SEV Biblia, Chapter 11:25
Porque no quiero, hermanos, que ignoris este misterio, para que no seis arrogantes acerca de vosotros mismos; que la ceguedad en parte aconteci en Israel, para que entre tanto entrase la plenitud de los gentiles;
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Romans 11:25
Verse 25. I would not-that ye should be ignorant of this mystery] Mystery, musthrion, signifies any thing that is hidden or covered, or not fully made manifest. The Greek word seems to have been borrowed from the Hebrew rtsm mistar, from the root rts sathar, to hide, conceal, &c.; though some derive it from mueisqai, to be initiated into sacred rites, from muein, to shut up. In the New Testament it signifies, generally, any thing or doctrine that has not, in former times, been fully known to men: or, something that has not been heard of, or which is so deep, profound, and difficult of comprehension, that it cannot be apprehended without special direction and instruction: here it signifies the doctrine of the future restoration of the Jews, not fully known in itself, and not at all known as to the time in which it will take place. In Romans xvi. 25 it means the Christian religion, not known till the advent of Christ. The apostle wished the Romans not to be ignorant of this mystery, viz. that such a thing was intended; and, in order to give them as much instruction as possible on this subject, he gives them some characteristic or sign of the times when it was to take place. Lest ye should be wise in your own conceits] It seems from this, and from other expressions in this epistle, that the converted Gentiles had not behaved toward the Jews with that decorum and propriety which the relation they bore to them required. In this chapter the apostle strongly guards them against giving way to such a disposition.
Blindness in part is happened to Israel] Partial blindness, or blindness to a part of them; for they were not all unbelievers: several thousands of them had been converted to the Christian faith; though the body of the nation, and especially its rulers, civil and spiritual, continued opposed to Christ and his doctrine.
Until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in.] And this blindness will continue till the Church of the Gentiles be fully completed-till the Gospel be preached through all the nations of the earth, and multitudes of heathens every where embrace the faith. The words plhrwma twn eqnwn may be borrowed from the alm ywgh melo haggoyim, a multitude of nations, which the Septuagint translate by plhqov eqnwn. By the plhrwma, or fullness, a great multitude may be intended, which should be so dilated on every hand as to fill various regions. In this sense the words were understood by Solomon ben Melec, hm walmy ywgh twxra .
The nations of the Gentiles shall be filled with them: the apostle, therefore, seems to give this sense of the mystery- that the Jews will continue in a state of blindness till such time as a multitude of nations, or Gentiles, shall be converted to the Christian faith; and the Jews, hearing of this, shall be excited, by a spirit o emulation, to examine and acknowledge the validity of the proofs of Christianity, and embrace the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We should not restrict the meaning of these words too much, by imagining, 1. That the fullness must necessarily mean all the nations of the universe, and all the individuals of those nations: probably, no more than a general spread of Christianity over many nations which are now under the influence of Pagan or Mohammedan superstition may be what is intended.
2. We must not suppose that the coming in here mentioned necessarily means, what most religious persons understand by conversion, a thorough change of the whole heart and the whole life: the acknowledgment of the Divine mission of our Lord, and a cordial embracing of the Christian religion, will sufficiently fulfill the apostle's words. If we wait for the conversion of the Jews till such a time as every Gentile and Mohammedan soul shall be, in this especial sense, converted to God, then-we shall wait for ever.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 25. For I would not, brethren , etc..] The apostle in order to raise the attention of the Gentiles to what he was about to deliver to them, not only styles them brethren, expressing his affection for them, and their relation to him and other believing Jews, and to one another, being all one in Christ Jesus, partakers of the same grace, and heirs of the same glory; but also tells them, that what he had to acquaint them with was a mystery, a thing secret and hidden, which had not been heard of and known, at least not so fully and clearly as he was about to reveal it; and because of his great respect for them, he was unwilling, as he says, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery ; he was desirous that they should abound and improve in all spiritual knowledge and judgment, and, among the rest, be better informed of this particular article, the call of the Jews: and his view in apprizing them of it is expressed in the following clause, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits : lest they should imagine that they were the only wise and knowing persons, and be elated in their minds with their knowledge and understanding, and look with contempt upon the poor, blind, ignorant Jews, as if they were always to remain in such a state of darkness and infidelity. The thing he had to inform them of is, that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in ; by Israel is meant the Jews, the descendants of Jacob, whose name was Israel. Philo the Jew observes f218 , that this name signifies orasin yeou , the vision of God; indeed, Jacob had it given him when he wrestled with the angel, and saw God face to face, though it does not seem to be for that reason; however, blindness had now befallen the Jews, who had been favoured with a divine revelation, with the knowledge of God, his will and worship; and none were more blind than those who were called the servants and messengers of the Lord of hosts, as the Scribes and Pharisees, the priests and princes of the Jewish world. This blindness designs their unbelief, the hardness of their hearts, and darkness of their understandings with respect to God himself, whom they knew not in Christ; not as the Father of Christ; nor even the perfections of his nature, particularly his righteousness; which was the reason of their setting up their own righteousness, and of their non-submission to the righteousness of Christ: they were blind as to the Messiah; they knew him not, when he came; they saw no beauty and comeliness in him; could not discern the characters of him in Jesus, though they were so manifest; and rejected him notwithstanding the clear evidence of his ministry and miracles. They were in the dark about the sense of the prophecies of the Old Testament; a vail was upon their hearts when they read them, so that they understood them not, and could not see their accomplishment in Christ; they were even ignorant of the law, the spiritual nature, true use, and right end and scope of it; and it is no wonder that the Gospel should be hidden from them. This blindness happened to them not by chance, but befell them by the decree, and according to the will of God, who hardens whom he pleases; and according to various predictions in the Old Testament, cited in ( Matthew 13:14,15 John 12:39,40 Romans 11:8-10); and in righteous judgment, for since they liked not to retain God and his Christ in their knowledge, it was but just in God to give them up to reprobate minds, to judicial blindness, and hardness of heart: but then this blindness only happened to them in part; not that it was only in some measure or some degree, for it was total, they were darkness itself, and had no spiritual and evangelic light at all on whom it fell; but that this blindness was not general with respect to persons, there were some few, a seed, a remnant, that were delivered from it, though the far greater part of the nation were involved in it, and continue in it to this day; and will do, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in: that is, till the whole number of God's elect among them, be called and brought into the Gospel church state, which in the latter day will be very great; when the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea; when the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our Lord and his Christ; and the abundance of the sea shall be converted, and the forces of the Gentiles shall come to the church, and multitudes of them shall flock thither, as doves to their windows: and since the blindness of the Jews is not yet removed, it seems plain that the full number of God's chosen ones among the Gentiles is not yet completed in regeneration; for as soon as ever they are all called and brought in, the vail will be taken away from the Jews, and they will be turned unto the Lord.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 22-32 - Of all judgments, spiritual judgments are the sorest; of these the apostle is here speaking. The restoration of the Jews is, in the cours of things, far less improbable than the call of the Gentiles to be the children of Abraham; and though others now possess these privileges, it will not hinder their being admitted again. By rejecting the gospel and by their indignation at its being preached to the Gentiles, the Jews were become enemies to God; yet they are still to be favoured for the sake of their pious fathers. Though at present they are enemies to the gospel, for their hatred to the Gentiles; yet, when God's time is come, that will no longer exist, and God's love to their fathers wil be remembered. True grace seeks not to confine God's favour. Those wh find mercy themselves, should endeavour that through their mercy other also may obtain mercy. Not that the Jews will be restored to have their priesthood, and temple, and ceremonies again; an end is put to all these; but they are to be brought to believe in Christ, the true becom one sheep-fold with the Gentiles, under Christ the Great Shepherd. The captivities of Israel, their dispersion, and their being shut out from the church, are emblems of the believer's corrections for doing wrong and the continued care of the Lord towards that people, and the fina mercy and blessed restoration intended for them, show the patience an love of God.
Greek Textus Receptus
ου 3756 PRT-N γαρ 1063 CONJ θελω 2309 5719 V-PAI-1S υμας 5209 P-2AP αγνοειν 50 5721 V-PAN αδελφοι 80 N-VPM το 3588 T-ASN μυστηριον 3466 N-ASN τουτο 5124 D-ASN ινα 2443 CONJ μη 3361 PRT-N ητε 5600 5753 V-PXS-2P παρ 3844 PREP εαυτοις 1438 F-3DPM φρονιμοι 5429 A-NPM οτι 3754 CONJ πωρωσις 4457 N-NSF απο 575 PREP μερους 3313 N-GSN τω 3588 T-DSM ισραηλ 2474 N-PRI γεγονεν 1096 5754 V-2RAI-3S αχρις 891 PREP ου 3739 R-GSM το 3588 T-NSN πληρωμα 4138 N-NSN των 3588 T-GPN εθνων 1484 N-GPN εισελθη 1525 5632 V-2AAS-3S
Vincent's NT Word Studies
25. Mystery (musthrion). In the Septuagint only in Daniel. See ch. ii. 18, 19, 27, 28, 30, of the king's secret. It occurs frequently in the apocryphal books, mostly of secrets of state, or plans kept by a king in his own mind. This meaning illustrates the use of the word in passages like Matthew xiii. 11, "mysteries of the kingdom of heaven" - secret purposes or counsels which God intends to carry into effect in His kingdom. So here; Rom. xvi. 25; Eph. i. 9; iii. 9; Col. i. 26, 27; ii. 2; iv. 3; Apoc. x. 7. In Justin Martyr (second century) it is commonly used in connection with sumbolon symbol, tupov type, parabolh parable, and so is evidently closely related in meaning to these words. Compare Apoc. i. 20; xvii. 7, This meaning may possibly throw light on Eph. v. 32. In early ecclesiastical Latin musthrion was rendered by sacramentum, which in classical Latin means the military oath. The explanation of the word sacrament, which is so often founded on this etymology, is therefore mistaken, since the meaning of sacrament belongs to musthrion and not to sacramentum in the classical sense.In Eph. iii. 3-6, Paul uses the word as here, of the admission of the Gentiles.
Wise (fronimoi). See on the kindred noun fronhsiv wisdom, Luke i. 17. Mostly in the New Testament of practical wisdom, prudence; thus distinguished from sofia which is mental excellence in its highest and fullest sense; and from sunesiv intelligence, which is combinative wisdom; wisdom in its critical applications. See Col. i. 9, and compare Eph. i. 8.
Blindness (pwrwsiv). See on ver. 7. Rev., hardening.
In part (apo merouv). Merov part is never used adverbially in the Gospels, Acts, and Revelation. In the Epistles it is rarely used in any other way. The only exceptions are 2 Cor. iii. 10; ix. 3; Eph. iv. 9, 16. Paul employs it in several combinations. With ajpo from (1 Corinthians i. 14; ii. 5), and ejk out of (1 Cor. xii. 27; xiii. 9, 10, 12), in which a thing is conceived as looked at from the part, either (apo) as a simple point of view, or (ek) as a standard according to which the whole is estimated. Thus 1 Cor. xii. 27, "members ejk merouv severally, i.e., members from a part of the whole point of view. Also with ejn in, as Col. ii. 16, with respect to, literally, in the matter of. With ajna up, the idea being of a series or column of parts reckoned upward, part by part. Merov ti with regard to some part, partly, occurs 1 Corinthians xi. 18; and kata merov, reckoning part by part downward; according to part, particularly, Heb. ix. 5.
Construe here with hath happened: has partially befallen. Not partial hardening, but hardening extending over a part.
Robertson's NT Word Studies
11:25 { this mystery} (to musterion touto). Not in the pagan sense of an secret doctrine for the initiated (from muew, to blink, to wink), unknown secrets (#2Th 2:7), or like the mystery religions of the time, but the revealed will of God now made known to all (#1Co 2:1,7; 4:1) which includes Gentiles also (#Ro 16:25; Col 1:26f.; Eph 3:3f.) and so far superior to man's wisdom (#Col 2:2; 4:13; Eph 3:9; 5:32; 6:19; Mt 13:11; Mr 4:11). Paul has covered every point of difficulty concerning the failure of the Jews to accept Jesus as the Messiah and has shown how God has overruled it for the blessing of the Gentiles with a ray of hope still held out for the Jews. "In early ecclesiastical Latin musterion was rendered by _sacramentum_, which in classical Latin means _the military oath_. The explanation of the word _sacrament_, which is so often founded on this etymology, is therefore mistaken, since the meaning of sacrament belongs to musterion and not to _sacramentum_ in the classical sense" (Vincent). {Wise in your own conceits} (en heautois phronimoi). "Wise in yourselves." Some MSS. read par' heautois (by yourselves). Negative purpose here (hina me te), to prevent self-conceit on the part of the Gentiles who have believed. They had no merit in themselves {A hardening} (pwrwsis). Late word from pwrow (#11:7). Occurs in Hippocrates as a medical term, only here in N.T. save #Mr 3:5; Eph 4:18. It means obtuseness of intellectual discernment, mental dulness. {In part} (apo merous). Goes with the verb gegonen (has happened in part). For apo merous, see #2Co 1:14; 2:5; Ro 15:24; for ana meros, see #1Co 14:27; for ek merous, see #1Co 12:27; 13:9; for kata meros, see #Heb 9:5; for meros ti (adverbial accusative) partly see #1Co 11:18. Paul refuses to believe that no more Jews will be saved. {Until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in} (acri hou to plerwma t"n eqnwn eiselthi). Temporal clause with acri hou (until which time) and the second aorist active subjunctive of eisercomai, to come in (#Mt 7:13,21). {For fulness of the Gentiles} (to plerwma t"n eqnwn) see on verse 12, the complement of the Gentiles.
