Bible Commentaries

1 Corinthians 15:44 — express emotion, to carry out the behests of will, is in process of being adapted for a still nobler ministry” (Ed [2542] ): “he that sows to the Spirit (in the natural body), will reap of the Spirit (in the spiritual body),” Galatians 6:8 . “If there is a psychic body, there is also a spiritual”: a frame suited to man’s earthly life argues a frame suited to his heavenly life, according to the principle of 1 Corinthians 15:38 b ( cf. the argument from lower to higher

1 Corinthians 16:15-16 — ἑαυτοὺς : “you know that the household of Stephanas is the first-fruit of Achaia, and that they set themselves for ministering to the saints”. τὴν οἰκίαν κ . τ . λ ., acc [2679] by attraction to οἴδατε , according to the well-known Gr [2680] usage with vbs. of this class (Wr [2681] , p. 781). There were earlier individual converts in Achaia (see Acts 17:34 ), but with this family the Gospel took root in the province and the earnest appeared of the subsequent ingathering: cf. Romans 16:5

2 Corinthians 3:7 — which Moses broke in anger it is said that the writing was γραφὴ Θεοῦ κεκολαμμένη ἐν τοῖς πλαξίν (Exodus 32:16 ); it is merely said of the second Tables that Moses wrote upon them “the words of the Covenant, the Ten Commandments” (Exodus 34:28 ). Nevertheless the tradition (see Philo, Vit. Mos. , iii., 2) was that the second Tables, like the first, were not only “written” but “engraven” ( ἐντετυπωμένη ), as the Apostle has it. ὥστε μὴ δύνασθαι κ . τ . λ .: so that

Ephesians 4:22 — of life, the old man . This is best connected with the ἐδιδάχθητε . It gives the purport or contents of the instruction. The inf., therefore, is the objective inf. ( cf. in μηκέτι περιπατεῖν , Ephesians 4:17 above, and Donald., Greek Gram. , § 584). It has something of the force of an imperative, but is not to be taken as the same as an imperative, that use of the inf. being very rare in the NT, and found generally indeed only in the case of oracles, laws and the like ( cf. Win.-Moult., p.

Philippians 1:10 — Philippians 1:10 . δοκ . τὰ διαφ . Cf. Romans 2:18 , δοκιμάζεις τὰ διαφ . Two possible renderings. (1) “Approve things that are excellent.” (2) “Test things that differ,” i.e. , good and bad. Lft [4] opposes (2) on the ground that “it requires no keen moral sense to discriminate

Philippians 4:5 — Philippians 4:5 . τ . ἐπιεικ . “Reasonableness.” Matthew Arnold finds in this a preeminent feature in the character of Jesus and designates it “sweet reasonableness” (see Literature and Dogma , pp. 66, 138). The trait could not be more vividly delineated than in the words of W. Pater ( Marius the Epicurean , ii., p. 120), describing the spirit of the new Christian society as it appeared to a pagan. “As if by way of a due recognition of some immeasurable

Colossians 1:27 — Colossians 1:27 . Cf. for a partial parallel Ephesians 1:18 . οἷς ἠθέλησεν ὁ Θεὸς : “inasmuch as to them God willed”; ἠθέλ . is chosen to express the idea that the revelation had its source solely in God’s will. τί τὸ πλοῦτος τῆς δόξης .: cf. Romans 9:23 , Philippians 4:19 , Ephesians 1:18

Colossians 3:16 — “the Gospel,” so called because He proclaimed it and speaks it through His messengers. Lightfoot interprets it as “the presence of Christ in the heart as an inward monitor”. The phrase occurs only here, but cf. 1 Thessalonians 1:8 , 2 Thessalonians 3:1 . ἐν ὑμῖν : according to Pauline usage must mean within you, and probably not collectively (Mey., Alf., Abb.) “in you as a Church,” but individually. ἐν πάσῃ σοφίᾳ : to be taken with the following words (Beng., Mey.,

1 Timothy 2:4 — difficulty in the knowledge of the truth following it in the sentence, as though it were a consequence rather than a precedent condition. This is indeed the order indicated in the Last Commission: “baptising them … teaching them” (Matthew 28:19-20 ). So that there is no need to suppose with Ell., that καὶ εἰς … ἐλθεῖν was “suggested by … the enunciation of the great truth which is contained in the following verse”. εἰς ἐπίγνωσιν ἀληθείας ἐλθεῖν : This whole phrase recurs in

1 Timothy 2:5 — ἓν σῶμα , κ . τ . λ . The current thought of the time was conscious of many σωτῆρες . In contrast to these, St. Paul emphasises the uniqueness of the σωτήρ and θεός worshipped by Christians. The contrast is exactly parallel to that in 1 Corinthians 8:6 , εἰσὶν θεοὶ πολλοί , καὶ κύριοι πολλοί · ἀλλʼ ἡμῖν εἶς θεὸς ὁ πατήρ … καὶ εἷς κύριος Ἰησ . Χρ . The question as to the mutual relations of the Persons of the Godhead had not arisen among Christians, and was not present to the writer’s mind.

1 Timothy 6:15 — events. Thus there is no presumption in saying “When the fulness of the time came, God sent forth his Son”; and when the time is ripe, He will send Him again (Acts 3:20 ). δείξει : Ell. well explains the force of this verb from John 2:18 , τί σημεῖον δεικνύεις ἡμῖν ; The last ἐπιφάνεια will be the final proof offered by God to the human race. The terms of this magnificent characterisation of God are an expansion of the epithets in the doxology in 1 Timothy 1:17 q.v . μακάριος :

2 Timothy 1:9 — ἡμεῖς . There is an echo in both places of the controversy, now over, concerning works and grace. Perhaps κατά is used in this clause to mark more vividly the antithesis to the next, κατὰ ἰδ . πρόθ ., in which its use is more normal. See Ephesians 2:8 , οὐκ ἐξ ὑμῶν , θεοῦ τὸ δῶρον . ἀλλὰ κατὰ ἰδίαν πρόθεσιν , κ . τ . λ .: The grace in which the divine purpose for man expresses itself was given to mankind before times eternal; mankind, sons of God, being summed up, concentrated, in the Son of God,

2 Timothy 2:2 — of many, with all openness of speech”. The view of Clem. Alex. ( Hypot . vii. ed. Potter, ii. p. 1015) that the πολλοὶ μάρτυρες mean testimonies from the Law and the Prophets is only a curiosity of exegesis. παράθου : See note on 1 Timothy 1:8 . πιστοῖς : trustworthy , carries on the figure of the faith as a deposit. It is possible, as Bengel suggests, that the injunctions in 2 Timothy 2:14-21 have reference to these ministers. ἱκανοί : qualified . See reff. δυνατός , in Titus 1:9 , expresses

Titus 2:14 — Titus 2:14 . ὃς ἔδωκεν ἑαυτὸν κ . τ . λ .: see note on 1 Timothy 2:6 . As already observed, this is an appeal from the constraining love of Christ to the responding love of man. λυτρώσηται : deliver . The language is borrowed from Psalms 129:0 (130):8 αὐτὸς λυτρώσεται τὸν Ἰσραὴλ ἐκ πασῶν τῶν ἀνομιῶν αὐτοῦ . The material supplied by this passage for a discussion of the Atonement is contained in ἔδωκεν … ἡμῶν , not in λυτρώσηται . See Dean Armitage Robinson’s note on Ephesians 1:14 . ἀνομίας

James 2:6 — Epistle it is more likely that these would be meant. The writer is taxing his hearers both with bad treatment accorded to the poor, as well as pusillanimity with regard to the rich. The word καταδυν . only occurs once elsewhere in the N.T., Acts 10:38 , … πάντας τοὺς καταδυναστευομένους ὑπὸ τοῦ διαβόλου ; but fairly frequently in the Septuagint, e.g. , Amos 8:4 ; Wis 2:10 ; Wis 15:14 . The accusative ὑμᾶς , which is the reading of א 1 A, etc., is in accordance with the frequent usage of the Septuagint,

James 5:3 — originally intended in the verse before us, since gold cannot strictly be said to rust. The word occurs in one other passage viz. , in Sir 29:10 , but unfortunately the Hebrew for this is wanting. The force of the κατα is intensive. ὁ ἰὸς : used in James 3:8 of the poison of the tongue, in a figurative sense; the meaning “rust” is secondary. εἰς μαρτύριον ὑμῖν ἔσται : this metaphor is quite in the Hebrew style; עד (= μαρτύριον ), though generally used of persons, is in a fair number of instances

2 John 1:12 — 1:13 , 2 Corinthians 3:3 . γενέσθαι πρὸς ὑμᾶς ( cf. John 10:35 ; Acts 10:13 ; 1 Corinthians 2:3 ; 1 Corinthians 16:10 ): he was planning a visitation (see Introd. p. 155). στόμα πρὸς στόμα , “mouth answering mouth”; cf. LXX. Numbers 12:8 ; Jeremiah 32:4 (Jeremiah 39:4 ). Why would he not write all that was in his mind? It was a deliberate decision ere he took pen in hand: this is the force of οὐκ ἐβουλήθην . His heart was full, and writing was a poor medium of communication (Beng.:

Revelation 15:3 — Revelation 15:3 . As in Exodus 14-15. Moses leads Israel in a song of praise to God over the dead Egyptians, so, after Rome’s downfall (Revelation 14:8 f., Revelation 15:2 ) the faithful are led by their captain (Revelation 12:11 , Revelation 14:1 ; Revelation 14:4 , cf. Hebrews 2:12 ), in a chant of triumph and gratitude. (Note the lack of any reference to their own sufferings. Their interest is

Revelation 2:20 — that formed the problem at Thyatira. Jastrow points out (p. 267) that for some occult reason female sorcerers were preferred to men among the Babylonians; “the witch appears more frequently than the male sorcerer”. Hillel (Pirke Aboth, ii. 8; see Dr. C. Taylor’s note) had already declared, “more women, more witchcraft”. For the connexion of women and sorcery cf. Blau’s Altjüd. Zauberwesen 18 f., 23 f. ἡ λέγουσα κ . τ . λ ., an irregular nomin. absolute, characteristic

Revelation 2:5 — home to the mind ( μνημόνευε , a prolonged effort), repentance quick and sharp ( μετανόησον , aor.) will follow, issuing in a return to the first level of excellence ( καὶ τὰ πρῶτα ἔργα ποίησον ), i.e. , to the initial charity ( 2Jn 1:6 ; 2 John 1:8 ; love shown in deeds). The way to regain this warmth of affection is neither by working up spasmodic emotion nor by theorising about it (Arist. Eth. Nic. ii. 4), but by doing its duties. (“The two paracletes of man are repentance and good works,”