Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Romans 11:15

For if the casting away of them [be] the reconciling of the world, what [shall] the receiving [of them be,] but life from the dead?

15. the casting away ] Not the cognate word to that in Rom 11:1-2. But there is no practical difference in the words: it is the reference that differs here. There he denies that Jews as such were thrust out of the covenant; here he asserts the plain fact that the Jewish nation was, by its rejection of Messiah, under (temporary) exclusion.

the reconciling ] i.e. the practical reconciling. The circumstances which caused and attended the “casting away” of Israel were the occasion of the proclamation of the Gospel of Reconciliation to the world. Thus, in a sense, Israel’s unbelief was the instrumental cause of the enjoyment of “peace with God” by the host of Gentile believers. On “reconciliation,” see on ch. Rom 5:1; Rom 5:11.

life from the dead ] i.e. a vast and intense revival of true religion from a state which, by comparison, was religious death. (For a passage where “life” and “death” are so used, see Rev 3:2.) Meyer and some other expositors take the words here to mean literal resurrection-life; q. d., “the ‘receiving’ of the Jews shall usher in the resurrection and the immortal state.” But observe (1) that St Paul still has in view a blessing to the Gentiles through the Jews: the “ for ” which introduces this verse indicates this. And if so, it is most unlikely that he would mean resurrection-life here; a blessing in no way peculiar to Gentiles. Observe (2) that he implies a causative connexion, to some extent, between the casting-away of the Jews and the reconciliation of the Gentile world; (see last note): analogy leads us then to see a causative connexion also between their “receiving” and this “life from the dead.” But how could this be said if the “life” meant here is the literal resurrection? How likely, on the other hand, that its meaning should be just such a spiritual revival of the Gentile church as the conversion of Israel on a great scale would directly tend to awaken! It is objected that this “life from the dead” must, as forming a climax, be a greater thing than the previous “reconciling of the world;” and that no mere revival could be this. No doubt in some respects it could not be; but if the revival were really world-wide, and intense, it would be a greater thing in respect of manifest triumph of Divine truth and life. See further below, on Rom 11:25-26.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

For if the casting away of them – If their rejection as the special people of God – their exclusion from their national privileges, on account of their unbelief. It is the same as the fall of them; Rom 11:12.

Be the reconciling of the world – The word reconciliation katallage denotes commonly a pacification of contending parties; a removing the occasion of difference, so as again to be united; 1Co 7:11, Let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband. It is commonly applied to the reconciliation, or pacification, produced between man and God by the gospel. They are brought to union, to friendship, to peace, by the intervention of the Lord Jesus Christ; Rom 5:10; 2Co 5:18-19, God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself. Hence, the ministry is called the ministry of reconciliation; 2Co 5:18. And hence, this word is used to express the atonement; Rom 5:11, By whom we have now received the atonement (the reconciliation). In this place it means that many of the Gentiles – the world – had become reconciled to God as the result of the casting off of the Jews. By their unbelief, the way had been opened to preach the gospel to the Gentiles; it was the occasion by which God sent it to the nations of the earth; compare Act 13:46.

The receiving of them – The same as was denoted Rom 11:12 by their fulness. If the casting them off, an event so little likely, apparently, to produce any good effect, was nevertheless overruled so as to produce important benefits in the spread of the gospel, how much more may we expect will be accomplished by their conversion and return; an event suited in itself to produce an important influence on mankind. One would have supposed that their rejection of the Messiah would have been an important obstacle in the way of the gospel. It was overruled, however, to promote its increase. Their return will have a direct tendency to spread it. How much more, therefore, may we expect to be accomplished by that?

But life from the dead – This is an instance of the special, glowing, and vigorous manner of the apostle Paul. His mind catches at the thought of what may be produced by the recovery of the Jews, and no ordinary language would convey his idea. He had already exhausted the usual forms of speech by saying that even their rejection had reconciled the world, and that it was the riches of the Gentiles. To say that their recovery – a striking and momentous event; an event so much better suited to produce important results – would be attended by the conversion of the world, would be insipid and tame. He uses, therefore, a most bold and striking figure. The resurrection of the dead was an image of the most vast and wonderful event that could take place. This image, therefore, in the apostles mind, was a striking illustration of the great change and reformation which should take place when the Jews should be restored, and the effect should be felt in the conversion also of the Gentile world.

Some have supposed that the apostle here refers to a literal resurrection of the dead, as the conversion of the Jews. But there is not the slightest evidence of this. He refers to the recovery of the nations from the death of sin which shall take place when the Jews shall be converted to the Christian faith. The prophet Ezekiel Eze 37:1-14 has also used the same image of the resurrection of the dead to denote a great moral change among a people. It is clear here that the apostle fixed his eye on a future conversion of the Jews to the gospel, and expected that their conversion would precede the universal conversion of the Gentiles to the Christian faith, There could be no event that would make so immediate and decided an impression on the pagan world as the conversion of the Jews. They are scattered everywhere; they have access to all people; they understand all languages; and their conversion would be like kindling up thousands of lights at once in the darkness of the pagan world.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Verse 15. But life from the dead] If the rejection of the Jews became the occasion of our receiving the Gospel, so that we can even glory in our tribulations, though they themselves 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 incontestable 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.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

This verse contains an argument to prove the calling of the Jews; not a new one, but that repeated which you had before, Rom 11:12; the substance is the same, only the terms differ: there he spake of the fall and diminishing of the Jews, here, of their casting away; there it was the riches, here it is the reconciling of the world: q.d. If the rejection of the Jews brought great profit to the Gentiles, their reception and restoration will bring abundantly more.

Be the reconciling of the world; i.e. an occasion of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, by means of which they were reconciled to God. The gospel is the ministry of reconciliation, 2Co 5:18-20.

The receiving of them, into the favour of God and the bosom of the church.

Life from the dead; a proverbial speech, to signify a great change for the better. The conversion of that people and nation, will strengthen the things that are languishing and like to die in the Christian church. It will confirm the faith of the Gentiles, and reconcile all their differences in religion, and occasion a more thorough reformation amongst them: there will be a much more happy and flourishing estate of the church, even such as shall be in the end of the world, at the resurrection of the dead.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

15. For if the casting away ofthemThe apostle had denied that they were east away (Ro11:1); here he affirms it. But both are true; they werecast away, though neither totally nor finally, and it is of thispartial and temporary rejection that the apostle here speaks.

be the reconciling oftheGentile

world, what shall thereceiving of them be, but life from the dead?The reception ofthe whole family of Israel, scattered as they are among all nationsunder heaven, and the most inveterate enemies of the Lord Jesus, willbe such a stupendous manifestation of the power of God upon thespirits of men, and of His glorious presence with the heralds of theCross, as will not only kindle devout astonishment far and wide, butso change the dominant mode of thinking and feeling on all spiritualthings as to seem like a resurrection from the dead.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

For if the casting away of them,…. This argument, as before, in Ro 11:12, is from the lesser to the greater, showing that as the Gentiles received present advantage through the rejection of the Jews, they would receive far greater at their future recovery, and which proves that their rejection is not final; for by “the casting away of them”, is meant the rejection of the Jews, and refers to God’s writing a “Lo-ammi”, Ho 1:9, upon them, and his taking away the Gospel from them, and which were the occasion of

the reconciling of the world, the Gentiles; not of God’s drawing the scheme of their reconciliation in his Son; nor of the actual reconciliation of them by his sufferings and death; but of the Gospel, the word of reconciliation being carried among them upon the Jews’ disbelief and contempt of it, which was made effectual by the power of divine grace, to the reconciling of them to God, to the, way of salvation by Christ; to be willing to serve him, and be saved by him; to, lay down their arms, surrender to his victorious grace, and become obedient to him both by word and deed; and if this was the case then, as it was, he asks

what shall the receiving of them be but life from the dead? By the receiving of them is meant the conversion of the Jews in the latter day, when they will be received by Christ, on whom they will look with an eye of faith, and mourn in an evangelical manner for their sins against him; who casts out none that come unto him, but receives them into his arms in the most kind and tender manner; and when they will be also openly received into the house and family of God, into the visible church of Christ; and as the apostle afterwards says, “be grafted into their own olive tree”, Ro 11:24; and this their restoration will be as “life from the dead”; which regards not so much the quickening of the Jews themselves, though their conversion will be, as the conversion of every sinner is, a resurrection from the death of sin to a life of grace, and is so represented in Eze 37:1, but rather the reviving the work of God among the Gentile churches, who having lain long in a dead, lifeless, lukewarm, and indifferent frame of spirit, will be aroused and quickened, at this wonderful work of grace upon the Jews; and besides it will be as unexpected by them, and as surprising to them, as a person’s being raised from the dead would be; yea as joyful, and as welcome to them, as if a man received his nearest relation and friend from the dead; add to this, and which some of the ancients make to be the sense of the place, quickly after the conversion of the Jews, the fulness of the Gentiles being brought in, and nothing more to be done in a way of grace, the first resurrection from the dead will follow, and happy is he that will have part in it.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

The casting away of them ( ). Objective genitive () with , old word from , to throw off (Mr 10:50), in N.T. only here and Ac 27:22.

The reconciling of the world ( ). See 5:10f. for (reconciling). It explains verse 12.

The receiving ( ). Old word from , to take to oneself, only here in N.T.

Life from the dead ( ). Already the conversion of Jews had become so difficult. It is like a miracle of grace today, though it does happen. Many think that Paul means that the general resurrection and the end will come when the Jews are converted. Possibly so, but it is by no means certain. His language may be merely figurative.

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

The casting away [ ] . In contrast with receiving. Only here and Act 27:22, where it means loss. Here exclusion from God ‘s people. Reconciling of the world [ ] . See on ch. Rom 5:10, 11. Defining the phrase riches of the world in ver. 12.

Life from the dead. The exact meaning cannot be determined. Some refer it to the resurrection to follow the conversion of Israel, including the new life which the resurrection will inaugurate. Others, a new spiritual life. Others combine the two views.

Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament

1) “For if the casting away of them,” (ei gar he apobole auton) “For if the casting away, casting off, or cutting them away;” the cutting off of the Jews from administering God’s worship and service program, Mat 23:37-39.

2) “Be the reconciling of the world, “ (katallage kosmou) “Is reconciliation of the world order”, or exists in, and because of their cold and bold rejection of God’s gift of reconciliation for the whole world;- Yes, good men would not have slain their own redeemer, but Israel did, and God overruled it for universal good, 1Th 2:14-15; Rom 8:28.

3) “What shall the reconciling of them be,” (tis he proslempsis) “What shall the reception,” future reconciliation, or restoration of them to God’s favor (be).

4) “But life from the dead,” (ei me zoe ek nekron) Except life from (out of) the dead, as dead corpses. This concerns the restoration of life to Israel’s “dry bones,” described by Ezekiel so aptly, Eze 36:24-38; Eze 37:1-14. Israel was told by the Lord that “these bones should rise again… and they will, Isa 26:16-19.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

15. For if their rejections, etc. This passage, which many deem obscure, and some awfully pervert, ought, in my view, to be understood as another argument, derived from a comparison of the less with the greater, according to this import, “Since the rejection of the Jews has availed so much as to occasion the reconciling of the Gentiles, how much more effectual will be their resumption? Will it not be to raise them even from the dead?” For Paul ever insists on this, that the Gentiles have no cause for envy, as though the restoration of the Jews to favor were to render their condition worse. Since then God has wonderfully drawn forth life from death and light from darkness, how much more ought we to hope, he reasons, that the resurrection of a people, as it were, wholly dead, will bring life to the Gentiles. (353) It is no objection what some allege, that reconciliation differs not from resurrection, as we do indeed understand resurrection in the present instance, that is, to be that by which we are translated from the kingdom of death to the kingdom of life, for though the thing is the same, yet there is more force in the expression, and this a sufficient answer.

(353) Some view the last words, “life from the dead,” as understood of the Jews and not of the Gentiles. But the antithesis seems to require the latter meaning. The rejection or casting away, ἀποβολὴ of the Jews was the occasion of reconciliation to the world, that is, the Gentiles; then the reception, πρόσληψις, of the Jews will be “life from the dead” to the Gentiles or to the world. He expresses by stronger terms the sentiment in Rom 11:12, “the riches of the world,” only intimating, as it appears, the decayed state of religion among the Gentiles; for to be dead sometimes means a religious declension, Rev 3:1; or a state of oppression and wretchedness, as the case was with the Israelites when in captivity, Eze 37:1; Isa 26:19. The phrase is evidently figurative, and signifies a wonderful revival, such as the coming to life of those in a condition resembling that of death. The restoration of the Jews unto God’s favor will occasion the revival and spread of true religion through the whole Gentile world. This is clearly the meaning.

Some of the fathers, such as [ Chrysostom ] and [ Theodoret ], regarded the words as referring to the last resurrection: but this is wholly at variance with the context. — Ed.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

(15) Reconciling of the world.The gospel could not be preached to the Gentiles until it had first been offered to and rejected by the Jews. Hence the casting away of the Jews might be said to have caused the reconciling of the rest of the world.

Life from the dead.The reconversion of the Jews will be a signal to inaugurate that reign of eternal life which will be ushered in by the resurrection from the dead.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

15. Life from the dead Or, rather, life from dead, or, plural, deads. (See note on Luk 20:35.) The recovery of the Jews from the apostasy will be as a resurrection. It is a very palpable violation of rational exegesis, by Alford and others, to make the apostle say that the reconversion of the Jews would be an actual bodily resurrection. Their conversion must really be the reversal of their apostasy. As the former was a fall of their souls from grace by unbelief, so the latter must be a recovery of their souls to grace by faith. Nor is there any proof from Scripture that the conversion of the Jews will be forthwith followed by the resurrection.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

‘For if the casting away of them is the reconciling of the world, what will the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?’

And if he is successful in stirring the Jews to seek the Messiah this can only be for the good of the world. For if their casting off by God has resulted in the reconciling to God of men from the world, that is, from the Gentiles, how much more will their being received back result in life from the dead, new spiritual and abundant life, both for them and for many more. Bringing Jews to Christ can only be beneficial for the church. It is clear from Rom 6:13 that being ‘alive from the dead’ signifies the new spiritual life received when we receive Christ. There may also be in mind here that the dead branches which are cut off from the olive tree become alive again when they are engrafted in, and give renewed life, to the olive tree, which was the purpose of grafting in branches (Rom 11:17; Rom 11:23).

Some, however, see this as having the deeper meaning that as their casting away has brought salvation to many Gentiles, so the receiving back of them by God will hasten the final resurrection, and the following life of bliss. This thus being an indication that prior to Christ’s coming and the general resurrection there will hopefully be a great turning to Christ of the Jews, something which will trigger the end of all things, and issue in eternal life for all God’s people. But while the resurrection is regularly described as ‘from the dead’, it is never described as ‘life from the dead’. And we notice in all this that Paul makes no such promises. What he does say is an expressed hope rather than a certainty. This does not sit well with his seeing his words, ‘all Israel will be saved’ as signifying a huge revival at the end of the age. For in Rom 11:26 he speaks of certainty. Thus any interpretation of it which limits it to Jews converted in the final days of the age must be looked on with suspicion and must take into account the fact that Paul appears unaware of it until he gets to Rom 11:26.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Rom 11:15. The reconciling of the world See ch. Rom 5:11. But life from the dead, means “to the world; to us Gentile Christians; the world, reconciled and enriched by the casting off of the Jews.” When we were at first reconciled by being converted to the power of Christianity, we were raised from the dead to a new life, ch. Rom 6:13 and the approaching glorious dispensation which the Apostle here speaks of, will again be to us as life from the dead. By which we may understand, that the future glory of the church, when this great event of the restoration of the Jews shall take place, will be so much more glorious than its present state, as to appear to the people of God like a life from the dead. Numberless prophesies of the Old Testament evidently refer to this event; and the wonderful preservation of the Jews, as a distinct people, not only leaves a possibility, but encourages our strong hope of it. When it shall be accomplished, it will be so unparalleled, as necessarily to excite a general attention, and to fix upon men’s minds such an almost irresistible demonstration both of the Old and New Testament revelation, as will probably captivate the minds of many thousands of deists, in countries professedly Christian; of whom, under such corrupt establishments as generally prevail, there will of course beincreasing multitudes. Nor will this only captivate their understanding, but will have the greatest tendency through grace to awaken a sense of true religion in their hearts; and this will be a means of propagating the Gospel with an amazing velocity in pagan and Mahometan countries; which, probably, had been evangelized long ago, had genuine Christianity prevailed in those who have made a profession, and God knows, for the most part, a very scandalous profession of its forms. See Doddridge, Hartley’s Observations, vol. 2: p.

373 and Lardner’s Discourses on “The Circumstances of the Jewish People, an Argument for the Truth of the Christian Religion.”

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Rom 11:15 . By way of inference, like Rom 11:12 ; assigns a motive for Rom 11:13-14 .

, casting away; Plato, Legg . xii. p. 493 E, 944 C; Aq. Pro 28:24 . By this is meant their exclusion from the people of God on account of their unbelief, and the opposite of it is their , reception in addition (Plato, Theaet . p. 210 A), by which they, having become believing, are adopted by God into the fellowship of His people. The view of as loss (Act 27:22 ; Plato, Phaed . p. 75 E; Lach . p. 195 E; Plut. Song of Son 7 ) is less suitable to this contrast (in opposition to the Vulg., Luther, Bengel, and others, including Philippi, who understands the loss, which the kingdom of God has suffered in their ease).

] in so far, namely, as the converted portion of the Gentiles has attained to through faith, and is no longer subjected to the of God; and therewith reconciliation of the Gentile world with God has begun. Comp. Rom 5:11 . It is a more precise definition of the notion expressed in Rom 11:12 by .

.] i.e. life, which proceeds from the dead (namely, when these arise). The of the still unconverted Jews, Paul concludes, will be of such a kind ( , not , is his question), will be of so glorious a character (comp. Eph 1:18 ), that it will bring with it the last most blessed development, namely, the life beginning with the resurrection of the dead in the , the , which has the awakening from death as its causal premiss. Hence Paul does not say (as Philippi objects); for his glance is already passing beyond this event to its blessed consequence . The transformation of the living is included in this last development (1Co 15:51 ), which is here designated a potiori; comp. Rom 8:11 . The conclusion of the apostle does not, however, rest on Mat 24:14 (Reiche after Theodoret), but on the fact of the , whose most blissful final development (as it, according to Paul, must necessarily be occasioned by the blissful opposite of the ) can be none other than the blessed resurrection-life which will set in with the Parousia (Col 3:3-4 ; 1Th 4:14 ff.). The view which takes . in the proper sense has been held by Origen, Chrysostom, Theodore of Mopsuestia, Theodoret, Anselm, Erasmus, Toletus, Semler, Reiche, Glckler, de Wette, Nielsen, Fritzsche, Rckert, Reithmayr, Bisping, Hofmann, Beyschlag, and others. Approaching it, but taking the resurrection by way of comparison , stands the view of Ewald: “The final completion of all history down to the last day, and like the very resurrection itself , which is expected on this day.” Luthardt, too, is substantially in the right, taking, however, in the ethical sense: from the dead Israel the new bodily life of glorification will proceed. A heterogeneous mode of viewing the contrasts, for which the text affords no support. The non-literal interpretation of the “futura quasi resurrectio ex mortuis” (Melancthon), i.e. of the “novitas vitae ex morte peccati” (Estius; so in substance Calvin, Hunnius, Calovius, Vorstius, Bengel, Carpzov, Ch. Schmidt, Cramer, Bhme, Baumgarten-Crusius, Maier; also Lechler, apost. u. nachapost. Zeitalt . p. 129; Krummacher, p. 172 f.; and Kahnis, Dogm . I. p. 574), is to be set aside on the ground that then nothing higher than the (and it must be something far higher) would be expressed, but only its ethical consequence in the activity of life. Olshausen, too, understands it primarily of the spiritual resurrection, yet thinks that the notion “ plays into the bodily resurrection ” (?). Umbreit finds spiritual and bodily revival from death conjoined. Others explain the expression metaphorically , as designating summum gaudium (Grotius after Oecumenius) or summa felicitas (Hammond, Koppe, Kllner). Comp. Theophylact ( ), Beza, Flatt, van Hengel, and now, too, Tholuck, who recurs to the general thought of the most important position in the history of the divine kingdom to be occupied by converted Israel. But interpretations of such a non-literal character must be necessitated by the context; whereas the latter by the relation, in accordance with the connection, of to the quite proper . requires us to abide by the literal sense. Hence we are not to understand, with Philippi, at once both the extensive diffusion of the kingdom of God, and a subjective revivification of Christendom, which had again become dead, “and thus a glorious flourishing time for the church on earth.” So, again, Auberlen supposes a charismatic life of the church , and depicts it with the colours of the palingenesia of the golden age. No such ideas are here expressed; and it would have been peculiarly necessary to indicate more particularly the dead state into which Christendom was again to fall , especially after the already including within itself spiritual revival . And by no means is the supposed flourishing time (the time of worship (!) Auberlen calls it, as opposed to the present time of preaching ) compatible with the nearness of the Parousia (Rom 13:14 ; 1Co 7:29 , et al .), with the immediately preceding it (1Co 7:26 ; Mat 24:29 ), and with the of the last period (on Gal 1:4 ).

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

15 For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be , but life from the dead?

Ver. 15. Be the reconciling ] Not as a cause, but as an occasion.

Life from the dead ] That is, Res summe bona, saith Phocius, a special good thing.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

15. ] For (a reason for my anxiety for the salvation of Israel: not merely for the sake of mine own kinsmen, but because their recovery will bring about the blessed consummation of all believers. Rom 11:13-14 should not then be in a parenthesis) if the rejection of them (not ‘ their loss ,’ as Luth. and Beng., by which the antithesis to is weakened) be (the occasion of) the reconciliation of the world (of the Gentiles, viz. to God), what (‘ qualis ,’ ‘of what kind,’ in its effect) ( will be) their reception, but (the occasion of) life from the dead! . may be variously taken. (1) it may be metaphorical, as in ch. Rom 6:13 , and may import, that so general a conversion of the world would take place, as would be like life from the dead. So, more or less, Calv., Calov., Estius, Bengel, Stuart, Hodge, al., and Theophyl., Phot [104] , who explain it of a joy like that of the resurrection. But against this interpretation lies the objection, that this is already involved in ., and thus no new idea would be brought out by the words, which stand in the most emphatic position. (2) it may mean that ‘life from the dead’ literally should follow on the restoration of the Jewish people; i.e. that the Resurrection, the great consummation, is bound up with it. So Chrys., Orig [105] (“tunc enim erit assumptio Israel, quando jam et mortui vitam recipient, et mundus ex corruptibili incorruptibilis fiet, et mortales immortalitate donabuntur”), Theodoret, Reiche, Meyer, Fritzsche, Rckert Exo 2 , Tholuck, al. The objection to this view seems to be, that the Apostle would hardly have used thus predicatively, if he had meant by it a fixed and predetermined event ; but that, standing as it does, it must be qualitative , implying some further blessed state of the reconciled world, over and above the mere reconciliation. This might well be designated ‘ life from the dead ,’ and in it may be implied the glories of the first resurrection, and deliverance from the bondage of corruption, without supposing the words = . Stuart well compares Eze 37:1-14 , which was perhaps before the mind of the Apostle: but he gives a mere ethical interpretation to it.

[104] Photius, Bp. of Constantinople, 858 891

[105] Origen, b. 185, d. 254

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

Rom 11:15 f. From the personal explanation of Rom 11:13 f., which interrupts the argument, Paul reverts to the ideas of Rom 11:12 . To save any Jew was a great object, even with an apostle of the Gentiles: . . . Their is their rejection by God on the ground of unbelief. : a world’s reconciliation. In 2Co 5:19 the world’s reconciliation is the act of God in Christ; but it was an act which for the mass of mankind only took effect when Jewish unbelief diverted the Gospel to the Gentiles, : the assumption of the Jews into God’s favour. . Modern expositors almost all find in these words a reference to the resurrection; the restoration of the Jews at once brings on the end; the dead are raised, and the Messiah’s kingdom is set up, glorious and incorruptible. It is quite true that in Jewish apocalyptic literature the resurrection introduces the new era, and that Paul shared in the apocalyptic ideas current in his time; but it does not follow that he was thinking of the resurrection here. would certainly be a singular way to describe it, and it is not enough to say with Weiss that Paul used this expression instead of in order to carry the mind beyond the fact of resurrection to the state which it introduced. It seems better to leave it undefined ( cf. Theophyl.), and to regard it as an ordinary English reader regards “life from the dead,” as a description of unimaginable blessing. This is more impressive than to bind the original and daring speculation of a passage like this by reference to apocalyptic ideas, with which Paul was no doubt familiar, but which are not suggested here, and could least of all control his thoughts when they were working on a line so entirely his own. “Words fail him, and he employs the strongest he can find, thinking rather of their general force than of their precise signification” (Jowett). , . This explains Paul’s assurance that Israel has a future. For . and . see Num 15:19-21 . By the offering of the first fruits the whole mass, and the whole produce of the land, were consecrated. Both this figure, and that of the root and the branches, signify the same thing. As the application in Rom 11:28 proves, what is presented in both is the relation of the patriarchs to the people as a whole. As chosen by God, the fathers were , i.e. , God’s people, and this standing (in spite of the arguments in chap. 9, and in spite of the hard facts of the situation when Paul wrote) belongs inalienably to their children. They are God’s, and it will yet become apparent that they are.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

casting away. See Act 27:22 (loss), and compare Exo 32:11.

reconciling. See Rom 5:11.

receiving. Greek. proslepsis. Only here.

but = if not (Greek. ei me).

life. App-170.

from the dead. Greek. ek nekron. App-139.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

15.] For (a reason for my anxiety for the salvation of Israel: not merely for the sake of mine own kinsmen, but because their recovery will bring about the blessed consummation of all believers. Rom 11:13-14 should not then be in a parenthesis) if the rejection of them (not their loss, as Luth. and Beng., by which the antithesis to is weakened) be (the occasion of) the reconciliation of the world (of the Gentiles, viz. to God), what (qualis, of what kind, in its effect) (will be) their reception, but (the occasion of) life from the dead! . may be variously taken. (1) it may be metaphorical, as in ch. Rom 6:13, and may import, that so general a conversion of the world would take place, as would be like life from the dead. So, more or less, Calv., Calov., Estius, Bengel, Stuart, Hodge, al., and Theophyl., Phot[104], who explain it of a joy like that of the resurrection. But against this interpretation lies the objection, that this is already involved in ., and thus no new idea would be brought out by the words, which stand in the most emphatic position. (2) it may mean that life from the dead literally should follow on the restoration of the Jewish people; i.e. that the Resurrection, the great consummation, is bound up with it. So Chrys., Orig[105] (tunc enim erit assumptio Israel, quando jam et mortui vitam recipient, et mundus ex corruptibili incorruptibilis fiet, et mortales immortalitate donabuntur), Theodoret, Reiche, Meyer, Fritzsche, Rckert ed. 2, Tholuck, al. The objection to this view seems to be, that the Apostle would hardly have used thus predicatively, if he had meant by it a fixed and predetermined event;-but that, standing as it does, it must be qualitative, implying some further blessed state of the reconciled world, over and above the mere reconciliation. This might well be designated life from the dead, and in it may be implied the glories of the first resurrection, and deliverance from the bondage of corruption, without supposing the words = . Stuart well compares Eze 37:1-14, which was perhaps before the mind of the Apostle:-but he gives a mere ethical interpretation to it.

[104] Photius, Bp. of Constantinople, 858-891

[105] Origen, b. 185, d. 254

Fuente: The Greek Testament

Rom 11:15. , for) The particle connecting the discussion with the proposition.-, the casting away) an antithesis to receiving, but in this sense, that God is said to receive by grace, men to be cast away [to suffer casting away] by their own fault. Upon the casting away of the Jews, the Gentiles were received, and obtained grace, Rom 11:30.-) , Hesychius: , , comp. , ch. Rom 14:3. , concludes from the less to the greater: , casting away, and , receiving, are contrary to each other; therefore, , reconciliation [of the world, in the former clause], precedes , [of the Israelites, in the latter clause] life from the dead, which implies much more [than ].-, life) of the world, Rom 11:12.- , life from the dead) a thing much greater, and more desirable. The meaning is: the life of those who had been dead, Eze 37:3, etc., so , from, ch. Rom 6:13; 2Co 4:6. He is speaking of bringing the whole to life, that there may be no dead mass remaining. The conversion of the whole human race or the world will accompany the conversion of Israel.

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

Rom 11:15

Rom 11:15

For if the casting away of them is the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?-For if the casting them off as the exclusive people of God opened the way for other nations to accept Christ, what shall their return to the favor of God be but receiving them as from the dead ? They were dead and in condemnation from God while rejecting him. Their return to God will give them life with God.

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

world kosmos = mankind.

(See Scofield “Mat 4:8”).

Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes

the casting: Rom 11:1, Rom 11:2, Rom 11:11, Rom 11:12

the reconciling: Rom 5:10, Dan 9:24, 2Co 5:18-20, Eph 1:10, Col 1:20, Col 1:21

but: Eze 37:1-14, Rev 11:11, Rev 20:4-6

Reciprocal: Psa 75:7 – he putteth Psa 126:2 – then said Isa 6:12 – a great Isa 11:11 – set his hand Isa 12:1 – O Lord Jer 46:28 – but I will not Eze 37:12 – I will open Eze 37:28 – the heathen Dan 12:1 – thy people Dan 12:12 – General Hos 1:11 – for Hos 13:14 – ransom Rom 3:2 – Much Rom 11:31 – believed 2Co 5:19 – reconciling Rev 20:5 – This

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Missions in the Epistles

Rom 10:11-15; Rom 11:15-28

INTRODUCTORY WORDS

This study as a whole will give some idea of the missionary vision as set forth in Paul’s Epistles.

1. The scope of missionary endeavor. Rom 10:11 reads: “Whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed.” Here is a “whosoever” just as deep and broad as the “whosoever” in Joh 3:16. In John it says, “That whosoever believeth in Him should not perish,” and here it says, “Whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed.” The explanation of this “whosoever” is given in Rom 10:12, where it says “For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon Him.”

Then comes the second “whosoever.” Rom 10:13 reads, “For whosoever shall call upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved,” The “whosoever” in the heart of God, should be met in the “every creature” of our proclamation of the Gospel.

If God has made no difference between Jew, Greek, Scythian, bond or free; if the white man, the black man, the yellow man, and the red man are all welcomed, let us never limit God, or seek to isolate Him to any one group. All nations, and kindreds, and peoples, and tongues, is the scope of our missionary vision and responsibility,

2. The great necessity laid upon us. Rom 10:14 says, “How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?” Of course, we all know that he who believeth not shall be ashamed. Therefore, faith in Jesus Christ, crucified, risen, and coming again, is absolutely necessary on the part of us all.

The first thing, Christ crucified, is necessary for redemption; the second, Christ risen, is necessary to the victorious life and power in service; the third, Christ coming, is necessary to the inspiration of hope, as well to its consummation-our own resurrection and presence with the Saviour.

The word has been given, but the preacher is needed to proclaim its message. We remember how Philip said to the eunuch, “Understandest thou what thou readest?” and the eunuch replied, “How can I, except some man should guide me?” It is not enough to mail literature and send tracts, “It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.” Herein, God places the great burden of missionary endeavor back upon the churches. The missionaries themselves cannot go unless they are sent. In order to send them there are outfits to be purchased, transportation to be furnished, and the needs of daily living to be kept up.

God sends us forth, but with God must be the Church itself.

3. God’s cursing or blessing is upon us, according to our faithfulness in preaching the Word. In the 11th chapter of Romans the question is asked, “Hath God cast away His people * * which He foreknew?” The chapter proceeds to give a sevenfold proof that God has not ultimately cast off His people. However, Israel is temporarily set aside.

(1) Why Israel was cast off. There is but one answer to this question, and it is suggested all through the second part of our Scripture lesson. It is because Israel failed to bring forth fruit.

In Romans it speaks of the “casting away” of Israel, and then it speaks of some of the branches being broken off. This latter expression occurs three times.

(2) The Church was graffed in. The natural branches being broken off, God graffed in the Church, and told it to carry on for Him. We became, at once, partakers of the root and fatness of the Jewish vine.

(3) There is, however, a great warning to the Church. In Rom 11:18 we are told, “Boast not against the branches.” If we do boast and say, “The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in,” we speak the truth, “Because of unbelief they were broken off”; pray, therefore, that we may stand by faith. We should not be highminded, for, “If God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest He also spare not thee.”

(4) The setting aside of Israel was for the reconciling of the world. This is the expression in Rom 11:15. In Rom 11:25 and Rom 11:26 we are told that after the fullness of the Gentiles is come in, all Israel will be saved. That is the time when she will be graffed in again. The mission of the Church, however, is to bring in the fullness of the Gentiles.

I. THE MISSIONARY MESSAGE IN II CORINTHIANS (2Co 5:18-20)

Here are verses which demand the deepest consideration.

1. Jesus Christ has given to us the ministry of reconciliation. “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself,” and now God hath committed unto us, in our ministry, the word of His reconciliation. Is it not beautiful to have that kind of message to carry to the ends of the earth? 2Co 5:20 tells us that we are ambassadors for Christ, and we are, as though God were beseeching others by us, and we, in Christ’s stead, were pleading with others to be reconciled unto Him.

2. The great ambition of the true missionary. This will be found in 2Co 10:15, 2Co 10:16. Paul said it.

Some of us may delight in taking a task that is well on its way to completion; we like churches already built, the towns already evangelized. Not so with the Apostle Paul: he wanted to plow his own ground, and sow his own seed. May God grant that this same glorious ambition may be ours,

3. The great sufferings of a true missionary. In chapter 6, 2Co 6:4 and on, read what the Apostle says.

It is not until we are ready for all of this that we may think of ourselves standing approved. In the eleventh chapter Paul spoke of other ministers and their boasting; then he said, “I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft,” and so on. Beloved, here is the Spirit of the true missionary.

II. THE MISSIONARY MESSAGE IN GALATIANS (Gal 1:15-17)

1. A man called before he was born to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles. This is suggested in Gal 1:15, and it is set forth very clearly in the words of God to Ananias. When Ananias was commanded to go and anoint Saul of Tarsus, God said, “He is a chosen vessel unto Me, to bear My Name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the Children of Israel. For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for My Name’s sake.” We still believe in the definite call to the mission fields. We must not go where we are not sent, neither must we go until we are sent.

2. A man to whom God revealed Himself. This is the message of Gal 1:16. Mark the words: “When it pleased God * * to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the heathen.”

We take it from this, that a man or woman who has never had a real revelation of Jesus Christ, in him, is not yet panoplied to preach. He may know a great deal about Jesus Christ, and understand fully the message of redemption through the Blood, but how can he go and face what Paul faced, and what many missionaries have faced, unless the Son of God is revealed in him?

3. The missionary separated unto God in preparation. God took Paul off into Arabia, where He could personally teach him the Gospel. His message was not after man, neither did he receive it of man; neither was he taught it but by the revelation of Jesus Christ. The missionary is necessarily separated more or less unto a life of loneliness; however, when we have God, how can we be lonely?

III. THE MISSIONARY MESSAGE IN PHILIPPIANS (Php 1:11-17)

The verses before us give some wonderful inside views of the ministry of Paul, the great missionary to the Gentiles.

1. Paul expressed “That the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the Gospel.” When we stop to consider the things which happened unto Paul, we find that they were many.

Paul was delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake. To the Corinthians he added these memorable words, “So then death worketh in us, but life in you.” To the Philippians read what he says, in Php 1:12.

Thus, even in prison, Paul was still rejoicing in the privilege of suffering for Christ. In Php 1:14 he says, “And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the Word without fear.”

2. Paul’s expression of the great inner throbbings of his heart. Php 1:18 reads: “What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice.” The great mission of the Apostle was to see Christ preached, and preached to every creature in the whole wide world.

IV. THE MISSIONARY MESSAGE IN COLOSSIANS (Col 1:23-29)

1. The Gospel preached to every creature under Heaven. This is the expression found in Col 1:23. Paul was made a minister of Jesus Christ, and Paul had already found himself able to say that he had never been moved away from the hope of the Gospel, which the Colossians had heard, and which had been preached to every creature under Heaven. Beloved, shall we, with Christians numbering into many millions, fail to give the Gospel to every creature of our day?

2. Paul made a minister according to the dispensation of God. It is a wonderful thing when you go forth to preach the Word, knowing that you have been made a minister by the hand of the Almighty; that you are a diplomat sent from Heaven; an ambassador from on High. We know, if this is the case, that we are truly God’s representatives under orders; we will know, then, that He who sent us will never forsake us.

3. The great ambition of the Apostle. In Col 1:28 we read, “Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.”

What an ambition is this! We are not preaching only to get souls saved; we are to teach them, that we may present them perfect before the throne of glory. It was for this that Paul said, “Whereunto I also labour, striving according to His working, which worketh in me mightily.” Somehow or other these words stir our soul to activity. Paul was working out, while God was working in.

When we are true preachers or workers there is no forcing of our message, or of our labor. There is something within us that will not let us stay. We are pressed on by the Spirit of God, which dwelleth within us.

V. THE MISSIONARY MESSAGE IN THESSALONIANS (1Th 1:8-10; 1Th 2:8-10)

We have some wonderful things before us now.

1. The reach of God’s love in us. In chapter 2, 1Th 2:8-9, read what he says. Now we can see that wonderful preacher, the Apostle Paul, as a man who deeply loved those to whom he preached. He was “affectionately desirous.”

What did this love prompt him to do-to preach the Gospel of God unto them? Certainly, but not only that. He was willing to impart not only the Gospel, but his very soul. He was willing to do this because the Thessalonians were dear to him. When they remembered his labor and travail night and day for them, they began to realize something of his love, something of the passion of his heart, Somehow or other, the Gospel which he preached seemed to them more precious because, in order to preach that Gospel, he labored night and day, that he might not be chargeable unto them.

2. The sweep and sway of the Gospel. We now go back to chapter 1, 1Th 1:8-10, Read 1Th 1:8. Here is a missionary endeavor that should never be forgotten. Why do we go to China, or Africa, or anywhere else? Do we go that they may receive the Gospel and be saved? Certainly; but we go also that they themselves may “sound forth” the Word of God which they have received from us.

In 1Th 1:5 of chapter 1, Paul speaks of how the Gospel came unto Thessalonica-not “in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance.”

1Th 1:6 tells us that the Thessalonians became followers of Paul, and that they themselves “received the Word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost.” Afterward we find that those who received the Gospel, heralded the Gospel.

We will never reach every creature in our dispensation until those who hear us in the foreign field receive the Gospel in power, in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; and until, having thus received it, they are panoplied to sound it forth.

VI. THE MISSIONARY MESSAGE IN I TIMOTHY (1Ti 2:4)

It is not until we come to the Epistle of Timothy that we find this tremendous statement, “Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” This is the “whosoever” of Joh 3:16, and of Rom 10:1-21, stated in a different way. Let us look at it carefully.

1. God our Saviour. This is the closing expression of 1Ti 2:3. In the Epistle to Titus we read similar expressions four different times.

In chapter 1 Tit 1:4, are the words, “the Lord Jesus. Christ our Saviour.”

In chapter 2, _Tit 2:1-15 __verse 13, is the expression, “the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.”

In chapter 3, _Tit 3:1-15 __verse 4, are the words “God our Saviour,” and in _Tit 3:1-15 __verse 6, “Jesus Christ our Saviour.”

From these Scriptures we are ready to assert that Jesus Christ is God. Our Saviour could be none other than God; if Jesus Christ had been son of Joseph, He could not have been Son of God; nor could He have been our Saviour.

It is such an One who died that all men might be saved. It is such an One, as God our Saviour, or Jesus Christ our Saviour, whom we preach.

In Philippians we read, “That every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Here is the great capstone of all missionary endeavor, the presentation of God incarnate, even God our Saviour.

2. Who will have all men to be saved. If God wants all men to be saved, then we must carry the Gospel to all men.

Need the missionary, then, who goes to the heart of Africa feel that any poor, struggling piece of humanity is not loved of God? We heard of one man to whom God said: “I want you to manifest My love to the tramps.” Are not the tramps of our country included in the “all men” before us? Surely the tramp of our own country, as well as the out-caste of India, should be brought under the power of 1Ti 2:6 of the Scripture now before us. It reads; “Who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.” Then let us testify.

3. Who will have all men to come unto the knowledge of the truth. If God, as we have just said, wants every man to be saved, then He wants everyone to know the truth of redemption. Beloved, let us determine, God helping us, that He may have our feet to carry us to the last man on earth, that we may give to him the message of salvation.

VII. THE MISSIONARY MESSAGE IN I PETER (1Pe 2:9)

We have always loved this verse. Let us quote it to you: “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvellous light.”

1. The believer’s titles. God has given us degrees; here they are: We are a C. G., an R. P., an H. N., and an S. P. Just write your name and place your four titles after it:

(1) We are a C. G., (child of God) because we have been born again. Not only are we born again, but we are chosen to be born.

(2) We are an R. P. A priesthood; but not only priests; but royal priests of God.

(3) We are an H. N. A nation; but not only a nation, but a nation marked by holy living.

(4) We are an S. P. A people; but not only a people, but a people chosen and peculiar to God: a special people.

2. The objective of our call. Let us put it this way, “Ye are * * that ye should,” Certainly God did not give us our titles for nought. He made us what we are, in order that we should show forth His praises by our lives, and our good works, and our words, to those around us. That is the expression found in 1Pe 2:12.

3. That they should glorify God. Who are the “they” referred to? The Gentiles. We think of Peter as the Apostle to the Jews, but it was Peter who said, “Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.”

Thus the heart of God is again seen, even through Jewish Christians. They were saved, they were a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, and so forth, that they might show forth the glory of their God to the Gentiles. Let us glorify Him, and magnify Him before men; telling out the story of His saving grace, until all men shall know of Him.

AN ILLUSTRATION

“And here our work began. My message to the nations was that ‘every creature’ In every nation was to be reached in exactly the same way that God led Charles Cowman to place the Word in every home in Japan; later the same kind of work was begun in Korea and now, thanks be to God, is being carried on in the great, vast land of China. What has been done can be done again and again. Jesus said to ‘every creature’ and He meant just what He said. Charles Cowman laid down his life in literally obeying the last commission; and shall we, who live and remain to witness the afterglow of that rarely beautiful life, rest on our oars while millions die? Nay, we take up the torch that fell from his hands and on, on we press into the midnight lands.

“He simply said, ‘Come follow!’ And His footsteps led me clear up into Lapland amid the deep forests back where the Laplanders live in the bitter cold, where the mode of travel is on sledges drawn by reindeers, or on skis, leaping over the hills and mountains-primitive life. Yes. it is there that the poor Lapps live in their huts made of skins. Live? Yes, they live and they die. The people gathered in schoolhouses, traveling miles and miles over the deep snow, and in the high snowstorms-almost blinding-and many of them found Jesus. What a glorious time we had in Lapland! We left several fine Christian workers there who have spent the winter visiting the Lapps’ huts and bringing souls to the One who so loved that He came. Trophies of Calvary!

“Plans were made and prayed over for giving Finland and Lapland, as nations, the Word in every home. And then, miracle of miracles, He sent us to Esthonia, a little country to the north of Finland. There everything was in readiness-Esthonia opened wide her arms-they simply took the Water of Life proffered them, and a glorious work goes on and evangelists are going from home to home with the Word and many are seeing a great light and are ‘Coming, coming, yes, they are.’ My Esthonian audiences wept until there was a row of tears of joy, not sorrow, and never in any place in my entire lifetime have I seen such joy-lit faces. They had prayed for years for revival and they believed God had sent the answer.

“Not one word of the languages could I understand, but love is the universal language of the world and my heart was knit to them in a special way for it was an Esthonian hand, under God’s, that held the wheel of the cargo boat, as we passed through the raging tempest and to them I was sent to God. * * *

“As we appear before Him on that day we want, through His power, to stand there unashamed, with trophies to lay at His pierced feet.”

And with this, dear readers, we close. If through reading this report of the Lord’s workings in our midst, you have caught a glimpse of His glory and power; a picture of the ripeness of these felds; and a vision of the lost, to the extent that you, too, will be different in your praying, in your giving and to your burden for souls, we shall praise Him. Tears have fallen in the writing; they may fall in the reading, but if it means tears that will water the seeds being sown, we know there will be an abundant harvest; and even greater glory shall be in the midst

“The seed that I’ve planted in springtime with weeping,

And watered with tears and with dew from on High;

Another may shout while the harvesters reaping

Shall gather my grain in the sweet by and by.

Fuente: Neighbour’s Wells of Living Water

:15

Rom 11:15. This is the same in thought as Rom 11:12.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Rom 11:15. For introduces the reason for Rom 11:13-14; his labor was in view of the more blessed results indicated in the close of this verse.

The casting away of them, i.e., the exclusion of the Jews through their unbelief, analogous to, but not precisely identical with, diminishing(Rom 11:12).

Is the reconciliation of the world. Their unbelief occasioned the preaching of reconciliation (comp. chap. Rom 5:11) to the Gentiles; many Gentiles were actually reconciled to God, and this was the token of the design and adaptation of the Gospel for the whole world.

What shall the receiving of them be. The reception to salvation of the Jewish nation as a whole; comp. Rom 11:12, where the numerical phase of the comparison is brought out. That they would be thus received, is the leading thought of the entire chapter.

But (lit., if not) life from the dead. Evidently the Apostle has in mind something beyond the reconciliation of the world, some greater blessing than the gradual conversion of the Gentiles through the gospel, and this he terms life from the dead. Explanations: (1.) The literal view: the resurrection from the dead will follow the conversion of Israel. This view has been held by many commentators, both ancient and modern, but with various modifications. Some add to this view speculations of which the Apostle, here at least, gives no hint whatever. Objections: (a.) The use of life not resurrection; the former word often having a wide significance; (b.) the absence of the article before life, which is strange if Paul meant to indicate an event, to which he so often refers; (c.) the lack of evidence from other passages of Scripture that the resurrection will immediately follow the conversion of the Jews. The latter event may be closely connected with the final acts of the present dispensation, but prophecy seems to point to other events as intervening. Meyer and others meet some of these objections by including the life which follows the resurrection as its blessed consequence. (2.) The figurative explanation refers the phrase to a new spiritual life which will be introduced by the conversion of the Jews. To this it may be objected, (a.) that it presents no further thought than the previous reconciliation; (b.) that the language of the remainder of the verse is literal; (c.) that the upholders of this view are not agreed as to what the new and surprising spiritual blessing is, which thus surpasses the present effects of the gospel. These objections, however, do not seem to us so weighty as those to the preceding view. New Testament prophecy does not as yet demand specific interpretation. That a figurative expression might occur here scarcely needs proof. Godet, in accordance with his view of Rom 11:13, applies this phrase to the blessedness of Gentile Christendom in consequence of the conversion of Israel, while others limit it to the Jews themselves. We prefer the wide reference to the entire body of believers. To combine the two views seems improper, as Meyer affirms, yet his own explanation scarcely differs from a combination of the literal and figurative interpretations.

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

Rom 11:15. For As if he had said, Their general conversion ought to be desired, because of the admirable benefit which will come to mankind thereby: for if the casting away of them Their rejection, as signified above; be the reconciling of the world An occasion of sending the gospel to the Gentiles in all parts of the world, and so bringing them to faith in Christ, whereby they obtain the pardon of their sins, and reconciliation with God; what shall the receiving of them into Gods favour and into his church be, but life from the dead A miraculous work, and productive of the greatest joy to the converted Gentiles; a joy like that which one would feel on receiving a beloved friend back from the dead. As, in the following verse, the apostle speaks of Gods church under the emblem of a tree, Dr. Macknight thinks, in using the words , the casting away, he may perhaps allude to the practice of gardeners, who cut off from vines and olive-trees such branches as are barren or withered, and cast them away. According to this notion of casting away, the reconciling of the world, or Gentiles, is the same thing with the ingrafting of them, mentioned Rom 11:17. In this passage the unbelief and rejection of the Jews is justly represented as the means of the reception of the Gentiles. For, although the unbelief of the Jews may seem to have been an obstacle to the conversion of the Gentiles, it hath greatly contributed to that event. Besides the reason mentioned in a preceding note, it is to be considered, that the rejection of the Jews was the punishment of their unbelief, and that both events were foretold by Moses and by Christ. Wherefore these events, as the fulfilment of prophecy, have strengthened the evidences of the gospel, and thereby contributed to the conversion of the Gentiles. Add to this, there are many other predictions in the Old Testament, which demonstrate the truth of the gospel, but which derive their strength from their being in the possession of the Jews, in whose hands they have continued from the beginning, and who have preserved them with the greatest care, carrying them with them in all their dispersions, wherever they go. In all countries, therefore, the Jews are living witnesses to the antiquity and genuineness of the whole of the prophecies by which the gospel is confirmed. And their testimony, which is always at hand, cannot be called in question; because, having shown themselves from the beginning bitter enemies of Christ and of his gospel, no suspicion can be entertained that they have either forged these prophecies, or altered them to favour us. As little can it be suspected that we have forged or altered these prophecies. For if any of us had been disposed so to do, it would have served no purpose while our enemies, the Jews, maintained the integrity of their copies.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Vv. 15. In truth, it will not be till the national conversion of Israel take place, that the work of God shall reach its perfection among the Gentiles themselves, and that the fruit of his labor as their apostle will break forth in all its beauty. Such is the explanation of the words of Rom 11:13 : inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles. As a Jew, he certainly desires the conversion of the Jews; but he desires it still more, if possible, as the apostle of the Gentiles, because he knows what this event will be for the entire church. It is clear how closely the for at the beginning of this verse joins it to Rom 11:13-14, and how needful it is to guard against making these two last a parenthesis, and Rom 11:15 a repetition of Rom 11:12. It is also clear how wide of the truth are Bauer and his school, when they find in these verses a clever artifice by which Paul seeks to render his mission among the Gentiles acceptable to the so-called Judeo-Christian church of Rome. According to this interpretation, his meaning would be: You are wrong in taking offence at my mission to the Gentiles; it is entirely to the profit of the Jews, whom it must end by bringing to the gospel; an adroit way, if one dared say so, of gilding the pill for them! Not only is such a supposition unworthy of the apostle’s character, but it is just the opposite of his real thought.

Here it is as it results from the three verses combined: To take it rightly, it is as your apostle, you Gentiles, that I labor in seeking to provoke the Jews to jealousy by your conversion; for it is not till they shall be restored to grace that you yourselves shall be crowned with fulness of life. This saying is not therefore a captatio benevolentioe indirectly appealing to Judeo-Christian readers; it is a jet of light for the use of Gentile-Christians.

The term strictly denotes the act of throwing far from oneself (Act 28:22 : , the loss of life). How is the rejection of the Jews the reconciliation of the world? Inasmuch as it brings down that wall of law which kept the Gentiles outside of the divine covenant, and opens wide to them the door of grace by simple faith in the atonement.

Now, if such is the effect of their rejection, what shall be the effect of their readmission? The word (translated by Osterv. their recall, by Oltram. their restoration, by Segond, their admission) strictly signifies the act of welcoming. When cursed, they have contributed to the restoration of the world; what will they not do when blessed? There seems to be here an allusion to what Christ Himself did for the world by His expiatory death and resurrection. In Christ’s people there is always something of Christ Himself, mutatis mutandis.

A host of commentators, from Origen and Chrysostom down to Meyer and Hofmann (two men who do not often agree, and who unfortunately concur in this case), apply the expression: a life from the dead, to the resurrection of the dead, in the strict sense. But1st. Why use the expression a life, instead of saying as usual , the resurrection? 2d. Why omit the article before the word life, and not say as usual the life, life eternal, instead of a life? And more than all, 3d. What so close relation could there be between the fact of the conversion of the Jews and that of the bodily resurrection? Again, if Paul confined himself to saying that the second event will closely follow the first, this temporal relation would be intelligible, though according to him the signal for the resurrection is the return of the Lord (1Co 15:23), and not at all the conversion of Israel. But he goes the length of identifying the two facts of which he speaks: What shall their return be but a life? It is evident, therefore, for all these reasons, that the expression: a life from the dead, must be applied to a powerful spiritual revolution which will be wrought in the heart of Gentile Christendom by the fact of the conversion of the Jews. So it has been understood by Theoph., Mel., Calv., Beza, Philip., etc. The light which converted Jews bring to the church, and the power of life which they have sometimes awakened in it, are the pledge of that spiritual renovation which will be produced in Gentile Christendom by their entrance en masse. Do we not then feel that in our present condition there is something, and that much, wanting to us that the promises of the gospel may be realized in all their fulness; that there is, as it were, a mysterious hindrance to the efficacy of preaching, a debility inherent in our spiritual life, a lack of joy and force which contrasts strangely with the joyful outbursts of prophets and psalmists; that, in fine, the feast in the father’s house is not complete…why? because it cannot be so, so long as the family is not entirely reconstituted by the return of the elder son. Then shall come the Pentecost of the last times, the latter rain. We are little affected by the objection of Meyer, who alleges that, according to St. Paul, the last times will be times of tribulation (those of Antichrist), and not an epoch of spiritual prosperity. We do not know how the apostle conceived the succession of events; it seems to us that, according to the Apocalpyse, the conversion of the Jews (chap. Rom 11:13 and Rom 14:1 et seq.) must precede the coming of the Antichrist, and consequently also Christ’s coming again. Paul does not express himself on this point, because, as always, he only brings out what belongs rigorously to the subject he is treating.

Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)

For if the casting away of them is the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead? [Again we have a passage wherein “the apostle,” as Meyer expresses it, “argues from the happy effect of the worse cause, to the happier effect of the better cause.” If a curse, so to speak, brought a blessing, what would not a blessing bring? If the casting away of Israel in Paul’s day resulted in the beginning of the times of the Gentiles, and the turning of them from idols and imaginary deities to seek after the true God as part of a theocratic family wherein converted Jew and Gentile are reconciled to each other and to God (see Eph 2:11-22 for a full description of this double reconciliation), what would the receiving again of the vast body of unconverted Jews at the end of the times of the Gentiles (Rom 11:25-26) be but a veritable life from the dead, an unprecedented, semi-miraculous revival? Theophylact, Augustine, Melanchthon, Calvin, Beza, Bucer, Turretin, Philippi, Bengel, Auberlen, Clark, Macknight, Plumer, Brown, Lard, Gifford, Moule, Riddle, etc., view this as a great spiritual resurrection, a revival of grace accompanying the conversion of the whole world. Others, as Origen, Chrysostom, the earlier commentators generally, Ruckert, Meyer, De Wette, etc., look upon it as a literal, bodily resurrection, while Olshausen, Lange and Alford consider it as a combination of spiritual and bodily resurrections. The first of these positions is most tenable. “This,” says Barnes, “is an instance of the peculiar, glowing and vigorous manner of the apostle Paul. His mind catches at the thought of what may be produced by the recovery of the Jews, and no ordinary language would convey his idea. He had already exhausted the usual forms of speech by saying that even their rejection had reconciled the world, and that it was the riches of the Gentiles. To say that their recovery–a striking and momentous event; an event so much better fitted to produce important results–would be attended by the conversion of the world, would be insipid and tame. He uses, therefore, a most bold and striking figure. The resurrection of the dead was an image of the most vast and wonderful event that could take place.” Some of those who view this as a literal resurrection, do so from a lack of clear conception as to the order of the dispensations. They look upon the conversion of the Jews as taking place at the very end of the world, and hence synchronous with the final resurrection. They do not know that the Jewish dispensation, or age, gave place to the present one, which is called “the times of the Gentiles” (Luk 21:24), and that this dispensation will give place to a third, known as the millennium or age of a thousand years (Rev 20:1-6). The Jewish dispensation ended with the death of Christ, and the Gentile dispensation will end when the gospel is preached unto all nations (Mat 24:14). Its end, as Paul shows us at verses 25 and 26, will also be synchronous with the conversion of the Jews. Failure to grasp these important facts has led to much general confusion, and to gross mistakes in the interpretation and application of prophecies, for many Biblical references to the end of the Gentile dispensation, or age, have been erroneously referred to the end of the world, or end of the ages. The last age, or millennium, will be the triumph of the kingdom of God, the thousand-year reign of the saints on earth, and it will begin with the conversion of the world under the leadership of the Jews, and this is the event which Paul fittingly describes as “life from the dead.” The millennium will be as a resurrection to the Jews (Eze 37), for they will return to their own land (Eze 37:11-14; Eze 37:21; Eze 37:25) and revive their national life as a united people (Eze 37:22). It will be as a resurrection of primitive, apostolic Christianity to the Gentiles, for the deadness of the “last days” of their dispensation (2Ti 3:1-9; 2Ti 4:3-4), with its Catholic Sardis and its Protestant Laodicea (Rev 3:1-6; Rev 3:14-22), will give place to the new life of the new age, wherein the “first love” of the Ephesian, or first, church will be revived (Rev 2:4-5), and the martyr spirit of Smyrna, its successor, will again come forth (Rev 2:10), and the devil will be chained and the saints will reign (Rev 20:1-6). This spiritual resurrection of the last age is called the “first resurrection,” for it is like, and it is followed by, the real or literal resurrection which winds it up, and begins the heavenly age, or eternity with God. Ezekiel tells what the last age will do to the Jews, Paul what it will be to the Gentiles, and John what it will mean to them both. As to Paul’s description Pool thus writes: “The conversion of the Jewish people and nation will strengthen the things that are languishing and like to die in the Christian church. It will confirm the faith of the Gentiles, and reconcile their differences in religion, and occasion a more thorough reformation amongst them: there will be a much more happy and flourishing estate of the church, even such as shall be in the end of the world, at the resurrection of the dead.” All this, as Paul boldly asserts, will result from the blessed power of Jewish leadership, as in the beginning. “The light,” says Godet. “which converted Jews bring to the church, and the power of life which they have sometimes awakened in it, are the pledge of that spiritual renovation which will be produced in Gentile Christendom by their entrance en masse. Do we not feel that in our present condition there is something, and that much, wanting to us that the promises of the gospel may be realized in all their fullness; that there is, as it were, a mysterious hindrance to the efficacy of preaching, a debility inherent in our spiritual life, a lack of joy and force which contrasts strangely with the joyful outbursts of prophets and psalmists; that, in fine, the feast in the father’s house is not complete . . . why? because it can not be so, so long as the family is not entirely reconstituted by the return of the elder son. Then shall come the Pentecost of the last times, the latter rain.” Against the above view that Paul speaks of a spiritual resurrection it is weakly urged that it assumes a future falling away of the Gentiles, and a lapse on their part into spiritual death, and that the apostle gives no intimation of such a declension by them. But it is right to assume such a declension, for Paul most clearly intimates it; for (1) all the remainder of this section is a discussion of how the Jews brought their dispensation to an end, and a warning to the Gentiles not to follow their example and have their dispensation end in a like manner. (2) In verse 25 he speaks of the fullness or completeness of the Gentiles. But, according to the divine method, this dispensation of the Gentiles could not reach completeness and be done away with until it became corrupt and worthless. God does not cast off till iniquity is full and failure complete (Gen 6:13; Gen 15:16; Mat 23:29-33). Moreover, some five years before this, in the second Epistle that ever came from his pen, Paul had foretold this declension in the church, and had described it as even then “working,” though restrained (2Th 2:3-12). The assumption on which this view of a spiritual resurrection rests is both contextual and natural. Finally, as to this being a literal body resurrection, we must of course admit that an all-powerful God can begin the millennium that way if he chooses, but to suppose that the literally resurrected dead shall mingle and dwell with the rest of humanity for a thousand years, or throughout an entire dispensation, savors of fanaticism. Even Jesus kept aloof during his forty days of waiting before his ascension. A healthy mind can not long retain such an idea, nor can we think that Paul would introduce so marvelous and abnormal a social condition without in some measure elaborating it. As against a literal, physical resurrection Hodge argues strongly. We give a sentence or two: “Not only in Scriptures, but also in profane literature, the transition from a state of depression and misery, to one of prosperity, is expressed by the natural figure of passing from death to life. The Old Testament prophets represented the glorious condition of the Theocracy, consequent on the coming of Christ, in contrast with its previous condition, as a rising from the dead. . . . Nowhere else in Scripture is the literal resurrection expressed by the words ‘life from the dead.’ Had Paul intended a reference to the resurrection, no reason can be assigned why he did not employ the established and familiar words ‘resurrection from the dead.’ If he meant the resurrection, why did he not say so? Why use a general phrase, which is elsewhere used to express another idea? Besides this, it is not according to the analogy of scripture, that the resurrection of the dead, and the change of those who shall then be alive (1Co 15:51; 1Th 4:14-18), are to be immediate, consequent on the conversion of the Jews. The resurrection is not to occur until ‘the end.’ A new state of things, a new mode of existence, is to be then introduced. Flesh and blood–i. e., our bodies as now organized–can not inherit the kingdom of God.” For a full discussion of the spiritual nature of the resurrection, from the pen of A. Campbell, see his articles on the second coming of the Lord, in the Millennial Harbinger. We shall never know how dead our liquor-licensing, sectarian, wealth-worshipping, stock-gambling, religio-fad-loving, political, war-waging Christendom has been until the spirit of the early church rises from the dead to form the new age; then it will be at once apparent to all what Paul meant by this bold figure, “life from the dead.” But the glorious prospect here presented rests on the supposition that the Jews en masse shall be converted. As that is a supposition which many expositors even in our day regard with doubt, the apostle first shows its Scriptural and natural reasonableness, and then plainly and unequivocally predicts it. He presents its reasonableness thus]

Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)

15. For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what will the reception be but life from the dead? With the collapse of the Jews a gospel sunburst came upon the Gentile world. In a similar manner the conversion of the Jews will stir all Christendom from center to circumference, giving an impetus unprecedented in the ages.

Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament

11:15 For if the casting away of them [be] the reconciling of the world, what [shall] the receiving [of them be], {n} but life from the dead?

(n) It will come to pass that when the Jews come to the Gospel, the world will as it were come to life again, and rise up from death to life.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

When Israel returns to God and He accepts her, the results for all humankind will be comparable to life from the dead (cf. Ezekiel 37). God’s blessings on humanity now will pale by comparison with what the world will experience then (i.e., during the Millennium).

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)