Romans 10:11-21 - Exposition

What follows to the end of the chapter is abruptly expressed, in such wise as to render difficult a clear exposition of the intended argument. It seems (as in other parts of the Epistle) as if St. Paul had dictated rapidly, and without pausing to consider whether readers would easily follow the thoughts of which his own mind was full. First, having done with his illustrations from the Pentateuch, he resumes the line of thought expressed at the end of Romans 10:4 , by παντὶ τῷ πιστεύοντι . For, though Romans 10:11 is logically connected (in a way usual with St. Paul) with the preceding one—the quotation from Isaiah being adduced in proof of πιστεύεται εἰς δικαιοσύνην in verse 10—yet what follows is really a continuation of the thought of verse 4, viz. that the "righteousness of God," spoken of in verse 3, is of faith, and also for all. In evidence of this he returns to the text from Isaiah 28:16 , already cited in Romans 9:33 , and himself supplies πᾶς at the beginning of it, so as to bring out its universal application. It may be that, quoting from memory, he had forgotten that this word was not in the original, or he may have purposely added it in order to express more clearly what the original—in which there is no limitation of ὁ πισττεύων —really implied. The latter supposition is probable, inasmuch as (according to the best-supported readings) he had previously ( Romans 9:33 ) quoted the text without this addition, and now follows out the idea of πᾶς by giving a reason for it, and then, in Romans 9:13 , adds a text from Joel in which πᾶς does occur, so as to intimate that the "calling on the Name of the Lord," spoken of by Joel, implies the "believing" spoken of by Isaiah, and hence that the two texts must be equally universal in their application.