Romans 10

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Romans 10:1

Ambrosiaster: Since Paul wants to liberate the Jews from the law, which is a veil over their faces, but does not want to appear to desire this out of any hatred for Judaism, he shows his love for them and says many good things about the law. But he teaches that the time for obeying the law has come to an end and by doing this bears witness that he is concerned for them, if only they will listen to him and not assume that he is their enemy. — COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

Augustine of Hippo: Here Paul begins to speak of his hope for the Jews, lest the Gentiles in their turn become condescending toward them. For just as the pride of the Jews had to be countered because they gloried in their works, so also with the Gentiles, lest they become proud at having been preferred over the Jews. — AUGUSTINE ON Romans 66

John Chrysostom: He is now going again to rebuke them more vehemently than before. Wherefore he again does away with every suspicion of hatred, and makes a great effort beforehand to correct misapprehension. Do not then, he says, mind words or accusations, but observe that it is not in any hostile spirit that I say this. For it is not likely that the same person should desire their salvation, and not desire it only, but even pray for it, and yet should also hate them, and feel aversion to them. For here he calls his exceeding desire, and the prayer which he makes, “heart’s desire.” For it is not the being freed from punishment only, but that they may also be saved, that he makes so great a point of, and prays for. Nor is it from this only, but also from the sequel that he shows the goodwill that he hath towards them. For from what is open to him, as far as he can, he forces his way, and is contentious to find out some shadow at least of an excuse for them. And he hath not the power, being overcome by the nature of the facts. — Homily on Romans 17

Origen of Alexandria: Both from the beginning, and as the text of the Epistle proceeds, we have said that Paul at one time speaks on behalf of the Gentiles, at another also on behalf of Israel. Since, therefore, in those things which were recently expounded he made use of many testimonies of the prophets against Israel, so that he brought forward from Isaiah: “Unless the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we should have become as Sodom, and should have been made like unto Gomorrha;” and again: “If the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved:” and to these he adds, that “Israel, following after the law of justice, did not attain to the law;” therefore now, wishing again to console his own people, and through this to invite them to faith, he says: “Brethren, the desire of my heart indeed, and my prayer to God is made for them unto salvation.” — COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

Pelagius: Here Paul shows that he prays for his enemies not only with the tongue but also with the heart. — PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS

Romans 10:2

Ambrose of Milan: I know that you [Emperor Theodosius I] are God-fearing, merciful, gentle and calm, that you have the faith and fear of God in your heart, but often some things escape our notice. Some people have a zeal for God but not according to knowledge. Care must be taken … lest this condition steal upon pious souls. — Letter 40.5

Gennadius of Constantinople: Having once been one of them himself, Paul understood and bore witness that the Jews fought against the gospel out of zeal for God, yet it was a zeal uninformed by true knowledge. — PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH

John Chrysostom: “For I bear them record,” says he, “that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.” Ought not this then to be a ground for pardoning and not for accusing them? For if it is not of man that they are separated, but through zeal, they deserved to be pitied rather than punished. But observe how adroitly he favors them in the word, and yet shows their unseasonable obstinacy. — Homily on Romans 17

Origen of Alexandria: And he shows the cause why his desire and prayer is held before God on their behalf. “For I bear them witness,” he says, “that they have indeed a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.” Although, he says, they are entangled in so many and such great evils of their own sins, nevertheless there is in them an unspeakable zeal and emulation of God. And this cause moved me to entreat God on their behalf, that at least at the end they may at some time attain to salvation. For they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. And he proves in what way they have a zeal of God not according to knowledge: because “being ignorant,” he says, “of the justice of God,” they submit to their own justice. It profits little, therefore, to have a zeal of God and not to have the knowledge of that zeal. Accordingly the Jews, thinking that they were acting with zeal for God, became sacrilegious against the Son of God: because they were not zealous according to knowledge, as was Phinees the son of Eleazar, who, being zealous according to knowledge, slew the Madianite woman together with the Israelite who was fornicating with her: and as was Elias, who said: “With zeal I have been zealous for the Lord God omnipotent of Israel, because the children of Israel have forsaken thee, they have slain thy prophets, and overthrown thy altars;” and as was Mathathias, of whom it is written in the first book of Machabees, that “he was zealous in the law of God, and his reins trembled, and his fury went up according to judgment.” The zeal and emulation of all these was according to knowledge, but the zeal of the Jews was not according to knowledge, for this reason: because being ignorant of the justice of God, they were attempting to fulfil their own, that is, that which seemed justice to men; whereas it would surely rather have been fitting for them to obey the justice of God, which is Christ. But see now whether perhaps this saying may seem to be spoken not to them alone, that they “have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.” For the Apostle can likewise say of others also, that “I bear them witness” that they have the fear of God, but not according to knowledge: and of others, that they have the love of God, but not according to knowledge. For if anyone have an affection toward God, but be ignorant that charity ought to be patient, kind, not envious, not dealing perversely, not puffed up, not ambitious, not seeking the things that are her own: and if he have not these things and things like to these in his charity, but love God in affection alone, it will fittingly be said to him also that he has the love of God, but not according to knowledge. And likewise it can be said of another, that he has the faith of God, but not according to knowledge, if he be ignorant that “faith without works is dead:” and that the faith of God is not in words alone, which are sometimes learned as composed or written by another, but in such a disposition of mind as she had who said within herself: “If I shall touch the hem of his garment, I shall be saved.” If anyone therefore have not faith in such a way as to show by his good acts in whom he believes, it can be said to him also that he has the faith of God, but not according to knowledge. It can be said of another too that he has the chastity of God, but not according to knowledge. And another has care for the poor, but not according to knowledge: namely, if he wishes to be praised by men. And another can be called abstinent, but not according to knowledge, if he fasts for this reason, that he may be pleasing to men. And thus in each single thing that we do, unless we do it according to knowledge and understanding, it can be said to us that we have a zeal for a good work, but not according to knowledge. And therefore attention must especially be given to knowledge, lest the matter turn out unhappily for us, so that, being placed in faith, we be cheated of faith, and having zeal for good things, we fall away from good things. But do you wish to know that a person can, if he have not knowledge, come to nothing in faith? Hear Paul himself saying to certain persons: “Unless you have believed in vain.” It has happened, therefore, that those have believed in vain who do not give attention to knowledge, so as to receive also, in that which they have believed, the understanding of the truth. Accordingly the apostles too, clearly perceiving that this is the difference between faith simply handed down and faith which is according to knowledge, said to the Saviour: “Increase our faith,” that is, that we who have that faith which is not according to knowledge may have also that which is according to knowledge. And so Paul bears witness to the Jews that they have a zeal of God, although not according to knowledge. Nevertheless, because in some fashion they have a zeal of God, they gave the Apostle a cause for which he might offer prayer for them to God. For it is better to have a zeal of God, although not according to knowledge, than not to have it at all. For “he that hath,” as it is written, “to him shall be given,” even in the last times when all Israel shall be saved; “but he that hath not, from him shall be taken away even that which he hath.” — COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

Pelagius: The Jews are zealous in pursuing the law, but they do not understand that Christ came according to the law and that they cannot be justified by the law. Indeed, it is risky to do something without knowledge, because it often turns out contrary to what was expected. — PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS

Tertullian: For," says he, “being ignorant of (the righteousness of) God, and going about to establish their own righteousness, they have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God; for Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.” Hereupon we shall be confronted with an argument of the heretic, that the Jews were ignorant of the superior God, since, in opposition to him, they set up their own righteousness-that is, the righteousness of their law-not receiving Christ, the end (or finisher) of the law. — Against Marcion Book V

Theodoret of Cyrus: Paul adds criticism to his praise, just as food sometimes contains a hook, so that they might derive some benefit from what he had to say. — INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS

Romans 10:3

Ambrosiaster: Paul says that the Jews did not accept Christ because they were mistaken, not because there was any malice on their part. — COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

Augustine of Hippo: Paul said this about the Jews who because of their self-confidence rejected grace and as a result did not believe in Christ. The Jews, he says, seek to establish a righteousness of their own that comes from the law, not that the law was established by them but rather that they had placed their righteousness in the law which comes from God by supposing that they were able to fulfill this law by themselves. For they were ignorant of the righteousness of God, not that righteousness whereby God is righteous but the one which comes to man from God. — GRACE AND FREE WILL 12.24

Irenaeus: He does not call the law given by Moses commandments of men, but the traditions of the elders themselves which they had invented, and in upholding which they made the law of God of none effect, and were on this account also not subject to His Word. For this is what Paul says concerning these men: “For they, being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.” And how is Christ the end of the law, if He be not also the final Cause of it? For He who has brought in the end has Himself also wrought the beginning; and it is He who does Himself say to Moses, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people which is in Egypt, and I have come down to deliver them;” it being customary from the beginning with the Word of God to ascend and descend for the purpose of saving those who were in affliction. — Against Heresies Book IV

John Chrysostom: “For they being ignorant,” he says, “of God’s righteousness.” Again the word would lead to pardon. But the sequel to stronger accusation, and such as does away with defence of any kind. “And going about,” he says, “to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.” And these things he says to show, that it was from a petulancy and love of power that they erred, rather than from ignorance, and that not even this righteousness from the deeds of the Law did they establish. For saying “going about to establish” is what one would do to show this. And in plain words indeed he has not stated this (for he has not said, that they fell short of both righteousnesses), but he has given a hint of it in a very judicious manner, and with the wisdom so befitting him. For if they are still “going about” to establish that, it is very plain that they have not yet established it. If they have not submitted themselves to this, they have fallen short of this also. But he calls it their “own righteousness,” either because the Law was no longer of force, or because it was one of trouble and toil. But this he calls God’s righteousness, that from faith, because it comes entirely from the grace from above, and because men are justified in this case, not by labors, but by the gift of God. But they that evermore resisted the Holy Ghost, and vexatiously tried to be justified by the Law, came not over to the faith. But as they did not come over to the faith, nor receive the righteousness thereupon ensuing, and were not able to be justified by the Law either, they were thrown out of all resources. — Homily on Romans 17

Pelagius: Because the Jews did not know that God justifies by faith alone and because they thought they were righteous by the works of a law they did not keep, they refused to submit themselves to the forgiveness of sins, to prevent the appearance of having been sinners, as it is written: “But the Pharisees, rejecting God’s purpose for themselves, refused to be baptized with John’s baptism.” — PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS

Theodoret of Cyrus: When Paul talks about the Jews’ own righteousness he means their inappropriate way of keeping the law. For they were trying to keep something which was already out of date. — INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS

Romans 10:4

Apollinaris of Laodicea: Christ furnishes believers with holy righteousness, because he is “the end of the law,” and the law prepared the way for Christ by showing that he was the fulfillment of it, the salvation of mankind. — PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH

Clement of Alexandria: And they did not believe the law as prophesying, but the bare word; and they followed through fear, not through disposition and faith. “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness”. For so he, who was after the law, Moses, foretold that it was necessary to hear in order that we might, according to the apostle, receive Christ, the fulness of the law. — The Stromata Book 2

Clement of Alexandria: The Jews did not understand the intention of the law and so failed to practice it. They made up their own version and thought that that was what the law intended. They had no faith in the prophetic power of the law. They followed the bare letter, not the inner meaning—fear, not faith. — The Stromata Book 2

Gennadius of Constantinople: Christ fulfilled the law’s purpose by granting the righteousness which comes by faith in him to all those who accepted him. — PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH

Hippolytus of Rome: And what saith the Lord to him? “Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness.” “Suffer it to be so now,” John; thou art not wiser than I. Thou seest as man; I foreknow as God. It becomes me to do this first, and thus to teach. I engage in nothing unbecoming, for I am invested with honour. Dost thou marvel, O John, that I am not come in my dignity? The purple robe of kings suits not one in private station, but military splendour suits a king: am I come to a prince, and not to a friend? “Suffer it to be so now for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness: “I am the Fulfiller of the law; I seek to leave nothing wanting to its whole fulfilment, that so after me Paul may exclaim, “Christ is the fulfilling of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.” “Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness.” Baptize me, John, in order that no one may despise baptism. I am baptized by thee, the servant, that no one among kings or dignitaries may scorn to be baptized by the hand of a poor priest. Suffer me to go down into the Jordan, in order that they may hear my Father’s testimony, and recognise the power of the Son. “Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness.” Then at length John suffers Him. “And Jesus, when He was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and the heavens were opened unto Him; and, lo, the Spirit of God descended like a dove, and rested upon Him. And a voice (came) from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” — Hippolytus Dogmatical and Historical Fragments

Irenaeus: For this is what Paul says concerning these men: “For they, being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.” And how is Christ the end of the law, if He be not also the final Cause of it? For He who has brought in the end has Himself also wrought the beginning; and it is He who does Himself say to Moses, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people which is in Egypt, and I have come down to deliver them;” it being customary from the beginning with the Word of God to ascend and descend for the purpose of saving those who were in affliction. — Against Heresies Book IV

John Chrysostom: “For Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness to every one that believeth.” See the judgment of Paul. For as he had spoken of a righteousness, and a righteousness, lest they of the Jews which believed should seem to have the one but be excluded from the other, and to be accused of lawlessness (for even these there was no less cause to fear about as being still newly come in), and lest Jews should again expect to achieve it, and should say, Though we have not at present fulfilled it, yet we certainly will fulfil it, see what ground he takes. He shows that there is but one righteousness, and that has its full issue in this, and that he that hath taken to himself this, the one by faith, hath fulfilled that also. But he that rejects this, falls short as well of that also. For if Christ be “the end of the Law,” he that hath not Christ, even if he seem to have that righteousness, hath it not. But he that hath Christ, even though he have not fulfilled the Law aright, hath received the whole. For the end of the physician’s art is health. As then he that can make whole, even though he hath not the physician’s art, hath everything; but he that knows not how to heal, though he seem to be a follower of the art, comes short of everything: so is it in the case of the Law and of faith. He that hath this hath the end of that likewise, but he that is without this is an alien from both. For what was the object of the Law? To make man righteous. But it had not the power, for no one fulfilled it. This then was the end of the Law and to this it looked throughout, and for this all its parts were made, its feasts, and commandments, and sacrifices, and all besides, that man might be justified. But this end Christ gave a fuller accomplishment of through faith. Be not then afraid, he says, as if transgressing the Law in having come over to the faith. For then dost thou transgress it, when for it thou dost not believe Christ. If thou believest in Him, then thou hast fulfilled it also, and much more then it commanded. For thou hast received a much greater righteousness. — Homily on Romans 17

Novatian: There was indeed a time long ago when attention was to be paid to these shadows and figures prescribing abstinence from foods pronounced good in their creation but forbidden by the law. When Christ, “the end of the law,” came, he cleared up all the ambiguities of the law and all those things which antiquity had shrouded in mystery. — JEWISH FOODS 5.1-2

Origen of Alexandria: For Christ is the end of the law: that is, the perfection of the law and righteousness is Christ, but for those who believe. Those, however, who do not believe, since they do not have Christ, do not have the perfection of the law; and therefore neither will they be able to attain to righteousness. — COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

Pelagius: On the day that one believes in Christ it is as if one has fulfilled the whole law. — PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS

Severian of Gabala: This does not mean that Christ is a part of the law but rather that he is the beginning of a new life. The law has come to an end; it has ceased. — PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH

Romans 10:5

Ambrosiaster: Paul says this because the righteousness of the law of Moses did not make people guilty as long as they kept it. — COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

Diodorus of Tarsus: Paul says that the man who fulfilled the law would enjoy the good things promised by it, that is to say, “a land flowing with milk and honey.” — PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH

Gennadius of Constantinople: Comparing the law with the glory of grace, Paul says that even Moses could not have been justified by the law unless he fulfilled all the commandments of the law. — PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH

Jerome: Scripture says not that he will find life through the law, in the sense that through it he will live in heaven but that he will find life through it to the extent that what he will reap what he deserves in this world. — SERMONS ON THE GOSPEL OF Mark 76

John Chrysostom: “For Moses,” he says, “describeth the righteousness which is of the Law.” What he means is this. Moses showeth us the righteousness ensuing from the Law, what sort it is of, and whence. What sort is it then of, and what does it consist in? In fulfilling the commandments. “He (the man), that doeth these things,” He says, “shall live by (or in), them.” And there is no other way of becoming righteous in the Law save by fulfilling the whole of it. But this has not been possible for any one, and therefore this righteousness has failed them. But tell us, Paul, of the other righteousness also, that which is of grace. What is that then, and of what does it consist? Hear the words in which he gives a clear sketch of it. For after he had refuted the other, he next goes on to this. — Homily on Romans 17

Origen of Alexandria: “For Moses writes, that the man who does the righteousness which is of the law shall live in it. But the righteousness which is of faith speaks thus.” Already in the passages above the Apostle had made mention of two righteousnesses, where he says that Israel, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, sought to establish its own righteousness; and here now again he speaks of two righteousnesses, one which is of the law, and another which is of faith. But it seems to me that the one which he said above was unknown to Israel — the righteousness of God — is this very righteousness which is of faith; whereas that one of which he says, “seeking to establish their own righteousness,” is the very one which here too he intimates in the words of Moses, namely that “the man who does the righteousness which is of the law shall live in it.” But observe the difference of the righteousnesses, and likewise of the lives. For of that righteousness of God, that is, of Christ, “who was made for us righteousness from God,” and peace — see how he speaks: “And this is eternal life, that they may know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” This righteousness, then, furnishes not merely life, but eternal life. But of that righteousness of the law, of him “who does” it, he did not say that he shall live forever, but only that he “shall live in it”: since, if the end of the law, as the Apostle says, is Christ, not even that righteousness which is of the law will he be able to fulfill without Christ, who does not receive Christ, the end of the law. — COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

Pelagius: Moses distinguished between two kinds of righteousness, the righteousness of faith and the righteousness of works. The latter justifies the suppliant by deeds, but the former justifies by belief alone.… In this age no one keeps the law perfectly without Christ. Believing in him is also implied in the law. On account of this passage some think that the Jews have earned only this present life by the works of the law, but the words of the Lord show that this is not true. When he was asked about eternal life the Lord stipulated the commandments of the law: “If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” From this we understand that one who kept the law at that time had everlasting life. — PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS

Romans 10:6

Irenaeus: For as it was not possible that the man who had once for all been conquered, and who had been destroyed through disobedience, could reform himself, and obtain the prize of victory; and as it was also impossible that he could attain to salvation who had fallen under the power of sin,-the Son effected both these things, being the Word of God, descending from the Father, becoming incarnate, stooping low, even to death, and consummating the arranged plan of our salvation, upon whom [Paul], exhorting us unhesitatingly to believe, again says, “Who shall ascend into heaven? that is, to bring down Christ; or who shall descend into the deep? that is, to liberate Christ again from the dead.” Then he continues, “If thou shall confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shall be saved.” And he renders the reason why the Son of God did these things, saying, “For to this end Christ both lived, and died, and revived, that He might rule over the living and the dead.” — Against Heresies Book III

John Chrysostom: “But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven (that is, to bring Christ down from above): or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that is, the word of faith which we preach. That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shall be saved.”

To prevent the Jews then from saying, How came they who had not found the lesser righteousness to find the greater? he gives a reason there was no answering, that this way was easier than that. For that requires the fulfilment of all things (for when thou doest all, then thou shall live); but the righteousness which is of faith doth not say this, but what? “If thou confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thy heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” Then again that we may not seem to be making it contemptible by showing it to be easy and cheap, observe how he expands his account of it. For he does not come immediately to the words just given, but what does he say? “But the righteousness which is of faith saith on this wise; Say not in thine heart, Who shall go up into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down); or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)” For as to the virtue manifested in works there is opposed a listlessness, which relaxeth our labors, and it requireth a very wakeful soul not to yield to it: thus, when one is required to believe, there are reasonings which confuse and make havoc of the minds of most men, and it wants a soul of some vigor to shake them thoroughly off. And this is just why he brings the same before one. And as he did in Abraham’s case, so he does here also. For having there shown that he was justified by faith, lest he should seem to have gotten so great a crown by a mere chance, as if it were a thing of no account, to extol the nature of faith, he says, “Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations. And being not weak in faith, he considered his own body now dead, and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; and being fully persuaded that what He had promised He was able also to perform”: so he showed that there is need of vigor, and a lofty soul, that takes in things beyond expectation, and stumbles not at appearances. This then he does here also, and shows that it requires a wise mind, and a spirit heavenly and great. And he does not say merely, “Say not,” but, “Say not in thine heart,” that is, do not so much as think of doubting and saying with thyself, And how can this be? You see that this is a chief characteristic of faith, to leave all the consequences of this lower world, and so to seek for that which is above nature, and to cast out the feebleness of calculation, and so to accept everything from the Power of God. — Homily on Romans 17

Origen of Alexandria: This righteousness, then, which is of faith, which is Christ, as living and subsisting, this, he says, speaks thus: “Say not in your heart: Who shall ascend into heaven? that is, to bring Christ down; or, Who shall descend into the abyss? that is, to bring Christ back from the dead.” And do not wonder that, although Christ himself is righteousness, he here seems to speak of himself as though of another. For in many places you will find the Savior speaking of himself as though of another; as in the Gospel he says: “And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left: and he shall say to those who are on the right hand,” and again to those who are on the left, the things that are written. Now what he says: “Say not in your heart: Who shall ascend into heaven, or who shall descend into the abyss?” — apart from the clauses which he inserts in between, “that is, to bring Christ down, or to bring him back from the dead” — and also, “The word is near, in your mouth and in your heart,” seems to be taken from Deuteronomy, where it is written in this manner: “This commandment, which I command you this day, is not too high for you, nor far from you. It is not in heaven, that you should say: Who shall ascend for us into heaven, and take it for us, that hearing it we may do it? Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say: Who shall cross over the sea for us, and take it, that hearing it we may do it? The word is very near you, in your mouth, and in your heart, and in your hands, that you may do it.” Since, therefore, these things are taken from Deuteronomy, and the Apostle writes that the righteousness which is of faith — which is Christ — says these very things, without doubt the Apostle declares that what is said in Deuteronomy was said by Christ. It is he, then, who says: “This commandment, which I give you this day, is not too high for you, nor far from you,” and the rest that follows. What, then, is it that the Apostle teaches through this? Namely, that we should not say in our heart, and suppose, that Christ is confined in some one place, and is not everywhere, and diffused through all things: seeing that he, while he was on earth, said that he was also in heaven. For thus he spoke to his apostles: “No one has ascended into heaven, except him who descended from heaven, the Son of Man who is in heaven.” He did not say, who was, but “who is in heaven.” And again, lest we suppose that he is only in heaven, and that the abyss is empty of his presence, therefore the righteousness which is of faith says: “Say not in your heart: Who shall ascend into heaven?” And as though this were like saying, to bring Christ down from heaven, so the Apostle added: “That is, to bring Christ down.” And again, if anyone should descend in mind and thought into the abyss, supposing Christ to be contained there alone, as though this were like calling Christ back from the dead, so he subjoins: “That is, to bring Christ back from the dead.” But you ought, he says, so to think concerning Christ, as concerning the Word, and truth, and wisdom, and righteousness of God. Now all these things are not sought in a place, but are present everywhere: nor are they summoned up from the regions below, but are grasped by the mind and understanding alone. — COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

Theodoret of Cyrus: These are the words not of Moses but of the God of all things, who was using Moses as his mouthpiece. — INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS

Romans 10:7

Ambrosiaster: The quotation is from Deuteronomy [30:12], but the last phrase is the apostle’s own addition. He says that someone who does not doubt about the hope which is in Christ has the righteousness of faith. — COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

Diodorus of Tarsus: The Word of God leaves believers in no doubt either about the descent of the Lord from heaven for our sake or about the resurrection from the dead and the ascent into heaven. — PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH

Romans 10:8

Ambrosiaster: This is said in Deuteronomy [30:14] in order to show that belief [in Christ] is not all that foreign to our mind or to our nature. Even though we cannot see him with our eyes, what we believe is not out of harmony with the nature of our minds and our way of speaking. — COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

Irenaeus: True knowledge, then, consists in the understanding of Christ, which Paul terms the wisdom of God hidden in a mystery, which “the natural man receiveth not,” the doctrine of the cross; of which if any man “taste,” he will not accede to the disputations and quibbles of proud and puffed-up men, who go into matters of which they have no perception. For the truth is unsophisticated; and “the word is nigh thee, in thy mouth and in thy heart,” as the same apostle declares, being easy of comprehension to those who are obedient. For it renders us like to Christ, if we experience “the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings.” For this is the affinity of the apostolical teaching and the most holy “faith delivered unto us,” which the unlearned receive, and those of slender knowledge have taught, not “giving heed to endless genealogies,” but studying rather [to observe] a straightforward course of life; lest, having been deprived of the Divine Spirit, they fail to attain to the kingdom of heaven. For truly the first thing is to deny one’s self and to follow Christ; and those who do this are borne onward to perfection, having fulfilled all their Teacher’s will, becoming sons of God by spiritual regeneration, and heirs of the kingdom of heaven; those who seek which first shall not be forsaken. — Fragments from the Lost Writings of Irenaeus

Origen of Alexandria: As Word, therefore, and as wisdom, he is near, in your mouth and in your heart. And “this,” he says, “is the word of faith which we preach.” — COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

Origen of Alexandria: By this Paul indicates that Christ is in the heart of all men by virtue of his being the Word or reason [logos] embedded in all things by sharing in which all men are rational. — ON FIRST PRINCIPLES 1.3.6

Pelagius: Historically speaking, Moses said this about the law, but the apostle applies it to Christ, because the law was neither in heaven nor in the abyss. Or it may mean that Paul is ordering them to meditate constantly on the law so that they may find Christ in it. The “word of faith which we preach” is the New Testament. — PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS

Peter of Alexandria: Moreover, we hear both also preaching, in the first place, not only repentance, but the kingdom of heaven, which, as we have learned, is within us; for the word which we believe is near us, in our mouth, and in our heart; which they, being put in remembrance of, will learn to confess with their mouths that Jesus is the Christ; believing in their heart that God hath raised him from the dead, and being as those who hear, that “with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” — The Canonical Epistle

Romans 10:9

Augustine of Hippo: The creed builds up in you what you ought to believe and confess in order to be saved. — SERMONS FOR THE RECENT CONVERTS, HOMILY 214.1

Origen of Alexandria: “For if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you shall be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, but with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” We ought also to know this, that it is one thing for a potentiality to be in someone, another for there to be effectiveness or actualization — what the Greeks call dynamis (power, capacity) and energeia (activity, actualization). For example: a child newly born is a rational man in potentiality; for he can be rational if he grows up. And in potentiality he is also called a craftsman, and a helmsman, and a grammarian; for it is possible that he be some one of these. But in efficacy or actuality — that is, in the thing itself and in operation — he is none of these while he is a little child; but if he begins to be capable of reason, or to accomplish something of the craftsman’s art or of any other, then at last he is called rational in efficacy, or a craftsman, or whatever it is that he performs by the effect of his work. In this way, therefore, Christ also, who is the Word of God, must be believed to be in potentiality according to us — that is, according to every human being — as reason is in little children; but he is said to be in me in efficacy when I have confessed with my mouth the Lord Jesus and have believed in my heart that God raised him from the dead. But do you wish to know that he is present everywhere, and is in the midst even of those who do not know him and do not confess him? Hear how John the Baptist bears this very witness concerning him: “There stands,” he says, “in the midst of you one whom you do not know, who comes after me.” He is therefore in the midst even of those who do not know him, but he is in their midst in potentiality, not in efficacy. For they are able to receive him, but they do not yet receive him. But in efficacy or actuality he is in the midst of those to whom he said: “Wherever two or three have been gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” For these confessed with their mouth the Lord Jesus, and believed in their heart that God raised him from the dead. Otherwise it seems absurd, if he is said to be in the midst both of those who are gathered in his name and of those who do not know him — unless a distinction of this kind be maintained, that among the ignorant and those who do not yet believe he is said to be in the midst in potentiality, but among believers in efficacy, that is, by the effect of the thing itself and of the work. But observe also this, that he says: “Because if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you shall be saved.” For it will seem to some, from this, that even if someone lacks the privileges of good work, even if he has given no labor to the virtues, yet by this very fact that he has believed, he does not perish but is saved, and has salvation, even though he cannot have the glory of blessedness. But see whether this ought rather to be understood: that he who truly and not falsely confesses with his mouth the Lord Jesus, and believes with his heart, confesses at the same time that he is made subject to the dominion of wisdom and of justice and of truth and of all the things that Christ is; and that mammon is no longer lord over him — that is, that neither avarice any longer, nor injustice, nor unchastity, nor falsehood holds dominion over him. For once he has confessed Jesus Christ as Lord, he professes that he is a slave to none of these. And further, believing in his heart that God raised him from the dead, it is certain that he believes him raised for his own justification. Otherwise, what will it profit me to know and to believe that God raised Jesus from the dead, if I do not have him raised within myself? Therefore, if I do not walk in newness of life, and do not flee the old habit of sinning, Christ has not yet risen from the dead for me. — COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

Pelagius: The testimony of the heart is the confession of the mouth. “You will be saved” from past transgressions, not from future ones. — PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS

Romans 10:10

Ambrose of Milan: With these twin trumpets of heart and mouth we arrive at that holy land, viz., the grace of resurrection. So let them always sound together in harmony for us, that we may always hear the voice of God. Let the utterances of the angels and prophets arouse us and move us to hasten to higher things. — On the Death of Satyrus 2.112

Ambrosiaster: What Paul previously spoke about he now makes clear. The rule of faith is to believe that Jesus is Lord and not to be ashamed to confess that God raised him from the dead and has taken him up to heaven with his body, whence he will come again. — COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

Augustine of Hippo: The innumerable and multiple rites by which the Jewish people had been oppressed have been taken away, so that in the mercy of God we might attain salvation by the simplicity of a confession of faith. — AUGUSTINE ON Romans 67

Augustine of Hippo: Did not almost all those who disowned Christ in the presence of their persecutors keep in their hearts what they believed about him? Yet, for not making with their mouth profession of faith unto salvation they perished, except those who repented and lived again. — Against Lying 6.13

Augustine of Hippo: This condition is fulfilled at the time of baptism, when faith and profession of faith are all that is demanded for one to be baptized. — THE CHRISTIAN LIFE 13

Augustine of Hippo: This profession of faith is the creed which you will be going over in your thoughts and repeating from memory. — A Sermon to Catechumens on the Creed 1

Augustine of Hippo: We who expect to reign in everlasting righteousness can only be saved from this wicked world if while for our neighbor’s salvation we profess with our lips the faith which we carry about in our heart, we exercise a pious and careful vigilance to see that this faith in us is not sullied in any point of belief by the deceitful snares of heretics. — On Faith and the Creed 1.1

Clement of Alexandria: But it is God that makes proclamation to us, and He must be believed. “For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Wherefore the Scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on Him shah not be put to shame.” — The Stromata Book 4

Clement of Alexandria: “With the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Wherefore the Scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed; that is, the word of faith which we preach: for if thou confess the word with thy mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in thy heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” There is clearly described the perfect righteousness, fulfilled both in practice and contemplation. — The Stromata Book 4

Ignatius of Antioch: It is better for a man to be silent and be [a Christian], than to talk and not to be one. “The kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.” Men “believe with the heart, and confess with the mouth,” the one “unto righteousness,” the other “unto salvation.” It is good to teach, if he who speaks also acts. For he who shall both “do and teach, the same shall be great in the kingdom.” Our Lord and God, Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, first did and then taught, as Luke testifies, “whose praise is in the Gospel through all the Churches.” — Epistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians

John Chrysostom: The understanding must be strongly fixed in pious faith, and the tongue must herald forth by its confession the solid resolution of the mind. — BAPTISMAL INSTRUCTIONS 1.19

John Chrysostom: And what meaneth the phrase, “The Word is nigh thee?” That is, It is easy. For in thy mind and in thy tongue is thy salvation. There is no long journey to go, no seas to sail over, no mountains to pass, to get saved. But if you be not minded to cross so much as the threshold, you may even while you sit at home be saved. For “in thy mouth and in thy heart” is the source of salvation. And then on another score also he makes the word of faith easy, and says, that “God raised Him from the dead.” For just reflect upon the worthiness of the Worker, and you will no longer see any difficulty in the thing. — Homily on Romans 17

Pelagius: If faith avails for righteousness and confession for salvation, there is no distinction between the Jew who believes and the Gentile who believes. — PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS

Tertullian: For, when one reads of God as being “the searcher and witness of the heart; " when His prophet is reproved by His discovering to him the secrets of the heart; when God Himself anticipates in His people the thoughts of their heart, “Why think ye evil in your hearts? " when David prays “Create in me a clean heart, O God,” and Paul declares, “With the heart man believeth unto righteousness,” and John says, “By his own heart is each man condemned; " when, lastly, “he who looketh on a woman so as to lust after her, hath already committed adultery with her in his heart,” -then both points are cleared fully up, that there is a directing faculty of the soul, with which the purpose of God may agree; in other words, a supreme principle of intelligence and vitality (for where there is intelligence, there must be vitality), and that it resides in that most precious part of our body to which God especially looks: so that you must not suppose, with Heraclitus, that this sovereign faculty of which we are treating is moved by some external force; nor with Moschion, that it floats about through the whole body; nor with Plato, that it is enclosed in the head; nor with Zenophanes, that it culminates in the crown of the head; nor that it reposes in the brain, according to the opinion of Hippocrates; nor around the basis of the brain, as Herophilus thought; nor in the membranes thereof, as Strato and Erasistratus said; nor in the space between the eyebrows, as Strato the physician held; nor within the enclosure of the breast, according to Epicurus: but rather, as the Egyptians have always taught, especially such of them as were accounted the expounders of sacred truths; in accordance, too, with that verse of Orpheus or Empedocles: — A Treatise on the Soul

Tertullian: And we know the quality of the hortatory addresses of carnal conveniences, how easy it is to say, “I must believe with my whole heart; I must love God, and my neighbour as myself: for `on these two precepts the whole Law hangeth, and the prophets, ’not on the emptiness of my lungs and intestines. — On Fasting

Romans 10:11

Ambrosiaster: On the day of judgment, when everything will be examined and all false opinions and teachings will be overthrown, then those who believe in Christ will rejoice, seeing it revealed to all that what they believed is true and what was thought to be foolish was wise. For they will look at others and see that they alone are glorified and wise, when they had been considered contemptible and crazy. This will be the real test, when rewards and condemnation are decreed. — COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

Cyril of Alexandria: Israel ought not to suppose that salvation by faith is a blessing peculiar to it. For Scripture says that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved, whether Jew or Gentile, whether slave or free. The universal God saves everyone without distinction, because all things belong to him. Thus we say that all things are recapitulated in Christ. — EXPLANATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS

John Chrysostom: “For the Scripture saith,” he proceeds, “Whosoever believeth on Him, shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek; for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon Him. For whosoever shall call upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved.”

You see how he produces witnesses, whether to the faith, or to the confession of it. For the words, “Every one that believeth,” point out the faith. But the words, “Whosoever shall call upon,” set forth confession. Then again to proclaim the universality of the grace, and to lay their boasting low, what he had before demonstrated at length, he here briefly recalls to their memory, showing again that there is no difference between the Jew and the uncircumcised. “For there is,” he says, “no difference between the Jew and the Greek.” And what he had said about the Father, when he was arguing this point, that he says here about the Son. For as before he said in asserting this, “Is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not of the Gentiles also? Yes, of the Gentiles also: seeing it is one God”:-So he says here also, “For the same Lord over all is rich unto all (and upon all).” You see how he sets Him forth as exceedingly desiring our salvation, since He even reckons this to be riches to Himself; so that they are not even now to despair, or fancy that, provided they would repent, they were unpardonable. For He who considereth it as riches to Himself to save us, will not cease to be rich. Since even this is riches, the fact of the gift being shed forth unto all. — Homily on Romans 17

Origen of Alexandria: And to this sense the words that follow also agree, when he says: “For the Scripture says, everyone who believes in him shall not be put to shame.” Now this is written in Isaiah. But if everyone who believes in him shall not be put to shame, while everyone who sins is put to shame — as Adam sinned, and was ashamed, and hid himself — then whoever still incurs the blush of sin does not appear to believe. — COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

Pelagius: This applies not only to the Jews but to everyone. Do not put believers to shame, therefore, on account of their former actions, since the Scripture says that they cannot be put to shame. — PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS

Romans 10:12

Ambrosiaster: Paul says that in general everyone is lumped together because of unbelief or else exalted together because of their belief, because apart from Christ there is no salvation in God’s presence, only punishment or death. For neither the privileges of their ancestors nor the law can do the Jews any good if they do not accept the merit and promise made to them. Neither do the Gentiles have anything to boast about in the flesh, if they do not believe in Christ.…Paul says that God bestows his riches not on those who believe but on those who call upon him, so that after believing the mind will not cease to ask God for what it has been taught to ask the Lord for. — COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

John Chrysostom: Christ finds his wealth in the salvation of our souls. — BAPTISMAL INSTRUCTIONS 11.26

Origen of Alexandria: “For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek. For the same is Lord of all, rich toward all who call upon him.” How there is no distinction of Jew and Greek in faith we have already shown frequently above. But that he is the same Lord of all, you will understand according to what we have just now set forth; that is, if justice and truth, sanctification and wisdom — all of which is Christ the Lord — hold dominion over us. For these are his riches, inasmuch as he is the one “in whom the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden.” — COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

Pelagius: There is one Lord of all, who abounds in mercy and possesses salvation, with which he is generous to all. — PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS

Romans 10:13

Ambrosiaster: God himself, when he was seen by Moses, said to him: “My name is the Lord.” This is the Son of God, who is said to be both a messenger and God. The Son is not to be confused with the Father from whom all things come, but is to be acknowledged as the One through whom all things come and to whom all things belong. He is called God because the Father and the Son are one. He is also called an angel, because he was sent by the Father to announce the promised salvation. — COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

Augustine of Hippo: By faith in Jesus Christ is granted to us both possession of the little beginning of salvation and its perfecting, which we await in hope. — THE SPIRIT AND THE LETTER 51

Origen of Alexandria: “For everyone, whoever shall call upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved.” Yet he did not say that he bestows these riches on all men, but on all whoever shall call upon his name. But here too a question similar to the earlier ones seems to arise. For not all who in any manner whatsoever call upon the name of the Lord can be saved, even if they have not done works worthy of the name they invoke — especially since the Wisdom of God also says in Proverbs: “It shall come to pass that when you call upon me, I will not hear you.” In which it seems to me that Wisdom exhorts and urges those who wish to be saved, that they should call upon Wisdom quickly and not delay or defer, lest perhaps, when the appointed time has passed — that is, the time in which there is opportunity for repentance — they should call too late thereafter, where there is no place for repentance. And hence she says: “You shall call upon me, and I will not hear you.” Yet this saying which the Apostle sets down, that is, “Whoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved,” is written in the prophet Joel in this manner: “And I will give portents in the heaven above, and on the earth below: blood, and fire, and the vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes. And it shall be: whoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Yet it seems to me that something great is designated in the divine Scriptures under this name of “calling upon.” For it is not of just any men, but of great and outstanding ones, that it is written that “Enos first hoped to call upon the name of the Lord”; and in the Psalms: “Moses and Aaron among his priests, and Samuel among those who call upon his name. They called upon the Lord, and he heard them: in the pillar of cloud he spoke to them.” — COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

Romans 10:14

Ambrosiaster: As I said above, you have to believe first if you are going to have the faith to ask for anything. It is obvious that Christ cannot be believed in if he is not obeyed. It is likewise clear that whoever rejects a preacher does not accept the one who sent him either. — COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

Apollinaris of Laodicea: Paul says that salvation by the calling of the Lord is common to all but that the above mentioned rejection of this universal grace hardened the Jews, making them unable to receive the common good. As a result the mission and the message did not go to them but to the Gentiles, along with the hearing, the faith and the calling. For just as the light is by nature common to all but becomes something else to those who are blinded, so that the blind cannot see the sun, nor can the deaf hear the message when it is proclaimed, so those who have been sent to preach to the Jews have had little effect. They cannot hear the message because they have become deaf to God’s calling. — PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH

Augustine of Hippo: The preaching of predestination should not hinder the preaching of perseverance and progress in faith, so that those to whom it has been given to obey should hear what they ought to hear. For how will they hear without a preacher? — GIFT OF PERSEVERANCE 14.36

Augustine of Hippo: Those who believe rightly believe that they may call on him in whom they have believed and may be strong to do what they have learned in the precepts of the law, since faith obtains what the law commands. — LETTER 157

Augustine of Hippo: God sends his angels and gathers together his elect from the four winds, that is, from the whole world. Therefore, the church must necessarily be found among the nations where it does not yet exist, but it does not necessarily follow that all who live there will believe. The promise was to all nations but not to all men of all nations, for not all have faith. — LETTER 199.48

Caesarius of Arles: This is why you first learned the creed. Here is a rule of your faith which is both short and long—short in the number of words, long because of the weight of the thoughts. — SERMON 147.1

Clement of Alexandria: “Lord, who hath believed our report?” Isaiah says. For “faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God,” saith the apostle. “How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe on Him whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach except they be sent? As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of those that publish glad tidings of good things!” You see how he brings faith by hearing, and the preaching of the apostles, up to the word of the Lord, and to the Son of God. We do not yet understand the word of the Lord to be demonstration. — The Stromata Book 2

John Chrysostom: “How then shall they call on Him in Whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in Him of Whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? and how shall they preach except they be sent? as it is written.”

Here again he takes from them all excuse. For since he had said, “I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge,” and that “being ignorant of God’s righteousness, they submitted not themselves” to it: he next shows, that for this ignorance itself they were punishable before God. This he does not say indeed so, but he makes it good by carrying on his discourse in the way of question, and so convicting them more clearly, by framing the whole passage out of objections and answers. But look further back. The Prophet, saith he, said, “Whosoever shall call upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved.” Now somebody might say perhaps, “But how could they call upon Him Whom they had not believed? Then there is a question from him after the objection; And why did they not believe? Then an objection again. A person certainly may say, And how could they believe, since they had not heard? Yet hear they did, he implies. Then another objection again. “And how could they hear without a preacher?” Then an answer again. Yet preach they did, and there were many sent forth for this very purpose. And whence does it appear that these are those persons sent? Then he brings the prophet in next, who says, “How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the Gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!” You see how by the kind of preaching he points out the preachers. For there was nothing else that these men went about telling everywhere, but those unspeakable good things, and the peace made by God with men. And so by disbelieving, it is not we, he implies, whom you disbelieve, but Isaiah the prophet, who spake many years ago, that we were to be sent, and to preach, and to say what we do say. If the being saved, then, came of calling upon Him, and calling upon Him from believing, and believing from hearing, and hearing from preaching, and preaching from being sent, and if they were sent, and did preach, and the prophet went round with them to point them out, and proclaim them, and say that these were they whom they showed of so many ages ago, whose feet even they praised because of the matter of their preaching; then it is quite clear that the not believing was their own fault only. And that because God’s part had been fulfilled completely. — Homily on Romans 18

Origen of Alexandria: “How then shall they call upon him in whom they have not believed? Or how shall they believe him whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?” Plainly in these words he says this: by the words “How then shall they call upon him in whom they have not believed?” he taught that what he had set down above as spoken by the prophet — that “everyone whoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” — is to be referred to Christ the Lord. For after he said, “Everyone whoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved,” he adds: “How then shall they call upon him in whom they have not believed?” For the Jews did not believe in Christ, and therefore they do not call upon him in whom they have not believed. Moreover, at the beginning of the Epistle which he writes to the Corinthians, where he says, “With all who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place of theirs and of ours,” he declares that the one whose name is invoked is the Lord Jesus Christ. If therefore Enos also, and Moses, and Aaron, and Samuel “called upon the Lord, and he heard them,” without doubt they were calling upon Christ Jesus the Lord. And if to call upon the name of the Lord and to pray to the Lord are one and the same thing, then as God is called upon, so Christ is to be called upon; and as God is prayed to, so also is Christ to be prayed to; and as we offer prayers first of all to God the Father, so also to the Lord Jesus Christ; and as we offer petitions to the Father, so we offer petitions also to the Son; and as we offer thanksgivings to God, so also do we offer thanks to the Savior. For the divine word teaches that one and the same honor is to be rendered to both, that is, to the Father and to the Son, when it says: “That all may honor the Son as they honor the Father.” But as to what we have just now brought forward from the Epistle to the Corinthians, where the Apostle first says, “To the Church of God which is at Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints,” and after this, as though they were of another rank and another order, he thus adds certain persons of whom he says, “With all who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place of theirs and of ours” — perhaps it will seem to have some difference, that the former he names the Church of God, and sanctified, and called to be saints, but the latter only “those who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” And see whether perhaps this diversity shows something such as the present chapter also seems to contain, in which he teaches that the name of the Lord cannot be invoked unless one first believes in Christ. But when someone has believed in Christ, even if he is not yet sanctified and joined to the body of the Church, nevertheless it is necessary that he should already call upon him in whom he has believed. For Christ came to reconcile the world to God, and to offer to the Father those who believe in him. And those whom he offers to the Father, the Holy Spirit receives, that he may sanctify them, and quicken them as members of the heavenly Church of the firstborn, and restore them to the solidity and perfection of the whole body — and so at last they may deserve to be called the Church of God having neither spot nor wrinkle. Before, therefore, they come to the level of this perfection, they call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ as the mediator of God and men; but after the Spirit of God has been in their heart crying, “Abba, Father,” that same Spirit teaches them also to call upon the name of the Father. Therefore he says, “How shall they call upon him in whom they have not believed?” and in this he binds them with a most tight conclusion. There is no salvation, he says, except for one who calls upon him. But no one calls upon him who does not believe. Therefore, because you do not believe, you do not call upon him; and because you do not call upon him, you are not saved. But “how,” he says, “shall they believe him whom they have not heard?” That they have not heard we can understand in this way: that they were unwilling to hear either him himself when he was set in the flesh, or his apostles preaching about him. For so the Lord himself says: “He who hears you hears me; and he who despises you despises me.” But this too can be understood: that even now and always Christ, as the Word and Reason, speaks to each one in the heart, and teaches concerning piety, and urges concerning justice, and testifies concerning chastity, concerning modesty, and concerning all the virtues together — just as he himself says: “My sheep hear my voice.” So finally he spoke also in the heart of Paul, so that he could say: “Do you seek a proof of Christ who speaks in me?” There follows: “And how shall they hear without a preacher?” In this he shows rather that Christ is heard through the word of those who preach, in whom, according to what we said above, Christ is shown to speak and to teach. — COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

Pelagius: Here we have an objection raised by the Jews concerning the Gentiles, viz., that they could not call upon God. — PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS

Tertullian: For “a people,” he says, “whom I knew not hath served me; in obedience of the ear it hath obeyed me.” Prophets made the announcement. — An Answer to the Jews

Romans 10:15

Ambrosiaster: Nobody can be a true apostle unless he is sent by Christ, nor will he be able to preach without a mandate to do so, for his testimony will not reflect his signs of power.Paul quotes the prophet Nahum. By talking about feet he means the coming of the apostles who went round the world preaching the coming of the kingdom of God. For their appearance enlightened mankind by showing them the way toward peace with God, which John the Baptist had come to prepare. This is the peace to which those who believe in Christ are hastening. Then St. Simeon, seeing the discord in the world, rejoiced at the coming of the Savior, saying: “Lord, now let your servant depart in peace,” because the kingdom of God is peace, and all discord is taken away when everyone bows the knee to the one God. — COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

Apollinaris of Laodicea: It is clear even from the prophets that it is impossible to believe if nobody preaches the gospel. — PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH

Irenaeus: With regard to those (the Marcionites) who allege that Paul alone knew the truth, and that to him the mystery was manifested by revelation, let Paul himself convict them, when he says, that one and the same God wrought in Peter for the apostolate of the circumcision, and in himself for the Gentiles. Peter, therefore, was an apostle of that very God whose was also Paul; and Him whom Peter preached as God among those of the circumcision, and likewise the Son of God, did Paul [declare] also among the Gentiles. For our Lord never came to save Paul alone, nor is God so limited in means, that He should have but one apostle who knew the dispensation of His Son. And again, when Paul says, “How beautiful are the feet of those bringing glad tidings of good things, and preaching the Gospel of peace,” he shows clearly that it was not merely one, but there were many who used to preach the truth. And again, in the Epistle to the Corinthians, when he had recounted all those who had seen God after the resurrection, he says in continuation, “But whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed,” acknowledging as one and the same, the preaching of all those who saw God after the resurrection from the dead. — Against Heresies Book III

Origen of Alexandria: “But how shall they preach, unless they be sent?” A certain difficulty seems to me to arise in this statement. For if we understand it in this way, that they do not preach for this reason, because they are not sent; and that with no one preaching they will not hear; and not hearing they will not believe; and not believing they will not call upon; and not calling upon they will not be saved: it is gathered from these things that the cause by which they were not saved falls back upon the fault of the author, who did not send preachers. But let us rather turn aside to that path of understanding which is more correct: and what he said, “How shall they preach, unless they be sent,” let us take as though the Apostle were saying: We, the heralds and preachers of Christ, could not preach, nor would any power of announcing subsist in us, unless he himself who sent us were present with us. But if, when we preach, you are unwilling to hear, the fault is now yours; and if, hearing, you do not believe, and not believing you do not call upon, and not calling upon you cannot be saved. Because, therefore, they were sent to preach, for this reason it is written concerning those who were sent by him: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good tidings of good things.” That he here calls the feet beautiful not bodily but spiritual, I think that, however much someone may be a friend of the letter, he could not deny. For he will not reduce the apostolic meaning to such absurdity as to suppose that the feet of the evangelists which can be seen with bodily eyes are called by him comely and beautiful; but those feet are comely and beautiful which walk along the way of life. For according to him who said, “I am the way,” understand the comely and beautiful feet of those who bring good tidings, which are worthy to advance along such a way. These are the feet with which Paul also said that he had run the race, and had so run that he might lay hold of it; that is, the vigor of the soul by which it strains and hastens toward heaven. And you will pleasingly affirm that these are the feet which Jesus washes for the disciples, and wipes with the linen cloth with which he was girded. And although it was then fulfilled in bodily appearance, nevertheless, when Peter understood only this which he saw being done, and, as it were for honor’s sake, excused himself lest the Lord should wash the feet of him who was a servant, hear what a word of profound mystery is brought forth. “If I wash thee not,” he says, “thou shalt have no part with me.” And again he brings forth another utterance like this, as though from the hidden treasures of knowledge, and says: “What I have done you do not know now: but you shall know hereafter;” and he adds, that “as I, the Lord and master, have washed your feet: so do ye also wash one another’s feet in turn. For I have given you an example.” Let us see, therefore, what that example is, by which masters ought to wash the feet of disciples, or with what water to wash them. If anyone should find living water, and if anyone should receive drink from Jesus, and that water should become in him a fountain of water springing up into life eternal, he can with this water of spiritual doctrine wash the feet of the disciples, and wash away all the uncleannesses and filth from their soul: and doing this he will fulfill the example given by the master. “Beautiful,” therefore, “are the feet of those who bring good tidings of good things.” Concerning these same feet I think the Bride also says to the Word of God in the Song of Songs: “I have washed my feet, how shall I defile them?” And concerning them nonetheless it is said: “Thy legs are as pillars of marble with bases of silver.” And perhaps because this beauty is in the feet of the evangelists, therefore the Lord Jesus does not wish them to cover them with sandals and to hide their beautiful appearance; but he commands them not even to have a sandal on the way. But let us see what those good things are which they evangelize, that is, which they announce. Although this very word “to evangelize” is interpreted as “to announce good things,” yet let us inquire what those good things are which he added to the good. One and true good is God, whose image of goodness is the Son, and his Spirit, who is called good. This one good, therefore, because it is in God the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, he named “good things.” For this is what the evangelists announce, according to the precept of our Lord and Savior, who says: “Go, teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” These, therefore, are the good things of those who bring good tidings. But since he himself is called both a good messenger, and to announce concerning good things, let this be the reason: that they not only announce good things, but also announce good things well. For there are some who do indeed announce and preach concerning the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit; but not sincerely, not soundly: as are all the heretics, who do indeed announce the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit; but they do not announce well, nor faithfully. For either they wrongly separate the Son from the Father, so as to say that the Father is of one nature, the Son of another: or they wrongly confound them, so as to think either that God is composed of three, or that there is in him the designation of a merely threefold appellation. But he who announces good things well will indeed give to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit their own properties, each to each; yet he will confess that there is no diversity in substance or nature. Those, therefore, who thus announce the Gospel, not only announce good things, but announce good things well and soundly. This example, however, seems taken from Isaiah; but there the prophet referred the office of evangelizing to the Lord himself. For thus he says: “Since I myself who was speaking am present, as an hour upon the mountains, as the feet of one bringing good tidings of the hearing of peace, as one bringing good tidings of good things.” But it seems to me that Paul, because the prophet had said, “as the feet of one bringing good tidings of the hearing of peace, as one bringing good tidings of good things,” recalled this as though from a comparison with another; as if he were saying: So shall I be present, like a man who evangelizes peace, and evangelizes good things. But this the apostles shall do: and therefore he seems to have taken this as said concerning themselves, that is, concerning the apostles, in comparison with whom Christ had said through the prophets that he would be present and would evangelize good things. — COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

Tertullian: You have the work of the apostles also predicted: “How beautiful are the feet of them which preach the gospel of peace, which bring good tidings of good,” not of war nor evil tidings. — Against Marcion Book III

Theodore of Mopsuestia: If the heralds of these things are deemed worthy of such great admiration, how essential and how advantageous a thing the teaching of the apostles must be. — PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH

Romans 10:16

Augustine of Hippo: Above, when He saith, “The hour is coming, and now is,” I beseech you give earnest heed. Above, then, when He said, “The hour is coming,” and added, “and now is,” what did He subjoin? “When the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live.” He did not say, “All the dead shall hear, and they that hear shall live;” for He meant the unrighteous to be understood. And is it so, that all the unrighteous obey the gospel? The apostle says openly, “But not all obey the gospel.” But they that hear shall live, because all that obey the gospel shall pass to eternal life by faith: yet all do not obey; and this is now. But certainly, in the end, “All that are in the graves,” both the just and the unjust, “shall hear His voice, and come forth.” — Tractates on John 19

John Chrysostom: “But they have not all obeyed the Gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

Since they pressed him with another objection again to this effect, that if these were the persons sent upon the mission by God, all ought to have hearkened to them: observe Paul’s judgment, and see how he shows that this very thing which made the confusion, did in fact do away with confusion and embarrassment. What offends you, O Jew, he would say, after so great and abundant evidence, and demonstration of the points? that all did not submit to the Gospel? Why this very thing, when taken along with the others, is of force to certify thee of the truth of my statements, even in that some do not believe. For this too the prophet foretold. Notice his unspeakable wisdom too; how he shows more than they were looking for, or expected him to have to say in reply. For what is it that you say? he means. Is it that all have not believed the Gospel? Well! Isaiah foretold this too from of old. Or rather, not this only, but even much more than this. For the complaint you make is Why did not all believe? But Isaiah goes further than this. For what is it he says? “Lord, who hath believed our report?” Then since he had rid himself of this embarrassment by making the Prophet a bulwark against them, he again keeps to the line he was before upon. For as he had said that they must call upon Him, but that they who call must believe, and they who believe must hear first, but they who are to hear must have preachers, and the preachers be sent, and as he had shown that they were sent, and had preached; as he is going to bring in another objection again, taking occasion first of another quotation from the Prophet, by which he had met the objection a little back, he thus interweaves it, and connects it with what went before. For since he had produced the Prophet as saying, “Lord, who hath believed our report”? he happily seizes on the quotation, as proving what he says, “So then faith cometh by hearing.” And this he makes not a mere naked statement. But as the Jews were forever seeking a sign, and the sight of the Resurrection, and were gaping after the thing much; he says, Yet the Prophet promised no such thing, but that it was by hearing that we were to believe. Hence he makes this good first, and says, “so then faith cometh by hearing.” And then since this seemed a mean thing to say, see how he elevates it. For he says, I was not speaking of mere hearing, nor of the need of hearing men’s words and believing them, but I mean a great sort of hearing. For the hearing is “by the word of God.” They were not speaking their own, but they were telling what they learnt from God. And this is a higher thing than miracles. For we are equally bound to believe and to obey God, whether speaking or working miracles. Since both works and miracles come of His words. For both the heaven and everything else was established in this way. — Homily on Romans 18

Origen of Alexandria: Neither did all of the Gentiles believe the Gospel, nor all of Israel: yet more, and many more, from the Gentiles than from Israel. Therefore, when the Apostle sets down that Isaiah said, “Lord, who has believed our report?” — the word “who” is said in the sense of “few”; and we ought to observe that this expression in the Scriptures is sometimes put for “few,” and sometimes for “no one at all.” For example, when it says, “Who is wise, and he shall understand these things?” and, “Who shall ascend into the mountain of the Lord?” and, “Who is the man that desires life?” — in all these “who” signifies “few.” But where it says, “Who has ascended into heaven? that is, to bring Christ down; or who has descended into the abyss? that is, to bring Christ back from the dead,” here “who” is understood as “no one.” For there is no one who ascends into heaven to bring Christ down from there. Now therefore, in what Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?” the “who” signifies “few.” Yet it is fitting for us to know that “Lord, who has believed our report?” does not have “Lord” in the Hebrew copies, but it is so in the translation of the Seventy Elders; and the Apostle, approving what is found among them, put “Lord.” Isaiah, however, seems to prophesy these things in the person of the apostles, to whom the office of preaching had been entrusted; and they, seeing the scarcity of believers especially from the people of Israel, say to the Lord, “Lord, who has believed our report?” — just as that other saying is also spoken in their person, that “we have announced him as a child before him, as a root in a thirsting land.” And it is likewise they who speak as though they were placed with him and beheld him in human condition, saying, “we saw him, and he had neither form nor comeliness,” and the rest. But even if these words are referred to the person of the prophets themselves, as of men complaining before the Lord that no one, or only very few, out of that people believed the things they had prophesied concerning Christ, it will not seem foreign to the sense. Or is it not to be supposed that Moses says to the Lord: Lord, no one has believed my report? For if they had believed my writings, they would certainly have believed Christ as well; for I wrote concerning him. — COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

Pelagius: The prophets were never sent to the Gentiles. If not all those to whom the prophets were sent obeyed, how much less those to whom no one was sent! — PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS

Theodore of Mopsuestia: The first part of this [verse] ought to be read as a question to which the second part is the apostle’s answer.… There is nothing surprising about this, for Isaiah also testifies to the small number of believers. — PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH

Romans 10:17

Ambrosiaster: It is obvious that unless something is said, it can neither be heard nor believed. — COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

John Damascene: Faith comes by hearing, because when we hear the holy Scriptures we believe in the teaching of the Holy Spirit. This faith is made perfect by all the things which Christ has ordained; it believes truly, it is devout and it keeps the commandments of him who has renewed us. For he who does not believe in accordance with the traditions of the catholic church or who through untoward works holds communion with the devil is without faith. — ORTHODOX FAITH 4.10

Origen of Alexandria: “Therefore faith comes from hearing; and hearing through the word of Christ.” Here “the word of Christ” signifies the preaching about Christ. For not only those believed who heard the word from Christ Jesus the Lord himself as he spoke; but far more numerous are they who heard him through others preaching him, as the Lord himself had foretold when he spoke to Thomas: “Because you have seen me,” he says, “you have believed; blessed are they who do not see and yet believe.” Every word, therefore, which the apostles — and any others who, having received grace from him, preached concerning Christ — he declares to be the word of Christ. Moreover, in the Church, if anyone speaks the wisdom that is from God and the truth of God, if anyone teaches the way of God, which is Christ, and expounds his righteousness, without doubt what he speaks is the word of Christ. — COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

Pelagius: From here on we have the apostle’s reply to the above questions. — PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS

Philoxenus of Mabbug: And for this reason also when our Lord gave us this blessing of perceiving Him, He delivered unto us first of all faith, with which we might perceive Him, and then He revealed to us concerning Himself, and for this reason the blessed Paul said that “Faith [cometh] from the hearing of the ear, and the hearing of the ear from the word of God.” By the hearing of the word of God Paul taught us to receive faith, and although faith hath been implanted in our construction by God our Creator, yet hath it been corrupted and changed from faith to error, and after the manner of that natural wisdom which hath also been given to us in our construction we have changed it, and instead of the wisdom of God we have gathered together the wisdom of [this] world with it. — 13 Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 2 – On Faith

Shepherd of Hermas: Because all the nations that dwell under heaven were called by hearing and believing upon the name of the Son of God. Having, therefore, received the seal, they had one understanding and one mind; and their faith became one, and their love one. — Shepherd of Hermas, Similitude 9

Tertullian: For where had been their sin, if they only maintained the righteousness of their own God against one of whom they were ignorant? But he exclaims: “O the depth of the riches and the wisdom of God; how unsearchable also are His ways!” Whence this outburst of feeling? Surely from the recollection of the Scriptures, which he had been previously turning over, as well as from his contemplation of the mysteries which he had been setting forth above, in relation to the faith of Christ coming from the law. If Marcion had an object in his erasures, why does his apostle utter such an exclamation, because his god has no riches for him to contemplate? So poor and indigent was he, that he created nothing, predicted nothing-in short, possessed nothing; for it was into the world of another God that he descended. — Against Marcion Book V

Theodore of Mopsuestia: It is perfectly clear to us, says Paul, following the voice of the prophet and what we have said, that there can be no faith without teaching, and the teaching of godliness is impossible unless it shows the truth about God. — PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH

Romans 10:18

Ambrosiaster: They heard but they did not want to believe. For there are some who, in spite of the fact that they hear, do not believe. For they hear but do not understand, because their heart is blinded by wickedness. … If the sound of the gospel has gone out to the entire world, it is not possible that the Jews have not heard it, and so none of them can be pardoned from the sin of unbelief. — COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

Clement of Alexandria: This may be a symbol of the Lord’s teaching, and of His suffering. For the feet anointed with fragrant ointment mean divine instruction travelling with renown to the ends of the earth. “For their sound hath gone forth to the ends of the earth.” And if I seem not to insist too much, the feet of the Lord which were anointed are the apostles, having, according to prophecy, received the fragrant unction of the Holy Ghost. Those, therefore, who travelled over the world and preached the Gospel, are figuratively called the feet of the Lord, of whom also the Holy Spirit foretells in the psalm, “Let us adore at the place where His feet stood,” that is, where the apostles, His feet, arrived; since, preached by them, He came to the ends of the earth. — The Instructor Book 2

Hippolytus of Rome: This is the Christ who, he says, in all that have been generated, is the portrayed Son of Man from the unportrayable Logos. This, he says, is the great and unspeakable mystery of the Eleusinian rites, Hye, Cye. And he affirms that all things have been subjected unto him, and this is that which has been spoken, “Their sound is gone forth unto all the earth,” just as it agrees with the expressions, “Mercury waving his wand, guides the souls, but they twittering follow.” I mean the disembodied spirits follow continuously in such a way as the poet by his imagery delineates, using these words:-

“And as when in the magic cave’s recess

Bats humming fly, and when one drops

From ridge of rock, and each to other closely clings.” — Hippolytus Refutation of All Heresies Book V

John Chrysostom: “But I say, Have they not heard?”

What, he means, if the preachers were sent, and did preach what they were bid, and these did not hear? Then comes a most perfect reply to the objection.

“Yes, verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.”

What do you say? he means. They have not heard? Why the whole world, and the ends of the earth, have heard. And have you, amongst whom the heralds abode such a long time, and of whose land they were, not heard? Now can this ever be? Sure if the ends of the world heard, much more must you. — Homily on Romans 18

Origen of Alexandria: “But I say: Have they not heard? Their sound went out into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.” This is taken from the eighteenth psalm, where it says: “There are no speeches nor discourses whose voices are not heard. Their sound went out into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.” In which, by the variety of tongues and speeches, the nations are without doubt understood; and it is said that the sound of the apostles of Christ went out indeed into all the earth, but that to the ends of the world not the sound but the words came. This can be understood in this way: that by “the earth” it means all those who are untrained and unteachable, to whom there came not the words, in which the reason of faith and the explanation of wisdom is contained, but the sound of faith by a common and simple preaching; whereas by “the end of the world” it has named all the more learned and more prudent. For “end” indicates the perfection of things. To such as these, then, it declares that not the sound of a voice but words and reason have come — men who, hearing the discourse of faith, are also able to search out and examine the divine Scriptures, so as to recognize the truth of those words which have been announced to them through the apostles. And the Apostle, knowing that there is this difference among them, that is, between sound and words, says in a certain place: “And my speech and my preaching were not in the persuasive words of wisdom, but in the demonstration of the Spirit and of power” — so as to show that “word” is that by which, through the power of the Spirit, the wisdom of God is more lucidly expounded, whereas “preaching” is that of which the Prophet speaks, that “their sound went out into all the earth”: in which, namely, there is the simple announcement of faith, sufficient for all the simpler sort. But elsewhere too he says of himself that he is “a preacher and an apostle, and a teacher of the nations.” In which “apostle” indeed indicates the general name of the office, of one who not only preaches but also teaches: he preaches indeed the simple faith, as to those to whom he says, “For I judged that I knew nothing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified”; but he teaches those to whom he said, “Yet we speak wisdom among the perfect.” In these it is shown that to the former he set forth the sound of preaching, but to the latter he expounded the wisdom of God through words. — COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

Pelagius: Paul wants this passage to be understood allegorically to refer to the cries of the prophets. — PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS

Tertullian: Who else have the nations of the world believed in but Christ, who has already come? — AN ANSWER TO THE JEWS 7

Tertullian: Again, in the Pslams, David says: “Bring to God, ye countries of the nations”-undoubtedly because “unto every land” the preaching of the apostles had to “go out” -“bring to God fame and honour; bring to God the sacrifices of His name: take up victims and enter into His courts. — An Answer to the Jews

Tertullian: For whose right hand does God the Father hold but Christ’s, His Son?-whom all nations have heard, that is, whom all nations have believed,-whose preachers, withal, the apostles, are pointed to in the Psalms of David: “Into the universal earth,” says he, “is gone out their sound, and unto the ends of the earth their words.” For upon whom else have the universal nations believed, but upon the Christ who is already come? For whom have the nations believed,-Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and they who inhabit Mesopotamia, Armenia, Phrygia, Cappadocia, and they who dwell in Pontus, and Asia, and Pamphylia, tarriers in Egypt, and inhabiters of the region of Africa which is beyond Cyrene, Romans and sojourners, yes, and in Jerusalem Jews, and all other nations; as, for instance, by this time, the varied races of the Gµtulians, and manifold confines of the Moors, all the limits of the Spains, and the diverse nations of the Gauls, and the haunts of the Britons-inaccessible to the Romans, but subjugated to Christ, and of the Sarmatians, and Dacians, and Germans, and Scythians, and of many remote nations, and of provinces and islands many, to us unknown, and which we can scarce enumerate? In all which places the name of the Christ who is already come reigns, as of Him before whom the gates of all cities have been opened, and to whom none are closed, before whom iron bars have been crumbled, and brazen gates opened. — An Answer to the Jews

Theodore of Mopsuestia: It is clear that Paul did not put this here as a kind of prophecy but rather as a statement of what was actually going on at the time. — PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH

Romans 10:19

Ambrosiaster: Paul means here that of course Israel knew.… They all heard but they did not all believe.The jealousy of the Jews arose from their envy at seeing a people which earlier had been without God and barbarous claim the Jewish God as their own and receive the promise which had originally been made to the Jews.… Nothing destroys a man so much as jealousy, which is why God made it the avenger of unbelief, because that is a great sin. — COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

Augustine of Hippo: By calling a people “foolish” Paul explained what he meant by “those who are not a people,” viz., a foolish people ought not to be called a people at all. But he says that the Jewish people will be angered by the Gentiles’ faith, because they have received what the Jews have rejected.… Even though entire peoples were foolish idol worshipers, they nevertheless put away their paganism by believing. Thus Paul said: “If a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision?” Thus he means: “I will make you jealous of those who once were not a people but were made a people,” because although they were once a foolish idol-worshiping people, they put aside their paganism through their faith in Christ. — AUGUSTINE ON Romans 68

Clement of Alexandria: And the same apostle owns that he bears witness to the Jews, “that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For, being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own, they have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God.” For they did not know and do the will of the law; but what they supposed, that they thought the law wished. And they did not believe the law as prophesying, but the bare word; and they followed through fear, not through disposition and faith. “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness,” who was prophesied by the law to every one that believeth. Whence it was said to them by Moses, “I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are not a people; and I will anger you by a foolish nation, that is, by one that has become disposed to obedience.” And by Isaiah it is said, “I was found of them that sought Me not; I was made manifest to them that inquired not after Me,” -manifestly previous to the coming of the Lord; after which to Israel, the things prophesied, are now appropriately spoken: “I have stretched out My hands all the day long to a disobedient and gainsaying people.” Do you see the cause of the calling from among the nations, clearly declared, by the prophet, to be the disobedience and gainsaying of the people? — The Stromata Book 2

John Chrysostom: “But I say, Did not Israel know?”

For what if they heard, he means, but did not know what was said, nor understand that these were the persons sent? Are they not to be forgiven for their ignorance? By no means. For Isaiah had described their character in the words, “How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the Gospel of peace.” And before him the Lawgiver himself. Hence he proceeds.

“First Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you.”

And so they ought even from him to have been able to distinguish the preachers, not from the fact of these disbelieving only, not from the fact of their preaching peace, not from the fact of their bringing the glad tidings of those good things, not from the word being sown in every part of the world, but from the very fact of their seeing their inferiors, those of the Gentiles, in greater honor. For what they had never heard, nor their forefathers, that wisdom did these on a sudden embrace. And this was a mark of such intense honor, as should gall them, and lead them to jealousy, and to recollection of the prophecy of Moses, which said, “I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people.” For it was not the greatness of the honor alone that was enough to throw them upon jealousy, but the fact too that a nation had come to enjoy these things which was of so little account that it could hardly be considered a nation at all. “For I will provoke you to jealousy, by them which are no nation, and by a foolish nation will I anger you.” For what more foolish than the Greeks (Heathen)? or what of less account? See how by every means God had given from of old indications and clear signs of these times, in order to remove their blindness. For it was not any little corner in which the thing was done, but in land, and in sea, and in every quarter of the globe. — Homily on Romans 18

Origen of Alexandria: “But I say: Has Israel not known? First Moses says: I will lead you to jealousy by a non-nation, by a foolish nation; I will bring you into wrath.” He seems to have spoken the things said above concerning the nations; but now, as is his custom, to add something also concerning Israel; and he wishes to prove by suitable witnesses that Israel is without excuse. Moses himself, he says, speaks in the person of God: “I will lead you to jealousy by a non-nation” — speaking without doubt of the Christians, who have been taken up by God to provoke the jealousy of the former people, unbelieving and contemptuous. But perhaps it may seem that Moses addressed rather insultingly a nation chosen by God for the merit of its faith and devotion, when he says, “by a non-nation,” and so counts it as nothing, so as not to deign even to call it a nation; or, if he does call it one, to name it foolish. But Moses is not insulting, being as he is the friend of God, toward God’s elect; nor will there seem to be any reproach in the expression, if the reason of the expression be made plain. Every single nation — for example, of the Egyptians, or the Syrians, or the Moabites — is called this nation or that for the reason that it is distinguished by its own boundaries, and language, and dress, and customs and institutions; and Syrians are never called Egyptians, nor are Moabites called Idumaeans, nor Arabs Scythians. But of Christians there is not one nation, but out of all nations one people; and therefore Moses named it “a non-nation” as the highest honor, because it was not one nation but, if it may be so said, the nation of all nations. But we shall seem to be excluded in what follows, where he says: “I will lead you into anger by a foolish nation” — in that he has called them both a nation and foolish. Yet not even in this does Moses, the servant of God, do dishonor to the people of God; rather he foresaw in the Spirit that if anyone wishes to be wise in this world, he must become foolish, that he may be wise with God; and “since the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of preaching to save those who believe”; and that through the preaching of the cross of Christ, which is foolishness to the Gentiles, a people would be gathered which should become foolish in this world, that it might be wise with God. — COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

Pelagius: Israel did not understand that the Gentiles were to be called to faith. Moses is first because the prophets after him spoke of the salvation of the Gentiles. Before they believed in God, they were not God’s people. Therefore it is as if he says: “I shall call those who are not my people, and they will believe in me in order to provoke you, so that although you should have been better than they are, you will be glad to be their equals.” It is just as if someone has a disobedient son and in order to reform him gives half his inheritance to his slave, so that when he finally repents he may be glad if he deserves to receive even that much. — PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS

Romans 10:20

Ambrosiaster: Having made us aware of the words of Moses to talk about the rejection of the Jews, Paul here adds the testimony of the prophet Isaiah in order to make his point clearer still.… Isaiah here is speaking in the role of Christ. — COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

John Chrysostom: “But Esaias is very bold, and saith.”

Now what he means is something of this kind. He put a violence on himself, and was ambitious to speak, not something veiled over, but to set things even naked before your eyes, and choosing rather to run into dangers from being plain spoken, than by looking to his own safety, to leave you any shelter for your impenetrableness; although it was not the manner of prophecy to say this so clearly; but still to stop your mouths most completely, he tells the whole beforehand clearly and distinctly. The whole! what whole? Why your being cast out, and also their being brought in; speaking as follows, “I was found of them that sought Me not, I was made manifest of them that asked not after Me.” Who then are they that sought not? who they that asked not after Him? Clearly not the Jews, but they of the Gentiles, who hitherto had not known Him. As then Moses gave their characteristic mark in the words, “no people” and “a foolish nation,” so here also he takes the same ground to point them out from, viz. their extreme ignorance. And this was a very great blame to attach to the Jews, that they who sought Him not found Him, and they who sought Him lost Him. — Homily on Romans 18

Origen of Alexandria: The Jews, then, are angry that, when they themselves made excuses and refused, the Gentiles were invited to the king’s banquet — not looking to those things which long ago concerning this mystery “Isaiah dares to say: I was found by those who did not seek me; I appeared openly among those who did not ask after me. But to Israel what does he say? All the day I have stretched out my hands to a people that does not believe and contradicts.” Just as in the passages above we have often shown that the Apostle Paul speaks now of the Gentiles, now of Israel, and yet does not plainly and openly declare the change of person, so Isaiah too does in these words which the Apostle has brought forward as an illustration; and the first part indeed, that is, “I was found by those who did not seek me; I appeared openly among those who did not ask after me,” he says without doubt concerning the Gentiles; and where the prophet secretly changes the person, the Apostle has given a clear distinction by his own words in that he added, “But to Israel what does he say?” And the former words he expounds as referring to the Gentiles, but the following as to be referred to Israel, in which he says: “All the day I have stretched out my hands to a people that does not believe and contradicts.” But first of all, as to what he says, “Isaiah dares to say,” let us see what he dares, or what daring of the prophet is here taught. If we attend to the words of the blessed Stephen, who says: “Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute, who announced the coming of the Just One?” — then we understand Isaiah’s daring, who, with persecutions and death set before him, nevertheless dared to preach the coming of the Just One, and for the good’s sake dares even to die. Yet in this at the same time that also is shown, that the prophets did not, as some suppose, fail to know what they were saying, and prophesy as it were with their own understanding estranged from them. For what the Apostle says of Isaiah, that “he dares and says,” indicates this: that despising death and the persecutions which were being inflicted, although he knew that danger threatened him, he nevertheless dares and preaches the word of God — as Paul himself also said: “I know that bonds and prisons await me at Jerusalem; but I do not hold my life dearer to myself.” So then Isaiah too knew indeed that he was to be sawn asunder and slain by the impious, yet he dares, and in the person of Christ says: “I was found by those who did not seek me.” Now it is certain that it was the Gentiles who neither had known how to seek Christ nor had learned to ask after him; yet they found him whom they did not seek, because he first sought them. For he is the Good Shepherd, and he sought out the sheep that had perished; and he is the Wisdom that sought the lost drachma, and in seeking found it. — COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

Pelagius: The Gentiles did not enquire after God in the law but after idols in ignorance. They asked not of God but of demons through the augurs, astrologers and haruspices of the idols. — PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS

Romans 10:21

Ambrosiaster: Here Israel refers to the Israel of the flesh, those who are children of Abraham but not according to faith. For the true Israel is spiritual and sees God by believing in him. “All day long” means “always.“This passage may also refer to the Savior, who held out his hands on the cross to plead forgiveness for those who were killing him. — COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

Diodorus of Tarsus: It appears from the holding out of his hands that God is calling the people to himself. It is also a sign pointing toward the form of the cross. — PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH

Jerome: It can also be understood of the Savior, that upon His cross He protected us with His wings. And under His feathers you shall hope. “All the day long I have stretched forth my hands to a people that did not believe and that contradicted me.” The hands of the Lord raised to heaven did not ask for help, but were protecting us wretches. — Homily 68, on Psalms 90 (Alternate Series)

John Chrysostom: “But unto Israel He saith, All the day long have I stretched forth My hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.”

Observe now that difficulty, which so many make a subject of question, is discovered laid up from of old in the words of the Prophet, and with a clear solution to it too. And what is this? You heard Paul say before. “What shall we say then? That the Gentiles which followed not after righteousness have attained unto righteousness. But Israel which followed after the law of righteousness hath not attained to the law of righteousness.” This Esaias also says here. For to say, “I was found of them that sought me not, I was made manifest unto them which asked not after me,” is the same with saying, “that the Gentiles which followed not after righteousness have attained unto righteousness.” Then to show that what was happening was not of God’s grace only, but also of the temper of those who came to Him, as also the casting off of the others came of the disputatiousness of those who disobeyed, hear what he proceeds with. “But to Israel He saith, All the day long have I stretched forth My hands to a disobedient and gainsaying people;” here meaning by the day the whole period of the former dispensation. But the stretching out of the hands, means calling and drawing them to Him, and inviting them. Then to show that the fault was all their own, he says “to a disobedient and gainsaying people.” You see what a great charge this is against them! For they did not obey Him even when He invited them, but they gainsaid Him, and that when they saw Him doing so, not once or twice or thrice, but the whole period. But others who had never known Him, had the power to draw Him to them. Not that he says they themselves had the power to do it, but to take away lofty imaginings even from those of the Gentiles, and to show that it was His grace that wrought the whole, He says, I was made manifest, and I was found. It may be said, Were they then void of everything? By no means, for the taking of the things found, and the getting a knowledge of what was manifested to them, was what they contributed themselves. — Homily on Romans 18

Justin Martyr: And Isaiah likewise mentions concerning Him the manner in which He would die, thus: “I have spread out My hands unto a people disobedient, and gainsaying, that walk in a way which is not good.” — Dialogue with Trypho, Chapter XCVII

Origen of Alexandria: But the Jews even to this day seek concerning Christ, and question the Scriptures about him, and do not find; because his cross is to the Jews a stumbling-block. And therefore he says to them: “All the day I have stretched out my hands to a people that does not believe and contradicts” — that is, when he hung upon the cross, they not only did not find him, but moreover said: “If you are the Son of God, come down now from the cross, and we will believe you.” But hear also what is said in the Wisdom of Solomon: that “he will not be found by those who tempt him; but he will appear to those who are not unbelieving toward him.” Yet neither is it fitting that this be unknown to us, that in the copies of the Hebrews the words “and contradicts” are not found. The Apostle, however, followed in his writings the truth of the Seventy Translators, and sets it down just as they translated it. — COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

Pelagius: The same prophet who made promises of this sort to the Gentiles issues similar warnings here to the Jews, so that you may know that both were foretold. The holding out of the hands means, allegorically, the cross. — PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS

Tertullian: Whence, again, it is manifest that “the city must simultaneously be exterminated” at the time when its “Leader” had to suffer in it, (as foretold) through the Scriptures of the prophets, who say: “I have outstretched my hands the whole day unto a People contumacious and gainsaying Me, who walketh in a way not good, but after their own sins.” And in the Psalms, David says: “They exterminated my hands and feet: they counted all my bones; they themselves, moreover, contemplated and saw me, and in my thirst slaked me with vinegar. — An Answer to the Jews

Early Church Fathers Commentary

A comprehensive collection of verse-keyed commentary from the church fathers of the first thousand years, including Augustine, John Chrysostom, Bede, Jerome, Origen, and over 250 others spanning from the 1st to the 10th centuries. Each verse entry gathers quotes from multiple fathers, providing a …

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Old Testament

GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOS JDG RUT 1SA 2SA 1KI 2KI 1CH 2CH EZR NEH EST JOB PSA PRO ECC SOS ISA JER LAM EZK DAN HOS JOL AMO OBA JON MIC NAH HAB ZEP HAG ZEC MAL

New Testament

MAT MRK LUK JHN ACT ROM 1CO 2CO GAL EPH PHP COL 1TH 2TH 1TI 2TI TIT PHM HEB JAS 1PE 2PE 1JN 2JN 3JN JUD REV

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