(Which he had promised before by his prophets in the holy scriptures,)
Read Chapter 1
Ambrosiaster
AD 400
“Which he had promised.” In order to prove that the hope of faith was fulfilled and completed in Christ, Paul says that Christ’s gospel was already promised by God beforehand, so that on the basis of the promise Paul could teach that Christ was the perfect author of [eternal] life. “Through his prophets.” In order to show even more clearly that the coming of Christ was a saving event, Paul also indicated the people through whom God gave his promise, so that it might be seen from them just how true and magnificent the promise is. For nobody uses great forerunners to announce some minor thing. “In the holy scriptures.” Paul added this on top of his argument in order to give greater confidence to believers and show his approval of the law. The Scriptures are holy because they condemn sins and because in them is contained the covenant of the one God and the incarnation of the Son of God for the salvation of mankind, by the evidence of numerous signs. Commentary on Paul’s Epistles.
The prophets arose from the Jewish people, and Paul testifies that the gospel, in which believers are justified by faith, had been promised earlier through them…. For there are Gentile prophets as well, in whom also are found some things which they heard of Christ and prophesied. This sort of thing is even said about the Sibyl [Virgil, Eclogues] … but the writings of the Gentiles, so very full of superstitious idolatry, ought not to be considered holy just because they say something about Christ.
Which he had promised before That is, God before, in the Scriptures, promised the blessings, which are now come by the preaching of the gospel, and that they should come by his Son. (Witham)
For the Lord, says he, shall give the word to them that proclaim glad tidings with great power Psalm 68:12, Septuagint; and again, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the Gospel of peace. Isaiah 52:7; Romans 10:15 See here both the name of the Gospel expressly and the temper of it, laid down in the Old Testament. For, we do not proclaim it by words only, he means, but also by acts done; since neither was it human, but both divine and unspeakable, and transcending all nature. Now since they have laid against it the charge of novelty also, He shows it to be older than the Greeks, and described aforetime in the Prophets. And if He gave it not from the beginning because of those that were unwilling to receive it, still, they that were willing did hear it. Your father Abraham, He says, rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it, and was glad. John 8:56 How then comes He to say, Many prophets desired to see the things which you see, and have not seen them? Matthew 13:17 He means not so...
When God is about to do some great thing, he announces it a long time before in order to accustom men’s ears to it, so that when it comes they will accept it. The prophets not only spoke, but they wrote what they spoke; nor did they merely write, but by their very actions they represented what would come, e.g., Abraham when he offered up Isaac; and Moses when he lifted up the serpent, and when he spread out his hands against Amalek, and when he offered the paschal Lamb.
Paul says “his prophets” because there are also prophets of idols, and by the word his he distinguishes one type of prophet from another and one gospel from another. For there are many gospels, but they are moral and temporary, whereas that of Christ proclaims in the holy Scriptures the enjoyment of eternal blessedness. These prophets are his because they are not of another god but of the Father of Christ. .
25. The person of the writer described [n. 16], now the task committed to him is commended, namely, the gospel, which has already been commended from two viewpoints in the preceding verse. On of these concerns the usefulness it has due to its content, which is signified by its very name, "gospel," which implies that in it good things are announced. The other is based on the authority it has on the side of its author, which is set out when it says, of God. Now the Apostle pursues these two commendations further: first, on the part of the author; secondly, on the part of its content there [n. 28] at "concerning his Son" (v. 3). 26. From the first viewpoint the Gospel is commended in four ways: First, by its antiquity. This was required against the pagans, who belittled the Gospel as something suddenly appearing after all the preceding centuries. To counter this he says which he promised beforehand; because, although it began to be preached at a certain point in time, it had been foretold...
