Bible Commentaries

Matthew 8:29 — Matthew 8:29 . ἰδοὺ ἔκραξαν : sudden, startling, unearthly cry, fitted to shock weak nerves. But not the cry of men about to make an assault. The madmen, whom all feared and shunned, were subdued by the aspect of the stranger who had arrived in the neighbourhood.

Matthew 8:34 — Matthew 8:34 . παρεκάλεσαν : same word as in Matthew 8:31 in reference to the demoniacs. They did not order or drive Him out. They besought in terms respectful and even subdued. They were afraid of this strange man, who could do such wonderful things; and, with

Acts 1:22 — the Apostolic testimony; cf. Schmid, Biblische Theologie des N. T. , p. 436. ἕως τῆς ἡμέρας ἧς : according to Wendt and Weiss, the relative is not attracted for ᾗ , but is to be regarded as a genitive of time, but cf. Leviticus 23:15 , Haggai 2:18 , Bar 1:15 ; Winer-Schmiedel, p. 226; Blass, ubi supra , p. 170. μάρτυρα τῆς ἀναστάσεως . It has been noted as remarkable that St. Peter here lays down experience of matters of fact, not eminence in any subjective grace or quality, as one of the conditions

Acts 1:23 — τὸν καλ . Βαρσαβᾶν , “Joseph called Barsabbas”. We cannot identify him with Joseph Barnabas (Acts 4:36 ), or with Judas Barsabbas (Acts 15:22 ). Barsabbas may have been a patronymic “son of Sabba,” but cf. Enc. Bibl. , I., 487, 1899. It is only a conjecture that he was the brother of Judas Barsabbas just mentioned. The name Justus is probably a Roman surname, as Ἰοῦστος indicates, adopted after the custom of the time, just as the second Evangelist took the Roman name Marcus

Acts 13:11 — season,” R.V. margin, “until the time” (Rendall), i.e. , the duly appointed time when it should please God to restore his sight, cf. Luke 4:13 ; Luke 21:24 (Acts 24:25 ). The exact expression is only found here and in Luke 4:13 . Wendt (1899) asks if the ceasing of the punishment is conceived of as ceasing with the opposition in Acts 13:8 . See his earlier edition, 1888, and the comment of Chrys., so Oecumenius: οῦκ ἄρα τιμωρία ἦν ἀλλʼ ἴασις : so too Theophylact. παραχρῆμα , see above

Acts 5:33 — Acts 5:33 . διεπρίοντο : lit [184] , were sawn asunder (in heart), dissecabantur , Vulgate ( cf. use of findo in Persius and Plautus), cf. Acts 7:54 (Luke 2:35 ), Euseb., H. E. , v., i., 6 (see Grimm, sub v .). The word is used in its literal sense in Aristoph., Equites , 768,

Acts 8:3 — Acts 8:3 . ἐλυμαίνετο : deponent verb, used in classical Greek of personal outrage ( λύμη ), of scourging and torturing, of outraging the dead, of the ruin and devastation caused by an army (Wetstein). In the LXX it is found several times, cf. especially

Hebrews 6:20 — words ὅπου πρόδρομος ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν εἰσῆλθεν Ἰησοῦς , “whither as forerunner for us entered Jesus”. ὅποι does not occur in N.T. or LXX, ὅπου taking its place, as in English “where” often stands for “whither”; see Matthew 8:19 , Luke 9:57 , James 3:4 . So, too, occasionally, in Attic; examples in Bleek. πρόδρομος as an adjective, “running forward with headlong speed,” see Jebb’s note on Soph., Antig. , 107; as a substantive “scouts” or “advanced

Hebrews 8:9 — Hebrews 8:9 . οὐ κατὰ τὴν διαθήκην … “Not according to the covenant which I made with their fathers.” These words express negatively wherein the καινότης of the covenant consists. It was not to be a repetition of that which had failed. It was to be

Hebrews 9:10 — in the reference. ἐπὶ has frequently the meaning “in connection with,” “with regard to” as in Luke 12:52 ; John 12:16 ; Acts 21:24 [see especially Donaldson’s excellent treatment of this preposition ( Greek Gram. , p. 518) showing that with the dative it signifies absolute superposition, i.e., rest upon , or close to , hence addition, subsequence and succession, then “that which is close by us as a suggesting cause, accompaniment, motive, or condition”.

Hebrews 9:12 — High Priest make his annual entry (Hebrews 9:7 ), but it was with the blood of a calf for himself and of a he-goat for the people. In LXX of Leviticus 16:0 the τράγος is uniformly called χίμαρος but in Aquila’s version τράγος is used in Hebrews 9:8 and in Symmachus in Hebrews 9:8 ; Hebrews 9:10 . διὰ δὲ τοῦ ἰδίου αἵματος , “So only could He enter for us . As the Eternal Son He has a right there; as the High Priest of man, He enters in virtue of the sacrifice of Himself” (Vaughan).

1 Peter 3:7 — creature to potter and clay is found first in Isaiah 29:16 , but is latent in the description of the creation ( יצר ) of Adam from the dust of the earth (Genesis 2:7 f.). In the prophets it is developed and applied variously (Isaiah 45:9 f., Isaiah 64:8 ; Jeremiah 18:6 ). In Sap. 15:7, there is an elaborate description of the maker of clay images, in which σκεῦος replaces πλάσμα and vessels which serve clean uses are distinguished from the contrary sort . Thence St. Paul adopts the figure and employs

1 Peter 5:10 — Peter 5:10 . Your adversary assails you, but God has called you to His eternal glory; first for a little you must suffer, His grace will supply all your needs. 1 Peter 5:9 is practically a parenthesis; ὁ θεός stands over against ὁ ἀντίδικος (1 Peter 5:8 ) as δέ shows. ὁ καλέσας , for the promise of sustenance implied in the calling; cf. 1 Thessalonians 5:23 f.; 1 Corinthians 1:8 f. ἐν Χριστῷ goes with ὁ … δόξαν ; God called them in Christ and only as they are in Christ can they enter the glory; cf.

1 Peter 5:9 — of sufferings are being accomplished for ( by ) … it assumes the proper idiomatic force of ἐπιτελεῖσθαι and accounts for τὰ αὐτά ( sc. τέλη ) followed by the genitive. Xenophon who is a good authority for Common Greek uses ἐ . thus twice: Mem. iv. 8. 8, “but if I shall live longer perhaps it will be necessary to pay the penalties of old age ( τὰ τοῦ γήρως ἐπιτελεῖσθαι ) and to see and hear worse …” Apol , 33 nor did he turn effeminate at death but cheerfully welcomed it and paid the

Jude 1:14 — τοῖς (? ταῖς ) μυριάσιν αὐτοῦ καὶ τοῖς ἁγίοις αὐτοῦ ποιῆσαι κρίσιν κατα πάντων , καὶ ἀπολέσει τοὺς ἀσεβεῖς καὶ ἐλέγξει πᾶσαν σάρκα περὶ πάντων ἔργων αὐτῶν ὧν ἠσέβησαν κατʼ αὐτοῦ ἁμαρτωλοὶ ἀσεβεῖς . The phrase ἕβδομος ἀπὸ Ἀδάμ is also found in En. lx. 8, “My grandfather was taken up, the seventh from Adam,” ib. xciii. 3, “And Enoch began to recount from the books and spake: I was born the seventh in the first week, while judgment and righteousness still tarried; and after me there

Revelation 12:1-2 — Revelation 12:1-2 . ἐν τ . οὐ . almost = “in the sky” ( cf. Revelation 12:4 .). A Greek touch: cf. Hom. Iliad , ii. 308, ἔνθʼ ἐφάνη μέγα σῆμα · δράκων ἐπὶ νῶτα δαφοινός ( i.e. fiery-red). Here as elsewhere mythological traits of the original source are left as impressive and decorative details. The nearest analogy is the Babylonian Damkina, mother of the young god Marduk

Revelation 13:3 — 69 A.D. shook the empire to its foundations (Tac. Hist. i. 11). Nero’s death, with the bloody interregnum after it, was a wound to the State, from which it only recovered under Vespasian. It fulfilled the tradition of the wounded head (Daniel 8:8 ). Song of Song of Solomon 4:0 Esd. 12:18 (where the same crisis is noted) “post tempus regni illius [ i.e. , Nero’s] nascentur contentiones non modicae et periclitabitur ut cadat et non cadet tunc, sed iterum constituetur in suum initium”;

Revelation 22:4 — The ancient ideal of intimate confidence is also to be realised ( cf. on Matthew 5:8 and Iren. Adv. Har. Revelation 22:7 ). With this phrase and that of Revelation 21:22 compare Browning’s lines: “Why, where’s the need of temple when the walls | O’ the world are that … This one Face, far from vanish, rather

Revelation 3:18 — Revelation 3:18 . The counsel is conveyed in the dialect of the local situation. ἀγοράσαι in the poor man’s market (Isaiah 55:1 , cf. Matthew 6:19-20 ), significant words as addressed to the financial centre of the district. “From me,” is emphatic;

Revelation 6:8 — Revelation 6:8 . χλωρός , pale or livid as a corpse. ἐπάνω αὐτοῦ , for the ordinary ἐπʼ αὐτόν , a grammatical variation which has no special significance. In this Dureresque vignette the spectre of Hades, bracketed here as elsewhere with Death, accompanies the latter