And to enlighten all men, that they may see what is the dispensation of the mystery which hath been hidden from eternity in God, who created all things:

“"To preach unto the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ." If His "riches are unsearchable," and that too after his appearing, much more is His essence. If it is still a mystery, much more was it before it was made known; for a mystery he calls it on this account, because neither did the Angels know it, nor was it manifest to any one else.”

“After the Apostle has shown that grace was dispensed to him with respect to the knowledge of the divine mysteries, here he shows this same thing with respect to the execution of these mysteries. And concerning this he does two things. First, he recalls the help of grace given to him for carrying it out; second, he shows the office of ministry committed to him, at the words to me, the least of all the saints, etc. The first is divided into two. First he touches on the execution of the divine ministries; second he shows the help given to him for carrying it out, at the words according to the gift of grace, etc. Now the execution of the divine things was committed to him by way of ministry, and as to this he says: I say that this ministry has been committed to me, namely, that the Gentiles are fellow-heirs through the Gospel, through which the Gentiles are made partakers of the promise of God in Christ Jesus, of which I, Paul, was made a minister, etc.; as if to say: I do not fulfill or carry this out as from myself or as my own, but as a ministry that is God's. Acts 9:15: this man is a vessel of election to me, etc. Hence the Apostle says in 1 Corinthians 4:1: let a man so account of us as of the ministers of Christ, and the dispensers of the mysteries of God. Then when he says according to the gift of grace, etc., he touches on the help given to him for the execution of the ministries. Now this help was twofold. One indeed was the very faculty of carrying it out, the other was the very operation, or actuality. Now God gives the faculty by infusing power and grace, through which a man is made capable and apt for acting; but he confers the operation itself inasmuch as he works within us, moving and instigating us interiorly toward the good. And therefore, receiving this from God, the Apostle says as to the first: I say that I was made a minister, but certainly not by my own merits, nor by my own power, but according to the gift of the grace of God which was given to me, namely, because I, who was formerly a persecutor, am made fit for the execution of the divine mysteries. 1 Corinthians 15:10: I have labored more abundantly than all of them; yet not I, but the grace of God with me. As to the second he says according to the operation, which God effects, inasmuch as his power works in us both to will and to accomplish, according to good will. But this can be explained otherwise according to the Gloss, so that what has just been said is referred back to the preceding words — namely, that it should be said that the fact that the Gentiles are fellow-heirs and of the same body, and co-partakers of his promise (that is, of God the Father), this gift indeed God gave to the Gentiles in Christ, that is, through Christ, and this according to the operation of his power, that is, through the fact that he worked powerfully in raising Christ from death. Consequently, when he says for to me, the least of the saints, etc., he shows the office committed to him, the grace of which commission is indeed commended on three counts. First indeed from the condition of his own person; second from the greatness of the things committed, at the words to preach the unsearchable, etc.; third from the usefulness of the fruit, at the words that it might be made known, etc. He commends, then, the office committed to him from the condition of his person. For if some king were to commit some great office to some great and excellent prince, he would not thereby show him much grace, as far as concerns this great man, if he placed him in a great office; but if he should commit a great and most arduous office to some small man, he greatly magnifies him and shows him great grace, and the more so, the more the excellence of the office exceeds the man himself. According to this manner, then, Paul commends the grace of the office committed to him, saying: for to me, the least of all the saints, is given this grace. And he calls himself the least, not from the power committed to him, but from consideration of his former state. 1 Corinthians 15:9: I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God. Isaiah 60:22: the least shall become a thousand, and the little one a very strong nation. And this among the Gentiles, that is, among the nations. Galatians 2:8-9: for he who worked in Peter for the apostleship of the circumcision worked also in me among the Gentiles. And when they had known the grace of God that was given to me among the Gentiles, etc. Second, the grace of this commission is commended from the greatness of the office, which is to reveal and make manifest the secrets of God, which are great and hidden — namely, concerning the greatness of Christ and concerning the salvation of the faithful accomplished through him. Now the whole Gospel concerns these two things. As to the first he says to preach the gospel, etc., as if to say: this grace was given to me that I might announce the good. 1 Corinthians 1:17: Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel. And in the same place, 9:16: for woe is to me if I do not preach the gospel. And this good, namely, the unsearchable riches of Christ, which are the true riches. Above, chapter 2:4: but God, who is rich in mercy, etc. Romans 2:4: or do you despise the riches of his goodness, and patience, and long-suffering? etc. Romans 10:12: rich unto all that call upon him. As if to say: these riches are truly unsearchable, because his mercy is so great that it cannot be understood or searched out. Isaiah 33:6: the riches of salvation are wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the Lord is his treasure — namely, of Christ, because in Christ the fear of the Lord was most abundant. Isaiah 11:3: the spirit of the fear of the Lord shall fill him. For in Christ are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge hidden, Colossians 2:3, and these are unsearchable, because the wisdom and knowledge of Christ cannot be perfectly searched out. Job 11:7: perhaps you will find the footsteps of God, and will you find out the Almighty perfectly? As if to say: no. For through creatures, in which the footstep of the Creator shines forth, one cannot arrive at perfect knowledge of him. Now the Apostle, marveling in astonishment at riches of this kind, says, Romans 11:33: O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God, how, etc. Ecclesiasticus 1:3: who shall search out the wisdom of God that goes before all things? As to the second, that is, as to making manifest the salvation coming to the faithful from Christ, he says and to enlighten all, not only the Jews, but also the Gentiles, through preaching and miracles. Ecclesiasticus 24:45: I will enlighten all who hope in the Lord. Acts 9:15: he is a vessel of election, etc. Matthew 5:14: you are the light of the world. To enlighten, I say, as far as it is in me, all — namely, those willing to believe. 1 Timothy 2:4: who wills all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth. To this end, namely, that they may understand what is the dispensation of the mystery, because these things avail nothing unless they are dispensed; as if to say: concerning this I will enlighten, namely, how wonderful, and out of how great a love, the fulfillment of the secret redemption was accomplished. Now riches of this unsearchable kind have been dispensed to you through Christ. But because it could be said: that which you say, even though it is great, yet everyone knows it — therefore to this the Apostle responds, saying that it is not so, because it has been hidden from the ages. Here it must be known that all things that exist in effect lie hidden potentially in their causes, just as in the power of the sun are contained all things that exist among generable and corruptible things. But yet among these, some things are hidden, some manifest. For heat is manifestly in fire; but the rationale of certain things, which it produces in a hidden manner, lies hidden in it. Now God is the efficient cause of all things, but he produces certain things whose rationale can be manifest — namely, those which he produces by means of secondary causes. But certain things are hidden in him — namely, those which he produces immediately through himself. And because God worked the mystery of human redemption through himself, therefore this mystery is hidden in him alone. And this is what he says: hidden from the ages in God, that is, in the knowledge of God alone. Now to search out the secrets of the first cause is the greatest thing. 1 Corinthians 2:6: we speak wisdom among the perfect; yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, who are brought to nothing; but we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, which is hidden, which God predestined before the ages. Who, I say, created all things.”

“And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery,.... Or "the dispensation of the mystery" as the Complutensian, and several copies, and the Vulgate Latin and Syriac versions, read. The mystery is the Gospel; the fellowship of it is the communication of grace by it, a participation of the truths and doctrines of it, communion with Father, Son, and Spirit, which the Gospel calls and leads unto, and that equal concern and interest which both Jews and Gentiles have in the privileges of it. Now men are naturally in the dark about these things, and the ministry of the word is the means of enlightening them, and is indeed the grand design of it; and the ministers of the Gospel do instrumentally enlighten persons, though it is God only that does it efficiently; and for this, gifts of grace were bestowed upon the apostle, even for the enlightening of all men, not every individual person in the world, but some of all sorts, particularly Gentiles, as well as Jews. The word rendered "all men", is left out in the Alexandrian copy. Which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God; in the heart of God, in his counsel and covenant; which shows the original and source of the Gospel, and expresses the richness and valuableness of it, as well as its safety and secrecy: here it was hid in some measure from the elect angels, and from Old Testament saints, and altogether from natural men, and especially from the Gentiles, whose times of ignorance God winked at, or overlooked: and this was kept so from ages past, from the beginning of time, till now, and was laid up in the breast of God from all eternity; for it was ordained before the world for the glory, of his people. What the apostle says of the Gospel, the Jews say of the law, that it was hid and treasured up two thousand years before the world was created (m); yea, they say (n), that many ages before the creation of the world it was written and left, , "in the bosom of God": and he is here described, as he who created all things by Jesus Christ; not as an instrument, but as a co-efficient cause: and this is to be understood, not of the new creation, but of the old, and of all things in it; for without Christ, was not anything made that is made. The phrase, "by Jesus Christ", is left out in the Alexandrian and Claromontane copies, and in the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Ethiopic versions. (m) Zohar in Exod. fol. 20. 4. & in Numb. fol. 66. 3. Targ. Jon. & Jeras. in Gen. iii. 24. (n) Abot R. Nathan, c. 31. T. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 88. 2.”

“And to make all men see - Και φωτισαι παντας· And to illuminate all; to give information both to Jews and Gentiles; to afford them a sufficiency of light, so that they might be able distinctly to discern the great objects exhibited in this Gospel. What is the fellowship of the mystery - The word κοινωνια, which we properly translate fellowship, was used among the Greeks to signify their religious communities; here it may intimate the association of Jews and Gentiles in one Church or body, and their agreement in that glorious mystery which was now so fully opened relative to the salvation of both. But instead of κοινωνια, fellowship, οικονομια, dispensation or economy, is the reading of ABCDEFG, and more than fifty others; both the Syriac, Coptic, Ethiopic, Armenian, Slavonian, Vulgate and Itala, with the chief of the Greek fathers. Some of the best printed editions of the Greek text have the same reading, and that in our common text has very little authority to support it. Dispensation or economy is far more congenial to the scope of the apostle's declaration in this place; he wished to show them the economy of that mystery of bringing Jews and Gentiles to salvation by faith in Christ Jesus, which God from the beginning of the world had kept hidden in his own infinite mind, and did not think proper to reveal even when he projected the creation of the world, which had respect to the economy of human redemption. And although the world was made by Jesus Christ, the great Redeemer, yet at that period this revelation of the power of God, the design of saving men, whose fall infinite wisdom had foreseen, was not then revealed. This reading Griesbach has received into the text. Who created all things by Jesus Christ - Some very judicious critics are of opinion that this does not refer to the material creation; and that we should understand the whole as referring to the formation of all God's dispensations of grace, mercy, and truth, which have been planned, managed, and executed by Christ, from the foundation of the world to the present time. But the words δια Ιησου Χριστου, by Jesus Christ, are wanting in ABCD*FG, and several others; also in the Syriac, Arabic of Erpen, Coptic, Ethiopic, Vulgate, and Itala; as also in several of the fathers. Griesbach has thrown the words out of the text; and Professor White says, "certissime delenda," they are indisputably spurious. The text, therefore, should be read: which from the beginning of the world had been hidden in God who created all things. No inferiority of Christ can be argued from a clause of whose spuriousness there is the strongest evidence.”

“to make all men see--Greek, "to enlighten all" (Eph 1:18; Psa 18:28; Heb 6:4). "All" (compare Col 1:28). fellowship--The oldest manuscripts read, "economy," or "dispensation" (compare Col 1:25-26; and see on Eph 1:10, above). "To make all see how it hath seemed good to God at this time to dispense (through me and others, His stewards) what heretofore was a mystery." ELLICOTT explains it, "the arrangement," or "regulation" of the mystery (the union of Jews and Gentiles in Christ) which was now to be humbly traced and acknowledged in the fact of its having secretly existed in the counsel of God, and now having been revealed to the heavenly powers by means of the Church. from the beginning of the world--Greek, "from (the beginning of) the ages." Compare Eph 1:4; Rom 16:25; Co1 2:7. The "ages" are the vast successive periods of time, marked by successive stages of creation and orders of beings. in God--"hidden in" His counsels (Eph 1:9). created all things by Jesus Christ--God's creation of the world and all things therein is the foundation of the rest of the "economy," which is freely dispensed according to the universal power of God [BENGEL]. AS God created "the whole range of things" (so the Greek), physical and spiritual alike, He must have an absolute right to adjust all things as He will. Hence, we may see His right to keep the mystery of world-wide salvation in Christ "hidden in Himself," till his own good time for revealing it. The oldest manuscripts omit "by Jesus Christ."”