Romans 15:24 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Romans 15:24
Whensoever I take my journey into Spain, I will come to you: for I trust to see you in my journey, and to be brought on my way thitherward by you, if first I be somewhat filled with your company.
to traverse · verb — present middle or passive deponent subjunctive, 1st person singular
into
εἰςeis
G1519
to or into (indicating the point reached or entered) · preposition
Spain
ΣπανίανSpanian
G4681
Spania · noun — accusative singular feminine, a place
come
ἐλεύσομαιeleusomai
G2064
to come or go (in a great variety of applications · verb — future middle deponent indicative, 1st person singular
to
πρὸςpros
G4314
a preposition of direction · preposition
you
ὑμᾶςhymâs
G5209
you (as the objective of a verb or preposition)
for
γὰρgar
G1063
properly · conjunction
trust
ἐλπίζωelpizō
G1679
to expect or confide · verb — present active indicative, 1st person singular
see
θεάσασθαιtheasasthai
G2300
to look closely at · verb — aorist middle deponent infinitive
you
ὑμᾶςhymâs
G5209
you (as the objective of a verb or preposition)
journey
διαπορευόμενοςdiaporeuomenos
G1279
to travel through · verb — present middle or passive deponent participle, nominative singular masculine
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
way
προπεμφθῆναιpropemphthēnai
G4311
to send forward · verb — aorist passive infinitive
thitherward
ἐκεῖ,ekei
G1563
there · adverb
by
ὑφ᾽huph᾽
G5259
under · preposition
you
ὑμῶνhymōn
G5216
of (from or concerning) you
if
ἐάνeán
G1437
a conditional particle
first
πρῶτονprōton
G4412
firstly (in time
be
ἐμπλησθῶ.¶emplēsthō
G1705
to fill in (up) · verb — aorist passive subjunctive, 1st person singular
somewhat
μέρουςmerous
G3313
a division or share (literally or figuratively · noun — genitive singular neuter
with
ἐμπίπλημιempíplēmi
G1705
to fill in (up)
your
ὑμῶνhymōn
G5216
of (from or concerning) you
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Romans 15:28 When therefore I have performed this, and have sealed to them this fruit, I will come by you into Spain.
Romans 1:12 That is, that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me.
Acts 15:3 And being brought on their way by the church, they passed through Phenice and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles: and they ca…
Acts 19:21 After these things were ended, Paul purposed in the spirit, when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, Aft…
Acts 21:5 And when we had accomplished those days, we departed and went our way; and they all brought us on our way, with wives and children, till we…
1 Corinthians 16:5-7 Now I will come unto you, when I shall pass through Macedonia: for I do pass through Macedonia.
2 Corinthians 1:16 And to pass by you into Macedonia, and to come again out of Macedonia unto you, and of you to be brought on my way toward Judaea.
3 John 1:6 Which have borne witness of thy charity before the church: whom if thou bring forward on their journey after a godly sort, thou shalt do wel…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Romans 15:22-29
St. Paul here declares his purpose to come and see the Christians at Rome. Upon this head his matter is but common and ordinary, appointing a visit to his friends; but the manner of his expression is gracious and savoury, very instructive, and for our imitation. We should learn by it to speak of our common affairs in the language of Canaan. Even our common discourse should have an air of grace; by this it will appear what country we belong to. it should seem that Paul's company was very much desired at Rome. He was a man that had as many friends and as many enemies as most men ever had: he passed through evil report and good report. No doubt they had heard much of him at Rome, and longed to…
whensoever I take my journey into Spain--Whether this purpose was ever accomplished has been much disputed, as no record of it nor allusion to it anywhere occurs. Those who think our apostle was never at large after his first imprisonment at Rome will of course hold that it never was; while those who are persuaded, as we are, that he underwent a second imprisonment, prior to which he was at large for a considerable time after his first, incline naturally to the other opinion.
I will come to you--If these words were not originally in the text, and there is weighty evidence against them, they must at least be inserted as a necessary supplement.
in my journey, &c.--"as I pass through by you…
Whensoever I take my journey into Spain - Where it is very likely the Gospel had not yet been planted; though legendary tales inform us that St. James had planted the Gospel there long before this time, and had founded many bishoprics! But this is as unfounded as it is ridiculous and absurd; for nothing like what is now termed a bishopric, nor even a parish, was founded for many years after this. An itinerant preacher, might, with more propriety, say travelling circuits were formed, rather than bishoprics. Whether the apostle ever fulfilled his design of going to Spain is unknown; but there is no evidence whatever that he did, and the presumption is that he did not undertake this voyage. Ant…
The Church Fathers
Paul instructed imperial Rome and extended the zeal of his preaching even to Spain, sustaining countless conflicts and performing signs and wonders.
It is not certain whether Paul ever got to Spain.… The reason he says that he will enjoy their company "for a little" is that they did not need to come to faith but only to be strengthened in faith. Or it may mean that no amount of time can satisfy love.
"Whensoever I take my journey into Spain, I trust to see you in my journey; and to be brought on my way thitherward by you, if first I be somewhat filled with your company," For that he might not seem to be holding them very cheap, by saying, Since I have not anything to do, therefore I am coming to you, he again touches on the point of love by saying, "I have a great desire, these many years, to come unto you." For the reason why I desire to come, is not because I am disengaged, but that I may give birth to that desire wherewith I am travailing so long. Then that this again should not puff them up, consider how he lowers them by saying, "Whensoever I take my journey into Spain, I trust to see you in my journey." For this was why he stated this, that they should not be high-minded. For what he wants is to show his love, and at the same time to prevent them from being dainty. And so he places this close on the other, and uses things confirmative of either alternately. For this reason again that they might not say, Do you make us a by-object of your journey? he adds, "and to be brought on my way thitherward by you: that is, that you may be my witnesses that it is not through any slight of you, but by force of necessity, that I run by you. But as this is still distressing, he heals it over more carefully, by saying, "If I be first somewhat filled with your company." For by his saying, "in my journey," he shows that he did not covet their good opinion. But by saying "be filled," that he was eager for their love, and not only was eager for it, but exceedingly so; and this is why he does not say "be filled," but be "somewhat" so. That is, no length of time can fill me or create in me a satiety of your company. See how he shows his love, when even though in haste he doth not rise up until he be filled. And this is a sign of his great affectionateness, that he uses his words in so warm a way. For he does not say even I will see, but "shall be filled," imitating thus the language of parents. And at the beginning he said, "that I might have some fruit." (Rom. i. 13.) But here that I may be "filled." And both these are like a person who is drawing others to him. For the one was a very great commendation of them, if they were likely to yield him fruit from their obedience; and the other, a genuine proof of his own friendship. And in writing to the Corinthians he thus…
Dictionary and topics
Achaia — The name originally of a narrow strip of territory in Greece, on the north-west of the Peloponnesus. Subsequently it was applied by the Romans to the whole Peloponnesus, now called the Morea, and the…
Spain — Paul expresses his intention (Rom. 15:24, 28) to visit Spain. There is, however, no evidence that he ever carried it into effect, although some think that he probably did so between his first and…
Spain · Paul plans to visit — Paul plans to visit
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
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 "Aspamia"; a name not greatly different from Hispania, by which it usually goes among the Greeks and Latins; but Kimchi calls it "Spania", t…
Romans 15:22-24
22. For which cause also I have been much hindered from coming to you.
22. Itaque impeditus etiam saepius fui quominus venirem ad vos:
23. But now having no more place in these parts, and having a great desire these many years to come unto you;
23. Nunc vero nullum amplius locum habens in his regionibus, desiderium autem habens a multis annis veniendi ad vos;
24. Whensoever I take my journey into Spain, I will come to you: for I trust to see you in my journey, and to be brought on my way thitherward by you, if first I be somewhat filled with your company
24. Si quando in Hispaniam proficiscar, veniam ad vos: [458] spero enim fore ut istac iter faciens videam vos, et ill…
I am planning to go to Spain: In Paul’s day, “Spain” included the entire Iberian Peninsula (modern Spain and Portugal). Parts of the peninsula had been occupied by the Romans since 200 BC, but only within Paul’s lifetime had the area been organized into a Roman province. Paul saw Spain, at the far end of the Mediterranean, as his final target in fulfilling the promise of Isa 66:19-20. • you can provide for my journey: Spain was so far from Paul’s previous sending church, Antioch in Syria, that he hoped the Roman church could serve as the logistical base for this future evangelistic effort.
