Charles Ellicott Commentary Romans 10:16

"But they did not all hearken to the glad tidings. For Isaiah saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?" — Romans 10:16 (ASV)

Applying this condition of the necessity of preaching to the gospel, we nevertheless see that, as a matter of fact, all did not accept it. Just as Isaiah had said.

The argument does not run quite smoothly. The Apostle has two thoughts in his mind:

1. The necessity that the gospel should be preached before it could be believed;
2. The fact that, although it was preached (and accepted by many among the Gentiles), it was not accepted by the Jews.

He begins to introduce this second topic before he has quite done with the first. Romans 10:17 goes back to and connects logically with Romans 10:15, while Romans 10:16 anticipates Romans 10:19; Romans 10:21.

Our report.—So Authorized Version, rightly. The Greek word means literally, our hearing. Here it is, the message preached by us, but heard by those who listened to it.