Chapter 9

Theophylact of Ohrid, Exposition of the Epistle of St Paul to the Romans — Chapter Nine

¹ Chapter Nine. I say the truth in Christ, I lie not (my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit), that I have great sorrow and unceasing pain in my heart. Having spoken before this of the faith in Christ, he had shown that not all who are of Abraham are his seed. And lest he should seem to say these things out of passion, he anticipates this, and speaks the kinder things concerning the Hebrews, doing away with this suspicion, and confesses that he loves them beyond measure. And that he may not be disbelieved, he says, I say the truth in Christ, I lie not. And he brings forward three witnesses—Christ, his own conscience, and the Holy Spirit—and says that I have great sorrow, eating away my heart, on behalf of the Hebrews, because they have come to be outside of grace; for this is what he is about to say.

² For I myself could wish to be accursed from Christ, on behalf of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh. Learn first what the anathema is: a separation, an estrangement. For just as no one dares to touch the votive offering that is dedicated to God, so neither the thing accursed—yet in another manner. For the sacred offering no one dares draw near to, for honor’s sake, as being laid up for God; but from the accursed thing all separate themselves, as from a thing unhallowed and estranged from God. What, then, is it that Paul says? For he seems to say things contrary to what was spoken above. For then he said that No one shall separate us from the love of God; but now he says that he prays to be separated from Christ. He seems, then, to say contrary things, but it is not so; for this also he says on behalf of the love of God. For since all accused God, that the Hebrews—who had been counted worthy of the adoption, and glorified, and named the forefathers of Christ—he had cast out and dishonored, while he brought in instead those who had never acknowledged him, those of the nations; and they murmured against Providence, and blasphemed, as though these things were done unjustly, and as though God had deceived their forefathers, to whom also he had promised the gifts: Paul, grieving and stung on behalf of the glory of God, prayed to be himself accursed, so that those might be saved, and the blasphemy against God be undone. You see, then, that for the love toward God he prays, if it be possible, to be separated from the choir that is about Christ—not from his love, but from his glory, and from that enjoyment; just as fathers also often separate themselves from their sons, that the sons may be glorified—not separating themselves from the love of their children, but themselves willing to be without honor, that those may be in good repute. I myself, then, he says, who have set right ten thousand things, who have loved God beyond nature, pray, on behalf of the glory of God, to fall away from the glory of Christ. And this is not to fall away, but rather to attain. And the words, On behalf of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh, show forth his inmost affection, and how he is set on fire on their behalf.

³ Who are Israelites; whose is the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service, and the promises; whose are the fathers, and from whom is Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed unto the ages. Amen. He praises and magnifies them here, that, as I said, he may not seem to speak out of passion. And gently he also hints that God indeed willed them to be saved; and this is plain from the things in which he counted them worthy of adoption and glory, and from the things he promised to the fathers, and the other excellent things he gave them, and that he was well pleased that Christ should be born of them; but they thrust away the benefaction. Wherefore also, struck with amazement at the love of God, he refers the thanksgiving to the Only-begotten, and says, Who is over all, God blessed. For even if others, he says, blaspheme, as though the receiving of the nations were not done with good reason, yet we who know the mysteries of Christ know that he is worthy to be glorified. And from this, moreover, Arius is put to shame, since Paul proclaims Christ to be God over all.

⁴ Not as though the word of God has fallen to the ground. I indeed, he says, am set on fire, because God is blasphemed, and for this reason I would wish that all might be saved; yet even if not all are saved, God has not thereby lied in the things he promised to the fathers, nor has his word fallen through. For what he promised, that also he did—even though the blasphemers say that he promised to some and gave to others. For hear what follows.

⁵ For they are not all Israel, who are of Israel; neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children. What God promised, he says, that also he did. For he said, To you and to your seed will I give it. Let us see, then, what manner of thing the seed is. For not all who are of Abraham are simply, on that account, his seed; neither are those who are of Israel, on that account, Israelites; but those who were begotten after the manner of Isaac, and those who are worthy of the virtue of Israel, through which he saw God. For he did not say, Those who are of Jacob, but, Those who are of Israel, making mention of the honored name. If, then, you learn who are begotten after the manner of Isaac, then you will find the promise undeceiving; for to these were given the things promised. So that God is not worthy to be blasphemed. For what he said, he did, even though some do not understand it.

⁶ But, In Isaac shall your seed be called. That is, they who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted for the seed. For this is the word of promise: At this time will I come, and Sarah shall have a son. Not I, he says, interpret to you what the true seed of Abraham is, but the Old Testament, which said, In Isaac shall your seed be called. So that as many as were born after the manner of Isaac, that is, of promise, these are truly the children of Abraham, or rather of God. For the whole was of the divine word. For neither was Isaac begotten by law and power of nature, but according to the power of promise: For at this time will I come, and Sarah shall have a son. The word of God, then, fashioned Isaac and begat him. So also indeed with us, the children of God: in the font, as in a womb, divine words are spoken over us, and those words refashion us; for being baptized into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, we are begotten. And just as there he promised the birth of Isaac, and then afterward fulfilled it, so also our birth he promised through the prophets, and after these things he brought it to completion; so that the words, In Isaac shall your seed be called, are thus to be understood, as meaning, Those are the seed of Abraham who were begotten after the manner of the birth of Isaac, that is, through the divine word. The word of God, then, has not fallen through, but to the true seed, that is, to the believers of the nations, who became children of God, as Isaac also was, inasmuch as these too are of promise, he has given what he undertook. But if the Jews should say that the words, In Isaac shall your seed be called, signify this—that those born of Isaac are counted to Abraham for seed—then the Idumaeans also, and all those, ought to be reckoned the seed of Abraham. For their forefather Esau was a son of Isaac. But now they are not only not reckoned sons of Abraham, but are also exceedingly estranged, and are named of another race.

⁷ And not only this, but Rebecca also, having conceived by one, even by our father Isaac. He showed that, though there were many and diverse children of Abraham, Isaac was called the seed; so that those also who are born like him are the seed. And now, then, he says that Not only in the case of Isaac may you see this, but, what is greater, also in the case of brethren of the same father and the same mother, and twins, even Esau and Jacob. For neither did these enjoy the same things, but the one was chosen, and the other was hated. So that do not demand reasons, why he chose those of the nations, and made them the seed of Abraham, or rather a divine seed, but thrust away the Hebrews.

⁸ For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calls, it was said to her, The elder shall serve the younger; as it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. It is necessary for us to state beforehand the sense of the things that are about to be said at length by the Apostle. For since many were saying, Wherefore were the nations preferred before the Hebrews (for no one could say that it was for virtue’s sake, since all sinned)—the Apostle gathers together many perplexing things, to us indeed incomprehensible, but comprehensible to God alone; and he shows first, in the two twin brethren, that not for virtue was the chosen one chosen, nor for wickedness was the hated one hated (for they had done no good or evil, being still in the womb of their mother); but by the divine foreknowledge, that is, by the foreknowledge, the one was chosen and loved, and the other was hated; even as the prophet also says, Jacob have I loved, but him have I hated; that the whole may be of God, and of his purpose and foreknowledge. And why do I speak of these? Nay, the Israelites also all made the calf, and some were chastised, but some not. And Pharaoh was indeed hard in truth; but so were many others also. How then is he alone chastised? You see that these things are incomprehensible to men, but comprehensible to God alone. So, then, both the election of the nations and the casting away of the Hebrews seem to us beyond reason, but to God are most just. This is the sense of the whole passage.

⁹ What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid! Therefore neither in our case—of the nations and of the Jews—is God unjust.

¹⁰ For he says to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion. He adds, as has been said above, yet another testimony from the Old Testament, showing that God alone knows those who are worthy either of honor or of chastisement. For though all alike sinned, when they made the calf, nevertheless God has mercy on some, but delivers others to the Levites for slaughter. And not even Moses, great as he was, knows the cause; and do you demand causes, wherefore those of the nations were preferred, and that being sinners? And yet Paul could have told the cause, which he told elsewhere, namely, that the Israelites supposed to be justified of works, but these of faith and grace; yet he does not say it now, out of abundance stopping the mouths of the curious, and persuading them to make no reckoning of the things of God.

¹¹ So then it is not of him that wills, nor of him that runs, but of God that shows mercy. Isaac indeed willed to bless Esau; and Esau ran into the field, that, having taken game, he might be blessed. But God, by a righteous judgment, made Jacob, as being altogether worthy, to obtain the blessing. The Apostle seems here to do away with free will; but it is not so. But just as in the case of a house we say that the whole is the craftsman’s—though it needs both material and those who work together with him; yet nevertheless, since the end is his, we say that the whole is his—so also in the case of God we say that the whole is God’s, though God has need also of our readiness; but since he it is who brings to completion, and he who crowns, and he who condemns, we say that the whole is God’s.

¹² For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, For this same purpose have I raised you up, that I might show in you my power, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Just as in the case of those who made the calf, he says, some were saved, but some chastised, God alone knowing those worthy either of salvation or of chastisement, so also Pharaoh alone—though many others also became wicked—tasted of the wrath of God; for to this very end have I raised you up, he says, O Pharaoh, that is, I brought you into the midst, that through you my power might be made manifest, and that many might be brought low, my name being declared, as of one righteous and powerful, throughout all the earth.

¹³ So then he has mercy on whom he wills, and whom he wills he hardens. He brings in the conclusion, and declares that one ought not to demand a reckoning of God. For whom he wills he has mercy on, as on the Israelites who made the calf; and whom he wills he hardens, as Pharaoh. But what is the meaning of He hardens? For it seems absurd. Just as the sun hardens the clay, so also God is said to harden the clay heart of Pharaoh. How? By his longsuffering; for being longsuffering toward him, he wrought him the harder; just as if one has a wicked servant, and treats him kindly, he renders him the more wicked—not as though himself teaching him the wickedness, but as the other uses the longsuffering for the increase of his wickedness, despising it, as it were.

¹⁴ You will say then to me, Why does he yet find fault? For who has resisted his will? He is eager throughout, as I have often said, to show that to God alone are known these dispensations and these judgments; and from every side he gathers together many perplexities, and does not bring in the solutions, that, having straitened the hearer, he may show that these things are incomprehensible and inconceivable. What, then, he says here is of this sort. He brings in an objection, then, and a perplexity, that, If he hardens whom he wills, why does he yet find fault with him that stumbles? For who was able to withstand his will? He willed, and hardened, and with reason did the hardened one stumble; how then does he find fault with him, and chastise him? This objection, indeed, is brought in for the sake of showing that these things are perplexing, and comprehensible to him alone; wherefore neither does he himself solve it, but stops the mouth of him that is perplexed, saying:

¹⁵ Nay but, O man, who are you that answers back to God? You see how he checks the unseasonable curiosity, and lays a bridle upon it, teaching us to know what God is, and what man. Who are you? A judge with him of the principle? A judge with him of what ought to be done, or not? For to examine that thus it was fitting, and not thus it was fitting, belongs to one who answers back, and sets himself against God. But one ought not to do this, but to be persuaded of the things that come to pass, however they come to pass.

¹⁶ Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why have you made me thus? Or has not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor? Paul used this illustration, not that he might do away with our free will, nor that he might show us to be idle and unmoved; but teaching how one ought to be persuaded by God, and to display an intense silence and obedience. For just as, he says, the potter, of the same lump, makes what he wills, and none of the vessels answers back to him, so also do you, with regard to this One, who, of the same race of men, chastises some and honors others, be not over-curious, but only worship, and imitate the clay; and just as that follows the hand of the potter, so do you also follow the mind of him that dispenses. But know, O reader, that just as in the case of the vessels, it is not the lump that makes some honorable and some dishonorable (for it is one and the same), but the use of those who handle them, so also in the case of men, it is not nature that makes some worthy of chastisement and some of crowns (for it is one), but the will.

¹⁷ But if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make known his power, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted unto destruction; and that he might make known the riches of his glory upon the vessels of mercy, which he had before prepared unto glory; even us, whom he also called, not only of the Jews, but also of the nations. Having stopped the mouths of those who undertake to busy themselves, now he brings in the solution; and what he says is of this sort: A vessel of wrath was Pharaoh, that is, a man kindling the wrath of God by his own hardness. This man God endured, that is, bore with, suffered; for he counted him worthy of much longsuffering. But that man used this longsuffering for hardness, and became a vessel of wrath fit for display, fitted unto destruction, that is, made complete by himself and from himself. For there lacked nothing of the things that destroyed him, but he made complete all things that bore him toward destruction. And the word, Endured, stands for, brought into the midst, so that—since he was not bettered through the longsuffering—he might punish him, and show his own power toward the bettering of others; just as, then, having chastised this man, who became a vessel of wrath out of his own choice, he showed his own power, so, having had mercy on those of the nations who had sinned much, because they made themselves worthy of mercy, he made known the riches of his glory. And he did not say, Of his loving-kindness, but, Of his glory; for this is the perfect glory of God, to have mercy. And the word, Which he had before prepared, stands for, which he foreknew. And he did not say that he saved all those of the nations, but, Of the nations, that is, some. So that be not offended, O Jew; for behold, even in the case of the nations, some are had mercy on, but some not.

¹⁸ As he says also in Hosea, I will call that which was not my people, my people; and her that was not beloved, beloved. And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said to them, You are not my people, there shall they be called the sons of the living God. Lest the Jews should say, You deal falsely with us, Paul, in saying such things, he brings forward Hosea also, crying aloud and saying, I will call that which was not my people, my people. For who was the not-people? The nations. And who was she that was not beloved? Their Church. But nevertheless they became both a people, and beloved, and—what is greater—sons of the living God. And if anyone should say that this was spoken concerning the Jews, who were thankless, and then taken in, this is nothing. For if it holds of those, what hindered it from going forward also to the nations?

¹⁹ But Isaiah cries concerning Israel, Though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, the remnant shall be saved. For he is finishing the account, and cutting it short in righteousness; because a short account will the Lord make upon the earth. He was not content with Hosea, but brings forward Isaiah also as a witness, crying aloud, that is, proclaiming with boldness, and not drawing back, that not all who are of Israel shall be saved, but the worthy; for this is, The remnant, that is, the election; whom God left, and set apart, as being worthy, plainly. And in saying, As the sand of the sea, he puts them in remembrance of the old promise, of which they made themselves unworthy. Be not troubled, then, as though the promise had been belied, seeing that all the prophets proclaim beforehand that not all are worthy of salvation. Now he shows how the remnant shall be saved, and says that there is no need of toils and roundabout ways, and of the misery that is in the works of the law; but God, he says, finishing and cutting short the word of faith upon all the earth, will make this in righteousness, that is, so as to justify those who receive it. For if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you shall be saved. This is the shortened account, the brief words of faith.

²⁰ And as Isaiah said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we should have been as Sodom, and been made like unto Gomorrah. Having said that the remnant shall be saved, now he interprets what this is, and says that, What God left us is a choice seed and a leaven. For instead of, He chose out, he has set down, He left.

²¹ What shall we say then? That the nations, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith. But Israel, following after the law of righteousness, did not attain to the law of righteousness. Here he brings in the clearest solution, showing whence the nations were taken in, but the Israelites thrust away; and he says that the nations, holding fast the righteousness which is of faith, were truly justified; but the Israelites, following after and seeking the law of righteousness, that is, the one of works, did not attain to being justified. For the law which is of works could not justify.

²² Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. You ask, whence the Israelites failed of being justified, though striving much? Learn that they sought to be justified not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. But by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. And mark how he did not say, By works, but, As it were by works; that he might show that not truly, nor did they give heed to the works, but as in hypocrisy.

²³ For they stumbled at the stone of stumbling; as it is written, Behold, I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense; and whosoever believes on him shall not be put to shame. He who stumbles, stumbles from gaping after other things, and not giving heed to the things before him. And the Jews, then, from gaping after the law, stumbled at Christ, that is, disbelieved. And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense, Christ was named from the end and the outcome of those who disbelieved. For he in himself was set as a foundation and a sure ground; for he says, Whosoever believes on him shall not be put to shame, whether Greek or Jew. So that it is faith which works the whole and justifies, not works.