Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved, to fill up their sins alway: for the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost.
Ver. 16. Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles] Bale out of Capgrave reporteth, that St Asaph (as they called him) had this saying often in his mouth, Quicunque verbo Dei adversantur, saluti hominum invident, Those that are against the preaching of the word, do envy the salvation of men. Such were Stephen Gardiner, and before him Archbishop Arundel, who died of a grievous swelling in their tongues, and that deservedly; quod verbum Dei alligassent, ne suo tempore praedicaretur, saith the historian, because they had hindered the preaching of the word.
To fill up their sin alway] Bounds are set to sin by the Divine decree, Zechariah 5:7. Wickedness is compared to a woman pressed in an ephah; when the measure is full, the business is finished. See Trapp on " Mat 23:32 " The bottle of wickedness, when once filled with those bitter waters, sinketh to the bottom.
Wrath is come upon them to the uttermost] Or, until the end: wrath is come upon them finally (εις τελος), so as it shall never be removed; cloud, which at length covered the whole heaven; so some interpret it. God's wrath is like Elijah's, or as thunder, which you hear at first a little roaring noise afar off; but stay awhile, it is a dreadful crack. "Who knoweth the power of thy wrath?" saith Moses, Psalms 90:11. The Jews are to this day a people of God's wrath and curse.