Thomas Aquinas Commentary Romans 9:1-5

"I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience bearing witness with me in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and unceasing pain in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were anathema from Christ for my brethren`s sake, my kinsmen according to the flesh: who are Israelites; whose is the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service [of God], and the promises; whose are the fathers, and of whom is Christ as concerning the flesh, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen." — Romans 9:1-5 (ASV)

1. Having shown the need and power of grace, the Apostle begins to discuss the origin of grace, asking whether it is conferred solely by God’s choice or from the merits of previous works. He raises this question because the Jews, who seemed to be called to God’s special protection, had fallen from grace, whereas the Gentiles, previously alienated from God, had been admitted to it.

   First, therefore, he discusses the election of the Gentiles, and second, the fall of the Jews, which begins at the words, brethren, the will of my heart (Romans 10:1).

   Regarding the election of the Gentiles, he does two things:

   1. He recounts the greatness of the Jews.
   2. He shows how the Gentiles have been drawn into that greatness, starting at the words, not as though the word of God has failed (Romans 9:6).

   Regarding the greatness of the Jews, he again does two things:

   1. The Apostle shows his affection for the Jewish people, so that nothing he had said or was about to say against them would seem to proceed from hatred.
   2. He shows their dignity, starting at the words, who are Israelites.

   Concerning his affection, he does two things:

   1. He confirms what he was about to say.
   2. He demonstrates his affection, starting at the words, that I have great sadness.

2. Concerning the first point, he does two things.

   1. He confirms what he is about to say with a simple assertion, I speak the truth, which especially befits a preacher who is a witness to the truth: my mouth will utter truth (Proverbs 8:7); love truth and peace (Zechariah 8:19). Because a person sometimes mixes falsehood with the truth, he excludes this by adding, I am not lying, as in, putting away falsehood, let everyone speak the truth to his neighbor (Ephesians 4:25).
   2. He confirms what he is about to say with an oath, which is a confirmation supported by the testimony of infallible truth. The witnesses of the saints are of this kind.
      1. First is God himself, as it says in Job: my witness is in heaven (Job 16:19). Therefore, Paul says, in Christ, that is, through Jesus Christ who is truth without falsehood: the Son of God whom we preached among you was not yes and no (2 Corinthians 1:19).
      2. Second, the infallible witness of the saints is their conscience; hence he adds, my conscience bearing me witness, as in, our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience (2 Corinthians 1:12). But because one’s conscience is sometimes mistaken unless it is corrected by the Holy Spirit, he adds, in the Holy Spirit, as in, the Spirit himself gives testimony to our spirit (Romans 8:16).

3. He then shows his affection for the Jews by the pain he suffered from their fall, when he says, that I have great sadness. In this, he does two things:

   1. He describes this pain.
   2. He mentions a sign of it, when he says, for I wished myself.

4. He emphasizes how much pain he has suffered in three ways.

   1. By its magnitude: that I have great sadness, because it concerns a great evil, namely, the exclusion of such a great people: vast as the sea is your ruin (Lamentations 2:13).

      This, however, seems to conflict with Sirach, where it says, do not give your soul to sadness , which appears to agree with the opinion of the Stoics, who admitted no sadness at all in the soul of a wise person. Since sadness is a reaction to a present evil, they argued it cannot exist in a wise person, to whom no evil is present. They supposed that virtue was the only good and sin the only evil.

      But this opinion is refuted in two ways.

      • First, bodily defects, although they are not evils that make people evil, are nevertheless among the evils that nature abhors. Hence, even the Lord is described as being saddened by them: my soul is sorrowful, even to death (Matthew 26:38).
      • Second, since charity requires that a person love their neighbor as themself, it is praiseworthy for a wise person to grieve over the sin of their neighbor as over their own. Therefore, the Apostle says: I fear that I may have to mourn over many of those who sinned (2 Corinthians 12:21).

      Thus, worldly sadness, which works death and springs from love of the world, is rejected, but sadness which is godly and springs from divine love works salvation (2 Corinthians 7:10). Paul’s sadness was of this kind.

   2. He emphasizes his grief by its duration, when he says, and continual sorrow. This does not mean he never ceased to grieve in actuality, but that he did so habitually: that I might weep day and night for the slain of my people (Jeremiah 9:1).
   3. He emphasizes how real it was when he says, in my heart, for it was not superficial but rooted in the heart: my eyes are spent with weeping... my heart is poured out in grief (Lamentations 2:11).

5. Then he presents the sign of his sadness, saying, for I, who am so fervent in the love of Christ, as was shown above, wished myself to be an anathema from Christ, for my brethren.

   Here it should be noted that anathema is a Greek word formed by combining ana, which means “above,” and thesis, which means “placing,” so that something “placed above” is said to be anathema. When the ancients found something among the spoils of war that they did not wish people to use, they hung it in the temple. From this, the custom arose that things cut off from common use were said to be anathema. Thus, it says in Joshua: let this city be anathema, and all things that are in it, to the Lord (Joshua 6:17).

6. He says, therefore, for I wished myself to be an anathema from Christ, that is, separated from him. One is separated from Christ in two ways.

   One way is by sin, through which a person is separated from the love of Christ by not obeying His commandment: if you love me, keep my commandments (John 14:15). But the Apostle could not wish to be separated from Christ in this way for any reason, as is clear from what was said above (Romans 8:35). This would be against the order of charity, by which a person is bound to love God above all things and their own salvation more than that of others. So he does not say, “I wish,” but I wished, referring to his days of unbelief. According to this explanation, however, the Apostle is not saying anything remarkable, because in those days he was willing to be separated from Christ even for his own sake. Therefore, a Gloss explains that when he says, I have great sadness, he is referring to the sorrow with which he grieved over his past state of sin, during which he willed to be separated from Christ.

   The other way one can be separated from Christ is from the fruition of Christ possessed in glory. This is the way the Apostle wished to be separated from Christ for the salvation of the Gentiles, not to mention the conversion of the Jews. For he says in Philippians: my desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account (Philippians 1:23). This is what he means now: I wished, namely, if it were possible, to be an anathema—that is, separated from glory either absolutely or temporarily for the sake of Christ’s honor, which would be enhanced by the conversion of the Jews, as it says in Proverbs: in the multitude of the people is the dignity of the king (Proverbs 14:28). Hence, Chrysostom says: love so ruled his mind that to please Christ he would not only sacrifice being with Christ, which he deemed more desirable than anything else, but also the kingdom of heaven, which would be the reward of his labor for Christ.

7. The cause of this attitude is shown when he says, for my brethren. As Sirach says: three things are approved before God and men: the concord of brethren, the love of neighbors, and a wife and husband who live in harmony . Then, to show that he was not referring to those who were his spiritual brethren in Christ (as in, and you are all brethren), he adds, who are my kinsmen according to the flesh, just as he says elsewhere: are they descendants of Abraham? So am I (2 Corinthians 11:22).

8. Then, when he says, who are Israelites, he shows the greatness of the Jews so that his sadness might appear reasonable, given the ancient dignity of a deteriorating people—for it is a weightier evil to lose greatness than never to have possessed it, as the Gloss says—and not as though his sadness arose solely from worldly love.

   He shows their greatness in four ways:

   1. From their race, when he says, who are Israelites, meaning, descending from the stock of Jacob, who was called Israel (Genesis 32:28). This pertains to their greatness, for it is said: neither is there any nation so great as to have their gods coming to them (Deuteronomy 4:7).

   2. From God’s blessings upon that race. First are the spiritual blessings. One refers to the present: to whom belongs the adoption of sons of God. As it says in Exodus: Israel is my son, my firstborn (Exodus 4:22). This refers to the spiritual people who arose among that nation; but concerning worldly people, he stated above that they received the spirit of slavery in fear (Romans 8:15). Another spiritual blessing refers to the future: the glory, namely, the glory of the sons of God promised to them. A reference to this is found in Exodus: the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle (Exodus 40:32).

      Then he sets out other, symbolic benefits, three of which are figures of present spiritual benefits. The first of these is the covenant, that is, the pact of circumcision given to Abraham, as is recorded in Genesis 17. This could also refer to the new covenant preached first to the Jews. Thus, the Lord himself said, I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matthew 15:24), and Jeremiah said, I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel (Jeremiah 31:31). The second is the law given through Moses; hence, he continues, the giving of the law, as in, Moses commanded a law to us . The third is divine worship: the service with which they served God, while all the other nations were serving idols: but now hear, O Jacob my servant, Israel whom I have chosen (Isaiah 44:1).

      Finally, he mentions the blessing which pertains to future glory: and the promises. The promises made in the Old Testament and fulfilled by Christ seem to have been made especially to the Jews. Thus, he says below: I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to confirm the promises made to the patriarchs (Romans 15:8). Many other promises were also made to them about earthly goods, as is recorded in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 18, but spiritual things were prefigured by these temporal goods.

   3. By their origin, because they were begotten according to the flesh by those ancestors who were especially acceptable to God: I love your fathers and chose their descendants after them (Deuteronomy 4:37); like the first fruit on the fig tree I saw their fathers (Hosea 9:1).
   4. From a descendant, when he says, and of whom is Christ, according to the flesh, who says, salvation is from the Jews (John 4:22).

9. Then, to prevent this from being underestimated, he shows the greatness of Christ, saying, who is over all things, God blessed forever. Amen, as in, this is the true God and eternal life (1 John 5:20).

   In these words, four heresies are refuted:

   1. The Manichean heresy, which held that Christ had not a true but an imaginary body. This is refuted when he says, according to the flesh. For Christ has true flesh, as it says in Luke: a spirit has not flesh and bones as you see that I have (Luke 24:39).
   2. The heresy of Valentinus, which claims that Christ’s body was not taken from the human line but brought from heaven. This is excluded when he says that Christ was from the Jews according to the flesh, in keeping with Matthew: the book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham (Matthew 1:1).
   3. The heresy of Nestorius, according to whom the Son of Man was other than the Son of God. Against this, the Apostle says here that the one who is from the fathers, Christ, according to the flesh, is the same one who is over all things, God.
   4. The Arian heresy, which claimed that Christ was less than the Father and created from nothing. Against the first claim, he says that Christ is over all things; against the second, that he is blessed forever. For it is true of God alone that His goodness remains forever.