These chapters are also interesting because they attest the attachment of Paul to the Jewish people. Where is there a nobler expression of patriotism than Rom. 9:1-5? Exclusive attention to the polemic passages where Paul is defending the Gentile mission and denying the efficacy of the Mosaic law, have produced in the minds of some scholars a one-sided view of Paul's attitude toward Israel. Paul did not advocate the destruction of the identity of his people. He believed that even the natural Israel had a part to play on the stage of history. These chapters of Romans, together with some other passages in the epistles, such as I Cor. 9:20, confirm what the Book of The Acts tells us about Paul's willingness, when no principle was involved, to conform to Jewish custom.
The genuineness of the Epistle to the Romans is undoubted, but its "integrity" has been questioned. The epistle was certainly written by Paul, but was it all, as we now have it, originally part of one letter? By many scholars the greater part of the sixteenth chapter is supposed to have originally formed part of an epistle of Paul written not to Rome but to Ephesus. The chief argument for this hypothesis is derived from the long list of names in ch. 16:3-15. Could Paul have had so many personal acquaintances in a church which he had never visited? The argument is not conclusive. Just because Paul could not appeal in his letter to any personal acquaintance with the Roman church as a whole, it would be natural for him to mention at least all the individuals in the church with whom he stood in any sort of special relation. Furthermore, the frequency of travel in the Roman Empire must be borne in mind. Many persons whom Paul had met on his travels would naturally find their way to the capital. Finally, Aquila and Priscilla, though they had recently lived in Ephesus, I Cor. 16:19, may easily have resumed their former residence in Rome. Acts 18:2; Rom. 16:3-5.
IN THE LIBRARY.--Purves, "Christianity in the Apostolic Age," pp. 226-231. Davis, "Dictionary of the Bible": Purves, (supplemented) article on "Romans, Epistle to the." Hastings, "Dictionary of the Bible": Robertson, article on "Romans, Epistle to the." M'Clymont, "The New Testament and Its Writers," pp. 77-82. Gifford, "The Epistle of St. Paul to the Romans." Ellicott, "A New Testament Commentary for English Readers," vol. ii, pp. 193-280: Sanday, "The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Romans." "The Cambridge Bible for Schools": Moule, "The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Romans." "The International Critical Commentary": Sanday and Headlam, "A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans." Zahn, "Introduction to the New Testament," vol. i, pp. 352-438. The two last-named works presuppose a knowledge of Greek.