For God hath concluded them all in unbelief
Both Jews and Gentiles, particularly God's elect among them: some
think the metaphor is taken from the binding up of sheaves in
bands; and that Jews and Gentiles are the sheaves, and unbelief
the band, in which they are bound together; but the apostle is
not speaking of their being together in unbelief, but as
separate, first the Gentiles, and now the Jews: rather it seems
to be taken from a prison, and Jews and Gentiles are represented
as prisoners, and unbelief the prison, in which they are shut up
by God: not that God is the author of unbelief, or of any other
sin in men; he does not put it into them, or them into that, but
finding them in unbelief, concludes them in it, or leaves them in
such a state, and does not as yet however deliver out of it, or
say to the prisoners, go forth: moreover, to be "concluded in
unbelief", is the same as to be "concluded under sin", ( Galatians
3:22 ) ; that is, to be thoroughly convinced of it; and to be
held and bound down by such a sense of it in the conscience, as
to see no way to escape deserved punishment, or to obtain
salvation, but by fleeing to the mercy of God in Christ:
that he might have mercy upon all:
not upon all the individuals of Jews and Gentiles; for all are
not concluded in, or convinced of the sin of unbelief, but only
such who are eventually believers, as appears from the parallel
text, ( Galatians
3:22 ) ; and designs all God's elect among the Jews, called
"their fulness", ( Romans 11:12
) ; and all God's elect among the Gentiles, called "the fulness
of the Gentiles", ( Romans 11:25
) ; for whom he has mercy in store, and will bestow it on them;
and in order to bring them to a sense of their need of it, and
that he may the more illustriously display the riches of it, he
leaves them for a while in a state of unbelief, and then by his
Spirit thoroughly convinces them of it, and gives them faith to
look to, and believe in, the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, unto
eternal life.
