|
3:2 the very words of God: And so God granted both the Law and other special benefits to that people, on account of the promised made to their fathers that Christ should be born of them. For it was fitting that the people, of whom Christ was to be born, should be signalized by a special sanctification, according to the words of Lev. 19:2: "Be holy, because I . . . am holy." Nor again was it on account of the merit of Abraham himself that this promise was made to him, but. that Christ should be born of his seed: but of gratuitous election and vocation. (St. Thomas Aquinas Sum Theo 1.98.4)
3:3 faith of God: Either in the sense that some believed in God or that God is faithful to the promises he made to people. (Glossa Ordinaria)
3:4 In Psalm 51:1 David tries to persuade from God's promise of mercy… may you be justified: that is, be found true, or justified in your sentence. overcoming: that is, other judges, or the devil and death, or that is, show people to be liars. you are judged: that is, unjustly before Pilate; or by others not to be doing what you promised, that is, to send your Son, or by them to be unable to forgive whatsoever sin. (St. Albert the Great Com Ps 51)
3:5 speak according to man: Paul says these words not from his understanding but from that of a man in error. (St. Thomas Aquinas)
3:8 The occasion of this slanderous and calumnious imputation, made against the Apostle, may have arisen from his proclaiming that grace super abounded where sin abounded. The Apostle, as a wise disputant, thinks it proper not to answer such calumnies charges. He merely despises them, and simply asserts that the authors and abettors of such calumnies shall justly be condemned. (Bishop John McEvilly)
3:9 Since it is obvious that before grace both parties were under sin and, when grace came, it made both equal as much as it could, there is no longer a cause for contention or boasting by either party. (William of St. Thierry)
3:10 This can be interpreted in three ways: in one way as meaning that no one is just within himself and of himself, but of himself everyone is a sinner and it is owing to God that he is righteous... In another way it means that no one is just in every way but has some sin... In a third way it can be understood as referring to the wicked members of a populace, among which no one is just. For it is the custom of Scripture sometimes to speak of an entire populace in terms of its evil members and sometimes of its good members... However, the first two meanings seem to be more in keeping with the Apostle’s intent. (St. Thomas Aquinas)
3:13 their throat: A quote from Psalm 5:9. Paul did not treat this passage as if it were prophetic but rather because what David said about transgressors was still a good summary of what was going on in Paul’s day. (Theodore of Mopsuestia)
He did not simply call it a grave but an open one, so as to betray even greater disgust. Whereas words of this kind should be suppressed, they even broadcast them, with the effect of revealing even further the disease. (St. John Chrysostom Com on Ps 5:9) venom of asps: A quote from Psalm 140:3. This is because they utter words which kill their neighbor either spiritually or bodily. (St. Thomas Aquinas)
3:13-18 They sin will all parts of the body, through hands, feet, tongue. But it is the life inside their minds that sins before all of these once it has fallen into imprudence, so that it cannot recognize the peace that is at hand. (Theodoret of Cyrus Com Is. 59:6-8)
3:19 it speaks to them that are in the law: The Jew might object and say, that all these denunciations are addressed merely to the Gentiles, who are often similarly denounced in Scripture. The Apostle meets this plea and says, that when the law speaks in general terms and without exception, it must be understood to regard those principally who are under the
|
law, that is, the Jews. (Bishop John McEvilly) in the law: In the above words, they were not taken from the Law but from a psalm. The answer is that the word "Law" is sometimes taken for the entire Old Testament, not for the five books of Moses alone, as in Jn (15:25): "It is to fulfill the word that is written in their law, ‘They hated me without cause,’" which was written in the Old Testament, not in the five books of Moses. This is the way, "Law" is taken here. Again, the Old Testament is sometimes divided into three parts, namely, the Law, the psalms and the prophets, as in Lk (24:44): "That everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms must be fulfilled." Finally, the entire Old Testament is sometimes divided into two, namely, the Law and the prophets, as in Mt (22:40): "On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets." In this sense the Psalter is included under the prophets. (St. Thomas Aquinas)
3:20 works of the law: For St Paul, as for all his contemporaries, the word "Law" meant the Torah in its totality, that is, the five books of Moses. The Torah, in the Pharisaic interpretation, that which Paul had studied and made his own, was a complex set of conduct codes that ranged from the ethical nucleus to observances of rites and worship and that essentially determined the identity of the just person. In particular, these included circumcision, observances concerning pure food and ritual purity in general, the rules regarding the observance of the Sabbath, etc. (Pope Benedict XVI St. Paul 13) knowledge of sin: It was necessary for a written law to be given as a remedy for human ignorance; And it was given that man might know what to do and what to avoid. (St. Thomas Aquinas Sum Theo 1.98.6 and Com on Rom)
3:21 Because the law prefigured God’s justice in many sacraments. Or it means the law bore witness to God’s justice because no one is justified under the law, and the prophets announced beforehand that which the coming of Christ has fulfilled. (Glossa Ordinaria)
3:23 all have sinned: All, meaning Jews and Gentiles. They have sinned either in themselves or in Adam; previously and still daily. (Interlinear Gloss) all: There are exceptions. Mary, a virgin not only undefiled, but a virgin whom grace had made inviolate, free of every stain of sin. (St. Ambrose Com Ps 118:22–30) For more than any other holy person except Christ alone she avoided all sin. (St. Thomas Aquinas On Hail Mary)
3:24 justified freely: Not by the law, not by their own will, but by the grace of Christ which is a gift of God. And the greatest gift of God is the Holy Spirit. Yet it is not that this happens wholly without the will, but through the law our will is shown to be weak, so that grace might heal our will, and that our healed will might fulfill the law, although our will is not established under the law and does not need the law. No merits precede the reception of this grace. (Glossa Ordinaria)
3:25 propitiation: Christ is the propitiation, or the propitiator for our sins. For by offering Himself on the Cross as a Victim for sins, He has made satisfaction for our sins, and reconciled the Father to us. This refers to the mercy-seat, which was above the ark (see Exod. 25:17), which represented Christ our Propitiator. (Cornelius a Lapide Com 1 Jn 2:2)
3:28 justified by faith: Not that a believer is not bound to work afterward through love, as Abraham was even willing to sacrifice his own son. Works indeed come after someone has been justified and not before he is justified; but a person is made just by faith without works beforehand… So the justice of faith does not come from the merits of earlier works, as the Jews used to pride themselves in. (Glossa Ordinaria)
3:31 Through the law comes knowledge of sin, through faith comes the obtaining of grace against sin, through grace the healing of the soul from the blemish of sin, through the soul’s healing comes freedom of will, through love of justice comes the fulfillment of the law. And this was the law is not destroyed through faith but established, because faith obtains the grace by which the law is fulfilled. (William of St. Thierry)
|