Romans 1:14

“I am a debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians, etc..] The meaning is, that he was obliged by the call he had from God, the injunction that was laid upon him by him, and the gifts with which he was qualified, to preach the Gospel to all sorts of men; who are here distinguished into Greeks and Barbarians: sometimes by Greeks are meant the Gentiles in general, in opposition to the Jews; (see <450116>Romans 1:16); but here they design only a part of the Gentiles, the inhabitants of Greece, in opposition to all the world besides; for the Greeks used to call all others that were not of themselves Barbarians f5: or else by Greeks are meant the more cultivated nations of the world, and by…”

“I am debtor both to the Greeks--cultivated and to the Barbarians--rude.”

“I am debtor - This does not mean that they had conferred any favor on him, which bound him to make this return, but that he was under obligation to preach the gospel to all to whom it was possible. This obligation arose from the favor that God had shown him in appointing him to this work. He was specially chosen as a vessel to bear the gospel to the Gentiles Acts 9:15; Romans 11:13, and he did not feel that he had discharged the obligation until he had made the gospel known as far as possible among all the nations of the earth. To the Greeks - This term properly denotes “those who dwelt in Greece.” But as the Greeks were the most polished people of antiquity, the term came to be synonymous…”

“To the Greeks and the barbarians - He includes the Romans under the Greeks; so that this division comprises all nations. Both to the wise, and the unwise - For there were unwise even among the Greeks, and wise even among the barbarians. I am a debtor to all - I am bound by my divine mission to preach the gospel to them. Romans 1:16”

“1:14 to people in both the civilized world and the rest of the world (literally to Greeks and barbarians): The Greeks prided themselves on being sophisticated and cultured, while regarding people from other cultures as inferior. They mocked other peoples’ poorly spoken Greek, claiming that they could only say “bar bar,” a nonsense phrase from which our word barbarian comes. Paul uses this cultural divide to emphasize his intention to preach the Good News to all kinds of people.”

“debtor: Rom 8:12, Rom 13:8 \*Gr: Act 9:15, Act 13:2-4, Act 22:21, Act 26:17, Act 26:18; Co1 9:16-23; Ti2 2:10 Greeks: Act 28:4; Co1 14:11; Col 3:11 both to: Rom 1:22, Rom 11:25, Rom 12:16, Rom 16:19; Mat 11:25; Luk 10:21; Co1 1:19-22, Co1 2:13, Co1 3:18; Co1 9:16; Co2 10:12, Co2 11:19; Eph 5:15-17; Jam 3:17, Jam 3:18 to the unwise: Pro 1:22, Pro 8:5; Isa 35:8; Co1 14:16, Co1 14:23, Co1 14:24; Tit 3:3 Romans 1:15”