Commentaries on Rom. Bible online

We are accustomed to expecting something sublime from the Holy Scriptures. We often say that this book is about God's Love for us, and teaching man how to love God and others. But as we read the Old Testament and the Psalms, we continually come across human expressions and words that confuse our hearts. For example, in Psalm 17:38, David openly wishes harm to his enemies: “ I pursue my enemies and I overtake them, andI will not return until I destroy them. Or we read in Psalm 54:16: " May death come upon them; may they go down alive hell." David asks God for very strange things that seem inadequate to you and me: “ And by Thy mercy destroy my enemies anddestroy all who oppress my soul, for IYour slave(Psalm 142 :12).

Firstly, the Psalter is the prayer of a believing soul talking with God, and in this conversation we hear different moods, see different situations and circumstances in which the praying person was...

Secondly, such words are simply honesty and openness before God.

We are all angry at someone, and we know that this is not good, so when we come to God in prayer, we usually dress our anger outwardly in polite clothes. When we are angry with a brother (sister), we often say as if in defiance: “God bless you,” but at the same time, inside we believe that we are right, but here he is...

But look, this person tells God exactly what he experiences inside himself, without hiding anything behind the tinsel of outwardly beautiful words. He freely expresses his frustration, which he wishes for his enemies...

The Bible tells us not about ideal people, but about real people, with their inner depravity...

The psalmist does a very important act: he brings everything that is in his heart in prayer to God. Why is he telling everything so honestly? The answer is clear, so that God would sort out his situation and punish those responsible... If he wanted to take revenge on his own, he would have done it... He does not take revenge himself, but only prays to God for revenge...

It must be said that this approach is already a huge progress for those times when it was considered right not only to punish any offender yourself, but to do it in front of everyone, so that no one else would want to offend you. " An eye for an eye a tooth for a tooth…"

Romans 12:19 teaches you an important lesson. “Do not avenge yourselves, beloved, but give room to the wrath of God. For it is written: “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”

L.N. Tolstoy even took these words as an epigraph to his novel Anna Karenina. The husband did not cause any harm to the wife who abandoned him, but gave everything into the hands of God. We all know the end of this story...

God addresses these words to us believers, so that we renounce independent revenge on our enemies and entrust it to God.

In these biblical words, God tells man: take your time. You do not know all the circumstances, you do not know the motives of someone else's soul, you do not want to listen to evidence in its favor and you cannot judge its actions. But I, says God, can do it. My judgment is righteous, and if I consider that the insult inflicted on you should be avenged, then I will repay the offender for his sins.

Dear ones, we need to learn to tell God everything honestly about what is happening to us inside, and ask Him to resolve the situation not just in our favor, but in favor of justice... But at the same time, you must know that it may turn out that you are guilty, and not the one you thought... Therefore, before asking God for judgment and revenge, it is better to ask first about yourself:

“Am I right”, “Lord see if I am not on a dangerous path...”

We always stand for justice when it is violated against ourselves. But when we are unfair, we often don’t even notice it. And this is also mentioned in the psalms: Oh my God! if Iwhat did you do if there is a lie inin my hands if Ipaid evil to the one who was with me inworld... then let the enemy pursue my soul andwill overtake, let him trample inearth my life(Psalm 7 :4-6). That is, no double standards.

Well, how can one not remember the words from another Psalm: “... a crowd of evil ones surrounded me, they pierced my hands and my feet. One could count all my bones; Athey look andmaking me a spectacle; they divide my garments among themselves andThey cast lots for my clothes. But You, Lord, do not move away from me; my strength! Hurry to my aid!”(Psalm 21:17–20). It is no coincidence that the words of this particular psalm are recalled by the evangelists when talking about the Crucifixion. I would like to draw attention to the fact that in these words of the pain that a person experiences there are no calls for revenge, the sufferer only asks for help. Probably the point is that when you are really in great pain and scared, you no longer think about revenge, but only about salvation...

Tatyana Sakharova

From the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Romans we receive clear biblical instructions on how to respond to unfair treatment.
Pavel knew this topic inside and out. Before his dramatic conversion during his encounter with Jesus on the Damascus Road, Saul (as Paul was then called) persecuted every Christian he could get his hands on. So he was a major expert in the field of unfair treatment of people. Saul was full of hatred and resentment towards Christians, which is why Scripture says that he “tormented the church, entering houses and dragging away men and women, handing them over to prison” (Acts 8:3). Saul inspired the crowd as they stoned Stephen to death, who became the first martyr. Then, during his journey to Damascus, God shone a blinding light on Saul so that he fell to the ground. The Bible tells us that he then “breathed threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord.”
(Acts 9:1).
But very soon after meeting Jesus, he learned first-hand what it meant to be persecuted. After his first sermon and strong testimony in which the apostle claimed that Jesus was the Messiah, the Jews decided to kill him. Therefore, Paul had to get out of Damascus in a basket in which Jesus' disciples put him and lowered him from the city wall. Later, Saul (then called Paul) summarized the various types of persecution he suffered as an apostle of the gospel:
Five times the Jews gave me forty stripes minus one; three times I was beaten with sticks, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the depths of the sea; I have been on travels many times, in dangers on rivers, in dangers from robbers, in dangers from fellow tribesmen, in dangers from pagans, in dangers in the city, in dangers in the desert, in dangers at sea, in dangers between false brothers, in labor and in exhaustion, often in vigil, in hunger and thirst, often in fasting, in cold and nakedness. In addition to outside adventures, I have a daily gathering of people, caring for all the churches (2 Cor. 11:24-28).
Like this. This man could write a book about injustice and persecution. In fact, he wrote it. Listen to what an expert inspired by the Holy Spirit has to say about injustice:
Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but strive for good in the sight of all people. If possible on your part, be at peace with all people. Do not avenge yourselves, beloved, but give room to the wrath of God. For it is written: “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”
(Rom. 12:17-19).
Did you understand? Paul, after all the insults and insults he suffered while serving the Lord Jesus Christ, makes the following statement: “Do not repay anyone evil for evil.”
If I were to read this verse to you at one of my meetings, I would ask you to loudly affirm your agreement by saying, “Amen!” Since I cannot look you in the eye and make sure you are listening carefully, I implore you to slow down and try to understand what God's Word is telling you in

Mikhail writes:

Please comment on this passage: K. Is it possible to understand “If possible on your part” in such a way that there are situations when such an opportunity may not exist? Isn't WWII exactly such a situation?

"Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but strive for good in the sight of all people. If possible on your part, be at peace with all people. Do not avenge yourselves, beloved, but give room to the wrath of God. For it is written: Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, says the Lord. So, if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink: for by doing this you will heap burning coals on his head. Don't be defeated by evil, but conquer evil with good" ().

By carefully reading this text, as well as the previous texts in this chapter, you can find that there is only one conditional command with the word “if”, and all the rest are unconditional, written in the imperative mood. That is, the unconditional commands in this passage are the following: “do not repay evil...”, “do not avenge yourself...”, “feed the enemy...”.

But let us examine this one conditional command: “If it is possible on your part, be at peace with all.” I will give as an example other words of the Apostle Paul, related to a different area, but similar in their circumstances: " if any brother has an unbelieving wife, and she agrees to live with him, then he should not leave her; and a wife who has an unbelieving husband, and he agrees to live with her, should not leave him. ... If an unbeliever wants to get a divorce, let him get a divorce; the brother or sister is not related in such cases; The Lord has called us to peace" (). Here we are also talking about peace, and here there are also two sides. But in this example it is clear that there are cases when one side wants peace, but the other does not. What to do in this situation? The answer is simple: as far as possible on your part, be at peace. And if the other side does not want peace on any terms? Yes, then it is not possible to be at peace, but on your part, follow other unconditional commands: do not repay evil for evil, do not take revenge yourself, feed the hungry enemy...

Do you see that this text makes no exception to the Christian principle? It only strengthens our responsibility to strive for peace with all our might.

Blessings!

Vasily Yunak

Read more on the topic “Interpretation of Scripture”:

From the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Romans we receive clear biblical instructions on how to respond to unfair treatment.

Pavel knew this topic inside and out. Before his dramatic conversion during his encounter with Jesus on the Damascus Road, Saul (as Paul was then called) persecuted every Christian he could get his hands on. So he was a major expert in the field of unfair treatment of people. Saul was full of hatred and resentment towards Christians, which is why Scripture says that he “tormented the church, entering houses and dragging away men and women, handing them over to prison” (Acts 8:3). Saul inspired the crowd as they stoned Stephen to death, who became the first martyr. Then, during his journey to Damascus, God shone a blinding light on Saul so that he fell to the ground. The Bible tells us that he then “breathed threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord.”
(Acts 9:1).

But very soon after meeting Jesus, he learned first-hand what it meant to be persecuted. After his first sermon and strong testimony in which the apostle claimed that Jesus was the Messiah, the Jews decided to kill him. Therefore, Paul had to get out of Damascus in a basket in which Jesus' disciples put him and lowered him from the city wall. Later, Saul (then called Paul) summarized the various types of persecution he suffered as an apostle of the gospel:

Five times the Jews gave me forty stripes minus one; three times I was beaten with sticks, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the depths of the sea; I have been on travels many times, in dangers on rivers, in dangers from robbers, in dangers from fellow tribesmen, in dangers from pagans, in dangers in the city, in dangers in the desert, in dangers at sea, in dangers between false brothers, in labor and in exhaustion, often in vigil, in hunger and thirst, often in fasting, in cold and nakedness. In addition to outside adventures, I have a daily gathering of people, caring for all the churches (2 Cor. 11:24-28).

Like this. This man could write a book about injustice and persecution. In fact, he wrote it. Listen to what an expert inspired by the Holy Spirit has to say about injustice:

Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but strive for good in the sight of all people. If possible on your part, be at peace with all people. Do not avenge yourselves, beloved, but give room to the wrath of God. For it is written: “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”
(Rom. 12:17-19).

Did you understand? Paul, after all the insults and insults he suffered while serving the Lord Jesus Christ, makes the following statement: “Do not repay anyone evil for evil.”

If I were to read this verse to you at one of my meetings, I would ask you to loudly affirm your agreement by saying, “Amen!” Since I cannot look you in the eye and make sure you are listening carefully, I implore you to slow down and try to understand what God's Word is telling you in this passage. If you're tired or sleepy-eyed, go get a cup of coffee! If you really want to respond correctly to instances of unfair treatment, you must understand this principle!

Paul argues that when we are wronged or hurt, we should not think about our rights and should not want to settle scores with the offenders. In fact, whenever possible, we should strive to restore peace in our relationships with other people.

Do you remember the old expression “water is off a duck’s back”? The idea is that we should be calm about everything that happens to us. We should not try to resist, restore justice or “downgrade” our rights.

Have you ever met people who simply cannot remain silent when something goes wrong? If someone tries to jump the line in a store, such people immediately shout: “Hey, you there, don’t you see that there’s a line?” They can cast such a sparkling glance at the offender that the high temperature of their indignation can start a fire around.

But if we want to be obedient to the command “do not repay evil with evil,” then we should not react this way.

Paul then explains to us why we should not seek to justify and defend ourselves. “Do not avenge yourselves, beloved... For it is written: “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”

Here it is, the first important key to understanding how to rise above all injustices - from small insults to the biggest betrayal. By faith we understand and accept the idea that our heavenly Father has promised to work things out for our good, but only if we commit the matter into His hands. He takes full responsibility for restoring justice - not you, not me, but only He Himself.

These words from Scripture are not a suggestion or a recommendation. That's an order! When God speaks, He does not speak because He needs to fill the silence with words. God does not engage in petty and empty talk, He speaks seriously! When He says something, He speaks with knowledge and authority!

Over and over again throughout the Bible, the Lord reminds us that we should not take responsibility for bringing justice when we are hurt. Here are some examples of what God said in such cases.

Do not say: “I will repay evil”; leave it to the Lord, and He will keep you (Prov. 20:22).

With Me is vengeance and recompense, when their foot fails; for the day of their destruction is near; the prepared thing for them will soon come (Deut. 32:35).

Do not say: “As he did to me, so I will do to him; [I, the Lord] will repay a man according to his deeds” (Prov. 24:29).

We know the One who said: “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” And again: “The Lord will judge His people” (Heb. 10:30).

You see? In the flesh, we do the complete opposite - we often look forward to the opportunity to get even with offenders. But it's not right. God commands us to give Him the opportunity to restore justice. God's people would be unjust if they tried to avenge themselves. And everything will be fair if God Himself avenges His people.

St. Basil the Great

Question. What means: "give room to anger"?

Answer. Or "do not resist evil", as written, but striking "on the right cheek" convert the other, etc. (Matt. 5: 39 – 41) or: “When they persecute you in one city, flee to another.”(Matt. 10, 23) .

The rules are summarized in the questions and answers.

St. John Chrysostom

Art. 19-21 Do not take revenge on yourself, love, but give place to anger. For it is written: Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. If your enemy is hungry, give him food; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink: for in doing this, you are heaping coals of fire on his head. Do not be defeated by evil, but overcome evil with good

Do not take revenge on yourself, beloved, but give place to anger: for it is written: Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, says the Lord (v. 19). What kind of anger should we give room to? God's Since the offended person most of all wants to see and enjoy retribution for his offense, God gives the same thing to a greater extent: if you yourself do not take revenge, He will be your avenger. So, to Him, says (the apostle), leave vengeance. Here's what the words mean: give room to anger. Then, for greater reassurance, (the apostle) brought evidence and, thus further encouraging the listener, demands from him greater wisdom, saying: if your enemy is hungry, give him something to eat, if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. When you do this, you heap coals of fire on his head (Prov. XXV, 22, 23). Do not be defeated by evil, but overcome evil with good(vv. 20, 21) . Why do I say, continues (the apostle), that we must live in peace with the enemy? I command and do good to him. Eat it, give it a drink, - it is said. And since he commanded something very difficult and great, he added: When you do this, you gather coals of fire onto his head. The apostle said this in order to humble the offender with fear, and to encourage the offended with the hope of retribution. When the offended person weakens (in spirit), he is supported not so much by his own benefits as by the punishment of the one who offended him. After all, nothing is as pleasant as seeing an enemy punished. And what a person desires, that (the apostle) gives him first; when the poison is extracted, he offers him more sublime admonitions, saying: Be not defeated from evil.(The Apostle) knew that an enemy, even if he were a beast, having been fed, would not remain an enemy, and that the offended one, even if he was very cowardly, having fed and watered the enemy, would no longer desire his punishment. Therefore, being confident of the significance of the matter, he not only did not prohibit, but became generous with punishment. Doesn't say you'll take revenge, but - You heap coals of fire on his head. And then he commanded him, saying: Do not be defeated by evil, but overcome evil with good. And with this he seemed to slightly hint that one should not act with such an intention, since remembering the offense means already being defeated by evil. At first (the apostle) did not say this, because it was still untimely; when he had exhausted the anger of the listener, then he added, saying: conquer evil with good. This is victory. After all, a fighter is more successful in winning not when he exposes himself to blows from the enemy, but when he puts himself in such a position that the enemy is forced to waste his strength in the air. Thus, he not only saves himself from blows, but also drains all the strength of the enemy.

Homilies on the Epistle to the Romans.

St. Ambrose of Milan

Do not avenge yourselves, beloved, but give room to the wrath of God. For it is written: Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, says the Lord.

This is written so that the anger of another person will not move you to sin when you want to resist or repay him. But you can remove the blame from both him and yourself if you decide to give in.

Messages.

St. Feofan the Recluse

Do not take revenge on yourself, beloved, but give place to anger: for it is written: Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, says the Lord.

I have already said not to repay evil for evil: which means not to avenge oneself. What does the new suggestion not to avenge oneself mean? Or repeating the same thing to strengthen the commandment; because revenge is so tempting and covered up with such plausibility that it is not considered a sin - and yet cases of this in everyday clashes are very frequent. With this repetition, the Apostle reminds us to be careful, so that it does not break out as a feeling or matter of vengeance. Or, perhaps, when he said this, the Apostle had in mind a special kind of vengeance - by court, namely: when you tolerate some kind of falsehood from another, obviously wrongly, do not seek the restoration of your right through judicial procedure, for: έκδικεΐν - this actually means. Although this, in a civil sense, is not a reproachable matter; but since the feeling of revenge is still nourished and satisfied, the Apostle does not order legal cases to be initiated at all. Better be patient, better remain offended, as the Epistle to the Corinthians says: I'd rather offend you than anything else? (1 Cor. 6, 7) - or as the Savior teaches: if anyone wants to take your robe, give it to him and the snot(cf. Matthew 5:40). Let us attribute this or that intention to the Apostle; most of all, we should pay attention to the motivation exhibited here for non-vengeance, namely, the submission of the matter to the judgment of God. The avenger considers his deed to be just and, taking revenge, holds on to that thought and that feeling that stands for the truth. Suppressing revenge seems to him like a retreat from the truth. The Apostle rejects this thought, saying, as it were: truth will not tolerate anything from your compliance. There is an avenger of truth - God. Commit the matter to the vengeance of God; He will repay if he must. This is what the words mean: give room to anger, - the wrath of God, that is, His righteous reward: for God has no anger, but there is a righteous reward, which seems like anger to those who are subjected to it. This is how Saint Chrysostom interprets it: “Whose anger should we give room to? God's And as the offended, he most desires to see this in order to enjoy revenge; then God will give the same thing in greater measure. And if you yourself do not take revenge, then He will be your avenger. So, to Him, says the Apostle, leave vengeance. Here's what the words mean: give room to anger! Blessed Theophylact expresses the same thought somewhat more strongly: “Give, he says, a place for the wrath of God in relation to those who offend you. If you avenge yourself, God will not avenge you; and if you forgive, then God will take revenge more severely.” - Ecumenius adds: “if you avenge yourself, then the wrath of God, when it comes, will not have anything to repay to the offender, because you have already exacted it from him in advance.” And Ambrosiastes even suggests the idea that the wrath of God, having come, will find that you, having taken to stand for the truth, have transgressed the measure of truth, exacting more than what is due, more than the measure, and, instead of repaying the one who offended you, he will reward you for the excess of recovery that you allowed . And that this is possible, you can judge by the property of anger, which always stands in harmony with vengeance. Anger never observes righteous measures, but always takes beyond measure. Why did the Apostle James write: the anger of a man does not accomplish the righteousness of God(cf. James 1:20). Ambrosiastes specifically writes: “in order to preserve the union of peace, the Apostle urges one to abstain from anger, especially because in anger it is impossible not to sin: for one driven by anger usually demands more than what is required by a wrong deed - thereby causing harm to himself, being wrong for a reason disproportionate punishment, and makes the offender worse, whereas with leniency he could have corrected him. Why does the wise Solomon teach: do not be truthful... there are righteous ones who perished in their truth(cf. Eccl. 7, 17, 16): for when anger overwhelms us, the enemy finds a place in us and, under the appearance of truth, instills in us what is wrong and destructive.”

For it is written: Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.. “For greater conviction, the Apostle brought evidence, reinforcing his word” (St. Chrysostom, Blessed Theophylact). This is not my commandment; but such is the will of God, such is the law of God’s providential actions for us. God takes upon Himself the matter of vengeance. Do not interfere in this matter, He seems to say, I myself will repay, this is my business. You won't be able to do it properly. In your opinion, it is necessary to take revenge now, but according to the best order, it is better to postpone revenge, either for a while, or completely. It is possible to do without revenge at all: the offender himself will come to his senses and correct his injustice; and this is much better. - Or - take revenge on him now, and he will become even more embittered; but punish him with something later, and he will soften in heart and correct himself. Since you don’t know anything about this, it’s better not to take on this matter. Besides, you, the offended one, have been wrong in many ways. I sent this lie to you as retribution for your untruths and sins, in order to save you from future retribution. If you endure, do you see what misfortune you will prevent? And if you take revenge, you will destroy all the good fruit for you from vain. Your sins remain with you, and expect eternal reward, unless another mistake befalls you to cleanse you. So don't seek revenge. With the one who wronged you, I know better than you how to deal with the truth, and you accept it as a cure for you and as a ward off of greater and more terrible evil. With Me, everything is directed towards ensuring that good comes out of everything for everyone - not temporary, but eternal, not earthly, but heavenly, not visible, but spiritual. This is what happens when you don't intervene with your truths; and when you interfere, you disturb My orders and, instead of good, you multiply and reap evil.

Words: Vengeance is mine, I will repay- are not read word for word in the Old Testament Scriptures, but this thought is clearly expressed by the prophet Moses in other words, namely: on the day of vengeance I will repay (Deut. 32:35). The Apostolic Spirit took the thought of the prophetic spirit - the same with the Apostolic - and expressed it in another, powerful word.

Interpretation of the Apostle Paul's letter to the Romans.

St. Ephraim Sirin

Do not avenge yourselves, beloved, but give room to the wrath of God. For it is written: Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, says the Lord.

Blazh. Theophylact of Bulgaria

Do not avenge yourselves, beloved, but give room to the wrath of God. For it is written: Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, says the Lord.

Give, he says, a place for the wrath of God in relation to those who offend you. If you avenge yourself, God will not avenge you; and if you forgive, then God will take more severe revenge. He also provides evidence to support his word. He says this for the approval of the faint-hearted; because they want nothing more than to see that their enemies have received vengeance for them.

Commentaries on the Epistle to the Romans.

Origen

Do not avenge yourselves, beloved, but give room to the wrath of God. For it is written: Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, says the Lord.

The fact that those who do not avenge themselves give place to anger, it seems to me, can be understood in two ways. Firstly, in the sense that whoever does not respond with deception to deception or anger for anger allows the anger of the offender to pass and disappear. For no one is so furious that, after inflicting an insult and not receiving a reciprocal insult, he will rage again. So, having exhausted and satisfied his rage, he will, of necessity, calm down. Therefore, it is of great benefit that many sinners stop sinning thanks to the patience of God, which allows the offense to pass. Secondly, “giving place to anger” means that by committing sin, the offenders gather, in the words of Paul himself, wrath for the day of wrath and revelation of righteous judgment from God, who will reward everyone according to his deeds(Rom. 2:6) . So if we take revenge for ourselves, it is not great to repay evil for evil: for example, for a blow with a hand - a blow of the hand, for a blow with a stone - a blow with a stone, for a verbal insult - a verbal insult (see Ex. 21:24; Lev. 24:20; Deut. 19:21; Matt. 5:38-48). If we leave vengeance to God, then, undoubtedly, we will give place to His anger in the very thing that the offender himself collected for himself through his own actions. And at God’s judgment he will be punished for them much more severely than we could punish him.