Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans John Calvin (continued)
John Calvin than the entire words, seems, in the first place, before he comes to particulars, to state generally the substance of what the Prophet declares to be in man, and that is — that none is righteous; 98 he afterwards particularly enumerates the effects or fruits of this unrighteousness.
11. The first effect is, that there is none that understands: and then this ignorance is immediately proved, for they seek not God; for empty is the man in whom there is not the knowledge of God, whatever other learning he may possess; yea, the sciences and the arts, which in themselves are good, are empty things, when they are without this groundwork.
12. It is added, 99 There is no one who doeth kindness By this we are to understand, that they had put off every feeling of humanity. For as the best bond of mutual concord among us is the knowledge of God, (as he is the common Father of all, he wonderfully unites us, and without him there is nothing but disunion,) so inhumanity commonly follows where there is ignorance of God, as every one, when he despises others, loves and seeks his own good.
13. It is further added, Their throat is an open grave; 100 that is, a gulf to swallow up men. It is more than if he had said, that they were devourers ({ἀνθρωποφάγους} — men-eaters;) for it is an intimation of extreme barbarity, when the throat is said to be so great a gulf, that it is sufficient to swallow down and devour men whole and entire. Their tongues are deceitful, and, the poison of asps is under their lips, import the same thing,
14. Then he says, that their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness 101 — a vice of an opposite character to the former; but the meaning is, that they are in every way full of wickedness; for if they speak fair, they deceive and blend poison with their flatteries; but if they draw forth what they have in their hearts, bitterness and cursing stream out.
16. Very striking is the sentence that is added from Isaiah, Ruin and
98Psalm 14:1. The Hebrew is, "There is none that doeth good;" and the Septuagint, "There is none doing kindness, ({χρηστότητα}), there is not even one, ({ὀυκ} {ἔστιν} {ἕως} {ἑνός}.)" So that the Apostle quotes the meaning, not the words. The eleventh verse (Romans 3:11) is from the same Psalm; the Hebrew, with which the Septuagint agree, except that there is the disjunctive {ἢ} between the participles, is the following, — "Whether there is any one who understands, who seeks after God." — Ed.
99This verse is literally the Septuagint, and as to meaning, a correct version of the Hebrew. "All have gone out of the way — {πάντες} {ἐξέκλιναν}" "is in Hebrew {{" }סר{, הכלthe whole (or every one) has turned aside," or revolted, or apostatized. Then, "they have become unprofitable" or useless, is ,{}נאלחו "they are become putrid," or Corrupted, like putrified fruit or meat, therefore useless, not fit for what they were designed — to serve God and to promote their own and the good of others. Idolatry was evidently this putrescence. — Ed.
100This is from Psalm 5:9, that is, the first part, and is literally the Septuagint, which correctly represents the Hebrew. The last clause is from Psalm 140:3, and is according to the Septuagint, and the Hebrew, too, except that "asps," or adders, is in the singular number. Stuart gives the import of this figurative language different from Calvin: "As from the sepulchre," he says, "issues forth an offensive and pestilential vapor; so from the mouths of slanderous persons issue noisome and pestilential words. Their words are like poison, they utter the poisonous breath of slander." — Ed.
101Psalm 10:7. Paul corrects the order of the words as found in the Septuagint, and gives the Hebrew more exactly, but retains the word "bitterness," by which the Septuagint have rendered {,{מרמותwhich means deceit, or rather, mischievous deceit. Some think that it ought to be ,{}מררות "bitterness;" but there is no copy in its favor. — Ed.