Romans 2:4-5

“ Or despisest thou the rïches of His goodness and forbearance and long-suffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? But, according to thy hardness and impenitent heart, treasurest up unto thyself wrath for the day of wrath and of the revelation of the righteous judgment of God. ” ῎Η, or even. The meaning is: is there something even worse than an illusion; is there contempt? The case then would be more than foolish, it would be impious! The riches of goodness, of which the apostle speaks, embrace all God's benefits to Israel in the past: that special election, those consecutive revelations, that constant care, finally, the sending of the Messiah, all that constituted the privileged position which Israel had enjoyed for so many ages. The second term, ἀνοχή, patience (from ἀνέχεσθαι to restrain oneself), denotes the feeling awakened in the benefactor when his goodness is put to the proof by ingratitude. Paul has in view no doubt the murder of the Messiah, which divine justice might have met with the immediate destruction of the nation. The third term, μακροθυμία, long-suffering, refers to the incomprehensible prolongation of Israel's existence, in spite of the thirty consecutive years of resistance to the appeals of God, and to the preaching of the apostles which had elapsed, and in spite of such crimes as the murder of Stephen and James (Acts 7:12). The three words form an admirable climax. The last (long-suffering) characterizes this treasure of grace as exhausted, and that of wrath as ready to discharge itself. The notion of contempt is explained by the fact that the more God shows Himself good, patient, and meek, the more does the pride of Israel seem to grow, and the more does the nation show itself hostile to the gospel. ᾿Αγνοῶν may be translated: ignoring, or mistaking; the first meaning is simpler and may suffice, for there is a voluntary ignorance, the result of bad faith, in consequence of which we do not see what we do not care so see; it is this ignorance which is referred to here.

The phrase τὸ χρηστὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ is touching: what is good, sweet, gentle in God (χρηστός, strictly: that may be handled, what one may make use of, from χράομαι). The form: “what good there is”...leaves it to be inferred that there is something else in God, and that He will not let Himself be always treated thus with impunity. The time will come when He will act with rigor.

The word ἄγειν, to lead, implies the power possessed by man of yielding to or resisting the attraction exercised over him. If he could not resist it, how could the Jews be accused of committing this offence at this very time? Μετάνοια, repentance, is the act whereby man goes back on his former views, and changes his standpoint and feeling.