Bible Commentaries

Matthew 9:37 — 37. ] The harvest was primarily that of the Jewish people, the multitudes of whom before Him excited the Lord’s compassion. ὅρα πάλιν τὸ ἀκενόδοξον . ἵνα μὴ ἅπαντας πρὸς ἑαυτὸν ἐπισύρηται , ἐκπέμπει τοὺς μαθητάς . οὐ διὰ δὲ τοῦτο μόνον , ἀλλ ʼ ἵνα αὐτοὺς καὶ παιδεύσῃ , καθάπερ ἔν τινι παλαίστρᾳ τῇ Παλαιστίνῃ μελετήσαντας , οὕτω πρὸς τοὺς ἀγῶνας τῆς οἰκουμένης ἀποδύσασθαι . Chrysost. Hom. xxxii. 2, p. 367.

John 15:27 — 27. ] The disciples are not, as some have supposed, here mentioned as witnesses separate from and working with the Holy Spirit. The witness is one and the same the Spirit will witness in and by them; the ὃταν ἔλθῃ ὁ παρ . belongs to the whole: see

John 17:24 — 24. ὅ δέδωκάς μοι ] The neuter has a peculiar solemnity, uniting the whole Church together as one gift of the Father to the Son: see ch. John 6:39 , note. Then the κἀκεῖνοι resolves it into the great multitude whom no man can number, and comes home

Acts 15:33 — every account it is probable that the words forming this verse in rec. (see var. readd.) are an interpolation. For, (1) manuscript evidence against them is weighty, especially as D, in the case of insertions in the Acts, is of very low authority. (2) The αὐτοῦ is αὐ τούς in C and D, and αὐτοῖς and αὐτόθι in some cursives; and D and the Vulg. add μόνος δὲ Ἰούδ . ἐπορεύθη ; the former shewing the copying of an indistinct marginal gloss which was not understood, and the latter betraying the secret

Acts 17:26 — 26. ] ἐξ ἑνὸς [ αἵμ . ] was said, be it remembered, to a people who gave themselves out for αὐτόχθονες : but we must not imagine that to refute this was the object of the words: they aim far higher than this, and controvert the whole genius of polytheism,

Acts 22:18 — by remarking, (1) that Paul does not always observe accuracy in this usage of the article: e.g. Ephesians 6:5 , ὑπακούετε τοῖς κυρίοις κατὰ σάρκα , for τ . κυρ . τοῖς κατα σάρκα , or τοῖς κατὰ σάρκα κυρίοις , which he has written in the [146] , Col 3:22 , 1 Thessalonians 4:16 , οἱ νεκροὶ ἐν χριστῷ ἀναστήσονται πρῶτον . See also Romans 6:4 ; Colossians 2:14 , and notes: and (2) that there may have been a reason for the irregularity here, inasmuch as, if either the article had been expressed after μαρτ

Acts 9:22 — 22 .] I regard the μᾶλλον ἐνεδυναμοῦτο , as the only words beneath which can lie concealed the journey to Arabia . Paul mentions this journey ( Gal 1:17 ) with no obscure hint that to it was to be assigned the reception by him, in full measure, of the

1 Corinthians 12:10 — speaker with tongues .… in that he speaks with the understanding , not ecstatically: from the διδάσκαλος , thus: ὁ μέν προφητεύων πάντα ἀπὸ τοῦ πνεύματος φθέγγεται · ὁ δὲ διδάσκων ἐστὶν ὅπου καὶ ἐξ οἰκείας διαλέγεται , as Chrys. on 1 Corinthians 12:28 .” (Hom. xxxii. p. 286.) διακρίσεις πν .] discernings of spirits: i.e. the power of distinguishing between the operation of the Spirit of God and the evil spirit, or the unassisted human spirit: see 1 John 4:1 , and compare προσέχοντες πνεύμασιν

2 Corinthians 10:9 — 9. ] follows on 2 Corinthians 10:8 , but requires some clause to be supplied such as ‘And I say this,’ or the like. Meyer would join it immediately to αἰσχυνθ ., and regard it as the purpose to be served by the fact verifying his boast . But as De W. observes,

2 Corinthians 13:2 — 2. ] I have forewarned yon, and I now forewarn you, as (I did, προείρηκα ) when present the second time, so also (I do) now ( προλέγω ) when absent . It certainly seems to me that this is the only natural way of taking the words. Grot., Est., Bengel,

Philippians 2:10 — that the universal prayer is to be to JESUS. And this view is confirmed by the next clause, where every tongue is to confess that Jesus Christ is κύριος , when we remember the common expression, ἐπικαλεῖσθαι τὸ ὄνομα κυρίου , for prayer: Romans 10:12 f.; 1 Corinthians 1:2 ( 2Ti 2:22 ); Acts ( Act 7:59 ) Acts 9:14 ; Acts 9:21 ; Act 22:16 ), of those in heaven (angels. Ephesians 1:20-21 . Heb 1:6 ) and those on earth (men) and those under the earth (the dead: so Hom. Il. ι . 457, Ζεὺς καταχθόνιος

Philippians 2:3 — 3 .] μηδὲν φρονοῦντες , scil. from the last verse: entertaining no thought in a spirit of (according to, after the manner of) self-seeking (see note, Romans 2:8 , on the common mistaken rendering of this word), nor in a spirit of vainglory ( κενοδοξία , ματαία τις περὶ ἑαυτοῦ οἴησις , Suidas), but by means of humility of mind (article either generic or possessive: in the latter case assuming ταπεινοφροσύνη

Colossians 1:15 — has been a sort of introduction, through our own part in Him, to the Person of the Redeemer, which is now directly treated of, as against the teachers of error at Colossæ. He is described, in His relation 1) to God and His Creation ( Col 1:15-17 ): 2) to the Church (18 20). This arrangement, which is Meyer’s, is far more exact than the triple division of Bähr, ‘Source of creation (15, 16): upholder of creation (17): relation to the new moral creation 18 20)’), who is ( now in

2 Thessalonians 2:8 — 8 .] and then (when he that hinders shall have been removed: the emphasis is on τότε ) shall be revealed the lawless one (the same as the αὐτόν of 2 Thessalonians 2:6 ; viz. the ἄνθρωπος τῆς ἁμαρτίας ), whom (by this relative clause is introduced his ultimate fate at the coming of the Lord. To this the Apostle is carried on by the fervency of his spirit, and has to return again below to describe

2 Timothy 4:6 — context: and certainly here there is no trace of the idea of a banquet having been in the mind of the Apostle, various as are the images introduced) is at hand (not, is present, ‘ ist vorhanden ,’ Luth.: which would be ἐνέστηκεν , see 2Th 2:2 note):

Titus 2:9 — 9 .] ( παρακάλει ) Slaves to be in subjection to their own (see above on Tit 2:5 ) masters, in all things to give satisfaction (this, the servants’ own phrase among ourselves, expresses perhaps better than any other the meaning of εὐαρέστους εἶναι . ‘ To be acceptable ’ would seem to bring the slave too near

Hebrews 12:2 — 2 .] looking unto (so E. V. very exactly. ἀφορᾶν εἰς , or πρός τι , is an ordinary word for to direct the gaze upon any thing. So, of the outward eye, Jos. Antt. iv. 4. 7, Ἀαρὼν … θνήσκει , τοῦ πλήθους εἰς αὐτὸν ἀφορῶντος : of the inward eye, Arrian,

Hebrews 13:18 — when Bleek finds in Hebrews 13:19 a proof that the Writer only is meant, he misses the point, that this ἡμῶν , including the Writer and his companions, is in fact a transition note between Heb 13:17 and Hebrews 13:19 . Cf. Ephesians 6:19 ; Rom 15:30 ; 2Co 1:11 ): for we are persuaded ( πειθόμεθα , which is St. Luke’s way of speaking, cf. Acts 26:26 , has been changed into πεποίθαμεν , which is St. Paul’s, cf. Galatians 5:10 ; Philippians 1:25 ; Php 2:24 ) that (Bengel, al. pause at πεποίθαμεν

Hebrews 2:2 — 2 .] For (introduces an argument ( Heb 2:2-4 ) a minori ad majus . The law was introduced by the mere subordinate messengers of God, but was enforced with strict precision: how much more shall they be punished who reject that Gospel, which was brought

Hebrews 4:1 — 1 .] Let us fear therefore (Bleek remarks that the words φοβεῖσθαι μή , commonly used, see Acts 27:29 ; 2Co 11:3 ; 2 Corinthians 12:20 ; Galatians 4:11 , of fear of something happening, here include also the desire to avoid that contingency. It might have been σπουδάσωμεν , as Hebrews 4:11 , or βλέπωμεν μήποτε , as ch. Hebrews 3:12 , or ἐπισκοπῶμεν