Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Romans 15:21
But as it is written, To whom he was not spoken of, they shall see: and they that have not heard shall understand.
21. but as it is written, &c.] There is, obviously, an ellipsis. Q. d., “I have made it my principle to preach, not where Christ was named, but where that prediction would be verified ‘To whom He was not spoken of, &c.’ ” The quotation is from Isa 52:15, verbatim with LXX., which paraphrases the Heb. The whole passage refers to the great Servant of the Lord, and to the effects of His work, and of the “report” of Him, on “nations” and “kings.”
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
But as it is written – Isa 52:15. This is not literally quoted, but the sense is retained. The design of quoting it is to justify the principle on which the apostle acted. It was revealed that the gospel should be preached to the Gentiles; and he regarded it as a high honor to be the instrument of carrying this prediction into effect.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Rom 15:21
But as It is written, To whom He was not spoken of, they shall see.
Prophecy and the means of its fulfilment
This ambition of the apostle was the means of fulfilling a prophecy with respect to the spread of the gospel in heathen countries. Thus it is that God fulfils His predictions and His purposes. He gives His people an earnest desire to be the means of accomplishing them at the moment when He designs their accomplishment. It will be thus that the gospel will at last be effectually carried to every country under heaven. It is thus that modern missionaries have, in some measure, carried the gospel to the heathen, and although the slothfulness of the people of God in former ages is not without blame, it is because the time to fulfil Gods predictions to the nations was not come that a like ambition to that of Paul was not found more generally to animate Christians. Whenever the Lord has work to do, He raises up men with a heart to perform it. This, however, is no excuse at any particular time for indifference or want of effort to spread the gospel. (R. Haldane.)
Missionary toil
I. Its difficulties.
1. Untried ground.
2. A foundation must be laid.
3. Particular obstacles removed, etc.
II. Its encouragements.
1. The nature of the gospel.
2. Its actual successes.
3. The faithful promise of God. (J. Lyth, D.D.)
Missions
I. The object of missionary zeal. To speak of Christ, and to make Christ known. If a heathen could say, I am a man, and nothing human is foreign to me, how much more should our hearts burn, when we are told that the knowledge of Christ is at present limited to one-third of the human race! Surely this is an object sufficient to justify missionary efforts.
II. The character of missionary labours. To go forth and to preach the gospel of Christ. Leaving it to Mahomet to draw the sword and enforce obedience, for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, our appeal is not to secular authority, for the religion of Christ made its way against that authority.
III. The promises of missionary success. We can appeal to It is written, and I should like to know what nineteen centuries have done to invalidate Pauls testimony.
IV. The extent of missionary claims. If Jesus looked beyond His conflicts and trials, and saw of the travail of His soul, can we be indifferent to that on which His heart was set now He is in heaven? If He anticipated much as the reward of His labours, can we be satisfied that He should receive but little? Did He say, I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto Me? Shall not we aim to lift Him up by the preaching of the gospel, and say to perishing men, Behold the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the world? (R. C. Dillon, D.D.)
The claims of missions
1. There are millions still who have not heard the gospel.
2. The gospel is not only adapted to their case, but intended for them.
3. The obligation rests on us to send it.
4. The successful result is certain–predicted–exemplified. (J. Lyth, D.D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 21. But as it is written] These words, quoted from Isa 52:15, the apostle applies to his own conduct; not that the words themselves predicted what Paul had done, but that he endeavoured to fulfil such a declaration by his manner of preaching the Gospel to the heathen.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
But as it is written,…. In Isa 52:15;
to whom he was not spoken of, they shall see, and they that have not heard shall understand; for the Messiah was not spoken of to the Gentiles; they were strangers to the covenants of promise; the oracles of God were committed to the Jews; God gave his word and statutes to them, and not to any other nation: and yet, according to this prophecy, the Gentiles were to see him whom they had no account of; not in the flesh with their bodily eyes, in which sense only, or at least chiefly, the Jews saw him; but with the eyes of their understanding, by faith, as exhibited and evidently set forth before them as crucified, in the Gospel and the ordinances of it: and though they had heard nothing of him, having for many hundreds of years been left in ignorance, and suffered to walk in their own ways, until the apostles were sent among them; whose sound went into all the earth, and their words to the end of the world; yet when this would be the case, according to these words, they would understand the mind and will of God, the mysteries of his grace, the nature of the person and offices of Christ, the design of his coming into the world, and the way of salvation by him; all which was greatly brought about and accomplished, in the ministry of the Apostle Paul among them. The passage is very pertinently cited and applied by the apostle. The whole paragraph is to be understood of the Messiah, from whence it is taken, as it is owned, and accordingly interpreted by many Jewish writers, both ancient b and modern c; and these words particularly respect the kings and nations of the world, who are represented as struck with silence and wonder, when, upon the preaching and hearing of the Messiah, they should see him by faith, and spiritually understand what is declared concerning him. The difference between the apostle’s version of these words, which is the same with the Septuagint, and the text in Isaiah, is very inconsiderable. The first clause of the Hebrew text may be literally rendered thus, “for him, who was not spoken of to them, they shall see”; and the apostle’s Greek in this manner, to whom “it was not spoken of concerning him, they shall see”; the sense is the same, and person intended Christ: the latter clause, which we from the Hebrew text render, “and that which they had not heard, shall they consider”; and here, “they that have not heard, shall understand”, has nothing material in it, in which they differ; for in the former part of it both design the Messiah, and the things concerning him, the Gentiles had not heard of; and the latter is rendered and explained by the Targum, and by R. Sol Jarchi, as by the apostle, , “they shall understand”; and which fitly expresses the sense of the Hebrew word used by the prophet.
b Targum in Isa. lii. 13. Pesikta in Kettoreth hassammim in Num. fol. 27. 2. Tanchuma apud Huls. Jud. Theolog. p. 321. c Baal Hatturim in Lev. xvi. 14. R. Moses Aishech in lsa. lii. 13. Vid. R. Aben Ezra in ib.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
As it is written ( ). From Isa 52:15. Paul finds an illustration of his word about his own ambition in the words of Isaiah. Fritzsche actually argues that Paul understood Isaiah to be predicting his (Paul’s) ministry! Some scholars have argued against the genuineness of verses 9-21 on wholly subjective and insufficient grounds.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
1) “But as it is written,” (alla kathos gegraptoi) “But just as it has been written or recorded,” the apostle accepted the Old Testament scriptures as truthful, accurate, and beneficial, often using them to convince the uncertain, 2Ti 3:16-17.
2) “To whom he was spoken of, they shall see,” (Opsontai ois ouk aneggele peri autou) “They, to whom it was not proclaimed (at the beginning), shall see concerning him”; Paul used the Scriptures as his guide in understanding the call of the Gentiles, as well as the Jews Isa 52:15. The Gentiles were to see the glory of Christ, and they have, Act 10:1-46; Act 11:18; Act 17:30-31; Rom 1:14-16.
3) “And they that have not heard shall understand,” (kai hoi ouk akekossin senesousin) “And those who have not (previously) heard will understand”; understand that the gospel of redemption is for Gentiles also, and mercy is shown to them, Isa 65:1; Rom 9:24; Rom 10:12; Eph 2:13-14.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
21. But as it is written, etc. He confirms by the testimony of Isaiah what he had said of the evidence of his apostleship; for in Isa 52:15, speaking of the kingdom of Messiah, among other things he predicts, that the knowledge of Christ would be spread among the Gentiles throughout the whole world, that his name would be declared to those by whom it had not been heard of before. It was meet that this should be done by the Apostles, to whom the command was specifically given. Hence the apostleship of Paul was made evident from this circumstance, — that this prophecy was fulfilled in him. (457)
It is absurd for any one to attempt to apply what is here said to the pastoral office; for we know that in Churches rightly formed, where the truth of the gospel has been already received, Christ’s name must be constantly preached. Paul then was a preacher of Christ, yet unknown to foreign nations, for this end, — that after his departure the same doctrine should be daily proclaimed in every place by the mouth of the pastors; for it is certain that the Prophet speaks of the commencement of the kingdom of Christ.
(457) Isa 52:15. The quotation is literally from the Septuagint, and is nearly according to the Hebrew, only the tense is altered, it being the past in that language, as prophecies are often found to be, in order to show their certainty. The Hebrew is as follows, —
For what had not been told them, have they seen, And what they had not heard, have they understood.
To render the last verb “consider,” as in our version, is not proper; it means to distinguish between things, to discern, to understand. It bears strictly the same meaning with the Greek verb here used. — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(21) To whom . . .From the LXX. of Isa. 52:15. The original has reference to the servant of Jehovah, first suffering and then glorified, so that kings should be dumb with astonishment at the change. Here it is applied to the evangelisation of distant heathen nations.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
21. Written (Isa 52:15.) The whole chapter describes the Messiah, and the passage quoted describes the preaching of his name to new regions.
To whom The sense will be clearer if those is placed before to whom.
They that have not heard A sublime surprise at the strange announcements of the blessed Gospel shall come upon the Gentiles. It was the gladness and glory of the apostle to be the announcer and surpriser.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘But, as it is written, “They will see, to whom no tidings of him came, And they who have not heard will understand.” ’
And this missionary purpose was in accordance with Scripture as found in Isa 52:15 b LXX. Here Paul makes clear his identification of the Messiah with the Servant of YHWH Who would suffer and die on behalf of His people. His proclamation of the Gospel had come to those who had not previously received tidings, and to those who had not previously heard, so that they might see and hear.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
21 But as it is written, To whom he was not spoken of, they shall see: and they that have not heard shall understand.
Ver. 21. But as it is written, ] In obedience to this divine oracle, the apostle preached to those that had not heard, yet neglected not those that had.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Rom 15:21 . : Paul’s actual procedure corresponded with, and indeed led to the fulfilment of, a famous O.T. prophecy. Isa 52:11 exactly as in LXX. It is absurd to argue with Fritzsche that Paul found a prediction of his own personal ministry (and of the principles on which he discharged it), in Isaiah, and equally beside the mark to argue that his use of the passage is “quite in accordance with the spirit of the original”. The LXX is quite different from the Hebrew, and Paul quotes it because he liked to be able to express his own opinion or practice in Scripture language. It seemed to him to get a Divine confirmation in this way; but an examination of various passages shows that he cared very little for the original meaning or application.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
To . . . see. Literally They shall see (App-133) to whom it was not (App-105) reported.
He = concerning (App-104) Him.
spoken. Greek. anangello. Compare Act 14:27. 1Pe 1:12.
understand. See Rom 3:11. From Isa 52:15.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Rom 15:21. -) Isa 52:15. So plainly the LXX.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Rom 15:21
Rom 15:21
but, as it is written, They shall see, to whom no tidings of him came, and they who have not heard shall understand.-Isa 52:15 foretold that the spirit of the gospel would be to go to those in the darkness that they might have the truth, and Pauls course was in harmony with the will of God.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Isa 52:15, Isa 65:1
Reciprocal: Isa 66:19 – that have Mar 9:42 – offend
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
:21
Rom 15:21. These new fields were predicted in Isa 52:15.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Rom 15:21. But, preaching the gospel in this way, not where others had preached, but, as it is written (according to this rule of Scripture), They to whom no tidings of him came, shall see; And they, etc. From Isa 52:15, following the LXX., which adds of him (comp. the E. V., which renders the Hebrew accurately). The prophecy refers to kings, but is properly applied to nations whom they represent; the wide extension of the Messiahs kingdom being the main thought.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
but [on the contrary, I preach as following the program outlined by the prophet], as it is written [Isa 52:15], They shall see, to whom no tidings of him came, And they who have not heard shall understand. [This verse, which speaks of the original enlightening of the Gentiles, might well appeal to the one commissioned to be their apostle, inciting him to be ever the first to rush to their relief.]
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
21. But as has been written: Unto those to whom it was not proclaimed they shall seek concerning him, and those who have not heard shall understand. Pauls locomotive power and availability in an age unequipped with public conveyances, was not only paradoxical but miraculous; beginning at Jerusalem and traversing all those great countries, Syria and Asia Minor, crossing the Aegean Sea and penetrating to the Illyric Gulf on the extreme northern border of Macedonia, down south into Achaia and far west into Rome. He was no superficial preacher, but everywhere courageously showed up the great Bible truth of Christian perfection, as he here affirms. How wonderfully courageous to spend all his life in the forlorn capacity of a pioneer, hewing his way through difficulties to ordinary minds literally insurmountable, heroically refusing to build on another mans foundation, but constantly passing the track of his predecessors, into the regions beyond. The Christian Alliance is now doing wonders among the heathen on the same Pauline plan, refusing to halt on the track of their predecessors, but carrying the message of salvation to the regions beyond.
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
Paul seems to have found encouragement to pursue this goal in this prophecy from Isaiah, which describes the mission of the Servant of the Lord (Isa 52:15).