John Gill Commentary Romans 3

What advantage then has the Jew ? If he is not properly a Jew, who is born of Jewish parents, and brought up in the customs, rites, and religion of the Jewish nation, but anyone of whatever nation, that is born again of water, and of the Spirit; where is the superior excellency of the Jew to the Gentile? A man may as well be born and brought up a Heathen as a Jew; the one has no more advantages than the other by his birth and education: it may be rendered, "what has the Jew more?" or "what has he superfluous" or "abundant?" the phrase answers to the Hebrew Mdal Nwrty hm in Ecclesiastes 1:3 , which is rendered, "what profit has a man?" and in Ecclesiastes 6:8 , Mkxl rtwy hm , "what has a wise man more", &c. and in Romans 3:11 , Mdal rty hm , "what is a man better?" the first of these passages the Septuagint render by tiv perisseia , "what abundance?" and the last by ti perisson , "what more", or "superfluous", or "abundant?" the phrase used by the apostle here.

or what profit is there of circumcision ? since that which is outward in the flesh profits not unless the law is kept, otherwise circumcision is no circumcision; and if an uncircumcised Gentile keeps the law, he is a better man than a circumcised Jew; yea, he judges and condemns him; for the only true circumcision is internal, spiritual, and in the heart. To this the apostle answers in the Romans 3:2 .

Much every way
The circumcised Jew has greatly the advantage of the uncircumcised Gentile, (Mynp lkm) , "in all respects", (du lk le) , "on every side", as the Rabbins speak; phrases to which this in the text answers:

chiefly ;
more especially, particularly, and in the first place;

because that to them were committed the oracles of God ;
by which are meant the law of Moses, and the writings of the prophets, the institutions of the ceremonial law, and the prophecies of the Messiah and the Gospel church state; and in a word, all the books of the Old Testament, and whatsoever is contained in them; which are called so, because they are of divine inspiration, contain the mind and will of God, and are infallible and authoritative:

And it was the privilege and profit of the Jews that they were intrusted with them, when other nations were not, and so had the advantage of them; they had them for their own use; for by this they had a more clear and distinct knowledge of God than the Gentiles could have by the light of nature; and besides, became acquainted with the doctrines of a trinity of persons in the Godhead, of the sonship and deity of the Messiah, of the sacrifice, satisfaction, and righteousness of the Redeemer, and of salvation by him; and also with the manner of worshipping God according to his will; all of which the Gentiles were ignorant.

Moreover, they had the honour of being the keepers of these sacred books, these divine oracles, and of transmitting them to posterity, for the use of others.

For what if some did not believe ?
&c.] It is suggested, that though the Jews enjoyed such a privilege, some of them did not believe; which is an aggravation of their sin, that they should have such means of light, knowledge, and faith, such clear and full evidences of things, and yet be incredulous:

though it should be observed that this was the case only of some, not of all; and must be understood, not of their disbelief of the Scriptures being the word of God, for these were always received as such by them all, and were constantly read, heard, and attended to; but either of their disobedience to the commands of God required in the law, or of their disregard to the promises of God, and prophecies of the Messiah, and of their disbelief in the Messiah himself when he came; but now this was no objection to the advantage they had of the Gentiles, since this was not owing to want of evidence in the word of God, but to the darkness and unbelief of their minds: and,

shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect ?
no, their unbelief could not, and did not make void the veracity and faithfulness of God in his promises concerning the Messiah, recorded in the oracles of God, which they had committed to them; for notwithstanding this, God raised up the Messiah from among them, which is another advantage the Jews had of, the Gentiles; inasmuch as "of" them, "as concerning the flesh, Christ came, who is God over all, blessed for evermore", (Romans 9:5) , and he sent him to them, to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, as a prophet and minister; he sent his Gospel to them first, and called out by it from among them his elect, nor did he take it from them until he had done this: and he took it away only; until "the fulness of the Gentiles", (Romans 11:25) , is brought in; and then the Gospel shall come to them again with power, and "all Israel shall be saved" ((Romans 11:26) ).

God forbid, yea, let God be true, but every man a liar
Let no such thing ever enter into the minds of any, that the truth of God can be, or will be made of none effect by the want of faith in man; let it be always asserted and abode by; that God is true, faithful to his word, constant in his promises, and will always fulfil his purposes; though "every man is a liar", vain, fallacious, and inconstant: referring to (Psalms 116:11);

as it is written ,
(Psalms 51:4);

that you might be justified in your sayings, and might overcome
when you are judged .
This is a proof that God is true, and stands to his word, though men are fallacious, inconstant, and wicked. God made a promise to David, that of the fruit of his body he would set upon his throne; that the Messiah should spring from him; that he would of his seed raise up unto Israel a Saviour. Now David sinned greatly in the case of Bathsheba, (2 Samuel 11:3 2 Samuel 11:4) (Psalms 51:1) (title), but his sin did not make of no effect the truth and faithfulness of God: though David showed himself to be a weak sinful man, yet God appeared true and faithful to every word of promise which he had sworn in truth to him; and therefore when he was brought to a sense of his evil, and at the same time to observe the invariable truth and faithfulness of God, said, "I acknowledge my transgression against you, you only have I sinned and done this evil in your sight", (Psalms 51:3Psalms 51:4) , which confession of sin I make, "that you might be justified in your sayings"; or "when you speak", (Psalms 51:4) , which is all one; that is, that you might appear to be just, and faithful, and true in all your promises, in every word that is gone out of your mouth, which shall not be recalled and made void, on account of my sins; for though I have sinned, you abide faithful; and this also I declare with shame to myself, and with adoring views of your unchangeable truth and goodness: "that you might overcome"; that is, put to silence all such cavils and charges, as if the faith of God could be made void by the unfaithfulness of men: "when you are judged"; when men will be so bold and daring to arraign your truth and faithfulness, and contend with you about them. This now is brought as a full proof, and is a full proof of this truth, that God is always true to his word, though men fail in theirs, and fall into sin.

God kept his word with David concerning the stability of his kingdom, his successor, and the Messiah that should spring from him, though he acted a bad part against God. There is some little difference between these words as they stand in the Hebrew text of (Psalms 51:4) ; and as they are cited and rendered by the apostle, in the last clause of them;

in the former it is, "that you might be clear"; in the latter, "that you might overcome". Now to vindicate the apostle's version, let it be observed, that the Hebrew word (hkz) signifies to "overcome", as well as to "be clear"; of which instances may be given from where the Jewish writings. Says ^F12 Rabba; concerning an argument used by R. Chanina, in a controversy with other Rabbins, by this R. Chanina ben Antigonus, (whnkz) , "has overcome" them: and in another place ^F13 , whosoever (ykzd) , "overcomes" a king, they cast him into an empty ditch; where the gloss upon it is, (xuwn) , he that overcomes a king by words, that is, by disputing with him, which is a disgrace to a king. So the word is used in the Syriac language in (John 16:33) (Luke 11:22) (Romans 12:21) (Hebrews 11:33) (1 John 2:13 1 John 2:14) (4:4) (5:4) . Moreover, the sense is the same, be it rendered either way; for as a man, when he overcomes his adversary, and carries his point against him, is clear of his charges and cavils, so God, when he overcomes in judgment, is clear of the imputations of wicked men.

Another difference in the citation is, that what in the psalm is rendered "when you judge", is by the apostle, "when you are judged", (Psalms 51:4) , the word, which is used by the Psalmist, (Kjpvb) , may be rendered either way; either "when you judge", as a word of the same form is rendered, when "you speak", in (Psalms 51:4) ; or "when anyone judges of you", or "when you are judged": a like instance is in (Psalms 46:2) ; and so it is rendered by the Septuagint, and followed by the apostle, though the word he uses may be considered in the middle voice, and may have an active signification in it; and the phrase, (en tw krinesyai se) , may be rendered, "when you judge", and then both agree.

FOOTNOTES:

• F12: T. Bab. Niddah, fol. 52. 2.
• F13: T. Bab. Avoda Zara, fol. 10. 2. Sanhedrim, fol. 39. 1. & Becorot, fol. 8. 2.

But if our unrighteousness commend the righteousness of God ,
&c.] Hence it appears, that the unrighteousness of men commends the righteousness, or faithfulness of God; and yet all unrighteousness is sin; the wrath of God is revealed against it; and would exclude from heaven, were it not for pardon through the blood of Christ; and besides, the one is contrary to the other, and of itself, of its own nature, cannot influence and affect the other: wherefore this can only be understood of the manifestation and illustration of, the righteousness of God by it; which is covered and commended, in punishing the unrighteousness of men; in setting forth Christ to be a propitiation for sin; and in fulfilling his promises, notwithstanding the failings of his people, of which the case of David is a pregnant proof; just as the love of God is illustrated and commended, by the consideration of the sins of men, for whom Christ died, and his grace and mercy in the conversion of them: but if this be true,

what shall we say ?
shall we allow the following question to be put? this answers to (rmyml akya yam) , "what is there to say", or "to be said?" a way of speaking, often used by the Talmudists ^F14 :

is God unrighteous, who takes vengeance ?
if the premises are true, this is a just consequence of them; whereas God does take vengeance on men for their unrighteousness, both here and hereafter, it must be a piece of unrighteousness in him so to do; since that for which he takes vengeance on them commends his own righteousness; but that you may know as well by what follows, that this is not an inference of his own, but another's, he adds,

I speak as a man ;
(Mda ynb Nwvlk) , "according to the language of the children of men", a phrase often used by the Jewish doctors ^F15 . The apostle did not speak the sentiments of his own mind, he represented another man, and spoke in the language of an adversary.

FOOTNOTES:

• F14: T. Bab. Bava Bathra, fol. 4. 1. & passim.
• F15: T. Bab. Ceritot, fol. 11. 1. & passim.