Whensoever I take my journey into Spain
Which he had now meditated and resolved upon, being a place, as
before observed, where it is very likely the Gospel as yet had
not been preached, which made him desirous of going thither; but
whether he ever went thither, or not, is not certain; some think
he never performed the intended journey; others affirm he did,
some time between his two appearances before Nero. Sepharad, in (
Obadiah
1:20 ) , is taken by the Jewish writers for this country; and
is by the Targum, Jarchi, and Aben Ezra on that place, called
(aympoa) , "Aspamia"; a
name not greatly different from Hispania, by which it usually
goes among the Greeks and Latins; but Kimchi calls it
(aynpo) , "Spania", the
very word used in this place, and by us rendered "Spain", as it
is usually called: it was called "Span" in the language of the
Celtic, who first inhabited it, which signifies a companion; it
was formerly called Iberia, from the river Iberus; afterwards
Hesperia, from Hesperus, the brother of Atlas; and then Hispalia,
from the city Hispalis, or Sevil; and from thence corruptly
Hispania; there are some that derive it from (spania) , from the roughness of some
places in it, barren, uncultivated, and uninhabited: it has on
the east the Pyrenean mountains, by which it is divided from
France, on the west the Atlantic ocean, on the north the
Cantabrian, and on the south the Herculean sea, and the straits
of Gades: now as the apostle intended a journey into this
country; he mentions it, in order to raise their expectations of
seeing him; since in his way thither, he would have a fair
opportunity of coming to them; yea, he assures them, that
whenever he went thither, he would come:
I will come to you:
it was his real intention, a settled resolution and determination
in his mind so to do; but whereas everything of this kind depends
not upon the will of man, but upon the will and providence of
God, and so many unforeseen things fall out which prevent the
fulfilling of human purposes, therefore he adds,
for I trust,
or "hope"
to see you in my journey:
he could not be certain that he should see them, but he hoped he
should, for nothing was more desirable to him; his wish was not
to see their emperor, their senate, or their famous city, but
them, the church of Christ there; and a beautiful and delightful
sight it is, to see a church of Christ in Gospel order, walking
together in the faith and fellowship, and ordinances of it, and
in peace one with another:
and to be brought on my way thitherward by you;
he not only hoped to see them, but that he should have the
company of some of them along with him, in his way to Spain; from
whose conversation he might expect much spiritual pleasure and
refreshment; and by whom he might be directed in his way, as well
as supplied with all necessaries for his journey; in which sense
the phrase of bringing on in the way, is sometimes used; see (
Titus 3:13 ) (
3 John 1:6 ) ;
though before he should depart from them, he hoped to have
abundance of satisfaction in his conversation with them together
as a church:
if first I be somewhat,
or in part,
filled with your company;
or with you, meaning that before he should set forward from them
to Spain, that he should be greatly delighted with beholding
their order, and the steadfastness of their faith, hearing their
sweet experiences, and observing their holy life and
conversation, and their peace and concord among themselves; not
that he expected entire satisfaction, a satiety of pleasure,
fulness of joy, which are only to be had in the presence of God,
and communion with angels and glorified saints; though perhaps he
might expect more than he had, for at his first answer before
Nero, all these Romans forsook him and fled; saints are often
disappointed in their raised expectations of what they shall
enjoy in each other's company.