Bible Commentaries

Matthew 10:10 — δύο χιτῶνας ): not even two under-garments, shirts; one would say very necessary for comfort and cleanliness in a hot climate, and for travellers along dusty roads. In Mark the prohibition seems to be against wearing two at the same time (Matthew 6:8 ); here against carrying a spare one for a change. Possibly we ought not to take these instructions too literally, but in their spirit. ὑποδήματα : this does not mean that they were to go barefooted, but either without a spare pair, or without more

Matthew 20:28 — Matthew 20:28 . ὤσπερ , καὶ γὰρ in Mk.; both phrases introducing reference to the summum exemplum (Bengel) in an emphatic way. περ lends force to ὡς = even as, observe. ὁ ὑ . τ . ἀνθρώπου : an important instance of the use of the title. On the principle of defining

John 1:13 — Meyer). Westcott says: “The use of the plural appears to emphasise the idea of the element out of which in various measures the body is formed”. Both explanations are doubtful. The plural is used very commonly in the Sept [27] , 2 Samuel 16:8 , ἀνὴρ αἱμάτων σύ ; Psalms 25:9 , μετὰ ἀνδρῶν αἱμάτων ; 2 Chronicles 24:25 , etc.; and especially where much slaughter or grievous murder is spoken of. Cf. Eurip., Iph. in Taur. , 73. It occurs in connection with descent in Eurip., Ion. , 693, ἄλλων

Acts 17:5 — Acts 17:5 . ἀπειθ ., see critical note. ζηλώσαντες : the jealousv is apparent, whether the word is read or not ( cf. [305] ), a jealousy aroused not only by the preaching of a Messiah, but also by the success of such preaching. προσλαβ ., cf. Acts 18:26 for similar sense of the verb, cf. 2Ma 8:1 ; 2Ma 10:15 . τῶν ἀγοραίων … πον .: “certain vile fellows of the rabble,” R.V.; πον . translated in A.V. “lewd” (A.-. loewede) means simply “people,” hence (1) the common

Acts 19:16 — this same city Ephesus and in Athens; Smith and Wace, Dictionary of the Christian Biography , i., 136. Ramsay is very severe on the whole narrative, St. Paul , p. 273, and regards it as a mere piece of current gossip; so, too, very similarly, Wendt (1899), note, p. 313, who refers, as so many have done, to the analogy between the narrative in Acts 19:11 and that in Acts 5:12 ; Acts 5:15 ; in other words, to the parallel between Peter and Paul (which the writer of Acts is supposed to draw on every

Acts 3:1 — one which was the immediate antecedent of the first persecution. “Non dicitur primum hoc miraculum fuisse, sed fuit, quanquam unum e multis, ipso loco maxime conspicuum,” Blass, as against Weiss, Hilgenfeld, Feine. ἀνέβαινον , cf. Luke 18:10 . “Two men went up into the Temple to pray,” i.e. , from the lower city to Mount Moriah, the hill of the Temple, “the hill of the house,” on its site see “Jerusalem,” B.D. 2 . The verb is in the imperfect, because

Acts 4:24 — .: the words form the earliest known Psalm of Thanksgiving in the Christian Church. In its tenor the Hymn may be compared with Hezekiah’s Prayer against the threats of Assyria, Isaiah 37:16 ; Isaiah 37:20 . It begins like many of the Psalms (18, 19, 53) with praising God as the Creator, a thought which finds fitting expression here as marking the utter impotence of worldly power to withstand Him. The word Δέσποτα , thus used in the vocative in addressing God here and in Luke 2:29 only (found

Acts 9:11 — Acts 9:11 . ἀναστὰς : the word as has been previously remarked is characteristic of Luke ( cf. its use in O.T.), and does not in the least support the idea that the vision was a dream of the night, cf. Acts 8:26 . ἐπὶ τὴν ῥύμην τ . κ . Εὐθεῖαν : ῥύμη , cf. Acts 12:10 , Matthew 6:2 . In Luke 14:21 it seems to be used in contrast to πλατεῖα , but in LXX at least in one passage it is used as its equivalent, Isaiah 15:3 , cf. R.V., “broad places,”

1 Timothy 4:8 — 1 Timothy 4:8 . σωματικὴ γυμνασία : The parallel cited by Lightfoot ( Philippians , p. 290) from Seneca ( Ep. Mor . xv. 2, 5) renders it almost certain that the primary reference is to gymnastic exercises (as Chrys., etc., take it); but there is as certainly in

2 Timothy 3:16 — the rendering writing or passage is less free from ambiguity than scripture (R.V.). The nearest parallel to this ascensive use of καί , as Ellicott terms it, is Galatians 4:7 , εἰ δὲ νἱός , καὶ κληρονόμος . See also Luke 1:36 , Acts 26:26 ; Acts 28:28 , Romans 8:29 . θεόπνευστος : If there is any polemical force in this adj., it is in reference to heretical writings, the contents of which were merely intellectual, not edifying. In any case, the greatest stress is laid on ὠφέλιμος . St. Paul would

Hebrews 2:1 — with δεῖ as in Vulg. (and Bengel), “abundantius oportet observare,” but with προσέχειν . The adverb occurs in Hebrews 13:19 and six times in 2 Cor.; the adj. frequently in N.T. περισσοτέρως [ περιττοτέρως ] occurs in Diod. Sic., xiii. 108, τὰ περ . εἰργασμένα ; also in Athenaeus, v., p. 192 F. κλισμὸς περιτ . κεκόσμηται . The comparative is here used with reference to the greater attention due to the revelation than if it had been delivered by one of less position. Atto Vercell. suggestively,

Hebrews 3:7-19 — quotation is introduced by words which lend weight to it, καθὼς λέγει τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον , a form of citation not found elsewhere in exactly the same terms, but in Hebrews 10:15 we find the similar form μαρτυρεῖ δὲ ἡμῖν τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγ . Cf. also Hebrews 9:8 . Agabus uses it of his own words (Acts 21:11 ). In 1 Timothy 4:1 we have τὸ δὲ Πνεῦμα ῥητῶς λέγει cf. Revelation 2-3. “It is a characteristic of the Epistle that the words of Holy Scripture are referred to the Divine Author, not to the human

Hebrews 4:1-13 — quotation is introduced by words which lend weight to it, καθὼς λέγει τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον , a form of citation not found elsewhere in exactly the same terms, but in Hebrews 10:15 we find the similar form μαρτυρεῖ δὲ ἡμῖν τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγ . Cf. also Hebrews 9:8 . Agabus uses it of his own words (Acts 21:11 ). In 1 Timothy 4:1 we have τὸ δὲ Πνεῦμα ῥητῶς λέγει cf. Revelation 2-3. “It is a characteristic of the Epistle that the words of Holy Scripture are referred to the Divine Author, not to the human

Hebrews 6:7 — Hebrews 6:7 . γῆ γὰρ ἡ πιοῦσα … ὑετόν , “For land which drank in the rain that cometh oft upon it”; this whole clause is the subject of Hebrews 6:7-8 ; the subject remains the same, the results are different. It might almost be rendered, in order to bring out the emphasis on γῆ , “For, take the case of land”. Such constructions are well explained by Green ( Gram. , 34): “The anarthrous

Hebrews 7:22 — Hebrews 7:22 . διαθήκη in classical Greek means a disposition ( διατίθημι ) of one’s goods by will; frequent in the orators and sometimes as in Aristoph., Birds , 439, a covenant. In the LXX it occurs nearly 280 times and in all but four passages it is the translation of בְּרִיח “covenant”. (See Hatch, Essays in Bibl. Greek , 47.) It is used indifferently of agreements between men and of contracts or engagements between God and man. See Introduction

James 5:4 — to the constant use of an equivalent interjection ( הנה ) in their own tongue. ὁ μισθὸς τῶν ἐργατῶν : μισθός occurs several times in Sir. in the sense of reward, but not in that of wages due; in the same book ἐργάτης occurs twice ( Sir 19:1 , Sir 40:18 ), but in neither case with the meaning “agricultural labourer,” which is its usual meaning in the N.T., cf. Matthew 9:37 , but on the other hand Luke 10:7 , ἄξιος ὁ ἐργάτης τοῦ μισθοῦ αὐτοῦ . τῶν ἀμησάντων : ἅπ . λεγ . in N.T.; whatever

1 Peter 1:4 — Cramer’s Catena notes that the words contradict Chiliasm. τετηρημένην εἰς ὑμᾶς , reserved (1) with a view to you, cf. John 12:7 , ἵνα εἰς τὴν ἡμέραν … τηρήσῃ , 2 Peter 2:4 , εἰς κρίσιν τηρουμένους ; for same use of εἰς in similar context see Romans 8:18 . (2. until you came a sense which would suit the other examples of τηρεῖν εἰς . (3) … for you , εἰς = ל = dative (so Syriac), the writer or translator being influenced by εἰς above and below. The inheritance is still, as it has always been, kept

Jude 1:19 — than as stating a fact in regard to particular persons; but the use of μή is much more widely extended in late than in classical Greek, cf. such phrases as ἐπεὶ μή , ὅτι μή . It is simplest to understand πνεῦμα here of the Holy Spirit, cf. Romans 8:9 , ὑμεῖς οὐκ ἐστὲ ἐν σαρκὶ ἀλλʼ ἐν πνεύματι , εἴπερ πνεῦμα Θεοῦ οἰκεῖ ἐν ὑμῖν , 1Co 2:13 ; 1 Corinthians 7:40 , 1 John 3:24 ; 1 John 4:13 , and the contrast in Jude 1:20 , ἐν πνεύματι ἁγίῳ προσευχόμενοι . Others, e.g. Plumptre, prefer the explanation

Revelation 1:14 — pre-existence as Son of man (xlviii) sits on his throne of glory (xlvii. 3) for judgment, rules all men (lxii. 6), and slays the wicked with the word of his mouth (xlii. 2); but this particular transference to the messiah (Revelation 1:14 ; Revelation 1:17-18 , Revelation 2:8 , Revelation 22:12-13 ), of what is in Daniel predicated of God as the world-judge, seems to form a specifically N.T. idea, unmediated even in Enoch (xlvi. 1), although the association of priestly and judicial attributes with those

Revelation 4:3 — simile ὅμ . ὁρ . λ . ἰ . κ . σ . recalls the portrait statues of Roman emperors and others, in which the raiment is worked out in hard-coloures stones a fashion introduced in the last years of the republic from Ptolemaic Egypt” (Myres, E. Bi. , 4812). ἶρις . The nimbus or halo round the throne is green, σμ . ( cf. Deissm. 267) being malachite or more probably an emerald (Revelation 21:19 ), to which the ancients attributed a talismanic power of warding off evil spirits. “Thou hast made