Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Romans 11:27
For this [is] my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.
27. for this is my covenant unto them ] Lit., and this for them is the covenant granted by me. Cp., for the terms of a great “ Covenant of Grace,” Jer 31:31-34, with the quotation and inspired comment in Heb 8:8-12; Heb 10:16-17.
“ This ” refers backward; q. d., “I have covenanted that the Messiah shall bring Jacob to grace and peace; and this covenant I will carry out when my time of pardon and renewal comes.”
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
For this is my covenant … – This expression is found immediately following the other in Isa 59:21. But the apostle connects with it a part of another promise taken from Jer 31:33-34; or rather he abridges that promise, and expresses its substance, by adding when I shall take away their sins. It is clear that he intended to express the general sense of the promises, as they were well known to the Jews, and as it was a point concerning which he did not need to argue or reason with them, that God had made a covenant with them, and intended to restore them if they were cast off, and should then repent and turn to him. The time and manner in which this shall be, is not revealed. It may be remarked, however, that that passage does not mean that the Redeemer shall come personally and preach to them, or re-appear for the purpose of recalling them to himself; nor does it mean that they will be restored to the land of their fathers. Neither of these ideas is contained in the passage. God will doubtless convert the Jews, as he does the Gentiles, by human means, and in connection with the prayers of his people; so that the Gentiles shall yet repay the toil and care of the ancient Jews in preserving the Scriptures, and preparing the way for the Messiah; and both shall rejoice that they were made helps in spreading the knowledge of the Messiah.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 27. For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.] The reader on referring to Isa 59:20, Isa 59:21, will find that the words of the original are here greatly abridged. They are the following: –
And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord. As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the Lord, My Spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed’s seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth and for ever.
For the manner in which St. Paul makes his quotation from Scripture, see the observations at the end of the preceding chapter, (Ro 10:21 (note), Part I.). The whole of these two verses should be read in a parenthesis, as I have marked them in the text; for it is evident that the 25th verse should be immediately connected with the 28th.
It may not be amiss to subjoin here a collection of those texts in the Old Testament that seem to point out a restoration of the Jewish commonwealth to a higher degree of excellence than it has yet attained. Isa 2:2-5; Isa 19:24, Isa 19:25; Isa 25:6, etc.; Isa 30:18, Isa 30:19, Isa 30:26; Isa 60:1-22; Isa 65:17-25; Jer 31:10-12; Jer 46:27, Jer 46:28; Eze 20:34, Eze 20:40, etc.; Eze 28:25, Eze 28:26; Eze 34:20, etc.; Eze 36:8-16; Eze 37:21-28; Eze 39:25, etc.; Joe 3:1, Joe 3:2, Joe 3:17, Joe 3:20, Joe 3:21; Amo 9:9-15; Oba 1:17, Oba 1:21; Mic 4:3-7; Mic 7:18-20; Zep 3:19, Zep 3:20.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Here an objection is obviated: the Gentiles might object and say, The Jews can never return and be saved, forasmuch as they have rejected the gospel, and are therefore hated of God. To this he answers by way of concession, that it was true indeed, they had rejected the gospel, and for this they were rejected and hated of God; but this happened well to the Gentiles, and was to their advantage. for the Jews refusal of the gospel brought it sooner to them: see Rom 11:11. Or else the meaning is: They are enemies of God, and of his gospel; and the rather reject it, because you Gentiles embrace it; they think the worse of the gospel because you believe and profess it. Then he adds by way of correction, that they were not yet in such desperate circumstances; but in regard of
election, they are beloved for the fathers sakes. By election he means, either Gods choosing them to eternal life; or rather, his choosing that nation and people, above all other nations and people of the world, to be his peculiar people: see Deu 7:6; Psa 135:4; Act 13:46. And by Gods love to them, he means his love of good will which he had to that people still, for their fathers sakes: not because of the merit of their fathers, but because of the covenant made with their fathers; because they are descended of those fathers, to whom God had promised, that he would be their God, and the God of their seed after them; aye, and of their seeds seed for ever; which promises of God, the infidelity of many of them cannot wholly frustrate.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
27. Forrather, “and”(again); introducing a new quotation.
this is my covenant withthemliterally, “this is the covenant from me unto them.”
when I shall take away theirsinsThis, we believe, is rather a brief summary of Jer31:31-34 than the express words of any prediction, Those whobelieve that there are no predictions regarding the literal Israel inthe Old Testament, that stretch beyond the end of the Jewish economy,are obliged to view these quotations by the apostle as mereadaptations of Old Testament language to express his own predictions[ALEXANDER on Isaiah,&c.]. But how forced this is, we shall presently see.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
For this is my covenant unto them,…. This is what God has promised to them in covenant, and he will be as good as his word; his covenant will never be broken, it will always remain sure and inviolable; so that there is not only a possibility, and a probability, but even a certainty, of the call and conversion of the Jews; which promise and covenant will have their accomplishment,
when I, saith the Lord,
shall take away their sins: some think that the apostle alludes to
Jer 31:34; others, that he takes this passage out of Isa 27:9; where in the Septuagint version the selfsame phrase is used; though it may be no citation, or reference, but the apostle’s own words, explaining what is meant by “turning away ungodliness from Jacob”,
Ro 11:26; and as before; regards not the taking away of their sins by the sacrifice of Christ, which is done already, and is what the blood of bulls and goats could not do; but of the removing of their sins from themselves, from their consciences, by the application of the blood of Christ, and the imputation of his righteousness.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
My covenant ( ‘ ). “The from me covenant,” “my side of the covenant I have made with them” (Sanday and Headlam). Cf. Jer 31:31ff. Not a political deliverance, but a religious and ethical one.
When I shall take away ( ). Second aorist middle subjunctive of , old and common verb, to take away.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
1) “For this is my covenant unto them,” (kai aute autois he par’ emou diatheke) “And this (is) the covenant from me, with them,” this is what I have pledged to do, the Lord declared, Isa 27:9; Jer 31:31-37; Heb 8:8-13.
The deliverance promised, Rom 11:26-27 though to Israel as a whole, is. an ethical and religious deliverance to be realized in fulness in the Millennial age.
2) “When I shall take away their sins,” (hotan apelomai tas hamartias auton) “When I take away their sins, of my own accord,” when they repent and believe the gospel, he will save them from their sins, not in their sins, Jer 31:31-34; Mat 1:21.
BEHOLDING THE DELIVERER
On the occasion of President Lincoln’s visit to Richmond, as soon as his arrival became known, the colored people whom he had delivered from bondage crowded around him in wild enthusiasm. They gazed upon the wonderful man; they shouted, they danced, waved their handkerchiefs and hats; they cheered enthusiastically. Some cried, “Glory, glory;- others, “Thank you, dear Jesus, for this!” others, “God bless you Massa Linkum!” others, “Bless de Lord!” What triumphal entry into Rome ever equalled this entry into Richmond by our delivering President? But, ere long, we shall all gaze on a greater than he, with even greater satisfaction than those redeemed ones experienced.
-Spurgeon
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
27. And, this is my covenant with them, etc. Though Paul, by the last prophecy of Isaiah, briefly touched on the office of the Messiah, in order to remind the Jews what was to be expected especially from him, he further adds these few words from Jeremiah, expressly for the same purpose; for what is added is not found in the former passage. (365) This also tends to confirm the subject in hand; for what he said of the conversion of a people who were so stubborn and obstinate, might have appeared incredible: he therefore removes this stumblingblock, by declaring that the covenant included a gratuitous remission of sins. For we may gather from the words of the Prophet, — that God would have no more to do with his apostate people, until he should remit the crime of perfidy, as well as their other sins.
(365) The former part of it is, “This is my covenant,” but not the latter, “when I shall take away their sins.” Some suppose that this is taken from Isa 27:9, where we find this phrase in the Septuagint, “When I shall take away his sins,” τὴν ἁμαρτίαν αὐτου: but the Hebrew is somewhat different and farther from the form of the sentence here. We must therefore consider it as an abridgment of what is contained in Jer 31:33, and quoted in Heb 8:10. — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(27) The second part of the quotation, For (rather, and), this is my covenant with them, &c., appears to be taken from the LXX. version of Isa. 27:9. The connecting-links between the two are the removing of transgression from Jacob, and the form of the phrase, This is my covenant with them. (This is his blessing, Isa. 27:9, LXX.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
27 For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.
Ver. 27. When I shall take ] By the spirit of judgment and of burning, Isa 4:4 ; cf. Isa 27:9 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Rom 11:27 . . . . This is My covenant with them = this is the constitution which I give them to live under. Weiss interprets this by what follows, making the prospective, but this is somewhat forced. The is not equivalent to the removal of sins, though it is based upon it: it covers the whole condition introduced by that removal. Cf. Jer 31:31 ff. The deliverance referred to in Rom 11:26-27 , though promised to Israel as a whole, is a religious and ethical one. It has no political significance, and nothing to do with any assumed restoration of the Jews to Canaan. This is obvious even apart from the argument of Weiss that the deliverance in question is to be immediately followed by the resurrection; an argument which depends on a doubtful interpretation of Rom 11:15 .
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
My covenant = the covenant (See Rom 9:4) with (App-104.) Me.
take away. Greek. aphaireo. Compare Heb 10:4. Rev 22:19.
sins. App-128. This is a combined quotation from Isa 59:20, Isa 59:21 and Rom 27:9. App-107.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Rom 11:27. , this) of which see in the preceding verse.- , from me) He himself will do it.-, testament [covenant])-namely, it shall then be and shall be unfolded.- ) sins, and the miseries arising from them.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Rom 11:27
Rom 11:27
and this is my covenant unto them, When I shall take away their sins.-This result, that all who would accept Christ should be delivered from sin, is the covenant that God made with them, and this covenant is completed with them when he takes away their sins.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
sins
Sin. (See Scofield “Rom 3:23”)
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
this: Isa 55:3, Isa 59:21, Jer 31:31-34, Jer 32:38-40, Heb 8:8-12, Heb 10:16
when: Isa 27:9, Isa 43:25, Jer 50:20, Eze 36:25-29, Hos 14:2, Joh 1:29
Reciprocal: Deu 30:8 – General Psa 25:14 – he will Isa 1:27 – redeemed Isa 59:20 – the Redeemer Jer 23:6 – Judah Jer 31:34 – for I Dan 8:14 – then Hos 2:14 – and speak Luk 24:47 – beginning Act 5:31 – to give Tit 2:14 – that Heb 8:12 – General Heb 10:4 – take
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
:27
Rom 11:27. When the Jews turn unto Christ and from their transgressions, God will fulfill his covenant unto them, namely, to take away their sins.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Rom 11:27. And this, i.e., what follows, is my covenant (the covenant from me) unto them. From the same passage in Isaiah, but the second clause is from Isa 27:9.
When I shall take away their sins. Meyer rightly explains the verse thus: And when I shall have forgiven their sins, this (this remission of sins conferred by me) will be my covenant to them (i.e., they will therein have from me the execution of my covenant). This reference to the taking away of sin was more appropriate to the Apostles purpose than the promise of the Spirit which follows in Isa 59:21.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Vv. 27. The first proposition of this verse belongs also to the first of the two passages quoted; but, singular to say, it is almost identical with the clause with which Isaiah begins the second saying used here (Isa 27:9): And this is the blessing which I shall put on them when…This is no doubt what has given rise to the combination of these two passages in our quotation. The meaning is: Once the sin of Israel (their unbelief in the Messiah) has been pardoned, I shall renew with them my broken covenant. The pronoun , their, refers to the individuals, as the word Jacob denoted the totality of the people.
In the two following verses the apostle draws from what precedes the conclusion relative to Israel. In Rom 11:28 he expresses it in a striking antithesis, and in Rom 11:29 he justifies the final result (28b) by a general principle of the divine government.
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
And this is my covenant [lit. the covenant from me] unto them, When I shall take away their sins. [Isa 27:9 . (Comp. Jer 31:31-34) Verse 26 is quoted from the LXX., but Paul changes “come in favor of Zion” to read, “come out of Zion,” following a phrase found at Psa 14:7 . None can say why he made this change, but it prevents confusion as to the first and second advent. Christ’s second advent will be out of heaven, not out of Zion. Bengel calls attention to the fact that as Paul in Romans 3 combines Isaiah 59 and Psalm 14, to prove the sinfulness of mankind, especially of the Jews, so he here seems to combine the same two parts of Scripture to prove the salvation of Israel from sin. Moreover, as in chapter 9 he lets Isaiah describe Israel as reduced to a remnant (Rom 9:27-29), so he here appeals to the same inspired penman as the foreteller of the salvation of all Israel. Christ the Deliverer had already come, so that part of the prophecy had been fulfilled, but the future effects of the gospel were yet to accomplish the salvation of the Jews as a nation in two ways: (1) By turning them from their ungodly infidelity; (2) by forgiving their sins. Jewish unbelief will not be removed by any change in the gospel: it is complete and unalterable. The changes which will work upon the Jews will be those wrought in the world by the gospel. “And this is the covenant from me,” etc., signifies, My covenant unto them shall be executed and completed on my part when I forgive their sins. To the Jews, therefore, there was, on God’s part, in Paul’s day, a present attitude of rejection manifesting itself in hardening, and a future attitude of acceptance sometime to manifest itself in forgiveness, and these attitudes are thus described]
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
27. And this shall be the covenant to them with me when I shall take away their sins. This glorious fulfillment is to take place with the remnant of grace.
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
Isa 27:9 also predicted a great removal of Israel’s sins (the sins of believing Jews when Christ returns) and connected it with the bestowal of the New Covenant blessings on Israel (cf. Jer 31:31-34).
". . . the history of God’s dealings with ethnic Israel as set out in Rom 11:1-10, the logic of Israel’s reversal of fortune in Rom 11:11-15, supported by the illustration of the olive tree and the regrafting of the natural branches of ethnic Israel into it ’again’ in Rom 11:16-24, and the prophecy of the salvation of ’all Israel’ in Rom 11:25-27 combine to establish the future of ethnic Israel as a glorious hope of both Israel and the church." [Note: Johnson, "Evidence from . . .," p. 219.]