Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Romans 8:27
And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what [is] the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to [the will of] God.
27. He that searcheth the hearts ] Certainly here, the Father. But it is the more noteworthy that the same words are used of the Son, Rev 2:23. “ The hearts ” here are human hearts. In them the Father sees, below the surface of “ignorance what to pray for as they ought,” the sacred longings which are the expression of the Spirit’s influence.
knoweth ] And meeteth with a corresponding answer; crossing perhaps the saint’s explicit prayer, but granting the implicit.
the mind ] The whole Aim and Choice of the great Intercessor.
because ] If this rendering is kept, the connexion is; “The Father knows (and welcomes) the ‘mind of the Spirit,’ because in its requests it is in Divine harmony with His own.” But it is better to render that. “The Father knows the mind of the Spirit; He knows that He intercedes in harmony with His Own will and purpose, and for His Own children.”
the saints ] Lit. saints (without article). Such is the character of those for whom He pleads.
according to the will of God ] Lit. according to God; in unerring coincidence with the Father’s will. The words are used in emphatic contrast to the possible errors in detail of the saint’s unaided desires and prayers.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And he that searcheth the hearts – God. To search the heart is one of his attributes which cannot be communicated to a creature; Jer 17:10.
Knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit – Knows the desires which the Holy Spirit excites and produces in the heart. He does not need that those deep emotions should be expressed in words; he does not need the eloquence of language to induce him to hear; but he sees the anxious feelings of the soul, and is ready to aid and to bless.
Maketh intercession for the saints – Aids and directs Christians.
According to the will of God – Greek, According to God. It is according to his will in the following respects:
(1) The Spirit is given according to his will. It is his gracious purpose to grant his aid to all who truly love him.
(2) The desires which he excites in the heart of the Christian are those which are according to his will; they are such as God wishes to exist; the contrite, humble, and penitent pleading of sinners for mercy.
(3) He superintends and guards Christians in their prayers.
It is not meant that they are infallible, or that they never make an improper petition, or have an improper desire; but that he has a general superintendence over their minds, and that so far as they will yield themselves to his direction, they shall not be led into error That man is most safe who yields himself most entirely to the influence of the Holy Spirit. And the doctrine here stated is one that is full of consolation to the Christian. We are poor, and needy, and ignorant, and blind; we are the creatures of a day, and are crushed before the moth. But in the midst of our feebleness we may look to God for the aid of his Spirit, and rejoice in his presence, and in his power to sustain us in our sighings, and to guide us in our wanderings.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 27. He maketh intercession for the saints] The word signifies to apply one’s self to a person in behalf of another; to intercede or negotiate for. Our Lord makes intercession for us, by negotiating and managing, as our friend and agent, all the affairs pertaining to our salvation. And the Spirit of God makes intercession for the saints, not by supplication to God on their behalf, but by directing and qualifying their supplications in a proper manner, by his agency and influence upon their hearts; which, according to the Gospel scheme, is the peculiar work and office of the Holy Spirit. See Taylor.
According to the will of God.] . According to the mind, intention, or design of God. And thus the prayers which we offer up, and the desires which subsist in the unutterable groanings, are all such as are pleasing in the sight of God. So that God, whose is the Spirit, and who is acquainted with the mind of the Spirit, knows what he means when he leads the saints to express themselves in words, desires, groans, sighs, or tears: in each God reads the language of the Holy Ghost, and prepares the answer according to the request.
From all this we learn that a fluency in prayer is not essential to praying: a man may pray most powerfully in the estimation of God, who is not able to utter even one word. The unutterable groan is big with meaning, and God understands it, because it contains the language of his own Spirit. Some desires are too mighty to be expressed; there is no language expressive enough to give them proper form and distinct vocal sound: such desires show that they came from God; and as they came from him, so they express what God is disposed to do, and what he has purposed to do. This is a matter of great encouragement to all those who are agonizing to enter in at the strait gate.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
He that searcheth the hearts; this phrase is a periphrasis of God, and is spoken of him after the manner of men. God doth not properly search or inquire into any thing; but because amongst men knowledge comes by searching, therefore, by way of resemblance, this is attributed to God, though that which is intended by it is only this, that God knoweth the heart, Jer 17:10; Act 1:24.
Knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, both with the knowledge of apprehension and approbation.
Maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God: our prayers shall be sure to speed, if they are of this sort, 1Jo 5:14,15. Praying according to the will of God, respects;
1. The matter of our prayers.
2. The manner of our praying.
3. The end thereof, Jam 4:3.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
27. Andrather, “But,”inarticulate though these groanings be.
he that searcheth the heartsknoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because hethe Spirit
maketh intercession for thesaints according to the will of GodAs the Searcher of hearts,He watches the surging emotions of them in prayer, and knowsperfectly what the Spirit means by the groanings which He draws forthwithin us, because that blessed Intercessor pleads by them only forwhat God Himself designs to bestow.
Note, (1) Are believers”led by the Spirit of God” (Ro8:14)? How careful then should they be not to “grieve theHoly Spirit of God” (Eph4:30)! Compare Psa 32:8;Psa 32:9: “I will . . .guide thee with Mine eye. Be not (then) as thehorse, or as the mule,” c. (2) “The spirit of bondage,”to which many Protestants are “all their lifetime subject,”and the “doubtsome faith” which the Popish Churchsystematically inculcates, are both rebuked here, being in direct andpainful contrast to that “spirit of adoption,” and thatwitness of the Spirit, along with our own spirit, to the fact of oursonship, which it is here said the children of God, as such, enjoy(Rom 8:15 Rom 8:16).(3) As suffering with Christ is the ordained preparation forparticipating in this glory, so the insignificance of the one ascompared with the other cannot fail to lighten the sense of it,however bitter and protracted (Rom 8:17;Rom 8:18). (4) It cannot butswell the heart of every intelligent Christian to think that ifexternal nature has been mysteriously affected for evil by the fallof man, it only awaits his completed recovery, at the resurrection,to experience a corresponding emancipation from its blightedcondition into undecaying life and unfading beauty (Ro8:19-23). (5) It is not when believers, through sinful “quenchingof the Spirit,” have the fewest and faintest glimpses of heaven,that they sigh most fervently to be there; but, on the contrary, whenthrough the unobstructed working of the Spirit in their hearts, “thefirst-fruits” of the glory to be revealed are most largely andfrequently tasted, then, and just for that reason, is it that they”groan within themselves” for full redemption (Ro8:23). For thus they reason: If such be the drops, what will theocean be? If thus “to see through a glass darkly” be sovery sweet, what will it be to “see face to face?” If when”my Beloved stands behind our wall, looking forth at thewindows, showing Himself through the lattice” (So2:9) that thin veil which parts the seen from the unseenifHe is even thus to me “Fairer than the children of men,”what shall He be when He stands confessed before my undazzled vision,the Only-begotten of the Father in my own nature, and I shall be likeHim, for I shall see Him as He is? (6) “The patience of hope”(1Th 1:3) is the fittingattitude for those who with the joyful consciousness that they arealready “saved” (2Ti 1:9;Tit 3:5), have yet the painfulconsciousness that they are saved but in part: or, “thatbeing justified by His grace, they are made (in the present state)heirs according to the hope (only) of eternal life,” Tit3:7 (Rom 8:24; Rom 8:25).(7) As prayer is the breath of the spiritual life, and the believer’sonly effectual relief under the “infirmity” which attachesto his whole condition here below, how cheering is it to be assuredthat the blessed Spirit, cognizant of it all, comes in aid of it all;and in particular, that when believers, unable to articulate theircase before God, can at times do nothing but lie “groaning”before the Lord, these inarticulate groanings are the Spirit’s ownvehicle for conveying into “the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth”their whole case; and come up before the Hearer of prayer as theSpirit’s own intercession in their behalf, and that they arerecognized by Him that sitteth on the Throne, as embodying only whatHis own “will” determined before to bestow upon them(Rom 8:26; Rom 8:27)!(8) What a view do these two verses (Rom 8:26;Rom 8:27) give of the relationssubsisting between the Divine Persons in the economy of redemption,and the harmony of their respective operations in the case of each ofthe redeemed!
THIRD:Triumphant Summary of the Whole Argument (Ro8:28-39).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And he that searcheth the hearts,…. This is peculiar to God, and a “periphrasis” of him; angels, neither good nor bad, can search into the hearts of men; one man cannot know the heart of another, nor any man fully know his own; this is the prerogative of God: and
he knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit; not the spirit of men, but of God: that affectionate desire and meaning of the Spirit of God, in the unalterable groans of the saints; he knows the wise meaning there is in them, for so may signify, and is opposed to the carnal mind, or wisdom of the flesh, which desires foolish things. The searcher of hearts knows this, not barely by his omniscience, but he regards it, approves of it, attends, and gives an answer to it; which is no small encouragement to pray, though it be but with sighs and groans unutterable; since the omniscient God understands, and respects such kind of prayer: and the reason is,
because he, the Spirit of God,
maketh intercession for the saints, according to the will of God; the persons for whom he intercedes are saints: to whom Christ is made sanctification; who are called to be saints; are sanctified by the Spirit of God, and walk after him: now such are the objects of God’s delight, they are chosen by him, preserved in Christ, and have his righteousness imputed to them; to these he has made known his Gospel, has given his grace, and will at last the inheritance; so that intercession made for such will certainly be regarded: it may be rendered, “he maketh intercession for holy things according to God”; for spiritual blessings, divine favours, things that belong to God; or divine things, which are agreeably to his nature and will: and since it is the Holy Spirit that makes intercession, and the persons are holy for whom he makes it, and this is made for holy things, and all according to the will of God, which the Spirit of God must fully know, saints may be confident of the prevalence and success of such intercession.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
He that searcheth ( ). God (1Sa 16:7).
According to the will of God ( ). See 2Co 7:9-11 for this phrase (according to God). The Holy Spirit is the “other Paraclete” (Joh 14:16) who pleads God’s cause with us as Christ is our Paraclete with the Father (1Jo 2:1). But more is true as here, for the Holy Spirit interprets our prayers to God and “makes intercession for us in accord with God’s will.”
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
1) “And he that searcheth the hearts,” (ho de ereunon tas kardias) “moreover he who is searching the heart,” or scanning the heart; the Holy Spirit searches or scans all things, 1Co 2:10; 1Ch 28:9; Jer 17:10.
2) “Knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit,” (oiden ti to phronema tou pneumatos) “knows or perceives (comprehends) what is the mind of the Spirit,” the “mind of the Spirit,” refers to the aim, yearning, or desire of inarticulate groanings of the soul of the believer; 1Co 2:10; Pro 20:27; 1Pe 1:11.
3) “Because he maketh intercession,” (hoti kata theon entugchanei) “Because he intercedes according to the provision of God,” according to God’s will, on behalf of God’s chiIdren, 2Co 7:9-11; Psa 51:11-12.
4) “For the saints according to the will of God,” (huper hagion) “on behalf of saints,” the holy ones, especially his church saints, to whom he pledged his everlasting presence, (kata theon) “According to or based on the provision and will of God;- Both Christ and the Holy Spirit make intercession for those who belong to God, especially the Saints or the church, 1Jn 2:1-2; Mat 28:18-20; Joh 20:21-22; Act 1:8; Eph 3:21; Eph 5:25.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
27. But he who searches hearts, etc. This is a remarkable reason for strengthening our confidence, that we are heard by God when we pray through his Spirit, for he thoroughly knows our desires, even as the thoughts of his own Spirit. And here must be noticed the suitableness of the word to know; for it intimates that God regards not these emotions of the Spirit as new and strange, or that he rejects them as unreasonable, but that he allows them, and at the same time kindly accepts them, as allowed and approved by him. As then Paul had before testified, that God then aids us when he draws us as it were into his own bosom, so now he adds another consolation, that our prayers, of which he is the director, shall by no means be disappointed. The reason also is immediately added, because he thus conforms us to his own will. It hence follows, that in vain can never be what is agreeable to his will, by which all things are ruled. Let us also hence learn, that what holds the first place in prayer is consent with the will of the Lord, whom our wishes do by no means hold under obligation. If then we would have our prayers to be acceptable to God, we must pray that he may regulate them according to his will.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(27) God recognises the voice of His own Spirit, because the prayers that the Spirit prompts are in strict accordance with His will.
What is the mind of the Spirit.What are the thoughts of the Spirit, and therefore what is the echo of those thoughts in the prayers that are offered to Him.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
27. He hearts As the Spirit knoweth and sympathizeth with our feeble human minds, so that Spirit is in communication with God, the heart-searcher.
Knoweth the mind The Spirit inspires our unutterable things; yet God, knowing the mind of the Spirit, knoweth the things unuttered. So is the Spirit a mediator of communion between our spirit and God our father.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And he who searches the hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because he makes intercession for the saints according to (the will of) God.’
The reference to ‘He Who searches the hearts’ confirms that the Spirit is praying as we pray. Whatever our outward words our Father knows all that is in our hearts (and all our needs, as Jesus made clear in Matthew 6), searching our hearts as we pray. And as the Spirit prays through us the Father ‘knows His mind’, that is knows precisely what He is requesting, because He makes his intercession ‘according to God’ (‘the will of’ is not in the Greek, but put in by translators in order to make the sense clear). We need therefore never be afraid that any failure of ours in understanding will hinder our prayers to God at times of need.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Rom 8:27. Knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit That is, “has a particular regard to, approves, favours, and is pleased with.” The phrase here, , the mind of the Spirit, is the very same that is used Rom 8:6 and expresses not merely the meaning, but the temper and disposition of the mind, as under the influence of the divine Spirit, pursuing and breathing aftersuch blessings as suit its rational and immortal nature. The word is also used Rom 8:34. Christ maketh intercession for us; and again ch. Rom 11:2. Heb 7:25 and in Act 25:24 where it is rendered have dealt with me. These are all the places where we find it in the New Testament. The proper import of the word seems to be, to meet and treat with a person, either for or against another; and so it may signify in general to negociate, manage, or transact an affair on the behalf of others, not only by intercession, entreaty, or supplication in their favour, but in any other way as the case may require. So our Lord , maketh intercession for us, by negociating and managing, as the friend and agent of his faithful people, all the affairs pertaining to their salvation; and he is able to save us to the uttermost, because he ever liveth, and has all power given him in heaven and earth, as our great Agent, to secure to his faithful saints all the glorious things promised in the Gospel. And the Spirit of God makes intercession for the saints, not by offering supplications to God in their behalf, but by directing and qualifying their supplications in a proper manner by his agony and influences upon their hearts; which is the peculiar work and office of the Holy Spirit. How the Spirit qualifies the secret groanings of true Christians, under the pressures of life, may be seen 2Co 5:2-5. The Spirit directs and qualifies the secret desires of the saints after immortality, , according or agreeably to the will of God; therefore God approves the mind of the Spirit, or the dispositions which we gain through the influence and inspiration of the Spirit; and thus the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts, and assured to our hearts by the Holy Spirit; 2Co 1:21-22. See Doddridge and Bengelius.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Rom 8:27 . . .] Traditionally hallowed (1Sa 16:7 ; 1Ki 8:39 ; Psa 7:10 ; Pro 15:11 ; Jer 17:9 f.), description of God, bearing on the subject in hand; for it is in the heart , as in the central laboratory of the personal self-conscious life (comp. Delitzsch, Psychol . p. 254), that the praying Spirit sighs, Gal 4:6 .
] Not for , as many think, including Tholuck, Rckert, de Wette, Philippi, Ewald, and Umbreit. What follows in fact conveys no real ground , since God would in every case know the purpose of the Spirit, and to take in the pregnant sense: understands and hears (so Rckert, following Calvin), is utterly unjustifiable, especially after . . . . The is rather that , annexed by way of explanation: that He, namely . Comp. Grotius, Estius, Benecke, Reiche, Fritzsche, Maier, Krehl, Baumgarten-Crusius, Bisping, Reithmayr, van Hengel, and Hofmann. See on Phi 1:27 ; Phi 2:22 , al .
] This, explained by Origen “secundum divinitatem ,” does not mean: on the instigation of God (Tholuck, appealing improperly to 1Co 12:8 ), but: in accordance with God, i.e. so as God desires it , , Theodore of Mopsuestia. Comp. 2Co 7:9-10 ; 4Ma 15:2 ; Plat. Apol . pp. 22 A, 23 B. The sense: in pursuance of the divine disposal , more common in classic usage (see Wetstein on the passage, and Valcken. ad Herod . iii. 153), is here foreign. Bhme, Reiche, and Fritzsche render it before God, with God (“in Deum quasi converses”). This is indeed justifiable from a linguistic point of view (Bernhardy, p. 240), comp. Wis 5:1 , Sir 34:6 ; but how superfluous and unsuited to the emphasis of the prominent position assigned to it! With the emphasis on it cannot appear strange that Paul has not written , but has rather named the subject. Comp. Xen. Mem . i. 3. 2 : , . . . The omission of the article, which does not render the expression adverbial (against Hofmann), establishes in the case of no difference of sense (Winer, p. 115 f. [E. T. 151]).
] for saints , without the article because qualitative; “ sancti sunt et Deo propinqui et auxilio digni, pro quibus intercedit,” Bengel. On . , to pray for any one , see Bhr on Plut. Flamin . p. 83.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
27 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
Ver. 27. Knoweth the mind, &c. ] Quomodo enim non exauditur spiritus a patre, qui exaudit cum patre? (Augustine.)
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
27. ] But (opposed to ‘though unutterable by us’) He who searcheth the hearts (God) knoweth what is the mind ( intent , or bent , as hidden in those sighs) of the Spirit. A difficulty presents itself in the rendering of the next clause. If be causal , because He (the Spirit) pleads for the saints according to the will of God , it would seem that must bear the meaning ‘ approves ,’ otherwise the connexion will not be apparent; and so Calv. and Rckert have rendered it. Hence Grot., Reiche, Meyer, Fritz. render , ‘ that ,’ and construe, ‘ knows what is the mind of the Spirit,’ that He pleads with God (so Reiche and Fritz., and Winer, edn. 6, 49. d, for .) for the saints : justifying the repetition of , implied before, by 1Jn 4:8 , , . But I must confess that the other rendering seems to me better to suit the context: and I do not see that the ordinary meaning of need be changed. The assurance which we have that God the Heart-Searcher interprets the inarticulate sighings of the Spirit in us, is, not strictly speaking, His Omniscience, but the fact that the very Spirit who thus pleads, does it , in pursuance of the divine purposes and in conformity with God’s good pleasure. So that, as its place before the verb would suggest, is emphatic, and furnishes the reason of the . A minor objection against the explicative is, that we have immediately following.
All these pleadings of the Spirit are heard and answered, even when inarticulately uttered ; we may extend the same comforting assurance to the imperfect and mistaken verbal utterances of our prayers, which are not themselves answered to our hurt, but the answer is given to the voice of the Spirit which speaks through them, which we would express, but cannot . Compare 2Co 12:7-10 , for an instance in the Apostle’s own case.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Rom 8:27 . This intercession, with which our heart goes, though it is deeper than words, the Heart Searcher understands. . : what the Spirit is set upon, the whole object of its thought and endeavour. , viz. , that He intercedes in agreement with God’s will, see 2Co 7:9-11 . on behalf of those who are God’s. Both the intercession of Christ and the intercession of the Spirit are represented in the N.T. as made on behalf of those who are in Christ saints, the Church, not mankind in general.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
And = But.
He: i.e. the Holy Spirit.
searcheth. Greek. ereunao. See Joh 5:39 and 1Co 2:10.
mind. Greek. phronema, as verses: Rom 8:6, Rom 8:7.
maketh intercession. Greek. entunchano. See Act 25:24.
saints. See Rom 1:7.
according to. App-104.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
27.] But (opposed to -though unutterable by us) He who searcheth the hearts (God) knoweth what is the mind (intent, or bent, as hidden in those sighs) of the Spirit. A difficulty presents itself in the rendering of the next clause. If be causal, because He (the Spirit) pleads for the saints according to the will of God, it would seem that must bear the meaning approves, otherwise the connexion will not be apparent; and so Calv. and Rckert have rendered it. Hence Grot., Reiche, Meyer, Fritz. render , that, and construe,-knows what is the mind of the Spirit,-that He pleads with God (so Reiche and Fritz., and Winer, edn. 6, 49. d, for .) for the saints: justifying the repetition of , implied before, by 1Jn 4:8, , . But I must confess that the other rendering seems to me better to suit the context: and I do not see that the ordinary meaning of need be changed. The assurance which we have that God the Heart-Searcher interprets the inarticulate sighings of the Spirit in us, is,-not strictly speaking, His Omniscience,-but the fact that the very Spirit who thus pleads, does it ,-in pursuance of the divine purposes and in conformity with Gods good pleasure. So that, as its place before the verb would suggest, is emphatic, and furnishes the reason of the . A minor objection against the explicative is, that we have immediately following.
All these pleadings of the Spirit are heard and answered, even when inarticulately uttered; we may extend the same comforting assurance to the imperfect and mistaken verbal utterances of our prayers, which are not themselves answered to our hurt, but the answer is given to the voice of the Spirit which speaks through them, which we would express, but cannot. Compare 2Co 12:7-10, for an instance in the Apostles own case.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Rom 8:27. ) [Not and, as Engl. Vers., but] refers to a privative in [Though they can not be uttered, yet, etc.]- , the hearts) The Spirit dwells in the hearts [of believers], and makes intercession. Christ is in heaven. He who searches the hearts is the Father, to whom especially that act is attributed in Scripture.- , the mind of the Spirit).-Comp. , Rom 8:6, Sensum,[97] the nominative: from the plural sensa, sensorum.- , of the Spirit) the Holy Spirit, as in the preceding verse.-) according to [ad], , according to God, not , according to man (comp. 1Jn 3:20) [after the manner of God, not man], as is worthy of God, and in a manner acceptable and manifest to Him. The Holy Spirit understands the style of the court of heaven, which is acceptable to the Father. is the emphatic word of the sentence, inasmuch as it is placed at the beginning of the clause.- , for saints) The article is not added; they are saints, who are both near to God, and are deemed worthy of assistance, being those for whom [the Spirit] makes intercession.
[97] Beng. uses sensum here to express , not the accus. of sensus, but an old disused nominative singular, the plural of which is often found sensa sensorum.-ED.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Rom 8:27
Rom 8:27
and he that searcheth the hearts-[This is a common paraphrase for God, and here most appropriate.]
knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit,-As no man knoweth the thoughts of a man save the spirit of man that dwells in him, to read those unexpressed emotions of the soul is the prerogative of that Being to whose eyes all things are naked and opened. I, Jehovah, search the mind, I try the heart, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings. (Jer 17:10).
because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.-The Spirit dwells in and intercedes for the saint only as he brings himself in life and heart into conformity with the will of God. So the Spirit dwells in his heart and molds the desires and groanings of his own spirit, and through directing his spirit in prayer the Holy Spirit makes intercession.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
And he: 1Ch 28:9, 1Ch 29:17, Psa 7:9, Psa 44:21, Pro 17:3, Jer 11:20, Jer 17:10, Jer 20:12, Mat 6:8, Joh 21:17, Act 1:24, Act 15:8, 1Th 2:4, Heb 4:13, Rev 2:23
knoweth: Psa 38:9, Psa 66:18, Psa 66:19, Jam 5:16,*Gr.
because: or, that
he maketh: Rom 8:34, Eph 2:18
according: Jer 29:12, Jer 29:13, Joh 14:13, Jam 1:5, Jam 1:6, 1Jo 3:21, 1Jo 3:22, 1Jo 5:14, 1Jo 5:15
Reciprocal: Gen 32:24 – wrestled Lev 2:16 – General 1Ki 3:12 – I have done Psa 20:4 – General Pro 15:29 – he heareth Luk 11:1 – teach Joh 14:16 – another Rom 15:16 – being 1Co 2:10 – the Spirit Gal 1:4 – according Gal 3:14 – might Gal 4:6 – crying Eph 6:18 – in the Phi 3:3 – worship 1Pe 3:7 – that
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
:27
Rom 8:27. This verse verifies the comments on the preceding one. He means the Lord, who not only can read the mind of the saints (Christians), but also knows the mind of the Spirit, since he is the third member of the Godhead, and is subject to the Father and the Son. Therefore, when the Spirit presents the intercessions of the saints to the throne, in groanings that man cannot utter, that form of the prayer virtually becomes the petition of the Christian, addressed to God through Christ who is the official or authoritative Advocate.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Rom 8:27. But he who searcheth the hearts. Though the groanings are unutterable, God understands their meaning. The Old Testament frequently describes God as omniscient by language of this kind (1Sa 16:7; Psa 7:10, etc.).
The mind of the Spirit. This is an object of knowledge to the heart-searching God, though it may be but partially recognized by us in our weakness.
Because, or, that, etc. The word may have either sense; but the former seems more appropriate here. The latter makes the verse quite tame. Some explain: He approves what is the mind of the Spirit, because, etc. This is unnecessary. The ground of the perfect knowledge is the fact that He pleadeth (a slightly different word from intercedeth, Rom 8:26) for the saints according to the will of God, in harmony with the Divine will. Hence what we cannot utter, because we do not know what to pray for as we ought, what the indwelling Spirit in its pleadings cannot articulately utter through us, is known to God, because in accordance with His will. We may extend the same comforting assurance to the imperfect and mistaken verbal utterances of our prayers, which are not themselves answered to our hurt, but the answer is given to the voice of the Spirit, which speaks through them, which we would express, but cannot (Alford).
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Observe here, 1. The title or attribute given and appropriated unto God: He searcheth, or knoweth, the heart. He was the maker of the heart, and is the disposer of the heart, and will judge every man according to his heart; and therefore he must know the heart thoroughly and perfectly, certainly and infallibly; and it is the joy of an upright person, that God knoweth and searcheth the heart.
When the world condemns him for insincerity, he rejoiceth that God knoweth his integrity; and when he has it in the purpose of his heart to do good, but wants power in his hand to accomplish and effect it, this is his consolation, That God accepts as done, what he did desire and resolve to do, 2Ch 6:8.
Observe, 2. The action here attributed to the heart-searching God: he knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit; that is, he knoweth the workings of the Holy Spirit, and of our own spirits also, in the duty of prayer. It is a great comfort to the children of God, that the Lord knoweth what is the mind of our spirits in that matter. God doth not only hear his people’s prayers, but he hears their desires: and grants not only the desires of our lips, but the desires of our hearts, which have not been expressed by our lips.
Observe, 3. Who the persons are whom the Holy Spirit intercedes for in prayer: they are saints, He maketh intercession for the saints; for them exlusively, and none but them; for them inclusively, for all and everyone of them: the Spirit sanctifies all those in whom and for whom he intercedes: he is first a spirit of regeneration, before he is a spirit of intercession; he first puts gracious dispositions into us, and then stirs up holy desires in us.
Observe, 4. The qualification necessary to render our prayers acceptable to God, they must be according to God; that is, according to the will and mind of God.
And that, 1. In respect of the matter of them: we must pray only for things lawful and warrantable.
2. In regard of the manner of them: we must pray in faith, with fervency, and in the name of Christ.
3. In respect of the end of them, and what we propound to ourselves in them; which is, the glory of God.
Notwithstanding Christ’s mediation, and the Spirit’s intercession, we may ask, and not receive, if we ask amiss; that is, for bad ends, that we may consume it upon our lusts.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Vv. 27. The , but, contrasts the knowledge of God, which thoroughly understands the object of this groaning, with the ignorance of the heart from which it proceeds. God is often called in the O. T. the , the searcher of hearts. As to the blessing to which the aspiration of the Spirit goes forth in the believer’s heart, he knows its nature, he discerns its sublime reality. Why? This is what is told us in the second part of the verse: Because this supreme object of the Spirit’s aspiration is what God Himself has prepared for us. The groaning of the Spirit is , according to God. The preposition , according to, denotes the standard; God does not require the man who prays to express to Him the things he needs, since the groaning of the Spirit is in conformity with the plan of God which is to be realized. If it is so, how should not God understand such a groan? For the Spirit fathoms the divine plans to the bottom, 1Co 2:10. It is obvious how far Meyer and Hofmann are mistaken in alleging that should signify that and not because. They have not apprehended the bearing of the , according to God; Paul has a reason for making this word the opening one of the proposition. What is according to Him cannot remain unintelligible to Him. It is impossible to conceive a more superfluous thought than the one here substituted by the two commentators referred to: God knows that the Spirit intercedes, and that He does so according to Him for the saints. Did this knowing require to be affirmed? The last words, , literally, for saints, are very weighty. These saints are beings in whom the Spirit already dwells. After what He has already done in them, is it not natural for Him to interest Himself in the completion of their salvation?
In the words: according to God and for saints, there is already enunciated a thought which is now to become that of the following passage, the thought of a divine plan conceived from all eternity in favor of the elect. It is to the accomplishment of this plan that the operation of the Spirit tends.
What a demonstration of the unutterable disorder which reigns throughout creation, and consequently of the state of imperfection in which it still is, notwithstanding the redemption which has been accomplished! Nature throughout all her bounds has a confused feeling of it, and from her bosom there rises a continual lament claiming a renovation from heaven. The redeemed themselves are not exempt from this groaning, and wait for their own renewal which shall be the signal of universal restoration; and finally, the Spirit, who is intimate with the plans of God for our glory (1Co 2:7), and who distinctly beholds the ideal of which we have but glimpses, pursues its realization with ardor. Thus is exhausted the first of the two leading ideas of this paasage, that of the , suffering with Christ. The apostle now passes to the second, that of the , being glorified with Him. The first was the condition (, if so be, Rom 8:17); the second is the final aim.
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
and he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. [Though we, in our ignorance, do not know how to express these inward groanings, or yearnings, and though the Holy Spirit, in his operations within us, can not so lead or train us as to make us able to give them articulate utterance, yet God, who searcheth the heart, or that inner man where the Spirit dwells, knows what it is that the Spirit has in mind; i. e., what the Spirit is prompting us to desire, because the Spirit pleads for the saints according to the will of God, asking those things which accord with the plans, purposes and desires of God. “In short,” says Beet, “our own yearnings, resulting as they do from the presence of the Spirit, are themselves a pledge of their own realization.” The remainder of the chapter gives the third ground of encouragement, which is briefly this: the Christian has nothing to fear (outside of himself), for nothing can defeat the plan or purpose which God cherishes toward him, and nothing can separate him from the love of God.]
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
27. He who searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession toward God in behalf of the saints. Here is a most wonderful and infinitely consolatory fact revealed. While the English language contains one hundred and fifty thousand words, the common people only use three or four hundred; great scholars, only seven to ten thousand. Not only are many saints straitened to common words and phases, but with most ample flow of language many of our petitions are too deep for utterance. The most of earthly language is too materialistic and symbolic to express the deep spiritual truths of this wonderful salvation, especially appertaining to glorification, which is super-experimental. When Paul was in heaven (2 Corinthians 12) he heard and saw things too glorious and spiritual for mortal utterance. This deficiency of language the Holy Spirit supplies with groanings which can not be uttered. Hence our most important and efficient prayers are given by the Holy Spirit, and are too deep and spiritual to be formulated in words. Elijah prayed with prayer (Jas 5:17), not as E. V., prayed earnestly, but prayed with the prayer the Holy Ghost gave him. Hence the miraculous effect of his prayers. He that searcheth the heart, i. e., Jesus, who answers our prayers, knoweth the mind of the Spirit. Now you see this wonderful problem; the Holy Spirit indicts our prayers, which are often too deep for utterance. But remember He is the Spirit of Jesus (Chapter 8:9 and Acts 5), i. e., the spiritual Christ on the earth (Mat 28:20); while the glorified Jesus is interceding for us at Gods right hand, who actually understands perfectly all the petitions indicted by the Holy Ghost and groaned out by us, and answers faithfully, though too deeply for verbal utterance. Hence the most illiterate can shake heaven, earth and hell by their prayers. I have known people converted and sanctified in our meetings while praying in their native tongue, which was entirely unknown to the congregation. The Holy Spirit is the Author of a truly efficient prayer. He knows all languages, whether in words or groans. Consequently all true hearts under all circumstances can pray right up to God the petition indicted by the Holy Spirit, whether in words or groans, understood by our glorious Intercessor and presented directly to the Father.
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
8:27 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what [is] the {i} mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints {k} according to [the will of] God.
(i) What sighs and sobs proceed from the impulse of his Spirit.
(k) Because he teaches the godly to pray according to God’s will.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The Father understands the Spirit’s intercession for the saints even though we do not hear it. We can know that His intercession is effective in securing God’s help for us because the Spirit prays in harmony with God’s will.
Thus God Himself by the Spirit comes to our aid whenever we need help. He also assures us in His Word that we will get assistance from the Father. The consequence of this promise should be that when we feel frustrated about our inability to pray about a particular need we can relax. We can have confidence that our compassionate God understands just how we feel and what we want, and He will respond according to His will. [Note: See Curtis C. Mitchell, "The Holy Spirit’s Intercessory Ministry," Bibliotheca Sacra 139:555 (July-September 1982):230-42.]