Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Romans 16:20
And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ [be] with you. Amen.
20. the God of peace ] See on Rom 15:33. Here the sacred Title seems to refer to the miseries of the strife (“divisions and offences”) attendant on false doctrine. The God of Peace would be with those who, by clinging to the holy Truth once delivered, held fast to true unity.
shall bruise Satan, &c.] The very first promise of Redemption (Gen 3:15,) is doubtless here referred to. The “Enemy who soweth tares” had been already “bruised” by the Redeemer, in His triumphant work; and that victory would be, in due time, realized in the personal (“under your feet,”) triumph over sin and death, and final deliverance from all trial, of each of His followers.
shortly ] In the eternal “Day,” so near at hand, (Rom 13:11-12,) when all “enemies shall be made the footstool” of Messiah, and of His saints through Him.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, &c.] It may be that St Paul was about to close the Epistle here. If so, we may suppose that the request of the Christians round him to add their greetings gave him occasion to add the few remaining sentences. But may not this benediction be specially connected with the immediate context? Q. d., “You have a battle to fight against the assaults of error. It will soon be over; and meantime may your Lord’s grace be with you in the strife.” The “ Amen ” should be omitted.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And the God of peace – The God who promotes peace; Rom 15:33.
Will bruise – The language here refers to the prediction in Gen 3:15. It here means to subdue, to gain the victory over. It denotes Pauls confidence that they would gain the victory, and would be able to overcome all the arts of those who were endeavoring to sow discord and contention among them.
Satan – The word Satan is Hebrew, meaning originally an accuser, a calumniator, and then an enemy. It is given to the prince of evil spirits from this enmity to God and human beings. He is here regarded as the author of all attempts to promote discord in the church, by whomsoever those attempts were made. Hence, they who attempt to produce divisions are called his ministers; 2Co 11:15. God would disappoint their malignant purposes, and promote the prevalence of peace.
The grace – The favor; the mercy, etc. The Lord Jesus is the Prince of peace (Isa 9:6; compare Luk 2:14; Joh 14:27), and this expression is a prayer to him, or an earnest wish expressed, that the design of his coming might be accomplished in promoting the prevalence of order and peace; compare 1Co 16:23; Rev 22:21.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Rom 16:20
And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly.
Satan bruised by the God of peace
There were two victories to be obtained over Satan. By the first, his head was to be bruised under the feet of Christ; and by the second, the rest of his body will be bruised under the feet of believers. Of the second of these victories, Paul here speaks. In the first prediction, God speaks as the Lord of Hosts, the God of war–I will put enmity. The war continues till the bruising of Satans head has taken place and his empire is overthrown, and when it is subverted, peace is made, and God is the God of peace. As, then, the Seed of the woman has bruised the head of the serpent, so His people will, through Christ, likewise bruise Satan. The apostle says not we shall bruise him under our feet, but God shall do it; yet he says not He shall bruise him under His own feet, but under yours. The victory shall be ours though wrought by Him; and He shall do it shortly. Some understand this of the final victory that all the Lords people will obtain at last over Satan and all his emissaries. But though they will not be free from the attacks of this subtle adversary as long as they are in the body, yet from the phrase speedily, or shortly, as well as from the immediate reference to the power of God in the Church, it appears rather to refer to a present victory. It is consistent with Gods wisdom to permit Satan to try His people; but when they are sufficiently tried, they are delivered from the temptation. So it was with the Son of God Himself. Satan was for a time permitted to harass Him, but at last he was dismissed. In like manner, Churches and individual Christians are all to be tried in various ways; but if they abide the trial they shall be delivered from the temptation, and, in the most emphatic and extensive sense, they shall all at last bruise Satan under their feet. They shall obtain a complete victory over him in the day of the appearing of their Almighty Lord, who will then cast him into the lake of fire and brimstone. On that day the full import of this expression will be seen. (R. Haldane.)
Victory over the disturber of peace
Consider:–
I. How satan disturbs the church. By divisions, etc. (Rom 16:17).
II. The certainty of our deliverance. By the God of peace.
III. The signal manner in which he will effect it. He will bruise, etc. (J. Lyth, D.D.)
The wonderful conquest
Earth is the scene of a great moral struggle between truth and error, right and wrong, God and Satan. This fact invests our planet with an interest which perhaps attaches to no other portion of the universe. The text prophesies a conquest, in every aspect wonderful on account of–
I. The gigantic foe that is overcome. Satan.
1. The word means first an accuser, a calumniator, and then an enemy. The Bible represents him as the introducer of evil into the universe, the leader of all the hosts of wickedness, in hell and on earth; at once the instigator and the strength of all opposition to the cause of virtue and the well-being of humanity.
2. To crush him is to destroy the root of the upas, to dry up the fountain of sin and misery. He shall be bruised; his purposes thwarted, his influence destroyed, his powers paralysed; the crushed victim of his own gigantic follies and stupendous wickedness. What a blessed event in the history of the universe this will be
III. The character of the glorious conqueror. God of Peace. How sublimely strange–not the God of vengeance, the God of war. Note–
1. That God has the consciousness of a sufficiency of power for the work. There can be no peace of mind to one who has the faintest suspicion of his own insufficiency. Anxious doubt would fill the spirit with agitation. Mighty as Satan is, he is feebleness itself in the grasp of Omnipotence.
2. That God is free from all malevolent emotions in the work. Where anger, revenge, etc., exist, there can be no peace. They agitate the heart. God crushes Satan from impulses the most benevolent.
3. That God has a consciousness of rectitude in the work. Whenever a being has misgivings as to the rightness of a course of action, he cannot be in the enjoyment of peace. God feels He has aright to crush Satan the usurper, etc.
III. On account of the creatures from whom the conquest is achieved. Satan is under the feet of angels. They tower in virtue, blessedness, and dignity, in spheres above his influence. It is over men he has control. God will put him under mens feet.
1. Completely. Under your feet, indicating entire subjection. He will rise no more.
2. Speedily. Shortly. The conquest is not far off–(l) In the individual history of good men. At death, by Gods grace, they obtain the entire mastery over Satan. Death will be shortly with all of us.
(2) In the general history of this world. Satan has been ruling the world for ages, still a period shall come when he shall be put under its feet. Though this period may be many ages distant, still in a sense it is close at hand–
(a) To us. We die, and the intervening period is as nothing. Only as the few hours of a refreshing sleep.
(b) To God. One day is with the Lord as a thousand years, etc. Let us, then, take heart. (D. Thomas, D.D.)
Satan under the control of God
We looked into the Botanical Gardens at Rome, and saw a leopard walking to and fro upon the terrace. He appeared to be quite loose, but we were morally certain that he was chained in some way. We saw no chain, but we were as much at ease as if we could, because we were sure there must be one somewhere. So is it with Satan, affliction, temptation or trial–there is a Divine restraint upon them; whether we see it or not, the tether is there. Let us trust and not be afraid. God will take in the enemy a link or two if he becomes too malicious. Dread not the foe, but bless God for the chain. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 20. The God of peace] Who neither sends nor favours such disturbers of the tranquillity of his Church.
Shall bruise Satan] Shall give you the dominion over the great adversary of your souls, and over all his agents who, through his influence, endeavour to destroy your peace and subvert your minds.
Several critics suppose that the word Satan is a sort of collective term here, by which all opposers and adversaries are meant; and especially those false teachers to whom he refers above.
The grace of our Lord] That you may be truly wise simple, obedient, and steady in the truth, may the favour or gracious influence of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you! without which you cannot be preserved from evil, nor do any thing that is good.
Here the apostle appears to have intended to conclude his epistle; but afterwards he added a postscript, if not two, as we shall see below. Several ancient MSS. omit the whole of this clause, probably thinking that it had been borrowed from Ro 16:24; but on the ground that the apostle might have added a postscript or two, not having immediate opportunity to send the epistle there is no need for this supposition.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
And, &c.: q.d. And to encourage you to be watchful, I dare promise you shall be successful.
The God of peace; so he is called, Rom 15:33.
Shall bruise Satan under your feet: the word signifies to bruise by treading: it imports the conquest that the Lord gives his people over Satan and all his wicked instruments, that divide, seduce, or oppress his people; the promise is that they shall overcome him and them; they shall deal by Satan and his agents, as Joshua and his captains did by those five kings, Jos 10:24; see Rev 22:11. This promise plainly bears upon the first grand promise, in Gen 3:15, that Jesus Christ, the Seed of the woman, should bruise the head of the serpent; for it is by virtue of his bruising the head of Satan, that he is subdued and brought under our feet. The seed of the woman, in their own persons, as well as in their representative, shall bruise the serpents head.
Shortly, or suddenly; though now he rage, yet ere long he shall be thrown down. Some refer this to the day of judgment: others, to the time of Constantine, who overthrew idolatry; and that it is not only a promise, but a prophecy also of the conversion of the Roman empire. There are that think that the apostle doth comfort here the believing Romans, by telling them, that the dissensions raised amongst them by means of Satans malice and subtlety, should be shortly quenched and reconciled; and that it was effected partly by this Epistle, and partly by the apostles labours afterwards amongst them.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you: as he began this Epistle with wishing them grace and peace, so he ends it. He had said, Rom 15:33,
The God of peace be with you; and here he saith: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. He was once and again shutting up his Epistle, but having more room and time, he makes some short additions and supplements, as it is usual with those that write epistles. This salutation he was wont in the end of every Epistle to write with his own hand, 2Th 3:17. It is repeated, Rom 16:24. Hereby he intimates the necessity of the grace of Christ, therefore he prayeth for it again and again. See Poole on “Rom 1:7“.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
20. And the God of peace shallbruise Satan under your feet shortlyThe apostle encourages theRomans to persevere in resisting the wiles of the devil with theassurance that, as good soldiers of Jesus Christ, they are “shortly”to receive their discharge, and have the satisfaction of “puttingtheir feet upon the neck” of that formidable enemysymbolfamiliar, probably, in all languages to express not only thecompleteness of the defeat, but the abject humiliation of theconquered foe. (See Jos 10:24;2Sa 22:41; Eze 21:29;Psa 91:13). Though the apostlehere styles Him who is thus to bruise Satan, the God of peace,”with special reference to the “divisions” (Ro16:17) by which the church at Rome was in danger of beingdisturbed, this sublime appellation of God has here a wider sense,pointing to the whole “purpose for which the Son of God wasmanifested, to destroy the works of the devil” (1Jo3:8); and indeed this assurance is but a reproduction of thefirst great promise, that the Seed of the woman should bruise theSerpent’s head (Ge 3:15).
The grace of our Lord JesusChrist be with you. AmenThe “Amen” here has nomanuscript authority. What comes after this, where one would haveexpected the epistle to close, has its parallel in Php4:20, &c., and being in fact common in epistolary writings,is simply a mark of genuineness.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And the God of peace,…. [See comments on Ro 15:33];
shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. Some read this by way of wish or prayer, “may the God of peace bruise”; so the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Ethiopic versions, and the Alexandrian copy; but others as ours, as a promise, or as expressive of the apostle’s faith and hope in this matter; and which he mentions to encourage the members of this church to be upon their guard, and make head against these false teachers; since in a little time they might be assured of victory over Satan and these his emissaries: as it is before suggested, that the methods these men used to beguile weak minds were much like those that Satan used when he attacked our first parents, so here is a manifest allusion to what was said by way of threatening to him, “it”, the woman’s seed, “shall bruise thy head”, Ge 3:15; and which has had its accomplishment in Christ, who has not only destroyed the works of the devil, but him himself, and spoiled his principalities and powers, and bruised him and them under his feet, when he led captivity captive; and though, for the trial of the graces of his people, Satan is permitted to attack them in various shapes, yet in a short time he will be bruised under their feet, as he is already under their Lord and master’s. The apostle refers not so much to his coming among them in a short time, when he might hope and believe that he should be an instrument of crushing these men Satan made use of, of quelling the contentions they raised, and putting a stop to the divisions they made, and under the influence, and by the assistance of the God of peace, restore them to their former peace and tranquillity, though it is a sense not to be despised; much less does he refer to the destruction of Jerusalem, which was to be in a very short time, when the crucifiers of Christ and the persecutors of the saints would have the wrath of God come upon them to the uttermost, since these Romans had no great and immediate concern with them; nor does he regard the spread of the Gospel in the Gentile world, whereby Satan fell as lightning from heaven, and was cast out of the idol temples, for this was greatly fulfilled already: but rather he refers to the time of Constantine, when Satan’s seat at Rome was overturned, when he was cast down from his throne and trampled under feet, who had deceived the whole world, the whole Roman empire, when the Gospel triumphed over its secret and open enemies, profane persecutors, and perfidious teachers, over idolatry and superstition on the one hand, and error and heresy on the other, though this did not last long; wherefore some have thought the apostle refers to the latter day, when Satan shall be bound a thousand years, or to the last of all, when he shall be for ever under the feet of the saints, and never be able to give them any more trouble; and this the apostle might say would be shortly, since the second coming of Christ was expected to be quickly: yea, this may be applied to the case of every believer now, and be for his encouragement to be vigilant and on his guard against Satan, to resist him, repel his temptations, and oppose his emissaries; since he may assure himself he shall be more than a conqueror over him through Christ, that has loved him, and that in a very little time, when death comes, and he shall enter into the joy of his Lord, where he will be out of the reach of Satan, and unmolested by him.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you, Amen: to enable you to abide by the truth; to mark and avoid the authors of sects, and causes of divisions, and offences; to oppose error and defend truth; to keep from falling, to stand against every assault of Satan, and to bear up under every temptation of his; to get the victory over him, and to preserve them safe to the kingdom and glory of Christ.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Shall bruise (). Future active of , old verb, to rub together, to crush, to trample underfoot. Blessed promise of final victory over Satan by “the God of peace.” “Shortly” ( ). As God counts time. Meanwhile patient loyalty from us.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Shall bruise [] . See on Mr 5:4; Luk 9:39.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And the God of peace,” (ho de theos tes eirenes) “Moreover the God of peace,” the author of peace, from whom true and abiding peace emanates, the fountainhead of peace, 1Co 14:33; Joh 14:27. This is the God who loves and gives peace.
2) “Shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly,” (suntripsei ton satanan hupo tous podas humon en tachei) “He will crush Satan under your feet (reign) soon”; 1Co 5:5; Rev 20:10. He shall bring peace; may he bring peace, by crushing Satan himself under your feet, as you join your Master in the Holy War to victory over sin, 1Jn 5:4; Gen 3:15; Rev 12:9-10; 2Co 11:14-15.
3) “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen,” (he charis tou kuriou hemon lesou meth humon) “The grace of our Lord Jesus (be) with you all;” “So may it eternally be, or exist;” in company of or with all of you. May the favor and love and protection of Jesus Christ be with you all of the church at Rome, and to whom this letter comes beyond them, Rom 1:7-8; Rom 1:13-16.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
20. What follows, God shall bruise Satan, etc., is a promise to confirm them, rather than a prayer. He indeed exhorts them to fight manfully against Satan, and promises that they should shortly be victorious. He was indeed once conquered by Christ, but not in such a way but that he renews the war continually. He then promises ultimate defeat, which does not appear in the midst of the contest. At the same time he does not speak only of the last day, when Satan shall be completely bruised; but as Satan was then confounding all things, raging, as it were, with loose or broken reins, he promises that the Lord would shortly subdue him, and cause him to be trodden, as it were, under foot. Immediately a prayer follows, — that the grace of Christ would be with them, that is, that they might enjoy all the blessings which had been procured for them by Christ.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
CRITICAL NOTES
Rom. 16:20.Here is St. Pauls own superscription, written with his own hand in all his epistles. The Author of peace is the Giver of victory. , selected with special regard to Gen. 3:15.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Rom. 16:20.
The peace-destroyers destruction.From the visible enemy who threatens, the apostles eye turns to the invisible world, where he discovers, on the one side the more formidable enemy of whom his earthly adversaries are the instruments, and on the other the all-powerful ally on whose succour the Church can reckon in this struggle. The expression God of peace is designedly chosen to describe God as one who, if the Church fulfil its task well in these circumstances, will take care to overthrow the designs of its adversaries and preserve harmony among the faithful. No wonder that the Christians energies are paralysed if he only considers the smallness of his own resources and the greatness of the powers with which he has to cope; but his heart may be strengthened by the reflection that he has a powerful Friend on whom he may rely, and whose help he may successfully invoke. The Christian may be inspired by the thought that the valour of God is his defence. He may well rise superior to difficulty, remembering that victory is finally certain, for God fights on his side. The work is now going forward under the direction of God. Shortly the finishing stroke will be given. Satan will be a bruised foe under the feet of the triumphant saints.
I. The peace-maker.The endearing character under which God is presented before us in this passage is that of the peace-maker. The God of peacethe author, originator, and maker of peace. Peace-maker! Delightful to be able to introduce harmony into a world of disorder, to cause a holy calm to reign in a realm which had presented the scene of wild chaos. Among the Saviours greatest material works is that by which he calmed the troubled waters of the storm-tossed lake. If he be great who introduces harmony into the disorder of material things, what shall be affirmed of the greatness of Him who introduces order where moral discord prevailed, who gives peace to troubled natures? Jesus Himself says, Blessed are the peace-makers. The highest type of man is the peace-maker. Christ as the peace-maker is endeared to troubled hearts. God is by pre-eminence the God of peace. He gave Christ to be a peace-maker. It was God that first made this planet beautiful by the gentle sway of peace. When sin touched with its spoiling hand the calm sea of this worlds peace, it was Gods mercy that floated over the troubled waters the words of hope. When the world attained its highest and darkest reach of moral confusion, it was God that brought into the world the gospel method whereby spiritual unrest was to be removed and peace flow into the hearts of mankind. The character of the peace-maker is ennobled by the thought that God is the offended being, and yet He proposes conditions of peace and makes possible a way of peace. He secures the method of peace at infinite cost. He spared not His Son.
II. The peace-destroyer.By how much the character of the peace-maker is ennobled, in the same proportion may the character of the peace-destroyer sink in our estimation. It is Godlike to create. It is devil-like to destroy. Destructionists should always bring forward good reasons for the methods they pursue. Our natures would rise in rebellion and in wrath against the wretched and powerful being who should disturb the harmonies of the celestial spheres. But a worse catastrophe has happened. Satan with his tainting hand has touched our humanity, and lost spirits are seen wandering, through a dismal planet, from the Source of life, from the Spring of eternal strength and happiness. The devil destroyed the worlds moral peace when he first entered the garden of peace, and ever since he has been working in the same direction. Satan has destroyed the peace of hearts, the peace of individuals, the peace of Churches, and the peace of nations.
There is a land of peace,
Good angels know it well;
Glad songs that never cease
Within its portals swell;
Around its glorious throne
Ten thousand saints adore
Christ, with the Fatherone,
And Spirit evermore.
Into that land of peace no ruthless disturber can ever enter.
III. The peace-destroyers destruction at the hand of the peace-maker.In order to perpetuate harmony it is necessary to banish that, or at least to eliminate the power of that, which has been the cause of discord. To preserve the harmony of a kingdom it may be needful to banish the rebels. The peace of the family can be preserved by the exclusion of the quarrelsome member, or by its reformation. The peace of Gods human family is always endangered by the presence of Satan. He appears to be beyond reform. We do not limit the power of the Infinite. But as that power did not prevent Satans fatal meddling, so we have no reason to suppose that Gods power will turn the prince of darkness into a veritable angel of light. Satan must be bruised, and so bruised as to be able to do no further moral mischief. He has been bruised in part by Christs victorious achievements. Bruised, but not effectually rendered harmless. He is being bruised by the dispensation of the Holy Spirit and by the instrumentality of Gods Church. God will finish the work in righteousness, and Satan will be effectually bruised beneath the feet of Gods people. Satan will be powerless, and over his slain form the Church will ride in triumph. Let us, then, not fear for Gods truth. Relying on Gods promises, we are not to fear the wiles of our great adversary. We must battle and not be dismayed. We must pray and wait in hope for the period of final extinction of Satan as a harmful foe.
IV. The peace-makers due time we cannot measure.Gods shortly is not to be measured by our minutes. The little child with its inadequate notions of time cannot measure the shortly of a wise father. How can the children of time, whose day is but as a butterfly existence, measure the day of Him who is from everlasting to everlasting? We are sometimes disposed to ask, Has the Eternal been so taken up with the consideration and the management of other and higher worlds that He has forgotten us in our low estateforgotten that His children are well-nigh overwhelmed by the triumphant progress of sin and miseryforgotten that the world has been long groaning beneath the oppression of the evil oneforgotten that the lovers of the truth are comparatively few and their efforts seemingly uninfluentialforgotten that many anxious souls are waiting for the fulfilment of the promise that shortly God will bruise Satan under their feet? But when we get away from the contracting influences of the present world, when we breathe the enlarging atmosphere of Gods broad realm of infinite thoughts, we may get to understand that our shortly is a word that impatience utters in moments of defeat and perplexitythat Gods shortly may be a word uttered by a Being possessed of infinite wisdom and power, and who can wait, to use a human word, through the slow-moving centuries of time. Where is the mind sufficiently large that can sweep with rapid glance through all that spaceif of space or of any notion of limitation we may speak in this connectionthat must be comprehended in the shortly of Him who fills the boundless realm of eternity? A season must be allowed in which the efficacy of the Saviours mediatorial mission shall be vindicatedin which the glory of the Church as a militant force must be evidenced. A great work has to be done before Gods shortly can be consummated. We must consider Gods shortly in the light of eternity and by the side of those comprehensive plans which must be entertained by the infinite mind.
V. Human peace-makers will share in the final triumph.The limbs of the Church will not always be fettered; the feet of Gods saints will not always be fastened in the stocks; the iron of oppression will not always eat into their souls. With firm and joyous tread they will victoriously walk over their crushed adversary. Under our feet for ever will be the enemy of our souls. Peaceful millennial reign! blessed sabbatic repose! when
Sin, my worst enemy before,
Shall vex mine eyes and ears no more;
Mine inward foes shall all be slain,
Nor Satan break my peace again.
Rom. 16:20. Satan bruised.
I.
1. A reference to Gen. 3:15 : apostle points to certainty of Christs victory as guarantee of ours.
2. An echo of promise in Psalms 91 of victory over all antagonistspestilence, terror, flying arrow, destruction. Thou shalt tread upon the lion, on the adder. Power to conquer sins known and hidden.
3. An echo of Luk. 10:19. All these are gathered into the promise of the text. Christs heel being on the head, we have only to keep down a little fragment of the writhing body, a little bit of vertebr. If we try in His strength, we shall come off more than conquerors.
II. What strenuous effort is needed to keep down a snakes head, a desperate life-and-death struggle! Incongruous epithet at first sight, the God of peace. Why not God of strength? Our victory only possible by possessing the peace of God. The reason we fall so easily is because we lack that sense of rest in God. That peace of God, and the God who gives that peace, will help us to overcome.
III. The peace of God (see Php. 4:7) will keep us as a garrison keeps a fortress. The Christians armour the gospel of peace (Eph. 6:15).
IV. Ask God for His peace; then in the fiercest struggle we shall have quiet hearts,peace amid endless agitation; repose in tempest; quiet spirit in the battle.
V. All will come by communion with Christ; His conquest our inspiration. Shortly? Yes; by simple obedience and loving fellowship swift victory comes. If not, not His fault, but ours. On eternitys dial seventy years but a moment. The longest life-struggle but a little while; then the far-exceeding weight of glory. Thy Master conquered; keep near Him, scorning short-lived temptations, calm in such brief struggles; then under our feet for ever the enemies of our souls.Alexander Maclaren, D.D.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON Rom. 16:20
Conquest of Satan ensured.The conquest of Satan is ensured by this: When we are at peace with God, the devils themselves are subject to us. When God was in Christ reconciling the world, He was in Christ destroying him that had the power of death (Heb. 2:14), and bringing Satan under the feet of the Mediator and the feet of His members. This was the intent of God in the first promise of a Mediator, to destroy him who had infected mankind and brought death into the world. The bruising his head was the design of Christs mission (Gen. 3:15), that the great incendiary who had broken the league and set afoot the rebellion might feel the greater smart of it. And ever since it is by the gospel of peace and the shield of faith that we are only able to quench the fiery darts of the devil, and make his attempts fruitless (Eph. 6:15-16), by the reconciliation God hath wrought and published by the gospel. God, as a God of peace, shall tread him under the feet of believers (Rom. 16:20). Unless He had been a God of peace, we had never been delivered from that jailor who held us by the right of Gods justice. And since we are delivered, God, as a God of peace, will perfect the victory, and make him cease for ever from bruising the heel of the spiritual seed. As God hath given peace in Christ, so He will give the victory in Christ. Peace cannot be perfect till it be undisturbed by invading enemies and subtle adversaries endeavouring to raise a new enmity. Our Saviour spoiled him of his power upon the cross, and took away the right he had to detain any believer prisoner by satisfying that justice and reconciling that God who first ordered their commitment. He answers his accusations as He is an advocate at the right hand of God; and at the last, when death comes to be destroyed, and no more to enter into the world, the whole design of the devil for ever falls to the ground. Since we are at peace with God, while we are here the devil himself shall serve us; and the messenger of Satan shall be a means to quell the pride of a believing Paul by the sufficiency of the grace of God, while he fills the heart of an unbelieving Judas with poison and treason against his Master.Charnock.
Satan not to be feared.And as good angels shall not, so it is certain likewise that evil angels shall not; good angels will not, and bad angels shall not. Saith He, I will build My Church upon this rockthat is, this faith and confession that Christ is the Son of God, and a heart and life answerableand the gates of hell shall not prevail against it (Mat. 16:18). They may assault it, but they shall not prevail. My brethren, this devil whom you fear, and who tempteth you, as Jesus Christ hath under His feet, so He will have him under your feet too one day; do but stay awhile, He shall tread down Satan under your feet shortly (Rom. 16:20) You need fear nothing, therefore, either in heaven or in earth.Goodwin.
The Reconciler the Subduer.All corrupters of divine truth and troublers of the Churchs peace are no better than devils. Our Saviour thought the name Satan a title merited by Peter, when he breathed out an advice, as an axe at the root of the gospel, the death of Christ, the foundation of all gospel truth; and the apostle concludes them under the same character which hinder the superstructure, and would mix their chaff with his wheat. Get thee behind Me, Satan (Mat. 16:23). It is not, Get thee behind Me, Simon, or, Get thee behind Me, Peter; but, Get the behind Me, Satan: thou art an offence to Me. Thou dost oppose thyself to the wisdom and grace and authority of God, to the redemption of man, and to the good of the world.
1. As the Holy Ghost is the Spirit of truth, so is Satan the spirit of falsehood; as the Holy Ghost inspires believers with truth, so doth the devil corrupt unbelievers with error. Let us cleave to the truth of the gospel, that we may not be counted by God as part of the corporation of fallen angels, and not be barely reckoned as enemies of God, but in league with the greatest enemy to His glory in the world.
2. The Reconciler of the world will be the Subduer of Satan. The God of peace sent the Prince of peace to be the restorer of His rights, and the hammer to beat in pieces the usurper of them. As a God of truth, He will make good His promise; as a God of peace, He will perfect the design His wisdom hath laid and begun to act. In the subduing Satan, He will be the conqueror of His instruments. He saith not, God shall bruise your troublers and heretics, but Satan. The fall of a general proves the rout of the army. Since God, as a God of peace, hath delivered His own, He will perfect the victory, and make them cease from bruising the heel of His spiritual seed.
3. Divine evangelical truth shall be victorious. No weapon formed against it shall prosper; the head of the wicked shall fall as low as the feet of the godly. The devil never yet blustered in the world but he met at last with a disappointment. His fall hath been like lightning, sudden, certain, vanishing.
4. Faith must look back as far as the foundation-promise, The God of peace shall bruise, etc. The apostle seems to allude to the first promisea promise that hath vigour to nourish the Church in all ages of the world. It is the standing cordial; out of the womb of this promise all the rest have taken their birth. The promises of the Old Testament were designed for those under the New, and full performance of them is to be expected, and will be enjoyed by them. It is a mighty strengthening to faith to trace the footsteps of Gods truth and wisdom from the threatening against the serpent in Eden to the bruise he received on Calvary and the triumph over him upon Mount Olivet.
5. We are to confide in the promise of God, but leave the season of its accomplishment to His wisdom. He will bruise Satan under your feet, therefore do not doubt it; and shortly, therefore wait for it. Shortly it will be done, that is, quickly, when you think it may be a great way off; or shortly, that is, seasonably, when Satans rage is hottest. God is the best judge of the seasons of distributing His own mercies, and darting out His own glory. It is enough to encourage our waiting, that it will be, and that it will be shortly; but we must not measure Gods shortly by our minutes.Charnock.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(20) The God of peace.We can well understand how the Apostle, in the midst of fightings without and fears within, should look forward with joyous confidence to the time when both for him and his readers all this turmoil and conflict would give way to peace. The reference seems to be to his near expectation of the Messiahs return, and with it the final victory of the faith. The Romans have not begun to feel the bitterness of divisions as yet; he foresees a time when they will do so. but beyond that he foresees a further time when all will be hushed and quelled, and the Great Adversary himself for ever overthrown.
Bruise.With reference to Gen. 3:15.
The grace. . . .The more correct reading of the benediction is simply. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you, the other words being omitted. The four principal Grco-Latin Codices omit the benediction here altogether and insert it in Rom. 16:24, where it also appears in the Received text, though wanting in MSS. of the best type.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
20. And Assuming that you thus do.
God of peace Who is opposed to these producers of divisions and offences.
Bruise Satan Allusion to Gen 3:15. The great promise of God against Satan, given for all the world, shall soon find its accomplishment in your case.
Amen Omitted by the best authorities. The words seem to be addressed to the little company of saluted brethren the Church within the Church as a sort of benedictory dismissal. And similarly, also, Rom 16:24 is a benedictory parting with both saluted and saluters.
Salutation from Paul’s Companions, 21-24.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And the God of peace will bruise Satan under your feet shortly.’
He is confident that ‘the God of peace’, Who hates division among His people and seeks peace, will in this regard shortly bruise Satan under their feet. In other words he is confident that with God’s help they will reject the teaching of these false teachers who are seemingly coming among them, as God through them bruises Satan’s head. The reference to ‘bruising Satan under their feet’ probably has in mind Gen 3:15 where God said of the Snake, ‘he will bruise your head, but you will bruise his heel’. That Paul thought in these terms about false teachers comes out in 2Co 11:3 ; 2Co 11:13-14, where he spoke of the Snake beguiling Eve through his subtlety. So he is confident that the menace will be fully dealt with in a short period of time. No doubt he sees his own letter as assisting in this, as he has dealt with such matters in the body of the letter.
But as previously in Rom 15:13; Rom 15:33 the title transcends what has gone before. Thus others are also correct in seeing the reference as referring to the final bruising of Satan at the second coming of Christ, when Satan will be finally dealt with. If it had stood by itself it could well have meant only this. But in view of the previous context it is difficult to avoid connecting it here with the divisions caused by false teachers that he has just had in mind (Rom 16:17), indicating his confidence that the Christians in Rome will not allow them to divide them, especially as they heed his teaching in Rom 14:1 to Rom 15:7. And this would gain support from the fact that the ‘God of peace’ has already been referred to in a context where division between Jew and Gentile was in mind (Rom 15:30-33). But there is no reason for doubting that Paul may have had both in mind, for he believed firmly in the imminence of the second coming and in God’s final triumph, and may well have viewed their triumph over Satan in rejecting the false teachers as connected with the imminence of that event. It was all a part of the final bruising.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
‘The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.’
This benediction looks back to Rom 1:7; Rom 3:24; Rom 5:2; etc. as He seeks that the unmerited favour of our LORD Jesus Christ might be with them as He acts on their behalf. This indeed is why Satan will be bruised under their feet. It is because ‘the LORD’ is with them, the One Who bound Satan and defeated his minions at the cross and will finally bruise his head (Mat 12:28-29; Col 2:15; Rev 20:2; Rev 20:10; compare Luk 10:18; Luk 22:3; Luk 22:31).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Rom 16:20. Shall bruise Satan, &c. Satan is here put for his instruments;the troublers of the church’s peace. See 2Co 11:15. “God shall break the force and attempts of Satan upon your peace, by those his instruments, who would engage you in quarrels and discords.” See Locke. At the same time, the words may be taken in the most spiritual sense, as implying that all the spiritual enemies of every faithful soul among them should soon be destroyed.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Rom 16:20 . Encouraging promise; hence is not with Flatt to be taken as optative, contrary to linguistic usage, nor is the erroneous gloss of the reading (A, 67**, Theodoret, Oec., Jer., Ambros., Rup.) to be approved.
Paul regards the sectaries, because they are servants not of Christ, but of their belly (Rom 16:18 ), as organs of Satan (comp. 2Co 11:15 ); hence his figurative expression of the thought, founded on Gen 3:15 : “ The God of peace will grant you (when the authors of division appear amongst you) shortly the complete victory over them .”
As ( pacificus ) God appears in contrast to those (Rom 16:17 ). Comp. on Rom 15:33 .
The bruising of Satan and treading him under feet takes place in God’s power; hence . . . Comp. 1Ma 3:22 (and Grimm in loc. ), Rom 4:10 , et al.
. . .] The grace of our Lord , etc.; therewith, as with the usual concluding blessing of his epistles, Paul would close. But he has as yet delivered no special greetings from those around him at Corinth, whether it be that they are now for the first time entrusted to him, or that he now for the first time observes that he has not yet mentioned them in what precedes (as after Rom 16:16 ). This induces him now further to add Rom 16:21-23 after the conclusion already written down in Rom 16:20 ; then to repeat the above blessing in Rom 16:24 ; and finally, after recalling anew all which he had delivered to the Romans, in a full outburst of deeply moved piety to make the doxology, Rom 16:25-27 , the final close of the entire letter.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
DISCOURSE: 1928
VICTORY OVER SATAN
Rom 16:20. The God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly.
IN order to get forward in our Christian course, we must unite a strenuous exertion of our own powers with an humble dependence on the Divine aid. We cannot work without God; and God will not work without us: but if we look to him for assistance, and yet labour in a diligent and prudent way, he will succour us with his almighty power, and perfect that which concerneth us. St. Paul, cautioning the Christians at Rome against those who caused divisions and offences, exhorts them to cultivate that wisdom of the serpent and that harmlessness of the dove, which would serve to counteract their efforts: yet for their final success he directs their eyes to God, through whose co-operation alone they could maintain their integrity, and in whose strength they should eventually overcome. In discoursing on his words, we shall consider,
I.
The promise which God has here given to the Church
Satan is an active and powerful adversary to Gods people
[His exertions are directed against the Church at large, and against every individual member of it. Indefatigable are his exertions in causing dissensions and divisions among the various societies of Christians, embittering them one against another, or sowing discord among themselves. And though these feuds may be considered as arising from the turbulence and pride of men, yet must they also be referred to Satan as their original author; since it is he who instigates the professors of religion, as well as others, to the commission of sin [Note: This is intimated in the context. Compare ver. 17, 20.]. Much of carnal contention prevailed in the Church of Corinth; and that the Apostle repeatedly ascribes to Satan: he calls the authors of it his ministers, and puts the members of that Church on their guard, lest the serpent, who beguiled Eve through his subtlety, should corrupt them from the simplicity of Christ [Note: 2Co 11:3; 2Co 11:15.]. He tells them how ready Satan was to take advantage of them in the matter of the incestuous man [Note: 2Co 2:11.]; and in general, whatever evils occur in the Church, he traces them up to Satans temptations as their proper source [Note: 1Th 3:5.]. Nor is there any individual among the Lords people, whom that wicked one does not endeavour to harass and destroy. It was he who stirred up David to number the people [Note: 1Ch 21:1.]: it was he who influenced Peter to deny his Lord with oaths and curses [Note: Luk 22:31.]: and, who can tell to what straits he would have reduced the Apostle Paul by his buffetings, if that holy man had not obtained timely succour from his Lord [Note: 2Co 12:7-9.]? Indeed, if he had the effrontery and the malice to assault even our Lord himself, and if he repeatedly reduced even him to such a state as that he needed to be strengthened by an angel from heaven [Note: Mat 4:11 and Luk 22:43.], well may we suppose that he will not suffer us to pass unmolested and unassailed.]
But God has promised to bruise him under our feet
[God is the God of peace primarily as being reconciled to us through the death of his Son: but he has this name assigned to him in our text chiefly as delighting in the social order and the personal happiness of his people. In this view he enters the lists against our great adversary, and undertakes to subdue him for us. Already has he given us an earnest of our triumph in enabling his Son to bruise that serpents head upon the cross [Note: Gen 3:15 and Col 2:15.]; and it is a very short time that that wicked one shall retain the present remnant of his power. Though permitted to fight against us, his rage is overruled for the benefit of the saints and the glory of God: and, as when he possessed the bodies of men, his malice always terminated in his own confusion, so, in every instance, shall he be foiled in his endeavours to destroy the souls that belong to Christ. He is even now a vanquished enemy [Note: Joh 12:31.]; and soon shall the very weakest believer trample on him, as Joshua trampled on the necks of the kings of Canaan [Note: Jos 10:24.].]
If we desire this mercy at the hands of God, we shall be glad to know,
II.
The way in which we may expect him to accomplish it
However various his dealings may be with different persons in some minute particulars, there are general rules which he will observe towards all:
1.
He will increase the triumphs of his people over Satan in this world
[Satan gains great advantage over young Christians by means of their unsubdued corruptions, and their inexperience in the spiritual warfare. To defeat his malignant efforts, God increases the strength of his people, and gives them a deeper insight into the devices of their enemy. He clothes them with divine armour, and teaches them how to use the sword of the Spirit, and the shield of faith [Note: Eph 6:13-17.]. By exercise he renders them expert soldiers, and enables them to war a good warfare. Instead of exposing themselves needlessly to danger, they are now taught to watch and be sober; instead of indulging a vain conceit of their own purity and strength, they are led to suspect the treachery of their own hearts, and to depend more simply on the grace of Christ. Thus they learn to fight a good fight; and, though sometimes wounded by his fiery darts, they resist their enemy till he flees from them [Note: Jam 4:7.].]
2.
He will give them a complete and everlasting victory over him in the world to come
[While they are in the flesh Satan will renew his assaults upon them. There is no place so sacred, but he will intrude into it; nor any person so holy, but he will seek to destroy him. When the sons of Job were assembled before the Lord, Satan came also in the midst of them [Note: Job 2:1.]: and when Joshua stood in the Divine presence, the same wicked fiend stood at his right hand to resist him [Note: Zec 3:1.]: nor will he suspend his attacks even when we are bowing our knees at the throne of grace, or assembled around the table of the Lord. But into heaven he can never enter: there we shall be lodged in perfect safety: thence we may deride his impotent attempts, and rejoice over him as a captive foe.
But it may be said, That we rather escape from him, than triumph over him: for that he still continues master of the field. We answer, No: for he shall in due time be dragged in chains of darkness into our very presence; and, as assessors with Christ in judgment, we shall judge him and all his angels [Note: 1Co 6:2-3.]. We shall confirm the sentence passed upon him; and add our hearty Amen to the curse that dooms him to eternal fire.]
Infer
1.
How great and precious are the promises of God!
[To those who know nothing of the Christian warfare, this promise will afford but little satisfaction: but to those who have been long conflicting with the powers of darkness, it will be a ground of inexpressible joy and thankfulness. Such an assurance of victory will revive their drooping spirits, and reanimate them for the combat: nor will they be averse to maintain the contest as long as God shall see fit to try their faith and patience: having this word, they want no more: they know in whom they have believed; and that, though now their hands hang down and their hearts are faint, they shall soon make heaven itself to echo with their shouts of victory [Note: Here might be a personal address to those who are assaulted with temptations of any kind, urging them to combine holy vigilance with a steadfast faith. 1Pe 5:8-9.]. O that all might have an interest in this promise, and experience its completion in the realms of bliss!]
2.
How much are we concerned to obtain peace with God!
[It is to those only who are reconciled to God that the promise in the text is made. If we have never yet obtained mercy at his hands through the blood of Jesus, we shall in vain hope to conquer this cruel adversary. God, so far from interposing for us, will give us into his hands; and, instead of fighting for us as a friend, will himself be our enemy. Miserable indeed shall we then be; for, if we cannot contend with Satan, how shall we be able to withstand Jehovah? Will our hands be strong in the day that he shall deal with us, or can we thunder with a voice like his? Let us then seek reconciliation with him; so shall he be a God of peace to us, and secure us victory in the day of battle.]
END OF VOL. XV.
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
20 And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.
Ver. 20. Shall bruise Satan ] Sincerity of a little grace shall be rewarded with abundance of greater graces. Christ our champion hath already won the field, and will shortly set our feet upon the necks of our spiritual enemies. The broken horns of Satan shall be the trumpets of our triumph, and the cornets of our joy.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
20. ] . , , . Chrys. Hom. xxxii. p. 755: and so most Commentators. De W. prefers taking . . more generally as ‘the God of salvation ;’ and the usage of the expression (see reff.) seems to favour this.
. . . is a similitude from Gen 3:15 .
, not as Stuart, ‘for optative,’ nor does it express any wish , but a prophetic assurance and encouragement in bearing up against all adversaries, that it would not be long before the great Adversary himself would be bruised under their feet.
. . .] It appears as if the Epistle was intended to conclude with this usual benediction, but the Apostle found occasion to add more. This he does also in other Epistles: see 1Co 16:23-24 ; similarly Phi 4:20 , and Php 4:21-23 after the doxology, 2Th 3:16-18 : 1Ti 6:16-17 ff.: 2Ti 4:18-19 ff.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Rom 16:20 . : used here with special reference to . Cf. 1Co 14:33 . : divisions in the Church are Satan’s work, and the suppression of them by the God of peace is a victory over Satan. Cf. 2Co 11:14 f. There is an allusion to Gen 3:15 , though it is doubtful whether Paul found anything there answering to . The LXX has . : cf. Eze 29:5 ; Deu 28:20 . The false teachers may come and cause dissension, but it will not be long till peace is restored. . . . This benediction can hardly be supposed to belong only to Rom 16:17-20 . It rather suggests that some copies of the epistle ended here; possibly that Rom 16:1-20 (for there is another benediction at Rom 15:33 ) were originally an independent epistle.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Romans
A CRUSHED SNAKE
Rom 16:20
There are three other Scriptural sayings which may have been floating in the Apostle’s mind when he penned this triumphant assurance. ‘Thou shalt bruise his head’; the great first Evangel-we are to be endowed with Christ’s power; ‘The lion and the adder thou shalt trample under foot’-all the strength that was given to ancient saints is ours; ‘Behold! I give you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy’-the charter of the seventy is the perennial gift to the Church. Echoing all these great words, Paul promises the Roman Christians that ‘the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly.’ Now, when any special characteristic is thus ascribed to God, as when He is called ‘the God of patience’ or ‘the God of hope,’ in the preceding chapter, the characteristic selected has some bearing on the prayer or promise following. For example, this same designation, ‘the God of peace,’ united with the other, ‘that brought again from the dead the Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep,’ is laid as the foundation of the prayer for the perfecting of the readers of the Epistle to the Hebrews in every good work. It is, then, because of that great name that the Apostle is sure, and would have his Roman brethren to be sure, that Satan shall shortly be bruised under their feet. No doubt there may have been some reference in Paul’s mind to what he had just said about those who caused divisions in the Church; but, if there is such reference, it is of secondary importance. Paul is gazing on all the great things in God which make Him the God of peace, and in them all he sees ground for the confident hope that His power will be exerted to crush all the sin that breaks His children’s peace.
Now the first thought suggested by these words is the solemn glimpse given of the struggle that goes on in every Christian soul.
Two antagonists are at hand-grips in every one of us. On the one hand, the ‘God of peace,’ on the other, ‘Satan.’ If you believe in the personality of the One, do not part with the belief in the personality of the other. If you believe that a divine power and Spirit is ready to help and strengthen you, do not think so lightly of the enemies that are arrayed against you as to falter in the belief that there is a great personal Power, rooted in evil, who is warring against each of us. Ah, brethren! we live far too much on the surface, and we neither go down deep enough to the dark source of the Evil, nor rise high enough to the radiant Fountain of the Good. It is a shallow life that strikes that antagonism of God and Satan out of itself. And though the belief in a personal tempter has got to be very unfashionable nowadays, I am going to venture to say that you may measure accurately the vitality and depth of a man’s religion by the emphasis with which he grasps the thought of that great antagonism. There is a star of light, and there is a star of darkness; and they revolve, as it were, round one centre.
But whilst, on the one hand, our Christianity is made shallow in proportion as we ignore this solemn reality, on the other hand, it is sometimes paralysed and perverted by our misunderstanding of it. For, notice, ‘the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet .’ Yes, it is God that bruises, but He uses our feet to do it. It is God from whom the power comes, but the power works through us, and we are neither merely the field, nor merely the prize, of the conflict between these two, but we ourselves have to put all our pith into the task of keeping down the flat, speckled head that has the poison gland in it. ‘The God of peace’-blessed be His Name-’shall bruise Satan under your feet,’ but it will need the tension of your muscles, and the downward force of your heel, if the wriggling reptile is to be kept under.
Turn, now, to the other thought that is here, the promise and pledge of victory in the name, the God of peace. I have already referred to two similar designations of God in the previous chapter, and if we take them in union with this one in our text, what a wonderfully beautiful and strengthening threefold view of that divine nature do we get! ‘The God of patience and consolation’ is the first of the linked three. It heads the list, and blessed is it that it does, because, after all, sorrow makes up a very large proportion of the experience of us all, and what most men seem to themselves to need most is a God that will bear their sorrows with them and help them to bear, and a God that will comfort them. But, supposing that He has been made known thus as the source of endurance and the God of all consolation, He becomes ‘the God of hope,’ for a dark background flings up a light foreground, and a comforted sorrow patiently endured is mighty to produce a radiant hope. The rising of the muddy waters of the Nile makes the heavy crops of ‘corn in Egypt.’ So the name ‘the God of hope’ fitly follows the name ‘the God of patience and consolation.’
Then we come to the name in my text, built perhaps on the other two, or at least reminiscent of them, and recalling them, ‘the God of peace,’ who, through patience and consolation, through hope, and through many another gift, breathes the benediction of His own great tranquillity and unruffled calm over our agitated, distracted, sinful hearts. In connection with one of those previous designations to which I have referred, the Apostle has a prayer very different in form from this, but identical in substance, when he says ‘the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing.’ Is not that closely allied to the promise of my text, ‘The God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly’ ? Is there any surer way of ‘bruising Satan’ under a man’s feet than filling him ‘with joy and peace in believing’ ? What can the Devil do to that man? If his soul is saturated, and his capacities filled, with that pure honey of divine joy, will he have any taste for the coarse dainties, the leeks and the garlic, that the Devil offers him? Is there any surer way of delivering a man from the temptations of his own baser nature, and the solicitations of this busy intrusive world round about him, than to make him satisfied with the goodness of the Lord, and conscious in his daily experience of ‘all joy and peace’ ? Fill the vessel with wine, and there is no room for baser liquors or for poison. I suppose that the way by which you and I, dear friends, will most effectually conquer any temptations, is by falling back on the superior sweetness of divine joys. When we live upon manna we do not crave onions. So He ‘will bruise Satan under your feet’ by giving that which will arm your hearts against all his temptations and all his weapons. Blessed be God for the way of conquest, which is the possession of a supremer good!
But then, notice how beautifully too this name, ‘the God of peace,’ comes in to suggest that even in the strife there may be tranquillity. I remember in an old church in Italy a painting of an Archangel with his foot on the dragon’s neck, and his sword thrust through its scaly armour. It is perhaps the feebleness of the artist’s hand, but I think rather it is the clearness of his insight, which has led him to represent the victorious angel, in the moment in which he is slaying the dragon, as with a smile on his face, and not the least trace of effort in the arm, which is so easily smiting the fatal blow. Perhaps if the painter could have used his brush better he would have put more expression into the attitude and the face, but I think it is better as it is. We, too, may achieve a conquest over the dragon which, although it requires effort, does not disturb peace. There is a possibility of bruising that slippery head under my foot, and yet not having to strain myself in the process. We may have ‘peace subsisting at the heart of endless agitation.’ Do you remember how the Apostle, in another place, gives us the same beautiful-though at first sight contradictory-combination when he says, ‘The peace of God shall garrison your heart’ ?
‘My soul! there is a country
Far, far beyond the stars,
Where stands an armed sentry,
All skilful in the wars.’
‘The God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet’; and in bruising He will give you His peace to do it, and His peace in doing it, and in still greater measure after doing it. For every struggle of the Christian soul adds something to the subsequent depth of its tranquillity. And so the name of the God of peace is our pledge of victory in, and of deepened peace after, our warfare with sin and temptation.
Lastly, note the swiftness with which Paul expects that this process shall he accomplished.
I dare say that he was thinking about the coming of the Lord, when all the fighting and struggle would be over, and that when he said ‘God shall bruise him under your feet shortly,’ there lay in the back of his mind the thought, ‘the Lord is at hand.’ But be that as it may, there is another way of looking at the words. They are not in the least like our experience, are they? ‘Shortly!’-and here am I, a Christian man for the last half century perhaps; and have I got much further on in my course? Have I brought the sin that used to trouble me much down, and is my character much more noble, Christ-like, than it was long years ago? Would other people say that it is? Instead of ‘shortly’ we ought to put ‘slowly’ for the most of us. But, dear friend, the ideal is swift conquest, and it is our fault and our loss, if the reality is sadly different.
There are a great many evils that, unless they are conquered suddenly, have very small chance of ever being conquered at all. You never heard of a man being cured of his love of intoxicating drink, for instance, by a gradual process. The serpent’s life is not crushed out of it by gradual pressure, but by one vigorous stamp of a nervous heel.
But if my experience as a Christian man does not enable me to set to my seal that this text is true, the text itself will tell me why. It is ‘the God of peace’ that is going to ‘bruise Satan.’ Do you keep yourself in touch with Him, dear friend? And do you let His powers come uninterruptedly and continuously into your spirit and life? It is sheer folly and self-delusion to wonder that the medicine does not work as quickly as was promised, if you do not take the medicine. The slow process by which, at the best, many Christian people ‘bruise Satan under their feet,’ during which he hurts their heels more than they hurt his head, is mainly due to their breaking the closeness and the continuity of their communion with God in Jesus Christ.
But, after all, it is Heaven’s chronology that we have to do with here. ‘Shortly,’ and it will be ‘shortly,’ if we reckon by heavenly scales of duration. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. ‘The Lord will help her, and that right early.’ ‘The Lord is at hand.’ When we get yonder, ah! how all the long years of fighting will have dwindled down, and we shall say ‘the Lord did help me, and that right early,’ and though there may have been more than threescore years and ten of fighting, that, while we were in the thick of it, did not seem to come to much, we shall then look back and say: ‘Yes, Lord, it was but for a moment, and it has brought me to the undying day of Eternal Peace.’
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
the God, &c. See Rom 15:33.
God. App-98.
bruise = crush in pieces, or utterly. Greek. suntribo. Elsewhere, Mat 12:20. Mar 5:4; Mar 14:3. Luk 4:18; Luk 9:39. Joh 19:36. Rev 2:27.
shortly = with speed. Greek. en (App-104.) tachei.
The grace, &c. Each one of Paul’s Epp. ends with a benedictory prayer that “grace” may be with churches and individuals alike.
grace. App-184.
Amen. The texts, except B. E., omit.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
20.] . , , . Chrys. Hom. xxxii. p. 755: and so most Commentators. De W. prefers taking . . more generally as the God of salvation; and the usage of the expression (see reff.) seems to favour this.
. . . is a similitude from Gen 3:15.
, not as Stuart, for optative, nor does it express any wish, but a prophetic assurance and encouragement in bearing up against all adversaries, that it would not be long before the great Adversary himself would be bruised under their feet.
…] It appears as if the Epistle was intended to conclude with this usual benediction, but the Apostle found occasion to add more. This he does also in other Epistles: see 1Co 16:23-24; similarly Php 4:20, and Php 4:21-23 after the doxology,-2Th 3:16-18 :-1Ti 6:16-17 ff.:-2Ti 4:18-19 ff.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Rom 16:20. , but) [not and, as Engl. Ver. has it)] The power of God, not your prudence, will bring it to pass.- , of peace) an antithesis to seditious, Rom 16:17, see 1Co 14:33.-) the future, shall bruise Satan, when he shall bruise His apostles [viz. those breeders of divisions, Rom 16:17-18.]- , Satan) the sower of strifes. Once in the course of this whole epistle he names the enemy, and nine times altogether in all his epistles, he calls him Satan; six times, the devil. Scripture indeed treats of God and Christ directly; of Satan and Antichrist indirectly.- , under your feet) Eph 6:15. Every victory achieved by faith is the cause of new grief to Satan.- ) speedily, which refers to the beginnings of bruising [Satan, viz.] in the case of sudden danger [a sudden assault by him.]-) The transcribers very often added this word to prayers, although here almost all the copies are without it. Baumgarten however defends it.[171]
[171] Rec. Text has it in opposition to ABCD()G Vulg. and almost all versions.-ED.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Rom 16:20
Rom 16:20
And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly.-If you do as directed in avoiding those who cause divisions, and will avoid those skilled in the evil, be wise and skilled in the good, then God will speedily bruise Satan under your feet. I do not understand this as referring to any special time of triumph, but to a general truth that if a congregation of Christians would avoid the teachers that are not faithful to God and will be wise and faithful to his service, then God will quickly enable them to triumph over the evil one.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.-He prays that the favor that pertained to Jesus Christ should abide with them.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
the God: Rom 15:33
shall: Gen 3:15, Isa 25:8-12, Rom 8:37, Heb 2:14, Heb 2:15, 1Jo 3:8, Rev 12:10, Rev 20:1-3
bruise: or, tread, Job 40:12, Isa 63:3, Zec 10:5, Mal 4:3, Luk 10:19
The grace: Rom 16:24, 1Co 16:2-4, 2Co 13:14, Gal 6:18, Phi 4:23, 1Th 5:28, 2Th 3:18, 2Ti 4:22, Phm 1:25, Rev 22:21
Reciprocal: Num 23:23 – no enchantment Deu 33:27 – thrust Jos 10:24 – put your feet Psa 44:5 – tread Psa 91:13 – adder Psa 108:13 – tread Isa 16:4 – oppressors Isa 26:6 – General Isa 65:25 – dust Jer 15:21 – deliver Zec 3:2 – the Lord said Mar 3:27 – General Mar 5:7 – that Mar 16:18 – shall take Luk 10:17 – General Joh 16:11 – the Act 2:35 – thy foes Act 28:5 – felt 1Co 16:23 – General 2Co 13:11 – the God Eph 2:5 – grace ye Phi 4:9 – the God Col 4:18 – Grace 1Th 5:23 – God 2Th 3:16 – the Lord of 1Ti 1:14 – the grace 1Ti 6:21 – Grace Heb 10:29 – trodden Heb 13:20 – the God Heb 13:25 – General Rev 12:9 – and Satan Rev 12:11 – they overcame Rev 20:2 – he laid
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
:20
Rom 16:20. Shortly is a comparative term, for the final victory over Satan is not to be until the end. “Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life” (Rev 2:10). The endless life of happiness awaiting the faithful after death is so great that the span of life is “but for a moment” (2Co 4:17).
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
These words may be considered either relatively, or absolutely;
if relatively, or with relation to the context, then by Satan is to be understood seducers and false teachers, whom he had warned the Romans of in the preceding verses: Mark them which cause divisions, &c.
Learn hence, 1. That all corrupters of divine truths, and troublers of the church’s peace, are Satan’s instruments: God shall bruise Satan, that is, Satan in his instruments, under your feet.
Learn, 2. That divine evangelical truth shall be finally victorious: no weapon formed against it shall prosper; the head of error shall fall low at last at the feet of truth. Seducers may bluster for a time, but shall be bruised at last; the God of peace shall bruise Satan shortly.
Consider the words absolutely, and we have a victory proclaimed; the author of that victory declared, the God of peace; the enemy conquered, Satan; the conquest, or manner of conquering, by bruising; the time of the conquest, no presently, but shortly; The God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly.
Learn, 1. That the reconciler of the world shall be the subduer of Satan: in subduing Satan, and in him all that belong unto him; as the fall of the general puts the whole army to the rout.
Learn, 2. That Almighty God, in his own time, will make believers complete conquerors over Satan, and all their spiritual enemies.
Note, That it is by virtue of Christ’s conquest over Satan, that believers become conquerors; for the promise here refers to the original promise, Gen 3:15, That Christ, the seed of the woman, shall bruise the serpent’s head. So then it is by virtue of the act of Jesus Christ, bruising the serpent’s head, yea, breaking it, that Satan is bruised under our feet. As Christ bruised him under his own feet, so in his own time will he bruise him under our feet. The personal, as well as the representative seed of the woman, shall bruise the serpent’s head.
Remember, poor tempted Christian, for thy comfort, the God of peace will tread Satan under our feet shortly; thou shalt set thy foot on the neck of thy enemy; and when once thy foot is over the threshold of glory, thou shalt cast back a smiling look, and say, “Now Satan, do thy worst; through grace I am where thou shalt never come.”
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Vv. 20. Now, the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet quickly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
From the visible enemy who threatens, the apostle’s eye turns to thine visible world, where he discovers on the one side the more formidable enemy of whom his earthly adversaries are the instruments, and on the other, the all-powerful ally on whose succor the church can reckon in this struggle. The connection between Rom 16:19-20 may find its explanation in Rom 16:13-15 of 2 Corinthians 11, where the apostle thus expresses himself in regard to Judaizing disturbers: Such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ; and no marvel, for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness. Their end shall be according to their works.
The expression: God of peace, is designedly chosen to describe God as one who, if the church fulfils its task well in these circumstances, will take care to overthrow the designs of its adversaries, and preserve harmony among the faithful.
The term , shall bruise, is evidently an allusion to the ancient promise, Gen 3:15, whichstrange to sayis referred to nowhere else in the N. T.
The words are ordinarily translated by soon, which would signify: at a time near this when I write you. It is because of this translation that Schultz and many others find here the idea of Christ’s near return. But the word and its derivatives do not denote the imminence, the nearness of the event. They denote the celerity with which it is accomplished. The , in Homer, are feet which move quickly and not soon; a tachygraph is a man who writes quickly and not near one. The Greek has the word (straight, who goes right to his end) and its derivatives to express imminence. Paul means, therefore, not that the victory will be near, but that it will be speedily gained, once the conflict is begun. When the believer fights with the armor of God (Ephesians 6), the conflict is never long.
Victory will result from two factors, the one divine (God shall bruise), the other human (under your feet). God communicates strength; but it passes through the man who accepts and uses it.
To this warning there is attached in the T. R. and in the Alexs. a prayer of benediction, with this difference, that in the former this prayer is repeated word for word in Rom 16:24. The Greco-Lats. place it only in Rom 16:24. Of these three forms, that of the Alex. is the most probable; for it easily explains the other two. The Greco-Lats. have transposed this prayer, putting it after the salutations, Rom 16:21-23, to conform to the ordinary usage of the apostle; the Byz. text has combined the two forms. What confirms this supposition is, that the Greco-Lats. in general omit the doxology at the end of our chapter; now, they could not close the Epistle to the Romans with the words: and Quartus our brother. They were therefore obliged to transfer thither the prayer of Rom 16:20. Regarded here as authentic, this prayer is the counterpart of that which we find 1Co 16:23. It forms the general conclusion of the Epistle; for it has nothing sufficiently special to be applied only to the preceding warning. But why the salutations which still follow, Rom 16:21-23, and the final doxology, Rom 16:25-27? This is what we shall have to explain.
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. [Bruise is equivalent to “crush.” (See Gen 3:15; 2Co 11:12-15) If the Roman Christians hearkened to the apostle as to these open, material, visible enemies, they would quickly gain a victory over the supreme spiritual and invisible leader who inspired them. Thus the God of peace (not of division) would triumph over the prince of all strife. Life’s battle is brief, and the Christian soldier who is steadfast soon gains the victory and is honorably discharged.] The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. [The apostle ends the personal section of his salutations with a blessing, after which he presents in another division the salutations of other friends.]
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
20. The God of peace will quickly crush Satan beneath your feet. Paul was a prophet, here giving a cheering prediction of coming victory. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you. This benediction is short but sweet.
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
16:20 {4} And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ [be] with you. Amen.
(4) We must fight with a certain hope of victory.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Satan is behind all evil ultimately, under God’s sovereignty. God desires peace among His people, not the antagonism that some in the church who chose to follow Satan’s spokesmen would create. "Soon" does not imply that Jesus Christ would return soon necessarily. Paul meant that the Roman Christians would frustrate Satan’s work among them soon as they rejected false teachers. His terminology suggests that he had Gen 3:15 in mind.
Paul’s benediction magnified God’s grace, as does this whole epistle. Usually such a benediction signaled the end of a Pauline letter, but the apostle had more to communicate in this instance. [Note: For a chart of Paul’s benedictions in his epistles, see The Bible Knowledge Commentary: New Testament, p. 500.]