Bible Commentaries

John 1:9 — John 1:9 . ἦν τὸ φῶς … εἰς τὸν κόσμον . ἦν stands first in contrast to the οὐκ ἦν of John 1:8 . The light was not …: the light was … In this verse the light is also further contrasted with John. The Baptist was himself a light (John 1:35 ) but not to τὸ φῶς τὸ ἀληθινόν . This designation occurs nine times in John, never in the Synoptists. It

John 8:44 — John 8:44 . This was the result and evidence of their paternity: ὑμεῖς … [ τοῦ πατρὸς is read by all recent editors]. “Ye are of the father who is the devil.” The translation, “of the father of the devil,” i.e. , the (Gnostic) God

Acts 1:16 — There is nothing unclassical in this use of the vocative without ὦ at the beginning of speeches. Demosthenes, at least on some occasions, used the phrase Ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι without ὦ . Simcox, ubi supra , p. 76, note, and see also Winer-Schmiedel, p. 258, note. ἔδει : very frequent in St. Luke’s Gospel and the Acts; in the former nineteen, in the latter twenty-five times, and in all parts of the book, Friedrich, ubi supra , p. 22 (Lekebusch). It expresses a divine necessity, and is used by all

Acts 3:12 — none can fail to see that in chap. 3 the Messianic idea becomes richer and fuller. Jesus is the prophet greater than Moses: Jesus is the fulfilment of the Abrahamic covenant, through which the blessing of Abraham is to extend to all the earth, Matthew 8:11 . And more than this: St. Peter has learnt to see in the despised Nazarene not only the suffering servant of Jehovah ( παῖς ), but in the servant the King, and in the seed of David the Prince of Life. And in the light of that revelation the future

Acts 5:19 — merely an echo of the later deliverance transferred to an earlier date (Weiss, Sorof, Holtzmann). But St. Luke had the best means of knowing accurately the events narrated in 12 from John Mark (see below on chap. 12, and Ramsay, St. Paul , etc., p. 385), Introd. , p. 17, and there is no ground whatever for supposing that 12 is simply an embellished version of this former incident. Attempts have been made to show that St. Luke introduces the same doubling of narratives in his Gospel (Wendt, Holtzmann),

Philippians 3:11 — Philippians 3:11 . εἴ πως καταντ . This construction closely corresponds to the Homeric usage of εἴ κε or ἤν (as in Odyss. , 3, 83, πατρὸς ἐμοῦ κλέος μετέρχομαι , ἤν που ἀκούσω ) where the protasis really contains in itself its own apodosis “which consists of an implied idea of purpose” or hope (see Goodwin, MT [54] . , p. 180; Burton, MT [55] . , § 276; Viteau,

Philippians 4:10 — letter. The very fact of his accepting a present from them showed his confidence in their affection. This was indeed his right, but he seldom laid claim to it. No doubt the delicacy of his language here is due (so also Hilgenfeld, ZwTh. , xx., 2, pp. 183 184) to the base slanders uttered against him at Corinth and in Macedonia (1 Thessalonians 2:5 ), as making the Gospel a means of livelihood (see 1 Corinthians 9:3-18 , 2 Corinthians 11:8-9 , Galatians 6:6 , and Schûrer, ii., 1, pp. 318 319). ἤδη ποτέ

1 Timothy 1:3 — constantly occurs, and with very varying meanings, in the Pauline Epistles. διεταξάμην is used in the corresponding place in Titus 1:5 , because there the charge concerns a series of injunctions. προσμεῖναι : ut remaneres (Vulg.). The word (see Acts 18:18 ) naturally implies that St. Paul and Timothy had been together at Ephesus, and that St. Paul left Timothy there as vicar apostolic. πορευόμενος refers to St. Paul, not to Timothy, as De Wette alleged. The grammatical proof of this is fully gone

1 Timothy 4:10 — world , John 4:42 . The prima facie force of μάλιστα certainly is that all men share in some degree in that salvation which the πιστοί enjoy in the highest degree. Compare the force of μάλιστα in Acts 25:26 , Galatians 6:10 , Philippians 4:22 , 1Ti 5:8 ; 1 Timothy 5:17 , 2 Timothy 4:13 ; Titus 1:10 . The statement is more unreservedly universalist in tone than chap. 1 Timothy 2:4 and Titus 2:11 ; and perhaps must be qualified by saying that while God is potentially Saviour of all, He is actually

1 Timothy 6:20 — 1 Timothy 6:20 . As Ell. points out, this concluding apostrophe, like the last paragraph in 2 Cor. (2 Corinthians 13:11 sqq ,), is a summary of the whole epistle. On the intensity of the appeal in the use of the personal name see on 1 Timothy 1:18 . τὴν παραθήκην : depositum . The term occurs in a similar connexion with φυλάσσω , 2 Timothy 1:14 , and also in 2 Timothy 1:12 , where see note. Here, and in 2 Timothy 1:14 . it means, as Chrys. explains, ἡ πίστις , τὸ κήρυγμα ; so Vincent of Lerins,

Hebrews 1:7 — Hebrews 1:7 . καὶ πρὸς μὲν τοὺς ἀγγέλους λέγει .… The πρὸς μὲν of this verse is balanced by πρὸς δὲ in Hebrews 1:8 ; and in both πρός is to be rendered “with reference to,” or “of” as in Luke 20:19 ; Romans 10:21 ; Xen., Mem. , iv. 2 15. Cf. Winer, p. 505: and our own expression “speak to such and such a point”. ὁ ποιῶν κ .

Hebrews 10:19 — expresses the object or end towards which the παρρησία is directed, the entering in, not merely the object about which the παρρησία is exercised. Cf. 2 Corinthians 7:10 , μετάνοιαν εἰς σωτηρίαν . But cf. Winer on εἰς . The expression in Hebrews 9:8 , τὴν τῶν ἁγίων ὁδὸν , also favours Weiss’s interpretation. τῶν ἁγίων as the Greek commentators remark, here means “heaven”. ἐν τ . αἵματι Ἰησοῦ , on the whole, it is better to join these words not with παρρησίαν but with εἴσοδον .

Hebrews 4:15 — tempted in all points like us, without sin”. He repels an idea which might have found entrance into their minds, that an absent, heavenly priest might not be able to sympathise. Συνπαθέω [to be distinguished from συνπάσχω which occurs in Romans 8:17 and 1 Corinthians 12:26 , and means to suffer along with one, to suffer the same ills as another] means to feel for, or sympathise with, and occurs also in Hebrews 10:34 , and is peculiar in N.T. to this writer but found in Aristotle, Isocrates and

Hebrews 7:1 — abides a priest for ever. Between the subject Melchizedek and the verb μένει , there are inserted five historical facts taken from Genesis 14:0 , with their interpretation. [On the historicity of Genesis 14:0 , see Buchanan Gray in Expositor , May, 1898, and Driver, Authority and Archaeology , pp. 45 and 73. See also Beazley’s Dawn of Modern Geography , ii. 189; and esp., Boscawen’s First of Empires , c. vi.] βασιλεὺς Σαλήμ , the description given in this verse is taken verbatim [with

James 1:17 — on the other 1 John 1:5 , ὁ Θεὸς φῶς ἐστιν καὶ σκοτία ἐν αὐτῷ οὔκ ἐστιν οὐδεμία . There can be no doubt that in the passage before us this double meaning of light, literal and spiritual, is meant. παραλλαγή : only here in the N.T., and in 4 Kings 9:28 (Septuagint); it is rendered שוחלפא in the Peshiṭtâ, a word which is used variously of “change,” “caprice,” and even “apostasy” (see Brockelmann, Lex. Syr. , s.v.). In Greek, according to Mayor, the word may be taken

James 3:9 — James 3:9 . ἐν αὐτῇ : this is Hebrew usage, cf. εἰ πατάξομεν ἐν μαχαίρῃ , Luke 22:49 ; ἀποκτεῖναι ἐν ῥομφαίᾳ , Revelation 6:8 . εὐλογοῦμεν : this use is Hellenistic. Both in speaking and writing the Jews always added the words ברו־ הוא (“Blessed [be] He”) after the name of God; cf. Mark 14:61 , where ὁ εὐλογητός is used in reference to God. τὸν Κύριον καὶ πατέρα

1 Peter 2:1 — any, as vice is commonly reckoned. So James associates the removal of κακία with courtesy ; and St. Paul says let all bitterness and anger and wrath and shouting and ill-speaking be removed from you with all malice (Ephesians 4:31 ; cf. Colossians 3:8 ). κ . is generally eagerness to hurt one’s neighbour (Suidas) the feeling which prompts backbitings and may be subdivided into guile, hypocrisy, and envy . δόλον , Guile was characteristic of Jacob, the eponymous hero of the Jews, but not

1 Peter 5:1 — share them. ὁ … κοινωνός . Peter will share the future glory which Christ already enjoys for it was said to him, Thou shall follow afterward (John 13:36 ). St. Paul has the same idea in a gnomic form, εἴπερ συνπάσχομεν ἵνα καὶ συνδοξασθῶμεν (Romans 8:17 ; cf. 2 Corinthians 4:10 ) which presupposes familiarity with the teaching of the risen Jesus that the Christ must suffer and so enter into His glory , Luke 24:46 ; cf. Luke 1:5 ; Luke 1:13 ; Luke 4:13 .

Jude 1:6 — used of the evil angels themselves in Ephesians 6:12 . Cf. Enoch xii. 4, of the Watchers (angels) who have abandoned the high heaven and the holy eternal place and defiled themselves with women, ib. xv. 3. Philo says of the fallen angels (M. i. p. 268), καλὸν μὴ λιποτακτῆσαι μὲν τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ τάξεως , ἐν ᾗ τοὺς τεταγμένους πάντας ἀριστεύειν ἀνάγκη , αὐτομολῆσαι δὲ πρὸς τὴν ἄνανδρον ἡδονήν . So Just. M [788] Apol. ii. 5, οἱ δʼ ἄγγελοι παραβάντες τήνδε τὴν τάξιν γυναικῶν μίξεσιν ἡττήθησαν with Otto’s

Revelation 7:14 — with its outcome ol faith and loyalty in all nations (Revelation 7:9 ) is to be world-wide, this passage seems to imply, altnougn in a characteristically vague and incidental fashion ( cf. Revelation 5:9 , Revelation 14:6 , etc.), the idea of Mark 8:10 . But the situation of the Apocalypse is so acute, that mission operations are at a standstill. Instead of the gospel invading and pervading the pagan world, the latter has closed in upon the churches with threatening power, and in the brief interval