For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.
2. For ] The connexion is, that they seem to be, but are not, in the way to salvation; and that this stirs up his affectionate and anxious longing that they may find it.
record ] witness; as one who so intimately knows them and their state of conscience and will.
zeal of God ] So lit. The genitive implies that the zeal is in close connexion with, and directed towards, Him. So “faith of God” (Gr. of Mar 11:22). Jewish jealousy for the Law, Temple, Scriptures, &c. eagerness to proselytize hatred of Christian renegades is all implied here; all being connected, rightly or mistakenly, with the true God, and intended, more or less, to “do Him service.” Observe that St Paul gives them full credit for sincerity, and yet does not look on their sincerity as a ground of safety. His true generosity had in it no false “liberalism.” The Jews (like himself of old, 1Ti 1:13,) acted “ignorantly in unbelief;” but their “ignorance,” in face of offered knowledge, was their crime; and so their misguided zeal was indirectly sinful.
knowledge ] Lit. full knowledge. (German, Erkenntniss.) Same word as Rom 1:28, Rom 3:20. The word is appropriate, for it was just the full knowledge of the true God as God in Christ which they lacked. Their knowledge of God impelled them to persecuting zeal exactly because it was not full knowledge. (See Act 13:27.) So it is with all persecution in the name of the true God.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
For I bear them record – To bear record means to be a witness; to give evidence. This, Paul was well qualified to do. He had been a Jew of the strictest order Act 26:5; Phi 3:5, and he well knew the extraordinary exertions which they put forth to obey the commands of the Law.
A zeal of God – A zeal for God. Thus, Joh 2:17, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; an earnest desire for the honor of the sanctuary has wholly absorbed my attention; compare Psa 69:9; Act 21:20, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe, and they are all zealous of the law; Act 22:3, And was zealous toward God as ye all are this day. Zeal for God here means passionate ardor in the things pertaining to God, or in the things of religion. In this they were, doubtless, many of them sincere; but sincerity does not of itself constitute true piety; Joh 16:2, The time cometh that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service. This would be an instance of extraordinary zeal, and in this they would be sincere; but persecution to death of apostles cannot be true religion; see also Mat 23:15; Act 26:9, I thought that I ought to do, etc. So many persons suppose that, provided they are sincere and zealous, they must of course be accepted of God. But the zeal which is acceptable is what aims at the glory of God, and which is founded on true benevolence to the universe; and which does not aim primarily to establish a system of self-righteousness, as did the Jew, or to build up our own sect, as many others do. We may remark here, that Paul was not insensible to what the Jews did, and was not unwilling to give them credit for it. A minister of the gospel should not be blind to the amiable qualities of people or to their zeal; and should be willing to speak of it tenderly, even when he is proclaiming the doctrine of depravity, or denouncing the just judgments of God.
Not according to knowledge – Not an enlightened, discerning, and intelligent zeal. Not what was founded on correct views of God and of religious truth. Such zeal is enthusiasm, and often becomes persecuting. Knowledge without zeal becomes cold, abstract, calculating, formal; and may be possessed by devils as well as human beings. It is the union of the two – the action of the man called forth to intense effort by just views of truth and by right feeling – that constitutes true religion. This was the zeal of the Saviour and of the apostles.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 2. They have a zeal of God] They believe their law to have come immediately from God himself, and are jealous of its glory and excellence; they conscientiously observe its rites and ceremonies, but they do not consider the object and end of those rites; they sin more through ignorance than malice; and this pleads in their excuse. By this fine apology for them, the apostle prepares them for the harsher truths which he was about to deliver.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
For I bear them record, i.e. I must testify this of them, or of many of them,
that they have a zeal of God; that they have a fervent desire to maintain the law of God, with all the Mosaical rites and ceremonies, as thinking thereby to promote the glory of God.
But not according to knowledge; i.e. true and right knowledge. Though it be a warm, yet it is a blind zeal. They know not the will of God, or what that righteousness is which he will accept. They know not for what end the law and worship of God, under the Old Testament, was instituted. They knew not that Christ, in, and by whom, that law is fulfilled.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
2. For I bear them recordor,”witness,” as he well could from his own sad experience.
that they have a zealof“for”
God, but not according toknowledge(Compare Act 22:3;Act 26:9-11; Gal 1:13;Gal 1:14). He alludes to thiswell-meaning of his people, notwithstanding their spiritualblindness, not certainly to excuse their rejection of Christ and rageagainst His saints, but as some ground of hope regarding them. (See1Ti 1:13).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
For I bear them record, that they have a zeal of God,…. A zeal for God; for the being and unity of God, against the polytheism and idolatry of the Gentiles; for the word of God, the writings of the Old Testament, of which they were zealous defenders and preservers, and which they diligently read and heard explained, and whereby they thought to obtain eternal life; for the law of God, moral and ceremonial, especially for the rituals of the Mosaic economy; for the service and worship of God, they spared no pains, but compassed sea and land to bring in proselytes to their religion; all which the apostle could testify from his own knowledge, and by his own experience, who had been as great a zealot as any of them all. But now whilst the apostle is expressing his strong affection for this people, he is careful to act the faithful part to them, and points out their mistakes, and shows them their faults; which he does in this and the following verse, by observing, that they had a zeal of God indeed,
but not according to knowledge: it was not well regulated, it proceeded on mistaken principles, and moved in a wrong way, in persecuting the church of God, in doing things contrary to the name of Christ, in putting to death his ministers and members, thinking that hereby they did God good service; which arose from their ignorance of their Father, and of the Son: though they had a zeal of God, they knew neither God nor Christ aright; they did not know God in Christ, nor Jesus to be the true Messiah; they understood neither law nor Gospel truly, and fancied the Gospel was contrary to the law, and an enemy to it; and therefore in their great zeal opposed it, and the professors of it; they were zealous of the law, and of doing the commands of it, but knew not the true nature, use, and end of the law; as appears by what follows.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
A zeal for God ( ). Objective genitive like Php 3:9, “through faith in Christ” ( ).
But not according to knowledge (‘ ‘ ). They had knowledge of God and so were superior to the Gentiles in privilege (2:9-11), but they sought God in an external way by rules and rites and missed him (9:30-33). They became zealous for the letter and the form instead of for God himself.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
I bear them record [] . Rev. witness. “He seems to be alluding to his conduct of former days, and to say, ‘I know something of it, of that zeal ‘” (Godet).
Zeal of God [ ] . Rev., zeal for God. Like the phrase “faith of Christ” for “faith in Christ” (Phi 3:9); compare Col 2:12; Eph 3:12; Joh 2:17, “the zeal of thine house,” i e., “for thy house.” Knowledge [] . Full or correct and vital knowledge. See on ch. Rom 1:28; Rom 3:20.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “For I bear them record,” (maturo gar autois) “For I bear them witness,” or bear witness, go on record regarding them; He had once been a zealot among them, could therefore go on the witness stand as an “expert witness” regarding their avowed and pursued bondage to law-forms, ceremonies and traditions, all of which were as “filthy rags,” before God, Isa 64:6-7; Mar 7:1-13.
2) “That they have a zeal of God,” (hoti zelon theou echousin) “That they have or hold a zeal of God;” a zeal relating to the keeping of the sabbath, ceremonies, feast days, holy days, and worship of the Law – a zeal for pious conformity to the law of outward show. They were intensely, though erroneously, religious, Gal 1:14; Act 21:20; Act 22:3. Zeal without knowledge and wisdom is like a running horse without a rider, flying a plane without a pilot, a sailing ship without a captain, or an auto without a driver.
3) “But not according to knowledge “ (all’ ou kat epignosin) “But not according to, in harmony with, or based on true knowledge,” of the way of salvation, by simple faith in Jesus Christ, Joh 8:24; Joh 14:6; Joh 1:11-14; These zealot, unregenerate religious Jews preached “another gospel”, one of another kind, different from, and out of harmony with the gospel of Jesus Christ, Gal 1:6-8; Gal 4:17; Gal 5:1; Gal 5:12-13. Let zeal be used with Biblical discretion and discretion not freeze zeal in any true child of God, Gal 5:16; Gal 5:25. God’s Holy Spirit accompanies the teaching or preaching of the Word of God, rightly divided, to bring conviction, conversion, and to lead to obedient service those who choose to obey the voice of God as he speaks in harmony with the Word, Pro 1:22-30; Joh 16:8-11; Rom 10:8-13; Rom 10:16; Rom 8:14; Eph 2:10; 2Pe 3:18.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
2. For I bear to them a testimony, etc. This was intended to secure credit to his love. There was indeed a just cause why he should regard them with compassion rather than hatred, since he perceived that they had fallen only through ignorance, and not through malignancy of mind, and especially as he saw that they were not led except by some regard for God to persecute the kingdom of Christ. Let us hence learn where our good intentions may guide us, if we yield to them. It is commonly thought a good and a very fit excuse, when he who is reproved pretends that he meant no harm. And this pretext is held good by many at this day, so that they apply not their minds to find out the truth of God, because they think that whatever they do amiss through ignorance, without any designed maliciousness, but with good intention, is excusable. But no one of us would excuse the Jews for having crucified Christ, for having cruelly raged against the Apostles, and for having attempted to destroy and extinguish the gospel; and yet they had the same defense as that in which we confidently glory. Away then with these vain evasions as to good intention; if we seek God sincerely, let us follow the way by which alone we can come to him. For it is better, as [ Augustine ] says, even to go limping in the right way than to run with all our might out of the way. If we would be really religious, let us remember that what Lactantius teaches is true, that true religion is alone that which is connected with the word of God. (320)
And further, since we see that they perish, who with good intention wander in darkness, let us bear in mind, that we are worthy of thousand deaths, if after having been illuminated by God, we wander knowingly and willfully from the right way.
(320) “A zeal of God,” ζήλον Θεοῦ, is a zeal for God, a genitive case of the object. Some regard “God” here as meaning something great, as it is sometimes used in Hebrew, and render the phrase, as [ Macknight ] does, “a great zeal;” but this is not required by the context. The Jews had professedly “a zeal for God,” but not accompanied with knowledge. The necessity of knowledge as the guide of zeal is noted by [ Turrettin ] in four particulars: 1. That we may distinguish truth from falsehood, as there may be zeal for error and false doctrine as well as for that which is true; 2. That we may understand the comparative importance of things, so as not to make much of what is little, and make little account of what is great; 3. That we may prosecute and defend the truth in the right way, with prudence, firmness, fidelity, and meekness; 4. That our zeal may have the right object, not our own interest and reputation, but the glory of God and the salvation of men. — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(2) A zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.It would be difficult to find a more happy description of the state of the Jews at this period. They had a zeal for God. The Jew, said Josephus, knows the Law better than his own name . . . The sacred rules were punctually observed . . . The great feasts were frequented by countless thousands . . . Over and above the requirements of the Law, ascetic religious exercises advocated by the teachers of the Law came into vogue. . . . Even the Hellenised and Alexandrian Jews under Caligula died on the cross and by fire, and the Palestinian prisoners in the last war died by the claws of African lions in the amphitheatre, rather than sin against the Law. What Greek, exclaims Josephus, would do the like? . . . The Jews also exhibited an ardent zeal for the conversion of the Gentiles to the Law of Moses. The proselytes filled Asia Minor and Syria, andto the indignation of TacitusItaly and Rome. The tenacity of the Jews, and their uncompromising monotheism, were seen in some conspicuous examples. In the early part of his procuratorship, Pilate, seeking to break through their known repugnance to everything that savoured of image-worship, had introduced into Jerusalem ensigns surmounted with silver busts of the emperor. Upon this the people went down in a body to Csarea, waited for five days and nights in the market-place, bared their necks to the soldiers that Pilate sent in among them, and did not desist until the order for the removal of the ensigns had been given. Later he caused to be hung up in the palace at Jerusalem certain gilded shields bearing a dedicatory inscription to Tiberius. Then, again, the Jews did not rest until, by their complaints addressed directly to the emperor, they had succeeded in getting them taken down. The consternation that was caused by Caligulas order for the erection of his own statue in the Temple is well known. None of the Roman governors dared to carry it into execution; and Caligula himself was slain before it could be accomplished.
Justice must be done to the heroic spirit of the Jews. But it was zeal directed into the most mistaken channels. Their religion was legal and formal to the last degree. Under an outward show of punctilious obedience, it concealed all the inward corruption described by the Apostle in Rom. 2:17-29, the full extent of which was seen in the horrors of the great insurrection and the siege of Jerusalem.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
2. Zeal of God Monotheism, the maintenance of the doctrine of one God, as opposed to polytheism and idolatry, was the great mission bestowed on Israel in the Old Testament. Before the captivity the people were prone to idolatry. The remnant who returned were the earnest few, who never again relapsed. But their very monotheism grew fierce and malignant.
Not knowledge The fiercer the zeal, even for truth, when not regulated by the real principles of truth, the worse its excesses. The very element of truth renders the mind self-conceited and unsparing, and the corrective and restraining part of the truth is over-ridden and disregarded. Monotheism by its very conscious truth took firm hold of the Jew’s conscience; and then, strangely for that truth, as Paul knew by experience, he could be a knave, a persecutor, and a bloody brigand.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge, for being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit themselves to the righteousness of God.’
The tragedy of the Jews was that while they had a kind of zeal for God, (no people were more religious than they), their zeal was ‘not in accordance with knowledge (epignosis – higher knowledge)’ (compare Rom 10:19). In other words their zeal was operating outside revealed truth. They had failed to interpret the Scriptures correctly. They were thus ignorant of the truth. For those Scriptures had pointed to a humble Messiah (Zec 9:9; Isa 52:13 to Isa 53:12), and they had stressed the need for ‘circumcision of the heart’ (Lev 26:41; Deu 10:16; Deu 30:6; Jer 4:4; Jer 9:26) and for a work to take place in their hearts (Jer 31:31-34; Eze 36:26-27; Psa 51:7-12). But this was something that they had failed to recognise. Thus the very truth that they believed that God had given them was instead condemning them (compare Rom 2:17-24; Rom 3:19-20), because what the Law gave them was the knowledge of sin (Rom 3:20), whilst on the other hand they had overlooked the emphasis of the Scriptures on the fact that their righteousness was to come from God (Rom 4:3; Rom 4:7-8; Gen 15:6; Psa 32:1-2; Psa 51:7-12; Isa 46:13; etc). So in seeking to establish their own righteousness by constant obedience to the Law of Moses (in accordance with the traditions of the elders), they were merely compounding their sins. This was because the Law continually condemned them, whilst they themselves were missing out on much of what the Scriptures taught.
And this state of affairs resulted from the fact that they were ignorant of the righteousness of God, and did not submit themselves to it. Reference to Rom 3:20 to Rom 4:25; Rom 5:15-19 establishes what this righteousness of God was. It was the free gift of righteousness, a righteousness which God had brought to His people in Jesus Christ the Messiah as a consequence of His death for them. Thus they had failed to submit to the Messiah and the message that He had brought. They had failed to submit to the truth.
‘Seeking to establish their own (righteousness).’ There is an echo here of Deu 9:4-6 where Moses pointed out to Israel that it was not because of their own righteousness that God was giving them the land, but rather in fulfilment of the word of the Lord given in His promises to their fathers ((Deu 9:5), a permanent reminder that God’s promises are not contingent on ‘our own righteousness’ but on His elective purposes. There too they were called on to respond to the word of the Lord, not depending on their own righteousness.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Rom 10:2. That they have a zeal of God See this zeal of theirs for God described, Act 21:27-31; Act 22:3.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Rom 10:2 . Reason assigned why .
] zeal for God . Comp. Act 21:20 ; Act 22:3 ; Gal 1:14 ; Joh 2:17 ; 1Ma 2:58 . This their zeal makes them worth that interest of my heart.
] knowledge is not that, according to the measure of which they are zealous for God. We must here again (comp. on Rom 1:28 ) note the composite expression; for the Jews were not wanting in generally, but just in the very point, on which it depended whether their was the right and practically vital .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
2 For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.
Ver. 2. They have a zeal of God ] So had those two Rabbis, David Rubenita and Shelomoh Molchu, that set upon the Emperor Charles v. to persuade him to Judaism, and were therefore put to a cruel death, A. D. 1530. (Alsted. Chron.) So had Latimer before his conversion: I was as obstinate a Papist, saith he, as any was in England: insomuch that when I should be made Bachelor in Divinity, my whole oration went against Philip Melancthon and his opinions, &c. Being a priest, and using to say mass, he thought he had never sufficiently mingled his massing wine with water: and moreover that he should never be dammed, if he were once a professed friar; with various such superstitious fantasies. (Acts and Mon.) Zeal without knowledge is as wild fire in a fool’s hand; it is like the devil in the demoniac, that casts him sometimes into the fire and sometimes into the water.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
2. ] For (reason why I thus sympathize with their efforts, though misdirected) I bear witness to them that they have a zeal for God (for this meaning of the gen. see reff., especially 2Co 11:2 , and note there), but not according to (in accordance with, founded upon, and carried on with) knowledge (accurate apprehension of the way of righteousness as revealed to them).
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Rom 10:2 . Their good qualities compel his affection. : they have a zeal for God, are intensely (though mistakenly) religious. Cf. Gal 1:14 . An unbelieving Jew could interpret his opposition to the lawless gospel of Paul as zeal for the divinely-given rule of life, and his opposition to the crucified Messiah as zeal for the divinely-given promises. It was God’s honour for which he stood in refusing the Gospel. : this religious earnestness is not regulated by adequate knowledge. For see Eph 4:13 , Phi 1:9 , Col 1:9-10 ; Col 2:2 , 1Ti 2:4 , 2Ti 2:25 ; it is especially used of religious knowledge, and suggests attainment in it ( , , 1Co 13:12 ).
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
bear . . . record. Greek. martureo. See Rom 3:21.
not. App-105.
according to. App-104.
knowledge. App-132.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
2.] For (reason why I thus sympathize with their efforts, though misdirected) I bear witness to them that they have a zeal for God (for this meaning of the gen. see reff., especially 2Co 11:2, and note there), but not according to (in accordance with, founded upon, and carried on with) knowledge (accurate apprehension of the way of righteousness as revealed to them).
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Rom 10:2. [115] , a zeal of God) Act 22:3, note. Zeal of God, if it is not against Christ, is good.- , not according to knowledge) An example of Litotes [expressing in less strong terms a strong truth] i.e. with great blindness; it agrees with the word, ignorant, in the next verse. Flacius says: The Jews had and now have a zeal without knowledge; we on the contrary, alas! to our shame, have knowledge without zeal. Zeal and ignorance are referred to at Rom 10:19.
[115] , for.) Therefore even in those, who are not in a state of grace, something at least may be found which may induce those, who rejoice in the Divine favour, to intercede for them.-V. g.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Rom 10:2
Rom 10:2
For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God,- He testifies in their behalf that they have a zeal for God. The Jews at this time had not gone into idolatry as they had done in the days of the kings. They were zealously and devotedly religious toward God, and their religious zeal hindered their obedience to the divine law. A religion that shuts out or obstructs the knowledge of Gods will and hinders obedience to the law of God stands between that man and God and hinders his salvation. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father who is in heaven. (Mat 7:21). To do the will of God is the only road to union with him.
but not according to knowledge.-[This means knowing what God has taught on the subject of justification. Had they read the law of Moses and the prophets correctly, they would at once have recognized in Jesus their long-expected Messiah and would have hailed him with great joy. Their lack of knowledge, being due to their own stubborn refusal to either see or hear, was inexcusable.]
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
I bear them: By this fine apology for the Jews, the Apostle prepares them for the harsher truths which he was about to deliver. 2Co 8:3, Gal 4:15, Col 4:13
that they: 2Ki 10:16, Joh 16:2, Act 21:20, Act 21:28, Act 22:3, Act 22:22, Act 26:9, Act 26:10, Gal 1:14, Gal 4:17, Gal 4:18, Phi 3:6
but not: Rom 10:3, Rom 9:31, Rom 9:32, Psa 14:4, Pro 19:2, Isa 27:1, 2Co 4:4, 2Co 4:6, Phi 1:9
Reciprocal: Num 25:13 – zealous Jos 22:12 – the whole Jdg 17:13 – General Jdg 19:29 – divided her Jdg 21:1 – There 1Sa 14:24 – Cursed 2Sa 21:2 – in his zeal 2Ki 2:17 – they urged Job 20:2 – my thoughts Psa 59:10 – let Psa 69:27 – let them Ecc 7:16 – Be not Isa 55:2 – do ye Isa 57:12 – General Mic 6:6 – Wherewith Mat 5:20 – exceed Mar 10:17 – what Luk 5:33 – and make Luk 13:14 – with Luk 18:21 – General Joh 5:12 – What Joh 9:24 – Give Act 13:50 – devout Act 20:26 – I take Gal 5:2 – that
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
0:2
Rom 10:2. The apostle freely gave them credit for what was commendable, but also disapproved of all that was wrong about them. A prominent phrase in Thayer’s definition of the original word for zeal is, “ardor in embracing.” Israel was not sluggish in religious activities on behalf of God. Knowledge is from EPIGNOSIS, and Thayer defines it at this place, “Precise and correct knowledge.” The Jews displayed a heated interest in their form of righteousness, without bothering to learn if it was the correct one.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Rom 10:2. For I bear them witness. The reason for his desire and prayer is the fact to which he now bears his testimony.
They have a seal for God, i.e., of which God is the object, not great zeal, or, godly zeal. Their zeal was religious, conscientious, but misdirected.
But not according to knowledge. The word often means full knowledge, and is here used to denote correct, vital knowledge. Answering to the objective advantages of the Jews (chap. Rom 9:1-5) was this religious zeal, which degenerated into blind fanaticism. But this, we infer from the passage, is better than indifferentism. Where there is some earnestness, there is something to hope for. In this respect the condition of many in Christian lands is less encouraging than that of the Jews in Pauls time.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
As if the apostle had said, “I can bear them witness that many, very many, of the Jews, have a zealous desire in their way to please God, and do what is acceptable in his sight; but though it be a warm, it is but a blind zeal, and not according to right knowledge.”
Here observe, 1. The apostle is desirous to say the best he could of his countrymen the Jews; he commends the good meaning of their zeal, but blames the ill conduct of it. It was a misguided and mistaken zeal, and not directed as it ought. Zeal is either one of the best or worst of things in the world. It is a good thing when it is right in its object, right in the measure and degree, and pursued by right means. As to the object of our zeal, it must be that which is certainly and considerably good: certainly good, or else we are zealous for we know not what; and considerably good, or else it doth not deserve our zeal. To be zealous, and that beyond all due measure, for the observation so a ceremony or custom, as some in the Christian church were of old about the observation of Easter, is certainly a zeal not according to knowledge.
Again, zeal must be prosecuted by lawful and warrantable means; we must not from a principle of zeal do any evil, that good may come. But there is a zeal amongst the church of Rome, which I am sure cannot be according to knowledge, and that is a zeal for ignorance. This is a zeal peculiar to themselves; they will not allow the people to understand what they do in the service of God; they require them to pray, but will not let them know what they pray for; and all this under a pretence that ignorance, which makes a man a block, is the mother of devotion. As if the less men understand the service of God, the better he was pleased with it, and the more they were edified by it.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Vv. 2. In this verse Paul justifies his so lively interest in the lot of the Jews, expressed in Rom 10:1. What has not been done, what has not been suffered, by those Jews devoted to the cause of God, under successive Gentile powers? Notwithstanding the most frightful persecutions, have they not succeeded in maintaining their monotheistic worship for ages in all its purity? And at that very time what an admirable attachment did they show to the ceremonies of their worship and the adoration of Jehovah! When Paul says , I bear them witness, he seems to be alluding to his conduct of other days, and to say: I know something of it, of that zeal!
Unhappily this impulse is not guided according to the standard () of a just knowledge, of a real discernment of things. And it is this want of understanding which has spoiled the effects of this admirable zeal. He does not use the word , knowledge (in the ordinary sense of the word), for the Jews certainly do not lack religious knowledge. The compound term , which he employs here, rather signifies discernment, that understanding which puts its finger on the true nature of the thing. They have failed to discern the true meaning and the true scope of the legal dispensation; they are ardently attached to all its particular rites, but they have not grasped their moral end.
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. [“For” introduces Paul’s reason for having hope in his prayer. Had Israel been sodden in sin, or stupefied in indifference, he would have had less heart to pray. But they were ardently religious, though ignorantly so, for, had they possessed a true knowledge of their law, it would have led them to Christ, and had they understood their prophets, they would have recognized that Jesus was the Christ (Gal 3:24; Luk 24:25-27; Rev 19:10). But the chief ignorance of which Paul complained was their failure to see that there is no other way to justification and salvation save by faith in Christ Jesus. As to their zeal, which in the centuries wore out the vital energy of the Greek, and amazed the stolidity of the Roman, till in the siege of Jerusalem it dashed itself to atoms against the impregnable iron of the legionaries, no tongue nor pen can describe it. Of this zeal, Paul was a fitting witness, for before conversion he shared it as a persecutor, and after conversion he endured it as a martyr (Phi 3:6; 2Co 11:24; Act 21:20-31; Act 22:4). But misguided zeal miscarries like a misdirected letter, and the value of the contents does not mend the address. “It is better,” says Augustine, “to go limping in the right way, than to run with all our might out of the way.” Their lack of knowledge, being due to their own stubborn refusal to either hear or see, was inexcusable.]
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
2. For I testify to them that they have a zeal of God, but not according to perfect knowledge. The Jews in Pauls day, like the fallen churches in all ages, had some knowledge of God, but it was not the experimental sort, such as enables us to know Him personally in practical and real salvation.
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
Ironically it was Israel’s zeal that set her up for failure. Zeal also characterized Paul’s life, which in many ways duplicated Israel’s experience as a nation. It kept him from believing on Christ too (cf. Act 22:3; Gal 1:14). Paul and Israel both had zeal for God, but it was zeal that lacked knowledge, knowledge that Jesus is the Messiah (1Ti 1:13).