Romans 11.35-Paul Cites The Rhetorical Question In Job 41.11 To Support His Praise Of The Father in Romans 11.33
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Sunday September 13, 2009
Romans: Romans 11:35-Paul Cites The Rhetorical Question In Job 41:11 To Support His Praise Of The Father In Romans 11:33
Lesson # 392
Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 11:33.
This past week we noted Romans 11:33a in which Paul praises the Father for His infinite wealth, wisdom and knowledge.
We completed the verse by noting Paul praising the Father for His unsearchable decrees and incomprehensible ways.
Lastly, we studied Romans 11:34 and in this verse Paul cites the two rhetorical questions that demand a negative response that appear in Isaiah 40:13 to support his exclamation in Romans 11:33.
This quotation is related to Paul’s praise of the Father’s infinite wisdom and knowledge and unsearchable decrees and incomprehensible ways.
These rhetorical questions bring out the implication of Paul’s doxology in Romans 11:33, which is that God is sovereign over His creatures and is transcendent of His creatures and self-sufficient unlike His creatures.
This morning we will note Romans 11:35, in which Paul cites the rhetorical question that demands a negative response that appears in Job 41:11 to support his exclamation in Romans 11:33.
The quotations from Isaiah 40:13 and Job 41:11 that appear in Romans 11:34-35 serve to “confirm” Paul’s doxology or praise of the Father in Romans 11:33.
Romans 11:33, “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!”
Romans 11:34-35, “For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, OR WHO BECAME HIS COUNSELOR? Or WHO HAS FIRST GIVEN TO HIM THAT IT MIGHT BE PAID BACK TO HIM AGAIN?’”
Romans 11:36, “For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.”
Let’s now concentrate on verse 35.
Romans 11:35, “Or WHO HAS FIRST GIVEN TO HIM THAT IT MIGHT BE PAID BACK TO HIM AGAIN?’”
In Romans 11:35, Paul is quoting from Job 41:11.
Job 41:11, “Who has given to Me that I should repay him? Whatever is under the whole heaven is Mine.”
Paul is following the original Hebrew of Job 41:11 rather than the Septuagint translation of the passage indicating that he considered the Septuagint translation of this verse as not accurately reflecting the Hebrew.
The Hebrew reads: “Who has first given to me that I should repay him?”
“Or” is the “disjunctive” or “alternative” conjunction, that is also called a “particle of separation” e (h&) (ay), which introduces a quotation from Job 41:11 that is related to the previous quotation in Romans 11:34 that is from Isaiah 40:13.
All three rhetorical questions are related to each other because they all serve to confirm the doxology that appears in Romans 11:33.
“WHO” is the nominative masculine singular form of the interrogative pronoun tis (tiv$) (tis), which introduces a rhetorical question that demands a negative response.
This rhetorical question brings out the implication of Paul’s doxology in Romans 11:33, which is that God is indeed infinitely wealthy and possesses everything He has created and is transcendent of His creatures.
This rhetorical question in Romans 11:35, like the two in Romans 11:34, demands a negative response and supports the doxology in Romans 11:33.
This rhetorical question in Romans 11:35 relates to Paul’s praise of the Father’s infinite wealth.
This rhetorical question in Romans 11:35 deals with the way in which the believer experiences God’s eternal plan of salvation for mankind.
“HAS FIRST GIVEN TO HIM” is composed of the third person singular aorist active indicative form of the verb prodidomi (prodivdwmi) (prod-id-o-mee), “HAS FIRST GIVEN” and the dative masculine singular form of the intensive personal pronoun autos (au)tov$) (ow-tos), “TO HIM.”
The verb prodidomi is a compound word composed of the preposition pro, “before” and the verb didomi, “to give,” thus the word literally means “to give beforehand.”
The verb appears only once in the Greek New Testament, Romans 11:35 where it means “to give first or before” or “precede in giving” and contains the idea of advancing money to God and thus putting Him under obligation to repay.
The intensive personal pronoun autos refers to the Father and functions as a dative of disadvantage meaning that it would be to the Father’s disadvantage if His creatures could put Him under obligation to repay them.
Romans 11:35, “Or WHO HAS FIRST GIVEN TO HIM THAT IT MIGHT BE PAID BACK TO HIM AGAIN?’”
“THAT” is the “consecutive” use of the conjunction kai (kaiV), which introduces a statement that presents the result of someone in the human race advancing God money.
“IT MIGHT BE PAID BACK TO HIM AGAIN” is composed of the third person singular future passive indicative form of the verb antapodidomi (a)ntapodivdwmi) (an-tap-od-ee-do-mee), “IT MIGHT BE PAID BACK” and the dative masculine singular form of the intensive personal pronoun autos (au)tov$) (ow-tos), “TO HIM.”
In Romans 11:35, the verb antapodidomi means “to pay back” and is used with God as the subject and no particular member of the human race as its object.
The intensive personal pronoun autos that is used with this verb refers to no particular member of the human race.
The word functions as a dative advantage indicating that it would be to the advantage of a member of the human race if God were obligated to him so that God would have to repay him.
The force of the rhetorical question is to make an emphatic negative statement that no creature of God has put Him under obligation.
The creature has neither the merit nor power to do so (Hodge, Charles Hodge, Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans, page 597).
Robert Mounce writes, “No one has ever advanced anything to Him so as to deserve payment in return. God is debtor to no one. It is God who has set everything in motion by His creative word. He is the source, the agent, and the goal of all that is. All things find their origin in Him. Through Him everything that exists is sustained and directed. All things exist for His glory.” (The New American Commentary, volume 27, page 227; Romans, Broadman and Holman Publishers, 1995.
1 Chronicles 29:10-12, “So David blessed the LORD in the sight of all the assembly; and David said, ‘Blessed are You, O LORD God of Israel our father, forever and ever. Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth; Yours is the dominion, O LORD, and You exalt Yourself as head over all. Both riches and honor come from You, and You rule over all, and in Your hand is power and might; and it lies in Your hand to make great and to strengthen everyone.”
Psalm 50:10, “For every beast of the forest is Mine, the cattle on a thousand hills.”
Haggai 2:8, “The silver is Mine and the gold is Mine,' declares the LORD of hosts.”
Man is dependent upon God and not vice versa because God is self-sufficient in Himself and does not need man like man needs God for his existence.
Romans 11:35 teaches that God is under obligation to no one because no one has given Him anything.
By way of implication, this passage teaches that it is only by God’s grace policy that members of the human race can experience God’s infinite wealth, which is what is communicated in the gospel by the Holy Spirit.