Romans 10:18

But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world. BUT I SAY, HAVE THEY NOT HEARD? ('Did they not hear?') - Can Israel, through any region of his dispersion, plead ignorance of these glad tidings, or of God's intention that they should be everywhere proclaimed? YES VERILY, [ menounge (G3304)] - see the note at Romans 9:20 - `Nay verily,' THEIR SOUND WENT INTO ALL THE EARTH, AND THEIR WORDS UNTO THE ENDS OF THE WORLD. These beautiful words are from Psalms 19:4. Whether the apostle quoted them as in their primary intention applicable to his subject (as Olshausen, Alfo...

18._But I say, have they not heard? etc. _Since the minds of men are imbued, by preaching, with the knowledge of God, which leads them to call on God, it remained a question whether the truth of God had been proclaimed to the Gentiles; for that Paul had suddenly betaken himself to the Gentiles, there was by that novelty no small offense given. He then asks, whether God had ever before directed his voice to the Gentiles, and performed the office of a teacher towards the whole world. But in order that he might show that the school, into which God collects scholars to himself from any part, is open in common to all, he brings forward a Prophet’s testimony from Psalms 19:4; which yet seems to bear apparently but little on the subject: for the Prophet does not speak there of Apostles but of the material works of God; in which he says the glory of God shines forth so evidently, that they ma

18-21 Did not the Jews know that the Gentiles were to be called in? They might have known it from Moses and Isaiah. Isaiah speaks plainly of the grace and favour of God, as going before in the receiving of the Gentiles. Was not this our own case? Did not God begin in love, and make himself known to us when we did not ask after him? The patience of God towards provoking sinners is wonderful. The time of God's patience is called a day, light as day, and fit for work and business; but limited as a day, and there is a night at the end of it. God's patience makes man's disobedience worse, and renders that the more sinful. We may wonder at the mercy of God, that his goodness is not overcome by man's badness; we may wonder at the wickedness of man, that his badness is not overcome by God's goodness. And it is a matter of joy to think that God has sent the message of grace to so many millions, b...

Verse 18. _BUT I SAY, HAVE THEY NOT HEARD?_] But to return to the objection: You say _they have not all_ BELIEVED; I ask: _Have_ _they not all_ HEARD? Have not the means of salvation been placed within the reach of every Jew in Palestine, and within the reach of all those who sojourn in the different Gentile countries where we have preached the Gospel, as well to the Jews as to the Gentiles themselves? Yes: for we may say of the preaching of the Gospel what the psalmist has said (Psalms 19:4) of the _heavenly bodies: Their sound went into all the earth, and_ _their words unto the ends of the world_. As the celestial luminaries have given testimony of the eternal power and Godhead of the Deity to the habitable world, the Gospel of Christ has borne testimony to his eternal goodness and mercy to all the land of Palestine, and to the whole Roman empire. There is...

BUT I SAY - But to this objection, I, the apostle, reply. The objection had been carried through the previous verses. The apostle comes now to reply to it. In doing this, he does not deny the principle contained in it, that the gospel should be preached in order that people might be justly condemned for not believing it; not that the messengers must be sent by God, not that faith comes by hearing. All this he fully admits. But he proceeds to show, by an ample quotation from the Old Testament, that this had been actually furnished to the Jews and to the Gentiles, and that they were actually in possession of the message, and could not plead that they had never heard it. This is the substance of his answer. HAVE THEY NOT HEARD? - A question is often, as it is here, an emphatic way of affirming a thing. The apostle means to affirm strongly that they had heard. The word “they,” in this place,...

EXPOSITION In this chapter the view of the whole subject introduced at Romans 9:30 is continued and carried out, according to which the present rejection of the Jews as a nation is traced to no absolute and irreversible Divine decree, but to their own refusal to accept God's plan of mercy to all mankind; testimonies being, as usual, adduced from the Old Testament in support of the argument. But, before proceeding, the apostle renews expression of his regret (cf. Romans 9:1, _seq._)_ _at the present position of his countrymen, and his earnest desire that it should be otherwise. ROMANS 10:1 BRETHREN, MY HEART'S DESIRE (εὐδοκία, expressing _good will_)

BUT I SAY, HAVE THEY NOT HEARD?.... ואני אומר, "but I say", is a phrase frequently used by the Jewish doctors in disputation, either in forming or answering objections. The Ethiopic version confines these words to Israel, and reads, "have not Israel heard?" whereas they are to be understood both of Jews and Gentiles; the question refers to each, and the answer is, YES, VERILY: which the Arabic renders just the reverse, "no", or "not at all, notwithstanding their sound went into all the earth"; and so makes this an aggravation of their stupidity, and obstinate rejection of the Gospel, that they would not hear it, though its sound reached every place; but the answer is in the affirmative, they did hear. The Jews heard the Gospel in the times of Isaiah, and other prophets, though they disbelieved the report of it; they heard it from John the Baptist, and were pleased with his ministry for...

This chapter is a gospel in itself; it very clearly points out the plan of salvation by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 10:1. _Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved._ Paul had a tender heart towards all unconverted men and women, and he longed and pleaded with God that they might be saved. Have all of us this unselfish compassionate feeling? I am afraid that there are some Christians who are very deficient in it; yet, in the dread of an immortality to be spent in woe unutterable by all unbelievers, our hearts' desire and perpetual prayer should be, as Paul's prayer for Israel was, «that they might be saved.» And if there is one class among the ungodly which should touch our hearts more than all the rest, it is those who are earnestly seeking salvation, but who are seeking it where they will never find it, namely, by

WORLD (Greek, "oikoumenē", means "inhabited earth"). (_ See Scofield) - (Luke 2:1). _...

CHAPTER 10 _ 1. Israel's Condition. (Romans 10:1 .)_ 2. Righteousness by Works and by Faith. (Romans 10:5 .) 3. The Gospel Published Abroad. (Romans 10:14 .) 4. Israel's Unbelief. (Romans 10:18 .) Romans 10:1 For His beloved people Israel the great apostle of the Gentiles prayed to God, that they might be saved. What an example he has given to us believers of the Gentiles. We owe a great debt to Israel; but how little prayer there is among Gentile Christians for the salvation of the Jews! Paul bears witness th