The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible New Testament (173 page)

10:6-8
An interpretive paraphrase of Deut 30:12-14. • Moses contends that Israel could not escape responsibility for obeying the
word
of God, as though the Torah were somewhere beyond its reach. In the spirit of Moses, Paul insists that Israel cannot escape responsibility for obeying the
word
of the gospel, as though it were forced to look high and low for Christ. On the contrary, Israel cannot plead ignorance because the gospel has come to its doorstep through the Scriptures and the missionary efforts of the Church (10:17-19). 
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10:10 his heart . . . his lips:
Paul connects these with the inward conviction (heart) and outward confession (lips) of faith in Jesus. The images are drawn from the Deuteronomy quote in 10:8. 
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10:11 No one who believes:
A reference to Is 28:16, already quoted in Rom 9:33. 
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10:12 no distinction:
All nations are saved together in Christ just as all nations sinned together before his coming (3:9, 2223). 
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10:13 every one who calls:
A quotation from Joel 2:32. • The prophet envisions a time of judgment and salvation in the messianic age, with the Spirit pouring down on all flesh and a remnant of Israel being saved. This text was the springboard of Peter's inaugural sermon in Acts, where calling on "the name" of the Lord was linked with Baptism (Acts 2:21, 38) (CCC 432, 449, 2666).
See note on Acts 2:17
-21. 
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10:14-17
Paul stresses the need to spread the gospel. Unless missionaries are sent and Christ is proclaimed, the world cannot call upon its Savior (CCC 875). • Paul twice excerpts from Isaiah, who foresees both the evangelization of Israel (10:15; Is 52:7) and its tragic rejection of a suffering Messiah (10:16; Is 53:1) (CCC 601). Aware that some in Israel have accepted the message, Paul is careful to say that
not all
have embraced the gospel (10:16). 
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10:18 Their voice:
A quotation from Ps 19:4. • The Psalmist describes how the heavens proclaim the glory of God throughout the world. Paul borrows this image to explain how the gospel has sounded across the earth, telling the dispersed of Israel that the Messiah has come (Col 1:5-6). 
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10:19 I will make you jealous:
A quotation from Deut 32:21. • Deuteronomy 32 is a prophetic song that foresees the rebellion and restoration of Israel long after the Exodus. This will involve the salvation of a
foolish nation
(Gentiles), an event that will anger some in Israel but will make others
jealous
of their blessings, stirring them to emulate their faith (11:11, 14). 
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Word Study

Remnant
(Rom 11:5)

Leimma
(Gk.): a "portion" or "remainder". The biblical concept of a "remnant" refers to the survivors of God's people who escape conquest, catastrophe, and divine chastisement. The Greek OT uses similar terms in contexts where God's judgment on his people stops short of total annihilation. Thus Noah's family was the surviving remnant after the flood (Sir 44:17), and Jacob and his sons were the few who escaped a severe famine (Gen 45:7). When the kingdom of Israel was divided, the remnant came to mean, first, the remainder of the northern Israelites who were spared from Assyrian destruction in 722
B.C.
(Is 10:20-22; Jer 31:7; Amos 3:12). It was later applied to the survivors of the Southern Kingdom of Judah who escaped death during the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem in 586
B.C.
(Ezra 9:8; Jer 40:11; Hag 1:12). Several prophets looked forward to God restoring the remnant of Israel and Judah who were scattered across the world, reuniting them as his people (Is 11:11; Jer 50:20; Zech 8:12-13).

10:20-21
A final demonstration that unbelieving Israel is guilty of willful defiance. • Paul examines two sequential verses from Isaiah, applying the first to the Gentiles (10:20; Is 65:1) and the second to wayward Israel (10:21; Is 65:2). The contrast is stark: the nations are responding enthusiastically to the gospel without having sought it, whereas Israel remains unresponsive despite the Lord's persistent pleas for faith. 
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11:1 rejected his people?:
A question emphatically denied. For Paul, the faithlessness of Israel does not cancel the faithfulness of God, who refuses to abandon his people (1 Sam 12:22; Ps 94:14). Paul is living proof of this as an Israelite who has experienced the grace and mercy of Christ. 
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11:2-4
Scripture shows that God preserves a remnant of Israel even when most of the nation goes astray. • This was the case in Elijah's day, when nearly all of the Northern Kingdom of Israel abandoned Yahweh for the idolatrous cult of Baal (1 Kings 16:30-32). The prophet despaired that he alone was left, but the Lord had preserved a remnant of believers 7,000 strong that escaped his notice. 
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11:8-10
Paul summons the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms to witness against hardened Israel. • Moses describes how Yahweh withheld the gifts of spiritual understanding
(eyes
and
ears)
from the wilderness generation of Israel because of its faithlessness, thanklessness, and idolatry (11:8; Deut 29:4). The same scenario was repeated in Isaiah's day when the Lord disciplined Israel with a
spirit of stupor,
making it numb and unresponsive to his warnings and causing it to stagger around in spiritual darkness (11:8; Is 29:10). David invoked such a curse on his enemies in Israel for their injustices (11:9; Ps 69:22-23). 
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11:11 to make Israel jealous:
The stumbling of Israel is temporary for itself and beneficial for the Gentiles. Until Israel regains its footing, a window has been opened for gathering other peoples and nations into the Church (11:17-24). 
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11:13 to you Gentiles:
Paul addresses his Gentile readers directly, cautioning them against pride. Some Gentile converts looked disdainfully upon Israel, as though they had replaced the covenant people in the messianic age. Paul not only rejects this (11:1); he warns that Gentiles, too, can be rejected as easily as they have been accepted. They should rather marvel that God has given them a share in Israel's spiritual blessings (15:27). Pagan anti-Semitism was pervasive in Roman antiquity. 
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