Romans 10:20,21

“ But Esaias is very bold, and saith, I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me. But to Israel he saith, All the day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people. ” ᾿Αποτολμᾷ : “he declares without mincing matters.” The passage quoted is Isaiah 65:1. Most modern crities apply this saying of Isaiah to the Jews who did not seek the Lord, while Paul applies it to the Gentiles. Hofmann, while starting from the prevailing explanation, seeks to justify Paul's quotation; but without success. Meyer acknowledges the difference between the two interpretations, Paul's and that of modern exegesis. But, he says, Paul saw in unbelieving Israel a type of the Gentile world. This solution is impossible; for, as we shall see, Isaiah distinctly contrasts those of whom he is speaking in Romans 10:1 with unbelieving Israel, Romans 10:2. We think that the simple and unbiassed study of the passage from Isaiah leads irresistibly to the conclusion that the prophet really meant to speak in Romans 10:1 of the Gentiles reaching salvation notwithstanding their ignorance, and to contrast them with the Jews in their obstinate rebellion against God, who had long revealed Himself to them, Romans 10:2. In fact 1. The term goï expressly distinguishes as Gentiles those to whom Romans 10:1 refers, as the term am (the people), in Romans 10:2, positively describes Israel. 2. This contrast is the more certain that the prophet adds to the term goï, the nation, the commentary: “(the nation) which was not called by my name.” Could he thus designate Israel? 3. Is it possible to mistake the contrast established by the prophet between those who, not inquiring after the Lord, whom they do not yet know, find Him because He consents to manifest Himself to them spontancously (Romans 10:1), and the people, properly so called, whom for ages He has not ceased to call to Him, who know Him as their God, but who obstinately reject His mercies (Romans 10:2)? Let us add, 4, that the two ideas of the future unbelief of the Jews in relation to the Messiah, and of the calling of the Gentiles to fill for the time their place in the kingdom of God, are very distinctly expressed elsewhere in Isaiah; so Isaiah 52:13-15: the kings and peoples of the Gentiles, who had not heard any prophecy, believe in the suffering and exalted Messiah, while the Jews reject Him, though to them He had been clearly foretold (Isaiah 53:1); so again Isaiah 49:4: the failure of the Messiah's work in Israel, forming a contrast to the rich indemnification which is bestowed on Him through the conversion of the Gentiles (Romans 10:6). It is clear that the alleged advances in the interpretation of the prophets may, after all, on certain points, be only retrogressions.

The thought of Romans 10:20-21 is analogous to that of 10:30 and 10:31. The unsophisticated ignorance and corruption of the Gentiles are an easier obstacle for the light of God to dissipate than the proud obduracy of the Jews, who have for long been visited by divine grace. The words: I was made manifest, are intended by the apostle to refer to that universal preaching which is the idea of the whole passage.