Romans 11 The Right Attitude About Our Salvation

This mystery (to musthrion touto). Not in the pagan sense of an esoteric doctrine for the initiated (from muew, to blink, to wink), unknown secrets ( 2 Thessalonians 2:7 ), or like the mystery religions of the time, but the revealed will of God now made known to all ( 1 Corinthians 2:1 1 Corinthians 2:7 ; 1 Corinthians 4:1 ) which includes Gentiles also ( Romans 16:25 ; Colossians 1:26 ; Ephesians 3:3 ) and so far superior to man's wisdom ( Colossians 2:2 ; Colossians 4:13 ; Ephesians 3:9 ; Ephesians 5:32 ; Ephesians 6:19 ; Matthew 13:11 ; Mark 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 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" (Vincent).

 Wise in your own conceits (en eautoi pronimoi). "Wise in yourselves." Some MSS. read par eautoi (by yourselves). Negative purpose here (ina mh hte), to prevent self-conceit on the part of the Gentiles who have believed. They had no merit in themselves A hardening (pwrwsi). Late word from pwrow ( Mark 11:7 ). Occurs in Hippocrates as a medical term, only here in N.T. save Mark 3:5 ; Ephesians 4:18 . It means obtuseness of intellectual discernment, mental dulness. In part (apo merou). Goes with the verb gegonen (has happened in part). For apo merou, see 2 Corinthians 1:14 ; 2 Corinthians 2:5 ; Romans 15:24 ; for ana mero, see 1 Corinthians 14:27 ; for ek merou, see 1 Corinthians 12:27 ; 1 Corinthians 13:9 ; for kata mero, see Hebrews 9:5 ; for mero ti (adverbial accusative) partly see 1 Corinthians 11:18 .

Paul refuses to believe that no more Jews will be saved. Until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in (acri ou to plhrwma twn eqnwn eiselqh). Temporal clause with acri ou (until which time) and the second aorist active subjunctive of eisercomai, to come in ( Matthew 7:13 Matthew 7:21 ).

For fulness of the Gentiles (to plhrwma twn eqnwn) see on verse Romans 11:12 , the complement of the Gentiles.