for the worfhip of God, (See Jude, ver. 19.) on pretence of greater orthodoxy and fanctity than others, and who would admit none into their communion, but fuch as joined them in their peculiarities, and who reprefented all others as erroneous and impious, This they did, from no regard to the Lord Jefus, but to enrich themselves, and to live in fenfual pleafure, ver. 18. for by making themfelves the heads of thefe fchifmatical affemblies, they drew a plentiful maintenance from their followers, whereby they enriched themselves, and gratified their lufts. See Philip. iii. 19.

3. Contrary to the do&rine which ye have learned; namely, from from me in this epiftle. Or, many of the Roman brethren may have heard the apoftles and other infpired men, preach in Judea and elsewhere, from whom they learned the genuine doctrines of the gofpel. According to this interpretation, the apoftle, as Ellius obferves, infinuates here, that even the common people, by the help of general principles, may difcern true doctrine from that which is falfe.

puro

4. And avoid them. It is worthy of notice, that the apoftle defires the faithful to mark them who caufe divifions, not for the pofe of difputing with them, and far lefs for the purpose of apprehending and puniting them with fines, imprifonment, torture, and death: but that they might avoid their company, lett by converfing fami! liarly with fuch, they might have been infected with their errors and vices. For, as the apoftle told Timothy, 2 Epift. ii. 17. their word quill cat, as deth a grangrene.

Ver. 18.

18 For fuch teachers, whatever they may pretend, do not ferve our Lord Jefus Chrift, but their own lufts, and by plaufible difcourfe, and hypocritical wishes of happiness, they draw away the affections of the innocent, who have no fufpicion of their wickednefs.

19 Now your obedience in turning from idols, to the true God, is reported through the whole empire, I therefore rejoice on your account. Nevertheless, I wish you to be wife with respect to good, fo as to difcern and practife it habitually, and to be pure with refpect to evil, by avoiding all falfe doctrines and wicked actions.

20 And God, who is the author of peace, will produce peace among you, by bruifing Satan under your feet foon; I mean the unbelieving Jews, and Judaizing teachers, who make divifions among you. The favour of our Lord Jefus Chrift be with you.

Amen.

Ver. 18.1. And by good words. Xenonovias, comes from Xpn50Aoy, which fignifies one who promifes much, but performs nothing; one who profeffes to regard the intereft of the perfon to whom he fpeaks, much more than his own; in fhort, one who fawns and flatters, without poffeffing any real benevolence. Thus, the emperor Pertinax was called Chriflologus, because, as Aurelius Victor elegantly expreffes it, Blandus effet, magis quam benignus.

2. And bleffings. Euhoya benedictio, faufta imprecatio. The falfe teachers, to gain the affections of their difpiples, prayed with great' feeming earn nefs for all manner of bleffings to them.

3. They deceive the hearts of the innocent. Ακακων. This word denotes perfons entirely free from guile; perfons upright and unfufpicious, but who have not prudence fufficient to enable them to difcern and avoid the fnares which the wicked lay in their way.

your

Ver. 19.-1. Now your obedience is reported to all men, literally, obedience hath come to all, that is, the fame of your obedience hath come. For that fuch a number of the inhabitants of the metropolis of the Roman empire, had forfaken the worship of idols, must have been much spoken of through all the provinces.

2. I wifb indeed to be wife, &c. The apoftle's argument is this; have fhewn fuch prudence and difcernment in receiving the

Since

ye

golpel

23 Gaius mine hoft, and

21 Ασπάζονται ύμας Τι
μode i ovvegy
Mode:
Λεκια και Ιασων και Σως
σιπατρα, οἱ συγΓενες με.

22 Ασπαζομαι ὑμας εγω
Τετι ὁ γράψας την επι
σόλην εν Κυρίω.

23 Ασπάζεται ύμας Γαιος

of the whole church, falutetheve naι TYS EXHÀNσE

you. Eraftus the chamber-
Iain of the city faluterh ας όλης.
you, and Quartus a bro-
a bro

ther.

Ασπατζεται ὑμας

Ερας ὁ οικονομο

της

πολέως, και Κεαρτᾶ ὁ αδελ-

φος.

gofpel, ye fhould fhew like prudence and difcernment in your behaviour
under the gospel, by doing every thing that is good, and by preferv.
ing yourselves unpolluted with evil.

Ver. 20.-1. And the God of peace will bruife Satan under your feet
foon. The Hebrew word Satan, fignifies an enemy. But because the
chief of the evil fpirits in rebellion against God, is the greatest ene.
my of mankind, the name is appropriated to him. Here it is given
to the unbelieving Jews, and alfo to the Judaizing teachers and their
adherents, who for felfifh purposes, bred divifions at Rome, ver. 17.
and in every church where they could obtain a footing; they are
therefore called minifters of Satan, 2 Cor. xi. 15. The fpeedy de-
ftruction of thefe falfe teachers who occafioned divifions in the church,
the apostle foretold, by affuring the Romans, that the God of peace
would bruife Satan under their feet foon: I fuppofe, in allufion to the
bruifing of the head of the ferpent, under the heel of the feed of the
See the Illuftration prefixed to chap. xi. pag. 413.

woman..

2. The grace of our Lord Jefus Chrift be with you. The apostle,
entertaining the warmest affection towards the faithful in Rome, gave
them his apoftolical Christian benediction, both here and ver. 24. to
fhew them how much his heart overflowed with love to them.
in the Syriac verfion it is omitted at the 24th verse, and added at the
end of the epiftle.

But

Ver. 21. Timothy my fellow-labourer. Timothy was converted
by Paul while very young. And being chofen by him as his affistant
in the miniftry, he accompanied him in all his journeys, and shared
with him in all his dangers. Hence he ftyles hin his fellow labourer.
See Pref to 1 Tim. fect. i.

2. And Lucius. There is a perfon of this name, mentioned, Acts
xiii. 1 as one of the prophets of the church at Antioch. But Lucius
of Antioch, being no where mentioned as Paul's companion in travel,

21 Timothy, my affiftans in the miniftry, and Lucius, and Fason, and Sofipater, my kinfmen, who are at prefent with me, falute you.

22 ITertius, who wrote this letter from the apostle's autograph, am permitted by him to falute you as the difciples of Chrift.

23 Caius, with whom I lodge, and who fhews hofpitality to all the mem bers of the church here, wishes you health. So doth Eraftus, the chamberlain of Corinth, and Quartus, one of your own church, who at prefent is with me.

Origen fuppofed the Lucius who fent his falutation to the church at Rome, was Luke the evangelift, whom the apoftle called Lucius, after the Roman manner, as he called Silas, Silvanus But it is not certain that Luke was with the apostle in Corinth, when he wrote this epistle.

3. And Jafon. He his thought by many to have been the Jafon with whom the apoftle lodged at Theffalonica, Acts xvi. 7. And who, on that account, was accufed to the magistrates of harbouring feditious perfons.

4. And Sofipater. This, I fuppofe, is the perfon called Sopater of Berea, who is faid to have accompanied the apoftle to Afia, Acts xx. He and Jafon are called the apostle's kinsmen, because they were Jews,

Ver. 22. I Tertius, who wrote this epiftle, falute you. It seems Tertius was well known to the Roman brethren. From his name he may be fuppofed to have been a Roman. Others think this is Silas, because his name is of the fame fignification with Tertius.

Ver 23.1. Caius mine hoft. He is generally believed to have been Caius of Corinth, whom Paul baptized, 1 Cor. i. 14. And who being a man of wealth, and of a benevolent difpofition, entertained the apoftle in his house, at the time this epiftle was written and fhewed great hofpitality likewife to all the members of the church at Corinth. See 3 John, Pref. fect. 2.

2. Eraftus the chamberlain of the city faluteth you. At Smyrna there was an officer of this kind, who is mentioned among the other magiftrates of the city. Marmor. Oxon. p. 265. Manns ve: oixovoμ®, Meiletus the younger, fleward. In the Vulgate verfion, oxovoμ TOES, is tranflated, Arcarius civitatis. The treasurer of the city.-Eraftus being a perfon of fuch note, his converfion and falutation must have occafioned great joy to the brethren in Rome.

3. And Quartus your brother. I have fupplied the word your, besaufe to call Quartus simply a brother, was no diftinction at all, un.

L13

lefs,

mem

lefs, as fome conjecture, it imports that he was a minister of the gofpel. That Quartus was a native of Rome, or Italy, and a ber of the church at Rome, as well as Tertius, I think probable from their names, which are evidently Latin.

Ver. 24. The grace of our Lord Jefus Chrift be with you all. This is the concluding apoftolical benediction, which St. Paul always wrote with his own hand, to diftinguifh his genuine epiftles from thofe that were forged in his name, 2 Theff. iii. 17. But though he commonly ended his letters with that benediction, before he quitted the pen, on this occafion, he added alfo in his own hand-writing, that grand doxology, contained ver. 25, 26, 27 in which he offers a folemn thanksgiving to God, for the calling of the Gentiles, by the apostles preaching Chrift to them, according to the revelation of that mystery made to him, and according to God's exprefs commandment in the prophetic writings of the Jews. And as he had explained these fubjects in the foregoing epiftle, this doxology was placed at the conclufion of it, with great propriety, and could not but be extremely acceptable to all the Gentiles.

Ver. 25.-1. Now to him who is able to fablifh you, according to my gofpel. What the apoftle wifhed the Romans to be established in, was thofe effential points of doctrine, which he always preached, and which he had inculcated in this letter; namely, the gratuitous juftification of Jews and Gentiles by faith, without works of law. And in particular the juftification of the Gentiles, without fubje&ting them to the law of Mofes. Thefe doctrines, he calls his gospel, or good news, not in contradiftinction to the good news of the other apofties, as Locke fancies, to the great difcredit of the rest, whose doctrine was the fame with Paul's, fo far as it went; but in oppofi. tion to the doctrines taught by the Judaizers, and other falfe teachers, who added the law to the gofpel, on pretence that the gospel was defective in rites of atonement.

2. According to the revelation of the mystery. The apoftle calls the admiffion of the Gentiles to all the privileges of the church and people of God, without fubje&ting them to the law of Mofes, a myflery, because it was a doctrine of much greater importance, than any doctrine taught in the heathen myfteries; and because, like thefe

myfteries,