Commentary on Romans

(^12) ) disciple of Christ. More probable is the opinion of Origen, who thought that he had two names;
for it is not unlikely to be true, that his name, Saul, derived from his kindred, was given him by his
parents to indicate his religion and his descent; and that his other name, Paul, was added, to show
his right to Roman citizenship;^13 they would not have this honor, then highly valued, to be otherwise
than made evident; but they did not so much value it as to withhold a proof of his Israelitic descent.
But he has commonly taken the name Paul in his Epistles, and it may be for the following reasons:
because in the churches to which he wrote, it was more known and more common, more acceptable
in the Roman empire, and less known among his own nation. It was indeed his duty to avoid the
foolish suspicion and hatred under which the name of a Jew then labored among the Romans and
in their provinces, and to abstain from inflaming the rage of his own countrymen, and to take care
of himself.
A servant of Jesus Christ, etc. — He signalizes himself with these distinctions for the purpose
of securing more authority to his doctrine; and this he seeks to secure by two things — first, by
asserting his call to the Apostleship;^14 and secondly, by showing that his call was not unconnected
with the Church of Rome: for it was of great importance that he should be deemed an Apostle
through God’s call, and that he should be known as one destined for the Roman Church. He therefore
says, that he was a servant of Christ, and called to the office of an Apostle, thereby intimating that
he had not presumptuously intruded into that office. He then adds, that he was chosen, (selectum
— selected,^15 ) by which he more fully confirms the fact, that he was not one of the people, but a
particular Apostle of the Lord. Consistently with this, he had before proceeded from what was
general to what was particular, as the Apostleship was an especial service; for all who sustain the
office of teaching are to be deemed Christ’s servants, but Apostles, in point of honor, far exceed
all others. But the choosing for the gospel, etc., which he afterwards mentions, expresses the end
as well as the use of the Apostleship; for he intended briefly to show for what purpose he was called
to that function. By saying then that he was servant of Christ, he declared what he had in common
with other teachers; by claiming to himself the title of an Apostle, he put himself before others; but
as no authority is due to him who willfully intrudes himself, he reminds us, that he was appointed
by God.
(^12) Thereby expressing the meaning of Paulus, which in Latin is little. “Paul,” says the quaint Elnathan Parr, “as signifies little,
and indeed not unfitly, for he is reported to have been low in stature, and to have had a very small voice,” which is thought to
have been objected to him in 2 Corinthians 10:10 — Ed.
(^13) Most writers agree in this view, regarding Saul as his Hebrew name and Paul as his Roman name. — Ed.
(^14) “A called Apostle — vocatus apostolus — ;” our version is, “called to be an Apostle”. Most consider “called”
here in the sense of chosen or elected, “a chosen Apostle.” Professor Stuart observes, that in the writings of Paul has always
the meaning of efficient calling, and signifies not only the invited, but the effectually invited. He refers to 1 Corinthians 1:1, 2;
1 Corinthians 1:24; Romans 1:6, 7; Romans 8:28; compared with Galatians 1:15; Jude 1:1; Hebrews 3:1; Romans 11:29; Ephesians
4:1
He was an Apostle by a call, or as Beza renders it, “by the call of God — ex Dei vocatione apostolus.” The meaning is the
same as what he himself expresses it in Galatians 1:1. Turrettin renders it, “Apostolus vocatione divina — an Apostle by divine
vocation.”
The difference between “a called Apostle” and “called to be an Apostle,” is this, that the first conveys the idea that he
obeyed the call, and the other does not. — Ed.
(^15)       μ     separated, set apart; “segregatus,” Vulgate; “separatus, Beza. “The Pharisees,” says Leigh, “were termed       μ    
we may English them Separatists: they separated themselves to the study of the law, in which respect they might be called
      μ       μ  , separated to the law. In allusion to this, saith Drusius, the Apostle is thought to have styled himself, Romans
1:1,       μ     , separated unto the Gospel, when he was called from being a Pharisee to be a preacher of the Gospel.”
Separated is the word adopted both by Doddridge and Macknight, as well as by our own version. — Ed.