“For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, “Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles, and sing to your name.”” -Romans 15:8–9
The Greek work for Gentiles in Paul’s writing is ἔθνεσι (ethnesi) from which we get our English word, ethnicity. The Hebrew word for Nations in Psalm 18:49 is גּוֹיִ֥ם׀ (Goyhim) translated ἔθνεσι in the LXX, the Greek translation of Old Testament Paul would have been using.
Following the benediction and charge of verses 5-7, Paul further affirms by way of explanation and by way of scriptural witness that Christ became a servant to both Jew and Gentile alike. He has torn down the middle wall of partition between them so that both will praise God and sing his name together. The order of their salvation was merely strategic.
First, Christ became a servant to the Jews to fulfill the promises God made to the Jews by way of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And Christ’s ministry to the Jews was in fact a witness to the Gentiles (the various ethnicities) that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is faithful to keep his promises to them. In other words, his prioritizing the Jews was not because they were somehow more faithful or righteous. He saved them first so they would be a priestly witness to the rest of the tribes.
To support his proposition, Paul then quotes from Psalm 18: “For this I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations, and sing to your name.” -Psalm 18:49
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