Rom 11:26, 2Ti 2:16, Tit 2:12, Jude 15, 18 | Barnes | STEP | Verse 26. And so . That is, in this manner; or when the great abundance of the Gentiles shall be converted, then all Israel shall be saved. All Israel . All the Jews. It was a maxim among the Jews, that "every Israelite should have part in the future age." ( Grotius .) The apostle applies that maxim to his own purpose; and declares the sense in which it would be true. He does not mean to say that every Jew of every age would be saved; for he had proved that a large portion of them would be, in his time, rejected and lost. But the time would come when, as a people , they would be recovered; when the nation would turn to God; and when it could be said of them, that, as a nation , they were restored to the Divine favour. It is not clear that he means that even then every individual of them would be saved, but the body of them; the great mass of the nation would be. Nor is it said when this would be. This is one of the things which "the Father hath put in his own power," . He has given us the assurance that it shall be done to encourage us in our efforts to save them; and he has concealed the time when it shall be, lest we should relax our efforts, or feel that no exertions were needed to accomplish what must take place at a fixed time. Shall be saved . Shall be recovered from their rejection; be restored to the Divine favour; become followers of the Messiah, and thus be saved as all other Christians are. As it is written . . The quotation is not literally made, but the sense of the passage is preserved. The Hebrew is, "There shall come to Zion a Redeemer, and for those who turn from ungodliness in Jacob." There can be no doubt that Isaiah refers here to the times of the gospel. Out of Zion . Zion was one of the hills of Jerusalem. On this was built the city of David. It came thus to denote, in general, the church, or people of God. And when it is said that the Redeemer should come out of Zion , it means that he should arise among that people, be descended from themselves, or should not be a foreigner. The Seventy, however, render it, "the Redeemer shall come on a mount of Zion ." So the Chaldee paraphrase, and the Latin Vulgate. And shall turn away , etc. The Hebrew is, "to those forsaking ungodliness in Jacob." The Septuagint has rendered it in the same manner as the apostle. (x) "There shall come"

Romans 11:26

Verse 26. And so. That is, in this manner; or when the great abundance of the Gentiles shall be converted, then all Israel shall be saved.

All Israel. All the Jews. It was a maxim among the Jews, that "every Israelite should have part in the future age." (Grotius.) The apostle applies that maxim to his own purpose; and declares the sense in which it would be true. He does not mean to say that every Jew of every age would be saved; for he had proved that a large portion of them would be, in his time, rejected and lost. But the time would come when, as a people, they would be recovered; when the nation would turn to God; and when it could be said of them, that, as a nation, they were restored to the Divine favour. It is not clear that he means that even then every individual of them would be saved, but the body of them; the great mass of the nation would be. Nor is it said when this would be. This is one of the things which "the Father hath put in his own power," Acts 1:7. He has given us the assurance that it shall be done to encourage us in our efforts to save them; and he has concealed the time when it shall be, lest we should relax our efforts, or feel that no exertions were needed to accomplish what must take place at a fixed time.

Shall be saved. Shall be recovered from their rejection; be restored to the Divine favour; become followers of the Messiah, and thus be saved as all other Christians are.

As it is written. Isa 59:20. The quotation is not literally made, but the sense of the passage is preserved. The Hebrew is, "There shall come to Zion a Redeemer, and for those who turn from ungodliness in Jacob." There can be no doubt that Isaiah refers here to the times of the gospel.

Out of Zion. Zion was one of the hills of Jerusalem. On this was built the city of David. It came thus to denote, in general, the church, or people of God. And when it is said that the Redeemer should come out of Zion, it means that he should arise among that people, be descended from themselves, or should not be a foreigner. The Seventy, however, render it, "the Redeemer shall come on a mount of Zion." So the Chaldee paraphrase, and the Latin Vulgate.

And shall turn away, etc. The Hebrew is, "to those forsaking ungodliness in Jacob." The Septuagint has rendered it in the same manner as the apostle.

(x) "There shall come" Isa 59:20

2 Timothy 2:16

Verse 16. But shun profane and vain babblings. 1Timm 6:20.

For they will increase unto more ungodliness. Their tendency is to alienate the soul from God, and to lead to impiety. Such kinds of disputation are not merely a waste of time, they are productive of positive mischief. A man fond of contention in religious things is seldom one who has much love for the practical duties of piety, or any very deep sense of the distinction between right and wrong. You will not usually look for him in the place of prayer, nor can you expect his aid in the conversion of sinners, nor will you find that he has any very strict views of religious obligation.

Titus 2:12

Verse 12. Teaching us. That is the "grace of God" so teaches us; or that system of religion which is a manifestation of the grace of God, inculcates the great and important duties which Paul proceeds to state.

That denying ungodliness and worldly lusts. "That by denying ourselves of these, or refusing to practise them, we should lead a holy life." The word ungodliness, here means all that would be included under the word impiety; that is, all failure in the performance of our proper duties towards God. Rom 1:18. The phrase "worldly lusts," refers to all improper desires pertaining to this life--the desire of wealth, pleasure, honour, sensual indulgence. It refers to such passions as the men of this world are prone to, and would include all those things which cannot be indulged in with a proper reference to the world to come. The gross passions would be of course included, and all those more re- fined pleasures also which constitute the characteristic and peculiar enjoyments of those who do not live unto God.

We should live soberly. See the word soberly (σωφρονως) explained Tit 2:2, Tit 2:4. It means that we should exercise a due restraint on our passions and propensities.

Righteously. Justly. This refers to the proper performance of our duties to our fellowmen; and it means that religion teaches us to perform those duties with fidelity, according to all our relations in life; to all our promises and contracts; to our fellow-citizens and neighbours; to the poor, and needy, and ignorant, and oppressed; and to all those who are providentially placed in our way who need our kind offices.

Justice to them would lead us to act as we would wish that they would towards us.

And godly. Piously; that is, in the faithful performance of our duties to God. We have here, then, an epitome of all that religion requires:

(1.) Our duty to ourselves--included in the word "soberly," and requiring a suitable control over our evil propensities and passions;

(2.) our duty to our fellow-men in all the relations we sustain in life; and

(3.) our duty to God--evinced in what will be properly regarded as a pious life. He that does these things, meets all the responsibilities of his condition and relations; and the Christian system, requiring the faithful performance of these duties, shows how admirably it is adapted to man.

In this present world. That is, as long as we shall continue in it. These are the duties which we owe in the present life.

Jude 15

Verse 15. To execute judgment upon all. That is, he shall come to judge all the dwellers upon the earth, good and bad.

And to convince all. The word convince we now use commonly in a somewhat limited sense, as meaning to satisfy a man's own mind either of the truth of some proposition, or of the fact that he has done wrong, as being in this latter sense synonymous with the word convict. This conviction is commonly produced by argument or truth, and is not necessarily followed by any sentence of disapprobation, or by any judicial condemnation. But this is clearly not the sense in which the word is used here. The purpose of the coming of the Lord will not be to convince men in that sense, though it is undoubtedly true that the wicked will see that their lives have been wrong; but it will be to pronounce a sentence on them as the result of the evidence of their guilt. The Greek word which is here used occurs nowhere else in the New Testament.

All that are ungodly among them. All that are not pious; all that have no religion.

Of all their ungodly deeds, etc. Of their wicked actions and words. This is the common doctrine of the Bible, that all the wicked actions and words of men will be called into judgment. In regard to this passage, thus quoted from an ancient prophecy, we may remark,

(1.) that the style bears the marks of its being a quotation, or of its being preserved by Jude in the language in which it had been handed down by tradition. It is not the style of Jude. It is not so terse, pointed, energetic.

(2.) It has every probable mark of its having been actually delivered by Enoch. The age in which he lived was corrupt. The world was ripening for the deluge. He was himself a good man, and, as would seem perhaps, almost the only good man of his generation. Nothing would be more natural than that he should be reproached by hard words and speeches, and nothing more natural than that he should have pointed the men of his own age to the future judgment.

(3.) The doctrine of the final judgment, if this was uttered by Enoch, was an early doctrine in the world. It was held even in the first generations of the race. It was one of those great truths early communicated to man to restrain him from sin, and to lead him to prepare for the great events which are to occur on the earth. The same doctrine has been transmitted from age to age, and is now one of the most important and the most affecting that refers to the final destiny of men.

(a) "judgment upon all" Rev 20:13 (*) "convince" "convict" (b) "speeches" Ps 73:9

Jude 18

Verse 18. Jude 1:17.