Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Romans 15:27
It hath pleased them verily; and their debtors they are. For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister unto them in carnal things.
27. It hath pleased them verily ] Lit. For they were pleased; an exact repetition of the first words of Rom 15:26; a note of kindly irony. St Paul was far from thinking with real coldness of these gifts of Christian love: see 2 Corinthians 8, 9.
and their debtors they are ] “ Debtors ” is emphatic. The two reasons stand side by side; the givers’ goodwill, and their duty.
For if the Gentiles, &c.] Lit. For if (or as) the Gentiles shared in their spiritual things, they are bound even in fleshly things to serve them. “ Even in fleshly things: ” i.e., as well as in spiritual things. Such should be their gratitude as to think no service, however earthly its guise, beneath them. “ To serve them: ” the verb is cognate with the Gr. of “minister,” Rom 15:16; where see note. It is significant here: the Gentiles should look on their charitable gifts as a solemn and sacred service, as at an altar.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Their debtors – The reason he immediately states; compare Rom 1:14.
Of their spiritual things – Have received the gospel by the instrumentality of those who had been Jews; and were admitted now to the same privileges with them.
Carnal things – Things pertaining to the flesh; that is, to this life. On this ground the apostle puts the obligation to support the ministers of the gospel; 1Co 9:11. It becomes a matter of debt where the hearer of the gospel receives, in spiritual blessings, far more than he confers by supporting the ministry. Every man who contributes his due proportion to support the gospel may receive far more, in return, in his own peace, edification, and in the order and happiness of his family, than his money could purchase in any other way. The gain is on his side, and the money is not lost. The minister is not a beggar; and what is necessary to his support is not almsgiving. He has an equitable claim – as much as a physician, or a lawyer, or a teacher of youth has – on the necessaries and comforts of life.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 27. For if the Gentiles have been made partakers, c.] It was through and by means of the Jews that the Gentiles were brought to the knowledge of God and the Gospel of Christ. These were the spiritual things which they had received and the pecuniary contribution was the carnal things which the Gentiles were now returning.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
It hath pleased them verily; he makes this repetition, as to commend the Grecians, so also to admonish the Romans to the like benevolence.
And their debtors they are; i.e. the Gentiles are debtors to the Jews; though what they sent them was a gift, yet it was also a debt, it was due by the law of charity, Rom 13:8, and by the law of gratitude and equity; they had received from them, and they were obliged in some sort to make returns to them.
For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister unto them in carnal things: by the spiritual things of the Jews, of which the Gentiles were made partakers, you may understand all those things of which mention is made, Rom 9:4,5; more particularly, the gospel, with the ministry and ordinances thereof: the gospel was first preached to the Jews, and from Jerusalem it was spread abroad among the Gentiles: see Luk 24:47; Act 1:4,8. By the carnal things of the Gentiles, you may understand their gold and silver, with all things needful for the sustentation of the body: you have a parallel place in 1Co 9:7.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
27. For if the Gentiles have beenmade partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also“theyowe it also”
to minister unto them incarnal things(Compare 1Co 9:11;Gal 6:6; and see Luk 7:4;Act 10:2).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
It hath pleased them [verily],…. This is repeated from the former verse, and is designed to point out the spring of this contribution, and the manner in which it was performed: it arose from themselves; it was the pure effect of their good will and pleasure; the first motion was from among themselves; it was their own thought, mind, and will; they were willing of themselves unto it, and begun it of themselves, unasked, and not moved unto it by any other: it was not done by constraint or necessity, but was entirely free; they did not make it for ostentation sake, or to gain the applause of men, but from a principle of love to the poor saints; and which showed itself to be sincere, hearty, and genuine, by deeds, and not bare words: they performed this service with great alacrity and cheerfulness; they gave not sparingly, but largely; it was not a matter of covetousness, but of bounty; and they did it not grudgingly, but cheerfully; they took delight and pleasure in it; their hearts and souls were in it, and yet notwithstanding did but what they ought to do.
And their debtors they are; for being debtors to God for their temporal and spiritual mercies; and to Christ for what he has done for them in redemption, and for what he is to them; and to the Spirit for the influences and operations of his grace upon them, they are debtors to the saints; they are bound to love them; they owe the debt of love to them, as they are in the spiritual relation of the children of God, members of Christ, and brethren one of another; and their paying of this debt to them is, in some sense, reckoned a paying it to the divine persons. Moreover, it was not merely a debt of love which these Gentiles owed, and in this way paid to the believing Jews; but it was a debt of justice and equity; they had received what was of valuable consideration from them, and by their means: Christ himself was of the Jews; hence salvation is said to be of them, Joh 4:22. The writings of the Old Testament were committed to them, and faithfully preserved by them; and from them transmitted to the Gentiles; the apostles were all Jews, under whose ministry they were enlightened, converted, and brought to the knowledge of Christ, and salvation by him; the Gospel of the grace of God came out from among them; it was first preached in Judea, and at Jerusalem; and from thence was carried and spread in the Gentile world; yea, it looks very likely, and is not at all unreasonable to suppose, that the charge of carrying and spreading the Gospel among the Gentiles was at first defrayed by the believing Jews, and out of that common stock and fund which was at Jerusalem; for it was not proper that the apostles, at their first setting out, should take anything of the Gentiles, lest they should be thought to be mercenary persons, who only sought their own worldly advantage: hence the apostle argues from the greater to the lesser,
for if the Gentiles have been partakers of their spiritual things: the Gospel, and the doctrines of it, which are spiritual things; contain and make known spiritual blessings; impart spiritual gifts; in which the Spirit of God is greatly concerned, he is the author of them; he leads men into them; qualifies them to preach them unto others; blesses and succeeds them to the conversion; comfort, and edification of souls; and by means of which he himself is received as a Spirit of illumination, sanctification, and faith: and which doctrines also relate to the spiritual and eternal welfare of the souls and spirits of men; hereby they are enlightened, quickened, comforted, and nourished up unto eternal life: wherefore, since this is the case, and these the favours the Gentiles enjoyed through the Jews,
their duty is also to minister unto them in carnal things; in outward and temporal things; in things pertaining to the flesh; or outward man, for the clothing and nourishment of the body. This he said to stir up the Romans, who were Gentiles also, and under the same obligations to make a contribution for them likewise.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Their debtors ( ). Objective genitive: the Gentiles are debtors to the Jews. See the word in Rom 1:14; Rom 8:12.
For if ( ). Condition of the first class, assumed as true, first aorist active indicative (, from , to share) with associative instrumental case (, spiritual things).
To minister unto (, first aorist active infinitive of with dative case , to them), but here certainly with no “sacerdotal” functions (cf. verse 16).
In carnal things ( ). Things which belong to the natural life of the flesh (), not the sinful aspects of the flesh at all.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
To minister [] . See on ch. Rom 13:6. By using this word for priestly service, Paul puts the ministry of almsgiving on the footing of a sacrificial service. It expresses the worship of giving.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1 ) “It hath pleased them verily,” (eudokesan gar) “For they thought (considered) it a good thing”; they did it without reluctance, 2Co 8:4-5.
2) “And their debtors they are,” (kai opheuketau eusub auton) “And they (the Gentiles) are (exist as) debtors of them,” the saints at Jerusalem, those who sent the gospel to them in Macedonia and Achaia, in the first place. They gave to the needy poor as a debt of gratitude for the faith and earlier labors of the saints, the church, at Jerusalem, Rom 1:14-15.
3) “For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things,” (Ei gar tois pneurnatikois auton) -koinonesan ta ethne) “Because if they shared their spiritual things, with or to the Gentiles or nations,” and they the church had, and did, as they sent out, the apostles, Barnabas, Mark, Peter, Paul, Judas, Silas and others to preach and teach the gospel and “that way”, system of teachings of Christ, 1Co 9:11-13; Act 11:22; Act 11:27-30; Act 15:24-31.
4) “Their duty is also to minister unto them in carnal things,” (opheilousin kai en tois sarkikois leitourgesai autois) “They, the Gentiles, are obligated (owe it by gratitude) to minister to them,” the poor saints in the Jerusalem church, especially in a time of their need for material help. Remember the church was first primarily made up of Jewish saints, baptized believers called from among the Gentiles in Galilee, then when empowered by the baptism of the Holy Ghost, from Jerusalem they began doing their world-wide and age-long work, Act 1:8; Luk 24:46-49; Paul commanded the Galatian brethren to contribute to or share with those who teach in every good thing, Gal 6:6.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
27. And their debtors they are, etc. Every one perceives, that what is said here of obligation, is said not so much for the sake of the Corinthians as for the Romans themselves; for the Corinthians or the Macedonians were not more indebted to the Jews than the Romans. And he adds the ground of this obligation, — that they had received the gospel from them: and he takes his argument from the comparison of the less with the greater. He employs also the same in another place, that is, that it ought not to have appeared to them an unjust or a grievous compensation to exchange carnal things, which are immensely of less value, for things spiritual. (2Co 9:11.) And it shows the value of the gospel, when he declares, that they were indebted not only to its ministers, but also to the whole nation, from whom they had come forth.
And mark the verb λειτουργὢσαι , to minister; which means to discharge one’s office in the commonwealth, and to undergo the burden of one’s calling: it is also sometimes applied to sacred things. Nor do I doubt but that Paul meant that it is a kind of sacrifice, when the faithful gave of their own to relieve the wants of their brethren; for they thus perform that duty of love which they owe, and offer to God a sacrifice of an acceptable odor. But in this place what he had peculiarly in view was the mutual right of compensation.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(27) It hath pleased them.It pleased the Macedonians and Achaians to make their contribution. And, indeed, they owed a debt to the church at Jerusalem which it was their duty, so well as they could, to discharge.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
27. Spiritual carnal or secular. The apostle gave his services to the Church, but he fully believed that the minister was as truly entitled to his compensation as the attorney or the carpenter. It may be his duty to God to go; but man has no right to claim his services for nothing. It is doubtless a great injustice that pays the merchant and the politician a fortune, but pays to the teacher and preacher a pittance on which he painfully economizes in mid-life with a prospect of penury in age.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Rom 15:27 . Information, why they did so, by way of more precisely defining the mere previously expressed. [30] “ They have been pleased, namely, to do it, and (this is the added element) their debtors they are ”.
The Gentiles have acquired a share ( ) in the spiritual possession of the Christians of Jerusalem ( ), in so far as the mother church of Christianity was in Jerusalem, so that thus the spiritual benefits of Christianity, which in the first instance were destined for and communicated to the Jews and subsequently passed over also to the Gentiles, have been diffused from Jerusalem forth over the Gentile world (which march of diffusion so begun continues), as indeed in Antioch itself the first church of Gentile Christianity was founded from Jerusalem (Act 11:20 ).
.] for the benefits of Christianity (faith, justification, peace, love, hope, etc.) proceed from the Holy Spirit , are : comp. on Eph 1:3 .
] for the earthly possessions concern the material and physical phenomenal nature of man, which is his bodily form of existence. Comp. 1Co 9:11 .
The conclusion is a majori , which they have received, ad minus , with which they are under obligation to requite it. Comp. Chrysostom. By , Paul places the almsgiving of love under the sacred point of view of a sacrificial service (see on Rom 13:6 , Rom 15:16 ), which is performed for the benefit of the recipients. Comp. 2Co 9:12 ; Phi 2:30 ; Phi 2:25 .
That further, as Chrysostom, Calvin, Grotius, and many, including Rckert and Olshausen, assume, Paul intended “courteously and gently” (Luther) to suggest to the Romans that they should likewise bestow alms on those at Jerusalem, is very improbable, inasmuch as no reason is perceivable why he should not have ventured on a direct summons, and seeing, moreover, that he looked upon the work of collection as concluded, Rom 15:25 . Without any particular design in view (Th. Schott thinks that he desired to settle the true relation between the Gentile Christians and the apostle to the Gentiles), he satisfies merely his own evident and warm interest.
[30] “Est egregia simul cum ,” Grotius.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
27 It hath pleased them verily; and their debtors they are. For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister unto them in carnal things.
Ver. 27. Their debtors they are ] And so are we to pity and pray for them. See my “True Treasure,” sect. 2. chapt. 7.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
27. ] The fact is re-stated, with a view to an inference from it, viz. that the was not merely a matter of benevolence, but of repayment : the Gentiles being debtors to the Jews for spiritual blessings. This general principle is very similarly enounced in 1Co 9:11 . It is suggested by Grot., al., that by this Paul wished to hint to the Romans the duty of a similar contribution.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Rom 15:27 . : they have resolved, I say. Paul felt bound to let this resolution affect his own conduct even to the extent of delaying his journey westward. Indeed he explains in 2 Cor., chaps. 8 and 9, that he expected great spiritual results, in the way of a better understanding between Jewish and Gentile Christianity, from this notable act of Gentile charity; hence his desire to see it accomplished, and the necessity laid on him to go once more to Jerusalem. : cf. Rom 1:14 , Rom 8:12 . The resolve of the Gentile Churches to help the poor Jewish Christians, though generous, was not unmotived; in a sense it was the payment of a debt. : the spiritual things belonging to the Jews in which the Gentiles shared are the Gospel and all its blessings “salvation is of the Jews”. All the gifts of Christianity are gifts of the Holy Spirit. : the carnal things of the Gentiles, in which they minister to the Jews, are those which belong to the natural life of man, as a creature of flesh the universal symbol of these is money. There is the same idea in a similar connection (the support of the Gospel ministry) in 1Co 9:2 In neither place has any ethical connotation. is simply “to minister to”: no official, much less sacerdotal association. Cf. Phi 2:30 .
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
if App-118.
spiritual things. Greek. pneumatikos. See Rom 1:11.
minister. Greek. leitourgeo. See Act 13:2. App-190.
carnal things. See Rom 7:14.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
27.] The fact is re-stated, with a view to an inference from it, viz. that the was not merely a matter of benevolence, but of repayment: the Gentiles being debtors to the Jews for spiritual blessings. This general principle is very similarly enounced in 1Co 9:11. It is suggested by Grot., al., that by this Paul wished to hint to the Romans the duty of a similar contribution.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Rom 15:27. , for they have been pleased) supply, I say, comp. the beginning of the preceding verse. Pleased, and debt, are twice mentioned.-, and) Liberty and necessity in good works are one and the same [found together].- , for if) This mode of reasoning applies also to the Romans; he therefore mildly invites and admonishes them, in this epilogue of the epistle, to contribute: comp. ch. Rom 12:13.-, they owe it) by virtue of the debt of brotherly kindness, 2Co 9:7.-, to minister) The inferior ministers to the superior.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Rom 15:27
Rom 15:27
Yea, it hath been their good pleasure; and their debtors they are.-The Gentile churches were glad to help their Jewish brethren in their need. It was due them, because through the instrumentality of the Jews the Gentiles had first received the gospel.
For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, they owe it to them also to minister unto them in carnal things.-The giving unto them the knowledge of the gospel was a far greater benefit than temporal help, no matter how pressing the need.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
and: Rom 11:17, 1Co 9:11, Gal 6:6, Phm 1:19
Reciprocal: Isa 14:2 – and the house Isa 19:21 – and shall Isa 19:24 – shall Isa 61:6 – ye shall eat Act 10:2 – which 2Co 8:13 – not Phi 4:14 – ye did Col 1:12 – partakers 1Ti 5:17 – be Heb 1:14 – ministering Heb 3:1 – partakers 1Pe 4:10 – minister 1Jo 1:3 – ye also
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
:27
Rom 15:27. Their debtors they are means the brethren in the countries named are indebted (under obligation) to the poor saints at Jerusalem. The latter had supplied the former with spiritual things (the Gospel), now in turn they should help them with carnal (temporal) necessities of life. This is exactly the same as Gal 6:6.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Rom 15:27. For they thought it good (namely, to make this contribution); and their debtors they are. The Apostle emphasizes by the repetition the willingness of the Grecian Christians, but adds another statement to mark the reasonableness of such contributions: they were a matter of repayment.
They owe it also to minister, etc. The word minister is that used of priestly service (comp. minister of Christ Jesus, Rom 15:16), not that found in Rom 15:25. To such priestly service belongs the privilege and duty of providing for the poor saints. This thought is the more emphatic in view of the antithesis between spiritual things and carnal things; the former referring to the gifts of the Holy Spirit which came to the Gentiles from the mother church at Jerusalem (comp. Act 11:20); the latter including those things which pertain to the external, material side of mans nature. The reference to the Holy Spirit does not require the ethical sense in this contrast, though the reverse is true.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Vv. 27. The repetition of the: it seemed good to them, emphasizes still more forcibly the free-will of the churches in this course. They felt themselves impelled to pay this homage to the church from which the gift of salvation had come to them; they even judged that it was a small matter to act thus in a lower domain in behalf of those to whom they owed blessings of an infinitely more precious nature. Paul evidently enlarges thus on this subject, not only to praise the churches of Greece, or with the view of leading the church of Rome immediately to carry out a similar work, but with the intention of awaking in the hearts of his hearers the feeling of a duty which they shall also have the opportunity of fulfilling some time or other. After this episode Paul returns to his principal subject.
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
Yea, it hath been their good pleasure [The apostle twice notes the free-will or “good pleasure” nature of this offering. It dropped as the ripe fruit of the orchard; it was not squeezed as cider in the mill]; and their debtors they are. [The Gentiles are indebted to the Jews, and hence their offering is but a proper expression of gratitude.] For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, they owe it to them also to minister unto them in carnal things. [Salvation is from the Jews (Joh 4:22). If, therefore, the Gentiles received eternal and heavenly treasure from the Jews, how small a matter was it that they make return of temporal and earthly treasure to such benefactors. The Gentile still owes this debt to the Jewish race, for of it came the Christ and the Scriptures. The law here announced might well be remembered by many rich congregations in dealing with their ministers in questions of salary, vacations, etc. (Comp. Luk 16:9) By mentioning this offering, Paul sowed good seed in the heart of the Roman Church–seed promising a harvest of liberality.]
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
15:27 {11} It hath pleased them verily; and their debtors they are. For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to {q} minister unto them in carnal things.
(11) Alms are voluntary, but yet we at the same time owe these by the law of charity.
(q) To serve their turns.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The money that Paul was collecting was both a love-gift and an obligation. He could say that the givers owed it because the gospel had come from Jerusalem and Judea to the Gentiles. Believers in Asia Minor also contributed to this fund (1Co 16:1; Act 20:4).