Beginnings
GenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomy
Judges
JoshuaJudgesRuth
Kingdoms
1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings
Chronicles
1 Chronicles2 ChroniclesEzraNehemiahEsther
Poetry
JobPsalmsProverbsEcclesiastesSong of Solomon
Prophets
IsaiahJeremiahLamentationsEzekielDaniel
Minor Prophets
HoseaJoelAmosObadiahJonahMicah
NahumHabakkukZephaniahHaggaiZechariahMalachi
Messiah
MatthewMarkLukeJohnActs
Paul's Letters
Romans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians
1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians1 Timothy2 TimothyTitusPhilemonHebrews
General Letters
James1 Peter2 Peter1 John
2 John3 JohnJude
Revelation
Revelation
Kept for this visit
Notes, starred verses and bookmarks kept while signed out last until this visit ends. Create a free account and everything you keep here moves into it, saved for good.
Create an account Sign in

Biblion Bible Commentary

Read the introduction to Romans · About this commentary

The Gentiles Will Hope

Romans 15:8-13

8 Now I say that Christ has been made a servant of the circumcision for the truth of God, that he might confirm the promises given to the fathers, · WEB

Christ served the circumcision to confirm the promises, four quotations sweep the canon for Gentile praise, and the section ends in a benediction of hope.

Now I say that Christ has been made a servant of the circumcision for the truth of God, that he might confirm the promises given to the fathers, and that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy.

The sentence is the whole letter's double thesis in miniature, and its two purpose clauses hold the two peoples of chapters 9 to 11. Christ became a servant of the circumcision — a ministry inside Israel, to Israel — for the truth of God: to prove the promises true, every patriarchal pledge confirmed in person Romans 11:29. And through that faithfulness to Israel, mercy reached the nations: the Jew received truth — promises kept; the Gentile received mercy — grace with no prior promise to appeal to Romans 11:30. Both end glorifying the same God, by different roads that meet at one table.

Then the catena — four citations, and their sweep is deliberate: therefore I will give praise to you among the Gentiles — David's psalm; rejoice, you Gentiles, with his people — the song of Moses in the law; praise the Lord, all you Gentiles — the shortest psalm, the whole world summoned; and Isaiah: there will be the root of Jesse, he who arises to rule over the Gentiles; in him the Gentiles will hope Romans 15:12.

Law, prophets, and writings all called as witnesses — the entire canon on record that Gentile praise was always the plan Romans 1:2. And the citations trace a progression: Gentiles hearing praise among them, then rejoicing with his people, then praising in their own voice, then hoping in him — from audience to family to worshipers to hopers, which is the actual history the Roman house churches embodied.

And the section — indeed the letter's whole argument — closes with a benediction built from the last citation's last word: now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope in the power of the Holy Spirit Romans 15:13.

The God of hope — the title minted on the spot from Isaiah's promise. The filling is in believing — joy and peace flow through the same channel everything in this letter flows through Romans 5:1–2. And the aim is abundance: hope overflowing, by the Spirit's power — the letter's pastoral destination, reached before the travel plans and greetings begin. A church divided over menus is prayed into a surplus of hope, because people abounding in hope have better things to do than audit each other's tables.

settled What this mark means