Romans 15:19
Fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ
- The gospel’s word εὐαγγέλιον euangelion · gospel
Original
Translations
by the power of signs and wonders, and by the power of the Spirit of God. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ.
Through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God; so that from Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.
in power of signs and wonders, in power of the Spirit of God; so that I, from Jerusalem, and in a circle as far as Illyricum, have fully preached the good news of the Christ;
이 일로 인하여 내가 예루살렘으로부터 두루 행하여 일루리곤까지 그리스도의 복음을 편만하게 전하였노라
능력 있는 표적들과 이적들을 통해 하나님의 영의 권능으로 이루신 그 일들 외에는 그 어느 것도 내가 감히 말하지 아니할 것이기 때문이라. 이로써 내가 예루살렘으로부터 두루 다니며 일루리곤까지 그리스도의 복음을 충만히 선포하였노라.
Commentaries
Matthew Henry on Rom 15:14-21 as a whole
The apostle was persuaded that the Roman Christians were filled with a kind and affectionate spirit, as well as with knowledge. He had written to remind them of their duties and their dangers, because God had appointed him the minister of Christ to the Gentiles. …
Read the whole commentary →Wesley
Nothing on this verse itself.
Read the whole commentary →
Note
In 15:17–21 Paul says he has something to boast of, and then limits it at once: he will speak of nothing "except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obedience by word and deed" (Romans 15:18). Christ worked by the power of signs and wonders and by the power of the Spirit of God. Paul sums up the result: "So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ" (Romans 15:19).
The noun is in the accusative, the object of πεπληρωκέναι, the perfect active infinitive of , to fill, to fulfil. Word for word Paul says he has filled the gospel of Christ, brought it to its full measure, from Jerusalem round to Illyricum. He does not mean that everyone in those lands believed. Most readers take him to mean that he planted the gospel in the chief cities of the region, so that the churches there could carry it further. That is why he can say a few lines later that there are "no further opportunities for me in these regions" (Romans 15:23). The perfect tense speaks of a work finished and its results remaining.
"All the way around" translates κύκλῳ, in a circle. The arc runs from Jerusalem through Syria, Asia Minor, Macedonia and Greece to Illyricum, the Roman province on the eastern shore of the Adriatic. Acts records no visit to Illyricum, and scholars differ on whether Paul means he reached its border or preached inside it; some place it in the time when he was "traveling through that area" of Macedonia (Acts 20:2).
The English versions agree here. The King James Version has "I have fully preached the gospel of Christ", the BSB "I have fully proclaimed", the LSV "have fully preached the good news of the Christ". All of them supply a verb of preaching that the Greek does not have, and rightly: the way the gospel is filled out is by being proclaimed. But the Greek's own picture is worth keeping in mind, the gospel as something with a full measure, which reaches its fullness as it reaches people.
Matthew Henry looks at where Paul's boasting lies: "though a great preacher, he could not make one soul obedient, further than the Spirit of God accompanied his labours" Matthew Henry. And he ends: "Whatever good we do, it is Christ who does it by us" Matthew Henry. Wesley divides the "word and deed" of the verse before: "By word - By the power of the Spirit" Wesley. Paul reminds the Corinthians, too, that the marks of an apostle, "signs, wonders, and miracles", were done among them (2 Corinthians 12:12).
What Paul boasts of is not the miles he walked but what Christ did. That the gospel is "fully proclaimed" also means that the news reaches the places where people live, takes root there, and goes on from there.