enrich and aggrandize the Gentiles, which shall bring the whole body of the Jews to the faith of the gospel. Here the apostle supposes, or rather predicts, that such a dispensation shall take place; and that, therefore, the Jews have not so stumbled as to be finally irrecoverable.

Verse 13. This, and the following verse, should be read in a parenthesis. St. Paul, as the apostle of the Gentiles, wished to shew them the high pitch of glory and blessedness to which they had been called, that they might have a due sense of God's mercy, in calling them to such a state of salvation; and, that they might be jealous over themselves, lest they should fall as the Jews had done before them: and he dwells particularly on the greatness of those privileges which the Gentiles had now received, that he might stir up the minds of his countrymen to emulation; and might be the means of saving some of them, as he states in the following verse.

I magnify mine office] This is a very improper translation of Try dianoviar ucu dotatw, which is, literally, I honour this my ministry. Dr. Taylor has justly observed, that magnify, except when applied to the Most High, carries with it, in our language, the idea of stretching beyond the bounds of truth. Whereas the apostle simply means that he does justice to his ministry, by stating the glorious things which he was commissioned to preach among the Gentiles: blessings which the Jews, by their obstinacy, had forfeited.

Verse 14. Might save some of them.] And yet all these were among the reprobate, or rejected; however, the apostle supposed that none of them was irrecoverably shut out from the Divine favour; and that some of them, by his preaching, might be disposed to receive salvation by Christ Jesus.

Verse 15. But life from the dead] If the rejection of the Jews became the occasion of our receiving the gospel, so

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that we can even glory in our tribulations, though they them selves became chief instruments of our sufferings; yet so far must we feel from exulting over them, that we should esteem their full conversion to God as great and choice a favour as we would the restoration of a most intimate friend to life, who had been at the gates of death.

The restoration of the Jews to a state of favour with God, to which the apostle refers, and which is too plainly intimated by the spirit of prophecy, to admit of a doubt, will be a most striking event. Their being preserved, as a distinct people, is certainly a strong collateral proof that they shall once more be brought into the church of God: and their conversion to Christianity will be an incontestible proof of the truth of Divine revelation; and doubtless will become the means of converting multitudes of deists, who will see the prophecies of God which had been delivered so long before, so strikingly fulfilled in this great event. We need not wonder if a whole nation should then be born, as in a day.

Verse 16. For, if the firstfruit be holy] As the consecrating the firstfruits to God, was the means of drawing down his blessing upon the rest; so the conversion of Abraham to the true faith, and the several Jews who have now embraced Christianity, are pledges that God will, in process of time, admit the whole Jewish nation into his favour again, so that they shall constitute a part of the visible church of Christ.

If the root be holy, so are the branches.] The word holy in this verse, is to be taken in that sense which it has so frequently in the Old and New Testaments, viz. consecrated, set apart to sacred uses. It must not be forgotten that the first converts to Christ were from among the Jews; these formed the root of the Christian church: these were holy, ay, consecrated to God, and those who among the Gentiles were converted by their means, were also ayoi, consecrated; but the chief reference is to the ancestors of the Jewish people, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; and as these were devoted to God, and received into his covenant; all their posterity, the branches which proceeded from this root, became

restored to the divine favour.

takest of the root and fatness of A.M. cir. 4062. the olive tree;

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A. D. cir. 58. An. Olymp. cir. CCIX. 2.

18 Boast not against the branches. A.U.C.cir.811. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee.

19 Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in. 20 Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith.

Acts 2. 39. Eph. 2. 12, 13.-d Or, for them

e 1 Cor. 10. 12.

entitled to the same privileges: and as the root still remains, and the branches also, the descendants from that root still remain; they still have a certain title to the blessings of the covenant; though, because of their obstinate unbelief, these blessings are suspended, as they cannot, even on the ground of the old covenant, enjoy these blessings but through faith: for, it was when Abraham believed God, that it was accounted to him for righteousness; and thus he became an heir of the righteousness which is by faith.

Verse 17. And, if some of the branches, &c.] If the present nation of the Jews, because of their unbelief, are cut off from the blessings of the church of God, and the high honour and dignity of being his peculiar people; and thou being a wild olive-ye Gentiles, being without the knowledge of the true God, and consequently bringing forth no fruits of righteousness; wert grafted in among them, are now inserted in the original stock, having been made partakers of the faith of Abraham, and consequently of his blessings; and enjoy, as the people did who sprang from him, the fatness of the olive tree, the promises made to the patriarchs, and the spiritual privileges of the Jewish church:

Verse 18. Boast not against the branches.] While you are ready to acknowledge that you were included in the covenant made with Abraham, and are now partakers of the same blessings with him; do not exult over, much less insult the branches, his present descendants, whose place you now fill up, according to the election of grace: for, remember ye are not the root, nor do ye bear the root, but the root bears you. You have not been the means of deriving any blessing on the Jewish people; but through that very people which you may be tempted to despise, all the blessings and excellencies which you enjoy, have been communicated to you.

Verse 19. Thou will say then, &c.] You may think that you have reason to exult over them; because it is a fact that God has been displeased with them, and therefore has broken them off; has cast them out of the church, and taken you into it in their place :—

Verse 20. Well; because of unbelief, &c.] This statement is all true; but then, consider, why is it that they were

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