yield to them one tittle which might be injurious to the cause of the gospel; for he assigns them, in such a manner, their own peculiar honours, as to deprive Christ, in no degree, of any glory with which he is adorned. Notwithstanding his transition to the statement of this new subject appears so abrupt as to have no connexion with the context, yet he commences as if he had made allusion to it in a former part of the epistle. The reason of this arises from his attention being directed to the state of the Jews, after he had completed the discussion relative to the doctrine he was teaching, when he feels astonished on considering their unbelief, as if struck with some unusual prodigy, and suddenly breaks forth in calling God to witness the truth of what he said, as if he was treating on a subject already investigated in a former part of the epistle. It was impossible for any careful examiner of the doctrine, which Paul proved to be taught in the law and the prophets, not to be impressed with this reflection, Why do the Jews reject, with so much obstinacy, truths so clearly revealed in their own writings? It was, also, a wellknown fact, that the Jews so cordially hated all the observations made by Paul in his discourse concerning the law of Moses and the grace of Christ, as to afford no assistance to the faith of the gentiles by their agreement with his views. The removal, therefore, of this stumbling-block was necessary, lest the course and progress of the gospel should be suddenly stopped.

I say the truth in Christ-Since it was the presumptive opinion of a considerable number, that Paul was the sworn enemy of the Jewish nation, and many of his private friends and relations suspected his want of allegiance to Moses, and considered him as teaching his followers to revolt from the standard of their great lawgiver, he prepares the minds of his read

ers, by an introductory preface, to entertain a favourable opinion of him before he enters into any dispute concerning the subject he proposed to consider. By this means he clears himself from all false suspicions which were formed against him, as entertaining dispositions hostile to the Jews. He swears also to the truth of his statement, because the subject was of so great importance as to require an oath; and he was fully convinced that his mere affirmation alone would not secure the belief of his countrymen, who had already conceived so strong a prejudice against his person and doctrine as opposed to the Mosaic dispensation. This and similar examples, as I have stated in the first chapter, may teach us the lawfulness of such oaths as confirm any truth whose knowledge is productive of great benefit, and the belief of which could not otherwise be established. The sentence, in Christ, means, according to Christ. By adding, I lie not, he intends to remove all suspicion of his using artifice, falsehood, or disguise. By using the words, my conscience also bearing me witness, he summons his conscience before the judgment-seat of God, because he calls the Spirit as a witness to the sense he wished to impress upon his readers. For he introduced the name of the Spirit with a view to confirm, in a stronger manner, by the exalted character of the witness to which he appealed, that, in pleading the cause of Christ, he was free and clear from every depraved feeling of envy and contention, and conducted by the guidance and government of the Spirit of God. Men, blinded by fleshly inclination, although they may not deceive, frequently obscure the light of the truth with the approbation of their will, and the full light of knowledge. We then properly swear by the name of God, when we appeal to him as a witness for the confirmation of any doubtful subject, and, at the same time, make

ourselves amenable to the justice of his sentence, and severity of his punishment, if we are guilty of falsehood.

That I have great heaviness-Paul's abrupt transition, and his avoiding immediate discussion of the subject to be considered, were intentional; for it was not yet convenient for him openly and clearly to state the destruction impending over the Jewish nation. He thus intimates also the greater vehemence of his grief, for very strong feelings are generally unable to express themselves in words. He will, hereafter, state the cause of his grief, when he has confirmed the Jews more fully in the belief of his sincerity. The very great and agonizing sorrow felt by Paul on account of the destruction of the Jews, which he knew would take place according to the will and dispensation of the Most High, teaches us that the obedience, which we yield to the providence of the Ruler of all things, does not prevent us from lamenting and bewailing the ruin of men of abandoned characters, to which we know them to be devoted by the just judgment of the Lord. The same mind may experience two kinds of feelings, and, when directed to the universal Governor, may willingly bear with the ruin of those, whom the Deity hath determined to destroy; but, on turning its thoughts and reflections to men, suffering under evils, may condole with them in their misery. Such as require apathy and want of natural affection in men of piety, lest they should oppose the divine decree, labour under a very great mistake.

For I could wish-Paul could not express the ardour of his affection in any stronger manner than by the declaration here given; for that love which refuses not to undergo death for the salvation of a friend, deserves to be considered perfect. The additional sentence proves the apostle to be speaking

not of temporal, but eternal death; and when he says, from Christ, an allusion is made to the Greek word anathema, which means a separation from any thing. Does not separation from Christ mean being excluded from all hopes of salvation? Paul, therefore, afforded all proof of his love, when he did not doubt to call down upon his own head that curse, which he saw to be suspended over the Jews, with a view to deliver them from its dreadful ruin. Nor is the objection of any weight, that Paul knew his salvation to be founded on God's election, and on this account it could not fail, or be destroyed; for these more ardent emotions of the mind are hurried off with so much violence, as only to regard and consider the object on which they are fixed. Paul, therefore, did not join the election of God with his vow, but, forgetting the former, his whole mind was earnestly engaged upon the salvation of the Jews. The doubt entertained by many, whether such a desire was lawful or not, may thus be solved-that love keeps within due and constant bounds, which never goes beyond the altar; if, therefore, we love in God, and not out of the Fountain of all love, the ardour of our most intense affection will never be excessive. This was Paul's case, for while he perceived his own nation to be endowed with so many blessings from God, he embraced the divine gifts among the Jews, and that people on account of these gifts. He felt also most deeply distressed that such endowments should perish, and from this cause his mind, troubled and confounded, burst forth with this strongest and most awful of all vows. I do not adopt the opinion of those commentators, who consider Paul to have uttered this wish from a regard to God alone and not men; nor do I agree with others, who say he had given himself up merely to the love of men, without any consideration of God; but I unite the love of

mankind with a zeal for the glory of God. I have not yet given an explanation of what chiefly requires our attention, that the Jews are in this passage regarded as adorned with their own badges and tokens of honour, which distinguished them from the rest of the human race. For God, by his cove

nant, had so exalted them to the highest pitch of glory, that, when they fell, the divine faith and truth would decay in the world. For the covenant would thus be made void and of none effect, which was said to be ordained to remain firm for ever, and as long as the sun and moon continue; (Ps. lxxii. 5, 7, 17;) so that its abolition would be attended with greater absurdity than the mingling of the whole world in one scene of woful and horrible confusion. A simple and bare comparison of mankind is not, therefore, here presented to our view; for though it would be better for one member to perish rather than the whole body, yet Paul places so high a value upon the Jews, because he clothes them with the character, and, as it is usually denominated, the quality of the elect people of God. This appears more clearly from the context, as we shall afterwards see in its proper place. Although the words, my kinsmen according to the flesh, give no new meaning to the passage, yet they contribute very much to amplify and enlarge its force. For, in the first place, to prevent any reader from thinking he had willingly, or of his own accord, embraced an opportunity for quarrelling with the Jews, he intimates that he had not so far divested himself of the feeling of humanity, as not to be deeply affected with the awful and horrible destruction of his own flesh. the second place, since the gospel preached by Paul must necessarily come out of Sion, he, not without reason, by repeating the same view in a variety of expressions, presses upon the attention of his readers

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