Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Romans 10:18

"But I say, Did they not hear? Yea, verily, Their sound went out into all the earth, And their words unto the ends of the world." — Romans 10:18 (ASV)

In his indictment of Israel, Paul is prepared to investigate any possibility that would offer an excuse for the nation’s failure. Could it be, he asks, that they did not hear the Gospel? He could have appealed to widespread missionary activity, but he is content to cite Scripture, so that Israel may stand condemned by the testimony of God rather than by that of other people. In making use of Ps 19:4 (v.18), Paul sees a parallel between the diffusion of light and darkness every day and night, of which no one can be ignorant, and the proclamation of the Gospel in the areas where Jews made their home. This was essentially the Mediterranean basin, where Paul and his helpers had been laboring for some years. His countrymen could not claim lack of opportunity to hear the Gospel (cf. Acts 17:6; 21:28).

There remains the possibility, however, that in spite of hearing the message, Israel has not understood it (v.19). So in all fairness this should be considered. But the form in which Paul asks his question makes this highly unlikely. It is true that at Pentecost Peter spoke of the ignorance of his countrymen as explaining the crucifixion. But as time went on, fewer and fewer Jews in proportion to the total population of the nation responded to the Gospel. A hardened attitude was setting in. The precedent of the Jews who did respond to the Gospel, instead of moving their fellow Jews, only embittered them. Then, as the Gospel spread abroad and was received by Gentiles in ever greater numbers, this served to antagonize them still further.

It is over against this situation that Paul quotes Dt 32:21b, a part of Moses’ song to Israel in which he chides the congregation for perversity and (in Dt 32:21a, not quoted here) voices the complaint of God that the people had provoked him to jealousy by their idolatry. This in turn prompts God to resort to something that is calculated to make Israel jealous. It will be done through “a nation that has no understanding.” This must be understood of Gentile response to God and his word in such a way as to surpass the response of Israel—exactly what was happening during Paul’s day. Those who lacked special revelation and the moral and religious training God provided for Israel have proved more responsive than the chosen people.