8 according as it hath been written, `God gave to them a spirit of deep sleep, eyes not to see, and ears not to hear,' -- unto this very day,
and Jehovah hath not given to you a heart to know, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, till this day,
For poured out on you hath Jehovah a spirit of deep sleep, And He closeth your eyes -- the prophets, And your heads -- the seers -- He covered.
`Son of man, in the midst of the rebellious house thou art dwelling, that have eyes to see, and they have not seen; ears they have to hear, and they have not heard; for a rebellious house `are' they.
`Because of this, in similes do I speak to them, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor understand, and fulfilled on them is the prophecy of Isaiah, that saith, With hearing ye shall hear, and ye shall not understand, and seeing ye shall see, and ye shall not perceive,
and these nations are fearing Jehovah, and their graven images they have served, both their sons and their sons' sons; as their fathers did, they are doing unto this day.
And He saith, `Go, and thou hast said to this people, Hear ye -- to hear, and ye do not understand, And see ye -- to see, and ye do not know.
and he said to them, `To you it hath been given to know the secret of the reign of God, but to those who are without, in similes are all the things done; that seeing they may see and not perceive, and hearing they may hear and not understand, lest they may turn, and the sins may be forgiven them.'
And he said, `To you it hath been given to know the secrets of the reign of God, and to the rest in similes; that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.
saying, Go on unto this people and say, With hearing ye shall hear, and ye shall not understand, and seeing ye shall see, and ye shall not perceive,
Unto this day they are doing according to the former customs -- they are not fearing Jehovah, and are not doing according to their statutes, and according to their ordinances, and according to the law, and according to the command, that Jehovah commanded the sons of Jacob whose name He made Israel,
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Romans 11
Commentary on Romans 11 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 11
The apostle, having reconciled that great truth of the rejection of the Jews with the promise made unto the fathers, is, in this chapter, further labouring to mollify the harshness of it, and to reconcile it to the divine goodness in general. It might be said, "Hath God then cast away his people?' The apostles therefore sets himself, in this chapter, to make a reply to this objection, and that two ways:-
Rom 11:1-32
The apostle proposes here a plausible objection, which might be urged against the divine conduct in casting off the Jewish nation (v. 1): "Hath God cast away his people? Is the rejection total and final? Are they all abandoned to wrath and ruin, and that eternal? Is the extent of the sentence so large as to be without reserve, or the continuance of it so long as to be without repeal? Will he have no more a peculiar people to himself?' In opposition to this, he shows that there was a great deal of goodness and mercy expressed along with this seeming severity, particularly he insists upon three things:-
Rom 11:33-36
The apostle having insisted so largely, through the greatest part of this chapter, upon reconciling the rejection of the Jews with the divine goodness, he concludes here with the acknowledgment and admiration of the divine wisdom and sovereignty in all this. Here the apostle does with great affection and awe adore,