For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. х Eti (G2089) gar (G1063) Christos (G5547) ontoon (G5607) heemoon (G2257) asthenoon (G772) kata (G2596) kairon (G2540) huper (G5228) aseboon (G765) apethanen (G599)]. The unusual separation here of eti (G2089) from asthenoon (G772), to which it belongs (as in Romans 5:8, eti (G2089) hamartooloon (G268)), seems to have perplexed the transcribers of manuscripts, occasioning various readings; none of which, however, are sufficiently supported to deserve notice here-except the repetition of eti (G2089) before kata (G2596) kairon (G2540), which Lachmann and Tregelles adopt, on the weighty external testimony of 'Aleph (') A B C D* F G, two cursives, four copies of the Old Latin (but not the Vulgate, as Tischendorf incorrectly says), both the Syriac versions, the Memphitic, and several fathers.
But this second eti (G2089), which perplexes the sense, is rightly rejected by Tischendorf as a transcriber's addition, suggested by the unusual separation of the first one from its proper adjective. Nor is this separation so very unusual; it occurs not only in other places of the New Testament, but in Achilles Tatius, Euripides, and Plato.-See Fritzsche and Meyer, also Winer, 61. 4. The worst explanation is that of Tholuck, who thinks that 'Paul, having forgotten the eti (G2089) at the commencement, may have put down the second by an oversight'-which Fritzsche justly pronounces 'ridiculous.' Three notable properties of God's love to us in Christ are here specified-answering the questions, For whom? In what circumstances? and When? FIRST, For whom? "Christ (replies the apostle) died for the ungodly." In the preceding chapter the apostle, with the view of expressing in the most emphatic and unmistakeable form the absolutely gratuitous character of our justification, had said that God "justifieth the ungodly" (Romans 4:5).
Here, to convey, in the strongest terms, the absolutely unmerited character of God's love to us in the gift of His Son, He says that "Christ died for the ungodly" - for those whose character and state were repugnant to His nature and offensive to the eyes of His glory. The preposition here rendered "for" х huper (G5228)] - does not mean 'instead,' or 'in the place of' [which is anti (G473)], but simply 'for the benefit of.' How Christ's death benefits us, therefore, must be determined, not by the use of this word, but by the nature of the case, and the context in each place where the word is used. In the case of Christ's death-which is expressly called by our Lord Himself (Matthew 20:28), "a Ransom in the place of many" х anti (G473) polloon (G4183)], and a Propitiatory Sacrifice (Romans 3:25) - there can be no doubt that the substitutionary character of it is meant to be understood, and consequently, that in the nature of the thing, though not in the precise meaning of the words, the one preposition х huper (G5228)] involves, in a great many passages (such as 2 Corinthians 5:15; 2 Corinthians 5:20-21; Galatians 3:13; 1 Peter 3:18), the idea of the other х anti (G473)].
Indeed, the best classical writers (as Euripides, Plato, Demosthenes) use the one preposition freely in the sense of the other, wherever the idea of both is implied. SECOND, In what circumstances? "When we were without strength" (replies the apostle). But in what sense? Not (we think) in the sense of impotence to obey the law of God (according to most critics) - that is not the point here-but impotence do what he says God sent His Son accomplish, namely, to "Justify" us (Romans 5:9), or "reconcile us to God" (Romans 5:10). The meaning here, then, of our being "without strength," is, that we were in a state of passive helplessness to deliver ourselves out of our perishing condition as sinners-`helpless [in our sins],' as Conybeare expresses it. THIRD, When was this done? "In due time," is the reply х kata (G2596) kairon (G2540)] - rather, 'at the [appointed] season; 'when the necessity for it was affectingly brought to light (1 Corinthians 1:21), and when the august preparations for it were all completed (Galatians 4:4; Hebrews 1:2; Hebrews 9:26). On the first of these three properties of God's love us, in the gift of His Son, the apostle now proceeds to enlarge.