For whom he did foreknow— The particle οτι is connective; and, this verse giving the reason or confirmation of what was spoken in the former, it seems necessary to interpret it thus: Whom he foreknew to be persons called according to his purpose, and therefore qualified for this adoption. It therefore is to be observed, that the words know and foreknow, in the Scripture language, import an affectionate knowledge joined with approbation and affection. So 3 John 1:10. John 10:14. 1 Corinthians 8:3. If any man love God, the same is known of him. Galatians 4:8. But now after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God. 2 Timothy 2:19. The Lord knoweth them that are his.
He also did predestinate— Or, rather, He before appointed, to be conformed to the image of his Son, that, as they had borne the image of the earthly Adam, they might also bear the image of the heavenly, 1 Corinthians 15:49 having glorious bodies like to his, says Theodoret: and this agrees well with the scope and subject-matter of this chapter, and with the following words, That he might be the first-born, or chief, among many brethren; for as here these brethren are said to be co-heirs with him, the Elder-brother, Romans 8:17 so elsewhere he is styled, The First-born from the dead, that in all things he might have the pre-eminence, or that they might be changed into his image by the participation of the same Spirit.