20 And the God of peace will quickly crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.
What follows, God shall bruise Satan, etc., is a promise to confirm them, rather than a prayer. He indeed exhorts them to fight manfully against Satan, and promises that they should shortly be victorious. He was indeed once conquered by Christ, but not in such a way but that he renews the war continually. He then promises ultimate defeat, which does not appear in the midst of the contest. At the same time he does not speak only of the last day, when Satan shall be completely bruised; but as Satan was then confounding all things, raging, as it were, with loose or broken reins, he promises that the Lord would shortly subdue him, and cause him to be trodden, as it were, under foot. Immediately a prayer follows, -- that the grace of Christ would be with them, that is, that they might enjoy all the blessings which had been procured for them by Christ.
And the God of peace - The God who promotes peace; Romans 15:33.
Will bruise - The "language" here refers to the prediction in Genesis 3:15. It here means to "subdue, to gain the victory over." It denotes Paul's confidence that they "would" gain the victory, and would be able to overcome all the arts of those who were endeavoring to sow discord and contention among them.
Satan - The word "Satan" is Hebrew, meaning originally "an accuser, a calumniator," and then "an enemy." It is given to the prince of evil spirits from this enmity to God and human beings. He is here regarded as the "author" of all attempts to promote discord in the church, by whomsoever those attempts were made. Hence, they who attempt to produce divisions are called "his ministers;" 2-Corinthians 11:15. God would disappoint their malignant purposes, and promote the prevalence of peace.
The grace - The favor; the mercy, etc. The Lord Jesus is the Prince of peace (Isaiah 9:6; compare Luke 2:14; John 14:27), and this expression is "a prayer" to him, or an earnest wish expressed, that the design of his coming might be accomplished in promoting the prevalence of order and peace; compare 1-Corinthians 16:23; Revelation 22:21.
The God of peace - Who neither sends nor favors such disturbers of the tranquillity of his Church.
Shall bruise Satan - Shall give you the dominion over the great adversary of your souls, and over all his agents who, through his influence, endeavor to destroy your peace and subvert your minds.
Several critics suppose that the word Satan is a sort of collective term here, by which all opposers and adversaries are meant; and especially those false teachers to whom he refers above.
The grace of our Lord - That you may be truly wise simple, obedient, and steady in the truth, may the favor or gracious influence of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you! without which you cannot be preserved from evil, nor do any thing that is good.
Here the apostle appears to have intended to conclude his epistle; but afterwards he added a postscript, if not two, as we shall see below. Several ancient MSS. omit the whole of this clause, probably thinking that it had been borrowed from Romans 16:24; but on the ground that the apostle might have added a postscript or two, not having immediate opportunity to send the epistle there is no need for this supposition.
(4) And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ [be] with you. Amen.
(4) We must fight with a certain hope of victory.
And the God of peace,.... See Gill on Romans 15:33;
shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. Some read this by way of wish or prayer, "may the God of peace bruise"; so the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Ethiopic versions, and the Alexandrian copy; but others as ours, as a promise, or as expressive of the apostle's faith and hope in this matter; and which he mentions to encourage the members of this church to be upon their guard, and make head against these false teachers; since in a little time they might be assured of victory over Satan and these his emissaries: as it is before suggested, that the methods these men used to beguile weak minds were much like those that Satan used when he attacked our first parents, so here is a manifest allusion to what was said by way of threatening to him, "it", the woman's seed, "shall bruise thy head", Genesis 3:15; and which has had its accomplishment in Christ, who has not only destroyed the works of the devil, but him himself, and spoiled his principalities and powers, and bruised him and them under his feet, when he led captivity captive; and though, for the trial of the graces of his people, Satan is permitted to attack them in various shapes, yet in a short time he will be bruised under their feet, as he is already under their Lord and master's. The apostle refers not so much to his coming among them in a short time, when he might hope and believe that he should be an instrument of crushing these men Satan made use of, of quelling the contentions they raised, and putting a stop to the divisions they made, and under the influence, and by the assistance of the God of peace, restore them to their former peace and tranquillity, though it is a sense not to be despised; much less does he refer to the destruction of Jerusalem, which was to be in a very short time, when the crucifiers of Christ and the persecutors of the saints would have the wrath of God come upon them to the uttermost, since these Romans had no great and immediate concern with them; nor does he regard the spread of the Gospel in the Gentile world, whereby Satan fell as lightning from heaven, and was cast out of the idol temples, for this was greatly fulfilled already: but rather he refers to the time of Constantine, when Satan's seat at Rome was overturned, when he was cast down from his throne and trampled under feet, who had deceived the whole world, the whole Roman empire, when the Gospel triumphed over its secret and open enemies, profane persecutors, and perfidious teachers, over idolatry and superstition on the one hand, and error and heresy on the other, though this did not last long; wherefore some have thought the apostle refers to the latter day, when Satan shall be bound a thousand years, or to the last of all, when he shall be for ever under the feet of the saints, and never be able to give them any more trouble; and this the apostle might say would be shortly, since the second coming of Christ was expected to be quickly: yea, this may be applied to the case of every believer now, and be for his encouragement to be vigilant and on his guard against Satan, to resist him, repel his temptations, and oppose his emissaries; since he may assure himself he shall be more than a conqueror over him through Christ, that has loved him, and that in a very little time, when death comes, and he shall enter into the joy of his Lord, where he will be out of the reach of Satan, and unmolested by him.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you, Amen: to enable you to abide by the truth; to mark and avoid the authors of sects, and causes of divisions, and offences; to oppose error and defend truth; to keep from falling, to stand against every assault of Satan, and to bear up under every temptation of his; to get the victory over him, and to preserve them safe to the kingdom and glory of Christ.
And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly--The apostle encourages the Romans to persevere in resisting the wiles of the devil with the assurance that, as good soldiers of Jesus Christ, they are "shortly" to receive their discharge, and have the satisfaction of "putting their feet upon the neck" of that formidable enemy--symbol familiar, probably, in all languages to express not only the completeness of the defeat, but the abject humiliation of the conquered foe. (See Joshua 10:24; 2-Samuel 22:41; Ezekiel 21:29; Psalm 91:13). Though the apostle here styles Him who is thus to bruise Satan, the God of peace," with special reference to the "divisions" (Romans 16:17) by which the church at Rome was in danger of being disturbed, this sublime appellation of God has here a wider sense, pointing to the whole "purpose for which the Son of God was manifested, to destroy the works of the devil" (1-John 3:8); and indeed this assurance is but a reproduction of the first great promise, that the Seed of the woman should bruise the Serpent's head (Genesis 3:15).
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen--The "Amen" here has no manuscript authority. What comes after this, where one would have expected the epistle to close, has its parallel in Philippians 4:20, &c., and being in fact common in epistolary writings, is simply a mark of genuineness.
And the God of peace - The Author and Lover of it, giving a blessing to your discretion. Shall bruise Satan under your feet - Shall defeat all the artifices of that sower of tares, and unite you more and more together in love.
*More commentary available at chapter level.