Charles Ellicott Commentary Romans 9:3

"For I could wish that I myself were anathema from Christ for my brethren`s sake, my kinsmen according to the flesh:" — Romans 9:3 (ASV)

I could wish . . .—Rather, I could have wished. The wish, of course, related to what was really impossible. Still, it is a nobly generous impulse, at which some weak minds have been shocked, and from which others have made sentimental capital. Let us leave it as it is.

Accursed from Christ.—Separated from Christ, and devoted to destruction. Does not the intensity of this expression help us to realize one aspect of the Atonement—being made a curse for us (Galatians 3:13)? (The Greek word for “curse” is different, but becomes nearly equivalent.)