Verse 22. Behold the goodness and lack of mercy of God: for there is no mercy on those who have fallen away, but the goodness of God is upon you, if you remain in goodness: if not, then you will also be cut off.

Two examples are before your eyes – an example of God's goodness and an example of God's lack of mercy, that is, strict condemnation and rejection of the guilty. The Jews did not believe, did not submit to the will of God in this, fell away from the race of the chosen sons of God, and God did not spare them, did not see that they had such fathers according to the flesh, and that He Himself had so much care for them, and as soon as they became unworthy of His goodness through their stubborn unbelief, He immediately rejected them and deprived them of His mercy. You have believed humbly and obediently, and the goodness of God has poured out upon you all the blessings predestined for such. And these blessings will forever remain your inheritance, if you keep yourself worthy of God's love for mankind until the end of your life, and through this abide in God's goodness. But "if you do not do this, then you will also be cut off" (Blessed Theophylact). Expect no mercy; An example in front of your eyes. St. Chrysostom says: "The Apostle did not say, 'See your merits, see your labors,' but, 'Behold God's love for mankind.' This shows you that everything is done by grace from above, and makes you tremble. The very pretext for vanity makes you afraid. Vladyka has become merciful to you, so be afraid. As good things are not inalienable to thee, if thou shalt be despised, so evil is not inevitable to the Jews, if they change."

Verse 23. And they, if they do not continue in unbelief, will cling to them: for God is able to fasten them.

God both has mercy and rejects, depending on the mood of people's will: He shows mercy to the obedient, and rejects the disobedient. But as long as we are here on earth, the rejection of God is not final: it is always only corrective. God rejects in order to reason with rejection and draw to Himself. No matter how rejected someone is, as soon as he comes to his senses and runs to God, He again accepts him into mercy. So it will be with the Jews: if they give up their unbelief and cease to stubbornly, God will again receive them into His generation, into the generation of the saved, the elect, and the saints. St. Chrysostom says: "Do you see what is the power of freedom? What is the power of will? Nothing is immutable, neither your (the Gentile's) good, nor his (the Jew's) evil. Do you see how the Apostle raised up and humbled the presumptuous Gentile even the despairing Jew? And thou, O Jew, when thou hearest of severity, do not despair; And thou, O heathen, when thou hearest of goodness, do not put thy trust in thyself. He did not spare thee, and cut thee off, that thou wouldst return; but He showed thee grace in order that thou might abide, and the Apostle did not say, "In faith," but, "In grace," that is, that thou shouldest do that which is worthy of God's love for mankind; because it takes more than one faith.

And thou shalt be cut off, saith the Apostle to the Gentile, if thou shalt be despised. The Jew is cut off, but he will cling if he tries to do so, because you too are attached. And the Apostle acts very wisely, that he addresses all his speech to the pagan and, according to his usual custom, striking a blow at the strongest, corrects the weakest with it. Then, so that a number of his conclusions could not be disputed, he takes proof from the omnipotence of God. Though the Jews are cut off and rejected, though others have taken their place, yet they ought not to despair. For God is mighty, he says, to fasten them. God is able to produce even that which is beyond hope. But if you demand experimental arguments, then you have the most sufficient example on yourself."

Verse 24. For if thou hast been cut off from the natural wonder of the olive tree, and through nature hast clung to the good olive tree, how much more shall these, who by nature cling to their olive tree.

He explains the possibility of attaching Jews who have fallen away from the tree of the saved by attaching to it pagans who did not belong to him. Everything comes from faith, and faith comes from volition. The Jews will accept the faith, and they will cling. "If faith has been able to bring about that which is not by nature, how much more will it bring about that which is by nature" (St. Chrysostom). The whole race of the pagans is called the wild olive tree, because they were not brought up, as the Jews were, they had neither the law given by God, nor the Prophets sent by God, nor did they experience any special providential actions of God. They grew like a wild olive tree, not nurtured by a skilled gardener. Why did they not have in themselves anything special of God, except that which is put into nature: and yet they were grafted into grace by faith. The Jew, although he does not yet believe, still has traces of that special Divine that was given and revealed to his ancestors — he has the law and the Prophets. Consequently, it has much in common with the principles of faith. Why can he turn to me all the sooner when he wants? Blessed Theodoret writes: "If you, being a wild olive tree (because you had neither a law that cultivated, nor prophets watering, purifying, and taking proper care of you), were separated from your wicked ancestors and relatives, but you were made a partaker of Abraham's faith, and you boast that Abraham is your root, father, and forefather, not according to the natural law, but according to the bounty of God: Of course, it is more lawful and natural for the Jews, having believed, to be united to their own root. And this is what the Apostle says, teaching modesty to those who believe from among the Gentiles, and drawing those who do not believe from among the Jews to salvation." St. Chrysostom expounds this suggestion in more detail, addressing his speech to the unbelieving Jew: "You, if you wish to return, will establish yourself not on someone else's, like a pagan, but on your own root. Will you therefore be worthy of any excuse when it has become possible for a pagan that it is not in his nature, but that you will not be able to do what is in your nature, and, on the contrary, destroy what is natural? And since the Apostle said (of the Gentile), "Through nature," and "He clung to it," and from this you could conclude that the Gentile received something more; then he removes this conclusion by saying that the Jew will also cling. How much more, he says, who by nature cling to their olive tree; and again: God is able to attach them; And he said above: If they do not continue in unbelief, they will cling. But when you hear that the Apostle often uses the expression: by nature, and by nature, do not conclude from the fact that he means here the immutable nature; on the contrary, by these names it signifies both conformable and corresponding, and inconsistent with nature. Good and evil are not natural actions, but only actions of will and freedom."

Verse 25. For I do not desire you not to know this mystery, brethren, lest ye be wise of yourselves, for blindness shall be from a part of Israel, until the fulfillment of tongues shall come.

What he previously speaks of for reasons, he now offers as the providential will of God, communicated to him by revelation. For when he says that he wants to proclaim a mystery to them, he makes it known that this proclamation is something hidden, unknown to the mind; and when he promises to proclaim this, he makes it clear that it is revealed to him from above. But if it is revealed from above, it means that such is the will of God, that what happens should be as he declares. "Mystery here he calls the unknown, says St. Chrysostom, the unknown and hidden, in which there is much that is miraculous and incomprehensible. So also in another place He says: "Behold, I say unto you, For we shall not sleep, but we shall be changed" (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:51)." Blessed Theodoret adds to this: "Mystery is that which is known not to all, but to those who are trusted. Why does the Apostle say: I want to make known to you what mystery we know about the subject of our discourse (by revelation)." What is this mystery? For blindness was from a part of Israel. "From part means: either not completely, not forever, but only for a certain time, or that not all have been subjected to this blindness because of unbelief, but that there are believers, or both together, that some have believed, and some remain blind, but in them one should not despair; they also will believe afterwards, when the blindness has fallen from their eyes. He called the condition of the unbelieving Jews blindness, because in fact they had a veil over their minds, because of their addiction to the law, and did not allow them to see about Christ the Lord, because they did not believe through error. Errors will be dispelled, and they will believe. When? When the fulfillment of tongues shall come. The blindness of Israel will continue until "all the Gentiles foreknown by God" (Blessed Theophylact) enter the fold of faith. "And when the Gentiles have received the preaching, they also will believe, when the great Elijah comes and declares to them the doctrine of the faith. This also the Lord said in the Holy Gospel: Elijah will come and arrange all things (cf. Matt. 17:11)" (Blessed Theodorite). St. Ambrosiastes writes: "The Jews were stricken with blindness only for a time, and of them only those who, zealous for the law, did not see that the blessings promised by God had come in Jesus Christ the Lord and were being proclaimed. Thus they are blinded by irrational zeal, and, thinking that the law of works must never cease, they are zealous for the Sabbath. By such a stumbling block they are blinded in part, so that they may be tormented for their unbelief, seeing how the Gentiles gladly take advantage of their unbelief and enter into the inheritance of Abraham's promise. But when the full number of the Gentiles has entered, then the blindness of their minds will fall from the eyes of their minds, and they will be able to believe, and they will believe. The spirit of stupefaction, which brings blindness upon them, will depart from their hearts and restore freedom to their good will. Their unbelief is not from wickedness, but from error: they will be corrected and saved."

The Apostle communicates such a revelation to the brethren, that is, to the entire assembly of believing Romans, both Jews and Gentiles, and informs them in order to be wise about themselves. Perhaps this wishes to save them from the trouble of investigating and solving the perplexity that lies ahead regarding the rejection of the Jews and the calling of the Gentiles, as it were, so that you do not rack your brains over this and do not mistakenly come to false conclusions, which, however, will seem true to you and thus swell you. Or thus: the Romans were more educated than others, and it was natural for them to give themselves a certain advantage over others, especially when they were enlightened by faith, which imparted views embracing all things from the beginning to the last days and for all eternity. The Apostle also says: so that you do not dream of yourselves, as if you already know everything, I tell you the amazing, ineffable and unknown mystery of God's providence for all people in the rejection of the Jews for a time and in the calling of the Gentiles. Understand and humble yourselves (see: Gennadius in Ecumenia). Blessed Theodoret seems to have had a similar thought when he wrote: "Lest you, considering yourselves very reasonable, should therefore form a high opinion of yourselves."

Verses 26–27. And thus all Israel shall be saved, as it is written, He shall come from Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away wickedness from Jacob. And this is the covenant of Me unto them, that I shall take away their sins.

And so, — and how, he does not say, but gives us to understand from the flow of speech. The blinding of Israel to the full number of the Gentiles. Consequently, when this number comes, then the blindness will fall from the eyes of Israel, they will see the truth, they will believe in the Lord the Savior, and thus they will be saved. "All Israel, instead of the greater part, will turn away from their sins and turn to the Lord" (Ecumenios). As they said during the preaching of the Apostles: all Israel does not believe, meaning the majority, the masses; so in the last days it will be said: all Israel was saved by converting to the true faith, also because of the majority of those who believed. Those who are saved are always the elect, whether from the Gentiles or from the Jews, and not all from this or that kind of people. All Israel, perhaps, means in the Apostle all believers, whoever they may be; for they are actually Israel. Blessed Theodoret thinks so: "The Apostle calls believers all Israel, whether they be Jews, who have a natural affinity with Israel, or pagans, who are united to Israel by affinity of faith."

"Since what the Apostle preaches is important, he brings as a witness the Prophet, who says the same thing. He does not give evidence that blindness occurred, since this is obvious; but that the Jews will believe and be saved, is testified to by Isaiah, who exclaims and says: "He will come from Zion to deliver, and will turn away ungodliness from Jacob" (St. Chrysostom).

The Prophet Isaiah foretold the coming of Christ the Savior, calling Him the Deliverer or the Deliverer, and saying that He would come from Zion, that is, from among the very children of Israel, and would turn away wickedness from Jacob, who was the first to be called Israel. To turn away wickedness means: to make him pious, that is, to teach faith, to provide grace, to sanctify and present to God a sincere believer. In the time of the Apostles, ungodliness was turned away from many, many Israelites by faith in the Lord and the grace of the Holy Spirit, — from many, but not from all, the mass of the people remained in impiety. Inasmuch as the prophet Isaiah emphatically asserts that the Deliverer, when he comes, will turn away wickedness from Jacob without restraint, and this has not yet come to pass, it will certainly come to pass: for the prophetic word cannot lie. It will come to pass that wickedness will be turned away from all Jacob; but as this cannot be done while he is blinded, there will be a time when this blindness will fall away, and Israel will be saved, becoming truly godly. This is what the Apostle wanted to confirm with the above prophecy. But lest anyone misinterpret the words of the Prophet and say that this abhorrence of wickedness means that the Israelites will become completely faithful to the law given to them, and not that they will be sanctified by faith and grace, the Apostle quotes other words of the same Prophet, showing what this abhorrence of wickedness will consist in. And this is the covenant of Me, when I take away their sins. The essence of this covenant and sign, by which you can understand that the promised things have been fulfilled, is: when I take away their sins. "I will take away — I will not forgive only the guilt, but I will make them clean, having expelled their sins from them. "It is evident that this word means the cleansing of sins, which is given by baptism" (Blessed Theodorite). This is the essence of the covenant, this is the sign when it will be fulfilled: I will turn away ungodliness from Jacob! How is this not yet the case, it must be added again, just as not all the Israelites have yet believed and been baptized, and therefore their sins still lie upon them, and the prophetic word cannot lie; then it will certainly happen.