And so all Israel should be saved, as it is written: There shall come out of Sion, he that shall deliver, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob.

“But as many as feared God, and were anxious about His law, these ran to Christ, and were all saved. For He said to His disciples: "Go ye to the sheep of the house of Israel, which have perished." And many more Samaritans, it is said, when the Lord had tarried among. them, two days, "believed because of His words, and said to the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying, for we ourselves have heard [Him], and know that this man is truly the Saviour of the world." And Paul likewise declares, "And so all Israel shall be saved;" but he has also said, that the law was our pedagogue [to bring us] to Christ Jesus. Let them not therefore ascribe to the law the unbelief of certain [among them]. For the law never hindered them from believing in the Son of God; nay, but it even exhorted them so to do, saying that men can be saved in no other way from the old wound of the serpent than by believing in Him who, in the likeness of sinful flesh, is lifted up from the earth upon the tree of martyrdom, and draws all things to Himself, and vivifies the dead.”

“"There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob." This then he says here also; that it is not the whole people that is pulled up, but many have already believed, and more are likely to believe. Then as he had promised a great thing, he adduces the prophet in evidence, speaking as follows. Now it is not for the fact of a blindness having happened that he quotes the passage (for every one could see that), but that they shall believe and be saved, he brings Isaiah to witness, who crieth aloud and saith, "There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob." (Is. lix. 20.) Then to give the mark that fixes its sense to salvation, to prevent any one from drawing it aside and attaching it to times gone by...”

“After the Apostle has led the Gentiles into the knowledge of the divine judgments, in which the divine goodness and severity are manifested, here, as though these were not yet sufficient for them to consider what has been said, he sets forth what seems to him concerning these matters. And first he proposes the fact; second he proves it, at the place as it is written, etc.; third he assigns the reason, at the place for if, etc. Concerning the first he does three things. First he proposes his intention, saying: therefore I have led you to consider the goodness and severity of God, for I do not want you, brothers, to be ignorant of this mystery — for you cannot grasp all mysteries. For this belongs to the perfect, to whom the Lord says, Luke 8:10: to you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God. Wisdom 6:24: I will not hide the mysteries of God from you. But ignorance of this mystery would be harmful to you. 1 Corinthians 14:38: if anyone is ignorant, he will be ignored. Second he assigns the reason for his intention, that you may not be wise in your own conceit, that is, that you should not presume upon your own judgment, and, condemning others out of your own judgment, prefer yourselves to them. Below, chapter 12:16: do not be wise in your own estimation. Isaiah 5:21: woe to you who are wise in your own eyes, and prudent in your own sight. Third he proposes what he intends. First indeed as to the case of particular Jews, when he says that blindness has happened in Israel — not universally, but in part, as has been shown above. Isaiah 6:10: blind the heart of this people. Second he sets down the limit of this blindness, saying until the fullness of the Gentiles should come in — to the faith — that is, not only some particular ones from among the Gentiles, as were being converted then, but, either wholly or for the greater part, the Church would be founded among all the Gentiles. Psalm 23:1: the earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof. Now the Gentiles converted to the faith are said to come in, as it were passing from the exterior and visible things which they used to venerate, into what is spiritual and into the divine will. Psalm 99:2: come in before his sight in exultation. And it is to be noted that this adverb until can designate the cause of the blinding of the Jews — for on account of this God permitted them to be blinded, that the fullness of the Gentiles might come in, as is clear from what has been said above. It can also designate a limit, namely that the blindness of the Jews will last only until the fullness of the Gentiles comes in to the faith. And with this agrees what he adds below concerning the future remedy of the Jews, when he says and then — namely when the fullness of the Gentiles shall have come in — all Israel will be saved, not particularly as now, but universally, all of them. Hosea 1:7: I will save them in the Lord their God. Micah, last chapter: he will turn again, and have mercy on us. Then, when he says as it is written, etc., he proves what he had said about the future salvation of the Jews. And first he proves this by authority; second by reason, at the place according to my Gospel, etc. He says therefore first: I say that all Israel will be saved, as it is written in Isaiah 56:20 — though our text has it thus: there shall come out of Zion a redeemer, and to them that return to Jacob, this is my covenant with them, says the Lord. But the Apostle brings this in according to the Septuagint text, and he touches on three things stated here. First the coming of the Savior, when he says he shall come — namely God made man, to save us — out of Zion, that is, out of the people of the Jews, who are signified by Zion, which was the citadel of Jerusalem, the metropolis of Judea. Hence it is said in Zechariah 9:9: rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion, shout for joy, daughter of Jerusalem: behold, your king comes to you, etc. John 4:22: salvation is from the Jews. Or he says that he comes out of Zion, not because he was born there, but because from there his teaching went out into the whole world, through the fact that the apostles received the Holy Spirit in the upper room of Zion. Isaiah 2:3: out of Zion shall the law go forth. Second he sets down the salvation offered to the Jews through Christ, saying who shall deliver, and turn away ungodliness from Jacob. And deliverance can be referred to liberation from punishment. Psalm 114:8: he shall deliver my soul from death. But what he says he shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob can be referred to liberation from guilt. Psalm 13:7: the Lord shall turn away the captivity of his people. Or both are referred to liberation from guilt, but he says who shall deliver on account of the few, who now are converted with difficulty, as it were by a certain violence. Amos 3:12: as if a shepherd should snatch out of the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, so shall the children of Israel be snatched out. But he says he shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob, to show the ease of the conversion of the Jews at the end of the world. Micah, last chapter: who is a God like unto you, who takes away iniquity, and passes over the sin of the remnant of your inheritance? Third he shows the manner of the salvation, when he says and this shall be the covenant — namely the new one — to them from me, when I shall have taken away their sins. For the old covenant did not take away sins, because, as is said in Hebrews 10:4: it is impossible that with the blood of oxen and goats sins should be taken away. And therefore, on account of the imperfection of the old covenant, a new covenant is promised to them. Jeremiah 31:31: I will make with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah, a new covenant. This will indeed have efficacy for the remission of sin through the blood of Christ. Matthew 26:28: this is my blood of the new testament, which shall be shed for many unto the remission of sins. Micah, last chapter: he will put away our iniquities, and cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. Then, when he says according to my Gospel, etc., he proves the proposition by reason. And first he brings forward the proof; second he removes an objection, at the place for the gifts. He says therefore first that their sins will be taken away, and that since they have sins, it is manifest that they are enemies of Christ. According to the Gospel indeed they are enemies — that is, as far as pertains to the teaching of the Gospel, which they attack — for your sake, that is, it redounds to your benefit, as has been said above. Hence it is said in Luke 19:27: but as for those my enemies, who would not have me reign over them, bring them here, and slay them before me. John 15:24: but now they have both seen, and hated both me and my Father. Or he says according to the Gospel to mean that their enmity pertains to the benefit of the Gospel, whose preaching, on the occasion of such enmity, is spread everywhere. Colossians 1:5-6: in the word of the truth of the Gospel, which has come to you, as also it is in the whole world, and it brings forth fruit and grows. But they are most dear to God on account of the fathers, and this according to election — namely because, on account of the grace of their fathers, he chose their seed. Deuteronomy 4:37: he loved your fathers, and chose their seed after them. This is not to be understood as though the merits shown by the fathers were the cause of the eternal election of the children, but because God from eternity freely chose both the fathers and the children, yet in this order, that the children should obtain salvation on account of the fathers — not as though the merits of the fathers sufficed for the salvation of the children, but he says this on account of a certain abundance of divine grace and mercy, which was shown to the fathers to such a degree that, on account of the promises made to them, even the children would be saved. Or according to election is to be understood as referring to those elect from that people, as has been said above, in whom election has taken effect. But if they are most dear to the Lord, it is reasonable that they should be saved by God, according to that saying, Isaiah 64:4: the eye has not seen, O God, besides you, what things you have prepared, etc. Then, when he says for the gifts and calling of God are without repentance, he excludes an objection. For someone might object and say that the Jews, even if they were once most dear on account of the fathers, nevertheless the enmity which they exercise against the Gospel prevents them from being saved in the future. But the Apostle asserts that this is false, saying for the gifts and calling of God are without repentance — as if to say: that God grants something to some, or calls some, is without repentance, because God does not repent of this, according to that saying, 1 Kings 15:29: the triumpher in Israel will not spare, nor be moved to repentance. Psalm 109:5: the Lord has sworn, and he will not repent. But this seems false. For the Lord says, Genesis 6:6: it repents me that I have made man. And Jeremiah 18:9-10: I will speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to build up and to plant it. If it does evil in my sight, I will repent of the good that I have spoken to do to it. But it must be said that just as the Lord is said to be angry, not because there is in him a disturbance of anger, but because he conducts himself after the manner of one who is angry as regards the effect of punishment, so also he is sometimes said to repent, not as though there were in him a change of repentance, but because he conducts himself after the manner of one repenting, in that he changes what he had done. But still it seems that the gifts and calling are not without repentance, because gifts divinely granted are frequently lost, according to that saying, Matthew 25:28: take therefore the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents. For the calling of God also sometimes seems to be changed, since it is written, Matthew 22:14: many are called, but few are chosen. But it must be said that gift here is taken for the promise, which is made according to God's foreknowledge or predestination. But calling here is taken for election, because, on account of the certainty of each, what God promises he already in a certain way gives; and those whom he has chosen, he already in a certain way calls. And yet this temporal gift of God and temporal calling is not made void through a change on God's part as though he were repenting, but through a change on man's part, who casts away the grace of God, according to that saying, Hebrews 12:15: looking diligently, lest any man be wanting to the grace of God. It can also be understood otherwise what is said here, so that we say that the gifts of God which are given in Baptism, and the calling by which the baptized person is called to grace, are without repentance on the part of the baptized man — which indeed is brought in here, lest anyone despair of the future salvation of the Jews on the ground that they do not seem to repent of their sin. But against what is said here is that Peter says, Acts 2:38: do penance, and be baptized every one of you. But it must be said that repentance is twofold: interior and exterior. Interior repentance indeed consists in contrition of heart, by which one grieves over past sins, and such repentance is required of the one to be baptized, because, as Augustine says in the book On Repentance: no one who has been constituted the arbiter of his own will can begin a new life unless he repents of the old life; otherwise he approaches Baptism deceitfully. Exterior repentance, however, consists in exterior satisfaction, which is not required of the baptized person, because through baptismal grace man is freed not only from guilt but also from all punishment through the power of the Passion of Christ, who made satisfaction for the sins of all, as has been said above at chapter 6:3: all we who have been baptized in Christ Jesus, have been baptized in his death. Hence it is said in Titus 3:5-6: by the laver of regeneration, and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he has poured out upon us abundantly. But since the keys of the Church and all the other sacraments operate by the power of the Passion of Christ, it seems that by the same reasoning all the other sacraments should free man from guilt and from all punishment. But it must be said that the Passion of Christ operates in Baptism after the manner of a certain generation, which requires that man wholly die to his former life, so that he may receive a new life. And therefore in Baptism the whole debt of punishment, which pertains to the oldness of the former life, is taken away. But in the other sacraments the power of the Passion of Christ operates after the manner of a healing, as in Penance. Now healing does not require that all the remnants of the infirmity be immediately taken away. And the same reasoning holds in the other sacraments. But since the confession of sins pertains to exterior repentance, it can be asked whether confession of sins is required of the baptized — and it seems that it is. For it is said, Matthew 3:6, that men were baptized by John, confessing their sins. But it must be said that the Baptism of John was a Baptism of repentance, because, namely, by receiving that Baptism, they professed in a certain way that they were going to undertake repentance for their sin, and therefore it was fitting that they should confess, so that repentance might be established for them according to the manner of their sin. But the Baptism of Christ is a Baptism of the remission of all sins, such that no satisfaction remains due from the baptized for past sins, on account of which there is no necessity of vocal confession. For confession is necessary for this purpose in the sacrament of Penance, that the priest, by the power of the keys, may fittingly absolve or bind the penitent. Then, when he says for as you also in times past, etc., he assigns the reason for the future salvation of the Jews after their unbelief. And first he sets down a likeness between the salvation of each people; second he shows the cause of this likeness, at the place for God has concluded, etc. He says therefore first: thus I say that all Israel will be saved, although they are now enemies. For as you also, Gentiles, in times past did not believe God. Ephesians 2:12: you were at that time without God in this world; but now you have obtained mercy — below, chapter 15:9: but that the Gentiles are to honor God for his mercy. Hosea 2:23: I will have mercy on her that has not obtained mercy. And this on account of their unbelief, which indeed was the occasion of your salvation, as has been said above. So also these, namely the Jews, now, that is, in the time of grace, have not believed, namely in Christ. John 8:43: why do you not believe me? And this is what he adds, unto your mercy, that is, unto the grace of Christ, through which you have obtained mercy. Titus 3:5: according to his mercy he saved us. Or, they did not believe, so that through this they might come into your mercy. Or, they did not believe, which turned occasionally unto your mercy, so that they also might at some time obtain mercy. Isaiah 14:1: the Lord will have mercy on Jacob. Then, when he says for God has concluded, etc., he assigns the reason for this likeness, namely that God willed that his mercy should have a place in all. And this is what he adds: for God has concluded — that is, he has permitted to be concluded — all, that is, the whole human race, both Jews and Gentiles, in unbelief, as though in a certain chain of error. Wisdom 17:7: they were all bound together with one chain of darkness. That he may have mercy on all — that is, that his mercy may have a place in every kind of man. Wisdom 11:24: you have mercy upon all, O Lord. This indeed is not to be extended to demons, according to the error of Origen, nor even to all men individually, but to all kinds of men. For here a distribution is made for the kinds taken as wholes, and not for the individuals of the kinds. Now the reason God wills all to be saved through his mercy is that from this they may be humbled, and may ascribe their salvation not to themselves, but to God. Hosea 13:9: your destruction is from yourself, O Israel; your help is only from me. Above, chapter 3:19: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become subject to God.”

“And so all Israel shall be saved,.... Meaning not the mystical spiritual Israel of God, consisting both of Jews and Gentiles, who shall appear to be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation, when all God's elect among the latter are gathered in, which is the sense many give into; but the people of the Jews, the generality of them, the body of that nation, called "the fulness" of them, Rom 11:12, and relates to the latter day, when a nation of them shall be born again at once; when, their number being as the sand of the sea, they shall come up out of the lands where they are dispersed, and appoint them one head, Christ, and great shall be the day of Jezreel; when they as a body, even the far greater part of them that shall be in being, shall return and seek the Lord their God, and David their King; shall acknowledge Jesus to be the true Messiah, and shall look to him, believe on him, and be saved by him from wrath to come. There is a common saying among them (c), , "all Israel shall have a part", or "portion in the world to come"; and in support of this they usually produce the passage in Isa 60:21, "thy people also shall be all righteous": yea, they even go so far as to say (d), "that hell fire will have no power over the transgressors of Israel;'' fancying, that every individual person of their nation will be saved; though they sometimes except such who deny the resurrection of the dead, and that the law is from heaven, or is an epicure, and he that reads foreign books, or is an enchanter, or pronounces the ineffable name: but the apostle is not to be understood with such a latitude; he refers to the last times, and to a very general conversion of them to the Messiah: as it is written, Isa 59:20, there shall come out of Zion the Deliverer: the words of the prophet are, "and the Redeemer shall come to Zion": by the Redeemer, or Deliverer, words of the same signification, is meant the Messiah, as the Jews (e) themselves own, and apply this passage to him; who is the "Goel", or near kinsman of his people, to whom the right of their redemption belongs as man; and who as God was able to effect it, and, as God-man and Mediator, was every way qualified for it, and has obtained it for them: and whereas, in the prophet Isaiah, he is said to "come to", and by the apostle, "out of Zion", this may be reconciled by observing, that the servile letter sometimes signifies "from", as well as to, when it is put in the room of of which instances may be given, as Exo 16:1 compared with Ch2 11:4. Besides, the Messiah was to come out of Zion, as well as to come to it, according to Psa 14:7; so that the apostle fitly expresses the faith and expectation of the old Jewish church in this citation: and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob; in the prophet it is, "and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob", Isa 59:20. The apostle follows the translation of the Septuagint, and which is favoured by the Chaldee paraphrase, which runs thus; "the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and to turn the rebellious ones of the house of Jacob to the law"; so that the Jew (f) has no reason to charge the apostle with a perversion of the prophet's words, when they are cited so agreeably to their own Targumist: and the sense of them relates not to what Christ did on the cross, when the iniquities of his people were laid on him, and he bore them, and removed them all in one day from them; but to what he will do to the Jews in the latter day, in consequence thereof; he will convince them of their ungodliness, give them repentance for it and remission of it. (c) Misn. Sanhedrin c. 11. sect. 1. (d) T. Bab. Erubin, fol. 19. 1. & Chagiga, fol. 27. 1. (e) Aben Ezra in loc. T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 98. 1. (f) R. Isaac, Chizzuk Emuna, par. 2. c. 81.”

“And so all Israel shall be saved - Shall be brought into the way of salvation, by acknowledging the Messiah; for the word certainly does not mean eternal glory; for no man can conceive that a time will ever come in which every Jew then living, shall be taken to the kingdom of glory. The term saved, as applied to the Israelites in different parts of the Scripture, signifies no more than their being gathered out of the nations of the world, separated to God, and possessed of the high privilege of being his peculiar people. And we know that this is the meaning of the term, by finding it applied to the body of the Israelites when this alone was the sum of their state. See the Preface, Part II. As it is written - The apostle supports what he advances on this head by a quotation from Scripture, which, in the main, is taken from Isa 59:20 : The Deliverer shall come out of Zion, and turn away ungodliness from Jacob. Now this cannot be understood of the manifestation of Christ among the Jews; or of the multitudes which were converted before, at, and for some time after, the day of pentecost; for these times were all past when the apostle wrote this epistle, which was probably about the 57th or 58th year of our Lord; and, as no remarkable conversion of that people has since taken place, therefore the fulfillment of this prophecy is yet to take place. In what manner Christ is to come out of Zion, and in what way or by what means he is to turn away transgression from Jacob, we cannot tell; and to attempt to conjecture, when the time, occasion, means, etc., are all in mystery, would be more than reprehensible.”

“And so all Israel shall be saved--To understand this great statement, as some still do, merely of such a gradual inbringing of individual Jews, that there shall at length remain none in unbelief, is to do manifest violence both to it and to the whole context. It can only mean the ultimate ingathering of Israel as a nation, in contrast with the present "remnant." (So THOLUCK, MEYER, DE WETTE, PHILIPPI, ALFORD, HODGE). Three confirmations of this now follow: two from the prophets, and a third from the Abrahamic covenant itself. First, as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall--or, according to what seems the true reading, without the "and"--"He shall" turn away ungodliness from Jacob--The apostle, having drawn his illustrations of man's sinfulness chiefly from Psa 14:1-7 and Isa. 59:1-21, now seems to combine the language of the same two places regarding Israel's salvation from it [BENGEL]. In the one place the Psalmist longs to see the "salvation of Israel coming out of Zion" (Psa 14:7); in the other, the prophet announces that "the Redeemer (or, 'Deliverer') shall come to (or 'for') Zion" (Isa 59:20). But as all the glorious manifestations of Israel's God were regarded as issuing out of Zion, as the seat of His manifested glory (Psa 20:2; Psa 110:2; Isa 31:9), the turn which the apostle gives to the words merely adds to them that familiar idea. And whereas the prophet announces that He "shall come to (or, 'for') them that turn from transgression in Jacob," while the apostle makes Him say that He shall come "to turn away ungodliness from Jacob," this is taken from the Septuagint version, and seems to indicate a different reading of the original text. The sense, however, is substantially the same in both. Second,”