Romans 15.27a-Macedonia And Achaia Decided With Pleasure To Provide Aid For The Poor Jewish Believers In Jerusalem Because They Are Indebted To Them
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Tuesday July 6, 2010
Romans: Romans 15:27a-Macedonia And Achaia Decided With Pleasure To Provide Aid For The Poor Jewish Believers In Jerusalem Because They Are Indebted To Them
Lesson # 530
Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 15:14.
In Romans 15:26, Paul informs the Roman believers that he was going to serve the saints in Jerusalem by delivering to the destitute Jewish believers in that city an offering from the Gentiles in Macedonia and Achaia.
This evening we will note Romans 15:27 and in this verse Paul teaches that the Gentile churches in Macedonia and Achaia decided with pleasure to provide a contribution for the destitute Jewish believers in Jerusalem because they are indebted to them.
He goes on to write that the Gentile believers in Macedonia and Achaia were indebted to the Jewish believers since they shared in their spiritual blessings and were thus indebted to serve them also in material blessings.
Romans 15:14, “And concerning you, my brethren, I myself also am convinced that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able also to admonish one another. 15, But I have written very boldly to you on some points so as to remind you again, because of the grace that was given me from God. 16, To be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, ministering as a priest the gospel of God, so that my offering of the Gentiles may become acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. 17, Therefore in Christ Jesus I have found reason for boasting in things pertaining to God. 18, For I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me, resulting in the obedience of the Gentiles by word and deed. 19, In the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Spirit; so that from Jerusalem and round about as far as Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. 20, And thus I aspired to preach the gospel, not where Christ was already named, so that I would not build on another man’s foundation. 21, But as it is written, ‘THEY WHO HAD NO NEWS OF HIM SHALL SEE, AND THEY WHO HAVE NOT HEARD SHALL UNDERSTAND.’ 22, “For this reason I have often been prevented from coming to you. 23 But now, with no further place for me in these regions, and since I have had for many years a longing to come to you. 24 Whenever I go to Spain—for I hope to see you in passing, and to be helped on my way there by you, when I have first enjoyed your company for a while. 25 But now, I am going to Jerusalem serving the saints. 26 For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem. 27, Yes, they were pleased to do so, and they are indebted to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual things, they are indebted to minister to them also in material things.”
“Yes…and” is the conjunction gar (γάρ), “yes” and the conjunction kai (καί) (keh), “and.”
The NASU interprets gar as being emphatic and translate it “yes” and they interpret the conjunction kai as copulative and render it “and.”
However, it would seem to make better sense having kai emphasizing the idea that the Gentile believers in Macedonia and Achaia decided with pleasure to provide for the needs of the Jewish believers in Jerusalem and gar as presenting the reason that they did so rather than vice versa.
It makes better sense to interpret kai as emphasizing the verb eudokeo and gar as causal introducing the statement opheiletai eisin auton (ὀφειλέται εἰσὶν αὐτῶν), “they are indebted to them.”
Thus, we would render the sentence “They were pleased to do so indeed (kai) because (gar) they are indebted to them.”
So kai and not gar is serving to emphasize the thought that the Gentile believers in Macedonia and Achaia decided with pleasure to provide from their own resources and own accord a contribution for the destitute Jewish believers in Jerusalem and gar, not kai serves to introduce the reason they did so.
Kai and not gar is emphasizing the statement that the Gentile believers in Macedonian and Achaia decided with pleasure to provide a contribution for the Jewish believers from their own resources and own accord and gar, not kai indicates that they did so because they were obligated to the Jewish believers.
“They were pleased” is the third person plural aorist active indicative form of the verb eudokeo (εὐδοκέω) (ehv-thoe-keh-owe), which once again as it did in Romans 15:26 means “to decide with pleasure” to provide a contribution on behalf of the poor Jewish believers in Jerusalem.
It emphasizes that the Gentile believers in Macedonia and Achaia of their own accord took pleasure in providing for the needs of their poor Jewish brothers.
“To do” does not translate any words in the original text but is correctly added by the translators since they correctly interpret Paul as employing the figure of ellipsis meaning that he deliberately omitted the aorist middle infinitive form of the verb poieo (ποιέω) (pee-eh-owe), though it is implied.
The meaning of the verb poieo is taken from its use in Romans 15:26 and thus means “to provide something for somebody out of one’s own accord and own resources.”
It is used of the actions of the Gentile churches in Macedonia and Achaia in providing of their own accord for the needs of the destitute Jewish believers in Jerusalem from their own resources.
The middle voice of the verb puts special focus on the Gentile believers in Macedonia and Achaia emphasizing that this contribution was provided by them from their own resources and of their own accord.
Romans 15:27, “Yes, they were pleased to do so, and they are indebted to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual things, they are indebted to minister to them also in material things.”
“Indebted” is the nominative masculine plural form of the noun opheiletes (ὀφειλέτης) (owe-fee-let-tease), which means “debtors” since the word is in the plural describing the Gentile believers in Macedonia and Achaia in relation to the destitute Jewish believers in Jerusalem.
The causal clause that follows containing a first class condition indicates that Gentile believers in Macedonia and Achaia are debtors to the poor Jewish believers in Jerusalem because they have shared in their spiritual blessings and are thus obligated to minister to them in material or temporal matters.
Opheiletes denotes that the Gentile believers in Macedonia and Achaia were morally and not legally obligated to provide for the material or temporal needs of the poor Jewish believers in Jerusalem since they benefited from the spiritual blessings flowing from the promises to the Jewish patriarchs.
The gospel which they believed in, originated with the Jews and was proclaimed to them by the Jews and their Savior was a Jew.
In Romans 11:13-28 and 15:8-12, Paul makes this clear.
Romans 15:27a, “They decided with pleasure to provide of their own accord and from their own resources indeed because they are, as an eternal spiritual truth obligated to them.” (My translation)
So this statement is emphasizing with the Roman believers that the Gentile churches in Macedonia and Achaia indeed decided with pleasure to provide a contribution for the destitute Jewish believers in Jerusalem because they are obligated to them.
In the next statement, he explains the reason why this is the case.
The Gentile believers in Macedonia and Achaia were indebted to the Jewish since they shared in the spiritual blessings of the Jewish believers and were thus indebted to serve them also in material blessings.
They were morally and not legally obligated to provide for the material or temporal needs of the poor Jewish believers in Jerusalem since they benefited from the spiritual blessings flowing from the promises to the Jewish patriarchs.
Furthermore, the gospel which they believed in and was communicated to them by Paul who was Jewish also originated with the Jews and the object of the gospel, Jesus Christ is a Jew.