Philip Schaff's Popular Commentary (4 vols)

Romans 11:6

Romans 11:6. Now if it is by grace. ‘Now' is preferable to ‘and,' or ‘but.' ‘If' takes up the assertion of Romans 11:5, as if to say: ‘since the remnant exists by grace, let us understand what this involves, negatively,' namely: it is no longer of works. Here the individual reference is clear. ‘No longer' is logical, not temporal; ‘works' are entirely excluded in this matter of the remnant existing according to the election of grace.

Otherwise; ‘since in that case,' in case it were of works, grace no longer becometh Grace. ‘Becometh' is not only more literal than ‘is,' but suggests as the more exact sense that in such a case grace would fail to show itself as what it is; ‘positively expressed: it becomes what according to its essence it is not; it gives up its specific character' (Meyer). The emphasis placed at this point on the doctrine of free grace is doubtless to prepare for what follows: the reference to the many rejected (Romans 11:7-10), as well as the statement of the final solution (Romans 11:11-32), are based on the sovereignty of God in His dealings.

The latter half of the verse is found in but one of the more ancient manuscripts (B), though it is added by a late corrector in the Sinaitic Codex. Critical judgment has recently become more decidedly against the genuineness of the passage. In addition to the authorities which omit it, the variations of those containing it oppose its retention. If retained it must be regarded as an antithetical repetition of the same thought, since the attempts to discover an additional argument have been futile (comp. the far-fetched views of Lange, Wordsworth, and others).

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Philip Schaff's Popular Commentary (4 vols)

Romans 11:6

Old Testament

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