i 
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 THE 
 
 NEW TESTAMENT 
 
 OUR LORD AND SAYIOUR JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 THE TEXT IN THE AUTHORIZED TRANSLATION : 
 
 A COMMENTARY AND CRITICAL NOTES 
 
 ADAM CLARKE, LL.D., F.S.A., Etc. 
 
 A NEW EDITION, CONDENSED, AND SUPPLEMENTED FROM THE BEST MODERN 
 
 AUTHORITIES: 
 
 BY DANIEL CURRY, LL.D. 
 
 VOLUME II.— THE EPISTLES AND REVELATION. 
 
 NEW YORK : 
 
 peciljIjips cfc piTTiisrrr. 
 
 CINCINNATI: 
 CRANSTON & STOWE.
 
 Copyright 1884, by 
 
 Phillips cfc Hxjzsrrr. 
 
 New York.
 
 
 
 EDITOR'S PREFACE TO VOLUME II. 
 
 REVISED EDITION. 
 
 THE Preface to the first volume of the Revised Edition of Clarke's Commentary on 
 the New Testament sets forth with sufficient fulness the principles which had been 
 adopted respecting the whole work. But the rules there indicated, as those according to 
 which the revision of that volume had been made, have, from the necessities of the case, 
 led to more considerable emendations and additions than seemed to be necessary in the former 
 portion of the work. But in respect to the editor's sympathies with the views and opinions 
 of his author, all that is there said may be here repeated and emphasized; and the fidelity 
 to the general doctrinal opinions of the original work has been honestly adhered to, not 
 simply as a yoke, but gladly, as felicitously indicating the mind of the Spirit as revealed 
 in the written word. But in bringing the work of expounding and illustrating the apos- 
 tolical writings up to the higher plane on which biblical learning now stands, as compared 
 with its position fifty years ago, very considerable modifications have seemed to be neces- 
 sary, and wherever that has appeared they have been made. All these, however, it is be- 
 lieved, have been made along the lines of the development of truth which the original 
 work clearly marked out and pursued to a greater extent than had been done at that date 
 by any other writer using the English language ; for, as a biblical scholar and exegete, Dr. 
 Clarke was at least a quarter of a century — perhaps twice that time — in advance of the 
 learning of his age. But the regions in which he was a pioneer have since been thoroughly 
 explored, and the results, constituting a rich store of scriptural learning, duly appropri- 
 ated. The reviser has sought to build the results thus obtained into the structure of evan- 
 gelical and rational biblical theology, whose foundations he found so admirably made to 
 his hands in the original. He therefore flatters himself that the now completed work of 
 New Testament revision, while necessarily supplementary to the original, is in no import- 
 ant particular out of harmony with its spirit and purport; and that whatever has been 
 added is substantially of the same character with the primitive stock. To pervert an 
 author's meanings, while still utilizing his name and reputation, would savour of dishon- 
 esty; wdiile to reproduce error or suppress truth would indicate a lack of prudence at once 
 dishonourable and unjust. 
 
 The authorities drawn upon (indicated below) will be seen to be representative of the 
 best and most scholarly Christian and biblical learning of the age, and at the same time 
 free from any taint of the learned scepticism and the anarchical liberalism of a well known 
 school of rationalistic biblical critics and expositors. It has been the design in every case 
 to evade no difficult passage, to recognise all really obscure points, and to give the chief 
 renderings of them by the best and most trustworthy critics and expositors; and when 
 all these fad to give satisfactory solutions of the cases in hand, to honestly confess that the 
 subject remains unexplained. Cases in point will be found in the matter of "tongues." 
 (1 Cor. xii, 10, xiv, 2, etc.,) and in the reasons rendered for the veiling of women in the 
 public assemblies, "because of the angels," of which, with some others, no expositor lias 
 given any satisfactory solution: and this is freely confessed. In other cases, in which it 
 is evident that a false exegesis (which in some things lias widely prevailed in past times) 
 has engendered popular misconceptions of the sense of Holy Scripture, it has been thought 
 
 A A O A O A A
 
 EDITOR'S PREFACE TO VOLUME II. OF THE REVISED EDITION. 
 
 lirst simply ti> give the true expositions without polemical discussions, and so permit the 
 truth to work the needed corrections. Considering the word of God — and eminently the 
 apostolical epistles— as a mine of untold richness as yet only partially developed, it lias 
 been a ruling purpose to detecl and bring to light some of these bidden stoics; and where 
 the gems of spiritual truth come to us in sensuous and materialistic coverings, the design 
 h is lieen to bring them to the light and to show their value. 
 
 Special attention has been devoted to the Prefaces and Introductions to the several 
 epistles. It was necessary that these should be brief and concise, and it was also desirable 
 that they should present the literary history and the occasion of the writing of each 
 epistle; especially as these tilings tend to throw light upon the text. The results rather 
 than the processes of inquiry are given; and as far as possible the time and place of the 
 writing of each epistle, the people addressed, and the special occasion that called it forth, 
 an' considered. In these brief documents a large amount of valuable learning is given 
 in a concise but comprehensive form, derived from the best sources; and while the infor- 
 mation they give is necessary to the proper understanding of the several epistles, it is 
 believed that for all non-professional students of the Bible they will prove sufficient helps 
 in the matters of which they treat. For all others, distinct works, treatises, or manuals 
 are required. 
 
 In closing a work to which a large share of his time, for more than three and a half 
 years, has been devoted, the editor would render devout thanks for the good Providence 
 that has blessed him with health and strength for his work and enabled him to bring it to 
 completion. The intimate mental and spiritual relations into which it has brought him to 
 the divine word and its great Author have at once confirmed his faith and enlarged his 
 appreciation of the inestimable value of the Holy Scriptures, and assured him, by a blessed 
 experience, that Christ reveals himself to those who seek for him in the written word. 
 
 D. C. 
 
 AUTHORS AND WORKS USED IX THIS VOLUME. 
 
 Alpord, Henry, D.D., (Dean of Canterbury :) The Lucke, Dr. Frederic : Com. on St. John's Epistles. 
 
 Greek Testament, with Notes. I Lunemann, Dr. G. : Commentary on I Ii brews. 
 
 Barnes, Rev. Albert: Notes on the New Testa- Meter, H. A. \V. : Critical and Exegetical Com- 
 
 ii" * it. mentary on No') Ttslnnniit. 
 
 Braune, Karl, D.D. : Notes on Epliesians, Philip-\ Moll, Karl B. : Hebrews, (in Lange.) 
 
 plans, and Colossians, (in Lange.) 
 Brown, John, D.D. : Exposition of the Epistle to 
 
 the II brews. 
 Contbeare and Howson : TAfe and "Epistles of St. 
 
 Paul. 
 Cowles, Henry, D.D., (Oberlin:) New Testament, 
 
 with Notes. 
 
 Neander, Dr. Augustus: Planting and Training 
 
 of the Church. 
 OLSHAUSEN, Dr. II. : Commentary on the New 
 
 Testament. 
 Riddle, Rev. M. B., D.D. : Notes on Galatians, 
 
 Epliesians, and Cohssians, (in Lange.) 
 " Speaker's Commentary," (various authors.) 
 
 Eadie, John, D.D. : Commentary on the Epistles to Stuart, Moses : Comnn utnry mi Rinnans, Hebrews, 
 
 the Thessalonians. and Urn lotion. 
 
 Ellicott, Rt. Rev. C. J.: Commentary on Ejiln- Tholuck, Dr. Augustus: Commentatry on Romans. 
 
 sians, I. ami II Thessalonians, and the Pastoral Turner, S. II., D.D. : Notes on the Epistle to tlie 
 
 Epistles. Hebrews. 
 
 Farrar, F. W., D.D.. (Canon of Westminster:) Von Oosterzee, J. J., D.D. : Notes on I. and II 
 
 Lift of St. Paul; Early Days of Christianity. I Timothy, Titus, and James, (in Lange.) 
 
 FRONMULLER, G. F. C. : Notes on I. and II. Peter, (in 
 Lange.) 
 
 Hgther, J. E., D.D., (successor to Meyer:) Tim- 
 othy and Titus; James and John ; Peter andJude. 
 
 Kendrick, A. C. : Notes on Hebrctos, (in Lange.) 
 
 Lange, J. P., D.D. : Commentaries. 
 4 
 
 Watson, Rev. R. : Exposition on Ramans. 
 Wesley, Rev. John: Notes on the New Testament. 
 Win don. Rev. I). D. : Commentary on the New 
 
 75 xtament. 
 
 [The accentuation of the Greek is after the text 
 of WestCOtt and llort.J
 
 PRE PACE 
 
 TO THE 
 
 APOSTOLICAL EPISTLES. 
 
 MORE than one third of the New Testament is made up of epistles written hy 
 some of the apostles, most of which are addressed to particular local Churches, 
 some to individuals, and some are in the form of circulars apparently designed to 
 be used generally among the Churches for their instruction and edification. The 
 use of this method of giving and receiving instruction, indicates a somewhat 
 advanced stage of civilization as respects both the general diffusion of the knowl- 
 edge of letters among the early Christians, and also the existence of facilities of 
 travel and communication between the different parts of the Roman empire. It 
 is well known, also, that epistolary writing had been in use among the Jews ever 
 since the return from Babylon ; and also, that it was customary among Roman 
 officials in the provinces to keep up communication with the Imperial Govern- 
 ment by letters and reports detailing any matters of interest. In using this 
 method, therefore, the apostles simply conformed to the usages of their times, 
 and by so doing they conferred an incalculably valuable boon upon the Church, 
 not only in the propagation and nurturing of infant churches, but also for the 
 support and guidance of believers in all after times. 
 
 The New Testament canon shows how largely epistles were used in the 
 expansion and organization of the Church. Those which survive may be regarded 
 as the representatives of a very large class, most of which are lost. But in the 
 gospel history we hear nothing of such missives, nor indeed of any written 
 memoranda. Our Lord appears to have taught only orally, not only because he 
 was himself technically unlearned, but also, and eminently, because he would 
 have his lessons wrought into the minds and hearts of his followers, as could be 
 .done only by personal communications. The wider extension of the Church in 
 the time of the apostles, and the need of fuller and more formal presentations of 
 the apostles' doctrines and discipline, called for authoritative statements, in per- 
 manent forms, that might be at all times accessible. The epistles of the New 
 Testament are in their substance just what these conditions required, Avhile in 
 their form they are such as might be expected from men who were brought into 
 contact with Greek and Roman customs, themselves belonging to a different race, 
 and reproducing the imported style with only partial accuracy. (See AL'Clintock 
 and Strong.) 
 
 The epistles usually begin with the name of the writer and that of the Church 
 or person addressed, followed by a salutation full of Christian affection, accom- 
 panied by words of prayer and praise to God and Christ. The letters themselves 
 U8ually speak in the first person singular, though sometimes the plural is used, as 
 including either the concurrent body of the apostolate, or the assent of the Christ- 
 ians that were then associated with the writer. After these follows the substance 
 of the letter, usually the elucidation of some great truth or doctrine, or t he en- 
 forcement of certain points of Christian discipline, witli exhortations to the 
 obedience of faith, and incitements to Christian fidelity ami to the glorious hopes 
 set forth in the Gospel; and last of all, there are personal salutations, abounding in 
 declarations of Christian love and sympathy, and in most cases closing with 
 
 5
 
 PREFACE To THE APOSTOLICAL EPISTI .i:>. 
 
 prayers and benedictions. Of St. Paul's epistles, nine (besides Hebrews, which 
 may or may nol be Paul's) are addressed to particular Churches; three, those to 
 Timothy and Titus, commonly called "pastoral epistles," are semi-official letters 
 of instructions to these two eminent ministers and quasi apostles, respecting 
 their official duties; and one, thai to Philemon, seems to be only a personal note. 
 Five epistles, one of James, two of Peter, one of John, and one of Jude, are 
 styled catholic, or "general," having the form of circular letters to the Churches, 
 and the second and third of John's epistles seem to be personal letters. 
 
 The eminence of St. Paul among the apostles, the extent and fruitfulness of 
 In- labours, and the volume of his contributions to the matter of the New Testa- 
 ment, so making him the most conspicuous figure, after his Master, among the 
 founders of the Church, seem to require at this place a brief sketch of his life and 
 character. 
 
 lie was a Jew, of the tribe of Benjamin, born in the city of Tarsus in C'ilieia, 
 (probably about A. D. 5-10,) and bore the renowned Benjamite name. Sail, 
 which in later life was changed to Paul, for what, reason has not been satisfactorily 
 ascertained, though such change of names was not unusual at that time. He 
 inherited the condition and privileges of Roman citizenship; but whether this came 
 to him as a citizen of Tarsus, which was a free city, or from his father, is not 
 clearly determined. Of his home life, during his childhood and until he went 
 to Jerusalem at probably twelve or thirteen years old, we have no account. His 
 family seems to have been of some respectability and substance, and there is good 
 reason to believe that the young Hebrew enjoyed the besl advantages which the 
 schools of the city afforded, and that in them he acquired the elements of the 
 Greek language and literature. The family was of the sect of the Pharisees, 
 and the home training of the child was no doubt in accordance wiih the rules 
 of that "most straitesl sect," so that from the beginning his mind was affected 
 by both the Jewish exclusiveness and the Grecian liberalism. 
 
 At an early age he was transferred to Jerusalem, where probably lie had rel- 
 atives living, (Acts xxiii, 16,) and became a pupil in the training school of Jewish 
 theology under the celebrated Gamaliel. According to the custom of his nation 
 he was also apprenticed to the trade of, and became, a tentmaker. Under Ga- 
 maliel he was initiate.! into the mysteries of rabbinical learning, traces of which 
 may be found in all his methods of thought and reasoning. But on account 
 of liis early Hellenic culture, of the evident liberal tendencies of the mind of 
 his instructor, and of his own mental tendencies, it could not be otherwise 
 than that his character should be drawn toward broader views than those of the 
 stricter rabbinical schools. He evidently had some acquaintance with Greek 
 literature, though he was certainly not an exact Greek scholar. He was, beyond 
 question, chiefly indebted to Gamaliel for the learning for which he was distin- 
 guished, though all this was, no doubt, both modified and supplemented by 
 subsequent studies and observations. His mind was characterized by both acute- 
 ness and force; and if at first he reasoned narrowly, he formed decided opinions, 
 and was always steadily and zealously faithful to 'his convict ions. Hence, while 
 he continued, among his own people, he especially "profited in the Jews' religion;" 
 and when converted to a better faith, he, in the same spirit, "counted all things 
 but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ." As a Jew, he honoured 
 his nation, venerated its doctrines and institutions and traditions, was character- 
 istically zealous for their maintenance, and correspondingly averse to whatever 
 seemed to threaten them with harm. Such a character, impelled by a keen, 
 though misdirected, love of the truth, and zeal for his ancestral religion as he 
 understood it, would naturally devote all his energies to his one dominant idea, 
 and therefore he was "exceedingly mad" against the new sect of innovators, the 
 Christians, and readily engaged in the service of the sanhedrin for its extirpa- 
 tion. The same qualities of mind and heart, after his wonderful conversion, 
 made him the chief of apostles — the most strenuous propagator of the faith he had 
 once sought to destroy. 
 
 Paul's three years' seclusion in Arabia, followed by a fifteen days' visit to Jeru-
 
 PREFACE TO THE APOSTOLICAL EPISTLES. 
 
 salem and his escape thence, (evidently driven out by " false brethren," who did 
 not like his liberal notions respecting the ceremonial law,) and his retirement to 
 Tarsus, where he continued, so far as is known, in entire seclusion, together make 
 up a period of from seven to ten years between his conversion and his actual 
 engagement in his apostolic labours.* The conflict between the conservative 
 Jewish Christians — who insisted upon the perpetuation of the law of Moses and 
 its imposition upon all Gentile converts — and those of the more liberal school, who 
 demanded equal privileges in the Church for Gentile converts without observing 
 the law, probably began to show itself soon after the day of Pentecost. It is 
 clear that it was an element in the persecution that resulted in the martyrdom 
 of Stephen. Peter had evidently ranked with the conservative party until the 
 affair of Cornelius, and even after that he was slow to retain the lesson then 
 taught him. But the conversion of a considerable number of Gentiles at Antioch 
 and elsewhere, who were evidently unwilling to become Jews, led to the sending of 
 Barnabas from Jerusalem, evidently to look after matters and correct all irreg- 
 ularities. But Barnabas himself soon became a convert to the new doctrine, and 
 as the work demanded more labourers, he hastened " to Tarsus for to seek Saul," 
 who, coming to Antioch, entered at once into the active labours of his apostolate. 
 Here he continued to labour for more than a year, evidently with remarkable re- 
 sults; and either here or at Tarsus he must have had that wonderful vision 
 of Christ to which he was accustomed to refer as in some way related to his 
 apostolical calling and authority. Afterward Barnabas and Saul were formally 
 commissioned by the Church at Antioch to go forth and preach the Gospel to the 
 heathen, and in the account of this mission the name of Saul is changed to Paul. 
 Nearly two years were given to this work, and everywhere the hand of the Lord 
 was with them, and many converts Avere made; and then they returned again to 
 Antioch. But as the number of the Gentile Christians by whom the rites of the 
 Mosaic law were disregarded continued to multiply, the Judaizing party, of which 
 some were found in all these parts, began earnestly to contend that all the Gentile 
 converts must be circumcised and keep the law of Moses, or else they could not 
 be saved. This matter was brought to an issue at the famous conference at Jeru- 
 salem, which resulted in a compromise, but yielded all the chief points for which the 
 men of Antioch had contended. But, like most compromises, it concluded nothing, 
 and from this time onward there were two parties in the Church, violently 
 opposed to each other, one insisting on the perpetual authority of the law of 
 Moses, and contending that there could be no salvation outside of it, and the other 
 wholly discarding it, and claiming for all Gentile converts equal privileges with 
 the Jewish Christians, without submitting to circumcision or observing the pre- 
 scriptions of the ceremonial law; and this contest, in which Paul became the 
 champion of the Gentile Christians, raged with much bitterness during the whole 
 time of his ministry, of which probably he was himself indirectly a victim; and 
 it ended only with the destruction of Jerusalem and the subversion of the Jewish 
 State and Church together. 
 
 By keeping in mind Paul's relations to this conflict about circumcision and 
 the law, much that would otherwise be unintelligible in his epistles becomes 
 plain. The emissaries of the Judaizing party withstood him at every point, and 
 seemed to be everywhere present. To counterwork their designs in Galatia he 
 wrote to the Churches of that province the epistle that bears its name, in a style 
 and manner much more forcible than gentle. Both the epistles to the Corinthians 
 recognise the disturbing presence of that controversy, and in the epistle to the 
 Romans the entire subject is taken in hand, and discussed with such thorough- 
 ness, that the whole theory of the Gospel — the way of salvation by faith in Christ 
 
 * All attempts to fix the chronology of these events are, as to precise times, but little better than 
 conjectures. The dates in this work place Saul's conversion in A.D. 38, and his recall from Tarsus, by 
 Barnabas, in A.D. 43 ; but the former date is probably very considerably too early. Conybeare and 
 Howson suggest A.D. 39 or 40, which, again, is probably too late, and his recall in A. D. 43 or 44, 
 which would allow him only about two years' residence at Tarsus. The date given of his coming to 
 Antioch is probably not very far from correct.
 
 PREFACE TO THE APOSTOLICAL KPISTLES. 
 
 Jesus — is there wrought out with a degree of fulness and force that is nowhere 
 else equalled l>y any other, either inspired or uninspired, writing. The Epistle 
 to the Hebrews (for, whether written by St. Paul, or not, it is eminently Paul- 
 ine in doctrine, though Hebraistic in its imagery) directs the eye of faith away 
 from all merely ritualistic observances to Christ, as the only and all-sufficient sac- 
 rifice, to be apprehended and made available only by faith. Only by keeping 
 in mind this great conflict, and Paul's relations to it, and observing the direct 
 antagonism of the Judaizers' method of justification by the law of Moses, and the 
 evangelical doctrine of justification by faith in God's mercy through Christ's sac- 
 rifice, can his epistles be understood and appreciated. This was his great central 
 truth, around which all other Christian doctrines become crystallized into a har- 
 monious unity. The solidarity of the human race in Adam and in Christ is his 
 basis for a universal atonement ; the utter condemnation of the world, through 
 sin, places Jews and Gentiles in the same state of death, from which there is a 
 resurrection for any only in Christ; and the quickened and saved soul is made 
 Christ's freedman, to serve and please him in newness of life in all things. 
 
 Paul's three pastoral epistles, as they were designed for a different purpose 
 from all the others, differ from them somewhat in their style and methods, though 
 the sameness of their authorship is manifest in a variety of points. As personal 
 letters, they have greater ease and freedom of address, and a kind of confidential 
 unconcern of manner. And yet, because they are in some sense official letters 
 from an apostle to his inferiors in position and juniors in years, who are also 
 themselves charged with high responsibilities, they bear the signs of careful 
 reserve and earnest purpose. Churches were to be organized, discipline admin- 
 istered, the fro ward to be admonished, and the erring to be reproved and corrected, 
 and for these delicate and difficult duties these epistles give the most important 
 suggestions, which also are equally valuable in all later times. In giving these 
 instructions the apostle also brings into view some of the deepest and most sacred 
 doctrines of the Gospel, all of which are in complete accord with what is taught 
 in his other and more directly doctrinal epistles. As personal letters, too, they 
 have not a little of the charm of friendly unveilings of the writer's deepest feel- 
 ings and his most earnest spiritual aspirations. The second letter to Timothy, 
 which appears to have been written in the near prospect of death, is especially 
 rich in these qualities, and, in the expressions of an exultant faith, a triumphant 
 death-song worthy of its authorship. 
 
 The epistles of the other three great apostles, James, Peter, and John, differ 
 from those of Paul chiefly in their freedom from the immediate influence of this 
 controversy. There is a substantial unity, as to both doctrines and duties, among 
 them all. James is cool, severe, and didactic, as became the position of the 
 recognised, chief ruler of the great mother Church at Jerusalem. Peter is char- 
 acteristically fervid, deeply spiritual, and abounding in the graces of faith, hope, 
 and charity. And John, leaning in spirit on the Master's breast, is introspective 
 and mystical, abounding in love, and yet equally characterized by a holy severity 
 toward evildoers. Each has his own superficial peculiarities of literary style and 
 modes of thought — just enough to indicate the individuality of each; but in their 
 ruling qualities, their spiritual tones, and even in their dogmatic Statements and 
 implications, they are essentially harmonious among themselves, and also with 
 their greater fellow apostle. These apostolical epistles were clearly a necessary 
 addition in order to the completeness of the great system of doctrines and duties 
 which should be for the Church, in all coming times, its safe and sufficient guide 
 of faith and practice. The Old Testament shows only the light in its dawning 
 before the rising of the "Sun of Righteousness," bringing in the brightness of the 
 Gospel day; these epistles present to us that brightness in the steady clearness of 
 the open day of the Gospel, " the latter-day glory." 
 
 8
 
 PREFACE TO THE EPISTLE 
 
 TO 
 
 THE EOMAISTS. 
 
 THIS, the first of the Apostolical Epistles in the arrangement of the canon, is 
 also, beyond all question, the first by virtue of the dignity and importance 
 of its subject, and also for the ability of its discussions and the clearness of its 
 demonstrations. The common opinion of the Christian Church of all times is 
 happily expressed by Luther, who declares in his preface, " This epistle is the 
 true masterpiece of the New Testament, and the very purest Gospel, which is 
 well worthy and deserving that a Christian man should not only learn it by heart, 
 but also that he should daily deal with it, as with the daily bread of men's souls." 
 Before proceeding to consider the text of the epistle, it may be profitable to con- 
 sider some things incidental to it that may help to its better understanding. 
 
 AUTHORSHIP OF THE EPISTLE. 
 
 Saul (afterward called Paul, and renowned as " the apostle of the Gentiles ") 
 was born in Tarsus, a city of Cilicia, of Jewish parents, who possessed the 
 rights of Roman citizens. (See the note on Acts xxii, 28.) When young, he was 
 sent to Jerusalem for the purpose of receiving a Jewish education ; where he was 
 put under the tuition of the famous Rabbi Gamaliel, and was incorporated with 
 the sect of the Pharisees, of whose system he imbibed all the pride, self-con- 
 fidence, and intolerance. He at first distinguished himself as one of the most 
 inveterate enemies of the Christian cause ; but, being converted by a most singu- 
 lar interposition of divine providence and grace, he became one of its most zealous 
 promoters and successful defenders. That Paul was the author of the Epistle to 
 the Romans is almost universally conceded. Neither the Judaizing sects of old, 
 who rejected the Pauline Epistles as destitute of authority, nor the modern scep- 
 tical critics, have doubted that this epistle was written by that apostle. The 
 early Church Fathers are agreed in ascribing it to him, without any notable 
 dissent. The internal evidence to the same effect is also clear beyond all 
 question. 
 
 TO WHOM ADDRESSED. 
 
 Though this epistle is directed to the Romans, yet we are not to suppose that 
 Romcuis, in the proper sense of the word, are exclusively meant ; but rather 
 those who dwelt at Rome, and composed the Christian Church in that city. 
 That there were among these Romans (that is, Gentiles) some who had been con- 
 verted to the Christian faith, there can be no doubt; but the principal part of the 
 Church in that city seems to have been formed from Jews, sojourners at Rome,
 
 PREFACE TO THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 
 
 and from such as were proselytes to the Jewish religion. [Some, and among 
 them some of the highest authority, think the Church at that time consisted 
 chiefly of converts from heathenism: and this opinion seems best to agree with 
 many expressions and allusions in the epistle itself, in which its readers are fre- 
 quently named as Idva, heathen. Rome was at that time the universally recog- 
 nised mistress and metropolis of the world. It was at the heighl of its greatness, 
 with a population variously estimated at from one to three millions, and with 
 unparalleled wealth, luxury, and profligacy. Nero, the sixth of the Cesars, him- 
 self the incarnation of whatever is vile, was Emperor.] 
 
 THE FOUNDING OF THE CHURCH IN ROME. 
 
 When or by Avhom the Gospel was first preached at Rome cannot be as- 
 certained. Those who assert that St. Peter was its founder, can produce no solid 
 reason for the support of their opinion. Had this apostle first preached the Gos- 
 pel in that city, it is not likely that such an event would have been unnoticed in 
 the Acts of the Apostles, where the labours of St. Peter are particularly detailed 
 with those of St. Paul, which indeed form the chief subject of that book. Nor is 
 it likely that the author of this epistle should have made no reference to this cir- 
 cumstance had it been true. Those who say that this Church was founded by 
 these two apostles conjointly have still less reason on their side ; for it is evident, 
 from chapter i, 8, etc., that St. Paul had never been at Rome previously to his 
 writing this epistle. It is most likely that no apostle was employed in this im- 
 portant work; but possibly the Gospel was first preached there by spme of those 
 persons who were converted at Jerusalem on the clay of pentecost ; for we find, 
 (Acts ii, 10,) that there were at Jerusalem "strangers of Rome, Jews and 
 proselytes." These, on their return, would naturally declare the wonders they had 
 witnessed, and proclaim that truth by which they themselves had received salva- 
 tion. [The Roman Church owed its origin, perhaps, to the believing Jews, who 
 had returned or been attracted thither in the first days of Christianity ; but 
 mainly to persons converted under Paul's own preaching in other places. This 
 conclusion is strengthened by the long list of salutations, in chapter xvi, to Chris- 
 tian brethren and sisters with whose previous course in many cases he had been 
 acquainted. — Aljbrd.] 
 
 PROBABLE DATE OF THE EPISTLE. 
 
 [Concerning the time in which this epistle was written, there is not much differ- 
 ence of opinion : it is most likely that it was written about A. D. 58, when Paul 
 was at Corinth. (See chapters xv, 23-25, xvi, 23, with 1 Cor. i, 14 ; and Rom. 
 xvi, 1, with 2 Tim. iv, 20.) Since the apostle, when he composed his letter, was 
 on the point of conveying to Jerusalem the proceeds of a collection made in 
 Macedonia and Achaia, (xv, 25-27,) and intended to journey thence by way of 
 Rome to Spain, (xv, 28; comp. Acts xix, 21,) we are thus directed to his last so- 
 journ — of three months — in Achaia. (Acts xx, 3.) . . . We infer, therefore — even 
 apart from the fact that the composition of such an epistle presupposes a some- 
 what lengthened and quiet abode — that it was written before Paul departed from 
 Achaia. . . . Since, then, the recommendation of the deaconess Phebe from the 
 Corinthian seaport, Cenchrea, (xvi, 1, 2,) as well as the salutation from his host, 
 Gaius, (xvi, 23; comp. 1 Cor. i, 4,) points to no other city than Corinth, we may, 
 beyond all doubt, conclude that it was written in that city. . . . The time of its 
 composition accordingly falls in A. U. 59, (or late in A. D. 58,) when Paul regarded 
 10
 
 PREFACE TO THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 
 
 his ministry in the East as closed, and was contemplating his field of labour in 
 the West, of which Rome should be the centre and Spain the goal. See Meyer.] 
 
 ITS OCCASION AND DESIGN. 
 
 The immediate occasion of the writing this epistle may be easily collected from 
 the epistle itself. It appears that St. Paul had been made acquainted with all the 
 circumstances of the Christians at Rome, probably by Aquila and Priscilla, (see chnp. 
 xvi, 3,) and by other Jews who had been expelled from Rome by the decree of 
 Claudius, (Acts xviii, 2 ;) and finding that they consisted partly of heathens con- 
 verted to Christianity and partly of Jews who had, with many remaining pi'eju- 
 dices, believed in Jesus as the true Messiah, and that many contentions had arisen 
 from the claims of the Gentile converts to equal privileges with the Jews and 
 from the refusal of the Jews to admit these claims unless the Gentile converts 
 became circumcised, he wrote to adjust and settle these differences. 
 
 The primary object of the argumentative part of the epistle seems to be, as 
 stated by Paley, " to place the Gentile convert upon a parity of situation with the 
 Jewish in respect of his religious condition, and his rank in the divine favour." 
 In support of this point, it is shown that no man, of any description, can be justified 
 by the works of the law — for this plain reason, that no man had performed them. 
 It became, therefore, necessary to appoint another medium, or condition of justifi- 
 cation, in which new medium the Jewish peculiarity was merged and lost ; that 
 Abraham's own justification was antecedent to the law, and independent of it ; 
 that the Jewish converts were to consider the law as now dead, and themselves 
 as married to another ; that what the law in truth could not do, in that it was 
 weak (ineffective) through the flesh, God had done by sending his Son ; and that 
 God had rejected the unbelieving Jews, and had substituted in their place a society 
 of believers in Christ, collected indifferently from Jews and Gentiles. Therefore, in 
 an epistle directed to Roman believers, the point to be endeavoured after by St. 
 Paul was, to reconcile the Jewish converts to the opinion that the Gentiles wei*e 
 admitted by God to a parity of religious situation with themselves, and that, too, 
 without their being obliged to keep the law of Moses. 
 
 ITS PURPORT AND SUBSTANCE. 
 
 From a proper consideration of the design of the apostle in writing this epis- 
 tle, and from the nature and circumstances of the persons to whom it was di- 
 rected, much light may be derived for a proper understanding of the epistle it- 
 self. When the reader considers that the Church at Rome w r as composed of 
 Gentiles and Jews ; that the latter were taught to consider themselves the only 
 people on earth to whom the divine favour extended ; that they alone had a right 
 to all the blessings of the Messiah's kingdom ; that the giving them the law and 
 the prophets, which had not been given to any other people, was the fullest 
 proof that these privileges did not extend to other nations ; and that, though it 
 was possible for the Gentiles to be saved, yet it must be in consequence of their 
 becoming circumcised, and taking on them the yoke of the law : and when, on 
 the other hand, the reader considers the Roman Gentiles, who formed the other 
 part of the Church at Rome, as educated in the most perfect contempt of Judaism 
 and of the Jews, who were deemed to be haters of all mankind, and degraded 
 with the silliest superstitions, and now evidently rejected and abandoned by 
 
 that God in whom they professed to trust : it is no wonder if, from these causes, 
 
 11
 
 PREFACE TO THE EPISTLE TO TITE ROMANS. 
 
 many contentions and scandals arose, especially at a time when the spirit of 
 Christianity was bul little understood, and among a people, too, who do not ap- 
 pear to have had any apostolic authority established among them to compose 
 feuds and settle religious differences. [The object of our epistle was by no means 
 the drawing up a systematical statement of doctrine ; but, on the other hand, it 
 is not to be restricted more specifically than by saying : Paul wish d to lay before 
 the Romans in writing, for their Christian edification, (chapter i, 11; xvi, 25,) 
 his evangelical d< )ctrim , (the doctrine of the sole waj r of salvation given in Christ,) 
 view* </ in its full, specific character as the sujn rsed'uaj of Judaism, in such a way 
 as (hi i/inssidis ami <•< mi instances of the Church demanded, and as he would have 
 preached it among them had he been present in person. (Chapter i, 11.) The 
 mode in which he had to accomplish this was determined by the circumstance, that 
 he deemed it necessary for his object fully to set forth before the Roman Church, 
 in a manner proportioned to the high importance of its position, this Gospel, as to 
 which his disciples had already instructed them, in the entire connexion of its con- 
 stituent fundamental principles. In no other letter has he done this so completely 
 and thoroughly ; hence it is justly regarded as a grand scheme of his whole teach- 
 ing, in the precise form which he held to be suitable for its presentation to the 
 Romans. — Meyer. \ 
 
 IX WHAT LANGUAGE IT WAS WRITTEN. 
 
 There have been some doubts concerning the language in which this epistle 
 was written. John Adrian Bolten endeavoured to prove that St. Paul wrote it 
 in Syriac, and that it was translated into Greek by Tertius. Others have thought 
 that it must have been written originally in Latin, the language of the people to 
 whom it was addressed; "for although the Greek tongue was well known in 
 Rome, yet it was the language of the great and the learned ; and it is more 
 natural to suppose that the apostle would write in the language of the common 
 people, as those were most likely to be his chief readers, than that of the great and 
 the learned." But it is evident that the Greek was a common language in Rome in 
 the days of the apostle ; and that in writing in this language, which he probably 
 understood better than he did Latin, he consulted the taste and propensity of the 
 Romans, as well as the probability of his epistle being more extensively read in 
 consequence of its being written in Greek. But, were these arguments wanting, 
 there are others of great weight that evince the propriety of choosing this lan- 
 guage in preference to any other. The sacred writings of the Old Testament 
 were, at that time, confined to two languages, the Hebrew and the Greek. The 
 former was known only within the confines of Palestine; the latter over the 
 whole Roman empire : and the Latin tongue appears to have been as much con- 
 fined to Italy as the Hebrew was to Judea. The epistle, therefore, being designed 
 by the Spirit of God to be of general use to the Christian Churches, not only 
 in Italy but through Greece and all Asia Minor, where the Greek language was 
 spoken and understood, it was requisite that the instructions to be conveyed by it 
 should be put in a language the most generally known ; and a language, too, which 
 was then in high and in daily increasing credit. 
 
 ARRANGEMENT OF THE EPISTLES IN THE CANON. 
 
 In the arrangement of the several epistles nothing seems to have been con- 
 sulted besides the length of* the epistle, the character of the writer, and the im- 
 portance of the place to which it was sent. Rome, being the mistress of the 
 
 12
 
 PREFACE TO THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 
 
 world, the epistle to that city was placed first. Those to the Corinthians, because 
 of the great importance of their city, next. Galatia, Ephesus, Philippi, Colosse, 
 and Thessalonica follow in graduated order. Timothy, Titus, and Philemon 
 succeed in the same way : and the Epistle to the Hebrews, because the author of 
 it was long in dispute, was placed at the end of the epistles of Paul, as being 
 probably written by him. James, as Bishop of Jerusalem, precedes Peter ; Peter 
 precedes John, as the supposed chief jof the apostles ; and John, the beloved dis- 
 ciple, Jude. The Book of the Revelation, as being long disputed in the Christian 
 Church, was thrown to the conclusion of the New Testament Scriptures. 
 
 Of the fourteen epistles attributed to St. Paul, (thirteen only of which bear 
 his name,) this has been reckoned the first in importance, though certainly not in 
 order of time ; for there is every reason to believe that both the Epistles to the 
 Thessalonians, that to the Galatians, those to the Corinthians, the first to Timo- 
 thy, and that to Titus, were all written before the Epistle to the Romans. 
 
 ITS STYLE. 
 
 [As in general we can best apprehend and estimate the style of a writer in 
 connexion with his character, so is it with the Apostle Paul. The attributes which 
 especially characterize Paul's originality as an author are, power, fulness, and 
 warmth. If to these is added perspicuity of unfolding thought, Ave have all 
 united which ennobles an orator. But fulness of ideas and warmth of feelings 
 often bring with them a certain informality of expression ; the very wealth of 
 the productive power does not always leave time to educate the thoughts which 
 are born into the light — to arrange and select the feelings. Together with the ex- 
 cellences above mentioned, something of this defect is found in the style of the 
 great Apostle to the Gentiles. 
 
 [The high claims of St. Paul to the reputation of eloquence were acknowledged 
 by Christian antiquity. We have, also, an honourable testimony to the same effect 
 from one of the most celebrated critics of heathen Rome, the fragment of Lon- 
 ginus, where he ranks Paul with the first orators of ancient times, adding, however, 
 the remark, that he appears more to persuade than to demonstrate. 
 
 [We have this question to ask ourselves: with what ideas, as to the ability of the 
 apostle as a writer, ought the believing Christian to approach his works ? The Fa- 
 thers themselves frequently confess that the whole character of Christianity for- 
 bids us from seeking classical elegance in the outward style of the New Testa- 
 ment: — as the Son of God appeared in his life on earth in a state of humiliation, so 
 also the word of God . . . While, therefore, we cannot see that the believing Christ- 
 ian is entitled to assume in him an academic correctness of syllogistic form, a 
 conscious and perfect appreciation of adequacy of expression, reaching to the use 
 of every particle, we cannot consent to accept an especially low estimate of the 
 style of the apostle. 
 
 [That the great apostle was no ordinary thinker — that he did not, after the man- 
 ner of enthusiasts carried away by warmth of feeling, write down what he him- 
 self did not understand — is beyond question ; but that all which hitherto has been 
 accounted in him negligence or inaccuracy of expression proceeded from conscious 
 intention of the writer, can neither be justly assumed nor convincingly shown. — 
 
 TholuckA 
 
 SOME MINOR CHARACTERISTICS. 
 
 [1) Frequent and complicated antitheses, requiring great caution and discrimi- 
 nation in exegesis. For often the different members of the antithesis are not to be 
 
 13
 
 PREFACE TO THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 
 
 taken in the same extent of meaning ; sometimes the literal and metaphorical 
 significations are interchanged in a curious and intricate manner, so that perhaps 
 in the iirst member of two antithetical clauses the subjeel may be literal and the 
 predicate metaphorical, and in the second, vice versa, the subject metaphorical 
 
 and the predicate literal. Sometimes, again, the terms of one member are to be 
 amplified to their fullest possible, almost to an exaggerated, meaning; whereas 
 those of the second are to be reduced down to their least possible, almost to a de- 
 preciated, meaning. To retain such antitheses in a version or exegesis is, of 
 course, generally speaking, impossible ; the appropriateness of the terms depends 
 very much on their conventional value in the original language. Then comes the 
 difficult task of breaking up the sentence, and expressing neither more nor less 
 than the real meaning under a different grammatical form ; an attempt almost 
 always sure to fail even in the ablest hands. 
 
 [2) Frequent plays upon words, choice of words from their similarity of sound. 
 Much of the terseness and force of the apostle's expressions is necessarily lost in 
 rendering them into another language, owing to the impossibility of expressing 
 these paronomasias ; and without them, it becomes exceedingly difficult to ascer- 
 tain the real weight of the expression itself ; to be sure that we do not give more 
 than due importance in the context to a clause whose aptness was perhaps its 
 chief characteristic, and on the other band, to take care that we do not overlook 
 the real importance of clauses whose value is not their mere aptness, but a' deep 
 insight into the philosophy of the cognate words made use of, as exponents of 
 lines of human thought ultimately convergent. 
 
 [3) Accumulation of prepositions, often with the same, or very slightly different, 
 meanings. That this is a characteristic of St. Paul's style there can be no doubt ; 
 and the difficulty created by it is easily obviated if this be borne in mind. The 
 temptation of an expositor is to endeavour to give precise meaning and separate 
 force to each preposition, thereby exceeding the intention of the sentence, and dis- 
 torting the text by elevating into importance clauses of comparative indifference. 
 
 [4) The frequency and peculiarity of his parenthetical passages. The difficulty 
 presented by this characteristic is, in few words, that of disentangling with pre- 
 cision such clauses and passages. The danger is twofold : 1) lest we too hastily 
 assume an irregular construction, not perceiving the parenthetical interruption ; 
 
 *2) lest we err on the other hand, which has more commonly been the case, in assum- 
 ing the existence of parenthetical clauses where none exist. St. Paul's parentheses 
 are generally well marked to the careful observer ; and it must be remembered 
 that the instances of anacoluthon and irregular construction are at least as fre- 
 quent : so that we are not, for the sake of clearing up a construction, to throw in 
 parentheses, as is often done, to the detriment of the sense. — Alford.] 
 
 SYNOPSIS OF THE EPISTLE. 
 
 ["Were I to select a motto which would, in a single brief sentence, designate 
 the substance of what this epistle contains, it should be taken from the apostle 
 himself : Xpiorog iyfiv dinaioovvn re nai ayiao/iog, ( Christ our justification and 
 sanctijication.) 
 
 [The first five chapters exhibit Christ as the author and efficient cause of our 
 
 justification. After an appropriate and affectionate introduction, (chapter i, 
 
 1-16,) the apostle proceeds to show that the Gentiles had universally transgressed 
 
 the law of God which was written on their hearts, because they had indulged in 
 
 a great variety of sins which they knew to be wrong. (Chapter i, 17-32.) He 
 14
 
 PREFACE TO THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 
 
 next proceeds to show that the Jews were even more guilty still, inasmuch as 
 they had sinned against more light and more distinguished privileges. (Chapter 
 ii, 1-3, 19.) He now draws the conclusion from these premises, that justifica- 
 tion hy deeds of law — that is, on the score of merit or on the ground of perfect 
 obedience — is impossible; for, inasmuch as all men have sinned against the law of 
 God, all are under its condemnation, and therefore grace or mercy only can save 
 them from perishing. This grace is vouchsafed only through Christ, and has 
 been procured by his sufferings and death in behalf of sinners. (Chapter iii, 
 20-31.) 
 
 [The Old Testament also teaches the same doctrine of gratuitous justification, 
 and that this should be extended to the Gentiles as well as to the Jews. (Chap- 
 ter iv, 1-25.) The happy fruits of such a state of justification — peace with God, 
 support and consolation in the midst of trials and sufferings, a hope which maketh 
 not ashamed and never can be disappointed, are next described. (Chapter v, 1-1 1.) 
 And that it is perfectly proper and becoming on the part of God to extend those 
 blessings to all, both Jews and Gentiles, is strikingly taught by the exhibition of 
 the fact, that all have been made to share in the evils which flowed from the apostasy 
 of our original progenitors. (Chapter v, 12-19.) Even in those cases where sin 
 has exhibited its greatest power, the grace of the Gospel is made to triumph over 
 it. (Chapter v, 20, 21.) Thus is Christ, our Justification, set forth by the 
 apostle. 
 
 [He next comes to exhibit Christ, our Sanctificatiom". This important topic 
 he introduces by discussing the objection raised against the doctrine of gratui- 
 tous justification, namely, that it tends to encourage sin. He shows, in the first 
 place, from various considerations, the incongruity and impossibility of this. 
 (Chapter vi, 1-23.) He then proceeds to contrast a state of grace, and the means 
 and motives to holiness which it furnishes, with a legal state ; and to show that 
 in the latter the sinner has no hope of maintaining a holy character, while in the 
 former he is abundantly furnished with the means of doing it ; consequently that 
 a state of grace, so far from encouraging men to sin, affords them the only hope 
 of their being able to subdue and mortify sin. (Chapter vii, 1-8, 17.) 
 
 [The apostle then, as he had before done at the close of his discussion respect- 
 ing justification, (chapter v, 1-11,) goes on to show the consolation which the 
 Gospel affords, under the various troubles of the present life, (chapter viii, 18-27;) 
 and in the sequel he concludes, as in the former case, with exultation in the cer- 
 tainty of future and eternal glory to all who truly love God. (Chapter viii, 
 28-39.) The part of the epistle properly doctrinal concludes with the eighth 
 chapter. 
 
 [Chapter ix discusses the objection raised against the dealings of God with his 
 creatures, when he makes some of them the distinguished subjects of his mercy, 
 and passes by others. Chapter x confirms still further, by various considerations, 
 and particularly by texts cited from the Old Testament, the idea that the Jews 
 who remain in unbelief are and must be cut off ; and therefore that this is not a 
 new or strange doctrine. Chapter xi continues to urge the same subject ; but at 
 the close deduces from it the cheering consolation, that even the rejection of the 
 Jews will be made a great blessing to the world, as it will be the occasion of sal- 
 vation being sent to the Gentiles. And if their rejection be attended with conse- 
 quences so important, then surely their reception again will fill the world with its 
 happy fruits. 
 
 [The rest of the epistle is hortatory, and is adapted specially to warn the 
 
 15
 
 PREFACE TO THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMAN'S. 
 
 Church at Rome against certain errors to which, in their circumstances, they were 
 peculiarly exposed ; to avoid pride and envious distinctions, etc., and to conduct 
 themselves kindly, affectionately, and peaceably. (Chapter xii, 1-21.) Next, they 
 are exhorted to a quirt and orderly demeanour toward the civil authorities, (chap- 
 ter -\iii, 1-7 ;) and next, t<> observe the great law of love toward all men. (Chap- 
 ter xiii, 8-14.) And yet further, the Gentile Christians are admonished to respect 
 tin' scruples of their Jewish brethren respecting eating meat offered to idols, etc., 
 (chapter xiv, 1-15 ;) and on the other hand, the Jews are admonished that their 
 Gentile brethren have equal rights and privileges with themselves, under the gos- 
 pel dispensation. (Chapter xv, 8-13.) The writer then expresses his good hopes 
 concerning them all, his kind and tender regard for them, and his purpose in re- 
 spect to visiting them. Lastly, he subjoins the salutations of various Christians 
 who were with him; cautions them against those who seek to make divisions among 
 them; and concludes with a doxology. — Stuart.~\ 
 
 ANALYSIS OF THE EPISTLE. 
 I. The Introduction, (i, 1-15.) 
 a. Address of the Epistle, (i, 1-7.) I b. The Writer's Motives, (i, 8-15.) 
 
 II. The Doctrine : " The Righteousness of God by Faith," (i, 16-viii, end.) 
 
 a. The Theme, (i, 16, 17.) 
 
 b. The Universal Need of Righteousness, (i, 18- 
 
 iii, 20.) 
 
 c. The Universality of Righteousness by Faith, iii, 
 
 21-v, end.) 
 
 d. The Sanctification of Believers, (vi-viii, end.) 
 
 III. The Doctrine Reconciled with Israel's Unbelief, (ix-xi, end.) 
 
 a. Mourning for Israel, (ix, 1-5.) 
 
 b. God's Promise has not Failed, (ix, 6-13.) 
 
 c. Nor is there any Injustice in God, (ix, 14-18.) 
 
 d. God's Will may not be Questioned, (ix, 19-21.) 
 
 e. God's Justice and Mercy Vindicated, (ix, 
 
 22-29.) 
 
 /. The Paradox Explained, (ix, 30-33.) 
 
 g. The Cause of Israel's Stumbling, (xi, 1-4.) 
 
 It. The Testimony of Moses, (x, 5-10.) 
 
 i. The Righteousness of Faith is offered to all, 
 
 but Rejected by Israel, (xi, 11-21.) 
 j. The Restoration of Israel, (xi, 22 to end.) 
 
 IV. Exhortations to Christian Duties, (xii-xv, 13.) 
 
 a. Duties toward God and toward Men, (xii, I b. Special Exhortations to Mutual Forbearance 
 xiii.) between Christians, (xiv, 1-xv, 13.) 
 
 V. Conclusion, (xv, 13, to end.) 
 
 a. The Writer's Motives and Prospects, (xv, I b. Concluding Salutations, (xvi, 1, to end.) 
 
 14—33.) — Speaker's Commentary. 
 
 16
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE 
 
 TO 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAUL, a servant of Jesus Christ, "called to 
 be an apostle, 'separated unto the gospel 
 of God, 2 ( c Which he had promised afore d by 
 
 a Acts 22. 21 ; 1 Cor. 1. 1 : Gal. 1.1:1 Tim. 1. 11 : 2. 7: 2 Tim. 
 
 1. 11. /_;Acts 9. lo; la. 2; Gal. 1. Ij. oSee on Acts 2(5. 6; 
 
 Titus 1. 2. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER I. 
 1. Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ — The word 
 doi'Aoq, servant, properly means one who is the en- 
 tire property of his master. Paul felt he was not 
 his own, and that his life and powers belonged to 
 his heavenly Owner, and that he had no right to 
 dispose of or employ them but in the strictest sub- 
 serviency to the will of his Lord. "I am wholly 
 the Lord's ; and wholly devoted, in the spirit of sac- 
 rificial obedience, to the constant, complete, and 
 energetic performance of the divine will." [The 
 meaning of the title, "servant of Jesus Christ," is 
 not to be derived from the condition of the Greek 
 slaves ; its Hebrew origin is clearly seen when St. 
 James (chapter i, 1) calls himself "a servant of 
 God and of the Lord Jesus Christ." In the Old 
 Testament, " servant of God," or " servant of Je- 
 hovah," is applied to all worshippers of the true 
 God, (Deut. xxxii, 36, etc.,) but more emphatically 
 to those who are specially called to God's service. — 
 Speaker's Commentary.} Called to be an apostle 
 — [This title was not conferred on Paul by the word 
 of the Holy Spirit, (as in Acts xiii, 2,) but in virtue of 
 his special call by the Lord in person. — Alford.] 
 The word undarohig, apostle, signifies (in its ordinary 
 use) simply a messenger or envoy ; but here it 
 means an extraordinary messenger ; one sent by God 
 himself to deliver the most important message on 
 behalf of his Maker ; that is, to preach the Gospel 
 to the nations. The word kXijtoc, called, signifies 
 here the same as constituted, and should be joined 
 with uttcigto7.oc, as it is in the Greek, thus : Paul, 
 a servant of Jesus Christ, a constituted apostle, etc. 
 As it is likely that no apostle had been employed in 
 founding the Church of Rome, and there was need 
 of much authority to settle the matters that were 
 there in dispute, it was necessary he should show 
 them that he derived his authority from God, and 
 was immediately delegated by him to preach and 
 write, as he was now doing. Separated unto the 
 gospel — Set apart and appointed to this work, and 
 to this only ; as the Israelites were separated from 
 all the people of the earth to be the servants of 
 Vol. II.— 2 
 
 his prophets in the holy Scriptures,) 3 Con- 
 cerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, e which 
 was r tnade of the seed of David according to 
 the flesh ; 4 And s declared h to be the Son of 
 
 d Chap. 3. 21 ; 16. 26; Gal. 3. 8. e Matt. 1. 6,16: Luke 1. 32; 
 
 Acts 2. 30; 2 Tim. 2. 8. /Jolm 1. 14; Gal. 4. 4. g Gv. deter- 
 mined. A Acts 13. 33. 
 
 God. (See Lev. xx, 26.) [The divine call at Da- 
 mascus was the crisis of St. Paul's life which de- 
 termined his future course ; henceforward he was 
 " a chosen vessel to bear Christ's name before the 
 Gentiles and kings, and the children of Israel." — 
 Speaker's Commen tary.~\ 
 
 2. Which he had promised afore — Both in 
 the law and in the prophets God showed his purpose 
 to introduce into the world a more perfect and 
 glorious state of things ; which state was to take 
 place under the Messiah. 
 
 3. Concerning his Son — [nt-pi, in respect to, that 
 is, promised by the prophets about, Christ.] [The 
 news of salvation God had previously promised 
 through his prophets; . . . they also foretold this, its 
 future proclamation. — Meyer.] The Gospel relates 
 every thing concerning the conception, birth, preach- 
 ing, miracles, passion, death, resurrection, and as- 
 cension of Jesus Christ. According to the flesh 
 — [Kara aupna. Flesh is here used exactly as in 
 John i, 14, to signify that whole nature, body and 
 soul, of which the outward visible tabernacle of the 
 " flesh " is the concrete representation to our 
 senses.] [The words ek anepjiarog Aavtid cast a 
 hint back at the promise just spoken of. . . . They 
 also serve to show, that even on his human side his 
 descent had been fixed in the line of him who was 
 Israel's anointed and greatest king. — Alford.] 
 
 4. And declared to be the Son of God — See 
 the note on Acts xiii, 33. The word opiaOivroc, in 
 this place, signifies such a manifest and complete ex- 
 hibition of the subject as to render it indubitable. 
 The resurrection of Christ from the dead was a 
 manifest proof of our Lord's innocence, the truth 
 of his doctrine, and the fulfilment of all that the 
 prophets had spoken concerning him. With pow- 
 er — 'Ev (hvdfiei, with a miraculous display of di- 
 vine energy. [Manifested by power (to be) the 
 Son of God.] Some apply the word here to 
 the proof of Christ's sonship; as if it were said 
 that he was most manifestly declared to be the 
 Son of God with such powerful evidence and argu- 
 ment as to render the truth iuesistible. Accord- 
 
 17
 
 ROMANS. 
 
 ilutatlon 
 
 'l! I. 
 
 God with power, according ' to the Spirit of 
 holiness, by the resurrection from the dead: 
 
 ,> By win. mi «r have received grace and 
 apostleship for ,n obedience to tlie fait h among 
 all nations, 'I'm- hi- name: <> Among whom 
 are ye also the called of Jesus Ohrisl : 7 To 
 all that be in Rome, beloved <>f God, "called to 
 nts: pGrace to you, and peace, from God 
 Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, w First, 
 «i I thank ray c ;< h 1 through Jesus ( !hris1 for you 
 all, that r your faith is spoken of throughout 
 
 ; II l.. 'i. It. /t-Chxp. 12. ■>.; 1".. I".: 1 Cni 15.10; Gal. 1. 15; 
 2.9; Euh. :'•. -. — / Or, t" fir ,,!ir<l ii>ir,< ,,; raith.— m Acts 
 t; 7; chap. Irt. 26. — n Vcts9. !"■- -oChap. 9. 24; 1 Cor. 1. 2: 
 
 l r •-- t. 7. /' l Cor. 1.3; 2 Cor. 1.2: <4nl. I. 3. fflCor. 
 
 1.4; Phil. I. 3; Col. 1. 3,4; 1 Thess, 1. 'J; Philem. I. 
 
 ing to the Spirit of holiness — [Kara nvsviia uyi- 
 uovvnc, the Spirit of Christ himself, in distinction 
 from his flesh, a spirit to which holiness belongs as 
 an essence. -Afford.] By the resurrection from 
 [nt'l the dead — [Christ's rising was a resurrection 
 of tlu dead, (plural,) because in him the germinal 
 hop.' of mankind received a first fulfilment. Others 
 had been raised by prophets of ..Id, and by Christ 
 himself, but only to die again. "Christ being 
 raised from the dead dieth no more." — Speaker's 
 Commentary.] [Tin. 1 resurrection of Christ was: 1) 
 A work performed in the spirit world, (hades,) where 
 he displayed his power over death by coming out 
 of that stat,'. ■!) This was done in his twofold 
 icter — God-man, and so his triumph over death 
 was in oat- nature. '■'<) As Christ in his Messiahship 
 i- not only ,' man, hat man — the Head and repre- 
 sentative of the whole race — his resurrection was 
 his public act lor all mankind. '\Ve are risen to- 
 gether with Christ.] 
 
 5. By [through] whom — [The words "Jesus 
 Christ our Lord,'' in verse '■'>, are misplaced, and 
 should follow- the-end of verse 4. (See Revised 
 Version.)] [A/' oh, through wlwm, denotes nothing 
 
 else than the i,n dl lit m : nowhere, not. even ill Gal. 
 i, 1, the causa principalis, (the chief or real cause.) 
 The view- of the apostle is, that he had received 
 "grace and apostleship" through the mediation 
 of Christ. — Meyer.] Grace and apostleship 
 — [Xuptv ical uitooTo%rjv, is to he taken as (first) a 
 designation of general grace, (that of calling ami 
 til.- forgiveness of sin-,) and (second) of particular 
 grace, (hi- election to he an apostle.) — Olshausen.] 
 For obedience to the faith — [In order to bring 
 about "obedience to the faith " (acceptance of and 
 submission to the Gospel) among all the nation-.] 
 For his name — [By his grace, and for his glory.] 
 
 6. Are ye also the called — Ye Romans (as well 
 as others) are all invited to believe in Christ Jesus, 
 for the salvation of your souls; and to you, with 
 the rest, my apostolical mission extends. | By add- 
 ing this description of those whom he addresses, 
 St. Paul, while asserting his own authority, at the 
 same time ' their position as beingalready 
 members of Christ's Church. — Speakers Conunnt- 
 tar, I. 1 
 
 7. To all . . . beloved of God — [As reconcile, 1 
 with foul through Christ they are " beloved of 
 
 God," ami as those who have bi me separated 
 
 from the world (by their divine calling) and con, > 
 crated to Coil, they are called " saints." — Meyer.] 
 [This calling is both objectivi ami subjective, the 
 former as proceeding from (hid to men ; the latter, 
 a- becoming a quickening and renewing power in 
 the souls of those who hear and accept the lieavenly 
 
 is 
 
 the whole world. !> For'God is my witness, 
 'whom I serve 'with my spiril in the gospel 
 of hi- Son. t hat v without ceasing J make men- 
 tion of you always in my prayers; 10 ■ Mak- 
 ing request, if by any means now at Length I 
 might have a prosperous journey * by the will 
 of God to come unto' you. II For I long to 
 see yon. thai > I may imparl unto you some 
 spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established ; 
 12 That is, that I may he comforted together 
 •with yon by "the mutual faith both of yon 
 
 rChap. 16. 19; 1 Thess. I. 8. sCh p. 9. I; 2 Cor. I 23: 
 Phil. 1.8; 1 Thess. 2. 5. t Acts 27. 23 ; 2 Tim. I. 3- wOr, in 
 my spirit. John I. 23, 2): Phil. 8. 
 n Chap. la. 23,32; I Tin— 3. 10 
 15. 29. z Or, in you 
 
 l Thess. ::. 10 
 . James I. 15. - u Chap. 
 U Titus 1.4:2 Pet. 1. I. 
 
 calling. ] Called to be saints— K/r/rnir uyioic, to 
 
 nil //in/ In in /in, iir. CONSTITUTED snin/s; for they had 
 
 already received the Gospel grace, and were formed 
 into a Christian Church. Grace to you — Xuoic 
 run-: may you be partakers of the divim favour, 
 the source whence every Messing is derived. [ TLtipic, 
 grace, i- the disposition, the subjective feeling in 
 th.d and Christ, which the apo-tle wishes to i.e en- 
 tertained toward and shown to his readers; peace, 
 Etpj/vn, is the actual result which is produced through 
 the manifestation of the grace. . . . The specifically 
 Christian element in this salutation lies in the ref- 
 erence to "God our Father and the Lord Jesus 
 Christ."— --Meyer.] 
 
 8. First, I thank my God — From this to the 
 end of verse 17 is given the preface, in which the 
 apostle endeavours to conciliate the goodwill of 
 the Christians at Rome, and to prepare their minds 
 for his reproofs ami exhortations. Your faith is 
 spoken — KaTayye/J.erai, is celebrated "through- 
 out the whole world," in every place where the 
 Christian religion is professed, through all parts of 
 the Roman dominions ; for in this sense we should 
 understand the words, "the whole world." 
 
 !t. For God is my -witness — [There could lie no 
 other witness to his practice in his secret prayers 
 but God. . . . Thus calling God to witness is no un- 
 common practice with Paul. — Alford.] — Whom I 
 serve with my spirit — Aarpevo), whom 1 worship 
 with the profoundest rrlii/imi.s n n reuee. Probably 
 St. Paul opposes, in this place, the spiritual wor- 
 ship of the Gospel to the i.rirrniil. or what some 
 call the carnal, worship of the .]i'\\<. Mine is not 
 a religion of ceremonies, hut one in which the life 
 and power of the Eternal Spirit are acknowledged 
 ami experienced. [The serving God in his spirit 
 was a guarantee that his profession was sincere, 
 ami that the oath just taken was no mere form, 
 hut a solemn and earnest appeal of his spirit, (his 
 
 conscience before God.) — Alford.] 
 
 10. Making request, etc.— By this we see how 
 earnestly the apostle longed to see Rome. It had 
 long been a subject of continual prayer to God, that 
 he might have a prosperous journey to, or rather 
 meeting with, them. That he had a prosperous 
 meeting with them, we cannot doubt ; that he had a 
 disastrous journey to them, chapter xxvii of the 
 Acts fully proves. 
 
 11. Some spiritual gift — [St. Paul hopes that 
 in Kome, as elsewhere, hi- pei sonal ministry may he 
 attended with some gift of Cod'.- Holy Spirit, that 
 may confirm and strengthen his brethren in the 
 principles and practiceof tin.' Christian life. — Speak- 
 ers Commentary. ] 
 
 12. That I may be comforted together with
 
 Pan! asserts the Go?pei to be the 
 power of God unto salvation. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 A. M. 4CIH2. A. P. C8 
 Year of Rome, 811. 
 
 and me. 13 Now I would not have you igno- 
 rant, brethren, that 'oftentimes 1 purposed to 
 come unto you, (but c was let hitherto,) that I 
 might have some d fruit e among you also, even 
 as among other Gentiles. 14 f I am debtor 
 both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; 
 both to the wise, and to the unwise. 15 So, 
 
 l> Chap. 15. 21 cSee Acts 16. 7: 1 Thess. 2. 18. d Phil. 
 
 4. 17. e Or, in you. — ,/'! Cor. 9. in. gPsa. 40. 9, 10; Mark 
 
 you — He here, with great address, intimates that 
 he longs for this opportunity, as well on his own ac- 
 count as on theirs, and to show them that he arro- 
 gates nothing to himself; for he intimates that it 
 will require the action of both their faith and his 
 own to bring to them the blessings to which he refers. 
 
 13. But was let [hindered] hitherto — [The na- 
 ture of the hinderances is explained afterward, 
 (chapter xv, 22 ;) here the apostle only alludes to 
 them in a brief parenthesis, lest he should seem to 
 have changed his purpose lightly, and so hastens 
 to the motive of his oft-intended visit. — Speaker's 
 Commentary.] That I might have some fruit, 
 etc. — [By this fruit the apostle meant nothing for 
 himself, but only acquisition for the kingdom of 
 God, which still, under the influence of pure love, 
 he regards as his own gain. ... In the term " fruit," 
 KapTov, he has in mind the image of the sower (and 
 especially of the reaper.) — Olshausen.] 
 
 14. I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to 
 the Barbarians — The apostle considers himself, 
 by his apostolical office and call, under obligation 
 to preach the Gospel to all people, as far as the 
 providence of (iod might open his way. 
 
 15. I am ready to preach — UpdOvuov, I have 
 a ready mind. I was only prevented by the provi- 
 dence of God from visiting you long ago. His time 
 is best ; in the mean time I write, by his direction, 
 to comfort and instruct you. 
 
 16. I am not ashamed of the gospel of 
 Christ — This text is best illustrated by Isa. xxviii, 
 16; xlix, 23, quoted by the apostle, chapter x, 11 : 
 For the Scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on 
 him shall not be ashamed; that is, they shall neither 
 be confounded, nor disappointed of their hope. [In 
 the presence of all the glory of Rome, its pomps 
 and luxuries and victories, the apostle was not 
 ashamed of the Gospel, however mean its origin, or 
 foolish its character, in men's estimation, the reason 
 for which he immediately adds :] [To evayye?uov, 
 not the work or business of conveying the message, 
 but the message itself. — Meyer.] It is the power 
 of God unto salvation — Kvvautc yap Qtnv Igtlv. 
 [This expression asserts more than that the Gospel 
 is " a powerful means in the hinds of God," and 
 is based on the fact that it is the living self- 
 manifestation and effluence of God, as pi//ia Qeov, 
 (the word of God.) — Meyer.] The almighty power 
 of God accompanies this preaching to the souls of 
 them that believe ; and the consequence is, they 
 are saved; and what but the " power of God " can 
 save a fallen, sinful soul ? [n«rrt ru ttigtfvovtl, 
 tn every one believing. The universality implied in 
 the word Ttavrl, (all,) the condition necessitated in 
 tiie tticstevovtl, (believing,) and the dvvauie Qeov, 
 (power of God,) acting etc truTr/piav, (unto, or to- 
 ward, salvation,) are the great subjects treated of 
 in the former part of this epistle. . . . This ex- 
 presses more than merely "justification by faith," 
 which is in fact only a subordinate part of the meat 
 theme — only t lie condition necessitated by man's 
 sinfulness for his entering into the state of salva- 
 
 as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the 
 gospel to you that are at Rome also. Hi For 
 5 1 am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: 
 for ''it is the power of God unto salvation to 
 every one that believeth; 'to the Jew first, and 
 also to the Greek. 17 For '< therein is the 
 righteousness of God revealed from faith to 
 
 8. 38 : 2 Tim. 1. 8.^7*. 1 Cor 1. 18: 15. 2. i Luke 2. 30-32 ] 
 
 24.47: Acts 3. 26; 13.26,46; chap. 2..9. k Chap. 3. 21- 
 
 tion ; whereas the argument extends beyond this, 
 to the death unto sin, and life unto God, and carry- 
 ing forward of the sanctifying work of the Spirit 
 from its firstfruits even to its completion. — 
 Alford.] To the Jew first, and also to the 
 Greek — Though God's salvation has hitherto been 
 apparently confined to the Jewish people, yet it 
 shall be so no longer, for the Gospel is sent both to 
 Gentiles and Jews ; God having put no difference 
 between them ; and Jesus Christ having tasted death 
 for every man. 
 
 17. For therein — In the Gospel of Christ. Is 
 the righteousness of God — God's method of sav- 
 ing sinners. [AtKaioovi/Tj Qeov, is the justification 
 which God bestows, or of which God is the author; 
 that state of pardon and acceptance which is the re- 
 sult of mercy proffered in the Gospel, and dispensed 
 on account of the atonement made by Christ. . . . 
 It is regarded as something which, belongs to men. 
 . . . A state or condition of which God is the au- 
 thor or giver. — Stuart.] Revealed from faith 
 to faith — Shown to be by faith, and not by the 
 works of any law ; for Abraham was justified by 
 faith before even the law was given. And thus 
 the faith of the old covenant led on to the faith 
 of the new covenant, which shows that salvation 
 has been by faith from the call of Abraham to 
 the present time. [ 'Ek itIgtiuc tic ttigtlv, from, 
 faith, as the condition or subjective ground of 
 justification, to faith, for increase of faith. [As 
 this plan of salvation is the subject-matter of the 
 gospel, so in this gospel that which previously, though 
 prefigured by the justification of Abraham, was an 
 unrevealed mystery, (pvGT?'/piov.) namely, righteous- 
 ness from God, is revealed, (u.770K7]Av-riTai,) inas- 
 much as the gospel makes known both the accom- 
 plished work of redemption itself, and the means 
 whereby man appropriates the redemption, namely, 
 faith in Christ, which, imputed to him as right- 
 eousness, (chapter iv, 5,) causes man to be regarded 
 and treated by God, out of grace, (dupedv, chapter 
 iii, 24,) as righteous, (dinaioc;) so that he, like one 
 who has perfectly obeyed the law, is certain of the 
 Messianic bliss destined for the righteous, (fiiiiaioi.) 
 The so-called aeticc obedience of Christ is not in- 
 eluded in the meritorious cause of the divine justi- 
 fication, but is to be regarded as the fulfilment of 
 a preliminary condition necessary to the death of 
 Jesus, so far as the justification of man was ob- 
 jectively based on the latter. Without the com- 
 plete active obedience of Christ, (his sinlesssness,) 
 his passive obedience could not have that merito- 
 rious cause. (2 Cor. v, 21.) — Meyer.'] The just 
 shall live by faith— This has been understood 
 two ways: 1) That the just or righteous man can 
 not live a holy and useful life without exercising 
 continual faith in our Lord Jesus: which is strictly 
 true; for he only who has brought him into that 
 state of salvation can preserve him in it ; and he 
 stands by faith. 2) It is contended by some able 
 critic- that the words of the original text should be 
 pointed thus : 'O 6't dinaioc in ttcgteuc, Ci/nirai. 
 
 19
 
 A \l. I • \. ". 58. 
 
 ^ . .r oi R , M ;. 
 
 ROMANS. 
 
 The existence «n. 
 made Ituowu i-\ 
 
 ;'i: 
 
 faith: as it is written. 'The just >hall live by 
 faith. 18 '"For the wrath of God is revealed 
 from heaven again si all ungodliness and un- 
 righteousness <>f men, who hold the truth in 
 unrighteousness; IJ> Because "that which 
 may he known of God is manifest "in them; 
 
 / Hab. ■:. i; John :;. SB: Gal. 3. n : Phil. 3. 9: Heb. 10. 3 
 m Acts 17. 80; Eph. o. 6; Col. 3.6. -n Arte 14, 17. 
 
 istby faith shall live; that is, he alone that 
 i.> justified i>y faith shall be saved: which is also 
 true ; as it is impossible to get salvation in any 
 other way. This last meaningis probably the true 
 on i, as the original text in Hah. ii, 1, speaks of 
 those who believed the declarations of God when the 
 Chaldeans besieged Jerusalem, and, having acted 
 comformably to these, escaped with their lives. 
 
 18. For the wrath of God is revealed — The 
 apostle has now finished hispreface, and conies to 
 the grand subject of the epistle; namely, to show 
 the absolute need of the Gospel of Christ because 
 of the universal corruption of mankind ; winch was 
 sc great as to incense the justice of (!od, and call 
 aloud for the punishment of the world. 1) He 
 shows that all the heathen nations were utterly cor- 
 rupt, and deserved this threatened punishment. 
 An I this is the subject of the first chapter, from 
 verse 18 to the end. 2) He shows that the Jews, not- 
 withstanding the greatness of their privileges, were 
 no better than the Gentiles ; and therefore the wrath 
 of God was revealed against them-, also. This sub- 
 ject he treats in chapter ii, and chapter iii, 1-19. 
 '■'<) lie returns, as it were, on both, (chap, iii, 20-31,) 
 and proves that, as the Jews and Gentiles were 
 equally corrupt, they could not he saved by the 
 deeds of any law ; that they stood equally in need of 
 that salvation which God had provided; that both 
 were equally entitled to that salvation, for God was 
 the God of the Gentiles as well as of the Jews. By 
 bpyr) deov, the wrath <>f God, we are not to under- 
 stand any uneasy passion in the divine mind; but 
 the displeasure of his righteousness, which is ex- 
 pressed by the punishments inflicted on iheungodly 
 — those who retain not God in their knowledge — 
 and on the unrighteous — those whose lives are profli- 
 gate. As, in the Gospel, the riglvteousness of God 
 is revealed for the salvation of the ungodly, so the 
 the wrath of God is revealed against the workers of 
 iniquity. Those who refuse to be saved in the way 
 revealed by his mercy, must be consumed in the 
 waj revealed bj his justice. [The revelation of the 
 ju licial vengeance of God against sin was contained 
 in the traditional law of tic Gentiles, sometimes 
 called natural law, confirmed and illustrated by the 
 of (I. id's moral government. — Watson.'] 
 [ Wrath is an affection of the personal God, having 
 a necessary connexion with his love. The wrath 
 of God, the reality of which is indisputable as the 
 very pre-supposition of the work of atonement, is 
 in its energy, the love of the holy Cod (who is 
 neither neutral nor one-sided in his affection) for 
 a.ll that is good, as antagonistic to all that is evil. . . . 
 From heaven — The dwellingplace and throne of 
 God is designated as the place from which the ;-, ve- 
 lation of the wrath <>f God issues. ... It descends 
 from lieaven, as a divine matter of fact. — Meyer.'] 
 Ungodliness — Wnijnar, a/In ism, polytheism, and 
 idolatry of every kind. Unrighteousness — 'Af5t- 
 Kiav, everything contrary to strict molality; all 
 viciousness and profligacy of conduct. Who hold 
 20 
 
 forrCod hath showed it unto them. 20 For 
 »the invisible things of him from the creation 
 of the world are clearly se< n. being under- 
 stood by the tilings that are made, <rrn his 
 
 eternal power and Godhead; r so thai they 
 are without excuse: 21 Because that, when 
 
 oOr, to them. /< John 1.»9. ffPsa. 19. 1, etc. 
 
 17. ^7. / Or, Unit Hi, y may he. 
 
 Acts 14. 17; 
 
 the truth in unrighteousness — [ , A?.?/6eiai>, is that 
 Irnili which the light of nature taught respecting 
 the eternal power and Godhead of the Creator. — 
 Stuart.] This may bespoken of the Centiles in 
 general, who either did know, or might have 
 known, much of God from the works of creation, 
 as the apostle intimates in the following verses. 
 But Rosen miiller, and some others, contend that 
 the word Karsxrfv, here, does not signify to hold, 
 but to hinder; and that the passage should be trans- 
 lated, ii'hn through maliciousness hinder the truth : 
 that is, prevent it from taking hold of their hearts 
 and from governing their conduct. This is certainly 
 a very usual acceptation of the verb Krttv\ Cr/ these 
 men hindering, by their vicious conduct, the truth 
 of God from being propagated in the earth. Of 
 men who hold back the truth in iniquity — 
 [Who, possessing enough of the germs of religious 
 and moral verity to preserve them from abandon- 
 ment, have checked the development of this truth 
 in their lives, hv udiiiia, in the love and practice of 
 sin. — Alford.] 
 
 19. That which may be known of God — Dr. 
 Taylor paraphrases this and the following verse 
 thus : "Although the Gentiles had no written reve- 
 lation, yet what may be known of God is every- 
 where manifest among them, God having made a 
 clear discovery of himself to them. For his being 
 and perfections, invisible to our bodily eyes, have 
 been, ever since the creation of the world, evidently 
 to be seen, if attentively considered, in the visible 
 beauty, order, and operations observable in the con- 
 stitution and parts of the universe ; especially his 
 eternal power and universal dominion and provi- 
 dence; so that they cannot plead ignorance in ex- 
 cuse of their idolatry anil wickedness. 
 
 20. The invisible things of him — Cod's invis- 
 ible perfections are manifested by his visible 
 works, and may be apprehended by what he has 
 made; their immensity showing his omnipotence; 
 their vast variety and contrivance his omniscience; 
 and their adaptation to the most beneficent pur- 
 poses his infinite goodness and philanthropy. His 
 eternal power — 'Atfitog avrov dvvatfic, that all- 
 powerful energy that ever was, and ever will exist; 
 so that, ever since there was a creation to be sur- 
 veyed, there have- been intelligent beings to make 
 that survey. And Godhead — Beiorvg, his acting 
 us God'w the government and support of the uni- 
 verse. His works prove his being; the government 
 and support of these works prove it equally. Crea- 
 tion and providence forma twofold demonstration of 
 God, first, in the perfections of his nature ; and, sec- 
 ond, in the exercise of those perfections. [Qeiorng, 
 divinity, (notgodhead, which would be 9ror?,r. ) The 
 laet that the Creator is divine — is of a different, im- 
 tiirr from ourselves, and accompanied by distinct 
 attribute-, and those of the highest order — which 
 we call divine. See Alford.] [The 8'iotwc, is the 
 totality of that which God is, as a Being possessed 
 of divine attributes, as tfftov, the collective sum of
 
 escrlption 
 
 of tli e df based 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 they knew God, they glorified him not as God, 
 neither were thankful; hut s became vain in 
 their imaginations, and their foolish heart was 
 darkened. 22 ' Professing themselves to he 
 wise, they hecame fools, 23 And changed 
 the glory of the uncorruptible "God into an 
 image made like to corruptible man, and to 
 birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping 
 things. 24 v Wherefore God also gave them 
 up to uncleanness, through the lusts of their 
 own hearts, " who dishonour their own bodies 
 
 sSKinga 17. 15; Jer. 2. 5; Eph. 4. 17, 18. (Jer. 10. 14. — 
 
 u Deut. i. lti, etc. ; Psa. Hlii. 20; Isa. 40. 18,2-5: Jer. 2.11; Ezek. 
 
 8. 10; Acts 17. 2s). c Psa. 81. 12; Acts 7. 42; Eph. 4. 18, 19; 
 
 2Thess. 2. 11, 12. 
 
 divine realties. . . . The eternal power, this aspect 
 of his deiOTTjC, which comes into prominence at first 
 and before all others, and the divinity of God in 
 its collective aspect, are rationally perceived and 
 discerned by means of his Works. — Meyer.] 
 
 21. Because that, when they knew God — 
 When they thus acquired a general knowledge of 
 the unity and perfections of the divine nature, they 
 glorified him not as God. Wherefore God, in pun- 
 ishment for their sin in thus turning his truth info 
 a lie, suffered even their mysteries (cultus) to de- 
 generate into an odious sink of vice and immorality ; 
 giving them up unto all uncleanliness and vile af- 
 fections. They glorified him not — They did not 
 give him that worship which his perfections required. 
 [Tli ■ expression, did not glorify him as God, is em- 
 phatic. They were not ignorant of his existence ; 
 their poets and other writers sometimes said noble 
 things respecting him, . . . but their imaginary deities 
 wholly displaced the Supreme God in their thoughts, 
 so that he was neither trusted nor worshipped. — 
 Watson.] 
 
 22. Professing themselves to be wise — This 
 is most strikingly true of all the ancient philoso- 
 phers, whether Greeks or Romans, (Indians or Chi- 
 nese,) as their works which remain sufficiently 
 testify. The word (puoKovres, signifies not merely 
 the prof 'easing, but the assumption, of the philosophic 
 character. Became fools — [This becoming fool- 
 ish must be understood as something self-incurred, 
 produced through the conceit of independence. . . . 
 He ithenism is not the primeval religion from which 
 man might gradually have risen to the knowledge 
 of the true God, but is, on the contrary, the result 
 of a falling away from the known original revela- 
 tion of the true God in his works. — Meyer.] 
 
 23. And changed the glory, etc. — The finest 
 representation of their deities was in the human 
 figure; and on such representative figures the sculp- 
 tors spent all their skill. And when they had 
 formed their gods according to the human shape, 
 they endowed them with human passions ; and as 
 they clothed them with attributes of extraordinary 
 st length, beauty, wisdom, etc., not having the true 
 principles of morality, they represented them as 
 slaves to the most disorderly and disgraceful pas- 
 sions ; excelling in irregularities the most profligate 
 ot men, as possessing unlimited powers of sensual 
 gratification. And to birds — As the eagle of Ju- 
 piter among the Romans, and the ibis and hawk 
 among the Egyptians ; which were all sacred ani- 
 mals. Fourfooted beasts — As the apis or white 
 ox among the Egyptians ; from which the idolatrous 
 Israelites took their golden calf. The goat, the 
 monkey, and the dog, were also sacred animals 
 among the same people. Creeping things — Such 
 
 'between themselves: 25 Who changed J the 
 truth of God z into a lie, and worshipped and 
 served the creature * more than the Creator, 
 who is blessed for ever. Amen. 26 For this 
 cause God gave them up unto b vile affections: 
 for even their women did change the natural 
 use into that which is against nature: 27 And 
 likewise also the men, leaving the natural use 
 of the woman, burned in their lust one toward 
 another ; men with men working that which 
 is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that 
 
 wl Cor. 6. 18 ; 1 Thess. 4. 4 ; 1 Pet. 4. 3. <r Lev. 18. 
 
 22. 
 
 V 1 Thess. 1. H; 1 Jolin 5. £0. — slsa. 44. 20; Jer. 10. 14 
 
 13.25; 
 
 Amos 'J. 4. a Or, rather. b Lev. 18. 22,21!; Epli 
 
 5. 12; 
 
 Jude 10. 
 
 
 as the crocodile, and searabams, or beetle, among the 
 Egyptians. [St. Paul is here describing the origin 
 of actual idolatry. . . . The statues of the gods of 
 Greece by which he was surrounded at Corinth may 
 have been in his mind as he wrote, but idols in hu- 
 man form were common in all heathen count lies, 
 and the apostle is here giving a view of the origin, 
 and growth of idolatry in general, not (merely) a 
 description of any particular form of it existing in 
 his time. — Spieaker''s Commentary.] 
 
 24. God . . . gave them up, etc. — [As a penal 
 retribution for their apostasy. — Meyer.] They had 
 filled up the measure of their iniquities, and God, by 
 permitting them to plunge into all manner of irreg- 
 ularities, thus, by one species of sin, inflicted pun- 
 ishment on another. [Because they had perversely 
 shut their eyes against the rational evidences of 
 the divine Being, they were now left without the in- 
 ward illumination and spiritual quickening of the 
 divine Spirit — given up to uncleanness ] [As sin 
 begets sin, and darkness of mind deeper daikness, 
 grace gives place to judgment, and the divine wrath 
 hardens men, and hurries them on to more fearful 
 degrees of depravity. — Alford.] Dishonour their 
 own bodies — Probably alluding here to what is 
 more openly expressed, verses 26 and 27. Be- 
 tween themselves — 'Ev iavroig, of themselves, of 
 their own free accord; none inciting, none impelling. 
 
 25. Changed the truth of God into a lie — In 
 the place of the true worship of God, they estab- 
 lished idolatry. In various places of Scripture 
 idols are termed lies. (Isa. xliv, 20 ; Jer. x, 14 ; 
 and xiii, 25.) The true God was known among the 
 primitive inhabitants of the earth ; those who first 
 became idolaters literally changed the truth of God 
 into a lie; they did know the true God, but they 
 put idols in his place. 
 
 26. For this cause God gave them up, etc. — 
 Their system of idolatry necessarily produced all 
 kinds of impurity. How could it be otherwise, when 
 the highest services of their worship were adultery, 
 fornication, and prostitution of the most infamous 
 kind? Of the abominable evils with which the apos- 
 tle charges the Gentiles in this and the following 
 verse, [tlufir/ uria'tag, lust of infamy, stronger than 
 uriga nu6n, a setting forth the status of the soul, 
 spoken of first, as being the most revolting to na- 
 ture— (see Alford.)] a multitude of proofs could be 
 produced from their own writings. 
 
 27. Receiving in themselves that recom- 
 pense, etc. — [The apostle treats this uTtuia (de- 
 bauchment) into which they fell, as a consequence oj \ 
 a retribution for, their departure from God into 
 idolatry with which, in fact, it was closely connected. 
 This shame, and not its (natural) consequences, which 
 are not here treated of, is the uv-iiicoUia (retribu- 
 
 21
 
 year of Ro 
 
 t, 811. 
 
 ROMANS. 
 
 P:iul'- descripM 
 
 • - Of lite I 
 
 recompense of their error which was meet. 
 •j* Ami even as they did not like'to retain 
 God in their knowledge, God gave them oyer 
 to d a reprobate ingnd, to do those things 8 which 
 are nol convenient; 2J> Being filled with all 
 unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, cov- 
 etousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, 
 debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, :$<> Back- 
 
 c Or, to acknowledge. — dOr, <i mind void of judgment. 
 i. 5.4. — /Or, unsociable. 
 
 biters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boast- 
 ers, inventors of evil things, disobedienl to 
 parents, 31 Without understanding, covenant- 
 breakers, r without natural affections, implaca- 
 ble, unmerciful: ti'2 Who, & knowing the judg- 
 
 nieiit of God, that they which commit such 
 
 thin-- ai-e i worthy of death, not only do the 
 
 same, hut 'have 1 ' pleasure in them that dotliem. 
 
 g Chap. 2.2- 
 
 -h Ch;ip. 6. 21. /Or. consent tcith them. 
 
 Al'sa. 50. 18; Hos. 7. 3. 
 
 of their nTidvn, thru- aberration from the 
 knowledge of God, which thej received. — Alford."] 
 
 28. They did not like to retain God — It 
 would, perhaps, be more literal to translate ovk 
 itioKifiaoav, they did not search to retain God in 
 their knowledge. Here we sec the hand of a just 
 and avenging God; they abused their powers, and 
 God deprived them of the right nseof these powers. 
 [They neglected this because they had no liking to 
 the subject, were averse to a truth so holy, and 
 reproving to their vices. Thus the infidelity and 
 ignorance are traced to the heart, its true source in 
 all ages. — Watson. \ 
 
 29. Being filled with all unrighteousness — 
 'AtiiKta, every vice contrary to justice and right- 
 eousness. Fornication — liopveia. Some of the best 
 MSS. omit this reading; and others have anaddpo-ia, 
 uncleanness. Wickedness — liovr/ph, malignity. 
 Covetousness — W/.Eove^la, the intense love or lust 
 of gain. Maliciousness — Kania, malice, ill-"-;!!, 
 (badness for its own sake.) Full of envy — $66- 
 vov, "pain felt and malignity conceived atthasighl 
 of excellence or happiness in another." Murder 
 _<p6j/ov, killing, mortal hatred. Debate — "EpiSog, 
 contention, discord. Deceit — A-</or, lying, falsity, 
 pn varication, imposition. Malignity — KaitondLac, 
 bad customs, founded in corrupt sentiment, pro- 
 ducing evil habits, supported by general usage. It 
 is generally interpreted, a malignity of mind, which 
 
 its possessor to put the worst construction on 
 every action; ascribing to the best deeds the worst 
 motives. Whisperers — ^idupiarilr, secret de- 
 tractors; those "ho, under pretended secrecy, carry 
 about accusations against their neighbours, whether 
 true or false ; blasting their reputation by clandes- 
 tine tittle-tattle. This word should he joined to the 
 succeeding verse. 
 
 30. Backbiters — KaraXu?>ovc, detractors, slan- 
 derers. Haters of God — Qeoorvyslg, contemners 
 of sacred things, maligners of providence, scorners, 
 etc. Despiteful — 'Yflptorrdr, stormy, boisterous, 
 abusing both the characters and persons of those 
 over whom they have power. Proud — 'Yirepntpu- 
 vovc, arrogant; magnifying themselves at the ex- 
 pense of their neighbours. Boasters — 'Aafovac, 
 self -assuming, vain-glorious. Inventors of evil 
 things — '"Eipevperac kokC'v, inventors of debasing 
 rites. Those who have invented destructive cus- 
 toms, rites, fashions, etc., the orgies of Bacchus, 
 the mysteries of Ceres, the Lupercalia, feasts of 
 Bona Dea, etc. Multitudes of which evil things, de- 
 structive and abominable ceremonies, are to be 
 found in every part of the heathen worship. Dis- 
 obedient to parents— Though filial affection was 
 certainly more recommended and cultivated than 
 many other virtues, yet there are many instances 
 on record of the grossest violation of this great 
 branch of the law of nature. 
 
 31. Without understanding — WovvfteTove, 
 destitute of capacity for spiritual things. Cove- 
 22 
 
 nant-breakers — Wnvvdirovr, persons who could 
 be hound by no oath, because, properly speak- 
 ing, they had no God to witness or avenue their 
 misconduct. A- every covenant or agreement is 
 made as in the presence of (iod, so he that opposes 
 the being and doctrine of God is incapable of being 
 Konnd by any covenant ; he can give no pledge for 
 his conduct. Without natural affection — 'Aff- 
 Topyovc, without that attachment which nature 
 teaches the young of all animal- to have to their 
 mothers, and the mothers to have for their young. 
 The heathens, in general, have made no scruple to 
 expose the children they did not think proper to 
 bring up, and to despatch their parents when they 
 were grown old or past labour. Implacable — 
 'Aonovdovf. It was customary among all nations to 
 pour out wine as a filiation to their gods, when 
 making a treaty. This was done to appease the 
 angry gods, and reconcile them to the contracting 
 parties. The word here shows a deadly enmity; 
 the highest pitch of an unforgiving spirit ; in a 
 word, persons who would not make reconciliation 
 either to God orman. Unmerciful — kve"kevubvac; 
 those who were incapable, through the deep-rooted 
 wickedness of their own nature, of showing mercy 
 to an enemy when brought under their power, or 
 doing any thing for the necessitous, from the prin- 
 ciple of benevolence or commiseration. 
 
 '■VI. Who, knowing the judgment of God — 
 AwaiAjpa, the grand mile of right which God has 
 revealed to every man, the knowledge of which he 
 has, less or more, given to every nation of the 
 world. In the worst states of heathenism this 
 great principle has been acknowledged ; but, 
 through the prevalence of corruption in the heart, 
 this law, though acknowledged, was not. obeyed ; 
 and the corruption increased so that those were 
 
 highest in repute who had cast oil' all restraints of 
 this kind; so that they even delighted in them; 
 ovvEvdoKoioi, highly applauded, and gladly associa- 
 ted with those transgressors; which argues the 
 very highest pitch of moral depravity. 
 
 [This view of the pagan world is part of the apos- 
 tle's great argument. He lays it down that the 
 Gospel is a divine provision for man's salvation; 
 that every sinful man needs it, because " the wrath 
 of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodli- 
 ness of men;" and that the whole Gentile world 
 needed it, because they were all actually offenders, 
 and as such worthy of death. This is the connex- 
 ion of this black catalogue of pagan immoralities 
 with his argument. — Watson. | 
 
 The world's need of just such a display of mercy 
 and goodness, as is shown in the incarnation ami 
 death of God's Son, is seen in the deep-rooted and 
 widely extended corruption and profligacy of the 
 nations of the earth. Of these the apostle gives a 
 most affecting and distressing picture. Almost 
 every trace of original righteousness had been
 
 Thp condemning sin in others, does 
 not excuse it in the condemnor. 
 
 CHArTER II. 
 
 . M. 41162. A. D. 58. 
 Year of Rome, 811. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THEREFORE thou art a inexcusably man, 
 whosoever thou art that judgest : b for 
 wherein thou judgest another, thou condem- 
 nest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the 
 same tilings. 2 But we are sure that the judg- 
 ment of God is according to truth against them 
 which commit such things. 3 And thinkest 
 thou this, O man, that judgest them which do 
 
 a Chap. 1.20. 6 2 Sara. 12. 5-7; Matt. 7. 1,2; John 8. 9. 
 
 cChap. 9. 23; Eph. 1. 7; 2. 4, 7. d Chap. 3. 25. e Exod. 
 
 34. 6. /Isa. 30. 18: 2 Pet. 3. 9, 15. 
 
 obliterated. The proofs of God's eternal power and 
 providence, so manifest in the creation and preser- 
 vation of the universe, were wholly disregarded. A 
 vain philosophy, without right, principle, or end, 
 was substituted for those divine truths which had 
 been disclosed originally to man. Their hearts 
 were contaminated with every vice which could 
 blind the understanding, pervert the judgment, cor- 
 rupt the will, and debase the affections and pas- 
 sions. This was proved in the most unequivocal 
 manner, by a profligacy of conduct which had de- 
 based them far below the beasts; and the apostle 
 here gives a list of their crimes, every article of 
 which can be proved from their own history and 
 their own writers ; crimes which, even bad as the 
 world is now, would shock common decency to de- 
 scribe. [And these were the accepted opinions of 
 the wisest and most renowned of the teachers of 
 heathen antiquity.] Thus, they liecame vainin their 
 imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened; 
 and prof essing themselves to be wise, they became fools. 
 
 By all this we see what the world was, and what 
 it would have continued to be, had not God sent a 
 divine revelation of his will, and established a pub- 
 lic ministry to proclaim and enforce it. Were man 
 left to the power and influence of his fallen nature 
 he would be, in all places of his dispersion on the 
 earth, what the apostle describes in the last three 
 verses of this chapter. 
 
 Reader, magnify God, who has called thee from 
 such deep darkness to the marvellous light of the 
 glorious Gospel of his Son ; and walk as a child of 
 the light and of the day, in whom there shall be no 
 cause of stumbling. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER II. 
 [Having shown (chapter i, 18-32) that the Gen- 
 tiles were for their sins obnoxious to the divine 
 wrath, and therefore had need of some other way of 
 justification than by obedience to God's law, which 
 other way he designates " the righteousness of 
 God," dinawovvn dcov, the apostle proceeds (chap- 
 ter ii-iii, 20) to declare that the Jews also were in- 
 volved in the same condemnation, so that they 
 could not condemn the Gentiles for their wicked- 
 ness without at the same time condemning them- 
 selves. The "unrighteousness" of the Gentiles 
 was flagrant and obvious, while that of the Jews 
 was more subtle, and needed to be more carefully 
 characterized ; accordingly we have the detailed ac- 
 count of Gentile wickedness held forth as a mirror, 
 in which the true character of Jewish unrighteous- 
 ness might be clearly seen. In both cases the de- 
 sign was to set in a strong light the universal sin- 
 fulness of mankind, so making "justification" im- 
 possible except as an act of pure grace on the part 
 of God, the righteous Judge. And so, by demon- 
 strating the universality of the condemnation, he 
 prepares the way to bring fully into view " God's 
 
 such tilings, and doest the same, that thou shalt 
 escape the judgment of God ? 4 Or despisest 
 thou c the riches of his goodness and ''forbear- 
 ance and e longsuffering : f not knowing that the 
 goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? 
 5 But, after thy hardness and impenitent heart, 
 fftreasurest up unto thyself wrath against the 
 day of wrath and revelation of the righteous 
 judgment of God; 6 h Who will render to 
 
 g Deut, 32. 34 : James 5. 3. h Job 34. 11 : Psa. 62. 12 ; Prov. 
 
 24. 12; Jer. 17. 10; 32. 19; Matt. in. 27; chap. 14. 12; 1 Cor. 3. 8; 
 2 Cor. 5. 10 ; Rev. 2. 23 ; 20. 12 ; 22. 12. 
 
 righteousness " — needed equally by all, and adapted 
 equally to the wants of Jews and Gentiles.] 
 
 1. Therefore — [Aio, referring back to the ?nain 
 tenor of the whole previous exposition ... as set- 
 ting forth the moral condition of heathenism, in re- 
 spect to its inexcusableness. Thou art inexcus- 
 able — A manifest glancing back to chapter i, 20. 
 Before the mirror of this Gentile life of sin all 
 excuse vanishes from thee, O man who judgest, 
 for this mirror reflects thine own conduct, which 
 thou thyself therefore condenmest by thy judg- 
 ment. — Meyer.'} Wherein thou judgest— ['Er u 
 KpiveLc, by the very thing as to which thou judgest 
 another, etc. The same things done by Jews 
 and Gentiles, though not identical in form, were so 
 in spirit and essentia! character.] 
 
 2. We are sure that the judgment of God, 
 etc. — God is righteous and impartial, and will pun- 
 ish sin without respect for the person of the sin- 
 ner. Transgression in a Jew is not less criminal 
 than iniquity in a Gentile. 
 
 3. And thinkest thou this, O man — [Here the 
 apostle approaches nearer to the Jews, (whom he 
 had not yet named.) They considered that because 
 thev were the children of Abraham they should be 
 saved. (See Matt, iii, 1-9.)— Al ford.] 
 
 4. Or — ["H, in case thou hast not this illusion.] 
 Despisest thou — [The despising the divine good- 
 ness is the contemptuous unconcern as to its holy 
 purpose, which produces as a natural cousequence 
 security in sinning. — Meyer.'] Not knowing — 
 'Ayvouv, not considering that this goodness of God, 
 which has so long manifested itself in forbearance 
 and long-suffering. Leadeth thee to repentance 
 — Was designed to accomplish this blessed end ; 
 which thy want of consideration and acknowledg- 
 ment has rendered hitherto ineffectual. This was 
 a maxim among the Jews themselves ; for in Sy- 
 nopsis Sohar it is said : The holy blessed God delays 
 his anger against the wicked, to the end that they may 
 repent and be converted. 
 
 5. But after — In consonance with. Thy hard- 
 ness — Occasioned by thy long course of iniquity. 
 And impenitent heart — Produced by thy hard- 
 ness, through which thou art callous to the calls and 
 expostulations of conscience. Treasurest up — 
 Continues! to increase thy debt to the divine jus- 
 tice. Against (iv, in) the day of wrath— [The day 
 of indignation or punishment. — Stuart.] [The rev- 
 elation of God's character as a righteous Judge 
 will consist in his rendering to every nan accord- 
 ing to his deeds. — Speaker's Commentary.] The 
 treasure of wrath, in this verse, is opposed to the 
 riches of goodness, in the preceding. As surely as 
 thou despisest or neglectest to improve the eichks 
 of God's goodness, so surel y thou shalt share in the 
 treasures of his wrath. The punishment shall be 
 proportioned to the mercy thou hast abused. 
 
 6. Who will render — God, in the day of judg- 
 
 23
 
 I. P. 58. 
 e, Ml. 
 
 ROMANS. 
 
 Impartiality of God in his 
 
 jndgiiM at "! in* ii. 
 
 every man accordingto liis deeds: 7 To them 
 who by patienl continuance in well doing 
 for glory and honour and immortality, eternal 
 life: 8 But unto them that are contentious, 
 and 'do not obey the truth, hut obey unright- 
 eousness, indignation and wrath, 9 Tribula- 
 tion and anguish, upon every soul of man that 
 doeth evil: of the -lew *firs.t, and also of the 
 ■Gentile; 10 '"Hut glory, honour, and peace, 
 to every man that worketh good: to the Jew 
 
 , ' .: chap. 1. l»\ 21 
 
 1-. i: I-: I Pi i. I. 17. /'■> I 
 
 X- Amos 3. 2; 
 
 m I Pet. 1. :.— 
 
 Luke 
 
 n (It. 
 
 raent, will reward or punish every man according 
 as his life and conversation have been. According 
 to his deeds — Kara tu Ipya avrov. ["Epya in- 
 cludes all the developments which a man makes of 
 himself, whether by outward or inward actions. — 
 Stuart.] [The verb, uTrotStW/, will render, has two 
 sets of objects: fust, eternal life, (verse 7,) and 
 glory, honour, and peace, (verse 1";) and second, in- 
 dignation and wrath, tribulation ami anguish (verses 
 ^, 9.) All these "ill he render, to each according to 
 his character and conduct.] 
 
 7. To them, etc. — In this manner will God, in 
 the great day, dispense punishments ami rewards: 
 1 ) He will give eternal life to them who, in all the 
 trials and difficulties of the present state have per- 
 
 / in well doing — seeking for and expecting — 
 glory, honour, and immortality. 
 
 8. But unto . . . contentious — 2) He will mani- 
 fest his indignation, and inflict wrath on all who are 
 contentious — who obstinately dispute against the 
 truth, and obey unrighteousness. 
 
 9. 10. The Jew first — As possessing greater 
 privileges, and having abused greater mercies. 
 Also ... of the Gentile — Who, though he had 
 not the same advantages, had what was sufficient 
 for his state ; and, having sinned against them, 
 shall have punishment proportioned to his demerit. 
 Every man that worketh good— That lives in 
 a conscientious obedience to the known will of God, 
 whether he lie Jew or Gentile, shall have glory, 
 honour, and peace; that is, eternal blessedness. 
 
 11. For there is no respect of persons with 
 God — As there is no respect of persons with God 
 in (the final ) judgment, so there can be none in the 
 previous administration of his saving; blessings. 
 He that will be condemned for his unrighteousness 
 will lie condemned on the ground that he had suf- 
 ficient grace afforded him for the salvation of his 
 soul ; and his condemnation will rest on the simple 
 principle that he abused the grace which was suf- 
 ficient to save him by acting iii opposition to its 
 dictates and influence [This remark serves as the 
 transition to what follows, not merely as the con- 
 firmation of what wentbefbre. As to what priced, d, 
 i: asserts that though the Jew has had great ad- 
 vantages, he .-hall lie justly judged for his use of 
 them, not treated as a favourite of Heaven: as to 
 what follows, it introduces a comparison between 
 him ami the Gentile to show how fairly he will be, 
 for those greater advantages, regarded as tt/j^t-oc 
 (first) in responsibility. — Alford.~] 
 
 12. For as many as have sinned without 
 law — f'Avo/uwc, beyond the purview of the) law, (of 
 Moses.) The Gentiles were not without law, though 
 they had not the law of Moses, and could not 
 therefore be judged by it, hut their own unwritten 
 and universal!} present law, against which all who 
 have sinned must be " judged " — condemned.] In 
 
 first, and also to the n Gentile : II For "there 
 i- no respeel of persons with God. 12 For as 
 
 many as have sinned without law shall also 
 perish without law: and as many as have 
 sinned in the law shall lie judged by the law; 
 I :{ (For i not the hearers of the law an just 
 
 before God, but the doers of the law shall he 
 
 justified. II for when the Gentiles, which 
 
 have not the law. do by nature the things con- 
 tained in the law, these, having not the law, 
 
 .. Dent. 1". IT: -' Chron. 1'.'. 7; Joli 34. 1"; lets 10. 34: Gal. 
 
 •J. i.: Epli. 6. '■'; Col. :;. -i.,\ 1 I'll. 1. 17.— /' .Matt. 7. 3 ; James 
 1. -J.', -J::. 25: 1 John l. 7. 
 
 24 
 
 the law — Under tin (Mosaic) law. [It is on that 
 very undeniable assumption, that nil who hav< Inula 
 lair given sliall I" judged I'// that law, that the apos- 
 tle constructs hi- argument, asserting it with regard 
 to the Mosaic law in the case of the Jews, and 
 proving that the Gentiles have had a law given to 
 them in the testimony of their consciences, (their 
 moral intuitions.) — Alford.] [No//«?, throughout 
 signifies lAe law of Moses, even when without the 
 article; except where the absence of the article 
 corresponds to a logical indefiniteness, (as in verse 
 14, last clause,) and even there not a law, but law. 
 —Alford.] 
 
 13. For not the hearers of the law, etc. — 
 Where God has given a lair — a divine revelation — 
 he requires obedience to that law ; and only those 
 who have been doers of the lavi — who have lived 
 according to the light and privileges granted in that 
 revelation — shall be justified. 
 
 14. For when the Gentiles, 'which have r.ot 
 the law, etc. — Nor does it follow that the (en- 
 tiles, who have not had a divine revelation, shall 
 either perish because they had it not, or their un- 
 righteous conduct pass unpunished because their 
 not having this revelation might be considered as 
 an excuse for their sins. Do by nature the 
 things contained in the law— Do, without this 
 divine revelation, through that light which God im- 
 parts to every man, the things contained in the 
 law — act according to justice, mercy, temperance, 
 and truth, the practice of which the revealed law 
 so powerfully enjoins. These . . . are a law unto 
 themselves — When the Gentiles which have not 
 the law, do, by the influence of God upon their 
 hearts, the things contained in the law, they are a 
 law unto themselves ; that light and influence 
 serving instead of a divine revelation. That the 
 Gentiles did really do the things contained in the 
 law, in reference to what is termed natural justice, 
 and made the wisest distinctions relative to the 
 great principles of the doctrine of civil rights and 
 wrongs, every one conversant with their writings 
 will admit. [The Gentiles had not tht law, but they 
 had law, (natural intuitions of right,] whose moral 
 purport was the same with that of //,, law, and 
 this law of righteousness their consciences duly 
 recognised, so devolving upon them just moral re- 
 sponsibilities.] Much stress has been laid on 
 tin- wind, uvGfi, by nature, in verse 1 I, as if the 
 apostle designed to intimate thai nature, indepen- 
 dently of the influence of divine grace, possessed 
 such principles as were sufficient to guide a man 
 to -lory. But certainly the term cannot he so un- 
 derstood here. I rather think that the seu-e given 
 to it inSi nut's T/iesaurus, (vol. ii, col. 1475,) reipsa, 
 revera, certainly, truly, is its sense here ; for 
 
 nli, n //ii (,',,,/i/iS, ir/iich hare in, I tin lain, tpVOll 
 
 ■nuLij, tkulv, or in effect, no the tilings contained in
 
 Neither Jews nor fientiles win 
 escape the judgment of God. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 A. M. 4062. A.D. 5? 
 Year of Rome, 811. " 
 
 are a law unto themselves: 15 Which show 
 the work of the law written in their hearts, 
 q their conscience also bearing witness, and 
 their thoughts r the mean while accusing or 
 else excusing one another;) 16 s In the day 
 when God shall judge the secrets of men 'by 
 Jesus Christ "according to my gospel. 17 Be- 
 hold, "thou art called a Jew, and w restest in 
 
 a Or, the conscience witnessing with them-. — r Or, i<< - 
 
 tirn'ii themselves. « Eccles. [-2. 14; Mutt. 25.31 ; John 12. 48; 
 
 chap. 3. fi; 1 Cor. I. 5; Rev. 20. 12. Uolin 5. 22; Acts 10. 42; 
 
 17.31; 2 Tim. 4. 1,8; 1 Pet. 4. 5. w Cliap. 16.25; ITim. 1. 11; 
 
 2 Tim. 2. 8. 
 
 the law, etc. This seems to be its sense in Gal. 
 iv, 8: When ye knew not God, ye did service to 
 tin m which (Qvaei, certainly,) are no gods; that is, 
 are false gods. Suicer quotes Cyril of Alexandria, 
 (sub Anathematismo iii, in Actis Ephesiuis, p. 212,) 
 speaking of the union of the two natures in Christ, 
 rails this union (pvaisf/v, natural; that is, says he, 
 uAtjOi'/, true, or real. He adds, that the word should 
 he thus understood in Eph. ii, 3: We were by na- 
 ture, bvaei, children of wrath; and says, (pvaei uvrl 
 rov u/iTjfluc, fyvaei is here -used for aAr/OCig, truly: we 
 were truly, i.wontestably, the children of wrath, 
 even as others. That is, like the rest of mankind, 
 we have all sinned and come short of the glory 
 of God, and, consequently, are exposed to punish- 
 rnent. Some think that this text refers to the 
 natural corrupttion of man ; but, although it is true 
 that man conies into the world corrupt, and that 
 all men, since the fall, are very far gone from origi- 
 nal righteousness, yet it is not clear that the text 
 in Eph. ii, 3, speaks of any other thing than the 
 effects of this degeneracy. 
 
 15. Which show (manifest, demonstrate) the 
 work of the law — [Conscientiousness is a mani- 
 festation of the moral law in the heart.] — The 
 phrase, written in their hearts, is here opposed to 
 the Jewish laws, which were written on tables of 
 stone. The Jews drew the maxims by which their 
 conduct was regulated from a divine revelation; the 
 Gentiles theirs from what God, in the course of 
 his providence and gracious influence, had shown 
 them to be right, useful, and necessary. And with 
 them this law was well known and affectionately 
 regarded. It was from this true light, enlighten- 
 ing the Gentiles, that they had so many wise and 
 wholesome laws; laws which had been among them 
 from time immemorial, and of which they did not 
 know the origin. As if the apostle had said : And 
 this point, that they have a law and act according to 
 it, is further proved from their conduct in civil af- 
 fairs; and from that correct sense which they have of 
 natural justice in their debates, either in their courts 
 of law or in their treatises on morality. All these 
 are ample proofs that God has not left them with- 
 out light ; and that, seeing that they have such cor- 
 rect notions of right and wrong, they are account- 
 able to God for their conduct in reference to these 
 notions and principles. Thair thoughts the 
 mean while, etc. — {Judgments or reflections, the 
 self-judging voices of the conscience, which being 
 corrupted by sinful desires are often divided, 
 thought against thought in inner strife accusing, or 
 perhaps excusing.] One another— [Mera^v uXkfi- 
 /.uiv, between each other, at mutual intervals, alter- 
 nately; th.it i-, in successions — first one kind of 
 thoughts, that is, approbation; then another kind, 
 that is, disapprobation. — Stuart.] [•' One another," 
 refers to thoughts by way of opposition; the terms 
 
 the law, x and makest thy boast of God, 
 18 And ^knowest his will, and "approvest 
 the things that are more excellent, being in- 
 structed out of the law ; 19 And b art confi- 
 dent that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, 
 a light of them which are in darkness, 20 An 
 instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, 
 c which hast the form of knowledge and of the 
 
 r Matt. 3. 9; John 8. 33; ch. 9. 6. 7 : 2 Cor. 11. 22. io Micah 
 
 3.11; chap. 9. 4. sclsa. 45. 25; 48.2; John 8. 41. — u Deut. 
 
 4. 8; Psa. 147. 19, 2ft zO\\ trust the thing,* that differ. 
 
 a Phil. I. 10. //Matt. 15. 14; 23. 1H, 17, 19, 24: John 9. 34,40, 
 
 41. oChap. 6. 17; 2 Tim. 1. 13; 3. 5. 
 
 accusing and excusing are to be taken absolutely, 
 and no object should be understood.] 
 
 16. In the day when God shall judge — [In 
 that day. This frequently recurring clause is 
 usually referred to the great day of final judgment ; 
 it, however, not unfrequently has a more immediate 
 and direct application to God's rectorial dealings 
 with men in the present life.] And all this shall 
 be further exemplified and proved in the day when 
 God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesics Christ; 
 which judgment shall be according to my gospel — 
 according to what I am now laying down before 
 you, relative to the impartiality of God and his 
 righteous procedure in judging men, not according 
 to their opinions or prejudices, not according to 
 revelations which they never possessed, but accord- 
 ing to the various advantages or disadvantages of 
 their political, religious, or domestic situation in 
 life. 
 
 17. Behold, thou art called a Jew — [But if 
 thou art styled a Jew, or, if thou, a Jew. Two oppo- 
 site persons have been kept in contrast ; the one 
 having the law, and the other having a law ; the, 
 latter has been recognised as a Gentile, the for- 
 mer is now named as a Jew. The apostle now ad- 
 dresses his discourse to this latter ; as a repre- 
 sentative of a class whose self-righteousness and 
 pride of position he proceeds to expose and decry. 
 And restest in the law — The word kiravanairn 
 implies the strongest confidence of safety and se- 
 curity. Thou reposest thy whole trust and confidence 
 in this law. And makest thy boast of God — 
 The word navxaoai implies the idea of exulting in 
 any thing, as being a proper object of hope and de- 
 pendence. Referred to God, it points out that hi is 
 the sure cause of hope, dependence, joy, and hap- 
 piness. As if the apostle had said : You rejoice in 
 God as the object of your hope and dependence ; 
 you praise and magnify him ; you account it your 
 greatest honour that he is your God, and that you 
 worship him. 
 
 18. Knowest his will — Hast been favoured 
 with a revelation of his own will, immediately from 
 himself. The things that are more excellent — 
 Ta dia&ipovra, the things that differ; that revelation 
 which God has given of himself makes the nicest 
 distinctions between right and wrong; between 
 vice and virtue ; for all these blessings ye acknowl- 
 edge to receive from your law, being instructed, 
 KaTTjxm'uzrnc, catechized, in the knowledgeof divine 
 things, [through the public reading and exposition 
 of it in the synagogue. — Meyer.] 
 
 19. And art confident, etc. — Tn consequence of 
 all these religious advantages, ye believe thai ye 
 are able to teach others, and to be guides and 
 lights to the bewildered, darkened Gentiles, who 
 may become proselytes to your religion. 
 
 20. An instructor of the foolish, etc. — Yc 
 
 25
 
 A. n. 58 
 
 ROMANS. 
 
 Mere ontwnrd conformity to r'-li^ions 
 
 truth in the law. 21 d Thou therefore which 
 teachesl another, teachesl thou aot thyself? 
 thou that preachesl a man should not steal, 
 dost thou steal? 22 Thou thai sayesl a man 
 should nut commit adultery, dosl thou commit 
 adultery? thou that ahhorresl idols, e dost 
 thou commit sacrilege? 2:$ Thou that f mak- 
 est thy boasl of the law, through breaking the 
 law dishonouresl thou God '. 21 For the name 
 of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles 
 through you, as it is s written. 25 b For cir- 
 cumcision verily profiteth, if thou keep the 
 law: bu1 if thou be a breaker of the law, thy 
 
 d Psa. 5 1 . i tc. : Matt. 23. 3, etc. — e Mai 3. 8. — ./ Verse 
 
 17. </•-' S'ni. 12. U; Isa. 52. 5; Ezek. 36. 20,23. AGal. 5. 3. 
 
 /Art- [o. 34,35. — Matt. 12. 41.42. 
 
 believe the Gentiles to be babes or fools as com- 
 pared with yourselves ; that ye alone posse.-- the 
 only true knowledge: that ye are the only favour- 
 ites of Eeaven; and that all nations must look up 
 to you as possessing the only form of knowledge, 
 fiofxpuatv ri/(; yvuasug, the system of eternal truth 
 derived from the law. [Verses 19, 20 describe, 
 with a reference to the Jewish presumption and dis- 
 position to proselytize not to be mistaken, the in- 
 fluence which these Jews, in virtue of their theoretic 
 insight, fancied they exercised over the Gentiles. 
 The accumulated designations of the same thing 
 lend lively force to the description. — Meyer.] 
 
 21. Thou therefore — That the Jewish priest- 
 hood (and the people generally) was exceedingly 
 corrupt in the time of the apostle, and that they 
 were so long before, is fully evident from the sa- 
 cred writings and from Josephus. The high-priest- 
 hood was a matter of commerce, and was bought 
 '1 1 like other commodities. The rapine 
 of Eli's sons had descended through all their gen- 
 erations. Dr. Whitby well observes, that of all 
 these things mentioned by the apostle the Jewish 
 doctors were notoriously guilty ; and of most of 
 them theywt re accust I by our Lord. 1) Theysaid 
 and did not; and laid heavy burdens upon others, 
 which they would not touch with their own fingers. 
 (Matt, xxiii, 3, 4.) 2) They made the house of 
 <io | a den of thieves. (Matt, xxi, 13 ; John ii, 16.) 
 3) They were guilty of adultery by unjust divorces. 
 (Matt. six, 9.) 4) Their polygamy was scandalous. 
 As to idolatry, they were saved from it [outwardly] 
 since the Babylonish captivity; but to this 
 ie 1 sacrilege, as is most evident in the prof- 
 anation of the temple, by their commerce trans- 
 acted even within its courts; and their teaching the 
 people that even their aged parents might be left 
 to starve, provided the children made a present to 
 the temple of that which should have gone for their 
 support. Even their own writers acknowledge 
 
 that therew great irregularities and abominations 
 
 among the rabbins. 
 
 2 I . For the name of God is blasphemed, etc. 
 — [This statement, that the Jew by his tran 
 sum of "the law" dishonours "the God" who 
 gave it, i~ now confirmed and explained in language 
 borrowed from Isaiah lii, 5, but applied in a new 
 sense. The prophet means, that because God's 
 people are suffered to fall under the oppression of 
 their enemies, these last hold his name in contempt. 
 St. Paul'- meaning is, that the vices and sins of the 
 Jew make his religion and his God contemptible in 
 the sight of the heathen. — Speaker's Commentary.] 
 
 25. For circumcision verily profiteth — 
 26 
 
 circumcision is made uncircumcision. 2(> There- 
 fore, ' if the uncircumcision keep the righteous- 
 ness of the law, shall not bis uncircumcision 
 be counted for circumcision? 27 And shall 
 not uncircumcision which is by nature, if it 
 fulfil the haw, '• : judge thee, who by th e letter 
 and circumcision dosl transgress the law? 
 
 2* For 'he is not a dew. which is one out- 
 wardly; neither is that circumcision, which is 
 outward in the flesh: 29 But he is a Jew, 
 '"which is one inwardly; and n circumcision is 
 that of the heart, "in the spirit, and not in the 
 letter; p who-,- praise is not of men, but of God. 
 
 ?Matr.3.9: John 8. 39: chap.9 6,7; Gal. 6. 15; ltev.2.9. 
 — m 1 Pet. 3.4. — » Phil. 3. :: : Col. 2. 11. — oChap. 7. 6; 
 2 Cor. :;. B. — 1 ,\ Cor. 4. 5; 2 Cor. 10. 18; 1 Thess. 2. 4. 
 
 [Not in itself, but in the benefits of the covenantof 
 
 which it was the seal.] !t is a blessing to belong to 
 the Church of (hid. and wear the sign of the cov- 
 enant, provided the terms of the covenant are com- 
 plied with. But if thou be a breaker of the law 
 — If thou do not observe the conditions of the 
 covenant, the outward sign is both without mean- 
 ing and without effect. This was a maxim of the 
 rabbins themselves ; for they allowed that an apos- 
 tate or ungodly Israelite mil • 11, notwith- 
 standing his circumcision. Uncircumcision — 
 'Atcpo(3vaTia, the state of uncircumcision, Gentilism, 
 not within the covenant.] 
 
 26. Therefore, if the uncircumcision, etc. — 
 If the Gentile be found to act according to the 
 spirit and design of the law, his acting thus 
 uprightly, according to the light which God has 
 afforded him, will be reckoned to him as if he were 
 circumcised and walked agreeably to the law. 
 
 27. And shall not uncircumcision, -which is 
 by nature — And shall not the Gentile, who is in 
 tpvoewc, according to the custom of his country — 
 who is, by birth,noi obliged to be circumcised ? If 
 it fulfil the law — If such a person act according 
 to the spirit and design of the law ; judge, Kfiivei, 
 condemn thee, [" rise up in judgment against," see 
 Matt, xii, 41-42,] who, whilst thou dost enjoy the 
 letter, — the written law, — and bearest in thy body 
 the proof of the circumcision which it requites, 
 dost transgress thai l<tn % . 
 
 28. For he is not a Jew — Not a genuine mem- 
 ber of the Church of Cod, who has only an outward 
 profession. Neither is that circumcision — Cir- 
 cumcision is a rite which represents a spiritual 
 thing, namely, the change and purification of the 
 heart. (See Jer. iv, 4, 6, 10 ; ix, 26 ; Ezek. xliv, 7, 9.) 
 
 29. But he is a Jew — A true member of the 
 Church of God. Which is one inwardly — Who 
 has his heart purified, according to what Cod has 
 
 uniformly prescribed by his prophets ; see above ; 
 for circumcision if of (I" heart, in tht spirit, fcv 
 
 ■Kvevna-i, by the Spirit of Cod, who is the author of 
 all spiritual affections and holy put poses; or, every 
 thing here is to be understood spiritually, and not 
 literally ; for without holiness none please God, 
 and without holiness none can see him. [True 
 Judaism resides not in that which is external, but 
 in the hidden world of the interior. . . . He is not 
 a Jew who is so (only) openly; that is, not he who 
 shows himself to he a Judean in external, visible 
 exhibition, is a genuine Jew, answering to the (di- 
 vine) idea. — Meyer.] Whose praise is not of men 
 — [The true praise (inatvo^) in such a case must 
 come from him who sees in secret. — A/ford.]
 
 The apcstle sho 
 
 peculiar advantage 
 the Jews 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 . M. 4069. A. P. 58. 
 Year of Koine, 811. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 TT THAT advantage then hath the Jew? or 
 VV what profit is there of circumcision? 
 
 2 Much every way : chiefly, because that "un- 
 to them were committed the oracles of God. 
 
 3 For what if ''some did not believe? c shall 
 
 a Deut. 4. 7, 8 
 
 Psa. 147. 19,21): chap. 
 10. 16; 1 1 el). 4. 2. 
 
 18; 9. i. b Chap. 
 
 Such a one is a true Israelite, who walks in a con- 
 formity to the spirit of his religion ; his country- 
 men may praise him because he is a steady profes- 
 sor of the Jewish faith ; but God praises him be- 
 cause he has entered into the spirit and design of 
 the covenant made with Abraham, and has got the 
 end of his faith, the salvation of his soul. 
 
 1. What the apostle says in the preceding chap- 
 ter, concerning the Gentiles doing by nature the 
 things contained in the law, if properly considered 
 would lead certain persons from forming erroneous 
 judgments concerning the divine dispensations. We 
 are not to suppose that God is not to be found 
 where his written word does not appear ; nor that 
 the salvation of the nations yet unblessed with the 
 light of the Gospel is impossible. God has never 
 confined himself to any one particular way of com- 
 municating his salvation, any more than he has 
 confined his saving grace to one people. His word 
 is an indescribable blessing; but that word be- 
 comes effectual to salvation when accompanied by 
 the power of the Holy Spirit. It was that Spirit 
 which gave the word originally ; and that same 
 Spirit can speak without this word. It is through 
 his influence alone that the Gentiles do the things 
 contained in his own law ; and it is not to be won- 
 dered at that the work is the same, both in the law 
 and in the heart, when it has proceeded from the 
 same Spirit. 
 
 2. God therefore will judge all nations according 
 to the use or abuse they have made of this word, 
 whether it was written in the heart or written on 
 tables of stone. 
 
 3. As he is no respecter of persons, all nations 
 are equally dear to him ; and he has granted, and 
 will grant, to them such discoveries of himself as 
 have been and will be sufficient for their salvation. 
 
 4. His word is an infinite blessing ; and he has 
 given it to one people that they may be the means 
 of conveying it to another. Europe, and especially 
 Christian Europe, possesses the Bible ; and God re- 
 quires Europe to send the Bible throughout the 
 earth. If this be not done, through their neglect, 
 the Gentile nations will not be (indiscriminately) 
 destroyed by a merciful God; yet the Europeans 
 will have a most solemn and awful account to ren- 
 der to their Judge, so far as they have hidden the 
 heavenly light under their own bushel. The Gen- 
 tiles are now learning from the written law [and by 
 the voice of the missionary] more fully and savingly 
 what the Spirit of God had before written on their 
 hearts ; and it seems as if the kingdom of God 
 were now about to come with all-conquering power. 
 
 5. [It still remains to be determined, as matter of 
 fact, whether to any appreciable extent they who 
 have not the "law" — God's word — do really obey the 
 dictates of their own better natures. The motives 
 that are clearly revealed in the Gospel seem to be 
 necessary to enable men to subject their hearts and 
 lives to the requirements of their own better in- 
 tuitions.] 
 
 their unbelief make the faith of God without 
 effect? 4 d God forbid : yea, let e God be true, 
 but f every man a liar; as it is written, § That 
 thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and 
 mightest overcome when thou art judged. 
 5 But if our unrighteousness commend the 
 
 cNum. 23. 19: chap. 9. 6: 11. 29; 2 Tim. 2. 13. (/Job 40. 8. 
 
 e John :;. 33. — /Psa. 62. 9; 116. 11. g Psa. 51. 4. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER IIT. 
 
 [The apostle having shown in the first chapter 
 (verses 18-32) the condition of sin and guilt in 
 which the whole Gentile world was found, and in 
 the second chapter (entire) proved that the Jews 
 themselves were also subject to the same condem- 
 nation because of their personal unrighteousness, 
 notwithstanding their outward relations to the Old 
 Testament, now brings clearly into view the need 
 of some other way by which men might be saved, 
 though only a legal justification is as yet spoken of. 
 In the next chapter, after answering certain objec- 
 tions that were sure to arise in Jewish minds, the 
 apostle proceeds to establish the universality of 
 human guilt, (verses 9-18,) and then (verses 19-31) 
 brings fairly into view the way of salvation by 
 grace, through faith.] 
 
 As the first.nine verses assume the form of a dia- 
 logue between the apostle and a Jew, I shall give 
 the speakers with their questions and answers, to 
 make the whole the more intelligible to the reader. 
 
 1. Jew. What advantage then hath the 
 Jew ? or what profit is there of circumcision 
 — As if he had said: You lately allowed (chapter 
 ii, 25) that circumcision verily profited ; but if our 
 being in covenant with God raises us no higher in 
 the divine favour than the Gentiles ; if the virtuous 
 among them are as acceptable as any of us ; nay, 
 and condemn our nation, too, as no longer deserving 
 the divine regards, wherein lies the superior honour 
 of the Jew ? and what benefit can arise to him from 
 his being vested in the privileges of God's peculiar 
 people '? 
 
 2. Apostle : Much every way — The Jews, in 
 reference to the means and motives of obedience, 
 enjoy many advantages beyond the Gentiles ; and 
 principally because to them were committed the 
 oracles of God — that revelation of his will to Aloses 
 and the prophets, containing a treasure of excel- 
 lences, with which no other part of the world has 
 been favoured, though they (the Jews) have most 
 grievously abused these privileges. 
 
 3. Jew: For what — TZ yap, what then, if 
 some did not believe, etc. If some of the Jewish na- 
 tion have abused their privileges, and acted con- 
 trary to their obligations, shall their wickedness 
 annul the promise which God made to Abraham, 
 that he would, by an everlasting covenant, be a God 
 to him and to his seed after him ? (Gen. xvii, 7.) 
 Shall God, therefore, by stripping the Jews of their 
 peculiar honour, falsify his promise to the nation, 
 because some are bad men? 
 
 4. Apostle : God forbid — Mi/ yivoiro, lit it not 
 be, far from if, by no means. Yea, let God be 
 true, but every man a liar, etc. — We must ever 
 maintain that God is true, and that if, in any case, 
 his promise appear to fail, it is because the condi- 
 tion on which it was given has not been complied 
 with, [or else that our conception of the manner of 
 its fulfilment has been faulty.] 
 
 5. Jew. But if our unrighteousness commend 
 the righteousness of God — [Since, then, the 
 
 27
 
 ROMANS. 
 
 righteousness of God, whal shall we say? Is 
 God unrighteous who taketh vengeance? (I 
 speak as a man) O God forbid: for then 'how 
 shall God judge the world.'' 7 For if the 
 truth of God hath more abounded through my 
 lie unto his glory ; why yet am I also judged as 
 a sinner,? 8 And not rather, (as we be slan- 
 derously reported, and as some affirm that we 
 say.) 'Let us do evil, that good may come? 
 whose damnation is just. 9 What then? are 
 we better than they? No, in no wise: for 
 we have before ' proved both Jews and (Jen- 
 tiles, that "they are all under sin; lO As it 
 
 h Chapter (5. 19; <;:ii. 3. i">.- 
 
 /.• i 'haptei' '). 20 ; i>. 1, 15.— 
 
 2. 1. etc. 
 
 — iHen. 1". -.'.v. Job& :: : 34. 17. 
 -I (Jr. charged, chap. 1. 28, etc. : 
 
 unbelief of a part of the Jews would not make void 
 the truthfulness of God, but, on the contrary, it 
 should be triumphantly justified, may it not be said 
 that this unrighteousness all the more clearly brings 
 out the righteousness of God, and therefore may 
 not be righteously punished by God? The more 
 wicked we are, the more his faithfulness to his an- 
 cient promise is to be admired. And if so, would 
 not God appear unjust in taking vengeance and 
 casting us off ? I speak as a man — [This is said 
 (parenthetically, aside) by Paul, to excuse a suppo- 
 sition bearing with it an aspect of inconsistency or 
 impiety; not implying that he speaks in the person 
 of another, but that he puts himself into the place 
 of the generality of men, and uses arguments such 
 as they would use. — Afford.] [The apology in- 
 volved in these words is applicable to only what 
 goes b( t'orc, not to what follows. — MeyerJ] 
 
 6. Apostle: God forbid — Mn ykvono, bi/ no 
 means. God cannot be unjust; were he, he could 
 not be qualified to judge the world, nor inflict that 
 punishment on the unfaithful Jews to which I refer. 
 
 7. Jew: For if the truth of God, etc. — But 
 to resume my reasoning (see verse 5 :) If the faith- 
 fulness of God in keeping his promise made to our 
 fathers is, through our unfaithfulness, made far 
 more glorious than it otherwise would have been, 
 why should we then be blamed for that which must 
 redound so much to the honour of God? 
 
 8. Apostle: And not rather, etc. — And why 
 do you not say, seeing you assume this ground, that 
 in all cases we should do wickedly, because God, by 
 freely pardoning, can so glorify his own grace ? 
 This is a most impious sentiment, but it follows 
 from your reasoning; it has, indeed, been most in- 
 juriously laid to the charge of us apostles, who 
 preach the doctrine of free pardon, through faith, 
 without the merit of works ; but this is so manifest 
 a perversion of the truth that a just punishment 
 may in: expected to fall on the propagators of such 
 a slander. 
 
 9. Jew: What than — After all, have not we 
 Jews a better claim to the privileges of the king- 
 dom of God than the Gentiles have? Apostle: 
 No, in no wise — For I have already proved that 
 both Jew- and < ri-ntibjs are under the guilt of sin; 
 that they are equally unworthy of the blessings of 
 the Messiah's kingdom ; and that they must both, 
 equally, owe their salvation to the mere mercy of 
 God. (From this, to the end of the 20th verse, the 
 apostle proceeds to prove his assertion, that both 
 Jews and Gentiles were all under sin; and, that he 
 might enforce the conviction upon the heart of the 
 Jew, he quotes his own Scriptures.) 
 
 28 
 
 i- written. "There is none righteous, no. not 
 one: II There is none that underMandcth, 
 
 there is none that seeketh after God. 12 They 
 
 are all gone out of the way, they are together 
 
 become unprofitable; there is none that doeth 
 good, no. not one. I'i "Their throat is an 
 open sepulchre; with their tongues they have 
 used deceit; r the poison of asps 18 under their 
 lips: I J 'i Whose mouth is full of cursing 
 and bitterness: 15 r Their feet art swifl to 
 shed blood: 16 Destruction and misery are 
 in their ways: 17 And the way of peace 
 have they not known: IS 'There is no fear 
 
 m Verse 23; Gal. X 22. — « Psa. 14 1-3: 58. 1 — o Psa. 5. 9; 
 
 J.i'. :,. IB. /. Psa. 140. 3. — (j Psa. lu. 7. rVruv. ). It>; tea. 
 
 59. 7, 8. — gpsa. 36. 1. 
 
 10. As it is 'written — [The quotations (verses 
 LO— 18) arc taken from the Septuagint, with certain 
 variations partly due to quotations from memory, 
 and partly intentional, for the purpose of defining 
 the sense more precisely. The arrangement is such 
 that testimony is adduced lor — l) The state of sin 
 generally: (10-12:) 2) The practice of sin in word 
 (13, 14) and in deed: (15-17:) and 3) The sinful 
 source of the whole. — Meyer.] There is none 
 righteous — This is true, not only of the .lews hut 
 of the Gentiles ; of every soul of man, considered in 
 his natural anil practical state. 
 
 12. They are all gone out of the way — 
 fluirec e^EK/uvav, they have all diverged from the 
 right way ; the Jews, in forsaking the law and the 
 prophets; and the Gentiles in acting contrary to 
 the law which God had written on their hearts. 
 They are together become unprofitable — 
 ''HxpeuOr/Gav, good /"*■ nothing, lie view.- the whole 
 mass of mankind as slain and thrown together, to 
 putrefy in heaps. This is what is termed the cor- 
 ruption of human nature; they are infected and 
 infectuous. There is none that doeth good — In 
 verse 10 it is said, Thin is nam righteous; here 
 There is none that do<tJt </<><,tl; the first speaks gen- 
 erally, the second, specifically. If there be no right- 
 eousness within, there will be no acts of goodness 
 without. 
 
 13. Their throat is an open sepulchre — [The 
 open sepulchre is an emblem of pei'dition, to which 
 their throat, as the instrument of theii speech, is 
 compared. — Alford.] 
 
 14. Whose mouth is full of cursing, etc. — 
 ['Aptlc icai it in plac, poisonous imprecations.] 
 
 15. Their feet are swift to shed blood — They 
 proceed hastily and with alacrity to deeds of 
 violence. 
 
 In. Destruction and misery are in their 
 ways — Destruction is their work, and misery to 
 themselves and to the objects of their malice i.~ the 
 consequence of their impious and murderous con- 
 duct. 
 
 17. And the way of peace have they not 
 known — They neither have peace in themselves, 
 nor do they suffer others to live in quiet; they arc 
 breeders and fomentors of discord. 
 
 18. There is no fear of God before their 
 eyes — This completes their hail character; they 
 are downright atheists, at least practically such. 
 They fear not God's judgments, although his eye is 
 upon them in their evil ways. There is not one ar- 
 ticle of what is charged against the Jews and Gen- 
 tiles here that may not he found justified by the 
 histories of both in the most ample manner. And
 
 None can nhtain justification 
 with God by work.- of law. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 of God before their eyes. 19 Now we know 
 that what things soever 'the law saith, it saith 
 to them who are under the law: that "every 
 mouth may lie stopped, and v all the world may 
 become "guilty before God. 20 Therefore 
 x by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh 
 
 tjohn 10. 34; 15. 25. «JoV5. It!: Psa. 107. 42: Ezek. 16. 63: 
 
 chap. 1. 20: 2. I. /'Chap. 2. 2; verses 9, 23. wOr, mthject 
 
 to wiejwlgment of God. x Psa. 143. 2; Acts 13. 39: Gal. 2. lt>; 
 
 what was true of them in those primitive times is 
 true of them still. With very little variation, these 
 are the evils in which the vast mass of mankind de- 
 light and live. [The passages (10— 18) are quoted 
 from different psalms, and the last from Isaiah, 
 (chapter lix, 7, 8;) but it is clear that they were 
 understood by St. Paul as not only moral descrip- 
 tions of the Jews of a particular ape or class, but 
 of these persons as man, wicked and unrenewed, 
 and so equally descriptive of men in general, 
 either as to the tendencies of their nature, or their 
 actual overt acts. These passages, though applied 
 primarily to specific cases, are in such genera! terms 
 as naturally makes them of universal application 
 to "the children of men." In the last quota- 
 tion, taken from Isaiah, it seems upon the face of 
 the passage, that, from complaining of the wicked- 
 ness of his people, the prophet is carried out to 
 expatiate upon the wickedness of human nature, or 
 of men in general ; at least so he was evidently un- 
 derstood by the apostle, who was, independent of 
 his inspiration, a better judge of the Hebrew Scrip- 
 tures than some who have attempted to correct his 
 reasoning on this particular. — R. Watson-.] 
 
 lit. What things soever the law saith — 
 Either the term " law "must here mean the Jewish 
 writings in general, or that rule of moral conduct 
 whioh God had given to both Jews and Gentiles; to 
 the former in their own Scriptures ; to the latter in 
 that law written in their hearts by his own Spirit, 
 and acknowledged in their written codes, and in 
 their pleadings in every civil case. Now, according 
 to this great law, this rule of moral conduct, wheth- 
 er given in a written revelation, as to the Jews, or 
 by the secret inspiration of his Spirit, as in certain 
 cases to the Gentiles, every month, must he slopped, 
 and the whole world, true 6 icoo/ioc, both Jews and 
 Gentiles, stand convicted befor'e God; for all man- 
 kind have sinned against this law. [Here the whole 
 Old Testament — the law, prophets, and psalms is 
 included in 6 vogoc. This law speaks (Xfyet) certain 
 things, authoritatively to those who are under the 
 law, (Jews primarily, as they have the law, and Gen- 
 tiles also, since they have the same law in their 
 hearts, chapter i, 19. 20,) so that (iva) every month 
 may be stopped, for if the Jew's mouth is shut, and 
 his vaunting in the law taken away, then much 
 more the Gentiles, and the whole world, ttuc 6 Koafiac, 
 becomes (in character, subjectively) guilty before 
 God. See Alford.] [By the lain, the apostle 
 means the law of God in its manifestation, whether 
 to Jews or Gentiles ; the sense obliges us to this 
 general interpretation. — Watson.] [It is the pur- 
 pose of St. Paul to show that no man whatever can 
 be justified by the works either of the Jewish law 
 or any other. Hurra oap£, like 6 kog/ioc, cannot 
 but lie understood universally; and what follows, 
 for by the law is the knowledge of sin, is plainly a 
 universal proposition. — Bishop Middleton.'] [ 1 Ttt6- 
 Sikoc yrvr/rui, may be (adjudged) guilty; the law does 
 not constitute guilt, but ihtre/s and declares it.] 
 
 20. Therefore by the deeds of the law — 
 
 be justified in his sight : for ?by the law is the 
 knowledge of sin. 21 But now z tlie right- 
 eousness of God without the law is manifested, 
 'being witnessed by the law ''and the proph- 
 ets; 22 Even the righteousness of God which 
 is c by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon 
 
 3. 11 : Eph. 2 8. 9: Titus 3. 5. ;/Chap. 7. 7. z Acts 15. 11 ; 
 
 chap. I. 17; Phil. 3. 9; Heb. 11. 4, etc. a John 5. 4R: Acts 
 
 •X. 22. l> Chap. 1. 2 ; 1 Pet. 1. 10. c Chap. 4, throughout. 
 
 On the score of obedience to this moral law, there 
 shall no Jlesh, ov iruaa oups, no human being, be jus- 
 tified ; none can be accepted in the sight of God. 
 By the law is the knowledge of sin — It ascer- 
 tains what sin is; shows how men have deviated 
 from its righteous demands ; and so passes sentence 
 of condemnation against all who have broken it. 
 
 21. But now the righteousness of God — 
 God's method of saving sinners is now shown, by the 
 Gospel, to be through his own mere mercy, in 
 Christ Jesus. Without the law — Without any 
 right or claim which might result from obedience 
 to the law ; aird this is evidently what was in- 
 tended by God from the beginning; for it is wit- 
 nessed by the law and t/n prophets: the rites and 
 ceremonies of the one, and the preachings and pre- 
 dictions of the others, all bearing testimony to the 
 great design of God, and to the absolute necessity 
 there was for the sacrifice and salvation which God 
 has provided. 
 
 22. Even the righteousness of God — That 
 method of saving sinners which is not of works, but 
 by faith in Christ Jesus; and it is not restrained to 
 any particula r people, as was the (Mosaic) law and 
 its privileges ; but is unto all mankind in its inten- 
 tion and offer, and it becomes effectual to them 
 that believe; for God hath now made no difference 
 between the Jews and the Gentiles. [AiKamavvn 
 fie Qiov Sin irioTeuc. The righteousness (justifica- 
 tion) of God (not subjectively, but of his procur- 
 ing) through faith (in the subject, ordained as a 
 condition, a sine qua non. The Greek diKcuoavvv, 
 and the Hebrew np"lV, are taken sometimes for 
 
 " virtue " and " piety," which men possess or strive 
 after-, sometimes imputatively for " freedom from 
 blame," or " justification." The latter meaning is 
 most usual with Paul. AtKatoTrvrj is that which is 
 so in the sight of God, (chapter ii, 13,) the result of 
 his justifying forensic judgment, or imputation. 
 (Chapter iv, 5.) It may certainly be imagined that 
 a man might obtain justification by fulfilling the. 
 law; in that case his righteousness is an Idta, (chap- 
 ter x, 3,) U righteousness of the hue. (Phil, iii, '.».) 
 But it is impossible for him to obtain a "right- 
 eousness of his own," which at the same time shall 
 avail before God. (Verse 20; Gal. ii, 16.) The 
 Jews not only have not fulfilled the law (verses 9-10) 
 but could not fulfil it. (Chapter vii, 14.) The Gen- 
 tiles likewise have rendered themselves obnoxious 
 to the divine wrath. (Chapter i, 24-32.) God has 
 ordained that the whole race should be included 
 (adjudged) in disobedience. Now if a man is to be- 
 come righteous from being unrighteous — this cart 
 only happen by Coil's grace — because Cod declares 
 him righteous, assumes him to be righteous, <5<- 
 Kawi; (verse -' 1 ; Gal. iii, 8 :) Sikoloovvv is not only 
 negative, " /<> acquit" but also positive, " to declare 
 righteous;" but aever to make righteous by trans- 
 formation or imparting of moral strength, by which 
 moral perfection may lie attained. Justifcatio 
 must be taken as the old Protestant dogmatists 
 
 29
 
 A. M. 1069. A. D. 58. 
 
 ROMANS. 
 
 Justification tr» }ip obtained only by 
 i:utli in t 'brlst'i r< deuiplioo. 
 
 all them that believe; for d thereis no differ 
 ence: 2:8 For "all have sinned, and come 
 .shun of the glory of God ; 21 Being justified 
 freely f by his grace ^through the redemp- 
 tion thai is in Chrisl Jesus: 25 Whom God 
 hath '•set forth l to be a propitiation through 
 
 rfCh m l2;Gal 3 28: Col. 3. It. eVer.9; ch. 11. 32; Gal. 
 
 i. 16; Eph. 2. 8; Titus :; :,. 7. a Matt. 20. :- ; 
 Eph. 1. 7; Col. I. 14; 1 Tim. -'. 6; Heb. 9. 12: 1 Pet. 1. I s . 19. 
 
 faith k in his Mood, to declare his righteous- 
 ness ' lor the "remission of "sins that are past, 
 through the forbearance of God; 20 To de- 
 clare, / sin/, at this time his righteousness: 
 that he might be just, and the justifier of 
 him which believeth in Jesus. 27 "Where 
 
 h Or, foreordained. £ John 2. 2; \ in.- — itCol. 1. 20. — 
 i Acts 13. 38, •)!»; l T in. 1. 15. — in Or, poKxingover. — n Acta 
 17.30; Ueb.9. 15.- uCh.2. 17,23; 4.2;] Cor. l.2S,3l;Epb, 2.9. 
 
 rightly took it, "sensu forensi?' thai is, imputa- 
 Uvely. God justifies for Christ's sake, (verse 22,) 
 on condition of faith in him as Mediator; the re- 
 sulted his justification is 6tKaioavvq kit niareuc, and 
 as he imparts it freely it is "the righteousness 
 (justification) of God, (his, because he is its author, i 
 This justification is certainly an objective act of 
 God; bu< it must (will) also be subjectively appre- 
 hen led, as its condition (faith) is subjective. It is 
 the acquittal I from guilt, and (is followed by) cheer- 
 fulness of conscience, attained through faith in God's 
 grace in Christ, the very frame of mind which 
 would be proper to a perfectly righteous man — if 
 such there were— the harmony of the Spirit with 
 God, peace with God." (Chapter v, 1.) [Quoted by 
 Alford from De Wette on chapter i, 17.] 
 
 '2-j. For all have sinned— And consequently 
 are equally helpless and guilty; and, as God is no 
 cter of persons, all human creatures being 
 equally his offspring, and there being no reason why 
 one should be preferred before another, therefore 
 his endless mercy has embraced all. [As this re- 
 mark of the apostle is a universal one, and is used 
 for the development of the doctrine of the univer- 
 sal grace of God in Christ, the fact upon which it 
 is based, thai is, that all have sinned, (i/uaprov,) 
 must also be universal. The "all," in this case, 
 i- the aggregate human race, which, in some way, 
 has become involved in the universal curse of 
 sin, by reason of their relations to the original act 
 of sinning.] And come short of the glory of 
 God — K.al varepovvTai rye do^ijc -ou Qeov, failed 
 of attaining tin glory of God; all have sinned, and 
 none can enjoy God's glory but they that are holy; 
 consequently both dews and Gentiles have failed in 
 their endeavours to attain it, as by the works of 
 any law no human being can be justified. 
 
 2 1 . Being justified freely by his grace — 
 [The participle ducainvuevai, referring to irdvrEC, 
 (all,) in the preceding verse, introduces the accom- 
 panying relative, which here comes into view with 
 their coming short of the glory of God; that is, 
 tli.\ receive justification in the way of a gift, 
 (dupeui:) See Meyer. | Through the redemption, 
 urroAvrpuaeuc, the ransom price, which is in the 
 sacrifice of Christ Jesus. The original is com- 
 pounded "i utto, from, and TwTpow, I redeem, and 
 properly means the price laid down for the redemp- 
 tion of a captive, li here means the liberation 
 purchased b,i the blood-shedding of Christ. We 
 lutri in IDEMPTION, a-'i> VTpoaiv 6tu roc av- 
 
 tou, through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, ac- 
 cording to the riches of his (/race. (Eph. i, 7 ; 
 Col. i, 11.) Schleusner remarks: "No man cer- 
 tainly can deny that this word properly means the 
 redemption <>/' << captive, (whether he may have been 
 taken in war or in any other way,) which is pro- 
 cure. 1 by the payment of a price.'''' That the word 
 also means any deliverance, even where no price i- 
 
 paid down, nobody will dispute; hut thai it ans 
 
 redemption by a price laid down, and the redenip- 
 30 
 
 tion of the soul by the price of the death of Christ, 
 the above Bcriptures sufficiently prove. 
 
 25. Whom God hath set forth — Appointed 
 and published, (not /<> be, hut as reality,) a propitia- 
 i'idh. iXaarfipLOV, the mercy seat, or place of atone- 
 ment; [an expiatory sacrifice.— Watson.] The 
 mercy scat was the lid or cover of the ark of the 
 covenant, where God was manifest in the sunholof 
 his presence between the cherubim; therefore the 
 atonement that was made in this place was properly 
 made to God himself. ["Hath set forth," manifested 
 historically in his incai nation, sufferings, and ex- 
 altation. — Alfordi] Through faith in his b'ood 
 — This shows what we aie to understand both by 
 the uiroAVTpuatr. redemption, and the 'iKaorr;piov, 
 propitiation; namely, that they refer to the sacri- 
 ficial death of Jesus Christ, as the atonement made, 
 and the price paid down, tor the redemption of the 
 souls of men. To declare (for the exhibition of) 
 his righteousness— FJc hiii^iv, for the manifes- 
 tation of his righteousness ; his method for saving 
 sinners, by sending Jesus Christ to make an atone- 
 ment lor them. [To vindicate that character for 
 justice which might seem, owing to the suspension 
 of Cod's righteous sentence on sin in foimer ages 
 of his forbearance to be placed in question; to 
 show, that though lie did not then fully punish for 
 sin, and though he did then set forth inadequate 
 means of (subjective) justification, yet he did both, 
 not becausehis justice was slumbering, nor because 
 the nature of his righteousness was altered, but be- 
 cause In had provided a way whereby sin might he 
 forgiven, and he might (still) be just. Observe, 
 ■nupiaic is not forgiveness, nor remission, (as in 
 (E. V.) hut passing over, or overlooking, which is 
 the work of forbearance, whereas forgiveness is the 
 work of grace, (absolute and final.) — Alford. | 
 
 26. To declare, I say, at this time — Here we 
 learn that God designed to give the Gospel of his Son, 
 the most evident displays both of his justice and 
 mercy. Of his justice, in requiring a sacrifice in 
 order to his giving salvation to a lost world; and 
 of his mercy, in providing the sacrifice which his 
 justice required. Thus, because Jesus was an atone- 
 ment, a ransom price, for the sin of the world, 
 therefore God can, consistently with his justice, par- 
 don every soul that believeth in Jesus. This is the 
 full discovery of God's righteousness — of his won- 
 derful method of magnifying his law and making 
 it honourable; of showing the infinite purity of his 
 
 justice, and of Saving a lost world. 
 
 Hitherto, from the ninth verse, the apostle had 
 gone on without interruption, proving that the Jew 
 and Gentile were alike in a. state of guilt and con- 
 demnation, and that they could he saved only by the 
 redemption that is in Christ Jesus. The Jew, find- 
 ing his boasted privileges all at stake, interrupts 
 him, and asks : — 
 
 27. Jew : Where is boasting then — 'H nav- 
 XHaic, this glorying ot ours? Have we nothing in 
 which we can trust for our acceptance with God?
 
 Justification is by faith-, 
 
 Ihe works of the l« 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 A. M. 4068. 
 Year ..I R 
 
 is boasting then? It is excluded. By what 
 law? of works? Nay; but by the law 
 of faith. 28 Therefore we conclude it hat 
 a man is justified by faith without the deeds 
 of the law. 29 /** he the God of the -Jews 
 only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, 
 
 V Acts 13. 38, 39 ; verses 20-22; chap. 8. 3 ; Gal. 2. 16. 
 
 Nothing accruing to us from our circumcision and 
 being in covenant with God ? Apostle : It is ex- 
 cluded — 'E^EKXeiadn, it is shut out. [The Gospel 
 leaves no place for glorying, except in the cross 
 of Christ. (Gal. vi, 24.)] Jew : By what law— 
 By what rule or reason is it shut out? by the law 
 of works? Apostle: Nay — Not by the law 
 of works ; glorying is not cut off or shut out by 
 that ; it stands in full force as the rule of life. 
 The law of works grants no pardon ; it requires 
 obedience, and threatens the disobedient with death. 
 But all glorying in the expectation of salvation 
 through your own obedience is excluded by the 
 law, the doctrine, of faith; faith alone in the mercy 
 of God, through the propitiation made by the blood 
 of Jesus. (Verse 25.) 
 
 28. Therefore we conclude, etc. — Seeing that 
 all have sinned, that all are guilty and helpless ; 
 that no one can deliver his own soul ; and that God, 
 in his endless mercy, has opened a new and living 
 ivau into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, (Heb. x, 1 9, 
 20, etc.,) therefore we conclude (Tioyi^dfisOa, we prove 
 by fair, rational consequence) that a man — any man 
 — is justified — is received into the divine favour, 
 through faith in Christ's blood, without the deeds of 
 the law, which [as no sinful man can possibly ren- 
 der them] never could afford, either to Jew or Gen- 
 tile, a ground for justification; because [also as 
 matter-of-fact] both have sinned against the law 
 which Gol has given them; and, consequently, for- 
 feited all right and title to the blessings which the 
 obedient might claim. 
 
 29. Is he the God of the Jews only — Do not 
 begin to suppose that because you cannot be justi- 
 fied by the works of the law, and God has in his 
 mercy found out a new method of saving you, that 
 therefore this mercy shall apply to the Jews exclu- 
 sively. Is not God the maker, preserver, and re- 
 deemer, edso of the Gentiles ? Yes, of the Gen- 
 tiles also, as much as of the Jews ; for all have 
 equally sinned ; and God is alike merciful to all. 
 
 30. Seeing it is one (the same) God — 'E^£/7rep 
 eic 6 Qeoc. The meaning is, it is one and the same 
 God who shall justify — pardon — the circumcision, 
 the believing Jews, by faith, and the mtcircumcision, 
 the believing Gentiles, by the same faith ; as 
 there is but one Saviour and one atonement provided 
 for the whole. It is fanciful to suppose that the 
 apostle has one meaning when he says, ek tv'lgteuc, 
 by faith, ami a different meaning when he says, Scu 
 t//c itioteuc, THROUGH faith. Both the prepositions 
 are to be understood in precisely the same sense ; 
 only the addition of the article 77/c, in the last case, 
 extends and more pointedly ascertains the meaning. 
 It is one and the same God who shall justify the 
 believing Jews by faith, and the believing Gentiles, 
 6iu ri/c nioTEur, by that same faith. [Too much 
 stress must not be laid on the difference of the two 
 prepositions. . . . the former expresses the ground 
 of justification, generally taken; the latter, the 
 means whereby the man lays hold on justification, 
 diu tt/c niareug, by his faith. — A/ford.] 
 
 31. Do we then make void the law through 
 
 of the Gentiles also : 30 Seeing q it is one 
 God, which shall justify the circumcision 
 by faith, and un circumcision through faith. 
 31 Do we then make void the law through 
 faith ? God forbid : yea, we establish the 
 law. 
 
 q Chap. 10. 12, 13; Gal. 3. 8, 20. 28. 
 
 faith — 1) By "law," here, we may understand the 
 whole of the Mosaic law, in its rites and ceremonies ; 
 of which Jesus Christ was the subject and the end. 
 All that law has respect to him ; and the doctrine 
 of faith in Christ Jesus which the Christian religion 
 proclaimed, established the very claims and de- 
 mands of that law r , by showing that all was accom- 
 plished in the passion and death of Christ ; for, 
 wit/wut shedding of blood, the law Mould allow of 
 no remission; and Jesus was that Land) of God 
 which was slain from the foundation of the world, 
 in whose blood we have redemption, even the re- 
 mission of sins. 2) We may understand by " law," 
 also, the moral law — that which relates to the 
 regulation of the conduct of men. This law also 
 was established by the doctrine of salvation by 
 faith; because this faith works by love, and love 
 is the principle of obedience ; and whosoever re- 
 ceives salvation through faith in Christ, receives 
 power to live in holy obedience to every moral pre- 
 cept ; for such are God's workmanship, created anew 
 in Christ Jesus, unto good works ; in which they 
 find it their duty and their interest incessantly to 
 live. [We may safely say that the apostle never 
 argues of law, abstract, in the sense of a syst< n, of 
 -precepts — its attributes or its effects — but always of 
 the law, concrete, the law of God given by Moses, 
 when speaking of the Jews, as here ; the latv of God, 
 in as far as written in their consciences, when speak- 
 ing of the Gentiles : and when including both, the 
 law of God generally, his written as well as his un- 
 written will. — Alford.] 
 
 NOTES OX CHAPTER IV. 
 The apostle — having proved in the foregoing chap- 
 ter that neither Jews nor Gentiles have a light to 
 the blessing of God's peculiar kingdom otherwise 
 than by grace, which is as free for the one as the 
 other—in this chapter advances a new argument to 
 convince the Jew and to show the believing Gen- 
 tile, in a clear light, the high value and strong se- 
 curity of the mercies freely bestowed on them in 
 the Gospel; and at the same time to display the 
 scheme of divine providence as laid in the counsel 
 and will of God. His argument is taken from 
 Abraham's case: Abraham was the father and 
 head of the Jewish nation ; God took him, and 
 through him his posterity, into his special covenant, 
 and bestowed upon them many extraordinary bless- 
 ings above the rest of mankind. It is also evident 
 that Abraham was not justified by any obedience 
 to law, or rule of right action, but, in the only way 
 in which a sinner can be justified — by the mercy of 
 the Lawgiver. Now, this is the very same way in 
 which the Gospel saves the believing Gentiles, and 
 gives them a part in the blessings of God's cove- 
 nant. Why, then, should the .lews oppose the < ren- 
 tiles? especially as the Gentiles were actually in- 
 cluded in the covenant made with Abraham ; for 
 the promise (Gen. xvii. 1) stated that he should be 
 the father of many natixms. The covenant having 
 been made 'with Abraham, as the head or father of 
 many nations, all in any nation who stood on the
 
 A. M. 4fiR2. A. D. 53. 
 Yeur ol Rome. Oil, 
 
 "ROMANS. 
 
 Bed, not by 
 Ittltn. 
 
 ('II A ITER IV. 
 
 WHAT shall we say thru that 'Abraham 
 our father, as pertaining to the flesh, 
 hath found? *2 For if Abraham were ''justi- 
 fied by works, Ik- hath whereof to glory ; but 
 qoI before God. J{ For what saith the Scrip- 
 ture? e Abraham believed God, and it was 
 
 olsa. 51. 2; Matt. 3.9; John 8.33,39; 2 Cor. 11.22. b Chap. 
 
 . ;. 28. 
 
 same religious principle with him were his seed, and 
 with him interested in the same covenant. Bui 
 Abraham stool by faith in the faithfulness and 
 mercy of God; and upon this footing the believing 
 Gentiles stand in the Gospel. Therefore, thej arc 
 the seed of Abraham, and included in the covenant 
 and promise made to him. 
 
 To all this the apostle knew well it would be ob- 
 jecte 1 that it was not faith alone that gave Abraham 
 a right t<> the blessings of the covenant, but his obe- 
 dience to the law of circumcision ; and this, being 
 peculiar to the Jewish nation, gave them a peculiar 
 interest in tie 1 Abrahamic covenant ; and that, con- 
 sequently, whoever among tin' Gentiles would lie 
 interested in that covenant ought to embrace Ju- 
 daism, become circumcised, and thus come under 
 oblig i ion to the whole law. With this objection 
 the apostle very dexterously introduces his argu- 
 ment, (verses 1, 2,) and shows, that according to 
 the Scripture account Abraham was justified b\ 
 faith, (verses 3-5;) explains the nature of that 
 justification by a quotation out of the Psalms, 
 (verses 6-9;) proves that Abraham was justified 
 long before he was circumcised, (verses 9-11 ;) that 
 tin- believing Gentiles are his seed, to whom the 
 promise belongs as well as to the believing .lews, 
 - 12-17;) and lastly, he describes Abraham's 
 faith, in order to explain the faith of the Gospel. 
 (Verses 17-25.) 
 
 1. Jew : What shall we say then that Abra- 
 ham our father, as partaining to the flesh, 
 hath found — The /caru aupKa, pertaining to the 
 flesh, 1 1 1 1 l - 1 here refer to Abraham's circumcision; 
 on which the dew would found his right to peculiar 
 blessings. [Kara auQKa, in verse 1, corresponds 
 with ,- ttpyuv, in verse 2, and stands in opposition to 
 Kara rrvevua. Abraham's justification, as presented 
 in the words ol' Scripture, had an earthward side, 
 it was Karii Gupua, whether that term is taken to 
 reft r to his circumcision or to his natural pa- 
 ternity of tin' covenant people. It had also a 
 spiritual side, of which the other was only the sym- 
 bol, an 1 this the apostle now seeks to bring clearly 
 into view. | We may, therefore, suppose the Jew 
 arguing thus; But you set your argument on a 
 wrong footing, namely, tire corrupt state of our na- 
 tion; whereas we hold our peculiar prerogative 
 from Abraham, who is our father ; and we have a 
 right to the blessings of God's peculiar kingdom 
 in virtue of the promise made to ///'/// ,• his justifi- 
 cation is the ground of ours. 
 
 2. For if Abraham were justified by works, 
 he hath whereof to glory — [Here the sentence 
 should close, and what follows should be taken as 
 part of the answer to be rendered to the objection 
 proposed] But not before God — These words 
 contain the beginning of the answer to the argu- 
 ments of the. lew, as if Paul had said: Allowing that 
 Abraham might glory in being called from heathen- 
 ish darkness into such marvellous light, anil exult 
 iu the privileges which God had granted to him; 
 
 32 
 
 counted unto him for righteousness. 4 Now 
 ■'to him that worketh i- the reward not reck- 
 oned of --race, but of debt. 5 I'.nt to him 
 that worketh not, hut believeth on him that 
 justifieth "'the ungodly, his faith is counted for 
 righteousness. <» Even as David also describ- 
 etb the blessedness of the man unlo whom 
 
 cGen. 15. 6; Gal. 3. (J; James 3. 23. -dChap. It. 6. eJosh. 
 
 24.2 
 
 yet this glorying was not, before God, a reason 
 why those privileges should be granted; the glory- 
 ing itself being a consequence of these very privi- 
 leges. [To men these things might seem to be 
 
 grounds for exultation, but not before God, who un- 
 derstands their essential worthlessness.] 
 
 :;. For what saith the Scripture — The scrip- 
 tural account of this transaction (thai, xv, 6) is 
 decisive; for there it is said, Abraham believed God, 
 iiinl it was counted (e^oyiadij, it was reckoned to him) 
 for righteousness, ('/< diKatoavvnv, for justification.') 
 [Tending to and resulting in justification.] Abra- 
 ham believed God — [It was not the act oj be- 
 lieving that was reckoned to him as a righteous act, 
 on account of which perfect righteousness was laid 
 to his charge, but, that the fact of his trusting God 
 i<i perform his promise introduced him in/<> the bless- 
 ing promised. . . . Abraham could not, in the strict 
 sense of the words, be justified by faith in Christ; 
 
 nor is it necessary to suppose that he directed his 
 faith forward to the promised Redeemer in person; 
 but in so far as God's gracious purpose was re- 
 vealed to him he grasped it by faith, and that 
 righteousness which was implied, so far, in it, was 
 imputed to him. . . . He believed implicitly, taking 
 the promise, with nil it involved and implied, as true. 
 . . . Thus his faith was accounted to him for right- 
 eousness. — Alford. | 
 
 4. Now to him that worketh is the reward 
 not reckoned of grace, but of debt — There- 
 fore, if Abraham had been justified by works, the 
 blessings he received would have been given to 
 him as a reward for those works, and consequently 
 his believing could have laid no part in his justifi- 
 cation. 
 
 5. But to him that worketh not — [TtJ Si //;/ 
 epya£o[/.ev(i), to the not working, a transition fr< m 
 the example of Abraham to the case of the (tiny) 
 Christian who believes in God's justification 
 through Christ, — TJioluck :] [which justification 
 is given to the undevout, rbv uceprj, the hitherto 
 ungodly; who has, however, become tziareiovTi, 
 believing, i~i roc StKaiovvra, on him justifying 
 {who justifies) t/ie ungodly. To all such faith is 
 counted, Xoyi&rai, (is put into the reckoning,) etc, 
 (not instead of, but as contributing to,) o~iKau>ovviiv, 
 the state of gracious acceptance with Cod, through 
 Christ. This is the whole of the greal evangel- 
 ical doctrine of justification by faith.] It is nec- 
 essary to observe here, in order to prevent confu- 
 sion and misapprehension, that although the verb 
 Smaidu has a variety id' senses in the New Testa- 
 ment, yet here it i.- to be taken as implying the 
 pardon of sin — receiving a person into the favour of 
 God. it is also necessary to observe, that our 
 translators render the verb "koyi^ouai differently in 
 different parts of this chapter. It is rendered 
 counted, (verses 3, 5;) reckoned, (verses 4, 9, 1";) 
 imputed, (verses <">, 8, 11, 22, 2:;, and 24.) Reck- 
 oned is probably the best sense in all these places. 
 
 C. Even as David also, etc. — David (in Psa.
 
 ; justified hy fnilh 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 A. M. 4062. A. D. 58. 
 Year of Rome, 811. 
 
 God imputeth righteousness without works, 
 
 7 Saying, f Blessed are they whose iniquities 
 are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. 
 
 8 Ble-sed is the man to whom tlie Lord will 
 not impute sin. 9 Cometh this blessedness 
 then upon the circumcision only, or upon the 
 uncircumcision also? for we say that faith 
 was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness. 
 10 How was it then reckoned? when lie was 
 in circumcision, or in uncircumcision ? Not in 
 circumcision, hut in uncircumcision. 11 And 
 fhe received the sign of circumcision, a seal of 
 the righteousness of the faith which he had >j, t 
 being uncircumcised : that h he might be the 
 
 f Psa. 32. 1, 2. g Gen 17. 10. h Luke 19. 9; verses 12. 16; 
 
 Gal. 3. 7. i Gen. 17. 4, etc. : Gal. 3. 29. 
 
 xxxii, 1, 2) gives the true notion of this way of 
 justification, that is, by faith, without the merit of 
 works, where he says — 
 
 7. Blessed are they whose iniquities are 
 forgiven — That is, the man is truly happy whose 
 iniquities, al uvo/xiai, (unlawfulnesses, see 1 John 
 iii, 4,) [which may be either of the heart or the life, 
 inward or outward,] whose transgressions of law are 
 forgiven. Whose sins, al ufiapTiai, his innumer- 
 able deviations from the strict rule of truth and 
 righteousness, are covered — entirely removed out of 
 sight, and thrown into oblivion. 
 
 8. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord 
 will not impute sin — To whose charge God does 
 not reckon sin; [uvofiia ai_d ugapria are here 
 synonymous, and, therefore, "forgiven," "par- 
 doned," and "not imputed," must be equivalent in 
 meaning. The Revised Version, in violation of its 
 own rules, has in this place, for al uvogiai, iniqui- 
 ties : but in 1 John iii, twice, h uvogia is correct- 
 ly translated lawlessness,]. 
 
 9. Cometh this blessedness . . . upon the 
 circumcision only — [Is this blessing then pro- 
 nounced upon the circumcision, or upon the uncir- 
 cumcision also? — Revised Version.] If this pardon, 
 granted in this way, is essential to happiness, then 
 is it the exclusive privilege of the Jews ? This 
 cannot be ; for, it is by the mere mercy of God, 
 through faith. But if God offer it to the circum- 
 cision, not because they have been obedient, for 
 they also have sinned, but because of his mere 
 mercy, then of course the same blessedness may be 
 offered to the Gentiles who believe in the Lord 
 Jesus. And this is evident ; for faith was reck- 
 oned to Abraham for righteousness. (His own 
 merits were not taken into the account,) but he be- 
 lieved God, and his faith was reckoned to him elg 
 dacatoavynv, in reference to his justification; God 
 accepted his faith in the place of obedience, (mak- 
 ing no account of " works.") 
 
 10. How (jruc, under what circumstances) was it 
 then reckoned — In w hat circumstances. Was this 
 blessing bestowed upon Abraham when he was cir- 
 cumcised, or before ? Not in circumcision, but 
 in uncircumcision — [Historically and chronolog- 
 ically, Abraham's justification preceded his circum- 
 cision, and, therefore, the former could not have 
 depended on the latter.] Faith was reckoned to 
 Abraham for .justification, as we read, (Gen. xv, 6,) 
 but circumcision was not instituted till about four- 
 teen or fifteen years after. (Gen. xvii, 1.) 
 
 11. And he received the sign of circum- 
 cision, a seal, etc. — So far was obedience to the 
 law of circumcision from being the reason of his 
 
 Vol. II.— 3 
 
 father of all them that believe, though they he 
 not circumcised ; that righteousness might be 
 imputed unto them also: B 2 And the father 
 of circumcision to them who are not of the 
 circumcision only, but who also walk in the 
 steps of that faith of our father Abraham, 
 which hehad being yet uncircumcised. 13 For 
 the promise, that he should be the 'heir of the 
 world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, 
 through the law, but through the righteous- 
 ness of faith. 14 For k if they which are of 
 the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the 
 promise made of none effect: 15 Because 
 1 the law worketh wrath : for where no law is, 
 
 AGal. 3. 18. -— Z Chap. 3. 20; 5. 13, 20 : 7. S. in, u ; ] Cor. 15. 5ii; 
 2 Cor. 3. 7, 9 ; Gal. 3. 10, 19 ; 1 John 3. 4. 
 
 justification, that he not only received this justifi- 
 cation before lie was circumcised, but he received 
 the sign of circumcision as a seal of the pardon 
 which he had before actually received. And thus 
 he became the father — the great head and repre- 
 sentative — of all them that believe; particularly 
 the Gentiles, who are now in precisely the same 
 state in which Abraham was when he received the 
 mercy of God. The whole of the apostle's argu- 
 ment, in this fourth chapter, proves that believing 
 Gentiles — that is, men of all races — are the seed of 
 Abraham, to whom, as well as to himself, the 
 promise was made ; and that the promise made to 
 him is the same in effect as that promise which is 
 now made to all men. It is the Abrahamic cove- 
 nant in which we now stand ; and circumcision 
 was a seal or sign of the gospel covenant (pro- 
 phetically set forth.) 
 
 12. And the father of circumcision — He is 
 the head and representative of all who walk in the 
 steps of his faith ; who seek for justification by 
 faith only, and not by the works of the law. Since 
 the covenant was made with Abraham while he 
 was a Gentile, he became the representative of the 
 Gentiles, and they primarily were included in that 
 covenant, and the Jews were brought in only con- 
 sequentially. [This 12th verse is closely connected 
 with what goes before, and is still under the 
 government of the clause that lie might be. (Verse 
 11.)] [Abraham is the father of tJie faithful. But 
 the triumph, and (the) recognition of that faith 
 whereby he was constituted so, was not during his 
 circumcision, but during his uncircumcision ; there- 
 fore, the faithful, hi* descendants, must not be con- 
 fined to the circumcised, but must take in the uncir- 
 cumcised also. — Alford.~\ 
 
 13. For the promise, that he should be the 
 heir of the world — Abraham is here represented 
 as having all the world given to him as his inheri- 
 tance ; because in him all nations of the earth are 
 blessed. All men are, therefore, interested in the 
 Abrahamic covenant; and every person, now that 
 the covenant is fully explained, has the privilege 
 of claiming justification through faith, by the blood 
 of Christ, in virtue of this •original grant. 
 
 14. For, if they which are of the law be 
 
 heirs — If the Jews only are heirs of the pn -<■ 
 
 made to Abraham, [and by virtue of the law of cir- 
 cumcision,] then faith is made mid — is entirelyuse- 
 less, and the promise, which was made to faith, is 
 made of none effect. [If the inheritance is by the 
 law, it cannot lie by faith, the two methods mutu- 
 ally exclude each the other.] 
 
 15. Because the law worketh wrath — For 
 
 33
 
 \. M IMS A. P. 58 
 
 ROMANS. 
 
 Justification secure to nil the 
 spiritual ■ i ol Abraham. 
 
 ia in » transgression. 1<» Therefore it is 
 of faith, that it might be ln by grace; "to the 
 fill the promise might be sure to all the seed ; 
 not to that only which is of the law, but to 
 thai : 1 1 - 1 > which is of the faith of Abraham; 
 •who is the father of as all, 17 (As it is 
 written, p] have made thee a father of many 
 nation ■ him whom he believed, even 
 
 God, 'who quickeneth the dead, and calleth 
 those 'things which be not as though thej 
 were: 1* Who againsl hope believed in hope, 
 thai he mighl become the father of many Da- 
 
 rn Chap. 3. 24. — Hfial. 3. 2% olsa 51. 2; chap. 9. 8. — 
 pRen. i: 5. — qOt, like unto him, — r Chap. *■ 11; Eph. 
 2. 1,5. 8 Uhap. 9. 26; l Cor. 1. 28; 1 Pet. 2. 10. 
 
 "law," v6(io$, any law or rule of duty. No law 
 makes provision for the exercise of mercy, for it 
 worked punishment, for the disobe- 
 
 dient. "La irily subjects the transgres- 
 
 sor to punishment. [The idea of "law" and the 
 idea of penal justice are correlative, because ir is 
 impossible to conceive of man except as a trans- 
 
 ■■/•.] Where no law is — [The 
 purpose of the apostle here is not to deny the ex- 
 istence of the law of God written in the heart, be- 
 fore Moses, bul to -how that no promise of inheri- 
 
 he law. ... If we conceive a state 
 in which the law, whether written or unwritten, 
 sh ill I be ibsent, (as in the brute crea- 
 
 se mid be no transgression. — -Afford.] 
 ich case is possible. The clause is a neg- 
 because of the universality of 
 sin, -u.ui vi -ir, the universality of law, of which 
 sin is the transgression, is also assumed.] 
 
 l'i. Therefore it is of faith, that it might bo 
 by grace — On this account the promise is merci- 
 fully grounded, not on obedience to a law, hut on 
 the infinite goodness of God : and thus the promise 
 is surt seed — to all, [all men, without- dis- 
 
 tinction,] both Jews and Gentiles, who believe in 
 Christ Jesus. All the seed necessarily compre- 
 hends all mankin I. Here it should be observed that 
 faith and grace mutually and necessarily infer each 
 other. For the grace and favour of God, in its 
 own nature, requires faith in us ; and faith on our 
 part, in its own nature, supposes the grace or fa- 
 vour of God. And it is of faith, that it might he 
 by grac being the mere good will of the 
 
 . is free and open to all whom he chooses to 
 make the objects of it: and the divine wisdom ap- 
 pointed faith to be the condition of the promise ; 
 because faith is, on our part, the most simple prin- 
 ciple, bearing an exact correspondence to grace, 
 and reaching as far as thai can extend. 
 
 17. As it is written, I have made thee a father 
 — Abraham, as a father of many nations, is as such 
 
 enantof God made with him. (Gen. 
 xvii,4, 5.) | This verse is closely joined to the pre- 
 vious one. The promise, as it stands, refers soleh to 
 the numerous bodily progeny of the patriarch. In so 
 
 far, however, as his bodily progeny founded the the- 
 ocracy, and were subservient to the reception of all 
 nations of the earth into the covenant originally 
 made with Abraham, Paul bad good ground to say 
 that the promise, even in a higher sense, had met 
 its accomplishment. — Tholuck!\ God, whoquick- 
 eneth the dead, etc. — [A general description of 
 God's almighty creative power, (see 1 Tim. \i, 13,) 
 applied particularly to the matter in hand, the dead- 
 ness of the generative power of Abraham himself, 
 34 
 
 tions, according to that which was spoken. ' So 
 shall thy seed be. iii And being noi weak in 
 faith, "he considered noi his own body now- 
 dead, when he was about a hundred years old, 
 neither ye1 the deadness of Sarah's womb: 
 20 Be staggered noi al the promise of God 
 through unbelief; bul was strong in faith, giv- 
 ing glory to God; 21 And being fully per- 
 suaded, that what he had promised, "he was 
 able also to perform. 22 And therefore it 
 was imputed to him for righteousness. 2tf Now 
 " it was not written for bis sake alone, that it 
 
 /(i.-ii. 15. 5. wGen. 17. 17; 1". 11; Ileb. 11. 11, 12. 
 
 oPsa. 115.3; Luke 1. 37, 45; 1Kb. 11. 19. icChap. 15. i ; 
 
 . >•, 11. 
 
 which was quickenedbi God. — Alford.] And call- 
 eth (names or speaks of) those things which be 
 not as though they were — [This he did in this 
 present case with regard to the seed of Abraham, 
 which did not as yet exist. — Afford.] [Probably 
 there is here no reference to the resurrection of 
 the body.] 
 
 18. Who against hope believed in hope — 
 Though, in the ordinary course of things, Abraham 
 had not the least foundation of hope, yet he be- 
 lieved that he should be thefather of many nations, 
 according to that which was spoken; namely, that 
 his posterity should be like tht stars of heaven for 
 multitude, and like the dust of the earth. 
 
 19. He considered not his own body now 
 dead — This was certainly a wonderful degree of 
 faith. The promise stated that it was in his pos- 
 terity that all the nations of the earth were to be 
 blessed ; but he had, as yet, no child by Sarah, and 
 he was one hundred years old, and Sarah was 
 ninety; and, added to the utter improbability of 
 her bearing at thai age, she had ever been barren 
 before. And yet he believed, he staggi red not at the 
 promise, (verse 20,) though everything was unnat- 
 ural and improbable; but he wasstrqng in faith, 
 and, by this almost inimitable confidence, gavt glory 
 to God. It was to God's honour that his servant 
 put such unlimited confidence in him; and he put 
 this confidence in him on the rational ground that 
 God was fully ableto. perform what he had prom- 
 ised! [Abraham did indeed feel and express the 
 difficulty, (Gen. xvii, IT, | but his faith overcame it, 
 and he ceased toregardit. But most probably Paul 
 here refers only to Gen. xv, 5, 6, where his belief was 
 implicit and unquestioning. — AlfordJ] 
 
 21. And being fully persuaded — T\~Aripot>opii- 
 Oelg. His soul was full of confidence that God was 
 able to fulfil his promise, and his truth would not 
 allow it to fail. 
 
 22. And therefore it was imputed to him 
 for righteousness — Abraham's strong faith in the 
 promise was reckoned to him for justification; for 
 it i~ not said that any righteousness, either his own 
 oi' that of another, was imputed or reckoned to him 
 for justification; but "it," that i>, his faith in God. 
 His faith was fully persuaded of the mosl merciful 
 intentions of God's goodness ; and this, which in 
 effect (but not in form) laid hold on Jesus Christ, 
 the future Saviour, was the means of his justifica- 
 tion; being reckoned unto him in the place of per- 
 sonal i 'igtite< usness. 
 
 23. Now it was not written for his sake 
 alone — The fact of Abraham's believing is not re- 
 corded as a mere circumstance in the patriarch's 
 life intended to do him honour; see below.
 
 Christ's resurrection a pledge 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 was imputed to him; 24 But for us also, 
 to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe 
 "on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from 
 
 a- Acts -2. 24: 13. 3(1. — y tsa. 53. 5, fi; chap. 3. 25: 5. 6: 8. 32; 
 2 Cor. 5. -1\ ; Gal. 1. 4; Heb. 9. 2*: 1 Pet. 2. 24; :;. 18. 
 
 24. But for us also — The mention of this cir- 
 cumstance has a much more extensive design than 
 merely to honour Abraham. It is recorded as the 
 model according to which God will save both Jews 
 and Gentiles. If God will our salvation, it must 
 be by faith; and faith contemplates his promise, 
 and his promise comprehends the Son of his love. 
 
 25. Who was delivered for our offences — 
 Who was delivered up to death as a sacrifice for 
 our sins. And was raised again for our justifi- 
 cation — Our reconciliation to (hid, anil giving us a 
 title to that eternal life into which he has entered 
 in our human nature, as the first fruits of the res- 
 urrection of mankind. [Our Lord was delivered up 
 (to death) 'i;u, for, or on account of, our sins, that 
 is, because we had sinned. He was raised up, (from 
 the dead.) $iu, for, or on account of, our justifica- 
 tion, that is, not hecause we had been, but that we 
 might be, justified. — Alford.~] 
 
 1. [This important and comprehensive passage, 
 I verse 25,) clearly -hows the inseparable connexion 
 between Christ's death and Christ's resurrection, as 
 also the connexion between the remission of sins and 
 justification to a new life. By his atoning death 
 Christ has abolished the guilt, (redeemed believers 
 from its penalty, iii, 25,) and secured our pardon and 
 peue; and hence it (Christ's death) is generally rep- 
 resented as the ground of our justification, (diKaiu- 
 <rtc,) that is, the non-imputation of sin, (chapter iii, 
 24 ; v, 9.) But without the resurrection, the death of 
 Christ would be of no avail, and his grave would be 
 tin.- grave of all our hopes. (1 Cor. xv, 1 7.) A gospel 
 of ;i .lead Saviour would be a miserable failure and 
 delusion. The resurrection is tin- victory of right- 
 eousness and life over sin and death. ... In the 
 next place, as the resurrection is the actual triumph 
 of Christ, so it is also tin- accessary condition of the 
 appropriation of the benefits of his death. It is 
 only the risen Saviour who can plead our cause at 
 the mercyseat, and send the Holy Spirit to reveal 
 him, and to apply the benefits of the atonement to 
 believers. As little as the death and resurrection, 
 can we separate the effects of both, — the remis- 
 sion of sins and the new life in Christ. The sin- 
 ner cannot be buried with Christ without rising w ith 
 him iis a new creature ; the death of the old Adam 
 is the birth of the new, and the life of the new pre- 
 suppose- the death of the old. — /'. Schaff.] 
 
 2. From a careful examination of the divine 
 oracles it appears that the death of Christ was an 
 (tin,,, ,,,, at or expiation for the sin "f the world: 
 For him hath God sit forth to l» n propitiation 
 through faith in his blood. (Chapter iii, 25.) /•",• 
 when we were ;/>f without strength, it: due time 
 Christ died for the ungodly. (Chapter v, <;.) And 
 
 we were enemies, we wert reconciled to God 
 l>i the death of his Son. (Verse 10.) Iii whom we 
 
 JuiVt REDEMPTION THROUGH HIS BLOOD, tin FORGIVE- 
 NESS of sins. (Eph. i, 7.) Christ hath loved us, and 
 
 GIVEN HIMSELF FOR US, "// OFFERING mi,! <t SACRI- 
 FICE to God for a sweet-smelling savour. (Eph. v, 2 ) 
 In whom we have redemption through his blood, 
 the forgiveness of sins. (Col. i, II.) And hav- 
 ing made peace through tlu blood of his cross 
 . . . in the body of his flesh through dkatu. 
 
 the dead; 25 'Who was delivered for our 
 offences, and z was raised again for our justi- 
 fication. 
 
 si Cnr. 15. 17; 1 Pet. 1. 21. 
 
 (Col. i, 20, 22.) 117/'/ GAVE HIMSELF A RANSOM for 
 
 nil. (1 Tim. ii, 6.) Who gave himself for us, that 
 he might redeem us /'rum iill iniquity, (lit. ii, 14.) 
 By which will we are sanctified, through tlu offer- 
 ing of the body of Jesus Christ. (Heb. x, 10.) So 
 Christ was once offered to rear titr sins of many. 
 Heb. ix, 28. (See also Eph. ii, 13, 10; 1 Pet. i, 18, 
 19 ; Rev. v, 9.) But it would lie transcribing a very 
 considerable part of the New Testament to set 
 down all the texts that refer to this most important 
 and glorious truth. 
 
 3. The doctrine of justification by faith, which 
 is so nobly proved in the preceding chapter, is one 
 of the grandest displays of the mercy of Cod to 
 mankind. It is so very plain that all may compre- 
 hend it; and so free that all may attain it. What 
 more simple than this ? Thou art a sinner, in con- 
 sequence condemned to perdition, and utterly un- 
 able to save thy own soul. All are in the same 
 state with thyself, and no man can give a ransom 
 for the soul of Ids neighbour. God, in hi.- mercy, 
 has provided a Saviour for thee. As thy life was 
 forfeited to death because of thy transgressions, 
 Jesus Christ has redeemed thy life by giving up his 
 own ; he died in thy stead, and has made an atone- 
 ment to God for thy transgressions; and he now 
 offers thee the pardon he has thus purchased, on 
 the simple condition that thou believe that his death 
 is ii sufficient ransom and oblation fur thy sin; ami 
 that thou bring it as such, by confident faith, to the 
 throne of God, and plead it in thy own behalf there. 
 When thou dost so, thy faith in that sacrifice shall 
 be imputed to thee for righteousness ; that is, it 
 shall be the means of receiving that salvation 
 which Christ has bought by his blood. 
 
 4. The doctrine of the imputed righteousness of 
 Christ, as held by many, will not lie readily found 
 in this chapter, where it ha- been supposed to ex- 
 ist in all its proofs. It i- repeatedly said that 
 faith is imputed for righteousness; but in no place 
 here, 1 ha t Christ's obedienct to tin moral law is im- 
 puted to any man. The truth is, the moral law 
 wa- broken, and did not now require obedicnce(as to 
 the sinner it required this before it was broken ; 
 but, after it was broken, it required death. Either 
 the sinner must die, or some one in Ids stead; but 
 there was none whose death could have been an 
 equivalent for the transgressions of the world lit 
 Jesus Christ. Jesus, therefore, died for man; 
 and it is through his blood, the merit of his passion 
 and death, that we have redemption; and not by 
 his obedience to the moral law in our stead. Our 
 salvation was obtained at a much higher price. 
 Jesus could not but be righteous and obedient ; 
 this is consequent on the immaculate puritj of 
 his nature ; but his death was no! a necessary con- 
 sequent. As the law of Cod can claim only the 
 death of a transgressor — for such only forfeit their 
 right to lib — it is the greatest miracle of all that 
 Christ could, die, whose life was never forfeited. 
 Here we see the indescribable demerit of -in, that it, 
 required such " death; and here we see the stupen- 
 dous mere} of God in providing the sacrifice re- 
 quired. It is therefore by Jesus Christ'.- </. nth. or 
 obedienct unto death, that we are saved, and not by 
 his fulfilling any moral law. That he fulfilled the 
 
 35
 
 ROMANS. 
 
 itll r.cl lli. 
 
 I litb. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THEREFORE -being justified by faith, we 
 have b peace with God through our Lord 
 Jesus Christ : 2 ' By whom also we have ac- 
 
 a [sa.32. 17: John 16. I3:ch.3 Eph.2.H; Col t. 20. 
 
 --.l-hii 10. 9il-l.fi; Eph. •-'. 1-: ::. 12: lleb. 10. 1'.'. • / ! Cor. 
 
 moral law we know; without which he could nut 
 have been qualified to be our mediator; but we 
 must lake heed lest we attribute to his (active) obe- 
 diena (which was the necessary consequence of his 
 immaculate nature) that which belongs to his pas- 
 ad death. These were free-will offerings of 
 eternal goodness, ami not even a necessary conse- 
 quence i)t' his incarnation. 
 
 5. This doctrine of the inijm.ted righfronsniss of 
 eh ist is capable of great abuse. To say that 
 Christ's personal righteousness is imputed to every 
 true believer is not scriptural; to say that he has 
 fulfilled all righteousness lor us, or in our stead, il 
 by this ismeant his fulfilment of all moral duties, is 
 neither scriptural nor true; that he has died in our 
 , is a great, glorious, and scriptural truth ; 
 that there is no redemption hut through his blood, 
 is asserted beyond all contradiction in the oracles 
 of God. But then- arc a multitude of duties which 
 tin' mural law requires which Christ never fulfilled 
 in our stead, and never could. We have various 
 duties of a domestic kind which belong solely to 
 oi serves, in the relation of parents, husbands, 
 unvi -, servants, etc., in which relations Christ never 
 lie has fulfilled none of these duties for 
 us, hut he furnishes grace to every true believer to 
 fulfil them to God's glory, the edification of his 
 neighbour, and his own eternal profit. The salvation 
 which we receive Iron God's free mercy, through 
 Christ, binds us to live in a strict conformity to the 
 moral /air; that law which prescribes our manners, 
 and the spirit by which they should he regulated, 
 and in which they should lie performed. He who 
 liv,- not in the due performance of every Christian 
 duty, whatever faith he may profess, i- either a 
 vile hypocrite or a scandalous Antinomian, 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTEK V. 
 
 In the former chapter, the apostle having proved 
 that the believing Gentiles (that is, all men) are 
 justified in the -aim' way with Abraham, and are 
 included with him in the promise and covenant, he 
 judged this a proper place to produce some of the 
 of those privileges and blessings as to which 
 the i 'hristian can glory, in consequence of his justifi- 
 cation by faith. Ami he produces three particulars 
 which, above all others, were adapted to this purpose: 
 1) The assured hope of eternal life, as to which the 
 law was defective. 2) The" persecutions and suf- 
 - to which Christians were exposed; but he 
 shows that these had a happy tendency to estab- 
 lish the heart in the hope of the Gospel. 3) An 
 interest in Cod, as our Con and Father. These 
 are the singular privileges belonging to the Gospel 
 state, wherein true Christians may glory, as really 
 belonging to them, and greatly redounding, if duly 
 Understood and improved, to their honour and 
 benefit. 
 
 1. Therefore being justified by faith — The 
 apostle having proved that justification is by faith, 
 now he proceeds to show the effects produced in the 
 heart- of the believers who enter into its provisions. 
 We are "justified" — have all our sins pardoned 
 36 
 
 cess by faith into this grace win rein we 
 
 stand, and " rejoice in hope of t he glory of < rod. 
 .'{ And no1 only so, bul ' we glory in tribula- 
 tions also; k knowing that tribulation worketh 
 
 15.1. ll.i, 3.6. / M.,tt :. 11,12; Acts 5. 41; 2 Cor. 12. 10: 
 
 Phil. 2. 17: James I. 2, 12; I Pet. ::. 14.- pJami 8 I. 3. 
 
 — '' through faith " — as the divinely ordained con- 
 dition. We have peace with God — [Elpijvm 
 7rp6f tov Qebv expresses the state of reconciliation, 
 (opposite to the former state of condemnation,) in 
 consequence of the removal of Cod's wrath, and 
 (through) the satisfaction of his justice by th< 
 rificc of Christ, who is our "peace.". .. This objec- 
 tive condition of peace (also) implies, as a necessary 
 consequence, (accompaniment,) the subjective peace 
 of the soul, which flows from the experience of 
 pardon and reconciliation. — Lange.] "Peace" is 
 generally the firstfruits of our justification. 
 Through our Lord Jesus Christ — His passion 
 and death being the sole (meritorious) cause of our 
 reconciliation to God. 
 
 2. By whom . . . we have access — Upooayu- 
 yr/v kaxnK.ajiev, wt had this access. [Grammatically 
 this access is spoken of as something past, but what 
 follows shows its indefinite continuity.] It was only 
 through Christ that we could at first approach Cod; 
 and it is only through him that the privilege is 
 continued to us. We are not brought to Cod for 
 only an interview, but to remain with him ; to be of 
 his household ; and, by faith, to behold his face, 
 and walk in the light of his countenance. Into 
 this grace — This state of favour and acceptance. 
 Wherein we stand — Having firm footing, ami a 
 just title through the blood of the Lamb to the full 
 salvation of Cod. And rejoice in hope of 
 the glory of God — [Kavx&ueOa denotes the ex- 
 pression of a joyous consciousness of blessedness 
 with reference to the objective ground of blessed- 
 ness. . . . The ground of the glorying of Christians 
 is not tin gloryof God, hut the hope of the glory if 
 God, a joyous anticipation of beholding (ami par- 
 ticipating in) the glory. — Lange.] We exult in be- 
 ing introduced by Jesus Christ to the divine pres- 
 ence; his blood having been shed and sprinkled 
 for this purpose. ^ r e are in the peace of Cod, and 
 we are happy in tin.' enjoyment of that peace, and 
 have a blessed foretaste of eternal glory. Thus we 
 have heaven upon earth, and the ineffable glories 
 id' Cod in prospect. 
 
 :;. And not only so — Or fiovov Si, hut more- 
 over. But we glory (rejoice) in tribulations 
 also — All tlic sufferings we endure for the testi- 
 mony of our Lord are SO sanctified to us by his 
 grace that they become powerful instruments of 
 increasing our happiness. [The apostle knew the 
 sweet uses of adversity; he knew that "Christ 
 nourishes his Church by suffering," (Jeremj Taj lor,) 
 and that " the chastening of the Lord" is a 
 pline by which his children are prepared for glory. 
 Therefore, looking through the clouds to the bi ight- 
 ness beyond, he says, "we rejoice also in tribula- 
 tions:" and he ju>tifies this boast by an appeal 
 to Christian experience. — Speaker's Commentary \ 
 Tribulation worketh patience — 'Tnouoi . en- 
 durance under trials. A metaphor taken from re- 
 fining metals. We find thai the tribulations through 
 which we pass are the means of exercising and in- 
 creasing our patience— our meek forbearance of in- 
 juries received or persecutions experienced, on ac- 
 count of the Gospel.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 A. M. 4HM. A. D. 58. 
 Yeir..f Rome, 811. 
 
 patience; 4 h And patience, experience; and 
 experience, hope: 5 'And hope maketh not 
 ashamed ; k because the love of God is shed 
 abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which 
 is given unto us. 6 For when we were yet 
 
 h James 1. 12. i Phil. 1. 20. £2 Cor. 1.22: Gal. 4.6; Eph. 
 
 1. 13, 14. /Or, decanting to the time. Gal. 4. 4. 
 
 4. And patience, experience — AoKtfiijv, full 
 proof by trial, of the solidity of our Christian state, 
 and the faithfulness of our God. In such cases 
 we have the opportunity of putting our religion 
 to the test ; and by every such test it receives the 
 deeper sterling stamp. The apostle uses here, also, 
 a metaphor taken from the purifying, refining, and 
 testing of silver and gold. Experience, hope 
 — [The "hope" existed before the experience; nev- 
 ertheless, the more the Christian has become tried, 
 the more also will hope consciously possess him. — 
 Meyer.] 
 
 5. And hope maketh not ashamed — [ This 
 '•hope" shames not — disappoints not — "mocks not;" 
 but stays the soul on God.] Our hope is founded on 
 the goodness and truth of God ; and our experience 
 shows us that we have not misapplied it, nor ex- 
 ercised it on wrung or improper objects. Because 
 the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts 
 — [The divine love, effectually present in the heart 
 through the Holy Spirit, is to the Christian con- 
 sciousness of faith the sure pledge that we do not 
 hope in vain, and so as to be put to shame at last, 
 but that (iod will, on the contrary, fulfil our hope. 
 — Meyer.] This love is the spring of all our ac- 
 tions ; it is the motive of our obedience; the prin- 
 ciple through which we love God ; it is his own ; 
 and every Same that rises from this pure and vig- 
 orous fire must be pleasing in his sight: it con- 
 sumes what is unholy; refines every passion and 
 appetite; sublimes the ' whole, and assimilates all 
 to itself. The Holy Ghost comes with it ; by his 
 energy it is diffused and pervades every part ; 
 and by his light we discover what it is, and know 
 the state of grace in which we stand. Thus we 
 are furnished to every good word and work ; have 
 produced in us the mind that was in Christ ; are 
 enabled to obey the pure law of our God in its 
 spiritual sense, by loving him with all our heart, 
 sold, mind, and strength, and our neighbour — any 
 and every soul of man — as ourselves. This is, or 
 ought to be, the common experience of all believers 
 in Christ. 
 
 6. For when -we -were yet without strength 
 — [While yet dead in sin, not having the forces 
 of the true spiritual life, which we could only re- 
 ceive through the Holy Ghost. The sinfulness is 
 purposely described as weakness, need of help, in 
 order to characterize it as the motive for the love 
 of God interfering to save. — Meyer?] The apos- 
 tle points out the previous condition of these sub- 
 jects of the grace of the Gospel: 1) They were 
 aodevtlc., without strength ; neither able to resist 
 sin, nor do any good: utterly devoid of power 
 to extricate themselves from the misery of their 
 situation. 2) They were ucselistc. ungodly : with- 
 out either the spirit or the knowledge of the true 
 God; they had not God in them ; were not par- 
 takers of the divine nature: Satan lived in, ruled, 
 and enslaved their hearts. 3) They were aiiapru'Xoi, 
 sinners, (verse 8,) [wicked, obnoxious to the conse- 
 quences of sin ; guilty and exposed to punishment. ] 
 4) They were exdpoi, enemies, (verse 10,) persons 
 
 without strength, 'in due time '"Christ died 
 for the ungodly. 7 For scarcely for a right- 
 eous man will one die: yet peradventure for a 
 g( h id man some would even dare to die. 8 But 
 "God commendeth his love toward us, in that, 
 
 in Chap. 4. 25 
 
 verse8. n John li. 13; 
 
 3. 16; 4. 9, 111. 
 
 1 Pet. 3. 18; 1 John 
 
 who hated God and holiness ; and acted in con- 
 tinual hostility to both. Though every man brings 
 into the world the seeds of all these evils, yet it is 
 only by growing up in him that they acquire their 
 perfection — nemo repentefuit turpissimus — no man 
 becomes a profligate at once ; he arrives at it by de- 
 grees ; and the speed he makes is proportioned to 
 his circumstances, means of gratifying sinful pas- 
 sions, evil education, bad company, etc. These 
 make a great diversity in the moral states of men : 
 all have the same seeds of evil — nemo sine vitiis 
 nascitur — all come defiled into the world; but all 
 have not gone to the same extent in cultivating 
 these seeds. Besides, as God's Spirit is continually 
 convincing the world of sin, righteousness, and judg- 
 ment, and the ministers of (iod are seconding its 
 influence with their pious exhortations — as the Bible 
 is in almost every house, and is less or more heard 
 or read by almost every person — these evil seeds are 
 receiving continual blasts and checks, so that, in 
 many cases, they have not a vigorous growth. 
 These causes make the principal moral differences 
 that we find among men ; though in evil propensi- 
 ties they are all radically the same. In due time 
 Christ died for the ungodly — [Now or never 
 was the time for saving the ungodly; now or 
 never was the accepted (propitious) time, (2 Cor. 
 vi, 2 ;) and God's love did not permit the right time 
 for this salvation to elapse, but Fent Christ to die 
 for them the sacrificial death of atonement. — 
 Meyi /-.] 'Y-q> uoepuv airehavsv, lie died instead of 
 the ungodly, (see also verse 8, and Luke xxii, 19.) 
 Tin body of Christ, ~b vnep v/jCiv didouevov, which 
 is given for you ; that is, the life that is laid dawn 
 in your stead. In this way the preposition virlp 
 is used by the best Greek writers. 
 
 7. For scarcely for a righteous man will 
 one die — [The greatness of this love, of Christ's 
 death on behalf of the impious, (uoifteic,) is brought 
 out by showing that there is none such among men, 
 nay, that such self-sacrifice — not unexampled where 
 a good man, one loving his fellow men, and loved 
 by them, is to be rescued — is hardly found to occur 
 on behalf of the pious and just. — Alford.] Per- 
 adventure for a good man seme would even 
 dare to die — This is the truly benevolent man, 
 whose life is devoted to the public good : for such 
 a person, peradventure, some who have had their 
 lives perhaps preserved by his bounty, would even 
 dare to die: but such cases may be considered 
 merely as possible: they exist, it is true, in ro- 
 mance; and we find a lew rare instances of friends 
 exposing themselves to death for their friends. 
 (See the case of Jonathan and David; Damon and 
 Pythias, Val. Max., lib. iv, c. 7; Nisus and Eurya- 
 lus, Virgil.) And our Lord says, (John xv, 13:) 
 Greater love bath no man than this, that a man lay 
 down his life for his friends. This is the utmost 
 we can expect among men. 
 
 8. But God commendeth his love, etc. — 
 Irrin-i/m. Cod hath set forth this act of infinite 
 mercy most conspicuously, so as to recommend it 
 to the notice and admiration of all, [and by it to 
 
 37
 
 A M : \. D. 53. 
 
 ie,811. 
 
 ROMANS. 
 
 while we were yel sinners, Christ died for us. 
 «> Much more then, being now justified "by his 
 
 I I. we shall !■>• saved i from wrath through 
 
 him. 10 Fur i if, w hen \\ e \\ ere enemies, ' w e 
 were reconciled in God by the death of hi- 
 Son: much more, being reconciled, weshall be 
 saved "by his life. II And not only so, bul 
 
 pter 3. 25; Eph. - ; '• : Heb. ft 14; I John 1. 7. 
 
 18; i Thess. I. 10. (/Chapter ?. 3a, - -J Cor. 
 ; Eph. 2. 10; Col. 1. 20,21. -tfJohnS. 2ti; 11. 19; 2 Cor. 
 
 I 
 
 persuade men to be saved]. While we were yet 
 sinners — We were neither righteous nor good; bul 
 impious and wicked. (See the note on verse G.) 
 [But In (that is, God) gives proof of (establishes) 
 his (own) love (as distinguished From thai of men, 
 in verse *J,) toward us, in that, whilt we were yet 
 (en, opposed to vvv, in the next verse) sinners, 
 (and opposed to the just and good in verse 7) Christ 
 ill- d for "n.J 
 
 9. Much more then, being now justified — 
 If Jesus Christ, in his endless compassion toward 
 ive bis life for ours while we were yet ene- 
 mies, being now justified by his blood — by his death 
 on the cross, and thus reconciled to God, weshall 
 In saved from wrath — from punishment for past 
 transgression — through him; by what he has thus 
 suffered for us. 
 
 In. For if, when we were enemies — (Sec 
 under verse 6.) We were reconciled — [If we 
 were reconciled to God when enemies (that is, 
 if in such a case God prepared a way of recon- 
 ciliation for us) by a dying Saviour, much more, 
 "</■/', shall we, being thus reconciled, attain 
 salvation by a living one. — Stuart.] We shall be 
 saved by his life — For, 1) as he died for our 
 sins, so he rose again for our justification; and 
 his resurrection to life, was a victory for us. 
 2) This may also be understoo 1 of his life of inter- 
 i: for it is written, //. ever i.ivktii to make 
 ■ ssiosforus ill.'i. \ii, 25.) Through this 
 intercession at the light hand of God we 
 are spared and blessed. :;) Dm- salvation implies 
 the renovation of our nature ami our being re- 
 stored io the image of God; so, oudnoofieda hv ttj 
 £(*>;) ai Tni' m,i\ Ke rendered: weshall he . si wed in 
 his lif : the life of God in the soul of man, which 
 is a condition of salvation. 4) Tin: example also 
 of the life of Christ is a means of salvation. lie 
 hath left us an example that we should follow his 
 steps: and he that followeth him shall not walk 
 in darkness, hut shall have tin' /ii/lif of life. (John 
 viii, 12.) 
 
 11. We also joy (««i' Y''V' fr '"' we exult, or glory) 
 in God, ete. — God is reconciled to us, ami we are 
 
 tie I i" him : the enmity is removed from our 
 souls. He, for Christ's sake, through whom we have 
 received the atonement, KaraXkayrjv, the reconcilia- 
 Hon, has remitted the wrath, tin: punishment which 
 we deserved: and now, through this reconciliation, 
 we e | t an eternal glory. 
 
 12. Wherefore, a3 by one man — ["Where- 
 fore," Slit tovto, referring to the preceding state- 
 ment- and discussions. | [" By one man," (Adam.) 
 single and singular in his position, and so presented 
 
 as Ti'-'ir Til' fjtfXXoVTOC, the type of tile "eolll- 
 
 ing" .Man, the one greater man, (Christ.) — Schaff.] 
 [The apostle regards the ,,i,i,i as involving generic 
 -ion and transmitting the corrupt seed of 
 sin; nut the woman; hut when he speaks of the 
 personal share which each had in the transgression 
 38 
 
 we also 'joy in God through our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, by whom we have now received the 
 "atonement. 1*2 Wherefore, a- i by one man 
 sin entered into the world, and "death by 
 -in; and so death passed upon all men, 'for 
 
 thai all have sinned: I :{ (For until tin- law- 
 sin was in the world: but'sinisnol imputed 
 
 «Chap. -1. 17; ::. '-'.', 30; Gal. I. a. u Or, reconciliaHov, 
 ver. I< ; 2 Cor. .".. 18, 19. v Gen. 3. 6: L Cor. 15 21.- u G< n 
 
 2. 17: chlip. li. '.':;; 1 Cor. 15, 21. ;/• Or, in a limn. — y i bap. 
 
 i. 15: 1 John 3. i. 
 
 (1 Tim. ii, 11) he says, Adam was not deceived, 
 but the woman being deceived "a- in the trans- 
 gression.— .I//W'/.] May we not understand the 
 "one man," h'bc uvBpunov, to include both Adam 
 and Eve, whose original oneness, and theii eon- 
 currence in the transgression, and their joint par- 
 entage of the human laee, ale the phenomena of 
 
 that solidarity of humanity u] <ai which this whole 
 argumt nt depends ?] Sin entered into the world 
 —[Though used with the article, it is manifest 
 that ?'/ ufiapTia is here employed in a generic s<me, 
 comprehending in its meaning both sinful actions 
 and affections. If Adam was created ?o as to be 
 upright, and was pure and holy (in his nature) 
 until his fall, then sin commenced (in tin world, 
 that is, the human race) with his fall — sin of any 
 kind — -sin either in affection or action. "Ent< red," 
 FAoijXOtv, the first entiance or the commencement of 
 sin (sic tov koo/j.ov') into (among) //" world of man- 
 kind is Jure designated. Kai diu t?^ a/jopTiac, and 
 through sin, through the instrumentality of sin, 
 or by reason of it, (that is, its entrance,) Bdvaroc; 
 death, al.-o entered, clearly implying that the death 
 here spoken of was not an oiiginal appointment, 
 but a visitation brought upon mankind through the 
 incoming of sin. Whether or not the death of the 
 body is here at all spoken of, it is very evident the 
 spiritual death (the lapsing of the soul into the 
 state of moral atrophy, which the apostle so often 
 calls death) is here intended, including, of course, 
 eternal death as a direct consequence. See Stuart.] 
 Death passed upon all men — All human beings 
 partook in the consequences of Adam's sin. He 
 propagated his like; and, with the rudiments of 
 his own nature, propagated those of his moral 
 likeness. [And death following after sin, passed 
 unto all men.] Fcr that all have sinned — All 
 are born with a sinful nature; and the Feeds of 
 this evil soon vegetate, and bring forth corresj end- 
 ing fruits. There has never been one instance of 
 an immaculate human soul (except the Son of n an) 
 since the fall of Adam. Every man sins, and sins, 
 too, after the similitude of Adam's transgression. 
 ['IvV (J ttuvtsc fy(iapTovi\ For that, etc.— [Si me 
 would tender k<f c>, in WHOM: so proving by it the 
 doctrine of the participation of all nun in the 
 original act of sin. But to this there are decided 
 grammatical as well as doctrinal objections. By 
 
 the usual laws of interpretation these words must 
 he rendered because, or for that. All mankind, be- 
 cause of their divinely ordained relations to Adam, 
 have become involved in the evil consequence of his 
 -in, and are, in the judgment of God, treated as 
 sinners, (not only in the condemnation, but also 
 and eminently in the provisions for their salvation 
 in Christ.) See Smart. | 
 
 1'3. For until the law sin was in the world 
 — As death reigned from Adam to Moses, so also 
 did sin. Now, as there was no written law from 
 Adam to that given to Moses, the death that pre-
 
 eign of spiritual death replaced 
 by that of spiritual life. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 M. 4062. A. D. 58. 
 lVarul Rome, Ml. 
 
 when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless death 
 reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them 
 that had not sinned after the similitude of 
 Adam's transgression, z who is the figure of 
 
 vailed could not be the breach of that law; for sin 
 is not imputed when there is no taw, and death is 
 the penalty of sin. Therefore, men are not sub- 
 jected to death for their own personal transgres- 
 sions, but for the sin of Adam ; as, through his 
 transgression all come into the world with the 
 seeds of death and corruption in their own nature ; 
 [that is, all are by nature morally depraved and in 
 a condition of spiritual death.] All are sinful — all 
 are mortal — and all must die. 
 
 14. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam 
 to Moses — [This assertion of the apostle entirely 
 contradicts the individualistic view of man, that each 
 (person) is a separate creation from God, existing 
 solely in his own exclusive responsibility, and affirms 
 the view that all are evolved by God's-- appointment 
 from an original stock, and though individually re- 
 sponsible, are genetically involved in the corrup- 
 tion and condemnation of their original. — Alford.] 
 Who is the figure of him that was to come — 
 Adam was the figure, tvko(, the type, pattern, or 
 resemblance of Him who was to come ; that is, of the 
 Messiah. The correspondence between them ap- 
 pears in the following particulars : 1) Through 
 Adam, as the spring and fountain of the human 
 race, sin became diffused through the world, so 
 that every man comes into the world with sinful 
 propensities : for by one man sin entered into the 
 world, and death by sin ; and so death passed 
 ■upon nil nun. (Verse 12.) Through Christ, as its 
 spring and fountain, righteousness becomes diffused 
 through the earth ; so that every man is made par- 
 taker of a principle of grace and truth ; for he is 
 the true Light that lighteth every man that corneth 
 into the world. (John i, 9.) 2) As in Adam all 
 die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. (1 Cor. 
 xv, 22.) For, since by man came death, by man 
 came also the resurrection of the dead. (Verse 21.) 
 3) As in or through Adam guilt came upon all 
 men, so, through Christ, the free gift comes upon 
 all men unto justification of life. (Verse 18.) 
 These seem to be the chief instances in which a 
 similitude exists between Adam and Christ. [This 
 clause is inserted on the first mention of the name 
 Adam, the onernanoi whom he has been speaking, 
 to recall the purpose for which he is treating of him, 
 as the figure, tvttoc, of Christ, rod /ifAhovrog, of him 
 of the then future. (The first, and not any other, 
 advent of Christ is here referred to.) See Alford.] 
 [ Up to (the time of) the law there was sin in the world, 
 (men were naturally depraved and committed actual 
 sins — not were accounted sinners because of Adam's 
 sin. The apostle reminds of the historical fact that 
 there was sin in the world during tins period.) But 
 sin is not reckoned (a< transgression) where then is no 
 law. The right sense of rXkoyai at is reckoned, set 
 down as transgression. In the case of those who 
 had not the written law, uuaoria is not formally 
 reckoned as irapafiwur, set over against the com- 
 mand ; but in a certain sense, (chapter ii, 9-1(1,) it 
 is reckoned, and they are condemned for it. — Al- 
 ford. ) [The distinction drawn by Alford (as above) 
 between uuapria and Trapaliaeac appears somewhat 
 forced and unnatural. As here used the two terms 
 appear to be of the same import, in respect to the 
 
 him that was to come. B5 But not as the of- 
 fence, so also is the free gift : for if through 
 the offence of one many be dead, much more 
 the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which 
 
 !1,22,45. 
 
 indicated ethical character of the subject and the 
 resultant legal relations. (1 John iii, 4.) If we 
 read until (from Adam down to that date) the (pro- 
 mulgation by Moses of) law there teas sin in the 
 world, we must also concede that there was law in 
 the world as well, for so much is implied in the ex- 
 istence of sin in the world ; for sin cannot exist in 
 the absence of law ; but the then existing law was 
 not the law given by Moses. The existence of sin 
 in the world during the pre-Mosaic period implies 
 the contemporaneous existence of law, for sin 
 (which cannot exist unrecognised by the Judge) 
 is not imputed where there is no law, (and con- 
 versely, where it is imputed there must be law.) 
 Though the law of Moses was not yet given, there 
 was law in the world nevertheless, during all that 
 period ; and the sin that was in the world was the 
 transgression of that law ; the reigning of death 
 from Adam until Moses (a measure of time) im- 
 plies the prevalence of sin during that period, for 
 this death (whether natural or spiritual death, or 
 both, are here to be understood) is unquestionably 
 the result — wages — of sin. But the sins of those 
 who were thus without the written law was not, 
 of course, after the likeness, ogoiupari, the simili- 
 tude, had not the form and conditions, of Adam's 
 sin.] 
 
 15. But not as the offence, so also is the free 
 gift- — [The trespass, KapuTrruya, and the gift, x u P<-- 
 apa, have many points in common, but in other points 
 they are contrasts. The influence proceeding from 
 Adam is sin and destruction ; that from Christ, 
 holiness and felicity. They agree, in that both 
 kingdoms originate in a single person, the first 
 Adam and the second being each the head and 
 founder of an entire race. The difference is, 
 (verse 16,) that when Adam fell, he had before him 
 (in p/osse) a pure and uncontaminated progeny, upon 
 which his sin operated so perniciously as to con- 
 stitute them all sinners. On the other hand, Christ 
 has the entire race, with its innumerable sinners, 
 before him, and by his perfect obedience (unto 
 death) not only does away [makes provisions for 
 doing away] the whole consequences of that orig- 
 inal sin, but restores afresh the SiKaiuaic &7c, 
 that is, the justification which brings in the perfect 
 divine and blessed life. See Tholuek.] For if 
 through the offence of one many be dead — 
 That the oi no/iloi, the many id' the apostle, here 
 means all mankind, needs no proof ; (the whole 
 argument requires that sense.) And if the many, 
 that is, all mankind, have died through the offence 
 of one; certainly, the gift by grace, which abounds 
 unto tovc no77.ovr, the many, by Christ Jesus, must 
 have reference to every human, being ; for it is 
 most evident that the same persons are referred to 
 in both clauses of the verse. If the apostle had 
 believed that the benefits of the death of Christ had 
 extended only to a select number of mankind, he 
 never could have used the language he has dune 
 here. Though, in the first clause, he might have said, 
 without any qualification of the term, through the 
 offence of one, many are dead; in the second clause, 
 to be consistent with the doctrine of particular re- 
 demption, he must have said, the grace of God, 
 
 39
 
 ROMANS. 
 
 ■.' one offence ; the 
 tret nift it "i man] ofleucei. 
 
 is by one man, Jesus Christ, bath abounded 
 •unto many. 1<> And nol as it was bj one 
 thai sinned, ao is the gift: for the judgmenl 
 was by one to condemnation, bul the free gifl 
 is of many offences unto justification. 17 For 
 
 a Isa. 5:?. 11 ; Matt. 20. 28: 2fi. 28. 
 
 andth gift by grace, hath abounded unto some. As 
 by ili< offenct of one judgment came upon all men 
 to condemnation ; so, bythe righteousness of one, tlu 
 fret gift ca ime to justification, (verse 18 | 
 
 As, by disobedience, many wei\ 
 
 ners ; so, bytht obediena of one, shall some be mad 
 righteous, (verse 19.) As in Adam all die; so, in 
 Christ, shall somi b .11 Cor. xv, 22.) 
 
 But neither the doctrine nor the thing ever entered 
 the soul of this divinely inspired man. Hath 
 abounded unto many — That is, Christ Jesus 
 died for every man ; saving grace is tendered to 
 every soul ; and a measure of the divine light is 
 actually communicated to every heart, (John i, 9.) 
 And, as thi fered, so it may be received; 
 
 and hence the apostle says, (verse 17,) They which 
 receivi ■' • . and of tlie gift of right- 
 
 life by Christ Jesus. [" Hath 
 abounded," in the sense that it was not limited to 
 a reversal of the effects of Adam's fin : it did not 
 restore in the same form that which had been lost. 
 in Adam, but bestowed far more and better gifts. 
 ... To those who will accept the grace, it brings 
 both greater abundance of grace here, and the sure 
 hope of glory hereafter. — Speaker's Commentary.] 
 
 lti. And not as it •was by one that sinned — 
 The judicial sentence that followed Adam's sin 
 (that is, death and expulsion from paradise) took 
 its rise from his one offence alone, and terminated 
 in condemnation ; but the tree gift of God in Christ 
 takes its rise also from the many offences which 
 men, in a long course of life, have personally com- 
 mitted; and the^object of this grace is to justify 
 them fredy, anabringthem to eternal life. [The 
 one sinning, nr/fjavrog, is Adam, here pre- 
 
 sented in respeel to his one act of disobedience; 
 the gift, '" ■ ■ ,•:<•-, is Christ's work, shown in con- 
 trast. Through the former has come upon men 
 the judgment to condemnation ; through the fitter, 
 justification from the penal consequences of many 
 (all) offences, with all the consequent blessings of 
 salvation.] 
 
 17. Death reigned by one — ["Death (spirit- 
 ual) reigned : " under its tyranny man'- tree agency 
 i> destroyed. The justified shall themselves reign 
 in life; for life eternal (spiritual) is the element in 
 which man's personal and conscious activity shall 
 find its glorious development. The blessing here 
 promised is far more than the restoration of what 
 was lost through Adam ; it" is promised, therefore, 
 not to all unconditionally, but to those who accept 
 that gift of righteousness which is offered to all. 
 — Sp, aki r's ( omrm ntary. | 
 
 It we carefully compare verse 15 with verse 17. 
 we shall find that then' is a correspondence between 
 TTfpiGoeiav, the abounding, (verse 17,) and ene- 
 plaaevaev, hath abounded, (verse 15:) between ./,< 
 Si.'peuc Tjjc diKaiotyvir/r, the gift <>f righteousness, 
 that is, justification, (verse 17,) and i, fiuptu b xapin, 
 the gift by grace, (verse L5;) therefore, if w< under- 
 stand the abounding of grace, and thegift of justifi- 
 cation, (verse 17,) we shall understand the grace of 
 God, and the gift by grace which hath abounded n,,. 
 to the many, (verse 1 o.) But the abounding of <j race, 
 40 
 
 it' bj one man's offence death reigned byone; 
 much more they which receive abundance of 
 grace and of the gift <>f righteousness shall 
 reign in life bj one, Jesus Christ.) B* There- 
 fore, as • by the offence of one judgment came 
 
 I, Or, li(/ mi, ,■!', lie, . C I Ir, 
 
 and the gift of justification, ( verse 1 7. i is that grace 
 and gift winch is received by those who .-hall 
 reign in life. Reigning in life is the consequence 
 of receiving the grace and gift. Therefore, receiv- 
 ing the grace is a necessary qualification on our 
 part for reigning in life ; and this necessarily im- 
 plies our believing in Chrisl Jesus as having died 
 fur our offences, receiving the grace so freely offered 
 us, using the means in order to get more grace, 
 and bringing forth the fruits of the Spirit. " Re- 
 ceive" must here have the same sense as in Matt. 
 \iii, 20, " He that heareth the word, and anon with 
 joy receiveth it :" and John i. 12, "But as many as 
 received him, to them gave he power to become the 
 sons of God, : " also John iii, 1 1, and many others. 
 
 1 8. Therefore, as by the offence of one, etc. 
 — The Greek text of this verse is as follows : ' kpa 
 ovv uc 6C evbg irapanTuparoc eig r.dx-ae avftpunovg 
 et.c Karunptpa, ovtuc k<h (V evbt diKatoi/iarog tic ituv- 
 rac uvdpuTTovg elg <)iKni(j(?iv -"(.)/" r : which, literally 
 rendered, stands thus: — Tlierefore,asby oni offena 
 unto nil men, unto condemnation : so likewise, by 
 one righteousness ///tin oil men, to justification of 
 life. This is evidently an elliptical sentence, and 
 its full meaning can be gathered only from the con- 
 text, lie who had no particular purpose to serve 
 would, most probably, understand it, from the con- 
 text, thus: — Therefore, as by ont sin nil men came 
 into condemnation ; so also by on< righteous act all 
 mi a came unto justification of life; which is more 
 fully expressed in the following verse. Through 
 the disobedience of Adam a sentence of condem- 
 nation to death passed upon all men; SO, by the 
 obedience of Christ unto death, his one grand act, 
 the sentence was so far reversed that death shall 
 not finally triumph. Justice must have its due; 
 and therefore all die, (are spiritually dead.) The 
 mercy of God, in Christ Jesus, shall have its due 
 also; and therefore all shall be (spiritually quick- 
 ened and) put into a salvable state, land potentially 
 saved.) Thus both justice and mercy are magnified ; 
 and neither is exalted at the expense of the other. 
 
 The apostle uses three remarkable winds in these 
 three verses: 1) Aucaiupa, justification, (verse 16.) 
 2) &LKaioovvT], which we render, righteousness, (verse 
 17,) but is best rendered justification, as expressing 
 that pardon and salvation offered to us in the Gos- 
 pel. (See the note on chapter i, 16.) 3) AiKaiuaic, 
 which is also rendered justification, (verse 18.) 
 Aixaioua signifies, among the Greek writers, the 
 
 Sentence ofajnihfi neijiii/lini/ the iiinnei nt, emnh in- 
 ning a, a/ punishing tlu guilty ; but in the New 
 Testament it signifies whatever God has appointed 
 or sanctioned as a law. The second word, diKai- 
 oavvn, I have explained at large in chapter i, 10, 
 already referred to. The third word, dtnatooig, is 
 used by the Greek writers, almost universally, to 
 denote the punishment inflicted on a ciiminal, or 
 the condemnatory sentence itself ; but in the New 
 Testament, where it occurs only twice, (Rom. iv, '_!.">, 
 /// was raised for our justification, diKaiuaiv, and 
 chap, v, is, unto justification of life, ducalwaiv Co>qg,~) 
 it evidently signifies the pardon and remission of 
 sins, and seems to be synonymous with dmatujia.
 
 nil became sinners ; by 
 
 nee all may be saved. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 A. M. 4062. A. D. 58 
 !Tear of R , 811. 
 
 upon all men to condemnation ; even so d by 
 the righteousness of one thefreegift came*\yp- 
 on all men unto justification of life. 19 For 
 as by one man's disobedience many were made 
 sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many 
 be made righteous. 20 Moreover f the law 
 
 rfOr. by one righteousness, e John 12. 32: Heb. 2.9. 
 
 10. For, as by one man's disobedience, etc. 
 — [Owing to the identity of human nature, (the sol- 
 idarity of the race,) by means (reason) of the 
 inward discord in the mind of Adam, with whom 
 the race was involved, sin and its consequences 
 were entailed upon all. By means of the holiness 
 of the second Head of the race, and in virtue of 
 the spiritual communion and oneness of believers 
 with him, the dcKaioavw/ is entailed upon them, 
 which shall be still more clearly displayed in the 
 life to come. — Tholuck.~\ 
 
 20. The law entered, that (iva) the offence 
 might abound — The law (of Moses) entered in, 
 (TrapeiorfAdeu.) This I understand of the temporary 
 or limited use of that law, which was, so far 
 as its rites and ceremonies are considered, con- 
 fined to the Jewish people, and to them only 
 till the Messiah should come ; but considered 
 as the moral law, or rule of conscience and life, 
 it has in its spirit and power been slipped 
 in — introduced into every conscience, that sin 
 might abound — that the true nature, deform- 
 ity, and extent of sin might appear ; for by 
 the law is the knowledge of sin : for how can the 
 finer deviations from a straight line be ascertained 
 without the application of a known straight edge ? 
 Without this rule of right, sin can only be known 
 in a sort of general way. It was necessary that 
 this law should be given, so that the true nature of 
 sin might be seen, and that men might be the bet- 
 ter prepared to receive the Gospel, finding that 
 this law worketh only wrath ; that is, denounces 
 punishment on all who have sinned. Now it is 
 wisely ordered of God that vvherever the Gospel 
 goes there the law goes also ; entering everywhere, 
 that sin may be seen to abound, and that men may 
 be led to despair of salvation in any other way, or 
 on any terms but those proposed in the Gospel of 
 Christ. Thus the sinner becomes a true penitent, 
 and is glad, seeing the curse of the law hanging 
 over his soul, to flee for refuge to the hope set 
 before him in the Gospel. But where sin 
 abounded — Whether in the world or in the heart 
 of the individual, being discovered by this most 
 pure and righteous law, grace did much more 
 abound ; not only pardon for all that is past is 
 offered by the Gospel, but also the Holy Spirit, in 
 the abundance of his gifts and graces, is communi- 
 cated, so as to prepare the receiver for an exceeding 
 and eternal weight of glory. Thus "where sin 
 abounded, grace did much more abound." 
 
 21. That as sin hath reigned unto death — 
 As extensively, as deeply, as universally, as "sin," 
 whether implying the act of transgression or the 
 impure principle from which the act proceeds, or 
 both. "Hath reigned:" subjected the whole soul, 
 and all its powers and faculties, "unto death," tem- 
 poral, spiritual, and eternal; even so, as extensively, 
 deeply, and universally might grace reign — filling 
 the whole earth, and pervading, purifying, -and 
 refining the whole soul — through righteousness 
 — through this process of free salvation by the 
 
 entered, that the offence might abound. But 
 where sin abounded, grace did much miore 
 abound: 21 That as sin bath reigned unto 
 death, even so might grace reign through 
 righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ 
 our Lord. 
 
 /John 15. 22; chap. 3. 20: 4. 1:»: 7. 8; Gal. 3. 19,23.- 
 T. 47; 1 Tim. 1. 14. 
 
 -g Luke 
 
 blood of the Lamb, and by the principle of holiness 
 inwrought in the soul by the Holy Ghost, unto 
 eternal life — the proper object of an immortal 
 
 spirit's hope. Where God is, and where he is 
 seen as he is, by Jesus Christ our Lord, as 
 the cause of our salvation, the means by which it 
 is communicated, and the source whence it springs. 
 Thus we find that the salvation from sin here is as 
 extensive and complete as the guilt and contami- 
 nation of sin. Here is glorying: "Unto him that 
 loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own 
 blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto 
 God and his Father ; to him be glory and dominion 
 for ever and ever. Amen." 
 
 Additional Xote. 
 (Verses 18-21.) 
 
 12-1 S. [This section is difficult in proportion 
 to its depth, grandeur, and world-historical com- 
 prehensiveness. Only a mind of the very highest 
 order, to say nothing of inspiration, could con- 
 ceive such vast thoughts, and compress them with- 
 in so few words. The beginning, the middle, and 
 the end of history are here brought together in 
 their representative moral powers and principles. 
 Paul deals with religious truths and facts, which are 
 much broader and deeper than the after-thoughts 
 of our logic and theology, and cannot fie forced 
 into the narrow Hunts of particular schools and 
 schemes. . . . The section is not a mere episode, 
 but a progress in the argument from the doctrine 
 of justification to the broader doctrine of a life 
 union of the believer n-illi Christ, which prepares 
 the way for the doctrine of sanctification in chap- 
 ter vi, and of glorification in chapter viii. Like a 
 skilful physician, the apostle goes not only to the 
 root and fountainhead of the evil, but also to the 
 root and fountainhead of the cure. In bold anti- 
 thetical contrasts, and on the basis of a vital, or- 
 ganic union of humanity, both in the order of 
 fallen nature and the order of redeeming grace, 
 he presents the history of the fall by the first, and 
 the redemption by the second, Adam. Adam and 
 Christ are the two representative heads of the 
 whole race, the one the natural, the other the super- 
 natural, (by divine decree;) from one the power of 
 sin and the power of death have proceeded upon 
 all men through their participation in (or relation to) 
 his fall ; from the other, righteousness and life have 
 come upon all on condition of faith, or a living 
 apprehension of Christ. But the gain by the re- 
 demption greatly surpasses the loss )<\ the fall. 
 
 The main stress (of the argument) lies on the 
 idea of life in its progress from Christ to the be- 
 liever. The same parallelism between the first and 
 the second Adam, but with exclusive reference to 
 the contrast of death and the resurrection, occurs 
 in 1 Cor. xv, 21, 22, 45-48, which should be kept 
 in view. It is impossible to understand this section 
 from the standpoint of a mechanical and atomistic 
 conception of humanity and of sin, such as Pelagian- 
 
 41
 
 ROMANS. 
 
 Hon by f:»'tli In Christ furnishes 
 
 r .1 rftlity. 
 
 w 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 1 1 AT shall \\ e say then '. 
 
 Shall 
 
 • i Chap. 3. B; vi 
 
 ism and cognate systems maintain. <»n the sur- 
 ill things appear separate and isolated; in 
 the hidden roots, they arc united. It is character- 
 istic <>l' all deep thinking to go back to principles 
 and general ideas. Pa y views the human 
 
 an •> ganic unit. Adam and Christ sustain 
 to it a central and universal relation, similar to thai 
 which the fountain sustains to the river, or the rout 
 to the tree ami its branches. Adam was nol merely 
 an individual, but the natural (and divinely ordained) 
 head of the human family, and his transgression was 
 not an isolated act, (beginning and terminating in 
 himself, | but (it) affected the whole race which sprang 
 from his loins ; just as the character of the tree will 
 determine the character of the branches and fruits. 
 So it is with Christ He calls himself emphatically 
 the — >i"f " — Son of .Man, the universal, normal, 
 absolute man, tin' representative head of regener- 
 ate humanity, which is from heaven, heavenly, as 
 Adam's fallen humanity is of the earth, earthy. 
 H Cor. XV, 47, 48.) Both were tried and tempted 
 li\ the devil, the one in the garden of innocence, 
 the other in the desert; but the one succumbed, 
 and dragged his posterity into the ruin of the fall, 
 while the other conquered, and became the author 
 of righteousness and life to all who embrace him. 
 Christ has gained far more for us than Adam lost, 
 namely, eternal reunion with God, in the place of 
 the temporary (and conditional ) union of untried 
 innocence. The resurrection of humanity in Christ 
 is the glorious solution of the dark tragedy of the 
 disastrous fall of humanity in Adam. — P. Schaff 
 in Luittf .\ 
 
 (Synapsis of the Section. Verses 12-21.) 
 [I. The principle of sin and death became im- 
 manent (hereditary) in humanity. (Verses 12-14.) 
 1) Sin and death proceeded from Adam's napuBaoic 
 {transgression) upon all (his race) under the form of 
 an ethical appropriation by all, — that is, by each 
 individual. (Verse 12.) 2) Death (also so pro- 
 ceeded) as revealer of the improperly apprehended 
 sin, from Adam to Moses, or to (/iixpi, till) the law, 
 not by the law. (Verses 13, 14.) 
 
 II. The opposing principle of the gift of grace 
 and of the new life made immanent (spiritually 
 hereditary) inhumanity. (Verses 15-19.) 1) The 
 actually manifested contrast in the effects of the 
 two principles, (a) The contrast between the ac- 
 tual and the natural effects according to their 
 quantitative extension to persons; or the contrast 
 in its personal relation. (Verse 15.) (b) The con- 
 trast between the positive effects, according to the 
 qualitative intensity of judgment and justifica- 
 tion; or, the contrast in its essential relation. 
 f\'iv^^ 16.) 2) The contrast in the potential and 
 prospective effects of the two principles, (a) The 
 contrast between the enslavement of all personal 
 life by impersonal (merely personified) death, and 
 the future glory of the pardoned, immortal, and 
 reigning personalities in the new life. (Verse 17, 
 at the same time a proof for verse 16.) (b) The 
 contrast in all its ideal magnitude: One' condemna- 
 tion came upon all men, because of the power of 
 the fall of one man ; so, by the righteousness of one, 
 can all men attain to the justification of life, (that 
 is, not merely justitication of faith.) (Verse la.) 
 42 
 
 continue in sin. tha maj abound ? 
 
 '2 (iuil forbid. 1 1 « > w shall we, that are ' (lead 
 
 h Ver. 11 ; chap. 7.4; Gal. 3. 10; 6.14; Col. 3.3; 1 Pet 2. 21. 
 
 3) The contrast in the final effects disclosed bythe 
 Gospel. Bj the effect of one man's disobedience 
 the many are represented, in the light of the Gos- 
 pel, as sinners exposfed to the judgment ; finally, 
 by the obedience of one. the many are to be repre- 
 sented as righteous in the judgment. (Verse 19.) 
 111. The co-operation of the law for the finished 
 revelation of sin and for the communication of the 
 
 finished revelation of the grace of justification. 
 
 (Verses 20, 21.) 1) The law is designed to effect 
 
 directly the developing process of sin Tit.- manifes- 
 tation) to historical completion, in order to effect 
 indirectly that revelation of grace which far pre- 
 ponderates over the development of sin. (V< 
 20, 21.) See Lange.] 
 
 NOTES ON CIIAPTEE VI. 
 The apostle, having proved that salvation must 
 come through the Messiah and be received by faith 
 iii, i;i, proceeds in this chapter to show the obliga- 
 tions under which all men are laid to live a holy 
 life, and the means and advantages they enjoy for 
 that purpose. This he does, not only as a thing 
 highly and indispensably necessary in itself, but also 
 to confute a calumny which appears to have been 
 gaining ground even at that time, namely, that the 
 doctrine of justification by faith, through the grace 
 of Christ Jesns, rendered obedience to the moral 
 law useless; and the more evil a man did, the 
 more the grace of Cod would abound to him in his re- 
 demption from that evil. That this calumny was 
 then propagated we learn from chap, iii, 8; and 
 the apostle defends himself against it in the 31st 
 verse of the same chapter, by asserting that his 
 doctrine, far from making void the law, served to 
 establish it. But in this and the two following 
 chapters he takes up the subject in a tegular, 
 formal manner, and shows that the principles of 
 the Christian religion absolutely require a holy 
 he hi and a holy life, and make the amplest pro- 
 visions for both. 
 
 1. Shall we continue in sin — We may imag- 
 ine that these were the words of a believer who, 
 having as yet received but little instruction, might 
 imagine, from the manner in which (hid had 
 magnified his mercy in blotting out his sin on 
 his simply believing on Christ, that should he 
 even give way to the evil propensities of his 
 own heart, his transgressions could do him no 
 harm now that he was in the favour of Cod. We 
 find that, indeed, eighteen centuries aftei this, per- 
 sons have appeared, not merely asking such a 
 question, but defending the doctrine with all their 
 might ; and asserting in the mosl unqualified man- 
 ner "that believers were under DO obligation to 
 keep the moral law of Cod ; that Christ had kept 
 it for them ; that his keeping it was imputed to 
 them ; and that God, who had exacted it from 
 him who was their surety and representative, 
 would not exact it from them" These are the An- 
 tinomians who once flourished in this land, and 
 whose race is not yet utterly extinct. 
 
 2. God forbid — M// yivono, let it n<>t he; let 
 imi such a thing be mentioned J — Either of these is 
 the meaning of the Greek phrase, which is a strong 
 expression of dissent and disapprobation: and is 
 not properly rendered by our God forbid/ [~Scither
 
 Baptism figures death to sin, 
 Hnil spiritual life in Christ. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 L. M. 4H65. A. D. 58. 
 Year ..f Rome, SI 1. 
 
 to sin, live any longer therein? 3 Know ye 
 not, that c so many of us as J were baptized in- 
 to Jesus Christ e were baptized into his death? 
 4 Therefore we are f buried with him by bap- 
 tism inro death: that slike as Christ was 
 raised up from the dead by ''the glory of the 
 Father, 'even so we also should walk in new- 
 
 1 3. 27. — d Or, are. e 1 Cor. 15.23.- 
 
 pChap. 8. 11; 1 Cor. o\ 14; 2 Cor. 13. 4.— 
 
 11. 411. 
 
 — / Col. •_'. i-j. 
 -h John 2. 11 ; 
 
 the divine name, nor any word answering to "for- 
 bid," is found in the original. The nearest English 
 equivalent is the phrase no, no ! an imperative nega- 
 tion.] How shall we, that are dead [have died] 
 to sin — The phraseology of this verse is common 
 among Hebrews, Greeks, and Latins. To dik to a 
 thing or person is to have nothing to do with it or 
 /tint, to be totally separated from them : and to 
 live to a thing or person is to be wholly given up to 
 him or it, to have the most intimate connexion with 
 them. ["How? " implying not a physical impossi- 
 bility, but a moral contradiction. — Speaker's Com- 
 mentary^ ["Died to sin," — an acknowledged fact 
 in the Christian life, which precludes (renders un- 
 suitable and fatally dangerous) our persisting in our 
 sin. — A/ford.] 
 
 3. Know ye not, etc. — [Lest the phrase, " died 
 to sin," ( verse 2,) should seem strange and unintel- 
 ligible, the apostle checks himself and explains it; 
 yet even in his mode of doing this he implies that 
 his leaders ought not to need an explanation. — 
 Speakt r's t 'ommentary.] Baptized into his death 
 — [Baptism in the early Church, and always, was the 
 recognised symbol and sign of the new life in Christ ; 
 and as life in Christ implied death to (in respect to) 
 the world, so baptism truly signifies death to the 
 world and life in Christ ; and hence it is called "the 
 washing of regeneration," which is further explained 
 as "the renewing of the Holy Ghost." (Titus iii, 5.)] 
 [The death of Christ, here named, is not merely the 
 death of the individual Jesus, hut the death which, 
 in principle or power, comprehends all mankind, 
 and which absolutely separates the old world and 
 the new world. — Langef\ 
 
 4. We are buried with him by baptism into 
 death — The convert from heathenism at Ins bap- 
 tism was supposed to throw off his old Gentile 
 state as he threw off his clothes, and to assume a 
 new character, as the baptized generally put on 
 new or fresh garments. Possibly the apostle al- 
 ludes to this mode of immersion ; though in the 
 next verse our being incorporated into Christ is de- 
 noted by our being planted,, or rather, grafted, to- 
 gether in the likeness of his death. [Etc rbv Odvarov 
 must be closely connected with (SaTTrin/iaToe (bap- 
 tism) into the death of Christ for the appropria- 
 tion of its full benefit, viz., the remission of sins 
 and reconciliation with God. — Schaff.~\ The grand 
 point is, that, this baptism represents our death to 
 sin and our obligation to walk in newness of life; 
 without which, of what use can it or any other 
 rite be ? Raised up from the dead by the . . . 
 Father — From this we learn, that as it required 
 the glory of the Father — that is, his gloricms energy, 
 to raise up Christ from the dead, so it requires the 
 same glorious energy to quicken the dead soul of a 
 sinner and enable him to walk in newness of life. 
 [The power of Christ's resurrection, of which God 
 is the author and man the subject, is revealed and 
 experienced by the energy of the Holy Spirit.] 
 
 5. For if we have been planted together — 
 
 ness of life. 5 k For if we have been planted 
 together in the likeness of his death, we shall 
 he also in fin' likeness of his resurrection: 
 6 Knowing this, that 'our old man is cruci- 
 fied with him, that '"the body of sin might be 
 destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve 
 sin. 7 For "he that is dead is "freed from 
 
 JGal. 6. 15; Kph. 4. 22-24; Col.:;. 10. k Phil. 3. 10, 11. 
 
 / Gal. 2. 2n ; ... 24 ; 6. It ; Ej>h. 4. 22 : Col. 3. 5, 9. m Col. -1. 11. 
 
 h1 Pet. 4. 1. oGr. justified. 
 
 ±i imvroi yiybvafitv. Here we find a metaphor both 
 beautiful and expressive. When the seed or plant 
 is inserted in the ground, it derives from that 
 ground all its nourishment, and all those juices 
 by which it becomes developed. The death of 
 .lesus Christ is represented as the cause whence 
 his fruitfulness, as the author of eternal salvation 
 to mankind, is derived ; and genuine believers are 
 represented as being planted in his death, and grow- 
 ing out of it. It is by his death that Jesus Christ 
 redeems a lost world ; and from that vicarious 
 death believers derive that pardon and holiness 
 which makes them so happy in themselves and so 
 useful to others. This sacrificial death is the soil 
 in which they are planted ; and from which they 
 derive their life, and fruitfulness, and final glory. 
 
 6. Our old man is crucified with him — This 
 seems to be a further extension of the same meta- 
 phor. When a seed is planted in the earth, it ap- 
 pears as if the v;holc body of it perished. All seeds, 
 as they are commonly termed, are composed of 
 two parts: the germ, which contains the rudiments 
 of the future plant : and the lobes, or body of the 
 seed, which by their decomposition in the ground, 
 become the first nourishment to the extremely fine 
 and delicate roots of the embryo plant, and sup- 
 port it till it is capable of deriving grosser nour- 
 ishment from the common soil. The body dies 
 that the germ may live. The principle of life 
 which Jesus Christ has implanted in us is to be 
 brought into full effect, vigour, and usefulness by 
 the destruction of the body of sin. The old man — 
 our wicked, corrupt, and fleshly self — is to be cruci- 
 fied ; to be as truly slain as Christ was crucified ; 
 that our souls may as truly be raised from a death 
 of sin to a life of righteousness as Christ was 
 raised from the dead, and afterward ascended to 
 the right hand of God. Jesus Christ took on him 
 our nature — the likeness of sinful flesh, (chap, viii, 
 3 ;) and through his death alone an atonement was 
 made for sin, and the way laid open for the vivify- 
 ing Spirit to have the fullest access to, and the 
 most powerful operation in, the human heart. 
 Here, Christ dies that he may be a quickening 
 Spiiit to mankind. Our body of sin is destroyed 
 by this quickening Spirit, that henceforth we should 
 live unto him who died and rose again. From all 
 which we may learn that the design of God is to 
 counterwork and destroy the very spirit and soul 
 of sin, that we shall no longer serve it- — dovAi i iv, 
 no longer be its slaves. Nor shall it (that is, in- 
 dwelling sin) any more be capable of performing 
 its essential functions than a dead body can per- 
 form tlie functions of natural life. 
 
 7. He that is dead is freed from sin — AtSi- 
 KaiuTaL, literally, is justified from sin : or, is freed 
 or delivered from its power. [In verse 6, (as in 
 John viii, 34,) the sinner is regarded as a servant 
 or slave, who is crucified and dies (to sin) with 
 Christ, in order that he may no longer be enslaved 
 to sin. This view of the believer's relation to sin 
 
 43
 
 V ■ .r ol Rome, mi. 
 
 ROMANS. 
 
 not under 
 the law, but under •-■: 
 
 sin. * Now Mr we be dead with Christ, we 
 believe thai we shah also live with him: 
 !> Knowing that <» Chrisl being raised from the 
 dead dieth m> more ; deal li bal li no more 'I" 
 minion over him. 10 For in that be died, 
 r he died unto sin once : bnl in that be liveth, 
 •he liveth unto God. 11 Likewise reckon ye 
 also yourselves to be 'dead indeed unto sin, 
 bu1 'alive unto God through Jesus Chrisl our 
 Lord. 12 • Lei nol sin therefore reign in your 
 mortal body, thai ye should obey it in the lusts 
 thereof. i:t Neitheryield ye your "members 
 as 'instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: 
 
 />-2 Tim. 2. II. g Uev. I.. 18. /• Heb. U. 27. 28. * Luke 
 
 i. ,1. ■:. la. -r l>su. l'.t. 13; 11'.'. 1:1:;. 
 
 to Cr. itrmx, or, " . aponv. 
 
 is now (here) confirmed by the general maxim thai 
 death puts an end to all bondage, (and dying to sin 
 effects our emancipation from its power.) — Speak- 
 
 l r'« < ''in nut nl, I ry I 
 
 8. Now if we be dead with Christ — [Being in 
 Chrisl we are dead to sin, (verses 5—7;) and being 
 thus — by dying to sin —brought into vital union with 
 Christ— who is a quickening Spirit — we become par- 
 takers of his (spiritual) life, which is also eternal.] 
 
 9. Christ being raised from the dead dieth 
 no more — [The risen Chrisl is "alive for ever- 
 more." (Rev. i, is. | Since his memorable victory 
 over death, (primarily in hades,) death has bad no 
 power over him. Be has the keys of death and 
 hades, and his triumph over death is our assurance 
 that "as he lives we shall live also" — in him.] 
 
 10. He died unto [for] sin once — [This dying 
 is related, in some way, to sin. What that relation 
 is must be gathered from the context or the nature 
 of the case. Christ's dying "to sin," (with refer- 
 to it,) must mean that he died in order 
 
 to diminish (destroy) its power or influence. 
 ••-:, — for once, or rather, once for all, — to die 
 no more. Christ, always lived "to God," even 
 while among men; but not in that high and pecu- 
 liar sense which is here meant in reference to his 
 state of exaltation. See Stuart. ] 
 
 11. [Now follows (verses 11-11) an exhortation 
 to realize tin- state of death unto sin and life unto 
 < rod, in i Jurist. I Reckon ye also yourselves to 
 be dead — [Consciously and practically recognise 
 your state "i death as to 3in.] Live as truly unto 
 God as ' 'In i-t lives with God. 
 
 12. Let not sin therefore reign — [Sin is repre- 
 ! as a ruli r, or tyrant, who has the desires 
 
 of the mind and members of the body under his 
 control; so that by influencing the passions he 
 as the body, the natural self. Against this 
 dominance of sin, the believer should be perpetu- 
 ally on his guard, lest by the way of the naturally 
 innocent, but liable to be perverted, animal and 
 psychological d< i aic, (lusts,) sin should 
 
 again obtain a victorj in him.] That ye should 
 obey it in the lusts thereof — Ait/) ev rat? 
 kiriBvfiiacc aitrov. This clause is wanting in many 
 of the -t ancient and reputable MSS. and Ver- 
 sions, [but is retained without a question by the 
 best modern critics. | 
 
 13. Neither yield ye your members — [Do 
 nol allow your members, ra u / ,;, (organs,) — [not 
 only the external (material) parts of the body, 
 (person,) but also the internal, even the affec- 
 tions themselves, t '/'",■ ,-■ /',,,.)] to become the in- 
 struments of sin, though they may be used by i 
 
 44 
 
 hut ryield yourselves unto God, as those that 
 arc alive from the dead, and your members as 
 instruments'of righteousness untoGod. I 1 I or 
 •sin shall nol have dominion over you: for ye 
 .arc nol under the law, but under grace. 
 
 !•"> What then? shall we sin. 'because We are 
 
 doI under the law, but under grace? God for- 
 bid. I(» Knowyenot, thai ''to whom ye yield 
 yourselves servants to obey, his servants y< are 
 to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, 
 or of obedience unto righteousness? 17 Bui 
 God be thanked, thai ye were the servants of 
 sin, bu1 ye bave obeyed from the beart c thal 
 
 «Chap. 7. 5; Col. 3.5; .tan.- I. i. -- yChap. 12. I; 1 Pet, 
 2.24:4.2. sCliap 7. 4, «; 8. 2 : Gal. 5. 18. — a I Cor. 9. 21. 
 — I, Watt. 6. 21; John 8. 34; 2 IVt. 2. 10. <• 2 Tim. I. 13. 
 
 the adversary as mean- of temptation.] It is 
 no sin to be tempted ; the sin lies in yielding. 
 \\ Idle the sin exists only in Satan's solicitation it 
 is the devil's sin, not ours; when we yield, we 
 make the devil's sin our own ; then we enter into 
 temptation. Yield yourselves unto God Lei 
 God have your wills; keep them ever on his 
 side; there they are safe, and there they will In- 
 active. Satan cannot force the will, and God will 
 
 not: it is essential to its being that it be free. 
 And your members as instruments, etc. — Let 
 soul and body be employed in the service of your 
 Maker; let him have your hearts, and with them 
 your heads, your hands, your feet. Think' and de- 
 vise what is pure, speak what is true, and use all 
 your powers for edit \ ing. 
 
 1 1. Sin shall not have dominion over you 
 — [Power over sin is the invariable result of God's 
 converting grace ; this is here presented both as a 
 fact designed for assurance, and as an incentive 
 to watchfulness.] Ye are not under the law 
 — That law which exacts obedience without giving 
 power to obey ; that condemns every transgression 
 and every unholy thought without providing for 
 the extirpation of evil or the pardon of sin. But 
 under grace — Ye are under the merciful and be- 
 neficent dispensation of the (iospel, which, though 
 if requires the strictest conformity to the will of 
 God, has also, in the death of Christ, provided par- 
 don for all that is past, and grace |o help in every 
 time of need. [Ye are not under a legal dispen- 
 sation, but a gracious one. — StuartJ] [The 
 edness of this gracious freedom from all legal ex- 
 action is used as a motive to devotion to the service 
 of Cod (Verse 2.)] 
 
 15. Shall we sin because we are not under 
 the law — Shall we abuse our high and holy call- 
 ing because we are not under thai law, bul are mi- 
 ller the Gospel, which offers free pardon to the 
 penitent and believing? Shall we sin because 
 grace abounds ? This be far from us! 
 
 L6. To whom ye yield yourselves — If you 
 are the servants of Christ, you may nol give way 
 to sin. Sin is the service of Satan ; righteous- 
 ness the service of Christ. If ye sin ye are the 
 servants of Satan, and not the servants of God. 
 [The end unto which the servant of sin is brought 
 i- "death ;" not here bodily death, bul eternal death. 
 Obedience is here used in the special sense of 
 ■■ obedience to God," and the end of such obedience 
 is that "righteousness" which is equivalent to life 
 eternal, (i, 1 7,) and stands opposed to "death." — 
 Spt aki r's ( Commentary. | 
 
 17. But God be thanked, that ye were the
 
 The wages nf sin 
 
 gift of God i 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 form of doctrine J which was delivered you. 
 18 Being then "made free from sin, ye became 
 the servants of righteousness. 19 I speak af- 
 ter the manner of men because of the infirm- 
 ity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your 
 members servants to uncleanness and to iniq- 
 uity unto iniquity ; even so now yield your 
 members servants to righteousness unto holi- 
 ness. 20 For when ye were f the servants 
 
 d^ir. whereto ye were delivered. e John 8. 32; I Cot. 
 
 7. 22: Gal. 5. 1; 1 Pet. 2. 16. — -/John 8. 34. a Gr. to right- 
 
 eoiisiu 88. 
 
 servants of sin — This verse should be read thus : 
 But thanks be to God, that, although ye were the 
 servants of sin, nevertheless ye hare obeyed from the 
 heart that form of doctrine that was delivered unto 
 you, or, that mould of teaching into which ye were 
 east. [The apostle does not thank God that they 
 were sinners ; but that, although they were such, 
 they had now received and obeyed the Gospel — that 
 the condition of bondage is past. — Meyer.~] In 
 view of the whole case, viz., that they once were the 
 servants of sin, but now are devoted to Christian 
 obedience, Paul thanks God. . . . The true solution 
 of the (apparent) difficulty consists in taking the 
 whole phrase together ; for then the meaning is 
 conveyed which might well excite the mind of the 
 apostle to gratitude. — Stuart.] That form of doc- 
 trine — Tvkov (5/Jarw may imply generally the doc- 
 trines of the Gospel, which are a type or species of 
 the greater category of doctrines found among 
 men ; or it may mean more specifically the special- 
 ly Pauline doctrines, to assert and illustrate which 
 seems to be the purpose of this epistle. See Meyer.] 
 
 18. Being then made free from sin — ''Y.'kevdt- 
 puftevTEC is a term that refers to the manumission 
 of a slave. They were redeemed from the slavery 
 of sin, and became the servants of righteousness. 
 Here both sin and righteousness are personified : 
 sin can enjoin no good and profitable work ; right- 
 eousness can require none that is unjust or in- 
 jurious. 
 
 19. I speak after the manner of men— This 
 phrase is often used by the Greek writers to 
 signify what was easy to be comprehended ; what 
 was level with common understandings, delivered 
 in a popular style. Because of the infirmity 
 of your flesh — I make use of metaphors and 
 figures connected with well-known natural things — 
 with your trades and situation in life —because of 
 your inexperience in heavenly things, of which ye 
 are only just beginning to know the nature and 
 the names. Servants to uncleanness, etc. — These 
 different expressions show how deeply immersed in 
 and enslaved by sin these Gentiles were before 
 their conversion to Christianity. Several of the 
 particulars are given in the first chapter of this 
 epistle. [The atrocity of the sinful practices from 
 which they had been rescued should now serve as a 
 stimulus to a higher and holier Christian life. (See 
 chap, xii, 1, 2.)] 
 
 20. Ye were free from righteousness — These 
 two services are incompatible : if we cannot <cvyc 
 God and mammon, surely we cannot serve Christ 
 and Satan. We must be either sinners or saints; 
 God's servants, or the devil's slaves. I know not 
 whether it be possible to paint the utter prevalence 
 of sin in stronger colours than the apostle does 
 here by saying, they were free from righteousness. 
 It seems tantamount to that expression in Genesis, 
 (chap, vi, 5,) where, speaking of the total degener- 
 
 of sin, ye were free efrom righteousness. 
 21 h What fruit had ye then in those tilings 
 whereof ye are now ashamed? for 'the end of 
 those things is death. 22 But now k being 
 made free from sin, and become servants to 
 God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the 
 end everlasting life. 23 For 'the wages of 
 sin is death; but '" the gift of God is eternal 
 life through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
 
 h Chapter 7. a. i Chapter 1. 32. k John 8. 32. /Gen- 
 esis 2. 17; chapters. 12; James 1. 15. m Chapter 2. 7; 5. 17, 
 
 21 ; 1 Peter 1. A. 
 
 acy of the human race, the writer says, " Every 
 imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only 
 evil continually." They were all corrupt; they 
 were altogether abominable : there was none that 
 did good ; no, not one. 
 
 21. What fruit had ye then in those things 
 — God designs that every man shall reap benefit 
 by his service. What benefit have ye derived 
 from the service of sin ? Whereof ye are now- 
 ashamed — Ye blush to remember your former 
 life. It was scandalous to yourselves, injurious to 
 others, and highly provoking to God. The end 
 of those things is death — Whatever sin may 
 promise of pleasure or advantage, the end to which 
 it certainly tends is the destruction of body and 
 soul. 
 
 22. But now being made free from sin — As 
 being free from righteousness is the finished char- 
 acter of a sinner, so being "made f r?e " from the 
 dominion of sin is the invariable character of a 
 genuine Christian. And become servants to 
 God — They were transferred from the service of 
 one master to that of another : they were freed 
 from the slavery of sin, and engaged in the service 
 of God. Fruit unto holiness — Holiness of heart 
 was the principle, and righteousness of life the 
 fruit, 
 
 23. For the wages of sin is death — Death 
 spiritual and eternal; everlasting perdition. Every 
 sinner earns this by long, sore, and painful service. 
 [The award of perdition is given only as wages — 
 something earned, merited — by him who receives it.] 
 But the gift of God is eternal life — A man may 
 merit hell, but he cannot merit heaven. The 
 apostle does not say that the wages of righteous- 
 ness is eternal life; but that this eternal life, even 
 to the righteous, is to ^-apm/za roi> Qeov, the gra- 
 cious gift of God. And even this gracious gift 
 comes through Jesus Christ our Lord. He alone has 
 procured it ; and it is given to all those who find 
 redemption in his blood. The word brpuvta, which 
 we here render wages, signified the daily pay of a 
 Roman soldier. So every sinner has a daily pay, 
 and this pay is death; he has misery because he 
 sins. [The reader cannot help remarking here the 
 antithesis between eternal life, &V aiuvioe, and 
 death, duvaroc. How can the latter be temporal?, 
 What comparison would this make between the 
 two members of the antithesis? — Stuart] ['V.r 
 Xpioru 'h/cov, k. r. Z. Christ our Lord must be 
 kept steadily in view, as he through, whom we have 
 redemption and grace] 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER VII. 
 The apostle having, in the preceding chapter, 
 shown the converted Gentiles the obligations they 
 were under to live a holy life, addresses himself 
 here to the Jews, who might hesitate to embrace 
 the Gospel, lest, by this means, they should re- 
 
 45
 
 A. M : 
 
 . 911. 
 
 ROMANS. 
 
 C)ir!.!i:in' nn> .le-i.l l.i the l:ivr 
 Irnl i.i. i 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 I^XoW ye not, brethren, (for I speak to 
 V them thai know the law,) how thai the 
 law lint 1 1 dominion over a man as long as he 
 Hvetli? 2 For • the woman which hath a hus- 
 band 1s bound by the law to her husband so 
 long as he liveth : bul if the husband be dead, 
 she is loosed from the law of her husband. 
 :{ So then if, while h r husband liveth, she be 
 married to another man, she shall be called an 
 
 nlCor.7.39. 6 Mutt. 5.32.- — ;Ch. 8. 2; Gal. 2. 19; 5 IS 
 
 law, which might appear to their) as a 
 renunciation of their allegiance to God. That the 
 law was insuffi :ient for their justification had been 
 proved in chapters iii. iv, and v ; that it is insuffi- 
 cient for their sanctitication is to be shown in this 
 chapte The discourse is introduced by showing 
 that a believing Jew is discharged from his obliga- 
 nonial i la\y, an 1 i- at liberty to 
 in ler another and much happier constitution, 
 namely, that of the Gospel of Christ. (Verses 1 -4.) 
 In the 5th verse the apostle gives a general descrip- 
 tion of the state of a Jew in servitude to sin, con- 
 ! ,i- un ler mere law. In the 6th verse he 
 gives a summary accounl of the state of a Christ- 
 ian, and the advantages he enjoys under the Gos- 
 pel. Upon the 5th verse he comments, from verse 
 
 7 to t! n 1 of the chapter, and upon the 6th verse 
 
 its in chap, viii, 1-11. 
 In explaining his position in the 5th verse the 
 . vs : 1 ) That the law reaches to all the 
 bran ;h js an 1 latent principles of sin. | Ve 
 
 it it subjected the sinner to death, (verses 
 without the expectation of pardon. 3) He 
 reason why the Jew was put under it. 
 (Verse L3.) 4) He proves that the law, consid- 
 ered as a rule of action, though it was spiritual, 
 ju~t, holy, and good in itself, yet was insufficient 
 for sanctification, or for freeing a man from the 
 power of inbred sin. For, as the prevalency of 
 sensual appetites cannot wholly extinguish the 
 of reason and conscience, a man may ac- 
 knowle Ige the law to be holy, just, an I goo I, and 
 yet hi within him, keeping him in 
 
 the most painful and degrading servitude, while 
 the law supplied no power to deliver him from 
 - 14-24,) as that power can only be 
 supplied by the grace of Jesus < !hrist. | Verse 25.) 
 
 1. Know ye not — 'II uyvoeire, or, Are von un- 
 aware; if the latter, then you would need to be 
 taught.] For I speak to them that know the 
 law — [We may not infer from these parenthetical 
 words that the majority of the Roman con 
 
 tion « ■■■ 1 of Jewish Christians. . . . The 
 
 • might (safely) designate his readers gener- 
 rec tov vbuov, ami predicate ol 
 with the law. — Meyer.] As 
 long as he liveth — Law does not extend its in- 
 fluence to the ilea 1. In either case, when the sub- 
 ject is ilea 1, the law has no force. [The (personi- 
 iw i- lord over the man who i- subjecl to it, 
 . .7 a I'm, i as In liveth. — Meyer.'] 
 
 2. For the woman which hath a husband — 
 i I woman is bound to her husband while 
 
 lie lives; but when her husband is ■! 1 she is dis- 
 charged from the law by which she was bound to 
 him alone. [Death is the only way of escape from 
 minion of law.] 
 
 3. So then if, while -her husband liveth — 
 The object of the apostle's similitude is to show that 
 
 •16 
 
 adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is 
 tree from that law : so thai she is no a lalter- 
 ess, though she be married to another man. 
 I Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become 
 dead to the law by the body of Christ ; that 
 ye should be manned to another, even to him 
 who is raised from the dead, thai we should 
 J bring forth fruit unto God. 5 Forwhen we 
 were in the flesh, the e motionsof sins, which 
 were by the law, r did work in our members 
 
 2. t 5:Col. l\ II. dGa!.5.22. — eGr. passions. -Ch.6.13. 
 
 each party is equally bound to the other ; but that 
 the death of either dissolves the engagement. So . . . 
 
 she is no adulteress, though she be married to 
 another — [Being entireh loosed from the bonds of 
 her former marriage by the death of her husband, 
 she is now at liberty to be married to another man. ] 
 1. Wherefore, my brethren — This is a paral- 
 lel ease. Von were once under the law of Moses, 
 and «ere bound by its injunctions; but now ye 
 are become dead to that law — a less offensive mode 
 of speech than, the law, which was once your hus- 
 band, is dead; so thai now. as a woman whose 
 husband is dead is freed from the law of thai hus- 
 band, and may legally be married to another, so 
 God, who gave the law under which ye have hith- 
 erto lived, designed thai it should be in force only 
 till the advent of the Messiah ; thai advenl fias 
 taken place, the law has consequently ceased, and 
 now ye are called to take on you the yoke of the 
 Gospel, and lay down the yoke of the law. That 
 ye should be married to another — The object 
 of God in giving the law was to unite you to Christ. 
 And as Jesus Chrisl is i isen again from the dead, he 
 has also procured the resurrection of mankind. That 
 we should bring forth fruit unto God — We 
 who believe in Christ have, in consequence of our 
 union with him, received the gifts and graces of 
 the Holy Spirit; so that we bring forth that fruit 
 of holiness unto God which, without, this union, it 
 would be impossible for us to produce. Here is a 
 tte allusion to the case of a promising and nu- 
 merous progeny fi a legitimate and happy mar- 
 riage. | So then, ucre, (inference both from verse 1, 
 the general fact, and verses -: and 3, the example,) 
 my brethren, ye also (as well as the woman in my 
 example, who is dead to the law of her husband) 
 wen slain to tht law, {crucified, see Gal. ii, 19, 20,) 
 by means of, 6iu, tJu (crucified) body of Christ, 
 [through Chrisl crucified, thai you should become] 
 attached (married) to another, (even) who 
 was raised from the dead. — Alford.] [The figure 
 
 ised is somewhat mixed and imperfect, since 
 the liberated person is both the dead and the sur- 
 vivor; its value as an argumentative illustration is 
 not, however, thereby impaired. ] 
 
 5. For when we were in the flesh — 'Ei> ,// 
 vapid. When we were without the Gospel, in our 
 
 I and unregenerated state. The motions of 
 sins, which were by the law — Ta Kadr/uara 
 i passions of sins, the evil propen- 
 sities to sins. These iradr/uara, propensities, consti- 
 i'.c the inn! n, us of) the fallen nature; they 
 are the disease of the heart, the pollution and cor- 
 ruption of the soul. ( Which in n by the law. The 
 
 hap. v, 20, vi, 14) was the multiplier of sin. 
 To this thought the apostle now recurs, and con- 
 trasts the State under the law, in this respect, with 
 
 of the believer in Christ. — Alford.] Did 
 work in our members — [The evil propensity acts
 
 aler and strength 
 
 CHAPTER VIT. 
 
 eto bring forth fruit unto death. 6 But now 
 we are delivered from the law, b that being dead 
 wherein we were held ; that we should serve 
 'in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of 
 the letter. 7 What shall we say then ? Is the 
 
 g Chap. 6. 21 : Gal. 5. 10; James 1. 13. h Or, hein-g </t'<n/ to 
 
 that, chap. 6. 2 ; Verse 4. — i Chap. 2. 29 ; 2 Cor. 3. ti. 
 
 fv ro?c fieXeotv, in the whole psychological system, 
 applying their perverting and depraved stimulus to 
 every part by which to excite them to action. The 
 same in sense as aufia dur/Tov, (vi, 12,) dead body. 
 M,-/// {members) is used as an equivalent for oHfia, 
 because the members of the body are its efficient 
 agents. — Stuart.'] To bring forth fruit unto 
 death — When the apostle says, the motions of sin 
 which were bij the law, he points out a most striking 
 and invariable characteristic of sin, namely, its re- 
 bellious nature; it ever acts against law, and most 
 powerfully against known law. Because the law 
 requires obedience, therefore it will transgress. 
 The law is equally against evil passions and evil 
 actions, and both these exert themselves against it. 
 6. But now we are delivered from the law 
 — We, who have believed in Christ Jesus, are de- 
 livered from that yoke by which we were bound, 
 which sentenced every transgressor to perdition, 
 but provided no pardon even for the penitent, and 
 no sanctification tor those who are weary of their 
 inbred corruptions. That being dead wherein 
 we were held — To us believers in Christ this 
 commandment is abrogated; [the method of salva- 
 tion by the works of the law is superseded :] we 
 are transferred to another constitution ; that law 
 which kills ceases to bind us ; il is dead to us who 
 have believed in Christ Jesus, who is the end of 
 the law for justification and salvation to every one 
 that believes. [The law was utterly unable to ef- 
 fect our renewal and sanctification ; nay, it did but 
 aggravate our guilt and condemnation, instead of 
 delivering us from them. — Stuart.] That we 
 should serve in newness of spirit — We are now- 
 brought under a more spiritual dispensation : now 
 we know the spiritual import of all the Mosaic pre- 
 cepts. The oldness of the letter — The merely 
 literal rites, ceremonies, and sacrifices are now 
 done away; and the newness of spirit, the true in- 
 tent and meaning of all, are now fully disclosed. 
 We serve God now, not according to the old literal 
 sense, but in the true spiritual meaning. [Paul, 
 disregarding the abnormal phenomena (of the 
 rra?.icloT7/ri ypiiuanrnr. the oh] things of tin' letter,) 
 contemplates the Christian life as it is constituted 
 in accordance with its new, holy, and lofty nature 
 — kv nawuTi/Tt Kvevfiaroc. if it is otherwise, it has 
 fallen away from its specific nature, and is a 
 Christian life no longer. — Meyer.] 
 
 7. Is the law sin? — The apostle had said, (verse 
 5,) the motions of sins, which were by the /<<"•, did 
 bring forth fruit unto death ; and now he antici- 
 pates an objection, •' Is therefore the law sin V" To 
 which he answer-, as usual, fir/ ytvoiro, by no 
 means. Law is only the means of disclosing this 
 sinful propensity, not of producing it. The mil- 
 lions of motes which appear in the sun's beams 
 were not introduced by the li.^ht : they were there 
 before, only there was not light enough to make 
 them manifest. So the evil propensity was there 
 before, but the spiritually dead soul did not dis- 
 cover it. [To this objection (of the legalist) the 
 apostle replies, and shows that while the law is the 
 
 law sin? God forbid. Nay, k I had not 
 known sin, but by the law: for I had not 
 known 'lust, except the law had said, '"Thou 
 shalt not covet. 8 But "sin. taking occasion 
 by the commandment, wrought in me all man- 
 
 fcChap.3. 20. 1 Or, con cupixcenci ■ — m Exod. 20. 17; Deut. 
 
 5. -21 ; Acts 2". 33 ; chap. 13. 9. n Chap. t. 15 ; 5. 20. 
 
 occasion of greatly aggravating our guilt and con- 
 demnation, still the fault lies in ourselves and not 
 in the law — for that is altogether worthy of appro- 
 bation and obedience as "holy, just, and good." — 
 Stuart.] I had not known sin, but by the law 
 — [To the false notion just rejected, St. Paul now 
 opposes his own experience of the real effect of 
 the law. which is to expose sin in its true nature. 
 Through /"»•, diu vbftov, (without the article,) law 
 in respect to its broadest sense. Two kinds of 
 knowledge are here expressed by two different 
 Greek verbs ; the former (iyvuv) is applied to the 
 abstract, metaphysical notion of sin, the latter 
 (fadei-v) to the sensible experience of strong and 
 perverse desire as a fact first brought under ob- 
 servation. — Sp. Com.] 
 
 It is not likely that a dark, corrupt human heart 
 can discern the will of God. His law is his will. 
 It recommends what is just and right ; and forbids 
 what is unjust and wrong. If God had not revealed 
 himself by this law, we should have done precisely 
 what many nations of the earth have done, who 
 have not had this revelation — put darkness for 
 liuht, and sin for acts of holiness. While the hu- 
 man heart is its own measure it will rate its work- 
 ings according to its own propensities ; for itself is 
 its highest rule. But when Cod gives a true insight 
 of his own perfections, to be applied as a rule (with 
 sacred authority) both of passion and practice, then 
 sin is discovered, and discovered, too, to be exceed- 
 ingly sinful. So strong propensities, because they 
 appear to lie inherent in our nature, would have 
 passed for natural and necessary inclinations; and 
 their sinfulness would not have been discovered if 
 the law had not said, Thou shalt not covet; and 
 thus determined that the propensity itself, as well 
 as its outward operations, is sinful. The law is the 
 straight edge which determines the degree of obliq- 
 uity in the crooked line to which it is applied. 
 
 [Perhaps this last clause may be understood to 
 favour the widely prevalent notion that attributes to 
 man a perverse disposition to do wrong for its own 
 sah ; to transgress because the law forbids. So 
 one of the old Latin poets : " Being admonished, lie 
 becomes the more obstinate; and his fierceness is 
 irritated by restraints. Prohibitions become incen- 
 tives to greater acts of vice." — Ovid. (See Prov- 
 erbs ix, 1 7.)] 
 
 8. Sin, taking occasion by the command- 
 ment — ["Occasion," u^opfirjv, means, material, ap- 
 paratus. God's commandments, ivroTJj, — the spe- 
 cific application of the general principles of the law, 
 — perhaps here the tenth commandment, (verse 7.) 
 supplies the opportunities and means of sii 
 KareipyuoaTo, (brought about, caused to be,) in m<, 
 of coveting. Restrained appetites are in- 
 tensified, both by prohibitions and unlawful oppor- 
 tunities.] Thus the very prohibition, as we have 
 already seen in the preceding verse,' becomes the 
 instrument of exciting the evil propensity ; for, al- 
 though a sinner has the general propensity t" do 
 what is evil, yet he seem* to feel an unpremeditated 
 delight in transgressing known law. All manner 
 
 47
 
 ROMANS. 
 
 dentil tha remit, not 
 
 ■ Ol -in. 
 
 oer of concupiscence. For "without the law 
 sin was dead, f) For I was alive without the 
 law once: but when the commandmenl came, 
 sin revived, and I died. 10 And the com- 
 mandment, t which was ordained to life, I found 
 unto death. II For sin, taking occasion 
 by the commandment, deceived me, and by it 
 
 r. 15. 56. ;■ Lev 1-. 5 i Eiek. 20. LI. 13.21 : 2 Cor. 3. 7. 
 
 of concupiscence — It showed what was evil and 
 forbade it : and then the principle of rebellion, 
 which seems essential to the very nature of sin, 
 rose up against the prohibition; and h<' was the 
 more strongly incited to disobey in proportion as 
 obedience was enjoined. Tims the apostle shows 
 
 le law had authority to prohibit, condemn, and 
 destroy; but no power to pardon sin, root out en- 
 ■ tin soul. 'ExiOvfiia (concupiscence) sig- 
 nifies simply strong desire of any kind ; but in the 
 New Testamenl it is generally taken to signify ir- 
 regular and unholy desires. For without the 
 law sin was dead — [For while I was without 
 the knowledge of the law sin was (relatively) 
 dead; neither so apparent, nor so active; nor was 
 1 under the least apprehension of danger from it. — 
 Wesley.] ["Sin," u/iapria, (especially signifying 
 the sin of the heart, sin, (singular and comprehen- 
 sive, rathei' than sins, specific sinful actions,) with- 
 out prohibitory commandments, would be compara- 
 tively inoperative. That the apostle could not mean 
 to be un lerstood in an absolutt sense is plain from 
 chapters i, ii. In the absolute sense, the time never 
 has been, and never can be, when men are without 
 the law. The heathen, who have no (written) law, 
 are a law unto themselves." See Stuart.] 
 
 1'. I was alive without the law once — [Paul 
 
 'o be speaking of his own experience, but in 
 i way as to illustrate the spiritual condition of 
 all the unregenerate. The period (the " once ") dur- 
 ing which lie was "without the law," covers all 
 the tine, whether of childhood or adult life, befort 
 tJu law began its work within him. — before the deep- 
 
 gies of his moral nature were aroused. "I 
 was alive" (not merely lived, but lived and flour- 
 ished) "without the law," (the law having no recog- 
 nised place in my moral existence.) But when 
 the commandment came, (not was enacted, but 
 
 ■'. me, [subjectively] — "was brought home to 
 me," sin sprang into life, — I was spiritually con- 
 vinced of sin, — that I was a sinner in life and char- 
 acter, ail ! thai conviction carried with it the Sen- 
 
 ten i death. See Alford.] [*E£iui> may express 
 
 a state "l" self security without conscious guilt ; aire- 
 6avov, the condition oi infulness and con- 
 
 demnation.] 
 
 in. And the commandment — Meaning the law 
 in general. Which was ordained (intended) to 
 life — The rule of righteousness, teaching those stat- 
 utes which if a man do he shall live in them. I I.e. 
 xviii, 5.) I found, by transgressing it, (by reason of 
 my conviction of my own sin and iruiltj to be unto 
 death — For it only presented the duty and laid down 
 thepenalty, without affording any strength to resisl 
 sin or subdue evil propensil 
 
 11. Sin, taking occasion — For " sin," (the sin- 
 ful propensity within me,) having found occasion., 
 • ■ verse 8,) by means of the command- 
 ment, rye hri)'/!.r. (the specific requisition of the 
 law,; deceived me. [There is a plain reference to 
 the tempter deceiving Eve. which was accomplished 
 by means of (with reference to) the commandment, 
 48 
 
 slew me. 12 Wherefore q the law is holy, 
 and the commandmenl holy, and just, and 
 
 g !. i:g Waa then thai which isgood made 
 
 death unto me? <;<>d forbid. Bui Bin, thai it 
 might appear sin. working death in me by 
 thai which is good; thai sin by the command- 
 menl mighl become exceeding sinful. II For 
 
 •I Psa. 19. 8; 119.38. 137: 1 Tim. 1.8. 
 
 exciting doubt of and objection to it. and lust after 
 the forbidden thing; and by it slewme; broughl 
 me into the state of misery and death mentioned in 
 verse 10. — Alford.'] And by it slew me — 
 Brought un into condemnation i<> death. Subjected 
 me to that death which the law denounced against 
 transgressors. It is well known to scholars that 
 the verb unoKTeivriv signifies nol only A> slay or kill, 
 hut also to kiiiLi wretched. Every sinner is not only 
 exposed to death because he has sinned, and must, 
 soon or later, die ; hut he i> miserable iii both body 
 ami mind by the influence ami the effects of sin. 
 [A state of spiritual death is the direcl and insep- 
 arable result of disobedience, in heart "ml life, 
 which is the very essence of uuaprca, sin.] 
 
 12. Wherefore the law is holy — As if he had 
 -aid, to soothe his countrymen, to whom he had been 
 showing the absolute insufficienc) of the law either 
 to justify or save from sin: I do not intimate that 
 there is anything improper or imperfect in the law 
 as a rule of life ; it prescribes what is holy, just, 
 and good. The law, (here used in its highest sense,) 
 which come- from (is the mind of) the holy, just, 
 and good <h>i>, and is designed to regulate the whole 
 (inward spirit and) outward conduct, i.- holy ; and 
 the commandment. Thou shall 'not covet, (a pari for 
 the whole.) which is to regulate the heart, is not 
 less so. All is excellent and pure ; hut it neither 
 pardons sin nor purifies the heart; and because it 
 is holy, just, and good, it condemns transgressors 
 
 to death. 
 
 13. Was then that which is good made 
 death unto me — The apostle answers : God for- 
 bid ! u'r/ ■) evoirn, by no means : it is not the law t hat 
 is the cause of youi death, bul sin ; it was sin which 
 subjected us to death by the law justly threatening 
 sin with death: which law revealed detects the pres- 
 ence of sin, sets it forth in its own colours; which 
 when we saw it subjected US to death bj a law per- 
 fectly holy, just, and good ; that sin, by the law, 
 mighl he represented what it really is: /,»W vnep- 
 (3o?:i}v uuapTu'Kbs — sin in hyperbole— an exceeding 
 great and deadly evil. No man can have a true no- 
 tion of sin hut by means of the law of (huh And 
 it was one design of the revelation of the law to 
 show the abominable and destructive nature of sin, 
 as well as to he a rule of life. A man can have that 
 just notion of the demerit of sin which produi i 
 pentance, and shows the nature and necessity of 
 the death of Christ, only as the law is applied to 
 
 mscience by the light of the Holy Spirit. It 
 
 is only then that he -ccs himself tO he carnal, aial 
 
 sold under sin; and that the law and the command- 
 menl are holy, just, and good. Nor do we find that 
 ma- repentance take- plate where the moral law is 
 not preached and enforced. Those who preach only 
 
 the Gospel to sinners (mercy without righteousness) 
 at best only heal the hurt of the daughter of my 
 people slightly. The liin\ therefore, is the grand in- 
 strument in the hands of a faithful minister to 
 alarm and awaken sinners; and he may safely show 
 that every sinner is under the law, and consequently
 
 e struggle of an enlightened 
 but unregenerate mind. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 we know that the law is spiritual; but I am 
 carnal, r sold under sin. 15 For that which I 
 
 r 1 Kings 21. 20, 25 ; 2 Kiniis 17. 17. 
 
 under the curse, who has not fled for refuge to 
 the hope held out by the Gospel : for, in this sense, 
 also, Jen us Christ is the end of the law for justifi- 
 cation to them that believe. 
 
 14. For we know that the law is spiritual 
 ■ — This is a general proposition, and probably, in 
 the apostle's autograph, concluded the above sen- 
 tence. The law is not to be considered as a system 
 of external rites and ceremonies ; nor even as a rule 
 of moral action : it is a spiritual system ; it reaches 
 to the most hidden purposes, thoughts, dispositions, 
 and desires of the heart and soul ; and it reproves 
 and condemns everything, without hope of reprieve 
 or pardon, that is contrary to eternal truth and 
 rectitude. But I am carnal — [St. Paul having com- 
 pared together the past and present state of be- 
 lievers, that in the flesh (verse •">) and that in the 
 spirit, (verse 6,) in answering two objections, Is 
 then the law sin ? (verse 7,) and, Is the law death ? 
 (verse 13,) interweaves the whole process of a man 
 reasoning, groaning, striving, and escaping from the 
 legal to the evangelical state. This he does from 
 verse 7 to the end of the chapter. Sold under 
 sin — Totally enslaved : slaves bought with money 
 were absolutely at their master's disposal. — Wesley.] 
 [In this and the following verses the apostle states 
 the contrariety between every man, while without 
 Christ, and the law of God. Of the latter he says, 
 it is spiritual ; of the former, " I (as a specimen 
 sinner) am carnal, sold under sin." Of the carnal 
 man, in opposition to the spiritual, never was a 
 more complete or accurate description given. The 
 expressions, in the flesh and after the flesh, (verse 
 5, and chapter viii, 5, 8, 9, etc.,) are of the same 
 import with the word carnal in this verse. To be 
 in the flesh, or to becarnally minded, solely respects 
 the unregenerate element in the soul. While unre- 
 generate, a man is in a state of death and enmity 
 against God. (Chapter viii, 6-9.) This is the car- 
 nal man. Such a man has no authority over the 
 lusts of the flesh : reason has not the government 
 of passion. The w y ork of such a person is to make 
 provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof. 
 (Chapter xiii, 14.) He minds the tilings of the flesh, 
 (chapter viii, 5 ;) he is at enmity with God. In re- 
 spect to all these things the spiritual man is the re- 
 verse ; he lives in a state of friendship with God 
 in Christ, and the Spirit of God dwells in him ; his 
 soul has dominion over the lusts of the flesh ; his 
 passions are compelled to submit to the government 
 of reason, and he, by the Spirit, mortifies the deeds 
 of the flesh; he mindeth the things of the Spirit. 
 (Chapter viii, 5.) These two characters are there- 
 fore placed in direct opposition to each other. It is 
 his carnal state that he is about to describe, in op- 
 position to the spirituality of God's holy law, when 
 he says, But 1 am carnal. Although there may be, 
 after justification, the remains of the carnal mind, 
 which will be less or more felt till the soul is com- 
 pletely sanctified, yet the man is never denominated 
 from the inferior principle, which is under control, 
 but from the superior principle, which habitually 
 prevails. Whatever epithets are given to corrup- 
 tion or sin in Scripture, opposite epithets are given 
 to grace or holiness. By these different epithets are 
 the unregenerate and regenerate denominated. From 
 all this it follows that the epithet " carnal," which 
 Vol. II.— 4 
 
 do, I * allow not : for ' what 1 would, that do I 
 not ; but what I hate, that do 1. 16 If then 
 
 «Gr. know, Psa. 1. 6. *Gal. 5. 17. 
 
 is the characteristic designation of an unregenerate 
 man, cannot be applied to St. Paul after his conver- 
 sion; nor, indeed, to any Christian in that state. 
 But the word "carnal," though used by the apostle to 
 signify a state of death and enmity against God, is 
 not sufficient to denote all the evil of the state which 
 he is describing. The expression, " sold under sin," 
 is one of the strongest which the Spirit of God uses 
 in Scripture to describe the full depravity of fallen 
 man. It implies a willing slavery: "Ahab has sofa? 
 himself to work evil ." (1 Kings xxi, 2f». ) And of the 
 Jews it is said, in their utmost depravity. "Behold, 
 for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves." (Isaiah 
 1, 1.) "They forsook the holy covenant, and joined 
 themselves to the heathen, and were sold to do mis- 
 chief." (1 Mace, i, 15.) Now, if the word "car- 
 nal," in its strongest sense, had been sufficiently 
 significant of all he meant, why add to this charge 
 another expression still stronger ? We must there- 
 fore understand the phrase, " sold under sin," as 
 implying that the soul was employed in the drudgery 
 of sin; that it was sold over to this service, and had 
 not power to disobey this tyrant until it wis re- 
 deemed by another. And if a man be actually sold 
 to another, and he acquiesce in the deed, then he 
 becomes the legal property of that other person. 
 Sin is here represented as a person; and the apostle 
 compares the dominion which sin has over the man 
 in question to that of a master over his legal slave. 
 Universally through the Scriptures man is said to be 
 in a state of bondage to sin until the Son of God 
 make him free; but in no part of the sacred writ- 
 ings is it ever said that the children of God are 
 " sold under sin." Christ came to deliver the law- 
 ful captive, and take away the prey from the 
 mighty. AVhom the Son maketh free, they are free 
 indeed. Then they yield not up their members as 
 instruments of unrighteousness unto sin ; for sin 
 shall not have the dominion over them, because the 
 law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made 
 them free from the law of sin and death. (See chap- 
 ter vi, 13, 14; viii, 2.) [Does the apostle mean 
 to designate himself specially and peculiarly, or 
 does he include others with himself? Others, cer- 
 tainly, are included, understand him as you please. 
 If he speaks of himself while under the law, he 
 means by a point of reasoning to include all others 
 who are in the same condition. If he speaks of him- 
 self as a Christian, he means in the same manner 
 to include all other Christians, who, of course, must 
 have a similar experience. . . . Whatever ground of 
 exegesis one takes as to chapter vii, in general, the 
 principle that Paul speaks of himself only as an ex- 
 ample of what others are in like circumstances, 
 muct of course be admitted. — Stuart.] 
 
 1 5. For that which I do, I allow not, etc. — [The 
 apostle seems to divide the person thus in bondage 
 into two selves, namely, the vovc, (the rational soul,) 
 or 6 eou avOpuiroc, (the inner man,) (verses '22, 23,) 
 and the aciya, (body,) oupt;, (flesh,) or carnal part of 
 his nature. In the latter dwell the passions and af- 
 fections which sway the uvdpu-xoc oapKixoc, (the 
 carnal man) ; in the former is still a portion of the 
 image of God, (James iii, 9, 1 Cor. xi, 7.) which 
 (when awakened by the Spirit) discerns anil cannot 
 but approve the holy and perfect will of God. — 
 Stuart.] [The apostle here seizes upon a well-defined 
 
 49
 
 A. M : 
 
 . Ml. 
 
 ROMANS. 
 
 The itnipclf 
 
 r.f nn enliflilp 
 
 ied| but 
 
 I di> thai \\ li'n-li I would not, I consenl unto my flesh) dwelleth no good tiling: for to will 
 
 the law that it i» g 1. 17 Now then it is is presenl with me; but how to perform that 
 
 no more I thai il" it. but sin that dwelleth in which is good I find not. Ii> For th< 
 
 me. I* For I know thai 'in me (thai is, in 
 
 stage in the development of the spiritual life, clearly 
 differentiated on the one side from the deadness of 
 the soul in all spiritual things in its native carnality, 
 tli n is, the natural man, which entirelj fails to see or 
 feel spiritual realities, and specifically the true spir- 
 itual estate of thesubjeel himself, 1 1 Cor. ii, 1 t,)and 
 □ the other band, is held in the mastery of in- 
 dwelling sin. The point contemplated is, thai when 
 the divine Spirit has ''nine to the bouI to quicken it 
 into spiritual consciousness, and at the same time 
 to convince the man of sin, -his own personal sin- 
 fulness and guilt before God, (John w. 8,) in the 
 light of the Boly Spirit — the awakened reason and 
 conscience detect the ethical excellence of the di- 
 vine law, and intellectually approve of it, and at 
 length the will — the self-poised soul — determines 
 to thai side 'it' the pending issue. But the law of 
 the fallen nature (the uvBpunnc aapKCxoc, —the car- 
 nal or natural man) is still dominant, and practi- 
 it the reason and conscience ap- 
 prove and the will prefers. These two opposing 
 
 in the soul are the adverse I and 1, of the 
 
 apostle, — the awakened conscience, striving inef- 
 fectually against the domination of the "carnal 
 min 1." The condition of completed self-despair in 
 this struggle is seen in verse 24, which is immedi- 
 ed by the suggestion of the way by 
 which the sin-enchained soul, that cries out for 
 help, tin is deliverance, — through Jesus ('lu-ist our 
 Lord.- Stuart.] The man who now feek the galling 
 dominion of -in -a\ s, What I am continually laboring 
 at 1 allow not — oi yni.iTKt.) I <!<> not acknowledge to 
 be right, just, holy, or profitable. But what I 
 hate, (disapprove,) that do I — [am a -lave, and 
 under the control of a tyrannical master : 1 hate his 
 service, but am obliged to work his will. [The ex- 
 periences which Paul here delineates force them- 
 selves so strongly upon every man who has be- 
 come sensible of the moral dissonance of his na- 
 ture, thai it is not necessary to suppose that the 
 apostle exaggerates the matter. — Tholuck.] En 
 lightened heathens, both among the Greeks and 
 R - i ns, had the same Kind of religious experience. 
 The whole spirit of the sentiment is well summed up 
 and expressed by St. Chrysostom. If we lust after 
 ting which is afterward prohibited, the flame 
 of this de-ire burns the more fiercely. 
 
 16. If then I do that which I would not, etc. 
 — Knowing thai the Ian condemns it, and that there- 
 fore it must be evil. I consent unto the law — T 
 show by this circumstance that I acknowledge the 
 law to be good. | if I do evil unwillingly and with 
 dislike, 1, in my moral will and conscience, consent 
 to the law that forbids the evil, and affirm " that it 
 
 , ." — Sj K Com.] 
 
 17. Now then it is no more I — Tt is not (hit 
 /which is of the reason and conscience, but that of 
 sin — corrupt and sensual inclinations — tlmi dwelleth 
 in a" —has the entire domination over my reason, 
 darkening my understanding, and perverting my 
 judgment; for which there is condemnation in the 
 law, but no cure. So we find that there is a prin- 
 ciple iii the unregenerate man Btronger than reason 
 it-elf; a principle which i-, properly speaking, not 
 of the choice, but acts as the lord and tyrant of the 
 
 5U 
 
 that I would, 1 (Id not: but the t\il which 1 
 
 6 :>: 8.21. 
 
 soul. This is inbred and indwelling sin — the seedof 
 II,, serpent; by which the whole soul i- darkened, 
 confused, perverted, and excited to rebellion against 
 
 God, [and led captive by the de\ il. (2 Tim. ii, 2(i.)] 
 
 [It is now almost universally admitted thai th 
 pressions "now" and "no mort " are nol temporal, 
 (historical,) distinguishing the speaker's presenl con 
 dition from his former state before -race, but logi- 
 cal; compare 1 Cor. \iv, 6; xv, 20; Romans vii, 
 20; xi, 6; Gal. iii, 18. — Lightfoot] 
 
 18. For I know that in me, etc. — I have 
 learned by experience thai in an unregenerate man 
 there is no good. There is no power by which the 
 soul can be brought into the light ; no principle by 
 which it can be restored to put itj ; fleshly appetites 
 
 alone prevail ; and the brute runs away w ith the man. 
 [The jlesh, here, signifies the whole man as he is 
 by nature. — Wesley. | For to 'will is present with 
 me — Though the whole soul has suffered indescrib- 
 ably by the fall, ye1 there arc some faculties that 
 appear to have suffered less than other.- ; or rather, 
 have received larger measures of the supernatural 
 lieht, because their concurrence with the divine pi ih- 
 ciple is so necessary to the salvation of the soul. 
 Even the most unconcerned about spiritual things 
 have understanding, judgment, reason, and will. [The 
 immediate antithesis is simply the better desire, the 
 ego longing to be better; powerless, however, in 
 every case, until escaping from the law to Christ. — 
 Riddle.~\ [The l)i.> is not yet the new man of the 
 s] hit ; it is the better self as an awakened moral 
 will, from which the aim is removed and the way 
 stopped up by the accustomed (inborn) propensity 
 of the flesh. — Lange.] Not only is the soul incapa- 
 ble, of itself, of any truly religious act; but what 
 shows its fall in the most indisputable manner is, its 
 enmity to sacred things. Let an unregenerate man 
 pretend what he pleases, hi.- conscience knows that 
 he hates religion ; his soul revolts against it ; his car- 
 nal mind is not subject to the law id' God, neither 
 indeed can it be. There is no reducing tin- fell 
 principle to subjection; it is sin, and sin i> rebell- 
 ion againsl tied; therefore sin must be destroyed, 
 
 not subjected ; if subjected, it would cease to be sin, 
 
 because sin is opposition to God ; hence the apostle 
 says, most conclusively, it cannot be subjected, that 
 is, it must be destroyed, or it will destroy the soul 
 for ever. 
 
 19. The good that I would, I do not — Here, 
 again, the will is .con tcm plated as on the side of God 
 
 and truth. [The power of sin has been shown ill 
 
 verses 15-1*7, from the inability id' the true self to 
 hinder what it disapproves ; tlfe same i;- shown now 
 from the inability of the true sell to cany out into 
 action what it desires. — Sp. Comment."] But the 
 evil ■which I would not — Under the power of the 
 
 Holy Spirit the will bee •> oppo-ed to evil. Nay, 
 
 it is often found even among the unregenerate on 
 God's side, while the whole sensual system is against 
 him. — It is not the will that leads men astray ; but 
 
 the corrupt PASSIONS which oppose and oppress the 
 
 will. The plain state of the case is this; the soul 
 
 i- so completely fallen thai it has no power to do 
 good till ii receive that power from on high. But 
 it [may have (by the gift of the Spirit)] power to see
 
 The strucple of an enlightened, 
 but un re^eii erate, mind. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 would not, that I do. 20 Now if I do that I 
 would not, it is no more 1 that do it, but sin 
 that dwelleth in me. 21 I find then a law, 
 that, when I would do good, evil is present 
 with me. 22 For 1 y delight in the law of 
 
 r Vm. 1. 2. w'2 Cor. -i. 16; Euh. 3. 16; Col. 3. 9, 10. 
 
 good, to distinguish between that and evil, to ac- 
 knowledge the excellence of this good, ami to will 
 it, from a conviction of that excellence ; but further 
 it cannot go. Yet, in various cases, it is solicited 
 and consents to sin ; and because it is will, that is, 
 because it is free, it must necessarily possess this 
 power; and that, although it can do no good unless it 
 receive grace from God. Thus God, in his endless 
 mercy, has endued this faculty with a power iii 
 which, humanly speaking, resides the solvability of 
 the soul ; and without this, the soul must have 
 eternally continued under the power of sin, or been 
 saved as an inert, absolutely passive machine ; which 
 supposition would go as nearly to prove that it was 
 as incapable of vice as it was of virtue. 
 
 iSO. It is no more I — ]\Iv will is against it ; my 
 reason and conscience condemn it. But sin that 
 dwelleth in me — The principle of sin, which has 
 possessed itself of all my carnal appetites and pas- 
 sions, and thus subjects my reason ami domineers 
 over my soul. Two principles are continually con- 
 tending in me for the mastery : my reason, on which 
 the light of God shines, to show what is evil; and 
 my passions, in which the principle of sin works, to 
 bring forth fruit unto death. This strange self-con- 
 tradictory propensity led some of the ancient philos- 
 ophers to imagine that man has two souls, a good 
 and a bad one. Thus, in Xenophon's Life of ( [i/rus, 
 we find Araspes, a Persian nobleman, accounting 
 for some misconduct by saying: "0 Cyrus., I am 
 convinced that I have two souls; if 1 had but one 
 soul, it could not at the same time pant after vice 
 and virtue; wish and abhor the same thing. It is 
 certain, therefore, that we have tiro souls: when 
 the good soul rules, I undertake noble and virtuous 
 actions; but when the bad soul predominates, I am 
 constrained to do evil. All I can say at present is, 
 that I find my good soul, encouraged by thy pres- 
 ence, has got the better of my bad soul." [There 
 i< evidently a progress in thought ; but this progress 
 is perceptible only in the case of the awakened to 
 produce the cry of verse '24. This verse (20) spec- 
 ifies also the real author of these actions of the man 
 against his will ; it is sin dwelling in him; — the ha- 
 bitual life of sense, — adpi. This, in its obscurity, 
 he now renounces in his consciousness: in his /. 
 But now to a certain degree, ami apparently a for- 
 eign personality with a. foreign (alien) law, arises 
 in him against the awakening personality of the in- 
 ner man. But the condition is not in itself, as yet, 
 more hopeful. The progress is still toward wretch- 
 edness despite, or even because of, the better design. 
 — Lange and Riddle.~\ 
 
 21. I find then a law — I am in such a condition 
 and state id' soul, under the power of such habits 
 and sinful propensities, that, when I would do 
 good — when my will ami reason are strongly bent 
 on obedience to the law of God, evil is present 
 with me, naitbv rrapuKecrai, evil is at hand, it His 
 constantly before me. That as the will to do good is 
 constantly at hand, (verse IS,) so the principle of 
 rebellion exciting me to sin is equally present ; but, 
 as the (piic is only will or desire, without power to 
 do what is willed, or to perform what is desired, sin 
 
 God after "the inward man: 255 But x I see 
 another law in miy members, warring against 
 the law of my mind, and bringing me into cap- 
 tivity to the law of sin which is in my mem- 
 bers. 24 O wretched man that I am! who 
 
 ccGal. •">. 17 
 
 -yChap. (i. 13, 19. 
 
 continually prevails. The word vofioc, /u>'\ in this 
 verse, must be taken as implying any slicing or con- 
 firmed habit, ovvrfiFia, as Hesychius renders it, un- 
 der the influence of which the man generally acts ; 
 and in this sense the apostle most evidently uses it 
 in verse 23. 
 
 22. I delight in the law of God after the in- 
 ward man — Every unregenerate man who receives 
 the Bible as a revelation from (iod, must acknowl- 
 edge the great purity, excellence, and utility of its 
 maxims, etc., though he will find that without the 
 grace of our Lord Jesus he can never act according 
 to those heavenly maxims; and without the mercy 
 of (iod, can never be redeemed from the curse en- 
 tailed upon him for his transgressions. To say that 
 the inward man means the regenerate part of the 
 soul is supportable by no argument. 'O iou u)Pp<.>- 
 77oc, and 6 fv~bc civdpuwor, especially the latter, 
 are expressions frequently in use among the purest 
 Greek ethic writers to signify the soul or rational 
 part of man, in opposition to the body of flesh. [Ac- 
 cording to Paul the lau uvdpuiroc, (the inward man,) 
 denotes not so much the sjiirit in general, as more 
 especially the disposition, the religious and moral 
 sense, the inward u7i^6eia, (the truth,) of chaptei i, IP, 
 and the 6 Kpvir.Tbc ttjq Ka/jdiac aiOpunoc (hidden 
 man of the heart) of 1 Peter iii, 4. . . . Paul 
 speaks of a two-fold ego, — both of which must 1 e 
 ascribed to the Spirit, (namely, the awakened state, 
 verse 22, and the saved estate, verse 25.) — Tlm- 
 /"c/.\] Though it may be said that it is impossible 
 for an unawakened man to delight in the law of 
 (iod, yet every true penitent approves the moral 
 law, longs most earnestly for a conformity to it, 
 and feels that he can never be satisfied till he awid.es 
 up after this divine likeness; and he hates himself 
 because he feels fliat he has broken it, lis not con- 
 formed to it in spirit,) and that his evil passions aic 
 still in a state of hostility to it. 
 
 23. But I see another law in my members 
 — Though the reason and conscience constantly tes- 
 tify against sin, yet as long as help is sought only 
 from the law, and the grace of Christ in the (.'»-] el 
 is not received, the remonstrances of reason and con- 
 science are rendered of no effect by the prevalence 
 of sinful passions, (the dominance of indwelling 
 sin.) which, from repeated gratifications, have ac- 
 quired all the force of confirmed habit, and give 
 law to the whole man. Warring against the law 
 of my mind — ^AvTiarpa-evofievov, — carrying "n 
 war. The other law in the membws is actively hoa- 
 tile against the law id' the mind; and it is also suc- 
 cessful in the conflict. Capturing me, alxfta?MTl- 
 fyvra, — making a prisoner of me, — either to be , ,,- 
 si,/,-,, I or slain.] This is the consequence of being 
 overcome; he is now in the hands of the foe, as 
 the victor's lawful captive. Sin and corruption have 
 a final triumph ; and conscience and reason are 
 taken prisoners, laid in fetters, ami sold for slaves. 
 Can this ever be said of a man in whom the Spirit 
 of Cod dwells, and whom the /,n>- <f the Spirit if 
 lift iii Christ Jesus has made free from tht law of 
 sin inn! death? (Chapter viii, 2.) 
 
 24. O wretched man that I am, etc.— This 
 
 51
 
 ROMANS. 
 
 shall deliver me from j the body of this death? 
 •25 -I thank God through Jesus Christ our 
 Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the 
 law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin. 
 
 y Or. thin body of death f- -e 1 <'"r. l. 57. 
 
 affecting account is finished more impressively by 
 the groans of the wounded captive. Having long 
 maintained a useless conflict againsl innumerable 
 hosts and irresistible might, :it last, wounded and 
 taken prisoner, he cries out in self despair: "0 
 m retched man ! " etc. We may naturally suppose that 
 the en of such a person would be, Wretched man 
 //m/ 1 mil '. who shall dt livt r mt from this dt ad body ? 
 
 equivalent to otiua 
 mlvarov, and aupi;, — that embodiment of spiritual 
 wickedness in the unrenewed soul which is itself a 
 stat.- nf spiritual death, and which is rapidly has- 
 tening td irrecoverable ruin.] A body — a whole mass 
 of sin and corruption — was bound to his soul with 
 chains which he could not break; and the mortal 
 contagion, transfused through his whole nature, was 
 pressing him down to the bitter pains of an eternal 
 death. He now finds that the law can afford him 
 no deliverance; and he despairs of help from any 
 human being; but while he is emitting his last, or 
 almost expiring, groan, the redemption by Christ 
 Jesus is proclaimed to him. Tie sees then an open 
 door of hope, and he immediately, though but in the 
 prospect of this deliverance, returns God thanks for 
 the hopi which he has of salvation through Jesus 
 Christ our Lord. 
 
 25. I thank God through Jesus Christ — This 
 is an answer to the almost despairing question in 
 the preceding verse. Thus we find that a case of 
 the kind described by the apostle in the preceding 
 verses, whether it were his own before he was 
 brought to the knowledge of Christ, particularly 
 during the three days that he was at Damascus, 
 without being aide to eat or drink, in deep peni- 
 tential sorrow; or whether he personates a phari- 
 saic yet conscientious •/<»■, deeply concerned for his 
 salvation: I say, we find that such a case can lie 
 relieved by the Gospel of Christ only: and that no 
 scheme of redemption can be effectual to the salva- 
 tion of any soul hut that laid down in the Gospel 
 of Christ. Though all means he used which human 
 wisdom can devise, guilt will still continue uncan- 
 celled; and inbred si a will laugh them all to scorn, 
 prevail over them, and finally triumph. And this 
 is the very conclusion to which the apostle brings 
 his argument in the final clause. So then with 
 the mind I myself serve the law of God 
 — The .-urn of what ha- been advanced, concern- 
 ing the power of sin in the carnal man, and the 
 utter insufficiency <>f all human means and legal ob- 
 to pardon sin and expel the corruption of 
 the heart, i- this: that the very same person, the 
 the sarnt /, while without the Gospel, un- 
 der the killing power id' the law, will find in himself 
 two opposite principle- : the one subscribing to and 
 approving the law of Cod ; the other, notwithstand- 
 ing, bringing him into captivity to sin. Wis inward 
 - his rational powers and conscience, will assent 
 to the justice and propriety of the requisition- of 
 the law; but his fleshly appetites — the /<("• in his 
 members, will war against tin law of his mind, and 
 continue, till he receives the Gospel of Christ, to 
 hold him in the galling captivity of sin and death.'' 
 
 1. That all that is said in this chapter of the carnal 
 limn, sal,/ under sin, did apply to .Saul of Tarsus, no 
 52 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 fJlHERE is therefore now no condemnation 
 -*- to them which are in Chrisl Jesus, who 
 
 •walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 
 
 a Verse I ; Gal. 5. 16,35. 
 
 man can doubt : that what i- here said can ever 
 
 he with propriety applied to Paul the Apostle, who 
 
 can believe? Of the former, all is natural; of the 
 
 latter, all here stud would he monstrous and ahsurd. 
 
 2. But it is supposed that the words iim-t he un- 
 
 derst 1 as implying a regeneratt man, because the 
 
 apostle says, "I delight in the law of (hid;'' and 
 "With the mind I myself serve the law of Cod." 
 These thine-, - ; , v the objectors, can he spoken 
 only of a regenerate man, such as the apostle then 
 
 w a,-. But when w e find that the former verse speaks 
 of a man who is brought into cnpliritij in /hi- /aw of 
 si i, inn/ death, some other meaning of the words 
 used must he found. [The Christian state i- indeed 
 
 one of warfare, hut in no case may we hold that 
 capture and en-lavement to the enemy is even a 
 contingency, except where there is infidelity to the 
 trust confided to each.] The very genius of Chris- 
 tianity demonstrates that nothing like this can, with 
 propriety, lie spoken of a genuine Christian. 
 
 :;. Jt must lie allowed, that whatever was the 
 experience of so eminent a man, Christian, and 
 apostle, as St. Paul, it must be a veryproper stand- 
 ard of Christianity. But his whole life, and the tic- 
 count which he immediately gives of the Christian's 
 privileges in the succeeding chapter, prove thai he, 
 as a Christian and an apostle, had a widely differ- 
 ent experience ; and demonstrates that the Christ- 
 ian religion not only i.- well calculated to perfect all 
 preceding dispensations, hut that it, and it alone, 
 affords Salvation to the uttermost to all those w ho flee 
 
 for refuge to the hope that it sets before them. The 
 assertion that "every Christian, howsoever advanced 
 in the divine life, will and must feel till this inward 
 conflict," is alike untrue and dangerous. That many 
 Christians, and probably sincere ones, do feel more 
 
 or less of this, may he readily granted; hut that 
 they must continue thus is nowhere intimated in 
 the Gospel of Christ. We should take heed how 
 we make our experience, marred and dwarfed by our 
 unbelief and unfaithfulness, the standard for tin; 
 people of Cod, and lower Christianity to our most 
 reprehensible and dwarfish state : tit the same time 
 we should not he discouraged tit what we thus feel, 
 hut apply to Cod. through < 'hri-t, its Paul did ; and 
 then we shall soon he able, with him, to declare, to 
 the eternal glory of God's grace, that the law of 
 the Spirit of life -a Christ Jesus has made us 
 from tin law of sin and death. This is the in- 
 heritance of Cod's children; and their salvation is 
 of me, saith the Lord. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTEB VIII. 
 
 1. There is therefore now no condemna- 
 tion — To do justice to St. Paul's reasoning, this 
 
 chapter must he lead in the clo-e-t connexion with 
 the preceding. There We have seen the unavailing 
 
 struggles of an awakened sinner who sought par- 
 don and holiness from thai law which he was con- 
 scious he had broken; and in which he could find 
 no provision for pardon, and no power to sanctify. 
 This conviction having brought him to the very 
 brink of despair, and being on the point of giving 
 up till hope, he hears of redemption by Jesus 
 Christ, thanks Cod for the prospect he has of sal-
 
 uld not do fnr man, 
 us has affected. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 2 For h the law of c the Spirit of life in Christ 
 Jesus had made me free from d the law of sin 
 and death. 3 For" what the law could not 
 do, in that it was weak through the flesh, 
 ' God sending his own Son in the likeness of 
 sinful flesh, and e for sin, condemned sin in the 
 flesh : 4 That the righteousness of the law 
 
 6 John 8. 36: ch. 6. 18,23; Ga). 2. 19; 5. 1. el Cor. 15. 45; 
 
 2 Cor. 3. 15. ,1 Chap. 7. 24, 25 e Acts 13. 39; chap. 3. 20 ; 
 
 lleb. 7. 18, 19; 10. 1, 2, 10, U. /2 Cor. 5. 21; Oal. 3. 13. 
 
 ff Or, by a snerijiee for .sin. 
 
 vation, applies for and receives it; and now mag- 
 nifies God for the unspeakable gift of which he 
 lias been made a partaker. 
 
 The last chapter closed with an account of the 
 deep distress (if the penitent; this one opens with 
 an account of his salvation. The "therefore now," 
 in the text, must refer to the happy transition 
 from darkness to light, from condemnation to par- 
 don, which this believer now enjoys. To them 
 which are in Christ Jesus — [To those who are 
 truly and spiritually united to Christ. The ground 
 of this idiom (kv Xpcarii)) is the spiritual union which 
 exists between the Head of the Church and its 
 members. — Stuart.] Who walk not after the 
 flesh, etc. — This clause is wanting in the principal 
 MSS., Versions, and Fathers. Griesbach has ex- 
 cluded it from the text. [It is rejected by nearly 
 all modern critics, and it is not used in the Revised 
 Version.] The thing itself, however, is included 
 in the being in Christ. It was probably added by 
 some copyist, and it is most likely taken from the 
 fourth verse. 
 
 2. For the law of the Spirit of life— The 
 Gospel of the grace of Christ, which is not only a 
 law or rule of life, but affords that sovereign 
 energy by which guilt is removed from the con- 
 science, the power of sin broken, and its polluting 
 influence removed from the heart. The law was a 
 spirit of death, by which those who were under it 
 were bound down, because of their sin, to con- 
 demnation and death. The Gospel proclaims Jesus 
 the Saviour ; and what the law bound unto death, 
 it looses unto life eternal. [The word vojioc, (law,) 
 here, will be best understood by referring back to 
 chap, vii, 21, 23, 25, where the word means, a rule, 
 dictate, or domination. As vbpac auapruiq (the law 
 of sin) means the dictate of (indwelling) sin, so its 
 opposite, vduoc nvEvuaTac, must mean the dictaU 
 of the Spirit, that is, the influences of the Holy- 
 Spirit, which direct and control our inclinations. 
 . . . The apostle does not mean to say that Christ- 
 ians who are under the influences of the Spirit of 
 life in Christ Jesus must be without sin, but that 
 they are freed from the predominating power of sin- 
 ful inclinations. — Stuart.] [We (bondslaves, lawful 
 captives) escape from the law which condemns but 
 cannot emancipate, and through faith enter into 
 Christ — accept his law, (Matt. xi, 29, 30,) and find 
 our liberty in him.] 
 
 3. For what the law could not do — The law 
 could not pardon; the law could not sanctify; the 
 law could not dispense with its own requisitions; 
 it is the rule of righteousness, and therefore must 
 condemn unrighteousness. This is its unalterable 
 nature. Had there been perfect obedience to its 
 dictates, instead of condemning, it would have 
 applauded and rewarded; but as the flesh — the 
 carnal and rebellious principle — had prevailed, and 
 transgression had taken place, it was rendered 
 weak, inefficient (not adapted) to undo this work of 
 
 might be fulfilled inns, h who walk not after 
 the flesh, but after the Spirit. 5 For 'they 
 that are after the flesh do mind the things of 
 the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit, 
 k thc things of the Spirit. 6 For ' m to be car- 
 nally minded is death; but "to he spiritually 
 minded is life and peace. 7 Because °i the 
 
 /( Verse 1. /John 3. 6; 1 Cor. 2. 14. ifcGal 5. 22. 25. 
 
 / Chap. li. 21 : verse 13 : Gal. ti. 8. m (jr. tin m fading or tlie. 
 
 flesh: so verse 7. — ;/ Gr. the minding of the Spirit. 
 
 o Mr. tlie minding of the flesh. p James 4. 4. 
 
 the flesh, and bring the sinner into a state of par- 
 don and acceptance with God. [To udvvarov — the 
 thing impossible, of the law. The construction is 
 a nominative pendent, in opposition to the follow- 
 ing sentence, and especially its last clause, naTEKpive 
 tt/v (Ifiapriav kv Ty caput- — condemned sin in the 
 flesh. This the law could not do, except it con- 
 demned the sinner also. It was powerful to con- 
 demn the guilty, but impotent to save.] God 
 sending his own Eon in the likeness of sinful 
 flesh — Did that which the law could not do, that 
 is, purchased pardon for the sinner, and brought 
 every believer into the favour of God. All this is 
 effected through the incarnation of Christ. He in 
 whom dwelt the fulness of the Godhead bodily 
 took upon him the likeness of sinful flesh, that is, 
 a human body like ours, in its essential manhi od, 
 but not sinful as ours; and for sin, aai r.tpi 
 ufiapriac, and as a sackifice for six, (this is the 
 sense of the word in a multitude of places,) con- 
 demned sin in tlie flesh — condemned that to death 
 and destruction which had condemned us to both. 
 Condemned sin in the flesh — The design and 
 object of the incarnation and sacrifice of Cluist 
 was to condemn sin, to have it executed and 
 destroyed ; not to tolerate it, or to render it subser- 
 vient to the purposes of his grace, but to anni- 
 hilate its power, guilt, and being in the soul of 
 a believer. 
 
 4. That the righteousness of the law might 
 be fulfilled in us — That the guilt might be par- 
 doned through the meril of that sacrifice; and 
 that we might be enabled, by the power of his own 
 grace and Spirit, to walk in newness of life; and 
 thus the righteousness, the spirit, and purpose of 
 the law is fulfilled in us, through the strength of 
 the Spirit of Christ, which is here put in opposi- 
 tion to the weakness of the law through the flesh. 
 
 5. For they that are after the flesh — And 
 here is the great distinction between the unregen- 
 erate and genuine Christians: the foimer arc "af- 
 ter the flesh " — are under the power of the car- 
 nal, rebellious principle, and consequently mind — 
 dpovovoiv, relish — the things of the flesh: the 
 things which appertain merely to the present life ; 
 having no relish for spiritual and eternal tilings. 
 But they that are after the Spirit — They who 
 are regenerated, born of the Spirit, being redeemed 
 from the influence and law of the carnal mind, 
 relish the things of the Spirit; they are spiritually 
 minded. And this, which in these apostolic times 
 distinguished between the carnal sinner and the 
 spiritual believer in Christ, is the gland mark of 
 distinction between the natural man and the real 
 Christian now. The former is earthly minded, and 
 lives for this world ; the latter is spiritually minded, 
 and lives for the world to come. 
 
 6. For to be carnally minded is death — To 
 live under the influence of the carnal mind is 
 to live in a state of deadness to spiritual things, 
 
 53
 
 A. M I 
 
 Year oJ Rome, ($11. 
 
 ROMANS. 
 
 
 
 carnal mind i« enmity against God: for it is 
 not subject to the law of God, v neither in- 
 deed can be. * So then they that are in the 
 flesh cannol please God. !) Bu1 ye are aol in 
 the flesh, bul in the Spirit, if so be that ' the 
 Spirit of God dwell in you. N>>\\ if an;, man 
 
 nlCor. 2. 14. -rlCnr. 3. 1fi;6. 19. s John 3.34: Gal. 4. 6; 
 
 I. I'.'; 1 IVt. 1. 11. 
 
 and of condemnation, and consequently liable to 
 death eternal: whereas, <>n the contrary, he who is 
 spiritually minded has the life and peac of God 
 in his soul, and is in full prospect of life eter- 
 nal. [To <pi>6v7)fta r/.r oapitbe Buvaroi;, the mind 
 in-, cares and aims) of the flesh, (the natu- 
 ral man,) is (equivalent to, inseparable 
 
 . (not mere! nhappiness, 
 
 lint, as in verse 2, in the iargest sense extending 
 to eternity.) Tbopovnun run irvevuaroi 
 
 The mind of the Spiril (verse 2)/.s life [life- 
 giving in its advent, and life sustained in its con- 
 tinuance.] Hence, the spiritual man cannot mind 
 the things of the flesh, (I John iii, '•'.) because such 
 a mind is death ; the peace, elprj t>n, of the Spirit being 
 a blessed contrast to the tumult of the fleshly lusts, 
 even iu this life. See Alford. | 
 
 7. Because the carnal mind is enmity 
 against God — ["E^pu lie 8eot>, not at enmity, but, 
 in it- own essence, a spirit of hostility against all 
 that is godlike, and against God's person whenever 
 
 tended. Therefore, it cannot he subjected, 
 bul must be destroyed. \ 
 
 8. So then they that are in the flesh — Who 
 arc under the power of the workings of this carnal 
 mind, (which every soul is that lias not received 
 redemption in the blood of the Lamb.) Cannot 
 please God — Because of their essential enmity, 
 which is shown in the rebellious workings of this 
 principle of hatred. And, if they cannot please 
 
 they must be displeasing to him; and con- 
 sequently in the way to perdition, [in which they 
 already abide.] 
 
 9. But ye are not in the flesh — Ye Christ- 
 ians, who have believed in Christ Jesus as the sin- 
 offering which has condemned sin in the flesh; 
 and having been justified by faith and made par- 
 takers of the Holy Spirit, are enabled to walk in 
 newness of life. [The purely metaphysical import 
 of odp£ {flesh) must here be evident. Physically, 
 as living men, they certainly were iii the flesh, but 
 in the theological and scriptural sense of that term 
 they were nol of it. J If so be that the Spirit of 
 God dwell in you — Or, seeing that, elrcep, \ pro- 
 videdthat, [Alford,)] the Spirit of God dwelleth in 
 you. [The conditional signification (of elwep,) if 
 txrtainly, if oilier wise, is perfectly suitable, and cor- 
 responds with fi ii , [but if) in the next clause. It 
 conveys an indirect incitement toself examination. — 
 Meyer \ Theflesh, the sinful principle, dwelt I ruled) 
 in them before, and its motions were tic proofs of 
 it.- indwelling. Now if the Spiril dwells in them, 
 its testimony will We in their conscience, and its 
 powerful operations in their hearts will he the 
 proofs of it- indwelling. And that this is neces- 
 sary to our presenl peace and final salvation is 
 proved from this: thai if any man have not the 
 spirit of Christ — the mind that was in him, pro- 
 duced in the -oul by the power of the Holy Ghost — 
 he is ii", a nj" Ins; li<. does not belong to the king- 
 dom, flock, or family of God. 
 
 In. And if Christ be in you, etc. — This is 
 the criterion by which you may judge of the state 
 54 
 
 have nol 'the Spirit of Christ, he is none of 
 hi-. IO And if Christ l>< in you, the body is 
 dead because of sin ; bul the Spirit is life be- 
 cause of righteousness. II Bul if tin- Spirit 
 of'him that raised up Jesus from t lie dead 
 dwell in yon. "he that raised up Christ from 
 
 I Acta 2, 24. «( bapti r 6. I, 5; i Cor. 6. 14; 2 Cor. 1. 11; 
 
 Kph. -J. .">. 
 
 oi -i.ire in which ye stand. If Christ dwell in 
 your hearts by faith, tin body (the natural man) 
 is dead because <</ sin, tiia upapriav; the members 
 id' your body no more perform the work of sin 
 than the body of a dead man does the functions of 
 natural life. |An indwelling Christ is incompatible 
 with the continued life and action of the " body," 
 /A. natural, fallt n man. \ 
 
 11. But if the Spirit, etc. — This verse con- 
 firms the sense given to the preceding. They who 
 here receive the grace and Spiril of Christ, and 
 who continue to live under its influence a life of 
 obedience to the divine will, shall have a resurrec- 
 tion to eternal life; and the resurrection of Christ 
 shall be the pattern alter which they shall be 
 raised. [The indwelling Spirit, ivowovv avrov 
 II in ■iiu. is the ever-active and efficient agenl of the 
 spiritual redemption (resurrection) of believers.] 
 [If the Spirit of Christ dwells in any one, his body 
 is indeed dead on account of sin — that is, the old 
 man is crucified — or he (the regenerated man) un- 
 dergoes mortification as to his carnal and sinful ap- 
 petites, hut his spirit is rendered happy, (alive,) i n 
 account of righteousness; thai is, because of con- 
 formity to the requisitions of the Gospel. Yea, if 
 the Spirit of Him who raised up Jesus from the 
 dead dwells in any man, that same Spirit will 
 quicken, that is, impart life to, his "mortal body," 
 will not sutler it to remain a mere nC>/ia isKpuv, hut 
 make it an instrument of righteousness, (chapter vi, 
 12, 13, 19,) and give it a power of being suliser- 
 vient to the glory of God. — Stuart. ] [The phrase, 
 XpiaTcr kv Vfiuv, indicates not only the fact of" a 
 new spiritual estate, but also its cause and method; 
 it is in Christ, and also Christ in you, signifying a 
 mystical conjunction of Christ by the Holy Spirit 
 with the believer personally. In respect to all 
 such, the apostle declares, the body is dead 
 through sin. The significance of this passage 
 turns upon the meaning of the word a., mi. (body,) 
 which seems to he here u.-ed in a wholh metaphys- 
 ical sense, ami in nearly the same sense as ad/jt;, 
 in verses 6, 1. The indwelling Christ is death to 
 the old man, the body of sin; and this destruction is 
 called for, made neci ssary, <Wz ufiapriav, because 
 of the complete perversion of the natural man (the 
 body) through sin. On the contrary, the indwelling 
 Holy Ghost is lifegiving — himself the lift — whose 
 office work proceeds through dittaioovvn, the right- 
 eousness of faith. The reference to the resurrec- 
 tion of Christ is not simply intended to indicate 
 and identify the indwelling Spirit as divine, (Cod 
 himself,) but evidently there is ;ili hit im'atioii of 
 
 some important relation existing between the 
 raising (kyeipac) of Christ from (among) Hve dead 
 and the spiritual quickening of his people. In 
 ju.-t what that relation consists is not here speci- 
 fied, hut it is assumed that the allusion V 
 lie readily understood; and the most natural im- 
 plication seems to he, that the same divine ; 
 operating in a way somewhat analogously, w iii ;. o 
 (does so in his ordinary action in the hearts of his 
 people) give life to tu OvtjTU cu/uara iuup, your
 
 CHAPTER VIIT. 
 
 the dead shall also quicken your mortal hodies 
 v by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. 12 w There- 
 fore, brethren, we are debtors, Dot to the flesh, 
 to live after the flesh. 13 For mi ye live 
 after the rlesh, ye shall die: but if ye through 
 the Spirit do > mortify the deeds of the body, 
 ve shall live. 14 For z as many as are led by 
 
 »0r, because of 'his Spirit. — loCk&p. t>. 7. 14.- 
 6:Gal.6.8. — yEph.4.22; Col. 3. 5. — sGal.5.18.- 
 2. 12: Heb. 2. 15. 
 
 -,/■ Verse 
 -a 1 Cor. 
 
 dead bodies — the spiritually dead natural man, all 
 of which is to be effectuated, not by exterior and 
 adventitious influences, but by the indwelling Spirit. 
 By the most natural construction of the terms 
 here used, compared with the same and kindled 
 terms in the preceding verses, the word aCiua here 
 indicates the metaphysical rather than the physical 
 in man, (that of which ethical properties may be 
 predicated;) and if so, the promised quickening 
 would not appear to have any relation to the resur- 
 rection of the material body. That article of 
 faith must find its support in other parts of the 
 Scriptures.] 
 
 1 2. Therefore, brethren, etc. — [Being redeemed 
 by the blood of Christ and the power of the Holy 
 Spirit, we are freed from our former enslavement to 
 the flesh, (tru/jf,) and have become servants to 
 another, to whom we owe the devotion and the ser- 
 vice of our lives. Having been redeemed gra- 
 ciously, we owe all that we can render to Him who 
 has so favoured us.] 
 
 13. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall 
 (are doomed to) die — Though fjf'/.leTE uTrodrrpntiv 
 may mean, ye shall afterward 'tie, and this seems 
 to indicate a temporal death, yet not exclusive of 
 an eternal death ; for perhaps both, but certainly 
 the latter, is implied. But if ye through the 
 Spirit — If ye seek that grace and spiritual help 
 which the Gospel of Christ furnishes, to resist, 
 anil, by resisting, mortify the deeds of the flesh, ye 
 shall live a life of faith, lore, and holy obedience 
 here, and a life of glory hereafter. [This passage 
 is rendered by Conybeare and Howson : But if by 
 the Spirit you destroy the deeds of the body, in their 
 death you will attain to life ; indicating a process 
 of growth in the divine life, and a corresponding 
 elimination of the corrupt elements of the otoua.] 
 
 14. For as many as are led by the Spirit, 
 etc. — As Christ, by his sacrificial offering, has 
 opened the kingdom of God to all believers; so 
 the Spirit is the great agent here below to en- 
 lighten, quicken, strengthen, and guide the true 
 disciples of Christ. [A Christian, as a son of Cod, 
 is new born, (born again,) of the Spirit of God : 
 hence has a likeness to God in character, is the ob- 
 ject of God's special love, and (is) entitled to special 
 privileges and dignity. Yet even this is not all. 
 . . . The relation is real, grounded on, yet differing 
 from, the relation of the Eternal Son. Only those 
 (who are) in him are "sons" — partakers of the di- 
 vine nature. — I\i<LH< .] 
 
 15. Ye have not received the spirit of 
 bondage — [Ye hare not taken again t<> yourself the 
 servile spirit (compelling) to fear.] [An appeal t<> 
 the consciousness of the Christian to confirm the 
 assertion that he is a son of God; nvevpa, (the ser- 
 vile and the filial,) indicates the opposite sentiments 
 of the two contrasted states of mind toward God. 
 The apostle seems, however, in this form of ex- 
 pression, to combine the objective Rvevfia, (Spirit,) 
 given by God, with our own subjective spirit. — • 
 
 the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. 
 15 For a ye have not received the spirit of 
 bondage again ''to fear; but ye have received 
 i lie i Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, ''Ab- 
 ba, Father. 10 "The Spirit itself beareth wit- 
 ness with our spirit, that we are the children 
 of God: 17 And if children, then lairs; 
 
 62 Timothy 1. 7; 1 John 4. 1*. e Isaiah 56. 5; Galatiana 
 
 4. 5, 0. </ Mark 14. 36. e 2 Corinthians 1. 22; 5. o; Kphe- 
 
 sians 1. 13 ; 4. 30. 
 
 A/ford.] The Spirit of adoption — Adoption 
 was an act frequent among the ancient Hebrews, 
 Greeks, and Romans. The child thus adopted 
 ceased to belong to his own (natural) family, and 
 was in every (legal) respect bound to the person 
 who had adopted him, as if he were his own child ; 
 and, "in consequence, he became the heir of his 
 adopting father. Whereby we cry, Abba, 
 Father- — [They who thus graciously receive adop- 
 tion not only come into the legal relations and 
 privileges of sons; they also receive the Spirit of 
 their sonship in their hearts, so that they instinc- 
 tively realize their filial relations, and with all of a 
 child's confidence recognise the divine fatherhood 
 graciously displayed in Christ.] 
 
 Slaves were not permitted to use the term 
 abba, father, or irnrna, mother, in accosting their 
 masters and mistresses. The Hebrew canon rela- 
 tive to this runs: Menservants and maidservants 
 do not call to their master Abba, (father,) nor to 
 their mistress Imma, (mother.) And from tins 
 some suppose that the apostle intimates that being 
 now brought from under the spirit of bondage, in 
 which they durst not call God their Father, they 
 are not only brought into a new state, but have got 
 that, language which is peculiar to that state. 
 
 Some have supposed that the apostle, by using 
 the Syriac and Creek words which express father, 
 shows the union of Jewish and Gentile believers in 
 those devotions which were dictated by a filial 
 spirit. Others have thought that these were the 
 first words generally uttered by those who were 
 made partakers of the Holy Spirit. It is enough 
 to know that it was the language of their sonship ; 
 and that it expressed the clear assurance they had 
 of being received into the divine favour, the affec- 
 tion and gratitude they felt for this extraordinary 
 blessing, and their complete readiness to come 
 under the laws and regulations of the family, and to 
 live in the spirit of obedience. 
 
 16. The Spirit itself beareth witness with 
 our spirit — Avto to Hvevuo, that same Spirit, the 
 Spirit of adoption; that, is, the Spirit who wit-, 
 nesses tins adoption; which can be no other than 
 the Holy Ghost himself. With our spirit — [If 
 the question be urged, How does the Spirit bear 
 witness to our minds or souls that we are the ( hil- 
 dren of God'? the answer is, By imparting the 
 Spirit of adoption, the filial spirit, to us. That 
 the world deny any such testimony in the hearts of 
 believers, proves only that they ate unacquainted 
 with it, not that it is an illusion. — Stuart.] And 
 this is not a momentary influx: if we take care 
 to walk with God, and grieve not the Holy Spirit, 
 we shall have tin abiding testimony; and while 
 we continue faithful to our adopting lather, the 
 Spirit who witnesses that adoption will continue to 
 witness it; and hereby we shall know that we arc 
 of Hod by the Spirit which he giveth us. 
 
 17. And if children, then heirs — [If we sus- 
 tain the relation of sons, then shall we be treated 
 
 55
 
 I M : A. P. 5«. 
 
 i.e. Ml. 
 
 ROMANS. 
 
 Preienl bui 
 pared i 
 
 t" be com- 
 tli tiiturv glory. 
 
 'heirs of God, and joint heirs with (Jurist; -if 
 so he ili.it we suffer with him, thai we may In' 
 also glorified together. I* For I reckon thai 
 ■the sufferings of this present time an nol 
 worthy /" 6e compared with 1 1 » « - glory which 
 shall be revealed in us. 19 For ' the earnesl 
 expectation ■>:' the creature waiteth for the 
 k manifestation <>(' the sons of God. 20 For 
 
 :. gActa it. ■J-': Phil. 1. 2S* : 2 Tim. 2. 
 it, u . :; i. !■:. 
 
 as such; that is, wo shall be heirs.] Heirs of 
 God — li i- neither an earthly portion nor (in its 
 fullest sense) a heavenly portion, but God himself, 
 who is to be their portion. It is not (only) heaven 
 they are to inherit; it is (eminently) God, who is 
 infinitely greater and more glorious than heaven 
 itself. With such powers has God created the soul 
 of n, an. that nothing less than himself can lie its 
 Bufficienl and satisfactory portion. Joint heirs 
 with Christ — That is, as Christ endured sufferings 
 ami was advanced to glory, in like manner (and 
 yet in a much lower sense) shall we also lie ad 
 vanced to glory. — Stuart] If so be that we suffer 
 with him — [ It' now we share his sufferings — sub- 
 mit joyfully lor his sake to endure suffering — we 
 shall hereafter share his glorification, auvth^aa- 
 6ufj.i:v.\ This, with the additional consideration 
 that we suffer with Christ, or as he himself suffered, 
 would greatly qualify the transitory afflictions of 
 this world, and dispose men to attend, to the other 
 arguments the apostle had to offer. 
 
 18. For I reckon [Aoytfruai, I estimate, con- 
 clude alter ilue consideration] that the suffer- 
 ings, ete. — If the glory that is to be revealed he 
 the enjoyment of (rod himself, (see above,) then the 
 sufferings of this life, which, when compared with 
 eternity, Are but as for a moment, are not worthy to 
 he put in competition with this ^lory which shall 
 he revealed in us. In us — [Etc iifiur, in regard to 
 us. — Alford. ] 
 
 19. For the earnest expectation of the 
 creature — [' kTmnapa^onin t//c ktLgeuc, the longing 
 outlook of the raei — the unpurposed reachings out 
 of the greal soul of humanity, for the manifesta- 
 tion of the waysof God toward men.] Waiteth — 
 [Looks out continuously and expectantly.] There is 
 considerable difficulty in this and the four following 
 verses, and the difficulty lies chiefly in the mean- 
 ing of the words, // KTioic, which we translate the 
 creaturt and ce<<ttimt. Some think that by it the 
 brute creation is meant ; others apply it to the 
 ,h".\ i-'i people ; other-, to the godly ; others, to the 
 Gentiles ; others, to the good angels ; and other-, to 
 the fallen spirits, both angelic and human. Dis- 
 sertations without en! have been written on it; 
 and it does not appear that the Christian world has 
 come- to any general agreement on the subject 
 Dr. Lightfoot's mode of explanation appears to un- 
 to he, on the whole, the best. "There is," says 
 he, "a hr.,/,,1,] key hanging at this place, which 
 may unlock the whole, and make the sense plain 
 and easy. 1) The first is the phrase, Titian 7] kt'l- 
 r,u\ which we render the whoh creation, (verse 22,) 
 and with which we meet twice elsewhere in the 
 New Testament : Mark xvi, 15, preach the Gospel, 
 Tiuoi; rfj KTitjci, tit every creature; and Col. i, 23, 
 tin ffospel was preached, iv irdoy rrj ktIofl, toevery 
 creature. Now it is sufficiently apparent what is 
 meant by Tzuria urioie in both these places, namely, 
 all nations, or all mankind. For that which in St. 
 
 56 
 
 'tlic creature was made subject t" vanity, not 
 willingly, bul by reason of him who hath sub- 
 jected //" same in hope; '21 Becausi 
 creature itself also shall be delivered Prom the 
 bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty 
 id' the children of God. 22 For we know 
 that '"the whole creation "groaneth ami trav- 
 aileth in pain together until now. 2# Ami 
 
 k 1 Jolm :;. 2. — /(icn. :'.. 19; verse 22. u area- 
 
 .. Mark 16. Id; Col. 1. ■!',.- — u Jer. 12. 11. 
 
 Mark is, preach tin Gospel /■> every creature, i-, in 
 St. M atthew, go and teach, nuvra ru ittr// nil na- 
 tions. And this phrase in this place lays claim to that 
 very interpretation. |lt seems safe, then, to under- 
 stand the term h-iaic, in this place, as equivalent 
 to the mee of mankind, considered in its aggregate 
 unity, its solidarity — man. | ~d The second key is the 
 word fiaraioTTiTt, (verse 20,) which is not unfitly 
 rendered vanity; hut then this vanity is improperly 
 applied to the vanishing, dying, changing state of 
 the creation, for uaraioTT/C, vanity, does not so 
 much denote the vanishing condition of the out- 
 ward state, as it does the inward vanity or empti- 
 ness of the mind. So the apostle, speaking of the 
 Gentiles concerning whom hi: speaks here, tells us 
 e/iaTaiGidrjaai', They became vain in their imagina- 
 tions, (chapter i, 21 ;) and again, The <ltntil<s walk, 
 lv fj.araioT7jTi, in the vanity of their mind, (Eph. 
 iv, 17;) so also, The Lord knowelh tin' thoughts 
 of /In- wise, on elolv fiuratoi, that they are vain. 
 (1 Cor. iii, 20.) The Romans, to whom the apostle 
 writes, knew well how many predictions and prom- 
 ises it had pleased (hid to publish by his prophets 
 concerning gathering together and adopting son- to 
 himself among the Gentiles; the manifestation of 
 which sons the whole Gentile world, with a neck as 
 it were stretched out, (as the word uTTOKapadoicia im- 
 plies.) doth now wait for. [For another view of the 
 sense of this word, see the notes on the next verse.] 
 
 20. For the creature 'was made subject to 
 vanity — [Marnto-r/rt, the vanishing, dying, and 
 changing state of everything belonging to man; re- 
 lating to the condition rather than the character.] 
 [The instability, liability to change and decay, of all 
 created things. — Alford.] Not willingly— [The 
 creature (man) did not voluntarily choose its pres- 
 ent condition of sorrow and pain . . . hut God the 
 Creator has placed it in this condition. It is l>\ his 
 sovereign will, by the arrangements of hi-- holy 
 providence, that man is placed in a frail and dying 
 state. This state of fiaTaioTTjc inanity) was not 
 original, hut superinduced by sin. . . . But distress- 
 ing and frail as the state of man is, it is still a state 
 of hope. — Stuart. | 
 
 21. Because the creature — This and the pre- 
 ceding verse should he thus connected, /'// hope 
 that (or/) the creatun itself also shall be delivered. 
 The word tpQopu denote-, very frequently, sinful 
 corruption. (So 2 Pet. i, 4 ; 2 Cor. xi, :; ; 1 Cor. 
 xv, 38.) The sense, therefore, of the apostle in 
 this place seems to he: the world (mankind) shall, 
 in time, he delivered from the bondage of sinful 
 corruption ; and he broughl into such a noble lib- 
 erty as the sons of God enjoy. 
 
 '.!'-'. The whole creation groaneth and trav- 
 aileth — [Ov uovov <5>, and not only ■•>", that is, 
 better still, we know that every creature, that 
 is, the whole human race, has sighed and sorrowed 
 together, until the present time. No one is exempt; 
 there is, a mutual correspondence between them all
 
 Influence of hope. The helpful 
 intercession of the Spirit. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 not only they, but ourselves also, which have 
 "the firstfmits of the Spirit, reven we our- 
 selves groan within ourselves, Q waiting for the 
 adoption, to wit, the r redemption of our body. 
 24 For we are saved by hope: but 8 hope that 
 is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, 
 
 (>2 Cor. 5. 5; Eph. 1. 14. p2Cor. 5. 2, 4. q Luke 20. 36. 
 
 r Luke 21. 28; Eph. 4. 30. 
 
 in regard to the subject in question. . . . The lan- 
 guage of the apostle is exceedingly appropriate to 
 his purpose, as it not only indicates great sorrow 
 and distress, but that this is indicative of a new 
 birth ; that is, a new state of things and a change 
 for the better to be looked for.— Stuart.] 
 
 23. And not only they, but ourselves also — 
 The scope and design of St. Paul in these verses 
 may be thus summed up : The apostle shows that 
 the whole creation is in a suffering state, into which 
 it has been brought by the disobedience of one man, 
 Adam; therefore, it was " made subject to vanity" 
 — pain, sickness, and death ; not willingly, for 
 mankind had no part in that transgression which 
 " brought death into the world and all our woe,'' 
 but God subjected the whole, purposing to afford 
 them a deliverance, and infusing into every heart 
 a hope that a more auspicious era should take 
 place ; and it is through the influence of this hope, 
 which every man possesses, that the present ills 
 are so patiently borne, because all are expecting, 
 though they cannot tell why, better days. The 
 great deliverer is the Messiah, and the gospel days 
 the auspicious era which God intended to bring 
 forward. They who believe in Christ with a heart 
 unto righteousness are freed from the bondage of 
 their sinful corruption, and brought into the glo- 
 rious liberty of the sons of God ; and they look 
 forward with joyous expectation, waiting for this 
 greater deliverance. And if it shall be said that 
 the redemption provided by the Gospel cannot bean 
 object of hope to those who have never heard of 
 it ; yet, as all men have hope, and this hope is in- 
 spired by God for this very purpose, that it may be 
 the means of supporting them in the ills of life, and 
 God, in inspiring it, had respect to the glorious 
 state of Christianity, therefore it is this state, in 
 effect, that the whole race are longing for. So 
 Jesus Christ is said, by the Prophet Haggai, (ii, 7,) 
 to be the Desire of all nations; and yet not one of 
 the nations of the earth had, at that time, heard of 
 him. And thus, as Dr. Whitby has very properly 
 remarked, " Desire and expectation are ascribed to 
 creatures in reference to things they want, and 
 which tend to their advantage, notwithstanding 
 they explicitly know nothing of them. [The first- 
 fruits of the Spirit — Tr/v u-npx'rjv tou flcevuaToc. 
 The indwelling and influence of the Holy Spirit 
 here, and an earnest of the full harvest of his com- 
 plete possession of us. — Alford.] 
 
 24 For we are saved by hope — We are sup- 
 ported and are comfortable in the expectation we 
 have of receiving from the hand of our God all the 
 good we need in the troubles and adversities of 
 this life, and of a glorious reversion of bliss with 
 God and Christ forever. Hope that is seen is 
 not hope — As hope signifies the expectation of fu- 
 ture good, so it necessarily supposes that the ob- 
 ject of it is not seen, that is, not enjoyed; for to 
 see, in Scripture language, sometimes signifies to en- 
 joy. (Job vii, 7.) The hope that is see?i, — that is, 
 enjoyed — is no longer hope, it is fruition; and a 
 
 why doth he yet hope for? 25 But if we 
 hope for that we see not, then do we with 
 patience wait for it. 26 Likewise the Spirit 
 also helpeth our infirmities: for 'we know 
 not what we should pray for as we ought: 
 but "the Spirit itself maketh intercession for 
 
 s 2 Cor. 5. 
 
 Heb. 11.1. mutt. 20.22: James 4. 3. 
 
 12. 10; Eph. 6. 18. 
 
 -u Zech. 
 
 man cannot hope for that which he has in his pos- 
 session. 
 
 25. But if we hope for that we see not — If we 
 have a satisfactory expectation of our final recom- 
 pense of reward, which is of course future, and still 
 to be delayed, then do wepatiently fait for it ; con- 
 tinue patiently to endure the common ills of life, as 
 well as the consequences of our Christian profes- 
 sion ; for we know, faithful is He who has prom- 
 ised. " Hope " is a sort of universal blessing, 
 and one of the greatest which God has granted to 
 man. To mankind in general life would be intol- 
 erable without it ; and it is as necessary as faith is, 
 even to the followers of God. 
 
 26. The Spirit also helpeth our infirmities — 
 The same Spirit, to [Ivevya, mentioned before as 
 bearing witness with ours that we are the children 
 of God ; and consequently, it is not a disposition or 
 frame of mind. [That Spirit which sanctifies 
 Christians, which subdues their fleshly appetites, 
 which gives them a filial temper, which bestows a 
 foretaste of future glory, this same Spirit aids 
 Christians in all their sufferings and sorrows. — 
 The word ovva.vTiA.afj/3uveTai is very inadequately 
 expressed by helpeth. It signifies such assist- 
 ance as is afforded by any two persons to each 
 other, who mutually bear the same loatl or carry it 
 between them. He who prays receives help from 
 the Spirit of God ; but he who prays not receives 
 no such help. Whatever our strength may be, we 
 must put it forth, even while most implicitly de- 
 pending on the strength of God himself. [The 
 prefixed avv augments the signification, so that one 
 might translate, greatly assists, affords much help. 
 It denotes not only with, but also marks the com- 
 pleteness or ( ntirt ty of the action. " Our infirmities," 
 aadaveia i/fiCiv, seems to mean our frail, infirm, 
 afflicted, troubled state. — Stuart.] For we know 
 not what we should pray for as we ought — 
 And should therefore be liable to endless mistakes 
 in our prayers, if suitable desires were not excited 
 by the Holy Spirit, and power received to bring these 
 desires, by prayer, before the throne of grace. But 
 the Spirit itself — Avto to Ylvevua, the same Spirit, 
 namely, the Spirit that witnesses of our adoption and 
 sonship, (verses 15, Hi,) makes intercession for us. 
 We must understand in these places that help ami 
 influence which the followers of God receive from 
 the Holy Ghost ; and consequently, the fulfilment of 
 the various promises relative to this point which 
 our Lord made to his disciples. (John xiv.18, 1 I, 
 and also xiv, 16, 17, 26 ; xv, 26, 27 ; xvi, 7.) [Prayer 
 made by the Spirit of God, as such, and by him- 
 self, is not here intended. — Stuart.] [The Holy 
 Spirit in the hearts of Christians becomes a spirit of 
 prayer, both to teach them what to pray for, and to 
 give them the true spirit of supplication, equally in 
 kind and in degree going beyond merely human 
 powers of utterance. Archbishop Leighton very 
 happily unfolds the spirit of this text in his Expo- 
 sition of the Lord's Prayer. "The work of the 
 Spirit is in exciting the heart, at times of prayer, 
 
 67
 
 ROMANS. 
 
 n-i with groanings which cannot be uttered. 
 '27 \inl 'he that searcheth the hearts know- 
 eth what isthe mind of theSpirit, " because he 
 maketh intercession l'«>r the saints "according 
 to the will of God. 2* And we know that 
 
 p l Chron. .- Prnv. 17. 3: Jer. II. 20: 17. I"; 
 
 go. 12: Or. ifitit. 
 
 ■ l ; 2 Tim. 1.9. »See I \ I. 
 
 in break forth in anient desires to God, whatso- 
 ii. • words be, whether new or old, yea, possi 
 l.lv without words, and then most powerful when it 
 words it least, but vents itself in sighs and 
 that cannot be exp essi l." | 
 
 27. He maketh intercession for the saints — 
 
 -r;. V'M'c.) signifies to intercede or nego- 
 Our Lord makes intercession for us by 
 negotiating and managing, as our friend and 
 all the affairs pertaining to our salvation. And the 
 Spirit of God makes intercession lor the saints, no1 
 by supplication to God on their behalf, but hy <li- 
 ■ i and qualifying their supplications in a 
 proper manner by his agency and influence upon 
 their hearts; which, according to the Gospel 
 scheme, is the peculiar work and office of the Holy 
 According to the will of God — Kara 
 [In pursuance of the divine purpose, and in 
 irraity with God's good pleasure. — Alford.] 
 / in prayer is no part of praying: a man 
 may pray most powerfully in the estimation of 
 God who is not able to utter even one word. The 
 unutterable groan is big with meaning, and God 
 understands it, because it is the language of his 
 own Spirit. Some desires are too mighty to be ex- 
 pressed ; there is no language expressive enough to 
 give them proper form and distinct vocal sound; 
 such desires show thai they came from God; and 
 as they came from him, so they express what God 
 is disposed to do, and what he has purposed to do. 
 This is a matter of great encouragement to all 
 who are agonizing to enter in at the strait 
 
 28. And we know that all thing3 work 
 together for good to them that love God 
 — To understand this verse aright, let us observe: 
 1 1 Thai the persons in whose behalf all things work 
 for good are they wlio love God, and, consequently, 
 who live in the spirit of obedience. 2) It is not 
 
 thai all things shall work for good, (each in it- 
 self,) but thai avvepyel, they work how, in the behalf 
 of him who loveth now, uyanuoi; (for both verbs 
 are in the present tense i 3) All these things work 
 together; while they are working, God's providence 
 
 ting, hi- Spirit is working, and they (the " all 
 things") are working together, each ami all, for a 
 ending. And « hatever troubles, or afflictions, 
 tions may arise,' God presses them into 
 their - I these make a pari of tii" general 
 
 working, and are made to contribute to the general 
 good of the person who /<""• loves God, and who is 
 working by faith ami love under the influence and 
 
 ion of the Holy Ghost. To them who are 
 the called according to his purpose — Tolc nXn- 
 
 ue invited; [having also accepted the invita- 
 tion.] All things work together for their good, he- 
 lled, invited, or made welcome to, 
 the blessings of the covenant. This clause is an 
 argument to prove that all things, however afflictive, 
 work for our good while we continue to love God. 
 Our being called or invited, [and having entered into 
 that calling,] according to God's purpose, proves 
 that all things work fur our good, on the supposi- 
 58 
 
 all things work together for good to them that 
 [ove God, to them J who are the called accord- 
 in" to li'is purpose. 2!> For whom 'he did 
 foreknow, *he also did predestinate u to /« 
 
 conformed to the image of his Son, 'that he 
 
 33. li?, 17; Psa. 1. 6; Jer. I. 5: M itt, i 23; ch, II. 2;2 Tim. 2. 
 
 19; 1 I'et. l. -l. .' Ka'n. 1.5, : 2 Cor ::. 1-; 
 
 oCol. 1. 15, i-: in t.. l.«i Rev. i. :.. 
 
 tion //'"/ »•' /"'■' God, and not otherwise. For our 
 loving God, or making a due improvement of our 
 calling, i- evidently inserted by the apostle to make 
 
 good his argument. lie does nut pretend to prove 
 that all thing- shall concur to the everlasting hap- 
 piness of all that are '■ called ;'' hut only to that of 
 those of them wlm love God. Our calling, thus con- 
 ditioned, is the ground of the argument, which is 
 prosecuted and completed in the next two verses. 
 
 Our calling is taken for granted, as a thing evident 
 ami unquestionable among all Christians. [Our 
 calling becomes effectual when, by God's grace, we 
 accept and enter into it.] [On the One hand, Scrip- 
 ture hear- cull tanl testimony to the fact [hat all 
 believers are chosen and called by God, their whole 
 spiritual life in its origin, progress, and completion, 
 being from him. On the other hand, it- testimony 
 
 is no less precise that he uillethall Id lie saved, 
 and that none shall perish except hy wilful rejec- 
 tion of the truth. So that on the one side (em's 
 
 SOVEREIGNTY, on the other, Man's free WILL, is 
 plainly declared. — Alford.~\ 
 
 29. For whom he did foreknow, etc. — In 
 verses -'•>, 30, the apostle shows //'-(/• our calling is 
 an argument that all thine- vvork together to ad- 
 vance our eternal happiness, by naming the several 
 steps which the wisdom and goodness of (hid have 
 appointed through which to complete our salvation. 
 In this verse, the foundation and finishing, or the 
 beginning and end,of theschemeof our redemption 
 are given. To "foreknow," here, signifies to de- 
 sign before, or at the first forming of the scheme; 
 to bestow the favour and privilege of being God's 
 people upon all the called. (Yer-c 28.) This is the 
 first Step in the scheme of our salvation; namely, 
 the purpose and grace of God, which was given us 
 in Christ Jesus before the world began. (2 Tim. i, '.'.) 
 Then he knew or favoured us. This is the first 
 step of our salvation, and the end or (inching of it 
 is our conformity to the Son of (hid in eternal 
 glory, (verse 17,) which includes and supposes our 
 in', ml conformity to him. Then, also, he destinated 
 or designed us to he conformed to the image of 
 his Son ; predestinated, foreordained, or predeter- 
 mined us to become spiritually like Christ. The 
 foundation of the scheme is the foreknowledge or 
 gracious purpose of God; the finishing, is our he- 
 coming, by spiritual transfiguration, like him. Now, 
 our calling or invitation (see on verse 28) stands in 
 connexion with both these: with God's foreknowl- 
 edge — and so it is a true and valid calling — and 
 with our being conformed to the image of his Son ; 
 for we are in\ ited by the Gospel to the obtaining of 
 
 the -lory of our Lord JeSUS I hi i-l. (2 Thess. ii, II.) 
 If, then, we luve (hid, which is the prool of OUT be- 
 ing Called, then we shall lie glorified with the sons 
 of ( hid ; and SO OUT Calling shows thai all things work 
 
 together for our good in our present state, because it 
 proves that we are intended for eternal -lory. For 
 we must understand his foreknowing, predestinat- 
 ing, Calling, and justifying, in relation to his glori- 
 fying ; ami that none are finally glorified hut those 
 who, according to his purpose, are conformed to the
 
 nil things 
 
 his Son for us, will 
 necessary to sulvutii 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 A. M. 40(50. A. D. 5 
 Year of Rome, Bll 
 
 might be the firstborn among many brethren. 
 30 Moreover, whomhedid predestinate, them 
 lie also d called: and whom he called, them he 
 also e justified : and whom he justified, them 
 he also ' glorified. 3i What shall we then 
 say to these things? &If God be for us, who 
 can be against us? 32 ''lie that spared not 
 
 dCh; 
 
 P 1 
 
 <■ 
 
 9 2 
 
 
 Klil; 
 
 4. 
 
 4: 
 
 He 
 
 I.. 
 
 '.' 
 
 15: 1 Pet. 
 
 2. 
 
 9. 
 
 el Cor 
 
 fi.11 
 
 
 -no 
 
 111 
 
 VI. : 
 
 2 : 
 
 Kpl 
 
 . 2 
 
 6. 
 
 
 -g Num. 14 
 
 it 
 
 Psa. 
 
 11«. ,-,. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 image of his Son. The firstborn among many- 
 brethren — That he might be the chief or head of 
 all the redeemed ; [standing by the divine decree 
 at the head of redeemed humanity; (Psa. ii, 7, 8; 
 not, however, as himself one of the redeemed, but 
 as the sinless man, who needed no redemption, but 
 became the Saviour of all men.] 
 
 30. Whom he did predestinate, etc. — [As 
 verse 29 indicates the inception and completion of 
 the divine method of saving men, so verse 30 gives 
 the several intermediate steps, all of them effectu- 
 ated by free grace, calling, justification, glorifica- 
 tion.] He called — By the preaching of the Gos- 
 pel, and the effectual (not irresistible) workings of 
 the Holy Spirit. [It is worthy of note, that 
 although the things here named are spoken of as 
 in the past, (for to our finite conceptions the whole 
 scheme of salvation, in its rounded fulness, dates 
 from the ages of eternity,) yet their development 
 in time and in concrete forms is an ever-proceed- 
 ing work, through all the ages of the Church.] He 
 also justified — Pardoned the sins of all thos • who 
 with hearty repentance and true faith turned unto 
 him. [Absolved from the penalty of the divine 
 law, accepted and treated as righteous. — Stuart'] 
 He also glorified — -['E<56f«<T«>, made glorious, in 
 present experience of spiritual transformation, and 
 also in purposed exaltation to heaven.] [The 
 whole Christian life is here presented in its three 
 principal details, kAtjcsic, calling, without which 
 none can be saved, and which may itself be ren- 
 dered ineffectual by the perverse wilfulness of the 
 called; tiixaLoovvr], justification, which is freely 
 given to all who accept by faith the proffered 
 grace ; and do£;a, glory, incipient at present, and 
 consummated in the future life. After the effectu- 
 ating of the first and second of these stages, both 
 of which are conditioned on human co-operation 
 with the effectuating grace, this last proceeds by 
 the sole efficiency of the Spirit, whose work, how- 
 ever, may be hindered through the unfaithfulness 
 of the subject.] The word Sot;a, which we render 
 glory, and dot-uCu, to glorify, both mean to render 
 illustrious, eminent, etc., etc., in various parts of 
 the New Testament; and in this sense the verb 
 is used John xi, 4; xii, 23, 28; xiii, 31, 32; xiv, 
 13; xv, 8; xxi, 19; Acts iii, 13; and in chapter 
 xi, 13; in none of which places eternal beatifica- 
 tion can be intended. Here it seems to mean that 
 those whom God had called into a state of justifica- 
 tion he had rendered illustrious by innumerable 
 gifts, graces, and privileges. 
 
 31. What shall we then say to these things 
 — Seeing, therefore, all these things are so, this is 
 the comfort which, in our tribulations, we shall de- 
 rive from them : If God be for us, who can be 
 against us — He who is infinitely wise has under- 
 taken to direct us : the infinitely powerful, to protect 
 us: the infinitely good, to save us. What cunning, 
 strength, or malice, can prevail against his wisdom, 
 power, and goodness? Therefore, we are safe in 
 
 his own Son, but 'delivered him up for us all, 
 how shall he not with bim also freely give us 
 all things? 33 Who shall lay any thing to 
 the charge of God's elect? k It is God that 
 justifieth. 34 'Who is he that condemneth ? 
 It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen 
 again, '"who is even at the right hand of 
 
 // Chap. 5. (i, 10. i Chap. 4. 25 k- Un. SO. 8, S: Rev. 12. 
 
 H>, 11. — J Job 34. 29 — m Mark 16. 19: Col. 3. 1; lleb. 1. 3 ; 
 6. 1; 12. 2; I Pet. 3. 22. 
 
 the love of God ; and we shall not only sustain no 
 essential damage by the persecutions of ungodly 
 men, but even these things shall work together for 
 our good. (Psa. cxviii, 0.) 
 
 32. He that spared not his own Son — [Tov 
 Idiov vlov, his own Son, his only begotten Sou, 
 (John iii, 16,) ova eQsi'aaro, a double idea. He did 
 not withhold him as something too precious to be 
 given, and he did not, having given him to be a 
 propitiation, spare him, but laid on him the iniq- 
 uities of us all, (Isa. liii, 4-6,) napiduKiv aitrov, 
 delivered him up, as a sacrifice, for, ii-ip, in behalf 
 of, a mediation with a price, f/puv kuvtuv, all of 
 its, specially referring to believers, but also pro- 
 visionally for all men, x a P LatTa, i graciously bestowed. 
 This first gift, so infinitely transcending all else, 
 stands a perpetual pledge of every other gift for 
 the completion of the great work so begun.] 
 
 33. God's elect — [All believers, those who are 
 justified freely by his grace. (Chapter iii, 24.)] 
 
 34. Who is he that condemneth — Tic 6 
 KaraKpivuv, who is the condemnor? Christ that 
 died ? — [This clause should be read as a question, 
 being put into that form to bring out the impossi- 
 bility of the supposition, and the words u it is " 
 should be omitted.] That is risen — [Christ's 
 victory over death — in our nature, and acting for 
 us — is among the most glorious factors in the prac- 
 tical problem of our redemption.] Who is even 
 at the right hand of God — To which he has ex- 
 alted our human nature, which he took in conjunc- 
 tion with his divinity ; and there he maketh inter- 
 cession for us — manages all the concerns of his own 
 kingdom in general, and of every member of his 
 Church in particular. 
 
 35. Who shall separate us from the love of 
 Christ — The apostle is referring to the persecu- 
 tions and tribulations to which genuine Christians 
 were exposed through their attachment to Christ, 
 and the gracious provision God had made for their 
 support and final salvation. As in this provision 
 God had shown his infinite love to them in provid- 
 ing Jesus Christ as their sin offering, and Jesus 
 Chiist had shown his love in suffering death upon 
 the cross for them ; so here he speaks of the love 
 of the followers of God to that Christ who had 
 first loved them. Therefore, the question is not, 
 Who shall separate the love of Christ from us? or 
 prevent Christ from loving us? but, Who shall 
 separate us from the love of Christ? 117//) or 
 //■///// shall be aide to remove our affection from 
 him? The tribulation, distress, etc., which he 
 enumerates, are things by which they might be 
 affected, but which shall not be able to mo\ e them. 
 [Others refer uyunt/c tov Xpiarov, the lure of 
 Christ, to Christ's love for us, and interpret vhe 
 thing said as assurances that our present afflictions 
 are not to be construed as evidences of any failure 
 of Christ's love toward us. The language will 
 justify this; but the other seems to be the better 
 sense.] 
 
 59
 
 A. M 4 •■'.'. A. D. 58. 
 Y^.r ■•( Romit, 811. 
 
 ROMANS. 
 
 Nothing ca roi belleven 
 
 from the love • ■ 
 
 God, "who also tnaketh intercession for us. 
 :$.■» Who shall separate us from the love of 
 Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or perse- 
 cution, or famine, <>r nakedness, or peril, or 
 sword? 'Hi As it is written, For thy sake 
 we are killed all the day long; we are ac- 
 counted assheep for the slaughter. '17 > Nay, 
 in all these things we are more than conquer- 
 ors through him that loved us. :{* For I am 
 persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor 
 
 n Heb. : 25; 9. 24: 
 
 i. II. - 
 5. I.:.; Kev. 11 11. 
 
 I John 'J. i. Psa. n. 22; 1 Cor. 13 
 
 ;. 1 i or 1 i. 57 I - O.r. .'. 11; 1 Jolin4. 4; 
 
 Thes i i contain certain questions, 
 
 most appropriately introduced ami most powerfully 
 urged, tending to .-how the glorious Bafetyof those 
 who have believed the Gospel of the grace of God. 
 I shall lay these verses down as they are pointed 
 by the best Greek critic'- : 
 
 ■• Who -hall lay any thing to the charge of God's 
 ? — God who justifieth 1 Who is he that con- 
 deinneth? — (Is it) Christ who died? or, rather, who 
 is risen again '! lie, who is at the right hand of 
 Be, who tnaketh intercession for us? Who 
 shall separate us from the love of Christ? — Tribu- 
 lation? or distress? or persecution? or famine? 
 or nakedness? or peril ? or sword?" In all these 
 questions the a]>o-tlc intimates that if neither God 
 nor Christ would bring any charge against them 
 who love him, none else could. And as God justi- 
 fies through Christ who died, consequently no 
 charge can lie against these persons, as God alone 
 could produce any; and he, so far from doing this, 
 has justified them — freely forgiven their trespasses. 
 
 36. As it is written — And these things are no 
 than we may naturally expect from the pres- 
 ent constitution of the world, and the positive pre- 
 dictions of the prophet, (Psa. xliv, 22,) who foresaw 
 that a wicked world woul 1 always persecute and 
 oppress tht.' trui.' followers of God. 
 
 37. Nay — As tin; prophet 1 adds in the same 
 place, '/// this is emit'' !//>■>, > us ; yet have we not 
 forgotten thee, nor dealt falsely in thy covenant, 
 
 3 17, 18,) so all these things may happen 
 unto us ; hut in all these things we "!•■■ more than 
 conquerors; WE abide faithful in the covenant of 
 our God; and he is faithful who has promised to 
 Support and make us more than conquerors. 
 Through him that loved us — [Through Christ, 
 in consequence of the strength and courage which 
 he imparts. (Phil, iv, 13.) — Stuart.] 
 
 38. 39. For I am persuaded — After the blessed 
 experience we have had of support by the grace 
 
 and Spirit of Him who loved IK. that neither fear 
 of death, nor hope of life, nor evil angels, nor 
 principalities, nor powers, persecuting us for 
 Christ's sake ; nor the things we endure at present, 
 nor the things t<> come, whatever tribulation we 
 may he called to suffer in future. Nor height — 
 Of honour. Nor depth — Of ignominy. Nor any 
 other creature — Ours tic Krioic kripa, nor any 
 other thing whatever. Shall be able to separate 
 us (who love find j from the love of God — Which 
 he In- vouchsafed (o us in Christ Jesus. [The 
 various expressions (in verses 38, '■>'■<) are 
 left in the generality of their sense, which is, partly 
 in itself and partly through its connexion, beyond 
 doubt; every arbitrary limitation is purely opposed 
 to the purpose of declaring every thing — every 
 thing possible — incapable of separating the be- 
 lievers from the love of God in Christ. — Meyer.] 
 60 
 
 angels, nor i principalities, nor powers, nor 
 things present, nor things to come. :{<» Nor 
 height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall 
 be .able to separate us from the love of God, 
 which is in ( Ihrist Jesus our Lord. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 I 'SAY the truth in Christ. I lie not, my con- 
 science also bearing me witness in the 
 Holy Ghost, 2 ''Thai 1 have great heaviness 
 
 ffEph. 1. 21; 6. 12; Col. 1. 16; -J. 15; 1 Pet. 3. " fl I I ap- 
 1.9; 2 Cor. 1.23; 11. 31; 12. 19; Gal. 1. 20; PhiL 1. 8: 1 Tim- 
 
 2. 7. fcCliap. 10 1. 
 
 [This enu ration of agencies seem- to aim at the 
 
 fullest practicable inventory of possible causes of 
 the believer's separation from the " love of God : " 
 so death and life, angels, etc., as personal forces, the 
 present and the future, the highest and the lowest, 
 are used as exhaustive categories, and then any 
 other creature, is named to cover any possible 
 omission. Speculations respecting the more precise 
 meanings of the words used are altogether uncer- 
 tain, and may very readily become misleading.] 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTEE IX. 
 
 [The Gospel being now established in its fulness 
 and freeness as the powerof Cod unto salvation to 
 everyone that believeth, a question naturally arises, 
 not unaccompanied with painful difficulties, re- 
 spectingthe exclusion of that people, as a people, to 
 whom God's ancient promises were made. With 
 this national rejection of Israel the apostle now 
 deals, extending the discussion through chapters 
 i.x, x, and xi. 
 
 [In no part of the epistles of Paul is it more 
 requisite than in this portion, to bear in mind his 
 habit of insulating the one view of tin subject 
 under consideration villi which he is nl the time 
 dealing. The divine side of the history of Israel 
 and the world in the greater part of this portion is 
 thus INSULATED; the facts of the divine dealings 
 and the divine decrees (tire) insisted on, and the 
 mundane or human sidt of thai history kept for 
 the most part out of sight, and only so much 
 shown as to make it manifest that the .lews, on 
 their part, failed of attaining God's righteou 
 and SO lost their share in the Co-pel. 
 
 [It must also be remembered, that whatever in- 
 ferences with regard to God's disposal of individ- 
 uals may justly rise from the apostle's arguments, 
 the assertions here made by him are universally 
 spoken with a national reference, of the eternal 
 salvation or rejection of any individual Jew there 
 is here no question ; and however logically true of 
 any individual the same conclusion may be shown 
 to be, we know, as matter of fact, that in such 
 cases not tin divine, but the human side, is that 
 ever held up by the apostle: the universality of 
 
 free grace for till — the riches of God's mercy to 
 all who call on him, and consequent exhortations 
 to till to look to him and be saved. — Alford.] 
 
 1. I say the truth in Christ, I lie not — Paul 
 appeals to Christ, as the Bearcher of hearts, that 
 he tells the truth ; asserts that his conscience was 
 free from till guile in tin- matter; and that the 
 IIolv Ghost bore him testimony that what, he said 
 was true. A- the apostle had still remaining a 
 very awful part of his commission to execute, 
 namely, todeclare to tie- .lews not only that God 
 had chosen the Gentiles, but had rejected them 
 because they had rejected Christ and his Gospel,
 
 The (ire.it privlle 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 \. D. 53. 
 e, 811. 
 
 and continual sorrow in my heart. 3 For C I 
 could wish that myself were d accursed from 
 Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according 
 to the flesh: 4 c Who are Israelites; f to 
 whom pertaineth the adoption, and ethe glory, 
 and h the 'covenants, and l( the giving of the 
 
 cKxod 32.32. dOr, separated. e Unit. 7.6. — /Exod. 
 
 ■1 22: Deut. 14. 1; Jer. 31. 9. a 1 Sam. 4. -1 : 1 Kings 8. 11 : 
 
 l»sa B3.2; 78. 61. /(Acts 3. 2.5 : Ilt-b.s. s-10. — i Or, testa- 
 ments. A- Psa. 147. 19. 1 Heb. 9. 1. 
 
 it was necessary that he should assure them that 
 however he had been persecuted by them because 
 
 he had embraced the Gospel, vet it was so far from 
 being a gratification to him that they had now 
 fallen under the displeasure of God, that it was a 
 subject of continual distress to his mind, and that 
 it produced in him great heaviness and continual 
 sorrow. 
 
 3. For I could -wish that myself were ac- 
 cursed from Christ — Very few passages in the 
 New Testament have puzzled critics and commen- 
 tators more than this. Every person saw the per 
 feet absurdity of understanding it in a literal 
 sense, as no man in his right mind could wish him- 
 self eternally damned in order to save another, or 
 to save even the whole world. And the supposition 
 that such an effect could be produced by such a 
 sacrifice, was equally absurd and monstrous. The 
 Greek word uvudeua, anathema, properly signifies 
 any thing devoted to God, so as to be destroyed : 
 it answers to the Hebrew D~IH, cherem, which the 
 Septuagint translate by it, and means either a 
 thing or person separated from its former state or 
 condition, and devoted to destruction. In this 
 sense it is used Deut. vii, 25, 26; Josh, vi, 17, 18 ; 
 vii, 12. Paul desired to be devoted to destruction, 
 as the Jews then were, in order to redeem his 
 countrymen from this most terrible excision. He 
 was willing to become a sacrifice for the public 
 safety, and to give his life to redeem theirs. And, 
 as Christ may be considered as devoting them to 
 destruction, (see Matt, xxiv,) Paul is willing that 
 in their place Christ should devote him : for 1 
 could wish myself, aviidefia eivai u^b tov Xpiarov, 
 to be devoted by Christ, to that temporal destruction 
 to which he has adjudged the disobedient Jews, if 
 by doing so I might redeem them. This, and this 
 alone, seems to be the meaning of the apostle's wish. 
 
 4. Who are Israelites — Descendants of Jacob, 
 a man favoured of God, from whom he received 
 his name Israel — a prince of God. (Gen. xxxii, 28.) 
 Their very name of Israelites implied their high 
 dignity; they were a royal nation ; princes of the 
 'most hiffh God. The adoption — The Israelites 
 were all taken into the family of God, and were 
 called his sons and firstborn, (Exod. iv, 22 ; Deut. 
 xiv, 1; Jer. xxxi, 9; Hos. xi, 1;) and this adop- 
 tion was ratified when God made the covenant with 
 them at Horeb. The glory — The manifestation 
 of God among them ; principally by the cloud and 
 pillar, and the shekinah, or divine presence, appear- 
 ing between the cherubim over the mercyseat. 
 These were peculiar to the Jews; no other nation 
 was ever thus favoured. The covenants — The 
 covenants made with Abraham, both that relating 
 to the spiritual seed, ami that which was peculiar 
 to his natural descendants ; (Gal. iii, 16, 17 ; ) which 
 covenants were afterward renewed by Moses. (Deut. 
 xxix, 1.) But manifestly Paul alludes especially to 
 the great covenant made with Abraham, and to its 
 various renewals and extensions at different times 
 
 law, and 'the service of God, and m the prom- 
 ises; 5 ' Whose are the fathers, and °of whom 
 as concerning the flesh Christ came, p who is 
 over all, God blessed for ever. Amen. 6 i Not 
 as though the wqrd of God hath taken none 
 effect. For r they are not all Israel, which are 
 
 m Acts 13. 32: chap. 3. 2: Eph. 2. 12. » Deut. 111. IS; chap. 
 
 11. 28 o I. ukc 3. 2i ; chap. 1. 3. ]> Jer. 23. ij ; John 1.1; 
 
 Acts 20. 28; tteb. 1.8; 1 .1'>lui 5. 20. <j Num. 23. 19: chap. 
 
 3.3. rJohn 8. 39; chap. 2. 28,29; 4. 12. 16; Gal. 6. 16. 
 
 afterward, as well as to its twofold design — the 
 grant of the land of Canaan, and the rest that re- 
 mains for the people of God. The giving of 
 the law — The revelation of God by God himself, 
 containing a system of moral and political pre- 
 cepts. This was also peculiar to the Jews ; for to 
 no other nation had he ever given a revelation of 
 his will. The service— A a rpe ia, the particular 
 ordinances, rites, and ceremonies of their religious 
 worship: and especially the sacrificial system, so 
 expressive of the sinfulness of sin and the holiness 
 of God. The promises — The land of Canaan, 
 and the blessings of the Messiah and his kingdom ; 
 which promises had been made and often repeated 
 to the patriarchs and to the prophets. [Having 
 expressed, by his reference to his kindred accord- 
 ing to the flesh, how even human sensibility moved 
 him to a special love for the Jews, he now states 
 how every disciple of Christ must be kindled to a like 
 regard for this people by the peculiar place they 
 occupy in the economy of salvation, as the channel 
 of the light vouchsafed by God toman. The privi- 
 leges of the Israelites, here specified by Paul, are, 
 however, of a sort not founded upon their merits, 
 but upon the free grace of God. — llwluck.'] 
 
 5. Whose are the fathers— Abraham, Isaac, 
 Jacob, Joseph, the twelve patriarchs, Moses, 
 Joshua, Samuel, David, etc., etc., without contro- 
 versy the greatest and most eminent men that 
 ever flourished under heaven. From these, in an 
 uninterrupted and unpolluted line, the Jewish peo- 
 ple had descended ; and it was no small glory to 
 be able to reckon, in their genealogy, persons of 
 such incomparable merit and excellency. And of 
 whom as concerning the flesh Christ came — 
 These ancestors were the more renowned, as being 
 the progenitors of the human nature of the Mks- 
 siah. Christ, the Messiah, Kara. cupxa, according 
 to the flesh, sprang from them. But this Messiah 
 was more than man — he is God over all ; the very 
 Being who gave them being, though he appeared to 
 receive a being from them. 
 
 Here the apostle most distinctly points out the 
 twofold nature of our Lord — his eternal Godhead 
 and his humanity. [And in this, his twofold nature, 
 he is now exalted over all, God blessed forever.] 
 
 6. Not as though the word of God hath 
 taken none effect — A Jew might object : " Is 
 not God bound by his faithfulness to continue the 
 Jews as his peculiar Church and people, notwith- 
 standing their infidelity? If they ate brought to 
 a level with the Gentiles, will it not follow that 
 Gcd hath failed in the performance of his promise 
 to Abraham? (Gen. xvii, 7, 8.) To which it may 
 be answered: Abraham is the father of many na- 
 tions, and his seed is not only that which is of the 
 law, but that also which is of the faith of Abraham. 
 (Chapter iv, 16, 17.) The Gentiles were included in 
 the Abrahamic covenant as well as the Jews ; and 
 therefore the Jews have no exclusive tight to the 
 blessings of God's kingdom. They are not all 
 
 61
 
 ROMANS. 
 
 Allarenol rwiwlltei iptritatlly 
 turally. 
 
 of [srael: 7 'Neither, because they are the 
 of Abraham, are they all children: but, 
 In ' Isaac -hall thy seed be called. *» Tliat is, 
 They which are the children of the flesh, these 
 an uot the children of God: but "the chil- 
 dren of the promise are counted for the seed. 
 
 9 For this is the word of promise, % At this 
 time will I come, and Sarah shall have a son. 
 
 10 Ami nol only this; but when "Rebecca 
 
 ' i:. n. 21. 13; Iteb. II. 18. - u Gal. 4. 28.- 
 i i.25. 21. ' liap. I. 17; B. 28. 
 
 - 
 
 Israel, which are of Israel — [A clear distinction 
 made between the natural and the spiritual 
 Israel. And even among the covenant people the 
 of the covenants fame only to them that be- 
 lieved and obeyed.] 
 
 7. But, In Isaac shall thy seed be called — 
 Abraham had several sons besides Isaac, (Gen. xxv, 
 1, 2,) particularly Ishmael, who was circumcised 
 
 e tsaac was born, and in whom Abraham was 
 desirous that the promise should be fulfilled, (Gen. 
 xvii. 18,) and in him God might have fulfilled the 
 promise had he so pleased ; and yet he said to Abra- 
 ham, (Gen. xxi, 12,) Not in Ishmael, but in Isaac, 
 [As it was of God's sover- 
 eign good pleasure that the covenant made with 
 Abraham extended only to Isaac — to the exclusion 
 of Ishmael — so now God may enlarge the scope of 
 his covenant so as to include the Gentiles; and 
 that, too, agreeably to the highest spiritual sense of 
 the Abrahamic covenant.] 
 
 8. That is, They which are the children of 
 the flesh — Not the natural children of Abraham, 
 nor those who were circumcised, are therefore the 
 
 i and people of God; but those who are 
 made children by the good pleasure and promise of 
 God, as Isaac was, are alone to be accounted for 
 the seed with whom the covenant, was established. 
 0. For this is the word of promise, etc. — 
 Tiiat is, this is evidently implied in the promise 
 
 ed Gen. xviii, 10: At this time 1 will come, 
 saith God, and exert my divine power, and Sarah, 
 though fourscore and ten years old, shall hav< a 
 so ■ : which shows that ii is the sovereign will and 
 acl of Go i alone which singles out and constitutes 
 the peculiar seed that was to inherit the promise 
 
 to Abraham. In his argument, (verses 7 
 and s, i the apostle say- nol one word of Abraham's 
 
 i Ishmael to be the seed in whom the pro 
 might l"' fulfilled; nor of Isaac's willing Esau; 
 nor of Moses's willing and interceding that the 
 Israel be spared; nor of Esau's running 
 
 for venison : but by introducing these particulars 
 into his conclusion, he gives us to understand that 
 his quotations are to be taken in connexion with 
 the whole story of which they are a part ; and 
 without this the apostle's meaning cannot be ap- 
 
 10. And not only this — A Jew might object: 
 
 " I- mael was rejected, not by the sovereign will of 
 
 it because he was the son of the handmaid 
 
 or bondwoman, and therefore unworthy to be the 
 
 peculiar. seed ; " but observe, this was not the only 
 
 limitation of the seed of Abraham with regard to 
 
 inheriting the promise; [for, in respect to the de- 
 
 lants of Isaac, Jacob, his younger son, was 
 
 chosen as the object of favour, and Esau, the elder 
 
 son. who, according to the custom of the patriarchs, 
 
 had higher rights, was rejected. . . . And all this. 
 
 &2 
 
 also had conceived bj one. even by our father 
 Isaac, II (For the children being uot yel 
 born, neither having dune any good or evil, 
 thai the purpose of God according to election 
 might stand, no! of works, but of 'him that 
 calleth ;) 12 It was said unto her, > The 
 'elder shall serve the 'younger, i'l As it is 
 written, ''Jacob have I loved, bul Esau have 
 I haled, l-l What shall we say then? e Is 
 
 ,i Or, ?e**er. — bSee Deut. 21. 15; Prov. 13.24: Mai. 1.2.3; 
 M tt, 10 17; Luke 14. 26; John 12. 25.- — c Deut. 32. 4 ; 2 Chron. 
 L9. 7; Job 8. 3; i. 10; Psa, 92. 15. 
 
 was determined on before the children wen- born, 
 or before they could have possessed either merit 
 or demerit. Consequently, the KpoBean {purpose) 
 of God was according to hitXoyT), {free choice^ that 
 is, of God, and not ; „- Ipyuv, (of work done,) or on 
 the ground of merit. — Stuart.] 
 
 1 1 . For the children being not yet born, 
 neither having done any good — They had done 
 nothing to merit the distinction of being made the 
 peculiar people of God; nor evil, to be 
 left oul of this covenant, and the distinguishing na- 
 tional blessings which it conferred. That the pur- 
 pose of God according to election might stand 
 — That such distinctions might appear to di pend on 
 nothing but God's tree choice, nol of works, or any 
 desert in the people or nations thus chosen ; but of 
 
 the mere purpose of Him who calleth any people 
 
 he pleases, to make them the depositaries of his 
 especial blessings, and thus to distinguish them 
 from all others. 
 
 12. The elder shall serve the younger — 
 This sentiment quoted from Malachi, "Jacob have 
 I loved, and Esau have I hated," is cited by the 
 apostle to prove, according to its typical signifi- 
 cation, that the "purpose of God according to 
 election," does and will stand, nol of works, but of 
 Him that calleth ; that is, that the "purpose of 
 God," which is the ground of that "election" 
 which he make- among men unto the honour of 
 being Abraham's seed, might appear to remain un- 
 changeable in him; and to beeven the sami which 
 he had declared unto Abraham. 
 
 13. Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I 
 hated — The true sense of these word- fully ap] ears 
 to be, that what he had already cited from Moses 
 concerning Jacob and Esau was but the san e in 
 substance with what was spoken many years after 
 by the Prophet Malachi. The unthankful .lews 
 had, in Malachi's time, cither in words or in their 
 heart, expostulated with ( '• oil, and demanded of hi in 
 wherein he had loved tl i m ? To this tl e Lord an- 
 swers: Was not Esau Jacob's brother? Vet I 
 Jacob and hated Esau, and laid his mountai ■ 
 
 his heritage waste for tin dragons of the wilderness. 
 It appears from these passagt 
 
 not speak of the pers< f Jacob or Esau, l ut of 
 
 their respective posterities. For it was not Esau in 
 person, but his posterity, that said, II '< areimpover- 
 ished; neither were his mountains nor heritage laid 
 waste. God chose the Jew i-li people from all others, 
 and revealed himself to them. Thus they were the 
 elect, and all other nations of mankind repro 
 When the fulness ol the time came he n • 
 himself .also to the Gentiles, who gladly received 
 the Gospel; and the Jews, rejecting it, were cast 
 off. Thus the elect became reprobate, and the rep- 
 robate, elect. He published to all mankind that 
 the pardon of sin could and should be obtained
 
 God conferreth tempo 
 according to Ins o 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 A. M. 4nfi2. A. 1>. 
 Year of Rome, 81 
 
 there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. 
 15 For he saith to Moses, d I will have mercy 
 on whom I will have mercy, and I will have 
 compassion on whom I will have compassion. 
 ltt So then it is not of him that willeth, nor 
 of him that runneth, but of God that showeth 
 mercy. 17 For e the Scripture saith unto 
 Pharaoh, f Even for this same purpose have I 
 raised thee up, that I might show my power 
 
 rfExod. 33. 19. eSeeGaI.3. 8,22. /Exorl.9. Hi. tfSChr. 
 
 20. 6; Job 9 12; 23. 13; Dan. 4. 35. 
 
 only by faith in his Son Jesus, and not by any obe- 
 dit nee u> any law. And the Jews, the descendants 
 of Jacob, who rejected this way of salvation, be- 
 came precisely like the Edomites, the descendants 
 of Esau; they builded, but God pulled down; their 
 mountains and heritage are now laid waste for the 
 dragons of the wilderness ; and they properly may 
 now be called the border of wickedness, a people 
 against whom the Lord hath indignation forever : 
 they have rejected the Lord that bought them, and 
 so have brought upon themselves swift destruction. 
 [On Jacob have I bestowed privileges and blessings, 
 such as are the proofs of affection ; but from Esau 
 have I withheld these privileges and blessings, and 
 therefore have treated him as one disliked — the 
 hating of Esau being shown in the laying waste of 
 his mountain. That the w hole refers to the bestow- 
 ment of temporal blessings, and the withholding of 
 them, is clear, not only from this passage, but from 
 the whole Old Testament record of the case. As 
 to ifiiarjna, {I hare hated,) its meaning here is 
 rather privative than positive. When the Hebrews 
 compared a stronger affection with a weaker one, 
 they called the first love, and the other hatred. 
 
 14. What shall we say then— To what con- 
 clusion shall we come on the facts before us? 
 Shall we suggest that God's manner of bestowing 
 his gifts is inconsistent with justice and equity? 
 By no means. Whatever God does rs right, and he 
 may dispense his blessings to whom and on what 
 terms he pleases. [God is neither unjust nor unkind 
 toward any ; and yet he bestows greater favours 
 upon some than upon others, in both natural and 
 spiritual things.] 
 
 15. For he saith to Moses, I ■will have 
 mercy, etc. — The words of God to Moses (Exod. 
 xxxiii, 19) show that God has a right to dispense 
 his blessings as he pleases; for, after he had de- 
 clared that he would spare the Jews of old, and 
 continue them in the relation of his peculiar people, 
 when they had deserved to be cut off for their idol- 
 atry, he said: I will make all my goodness pass be- 
 fore tine, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord 
 before flue; and I will hare, mercy on whom I will 
 hare mercy ; and I will hare compassion on whom 1 
 will hare compassion. As if he had said: I will 
 make such a display of my perfections as shall con- 
 vince you that my nature is kind and beneficent; 
 but know that I am a debtor to none of my crea- 
 tures. My benefits and blessings are merely from 
 my own good will : nor can any people, much less a 
 rebellious people, challenge them as their due in jus- 
 tice or equity. And therefore I spare the Jews ; not 
 because either you, who intercede for them, or they 
 themselves have any claim upon my favour, but of 
 my own free and sovereign grace I choose to show 
 them mercy and compassion. I will give my salva- 
 tion in my own way and on my own terms. He that 
 believeth on my Son Jesus shall be saved ; and he 
 
 in thee, and that my name might be declared 
 throughout all the earth. 1§ Therefore hath 
 he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and 
 whom he will he hardeneth. 19 Thou wilt 
 say then unto me, Why doth he yet find 
 fault? For Mvho hath resisted his will? 
 20 Nay but, O man, who art thou that h re- 
 pliest against God? 'Shall the thing formed 
 say to him that formed it, Why hast thou 
 
 //Or, answerest again, nr, disputest with Gael? i Isa. 
 
 29. Hi; 45. 9; 64. 8. 
 
 that believeth not shall be damned. This is God's 
 ultimate design ; this purpose he will never change ; 
 and this he has fully declared in the everlasting Gos- 
 pel. This is the grand decree of reprobation and 
 election. 
 
 1 6. So then it is not of him that willeth, etc. 
 — I conclude, therefore, from these several instances. 
 that the making or continuing any body of men the 
 peculiar people cf God, is righteously determined, 
 not by the judgment, hopes, or wishes of men, but 
 by the will and wisdom of God alone. 
 
 17. For the Scripture saith unto Pharaoh — 
 Instead of showing the Israelites mercy, God might 
 justly have suffered them to have gone on in sin 
 till he should have signalized his wisdom and justice 
 in their destruction ; as appears from what God in 
 his word declares concerning his dealings with Pha- 
 raoh and the Egyptians. (Exod. ix, 15, 16.) ['Ef?;- 
 yetpa, aroused, excited, urged to activity. Pharaoh's 
 perverseness was called into willing activity, that it 
 might become the means of declaring God's name 
 throughout the earth,— which it accordingly has ac- 
 complished. (Psa. Ixxvi, 10.) The discrimination in 
 the divine dealings with Pharaoh and the Israelites 
 was not based upon their relative goodness or bad- 
 ness, but was an unexplained exercise of the right of 
 the sovereign, whose judgments are just and his 
 mercies free.] 
 
 18. Therefore hath he mercy on whom he 
 will — This is the apostle's conclusion from the 
 facts already laid down : that God, according to his 
 own will and wisdom, in perfect righteousness, be- 
 stows mercy — that is to say, his blessings— upon one 
 part of mankind, while he suffers another part to 
 go on in the abuse of his goodness and forbearance, 
 hardening themselves in sin, till he brings upon 
 them a most just and exemplary punishment, unless 
 this lie prevented by their repentance and return 
 to God. [^K?iJipvv£i, made obdurate, or dealt hardly 
 with, in contrast with the mercy shown to others.] 
 [With respect to that hardening, we ought espec- 
 ially to avoid imagining any particular action of 
 God upon the soul; on the contrary, it is a conse- 
 quence that results from the tokens of God's love 
 emanating incessantly, and in the same way to the 
 corrupted human race, that one individual becomes 
 ever more and more compliant with divine grace, 
 another ever more contumacious and wicked. — 
 Tholuck.'] 
 
 19. Why doth he yet find fault — An objec- 
 tion similar to that in chap, iii, 7 : Why am I con- 
 demned for that which brings so much glory to him ? 
 The question here is: J I' God's glory be so highly 
 promoted and manifested by our obstinacy, and he 
 suffers us to proceed in our hardness and infidelity, 
 why does he find fault with us, or punish us for 
 that which is according to his good pleasure? 
 
 20. Nay but, O man, who art thou — As if 
 he had said : Weak, ignorant man, darest thou re- 
 
 63
 
 K. D. SS. 
 
 ROMANS. 
 
 Th« oalllns of the Gentllei hn.l been 
 Foretold i> Jew i tfa propht i . 
 
 made me thus? *21 Hath not the k potter 
 power over the clay, of the same lump to 
 make 'one vessel unto honour, and another 
 unto dishonour? '2'2 What if God, willing to 
 his wrath, and to make his power known, 
 endured witb much longsuffering In the vessels 
 of wrath n ° fitted to destruction: 2tf And 
 that he might make known Pthe riches of his 
 glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had 
 i afore prepared unto glory, 21 Even us, 
 
 iProv Ifi I: Jer I im. 2. 20. —m 1 Thess. 5. B. 
 Or, modi up. o\ Pet. 2. 8; Jude 4. pClmp. 2. 4; 
 
 to • on the infinitely g I and righteous God ? [The 
 
 answer to the objector'? question does not lie in 
 
 this and the next verse, but in what follows. This 
 i< ;i rebuke administered ti» the spirit of the objec- 
 tion, which forgets the immeasurable distance be- 
 tween it- ami God, ami the relation of the Creator 
 ami Disposer in which he stands to us. — Alford.] 
 
 2 1 . Hath not the potter power over the clay 
 — Hath imt God shown, by the parable of the pot- 
 ter, Jer. xviii, I, etc.,) that he may justly dispose of 
 nation-, and of the .lews in particular, according as 
 he in his infinite wisdom may judge most right ami 
 fitting; even as tin' potter has the right, out of the 
 same lump of clay, to make one vessel to a more 
 honourable ami another to a less honourable usi , as 
 his own judgment and skill may direct V [The self- 
 righteous .lew looked upon his own nation as the 
 sole Qvpaua, (mixture,) from which God could fash- 
 ion the n\iv)/ riu;r, i vesst Is of honour.) The apostle 
 accordingly replies to him, that it lies wholly with 
 God to choose the mass that he will use. — Tholuck.] 
 
 22. What if God, willing to show his wrath 
 — The apostle refers here to the ease of Pharaoh 
 ami the Egyptians, to which he applies Jeremiah's 
 parable of the potter, ami. from them, to the then 
 state df the Jews. As the Jews of the apostle's 
 time hail sinned after the similitude of the Egyp- 
 tians, hardening their hearts ami abusing his good- 
 ness after every display of his longsuffering kind- 
 ness, being now fitted for destruction, they were 
 ripe Cur punishment ; and that power which God 
 was making known for their salvation having been 
 so long ami so much abused ami provoked, was now 
 about to show itself in their destruction. But here 
 is not a word of their final damnation. [The de- 
 sire '• to show his wrath, and to make his power 
 known." was not a hinderance to his forbearance, 
 hut a motive to it; a motive, too, acting throughout 
 the long series of warnings ami judgments, and lim- 
 ite 1 to the final catastrophe. (See Exod. vii, 5, 17; 
 viii, 10,22; ix, 11, "J'. 1 .) Paul's interpretation tints 
 agrees exactly with the true ami full sense of the 
 original, "/'"' to show thee my power „•" and it is 
 equally applicable to either case, the destruction of 
 Pharaoh or the rejection of Israel, in both of which 
 God's "much longsuffering" resulted, through their 
 own obstinacy, in making the "vessels of wrath" 
 more conspicuous objects of his avenging power. 
 — Sp. ( 'omnn ntary ] 
 
 'J.-;. And that he might make known — God 
 endured with much longsuffering the vessels of 
 wrath: 1) To show his wrath, ami to make his 
 power known. Ami also, 2) ''That he might make 
 known " the riches of his glory on the vessels 
 of mercy, which he had afore prepared un- 
 to glory — The Jews were fitted for destruction 
 long before ; but the fittest time to destroy them 
 was after he had prepared the believing Gentiles 
 64 
 
 whom lie hath called, 'not of the -lews only, 
 but also of the Gentiles ? iS-> As he saith also 
 in Osee, •! will call them my people, which 
 were not my people; .and her beloved, which 
 was not beloved. *2<» 'And it shall come to 
 pass, that in the place where it was said unto 
 them, Ye are not my people: there shall they 
 
 he called the children of the living (.oil. 
 
 27 Esaias also crieth concerning Israel. 
 "Though the number of the children of Israel 
 
 Fpli. 1. 7; t'nl. 1. 27. ffChap. H. :- 
 
 sHos. 2. .3: 1 l'et, 2. 10. / llos. I. Hi. 
 
 rChn|>. ::. 29. 
 
 u l-.i. in. 22,23. 
 
 unto glory. For the rod of the Messiah's strength 
 was to be sent out of Zion. (Psa. ex, 2.) The Jew- 
 ish nation was to supply the first preachers of the 
 
 Gospel, and from Jerusalem their sound was to go 
 
 forth into all the earth. Therefore the Jewish state, 
 
 notwithstanding its corruptions, was to be preserved 
 
 till the Messiah came, and even till the Gospel 
 
 preached by the apostles had taken deep root in 
 the Gentile world. Thus the Jews were diminished 
 by that abundance of grace which has enriched the 
 
 Gentiles. And SO the grace of God was illustrated ; 
 or, so God made known "the riches of his glory on 
 the vessels of mercy " — the apostles and primitive 
 believers among the Jews, and the Gentile world 
 
 which received the Gospel by the preaching of the 
 apostles and their successors. [Not, however, that 
 the grace was taken from the Jews in order that it 
 might be given to the Gentiles; hut having been 
 forfeited by the Jews through their own disobedi- 
 ence, it wits bestowed upon the Gentiles.] 
 
 24. Even us, whom he hath called — All the 
 Jews and Gentiles (hut neither as such, Col. iii, 
 11,) who have been invited by the preaching of the 
 Gospel to receive justification by faith in our Lord 
 Jesus Christ, and have come to the Gospel feast 
 on this invitation. 
 
 25. As he saith also in Osee — Hosea. The 
 apostle shows that this calling of the Gentiles was no 
 fortuitous thing, but a firm purpose in the divine 
 mind, which he had largely revealed to the prophets ; 
 and by opposing the calling of the Gentiles, the 
 Jews in effect renounced their prophets, and fought 
 against God. [The promised restoration of apostate 
 Israel (Hosea ii, 23) may he regarded as a proof 
 that the calling both of Jews and Gentiles (verse 
 24) is a free gift of God's grace to those who had 
 no title to it in their previous condition. — 8p. 
 Commentary. ] 
 
 26. And it shall come to pass, etc. — These 
 quotations are taken out of Hosea, (chapter i, 10.) 
 The decrease of numbers in the Church by Cod's 
 utterly taking away the ten tribes, (verse 6,) shall 
 he well supplied by what shall afterward come to 
 pas-, by calling the Gentiles into it, They, the re- 
 jected Jews, which had been the people of (hid, 
 should become a Lo-ammi — not my people. On 
 the contrary, they, the Gentiles, who had been a 
 Lo-ammi — "not my people," should become the 
 children of the living God. Again, (Hosea ii, 
 2:;:) Twill sow her (the Jewish Church) wnto >/n in 
 Hi< ••uih, (alluding probably to the dispersion of the 
 Jew- over all the Roman empire, which proved a 
 fruitful cause of preparing the Gentiles for the re- 
 ception id' the Gospel,) "//./, or moreover, Twillhavc 
 mercy upon lier (the body of the believing Gentiles) 
 that had mit obtained mercy. 
 
 27. Esaias also crieth — The apostle pursues his 
 argument, which had for its object the proof that
 
 The Gentiles have attained to 
 justification by faith. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 A. M. 40«S. A. D. 58. 
 Year of Rome, Ml. 
 
 be as the sand of the sea, m a remnant shall be 
 saved : 2§ For he will finish "the work, and 
 cut it short in righteousness: "because a short 
 work will the Lord make upon the earth. 
 29 And as Esaias said before, p Except the 
 Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, i we had 
 been as Sodoma, and been made like unto 
 Gomorrah. 30 What shall we say then? 
 'That the Gentiles, which followed not after 
 righteousness, have attained to righteousness, 
 ■ even the righteousness which is of faith. 
 31 But Israel, 'which followed after the law 
 of righteousness, "hath not attained to the law 
 of righteousness. 32 Wherefore ? Because 
 
 m Chap. 11. 5. n Or. the account. o Isa. 28. 22. p Isa, 
 
 1. 9; Lam. 3. 22. q Isa. 13 19; Jer. 50. 411. r Chap. 4. 11 : 
 
 10.20. sChap. 1. 17. tChnp. 10.2; 11.7. wGal. 5. 4. 
 
 * Luke 2. 34; 1 Cor. 1. 23. 
 
 God, for their infidelity, had rejected the great body 
 of the Jews, and that but a few of them would em- 
 brace the Gospel and be saved from the destruc- 
 tion which was now coining to them and their state. 
 [Here again the analogy of God's dealings, in the 
 partial deliverance of Israel from captivity, and their 
 general final deliverance from death eternal, is the 
 key to the interpretation of the prophecy cited. 
 The words are spoken by Isaiah of the return from 
 captivity of a remnant of Israel. — Alfonl.] 
 
 28. For he •will finish the work, (word,) and 
 cut it short, etc. — These appear to be forensic 
 terms, and refer to the conclusion of a judicial pro- 
 ceeding; the Lord has tried and found them guilty, 
 and will immediately execute upon them the punish- 
 ment due to their transgressions. [The object (of 
 the quotation) is to show that God of old threatened 
 to destroy great multitudes of Jews for contumacy, 
 and that it is no strange thing now to say, that 
 great numbers of them will perish. — Stuart] 
 
 29. And as Esaias said before — What God 
 designs to do with the Jews at present, because of 
 their obstinacy and rebellion, is similar to what he 
 has done before, to which the same prophet refers, 
 (chapter i, 9 :) Except the Lord of hosts had left, unto 
 us a small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, 
 and we should have been like unto Gomorrah ; that 
 is, had not God, who commands and overrules all 
 the powers in heaven and earth, in mercy preserved 
 a very small remnant, to keep up the name and be- 
 ing of the nation, it had been quite cut off and ex- 
 tinct, as Sodom and Gomorrah were. Thus w r e learn 
 that it is no new thing with God to abandon the 
 greater part of the Jewish nation, when corrupt, 
 and to confine his favour and blessing to a right- 
 eous, believing few. 
 
 30. What shall we say then — What is the 
 final conclusion to be drawn from all these proph- 
 ecies, facts, and reasonings ? This : That the Gen- 
 tiles which followed not after righteousness, 
 etc. — For an explanation of this, with the succeed- 
 ing verses, together with what belongs to the same 
 subject in the beginning of the following chapter, 
 see the notes on chapter i, 17. [The character of 
 the Gentile, generally considered, is, that he does not 
 inquire whether or not there be a God, and whether 
 he is a holy being ; the character of the Jew, that he 
 is aware of it, and trembles, but again takes courage 
 from himself; the character of the Christian, that 
 he too knows it, trembles, but consents to receive 
 comfort. — - Tholuck.] 
 
 31. But Israel, which followed after — But 
 the Jews, who have hitherto been the people of 
 
 Vol. II.— 5 
 
 they sought it not by faith, but as it were by 
 the works of the law. For v they stumbled at 
 that stumblingstone ; 33 As it is written, 
 w Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and 
 rock of offence: and * whosoever believeth on 
 him shall not be * ashamed. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 BRETHREN, my heart's desire and prayer 
 to God for Israel is, that they might be 
 saved. 2 For I bear them record "that they 
 have a zeal of God, but not according to 
 knowledge. 3 For they, being ignorant of 
 h God's righteousness, and going about to es- 
 
 to Psalm 118. 22; Isaiah 8. 14; 28. 16 ; Matthew 21. 42; 1 Peter 
 
 2. 6, 7,8. a- Chapter 10. 11. yQ\\ confounded. a Acts 
 
 21. 20; 22. 3; Galatians 1. 14; 4. 17; see chap. 9. 31. b Chap. 
 
 1. 17 ; 9. 30. 
 
 God, though they have been industrious in observ- 
 ing a ride by which they supposed they could se- 
 cure the blessings of God's peculiar kingdom, yet 
 have not come up to the true rule (of faith) by 
 which alone those blessings can be secured. 
 
 32. Wherefore — They attend not to the Abra- 
 hamic covenant, which stands on the extensive 
 principles of grace and faith ; but they turn all 
 their regards to (the letter of) the law of Moses. 
 They imagine that their formal obedience to that 
 law gives them a right to the blessings of the Mes- 
 siah's kingdom. But, finding that the Gospel sets 
 our special interest in God and the privileges of 
 his Church on a different footing, they are offended, 
 and refuse to come into it. 
 
 33. As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion 
 — Christ, the Messiah, became a stone of stumbling 
 to them ; and thus what is written in the prophecy 
 of Isaiah is verified in their case. (Isa. viii, 14 ; 
 xxviii, 16.) The Jews expected the Messiah to be 
 a mighty secular prince, and to set up a secular 
 kingdom ; but when he appeared a man of sorrows 
 and acquainted with griefs, coming to redeem man- 
 kind, not by his sword or secular power, but by his 
 humiliation, passion, and death, they were offended 
 at him and rejected him. And whosoever be- 
 lieveth on him — But so far shall any be from 
 confusion or disappointment who believes in Christ, 
 that, on the contrary, every genuine believer shall 
 find salvation — the remission of sins here, and 
 eternal glory hereafter. 
 
 .NOTES ON CHAPTEE X. 
 
 1. My heart's desire, etc. — Though.the apostle 
 knew that the Jews were now in a state of rejection, 
 yet he knew also that they were in this state 
 through their own obstinacy, and he still hoped 
 that God was waiting to be gracious, and conse- 
 quently that they might yet repent and turn to him. 
 [Not however as a collective nation, but as individ- 
 uals, each one for himself having faith in Christ.] 
 
 2. They have a zeal of God — They believe 
 their law to have come immediately from God him- 
 self, and are jealous of its glory and excellence ; 
 they punctiliously observe its rites and ceremonies, 
 but they do not consider the object and end of those 
 rites. By this fine apology for his people, the apostle 
 prepares them for the harsher truths which he was 
 about to deliver. 
 
 3. For . . . being ignorant of God's right- 
 eousness — Not knowing God's method of saving 
 sinners, which is the only proper and efficient 
 method. And going about to establish their own 
 
 65
 
 M I l ". A. P. sa 
 
 I 
 
 ROMANS. 
 
 law, 
 
 tablish their own righteousness, have qo1 sub- 
 mitted themselves unto the righteonsness of 
 God. I For^ChrisI is the end of the law for 
 righteousness to everyone thai believeth. i> For 
 Moses (1. scribeth the rigliteousness which is of 
 the law, e Thai the man which doeth those 
 things shall live by them. O Bn1 the right- 
 eonsness which is of faith speaketh on this 
 wise, 'Say nol in thine ln-art. Who shall ascend 
 into heaven? (thai is, to bring Christ down 
 
 cPhil. 3. !». (1 Matt, 5. 17: Gal. 3. 24. e Lev. 13. 5; Neh. 
 
 i Gal. 3. 12. 
 
 righteousness— S'-'kiirj- to procure their salvation 
 by means of their own merits. They have not 
 submitted — They have nol bowed to the determi- 
 nations of the Most High relative to his mode of 
 saving mankind, namely, through faith in Jesus 
 Christ, as the only sacrifice for sin — the end to 
 which the law poii 
 
 ■I. For Christ is the end of the law — Where 
 the law ends, Christ begins. The law ends with 
 . Christ begins with the 
 real offering. The law is our schoolmaster to lead 
 us toChrist ; it cannot save, but it leaves us at his 
 door, where alone salvation is to lie found. Christ, 
 as an atoning sacrifice Cor sin, was the grand object 
 of the whole sacrificial code of Moses ; his passion 
 and death were the fulfilment of its great object 
 and design. Separate this sacrificial death of 
 Christ from the law, and the law has no meaning. 
 The sacrifice under the law was a type or represent- 
 ative of that atonement ; but the atonement was 
 the sacrifice offered by Christ. Thus he was the 
 KM) -;/'///- hnr in respect to its sacrifices. And, as 
 sacrifii ' re ! merely to procure pardon of 
 
 sin, righteousness, or justification, Christ is the 
 end of the law for this justification to every one 
 that believeth on him as dyingfor their offences, ami 
 rising again for their justification, having made 
 peace through the blood of his cross. Therefore 
 every one who rejects Christ rejects salvation, and 
 that very salvation which the law witnessed and 
 required, and which can be had only through Christ. 
 
 6. For Moses describeth the righteousness 
 which is of the law — (See Lev. xviii, 5.) Moses 
 undoubtedly gave a law v hi< h promised life to those 
 who should perform its precepts; but who could 
 plead for life on this ground while rejecting that 
 Christ who is the end of the law? No man ever 
 did, nor ever can. fulfil that law so as to merit sal- 
 vation by the p. of it: for, as all have 
 
 sinned and C short of the glory of Cod, they are 
 
 all under the curse of the law, which says: Cursed 
 i.< every <>m that coniinueth not in all things which 
 are written in the book of tin la •■ to do 'him. (Gal. 
 iii, 10.) II. ■ not such a pro- 
 
 vi-ion as i- made by the death of Christ, no soul 
 could be saved. 
 
 6, 7. But the righteousness which is of faith — 
 [In verses ■>. 8, the righteousness which is of faith 
 I, in the words spoken in Scripture by 
 Moses of the commandment given by him, as not 
 dependent on a long and difficult process of search, 
 but near to every man, and in every man's power 
 to attain. . . . The apostle is speaking of Christ as 
 theendofiht law for righteousness to the believer. 
 lie takes as aconfimnationof this a passage occui ring 
 in a prophetic part of Deuteronomy, where Moses 
 is foretelling to the Jews the consequences of re- 
 jecting God's law, and his mercy to them, even 
 00 
 
 frmi, above:) 7 Or, Who shall descend into 
 the deep.' (that is, to bring up Christ again 
 from the dead.) K lint what saith it '. 
 word is nigh thee, even in thy month, and in 
 thy heart: thai is, the word of faith, which 
 we preach; 9 That h if thou shall CO 
 with thy month the Lord Jesus, and shall be- 
 lieve in thine heart that God hath raised him 
 from the dead, thou shall la- saved. 10 For 
 with the heart man believeth unto righteous- 
 
 /Deut.30. 12.13. a Dent. 3d. 11. — /(.Matt. 10.32: Luke 12. *; 
 
 Acts -. :;:. 
 
 when under chastisement, if they would return to 
 him. .. . Now, the apostle regarding Christ as the 
 end of the law, its great central aim and object, 
 quotes these words, not merely as suiting his pur- 
 pose, but as beating, where originally used, an a 
 fortiori application to faith in him who is the end 
 of the law, and to the commandment to believe 
 in him, which is now (1 .John iii, 23) God's com- 
 mandment. II spoken of ///' law as a manifesta- 
 tion of God in man's heart and mouth, much more 
 were they spoken of him who is God manifested in 
 tin flesh, tin i ml df flu Inn' and tin prophets. — Al- 
 ford.] Who shall ascend . . . descend — [Q tes- 
 tions of incomplete faith, to which the apostle re- 
 sponds by showing there is no need to ascend into 
 heaven for help, since Christ has come from heaven 
 to give all needed assistance, (John vi. 33 ;) nor to 
 " descend into the deep," t't/v uftvoGOV, tin abyss, 
 (hades,) since Christ has risen, and ascended, and 
 has sent forth the Holy Spirit to abide with his fol- 
 lowers. (John xiv, 17.)] The sense of the apostle 
 may be this : They who will not believe in Christ 
 crucified must in effect be seeking another Messiah 
 to come down from heaven with a different revela- 
 tion ; or they who will not credit the doctrine that 
 we preach concerning his resurrection seem in ef- 
 fect to say, Christ yet remains to be raised from 
 the dead, and reign over the Jews as a mighty sec- 
 ular sovereign, subjecting the Gentile world to the 
 sway of his righteous sceptre. 
 
 8. But what saith it? The word is nigh 
 thee — There is no occasion to seek high or Ion- for 
 the saving power; the way of salvation is now both 
 plain and easy. By the preaching of the Gospel 
 the doctrine of salvation is nigh thee, and the sav- 
 ing influence is at hand; it is in thy mouth, easy to 
 l„- professed; and in tin/ heart, if thou art sincerely 
 desiring to be saved on God's own terms, not striv- 
 ing to establish thine own method of justification by 
 the law, but submitting to the method which God 
 has devised. 
 
 '.». That if thou shalt confess, etc. — Acknowl- 
 edge the Lord Jesus Chrisl a.- the only Saviour. 
 Believt in thy heart that he who died for thy of- 
 fences has been raised for thy justification, and 
 depend solely on him for that justification, and 
 tlnm shah be saved. 
 
 1 < i. For with the heart man believeth, etc. — 
 And be sincere in this: for with, the heart, duly af- 
 fected with a sense of guilt, and of the sufficiency of 
 the sacrifice which Christ has offered, man 6< 
 Hutu righteousness, believeth to receive justification. 
 | A genuine confession of Christ, such as bears upon 
 the face the seal of a divine irappnoiu, (assured con- 
 fession,) is necessarily a testimony to belief of the 
 heart, because no one can, from inward conviction, 
 call Christ Lord, except by the Holy Ghost. (1 Cor. 
 xiii, 3 ; 1 John iv, 2.) — Tholtuk.\
 
 Salvation bv faith !ref tr> nil i 
 through J<rsus Christ. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 A. M. 4n62. A. D. 58. 
 
 V.:ir ol Rom !, Ml. 
 
 ness ; and with the mouth confession is made 
 unto salvation. 11 For the Scripture saith, 
 1 Whosoever believeth on him shall not be 
 ashamed. 12 For k there is no difference be- 
 tween the Jew and the Greek: for 'the same 
 Lord over all "'is rich unto all that call upon 
 him. 13 "For whosoever shall call "upon the 
 name of the Lord shall be saved. 14 How 
 then shall they call on him in whom they have 
 
 i'lsa. 28. It!; 49. 23: Jer. 17. 7: cliap. 9. 33. k Acts 15. 9; 
 
 chap. 3. 22 ; Gal. 3. 2*. / Acts 10 3b; cliap. 3. 29; 1 Tim. 2. 5. 
 
 ni Eph. 1. 7 : 2. 4. 7. 
 
 11. For the Scripture saith — [Paul brings for- 
 ward, as if for the solemn sealing of all this, (before 
 said,) once more that weighty word of Scripture 
 which he has already adduced in chapter ix, 33. 
 But this scriptural saying (Isa. xxviii, Hi) now re- 
 ceives, with the object of closely connecting with 
 it what is further to follow, the significant addition 
 of the universal element, Trac, (whosoever.) — Meyi /•.] 
 Whosoever believeth on him shall not be 
 ashamed — He shall neither be disappointed of his 
 hope nor ashamed of his confidence ; because he 
 has that faith which is the evidence of things not 
 seen, the subsistence of things hoped for. (Chapter 
 i, HI ; Heb. xi, 1.) 
 
 12. For there is no difference between the 
 Jew and the Greek — Here the Jew has no exclu- 
 sive privilege; and from this the Greek is not re- 
 jected. One simple way of being saved is proposed 
 to all, namely, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; be- 
 cause lie is the same Lord who has made all and 
 governs all, and is rich in mercy to all that call 
 upon him. The same Lord over all — ['0 yap 
 ai'Tnc nvjunc TcavTtov, for he himself the Lord of all, 
 holding the same beneficent relation to all men.] 
 [On tliis passage Chrysostom remarks, happily: 
 " I)o you see how he (Paul) represents him (Christ) 
 as exceedingly desirous of our salvation, inasmuch 
 as he deems it his own riches, so that now they 
 need not despair, nor think that they are excluded 
 from salvation, if they choose to repent. For he 
 who deems it his own riches to save us, will never 
 cease being rich, this being his riches, to pour out 
 the free gift upon all. See Tholuck.] 
 
 13. For whosoever shall call, etc. — The 
 Prophet Joel hath declared, (chapter ii, 32,) " Who- 
 soever shall call upon (invoke) the name of the 
 Lord (Jesus Christ, the Saviour of sinners) shall 
 he saved;" and if he abide in the faith, rooted 
 and grounded in him, showing forth the virtues of 
 Him who has called him out of darkness into his 
 marvellous light, he shall be saved with all the power 
 of an eternul life. Believing in Christ or God, 
 (verse 11,) and calling upon God, (verses 12,13, 14,) 
 are in effect the same thing ; as calling upon God 
 necessarily connects and supposes faith in him ; 
 and he who truly believes in Christ has such a sense 
 of his dependence upon divine grace, that he looks 
 to God and trusts in his power and goodness alone 
 fur salvation. 
 
 14. How then shall they call on him — As 
 the apostle had laid so much stress on believing in 
 order to salvation, and as this doctrine might be 
 misunderstood, it was necessary to show how this 
 faith is produced, and therefore he lays down the 
 whole doctrine in a beautifully graduated order: 
 
 There can be no salvation without the Gospel — a 
 dispensation of mercy and grace from God alone, 
 called (verse 15) the (Josjid of peace ; ghal tidings 
 
 not believed? and how shall they believe in 
 him of whom they have not heard? and how 
 shall they hear p without a preacher ? 15 And 
 how shall they preach, except they he sent? as 
 it is written, i How beautiful are the feet of 
 them that preach the gospel of peace, and 
 bring glad tidings of good things! 1<» But 
 r they have not all obeyed the gospel. For 
 Esaias saith, s Lord, who hath believed 'our 
 
 n Joel 2. 32: Acts 2. 21. o Acts 9. 1-1. //Titus 1. ::. — 
 
 <1 Isa. 52. 7 ; Nah. 1. 15. r Chap. 3. 3 : Heb. 4. 2. S Isa. 53. 
 
 1 ; John 12. 38. 1 Gr the hearing of US t 
 
 of good things. This must be preached — proclaimed 
 in the world for the obedience of faith. No one can 
 effectually preach this unless he have a divine mis- 
 sion; for Aow shall they preach, except they be 
 sent? (Verse 15.) The matter must come from 
 God; and the person who proclaims it must have 
 both authority and unction from on high. This 
 divinely-commissioned person must be heard ; it is 
 the duty of all to whom this message of salvation 
 is sent, to hear it with the deepest reverence and 
 attention. What is heard must be credited ; for 
 they who do not beiieve the Gospel as the .record 
 which God has given of his Son cannot he saved. 
 (Verse 14.) Those who believe must invoke God 
 by Christ, which they can do only as they believe in 
 him. But, says the apostle, "How then shall they 
 call on him in whom they have not believed? 
 And how shall they believe in him of whom they 
 have not heard? And how shall they hear without 
 a preacher? And how shall they preach, except 
 they be sent ? " And with what message which can 
 bring salvation can they be sent, but with the gos- 
 l„l <,f peace, the glial tidings of good things; 
 When, therefore, there are all these accompani- 
 ments and conditions properly complied with, 
 namely, a proper message, a proper messenger, the 
 right message preached, the proclamation properly 
 heard and attentively considered by the people and 
 conscientiously believed; and the name of the Lord 
 Jesus, by whom alone this salvation is provided, 
 most earnestly invoked; then, salvation, or redemp- 
 tion from sin and misery, and the enjoyment of 
 peace and happiness, will be the result. 
 
 15. How beautiful are the feet of them that 
 preach- — [St. Paul argues back from the effect to 
 the cause through the series of Prayer, Faith, Hear- 
 ing, Preaching, Sending; thus the last link in his 
 argument must be the first in the realization, from 
 which the rest follow. This one therefore he con- 
 firms by the prophetic announcement of the going 
 forth of the Gospel. (Isa. lii, 7.). . . The prophecy 
 rings with a joy like that with which the apostle 
 himself is contemplating the spread of the Gospel 
 throughout the world. — Sp. Comment.'] [The rea- 
 son why the feet — ol irb6ec— is there chosen rather 
 than any other part of the body to be the represent- 
 ative of the person would seem to be, that heralds 
 who proclaim any thing travel, (ran,) from place to 
 place, in order to discharge their duty. — Stuart] 
 |lt is because of the delightful tidings which they 
 bring, that the feet of the messengers are especially 
 styled upaioi, beautiful. — Olsliausen.~\ 
 
 16. But they have not all obeyed the gos- 
 pel — Although God brings the message of salvation 
 to men, he does not force them to embrace it. It 
 is proposed to their understanding and conscience ; 
 but it docs not become the means of salvation un- 
 less it be affectionately credited. [In all Christian 
 
 07
 
 ROMANS. 
 
 Year •■• Roue, Ml. 
 
 ■•i i 17 Bo then faith cometh by liear 
 ing, and hearing by the word of God. I* Bui 
 I say, Have the} not heard? Yes verily, v their 
 
 I w.-nt into all the earth, " and their 
 words unto the ends of the world. Ii> Bui I 
 say, Did not Israelknow? First Moses saith, 
 » 1 will provoke you to jealousy by them that 
 
 u Or. / ' l'-i. 19. I: Matt, 2J II; 28. 1 ': Mark 
 
 1,;. 15; , • ■ 1 Kin--- W. Hi; Malt. 4. B. 
 
 lands tlic principal doctrines of the Gospel air dif- 
 amongthe people, so that all may, if they will, 
 
 hear and believe and be saved. Ami yet because 
 free will i~ a factor in the process, it mayal- 
 
 ways be said, "They have not all obeyed."] 
 
 17. So then faith cometh by hearing— 
 P hing the Gospel is the ordinary means of 
 salvation: faith in Christ is the result of hearing 
 the word, the doctrine of God, preached. Preaching 
 God sends; if heard attentively, faith will he pro- 
 
 |; and if the people believe the report, tin; 
 arm of the Lord will lie revealed in their salvation. 
 [While " preaching " i^ pre-eminently God's method 
 
 tor making the Gospel known among men, yet other 
 methods of giving the " word " are clearly included.] 
 
 1 8. But I say, Have they not heard — Have 
 not the means of salvation been placed within the 
 reach of every Jew, and as well of the Gentiles? 
 A- the celestial luminaries have given testimony of 
 
 ternal power and godhead of the deity to the 
 habitable world, (Psalm xix, 4,) so the Gospel of 
 
 has borne testimony to his eternal goodness 
 and mercy to all lands. There is not a part of the 
 Promised Land, nor a place in the Roman empire, in 
 which tie' doctrine of Christ crucified has not been 
 heard ; if, therefore, any have not believed, the 
 fault is entirely their own. Sometimes the apos- 
 tle's intention seems to go no further than using 
 the same strong expressions, as being equally ap- 
 plicable to the point in hand. So in verses 6, 7, 
 and 8, of this chapter, he uses the words of Sfoses, 
 
 prove any thing, nor as if he thought Moses 
 
 of the same Subject, but only as intimating 
 
 the strong and lively expressions which Moses 
 
 use I concerning the doctrine lie taught were equally 
 
 applicable to the faith of the Gospel. So, in the 
 
 same manner, (verse 18,) he quotes Psalm xix, 4, 
 
 i it is likely that those expressions were used 
 by the ancient .lews in application to the Messiah, 
 a.- the apostle applies them. These rules may help 
 to vindicate the '.notations, in all the apostolic 
 writings. And it is evident that we cannot form a 
 true judgment upon any quotation unless we take 
 in the intention of the writer, or the view in which 
 l.e quotes. 
 
 19. But I say, Did not Israel know — God, 
 foreseeing your unbelief and rebellion, said by 
 
 -. (Deut. xxxii. 21,) / will provoke you /" jeal- 
 ousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish 
 I will anger yon. As you have provokedme 
 to jealousy with worshipping those that are no 
 gods, I will provoke you to jealousy by those which 
 are no people. This mosl evidently refers to the 
 calling or inviting of the Gentiles to partake of the 
 
 its of the Gospel; and plainly predicts the 
 envy and rage' which would be excited in the Jews 
 
 in consequence of th oilers of mercy made to 
 
 tie- I .entiles. 
 
 20. But Esaias is very bold — Speaks out in 
 the fullest manner and plainest language, (chapter 
 lxv, 1.) notwithstanding the danger to which such a 
 
 08 
 
 T!i.- faith "f it.. rJenttlfl and the 
 UDbtltef Of llie Je,^ fon 
 
 iir> no i pie, and by a ^foolish nation I will 
 
 anger you. 2<> Bui Esaias i> very bold, and 
 saitli, *] was found of them that sought me 
 tin- ; I was made manifesl unto them that 
 asked not after me. 21 Hut to Israel hesaith, 
 
 "All day long J have stretched forth my hands 
 
 unto a disobedienl and gainsaying people. 
 
 as Deut. 32. ?l; chap. 11. 11. 
 9. 30. 
 
 - (/Titus::. ::. 
 -a I-a. 69. -. 
 
 -slsa. 09. 1 ; chap. 
 
 declaration exposed him, among a crooked, perverse, 
 and dangerous people: / was found of them /hat 
 sought me not; I put my Balvation in the way of 
 those (the Gentiles) who were not seeking for it, 
 and knew nothing of it; thus, the Gentiles, which 
 followed not after righteousness, have attained to the 
 law of righteousness, (chapter ix, ?><>,) and they have 
 found that redemption which the Jews have re- 
 jected. 
 
 21. But to Israel he saith — In the very next 
 verse, I I-a. lxv, 2,) All day long I have stretched 
 forth my hands, manifesting the utmost readiness 
 and willingness to gather them all together under 
 my protecting care; but "I stretched forth my 
 hands'' in vain, for they are a disobedient and 
 gainsaying people. They not only disobey my 
 command, but they gainsay and contradict my 
 prophets. Thus the apostle proves, in answer to 
 the objection made, (verse 16,) that the infidelity of 
 the Jews was the (tied of their own obstinacy; 
 that the opposition which they are now making 
 to the Gospel was foretold and deplored by the 
 prophet; and that their opposition, far from being 
 a proof of the insufficiency of the Gospel, proved 
 that this was the grand means which God had pro- 
 vided for their salvation; and, having rejected this, 
 they could expect no other. And this gives the 
 apostle opportunity to speak largely concerning 
 their rejection in the following chapter. 
 
 NOTES OX CHAPTER XL 
 [The apparent rejection of the Jews, according 
 to their carnal and theocratic views, since their 
 national hierarchy seemed to be superseded, is 
 shown to be only apparent, as Paul's own case is 
 a witness that any Jew may find salvation in Christ. 
 But .as the original covenant with Abraham in- 
 cluded also the Gentiles within its provisions, so 
 now they have a right to participate in the bless- 
 ings that result, according to Cud's purpose, from 
 that covenant through Christ. Put since the out- 
 ward Jewish Church was only a temporary ar- 
 rangement, (Gal. hi, 17-19, •j; 1 -'2'.»; Heb. viii, 13; 
 x, 9,) it was necessary that it should now give 
 place to the broader and more comprehensive 
 scheme of the Gospel, which, in the true spirit of 
 
 the covenanl with Abraham, embraced indiscrimi- 
 nately both Jews and Gentiles. This was the true 
 ,. (election,) originating in thedivine counsels, 
 but conditioned as to it- completion, in the case 
 oi each individual, upon his faith and obedience. 
 Tin' Jewish national Church having served its day, 
 was now either to be so expanded as to embraceall 
 the world — not as Israelites, but Abrahamites — ot- 
 to be lai'l aside, that all might -land upon the same 
 footing before God. The rejection of thi Jews re- 
 spected only their polity as ordained by Most 
 individuals they were not rejected; the calling of 
 the Gentiles was also of individuals of the race' of 
 Adam, to whom the promise was first made, and 
 who were included in the covenant with Abraham.
 
 CHAPTER XT. 
 
 A. M. 40M. A. D. 58. 
 Year of Rome, Ml. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 I SAY then, » Hath God cast away his people ? 
 God forbid. For b I also am an Israelite, 
 of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Ben- 
 jamin. 2 God hath not cast away his people 
 which c he foreknew. "Wot ye not what the 
 Scripture saith d of Elias? how he maketh 
 intercession to God against Israel, saving. 
 3 e Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and 
 digged down thine altars ; and I am left alone, 
 
 al Sam. 12. 
 
 2: .ler. 31. 37.- 
 cChap. 8. 29. 
 
 — ft 2 Cor. 11. 2-2: Phil. 3. 5. 
 -dGr. in Elian? 
 
 With the establishment of the Gospel in the world 
 the organic Jewish Church ceased to be — forever : 
 the promised restoration will be, in their conversion 
 to Christ as individuals.] The apostle's design in 
 discoursing upon this subject was, not only to make 
 the thing itself known, but partly to engage the 
 attention of the unbelieving Jew; to conciliate his 
 favour, and, if possible, to induce him to come into 
 the gospel scheme ; and partly to dispose the Gen- 
 tile Christians not to treat the Jews with contempt ; 
 and to admonish them to take warning by the fall 
 of (some of) the Jews ; to make a good improve- 
 ment of their religious privileges, lest, through un- 
 belief, any of them should relapse into heathen- 
 ism, and perish at the last. The thread of his dis- 
 course leads Paul into a general survey and com- 
 parison of the several dispensations of God toward 
 the Gentiles and Jews ; and he concludes this sur- 
 vey with adoration of the depths of the divine 
 knowledge and wisdom exercised in the various 
 constitutions erected in the world. (Verses 30-36.) 
 
 1. I say then, Hath God cast away his 
 people — Has he utterly and finally rejected (all of) 
 them? 'Anooaro, thrust, or driven away ; has he 
 thrust them off, and driven them eternally from him? 
 God forbid. (No, no !) Fqr I also am an 
 Israelite — I am a regular descendant from Abra- 
 ham, through Israel and Benjamin. And / Stand 
 in the Church of God, and in the peculiar cove- 
 nant ; for the rejection is only of the obstinate and 
 disobedient ones; for those who believe on Christ, 
 as I do, are continued in the Church. [I am my- 
 self a witness of the truth of this statement.] 
 
 2. God hath not cast away his people 
 which he foreknew— God has not rejected the 
 people whom he has loved (or approved) so long, bv 
 ■xpiisyvu, [from the first ordained to be his people. 
 — Stuart.'] Wot ye not what the Scripture 
 saith — OiiK oh) are, do ye not know what the Scrip- 
 ture saith? (1 Kings xix, 10, 14.) God hath not 
 altogether thrust away his people, for whom in the 
 promise to Abraham he intended, and to whom he 
 decreed, to grant his special favour and blessing ; 
 but the case is now much as it was in the days 
 of Elijah; that prophet, in his addresses to God, 
 made his complaint against Israel, thus: 
 
 3. Lord, they have killed thy prophets — 
 They will not permit any person to speak unto them 
 in thy name; and they murderthose who are faith- 
 ful to the commission which they have received 
 from thee. Digged down thine altars — They 
 are profligate and profane beyond example, and re- 
 tain not the slightest form of religion. I am left 
 alone — There is no prophet besides myself left, 
 and they seek to destroy me. 
 
 4. But what saith the answer of God — The 
 answer which God made assured him that there 
 
 and they seek my life. 4 But what saith the 
 answer of God unto him ? ' I have reserved 
 to myself seven thousand men, who have not 
 bowed the knee to the image of Baal. 5 k Even 
 so then at this present time also there is a 
 remnant according to the election of grace. 
 6 And b if by grace, then is it no more of 
 works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But 
 if it be of works, then is it no more grace : 
 otherwise work is no more work. 7 What 
 
 el Kings 19.10, 14. — f\ Kinits 19.18 
 •1. 4..">: Gal. n. 4 : : 
 
 14. — f\ Kinits 19.18. a Chap. 9. 27. A Chap. 
 
 4. 4, 5 ; Gal. 5. 4 ; see Deut. 9. 4, 5. 
 
 were thousands; that is, several, or many thousands ; 
 the word seven is a certain for an uncertain num- 
 ber. These had continued faithful to God; but, 
 because of Jezebel's persecution, they were obliged 
 to conceal their attachment to the true religion; 
 and God, in his providence, preserved them from 
 her sanguinary rage. Who have not bowed 
 the knee — Baal was the God of Jezebel; and 
 his worship was then the worship of the state ; 
 but there were several thousands of pious Israel- 
 ites who had not acknowledged this idol, and did 
 not partake in the idolatrous worship. [God will 
 not leave himself without witnesses in the world ; 
 the Gospel is not merely a venture, which may or 
 may not prove successful, but in his own way it 
 shall prevail among men. (Isa. xlv, 23 ; lv, 11.)] 
 
 5. Even so then at this present time — As in 
 the present day, the irreligion of the Jews is very 
 great ; yet there is a remnant — a considerable num- 
 ber — who have accepted the grace of the Gospel. 
 According to the election of grace — Just as 
 God has saved all believers from the beginning ; 
 they are chosen by his grace, not because they 
 were Jews, not on account of any worth or excel- 
 lence in themselves, but through his goodness are 
 they chosen to have a place in his Church, and con- 
 tinue to be his people, entitled to all the graces of 
 the new covenant. The election of grace simply 
 signifies God's gracious method of saving graciously 
 all those who believe in Christ Jesus. Thus the 
 believers in Christ are chosen to inherit the bless- 
 ings of the Gospel, while those who seek justifica- 
 tion by the works of the law are rejected. 
 
 6. And if by grace — And let this very rem- 
 nant of pious Jews, who have believed in Christ 
 Jesus, know that they are to be brought in precisely 
 in the same way as God brings in the Gentiles ; the 
 one having no more worthiness to plead than the 
 other; both being brought in, and continued in, by 
 God's free grace, and not by any observance of the 
 Mosaic law. And this is done according to the 
 election of grace, or the rule of choosing any per- 
 sons to be the people of God upon the fooling 
 of grace; which takes in all that believe in his 
 Son Jesus Christ. Some of the Jewish people 
 did so believe; therefore those believing Jews 
 are a remnant according to the election of grace. 
 They are saved in that way in which alone Cod 
 will save any of mankind. Their election and 
 interest in the covenant of God has no connex- 
 ion with their old Jewish works; for were it of 
 works, (observances of the law,) grace would lose its 
 proper nature, and cease to lie what it is — a free, 
 undeserved gift. But if it be of works — [This 
 clause is now generally rejected as not genuine.] 
 Could it be made to appear that they are invested 
 in these privileges of the kingdom of Christ through 
 the observance of the law nf Moses, (or bj any thing 
 
 69
 
 . 
 
 ROMANS. 
 
 ti.in of the fins- . I by thi Jewi 
 replaced by ;t- "rt. r to 
 
 then' 'Israel bath not obtained that which 
 la- seeketh for; bul tin- election hath obi 
 it, and the rest were k blinded * (According 
 as it is written, 'God hath given them the 
 spirit of "slumber, "eyes that they should nol 
 .1 ears thai they Bhould aot hear;) unto 
 this day. !> And David saith, ° Lei their table 
 
 11:10.3.- k Or, hardened; 2 Corinthians 3 14. 
 
 my 29. 4 : 
 I- Jeremiah .">. 21; Ezekiel vi.\i; Matthew 13. 14; 
 
 by themselves,) then grace would be quite set 
 But it i- not, and cauuot be, of works; for 
 those very .lews who now believe, and are happy 
 of Christ, are so according to tlu dec 
 Hon of graci — thai general scheme of mercy, ac- 
 cording to which Cod proposed to take into his 
 
 h and kingdom any, whether .lens or Gen- 
 tiles, who should believe on Christ. And the rem- 
 Hunt here mentioned were not selected from their 
 countrymen by such a sovereign acl of God's grace 
 
 j'nt have taken in the whole if it had so 
 
 I; bul they were admitted into ami received 
 
 the privileges of the Messiah's kingdom because 
 
 ' on tin Lord Jesus, and received him as 
 
 their only Saviour ; and thus came into that scheme 
 
 of election which Cod had appointed. [Men are 
 
 either because they have wholly obeyed the 
 divine law, or (else) on the ground of grace mere- 
 ly ; that is, they are saved either because they 
 
 ile to advance claims which meet the demands 
 
 of the law, or else it must he on the ground of 
 
 pure gratuity. Now as all men have sinned, it is 
 
 not the first ; of course, it mast he the second. 
 
 If you ask, " May it not he partly by graee, and 
 
 partly by merit ? " then our text lies directly in the 
 
 way of an affirmative answer; and it is, moreover, 
 
 lusive answer in the negative to this, that 
 
 one is cursed who continueth not in all 
 
 thing- written in the hook of the law to do them," 
 
 soul that sinnetb shall die." — Stuart.] 
 
 7. What then — What is the real state of the 
 ease before us? Israel — The Jewish people, the 
 
 icy — have not obtained that which they SO 
 earnestly desired — to he continued, as they have 
 hitherto accounted themselves, the peculiar and 
 
 ive people of God; but the election hath ob- 
 it — as many as have believed in .Jesus 
 Christ, and accepted salvation through him : God 
 chooses to make those Ids peculiar people who 
 belie\ e in his Son, (and so enter into his covenants,) 
 and none other shall enjoy the blessings of his 
 kingdom. Those who would not receive him arc 
 d; they have .-hut their eyes against the 
 light, and are in the very circumstances of those 
 menl ioned by the Prophet Isaiah in chapter xxix, 10. 
 
 8. God hath given them the spirit of slum- 
 ber — As they had wilfully closed their eyes against 
 the lLdit, mi God has, in judgment, given them up 
 to the spirit of slumber. The very word aid reve- 
 lation of God, which should have awakened their 
 consciences and opened their eyes ami ears, have 
 
 had ju-t the opposite effect. Because men will not 
 
 tin truth in tJielove of it, that which was 
 
 ned to he thesavour of life "»a. life becomes 
 to them the savour of death mil" death. 
 
 9. li>. And David saith, Let their table be 
 made a snare. . . . their eyes be darkened — All 
 these words are d\ claralive,a,nd not imprecatory. God 
 declares what will lie the case of such obstinate 
 unbelievers; their table, their common providential 
 blessings, will becomt a snare, a trap, a. stumbling- 
 
 he made a snare, and a trap, ami a stumbling- 
 block, and a recompense unto them: 10 i Let 
 their eyes be darkened, thai they may qoI see, 
 and bow down their back alway. 11 I say 
 then. Have they stumbled thai they Bhould 
 fall? God forbid: bul rather « through their 
 fall salvation is conn onto the Gentiles, for t<> 
 
 John 12. 40; Acts 28. 26, 27. 
 o Vets 1 f. 46; 1-. 6; 
 
 in. r.'. 
 
 e Psal i / Psalm 
 
 22. 18,21 ; ■>. 24, 28; chapter 
 
 bb>ch; and the mean- of their punishment. Their 
 eyes will be more and more darkened as they per- 
 sist in their unbelief, and their bark ah all br bmrul 
 dovm always. [The apostle, in making this quo- 
 tation, need nut be Bupposed to intend any thing 
 mine than to produce an instance from the Psalms 
 where the same principle is developed as is con- 
 tained in the assertion which he had made; thai is, 
 the ancient Scriptures speak of a part of Israel as 
 blind and deaf, as in deep distress and under heavy 
 punishment because of their unbelief and dis- 
 obedience. What happened in ancient times may 
 take place again ; it has, in fact, happened at the 
 present time. — Stuart.] 
 
 11. Have they stumbled that they should 
 fall — Have the Jews, now rejected (as to their out- 
 ward state) for the disobedience and unbelief of 
 their rulers, so sinned againsl God as to be forever 
 put out of the reach of his mercy ? By no means. 
 A Jew has the same privileges under the Gospel as 
 a Gentile, and no more. But rather through 
 their fall salvation is come — The Church of God 
 cannot fail; if the Jewish hierarchs have broken 
 tin everlasting covenant, (Isaiah xxiv, 5,) the Gen- 
 tiles shall be taken into it; and this very circum- 
 stance shall he ultimately the means of exciting 
 them to seek and claim a share in the blessings of 
 the new covenant; and this is what the apostle 
 terms provoking them to j, nlnnsii. ( l)'nl tlni/ (the 
 Jews as a people) stumbli in order that, Iva, they 
 should fall? The stumbling of the Jews, as a peo- 
 ple, that is, through the unbelief of their rulers, 
 (not as individuals, which is not here spoken of,) 
 called for the entire setting aside of the Jewish 
 state, and the extension of the offer of salvation 
 to the Gentiles; that is, to all men, without respect 
 to race or nationality. The same process that has 
 resulted in the "fall" of the outward Jewish 
 Church, has opened the way of salvation to the 
 Gentiles and .lews alike; and this new order of 
 things is now set forth that by it the Jews, each 
 one for himself, may he stirred up to greater zeal 
 to secure the proffered salvation.] We should ob- 
 serve, here, that the fall of the Jews was not in it- 
 self the cause or reason of the calling of the Gen- 
 tiles; for whether the Jews had stood or fallen 
 — whether they had embraced or rejected the Gos- 
 pel — it was the original purpose of Cod to take 
 the Gentiles into the Church ; for this was clearly 
 implied in the covenant made with Abraham : and 
 it was in virtue of that covenant that the Gentiles 
 were now called, and /'"/ because of the unbelief 
 of the Jews. Their fall was not accessary for the 
 salvation of the Gentiles; since the unbelief of the 
 Jews could not produce faith in the Gentiles. The 
 simple state of the case is : the Jews most perversely 
 rejected Jesus Christ and the salvation offered by 
 him; then the apostle- turned to tin Gentiles, and 
 they heard and believed. The ralli nil of the tlin- 
 
 tiles, which existed in the original purpose of God, 
 became the occasion of the more violent unbelief
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 L. D. 53. 
 e, 811. 
 
 provoke them to jealousy. 12 Now if the 
 fall of them be the riches of the world, ami the 
 r diminishing of them the riches of the Gen- 
 tiles; how much more their fulness? 13 For 
 I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as S I am the 
 apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office : 
 14 If by any means I may provoke to emula- 
 tion them which are my flesh, and 'might save 
 some of them. 15 For if the casting away 
 
 rOr, decay, or,loss. x Acts 9. 15: 13.2: 22. 21; chapter 
 
 15. 16: 0;il;itiHns I. 16; 2. 2, 7-9; Ephesiana 3. 8; 1 Timothy 
 2. 7; 2 Timothy 1. 11. 
 
 of the Jews, through which they forfeited all their 
 peculiar privileges, and fell from that state of spe- 
 cial dignity in which they had long been placed as 
 the peculiar people of God. 
 
 12. Now if the fall of them— The English 
 reader may imagine that, because "fall" is used 
 in both these verses, the original word is the same 
 But tlu'tr fall, and the fall of them, is napuTrrofia, 
 the same word which we render offence, (chap, v, 
 15, 17. 18,) and might be rendered lapse. Whereas, 
 that thai should fall, (verse 1 1,) is iva niouocv — that 
 they should perish. ['H>7-//««, relative degradation, 
 ifht) 'pa fia, filling up, restoring to position. Through 
 unbelief the organic Israel incurred degradation 
 from its headship in the kingdom of God, while 
 simultaneously, and by reason of the same events, 
 (that is. the preaching of the Gospel to others than 
 Jews,) the Gentiles were enriched, exalted. But 
 (iod who has not cast off Israel — in the persons of 
 the Jewish people — still calls them to repentance 
 and faith, with assurances of acceptance; in which 
 the Gentile Christians should also rejoice, anticipa- 
 ting still greater spiritual gains from their conver- 
 sion. The nAr/pufia has no reference to a future 
 restoration of a Jewish state or commonwealth.] 
 
 13, 14. These two verses may be read as a pa- 
 renthesis. St. Paul, as the apostle of the Gentiles, 
 wished to show them the high pitch of glory and 
 blessedness to which they had been called, that 
 they might have a due sense of God's mercy in 
 calling them. And he dwells particularly on the 
 greatness of those privileges which the Gentiles 
 had now received, that he might stir up the minds 
 of his countrymen to emulation, and might be the 
 means of saving some of them. [As an organic 
 whole, the Jewish Church had fallen, and was to 
 be taken out of the way, for which, as a Jew, the 
 apostle sincerely mourned; but recognising himself 
 as especially divinely called to be "the apostle to 
 the Gentiles,'' he rejoices with them in view of 
 their exaltation, and at the same time looks wist- 
 fully toward his own kindred, earnestly desiring 
 to be able to save some of them.] Might save 
 some of them — And yet all these were among 
 the reprobate, or rejected; not, however, irrecover- 
 ably shut out from the divine favour ; he hoped that 
 some of them, by his preaching, might be disposed 
 tn receive salvation by Christ Jesus. [As a nation 
 or church — the theocracy — Israel was indeed fallen 
 and rejected ; but in their own proper persons, the 
 Jews were just as salvable as the Gentiles ; and 
 so, moved by his natural affection for his own flesh, 
 the apostle was especially solicitous to save some of 
 thes — -who now must be saved, if at all, only as 
 pardoned sinners — without the deeds of the law.] 
 
 15. But life from the dead — If that which re- 
 sulted in the rejection of the Jews became the 
 occasion of our receiving the Gospel, so far must 
 we feel from exulting over them, that we should 
 
 of them be the reconciling of the world, what 
 shall the receiving of them be, but life from the 
 dead? 16 For if "the firstfruit be holy, the 
 lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so 
 are the branches. IT And if 'some of the 
 branches be broken off, w and thou, being a wild 
 olive tree, wert grafted in 'among them, and 
 with them partakest of the root and fatness 
 of the olive tree; 18 J Boast not against the 
 
 / 1 Cor. 7. 16; 9. 22 : 1 Tim. 4. 10 . J;imes 5. 2(1. u Lev. 23. in ; 
 
 Num. 15. 18,19,20,21. pjer. 11. 16. "'Acts 2.39; Eph. 2. 
 
 12, 13. 3'- Or, for them. // 1 Cor. 10. 12. 
 
 esteem their conversion to God as great and choice 
 a favour as we would the restoration of a most 
 intimate friend to life who had been at the gates 
 of death. [The state of Judaism is, indeed, a con- 
 dition of ruin and death, answering the prophet's 
 vision of the "dry bones," (Ezek. xxxvii, 1 ;) their 
 spiritual resuscitation by their receiving the Gospel 
 will surely be like a resurrection.] 
 
 16. For if the firstfruit be holy — 'H uirapicT}, 
 frstfru.it, the Jews who had received Christ, and 
 were received by him ; to (pvpaya, the lamp, the 
 whole nation. The conversion of the first named 
 is as the firstfruit of the harvest — a pledge of its 
 ingathering — which, indeed, occurred during the 
 apostolic age. If the root be holy, so are the 
 branches — l Ayia, consecrated, sit apart to sacred 
 uses. It must not be forgotten that the first con- 
 verts to Christ were from among the Jems ; 
 these formed the root of the Christian Church : 
 these were holy, uyiai, consecrated to God, and 
 those who among the Gentiles were converted by 
 their means were also uy/oi, consecrated. Perhaps 
 the reference is to the ancestors of the Jewish 
 people, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob ; and, as these 
 were devoted to God and received into his covenant, 
 all their posterity, the branches which proceeded 
 from this root, became entitled to the same privi- 
 leges : and as the root still remains, and the 
 branches also, the descendants from that root still 
 remain: they still have the common title to the 
 blessings of the covenant ; although, because of 
 their obstinate unbelief, these blessings are sus- 
 pended, as they cannot, even on the ground of the 
 old covenant, enjoy them except through faith. 
 
 17. And if some of the branches, etc. — If the 
 present nation of the Jews, because of their unbe- 
 lief, are cut off from the blessings of the Church 
 of God, and the high honour and dignity of being 
 his peculiar people; and thou, being a mild olive 
 — ye Gentiles, having been \\ ithout the knowledge of 
 the true God, and consequently bringing forth no 
 fruits of righteousness, wert grafted in among 
 them — are now inserted in the original stock, having 
 been made partakers of the faith of Abraham, and 
 consequently of his blessings; and enjoy, as the 
 people did who sprang from him, the fatness of the 
 olive tree — the promises made to the patriarchs, 
 and the spiritual privileges of the Jewish Church. 
 
 18. Boast not against the branches — Do not 
 exult over those whose former place you now fill up, 
 according to the election of grace. Ye are not the 
 root, nor do ye bear the rout, but the root Inns you. 
 You have not been the means of conferring any bless- 
 ing on the Jewish people ; but through them, all the 
 blessings and excellences which you enjoy have 
 been communicated to you. [The Church of God 
 dates from Eden; the Abrahamic Church was that 
 
 of the chosen ] pie; and though, "for unbelief," 
 
 some of those whose positions seemed especially to 
 
 71
 
 ROMANS. 
 
 The Jews •Ml be rendu 
 the; abide not in unl - 
 
 branches. Bui if thou boast, thou bearesl uo1 
 root, bul the root thee. I!) Thou will 
 say then, The branches were broken off, thai 
 I mighl begraffed in. 20 Well; because of un- 
 belief they were broken off, and thou standesl 
 by faith. 'Be not highniinded, bul »fear: 
 2] For if God spared not the natural branches, 
 tah heed lesl lie also spare not thee. 22 Be 
 bold therefore the goodness and severity of 
 God : on them which fell, severity; hut to- 
 ward thee, goodness, '•if thou continue in his 
 goodness: otherwise 'thou also shalt be cut 
 
 eChap I'J. 1' ■ 14 ; Isa. 66. 3 ; Phil. 2. 12. — &lCor. 
 15. 2: Ueb. ::. 6, 11. c John 15. •-'. 
 
 off. 2:i Ami they also, a ifthey abide not still 
 in unbelief, shall be grafted in: for God is able 
 to graff thera in again. 21 For if thou wert 
 cut out of the olive tree which is wild by na- 
 ture, and wcrt grafted contrary to nature into 
 a good olive tree; how much more shall these, 
 which be the natural branches, be grafted into 
 their own olive tree? 2»"» For I would not, 
 brethren, that ye should !"• ignoranl of this 
 mystery, lesl ye should he 'wise in your own 
 conceits, thai r &blindness in part is happened 
 to Israel, ''until the fulness of the Gentiles !"• 
 
 d2 Cor. 3. 16.- - i Chap. 12. 16. — /'or, hardntne. : — ? Verse 
 7: 2 Cur. 3. 14. — h Luke 21. 24; Rev. 7. 9. 
 
 .•all thera to !'<• foremost in the newly ordered 
 Church of Chrisl were removed, yel the Christian 
 h was not a new thing in the apostle's (lav ; 
 but in graft into the original tree. The 
 
 "Holy Catholic Church" is as old as the promise 
 of the "Seed of the woman." From Abraham to 
 Chrisl it «as shut up to a single nation; after the 
 coming of the Gospel all men were culled to it — 
 grafte 1 into the original stock.] 
 
 19. Thou wilt say then, etc. — Yon may think 
 that you have reason to exult over them ; bi 
 
 it is a fact that God has Keen displeased with them, 
 and therefore has broken themoff; has cast them 
 out of the Church and taken you into it in their 
 place. 
 
 20. Well; because of unbelief, etc. — True; 
 but then, why? They were broken oil' becausi of 
 their unbelief ; and yon stand by faith : therefore 
 l„- not highndnded. If the blessings were received 
 by faith, and not by works, you have no merit. 
 They once stood by faith ; they gave place to -/,/• 
 belief and fell; you stand now by faith : but it is 
 as possible for you to he unfaithful as it was foi 
 them, and consequently you may fall under the di- 
 vine displeasure as they have done. 
 
 21. For if God spared not the natural 
 branches — If lie, in his infinite justice and holi- 
 ness, could not tolerate the unbelief of the people 
 whom he had -o long loved and miraculously pre- 
 served, take her. I /, st he aho spare not thee. Re- 
 member, therefore, the rock whence you were hewn, 
 and the ho pit whence ye were digged. 
 Depend incessantly on God's free grace — through 
 faith — that ve may abide in his favour. 
 
 22. Behold therefore the goodness — XprjTTo- 
 T7jTa, cence. The exclamation, Be- 
 hn/i/'. of God!, is frequent among the 
 Jewish writer-, when they wish to call the atten- 
 tion of men to particular displays of God's mercy, 
 especially toward those who are singularly un- 
 worthy. And severity of God — 'Aicarouia, s< v< r- 
 i/i/: that partic ilar exercise of God's holiness which 
 leads him to sever from his mystical body whatso- 
 ever would injure, corrupt, or destroy it. [The 
 apostle seems to assume the fearful possibility, that 
 those who have been really grafted into Christ may 
 still so fail to " continue in his goodness " that the} 
 will be themselves cut off'.] 
 
 23. If they abide not still in unbelief — So we 
 find that t on took place in consequence 
 of their wilful obstinacy; and that they may return 
 into the fold, the door of which .-till stands open. 
 For God is able to graff them in again — Fallen 
 and degraded as any may lie, God can, in the course 
 of his providence and mercy, restore him; hut not 
 except he abide not in unbelief. [Rejected °* a 
 
 72 
 
 nation from being the peculiar people of God, the 
 
 ■lews, if llu ii abide not in unbelief a aj be grafted 
 in again, just as the Gentiles are, — and nol other- 
 wise, for "God is no respecter of persons." (Col. 
 iii. 11 ) This says nothing about the restoration of 
 the .lews, as a nation.) 
 
 24. The olive tree, ■which is wild by nature 
 — Kara <pvo~iv naturally wild and barren; [bearing 
 only small and crude fruit.] And wert graffed 
 contrary to nature — Uapa tpiiaiv, contrary to all 
 custom ; for a scion taken from a barren or useless 
 tree is scarcely ever known to be grafted into a 
 good stock; hut here the Gentile*, a fruitless and 
 sinful race, are grafted on the ancient patriarclial 
 stock. Now, if it was possible to effeel such a 
 change in the state and disposition of the Gentiles, 
 who were (aOeoL iv t£> koouu, Ephes ii, L2) without 
 God, atheists, in the world; how much more pos- 
 sible is it, speaking after the maimer of men, to 
 bring about a similar change in the Jews, who 
 acknowledge the one only and true God, and re- 
 ceive the law and the prophets as a revelation 
 from him. This seems to be the drift of the 
 apostle's argument. 
 
 25. I would not . . . that ye should be ig- 
 norant of this mystery — Mystery, /ivarr/piov, 
 signifies any thine; that is hidden or covered, or 
 not fully made manifest. In the New Testament it 
 signifies, generally, any thing or doctrine that has 
 not, in former times, been fully known to men: 
 or, something that has not been heard of, or which 
 is so deep, profound, and difficult of comprehension 
 
 that it cannot he apprehended without special 
 direction and instruction: here it signifies the doc- 
 trine of the futurt rist<>i'<ifi<>n of llu Jews, (their 
 ingathering into the Church of Christ,) not then 
 fully known. In chap, xvi, 25, ii mean- the Christ- 
 ian religion, not known till the advent of Christ. 
 The apo-tle wished the [tomans not to be ignorant 
 of this "mv-terv," namely, that such a thing was 
 intended ; and, in order to give them as much in- 
 struction as possible on this subject, he gives them 
 some characteristic or sign of the times when it 
 was to take place. Lest ye should be wise in 
 your own conceits — It seems from this, and 
 from other expressions in this epistle, that the con- 
 verted Gentiles hail not behaved toward the. lews 
 with that decorum and propriety which the rela- 
 tion they bore to them required. In this chapter 
 the apo-tle strongly guards them against giving 
 way to such a disposition. Blindness in part 
 is happened to Israel — Partial blindness, or, 
 more probably, blindness to a part of them; for 
 they were not all unbelievers : several thousands of 
 them had been converted to the Christian faith; 
 though the body of the nation, and especially its
 
 The jrifta and railing: of God 
 are without repentance. 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 come in. 26 And so all Israel shall be saved : 
 as it is written, 'There shall come out of Sion 
 the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodli- 
 ness from Jacob: 27 k Fur this is my cove- 
 nant unto them, when I shall take away their 
 sins. 28 As concerning the gospel, they are 
 
 jlsa. 59. 20; see Psa. 14. 7. /!-Isa. 27. 9; Jer. 31. 31; Heb. 
 
 8.8; HMD. 
 
 rulers, civil and spiritual, continued opposed to 
 Christ and his doctrine. Until the fulness of 
 the Gentiles be come in — ["A^pt ov, k. t. /L, 
 usque ad, (while the Gentiles shall come in — 
 Calvin,) during the incoming, etc. God, in his 
 gracious providence, made use of the time of the 
 Jews' blind unbelief, and before their complete 
 subversion as a nation, to gather in the believing 
 Gentiles, and so to perpetuate his Church ; and into 
 the Church so reorganized the Jews were to be 
 grafted anew. The w/Jjpuua tuv i0utjv {the fulness 
 of the Gentiles) was accomplished when the Christ- 
 ian Church became fully established on a non- 
 Jewish basis. It is not necessary to look for any 
 later or more striking events as the fulfilment of 
 this assurance, than those of the apostolic ape.] 
 We should not restrict the meaning of these words 
 too much, by imagining that the fulness must nec- 
 essarily mean all the nations of the universe, and 
 all the individuals of those nations : probably, no 
 more than a general spread of Christianity over 
 many nations which are now under the influence 
 of Pagan or Mohammedan superstition may be 
 what is intended. Nor must we suppose that the 
 coming in, here mentioned, necessarily means what 
 most religious persons understand by conversion, a 
 thorough change of the whole heart and the whole 
 life : the acknowledgment of the divine mission of 
 our Lord, and a cordial embracing of the Christian 
 religion, will sufficiently fulfil the apostle's words. 
 If we wait for the conversion of the Jews till such 
 a time as every Gentile and Mohammedan sou! shall 
 be, in this especial sense, converted to God, then — 
 we shall wait for ever. 
 
 26. And so all Israel shall be saved — Shall 
 be brought into the wag of salvation, by acknowl- 
 edging the Messiah; for the word certainly does 
 not mean eternal glory; for no man can conceive 
 that a time will ever come in which every Jew 
 then living shall be taken to the kingdom of glory. 
 The term " saved," as applied to the Israelites in 
 different parts of the Scripture, signifies no more 
 than their being gathered out of the nations of the 
 world, separated to God, and possessed of the high 
 privilege of being his peculiar people. And we 
 know that this is the meaning of the term by find- 
 ing it applied to the body of the Israelites when 
 this alone was the sum of their state. As it is 
 written — The apostle supports what he advances 
 on this head by a quotation from Scripture, which, 
 in the main, is taken from Isa. lix, 20: The Deliv- 
 erer shall come out of Zion. and turn away ungod- 
 liness from Jacob. In what manner Christ is to 
 come out of Zion, and in what way or by what 
 means he is to turn away transgression from Jacob, 
 we cannot tell; and all attempts to conjecture 
 what will be the time, occasion, means, etc., which 
 are all in mystery, would be more than reprehen- 
 sible 
 
 27. For this is my covenant unto them, 
 when I shall take away their sins — The reader, 
 on referring to Isa. lix, 20, 21, will find that the 
 words of the original are here greatly abridged. 
 
 A. M. 40B2. A. D. 58. 
 lear of Rome, 811. 
 
 enemies for your sakes: but as touching the 
 election, they are ' beloved for the fathers' 
 sakes. 29 For the gifts and calling of God 
 are m without repentance. 3© For as ye "in 
 times past have not "believed God, yet have 
 now obtained mercy through their unbelief: 
 
 ZDeut. 7. 8; 9.5; 10. 15. m Num. 23. 19. n Ejih. 2. 2: Col. 
 
 3. 7. o Or, obeyed. 
 
 [Two principal methods of interpreting these words 
 have prevailed in modern times. The early Prot- 
 estants generally rejected the notion of its refer- 
 ence to the "restoration," that is, the Christianiza- 
 tion of the Jews as a nation; but placed them, as 
 individuals, in the same relations to Christ as all 
 other sinners. They accordingly understood the 
 word Israel in this text in a spiritual sense, (Isa. 
 xlv, 17 ; chapter ii, 28, 29 ; ix, 6,) indicating a new 
 Israel, constituted by their personal union with 
 Christ by spiritual regeneration. And this best 
 agrees with the quotation from Isaiah, (chapter xxvi, 
 9,) and its manifest interpretation and application 
 in Hebrews. (Chapter viii, 8 ; x, 16.) The true Israel, 
 all of whom shall be saved, comprises all, and only 
 those, who are saved by grace through faith, 
 whether Jews or Gentiles according to the flesh.] 
 
 28. As concerning the gospel — The unbe- 
 lieving Jews, with regard to the "Gospel" which 
 they have rejected, are at present enemies to God, 
 and aliens from his kingdom under his Son Jesus 
 Christ, on account of that extensive grace which 
 has overturned their peculiarity by admitting the 
 Gentiles into his Church and family : but with re- 
 gard to the original purpose of election, whereby 
 they were chosen and separated from all the peo- 
 ple of the earth to be the peculiar people of God, 
 they [that is, the true Israel, of whom the Hit ml 
 Israel was the prophetic type] are beloved for the 
 fathers' sa/ccs. [Not for the mcri/s of the fathers, 
 but because of the covenant with Abraham, Isaac, 
 and Jacob, so often referred to by trod as the 
 cause of his favourable remembrance of Israel. — 
 A/ford.] 
 
 29. For the gifts and calling of God, etc. — 
 The "gifts" which God has bestowed upon them, 
 and "the calling," the invitation with which he has 
 favoured them, he will never revoke. [These " gifts 
 and calling" pertain to the spiritual seed of Abra- 
 ham. (Joiin viii, 39 ; chapter ii, 28 ; ix, 7.)] In refer- 
 ence to this point there is no change of mind in 
 him. [All that was promised shall be fulfilled for 
 the true Israel of God.] Repentance, when applied 
 to God, signifies simply change if purpose relative 
 to some declarations made subject to certain con- 
 ditions. 
 
 30. For as ye in times past — " As ye," Gen- 
 tiles, " in times past," for many ages. Have not 
 believed — Were in a state of alienation from < rod, 
 yet not so as to be totally and forever excluded. 
 Have now obtained mercy — For ye are now 
 taken into the kingdom of the Messiah. Through 
 their unbelief — By that method which, in destroy- 
 ing the Jewish peculiarity, and fulfilling the Abra- 
 liamic covenant, has occasioned the unbelief and 
 obstinate opposition of the Jews. [The Gentiles 
 enter the kingdom of God by occasion of the un- 
 belief of the Jews, (God having overruled their 
 uTTEidia, non- acceptance if Christ, to the further- 
 ance of the Gospel.) Just as the Gentiles were 
 once unbelieving, so are now the Jews; but, like 
 the Gentilea now, so shall the Jews one day believe. 
 — ThuluckA 
 
 73
 
 A. V. 40*9. A. D. 58. 
 Year of Rome, 811. 
 
 ROMANS. 
 
 31 Even so have these also now Dot ' believed, 
 that through your mercy they also may obtain 
 mercy, 'i'2 For »God hath r concluded them 
 all in unbelief, thai he might have mercy upon 
 all. 33 the depth of the riches both of the 
 wisdom and knowledge of God! 'how un- 
 searchable are his judgments, and 'his ways 
 past finding out! 3 I "For who hath known 
 the mind of tin- Lord '. or % who hath been his 
 
 ,,i> . obi ■!■<!.- -ffChap. 3. 9: Gal. 3. 22. — rt)r, shut them 
 !•■ < 16 6 - (Job 11. 7; Psa. 92. i 
 
 «J.ibl. J -• tea. 40. 13; Jer. 23.18;lCor. 2.10. eJob36 22 
 
 oJob 35. T; -II. 11. 
 
 31. Even so have these also —In like manner 
 the Jew- are, through their infidelity, shut out of 
 the kingdom of God. That through your mercy 
 — [The same mercy through which you are saved. 
 But this exclusion will extend only so far as their 
 unbelief; for when they believe, as do the Gentile 
 converts, they too shall "obtain mercy."] 
 
 32. For God hath concluded them all in 
 unbelief — Zvi>e/cAeto*ev }up 6 0eoc< God hath shut 
 or locked them all up under unbelief, [that is, under 
 con lemnation for unbelief.] Both Jews and Gen- 
 tiles had alike broken God's law — the Jews, the 
 written law; the Gentiles, the law written in their 
 hearts. (See chapter i, L9, 20, and ii, 14, 15.) But 
 God, in his own compassion, moved by no merit in 
 either party, caused a general pardon by the Gos- 
 pel to be proclaimed to all. The Jews (as a people) 
 have refused to receive this pardon on the terms 
 which l rod has proposed it, and therefore continue 
 locked up under unbelief. The Gentiles [in many 
 individual cases] have welcomed the offers of grace, 
 and are delivered out of their prison. But, as the 
 offers of mercy continue to be made to all indis- 
 criminately, whenever any of the Jews shall also 
 lay hold on the hope set before them, and thus be 
 come with the Gentiles one flock under one Shep- 
 herd and Bishop of all their souls, thev too shall 
 be saved. (Gal. iii, 22, 23.) [The" apostle is 
 speaking of the divine arrangement by which the 
 guilt of sin and the mercy of God were to be made 
 manifest. He treats it elsewhere (chapter ix, 18) 
 entirely with reference to the act of God, taking 
 no account, for the time, of human agency: which, 
 however, when treating of us and our responsibili- 
 ties, he brings out into a prominent position. The 
 
 \ who are "concluded in unbelief," are 
 the same all who are the (possible) objects of the 
 divine "mercy," and they signify all men, without 
 limitation. But the ultimate difference between 
 
 who are shut up under disobedience, 
 anl the all men upon whom mercy is shown, is, 
 that by " all " (some) men this im rcy is not accepted, 
 and so [all such] men become self-excluded from the 
 salvation of God. — Alford.] 
 
 33. O the depth of the riches both of the 
 ■wisdom and knowledge of God — ["£2 pudoc, 
 tin depth ; an expression of greal fulness and 
 super abnndanct : itXovrov, of the wealth, koI erncpiac, 
 and of the wisdom, anl yvuaeuc, and of the knowl- 
 edge, (all these nouns governed in the genitive by 
 the precedii Soj-,) (see Revised New Testa- 
 ment, margin.) IIXovtoc is usually understood of 
 the divine ricliesot grace ; rm6ia is the more general 
 wisdom of God ruling every thing in the best way; 
 yvuoLc is the more special knowledge pertaining to 
 the means which God employs, in the work of sal- 
 vation. See Meyer.] [The apostle, overpowered 
 with the view of the divine mercy and wisdom, 
 
 71 
 
 counsellor? tl~> Or "who hath first given to 
 him, and it shall be recompensed unto him 
 again? 36 For *of him, and through him, 
 and to him, are all tilings : J 1 to Mvhoni be 
 glory for ever. Amen. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 *■ BESEECH you therefore, brethren, by 
 the mercies of God, ' thai ye "presenl your 
 
 I 
 
 ffl Or. 8. 6: Col. 1. 10. j/ Gal. 1. 5; 1 Tim. 1. IT: 2 Tim. 
 
 I. is; Heb. 13. 21 : 1 Pet. 5. 11; 2 Pel 25: Rev. 1. 6. 
 
 sGr. him. a 2 Cor. in. 1. 1,1 Pet. 2.5. c 1'sa. 50. 
 
 13, 14 : chap. 6. 13, 16, 19 ; 1 Cor. 6. 13, 20. 
 
 breaks forth into the sublimest apostrophe existing, 
 even in the page of inspiration itself. — AlforcT] 
 [How unsearchable are his judgments — [Td 
 Kpifiara, dispensed inns, cct>>i<>?iij/. (I'sa. xx.xvi, 6; 
 lxxvii, 19.) All we know is only what, to us undis- 
 coverable, he himself, in his unspeakable (.-(impas- 
 sion, has been pleased to disclose from out of his 
 mysterious concealment. And yet how rich is this ! 
 — Thohtck.] 
 
 34. For who hath known the mind of the 
 Lord — His designs and his counsels are like him- 
 self, infinite; and, consequently, inscrutable. We 
 may rest with the conviction that God is as mer- 
 ciful and good in all his ways as he is wise and 
 just. But as we cannot comprehend him, neither 
 can we his operations; it is our place, who are the 
 objects of his infinite meny and kindness, to 
 adore in silence and to obey with alacrity. 
 
 35. Or who hath first given to him — Who 
 can pretend to have any demands upon God? To 
 whom is he indebted? Have either Jews or Gen- 
 tiles ?ir\y right to his blessings? May he not bestow 
 his favours as he pleases, and to whom he pleases '.' 
 I iocs he do any injustice to the Jews in choosing 
 the Gentiles? And was it because he was under 
 obligation to the Gentiles that ho has chosen them 
 in the place of the Jews : 
 
 36. For of him, etc. — This is so far from being 
 the case, for it; avrov, of him, as the original de- 
 signer and author; and cV avrov, by. him, as the 
 prime and efficient cause ; and e'/c avrov, to him, 
 as the ultimate end for the manifestation of his 
 eternal glory and goodness, art all things in univer- 
 sal nature, through the whole compass of timt and 
 eternity. The Emperor Marcus Antoninus {etc 
 iavrov, lib. iv) has a saying very much like this 
 of St. Paul, which possibly he borrowed from this 
 Epistle to the Romans. Speaking of nature, whom 
 he addresses as God, he says, 'S2 tpvaig en rn,v rruvra, 
 iv coi TTuvra. eIc as Truvra; <>. Nature! OP thee 
 are all things; in thee are all things ; to thet are 
 all things. Others of the Gentile philosophers have 
 expressions of the same import. To whom be 
 glory — And let him have the praise of all his 
 works, from the hearts and mouths of all his 
 intelligent creatures. For ever — Throughout all 
 the generations of men. Amen — So be it ! Let 
 this be established for ever ! 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER XII. 
 
 The apostle having finished the doctrinal part 
 of this epistle, now proceeds to the practical. 
 
 1. I beseech you therefore, brethren — 
 ["Therefore," ovv, has reference to whal [accedes, 
 as a general deduction. " 1 beseech,'' KapasaXii, 
 call upon, exhort.] By the mercies of God— 
 Au'i ri.iv oiK-ipftuv tov Qeov. [Olnripuuv, benignities 
 of God, as shown in the foregoing chapters, and
 
 $t*s followers to be transformed 
 the renewing oi' their minds. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 bodies d a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto 
 ( Hid, which is your reasonable service. 2 And 
 e be not conformed to this world: but f be ye 
 transformed by the renewing of your mind, 
 that ye mays prove what is that good, and 
 acceptable, and perfect will of God. 3 For I 
 say, h through the grace given unto me, to 
 
 <1 Heb. 10. 20. el Pet. 1. 14: 1 John 2. 15. /Eph. 1. 18! 
 
 4. 23; Col. 1. 21, 22: 3. 10. a Eph. 5. in, 17; 1 Thess. 4. .:. 
 
 h Ch. 1. 5: 15. 15; 1 Cor. 3. 10; 15. 10; Gal. 2. 9; Eph. 3. 2, 7, 8. 
 
 especially in the close.] That ye present your 
 bodies — A metaphor taken from bringing sacrifices 
 to the altar of God. They are exhorted to give 
 themselves up in the spirit of sacrifice; to be as 
 wholly the Lord's property as the whole burnt- 
 offering was, no part being devoted to any other 
 use. [Tu auyara, your bodies. Most commenta- 
 tors say, merely for vuu<; avrovc, yourselves, to suit 
 the metaphor of a sacrifice, which consisted of a 
 body ; Tholuck and others say, " because the body 
 is the organ of practical activity, to be dedicated to 
 God; Olshausen and De Wette, as an indication that 
 the sanctification of the Christian life is to extend 
 to that part of man's nature which is most com- 
 pletely under the bondage of sin. — Alford.] A liv- 
 ing sacrifice — In opposition to those dead sacri- 
 fices which they were in the habit of offering while in 
 their Jewish state. [Their living and active powers 
 were to be continually offered and devoted to God 
 (in active service.) — Stuart.] Holy — Without spot 
 or blemish; referring still to the sacrifice required 
 by the law. Acceptable unto God — EvupeoTov. 
 The sacrifice being perfect in its kind, and the in- 
 tention of the offerer being such that both can be 
 acceptable and well pleasing to God, who searches 
 the heart. All these phrases are sacrificial, and 
 show that there must be a complete surrender of 
 the person — the body, the whole man, mind and 
 flesh, to be given to God ; and that he is to consider 
 himself no more his own, but the entire property 
 of his Maker. [Our offerings are acceptable only 
 when they are made in faith, looking to the one 
 great offering of Christ.] Your reasonable ser- 
 vice — Nothing can be more consistent with reason 
 than that the work of God should glorify its Author. 
 We are not our own, we are the property of the 
 Lord, by the right of creation and redemption ; and 
 it would be as unreasonable as it would be wicked 
 not to live to his glory, in strict obedience to his 
 will. The Christian service of worship is AoycKr], 
 rational, because performed according to the true 
 intent and meaning of the law ; the heart and soul 
 being engaged in the service. He alone lives the 
 life of a fool and a madman who lives the life of a 
 sinner against God ; for, in sinning against his 
 Maker he wrongs his own soul, loves death, and re- 
 wards evil unto himself. 
 
 2. And be not conformed to this world — By 
 "this world," aluvt rovru), may be understood that 
 present state of things, the customs and fashions of 
 the people who then lived, the Gentiles particularly, 
 who had neither the power nor the form of godli- 
 ness. The world that now is — this "present state 
 of things," is as much opposed to the spirit of gen- 
 uine Christianity as the world then was. Pride, 
 luxury, vanity, extravagance in dress, and riotous 
 living, prevail now, as they did then, and are un- 
 worthy of a Christian's pursuit because they are in- 
 jurious to his soul, and hateful in the sight of God. 
 Be ye transformed — MsrauopipovcOe, be ye meta- 
 morohosed, transfigured, appear as new persons and 
 
 every man that is among you, 'not to think of 
 himself 'more highly than he ought to think; 
 but to think k soberly, according as God hath 
 dealt 'to every man the measure of faith. 
 4 For m as we have many members in one 
 body, and all members have not the same of- 
 fice : 5 So" we, being many, are one body in 
 
 iPi-ov. 25. 27: Eccles. 7. 16; chap. 11. 20. kGr. to ,<.,,hri- 
 
 ety. / 1 Cor. 12. 7, 11 : Eph. 1. 7. m 1 Cor. 12. 12 ; Eph. 4. lti. 
 
 ttl Cor. 10. 17 ; 12. 20, 27 ; Eph. 1. 23 ; 4. 25. 
 
 with new habits ; as God lias given you a new form 
 of worship, so that ye serve in the newness of the 
 spirit, and not in the oklness of the letter. The 
 word implies a radical, thorough, and universal 
 change, both outward and inward. By the re- 
 newing of your mind — Noor, disposition. (Col. 
 ii, 18.) Let the inward change produce the out- 
 ward. Where the spirit — the temper and disposi- 
 tion of the mind, (Eph. iv, 23,) — are not renewed, 
 an outward change is of but little worth, and but of 
 short standing. That ye may prove — Etc to 
 doKiud&iv, in order to demonstrate, that ye may have 
 practical proof and experimental knowledge of the 
 will of God— of his purpose and determination, 
 which is good in itself ; infinitely so. Acceptable, 
 evupeoTov, well pleasing to and well received by 
 every mind that is renewed and transformed, and 
 perfect, ti?.eiov, finished and complete ; when the 
 mind is renewed, and the whole life changed, then 
 the will of God is perfectly fulfilled ; for this is its 
 grand design in reference to every human being. 
 
 3. Through the grace given unto me — His 
 apostolical office, by which he had the authority not 
 only to preach the Gospel, but also to rule the Church 
 of Christ. (Eph. iii, 8.) To every man, etc. — 
 [n<wrt to) ijvtl ei> vylv, a strong bringing out of the 
 individual application of the precept. — Alford.] 
 Not to think . . . more highly — M?/ virtpOpovdv, 
 not to think proudly; to arrogate nothing to himself 
 on account of any grace he had received, or of any 
 office committed to him. But to think soberly 
 — 'AA/.a Qpovtiiv «c to ow<ppovelv. The reader will 
 perceive here a sort of play upon words : opovelv, 
 [yTTtptypovtiv, and outypoveiv, which can scarcely be 
 reproduced in a translation. Literally the text reads, 
 " not to be high-minded, above that which he ought 
 to be minded, but to be so minded as to be sober- 
 minded," to think discreetly, modestly, humbly.] 
 Measure of faith — Merpov TrioTecjc. Uiaric, faith, 
 is evidently here used for the Christian religion ; 
 and the " measure," the degree of knowledge and 
 experience which each had received in it, and the 
 power this gave him of being useful in the Church 
 of God. (See verse 6.) 
 
 4. For as we have many members — As the 
 human body consists of many parts, each having 
 its respective office, and all contributing to the per- 
 fection and support of the whole ; each being indis- 
 pensably necessary in the place which it occupies, 
 and each equally useful, though performing a differ- 
 ent function. 
 
 5. So we, being many — We who are members 
 of the Church of Christ, which is contemplated as a 
 body of which he is the head, have various offices 
 assigned to us, according to the measure of grace, 
 faith, and religious knowledge which we possess; 
 and although each has a different office, and quali- 
 fications suitable to that <4\u->\ yet all belong to the 
 same body ; and each has need of the help of each 
 other; therefore, let there be neither pride on the 
 one hand, nor envy on the other. 
 
 75
 
 A. M. 4MW. A. r>. '■". 
 
 ROMANS. 
 
 >n< nf In i li'Tclily ■liitirn 
 ind privileges. 
 
 Christ, and every one members one of another. 
 H 'Having thru gifts differing p according to 
 the grace thai is given to us. whether") prophecy, 
 let us prophesy according to ihe proportion of 
 faith; 7 Or ministry, let us wait on our min- 
 istering; or 'he that teacheth, on teaching; 
 * ' >r • he that cxhurteth, on exhortation: 'he 
 
 >r 12. »: i Pet. 4. 10, 11. - ;< Vers.' 3.— q Acta 11. 27 : 
 
 1 Cor 12. 10.2*: 13. 1- it. 1,6.29,31. — r lets 13. l i Gal. 6. 8 : 
 
 ■ il-.l Tim. 5. 17. 8 Vets 15.32: l I or. 14. 3. Mlatt- 
 
 6.1,2,3. — u Or, imparteth. -v Or, liberally ; 2 Cor. 8. 2. 
 
 fi. Having then gifts differing, etc. — [Xapia- 
 fiara dtuQopa, various spiritual beatowmentsA As 
 the goodn — of God, with this view of our minimi 
 subserviency and usefulness, has endowed us with 
 different gifts and qualifications, let each apply 
 himself t<> the diligent improvement of his partic- 
 ular office and talent, and 1 lestly keep within the 
 
 bounds of it, not exalting himself or despising 
 others. Whether prophecy — "Prophecy," in the 
 New Testament, often means the gift of exhorting, 
 j,,-. aching, or of expounding the Scripturi s. ( 1 ( 'or. 
 xi, 4, 5; xiv, :•!.) This was the proper office of 
 a preacher ; and it is to the exercise of this office 
 that the apostle refers in the whole of the chapter 
 to which the above references are made. (See also 
 Luke i, 76; vii, 28; Acts xv, 32; 1 Cor. xiv, 29.) 
 Let every man who has the gift of preaching and 
 interpreting the Scriptures do it agreeably to the 
 grace and light lie has received from God, and in no 
 case arrogate to himself knowledge which he has 
 not received ; let him not esteem himself more 
 highly on account of this gift, or affect to he wise 
 above what is written, or indulge himself in fanci- 
 ful interpretations of the word of God. [The con- 
 text shows that "the measure of faith," itself the 
 gift of God, is the receptive faculty for allspiritual 
 gifts, which are therefore not to be boasted of nor 
 pushed beyond their provinces, but humbly exer- 
 cised within their own limits. — Alford.] Gifts are 
 various ; grace is one. Tiie term " prophecy " seems 
 lure to mean the ordinary gift of expounding Script- 
 ure. Let us prophesy according to the analogy 
 of faith — According to the general tenor of Script- 
 ure: according to that grand scheme of doctrine 
 which is delivered therein, touching original sin, 
 justification by faith, and present inward salvation. 
 There is a wonderful analogy between all these ; 
 and a (dose and intimate connexion between the 
 chief heads of that faith which was once delivered 
 to the saints. Every article, therefore, concerning 
 which there is any question, should be determined 
 by this rule; every doubtful Scripture interpreted 
 according to tin- grand truths which run through the 
 whole. — Wesley.] The uva?,oyiav ryr -iarecjc, which 
 we here translate "the proportion of faith," and 
 which some render the analogy of faith, has been un- 
 derstood, in scriptural matters, to mean the general 
 and consistent plan <•/• scheme "/' doctrines delivered 
 ii, //,. Scriptures; where everything bears its due 
 relation and proportion to another. Thus the death 
 of Chrisl is commensurate in its merits to the evils 
 produced by the fall of Adam. The doctrine of 
 justification by faith bears the strictest analogy or 
 proportion to the grace of Christ and the helpless, 
 guilty, condemned state of man. 
 
 7. Or ministry — AiaKovia, [any subordinate 
 ministration in tin Church. In Acts vi, 1-4, the 
 word is applied both to the lower ministration, 
 that of alms ami food, and to the higher, the 
 ministry of the woid, which belonged to the apos- 
 76 
 
 that "giveth, let him do it 'with simplicity; 
 " he that niietli. with diligence ; lie that show- 
 eth mercy, "with cheerfulness. > Lit love 
 Ik- without dissimulation. *Ahhorthat which 
 is evil; cleave to that which is good. IO l Be 
 kindly affectioned one to another^with broth- 
 erly love; 'in honour preferring one another; 
 
 a Acts 20. 28; I T m. .".. 17;Hel>. 1 1. 7 - J I : 1 Pet. 5. 2. rrSCor. 
 
 0.7. — pi Tim. 1.5: 1 Pet. 1. S3.- ePsa.34.14; 6 l:»7.10i 
 Amoso. 15. n llt-u. i.: UlPetl. 22:2 17; 3. 8: 2 Pet. 1. 7. 
 6 Or, in the lovi oftlu brethn n.— <■ Phil. 2. 3; 1 Pet. 5. 5. 
 
 ties. But here it seems to be Used ill a lnoie 
 
 restricted sense, from its position as distinct from 
 others— prophecy, etc. — Alford.] Or he that 
 teacheth — The teacher, AifiuoKator, was a person 
 whose office it was to instruct others, whether by 
 catechising, or simply explaining the grand truths 
 of Christianity. [Such there certainly were in the 
 early Church.] 
 
 8. Or he that exhorteth — 'O TrapaKa/Civ, the 
 person who admonished and reprehended the unruly 
 or disorderly; and who supported the weak and 
 comforted the penitents, and those who were under 
 heaviness through manifold temptations. [This 
 word would seem to indicate an exhorter, that i-, 
 one who urged to practical duties, who dwelt upon 
 the threatenings and promises of the Gospel. — 
 Stuart.] He that giveth — 'O //era^oo* c, a dis- 
 tributer, he who distributeth the alms of the 
 Church. With simplicity — Being influenced by 
 no partiality, but dividing to each according to 
 the necessity of his case. He that ruleth — 'O 
 it polar u/j' roc, he that presides. Over what? [Meyer 
 understands it, of "patronage of strangers," and 
 with this view Stuart substantial^ agrees. Wesley 
 says, "He that hath care of a flock," and Tholuck, 
 "the person elected to oversee any affair what- 
 soever," with which Alford agrees in spirit, when 
 he says, Giving trpoiaruuevof the ordinary mean- 
 ing, these words fit admirably: implying that he 
 who is by God set over others, be they members of 
 the Church or of his own household, must not 
 allow himself to forget his responsibility, and take 
 his duty indolently and easily, but must mle, 
 oirovdaiuc, diligeutly?[ He that showeth mercy 
 — Let the person who is called to perform any act 
 of compassion or "mercy" to the wretched do it, 
 urn grudgingly nor of necessity, but from a spirit 
 of pure benevolence and sympathy. [Probablynot 
 any officer of tin Church is here (specially) in- 
 tended, but every private Christian who exercises 
 (or should exercise) compassion. (2 Cor. ii. 9.)] 
 
 9. Let love be without dissimulation — 
 'II a}a-j] uvvTTOKpiTuc, have no hypocritical love. 
 [The mutual affection of Christians for each other 
 ought not to consist merely in outward sen, blame, 
 but to emanate from the heart. (2 Cor. \i. 6; 
 1 Pet. i, 22.)— Tholuch.] Abhor that which is 
 evil — ■' A.-ooTvyovvT£c ^b ttovnpov, hate sin as you 
 would hate that hell to which it leads. Zrvyia 
 signifies to hate or detest with horror ; the pre] "-i- 
 tion itiro greatly strengthens the meaning. [This 
 mi-, general exhortation is probably an explanation 
 of uwTTCKpiTnc, ii n Ii 11/ h >c ri i 'ind ; our love should 
 arise from a general cleaving to that which is 
 good and aversion from evil ; not from any by- 
 ends.— Alford.] 
 
 10. Be kindly affectioned one to another 
 with brotherly love — The word QiXat ,-i >. Ua sig- 
 nifies that affectionate regard which every Christian 
 should feel for another, as being members of the
 
 Diligence, hospitality, forbear; 
 l»:iihy, and humility enjoi 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 A. V. 40G2. A. P. SS. 
 
 11 Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; 
 serving the Lord; 12 d Rejoicing in hope; 
 e patient in tribulation; Continuing instant in 
 prayer; 13 * Distributing to the necessity of 
 saints; h given to hospitality. 1-3 'Bless them 
 which persecute you : bless, and curse not. 
 
 d Luke 10. 20; chap. 5.3; 15.13; Phil. 3.1; 4.4: l Thess. 
 
 6. 16; Heb.3. 6; 1 Pet. 4. 13. eUike 21. 19; 1 Tim. 8. n ; 
 
 Heb. 1". 36; 12. 1 : James 1. 4:5. 7; 1 Pel. 2. 19. 20. /Luke 
 
 18.1: Acts -J. 4-2; 12.5; Eph. 6. 1"; Col. 4.1': 1 Thess. 5. 17. 
 
 0!l Cor. 16.1; 2Cor.9.1,12; Heb. 6.10; 13.16; 1 John 3. 17. 
 h 1 Tim. .3. 2; Titus 1. 8: Heb. 13. 2: 1 Pet. 4. 4. 
 
 same mystical body: hence it is emphatically termed 
 the love of the brethren. <i>iXoaropyo^, which we 
 translate "kindly affections J,'' signifies that tender 
 and indescribable affection which a mother bears to 
 her chili/, and which almost all creatures manifest 
 toward their voting. Feel the tendered affection 
 toward each other, and delight to feel it. " Love a 
 brother Christian with the affection of a natural 
 brother." In honour preferring one another — 
 Consider all your brethren as more worthy than your- 
 self ; and let neither grief nor envy affect your mind 
 at seeing another honoured and yourself neglected. 
 This is a hard lesson, and very few persons learn 
 it thoroughly. [In respect to honour, antici lating 
 each other, that is, so far from being averse to pay 
 that respect which is due to others, each should 
 strive to excel the other in the performance of 
 this duty. Christianity is so far from banishing 
 all civility and good manners from society, that it 
 enjoins the greatest attention to this subject. — 
 Stuart.] [It is the genuine article, of which the 
 world's etiquette is the counterfeit — and often a 
 very bad one.] 
 
 11. Not slothful in business — [Not slothful as 
 to zeal, Gnovfiy • fervent in the spirit, ru nvevuaTi 
 Qovrec; serving the Lord, ru nvplui fiou?.n')0^rec, 
 rendering service to the Lord The present subject 
 is the character of our zeal for God. In it we are 
 to be, " not slothful," but fervent in spirit, (either 
 our own spirit, or, more probably, in the Holy 
 Cfhost,) and that as servants of God. (Col. iii, 22.) 
 —Alford.] 
 
 12. Rejoicing in hope — [In (or on account of) 
 hope, rejoicing ; in (or in spite of) tribulation, 
 6?uipet ; standing firm inprayer, KpoaKapTepovvTeg, 
 steadfastly persevering.] [The way to maintain a 
 jot/fid hope, and to be patient under afflictions, is 
 to cherish the spirit of prayer and to live near to 
 God. — Stuart.'] 
 
 13. Distributing to the necessity of saints — 
 Relieve your poor brethren according to the power 
 which (iod has given you. Do good unto all men, 
 but especially to them which are of the household 
 of faith. Given to hospitality — Tr,v inlo^eviav 
 dicjKovrec, pursuing hospitality, or the duty of en- 
 teriaining strangers. A very necessary virtue in 
 ancient times, when houses of public accommoda- 
 tion were exceedingly scarce. This exhortation 
 might have for its object the apostles, who were all 
 itinerants ; and in many cases the Christians, fly- 
 ing before the face of persecution. This virtue is 
 highly becoming in all Christians, and especially in 
 all Christian ministers, who have the means of re- 
 lieving a brother in distress, or of succouring the 
 poor wherever they may find them. But providing 
 for strangers in distress is the proper meaning of 
 the term ; and to be forviard to do this is the spirit 
 of the duty. 
 
 If. Bless them which persecute you — 
 Ev/.oyeire, give good words, or pray for them 
 
 15 k Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and 
 weep with them that weep. 16 ' Be of the 
 same mind one toward another. '"Mind not 
 high things, but "condescend to men of low 
 estate. °l>e not wise in your own conceits. 
 17 p Recompense to no man evil for evil. 
 
 / Matt. 5. 44; Luke 6. 28: 23. 34; Acts 7. 60; 1 Cor. 4. 12: 1 Pet. 
 
 2. 23; 3. 9. k\ Cor. 12. 26. 1 Chap. 15. 5: 1 Cor. 1. in ; 
 
 Phil. 2. 2: 3. 16; 1 Pet ■', 8. m Psa. 131. 1. 2: Jer. 45. 5. 
 
 n Or, be contented withmeav thing*. oProv.3. 7: 56. 12; 
 
 Isa. 5. 21 ; chap. 11. 25. p 1'rov. 20. 22; Matt,. 5. o!f; 1 Thess. 
 
 5. 15; I Pet. 3. 9. 
 
 that give you bad words, Karapdade, who make dire 
 imprecations against you. "Bless them," pray for 
 them, and on no account curse them, whatever the 
 provocation may be. Have the loving, forgiving 
 mind that was in your Lord. (See the Sermon on 
 the Mount.) 
 
 15. Rejoice with them that do rejoice, 
 etc. — [Laugh with the laughing, and sorrow with 
 the sorroirin;/.] Take a lively interest in the pros- 
 perity of others, and let your heart feel for the dis- 
 tressed ; enter into their sorrows, and bear a part 
 of their burdens. 
 
 16. Be of the same mind — Live in a state 
 of continual harmony and concord, and pray tor 
 the same good for all which you desire for 
 yourselves. Mind not high things — Be not 
 ambitious; affect nothing above your station ; do 
 not court the rich nor the powerful ; do not pass by 
 the poor man to pay your court to the great man ; 
 do not affect titles or worldly distinctions ; much 
 less sacrifice your conscience for them. But con- 
 descend to men of low estate — Be a companion 
 of the humble, and pass through life with as little 
 noise and show as possible. Let the poor, godly 
 man be your chief companion; and learn from his 
 humility and piety to be humble and godly. The 
 term avvanayofievoi, which we translate "conde- 
 scend," signifies to be led, carried away (to prison) 
 with another ; and points out the state in which 
 the primitive Christians were despised and rejected 
 of men, and often led forth to prison and death. 
 False or man-pleasing professors would endeavour 
 to escape all this disgrace and danger by getting 
 into the favour of the great, the worldly, and the 
 irreligious. There have not been wanting, in all 
 ages of the Church, persons who, losing the savour 
 of divine things from their own souls by drinking 
 into a worldly spirit, have endeavoured to shun the 
 reproach of the cross by renouncing the company 
 of the godly, speaking evil of the way of life, and 
 perhaps sitting down in the seat of the scorner 
 with apostates like themselves. [To lie drawn into 
 the host of those who occupy an inferior station 
 and desire nothing else, and as their equals dis- 
 appearing among them, to move with them along 
 the way in which they go. — Hofmann, quoted by 
 Meyer.'] Be not wise in your own conceits — 
 Be not self-conceited. [One must not fall into that 
 conceited selfsvfficn ney of moral p< rception, where- 
 by brotherly respect, for the perception of others 
 would be excluded. — Meyer.] 
 
 17. Recompense, etc. — [Never give back bad 
 for bad. (nothing answering to the word " to 
 man" is found in the original.) The injunction is 
 taken from our Lord's words in Matt, v, 2'.'.] 
 Provide things honest— [ 'lake care for things 
 becoming bef on all men.] [He studiously attentive 
 to those duties which are commended by all (right- 
 minded person-;,) and which all, therefore, admit to 
 be of the highest obligation. — Stuart.] 
 
 n
 
 ROMANS. 
 
 i Provide things honest in the sight of all men. 
 18 If it be possible, as much aslieth in you, r live 
 peaceably with all men. 19 Dearly beloved, 
 •avenge not yourselves, but rather give place 
 unto wrath: for it is written, 'Vengeance is 
 
 q Chap. 14. 10; 2 Cor. 8. 21. r Mark 9. 50; chap. 14. 19; 
 
 II ■ l.. 1-'. 14. 
 
 18. If it be possible — To live in a state of 
 peace with one's associates is very often difficult. 
 But the man who loves God must labour after this, 
 for it is most desirable, even for his own sake. 
 [Ei dvvarov, not, if you ■■nit; but, if it is possible, if 
 others will allow if. And this is further defined by 
 to tf ifiibv : all sour part is to be peace ; whether 
 you actually live peaceably or not will then depend 
 on how others behave toward you. — At for J.] 
 
 19. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves 
 — Never take the execution of the law into your 
 own hands; rather suffer injuries. The Son of 
 man is come, not to destroy men's lives, but to 
 save : be of the same spirit. When lie was reviled, 
 he reviled not again. It is the part of a noble mind 
 to bear up under unmerited disgrace; little mind- 
 are litigious and quarrelsome. [Delay the execu- 
 tion of that to which your indignation would prompt, 
 or defer the execution of your anger. . . . Retribu- 
 tion belongs rather to God than to you. — Stuart.] 
 Give place unto wrath — Mrs tottov t[/ bpyy. 
 This is well expressed by the author of the book 
 of Ecclesiasticus, (chapter xix, 17:) "Admonish 
 thy neighbour before thou threaten him, and, not 
 being angry, givt plact to the law of tin Most High.'''' 
 Vengeance is mine — [' EkSIkijoic, vengeance, the 
 maintenance of right, the vindication of justice.] 
 Leave the matter to the judgment of God ; it is his 
 law that in this case is broken; and to him the in- 
 fliction of deserved punishment belongs. Some 
 think it means, "Yield a little to a man when in a 
 violent passion, for the sake of peace, until he grow 
 cooler." I will repay — In my own time and in 
 my own way. But he gives the sinner space to re- 
 pent, and this longsuffering leads to salvation. 
 
 20. If thine enemy hunger, feed him — Do not 
 withhold from any man the offices of mercy and 
 kindness ; you have been God's enemy, and yet God 
 fed, clothed, and preserved you alive: do to your 
 enemy as God has done to you. If your enemy be 
 hungry, feed him; if he be thirsty, give him drink ; 
 
 God dealt with you. And lias not a sense of 
 his goodness and longsuffering low aid you been a 
 means of melting down your heart into penitential 
 compunction, gratitude, and love toward him ? How 
 know you that a similar conduct toward your enemy 
 may not have the same gracious influence on him 
 toward you'.' Your kindness may be the means of 
 ting in him a bettei mind ; and, from being your 
 fell enemy, he may become your real friend. The 
 whole is a quotation from Prov. xxv, 21, 22, in the 
 precise words of the Septuagint ; tin- latter clause 
 of this verse, thou shalt heap coals of fire on 
 his head, is a metaphor taken from smelting met- 
 als. [No doubtgiving of pain is meant to he desig- 
 nated by this expression. But it is the pain of 
 shame and contrition for misconduct, or (perhaps) 
 that of punishment, more probablythe former here. 
 (See verse 21.) It is a noble sentiment when thus 
 understood, "Take not says the apostle. 
 
 " Overcome your adversary with kindness and be- 
 neficence; these will bring him to shame and sorrow 
 for his misconduct." — Stuart.] 
 
 mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. 20 "There- 
 fore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he 
 thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou 
 shalt heap coals of fire on his head. 21 lie not 
 
 overcome of evil, but overcome evil witli good. 
 
 s Lev. 19 18; Prov. 24. 29; verse 17. 1 T)eut. 32. 35: Heb. 
 
 10. 30. — u Exod. 23. 4, :>: Prov. 25. 21,22; Matt. 5. M. 
 
 21. Be not overcome of evil — Do not, by 
 giving place to evil, become precisely the same 
 character which thou eondemnest in another. 
 Overcome evil with good — However frequently 
 he may grieve and injure thee, always repay him 
 with kindness ; thy good will, in the end, may over- 
 come his evil. Thomas Aquinas has properly said : 
 " He is overcome of evil who sins against another 
 because he sins against him." A moral enemy is 
 more easily overcome by kindness than by hostility. 
 Against the latter he arms himself; and all the 
 evil passions of his heart concentrate themselves 
 in opposition to him who is striving to retaliate, 
 by violence, the injurious acts which he has re- 
 ceived from him. But where the injured man is 
 labouring to do him good for his evil — to repay his 
 curses with blessings and prayers, his evil passions 
 have no longer any motive, any incentive ; his mind 
 relaxes ; the turbulence of his passions is calmed ; 
 reason and conscience are permitted to speak ; anil 
 so he is disarmed and overcome. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 To see with what propriety the apostle introduces 
 the important subjects which he handles in this 
 chapter, it is necessary to make a few remarks on 
 the circumstances in which the Church of (bid then 
 was. It is generally allowed that this epistle was 
 written about the year of our Lord 58, four or five 
 years after the edict of the Emperor Claudia- by 
 which all Jews were banished from Rome. And 
 as in those early times the Christians were gen- 
 erally confounded with the Jews, it is likely that 
 they were included in this decree. 
 
 For what reason this edict was issued does not 
 satisfactorily appear. Suetonius tells us that it 
 was because the Jews were making continual dis- 
 turbances under their leader Chrestus. (See the 
 note on Acts xviii, 2.) That the Jews were in gen- 
 eral an uneasy and seditious people is clear enough 
 from every part of their own history. They had 
 the most rooted aversion to the heathen govern- 
 ment ; and it was a maxim with them that the 
 world was given to tin Israelites; that they should 
 have supreme rule everywhere, and that the Gen- 
 tiles should lie their vassals. With such political 
 notions, grounded on their native restlessness, it is 
 no wonder if in several instances they gave cause 
 of suspicion to the Roman government, which would 
 be glad of an opportunity to expel from the city 
 persons who might be considered dangerous to its 
 peace and security; nor is it unreasonable, on this 
 account, to suppose that the Christians, under a no- 
 tion of being the peculiar people of 'hid, and the 
 subjects of his kingdom alone, might be in danger 
 of being affected with those unruly and rebellious 
 sentiments: therefore the apostle shows them that 
 they were, notwithstanding their honours ami 
 privileges as Christians, bound by the strongest 
 obligations of conscience to be subject to the civil 
 government. <>ne cannot but observe the admira- 
 ble skill and dexterity with which the apostle has 
 handled the subject. His views in writing were
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 LET every soul a be subject unto the higher 
 powers. For b there is no power hut of 
 God: the powers that be are c ordained of 
 God. 3 Whosoever therefore resisteth d the 
 power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and 
 they that resist shall receive to themselves 
 
 « Titus 3. 1 ; 1 Pet. 2. 13. h Prov. 8. 15, 16; Dan. 2. 21 ; 4. 32; 
 
 John 111. 11. 
 
 always comprehensive on every point; and he 
 takes into his thoughts and instructions all parties 
 that might probably reap any benefit by them. As 
 Christianity was then growing, and the powers of 
 the world began to take notice of it, it was to be 
 desired that all should see that it was no favourer 
 of sedition. At the same time the apostle, with a 
 masterly hand, delineates and strongly inculcates 
 the magistrate's duty ; for while he is pleading his 
 cause with the subject, and establishing his duty 
 on the most sure and solid ground, he dexterously 
 sides with the magistrate, and vindicates his power 
 against any subject who might have imbibed se- 
 ditious principles, or might be inclined to give the 
 government any disturbance. And under this ad- 
 vantage he also reads the magistrate a fine and 
 close lecture upon the nature and ends of civil 
 government. The attentive reader will be pleased 
 to see with what dexterity, truth, and gravity the 
 apostle, in a small compass, affirms and explains 
 the foundation, nature, ends, and just limits of the 
 magistrate's authority, while he is pleading his 
 cause, ami teaching the subject the duty and obe- 
 dience he owes to the civil government. [The 
 duties of the citizen, as a private person and sub- 
 ject to government, are here considered. Neither 
 those devolving upon him as a governing factor in 
 the commonwealth, nor as a civil magistrate, are 
 brought into notice; nor yet is the question of the 
 right or wrong of revolutions at all considered.] 
 [We may observe that the apostle here pays no re- 
 gard to the question of the duty of Christians in 
 revolutionary movements. His precepts regard an 
 established power, be it what it may. It, in all 
 matters lawful, we "re bound to obey. But even 
 the parental power does not extend to things un- 
 lawful. If the civil power commands us to violate 
 the law of God, we must obey God before man. If 
 it command us to disobey the common laws of 
 humanity, or the sacred institutions of the country, 
 (or the natural rights of individuals,) then our obe- 
 dience is due to the higher and more general law, 
 rather than to the lower and particular. — Alford.~\ 
 
 1. Let every soul be subject unto the higher 
 powers — We must consider the apostle as speak- 
 ing, not from his own private judgment, or teach- 
 ing a doctrine of present expediency, but declaring 
 the mind of God on a subject of the utmost im- 
 portance to the peace of the world; a doctrine 
 which does not exclusively belong to any class of 
 people, order of the community, or official situations, 
 but to every soul. Let every man be obedient 
 to the civil government under which the providence 
 of God has cast his lot. For there is no power 
 but of God — As God is the origin of power, ami 
 the supreme Governor of the universe, he delegates 
 authority to whomsoever lie will ; and though in 
 many cases the governor himself may not be of 
 God, yet civil government is of him: for without 
 this there could be no society and no security 
 for life or property. In ancient times God, in an 
 
 damnation. 3 For rulers are not a terror to 
 good works, hut to the evil. Wilt thou then 
 not he afraid of the power? c do that which is 
 good, and thou shalt have praise of the same : 
 4 For he is the minister of God to thee for 
 good. But if thou do that which is evil, he 
 afraid ; for he beareth not the sword in vain : 
 
 c Or, ordered. d Titus 3. 1. e 1 Peter 2. 14 j 3. 13. 
 
 especial manner, on many occasions, appointed the 
 individual who was to govern, and he accordingly 
 governed by a divine right, as in the case of Mbses, 
 Joshua, the Hebrew judges, and several of the 
 Israelitish kings. In after times, and to the present 
 day, he does that by a general superintending 
 providence which he did before by especial desig- 
 nation. And as civil government is of God, who is 
 the fountain of law, order, and regularity, the civil 
 governor, who administers the laws of a state, is as 
 such the minister of God. 
 
 2. Whosoever . . . resisteth the power — O 
 uvTiTaaa6fj.evoc, he who sets himself in order against 
 this order of God ; ry tov Qeov Siarayy, and they 
 that resist, ul uitieaTWKOTEC, they who obstinately, 
 and for no right reason, oppose the ruler, and 
 strive to unsettle the constitution, and to bring 
 about illegal changes, shall receive to themselves 
 damnation — Kpi/ja, condemnation; shall be con- 
 demned both by the spirit and letter of the Gos- 
 pel. [The meaning is, that those who are seditious, 
 that is, make resistance against the civil govern- 
 ment, will be brought to punishment, and that 
 deservedly. — Stuart.] 
 
 3. For rulers are not a terror to good 
 works— Here the apostle shows the civil magis- 
 trate what he should be : he is clothed with great 
 power, but that power is intrusted to him, not for 
 the terror and oppression of the upright man, but 
 to overawe and punish the wicked. It is, in a 
 word, for the benefit of the community, and not. 
 for the aggrandizement of himself, that God has 
 intrusted the supreme civil power to any man. If 
 he should use tins to wrong, rob, spoil, oppress, and 
 persecute his subjects, he is not only a bad man, 
 but also a bad prince. He infringes on the essen- 
 tial principles of law and equity. Should he per- 
 secute his obedient, loyal subjects on any religious 
 account, this is contrary to all law and right ; and 
 his doing so renders him unworthy of their confi- 
 dence, and they must consider him, not as a bless- 
 ing, but a plague. Yet even in this case, though 
 it would be a breach of the very spirit of govern- 
 ment, the truly pious will feel that it is an aw- 
 ful thing to rebel, and only extreme conditions 
 can justify rebellion against the constituted au- 
 thorities. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the 
 power — If thou wouldst not live in fear of the 
 civil magistrate, live according to the laws ; and 
 thou mayest expect that he will rule according to 
 the laws; and consequently, instead of inclining 
 blame, thou wilt have praise. This is said on the 
 supposition that the ruler is himself a law-abiding 
 man; and the apostle, on the general question of 
 obedience and protection, assumes the point that 
 the magistrate is such. 
 
 4. For he is the minister of God to thee 
 for good — Here the apostle puts the character of 
 the ruler in the strongesl possible light. "He is 
 the minister of God," — God's administrator, 
 diuKovog, God's deacon, lor the good of the subject. 
 He beareth not the sword in vain — His power 
 
 79
 
 A. M. 4069. A. P. 58. 
 Ifaar of Rome, Ml. 
 
 ROMANS. 
 
 for he is the minister of God. a revenger to 
 execute wrath npon him that doeth evil. 
 5 Wherefore f ye ranst needs be subject, not 
 only for wrath, sbtit also for conscience' sake. 
 6 For. for this cause pay ye tribute also: 
 for they are God's ministers, attending con- 
 tinually upon this very thing. 7 h Render 
 therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom 
 tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear 
 to whom fear; honour to whom honour. 
 § Owe no man any thin?;, but to love one an- 
 
 /Eecles. 8. 2. a\ Pet. 2. 19. h Mntt. 22. 21 ; Mark 12. 17; 
 
 Luke 2ii. 2.">. iVerse 10; Gal. 5. 14: CoL 3. II; 1 Tim. 1. 5; 
 
 k !•■ id. l'i>. 13; Deut. 5. 17; Matt. 19. 18. 
 
 is delegated to him for the defence and encourage- 
 ment of the good, and the punishment of the 
 
 wicked, and he has authority to punish capitally, 
 when the law so requires: this the term "sword" 
 clearly implies. For he is the minister of 
 , God, a revenger — Qeov diuKovoc iv-iv, bahung, for 
 I: is ■'- ■•'■■ i :.nl ire m, . v.;*' r to execute wrath 
 dr bpyrjv, to inflict punishment upon the transgres- 
 sors of the law; for he must not pronounce or in- 
 flict punishment according to his own mind or 
 feelings, but according to the express declarations 
 of the law. [The "sword" betokens the power of 
 capital punishment; and this reference to it seems 
 to show that the civil law possesses the power 
 of life and death. The office of the "power" 
 toward the peaceable and obedient is for good ; 
 but toward the "evil " it is wrathful. The exe- 
 cution of the law, at least in extreme cases, is not 
 for the good of the offender and victim, but for its 
 own vindication and the public safety.] 
 
 5. Ye must needs be subject — 'Ardy^T?, there 
 i- a necessity that ye should be subject, not only for 
 wrath, 6iu ttjv bpyrjv, on account of the punishment 
 which will lie inflicted on evil doers, but also for 
 conscience' sake — because it is right. For, as 
 civil government is established in the order of 
 God for the defence of society, they who transgress 
 its laws not only expose themselves to the penalties 
 assigned by the statutes, but they sin against God. 
 
 6. For this cause pay ye tribute also — Be- 
 cause civil government is an order of God, and the 
 ministers of state must beat considerable expense 
 in providing for the safety and defence of the 
 community, it is only right that those in whose be- 
 half these expenses arc incurred should defray 
 them; and hence taxation is the right of the state, 
 for its own maintenance and for the proper pay- 
 ment of it- officers. But there is no insinuation in 
 the apostle's words in behalf of an extravaganl and 
 oppressive taxation for the support of unprinci- 
 pled and unnecessary wars, or the pensioning of 
 corrupt or useless persons. The taxes are to be paid 
 for the support of those who are God's ministers 
 — the necessary public officers of all grades, who are 
 attending continually upon this very thing. 
 And let the reader observe, that by "God's min- 
 isters" are not meant here the ministers of re- 
 ligion, but the civil officers in all departments of 
 the state. 
 
 7. Render therefore to all their dues — This 
 is an extensive command. J!c rigidly just; with- 
 hold neither from the king nor his ministers, nor 
 his officers of justice and revenue, nor from even 
 the lowest of the community, what the laws of God 
 and your country require you to pay. Tribute to 
 whom tribute — 4>npov. This word probably means 
 such taxes as were levied on persons and estate.-. 
 
 80 
 
 other: for 'he that loveth another hath ful- 
 filled the law. 9 For this. k Thou shall, not 
 commit adultery. Thou shalt not kill. Thou 
 shalt not steal. Thou shalt not hear false wit- 
 ness. Thou shalt not covel : and if there he any 
 other commandment, it is briefly compre- 
 hended in this saying, namely, 'Thou shalt love 
 thy neighbour as thyself. 10 Loye worketh 
 no ill to his neighbour: therefore "love is the 
 fulfilling of the law. 11 And that, knowing 
 the time, that now it is high time n to awake 
 
 ZI.ev.19. 18; Matt. 22.39; Marl; 12.31: Gal. 5. 14: James 
 
 2. s. m Matt 22. 40; verse 8. — n 1 i or. 15. 34; Eph. 5. 14 : 
 
 i I hesa. ■'>. 5, tj. 
 
 Custom to 'whom custom — Tf/.oc. This word 
 probably means such duties as were laid upon goods, 
 merchandise, etc , on imports and exports ; what we 
 commonly call customs. [But the distinction is un- 
 important, as the principle in each case is the same.] 
 Fear to whom fear — It is likely that the word 
 (polinv, which we translate " fear," signifies that rev- 
 erence which produce- obedience. Treat all official 
 characters with respect, and be obedient to your su- 
 periors. Honour to whom honour — The word 
 riu/,1' may here mean that outward respect which 
 the principle of reverence, from which it springs, will 
 generally produce. Never behave rudely to any 
 person ; but behave respectfully to all men, ac- 
 cording to their positions; for though an import- 
 ant office may be filled by an unworthy person, 
 yet respect the office, and the man on account of 
 his office. If a man habituate himself to disre- 
 spect official characters, he will soon find himself 
 less disposed to pay proper respect or obedience to 
 the laws themselves. 
 
 8. Owe no man any thing, but to love one 
 another — Owe to your fellow brethren nothing but 
 mutual love, and this is what the law of God re- 
 quires, and in this the law is fulfilled. Ye are not 
 bound in obedience to them as to the civil magis- 
 trate ; for to him ye must needs be subjt ct, not men ly 
 for fear of punishment, but for conscience* sake; 
 but to these ye are bound by love; and by that love 
 especially which prevents you from doing any thing 
 by which a brother may sustain any kind of injury. 
 [This evidently does not refer to pecuniar)- indebt- 
 edness, which of itself is not contrary to Christian 
 morality, but rather to the duties of brotherly 
 kindness; in this no debt should remain unpaid.} 
 Hath fulfilled the law— [That is, of Moses.] 
 
 9. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery 
 — [All the particular commandments, which make 
 ap the written law, have their common root and find 
 their fulfilment in /oce.] 
 
 10. Love worketh no ill — [As love is a spirit of 
 goodwill toward its object,] it can never work ill to- 
 ward another; and on this head, — thai is, tin 1 duty 
 we owe to our neighbour — love is the fulfilling 
 of the law. 
 
 11. And that, knowing the time — [That this 
 passage (verses 11, 12) is a difficult one is shown 
 by the great amount of discussion that has been 
 devoted to it, and especially because the whole ques- 
 tion of the future of the Church is somewhat in- 
 volved in it. Stuart's rendering appears to be as 
 satisfactory as any ; " Kaipov I understand to mean 
 the Gospel time, which had already come. The apos- 
 tle considers the commencement of this, which had 
 already taken place, as the beginning of a glorious 
 day, the dawning of the Sun of righteousness with 
 healing in his beams. A state of sin and ignorance
 
 The nece=sit\ 
 
 - f immediate 
 ] fcn GiKi. 
 
 CHAPTER XITI. 
 
 i. M. 4062. A. P. .iS. 
 Yinr ol Rome, 811. 
 
 out of sleep: fur now is our salvation nearer 
 than when we believed. 12 The night is far 
 spent, the day is at hand: "let us therefore 
 east off the works of darkness, and Plet us put 
 on the armour of. light. 13 i Let us walk 
 
 o Ephesians 5. 11; Colossians 3. 8. — v Ephesiiins 6. 13: 
 1 Thessalonians 5. 8. — q Philippians 4. 8; 1 Thessalonians 
 4. 12 ; l Peter 2. 12. r Or, decently. 
 
 is a state of darkness ; and out of such a state 
 Christians are brought, that they may see the light. 
 (Eph. v, S. 11; John iii, 19; 1 Peter ii, 9.) . . . I 
 refer ournpia to the spiritual salvation, which be- 
 lievers are to experience when transferred to the 
 world of everlasting light and glory. And, so con- 
 strued, the exhortation of Paul amounts to this: 
 'Christian brethren, we have been brought out of 
 darkness into marvellous light ; let us act in a man- 
 ner that corresponds with our condition. We are 
 hastening to our retribution ; every day brings us 
 nearer to it ; and in prospect of the reward, which 
 now almost appears in sight, as we approach the 
 goal of human life, let us act with renewed effort 
 as duty requires.' So Chrysostom."] Some think 
 the passage should be understood thus : We have 
 now many advantages which we did not formerly 
 possess. Salvation nearer — The whole Christ- 
 ian system is more fully explained, and the knowl- 
 edge of it more easy to be acquired, than formerly ;. 
 on which account a greater progress in religious 
 knowledge and in practical piety is required of us : 
 and we have for a long time been too remiss in 
 these respects. Deliverance from the persecutions, 
 etc., with which they were then atiiieted, is sup- 
 posed by others to be the meaning of the apostle. 
 
 12. The night is far spent — If we understand 
 this in reference to the heathen state of the Romans, 
 it may be paraphrased thus: "The night is far 
 spent " — heathenish darkness is nearly at an end. 
 The day is at hand — The full manifestation of 
 the Sun of righteousness, in the illumination of the 
 whole Gentile world, approaches rapidly. [The day 
 dawns when we receive faith, and then sleep gives 
 place. Then it is time to rise, to arm, to walk, to work, 
 lest sleep steal upon us again. Final salvation, glory, 
 is nearer to us now than when we first believed. It 
 is continually advancing, flying forward upon the 
 swiftest wings of time. And that which remains 
 between the present hour and eternity is compara- 
 tively but a moment. — Wesley.~\ Cast off the 
 works of darkness — Prepare to meet this rising 
 light, and welcome its approach, by throwing aside 
 superstition, impiety, and vice of_ every kind. And 
 . . . put on the armour of light — Fully receive the 
 heavenly teaching, by which your spirits will be as 
 completely shielded against the attacks of evil as 
 your bodies could be by the best weapons and im- 
 penetrable armour. This sense seems most suitable 
 to the following verses, where the vices of the Gen- 
 tiles are particularly specified ; and they are ex- 
 horted to abandon them, and to receive the Gospel 
 of Christ. The common method of explanation is 
 this: "The night is far spent" — our present im- 
 perfect life, full of afflictions, temptations, and 
 trials, is almost run out; "the day" of eternal 
 blessedness "is at hand " — is about to dawn on us 
 in our glorious resurrection unto eternal life. There- 
 fore " let. us cast off " — let us live as candidates for 
 this eternal glory. But this sense does not so well 
 comport with what is said below, as the Gentiles 
 are most evidently intended. [Nvf (night) is the 
 
 Vol. II.— 6 
 
 r honestly, as in the day; s not in rioting and 
 drunkenness, 'not in chambering and wanton- 
 ness, "not in strife and envying: 14 But v put 
 ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and "make not pro- 
 vision for the flesh, to fulfil tiie lusts thereof. 
 
 gProv. ?3. 2d; Luke 21. ?A : 1 IM. 4. r:. 1\ Cor. 6. 9; Eph. 
 
 5.5. u James 3. 14. »Gal. 3.27; Eph. 4. 24; Col. 3. 10. 
 
 10 Gal. 5. 16; 1 Pet. 2.11. 
 
 time of ignorance and darkness in which they had 
 once been. This, the apostle says, " is nearly gone," 
 that is, they had now come, as it were, to the con- 
 fines of eternal day, or of a more perfect knowledge 
 of divine things. It behooved them, therefore, to 
 rouse up all their energies, and to act in a manner 
 congruous with their condition and obligations. — 
 Stuart. ] 
 
 13. Let us walk honestly, as in the day — 
 Let us walk (evoxnfi.6vuc) decently, in good habits. 
 Let our deportment be decent, orderly, and grave; 
 such as we shall not lie ashamed of in the eyes of 
 the whole world. Not in rioting and drunk- 
 enness — M.rj Kufimr Kal uiBaic. Kuuoic, rioting, 
 according to Ilcsychius, signifies unclean and dis- 
 solute songs, banquets, and such like. M, c 6Y«c sig- 
 nifies drunken festivals, such as were celebrated in 
 honour of their gods, when, after they had sacrificed, 
 they drank to excess, accompanied with abomi- 
 nable acts of every kind. Not in chambering — 
 The original word, Kohaig, signifies whoredoms and 
 prostitution of every kind. And wantonness — 
 'AfffAyf iair. all manner of uncleanness and sodomiti- 
 cal practices. [These were crimes that I. eh nged 
 especially to the night time ; and as ? uf is used as 
 the figure of their former sinful state, so the spe- 
 cial sins of that time of day are named, but as 
 specimens of all sins. Respecting the awful preva- 
 lence of this form of criminality, (see chapter i, 25, 
 27,) all of which is more thai, confirmed by recently 
 discovered memorials, especially those at Pompeii. 
 The common practice of these vices, by even the 
 most eminent of the Romans at that time, made it 
 the more necessary that the Christians should be 
 warned to avoid them, and that it should be made 
 manifest that such vices w.cre wholly incompatible 
 with their spiritual vocation.] Not in strife and 
 envying — Mr/ ipuh Kal O'/Au), not in contentions 
 and furious altercations, which must be the conse- 
 quence of such practices as are mentioned above. 
 
 14. Put ye on the Lord Jesus — This is in re- 
 ference to what is said verse 1 3 : let us put on 
 decent garments — let us make a different profession, 
 unite with other company, and maintain that pro- 
 fession by a suitable conduct, rutting </„. or being 
 clothed with, Jesus Christ, signifies receiving and 
 believing the Gospel; and consequently taking its 
 maxims for the government of life, having the 
 mind that was in Christ. [The figure of speech 
 and thought expressed by iv6vnaai)t rbv tcvpiov'ln- 
 aovv XpLorov is an equivalent to the oft-repeated 
 h Xpinru (in Chris/) used to designate the new life 
 of the regenerated and adopted soul ; and it cer- 
 tainly indicates something mystical — real, and not 
 merely relative ] And make not provision for 
 the flesh — T% aapicbc, all the irregular appetites 
 and passions which led to the abominations already 
 recited. No ,; provision " should be made for the 
 encouragement and gratification of one of these. 
 To fulfil the lusts thereof — Iv"c i-ithi/inr, in 
 reference to its lusts; such as the rioting, drunk- 
 enness, prostitutions, and uncleaimess, mentioned 
 
 81
 
 A. M. 406J. A. T>. 58. 
 Year ol Rome, Ml. 
 
 ROMANS. 
 
 The strnntr 
 
 n the f:ii(li should 
 ii!i the weak. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 HIM thai 'is weak in the faith receive ye, 
 but b no1 to doubtful disputations. "2 For 
 oik- believeth that he c may eat all things: an- 
 other, who is weak, eateth lierbs. :{ Let aol 
 
 a Chap. 15. 1,7:1 Cor. 8. 'X 11 : 9. 22.- -'/Or, »o< to ^'(«^e his 
 doubtful thoughts. 
 
 verse 13, to make provision for which tin- Gentiles 
 lived and laboured, and bought and sold, and 
 schemed and planned; I'm- it was the whole business 
 ii life i" gratify the sinful lusts of the flesh. 
 Their philosophers taught them little else; and the 
 whole circle of their deities, as well as the whole 
 scheme of their religion, served only to excite and 
 inflame such passions and produce such practices. 
 
 NOTES ON' CHAPTER XIV. 
 It seem- very likely, from this and the following 
 chapter, that there were considerable misunder- 
 standings between the Jewish and Gentile Christ- 
 ians ;it Rome relative to certain customs which 
 were sacredh; observed by the one and disregarded 
 by the other. The principal subject of dispute was 
 concerning meats and days. The converted Jew, 
 retaining a veneration for the law of Moses, ab- 
 sd from certain meats,, ami was observant of 
 certain days; while the converted Gentile, under- 
 star] ling that the Christian religion laid him un- 
 der no obligations to such ceremonial points, had 
 no regard to either. It appears, further, that mu- 
 tual censures ami uncharitable judgments prevailed 
 among them, and that brotherly love and mutual 
 forbearance did not always prevail. The apostle, in 
 trl of his epistle, exhorts that in such things, 
 nol essential to religion, and in which both parties, 
 in their different wa) of thinking, might have an 
 honest meaning and a serious regard to God, dif- 
 ference nf sentiments might not hinder Christian 
 fellowship and love ; hut that they would forbear 
 each other, make candid allowance, ami especially 
 mil carry their gospel liberty so far as to preju- 
 dice a weak brother, a Jewish Christian, against 
 the Gospel itself, and tempt him to renounce Chris- 
 tianity. His rules and exhortations are still of 
 great use, and happy would the Christian world be 
 if they wen- more generally practised. Probably 
 St. Paul hid learned ad these particulars from 
 Aquila ami Priscilla, who were lately come from 
 I A ■• - Kviii, 2, '■'>. ) and with whom the apostle 
 was familial for a considerable time ; for there is 
 no evidence that at that time he had any other in- 
 tercourse with the Church at Koine. 
 
 1 . Him that is weak in the faith — [Tbv 6e 
 
 There is some doubt who 
 •■ere — whether they were ascetics or Judaizers. 
 . . . Tin- overscrupulous dew became mi ascetic by 
 compulsion. He was afraid of pollution by eating 
 meats sacrificed or wine poured to idols. . . . He 
 therefore abstained from all prt pared food, and con- 
 fined himself to that w Inch he could trace from nat- 
 ural growth to his own use. . . . Of these overscru- 
 pulous .lews some had become converts to the Co- 
 pel, and with neither the obstinacy of legal Juda- 
 izers, nor the pride of ascetics, but in weakness of 
 faith, and the scruples of an over-tender (not well- 
 informed) conscience, retained their habits of ab- 
 stinence and observation of day-. See Tholuck and 
 Stuart.] \l\LoTiq [faith) is here used in a g< neral 
 sense to indicate the moral soundness conferred bv 
 82 
 
 him thai eateth despise him thai eateth not; 
 
 ami '• let not him which eateth not. judge him 
 that eateth: for God hath received him. 
 •1 "Who art thou that judgesl another man's 
 servant.'' to hi- own master be standeth oi' 
 
 . \ • ra ■ H : 1 Cor. in. 25: I Tim. 4. A ; Titus 1. 15. d Col. 2. 1''.. 
 
 e James 1.1J. 
 
 faith — the whole character of the Christian's con- 
 science and practice resting on faith. 'Yy ttiotfi, 
 (the faith,) — better than his faith, (as Smart and 
 other- ;) weak in (subjectivt or spiritual) faith, — un- 
 alde to receive the faith in it- strength, so a- to be 
 above such prejudices. — Alford.~] Receive ye — 
 Associate with him; receive him into your religious 
 fellowship ; hut when there, let all religious alter- 
 cations he avoided. Not to doubtful disputa- 
 tions — M;/ Ac diaKptoeic diaXoyiauuv. These words 
 have been variously translated and understood. Dr. 
 Whitby thinks the sense of them to he this: /<<>/ dis- 
 criminating tin in liu tin ir inward tlu ngliis. Do not te- 
 jecl any from your Christian communion la-cause of 
 their particular sentiments on things which are in 
 themselves indifferent. Do not curiously inquire 
 into their religious scruples, nor condemn them on 
 that account. Entertain a brother of this kind 
 rather with what may profit his soul, than with cu- 
 rious disquisitions on speculative points of doctrine. 
 A good lesson for Christians in general. 
 
 2. One believeth that he may eat all things — 
 He believes that whatsoever is wholesome and nour- 
 ishing, without respect to the Mosaic law, may he 
 safely and conscientiously used by every Christian. 
 Another, who is ■weak, eateth herbs — Aa\ina, 
 garden plants. Certain .Jews, lately converted to 
 the Christian faith, and having as yet little knowl- 
 edge of its doctrines, believe the Mosaic law rela- 
 tive to clean and unclean meal- to he Mill in force ; 
 and therefore, when they ate in ;i Gentile country, 
 for fear of being defiled, avoid flesh entirely, and 
 live on vegetables. Ami a dew, when in a heathen 
 country, acts thus because he cannot tell whether 
 the flesh which is sold in the market may he ol a 
 clean or unclean beast ; whether it may not have 
 been offered to an idol ; or whether the blood may 
 have been taken properly from it. 
 
 3. Let not him that eateth — Who, being strong 
 in faith, eats flesh, despise him who, being weak, 
 eateth not flesh, but herbs. And let not him, 
 the dew, which eateth not, indiserim match, judge 
 — condemn, he uncharitable toward — him that 
 eateth, indiscriminately, flesh or vegetables. [Self- 
 consciousness of strength misleads into looking 
 down with contempt on the weak ; the narrowness 
 of weakness is unable to comprehend the free- 
 thinking of the strong one, and judges it; pro- 
 nounces against it as incompatible with the true 
 Christian character. — Meyer.'] [AH of this, how- 
 ever, assumes the actual indifference of all these 
 things.] For God. hath received him — Both 
 being sincere and upright, and acting in the fear of 
 t.od, are received as heirs of eternal life, without 
 any difference on account of these religious scruples 
 or prejudices. 
 
 4. Who art thou that judgest another man's 
 servant — Who has ever given thee the right to 
 condemn the Bervanl ol' another man, in things per- 
 taining to his own master ? To his own master 
 he standeth or falleth— He is to judge him, not 
 thou; thy intermeddling in this business is both 
 rash and uncharitable. [The standing and falling
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 A.D. 5! 
 me, 811. 
 
 falleth; yea, he shall be lioklen up: for God 
 is able to make him stand. 5 f One man es- 
 teemeth one day above another: another es- 
 teeineth every day alike. Let every man be 
 p fully persuaded in his own mind. G He that 
 h ■ regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the 
 Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to 
 the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eat- 
 et it, eateth to the Lord, for k he giveth God 
 thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he 
 
 /Gal. 4. in-. Col. 2. 16. a Or \fiilly assured. — // Or, observ- 
 ed. 1 Gal. 4. 10. k 1 Cor. 10. 31 ; 1 Tim. J. 3. 
 
 is here understood forensically, — in the judgment. 
 (Psa. i, 5.)] [In relation to his own master he is 
 subject to a sentence of condemnation or acquittal. 
 Stuart.'] Yea, he shall be holden up — He is 
 sincere and upright, and God, who is able to 
 make him stand, will uphold him ; and so teach 
 him that he shall not essentially err. And it is 
 the will of God that such upright though scrupu- 
 lous persons should be continued members of his 
 Church. 
 
 5. One man esteemeth one day above an- 
 other — Perhaps the word 7//uepnv, day, is here taken 
 for time, festival, and such like, in which sense it is 
 frequently used. Reference is made here to the 
 Jewish institutions, and especially their festivals; 
 such as the passover, pentecost, feast of tabernacles, 
 new moons, jubilee, etc. The converted Jew still 
 thought these of moral obligation ; the Gentile 
 Christian, not having been bred up in this way, [nor 
 so taught by his Christian instructors,] had no such 
 scruples. Our translators add here alike, [for which 
 there is no authority,] and make the text say what 
 surely was never intended, namely, that there is no 
 distinction of days, and that every Christian is at 
 liberty to consider any day to be holy or not holy, 
 as he happens to be persuaded in .his own mind. 
 That the sabbath is of lasting obligation may be 
 reasonably concluded from its institution, (see the 
 note on Gen. ii, 3,) and from its typical reference. 
 All allow that the sabbath is a type of that rest in 
 glory which remains for the people of God. Now, 
 all types are intended to continue in full force till 
 the antitype, or thing signified, take place; conse- 
 quently, the sabbath will continue in force till the 
 consummation of all things. [Whether the apostle 
 means to include the sabbath, or rather, the Lord's 
 day, under what he says here of the special obser- 
 vance of particular days, has been called in ques- 
 tion. ... In the early ages of the Church a distinc- 
 tion was made between sabbath and Lord's day. 
 The former was specifically Jewish ; but the early 
 Christians, in order to distinguish this from the 
 first day of the week, on which they held their 
 religious assemblies of worship, (1 Cor. xvi, 2 ; Acts 
 xx, 7,) called the first day, ?)/itpa Kvp/'ov, Lord's 
 day. (Rev. i, 10.) Of this distinction there is clear 
 evidence in the writings of the ecclesiastical la- 
 thers, going back to apostolic times. . . . Pretty 
 certainly Tipepa here relates to days which the scru- 
 ples of Jewish Christians deemed sacred, and has 
 no relation to the Lord's day, which all agreed to 
 keep holy. — Stuart.'] Let every man be fully 
 persuaded — With respect to the propriety or non- 
 propriety of keeping the above festivals let every 
 man act from the plenary conviction of his own 
 mind; there is a sufficient latitude allowed ; all may 
 be fully satisfied. [The things themselves are 
 ■wholly indifferent; but if in .any case they have 
 
 eateth not, and giveth God thanks. 7 For 
 1 none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth 
 to himself. § For whether we live, we live 
 unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die 
 unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or 
 die, we are the Lord's. 9 For '"to this end 
 Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that 
 he might be "Lord both of the dead and living. 
 10 But why dost thou judge thy brother? or 
 why dost thou set at naught thy brother? for 
 
 a Cor. 6. 10, 20; Gal. 2. 20: 1 Thess. 5. .; 1 Pet. 4. 2.- 
 m 2 Cor. 5. 15. — ft Acts 10. 3ri. 
 
 become matters of conscientious convictions, then 
 must the conscience be obeyed.] 
 
 6. He that regardeth the day— A beautiful 
 apology for mistaken sincerity and injudicious ref- 
 ormation. Do not condemn the man for what is 
 indifferent in itself: if he keep these festivals, his 
 purpose is to honour God by the religious obser- 
 vance of them. On the other hand, he who finds 
 that he cannot observe them in honour of God, not 
 believing that God has enjoined them, he does not 
 observe them at all. In like manner, he that eateth 
 any creature of God which is wholesome and proper 
 food, gives thanks to God as the author of all good. 
 And he who cannot eat of all indiscriminately, also 
 gives God thanks. Both are sincere ; both upright ; 
 both act according to their light ; God accepts both ; 
 and they should bear with each other. 
 
 7. None of us liveth to himself — The Greek 
 writers use the phrase, eavru £?), to signify acting 
 according to one's own judgment, following one's 
 own opinion. Christians must act in till things ac- 
 cording to the mind and will of God, and not follow 
 their own wills. The apostle seems to intimate 
 that in all the above eases each must endeavour to 
 please God, for he is accountable to him alone for 
 his conduct in these indifferent things. God is our 
 master, we must live to him, as we live under his 
 notice and by his bounty. Therefore, what we do, 
 or what we leave undone, should be in reference to 
 that eternity which is ever at hand. 
 
 8. For -whether we live, etc. — [Zw/zev and 
 uTrodi'yaKufiei; here designate, not the act of living 
 and dying, but the state of the living and the dead. 
 " We, in the state of the living and in the state of 
 the dead, that is, we of the present or of the future 
 world, are Christ's; he is our Lord, both here and 
 hereafter:" and this being the case, all judgment 
 must be committed to him. — Stuart.] 
 
 9. Christ both died, and rose — That we are 
 not our own, but are the Lord's both in life and 
 death, is evident from this — that Cliri-t lived, and 
 died, and rose again, that he might be Lord both 
 of the dead and living ; for his power extends 
 equally over both worlds: separate, as well as em- 
 bodied, spirits are under his authority. The clause 
 i«il aveaTTi, "and rose," is wanting in the most re- 
 putable MSS., and should be omitted. It makes no 
 sense. 
 
 10. But why dost thou— Christian Jew, observ- 
 ing the rites of the Mosaic law, judge (condemn) 
 thy brother — the Christian Gentile, who does not 
 think himself bound by this law? Or why dost 
 thou — Christian Gentile, set at naught thy Christ- 
 ian-Jewish ferother, as if he were unworthy of thy 
 regard, because he does not yet believe that the 
 Gospel has set him free from the rites and cere- 
 monies of the law ? It is a true saying of Mr. Hey- 
 lin, on this verse: The superstitious are prone to 
 
 83
 
 A.M. 4162. A.TX 58. 
 year ol Rome, 811. 
 
 ROMANS. 
 
 • rtambling- 
 
 °we shall .-ill stand before the judgment seal of 
 Christ. D 1 For it is written, pAs I Live, saith 
 the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and 
 every tongue shall confess to God. liS So 
 then ^everyone of us shall give account of 
 himself to God. 1£ Let us not therefore 
 judge one another anymore: but judge this 
 rather, that 'no man put a sturablingblock 
 or an occasion to fall in his brother's way. 
 
 11 I know, and am persuaded by the Lord 
 
 Jesus, s t hat tin re is nothing ' unclean of itself : 
 but "to him thai esteemeth any thing to be 
 'unclean, to him it is unclean. 15 But if thy 
 In-other be grieved with thy meat, now walk- 
 est thou not "charitably. "Destroy not him 
 with thy meat, for whom Christ died. 16 y Let 
 not then your good be evil spoken of: 17 'For 
 the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; 
 
 oMntt. 25. 31,32: Acts [0.42; 17.31; 2 Cor. 5.10; Jude 14. 15. 
 
 i 15. 23 : Phil. 2. 10. — ffM.-itt. 12. ::•>; <iai «;. 5 ; 1 Pet. 
 
 4.5. /■ 1 Cor. B. 9, 13; 10. 32. sActs 10. 15; verses 2,20: 
 
 judge, and those who are not superstitious are prone 
 to despise. [The first av (thou) refers to the weak 
 in faith, the second to the Gentile converts. If 
 Christ is indeed our master, it is not for us to ex- 
 clude from the kingdom of God brethren who only 
 deviate in non-essentials, before he has set in judg- 
 ment. — Tholnck.] We shall all stand before the 
 judgment seat of Christ — We are accountable to 
 God for our conduct, and shall be judged by him 
 only; and let us consider that whatever measure 
 we mete, the same shall be measured unto us again. 
 [There is probably here no reference to the final or 
 future judgment; but rather a reminder that Christ 
 i.- Head of his Church and the Judge of all men, 
 as is shown in the quotation which constitutes 
 vei -e 1 1.] 
 
 L2. Every one of us shall give account of 
 himself — We shall not, before God, be obliged to 
 account for the conduct of each other — each shall 
 give account of himself; and let him take heed 
 that he be prepared to give up his accounts with 
 
 joy. 
 
 13. Let us not, therefore, judge one another 
 any more — Judgment belongs to the Lord, and he 
 will condemn those only who should not be ac- 
 quitted. [The first "judge," Kpiwfiev, has the 
 usual sense of condemning ; the second, KpLva re, the 
 accommodated sense, let this be your decision, re- 
 specting conduct in this sense.] That no man put 
 a stumblingblock— Let both the converted Jew 
 and Gentile consider that they should labour to pro- 
 mote each other's spiritual interests, and not be a 
 
 of hindering each other in their Christian 
 cou ■; or of causing them to abandon the Gos- 
 pel, on which, and not on questions of rites and 
 >nies, the salvation of their soul depends. 
 1 1] i i - lottfia, stumblingblock, and anavdakov, occa- 
 sion to fall, are, as here used, essentially synon- 
 ) mills.] 
 
 14. I know, and am persuaded by the Lord 
 Jesus — The apostle now expresses himself fully, 
 and tells them that nothing is unclean of itself, 
 and that lie has the authority of Jesus Christ to 
 
 \m'1 pet, after having given them this de- 
 judgment, through respeel to the tender, 
 mistaken conscience of weak believers, he imme- 
 diately adds: But to him that esteemeth any 
 thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean; be- 
 cause if he act contrary to his conscience he must 
 necessarily contract guilt ; for he who acts in op- 
 position to his conscience in one case may do it in 
 another, and thus even the plain declarations of the 
 word of God may be set aside on things of the ut- 
 most importance, as well as the erroneous though 
 well-intentioned dictates of his conscience, on mat- 
 ters which he makes of the last, consequence; 
 though others, who arc better taught, know them to 
 be indifferent. [Koivov, nothing, (indifferent,) must 
 84 
 
 1 Cor in. 25; 1 Tim. 4. 4: Titus 1. 15. — t (Jr. cowman. 
 
 it 1 Cor. 8. 7, 10. — /• Gr. common. — wGr. according to 
 charity. — x\ Cor. 8. 11. — ■z/Cliup. 12. 17. z 1 Cor. 8. 8. 
 
 here apply only to outward or material things, not to 
 actions or tempers.] Jt is dangerous to trifle with 
 conscience, even when erroneous ; its feelings should 
 be respected because they ever refer to God, and 
 have their foundation in his fear. He who sins 
 against his conscience sins against God, even if the 
 act is in itself indifferent. It is a great blessing to 
 have a well-informed conscience; it is a blessing to 
 have a tender conscience; and even a sore con- 
 science is infinitely better than none. 
 
 15. If thy brother be grieved — If he think 
 that thou doest wrong, and he is in consequence 
 stumbled at thy conduct. Now walkest thou 
 not charitably — Kara uyuirr/v, according to love. 
 But by thy eating some particular kind of meat, on 
 which neither thy life nor well-being depends, thou 
 workest. ill to him by grieving and distressing his 
 mind; (or by leading him into temptation:) and 
 therefore thou breakest the lawof God in reference 
 to him, while pretending that thy Christian liberty 
 raises thee above his scruples. Destroy not him 
 with thy meat, for whom Christ died — This 
 puts the uncharitable conduct of the person in ques- 
 tion in the strongest light, because it supposes that 
 the weak brother may be so stumbled as to fall and 
 pcri.-h finally; iwen the man for whom Christ died. 
 From this verse we learn that a "man for whom 
 Christ died" may perish, or have Ins soul destroyed; 
 and destroyed with such a destruction as implies 
 perdition: the original is very emphatic, faj . . . 
 biitlvov uwaX'/.ve vnep ov Xpiorbg uneOavev. Christ 
 died in his stead ; do not destroy his soul. The 
 sacrificial death is as strongly expressed as it can 
 be, and there is no word in the New Testament that 
 more forcibly implies eternal ruin than the verb 
 uttoXTlvu, from which is derived that most signifi- 
 cant name of the devil, 6 'AttoMvuv, the destroyer, 
 the great universal murderer of souls. 
 
 16. Let not then your good be evil spoken 
 of — Do not souse your strength of faith and Christ- 
 ian liberty as to subject the Gospel itself to re- 
 proach. There arc many who have such an un- 
 happy method of doing their good acts, as not only 
 to do little or no good by them, but a great deal of 
 evil. It requires much prudence and watchfulness 
 to find out the proper time ol performing even a 
 good action. 
 
 17. For the kingdom of God — That holy re- 
 ligion which Coil has sent from heaven, and which 
 he intends to make the instrument of establishing 
 a counterpart of the kingdom of glory among men. 
 (Matt, iii, 2.) Is not meat and drink — It con- 
 
 sists not in these out w; 
 w Inch ii neither enjoins 
 eousness— Pardon of sii 
 life. And peace — ' 
 ( rod's mercy ; pe 
 monizing the hear 
 
 indiSf: rent thing? 
 bids. But right- 
 iliness of heart and 
 I, from a sense of 
 ■•tiling, and har- 
 Holy Ghost
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the 
 Holy Ghost. IS Fur he that in these things 
 serveth Christ a /s acceptable to God, and ap- 
 proved of men. 19 ''Let us therefore follow 
 after the things which make for peace, and 
 things wherewith c one may edify another. 
 20 ''For meat destroy not the work of God. 
 e All things indeed are pure; ' but it is evil for 
 that man who eateth with offence. 21 It is 
 
 til Cor. S. 21. 7<Psa. 34. 14; chap. 12. 18. cCliap. 15. 2; 
 
 1 Cor. 14. 12; 1 Tlv-ss. 5- 11. d Ver. 15. e Matt. 15. 11 ; Acts 
 
 10. 15; verse 14; Titus 1. 15. 
 
 — Some spiritual happiness; a " joy" which springs 
 from a clear sense of God's mercy; the love cf 
 God being sheil abroad in the heart by the "Holy 
 Ghpst." (Matt, iii, 2.) 
 
 18. For he that in these things — The man, 
 whether Jew or Gentile, who " in these things " — 
 righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost — 
 serveth Christ —acts according to his doctrine — is 
 acceptable to God ; for he has not only the form 
 of godliness in thus serving Christ, but he has the 
 power, the very spirit and essence of it, in having 
 righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy 
 Ghost ; and therefore the whole frame of his mind, 
 as well as his acts, must be acceptable to God. 
 And approved of men — For although religion 
 may be persecuted, yet the righteous man who 
 walks in uprightness will be generally esteemed. 
 This was a very common form of speech among the 
 Jews : that he who was a conscientious observer of 
 the law was pleasing to God and approval of men. 
 
 19. Let us therefore follow — Far from con- 
 tending about meats, drinks, and festival times, in 
 which it is not likely that the Jews and Gentiles 
 will soon agree, and which, whether observed or dis- 
 regarded, are of no account, let us endeavour to 
 promote " peace " and fellowship, that we may edify 
 each other, and promote religious knowledge and 
 piety. 
 
 20. For meat destroy not the work of God 
 — Do not hinder the progress of the Gospel, either in 
 your own souls or in those of others, by contending 
 about things so wholly unimportant. And do not 
 destroy the soul of thy Christian brother (verse 15) 
 by inducing him to apostatize. All things indeed 
 are pure — This is a repetition of the sentiment re- 
 corded in different words, verse 1-t. Nothing that 
 is proper for foo 1 is unlawful to be eaten ; but it 
 is evil for that man who eateth with offence 
 — the man who either eats contrary to his own con- 
 science, or so as to grieve and stumble another, does 
 an evil act; and however lawful the thing may be 
 in itself, his conduct does not please God. 
 
 21. It is good neither to eat flesh, etc. — The 
 spirit and self-denying principles of the Gospel 
 teach us that we should avoid every thing [in our 
 conduct and manners, and in the exercise of our 
 Christian liberties] which may become an occasion 
 of offence or apostasy to our brethren. Whereby 
 thy brother stumbleth — YlpoaKonrft. Spiritually, 
 any thing by which a man is so perplexed in his 
 mind, or drawn aside by example, as to be hindered 
 in the divine life. Any thing by which he is caused 
 to /in//, to lie undecisive and undetermined; and 
 under such an influence no man has ever yet grown 
 in grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. Or 
 is offended — "H anavddXi^t rai ; originally the word 
 GKiivtia'kov signified the piece of wood or key in a 
 trap, which, being trodden on, caused the animal to 
 
 good neither to eat e flesh, nor to drink wine, 
 nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, 
 or is offended, or is made weak. 22 Hast 
 ihou faith? have it to thyself before God. 
 b Happy is he that condenmeth not himself in 
 that thing which he alloweth. 23 And he 
 that 'doubteth is damned if he eat, because 
 he eateth not of faith: for k whatsoever is not 
 of faith is sin. 
 
 ./l Cor. 8. 9, in, 11. 12. q\ Cor. 8. 13. h\ John 3. 21. 
 
 /Or, discernetfi and putteth a aifference between meats. 
 — k Titus 1. 15. 
 
 fall into a pit, or the trap to close upon him. In 
 the New Testament it generally refers to apostasy 
 from the Christian religion; and this appears to be 
 its meaning in this place. Or is made weak — 
 "H iiaBei'ti, morally weak; without power sufficient 
 to distinguish between right and wrong, lawful and 
 unlawful ; [the certain results of trifling with either 
 the convictions or the authority of the conscience.] 
 
 '22. Hast thou faith — The term "faith" seems 
 to signify in this place a full persuasion in a man's 
 mind that he is right — that what he does is lawful, 
 and has the approbation of God and his conscience. 
 Thou hast a right persuasion concerning thy Christ- 
 ian liberty; hold that persuasion steadfastly, with 
 respect to thyself, in the sight of God. Happy is 
 he that condemn eth not, etc. — That man only 
 can enjoy peace of conscience who acts according 
 to the full persuasion which God has given him of 
 the lawfulness of his conduct : whereas he must 
 be miserable who allows himself to practise any 
 thing for which his conscience upbraids and ac- 
 cuses him. This is a most excellent maxim, and 
 every genuine Christian should be careful to try 
 every part of his conduct by it, No man can have 
 peace who sins against his own conscience. [Doubt- 
 ful indulgences, whether right or wrong as actions, 
 are destructive to the soul's peace and ruinous to 
 the conscience.] Even the man who has the too- 
 scrupulous conscience had better, in such matters 
 as are in question, obey its erroneous dictates than 
 violate this moral feeling, and live only to condemn 
 the actions he is constantly performing. 
 
 23. And he that doubteth — This verse is a 
 necessary part of the preceding, and should be 
 read thus: But he that doubteth is condemned if lie 
 eat, because he eateth not of faith. The meaning 
 is sufficiently plain. He that eats of any kind 
 of meats prohibited by the Mosaic law, with the 
 suspicion in his mind that he may be wrong in so 
 doing, is condemned by his conscience for doing 
 that which he is not sure that God has not forbid- 
 den. For whatsoever is not of faith is sin — 
 Whatever he does without a satisfactory conviction 
 of its lawfulness, (see on verse 22, ) is to him " sin." 
 If he makes a distinction in his own conscience 
 between different kinds of meats, and yet eats of 
 all indifferently, he is a sinner before God ; be- 
 cause he eats either through false shame, base 
 compliance, or an unbridled appetite; and any of 
 these is in itself a sin against the sincerity, in- 
 genuousness, and self-denying principles of the 
 Gospel of Christ, These words may have a mure 
 extensive signification, and apply to all who have 
 not true faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Every 
 work'of such persons must be sinful in the sight 
 of a holy God, because it does not proceed from a 
 pure motive. On this ground our Church [the 
 Church of England] says, " Works done before the 
 
 85
 
 A. M. 4062. A. T>. 58. 
 Year of Rome, Bll. 
 
 ROMANS. 
 
 Pvmpntliv with 
 • amoi I 
 
 i duty 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 "\T7T r . »then thai are strong ought to bear the 
 W 'infirmities of the weak, and not to 
 please ourselves. 2 c Let every one of us 
 please Ais aeighbour for Ms good d to edifica- 
 tion, 'i e For even Christ pleased aot himself; 
 but, as it is written, f The reproaches of them 
 
 B. I. — /<Ch;ip. 14. 1. el <',„■.!'. 19. 22; 10. 24, 
 
 5; Phil. 2. 1.5. ./ Chap. 14. 19. e.Matt. 20. yy ; John 
 
 fPsa. 69. a 
 
 grace of Christ and the inspiration of his Spirit 
 are nol pleasant to God, forasmuch asthey are not 
 
 of faith in Jesus Christ ; yea, for that they arc not 
 done as <'>»! hath willed and commanded them to 
 lie done, we doubt not hut they have the nature of 
 sin." To this we may add, that without faith it is 
 impossible to please God; every thing is wrong 
 where this principle is wanting. 
 
 There are few readers who have not remarked 
 that the la-t three verses of this epistle (chapter 
 xvi, 25, 26, 27) appear to stand in their present 
 place without any obvious connexio /, and appa- 
 rently after the epistle is concluded. And it is also 
 well known that [many authorities, some ancient, 
 insert those three verses in this place, where they 
 seem naturally to belong.] It may be necessary to 
 iepe.it the words here, that the reader may sec 
 with what propriety they connect with the subject 
 which terminates the fourteenth chapter as it now 
 stan Is. Chapter xiv, '2-\ : " And he that doubteth 
 is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith : 
 for whatsoever is not of faith is sin." Chapter 
 xvi, _;r>— J7 : " Now to him that is of power to stab- 
 lish you according to my Gospel, and the preach- 
 ing of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of 
 the mystery which was kept secret since the world 
 began, but now is made manifest, and by the 
 Scriptures of the prophets, according to the com- 
 mandment of the everlasting God, made known to 
 all nations for the obedience of faith : To God 
 only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. 
 Amen." Chapter xv, 1 : " We then that are strong 
 ought to bear the infirmities of the weak," etc. 
 
 These words certainly connect better with the 
 close of the fourteenth chapter and the beginning 
 of the fifteenth than they do with the conclusion 
 of the sixteenth, where they are now generally 
 found; but I shall defer my observations upon 
 them till I come to that place, with only this re- 
 mark, that the stablishing (mentioned chapter .xvi, 
 25) corresponds well with the doubting, (chapter 
 xiv, 23;) and indeed, the whole matter of these 
 verses agrees so well with the subject so largely 
 handled in chapter xiv that there can be very little 
 doubt that they would be in their proper place if 
 joined to the end of it. 
 
 NOTES OX CHAPTER XV. 
 
 1 . We then that are strong — We who un- 
 derstand our Gospel liberty, not only lawfully may, 
 but an- bound in duty to, bear any inconveniences 
 that may arise from the scruples of the weaker 
 brethren, and to ease their consciences by pru- 
 dently abstaining from such indifferent things as 
 may offend and troublt hem; and not take ad- 
 vantage from our superior knowledge to make 
 them submit to our judgment, [or to lead them 
 to sin against their < vn consciences.] 
 
 2. Let every one of us please his neighbour 
 — For it should be a maxim with each of us to 
 do all in our power to please our brethren ; and 
 
 86 
 
 that reproached thee fell on inc. I For* what- 
 soever things were written aforetime were 
 written for our learning, that we through pa- 
 tience and comfort of the Scriptures might 
 
 have hope. 5 ''Now the Cod of patience and 
 consolation grant you to be likeminded one 
 toward another 'according to Christ Jesus: 
 
 (/Chapter 4 23,24; 1 Cor. 9. 9, 10; in. It;-} Tim :: IB. 17. 
 i 12. 16; 1 Cur. 1. in; Phil. 3. 16. i Or, after 
 
 exampU cj. 
 
 the 
 
 especially in those things in which their spiritual 
 edification is concerned. Though we should not 
 indulge men in mere whims and caprices, yet we 
 
 should bear with their ignorance and their weak. 
 lies-, knowing that others had much to bear with 
 from us before we came to our present advanced 
 state of religious knowledge. 
 
 :;. For even Christ pleased not himself — 
 Christ never acted as one wdio sought his own 
 ease or profit. He not only bore with the weak- 
 ness, but with the insults, of his creatures ; as it 
 is written in Psalm Ixix, 9 : Tin reproaches of them 
 thai reproached thee fell on me: I not only bore 
 their insults, but bore the punishment due to them 
 for their vicious and abominable conduct. That 
 this Psalm refers to the Messiah and his sufferings 
 for mankind is evident, not only from the quotation 
 here, but also from John xix, 28, 29, where our 
 Lord's receiving the vinegar during his expiatory 
 suffering is said to be a fulfilling of the Scripture, 
 (namely, of verse 21 of this very Psalm;) and his 
 cleansing the temple (John ii, 15-17) is said to be 
 a fulfilment of verse 9, " For the zeal of thine 
 house hath eaten me up ; " the former part of which 
 verse the apostle quotes here. 
 
 4. For whatsoever things were written 
 aforetime — This refers to all the Old Testament 
 Scriptures. And, from what he says here of them, 
 we learn that God had not intended them merely 
 for those generations in which they were first de- 
 livered, but for the instruction of all the succeed- 
 ing generations of mankind. That we through 
 patience and comfort of the Scriptures — That 
 we, through those remarkable examples of " pa- 
 tience" exhibited by the saints and followers of 
 Cod, whose history is given in those Scriptures, 
 and the " comfort " which they derived from God 
 in their patient endurance of sufferings brought 
 upon them through their faithful attachment to 
 truth and righteousness, might have hope that 
 we shall be upheld and blessed as they were, and 
 our sufferings become the means of our greater 
 advances in faith and holiness, and consequently 
 our hope of eternal glory be the more confirmed. 
 
 5. Now the God of patience and consola- 
 tion — May that God who endued them with "pa- 
 tience," and gave them the "consolation" that 
 supported them in all their trials and afflictions, 
 grant you to be like-minded : give you the 
 same mode of thinking, and the same power of act- 
 ing toward each other, according t<> the example 
 of Christ. [The "patience," as well as the "com- 
 fort," is that which the Scriptures give; for the 
 apostle is here stating the purpose lor which the 
 God of patience and comfort (verse 5) caused the 
 Scriptures to be written. — Sp. ('<>>».] [Patience 
 of this nature will produce hope. (Chapter v, 3, 5.) 
 lie who perseveres in thus doing good, amid tin 1 
 evils which may come upon him, will be rewarded 
 with " a hope that maketh not ashamed." — SluartJ] 
 [Karu Xpioruv 'Ir/oovv, in accordance with the
 
 BWievers of all natii 
 
 acceptable to G 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 A. M. 4062. A. D. 58. 
 Vear of Rome, nil. 
 
 6 That ye may k with one mind and one mouth 
 glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Je- 
 sus Christ. 7 Wherefore ' receive ye one an- 
 other, '"as Christ also received us, to the glory 
 of God. 8 Now I say that "Jesus Christ was 
 a minister of the circumcision for the truth of 
 God, "to confirm the promises made unto the 
 fathers: 9 And rthat the Gentiles might glo- 
 
 i- Act" 4. 21, 32. 1 Chap. 14. 1, 3. m Chap. 5. 2. n Matt. 
 
 15. 24 ; John 1. 11 ; Acts 3. 25, 26 ; 13. 40. o Chap. 3. 3 ; 2 Cor. 
 
 spirit of Christ, or what the Christian religion re- 
 quires.] To avrb (ppovelv hv usJinXoLs, the thinking 
 the sant< thing among one another. [This cannot 
 exist if men's minds are not patient and consoled, 
 so that they do not allow themselves to be dis- 
 turbed by any thing adverse in the like effort 
 which must take place in their mutual fellowship. 
 Through identity of purpose and endeavour, there 
 exists in a Church "one heart and one mind." 
 (Acts iv, 32.)— Meyer.] 
 
 6. That ye— Jews and Gentiles. May with 
 one mind — Thinking the same things, and bearing 
 with each other, after the example of Christ. And 
 one mouth — In all that you speak, and in all your 
 religious assemblies, without jarring or contentions. 
 Glorify God — For calling you into such a state of 
 salvation, and showing himself to be your loving, 
 compassionate Father, as he is the Father of 
 our Lord Jesus Christ. It is very likely that 
 the apostle refers here to religious acts in public 
 worship, which might have been greatly interrupted 
 by the dissensions between the converted Jews 
 and the converted Gentiles. These differences he 
 labours to compose; and, after having done all 
 that was necessary in the way of instruction and 
 exhortation, he now pours out his soul to God, who 
 alone could rule and manage the heart, that he 
 would enable them to think the same things, to be 
 of the same judgment, and that all, feeling their 
 obligation to him, might join in the sweetest har- 
 mony in every act of religious worship. 
 
 7. Wherefore receive ye one another — 
 Upor7?.aui3uveade : have the most affectionate re- 
 gard for each other, and acknowledge each other 
 as the servants and children of God Almighty. As 
 Christ also received us — KaOuc nai 6 Xoiaroc 
 Trpoir'/jiJE-o rmuc: in the same manner, and with 
 the same cordial affection, as Christ has received 
 us into communion with himself, and has made us 
 partakers of such inestimable blessings, conde- 
 scending to be present in all our assemblies. And 
 as Christ has received us thus, to the glory of 
 God, so should we cordially receive each other, that 
 God's glory may be promoted by our harmony and 
 brotherly love. 
 
 8. Jesus Christ was a minister of the cir- 
 cumcision — [The 8th and 9th verses may be ren- 
 dered : For I saif that Christ hath been made a 
 minister of circumcision for Go'Ts truth, in order 
 that he might confirm the promises made unto the 
 fathers, and that the Gentiles might glorify God 
 for his mercy. — Sp. Com.] Our Lord confined his 
 ministry to the Jews, to confirm the truth of God 
 contained in the promises made unto the patri- 
 archs ; for God had declared that thus it should 
 be : and Jesus Christ, by coming according to the 
 promise, has fulfilled this truth, by making good 
 the promises. But this salvation was not exclu- 
 sively designed for the Jewish people, as God by 
 his prophets had repeatedly declared. 
 
 rify God for his mercy; as it is written, iFor 
 this cause I will confess to thee among the 
 Gentiles, and sing unto thy name. 10 And 
 again he saith, r Kcjoice, ye Gentiles, with his 
 people. 11 And again, s Praise the Lord, all 
 ye Gentiles ; and laud him, all ye people. 
 12 And again, Esaias saith, 'There shall be a 
 root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to reign 
 
 1.20. pjohn 10 10; chap. 9. 23. o Psa. 18. i'.K r Deut. 
 
 32. 43. s Psa. 117. 1. tlsd. 11. 1, 10; Hev. 5. 5; 22. 16. 
 
 9. And that the Gentiles might glorify God 
 for his mercy — As the Jews were to glorify 
 God for his truth, so the Gentiles were to " glorify 
 God for his mercy." The Jews received the bless- 
 ings of the Gospel by prom isc , which piomise God 
 had most abundantly and graciously fulfilled. The 
 Gentiles had received the same Gospel through 
 God's great mercy, for they, too, were originally 
 included in the covenant made with Abraham ; 
 and the prophets had repeatedly declared that 
 they should be made equal partakers of those 
 blessings with the Jews themselves ; as the apostle 
 proceeds to prove. I will confess to thee 
 among the Gentiles — This quotation (Psalm 
 xviii, 49) shows that the Gentiles had a right to 
 glorify God for his mercy to them. "But after 
 that the Israelites were led into captivity, then the 
 Gentiles began to have a rigid to glorify God." 
 Thus the Jews themselves confess that the Gentiles 
 have a right to glorify God ; and this on account 
 of being made partakers of his grace and mercy. 
 And if, says Schoettgen, we have a right to glorify 
 God, then it follows that our worship must be 
 ■pleasing to him ; and if it be pleasing to him, then 
 it follows that this worship must be good, other- 
 wise God could not be pleased with it. 
 
 Dr. Taylor thus paraphrases this and the three 
 following verses: As you Jews glorify God for his 
 truth, so the Gentiles have a right to join with you 
 in glorifying God for his mercy. And you have 
 Scripture authority for admitting them to such 
 fellowship; for instance, David says, (Psa. xviii, 
 49,) " Therefore will I give thanks unto thee, O 
 Lord, among the Gentiles, and sing praises unto 
 thy name." And again, Moses himself says, (Deut. 
 xxxii, 43,) " Bejoiee, O ye Gentiles, with his people." 
 And again, it is evident, from Psalm cxvii, that 
 praise to God is not to be confined to the Jews 
 only, but that all people, as they "// share in his 
 goodness, should also join in thanks to their com- 
 mon benefactor: "O praise the Lord, all ye na- 
 tions; (Gentiles:) praise him all ye people. For 
 his merciful kindness is great toward us : and 
 the truth of the Lord endureth forever." Again 
 the Prophet Isaiah expressly and clearly declares, 
 (chapter xi, 10,) Then shall /» " root of Jesse, 
 (that is, the Messiah,) and lie shall rist t<> reign 
 over tlw Gentiles, and in him shall tin- Gentiles 
 ho/je: kJiiriovatv. And thus the apostle proves, 
 both to the Jews and to the Gentiles, who were 
 probably unwilling to join with each other in re- 
 ligious fellowship, that they had both an equal 
 right to glorify God, being equally interested in 
 his mercy, goodness, and truth ; ami that, from the 
 evidence of the above Scriptures, the Gentiles had 
 as much right to hope in Christ for the full enjoy- 
 ment of his kingdom as the Jews had : and, 
 taking occasion from the last word, hope, fATiiov- 
 aiv, (which we improperly translate trust,) he pours 
 out his heart in the following affectionate prayer. 
 
 87
 
 ROMANS. 
 
 a Mi. ir i 
 
 .i,.,, 
 
 over the Gentiles; in him shall the Gentiles 
 trust. 13 Now the God of hope till you 
 with nil "joy and peace in believing, thai ye 
 may abound in hope, through the power of 
 the Holy Ghost. II And v I myself also 
 am persuaded of yon. my brethren, thai 
 ye also arc full of goodness, "filled with 
 all knowledge, able also to admonish one an- 
 other. !»■» Nevertheless, brethren, I have 
 written the more boldly unto you in some sort, 
 as putting you in mind, "because of Che grace 
 that is gn en to me of < tod, 10 That > I should 
 be the minister of Jesus < 'hrist to the Gentiles, 
 
 w Chapter 12. 12; 14. 17. ;'2 Pet. 1. 12; 1 John 2. 21. 
 
 a : I or 5. 1, 7. 10. - x Chap. 1. 5 : 12. 3: Gal. 1. 15; Eph. 3. 7, 8. 
 i. LI. 13; Gal. 2. 7. 6, 9; I Tim. 2. 7: 2 Tim. 1. 11. 
 
 13. Now the God of hope, etc. — 'O <5e 0f<V 
 rr/c £/~ii)iK_\ una/ the God of this hope — that God 
 who caused both Jews and Gentiles to " hope " that 
 the gracious promises whieh he made to them 
 should be fulfilled; and who, accordingly, has ful- 
 filled them in the most punctual and circumstantial 
 manner. Fill you with all joy — Give you true 
 spiritual happiness ; peace in your own hearts, and 
 unity among yourselves. In believing — Not only 
 the promises which he has given you, but believing 
 in Christ Jesus, in whom all the promises arc yea 
 and amen. That ye may abound in hope — 
 Thai ye may be excited to take more enlarged 
 views of the salvation which God has provided for 
 you, and have all your expectations fulfilled by 
 the power of the Holy Ghost, enabling you to 
 hope and believe, and then sealing the fulfilment 
 ot' the promises upon your hearts. 
 
 1 1. And I . . . am persuaded of you — This 
 is evidently an address to the "strong," (verse 1.) 
 Paul seems to apologize for the freedom he had used 
 in writing to them; which he gives them to under- 
 pin 1 proceeded from the authority he had received 
 by his apostolical office. Ye .... are full of 
 goodness — ' iyaduovvne. [Complimentary, though 
 quite sincere. Von are an excellent people, well 
 instructed, able to teach and direct one another in 
 your Christian life. | 
 
 15. Nevertheless ... I have written — 
 Notwith _ I have this conviction of your ex- 
 tensive knowledge in the things of God, I have 
 made bold to write to you in some sort, (tnrb fit- 
 povg, in n party among you, as some learned men 
 translate the words,) who stand more in need of 
 Buch instructions than the others; and I do this 
 because of the grace. 6iu ti/v xapiv, because of 
 the offia (endowment) which 1 have received from 
 
 God, na iy. to be the apostle of the Gentiles. 
 
 This authority gave him full right to say, advise, or 
 enjoin any thing of importance to their spiritual 
 interests. This subject he pursues further in the 
 following \ 
 
 16. Ministering the gospel of God — 'Upovp- 
 yovvTa., acting as a priest. Here is a plain allu- 
 sion, says Dr. Whitby, to the Jewish sacrifices of- 
 fered le the priest, and sanctified, or made accept- 
 able, by the libamen offered with them; for he 
 compare-' himself, in preaching the Gospel, \<> the 
 priest performing his sacred functions — preparing 
 his sacrifice to be offered. ['Eflvfiv unaaToXoi is 
 literally and grammatically, equivalent to"] am" 
 the aposth of the G( utiles, (not to the Gentiles, which 
 would require the dative, iQvioiv; 1 think, too, thai 
 it better preserves the sense of the original. J The 
 
 88 
 
 ministering the gospel of God, thai the z, of- 
 fering up of the Gentiles mighl be acceptable, 
 being sanctified by the Holy Ghost. 17 I have 
 therefore whereof 1 may glory through Jesus 
 Chrisl ' in those things which pertain to God. 
 B* For I will not dare to speak of any of those 
 tilings ■ which Christ hath not wrought 1>\ me, 
 'to make the Gentiles obedient, by word and 
 deed, 19 e Through mighty signs and won- 
 ders, by the power of the Spirh of God; so 
 that from Jerusalem, and round aboul unto 
 Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospej of 
 Christ. 20 Yea, so have 1 strived to preach 
 
 z Or, sacrificing. — alsn.66. 20; Phil. 2. 17. ft I Id. 6.1. 
 
 — e Acts 21. 19; Gal. 2. b. — d Chapter I. a; 16. 20. e Acts 
 
 19. 11: 2 Cor. 12. 12. 
 
 Gentiles, converted by him and dedicated to the ser- 
 vice of God, are his sacrifices and oblation. The 
 Holy Spirit \< the libamen poured upon ihi> sacri- 
 fice, by which it was sanctified and rendered ac- 
 ceptable to God. The words ol Isaiah, (lxvi, 20,) 
 "And they shall bring all your brethren for an of- 
 ering unto the Lord out of all nations," may have 
 suggested the idea to the mind of the apostle. 
 
 17. I have therefore whereof I may glory 
 — Being sent of God on this most honourable and 
 important errand, I have matter of exultation, not 
 only in the honour whieh he has conferred upon 
 me, but in the great success with which he has 
 crow ned my ministry. 
 
 is. For I will not dare (presume) to speak 
 — If the thing were not as I have stated it, I would 
 not dare to arrogate to myself honours which did 
 not belong to me. But God has made me the apos- 
 tle of the Gentiles ; and the conversion of the Gen- 
 tiles is the fruit of my ministry, Christ having 
 wrought by me for this purpose. By word 
 and deed — Aoyu i.ai epyuj, by the doctrines taught 
 and the miracles wrought among them So they 
 became obedient to the doctrines, on the evidence 
 of the miracles with which they were accompanied. 
 
 lit. Through mighty signs and -wonders — 
 This more fully explains the preceding clause: 
 through the power of the Holy Ghost he was en- 
 abled to work among the Gentiles "mighty signs 
 and wonders;'' so that they were fully convinced 
 that both his doctrine and mission were divine; 
 and therefore they were constrained to receive the 
 Gospel of the Lord Jesus. Round atout unto 
 Illyricum — Illyria, or Illyris, a country of Europe 
 extending from the Adriatic Gulf to Pannonia: ac- 
 cording to Pliny, it extended from the river Arsia 
 to the river Drinius, thus including Liburnia on the 
 west and Dalmatia on the east. When the apostle 
 says that he preached the Gospel from Jerusalem 
 "round about unto Illyricum." he intends his land 
 journeys chiefly. From Jerusalem the apostle went 
 ■• round " the eastern coasl of the Mediterranean Sea, 
 and passed through Syria, Phenicia, Arabia, Cilicia, 
 Paraphylia, Pisidia, Lycaonia, Galatia, Pontus, 
 Paphlagonia, Phrygia, Troas, Asia, ('aria, Lycia, 
 Ionia, Lydia, Thrace, .Macedonia, Thessaly, and 
 Achaia; besides the isles of Cyprus and Crete. 
 And no doubt he visited many other places which 
 are nol mentioned in the New Testament. I 
 have fully preached the gospel — Ueir?,7jpuKt- 
 via to rvayyt/.iov, I have successfully preached — I 
 have not only proclaimed the word, but made eon- 
 verts and founded ( 'Inn ches. 
 
 20. So have I strived to preach the gospel
 
 He expresses to the 
 expectation to 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 A. M. 4062. A. n. 58 
 Fear of Rome, 811. 
 
 the gospel; not where Christ was named, f lest 
 I should build upon another man's foundation : 
 21 But as it is written, & To whom lie was 
 
 not spoken of, they shall see: and they that 
 have not heard shall understand. 22 For 
 which cause also h I have been 'much hindered 
 from coining to you. 23 But now having no 
 more place in these parts, and k having a great 
 desire these many years to come unto you; 
 21 Whensoever I take my journey into Spain, 
 1 will come to you : for I trust to see you in 
 my journey, ' and to be brought on my way 
 
 fiCov. 10. 13, 15. 16. g Isa. 52. 15. h Ch. 1. 13; 1 Thess. 
 
 2. 17. 1*. — i Or. many ways.or, oftentimes. — k Acts 19. 21 ; 
 chip. 1. U; verse 32. /Acts 15. 3. 
 
 — Obruc 6e <pUMtLij.rivu.Evnv. For I have considered it 
 my honour to preach the Gospel where that Gospel 
 was before unknown. As I am not ashamed of the 
 Gospel of Christ, so I esteem it an honour to preach 
 it, and especially to proclaim it among the heathen ; 
 not building on another man's foundation — not 
 watering what another apostle had planted; but 
 cheerfully exposing myself to all kinds of dangers 
 and hardships, in order to found new Churches 
 
 21. But as it is written — (Isa. lii, 15.) The 
 apostle applies these words to his own conduct; 
 not that the words themselves predicted what Paul 
 had done, but that he endeavoured to fulfil such a 
 declaration by his manner of preaching the Gospel 
 to the heathen. 
 
 22. For which cause, etc. — [In consequence 
 of there being still so many Gentile nations in the 
 countries adjacent to him, the apostle could not as 
 yet gratify the fond wish he entertained of visiting 
 the Church at Rome, and which he had also ex- 
 pressed. (Chapter i, 10.) — Tholuck.] 
 
 23. Bat . . . having no more place in these 
 parts — Having nothing further at present that I 
 can do — for rorrov £x £ w nm y signify to have con- 
 venience, opportunity — having no large place or 
 city where Christianity has not yet been planted, in 
 which I can introduce the Gospel. The apostle 
 was then at Corinth; and having evangelized all 
 those parts, he had no further opportunity of 
 breaking up any new ground. 
 
 24. Whensoever I take my journey into 
 Spain — Where, it is very likely, the Gospel had not 
 yet been planted ; though legendary tales inform 
 us that St. James had planted the Gospel there long 
 before this time, and had founded many bishoprics ! 
 But this is as unfounded as it is ridiculous and ab- 
 surd ; for nothing like what is now termed a bish- 
 opric, nor even a parish, was founded for many 
 years after this. An itinerant preacher might, 
 with more propriety, say travelling circuits were 
 formed, rather than bishoprics. Whether the 
 apostle ever fulfilled his design of going to Spain 
 is unknown; but there is no evidence whatever 
 that lie did, and the presumption is, that he did not 
 undertake the voyage. Antiquity affords no proof 
 that lie fulfilled his intention. [It is sufficiently 
 ascertained that Paul's first coming to Rome was 
 not voluntary, as a stage in his journey to Spain, 
 but as a prisoner. If, therefore, he ever visited 
 that country, it was after the imprisonment spoken 
 of in the last chapter of the Acts, all of which is 
 a much-disputed question, having such authorities 
 as Neander and Davidson on its opposite side-.] I 
 will come to you — 'EAevoouat irpiic fifing. These 
 words are wanting in almost every MS. of note, and 
 if the first clause of this verse be read in connexion 
 
 thitherward by you, if first I be somewhat 
 filled '"with your company. 25 But now "I 
 go unto Jerusalem to minister unto the saints. 
 26 For it hath pleased them of Macedonia 
 and Aehuia to make a certain contribution for 
 the poor saints which are at Jerusalem. 27 It 
 hath pleased them verily; and their debtors 
 they are. For p if the Gentiles have been made 
 partakers of their spiritual things, 4 their duty 
 is also to minister unto them in carnal things. 
 28 When therefore I have performed this, and 
 have sealed to them r this fruit, I will come by. 
 
 vi Or. villi ye//, verse 32. n Acts 19. 21 ; 20. 22; 24. 17. 
 
 el Cor. lii. 1,2: 2 Cor. 8. 1 ; 9. 2, 12. p Ch. 11. 17. q\ Cor. 
 
 9. 11 ; Gal. 6 6. rPhil. A. 17. 
 
 with the latter clause of the preceding, it will 
 fully appear that this clause is useless. Some- 
 what filled with your company — 'EutrXijcrdu, 
 satisfied ; for 'ffinATjadf/vat signifies to be satisfied, 
 to be gratified, and to enjoy. [' Atrb fiipovg, some- 
 what, in some degree, not satiated, but gratefully 
 refreshed, so as to be able to again leave them with 
 joy in order to prosecute his apostolical mission in 
 other parts.] The apostle, though he had not the 
 honour of having planted the Church at Rome, yet 
 expected much gratification from the visit which he 
 intended to pay them. 
 
 25. Now I go unto Jerusalem — From this 
 and the two following verses we learn that the ob- 
 ject of his journey to Jerusalem was to carry a 
 contribution made among the Gentile Christians of 
 Macedonia and Achaia for the relief of the poor 
 Jewish Christians at Jerusalem. For this service 
 he had taken great pains. See 1 Cor. xvi, f-4 ; 
 2 Cor. viii and ix. His design in this affair is very 
 evident, (see 2 Cor. ix, 12, 13,) for he says : " The 
 administration of this service not only supplieth 
 the want of the saints, but is abundant also by 
 many thanksgivings unto Cod; while, by the ex- 
 periment of this ministration, they glorify God for 
 your professed subjection unto the Gospel of 
 Christ, and for your liberal distribution unto them 
 and unto all men." The apostle hoped that this 
 liberal contribution, sent by the Gentile Christians 
 who had been converted by St. Paul's ministry, 
 would engage the affections of the Jewish Christ- 
 ians, who had been much prejudiced against the re- 
 ception of the Gentiles into the Church without being 
 previously obliged to submit to the yoke of the law. 
 He wished to establish a coalition between the con- 
 verted Jews and Gentiles, being sensible of its great 
 importance to the spread of the Gospel ; and his 
 procuring this contribution was a laudable device 
 to accomplish this good end. And this shows why 
 he so earnestly requests the prayers of the Christ- 
 ians at Rome, that, his service which he had for 
 Jerusalem might be accepted id' the saints. 
 
 26. Macedonia and Achaia — [These were the 
 names of the two provinces into which the Romans 
 divided all of Greece.] 
 
 27. For if the Gentiles have been made 
 partakers, etc. — It was through and by means of 
 the Jews that the Gentiles were brought to the 
 knowledge of God ami the Gospel of Christ. These 
 were the spiritual things which they had re- 
 ceived; and the pecuniary contribution was the 
 carnal things which the Gentiles were now re- 
 turning. (1 Cor i\, 11.) 
 
 28. When therefore I have performed this, 
 and have sealed — Faithfully delivered up to 
 them this fruit of the success of my ministry and 
 
 89
 
 ROMANS. 
 
 The »po«tle sollcita in hi* behalf 
 the praj urs ol the Church. 
 
 you into Spain. 29 'And I am sure that, 
 when I come unto you, I shall conic in the 
 fulness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ. 
 :$(» Now I beseech yon, brethren, for the Lord 
 Jesus Christ's sake, and 'for the love of ihe 
 Spirit, u tha1 ye strive together with me in 
 your prayers to God for me; :S1 'That I may 
 livered from them that w do not believe 
 inJudea; and thai 'my service which / have 
 for Jerusalem may be accepted of the saints; 
 
 8Ch 1.11 t Pliil.2.1. »2Cor. in :Co1.4.12 - »2Thess. 
 3.2. — obedient r20or.8 t — vCb.l.JO. 
 
 z \ I or. I. I!': James 4. 15. n 1 Cor. 16. 18; 
 
 of your conversion to God, I •will come by you 
 into Spain. This was in his desire; he had fully 
 purposed it, if God should see meet to permit him. 
 (See on verse 24.) 
 
 29. In the fulness of the blessing of the 
 gospel of Christ — The words rov tvayyeMov tov, 
 of tkt Gospel, arc wanting in almost every MS. of 
 importance. There is no doubt they should be 
 omitted. Paul hoped to come to them endued with 
 the gifts and graces of the Lord Jesus himself, 
 of which he was now a minister (Siukovoc, Eph. 
 iii, 7 i in the hand of God to dispense among those 
 who were converted to the Christian faith. 
 
 30. For the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, and 
 for the love of the Spirit — [Aiu, rendered in the 
 first place, for the sake of, and in the second, for, 
 has precisely the same sense in both cases; the 
 two things named are both alike, impelling motives 
 to spiritual devotion and effort.] That ye strive 
 together — livvayuviaaidai, that ye agonize wi/Ji 
 me. He felt that much depended on the success of 
 his present mission to the Christians at Jerusalem, 
 and their acceptance of the charitable contribution 
 which he was bringing with him, to conciliate them 
 to their Gentile brethren. 
 
 31. That I may be delivered from them 
 that do not believe — He knew that his country- 
 men, who had not received the Gospel, lay in wait 
 for his life; and, no doubt, they thought they 
 should do Cod service by destroying him, not only 
 as an apostate, in their apprehension, from the 
 Jewish religion, but as one who was labouring to 
 subvert and entirely destroy ii. And that my 
 service — Ataanvia ; the contribution which he 
 was carrying to the poor saints at Jerusalem. [The 
 exceeding hatred in which the apostle was held by 
 the Jews, (with which not a few of the believers 
 largely participated, see Acts xxi, 20, etc.,) and 
 their want of fellowfeeling with the Gentile 
 churches, made him fear lest even the ministration 
 with which he was charged might not prove accept- 
 able tn them. — Alford.~\ [A fear that was justi- 
 fied by subsequent Facts.] 
 
 32. That I may come unto you with joy 
 — That his apprehensions of ill usage were not 
 groundless, and the danger to which his life was ex- 
 posed w as real, we have already seen in the account 
 given of this visit in Acts xxi, xxii, xxiii, and 
 xxiv ; and also that he had such intimations from 
 the Holy Spirit. (Acts sx, 'J:; ; x\, 38 ; and xxi, 11.) 
 Should his journey to Jerusalem lie prosperous, and 
 his service accepted, so thai the converted .lews 
 and Gentiles should come to a better understand- 
 ing, he hoped to see them at Rome with -real 
 "joy;" and if his wishes should be gratified 
 through their prayers, it would be viewed as accord- 
 ing to the will of God. [That we may mutually 
 refresh ourselves — 1, after my dangers and deliver- 
 
 90 
 
 :S2 'Thai I may come unto yon with joy »by 
 the will of God, and may with you be 're- 
 freshed. 55:5 Now 'the (.oil of peace he with 
 you all. Amen. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 I COMMEND unto you Phebe our sister. 
 which is a servant of the church which i.s 
 at ' Cenchrea: 2 ''That ye receive her in the 
 
 Lord, as becometh saints, and that ye assist 
 
 JCor.7. 13; 'J Tim. l. 16; Philem. 7.20. &Ch. Ifi. 20; I Cor. 
 II. 33; -l Cor. 1:;. II : Phil. 1. a: l Thess. 5. 23; 2Thess. 3. 16; 
 Ileb. 13. 20. cActs I-. Is ./ Phil. J. 29; 3 John o, S. 
 
 ance ; you, after your anxieties for me. — Afford.] 
 | An evident intimation of Paul's longing for some 
 respite from his protracted controversies and 
 strifes.] 
 
 33. The God of peace be with you — [The 
 usual apostolic benediction.] The word Amen, at 
 the end, does not appear to have been written by 
 the apostle ; it is wanting in nearly all the most 
 ancient MSS. 
 
 NOTES OX CHAPTEE XVI. 
 [There seems to be no sufficient ground for deny- 
 ing (as some have done) thai this concluding chap- 
 ter was written by the apostle, or belongs to the 
 epistle. The great number of the salutations is 
 certainly striking when it is considered that Paul 
 had not yet been at Rome, As, however, this city 
 formed the central point of the then world, where 
 people from all countries met, and from which jour- 
 neys were taken into all parts of the vasl Roman em- 
 pire, it is intelligible that Paul may even in it have 
 had a particularly numerous acquaintance. And, 
 moreover, it is nowise necessary to suppose that Paul 
 knew them all personally ; he had doubtless heard 
 of many of the Roman Christians through Aquila 
 and Priscilla, and now greets them as acquaintances 
 known, not in person, but in spirit. — Olshausen.] 
 [Many of them may have been his own converts, 
 made such in Asia .Minor and Greece, who after- 
 ward became residents at Rome.] 
 
 1. I commend unto you Phebe — "Phebe" 
 
 is here termed a servant, diuKovov, a deaconess, of 
 the church ... at Cenchrea. There were deacon- 
 esses in the primitive Church, whose business it was 
 to attend the female converts at baptism; to in- 
 struct the catechumens, or persons who were can- 
 didates for baptism; to visit the sick and those 
 who were in prison ; and, in short, perform those 
 religious offices for the female part of tin- Church 
 which could not with propriety be performed by 
 men. They were chosen in general out of the most 
 experienced of the Church, and were ordinarily 
 widows who had borne children. Some .incicnl con- 
 stitutions required them to lie forty, others fifty, 
 and others sixty, years of age. The) were in later 
 times ordained to their office by the imposition of the 
 hands of the bishop ; and the form of prayer used 
 on the occasion is extant in the (so-called) Apos- 
 tolic Constitutions. In the tenth or eleventh cen- 
 tury the order became extinci in the Latin Church, 
 but continued in the 'beck Church till the end of 
 the twelfth century. " Cenchrea " was a seaport 
 on the cast side of the isthmus which joined the 
 Morea to Greece, as the Lechseum was the seaport 
 on the west side of the same isthmus. These were 
 the only two havens and towns of any note, next to 
 Corinth, that belonged to this territory. As the
 
 The apostle I 
 
 lids salutation to 
 ;ons at Home. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 A M. 4062. A. D. 58. 
 
 Year of Rome, 811. 
 
 lier in whatsoever business she hath need of 
 you : for she hath been a succourer of many, 
 and of myself also. 3 Greet c Priscilla and 
 Aquila, my helpers in Christ Jesus: 4 "Who 
 havefor my life laid down their own necks : unto 
 whom not only I give thanks, but also all the 
 churches of the Gentiles. 5 Likewise greet 
 the d church that is in their house. Salute my 
 well beloved Epenetus, who is e the tirstfruits 
 of Achaia unto Christ. 6 Greet Mary, who 
 bestowed much labour on us. 7 Salute An- 
 dronicus and Junia, my kinsmen, and my fel- 
 
 c Acts 18. 2, 18, 26 ; 2 Tim. 4. 111. d\ Cor. 16. 19; Col. i. 15; 
 
 Philem.2. 
 
 Lechauim opened the road to the Ionian Sea, so 
 Cenchrea opened the road to the JGgean ; and both 
 were so advantageously situated for commerce that 
 they were very rich. These two places are now 
 usually denominated the Gulf of Lepanto, and the 
 Gulf of Ingia or Egina. It was on the isthmus be- 
 tween these two ports, which was about six miles 
 wide, that the Isthmian games were celebrated, to 
 which St. Paul makes such frequent allusions. 
 
 2. Succourer of many — UpoaTaric, patroness, 
 curatrix. One who probably entertained the apos- 
 tles and preachers who came to minister at Cen- 
 chrea, and who was remarkable for entertaining 
 strangers. (Chapter xii, S.) 
 
 3. Greet Priscilla and Aquila — This pious 
 couple had been obliged to leave Rome, on account 
 of the edict of Claudius, (Acts xviii, 2,) and take 
 refuge in Greece. Probably they returned to Rome 
 on the c >ath of Claudius, or whenever the decree 
 was annulled. It seems they had greatly contrib- 
 uted to assist the apostle in his important labours. 
 Instead of " Priscilla," the principal MSS. and Ver- 
 sions have Prisca. 
 
 4. Who have for my life laid down their 
 own necks — What transaction this refers to is not 
 known ; but it appears that these persons had, on 
 some occasion, (possibly at the riot in Ephesus,) 
 risked their own lives to save that of the apostle. 
 
 5. The church that is in their house — In 
 these primitive times no such places existed as 
 those which we now term churches ; the word al- 
 ways signifying the congregation or assembly of 
 believers, and not the place they assembled in. [It 
 seems to have been the practice of Aquila and Pris- 
 cilla, and some others, to hold assemblies for wor- 
 ship in their houses, which were saluted and sent 
 salutations as one body in the Lord. — Alford.] 
 Epenetus . . . the firstfruits of Achaia — In 
 1 Cor. xvi, 15, the house or family of Stephanas is 
 said to be the firstfruits of Achaia. Epenetus may 
 have been one of the family of Stephanas. [The 
 reading, Ttjg 'Acr/ac, now generally accepted, entirely 
 obviates the apparent difficulty.] 
 
 6. Greet Mary, who bestowed much labour 
 on us — As to who this " Mary " was, or what the 
 "labour" was which she bestowed upon the apos- 
 tles, nothing is known. [None of the names occur- 
 ring from verse 5 to 15, are mentioned elsewhere, 
 except possibly Rufus. (Verse 12.) — Alford.~\ 
 
 7. Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen — 
 'Evyyei'Eig, relatives; probably they were husband 
 and wife. Possibly St. Paul means no more than 
 that they were Jews ; for he calls all the Jews his 
 kinsmen according to the flesh. (Chapter ix, 3.) My 
 fellow prisoners — As Paul was in prison often, it 
 is likely that these persons shared this honour with 
 
 low prisoners, who are of note among the 
 apostles, who also, f were in Christ before me. 
 
 8 Greet Amplias, my beloved in the Lord. 
 
 9 Salute Urbane, our helper in Christ, and Sta- 
 chys my beloved. 10 Salute Apelles ap- 
 proved in Christ. Salute them which are of 
 Aristobulus's ° household. 1J Salute Ilerodion 
 my kinsman. Greet them that be of the 
 h household of Narcissus, which are in the 
 Lord. 12 Salute Tryphena and Tryphosa, 
 who labour in the Lord. Salute the beloved 
 Persis, which laboured much in the Lord. 
 
 el Corinthians 16. 15. — /Oalatians 1. 22.- 
 /tOr, friends. 
 
 -Q Or, friends.- 
 
 him on some occasion, which is not distinctly 
 marked. Of note among the apostles — 'Emon- 
 fioi, well known, or of good repute. They were not 
 only well known to St. Paul, but also to others of 
 the apostles. In Christ before me — That is, 
 they were converted to Christianity before Paul 
 was ; perhaps at the day of pentecost. 
 
 8. Amplias, my beloved in the Lord — One 
 who is my particular friend, and also a genuine 
 Christian. 
 
 9. Urbane, our helper — A fellow labourer with 
 the apostles, named only here. Stachys my be- 
 loved — One of my particular friends. 
 
 10. Apelles approved in Christ — Some sup- 
 pose that "Apelles" was the same with Apollos : 
 whoever he was, he had given every demonstration 
 of being a genuine Christian. Of Aristobulus's 
 household — It is doubted whether this person was 
 converted, as the apostle does not salute him, but 
 his " household ;" or, as the margin reads, his 
 friends. He might have been a Roman of consid- 
 erable distinction, who, though not converted him- 
 self, had Christians among his servants or his 
 slaves. It is likely that he was dead at this time, 
 and therefore those of his household only are re- 
 ferred to by the apostle. 
 
 1 1 . Herodion my kinsman — Probably another 
 converted Jew. See on verse 7. Of the house- 
 hold of Narcissus — Probably dead also, as we 
 have supposed Aristobulus to have been at this 
 time. Which are in the Lord — This might in- 
 timate that some of this family were not Christ- 
 ians ; those only of that family that were con- 
 verted to the Lord being saluted. There was a per- 
 son of the name of Narcissus, a freedman of the 
 Emperor Claudius, mentioned by Suetonius in his 
 life of that prince, (cap. 87,) and by Tacitus, (An., lib. 
 xii, cap. 57 ;) but there is no sufficient reason to sup- 
 pose that this was the person designed by St. Paul. 
 
 12. Tryphena and Tryphosa — Two holy wom- 
 en who, it seems, were assistants to the apostle in 
 his work, probably by exhorting, visiting the sick, 
 etc. Persis was another woman, who, it seems, 
 excelled the preceding ; for of her it is said, she 
 laboured much in the Lord. We learn from 
 this that Christian women, as well as men, laboured 
 in the ministry of the word. In those times of sim- 
 plicity all persons, whether men or women, who had 
 received the knowledge of the truth, believed it to 
 be their duty to propagate it to the uttermost of 
 their power. [As much of the preaching of those 
 times consisted of informal conversations and dia- 
 logues, no doubt women often " preached."] There 
 is, however, much more than this implied in the 
 Christian ministry, of which men only, and men 
 called of God, are capable. 
 
 91
 
 A. M. 4 P. A 
 
 ROMANS. 
 
 1:8 Salute Rufus, 'chosen in the Lord, and his 
 mother and mine. 19 Salute A.syncritus, 
 Phlegon, Hermas, Patrobas, Hermes, and the 
 brethren which are with them. Io Salute 
 Philologus, and Julia, Nereus, and his sister, 
 and Olympas, and all the saints which are 
 with them. 10 k Salute one another with a 
 
 holy kiss. The churches of Christ salute 
 
 you. 17 Now I beseech you, brethren, mark 
 them ] which cause divisions and offences con- 
 trary to the doctrine which ye have learned; 
 
 ?•' John 1 
 
 ' i ■ i r 
 
 lh 
 
 n 
 
 •> 
 
 Oor, 
 
 13. 
 
 12; 1 
 
 Thesa 
 
 5. 26; 
 
 
 I Acts 15. 1 
 
 5, 
 
 24: 
 
 1 
 
 im. 6 
 
 .;. 
 
 — m 
 
 1 Cor. 5. '■'. 11 : 
 
 : 
 
 11:2 Tim. : 
 
 :, 
 
 : Titus 
 
 
 ; - 
 
 John 
 
 10. 
 
 n 1'ini. 
 
 ;;. i:<: i Tim. 
 
 6. 5. o C( 
 
 I. ' 
 
 . 4 
 
 - 
 
 rim. 
 
 ;. i 
 
 : Titus 1. ltl 
 
 2 P( t 
 
 13. Rufus chosen in the Lord — Ti.iv (K?.tKTbv, 
 one of great excellence in Christianity; a choice 
 man So the woi ■ often signifies. (Psa. 
 lxxviii, Ml ; Gen. xxiii, 6; Dent, xii, 11 ; Judges xx, 
 16.) By the same use of the word, the companions 
 
 ..i Paul and Barnabas are ten I chosen men, ekXe- 
 
 j-autvovc tivApag, persons in whom the Church of 
 God could confide. [Rufus may have been the son 
 of Simon of Cyrene. (Mark xv, 21.) The fact that 
 in Mark, who probably wrote in Rome, the man is 
 assumed to be well known, would agree with the 
 (apostle's) eulogy. — Meyer.] Hismother and mine 
 ■ — Most likely not naturally; but while she may 
 have been the natural mother of the former, she 
 acted as a mother to the latter. 
 
 14. Salute Asyncritus, etc. — Hermes was per- 
 haps the same to whom a work called the Shepherd 
 is attributed ; a work with this title is still extant, 
 and may be found among the writings of the apos- 
 tolical Fathers. But it is in vain to look for iden- 
 tity of persons in similarity of names; for among 
 the Greeks and Romans at this time there were 
 many persons who bore each of the names men- 
 tioned in this chapter. 
 
 15. Salute Philologus, etc. — Of these several 
 persons, though much has been conjectured, noth- 
 ing certain is known. Even the names of some are 
 so ambiguous that we know not whether they were 
 men or women. They were persons known to 
 St. Paul, and some of them may have gone from 
 different places where he had preached to sojourn 
 or settle at Home. ,\s Peter is not even named or 
 referred to among these salutations, it is evident 
 that he was not then in Rome, and also that he had 
 never been very closely related to the Church in 
 that city. If he was ever there, of which there is 
 no clear proof, it must have been subsequent to the 
 writing of this epistle. 
 
 1 6. Salute one another with a holy kiss — In 
 those times the" kiss," as a token of peace, friend- 
 ship, and brotherly love, was frequent among till 
 people ; and the Christians used it in their public 
 
 nblies, as well as in their occasional meetings. 
 This was at last laid aside, not because it was 
 i, but because the Church becoming very nu- 
 merous, the thing was impossible. In some conn- 
 trie- the kiss of friendship is still common; and in 
 such countries it is scarcely ever abused, nor is it 
 an incentive to evil, because it is customary and 
 common. Shaking of hands is now substituted for 
 it in almost all Christian congregations. The 
 churches of Christ salute you — The word 
 iruaai, all, is to be added here. St. Paul musl 
 mean, here, that all the Churches in Greece and 
 Asia, through which he had passed, in which the 
 faith of the Christians at Rome was known, spoke 
 
 92 
 
 and "avoid them. 1* For they that are such 
 serve nol our Lord Jesus Christ, bul "their 
 own belly; and "by good words and fair 
 speeches deceive the hearts of the simple. 
 
 19 For pyour obedience is come abroad unto 
 
 all men. I am glad therefore on j ■ behalf: 
 
 but yet I would have you ''wise unto that 
 which is good, and r simple concerning evil. 
 
 20 And 'the God of peace 'shall "bruisi 
 
 tan under your feel .shortly. "The grace of 
 our Lord Jesus ( ihrisi be \\ it 1 1 you. Amen. 
 
 -i< Chap. I. s. -g Matt. 10. 16; 1 *'«r. II, 20 • Or, 
 V-.v. — k Chap. 15. 33. t Gi earl 
 
 2. 3. 
 
 harmle . 
 
 »Verse24;1 Cor. 1H 23; 2 Cor. 13. 14; Phil. i. 23; 1 Tliess. 
 
 5.28:2 Thess. 3. 18 . Rev. 22. 21. 
 
 of them affectionatel) and honourably ; and prob- 
 ably knowing the apostle's design of visiting home, 
 some may have desired to be kindly remembered to 
 
 the Church in that city. 
 
 1*7. Mark them 'which cause divisions — Sev- 
 eral MSS. read aripa'/.ug gkottfitf, look sharply after 
 llit in ; let tin iii have no kiss ,,f charity nor peace, 
 because they strive to make divisions, and thus set 
 the flock of Christ at variance among themselves ; 
 and from these "divisions," offences (oicuvo'aA.a, 
 scandals) are produced ; and this i.- contrary to 
 the doctrine of peace, unity, and brotherly love, 
 which ye have learned. Look sharply after 
 such that they do you no evil, and avoid them — 
 give them no countenance, and have no religious 
 fellowship with them. [Some think the Judaizers 
 to Vie meant, not absolutely within the pale, hut en- 
 deavouring to sow dissension in it. Others think 
 that Paul only meant to give warning, in ens, such 
 persons came to Rome; judging by tin text itself,we 
 infer that these teachers were similar to those 
 pointed out elsewhere, (see Phil, iii, '_', 18; 1 Tim, 
 vi. :; ; 'J Cor. xi, 13, 20;) unprincipled and selfish 
 /a rsons, seducing others for their own gain. — Al- 
 fonl.\ 
 
 18. They . . . serve not our Lord Jesus — 
 They profess to he apostles. Put they tire not apos- 
 tles of Christ; they neither do his will nor preach 
 his doctrine: they "serve" their own belly — 
 they have intruded themselves into the Church of 
 Christ for worldly gain ; and by sowing the seeds 
 of dissension, by means of doubtful disputations, 
 and the propagation of scandals; by glaring and 
 insinuating speeches ^pT/oroXoy/af, they tend Christ- 
 ian congregations, form a party for themselves, 
 and thus live on the spoils of the Chinch of Cod. 
 
 19. For your obedience is come abroad — 
 [' A.61KET0, has become known to all.] The apostle 
 gives this as a reason why they should continue to 
 hear and heed those w ho had led them into the path 
 of truth, and avoid those false teachers whose doc- 
 ilities tended to the subversion of their souls. Yet 
 I would have you wise — [Simple, unrpaiovc, 
 without guilt, blameless.] I would wish you care- 
 fully to discern the good from the e\ il, and to show 
 your wisdom by carefully avoiding the one and 
 cleaving to the other. 
 
 20. The God of peace— Who neither sends 
 nor favours such disturbers of the tranquillity of his 
 Church. Shall bruise Satan — Shall give you the 
 dominion over the great adversary of your souls, 
 and over till his agents, who, through his influence, 
 endeavour to destroj youi peace and subvert your 
 minds. Several critics suppose that the word 
 ''Satan " is a sort of collective term here, 1>\ which 
 all opposers and adversaries tire meant ; and es-
 
 Conclusion find postsi 
 the epistle. 
 
 •iptof 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 A. M. 4H65. A. r>. 58. 
 Yenr jf Rome, 811. 
 
 21 "Tiinotheus my workfellow, and "Lucius, 
 and i Jason, and * Sosipater, my kinsmen, sa- 
 lute you. 22 1 Tertius, who wrote this epis- 
 tle, salute you in the Lord. 23 a Gains mine 
 host, and of the whole church, saluteth you. 
 'Erastus the chamberlain of the city saluteth 
 you, and Quartus a brother. 24 c The grace of 
 our Lord Jesus Christ he with you all. Amen. 
 
 >r \<-t< 16. 
 
 1 
 
 ; Phil. 
 
 o 
 
 10; 
 
 Col. 
 
 1. 
 
 1 ; 1 Thess 
 
 3. 
 
 2 ; 
 
 1 Tim 
 
 . 1. 
 
 0. 
 
 Heb. 13. -". 
 
 
 — ,7' Acts 
 
 .3. 
 
 1. — 
 
 V 
 
 icta 17. 5. 
 
 
 -s 
 
 Acts, 
 
 •ill. 
 
 4 
 
 ,i 1 Cor. 
 
 1 
 
 14.— 
 
 -b 
 
 Acts ] 
 
 ■> 
 
 1; 2 Tim. 
 
 4, 
 
 21 
 
 c 
 
 Verse 
 
 20 : 1 Thess. 
 
 a 
 
 2*. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 pecially those false teachers to whom Paul refers 
 above. The grace of our Lord — That you may 
 be truly wise, simple, obedient, and steady in the 
 truth, may the favour or gracious influence of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ be with you ! without which you 
 cannot lie preserved from evil, nor do any thing 
 that is good. 
 
 Here the apostle appears to have intended to 
 conclude his epistle ; Imt afterward he added a 
 postscript, if not two, as we shall see below. Several 
 ancient MSS. omit the whole of this clause, prob- 
 ably thinking that it hail been borrowed from 
 verse 24 ; but on the ground that the apostle might 
 have added a postscript or two, not having imme- 
 diate opportunity to send the epistle, there is no need 
 for this supposition. 
 
 21. Timotheus my workfellow— This is on 
 all hands allowed to be the same Timothy to whom 
 St. Paul directs the two epistles which still bear his 
 name. (See Acts xvi, 1, etc.) Lucius — This was 
 probably Luke the evangelist, and writer of The 
 Acts of the Apostles. Jason — This may have been 
 the person mentioned Acts xvii, 7, who at Thessa- 
 loniea received the apostles into his house, and be- 
 friended them at the risk both of his property and 
 life. Sosipater — -He was a Berean, the son of one 
 Pyrrhus, a Jew by birth, and acompanied St. Paul 
 from Greece into Asia, and probably into Judea. 
 (See Acts xx, 4.) [It is quite uncertain whether 
 this Sosipater is the same person. — Alford.~\ 
 
 22. I Tertius, -who wrote this epistle — Some 
 eminent commentators suppose Tertius to be the 
 same with Silas — the companion of St. Paul. If 
 this were so, it is strange that the name which is 
 generally given him elsewhere in Scripture should 
 not be used in this place. Some learned men have 
 supposed that St. Paul wrote this epistle in Syriac, 
 and that Tertius translated it into Greek-; but this 
 can never agree with the declaration here : I Ter- 
 tjus, who wrote, ypuipac rr/v EKiaroVni', this epistle. 
 It appears that St. Paul dictated it to him, and he 
 wrote it down from the apostle's mouth; and here 
 introduces himself as joining with St. Paul in af- 
 fectionate wishes for their welfare. It is not clear 
 whether the two following verses be the words of 
 Tertius or St. Paul. 
 
 2:;. Gaius mine host — "Gains" in Greek is the 
 same as Caius in Latin, which was a very common 
 name among the Romans. St. Luke (Acts xix, 29) 
 mentions one Gaius of Macedonia, who was exposed 
 to much violence at Ephesus in the tumult excited 
 by Demetrius the silversmith against St. Paul and 
 his companions : and it is barely possible that this 
 was the same person. He is here called not only 
 the " host," fevoc, the entertainer of St. Paul, or 
 Tertius, (if he wrote this and the following verse,) 
 but also of the whole church; that is, he re- 
 ceived and lodged the apostles who came from dif- 
 ferent places, as well as the messengers of the 
 
 25 d Now to him that is of power to stablisli 
 you e according to my gospel, and thepreaching 
 of Jesus Christ, 'according to the revelation 
 of the mystery, s which was kept secret since 
 the world began, 26 But b now is made man- 
 ifest, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, 
 according to the commandment of the ever- 
 lasting God, made known to all nations for the 
 
 rl Eyih. 3. 2(1 : 1 Thess. 3. 13 : 2 Thess. 2. 17 : 3. 3 : Jiule 24. 
 
 eChap. 2. 16. fEph, 1. 9; 3. 3,4,5; Col. 1. 27. a 1 Cor. 2. 7; 
 
 Eph. 3. 5, a; Col. 1. 26. h Eph. 1.9; 2 Tim. 1. 10; Titus 1. 2.3; 
 
 1 lVt. 1. 211. 
 
 Churches. Erastus the chamberlain of the city 
 
 — Treasurer of the city of Corinth, from which St. 
 Paul wrote this epistle. (See Acts xix, 22.) He 
 was one of St. Paul's companions, and (2 Tim. 
 iv, 20) was left about this time by the apostle at 
 Corinth. He is called the " chamberlain," o'lkovo- 
 fine, which signifies the same as treasurer; and if 
 Erastus was at this time treasurer, it would appear 
 that Christianity was then in considerable repute in 
 Corinth. But if the Erastus of the Acts was the 
 same with the Erastus mentioned here, it is not 
 likely that he now held the office, forthis could not 
 at all comport with his travelling with St. Paul. 
 [The identity is highly problematical.] Quartus a 
 brother — Probably nothing more is meant than 
 that he was a Christian — one of the heavenly fam- 
 ily, a brother in the Lord. 
 
 24. The grace of our Lord — Tins seems to be 
 the conclusion of Tertius, and is similar to what St. 
 Paul used above. 
 
 There is a great deal of disagreement among the 
 MSS. and Versions relative to this verse; some re- 
 jecting it entirely, and some of those which place 
 the following verses at the end of chapter xiv in- 
 serting it at the end of the 27th verse in that place. 
 
 25. Now to him — In the note at the end of 
 chapter xiv I have shown that this and the fol- 
 lowing verses are, by the most reputable MSS. and 
 Versions, placed at the end of that chapter, which is 
 supposed by most critics to be their proper place. 
 Of power to stablish you — To that God, without 
 whom nothing is wise, nothing strong; who is as 
 willing to teach as he is wise ; as ready to help as 
 he is strong. According to my gospel — That 
 " gospel " which Paul had preached, and of which he 
 had become the recognised exponent. This is what 
 he here calls the preaching of Jesus Christ. This 
 is that mystery which he is so much concerned 
 that the Bphesians (chapter iii, 5,) should understand 
 and adhere to firmly, and which was revealed to 
 him according to that Gospel whereof he was made 
 a minister. Which was kept secret — This pur- 
 pose of calling the Gentiles, and giving to all men 
 equal privileges in the Gospel. 
 
 26. But now is made manifest — Now, under 
 the New Testament dispensation, and by my preach- 
 ing, this whole system of a common salvation 
 through Christ is made manifest. By the Scrip- 
 tures of the prophets — Hints relative to this 
 important work being scattered through all their 
 works, but no clear revelation of it given there- 
 in. As to the calling of the Gentiles, this was de- 
 clared in general terms by the prophets, and the 
 apostle quotes and makes a. most important use of 
 their predictions; but as to the method of their 
 introduction the prophets gave no information, and 
 it seems to have been peculiarly revealed to St. 
 Paul, who received the commandment of the 
 everlasting God to make it known «c rrdvra ra 
 
 93
 
 A. M. 40S2. A. P. 58. 
 year of Rome, Sll. 
 
 ROMANS. 
 
 m of praise to God 
 < briit. 
 
 'obedience of faith: 27 To k God only wise, h glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen 
 
 i it <- 6. 7 : chap. 1. 5. !•">. 18. 
 
 irirr], to all the Gentiles — all the | pie of the earth 
 
 th. ii were not of the Jewish race. 
 
 •J7. To God only wise — This comes in with 
 great propriety. He alone who is the fountain of 
 wisdom ami knowledge had all this mystery in 
 himself; ami be alone who knew the times, places, 
 persons, and circumstances, could reveal the whole; 
 and de has revealed all in such a waj as not only 
 to manifest his unsearchable wisdom, hut also his 
 infinite goodness; therefore, to him be glory for 
 his wisdom in devising this most admirable plan; 
 an 1 his goodness in sending Christ Jesus to execute 
 it ; to him, through Jesus Christ, he glory for 
 ever! 
 
 One cannot enter into the spirit of this epistle 
 null — he appreciates the spirit of a Jew in those 
 times, -mil has some just notion of his utter aver- 
 sion io the Gentiles ; his valuing ami exalting him- 
 self upon his relation to God, ami to Abraham ; 
 upon his law and pompous worship, circumcision, 
 etc., as if the Jews were the only people in the 
 worl 1 who had auy manner of right to the favour 
 of God. 
 
 The apostle, in this epistle, disputes with the 
 u lole bod\ of the Jews without respect to any 
 particular sect or party among them. The grand 
 proposition or question in debate is, Are we Jews 
 better than they Gentiles? (Chapter iii, '.».) And 
 one argument in proof of the negative which the 
 apostle espouses is this, (chapter iii, 29:) "Is 
 God the God of the .lew- only? Is he not also 
 of the Gentiles? Y/es, of the Gentiles also." These 
 aii_ j the points through which the line of the apos- 
 tle's discourse in the third chapter, and conse- 
 ly in all the argumentative part of the epistle, 
 must necessarily ran; and as, both in the propo- 
 sition and in the argument, he evidently means the 
 whole body of the dews in opposition to the whole 
 
 body of the Gentiles, it becomes necessary to give 
 
 such a sense to the apostle's discourse throughout 
 
 the argumentative part of the epistle us exactly hits 
 94 
 
 /.■ 1 Tim. 1. 17; 6. 16; Jude 2.': 
 
 and suits this general, collective notion, of Jews 
 and Gentiles. 
 The whole epistle is to be taken in connexion, or 
 
 considered as one continued discourse; ami the 
 Bense of every part must be taken from the drift 
 of the whole. Every sentence or verse is not to 
 to be regarded as a distinct proposition or sentence 
 whose sense is absolute and independent of what 
 goes before or comes alter; but we must remem- 
 ber that every sentence bears relation to, and is 
 dependent upon, the whole discourse, and cannot 
 be understood unless we understand the Scope ami 
 drift of tin' w hole ; and therefore the whole epistle, 
 oral least the eleven first chapters of it, ought to 
 be read together. 
 
 As to the use and excellency of this epistle, I 
 shall leave it to speak for itself when the reader 
 has studied and well digested the contents of it. 
 The most, serious interests should invite us to ex- 
 amine carefully the doctrine by which (accompanied 
 with the gifts and operations of the Spirit of God) 
 a few men. otherwise naked, wcal<, and contemp- 
 tible, in opposition to the power, learning, and deep- 
 rooted prejudices of the world, confronted and 
 transformed the contemporary Judaism, and over- 
 threw the Pagan religion and idolatry throughout 
 the Roman empire. The fact cannot be denied. 
 And suiely the dignity and virtue of the cause 
 must be proportionable to such an unusual and 
 wonderful result. It is certain the world never, 
 cither before or since, litis seen any thing equal to 
 the writings of the New Testament. Never was 
 the love of God, and the dignity to which he has 
 raised the human race, so clearly shown and dem- 
 onstrated ; never were motives so divine and pow- 
 erful proposed to induce us to the practice id' all 
 virtue and goodness. Here we may find whatever 
 ennobles and adorns the mind ; whatever gives solid 
 peace and joy ; whatever lenders us the most ex- 
 cellent and happy creatures ; taught, recon tnded, 
 
 ami enforced by light and authority derived from 
 the only fountain of truth and of all good.
 
 PREFACE TO THE FIRST EPISTLE 
 
 TO 
 
 THE COEI¥THIA¥S. 
 
 1. THE PLACE. 
 
 /CORINTH, on a narrow isthmus between the Saronic and Corinthian gulfs, was 
 ^ founded at a very early period, most probably by the Phoenicians. Possess- 
 ing great facilities for commerce, it became a splendid city, and at the time it 
 was destroyed by the consul Mummius (B. C. 146) was "the richest in Greece, 
 and abounded in statues, paintings, and other works of art." It was called by 
 Cicero " the light of Greece." After having been thoroughly destroyed, it re- 
 mained in ruins for about a century, until Julius Cesar sent thither a colony, 
 (B. C. 46,) and about a hundred years later, when visited by the apostle Paul, it 
 had again become an important city. Strabo visited it, and in his description, 
 written about A. D. 20, he represents it as situated at the foot and on the north 
 side of a peak (or hill, Acrocorinthus) something more than a third of a mile in 
 height. 
 
 THE CHURCH AT CORINTH. 
 
 The Church in this city was founded by Saint Paul, who came here from Mace- 
 donia and Athens about A. D. 52, and preached the Gospel at least a year and 
 a half, assisted by Timothy, Silas, and others. (Acts xviii, 1-18.) The Christ- 
 ian society was large, and composed almost entirely of Gentiles. (Acts xviii, 
 6, 8.) 
 
 [Paul came thither from Athens on his second missionary journey, and spent up- 
 ward of a year and a half there. (Acts xviii, 1-17.) He lodged with his fellow- 
 craftsman Aquila, who had come hither from Rome, (see Acts xviii, 1, 2,) and 
 subsequently with the proselyte Justus, (Acts xviii, 2-7,) after his friends Silas 
 and Timotheus had arrived, (Acts xviii, 5,) and Jewish opposition bad caused 
 him to separate from the synagogue and turn to the Gentiles. (Acts xviii, 6.) 
 Thus the Church, which was at first a mixed one, (though with a majority of 
 Gentile Christians, Acts xii, 2,) and also a very numerous one, (Acts xviii, 4, 
 8, 10,) became the most important in Greece — the mother Church of the province. 
 And yet only a few of the upper and more cultivated classes embraced the faith, 
 (such as, on the Jewish side, the president of the synagogue, Crispus, see Acts 
 xviii, 8; 1 Cor. i, 4,) a natural effect not so much of the simplicity of Paul's 
 preaching (for Apollos failed also to win over the higher classes) as of the in- 
 trinsic character of the Gospel itself, (i, 22, 23,) which, with its preaching of the 
 cross, did not suit the pretensions of the presumed higher culture of the Jews 
 
 and Gentiles, especially their fancied philosophy and their moral laxity. — Meyer. ~\ 
 
 95
 
 PREFACE TO THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 
 
 OCCASION OF THE EPISTLE. 
 
 About three years after the apostle had left the Corinthian disciples he was in- 
 formed thai there were divisions among them, and that various abuses had crept 
 into the Church. In the time intervening between Paul's preaching and the 
 writing of the epistle, Apollos, an Alexandrian Jew, eloquent and mighty in the 
 Scriptures, having received full instruction in Christian doctrine at Ephesus, 
 went to Corinth and preached the Gospel. In the illustration of Christianity he 
 probably drew largely on the Greek philosophy of Alexandria, and highly de- 
 lighted the intellectual Corinthians. Some of his hearers preferred him to Paul; 
 Others, especially such as had come over to Christianity from Judaism, preferred 
 Peter, as being an original apostle of Christ, and denied the apostleship of Paul. 
 The most, however, doubtless adhered to Paul. Still others, attaching no im- 
 portance to any Christian teacher, satisfied themselves with the doctrines of 
 Christ, which had been delivered to them without any exposition from human 
 authority. This seems to have been the real state of the case. The apostle does 
 not charge them with grave errors in departing from the great doctrines of the 
 Gospel, but with creating divisions in the Church. It appears from chapter vii, 1, 
 that the Corinthians had already written to Paul concerning certain matters, so 
 that he had reasons of a most urgent character for writing to them. 
 
 [But the matter did not end with this division into two parties. There arrived 
 at Corinth — taking advantage, perhaps, of the very time of Apollos's return to 
 Ephesus — Judaizing teachers, Petrine Christians of anti-Pauline leanings, pro- 
 vided with letters of recommendation, (2 Cor. iii, 1,) perhaps from Peter himself 
 among others, labouring to lower the authority of Paul, (ix, 2,) into whose field 
 of work they intruded, and to exalt the authority of Peter. (2 Cor. xi, 5.) They 
 seem, indeed, not to have come forward with any opposition to Paul's doctrine, 
 and, in particular, they did not insist upon circumcision. But it was natural that 
 with their Judaizing tendencies generally, with their legal prejudices regarding 
 the use of meats, with their stringency with regard to the moral law, and with 
 their exaltation of Peter at the expense of Paul, they should find acceptance with 
 the Jewish-Christian part of the community, since they were not slack in vain- 
 glorious assertion of the national privileges, (2 Cor. v, 12, xi, 22, xii, 11,) and 
 that against the very man from whom the hereditary pride of the Jews had 
 everywhere suffered blows which it felt most keenly. Equally natural was it 
 that their appearance and operations should not induce a union between the two 
 sections that professed Pauline Christianity — the adherents of Paul and of 
 Apollos. . . . The addition of a third party to the two already existing aroused 
 a deeper feeling of the need for wholly disregarding that which had brought 
 about and kept up all this division into parties — the authority of men — and for 
 returning to Him alone who is the Master of all — namely, to Christ. . . . The 
 Christian community at Corinth, then, was in this state of fourfold division when 
 Paul wrote to them this first epistle; (there was one party for Paul, another for 
 Apollos, another for Peter, and still another for Christ;) yet it is to be assumed 
 (see xi, IP, xiv, 23) that the evil had not reached such a height of schism that 
 the Church no longer assembled at one place. — Meyer.~\ 
 
 II. PLACE AND TIME OF ITS COMPOSITION". 
 The epistle was evidently written at Ephesus, near the close of the apostle's 
 ministry of twenty-seven months in that city, (Acts xix, 10,) about A. D. 57 or 58. 
 Various references in the epistle compared with the Acts determine this place
 
 PEEFACE TO THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 
 
 and this time. (See chapter xvi, 8, 19; Acts xviii, 24, 26 ; xix ; xx, passim.) 
 It would seem that it was about one year before the beginning of Paul's ministry 
 at Ephesus that Apollos, having come to Ephesus and received full instruction 
 in Christianity, went to Corinth, where he preached the Gospel. (Acts xviii, 
 24-xix, 1.) 
 
 In chapter v, 9, the apostle refers to a former epistle addressed to the Corin- 
 thians, which is no longer extant. It is very probable that the matter discussed 
 was not of a general nature, and that the two subsequent epistles of Paul, which 
 we now have, so completely covered the ground that the first epistle had no 
 further interest, and, of course, would naturally perish. 
 
 III. CONTENTS OF THE EPISTLE. 
 The apostle reproves the party spirit and dissensions of the Corinthian Christ- 
 ians, and justifies himself in not dealing in Greek wisdom when he preached 
 among them. He affirms that this wisdom cannot lead men to God; but that the 
 Gospel he pi'eached was accompanied by the divine Spirit, and by miraculous 
 power ; and that, further, the natural man is incapable of understanding spiritual 
 truth. (Chapter ii.) He charges the Corinthians with being carnal, since party 
 spirit prevails among them, and affirms that himself and Apollos are merely min- 
 isters of the word, and that it is God who gives success. He shows them that 
 all the various ministers of the Gospel are theirs, and vindicates his apostolic 
 authority, and speaks of his persecutions and sufferings for the sake of Christ, 
 and declares that he is their father in the Gospel. (Chapters iii, iv.) From the 
 vindication of his apostolic authority he passes to the correction of abuses in the 
 Church, and censures severely the crime of one's having his father's wife, and 
 states how they should deal with such a member, at the same time exhorting 
 them to be holy in life, and to associate with no bad man professing the religion 
 of Christ. (Chapter v.) He disapproves of Christians going to law with each 
 other. He declares that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God, 
 and warns them against impurity. (Chapter vi.) He discusses marriage, which 
 he declares in some cases is necessary, but in the present state of the Church has 
 many inconveniences. (Chapter vii.) He explains that an idol is nothing, yet it 
 is not advisable to eat meat sacrificed to idols when it would offend weak 
 brethren. (Chapter viii.) He affirms that it is right that the ministers of the 
 Gospel should be supported, but that he has not availed himself of that privilege, 
 and that he had laboured solely for the cause of the Gospel, becoming all things 
 to all men. (Chapter ix.) He warns them against sin from the examples of Jew- 
 ish history, and cautions them against taking a part in idolatrous sacrifices, and 
 eating any thing sacrificed to idols when it would give offence. (Chapter x.) 
 He gives directions respecting women keeping their heads covered during divine 
 service, and condemns the way in which they celebrate the Communion. (Chapter 
 xi.) He discusses the various offices in the Church, which are constituted for the 
 general good. (Chapter xii.) He gives a description of love, without which he 
 declares every other gift is useless; and while every thing else passes away, faith, 
 hope, and love remain, but the greatest of these is love. (Chapter xiii.) He adds 
 directions respecting the manner in which the spiritual gifts, especially that of 
 tongues, are to be used. (Chapter xiv.) The apostle enumerates the testimonies 
 to the resurrection of Christ, which he declares to be the vital fact in the religion 
 of Christ, and discusses the resurrection of the dead from natural analogies, and 
 
 exhorts them to steadfastness. (Chapter xv.) In the concluding chapter (xvi) 
 Vol. II.— 7 97
 
 PREFACE TO THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTIHANS. 
 
 Paul counsels them concerning collections, and promises to visit them some time 
 after Pentecost; gives directions also about the reception of Timothy, their 
 treatment of the house of Stephanas, and other matters, and sends greetings. 
 
 IV. GENUINENESS OF THIS EPISTLE. 
 
 Concerning the genuineness of this epistle there never has been any doubt. 
 Even the critics of the Tubingen school acknowledge it to be Paul's. It is referred 
 to by Clement of Rome in his epistle to the Corinthians, written A. D. 93-96, 
 less than fori '// years after the apostle wrote it. It is also quoted as Paul's by 
 Polycarp. Irenseus frequently quotes it, and in several places attributes it to 
 Paul. It is quoted by Athenagoras (about A. D. 17V) as the writing of the 
 apostle. Clement of Alexandria quotes it as the First Epistle of Paul to the 
 Corinthians. So does Tertullian. In the epistle to Diognetus it is cited. It is 
 also referred to in several places in the Second Epistle to the Corinthians. 
 The undoubted genuineness of this epistle is of the highest importance, as Paul, 
 Avho had been in the company of the apostles, states the appearances of Christ to 
 the apostles and others after his resurrection, (Chapter xv, 4-8.) 
 
 In importance of doctrine this epistle stands next to that to the Romans, and 
 
 the description of love (chapter xiii) is the finest passage on that subject in the 
 
 New Testament. See Harman. 
 98
 
 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE 
 
 TO 
 
 THE COKINTHIANS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAUL, " called to he an apostle of Jesus Christ 
 k through the will of God, and c Sosthenes 
 our brother, 2 Unto the church of God which 
 is at Corinth, d to them that e are sanctified in 
 Christ Jesus, f called to he. saints, with all that 
 in every place ecall upon the name of Jesus 
 
 a Rnm. !. 1. hi Cor. 1. 1 : Epli. 1. 1 : Col. I. 1. e Acts 
 
 18. 17. f/Jude 1. — e John 17. 19; Acts 15. 9. ./Rom. 1. 7: 
 
 2 Tim. 1. 9. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER I. 
 
 1. Paul, called to be an apostle — [lO.nrbc, 
 called, is wanting in many good authorities, though 
 not of sufficient weight to warrant its omission. 
 The Codex Sinai ticus has it, (and Westcott and 
 Hort retain it.)] [The ordinary rendering, " called 
 to he an apostle," does not give sufficient prom- 
 inence to the leading thought here, which is 
 shown by the order of the words to lie in "apos- 
 tle." An apostle by virtue of his calling, (Acts ix, 
 22-26,) having for its deeper ground the will of 
 God. (Gal. i, 15.) — Lange.] As the apostle had 
 many irregularities to reprehend in the Corinthian 
 Church, it was necessary that he should be explicit 
 in stating his authority. He was " called " — con- 
 stituted an apostle; Jesus Christ himself had made 
 him an " apostle," that is, had given him a divine 
 commission to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles, 
 and to found among them the Church of the Lord 
 Jesus Christ. Through the will of God — By a 
 particular appointment from God alone; for, being 
 an extraordinary messenger, he derived no part of 
 his authority from man. Sosthenes our brother 
 — Perhaps the same person as is mentioned in Acts 
 xviii, 7. 
 
 2. The church of God which is at Corinth 
 — This Church was planted by the apostle himself 
 about A. D. 52. (See on Acts xviii, 1, etc.) [Th ekkKt)- 
 cia roe Qeov, " the congregation," or " the church of 
 God," is the Old Testament designation of Israel as 
 a divinely gathered people. "Of God"— the Co- 
 rinthian Church is hereby emphatically declared to 
 belong, not to a human leader, but to God alone. 
 The Church is his. — Lange.) Sanctified in Christ 
 Jesus — 'Kyiaa/iivocc, separated from the corrup- 
 tions of their place and age. ['Ev Xpiorcj 'Ir/oov 
 gives to the rp/iaagevoie, sanctified, its distinctively 
 Christian character. K'/ir/roiQ dyioig, called, or elect 
 saints, is added in order to a properly exhaustive de- 
 scription of that experienced benefit of God's grace 
 
 Christ h our Lord, 'both theirs and ours: 
 
 3 k Grace be unto you, and peace, from God 
 our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 4 '1 thank my God always on your behalf, 
 for the grace of God which is given you by 
 Jesus Christ; 5 That in every tiling ye are 
 enriched by him, "'in all utterance, and in all 
 
 ff Acts 9. 14, 21 ; 22. Hi ; 2 Tim. 2. 22. h Chap. 8. >i. i Rom. 
 
 3. 22; 10. 12. /,• Uom. 1. 7; 2 Cor. 1. 2; l-.ph. I. 2. /Rom. 
 
 1. 8. to Chap. 12. 8; 2 Cor. 8. 7. 
 
 of which the readers as Christians were assumed to 
 be conscious. — Meyer.] Called to be saints — 
 'K?.?]roig ayioic, constituted saints, or invito! to become 
 such ; this was the design of the Gospel, for Jesus 
 Christ came to save men fiom their sins. With 
 all that in every place, etc. — All who have like 
 precious faith, both in Corinth, Ephesus, and other 
 parts of Greece and Asia Minor. No doubt Paul 
 intended that this epistle should be the general 
 property of the universal Church of Christ ; though 
 there are several matters in it that are specially de- 
 signed for the Corinthians only. Both theirs and 
 ours — That is, Jesus Christ is the common Lord 
 and Saviour of all. He is the exclusive property of 
 no one Church, or people, or nation ; [he is the 
 common Saviour and fluul of all that call upon 
 him.] Calling on, or invoking, the name of the Lord 
 Jesus was the proper distinguishing mark of a 
 Christian. In those times of apostolic light and 
 purity no man attempted to invoke God but in the 
 name of Jesus Christ ; [nor did they invoke any 
 creature, whether angel or saint.] 
 
 '■',. Grace be unto you — See on Rom. i, 7. 
 
 4. For the grace . . . which is given you — 
 Not only their calling to be saints, and to lie sanc- 
 tified in Christ Jesus; but for the various spiritui 1 
 gifts which they had received, as specified in the 
 succeeding verses. [A conciliatory preamble, . . . 
 bringing forward, first of all, with true affection, 
 what was laudable, so far as it existed, and lovingly 
 leaving out of view for a time what was blann 
 worthy, but withal soberly keeping within the 
 bounds of truth, and tracing all up to Coil. — Mcyet | 
 |'Kr XpiarC), not us for 6td, — through Christ, — nor 
 as by, as in the English text, but as usual in this 
 connexion, in Christ; that is, to you as members 
 of Christ.— Afford.) 
 
 5. Ye are enriched (ye abound) in all utter- 
 ance — 'Er Kavri /'','•'. in nil doctrine. All the 
 truths of God, relative to their salvation, had be< D 
 
 93
 
 T. CORINTHIANS. 
 
 unity. 
 
 knowledge; <» Even as "the testimony of 
 Christ was confirmed in you: 7 So thai ye 
 come behind in no gift ; ' « aiting for the ' com- 
 ing of our Lord Jesns Ohrisl : * i Who Bhall 
 also confirm you unto the end, 'that ye may 
 be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ. J) 'God is faithful, by whom ye were 
 called unto 'the fellowship of bis Son Jesus 
 
 11 Chap. 2. 1; 2 Tim. 1. 8: Rev. 1. 2. Phil. 3. 20: Titus 
 
 2 Pet, '■. 1-. pftr. C il. 3. t. -q 1 Thess. 
 
 3. 13. — rCoL I. 23; 1 Thess. 5. 2S. — s Lsa. 19. 7 ; chap. 1". 13; 
 
 sd to them ; and they had all knowledge; 
 bo that they perfectly apprehended the doctrines 
 w hich they had heard. 
 
 6. As the testimony of Christ, etc. — Tin tes 
 timony of Christ is the Gospel which the apostle 
 ha ! preached, and which had been continued by 
 va ioua gifts of the Holy Spirit and miracles 
 wrought by the apostle. ('Ev 6/uv, in you, in their 
 souls, by steadfast faith. (John v, 38.) — Meyer.] 
 
 7. So that ye come behind, (do not fall short) 
 in no gift — Every " gift " and grace of Go l's Spirit 
 was possessed by the members of that Church, 
 some having their gifts after this manner, others 
 alter that. Waiting for the coming of our 
 Lord — It is difficult to say whether the apostle 
 means the final judgment, or our Lord's coming to 
 destroy Jerusalem, and make an end of the Jewish 
 polity. (Sit l Thess. iii, 13.) As he does not ex- 
 plain himself particularly, he must refer to a sub- 
 ject with which they were well "acquainted. As the 
 .lews in general continued to contradict and blas- 
 pheme, it is no wonder if the apostle should be di- 
 rected to point out to the believing Gentiles that 
 the judgments of God were speedily to fall upon 
 this rebellious people, and scatter them over the 
 face of the earth ; which shortly afterward took 
 place. [Scarcely any two interpreters are agreed 
 as to the meaning of this phrase, though certain 
 theories respecting it have had their schools of sup- 
 porters. These, however, cannot be here examined ; 
 the reader will find the matter discussed at greater 
 or less length in Alford, McClintock and Strong, 
 Dr. Gloag, and Dr. Whedon; but none of these 
 brines out a satisfactory solution of the real sense 
 of the nor unfrequent apostolic allusions to the 
 " coming of the Lord Jesus Christ," and similar 
 expressions in a great many places.] 
 
 8. Who shall . . . confirm you — As the testi- 
 mony ot' Christ was confirmed among you, so, in 
 conscientiously believing and obeying, God will "con 
 firm you " through that testimony. (See verse 6.) In 
 the day of our Lord Jesus — In the day that he 
 come- to judge the world, according to some ; but, 
 in the day in which he comes to destroy the Jewish 
 polity, according to others; [others would say, the 
 day of death to each one.] While God destroys 
 them that are disobedient, he can save those who 
 believe. 
 
 9. God is faithful— The faithfulness of God is 
 a favourite expression among the ancient Jews; 
 and by it they properly understand the integrity of 
 God in preserving whatever is intrusted to him. 
 Unto the fellowship, etc. — Into the communion 
 or participation of Christ, in the graces of his 
 Spirit, and the glories of his future kingdom. God 
 will continue to uphold and save you if you intrust 
 yourselves wholly to him. But can it be said that 
 God "ill keep what is either not intrusted to him, 
 or, after being intrusted, is taken away? [The 
 "fellowship " (jcoivuvia, enjoyment in common) with 
 
 100 
 
 Christ our Lord. |o Now I beseech yon, 
 brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, u that ye all Bpeak the same thing, and 
 that there be no 'divisions among yon; but 
 that ye be perfectly joined together in the same 
 mind and in the Bame judgment. II For it 
 hath been declared unto me of yon, my breth- 
 ren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, 
 
 ] Thess. ■">. 24; 2 Thess. 3. 3; Heb. 10.23.— iJohn 15. I; 17. 21 ; 
 I John I. 3; 1. 13. u Rom. 12. Iti; I . o : 2 Cor. 13. 11 ; Phil. 
 2. -J; :;. IS; 1 Pet. t. 8. Gr. scJdsms, chap. II. 18. 
 
 the Son — that is, the common inheritance of the 
 saints — is in accordance with the idea of the nahe'iv, 
 {calling,) which always refers to the Messianic king- 
 dom of. fellowship ofth< glory oftht Son of God in 
 the ett rmil Messianic life, — a ''fellowship" which will 
 be the glorious completion of the (present) state of 
 vlodeaia, (sonship by adoption.) (Gal. iv, 7.) — Meyer."] 
 
 10. Now I beseech you, brethren — The apos- 
 tle, having finished his introduction, comes to his 
 xecond point, exhorting them to abstain from dis- 
 sensions, that ti ey might lie of the same heart and 
 mind, striving together for the hope of the Gospel. 
 ["Brethren" — a winning and tender form of ai 
 often introduced by Paul just at the point where lie 
 has a serious word to speak.— Meyer.] Ey the name 
 of our Lord Jesus — By his authority, and in his 
 place; and on account of your infinite obligations 
 to his mercy in calling you into such a stale of sal- 
 vation. [As the bond of union, and as the most 
 holy name by which they could be adjured. (Rom. 
 xii, 1.) — Stanley.] That ye all speak the same 
 thing — [Give expression to your (real) inward ac- 
 cord and harmony of sentiment. . . . They were 
 with one voice to avow their allegiance to the , ,,, 
 Lord, to the exclusion of all divisive watchwords. 
 — Lange.] The members of the Church of God 
 should seek to be of the same mind, and to speak 
 the same thing, in order to prevent divisions, which 
 always hinder the work of God. On every essential 
 doctrine of the Gospel all genuine Christians agn e ; 
 why, then, need religious communion be interrupted? 
 This general agreement is all that the a] ostle can 
 have in view ; for it cannot be expected that any 
 number of men should in every respect perfectly 
 coincide in their view s of all the minor points, on 
 which an exact conformity of sentiment is impossi- 
 ble to minds so variously constituted as those of the 
 human race. Angels may thus agree, who see 
 nothing through an imperfect or false medium ; but 
 
 t an this is impossible. Therefore, men should 
 
 bear with each other. [Through the fact that 
 Christians in Corinth t/to»<//it differently (voir, were 
 not disposed alike) on important matters, and in 
 consequence of this difference of thinking formed, 
 in a partisan spirit, different opinions and judgments, 
 (yv&fiq,) and fought for these against each other, 
 the to avrd >,.'/! (to speak the same thing) was 
 wanting, and the axicfia-o. (divisions) prevailed. — 
 Meyi r. \ 
 
 11. By them which are of the house of 
 Chloe — [Who "Chloe" was, and what persons, 
 somehow related to her, are here meant, we have no 
 means of judging. It has been conjectured that 
 she was a Corinthian Christian, members of whose 
 household had come to Ephesus; and again, that 
 she was an Ephesian well known to the Corinthians, 
 members of whose household had Keen in Corinth 
 and returned thence. See Meyer.] Contentions 
 — "Eptrfec, altercations : produce.] by the ox'to/iara, 
 divisions, mentioned above. When once they had
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 that there are contentions among you. 12 Now 
 this I say, "that every one of you saith, I am 
 of Paul; and I of x Apollos ; and J of - v Cephas ; 
 and I of Christ. 13 *Is Christ divided? was 
 Paul crucified for you ? or were ye baptized in 
 the name of Paul? 14 I thank Cod that I 
 baptized none of you, but " Crispus and ' Cains ; 
 
 to Chap. 3. 4. en Acts 18. 24; 19. 1; chap. 1G. 12.- 
 
 1. 42. .r2 Cor. 11. 4 ; Eph. 4. 5. a Acts IS 
 
 -y John 
 
 divided, they very naturally contended, in order to 
 support their respective parties. 
 
 12. Every (each) one of you saith — It seems, 
 from this expression that the whole Church at Cor- 
 inth was in a state of dissension; they were all di- 
 vided into: 1) Paulians, or followers of St. Paul; 
 2) Apollonians ; 3) Kephians ; and 4) Christians, 
 or followers of Christ par excellence. [These des- 
 ignations are (probably) not used as pointing to ac- 
 tual parties formed and subsisting among the Corin- 
 thians, but as representing the spirit with which 
 they strove against one another, alleging against 
 one another their special attachments — some to 
 Paul, etc. Yet these sayings hint at matters of fact, 
 and are not simply exempli gratia; all of which indeed 
 seems to be necessitated by chap, iv, 6. See Alford.] 
 
 13. Is Christ divided — [Lachmann makes this 
 veil) indicative, charging them with having divided 
 Christ by their schisms; but it is better to take it 
 interrogatively. " Is Christ " (the person of Christ, 
 as the centre and bond of Christian unity, not the 
 Gospel, nor the Church, nor the power of Christ, or 
 his right over all) "divided" into various parts, un- 
 der different leaders, which would be equivalent to 
 divided against himself ? See Alford.] Was Paxil 
 crucified for you — [By repudiating all possibility 
 of himself being the head of their Church, he does 
 so, a fortiori, for Cephas and Apollos; for he found- 
 ed the Church at Corinth. — A I ford.] [Were ye 
 baptized in the name of Paul — There was no 
 need of a single word more regarding the first two 
 questions ; the answer was self evident. But as to 
 the hist, the apostle has some (further) remarks to 
 make. — Meyer.] 
 
 14. I baptized none of you — Except Crispus 
 (Acts xviii, 8)andGaius. (Rom. xvi, 23.) 
 
 15. Lest any should say, etc. — Paul was care- 
 ful not to baptize, lest it should be supposed that 
 he wished to make a party for himself ; because su- 
 perficial observers might imagine that he baptized 
 them into his own name — to be his followers, 
 though he baptized them into the name of Christ 
 only. Instead of iflcnrTLaa, I have baptized, [a large 
 preponderance of the best authorities] read tfia-rio- 
 01JTS, ye mere baptized. And if we read Iva, so that, 
 instead of lest, the sentence will stand thus: *S"o 
 that no one can, say that ye were baptized into my 
 name. This is evidently the true reading. 
 
 1 6. The household of Stephanas — From chap- 
 ter xvi, 15, we learn that the family of "Stepha- 
 nas" were the first converts in Achaia, probably 
 converted and baptized by the apostle himself. 
 Epenetus is supposed to be one of this family. 
 (Rom. xvi. 5.) I know not ■whether I bap- 
 tized any other — I do not recollect that there 
 is any person now residing in Corinth or Achaia, 
 besides the above-mentioned, whom I have baptized. 
 [He baptized only the first converts; afterward, 
 when those multiplied, he transferred the business 
 to helpers. — Lamje.] 
 
 17. For Christ sent me not to baptize — 
 
 15 Lest any should say that I had baptized in 
 mine own name. 16 And I baptized also the 
 household of c Stephanas : besides, I know not 
 whether 1 baptized any other. 17 For Christ 
 sent me not to baptize, but to preach the 
 gospel: d not with wisdom of e words, lest the. 
 cross of Christ should be made of none effect. 
 
 b Uom. 16. 23. 
 
 -cChap. 10. 15,17.- r/Chap. 2. 1,4, 13 ; 2 Pet. 
 
 1. 16. e Or, speech. 
 
 Bishop Pearce translates thus: For Christ suit me, 
 not so much to baptize, as to preach tin- Gospi i : and 
 he supports his version thus: — ''The writers of 
 the Old and New Testaments do almost everywhere 
 (agreeably to the Hebrew idiom) express a prefer- 
 ence given to one thing beyond another by an af- 
 firmation of that which is preferred and a negation 
 of that which is contrary to it : and so it must be 
 understood here ; for if St. Paul was not sent at 
 all to baptize, he baptized without a commission : 
 but if he was sent, not only to baptize but to preach 
 also, or to preach rather than baptize, he did in 
 fact discharge his duty aright." It appears suffi- 
 ciently evident that baptizing was .considered to be 
 an inferior office; and though every minister of 
 Christ might administer it, yet apostles had more 
 important work. Preparing the adult heathens 
 for baptism by the continual preaching of the word 
 was of much greater consequence than baptizing 
 them when thus prepared to receive and profit by 
 it. Not with -wisdom of words — Owe iv ao<jiia 
 "k6yov. In several places in the New Testament 
 the term "Xoyoc is taken not only to express a word, 
 a speech, a saying, etc., but doctrine, or the matter 
 of teaching. Heie, and in 1 Thess. i, 5, and in sev- 
 eral other places, it seems to signify that mode of 
 rhetorical argumentation so highly prized among the 
 Greeks. The apostle was sent, not to pursue this 
 mode of conduct, but simply to announce the truth ; 
 to proclaim Christ crucified for the sin of the world ; 
 and to do this in the plainest and simplest manner 
 possible, lest the numerous conversions which fol- 
 lowed might be attributed to the power of the apos- 
 tle's eloquence, and not to the demonstration of the 
 Spirit of God. It is worthy of remark, that in all 
 the revivals of religion with which we are acquaint- 
 ed, God appears to have made very little use of hu- 
 man eloquence, even when possessed by pious men. 
 His own nervous truths, announced by plain com- 
 mon sense, though in homely phrase, have been the 
 general means of the conviction and conversion of 
 sinners. Human eloquence and learning have 
 often been successfully employed in defending the 
 outworks of Christianity ; but simplicity and truth 
 have preserved the citadel. It is further worthy of 
 remark, that when God was about to promulgate his 
 laws, he chose Moses as the instrument, who ap- 
 pears to have laboured under some natural impedi- 
 ment in his speech, so that Aaron, his brother, was 
 obliged to be his spokesman to Pharaoh ; and, that 
 when God had purposed to publish the Gospel to 
 the Gentile world — to Athens, Ephesus, Corinth, 
 and Rome— he was pleased to use Saul of Tarsus as 
 the principal instrument; a man "whose bodily 
 presence" was "weak, and his speech contemp- 
 tible." (2 Cor. x, 1, 10.) And thus it was proved 
 that God sent him to preach, not with tinman, elo- 
 quence, lest the cross of Christ should be made 
 of none effect, but with the demonstration and 
 power of his own Spirit ; and thus t/ie excellenci 'if 
 the power appeared to be of God, and not of <«<</<. 
 
 lol
 
 v n. 56. 
 
 \.-.r ..I Ro 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 IS For the preaching of the en'— is to ' thera 
 that perish, * foolishness; bul unto us h wliich 
 are saved, it is the ' power of God. lf> For il 
 is written, k I will destroy the wisdom of the 
 wise, and will bring to nothing the understand- 
 ing of the prudent. 20 'Where is the wise? 
 where is the scribe? where is the disputer of 
 
 f-l for. 2. 15. o Acts 17 18: chap. 2. 14. — h Chap. 15. 3. 
 
 jRom. 1. 10; verse 24. k Job 5. 12, 13; Isa. 29. 14; Jer. 
 8. ». Ms.. 33. L8. 
 
 18. For the preaching of the cross — That 
 which proclaims salvation to a lost world through 
 the crucifixion of Christ. [The Gospel (cross) preached 
 (sel forth in God's own way) is "foolishness" to 
 the natural man, who is hastening /<> perdition; 
 its saving offices, wroughl in susceptible spirits by 
 the power of the Holy < ihost, constitute all such the 
 saved — present, progressive, and to become com- 
 plete.] Is to them that perish, foolishness — 
 There are, properly speaking, but two classes of men 
 known where the Gospel is preached; n-n'/'/ > 
 
 the unbelievers, who are perishing; and acj£of/.evot, 
 the believers, who arc in a state of salvation. To 
 those who continue in the first state, the preaching 
 of salvation through the meril of a crucified Sav- 
 iour is folly. To those who believe, this doctrine of 
 Chris! crucified is the power of God to their salva- 
 tion; it is divinely efficacious to deliver them from 
 lilt, the power, and the pollution of .-in. 
 
 19. For it is •written — (See Isa. xxix, 14.) I 
 will destroy the wisdom of the wise — Tuv 
 
 . of wise men, of the philosophers; who in 
 their investigations seek God least of all, ami whose 
 highesl discoveries amount to nothing in compar- 
 ison of the grand truths relative to God, the spir- 
 itual world, and the true end of man, which the 
 Gospel has brought to light. [Lowth translates 
 this passage; " The wisdom of the wise shall per- 
 ish, and the prudence of the prudent shall dis- 
 appear." In this, and also in the Greek of the 
 passage, there is a play upon the words, an allitera- 
 tion, ouxpiav T(.)v aofuv, and ovveoiv ~av aweruv. 
 (See Revised Version.)] Hut all the sceptics and 
 dei-t-, by their schemes of natural religion and 
 morality, have not been able to save one soul! No 
 .-inner has ever been converted from the error of 
 his ways by their preaching or writings. [The 
 justification of this way of regarding such pas- 
 - lay in the Messianic character of the Old 
 Testament prophet') in general, according to which 
 the historic sense of the utterance docs not ex- 
 clude the purpose of prophecy, bul leaves typical 
 referenci - open, which declare themselves histori- 
 cally by some corresponding Messianic fact, and 
 
 hence are recognised afterward from the point of 
 
 view of historical fulfilment. — Meyer.'] 
 
 21 k Where is the wise ... the scribe .... 
 the disputer of this world — These words most 
 manifest!) refer to the Jews; as the places (Isa. 
 xxix. 11; xxxiii, 18; xliv, 25) to which Paul re- 
 fers cannot lie understood of any but the Jews. 
 The wise man, o~o<t>6c, of the apostle, is the CDn, 
 cliakam, of the prophet, whose office it was to 
 teach others. The scribe, ypafi/iarevc, of the apos- 
 tle, is the -)2D, soplu >\ of the prophet; this sig- 
 nifies any man of learning, as distinguished from 
 the common people, especially any master of the 
 traditions. The dispith r, <n v^m~nryi , answers to the 
 |jm, derosh, or J"jm, darshan, the propounder of 
 questions; the seeker of allegorical, mystical, and 
 cabalistical senses from the Holy Scriptures. Now 
 102 
 
 this world? ,n hath nol < ; < >< 1 made foolish the 
 wisdom of this world? '21 "For after that 
 in the wisdom of <o><1 the world by wisdom 
 knew not God, il pleased God by the foolish- 
 ness of preaching to save them thai believe. 
 22 For the ".lews require a sign, and the 
 Greeks seek after wisdom : "2'i Bul we preach 
 
 m Job 12. 17,20, 24; Isa. II. 2"i; Rom. I 
 11. 25; Luke in 21 ; Rom. I. 20, 21, 28.— u Matt. L2. 38, 115. 1 ; 
 Marks, il ; Luke 11. 16; John I. 18. 
 
 as all these are character-: nrll known among the 
 
 .lew-, ami as the words aluvog rovrov, of this world, 
 are a simple translation of nin U?"\JJ, olam liazzeh, 
 which is repeatedly used to designate the Jewish 
 republic, there is no doubl that the apostle has the 
 .lews immediately in view. This wisdom of theirs 
 induced them to seek out of the -acred oracles 
 any sense but the true one; and the) made the 
 word of God of none effect by their traditions. 
 After them, and precisely on their model, the 
 scJioolmen arose; and the) rendered the doctiine of 
 the Gospel of no effect by their hypercritical ques- 
 tions and endless distinctions without differences. 
 By the preaching of Christ crucified God made 
 foolish the wisdom of the Jewish wisemen; and, 
 after thai the pure religion of Christ had been cor- 
 rupted by a Church that was of this world, God 
 rendered the wisdom and disputing of the school- 
 men foolishness by the revival of pine Christian- 
 ity at the Reformation. 
 
 21. For after that in the wisdom of God — 
 I>r. Lightfool observes, "That ooipia roi Qeov, the 
 wisdom of God, is not to be understood of that 
 
 wisdom which had Cod for its author, hut of that 
 
 wisdom which had God for its object. Bul the 
 world in its divinity could not, by wisdom, know 
 God." The plain meaning of this verse is, that 
 the wise men of the world, especially the Greek 
 philosophers, who possessed every advantage that 
 human nature could have independently of a di- 
 vine revelation, anil who had cultivated their minds 
 to the uttermost, could never, by their learning, i 
 wisdom, and industry, find out God; nor had the 
 most refined philosophers among them just and 
 correct views of the divine nature, nor of that in 
 which human happiness consists. The work of 
 Lucretius, (De Natura Reiitm,) and the work of 
 Cicero, (De Natura Deorum,) are manifest proofs 
 of this. Even the writings of Plato and Aristotle 
 have contributed little to remove the veil which 
 clouded the understanding of men. No wisdom but 
 that which came from God could ever penetrate and 
 illuminate the human mind. ['Em tdij, since, giving 
 a more detailed explanation of God's making fool- 
 ish the wisdom of this world.] " In the wisdom of 
 God ; " (as part of the w ise arrangemenl of God. . . . 
 God in his wisdom and mercy allowed intellectual 
 speculation to prove by experience its own barren- 
 ness, and SO to serve as a kind of schoolmaster to 
 bring the world to Christ. — Sp. Com.] By the 
 foolishness of preaching — By the preaching of 
 Christ crucified, which the Gentiles termed uupia, 
 foolishness, in opposition to their own doctrines, 
 which they termed ooxpia, wisdom. It was not hy 
 the foolishness of preaching, really, nor by foolish 
 
 preaching, that God Saved the world; hut hy that 
 Gospel which they called uapia, foolishness ; which 
 was, in fact, the wisdom of Cod, and also the power 
 of God to the salvation of them that believed. 
 
 22. For (since) the Jews require a sign 
 (signs) — [Seeing the Jews require ai<j)LS, or/fitia, and
 
 nple minded rliospn of God 
 er than the worldly wise. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Christ crucified, ninto the Jews a stumbling- 
 block, and unto the Greeks i foolishness; 
 21 But unto them which are called, both Jews 
 and Greeks, Christ r the power of God, and 
 •the wisdom of God. 25 Because the fool- 
 ishness of God is wiser than men ; and the 
 weakness of God is stronger than men. 26 For 
 ye see your calling, brethren, how that ' not 
 many wise men after the flesh, not many 
 
 V Isa. 8. 14: Matt. 11. 6; 13. 57 ; Luke 32. 4 : John 6. HO, 66 ; Horn. 
 
 9. 32 : Gal. 5. II ; 1 Pet. 2. 8. u Verse 18 ; chap. 2. 14. r Rom. 
 
 1. 4. 16: verse 18. 
 
 the Greeks .seek (ask) for wisdom, crcxpiav. Jews and 
 Greeks here represent two classes of men accord- 
 ing to their peculiar characteristics. [The whole 
 habit of the Jewish mind was to doubt, and to de- 
 mand of their teachers special signs on all occa- 
 sions. (See Matt, xii, 38 ; xxviii, 42.) The Greeks 
 here, as in Rom. i, 1<5, and elsewhere, stand for the 
 Gentiles generally. They are the people who best 
 represent the whole multitude of nations (tdvr/) 
 found outside of the covenant relation with God, 
 and who, in respect of culture and language, pre- 
 pared the whole civilized world for Christianity ; 
 just as the Jews, scattered among them all, did the 
 same thing in respect of religion, being freighted 
 with the promise which was to be f ultilled in Christ. 
 — Lange.] 
 
 23. But we — Apostles, differing widely from 
 these Gentile philosophers. Preach Christ cruci- 
 fied — Call on men, both Jews and Gentiles, to be- 
 lieve in Christ, as having purchased their salvation 
 by shedding his blood for them. [ We (apostles and 
 disciples) preach (proclaim, set forth, simply stat- 
 ing the facts and the doctrines, without learned and 
 elaborate argumentations) Christ (God's appoint- 
 ed Messiah, in the person of Jesus of Nazareth) 
 crucified, (offered as an atoning sacrifice for the sin 
 of the world, — making an atonement by his death.) 
 The apostles knew of salvation only in Christ, (Acts 
 iv, 12,) and it is eminently by virtue of his death 
 that he saves. (Rom. v, 10 ; Phil, ii, 8 ; Heb. ii, 9, 
 etc.)] Unto the Jews a stumblingblock— Be- 
 cause Jesus came meek, lowly, and impoverished ; 
 not seeking worldly glory, nor affecting worldly 
 pomp; whereas they expected the Messiah to come 
 as a worldly prince and conqueror: because Christ 
 did not come so, they were offended at him. Unto 
 the Greeks foolishness — Both the matter and 
 manner of the preaching of the apostles were oppo- 
 site to every notion they had formed of what was 
 dignified and philosophic. 
 
 24. But unto them which are called — Toic 
 kKtitoIc, those, both of Jews and Greeks, who were 
 by the preaching of the Gospel "called" or invited 
 to the marriage feast, and have accordingly believed 
 in Christ Jesus ; they prove this doctrine to be di- 
 vinely powerful to enlighten and convert the soul 
 The "called," or incited, Khnroi, is a title of genuine 
 Christians, and is often so used in the New Test- 
 ament. "Ayiot, saints, is used in the same scum'. 
 [K>//7or, as applied to those who were saved in 
 Christ, has a twofold significance: objective, in re- 
 spect to the invitation of the Gospel, and subjective, 
 in respect to its acceptance and the resultant gra- 
 cious estate.] 
 
 25. The foolishness of God is wiser, etc. — 
 The things of God's appointment, though they 
 seem to men " foolishness," are nevertheless infi- 
 nitely beyond the highest reach of human wisdom ; 
 and those works of God which appear to superfi- 
 
 mighty, not many noble, are called: 27 But 
 "God hath chosen the foolish things of the 
 world to confound the wise; and God hath 
 chosen the weak things of the world to con- 
 found the tilings which are mighty; 2§ And 
 base things of the world, and things which are 
 despised, hath God chosen, yea, and v things 
 which are not, "to bring to naught things that 
 are : 2!) x That no flesh should glory in his 
 
 *Col. 2. 3. /John 7. 48.. 
 
 Psa. 8. 2. «-Koui. 4. 17.- 
 
 Eph. 2. 9. 
 
 -»Matt. 11.25: James 2. 5: see 
 -W Chap. 2. 6. x Hum. 3. 27 : 
 
 cial observers weak and contemptible, surpass all 
 the efforts of human power. The means which 
 God has appointed for the salvation of men are so 
 wisely otdered and so energetically powerful, that 
 all who properly use them shall be infallibly 
 brought to the end — final blessedness, which he 
 has promised to them who believe and obey. 
 
 26. Ye see your calling — Tijv kItjciv. The state 
 of grace and blessedness into which ye have been 
 brought. B/tirert: t?/v kXtjoiv, etc., should be read 
 in the imperative: Take hud to, or consider your 
 calling, brethren ; that (on) not many of you are 
 wist after the Jlesh, not mam/ mighty, not many 
 noble; men is not in the original, and Paul seems 
 to allude to the Corinthian believers in particular. 
 [Among these they would see that there were not 
 many " wise," etc.] [After the flesh, specifies the 
 kind and manner of the wisdom, and marks it out 
 as purely human, and distinguishes it from the 
 Christian wisdom (chapter ii, 6, 1) which proceeds 
 from the Spirit. — Meyer.] [Not many mighty — 
 Awaroi, mighty men of the world. Noble — Evys- 
 veic;, of high descent. The early Church had but few 
 such, and yet it had some. The Countess of Hunt- 
 ingdon is said to have declared that the letter m, 
 in the word "many" was contained therein for her 
 benefit ; for had it been " not any,'' instead of 
 "not many, noble," she could not have been among 
 the " elect."] 
 
 2*7. But God hath chosen the foolish things 
 — [Td yupa, foolish tilings, {neuter, for broader gen- 
 eralization, but equivalent to Tovq yupovg, foolish />< r- 
 sons.) . . . tov nooyov, not in the eyes of the world, but 
 in fact ; for they were not only seemingly, but really 
 foolish when God chose them. — Alford.~\ God lias 
 chosen by means of rude and illiterate men to con- 
 found the greatest of the Greek philosophers, and 
 overturn their systems ; and, by means of men 
 without secular power or authority, to confound 
 the scribes and Pharisees, and in spite of the exer- 
 tions of the Jewish Sanhedrin, to spread the doc- 
 trine of Christ crucified throughout the world, and 
 by such instruments to convert thousands of souls 
 to the faith of the Gospel. 
 
 28. And base things . . . and things which 
 are despised — [" Base things," ra ayevij, the low 
 born, in respect to worldly things ; and the despised, 
 (chapter iv, 13,) of men. Things which are not 
 
 — Td yfj ovra, things as good as having no existence, 
 (worthless ones.) Persons, rather than tilings, are 
 indicated by all these neuters, which are used for 
 generalization. Fee Afford.] 
 
 29. That no flesh should glory — [That all 
 fesh (all men, every thing human) may have m> 
 
 ground of boasting before God. The negative in 
 these clauses goes with the verb, not with the ad- 
 jective, iraoa, all. — Alford.~\ God docs his mighty 
 works in such a way as proves that, though he may 
 condescend to employ men as instruments, yet they 
 
 103
 
 T. CORINTHIANS. 
 
 p«« s- 
 
 presence. 'Hi Bui of him are ye in Clirisl 
 Jesus, who ol God is made unto us 'wisdom, 
 and "righteousness, and ' sanctification, ami 
 i redemption : \\\ That, according as il i- writ- 
 ten. 'II<- thai glorieth, let him glory in the 
 Lord. 
 
 \ - , ->\ — 10 Jer. 33. 5, 6: 3 Cor. 5.21 ; Phil. 3. 9. orjobn 
 IT. 19. — u Eph. I. 7. — aJer. :>. 33,24; 2 Cor. 10. 17. 
 
 have no part either in the contrivance or energj bj 
 which such works are performed. 
 
 3l i. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus— Even 
 the good which yon possess is granted by God; for 
 it is by and through him that Chrisl Jesus comes, 
 and all the blessings of the Gospel dispensation. 
 ['Kr Xpiory 'Inaov, the salvation of the Gospel, is 
 primarily of God, though the saved are brought to 
 subsist, spiritually, in Christ.} Who of God is 
 made unto us wisdom — As being the author of 
 that evangelical "wisdom" which far excels the 
 wisdom of the philosopher and the scribe, and even 
 that legal constitution which is called the wisdom 
 of the .lews. (Deut. iv, ti.) And righteousness — 
 bkixaioavvri, justification, as procuring for us that re- 
 mission of sins which the law could not give. (Gal. 
 ii, 21 ; iii, 21.) And sanctification — As procur- 
 ing for and working in us, not only an external and 
 relative holiness, as was that of the Jews, hut bat- 
 , //•"- and eternal holiness, (Eph. 
 iv, 24,) wrought in us by the Holy Spirit. And re- 
 demption — He is the author of " redemption," not 
 from the Egyptian bondage or Babylonish captivity, 
 hut from the servitude of Satan, the <l<>nt> Inion oj 
 tin and il'itli, and from the bondage of corruption 
 into the glorious liberty of the sons of God, or the 
 redemption from hades. (Horn, viii, 21, 23.) | Wis- 
 dom: lor to believers is revealed the counsel of 
 God, in whom are till treasures of wisdom and 
 knowledge, (('hap. ii, 7 ; Col. ii, 3.) Righteousness: 
 for by means of faith we are. through the Lord's 
 atoning death, constituted righteous before God. 
 (Rom. iii. 'J I.) Sanctification: (holiness:) for in those 
 who are justified by faith Christ works continually 
 by his Spirit the new holy life. (Rotn. viii, 1 -11.) 
 Redemption : for Christ has delivered believers, 
 through his Mood paid as their ransom, (Rom. iii, 
 24; vi, 20; \ ii, 23,) from the wrath of God to 
 which they were subject before the entrance of 
 faith. (Eph. i, 7; ii, 3.) — Meyer.] The object of 
 the apo-tle is to show that man of himself pos- 
 sesses no good ; tint whatever he has comes from 
 God, and from Cod only through Christ. 
 
 31. According as it is written — (Jer. ix, 2:?, 
 24.) So then, a- all good is id' and from Cod, let 
 him who has either wisdom, strength, riches, par- 
 don, holiness, or any other blessing, whether tem- 
 poral or spiritual, acknowledge that he has nothing 
 hut what he has received ; and that, as he has cause 
 of glorying (boasting or exultation) in being made a 
 partaker of these benefits and mercies of his 
 Creator and Redeemer, let him boast in Cod .alone, 
 by whom, through Christ Jesus, he has received the 
 whole. 
 
 In the divided 3tate of the Corinthian Church it 
 .appears that the apostle's authority had been Sel 
 
 at naught by iome and questioned by many. St. 
 Paul therefore begins his letter by showing his au- 
 thority, that he hail it immediately through Christ 
 Jesus himself, by the will of God. And indeed the 
 success of his preaching was a sufficient proof of 
 1U4 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 N I > I. brethren, when I came to you, 
 caine not with excellency id' speech or 
 id' wisdom, declaring unto you ' the testimony 
 of God. 2 Fori determined not to know any 
 thing among you, ' save Jesus ( Shnst, and him 
 
 A : 
 
 uChap.l. 17; verses 1,13; 2 Cor. in. ii> : u. ■;. &< bap. 1:6. 
 
 ,-i.., i. 6, ii . Phi 
 
 the divinity of his call. It was necessary, therefore, 
 
 that he should call the attention of thl8 people to 
 
 the divine origin of his mission, that they might ac- 
 knowledge that the excellency of the power w ;i - of 
 (hid, and not of man. It was necessary, also, that 
 he should conciliate their good will, and therefore 
 he speaks as favourably concerning them as truth 
 would allow ; and he shows them that they received 
 all their gifts and graces through < rod's confirmation 
 of that testimony which he (Paul) had delivered 
 among them. (Verses 1-7.) And when he has thus 
 
 preparedtheir minds to receive and profit by his 
 admonitions, he proceeds to their schisms, which he 
 mentions and reprehends in a very dedicate manner, 
 so that the most obstinate and prejudiced could 
 take no offence. Having gained this point, he 
 gently leads them to consider that, as God is the 
 fountain of all good, so their good had all come 
 from hitn; and that none of them should rest in 
 the gift, but in the Giver; nor should they consider 
 themselves of particular consequence on account of 
 possessing such gifts, because all earthly good is 
 transitory, and those who trust in power, wisdom, 
 or wealth, are confounded and broughl to naught. 
 He who can read this chapter without profit has 
 
 very little spirituality, and must l»e utterly unac- 
 quainted with the work of God in the heart. 
 
 NOTES OX CHAPTER II. 
 1. When I came to you — Acting suitably to 
 my mission, which was to preach the Gospel, but 
 not with human eloquence. (Chapter i, 17.) I de- 
 clared to you the testimony (the Cospel) of God, 
 not with excellency of speech, not with arts of 
 rhetoric, used by your own philosophers, where the 
 excellence of the speech recommends the matter, 
 and compensates for the want of solidity and truth : 
 on the contrary, the testimony concerning Christ 
 and his salvation is so supremely excellent as to 
 dignify any kind of language bj which it may he 
 conveyed. [To uaprvpcov tov Qeov, tin testimony of 
 
 tr'ni/ as to what he has done in Christ for the sal- 
 vation of men. — Meyer.~\ 
 
 i. I determined not to know anything 
 among you — Satisfied that the Cospel of God 
 could alone make you wise unto salvation, 1 deter- 
 mined to cultivate no other knowledge, and to 
 teach nothing but Jesus Christ, and him crucified. 
 
 No other doctrine shall I proclaim among you. 
 
 | Enptva, I deemed it best not to know, lie was not 
 
 disposed, when among the Corinthians, to he con- 
 scious of anything else but Christ. See Meyer.] 
 
 3. I was with you in weakness— It is very 
 likely that St. Paul bad not only something in his 
 speech very unfavourable to a readj and powerful 
 elocution, hut also some infirmity of body that was 
 still more disadvantageous to him. A tine appearance 
 and a tine voice cover many weaknesses and de- 
 fects, and Strongly and forcibly recommend what 
 is spoken, though not remarkable lor depth of 
 thought or solidity of reasoning. Hut Paul had 
 none of these advantages, and vet idolatry and su-
 
 Design of Paul's pr. 
 them up in the p< 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 crucified. 3 And d I was with you e in weak- 
 ness, and in fear, and in much trembling. 
 
 4 And my speech and my preaching f was not 
 with e enticing words of man's wisdom, h but 
 in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: 
 
 5 That your faith should not 'stand in the 
 wisdom of men, but k in the power of God. 
 
 6 Howbeit we speak wisdom among them 
 'that are perfect: yet not m the wisdom of this 
 
 '/ Acts IS. 
 
 1, 6. 12. 
 
 
 -fi ?, 
 
 Cor. 
 
 4 
 
 7: 10. 1, 
 
 10 
 
 11. 
 
 30 
 
 l" 
 
 5, 9; 
 
 Gal 
 
 4. 13.- 
 
 —fVer. 
 
 1 : 
 
 ch; 
 
 p. 1. 
 
 17; 
 
 2 Pet. 
 
 1. 16.- 
 
 — </ 
 
 Or, 
 
 p< r- 
 
 fill It 
 
 nble. — 
 
 -h. Rom 
 
 In 
 
 in 
 
 1 Tli 
 
 •ss 
 
 1 5. 
 
 fi 
 
 ■. he 
 
 
 -/-'. 
 
 Cor. 
 
 •J. 7; 
 
 6. 7.— 
 
 -J Chap. 
 
 14 
 
 20 
 
 Epfc 
 
 . 4. 
 
 13; Phil 
 
 .3. 
 
 15: 
 
 lit 
 
 b. i 
 
 .14. 
 
 perstition fell before him. Thus God was seen in 
 the work, and the man was forgotten. In fear, 
 and in much trembling — This was often the state 
 of Paul's mind ; dreading lest he should at any time 
 be unfaithful, and so grieve the Spirit of God ; or 
 that, after having preached to others, himself should 
 be a castaway. (See chapter ix, 27.) An eminent 
 divine has said, that it requires three things to make 
 a good preacher : study, temptation, and prayer. 
 The last, no man that lives near to God can neglect ; 
 the first, no man who endeavours rightly to divide the 
 word of truth will neglect ; and with the second, every 
 man will be more or less exercised whose whole 
 aim is to save souls. Those of a different cast the 
 devil permits to pass quietly on in their own indo- 
 lent and prayerless way. [Possibly there is not 
 here any reference to physical weakness, nor to any 
 defect of utterance. The weakness, etc., was of a 
 deep, ethical nature, being based on the entire re- 
 nunciation of human wisdom and strength. (Verse 
 5.) See Meyer.] 
 
 4. And my speech — -'0 Myoc /uov, my doctrine ; 
 the matter of my preaching. And my preaching 
 — To tchpvyjia fiov, my proclamation, my manner of 
 recommending the grand but simple truths of the 
 Gospel. Was not with enticing words of man's 
 wisdom — 'Ev ttiBoic avOpuTrivr/c ootyiac 'Aoyoig, with 
 persuasive doctrines of human wisdom : in every 
 case I left man out, that God might become the 
 more evident. I used none of the means of which 
 great orators avail themselves in order to become 
 popular, and thereby to gain fame. But in dem- 
 onstration of the Spirit — 'Anodeigei, in the mani- 
 festation. The doctrine that he preached was re- 
 vealed by the Spirit : that it was a revelation of 
 the Spirit, the holiness, purity, and usefulness 
 of the doctrine rendered manifest : and the over- 
 throw of idolatry, and the conversion of souls, by 
 the power and energy of the preaching, were the 
 " demonstration " that all was divine. [Springing 
 from the Spirit and power of God. — Afford.] [The 
 apostle was content to simply proclaim the great 
 truths of the Gospel, and to leave their proof (dem- 
 onstration) to the effectual working of the Holy 
 Spirit.] 
 
 5. That your faith should not stand — [The 
 Spirit is the original creator of faith, which cannot 
 be begotten of human caprice, though man has the 
 capability of hindering its production ; and it de- 
 pends for its continuance on the same mighty 
 Spirit, who is almost without intermission begetting 
 it anew. — Ohhausen.] 
 
 6. We speak wisdom among them that are 
 perfect — By the ev rote reXeioic, among those that 
 are "perfect, we are to understand Christians of ad- 
 vanced knowledge and attainments ; those who were 
 fully instructed in the knowledge of God through 
 Christ Jesus. Nothing, in the judgment of St. 
 
 world, nor of the princes of this world, "that 
 come to naught: 7 But we speak the wis- 
 dom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wis- 
 dom, "which God ordained before the world 
 unto our glory ; § p "Which none of the princes 
 of this world knew: for i had they known it, 
 they would not have crucified the Lord of 
 glory. 9 But as it is written, r Eye hath not 
 seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into 
 
 mCimv. 1. 20: 3. 19; verses 1, 13: 2 Cor. 1. 12: James 3. 15. 
 
 n Chap. 1. 28. o Horn. Hi. 25, 26; Epli. ;!. 5,9; Col. 1. 26; 
 
 2 Tim. 1. '.'. 1> Matt. 11. 2.i ; John 7. 48: Acts 13. 27: 2 Cor. 
 
 3. 14. q Luke 23. 34 ; Acts 3. 17 : see John 16. 3. >■ Isa. 64. 4. 
 
 Paul, deserved the name of "wisdom" but this. 
 And though he apologizes for his not coming to 
 them with excellency of speech or wisdom, yet he 
 means what was reputed wisdom among the Greeks, 
 and which, in the sight of God, was mere folly 
 when compared with that wisdom that came from 
 above. [The apostle spoke wisdom among the 
 perfect, but of a kind higher than the wisdom of 
 this world ; a wisdom revealed from God by the 
 Spirit, only intelligible by the spiritual man, and 
 not by the (i/w^wof,) unspiritual. St. Paul rejects 
 the imputation that the Gospel and its preaching is 
 inconsistent with '"wisdom," rightly understood: 
 nay, shows that the wisdom of the Gospel is of a 
 far higher order than that of the wise of this world, 
 and far above their comprehension. — A/ford] This 
 declaration of the apostle is prophetic. The ruin 
 of the Grecian superstition soon followed. 
 
 t i. The wisdom of God in a mystery — The 
 Gospel of Jesus Christ, which had been compara- 
 tively hidden from the foundation of the world, 
 (the settling of the Jewish economy,) though ap- 
 pointed from the beginning to be revealed in the 
 fulness of time. For, though this Gospel was, in a 
 certain sense, announced by the prophets, and pre- 
 figured by the law, yet it is certain that it was still 
 a mystery to them and others, till it was so glo- 
 riously revealed by the preaching of the apostles. 
 [E'ic dotjav 7/yuv, the thought is, to which wisdom 
 God has, before the beginning of the ages of this 
 world, (in eternity,) given the predestination that by 
 it we should attain to glory. — Meyer.] 
 
 8. Which none of the princes of this world 
 knew — Here it is evident that (primarily, not ex- 
 clusively) "this world " refers to the Jewish state, 
 and to the degree of knowledge in that state : and 
 to the rulers, priests, rabbis, etc., who were prin- 
 cipally concerned in the crucifixion of our Lord. 
 The Lord of glory — Or, the glorious Lord, \\ hose 
 is eternal glory ; and who gave this glorious Gospel 
 in which his followers may glory. [Had the ap- 
 Xovtec, rulers, known that aotpla Qeov, wisdom of 
 God. then they would also have known Christ as 
 what he is, the Kvpioc rf/c 6o^r,<:, "the Lord of 
 glory," and would have received and honoured, in- 
 stead of shamefully crucifying, him. — Meyer.] 
 
 9. But as it is written — isa. lxiv, 4. We do 
 not speak or preach the wisdom of this world ; but 
 that mysterious wisdom of God, of which the 
 prophet said, "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, 
 neither have entered into the heart of man, the 
 things which God hath prepared for them that love 
 him." These words have been applied to the state 
 of glory in a future world, (which may be allow- 
 able by way of accommodation,) but they certainly 
 belong to the present state, anil express the won- 
 drous light, life, and liberty which the Gospel com- 
 municates to them that believe in the Lord Jesus 
 
 105
 
 A. P. 56. 
 
 T. CORINTHIANS. 
 
 The Oospcl i 
 
 the hearl of man, the things which God hath 
 prepared for them thai love him. I© But 
 ' ( rod hath revealed tin m unto us by his Spirit : 
 for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the 
 deep things of God. II Fur what man Knew 
 eth the things <>f a man. 'save the spiril of 
 man which is in him? "even so the tilings of 
 God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. 
 
 12 Now we have received, nol the spirit of 
 
 * .Mitt. 13. II ; 16. 17 
 
 John M. 
 
 i J. .i,n 2. 2; 
 
 Dm. 11.33, 34. 
 
 i i in that way which the Gospel itself requires. 
 To this the prophet himself refers; and it is evi- 
 dent, from the following verse, that the apostle 
 also refers to the same thing. Such a scheme of 
 salvation, in which God's glory and man's felicity 
 should be equally secured, had never been seen, 
 heard of, nor could any mind but that of tied 
 have conceived it; nor could any power but hi> 
 own have brought it to effect, j What God has 
 prepared for them is the salvation of the Messianic 
 kingdom. — Meyi r.] 
 
 10. But God hath revealed them unto us — 
 A manifest proof that the apostle speaks here of 
 
 of the Gospel, and not of the glories of 
 the future world. For the Spirit searcheth all 
 things — [The Holy Spirit, proceeding forth from 
 God as the personal principle of Christian enlighten- 
 ment, of every Christian endowment, and of the 
 ■ stiari life, is the medium, in his being communi- 
 i to men, (verse 12,) of the divine revelation. 
 He is the hearer of it. (Eph. i, 17; iii, 3, 5; 1 Cor. 
 xii, 11 ; xvi, 6, etc.) — Meyer.] This is the Spirit of 
 God which spoke by the prophets, and has now 
 given to the apostles the fulness of that heavenly 
 truth of which He gave to the former only the out- 
 lines, (and in types and shadows.) Yea, the deep 
 things of God — The apostles were so fully con- 
 vinced that the scheme of redemption proclaimed 
 in the Gospel was divine, that they boldly asserted 
 that these things infinitely surpassed the wisdom 
 and comprehension of man. God was now, in an 
 eminent sense, become manifest; many attributes 
 of his, which to the world would have forever lain 
 in obscurity, (for the world by wisdom knew not 
 God,) were now brought to light and illustrated by 
 the gracious displays which He had made in Christ. 
 It was the Spirit of God alone that could reveal 
 these thin--; and it was the energy of that Spirit 
 alone that could bring them all into effect — stamp 
 and seal them as attributes and works of God for- 
 ever The apostles were thoroughly conscious of 
 their own inspiration; and they knew that what 
 
 they spoke, they spoke as they were moved by the 
 Holy Ghost. 
 
 1 1 . For what man knoweth the things of a 
 man — [For wlio among men knoweth the things of a 
 man. (the emphasis is on men and man, as compared 
 with God,) except the spirit of a man which is in 
 him. The apostle is speaking of the impossibility 
 of any bul the Spirit of God conferring a knowl- 
 edgt of the things of God. — Alford.] The spirit of 
 a man knows the things of a man : that is, a man 
 is conscious of all that passes in his own mind; 
 and no man can know these things bu1 himself. 
 So, the Spirit of God, he whom we call the Third 
 Person of the glorioun Trinity, knows all the coun- 
 sels and determinations of the Supreme Being. As 
 
 the Spirit, is here represented as living in God, and 
 as this Spirit know- all the things of God, and had 
 106 
 
 the world, but 'the Spiril which is of God; 
 that we mighl know the things thai are freely 
 given to us of God. i:$ " Which things also 
 
 we speak, not in the words which man's wis- 
 dom teacheth, bul which the Holy Ghost 
 teacheth; comparing spiritual things with 
 spiritual. II «Bn1 the natural man receiveth 
 not the tilings of the Spirit of God: > for they 
 are foolishness unto him: 'neither can he 
 
 b Rom. B. l"> — ic2 Pet. I. 16; see chap. 1. 17; verve 4. 
 
 ./• Matt. 16. 2:;. — yCh. 1. i-. - :. i: m. -. 5, ■ . ! : Jude 19. 
 
 revealed those to the apostles which concern the 
 salvation of the world, therefore what thej spoke 
 
 and preached was true, and to le depended upon. 
 The miracles which they did, in the nameol Christ, 
 were the proof (to others ) that they had that Spirit, 
 and spoke the truth of Cod. 
 
 12. Now we have received, net the spirit 
 of the world — We, the apostles of Christ, have 
 received this Spirit of God, by ivhieh we know the 
 deep things of God ; and through the teaching of 
 that Spirit we preach Christ crucified. We have 
 not therefore "received the spiril of the world," 
 [the mind and sentiments oi unrcgenerate man- 
 kind, nor] of the Jewish teachers, who are all look- 
 ing for a worldly kingdom and a worldh Messiah, 
 and interpret all the Scriptures of the Old Testa- 
 ment which relate to him in a carnal and world- 
 1\ sense. That we might know the things — 
 We receive the Holy Spirit that by him we may 
 know what those excellent things are which God 
 has freely given to mankind. 
 
 Hi. Which things also we speak — The Creek 
 orators affected a high and florid language, full of 
 tropes and figmes. which dazzled more than it en- 
 lightened. The rabbis affected obscurity, and 
 were studious to find out cabalistical meanings, 
 which had no tendency to make the people wise 
 unto salvation. The apostles could not follow any 
 of these : they spoke the things of Cod in the words 
 of (ioil; everything was plain and intelligible. He 
 who has a spiritual mind will easily comprehend an 
 apostle's preaching. Comparing spiritual things 
 with spiritual — liwupivavreg, conferring, or ex- 
 plaining, nvevfiariKolc, to spiritual men; explain- 
 ing spiritual tJiings to spiritual persons. And this 
 sense is required by what follow s. 
 
 14. But the natural man— ¥v%iK6g, the animal 
 man — the man who is in a mere state of nature, 
 and lives under the influence of his natural pas- 
 sions. The wind i/'i'.i'}, which we often translate 
 soul, means the lower and sensitive part of man, in 
 opposition to vovg, the understanding or rational 
 part. The person in question is one who either 
 has had no spiritual teaching, or has not ] mlitcil by 
 it, or one who lives for the present world, having 
 no respect to spiritual or eternal things. This \pv- 
 Xihoc, or natural man, is opposed to the Trvevfiari- 
 ndg, or spiritual man : and, a- this latter is under 
 the in th ence of the Spirit of God, so the former is 
 without that influence. The apostle did spt ak of those 
 high and sublime spiritual things to these animal 
 ran ; t mt he explained them to those which were 
 spiritual. He uses this word in this sense, chapter 
 iii, 1; ix, 11; and particularly in verse !•"> of the 
 present chapter: "He that is spiritual judgeth all 
 things." " But the natural man "—The apostle ap- 
 pears to give this as a reason why he explained 
 those deep spiritual things to spiritual men; lie- 
 cause the animal man, the man who is in a state of
 
 CHAPTER IT. 
 
 know them, because they are spiritually dis- 
 cerned. 15 u But he that is spiritual T judgeth 
 all things, yet he himself is w judged of no man. 
 10 'For who hath known the mind of the 
 Lord, that he nnay instruct him? z 13ut we 
 have the mind of Christ. 
 
 u Prov. 2«. 5: 1 Tliess. ■">. 21 : I John 4. 1. r Or, i/is,-er». 
 
 eth. — 10 Or.diseerned. i/-Jub la. 8; Isa. 40. 13; Jer. 23. 18; 
 
 Kom. 11.34. 
 
 nature, without the regenerating grace of the Spir- 
 it of God, receiveth not the things of the Spir- 
 it — neither apprehends nor comprehends them: 
 ami he has no relish for them; he considers it the 
 highest wisdom to live for this world. Therefore 
 these spiritual things are foolishness unto him; 
 for while he is in his natural state lie cannot see 
 their excellency, because (while) they are (only) 
 spiritually discerned, and he has no spiritual 
 mind or perception. 
 
 15. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things 
 — He who has the mind of Christ discerns and 
 judges of all things spiritual ; yet he himself is not 
 discerned by the mere natural man. \The spiritual 
 man, 6 TTvevuarindc, (he in whom the -rtvua, Spirit, 
 rules: and since by man's fall the (human) nvevpa 
 is overridden by the animal soul, and in abeyance, 
 this always presupposes the infusion of the Holy Spir- 
 it to quicken and inform the nvsvua; so that there is 
 no such thing as an unregenerate mve vucitikoc,) "judg- 
 eth all things" (spiritual.) — Aiford.] Wvanpivet, dis- 
 cerns, apprehends, indicating the faculty of spiritual 
 perception and discrimination given by the Holy 
 Spirit. (John xv, 13, 14.) Is judged of no man 
 — [Who is not also nvEv/MTtnor. See chapter xiv, 
 20 ; 1 John iv, 1, where such judgment is expressly 
 attributed to Christian believers. See Alford.] 
 
 16. For who hath known the mind of the 
 Lord — Who that is still a natural man can know 
 the mind of God, so as to instruct him, namely, 
 the spiritual man, the same that is spoken of in 
 verse 15. [In order for a man not gifted from 
 Christ (or indeed any man) to judge the Tzvevya- 
 tikoc, (the spiritual.) he must know the vovc icvpiov, 
 ("the mind of the Lord,") the intent and disposition 
 of Christ, yea, more, must be able to teach, to instruct 
 Christ. — Alford.] [Avt6v (him) is above made to 
 mean Christ; some commentators refer it to the 
 spiritual; either sense is admissible, and there are 
 siime good reasons for the latter.] But we have 
 the mind of Christ — Being born again by his 
 Spirit, we are capable of knowing his mind and 
 receiving the teachings of his Spirit. These teach- 
 ings we do receive, and therefore are able to con- 
 vey them to others. The words, that he may in- 
 struct him, be av/nftifldaei abrov, should be trans- 
 lated that he may teach it : that is, the mind of God ; 
 not instruct God, but teach his mind to others. 
 The true translation of the passage, as used by the 
 apostle, would then be: For who hath known the 
 mind of the Lord, that he should teach it? And 
 this translation agrees with every part of the con- 
 text, and particularly with what follows. 
 
 1. This chapter may be considered a good model 
 for a Christian minister to regulate his conduct by, 
 or his public ministry; because it points out the 
 mode of preaching used by St. Paul and the apostles 
 in general. This great apostle came not to the peo- 
 ple " with excellency of speech and of wisdom," 
 when he declared unto them " the counsel of God." 
 The enticing words of man's wisdom are seldom ac- 
 
 CI1APTER III. 
 
 AND 1, brethren, could not speak unto you 
 as unto "spiritual, but as unto b carnal, 
 even as unto c babes in Christ. 2 J have fed 
 you with d milk, and not with meat: e fon 
 hitherto ye were not able to bear it. neither 
 
 i/Gr. shall . 2 John 15. 15. a Chapter 2. 15. b Chapter 
 
 2. 14. olieb. 5. 13. c^lleb. 5. 12, 13; 1 Pet. 2. 2. eJ'.hn 
 
 Hi. 12. 
 
 companied by the demonstration and power of the 
 
 lh'lil Spirit. 
 
 2. One justly remarks, that "the foolishness of 
 preaching has its wisdom, loftiness, and eloquence; 
 but this consists in the sublimity of its truths, the 
 depth of its mysteries, and the ardour of the Spirit 
 of God." In this respect Paul may be said to have 
 preacheel wisdom among those which were perfect. 
 The wisest and most learned men in the world, who 
 have seriously read the Bible, have acknowledged 
 that there is a depth and height of wisdom and 
 knowledge in that book of God which are sought in 
 vain any where else. 
 
 3. Another mode of preaching has been recom- 
 mended : " Scriptural phraseology should be gen- 
 erally avoided where it is antiquated, or conveys 
 ideas inconsistent with modern delicacy." But St. 
 Paul did not preach in the words which man's wis- 
 dom teaclieth — such words are too mean and too 
 low for a religion so divine. That which the Holy 
 Spirit alone can discover, he alone can explain. Let 
 no man dare to speak of God in any other way than 
 He speaks of himself in his word. Let us take care 
 not to profane his truths and mysteries, either by 
 merely human ideas, or by new and worldly ex- 
 pressions altogether unworthy of the Spirit of God. 
 
 4. It is the glory of God, and ought to be of his 
 ministers, not to be acceptable to carnal men. The 
 natural man always finds some pretence to excuse 
 himself from believing, by looking on the mysteries 
 of religion as being either too much above man or 
 too much below God ; the spiritual man judges them 
 to be so much the more credible the le^s credible 
 they are to the natural man. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER III. 
 
 1. I, brethren, could not speak unto you as 
 unto spiritual — This is a continuation of the pre- 
 ceding discourse. [Kayw, / also, even /, failed 
 through your inability to apprehend spiritual things, 
 to speak to you as spiritual, <'>c irvev/iaTiicolg.] [The 
 expression aapnivoic, here, (as in Rom. vii, 14, and 
 Heb. vii, 16,) used instead of aapiuKDlc, is sjiecially 
 chosen, in order to denote more strongly the unspir- 
 itual nature ; as to fleshy persons, (regenerate ones, 
 in whom, however, the old elements are still largely 
 and effectively present, but distinguished from the 
 unregenerate, (GapniKolc,) being real Christians, but 
 at a very low degree of spiritual growth,) as to those 
 who have as yet experienced so little of the in- 
 fluence of the Holy Spirit that the oap^, that is the 
 nature (character) of the natural man, which is 
 opposed, since the fall, to the Spirit of God, gives 
 rise to the incapacity to recognise the sway of the 
 divine Spirit, and to follow the drawing of the di- 
 vine will. See Meyer.] Babes in Christ — Just be- 
 ginning to acquire some notion of the Christian re- 
 ligion, but as yet very incapable of judging what is 
 most suitable, and utterly unqualified to discern 
 between the doctrines of one teacher and those of 
 another. 
 
 2. I have fed you with milk — I have in- 
 
 107
 
 T. CORINTHIANS. 
 
 ■pel only 
 
 yet dow are ye able, 'i For ye are yel <-.u- 
 nal: for ' whereas then is among you envying, 
 and strife, and & divisions, are ye uol carnal. 
 and walk ''as men? I For while one saith, 
 ■I am of Paul; and another, lam ofApollos; 
 are ye not carnal ? a Who then is Paul, and 
 who is Apollos, but k ministers by whom ye 
 believed, 'even as tin- Lord gave to every man.' 
 <> "'1 have planted, "Apollos watered; "but 
 
 /Chap. 1.11: 11.18: Gal. 5. 20, 21 ; James 3. 16. — oOr.fac- 
 
 turns. — hGr. aeeordina to mant - iChap. 1. 12. Cli. 
 
 4. l ; -j i i: 12.3,6; I Pet. 4. II. — in Acta 18. 
 
 4. -. II ; chap. 4. 15; '.'. 1 ; 15. 1 ■ 2 Cur. in. 14, li. n Acts Is. 
 
 I '. I. 
 
 Btructed you in the elements of Christianity — in its 
 simplest and easiest truths. The apostle thus ex- 
 poses t<> them the absurdity <>t' their conduct in 
 pretending to judge between preacher and preacher, 
 while they had hut a very partial acquaintance 
 even with the first principles of Christianity. Ye 
 were not able— ['ErVruo-tf?. What weakness is 
 meant, the context slums; in the figure, that of 
 the body; in its application, that of the mind and 
 spirit. — Meyer.] 
 
 3. There is among you envying, and strife, 
 and divisions — ZijAoc koc epig nai StxocTaciai. 
 There are three things here worthy of note : these 
 
 people were wrong in thought, word, and deed. 
 ZijXog, envying, (emulation in a had sense, self-seek- 
 ing,) refers to the state of their souls. Ep<f, strifit . 
 or wrangling, refers to their words. HixoGraaiai, 
 divisions, schisms, refers to their conduct ; rending 
 the Churchof Christ. [Theophylact has aptly said. 
 Zeal (6 ,'///'»;) is the father of strife, (epig,) and this 
 Ltes divisions, (dixoaraoiag.)'] As men — 
 [Kara avdpunov, according t-> the manner of an un- 
 renewed man. ( Rom. viii, 4.)] 
 
 4. For while one saith, I am of Paul, etc. — 
 Paul and Apollos held the same creed; (were of the 
 same school of thought;) when, therefore, the dis- 
 sentients began to prefer the one to the other, it 
 was the fullest proof of their carnality, having fallen 
 into merely personal partisanships. [The apostle 
 names hut two of the foregoing designations, (chap- 
 ter i, 12,) intending, both there more fully and here 
 briefly, rather to give " sample >>f tin sectarian 
 spirit prevalent than to describe, as matter of fact, 
 sects into which they were actually divided. — 
 AlforcQ 
 
 5. Who (or what) then ... is Apollos, etc. — 
 [The question is not asked by an objector, but by 
 Paul himself. — Alford. | Ministers by whom ye 
 believed — Tin- different apostles who have 
 preached unto you the word of life are the means 
 
 it, servitors) whom God has used to bring 
 you to the knowledge of Christ. [They believed 
 through the apostle and his .associates, not in 
 them; just as these preached not themselves, bul 
 Christ Jesus, as Lord, and themselves as servants 
 (servitors) of the Church, for Christ's sake. {:! < 'or. 
 i\, .">.)] Even as the Lord gave to every 
 man — He who knows best what is best for his 
 Church has distributed both gifts and graces ac- 
 cording to his own mind ; and, as his judgment is 
 infallible, all these dispensations must be right. 
 Paul ami Apollos are, therefore, alike necessary to 
 the perfecting of the Church of Christ. Both, 
 (and all others,) hut with various gifts, point out 
 the same Christ, build on the same foundation. 
 
 6. I have planted — I first sowed the seed of 
 the Gospel at Corinth, and in the region of Achaia. 
 
 1US 
 
 God gave the increase. 7 S.i then i neither is 
 he thai planteth any thing, neither he that. 
 watereth; but God that givetli the increase. 
 
 * Now he that planteth and lie that v, a'' :< l:i 
 
 are one: q and every man shall receive his own 
 reward according to bis own labour. U For 
 1 we arc Labourers together with Cod: ye nre 
 God's 'husbandry, ye are 'God's building. 
 10 "According to the grace of God which is 
 
 oChapter 1. 30: 15.10: 2 Cor. 3. 5. p2Cor.12.ll: Gal 
 
 6. :<. ffPsa.62. 12; Rom. -J. 6; chapter 4. ■'/ ; Gal, 6. 1.5; 
 
 Kev. 2. 23; 22. 12. / Acts 15, l: '-' Cor. 6. I. «0r, 
 
 rEph. 2. 20; Col. 2. 7; Ueb. 3. 3, 4; 1 L'et. 2. 5. altom. 
 
 1 .}; 12.3. 
 
 Apollos watered — '-Apollos" came after me, 
 and, by his preachings and exhortations, watered 
 i he seed which I had sowed ; but God gave the 
 increase. As in the natural so in the spiritual 
 world; it is by the blessing of God (operating 
 through the forces of nature) that the grain which 
 
 is sown in the ground becomes fruitful; it is nei- 
 ther the sower nor the uaterer that produces this 
 wonderful multiplication. So it is by the particu- 
 lar agency of the Spirit of God that even good seed, 
 -tw\w as in good ground — the purest doctrine con- 
 veyed to the honestest heart — produces the salva- 
 tion of the soul. 
 
 7. So then neither is he that planteth any 
 thing — [That is, of importance. ] < rod alone should 
 have all the glory, as the seed is his, the ground is 
 his, the labourers are his, and [after all these in- 
 strumentalities] the produce all comes from him- 
 self. 
 
 8. He that planteth and he that watereth 
 are one — [In the substance of their teaching, and 
 the design of their ministry. | Both Paul and Apol- 
 los have received the same Spirit, preach the same 
 doctrine, and, with one accord, labour to promote 
 the glory of Coil in the salvation of your souls. 
 [As the unity of the Church of Christ is promoted 
 rather than hindered by the diversity of gifts 
 among its ministers, so the distribution of the coin- 
 pany of the believers into companies, " sects," or 
 free organisms, doubtless contributes to the same 
 end.] According to his own labour — Cod does 
 not reward his servants according to the success of 
 their labour, because that may depend on himself; 
 hut he rewards them according to the amount of 
 faithful "labour" which they bestow on his work. 
 Therefore, no faithful minister can say, I have la- 
 boured in vain, and spent my strength lor naught. 
 
 It. For we are labourers together with (of) 
 God — It would he more correct to translate Qeciv 
 ;.<;/) iauev cwepyoi, we are fellow-labourers <</ God ; 
 for the preposition aw expresses the joint labour 
 of the teachers one with another, and not w ilh God. 
 We do nothing of ourseh es, nor in reference to our- 
 selves; we labour together in that work which God 
 has given us to do, expecting all our success from 
 him, and referring the whole to his glory. Far 
 from being divided among ourselves, we jointly 
 labour, as oxen in the same yoke, to promote the hon- 
 our of our Master. Ye are God's husbandry — 
 Oeov ye&pywv. The word ye&pyiov, which we trans- 
 late " husbandry," signifies properly an arable field; 
 (so I'rov. xxiv, 30; xxxi, 16.) It would he more lit- 
 eral to translate it, Year' Qod'sfiarm; yetipytovsig- 
 nifying propei ly a sown fit Id. Ye are God's build- 
 ing — Geoi oiKodoui] hare. As no man in viewing a line 
 building extols thequarryman that dug upthe stones, 
 the hewer that cut and squared them, the mason that
 
 Jesus Christ the fnlindatk 
 of the spiritual edifice. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 given unto me, as a wise masterbnilder, I have 
 laid v the foundation, and another buildeth 
 
 thereon. But "let every man rake heed how 
 lie buildeth thereupon. 11 For other founda- 
 tion can no man lay than x that is laid, y which 
 is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if any man build 
 upon this foundation gold, silver, precious 
 stones, wood, hay, stubble; 13 z Every man's 
 
 ■v Rom. 15. 2d ; verse R : ch. 4. 15 ; Rev. 21. 14. to 1 Pet. 4. 11. 
 
 ajlsa. 28. Hi; Matt. lii. 18; 2 Cor. 11. 4; Gal. 1. 7. 
 
 placed them in the wall, the woodman that hewed 
 down the timber, the carpenter that squared and 
 joined it, etc., but the architect who planned it, 
 and under whose direction the whole work was ac- 
 complished ; so no man should consider Paul, or 
 Apollos, or Kephas, anything but as persons em- 
 ployed by the great Architect to form a building in- 
 tended for a habitation of himself through the 
 Spirit, and the design of which is entirely his own. 
 1 i >. According to the grace . . . given . . . me — 
 [Kara rqv X^P n \ not the apostolical office, for most of 
 the " workers " were not apostles ; but the special en- 
 dowments of grace which he had received from God, 
 to fit him for his calling. See Meyer.] As a wise 
 masterbuilder — '£2c onipbc apxiTEnrov. The de- 
 sign or plan of the building (the church) is from 
 (iu 1, and all things must be done according to the 
 pattern which he has ordered ; but the execution of 
 this plan was intrusted to St. Paul and his fellow- 
 workers ; he was [and they also, each in his own 
 order] the wise or experienced architect whom God 
 used to rear the sacred edifice. [What was the 
 foundation which he had laid he tells us in the 
 next verse, namely, Jesus Christ.] Let every 
 man take heed how he buildeth thereupon — 
 Let him take care that the doctrines which he 
 preaches are in harmony with those which I have 
 preached ; and let him take heed not to enjoin any 
 practice unsuitable to these doctrines. 
 
 11. Other foundation can no man lay — This 
 spiritual building can have no " other foundation " 
 than Jesus Christ : there can be no diversity of 
 opinions among the true apostles of our Lord. The 
 only tear within the Church is, lest a bad superstruc- 
 ture should be raised on this foundation. 
 
 12. If any man build . . . gold, silver, etc. 
 — It may be sufficient for purposes of edification 
 to say, that by " gold, silver,", and precious 
 stones, the apostle certainly means pure and 
 wholesome doctrines : by wood, hay, and stub- 
 ble, false doctrines, with corresponding practices. 
 [The various specimens of building materials here 
 set side by side denote the various matters of doc- 
 trine propounded by teachers, and brought into 
 connexion with faith in Christ, in order to develop 
 and complete the Christian training of the Church. 
 These are either, like gold, silver, costly stones, 
 (not gems,) of high value and imperishable dura- 
 tion, oi- else, like timber, hay, stubble, (aa/Mur/, 
 straw,) of little worth and perishable, so that they, 
 instead of abiding (through all time) in their eter- 
 nal truth, come to naught, that is, are shown not to 
 belong to the enduring a?i/0eia, (truth,) and form 
 no (essential or permanent) part of the perfect 
 knowledge (chapter xiii, 12) which shall abide 
 forever. . . . The second class (of materials named) 
 embraces in it no absolutely anti- Christian doc- 
 trine, for the building was upon the foundation : 
 for if the foundation which is laid be the con- 
 tents of the first preaching of the Gospel, namely, 
 
 work shall be made manifest: for the day 
 "shall declare it, because h it c shall be revealed 
 by tire; and the fire shall try every man's 
 work of what sort it is. 14 If any man's work 
 abide which be hath built thereupon, d he shall 
 receive ;i reward. 15 If any man's work 
 shall be burned, he shall suffer loss : but he 
 himself shall be saved; e yet so as by fire. 
 
 y Eph. 2. 2D. z Ch. 4. 5. /( 1 Pet. 1. 7 ; 4. 12. >> Luke 2. 35. 
 
 c Gr. is r, sealed,. <7 Chap. 4. 5. eJmle 23. 
 
 Christ, then the material wherewith the building is 
 carried on, must be the contents of the further in- 
 struction given. See Meyer.] 
 
 13. Every man's work (eKaarov to tpyov) 
 shall be made manifest — [That is, that which he 
 has built ; his part in erecting the house of God 
 (the spiritual temple) shall (at some time) be made 
 evident, (shall not always remain in the present 
 uncertainty,) for the day (time,) shall test it; 
 because it "shall be made manifest" by (in) fire, 
 kv irvpl, the testings effected by the Church's expe- 
 rience during the ages. That which is now ob- 
 scure and uncertain will at length stand forth in 
 the clearness of light, wrought out and made mani- 
 fest by the processes of grace and providence, in 
 the Church and among men.] 
 
 14. If any man's work (shall) abide— [Mem, 
 (future,) which he has built, (that is. on the sure 
 foundation,) he shall receive wages, (as a builder,) 
 that is, shall be rewarded for his faithful work as 
 a teacher. — Alford.] Not only has he preached 
 the truth, but he has laboured in the word and 
 doctrine. And the reward is to be according to 
 the labour. (See on verse 8.) 
 
 15. If any man's work shall be burned, he 
 shall suffer loss — [If, when tried by fire, tested by 
 the fiery trials to which the Gospel is everywliere 
 and always exposed, "any man's work" shall not 
 be able to endure, because of its poor materials — 
 unscriptural elements—" he shall suffer loss " in 
 the destruction of his work done, because of its de- 
 fective matter, (for the reward is measured by the 
 nature of the work done.) The religious teacher 
 who mixes with the pure doctrines of the Gospel 
 other teachings, "after the traditions of men, after 
 the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ," 
 however sincere he may be, will fail of the higher 
 recompense of those who have taught only the 
 truths But because he was sincere, and I milt upon 
 the Foundation — had personal faith in Christ — he 
 himself shcdl be saved] If a man has sincerely 
 and conscientiously believed what he preached, and 
 yet preached what was wrong, not through malice 
 or opposition to the Gospel, but through mere ig- 
 norance, he shall be saved; <<od in his mercy will 
 pass by his errors, and he shall not suffer punish- 
 ment because he was mistaken. [But even then 
 the man himself is a loser, though personally saved, 
 in the destruction of his defective teachings.] 
 The apostle obviously refers to the case of a man 
 who, having builded a house and begun to dwell in 
 it, the house happens to be set on fire, and he has 
 warning of it just in time to escape with his life, 
 losing at the same time his house, his goods, his 
 labour, and almost his own life. So he who, while 
 he holds the doctrine of Christ crucified as the 
 only foundation on which one can rest his hopes 
 of salvation, builds at the same time, on that 
 foundation, other erroneous or destructive doc- 
 trines, he shall lose all his labour, and vet his own 
 
 109
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 16 'Know ye not that ye are the temple of 
 God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in 
 ymi^ 17 It' any man k defile the temple of 
 God, him shall God destroy ; for the temple of 
 God is holy, which templt ye arc 1* h Le1 
 no man deceive himself. It' any man among 
 you seemeth to be wise in this world, lei him 
 
 /Chap ti. 16: Ei>b.3. 21,22: Heb.3. 6; 1 Pet. 
 
 \troy. — AProv.3. 7; Is i. 5. 21. 
 
 soul scarcely escape everlasting perdition. The 
 popish writers have applied what is here spoken to 
 the fire of purgatory: and they might with equal 
 propriety have applied it to the discovery of the 
 longitude, the perpetual motion, or the philosopher's 
 stone; because it speaks just as much of the 
 former as it dors of any of the latter. The fire 
 mentioned here is to try the man's work, not to 
 
 purify his soul; but the drea f purgatory refers 
 
 to the purging in another state of that which left 
 thi< impure : not the work of the man, but the man 
 himself; but here the fire is said to try the work. 
 
 1 6. Ye are the temple of God — Ye arc God's 
 building. [Paul has been presenting to his hear- 
 ers, that he might make them see the wrong char- 
 acter of their proud, partisan eon duet, (chapter iv, 
 6.) the relation of the teachers to the Church as 
 the •" building of Go 1." n,ow called his temple, trior, 
 (not <t temple, but the temple.) Thus he would 
 make them feel yet more deeply the criminality of 
 their sectarian arrogance. — Meyer.] The "ye " in 
 this place riders, not to those addressed, as indivi- 
 duals, q. </.. each one of you is God's temple ; but 
 to the Church made up of associated believers, 
 joined together according to the will of God, and 
 (iu 1 himself, in the persons of Christ and tin' Holy 
 Spirit, dwelling among them.] [Each Christian 
 community is, in a spiritual way, (sensu mystico ) 
 the temple of Jehovah — the realize I idea of that 
 templi — its akrjtitvov, (essential truth.) — Meyer.] 
 As the whole congregation of Israel were formerly 
 considered as the temple and habitation of God, 
 because Go 1 dwelt among them, so here the whole 
 Church of Corinth is called the temple of God; 
 and Christ has promised to be in the midsl even of 
 two or three who are gathered together in his name. 
 Therefore where God is, theri is his temple. 
 
 17 If any man defile (destroy, mar) the tem- 
 ple — Ei 7! roi <) oi) (Jh ii>; i, nl>, ,).- / rnrrov 
 
 6 <> df, i. /' any urn a the temple of God destroy, destroy 
 him will tin'/. If any man injure, corrupt, or 
 
 destroy the Church of God by false doctrine, [as 
 to it- unity and beauty, or its purity an 1 sanctity,] 
 God .'ill destroy him — will takeaway his part out 
 of the book of life. This applies in its full force 
 only to him who wilfully opposes the truth; the 
 erring, mistaken man shall barely escape; but the 
 er shall be destroyed. The former 
 shall be ticated leniently; the latter -hall have 
 judgment without mercy. [The corruption of dor- 
 trine seem ! to in- here chiefly referred to, not, how. 
 ever, disregarding the naturally resulting ethical 
 accompaniments and consequences.] 
 
 IS. If any man among you seemeth to be 
 wise — Ei nr Soke'i aotibc elvai, it' any pretend or 
 affect tn in wise. [The rupture of the unity of the 
 Church by a partj spirit sprang from tin' pride of 
 knowledge and a vain conceit of that wisdom 
 which belonged to this world, and not to God's 
 wisdom, (probably referring to the partisans c.f 
 Apollos, who was learned in the Alexandrian phi- 
 110 
 
 become a foul, thai he may he wise. If) For 
 'the wisdom of this world i- foolishness with 
 ( inil : for it is written, k He taketb the wise in 
 their own craftiness. '20 And again, 'The 
 Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, thai 
 they are vain. 21 Therefore "let no man 
 glorj in men: for "all things are your.-: 
 
 iChap. 1. 20; '.'. r,. J- Job 5. 13. — IVsn. 94. 11. — n 
 
 1. 12; 4. i, ; v. i -c- 1, ;,, 8. n •_• Cor. I 
 
 losophy and an eloquent speakerl) This tendency 
 Paul denounces as not founded in truth, ami im- 
 suited to such as strive for the kingdom of God. 
 In this view it involves a self-deception more or 
 less gross. — Lavge.] Let him become a fool — 
 Let him divest himself of his worldly wisdom, and 
 be contented to lie called a fool, and esteemed one, 
 that he may become wise unto salvation by re- 
 nouncing his own wisdom and seeking that which 
 come- from God. Possibly the apostle refers to 
 some one who, pretending to great wisdom and in- 
 formation, taught doctrines contrary to the sim- 
 plicity id' the Gospel; endeavouring to show rea- 
 sons for them, and to support his own opinions with 
 arguments which he thought unanswerable. 
 
 1(». The wisdom of this world — Whether it 
 be the pretended deep and occult wisdom of the 
 rabbis, or the wire-drawn speculations of tic Gre- 
 cian philosophers, is foolishness 'with God. 
 [" The wisdom of this world," >', yap aoty a roi tido- 
 uov tovtov, is a wisdom ruled by the spirit of this 
 world, that oversteps its proper bounds, seeks to 
 satisfy itself about divine and human things, is 
 tainted with error, and therefore stands in direct 
 opposition alike to the highest reason and to God, 
 and to the' great objects for which the world and 
 man were created. — Osiander in Lange.\ Pride, 
 insolence, sell coiieeit. and complacency, with a 
 general forgetfulness of God, contempt lor his 
 word, and despite for the poor, are the general 
 characteristics of mosl renowned philosophers. 
 He taketh the wise in their own craftiness — 
 (.lob v. 13.) Showing what the wisdom of this 
 world is: a sort of craft, a subtle trade, which men 
 canyon to wrong others and benefit themselves. 
 They generally have too much cunning to lie caught 
 by men ; hut Cod often overthrows them with their 
 own devisings. [The hand of God comes in upon 
 their doings and takes them in their craftiness, 
 thus practically proclaiming his judgment regard 
 ing their wisdom, that it is "foolishness." — Meyer \ 
 
 20. The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the 
 ■wise — (Psalm xciv, 11.) Full of schemes and 
 plans for earthly good, which God knows to be 
 vain, empty, and unsatisfactory; and such as will 
 stand them in no stead when he come- to deal with 
 them in judgment. 
 
 21. Therefore let no man glory in men — 
 [Passing over to the summing up of the pre- 
 ceding arguments, and carrying them over to their 
 practical outcome. " Glory," KavxaoBu : hold any 
 man. or any thing human, as a chief or final object 
 of valuation or confidence. "In men," human teach- 
 ers, in respect to one or another of whom the dif- 
 ferent sects prided themselves against each other. 
 i Ver. 5, and chap, i, 12.) All things are yours — 
 The endowment of the Church of God is full and 
 complete in Christ ; and as the Church is a com- 
 imiiiin ilth, so while, in its organic unity, it pos- 
 sesses all things, each of its members is a proprietor 
 of its abundant riches. J
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 22 Whether Paul, or A polios, or Cephas, or 
 L the world, or life, or death, or things present, 
 or things to come: all are yours; 23 And 
 "ye are Christ's; and Christ is God's. 
 
 L 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 ET a man so account of us, as of a the min- 
 isters of Christ, 'and stewards of the mys- 
 
 oRom. 14.8; chap. 11. 3: SCor. in. 7: Gal. 3.29. a Matt, 
 
 34. 4.") : chap. 3. 5 ; 9. 17 ; 2 Cor. (i. 4; Col. 1. 25. b Luke 12. 42; 
 
 Titus 1. 7 ; 1 Pet. 4. 10. 
 
 22. Whether Paul, or Apollos — God designs 
 to help you by all things and persons ; you have a 
 personal interest and proprietorship in every 
 teacher sent from him, who will become a blessing 
 to you if you abide faithful to your calling. God 
 will press every thing into your service. The min- 
 isters of the Church of Christ are appointed for 
 the hearers, not the hearers for the ministers. In 
 like manner, all the ordinances of grace and mercy 
 are appointed for them, not they for the ordinances. 
 Or the world — Koa/ioc, material and social, the 
 inhabitants of the world and its substance. (John 
 hi, 16, 17; vi, 33; xiv, 31 ; xvii, 21.) Or life, or 
 death — [The eye of the apostle thus rises at once 
 from the concrete and empirical to the most gen- 
 eral whole, in point of matter, condition, time. All 
 these things are the heritage of the children of the 
 kingdom. See Meyer.] 
 
 23. And ye are Christ's — You are called by 
 his name; you have embraced his doctrine; you 
 depend on him for your salvation ; he is your 
 foundation stone ; he has gathered you out of the 
 world, and acknowledges you as his people and fol- 
 lowers. [Our salvation is complete because it is 
 kv Xpiaru, in Christ ; and in redeeming us he has 
 made us his own.] And Christ is God's — 
 Xpiorbc 6e Qeoli, and Christ is of God. Christ, the 
 Messiah, is the gift of God's eternal love and 
 mercy to mankind ; " for God so loved the world, 
 that he gave his only- begotten Son, that whosoever 
 believeth in him should not perish, but have ever- 
 lasting life." Christ, as mediator between God and 
 man, must be considered, in a certain way, sub- 
 ordinate to God ; but in his own essential, eternal 
 nature, there is no inequality- — he is God over all. 
 Ye, therefore, do not belong to men. You have 
 not Paul, Apollos, Kephas, or any other man, for 
 your head ! All these are your servants, for ye are 
 Christ's. [The strict Monotheism of the New Test- 
 ament, and the relation of Christ as the Son to 
 the Father, necessarily gives the idea of the sub- 
 ord, iiiation of Christ under God. As his equality 
 with God, and his divine glory before the incarna- 
 tion, (Phil, ii, 6,) although essential, were still de- 
 rived, (Col. i, 15 ; Heb. i, 3,) so also the divine 
 glory, which he has attained by his exaltation 
 after his obedience rendered to God, (his death on 
 the cross,) is again a glory bestowed upon him, 
 (Phil, ii, 9,) and his dominion is destined to be 
 given back to God. (1 Cor. xv, 28.)— Meyer.] 
 
 A want of spirituality seems to have been the 
 grand fault of the Corinthians. They regarded 
 outward things chiefly, and were carried away with 
 sound and show. They lost the treasure while 
 they eagerly held fast the earthen vessel that con- 
 tained it. It is a true saying, that he who lends only 
 the ear of his body to the word of God, will follow 
 that man most who pleases the ear ; and these are 
 the persons who generally profit the soul least. 
 
 teries of God. 2 Moreover it is required in 
 stewards, that a man be found faithful. 3 But 
 with me it is a very small thing that I should 
 be judged of you, or of man's "judgment : yea, 
 1 judge not mine own self. 4 For I know 
 nothing by myself; d yet am I not hereby justi- 
 fied : but he that judgeth me is the Lord. 
 5 e Therefore judge nothing before the time, 
 
 cGr. tlay, chapter 3. 13. dJob 9. 2; Psa. 130. 3; 143. 2; 
 
 row 21. 2: Rom 3. 20; 4.2. e Malt, 7. 1: Rom. 2. 1, 1U; 
 
 Pro.. . 
 
 14. 4, 10, 13 ; Rev. 20. 12. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER IV. 
 1. Let a man so account of us — This is a con- 
 tinuation of the subject in the preceding chapter, 
 which in its sense is not divided from it. As of 
 the ministers of Christ — 'flc vnr/ptrag Xptcrov. 
 The word vTrrjperrjc means an under rower, or one, 
 who, in the galleys, rowed in one of the undermost 
 benches ; but it here means any inferior officer or 
 assistant. By the term here the apostle shows the 
 Corinthians that, far from being heads and chiefs, 
 he and his fellow apostles considered themselves 
 only as inferior officers employed under Christ, 
 from whom alone they received their appointment, 
 their work, and their recompense. Stewards of 
 the mysteries of God — Kal olnovd/'ovc muri,- 
 piuv Qeov, (Matt, xxiv, 45; Luke viii, 3; xii, 42.) 
 The steward, or oikonomos, was the master's deputy 
 in regulating the concerns of the family, providing 
 food for the household, seeing it served out at the 
 proper times and seasons and in proper quantities. 
 [Such were the relations of the apostles (and such 
 are those of all ministers of the Gospel) to 
 Christ as head of the Church, on the one hand, and 
 to the Church, as his household.] The " mysteries " 
 — the doctrines of God — relative to the salvation of 
 the world by the passion and death of Christ ; and 
 the inspiration, illumination, and purification of the 
 soul by the Spirit of Christ, were the treasures in- 
 trusted to the hands of the stewards by their heav- 
 enly Master, to be dispensed at proper times, sea- 
 sons, and in proper proportions to the children of 
 the Church, which is the house of God. 
 
 3. It is a very small thing that I should be 
 judged of you — [Since I received all my authority 
 as an apostle directly from God, (Gal. i, 1,) and 
 must render to him an account of my " steward- 
 ship," without any disrespect I may say, that 
 your judgment (favourable or unfavourable) is to me 
 a matter of very little account.] Or of man's 
 judgment — "H vrrb ai'dpojTrivr/c i/jiepac, literally, or 
 of man's day: a day set apart by a judge or 
 magistrate on which to try a man. [Whoever may 
 set up his judgment seat, and fix the day of his 
 judgment, does not especially interfere with my du- 
 ties to my own Master.] I judge not mine own 
 self — Having done what I could, I leave myself en- 
 tirely to God, whose I am and whom I serve. 
 
 4. For I know nothing by myself — Obdev yap 
 tfiavru ovvotda. I am not conscious that I am guilty 
 of any evil, or have neglected to fulfil faithfully 
 the duty of a steward of Jesus Christ : oweideiv, to 
 be conscious of guilt. Yet am I not hereby jus- 
 tified — [The clearness of my conscience as to my 
 official duties is, nevertheless, not the ground on 
 which my justification rests. — Meyer.] 1 leave 
 these things to God; he shall pronounce in my fa- 
 vour, not I myself. By these words the apostle, in 
 a very gentle, yet effectual, manner, censures the 
 rash and precipitate judgments of the Corinthians. 
 
 5. Judge nothing before the time — God, the 
 
 111
 
 A. M. 4WI. A. P. 56. 
 Vaarof ft no . i •■ 
 
 I. CORINTHIANS. 
 
 mi Rfraloil 
 
 . m-\ an. I [.ri.ie. 
 
 until tli«' Lord come, r who both will bring to 
 lighl the hidden things of darkness, and will 
 make manifesl the counsels of the hearts : and 
 ethen shall every man have praise of God. 
 <> And these things, brethren, h I have in a 
 figure transferred to myself and to Apollos for 
 yonrsakes; 'thai ye mighl learn in n- not to 
 think of men above thai which is written, thai 
 no one of you k be puffed up for one againsl 
 
 :. (/Rom. 2. 2S; 2 Cor. 5. 10. A Chap. 1. 12; 
 
 * Chap. 3. 21 ; 5. 2, 6. I Qr. Matin- 
 
 guiahi th tin',-. 
 
 righteous judge, will determine everything shortly ; 
 it is his province alone to search the heart, and 
 bring to light the hidden things of darkness. 
 [The fact that the Lord is our Judge, (whether we 
 understand thai fact in respect to a general " day 
 of judgment," or the ever-progressing operations of 
 hi> Spirit and providence,) i-, on the one hand, a 
 sourer of comfort to all true servants of God, 
 amid the various criticisms and censures passed up- 
 on them ; and, on the other hand, it serves to abate 
 the confidence of their own self-estimation. — 
 . ] Then shall every man have praise 
 of God — [Literally, To each one the praise ; that 
 is, the praise which is due, according to its various 
 measures and degrees, corresponding to its worth. 
 — Lange.~\ Some refer the praise to St. Paul and 
 his companions. 
 
 6. These things (chapter iii, 5, etc.) I have in 
 a figure transferred to myself and to Apollos 
 — Bishop Pearce paraphrases the verse thus: "1 
 have made use of my own and Apollos's name in my 
 arguments against your divisions, lieeau.se I 
 would -pare to name those teachers among you who 
 are guilty of making and heading parties ; and be- 
 cause 1 would have you, by our example, not to 
 value them above what I have said of teachers in 
 
 ii in this epistle; SO that none of you ought 
 to be puffed up for one against another." Doubtless 
 then.' were persons in Corinth who, taking advan- 
 tage oi this spitit of innovation among that people, 
 set themselves up for teachers, and endeavoured to 
 draw disciples after them. Possibly Diotrephes 
 was one of the ringleaders in these schisms at Cor- 
 inth. (See chapter i, 14.) 
 
 7. For who maketh thee to differ — [To this 
 question different answers may be given, according 
 to its supposed meaning. 1) No one: You are in 
 no wise different from others. All are alike before 
 God. 2) Not any of us, apostles and teachers : for 
 we have no parties in the Church, and we know- 
 all alike as subjects of the grace of the Gospel. 
 :'.) God: for whatever any of us have, we receive 
 from him. This last sense best agrees with what 
 follows. ] Cod is the fountain id' all good; no man 
 possesses any good but what he has derived from 
 God. If any man possess that grace which saveshim 
 from outbreaking sins, let him consider that he has 
 received it as a free gift from Cod's mercy. Let 
 him not despise his neighbour who has it not ; 
 there was a time when he himself did not possess 
 it ; and the time may come when the man whom he 
 
 now affects to despise, and on whose conduct he is 
 unmerciful and severe, may receive it, and probably 
 may make a more evangelical use of it than he is 
 now doing. This caution is necessary to many re- 
 ligious people, w ho imagine that they have been eter- 
 nal objects of God's favour, and that others have 
 been eternal objects of his hate, for no reason that 
 they can show for cither the one or the other, lie 
 " 112 
 
 another. 7 For who 'maketh thee to differ 
 from another? and '"what hasl thou thai thou 
 didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, 
 why dost thou glory, as if thou hadsl not re- 
 ceived it? * Now ye are full, "now ye are 
 rich, ye have reigned askings without us: and 
 I would to Cod ye did reign, thai we also 
 mighl reign with jrou. f> For I think that 
 Cod hath set forth °us the apostles last, pas it 
 
 m John 3. 27: James 1.17:1 Pet. t. 10. nRev. B. IT. 
 
 ©Or, us the last apostles, a8. p I'sa. 14. 22; Rom 
 chap. 15. 3d, 31 : 2 Cor. 4. II: 6, 9 
 
 can have little acquaintance with his own heart 
 who is not aware of the | ossibility of pride lurking 
 under the exclamation. Why ii" .' when comparing 
 his own gracious state with the iinre^enci ate stale 
 
 of another. 
 
 8. Now ye — Ye Corinthians; are full of secu- 
 lar wisdom : now ye are rich, both in wealth and 
 spiritual gifts ; (chapter xiv, 26 :) yehave reigned 
 as kings, flourishing in the enjoyment of these 
 things, in all tranquillity and honour; without any 
 want of us; and I 'would to God ye did reign 
 in deed, and not. in conceit only, that we also, 
 poor, persecuted, and despised apostles, might 
 reign with you. — Whitby. Though this para- 
 phrase appears natural, yel I am of opinion 
 that the apostle here intends a strong irony. It is 
 not an unusual thing for many people to forget, if 
 not despise, the men by whom they were broughl to 
 the knowledge of the truth, and take up with 
 others to whom, in the things of God, they owe 
 nothing. Reader, is this thy case? 
 
 9 God hath set forth us the apostles last 
 — [In what precedes, Paul has just exhorted them 
 to modesty in accordance with the pattern set by 
 himself and Apollos, and reminded them of their 
 dependence on God for all their endowments — a de- 
 pendence which excluded boasting. Now he re- 
 minds them, not only that they were unmindful of 
 this dependence, but that they were also cradling 
 themselves in the vain conceit of their own perfec- 
 tion — they, the very persons whom he hail just be- 
 fore convicted of greal imperfection and moral per- 
 versity. "Htfft already, (repeated for emphasis,) 
 points to a goal remote, and hints that all true sat- 
 isfaction and true riches and true kingship be- 
 longed not to the present period id' the world, [cer- 
 tainly not to their spiritual state; and hence it 
 implies that they were vainly anticipating the glory 
 which was to come hereafter. . . . We have here a 
 picture of that self-conceit, that sense of sufficiency 
 and fulness, which the sectarian spirit generally en- 
 genders. — Lange.] [The climax of irony vi\e< 
 place to a sober and earnest intimation of the ex- 
 treme opposite of reigning, in their cases, and es- 
 pecially in that of the apostles.] This whole pas- 
 sage is well explained by Dr. Whitby: "Here the 
 apostle seems to allude to the Roman spectacles, 
 7//; 7i, >v Bripio/ia \ m>, i.m fiovi ■ oi mnr. that 
 
 of the bestiarii and the gladiators, where in the 
 morning men were broughl upon the theatres to 
 light with wild beasts, and to them was allowed ar- 
 mour to defend themselves and weapons « it li which 
 to smite the beasts; but in the meridian or noonday 
 spectacles the gladiators were brought forth naked, 
 and without anything to defend themselves from 
 the sword of the assailant ; and he that then es- 
 caped was only kept for slaughter to another day, 
 so that these men mighl well be called eiridav&Tioi, 
 turn appointed for death ; and this being the last
 
 Pnfferinp? and Pxempln 
 of the apostle 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 were appointed to death : for i we are made a 
 r spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and 
 
 to men. 10 s We are ' fools for Christ's sake, 
 but ye are wise in Christ; "we are weak, bui 
 ye ((re strong; ye are honourable, but we are 
 despised. HI v Even unto this present hour 
 we both hunger, and thirst, and ™ are naked. 
 and "are buffeted, and have no certain dwell- 
 
 g Heh. in. 31. rGr, theatre. .1 Chapter 2. 3. 1 Acts 
 
 K. 18: 2fi. 24; chap. 1. IS; 2.14: 3. 18: see 2 Kinsrs 9. 11. — 
 
 it -2 Cor, 13. '.'. e2 Cur. 4. 8; 11. 23-27: 1'hil. 4. 12. w Job 
 
 22. ei; Kom. 8. 35. 
 
 appearance on the theatre for that day, they are 
 said here to be set forth tc^am/, the last." We 
 are made a spectacle — 'Or/ dtarpov syevr/dr/fiev. 
 We are exhibited on the theatre to the world; we 
 are lawful booty to all mankind, and particularly 
 to the men of the world, who have their portion in 
 this life. Angels are astonished at our treatment, 
 and so are the more considerate part of men. Who 
 at that Time would have coveted the apostolate ? 
 
 10. We are fools for Christ's sake [Am Xpt- 
 orov, through Christ, because of our relations to 
 him]— At the public spectacles they were accus- 
 tomed to hiss, hoot, mock, and variously insult the 
 poor victims. Thus, says the apostle, we are fools 
 on Christ's account, we walk in a conformity to his 
 will, and we bear his cross ; and did we walk ac- 
 cording to the course of this world, or according to 
 the man-pleasing conduct of some among you, we 
 should have no such cross to bear. Ye are wise 
 in Christ — [By virtue of your Christian profes- 
 sion.] Surely all these expressions are meant 
 ironically ; the apostles were neither "fools," nor 
 weak, nor contemptible ; nor were the Corinthians, 
 morally speaking, " wise," and strong, and hon- 
 ourable. 
 
 11. We both hunger and thirst, etc. — Who 
 would then have been an apostle of Christ, even 
 with all its spiritual honours and glories, who had 
 not a soul tilled with love both to God and man, 
 and the fullest conviction of the reality of the 
 doctrine he preached, and of that spiritual world 
 in which alone he could expect rest ? Have no 
 certain dwellingplace — We are mere itinerant 
 preachers, and when we set out in the morning 
 know not where, or whether we shall or not, get a 
 night's lodging. [This is evidently not to be taken 
 strictly as indicative of the situation of Paul at 
 the time of writing the epistle, but as generally 
 describing the kind of life to which, then and 
 alwavs, he and the other apostles were exposed. — 
 Alfo'rd.] 
 
 12. Working with our own hands — They 
 were obliged to labour in order to supply them- 
 selves with the necessaries of life while preaching 
 the Gospel to others. This, no doubt, was the 
 case in every place where no Church had been as 
 yet formed : afterward, the people of God sup- 
 plied their ministers, according to their power, with 
 food and raiment. Being reviled, we bless, 
 etc. — Man is naturally a proud creature, and his 
 pride prompts him always to avenge himself in 
 whatever manner he can, and repay insult with in- 
 sult. It is only the grace of Christ that can make 
 a man patient in bearing injuries, and render bless- 
 ing for cursing, beneficence for malevolence, etc. 
 The apostles suffered all indignities for Christ's 
 sake; for it was on his account that they were 
 exposed to persecutions. [And, agreeable to his 
 example, thev submitted to suffer them.] 
 
 Vol. II.— 8 
 
 ingplaoe; 12 - v And labour, working with our 
 own hands: * being reviled, we bless; being 
 persecuted, we suffer it : 13 Being defamed, 
 we entreat: »we are made as the filth of the 
 world, and are the offseouring of all things 
 unto this day. Ill write not these things to 
 shame you, but ' as my beloved sons I warn 
 you. 15 For though ye have ten thousand 
 
 yActs23. 2. yActs is.:]; 20.34: 1 Tliess.2.9: 2 Thess. 
 
 3 *: 1 Tim. 4.10. sMatt. 5.44; Luke 6.28: 23. 34; Acta 
 
 7. ip: Rom. 12. 14,20; 1 l'et. 2.23; 3. i». a Lam. 3.45. 
 
 t,\ Thess.2. II. 
 
 13. Being defamed — BTiaoQq/toitfievoi., 1 icing 
 blaspliemed. I have already remarked that fi?Ma- 
 tpnystv signifies to speak injuriously, and may have 
 reference either to God or to man. God is blas- 
 pliemed when his attributes, doctrines, providence, 
 or grace are treated contemptuously, or any thing 
 said of him that is contrary to his holiness, justice, 
 goodness, or truth. Man is blasphemed when any 
 thing injurious is spoken of his person, character, 
 conduct, etc. Blaspheming against men is any 
 thing by which they are injured in their persons, 
 characters', or property. We are made as the 
 filth of the world . . . the offseouring of all 
 things — HepiKaVapyara, filth, a purgation, or lus- 
 trative sacrifice; 7?epiTp?/ya, offseouring, a redemp- 
 tion sacrifice. To understand the full force of 
 these words, as applied by the apostle in this 
 place, we must observe that he alludes to certain 
 customs among the heathens, who, in the time of 
 some public calamity, chose out some unhappy men 
 of the most abject and despicable character to be 
 a public expiation for them; these they maintained 
 a whole year at the public expense, and then they 
 led them out, crowned with flowers, as was custom- 
 ary in sacrifices, and, having heaped all the curses 
 of the country upon their heads, and whipped them 
 seven times, they burned them alive, and after- 
 ward their ashes were thrown into the sea, while 
 the people said these words: Hep'nl>i]ya ijyuv yivov, 
 be thou our propitiation. Hence Origen says that 
 our Lord, in giving up himself as a propitiation 
 for our sins, was, much more than his apostles, 
 —cpiKadapyara rov KOCfiov, ituvtuv 7veptTJ>>/iia, the lus- 
 tration of the world, and the peculiar sacrifice for 
 all men. The apostle, therefore, means that he 
 and his fellows were treated like those wretched 
 beings who were judged to be fit for nothing but 
 to be expiatory victims to the infernal gods, for 
 the safety and redemption of others. Our words 
 "filth" and "offseouring" convey no legitimate 
 sense of the original. 
 
 14. I write not these things to shame you 
 — It is not by way of finding fault with you for 
 not providing me with the necessaries of life that 
 I write thus ; but I do it to warn you to act differ- 
 ently for the time to come ; and be not so ready 
 to be drawn aside by every pretender to apostle- 
 ship, to the neglect of those to whom, under God, 
 you owe your salvation. 
 
 15. For though ye have ten thousand in- 
 structors — Mvpiovc iraidayoryovc, myriads of lead- 
 ers, that is, an indefinite multitude. The -atdayu- 
 yog, from which we have our word pedagogue, which 
 we improperly apply to a schoolmaster, was, among 
 the Greeks, the person or servant who attended a 
 child, had the general care of him, and who led 
 him to..tchool for the purpose of being instructed 
 by the 6c6daKa?Mg, or teacher. It seems there were 
 many at Corinth who offered their services to iu- 
 
 113
 
 M. 4n«n. A. D. 58. 
 
 T. CORINTHIANS. 
 
 T)j* upoi ■ ,1 with 
 
 p .wi i I hurch. 
 
 instructors in Christ, ye1 havt ye not many fa- 
 thers: for' in Chrisl Jesus I have begotten you 
 through the gospel. W Wherefore 1 tn 
 you, d be ye followers of me. 17 For this 
 cause have I senl unto you • Timotheus, ' who 
 is my beloved son, and faithful in the Lord, 
 who shall bring you einto remembrance of my 
 ways which be in Christ, as I b teach everj 
 where ' in every church. DW k Now some are 
 puffed up, as though I would not come to you. 
 11) 'But I will come to you shortly, '"if the 
 
 : chap. 3. 6; Gal. I. 10: I'l.ii.Mn. 10: 
 I. I-. — <2Chap. 11. 1: Phil. 3. 17: 11 hess I. 6; 
 
 chap. 16. 10: Phil. 2. 19; 1 Thess. 3. 2. 
 
 /l Tim. 1.2:2 Tim. 1.2. 
 
 struct this people, and who were not well affected 
 toward the apostle. Not many fathers — Many 
 offer to instruct you who have no parental feeling 
 
 for you; and how can they? you are not their spir- 
 itual children; you staid in this relation to me 
 alone; for in Christ Jesus, by the power of his 
 Spirit, I have begotten you; / was the means 
 el bringing yon into a state of salvation, so that 
 you have been horn again: ye are my children 
 alone in the < rospel. 
 
 16. Wherefore I beseech you, be ye fol- 
 lowers of me — Miiir/Tai, imitators. As children 
 shoul 1 imitate the example of godly parents, the 
 apostle calls on these Corinthians to imitate him, 
 as he claims them for his children. Follow and 
 imitate me, as I follow and imitate Christ: do not 
 imitate them who, from their worldly pursuits, 
 show themselves to be actuated with a worldly 
 Spirit. 
 
 17. For this cause — Aia tovto, that is, that 
 you imitate me, and know in what this consists. I 
 sent unto you Timotheus — The same person 
 to whom he wrote the two epistles that are still 
 extant under his name, and whom he calls here 
 his beloved, son, one of his most intimate dis 
 ciplex ; and whom he had been the means of 
 bringing to God through Christ. My ways 
 which be in Christ — This person will also in- 
 form you of the manner in which I regulate all 
 the Churches ; and show to you that what I require 
 of you is no other than what I require of all the 
 C i irehes of Christ which I have formed, as I fol- 
 low the same plan of discipline in every place. 
 
 is. Some are puffed up — Some of your teach- 
 ers act with great haughti s, imagining them 
 
 to be safe, because they suppose that 1 shall 
 not revisit Corinth. [On the presumption that I 
 woul 1 nol come to you, some (among you) are as- 
 suming great things to themselves — becoming 
 " puffed up."] 
 
 L9. But I will come to you shortly — Cod 
 being my helper, I fully purpose to visit you; and 
 then I shall pu( those proud men to the proof, not 
 of their speech — eloquence, or pretensions to 
 great knowledge and influence, but of their power 
 — the authority they profess to have from ( tod, and 
 tin' evidences of that authority in the works they 
 have performed. 
 
 20. For the kingdom of God — The religion 
 
 of the Lord Jesus. Is not in word — Excellei 
 
 of speech, or even in doctrines. But in power — 
 "Ev Swd/iEc, in the mighty energy of the Holy Spirit ; 
 enlightening, quickening, converting, and sanctify- 
 ing believers. [In the New Testament idea of the 
 kingdom of Rod, both the governmental and the 
 ethical are united, prominence being given some- 
 114 
 
 Lord will, and will know, not the speech of 
 them which are puffed up, but the power. 
 20 For "the kingdom of God is not in word. 
 but in power. 21 Whal will ye? 'shall J 
 come unto yon with a rod, or in love and in 
 the spirit of meekness '. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 IT is reported commonly that there is forni- 
 cation among yon. and such fornication as 
 is nol so much as "named among the Gentiles, 
 
 g Chan. 11. 2. fcChap. 7 17. i Chap. 14. 83. frChap. 
 
 5.2. lArts 19.21; c 2 Cor. 1.15. 23. m \.i- 
 
 18. 21: Rom. 15. Si; Heb. 6. 3: James 4. In — n Chap. 2. 4; 
 i Thess. 1. 5. — o2Cor. id. 2; 13. in. — a Kph. 5. 3. 
 
 times to one and sometimes to the other. The 
 power, SvvafUQ, in this place includes both.] 
 
 21. Shall I come unto you with a rod, or in 
 love — Here he alludes to the case of the teacher 
 and father, mentioned in verse 15. Shall J come 
 to you with the authority of a teacher, and use the 
 rod of discipline? or shall I come in the tender- 
 ness of a father, and entreat you to do what I 
 have authority to enforce ? [Man determines for 
 himself the treatment he shall receivi — whether it 
 shall be severity or mildness. Well for him who is 
 still enjoying the gracious period of discipline. He 
 is better than one altogether reprobate. God has a 
 twofold staff — the staff mildness and the staff of 
 woe. (Zech. xi, 7—14.) — Heubner in Lange.~\ That 
 there were many irregularities in this Church, which 
 required both the presence and authority of the 
 apostle, \vc shall see in the subsequent chapters. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER V. 
 1. [It is ... commonly — "07wg, actually, clearly. 
 
 The report was widespread and entirely credible.] 
 There is fornication among you — Tlopveia, in 
 this place, must be understood in its utmost lati- 
 tude of meaning, as implying all kinds of (sexual) 
 impurity; for that the Corinthians were noto- 
 riously guilty of every species of irregularity and 
 debauch we have already seen ; and it is not 
 likely that in speaking on this subject, in reference 
 to a people SO very notorious, he would refer to 
 only one species, and that not the most flagitious. 
 Named — ^OvofiaXerai, is not found in the best MSS. 
 and Version-. See ]!. V.] That one should 
 have his father's wife — It is sufficiently clear 
 that a man who professed Christianity hail married 
 his father's wife. That tin' father was alive seems 
 evident from 2 Cor. vii, 12, where, speaking oi 
 the person who did the wrong, the apostle intro- 
 duces also him who had suffered the wrong; which 
 must mean the father, ami the father then (ilii'f. 
 This was a crime which the text says was not 
 among the Gentiles ; the apostle must only mean 
 that it was not allowed by them, lor it certainly 
 did often occur; but by their best writers who 
 notice it, it was branded as superlatively infa- 
 mous. Cicero styles it, scelus incredibile et inandi- 
 tiiin, an incredible and unheard-of wickedness; 
 but it was heard of and practised; and there are 
 several stories of this kind in heathen authors, but 
 they reprobate, not commend, it. Some think that 
 
 this woman might have 1 n a proselyte to the 
 
 Jewish religion from heathenism; and the rabbis 
 taught that proselytism .annulled all former re- 
 lationships, and that a woman was at liberty, in such 
 a case, to depart from an unbelieving husband, and 
 to marry even with a believing son, that is, of hor
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 '■that one should have his c father's wife. 
 2 d And ye are puffed up, and have not rather 
 e mourned, that he that hath done this deed 
 might be taken away from among you. 3 f For 
 I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, 
 have 6 judged already, as though I were pres- 
 ent, concerning him that hath so done this 
 deed, 4 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, 
 h with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 
 M.ev. 1*. 8: Deut. 22. 30: 27. 20. ^2 Cor. 7. 12. d Chap. 
 
 4. 18. .' 2 Cor ;. 7. 10. — -/Col. 2. 5. Or. determined. 
 
 h Matt. Iti. 19; 18. is; John 2d. 21; 2 Cor. 2. 10; 13.3, 10. 
 
 t Job 2. tj; Psa. 109. ti: 1 Tim. 1. 20. k Acts 26. 18. 1 Verse 
 
 2, cbap. :S. 21 : 4. 19; James 4. 10 
 
 husband by some former wife. [But of this there 
 is really no proof nor probability.] 
 
 2. Ye are puffed up — [Both Alford and Meyer, 
 following most of the very best MSS., make this 
 verse a question. Are you inflamed with pride, and 
 not rather grieved, (aggrieved.) so that he who has 
 done that (base) deed might be removed from 
 among you ?] Had you considered the greatness 
 of this crime, ye would have rather mourned, and 
 have put away this flagrant transgressor from 
 among you. The Christian Church was at this time 
 too young to have those forms of excommunication 
 which were practised in succeeding centuries. 
 Probably no more is meant than a simple disowning 
 of the person, accompanied with the refusal to ad- 
 mit him to the sacred ordinances, or to have any 
 intercourse or connexion with him. 
 
 3. Absent in body, but present in spirit — 
 [Probably nothing more is here meant than that, 
 though personally absent, the apostle would be in 
 full sympathy with the Church at Corinth in the 
 performance of its painful but necessary duty.] 
 
 4. In the name of our Lord Jesus — Who is 
 the head of the Church ; and under whose authority 
 every act is to be performed. And my spirit — 
 My personal concurrence and my apostolical au- 
 thority derived from Christ. 
 
 5. To deliver such a one unto Satan — There 
 is no evidence that delivering to Satan was any 
 form of excommunication known either among the 
 Jews or the Christians. Lightfoot, Selden, and 
 Schoettgen, who have searched all the Jewish rec- 
 ords, have found nothing that answers to what af- 
 terward came into use. [Excommunication as 
 practised in the Church of Rome, especially in the 
 times of its political ascendency, was in fact a most 
 fearful and refined aggregation of horrors, for 
 which no authority is found in this passage, nor in 
 any other part of the- New Testament.] No such 
 power as this remains in the Church of God ; none 
 such should be assumed ; the pretensions to it are 
 as wicked as they are vain. [According to Prot- 
 estantism, excommunication, being the means of 
 seeming the purity of the Church, is simply the 
 severance of the guilty from the sacraments and 
 from all membership of the Church. — Dr. Whedon.] 
 [It is a punishment only as it is a deprivation, but 
 in respect to the Church it is a measure for pro- 
 tecting its own purity.] ["To deliver such a one 
 unto Satan." Hapadovvai rC> 'Earavg. The delivery 
 over to Satan can only be viewed as an express and 
 declaratory act of relegation from Christian fellow- 
 ship into the power of the apx uv T °v K6o~fiov, tin 
 ruler of this world. (Eph. ii, 'i.) — Meyer.] For 
 the destruction of the flesh — [-"/'c, depraved 
 nature, not guimi, the physical organism. After all 
 
 5 'To deliver such a one unto k Satan for the 
 destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be 
 saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. 6 ' Your 
 glorying is not good. Know ye not that '"a 
 little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? 
 7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye 
 may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. 
 For even "Christ our "passover p is sacrificed 
 for us : 8 Therefore i let us keep r the feast, 
 s not with old leaven, neither ' with the leaven 
 
 m Chapter 15. 33; Gal. 5. 9: 2 Tim. 2. 17. n Isa. 53. 7; 
 
 John 1. 29; chap. 15. 3; 1 Pet. 1. 19; Rev. 5.(1,12. — ojohn 
 19. 14. p Or, is stain. q Kxod. 12. 15 ; I:-!. 0. rOr. hol- 
 iday. « Deut, IB. 3. 1 Matt. ltl. ij, 12: .Mark 8. 15; Luke 
 
 12. I. 
 
 that has been said and written on this phrase and 
 that which follows it, and the fearful assumptions 
 of power over men's bodies and souls conferred by 
 it on the professed successors of the apostles, prob- 
 ably nothing more is here meant than that, being 
 excluded from the communion of the faithful, it 
 might be hoped that the offender, thus confronted 
 with his gross sinfulness, would learn to restrain 
 and destroy his depraved lusts, (Gap!;,) and so, 
 through restoring mercy, the soul, ( Trvevfia, the 
 spiritual man, as distinguished from his material 
 organism,) might at last be saved. The notion 
 that it was intended that the devil should inflict 
 physical chastisement on the outcast is a relic of 
 an exploded superstition. Separation from the 
 communion of the faithful may, probably often 
 does, become a means of reclamation to the suf- 
 ferer. This is its highest purpose in respect to 
 himself, while the Church also guards its own purity, 
 even though it be at the cost of the final casting 
 away of the offender. According to this view, 
 the day of the Lord Jesus would mean, the pres- 
 ent day of grace and sat cation by the effectual agen- 
 cies of the Gospel.] 
 
 6. Your glorying is not good — You are tri- 
 umphing in your superior knowledge, and busily 
 employed in setting up and supporting your re- 
 spective teachers, while the Church is left under 
 the most scandalous corruptions — corruptions which 
 threaten its very existence if not purged away. 
 Know ye not — With all your boasted wisdom, do 
 you not know and acknowledge the truth of a com- 
 mon maxim, a little leaven leaveneth the 
 whole lump. If this "leaven" — the incestuous 
 person — be permitted to remain among you ; if his 
 conduct be not exposed by the most formidable 
 censure; the floodgates of impurity will be opened 
 on the Church, and the whole state of Christianity 
 ruined in Corinth. [Not that a little leaven will, if 
 not purged out, leaven the whole lump, but that it 
 has (d ready done so, and this case is only a samph ; 
 proving that instead of their glorying, ian ]/,/.., 
 there was cause for the deepest shame. See Al- 
 ford.] 
 
 7. Purge out therefore the old leaven — As 
 it is the custom of the Jews previously to the pass- 
 over to search their houses in the most diligent 
 manner for old leaven, and to throw it out, sweep- 
 ing every part clean ; so act with this incestuous 
 person. (See Exod. xii, 27.) 
 
 S. Therefore let us keep the feast — Perhaps 
 the time of the passover was now approaching, 
 when the Church of Christ would be called to ex- 
 traordinary acts of devotion in commemorating the 
 passion, death, and resurrection of Christ; and of 
 this circumstance the apOStle takes advantage iu 
 
 115
 
 T. CORINTHIANS. 
 
 of malice and wickedness; bul with the un 
 leavened bread of sincerity and truth. !» I 
 wrote unto you in an epistle "nol to company 
 with fornicators: lO r Ye1 nol altogether 
 with the fornicators w of this world, or with 
 the covetous, or extortioners, or with idola- 
 ters; for then rausl ye needs go "out of the 
 world. II Bul now 1 have written unto you 
 not to keep company, > if any man thai is 
 called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, 
 or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an 
 
 - 2, 7 : 2 Cor. B. 14; Eph. 5. II; 2 Thess. 3. 14. 
 
 i 27. — wCliap. 1. 20. asJohn 17.15; IJohn5.19. 
 
 18. '.:-. Rom. !>. IT: 3Thess. 3. 6, 14; 2 John in. 
 
 his exhortation to the Corinthians. [Since, then, 
 Christ has been (i~) slain as the Christians' paschal 
 
 lamb, they t< ust keep their feast in an ethical 
 
 sense, that is to say, by leading a holy life, without 
 sinful admixture, with pure and true Christian virtue. 
 — Meyer.] The apostle refers here not more to 
 wicked principles than to wicked men ; " let ns keep 
 the feast," not with old leaven — the impure prin- 
 ciples which actuated you while in your heathen 
 state; neither with the leaven of malice and 
 wickedness — naniac, tail -x-ovi/piar, wickedness, 
 radical depravity, producing unrighteousness ia the 
 life; nor with tin: persons who are thus influenced 
 and thus act; but with the unleavened bread, 
 •!/'/' tv I'lJ-im ■<-. but with upright and godly nun, who 
 have sincerity, s'tkiKpivia, such purity of affections 
 and conduct, that even the light of God shining 
 upon them discovers only the truth. 
 
 9. I wrote unto you in an epistle — The words 
 i ev t ij l-mra'/ ij may he translated, / have 
 written t<> yon in this < pistlc; for there are many in- 
 stances in the New Testament where the aorist, 
 which is here used, and which is a sort of indefinite 
 tense, is used for the perfect and even the pluper- 
 fect. Dr. Whitby produces several proofs of this, 
 and contends that the conclusion drawn by some, 
 namely, that it refers to some epistle that is lost, is 
 not legitimately drawn from any premises which 
 either this text or antiquity affords. Tie' principal 
 evidence against this is 2 Cor. \ii, 8, where the same 
 words as above appear to refer to this Jirst epistle. 
 Possibly the apostle may refer to an epistle which 
 he had written though not sent. [The question is 
 one simply of criticism, for it involves nothing 
 either ethical or doctrinal. Many of the best bib- 
 lical scholars believe that there was an earlier epis- 
 tle to the Corinthian-, which is not now extant.] 
 Not to company (mingle) with fornicators — 
 With which, as we have already seen, Corinth 
 abounded. It was not only the grand sin, but staple, 
 of the place. 
 
 1". Yet not altogether — [In the ordinary 
 affairs of life it often becomes necessary to have 
 business relations with men of corrupt lives, bul 
 all closer contact with such should he diligently 
 avoided.] For then must ye needs go out of 
 the world — The Christians at Corinth found it 
 necessary to transact the ordinary affairs of life with 
 fornicators, covetous persons, extortioners, rnilers, 
 drunkards, and idolaters, because their were hut 
 tew others in the place ! 
 
 11. But now I have written — I not only 
 write this, hut I add more: if any one that is 
 called a brother — that is, professes the Christian 
 religion — he a fornicator, covetous, idolater, 
 railer, drunkard, or extortioner, do not even eat 
 116 
 
 extortioner; with such none »nonot to eat. 
 12 Fur what have I to do to judge ■ them also 
 that are without '. do not ye judge ' them that 
 
 are within? I't lint tin-in that are without 
 
 (ii.d judgeth. Therefore c pu1 .away from 
 among yourselves thai wicked person. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 DARE any of yon, having a matter against 
 another, go to law before the unjust, and 
 
 not before the saints ? 2 Doyenol know that 
 
 sGal. 2. 12. — rt Mark 1 11 ; Col. I. 5; 1 Thess. 4. 12; 1 Tim. 
 
 3. 7. b Chap. 6. 1, 2. 3, 4. c Deut. 13. 6; 17. 7 ; 21. 21 ; 22. 
 
 21,22, 24. 
 
 with such — have no communion with such a one in 
 things either sacred or civil. Ybu may transact 
 your worldly concerns with a person that makes no 
 profession of Christianity, whatever his moral char- 
 acter may he; hut ye must not even thus far 
 acknowledge a man profiss'mg Christianity, who is 
 scandalous in his conduct. Let him ha ve tiiis extra 
 mark of your abhorrence of till sin; and let the 
 world see that the Church of God does not tolerate 
 iniquity. [This rule, as that in li Thess. iii. 1 I, re- 
 gards only their private intercourse n ith the offend- 
 ing person; aothing is her< said of public excom- 
 munication, though for some of these crimes it 
 would lie implied. — Alford. | 
 
 1 2, 1 :;. For what have I to do to judge them 
 also that are 'without — ['JV y&p uoi,for what <■<,„- 
 cern have // I am concerned in this letter only with 
 those who claim the name of believers, rovg icu, 
 (those within;) them it is your duty to judge, to 
 inquire into and pass judgment upon their conduct, 
 and if necessary to exclude them from the brother- 
 hood.] Does it belong to me to pass sentence on 
 those which "re without — roue ^v — not members of 
 theChurch? By no means, (ovx'i.) Pass y< sentence 
 on them which are within — which are members of 
 the Church : those which are without — which are not 
 members of the Church — God will pass sentence on, 
 in that way in which he generally deals with the 
 heathen world. But put ye away the t vil from 
 among yourselves. Here there appears to lie an al- 
 lusion to Deut. xvii, 7, where the like directions are 
 given to the congregation of Israel relative to a 
 person found guilty of idolatry. "Thou shalt put 
 away the evil from among you." [ Them that are 
 without, (In'/ judgeth, or, to judge those without is 
 doll's matter, (k/iii-i /, present,) the unbeliever, though 
 not liable to be "judged" by the Church, is not 
 therefore exempt from all judgment; God knows 
 him, ami judges him perpetually.] 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER VI. 
 1. Dare any of you, etc.— From the many 
 things that are here reprehended by the apostle, we 
 learn that the Church at Corinth was in a decidedly 
 bad state, although it contained not a lew eminent 
 characters. They were divided among themselves, 
 and there was no one who possessed any public 
 authority to settle their differences; they were 
 
 therefore obliged to carry their contention- bel 
 
 heathen magistrates; and perhaps some of these 
 litigation- an. e mn of their ecclesiastical divisions. 
 This thing, and this issue of it, the apostle strongly 
 r.prehends. Before the unjust, and not before 
 the saints — The heathen judges were termed 
 ii moral, from their presumed righteousness in the 
 administration of justice; here the apostle calls
 
 Diffefpni-es to lie spttM hv the 
 Chun h, not hy courts nflaw. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 W. 40(ill. A. 11. 56. 
 irar of R me, BUS. 
 
 "the saints shall judge the world? and if the 
 world shall be judged by you. are ye unworthy 
 
 a Psa. 49. 14 : Dan. 7. 22 ; Matt. 19. 28 ; Luke 22. 30: 
 
 them athnot, unrighteous persons; and not improb- 
 ably at Corinth, where such corruption of manners 
 reigned, there was a great perversion of public jus- 
 tice. ['Ettj 7('.jv aihKut\ before the unrighteous, a 
 specially significant designation of the heathens (see 
 Gal. ii, 5) as contrasted with the Christians who are 
 called saints, aytoi. Instead of carrying on law- 
 suits against each other before the heathens, they 
 were to adjust their disputes before Christians, 
 which could of course be done only in the way of 
 arbitration. (Verse 5.) — Meyer."] 
 
 2. The saints shall judge the world — Nothing 
 can be more evident than that the writers of the New 
 Testament often use 6 udoyoc, the world, to signify 
 the Jewish people, and sometimes the Roman em- 
 pire and the Jewish state ; and in the former sense 
 it is often used by our Lord. " When," says he, 
 " the Son of man shall sit on the throne of his glory, 
 ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the 
 twelve tribes of Israel." (Matt, xix, 28.) It is sup- 
 posed that he refers to the same subject as that 
 mentioned here — the saints judging the world ; and 
 that St. Paul has Ms words in view in what he says 
 here to the Corinthians. By ''judging the twelve 
 tribes of Israel," some have imagined that having 
 authority in the Church is merely intended ; but 
 Dr. Liglitfoot contends, that the words referred to 
 the coming of our Lord to execute judgment on the 
 Jews, and to destroy their state ; and that the doc- 
 trine of the apostles, not themselves, was to judge 
 and condemn that most disobedient people. The 
 place before us is generally understood to imply 
 that the redeemed of the Lord shall be, on the great 
 day, assessors with him in judgment; and shall give 
 their award in the determinations of his justice. 
 On reviewing this subject, I am fully of opinion 
 that this cannot be the meaning of the words, and 
 that no such assessorship as is contended for ever 
 will take place; and that the interpretation is 
 clogged with a multitude of absurdities: 1) The 
 saints themselves are to appear before the judg- 
 ment seat of Christ, and shall be judged by him, aft- 
 er which they shall reign with him; but it is nev- 
 er said in Scripture that they shall judge with him. 
 2) It would be absurd to suppose that thrones 
 should be erected for the purpose of saints sitting 
 on them to give their approbation in the condem- 
 nation of the wicked; of what use can such an ap- 
 probation be? is it necessary to the validity of 
 Christ's decision? I agree with Dr. Liglitfoot, that 
 these words of the apostle refer to the prediction 
 of Daniel, (chapter vii, 18, 27,) and such like 
 prophecies, where the kingdoms of the earth are 
 promised to the saints of the Most High ; that is, 
 that a time shall come when Christianity shall so far 
 prevail that the civil government of the world shall 
 be administered by Christians, which, at that time, 
 was administered by heathens. And this is even 
 now true of all those parts of the earth which may 
 be considered of the greatest political consequence. 
 They profess Christianity, and the kings and other 
 governors are Christians in this general sense of the 
 term. [The saints, the whole body of believers, ex- 
 tending through the ages as the promulgators, 
 both by their words and their works, of the princi- 
 ples of eternal righteousness, shall judge the world 
 — all men. J 
 
 to judge the smallest matters? 3 Know ye 
 not that we shall 'judge angels? how much 
 
 3. 21 ; 20. 4. 62 Pet, 2. 4: Ju.leG. 
 
 3. Know ye not that we shall judge angels 
 
 — Dr. Liglitfoot observes that " the apostle does not 
 say here, as he said before, the saints shall judge 
 the angels, but WE shall judge angels." By "an- 
 gels," all confess that demons are intended; (?) but 
 certainly all saints, according to the latitude with 
 which that word is understood, that is, all who pro- 
 fess Christianity, shall not judge angels. Nor is 
 this judging of angels to be understood of the last 
 day; but the apostle speaks of the ministers of the 
 Gospel, himself and others, who, by the preaching 
 of the Gospel, through the power of Christ, should 
 spoil the devils of their oracles and their idols, 
 should deprive them of their worship, should drive 
 them out of their seats, and strip them of their do- 
 minion." [It seems to be assumed that a com- 
 mentator must find or invent a meaning for every 
 passage of Scripture, and accordingly some strange 
 things are occasionally encountered. Verses second 
 and third of this chapter present a case in point, 
 where they say " the saints shall judge the world," 
 and " we shall judge angels." The sense of the 
 chief words here used scarcely admits of any doubt. 
 " The world," rbv koo/jov, means "all men," "man- 
 kind," " angels ; " ayy&ovc, (without the article,) 
 " spiritual beings, God's creatures," they may be 
 good or bad, or both ; Kpivovaiv, predicated of the 
 saints, and uptvovfiev, (in the first person plural, 
 without the subject-pronoun,) signifies primarily, 
 "to determine judicially," to pass judgment re- 
 specting some person or thing ; it may also mean 
 "to accuse," "to condemn," (Matt, vi, 1,) and 
 also " to administer government," in which sense . 
 the name Kpirai is given to a class of Israelitish 
 rulers. Applying the word in the first sense, we 
 are taught that the saints shall pass judgment upon 
 the world, and avk (either the saints or the apos- 
 tles) will pass judgment upon angels. This judg- 
 ing the world is variously construed. Some, who 
 are millenarians, refer it to the reign of Christ on 
 earth, (the parousia,) when the saints shall reign 
 with their descended Head in his mundane king- 
 dom ; others refer it to the "day of judgment," 
 when (say they) the saints will be assessors with 
 Christ, (judging each other by turns) ; (?) still others 
 hold, that by virtue of their mystical union with 
 Christ, (h Xfiiaru,) the saints shall also participate 
 in his active royalty. The reader who may not feel 
 compelled to find a solution of this sentence will 
 probably conclude that all of these are forced in- 
 terpretations, and will yield them a scanty assent. 
 
 But the second case is still more difficult. Who 
 are to be the judges and who the judged ? Some 
 say, as to the first, the saints, as in the former 
 case : others say, the apostles, in virtue of their 
 higher office, (see Matt, xix, 28,) though the text 
 referred to applies only to the Israelites. Some 
 make the angels exclusively the good ; others only 
 the bad; and still others both kinds. But how, 
 when, or where this is to be done, is left in the ut- 
 most uncertainty. If it were allowable for a com- 
 mentator to confess that a portion of Scripture 
 is beyond his powers of elucidation, perhaps this 
 is peculiarly the place for the use of that privilege. 
 As matters are — since the learned doctors are not 
 at all agreed among themselves, and since also some 
 of their diverse expositions do not especially com- 
 
 117
 
 A. M. 4060. A. D. 56. 
 Year ol Rami 
 
 T. CORINTHIANS. 
 
 rang ih»n 
 
 more things thai pertain to this life? I [f 
 then ye have judgments of things pertaining 
 to this life, set them to judge who are leasl 
 esteemed in the church. 5 I speak t<> your 
 shame. I> it so, thai there is not a wise man 
 among yon? no, nol one thai shall he able to 
 judge between his brethren? O Bui brother 
 goetli to law with brother, and that before the 
 unbelievers. 7 New therefore there is utterly 
 a fault among you, because ye go to law one 
 with another. """Why do ye not rather take 
 wrong? Why <1<> ye nol rather suffer your- 
 to be defrauded? S Nay, ye do wrong, 
 
 cChnp. 5. 12. dVrov. 20. 22: Matt. 5. 39, JO: I.uke fi. 29; 
 
 Rom. 12. IT. IH; l Thess I Thess. 4. 6. — /Chap. 15. 30; 
 
 Gal. 5. 21; Kph. 5. o; 1 Tim. 1. 9; Heb. 12. 14s 13. J: Rev. 
 
 mend themselves to the average understanding, it 
 may be wise to confess our ignorance, and wait for 
 more light. The practical tessons, however, arc 
 plain enough.] 
 
 4. Things pertaining to this life — They could 
 examine all civil cases among themselves, which 
 they were permitted to determine without any hin- 
 derance from the heathen governments under which 
 they lived. Who are least esteemed in the 
 church — Tovg kgovdevqfiivovc, those who were in 
 the lowest order of judges. The apostle certainly 
 does not mean persons of no repute, but such as 
 these arbitrators, who were chosen for the purpose 
 
 tling private differences, and preventing them 
 from going before the regular magistrates. 
 
 5. Is it so, that there is not a wise man 
 among you — Have you none among yourselves 
 that can he arbitrators of the differences which 
 arise, that you go to the heathen tribunals ? 
 
 6. Brother goeth to law with brother — One 
 Christian sues another at law ! This is almost as 
 great a scandal as can exist in a Christian society. 
 Those in a religious community who will not sub- 
 mit to a proper arbitration, made by persons among 
 themselves, should be expelled from the Church of 
 God. 
 
 7. There is utterly a fault among you — There 
 is a most manifest defect among you, 1) Of peace- 
 ableness ; 2) Of brotherly love ; 3) Of mutual confi- 
 dejia ; and 1) Of reverence for God, and concern 
 for the lm i war of his cause. Why do ye not 
 rather take wrong — Better suffer an injury than 
 take a method of redressing yourselves which must 
 injure your own peace, and greatly dishonour the 
 
 cause of God. 
 
 8. Nay, ye do wrong — Far from suffering, ye 
 are the aggressors ; and defraud your own brethren, 
 who submit to this wrong rather than take those 
 methods of redressing their grievances which the 
 spirit of Christianity forbids, 
 
 '.'. The unrighteous shall not inherit the 
 kingdom — The unrighteous, aducoi, unjust ones, 
 those who act contrary to right, cannot inherit the 
 kingdom of Cod. lie who is not a child of God [is 
 not joined to him by faith, for the just shall live 
 by faith, and therefore he] has no right to the fam- 
 ily inheritance, for that is for the children. There 
 are here ten classes of transgressors which the apos- 
 tle excludes from the kingdom of God; and any 
 man who is guilty of any one of the evils mentioned 
 above is thereby excluded from this kingdom, 
 whether it imply the Church of Christ here below, 
 or the state of glory hereafter. Several of the evils 
 hen- enumerated will not bear to be particularly 
 118 
 
 and defraud, e and thai your brethren. f> Know 
 ye nol thai the unrighteous shall doI inherit 
 the kingdom of God ? Be nol deceived : 'nei- 
 ther fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterer's, 
 oor effeminate, aor abusers of themselves with 
 mankind, 1<> Nor thieve-, nor covetous, nor 
 drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall 
 inherit the kingdom of God. II And such 
 were ssome of you: h bu1 ye .are washed, but 
 ye are sanctified, bu1 ye are justified in the 
 ii.-iine of the Lord Jesus, .and by the spirit of 
 our God. 12 'All things are lawful unto me, 
 hut till thing's are not k expedient : all things 
 
 ■2-2. U. — eChap. 12. 2; Rph. 2. 2: 1. 22; 5. 8: Col. 3. 7: Titus 
 3. 3. — fcchap. I. 30; Heb. 10. 22. — jCbap. 10. 2:;. — X- Or. 
 pi ojttabls. 
 
 explained; they are, however, sufficiently plain of 
 themselves,. and show us what abominations were 
 commonly practised among the Corinthians. 
 
 1 1. And such were some of you — It was not 
 with the prospect of collecting saints that the apos- 
 tles went about preaching the Gospel of the king- 
 dom. None but sinners were to be found over the 
 face of the earth ; they preached that sinners might 
 be converted unto God, made saints, and consti- 
 tuted into a church; and this was the effect as well 
 as the object of their preaching. |It seemed need- 
 ful to remind such self sufficient ones of what they 
 had been only a little while before, that the remem- 
 brance of those things might teach them humility, 
 while the recollection of what God's grace had ef- 
 fected for them, and in them, might give them good 
 hope through Christ.] But ye are ■washed — 
 Several suppose that the order in which the opera- 
 tions of the grace of God take place in the soul is 
 here inverted ; but I am of a very different mind. 
 Every thing will appear here in its order when we 
 understand the terms used by the apostle. "Ye 
 are washed," aireTuovoaode ; ye have been hii/,ii:.,<I 
 into the Christian faith, and ye have promised in 
 this baptism to put off' all filth iness of the flesh and 
 spirit ; and the washing of your bodies is emble- 
 matical of the purification of your souls. [It seems 
 more than doubtful whether there is in this place 
 any direct reference to baptism; nor is it at all 
 needful to presume that in naming these several 
 processes of grace, any definite order of sequence 
 is to be presumed.] Ye are sanctified — '11;/- 
 dffftyre, made holy y separated from earthly things 
 to be connected with spiritual. Ye are justified 
 — ''EdticaiudfjTe ; ye have been brought into a state 
 of favour with God, your sins having been blotted 
 out through Christ Jesus. [The process of the 
 justification of penitent but believing sinners, 
 though effectuated quite independently of any 
 goodness, either of action or spirit, in those SO 
 justified, is never without the accompanying power 
 of the Holy Spirit, by which both a relative and a 
 real sanctilication is also effected.] 
 
 12. All things are lawful unto me — [At this 
 point a new line- of thought i- opened, in order to 
 combal the doctrine of Christian freedom, which 
 has become current among them: that as meats 
 were indifferent, so was fornication. In opposition 
 ici this pernicious sophism the apostle now presents 
 
 a strong dissuasive. See Alford.l [The sentiment 
 is a true Christian axiom, the wavra (all things) be- 
 ing of course understood, a.- it evidently was even 
 by the abusers of the doctrine, of things (aSiatyopa) 
 indifferent. The apostle does not either deny or
 
 The bodies of Christians and the 
 temples of the Holy Ghost. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 A. M. 4' RO, A. P. 56. 
 Year of Rome, 81 19. 
 
 are lawful for me, but I will not be brought 
 under the power of any. 13 'Meats for the 
 belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall 
 destroy both it and them. Now the body is 
 not for fornication, but '"for the Lord; "and 
 the Lord for the body. 14 And ° God hath 
 both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up 
 us Pby Ids own power. 15 Know ye not that 
 q your bodies are the members of Christ ? shall 
 1 then take the members of Christ, and make 
 them the members of a harlot? God forbid. 
 Id What! know ye not that he which is 
 
 J Matt, 15. 17: Rom. 14. 17: Col. 2 22,23. m Verses 15, 19, 
 
 20; 1 Thess. 4. 3, 7. rcEph. 5. 23. oHom. 6. 5.8; 8. 11: 
 
 2 Cor. 4. It. pEph. 1. 19, 20. yRom. 12. ."> ; c 1 1 . 1 1 > . 12. 27: 
 
 Eph. 4. 12, 1.3, Hi: ."). 30. >• Ccn. 3. 24 ; Matt. 19. 5: Epli. ■>. 31. 
 
 quality the H-egtiv, {lawful, or rather, permissible,) 
 but takes up the matter from another point of 
 view, namely, the ovfitykpei, (the expedient, the ad- 
 vantageous.') I will not be brought under the 
 power of any — Allowing that there is no law 
 against them, yet they are not expedient ; there is 
 no necessity for them. But some of them are abom- 
 inable, and forbidden by the law of God and na- 
 ture, whether forbidden by yours or not; while 
 others, such as eating meats offered to idols, will 
 almost necessarily lead to bad moral consequences. 
 And who that is a Christian would obey his ap- 
 petite so far as to do these things for the sake of 
 gratification ? A man is brought "under the power 
 of any " thing which he cannot give up. He is the 
 slave of that thing, whatsoever it be, which he can- 
 not relinquish ; and then to him it is always peril- 
 ous, and often sinful. 
 
 13. Meats for the belly — I suppose that noi?Ja 
 means the animal appetite, or propensity to food, 
 etc., and we may conceive the apostle to reason 
 thus: I acknowledge that God has provided differ- 
 ent kinds of aliments for the appetite of man, and 
 among others those which are generally offered to 
 idols ; and he has adapted the appetite to these ali- 
 ments and the aliments to the appetite ; but God 
 shall destroy both it and them ; none of these 
 is eternal ; all these lower appetites and sensations 
 will be destroyed by death. [The comparative 
 worthlessness of merely outward and material 
 things is shown by their perishableness. Meats and 
 the belli/ answer each to the other ; but their purpose 
 is a humble one, and only for a little while. The 
 really excellent is in the sphere of the ethical and 
 spiritual.] Now the body is not for fornica- 
 tion — [As i] KoC/la (the belly) stands for the whole 
 animal system, with which to (Ipa/iara is correlated., 
 so to auiia (the body) must be taken in its largest 
 sense, as implying the whole man, so as to be ca- 
 pable of a correlation with Tropveia, {fornication,') 
 whicli is especially an ethical entity. (See Matt, v, 
 8.) The right which God has in every one's per- 
 son infinitely transcends that implied in any pos- 
 sible human relation. To him we owe our first, 
 perpetual, and supreme devotion.] 
 
 14. And God hath both raised up the Lord 
 — He has raised up the human nature of Christ 
 from the grave, (hades,) as a pledge of our resur- 
 rection; and will also raise us up by his own power, 
 that we may dwell with him in glory forever. 
 
 15. Know ye not that your bodies (per- 
 sons) are the members of Christ — Because 
 he has taken our nature upon him, and thus, as be- 
 lievers in him, we are members of him. Shall I 
 
 joined to a harlot is one body? for r two. saith 
 he, shall be one flesh. 17 "But he that is 
 joined unto the Lord is one spirit. 18 'Flee 
 fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is 
 without the body; but he that committeth 
 fornication sinneth "against his own body. 
 19 What ! * know ye not that your body is the 
 temple of the Holy Ghost ichich is in you, 
 which ye have of God, w and ye are not your 
 own? 20 For x ye are bought with a price: 
 therefore glorify God in your body, and in 
 your spirit, which are God's. 
 
 *Jolm 17. 21,22, 23: Eph. 4. 4:5. 30. fRorn 6. 12. 13: H>h. 
 
 13. 4. » Rom. 1. 24 : 1 The?s. 4. 4. v Chap. 3. 16 : 2 Cor. <;. 
 
 lti. W Rom. 14. 7, 8. .,■ Acts 20. 2s : chap. 7. 23 ; lial. 3. 13 ; 
 
 Heb. 9. 12; 1 Pet. 1. 18, 19; 2 Pet. 2. 1 ; Rev. 5. 9. 
 
 then take, etc.— Shall we, who profess to be mem- 
 bers of his (mystical) body, connect ourselves with 
 harlots, and thus dishonour and pollute our souls, 
 which are members of Christ V God forbid. 
 
 16. He which is joined to a harlot is one body 
 — [Persons sexually united arc, by divine ordinance, 
 "one flesh." (Gen. ii, 24.) And an illicit union is 
 a perversion of the order of God, and at once a 
 sin against God and the soul.] 
 
 1 T. Is one spirit — He who is united to God by 
 faith in Jesus Christ receives his Spirit, and be- 
 comes a partaker of the divine nature. Hence the 
 admonition. 
 
 18. Flee fornication — Abominate, detest, and 
 escape from, every kind of uncleanness. Some 
 sins, or solicitations to sin, may be reasoned with ; 
 in the above cases, if you parley you are undone ; 
 it ason not, but fly ! Sinneth against his own 
 body — Though sin of every species has a ten- 
 dency to destroy life, yet none are so mortal as 
 those to which the apostle refers ; they strike im- 
 mediately at the basis of the physical and spiritual 
 being. By the just judgment of God, all these ir- 
 regular and sinful connexions are married to death. 
 It would be easy to show, and prove also, how the 
 end of these things, even with respect to the body, 
 is death ; but I forbear, and shall finish the subject 
 with the words of the prophet : " The show of 
 their countenance doth witness against them; and 
 they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. 
 Woe unto their soul! for they have rewarded evil 
 unto themselves." (Isa. iii, 9.) 
 
 19. Your body is the temple of the Holy 
 Ghost — [Your self, your person. (See chap. iii. 10 ; 
 2 Cor. v, 16.) As God is spirit, so his temple must be 
 spiritual. He dwelleth not in temples made with 
 hands. (Acts xv, 24.)] And ye are not your 
 own — Ye have no right over yourselves, to dis- 
 pose either of your body or any of its members, 
 as you may think proper or lawful; you are bound 
 to God, and to him you are accountable. 
 
 20. Ye are bought with a price — As one pur- 
 chased with money was the sole property of that 
 master, so ye, being bought with the price of the 
 blood of Christ, are not your own ; you are his prop- 
 erty. As the slave is bound to use all his skill 
 and diligence for the emolument of his master, so 
 you should employ body, soul, and spirit in tin.' ser- 
 vice of your Lord; promoting, by every means in 
 your power, the honour and glory of your God, 
 whom you must also consider as your Lord and 
 Master. [The closing words, and in your spirit, 
 which are God's, are not found in the besl MSS., 
 and should be omitted.] 
 
 119
 
 A. M. 4060. A. P. 56. 
 ITeai 
 
 T. CORINTHIANS. 
 
 •nine marriage 
 
 N 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 OW concerning the things whereof ye 
 wrote unto ine: 'It is good for a man 
 
 a Verses 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTEB VII. 
 
 1. The things whereof ye wrote unto me — 
 It is sufficiently evident that the principal part of 
 this epistle was n i itten in answer to some questions 
 which had been sent to the apostle in a letter from 
 the Corinthian Church, (by whom, or in what in- 
 terest, does not appear,) and the first question 
 seems to be this: " Es it proper for a man to marry 
 in the present circumstances of the Church?" 
 [Few passages of Scripture have given commen- 
 tators and exegetes more trouble than the few 
 words that make the first sentence of Paul's reply 
 to the questions submitted to him. If it could be 
 rendered interrogatively, a great amount of diffi- 
 culty would be obviated ; but for that there seems 
 to be no authority. Meyer, who gives to the dec- 
 laration its proper ethical sense, making tuikbv 
 significant of moral duty, and of course carrying 
 with it Jerome's counter implication, that if " not 
 to touch" is (morally) good, then "to touch" is 
 morally evil, nevertheless confines the prohibition 
 to the unmarried man, a solution of the case 
 which, if accepted, obviates the difficulty on that 
 side, but leaves us in doubt in respect to the mild- 
 ness of the terms by which the apostle declares 
 against gross fornication. Alford, on the contrary, 
 says, of koXov, "not morally good, not the opposite 
 of sin, but of inexpt du ncy, (in certain cases and con- 
 ditions,) but expedient generally ; " which rendering 
 would be quite acceptable if only it rested on any 
 sufficient authority. He also adds, that "this ex- 
 pression is obviously here used in the widest sense, 
 without present regard to the difference between 
 the lawful and unlawful use of the woman." 
 Olshausen is in virtual agreement with this. And 
 he further seems todoubt whether the apostle spoke, 
 in this case, by divine authority, and concludes 
 that "no absolute validity can be ascribed to the 
 words koAov avdpiiTTU), as a false asceticism pretends 
 Dr. Kling, (in Lange,) with the help of his Amer- 
 ican editor, Dr. Poor, (whose remarks are enclosed 
 in brackets in the following extracts,) traverses the 
 whole subject, but fails of a completely satisfac- 
 tory solution. He remarks, "The question is, 
 whether by it (the aa'Abv avBpco-ui) the apostle 
 means to express the idea of suitableness or allow- 
 ableness, in consideration of the superior advan- 
 of celibacy, by reason of the religious oppor- 
 tunities it gave (verse 26;) or whether he here has 
 in view the moral beauty of continence. If we 
 understand it relatively, then it cannot be inferred, 
 as by Jerome, that the opposite is wrong; and so 
 the value and dignity of marriage, as set forth in 
 the context, will remain unaffected. (See chapter vi ; 
 also verses 7. 8, 26, 34,35, and 40.) "Good," that 
 i-, becoming, suitable lor liberty and exemption from 
 the marriage duo, (verse 3,) and for entire restraint 
 over one's self. [" Good," not in view of marriage as 
 originally designed, for in that case it was not 
 good for a man to be alone; but good in view of 
 the evils which sin had engendered, and by which 
 it had marred that which was designed to be one 
 of man's chief blessings. KaAdv (in the text) 
 means beautiful, praiseworthy, yet only under cer- 
 tain circumstances and in view of the traits thus 
 exhibited. And so all must admit it to be, e. g., 
 120 
 
 not to tonch u woman. *2 Nevertheless, t,< 
 avoid fornication, let every man have his own 
 
 wile, and let every woman have In T own luis- 
 
 8,26. 
 
 when practised by Paul. But not universally, for 
 certainly he cannot be supposed to contradict in- 
 tentionally what he says elsewhere of main 
 
 " honourable in all ;" or as a type of the union of 
 the Church with Christ; (Eph. v, 23-32;) or as a 
 thing to forbid, which was one of the signs of the 
 great apostasy. (1 Tim. iv, :;.)] Wesley, whose 
 life was chiefly that of a celibate, and who had a 
 touch of asceticism in his spirit, writes, in approval 
 of Paul's position, "So great and many are the ad- 
 vantages of a single life;" but I>r. Wliedou, who 
 is a happy husband and father, thinks, " that the 
 apostle sees no superior holiness in celibacy is 
 plain. Be utters no rapturous eulogj upon it, like 
 the later monastic writers ; advocates no vows of 
 virginity, proposes no convents or monasteries. 
 . . . Protestantism prefers, for many good reasons, 
 thai even her foreign missionaries should be mar- 
 ried." If it were allowable to conclude that Paul 
 wrote that sentence not "of the Lord," but from 
 the natural bias produced by his own case, the dif- 
 ficulty caused by the passage would be obviated, 
 and the harmony of his ('idler teachings on the sub- 
 ject would be preserved, and his lessons as a 
 whole would be brought into harmony with the re- 
 sults of the world's and the Church's experience 
 respecting the subject in hand. No point in social 
 science, tested by the principles of Christian ethics, 
 is more clearly ascertained than that it is ha'/ in- av- 
 dpurru, good for a man to be married.] Not to 
 touch a woman — Twcuko<; //?) (nr-EcOai. The 
 learned reader need not lie informed in what sense 
 a—ropai is used among the Greeks, ami tangere 
 among the Latins. 
 
 2. To avoid fornication — Aih rar tto/jw/oc, 
 [(plural,) points to the manifold and irregular sex- 
 ual vices which prevailed at Corinth. — Kling.~\ 
 Let every man have his own wife — Let every 
 man have owe woman, his own; and every woman 
 one man, her own. Here, plurality of wives and 
 husbands is most strictly forbidden. [This second 
 verse, interpreted by the first, taken as a universal 
 moral maxim, would seem to be simply the per- 
 mission of a lesser evil, but an evil still, for the 
 purpose of avoiding a greater one.] [Here, then, 
 we have a view of marriage in its lowest aspect 
 and bearings, as a safeguard against incontinence. 
 But this pedagogical or practical view of marriage, 
 as meeting a contemplated necessity, by no means 
 excludes the ideal view given in Eph. v, 29, etc. — 
 Kling.] [The whole is written under strong impres- 
 sion of the near approach of the end of the present 
 state of things, (verses 29, 31,) and as advising the 
 Corinthians under circumstances in which persecu- 
 tion and family divisions for the Gospel's sake might 
 at any time break up the relations of life. — Alford.] 
 [If in the verses referred to (29-31) the near ap- 
 proach of the "second advent " — the parousia — is 
 spoken of, and a motive drawn from it respecting 
 pro-cut actions, then the experience of eighteen 
 hundred years stands opposed to Paul's expecta- 
 tions. To admit this would be to introduce a 
 widely effective element into the theory of apostol- 
 ical inspiration, and largely influence our under- 
 standing of what Paul iias written respecting 
 Christ's "coming again."]
 
 Advises 
 
 and married pers 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 A. M. 4060. A. D. 56. 
 
 band. 3 l, Let the husband render unto the 
 wife due benevolence: and likewise also the 
 wife unto the husband. 4 The wife hath not 
 power of her own body, but the husband : 
 and likewise also the husband hath not power 
 of his own body, but the wife. 5 c Defraud 
 ye not one the other, except it be with consent 
 for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fast- 
 ing and prayer ; and come together again, that 
 d Satan tempt you not for your incontinency. 
 6 Hut I speak this by permission, e and not of 
 
 fcExod. 21. Id; 1 Pet. 3. 7. cJoel 2. 10; Zech. 7. 3; see 
 
 Kxod. 19. I.".; l Sum. 2!. 4,".. — (ZlThess. 3.5. — eVer. 12, 25: 
 2 Cor. 8. 8; 11. 17. /Acts -16. 2H. 
 
 3. Let the husband render unto the wife due 
 benevolence — T/)i> btyeikofiEvnv evvoiav. Though 
 our Version is no translation of the original, yet 
 few persons are at a loss for the meaning, and the 
 context is sufficiently plain. Some have rendered 
 the words, not unaptly, the matrimonial debt or con- 
 jugal duty — that which a wife owes to her husband 
 and the husband to his wife: and which they must 
 take care mutually to render, else alienation of 
 affection will be the infallible consequence, and 
 this, in numberless instances, has led to adulterous 
 connexions. In such cases the wife has to blame 
 herself for the infidelity of her husband, and the 
 husband for that of his wife. What miserable 
 work has been made in the peace of families by a 
 wife or a husband pretending to be wiser than the 
 apostle, and too holy and spiritual to keep the 
 commandments of God ! 
 
 4. The wife hath not power, etc. — Her person 
 belongs to her husband : her husband's person be- 
 longs to her ; neither of ihem has any authority to 
 refuse what the other has a right to demand. 
 
 5. Defraud ye not one the other — What ye 
 owe thus to each other never refuse paying, unless 
 by mutual consent; and let that be only for a cer- 
 tain time, when prudence dictates the temporary 
 separation, or when some extraordinary spiritual 
 occasion may render it mutually agreeable, in order 
 that ye may fast and pray, and derive the greatest 
 possible benefit from these duties by being enabled 
 to wait on the Lord without distraction. That 
 Satan tempt you not for your incontinency — 
 It i.- most evident that the separations permitted by 
 the apostle, for he enjoins none, are only for a 
 season, on extraordinary occasions; and that the 
 persons may come together again, lest Satan, 
 taking advantage of their matrimonial abstinence, 
 might tempt either party to illicit commerce. "In- 
 continency," aKpaoia, is want of strength to regulate 
 one's desires or appetites. It is remarkable that 
 the apostle supposes that even this temporary con- 
 tinence might produce incontinence ; and universal 
 observation confirms the supposition. 
 
 6. I speak this by permission, etc. — We may 
 understand the apostle here as saying, that the 
 directions already given were from his own judg- 
 ment, and not from any divine inspiration. [And 
 if this is only a human judgment, it may not be 
 infallibly correct.] 
 
 7. For I would that all men, etc. — He wished 
 that all that were then in the Church were, like 
 himself, unmarried ; but this was in reference to 
 the necessities of the Church, or what he calls 
 (verse 26) the present distress ; for it never could 
 be his wish that marriage should cease among men, 
 and that the human race should cease upon earth ; 
 nor could he wish that the Church of Christ should 
 
 commandment. 7 For f I would that all men 
 were seven as I myself. But h every man hath 
 his proper gift of God, one after this manner, 
 and another after that. 8 1 say therefore to 
 the unmarried and widows, 'It is good for 
 them if they abide even as I. 9 But k if they 
 cannot contain, let them marry : for it is bet- 
 ter to marry than to burn. 10 And unto the 
 married I command, ' yet not 1, but the Lord, 
 '"Let not the wife depart from her husband: 
 11 But and if she depart, let her remain un- 
 
 (/('li;ip. 9. 5. A Matt. 19. 12: chap. 12. 11. /Verses 1, 26. 
 
 k 1 Tim. 5. 14. / See vei ses 12, 25. 40. in Mai. 2. 14, 16 ; 
 
 Matt.5. 32; 19. Li. 9: Mark 10. 11, 12: l,uke ID. 18. 
 
 always be composed of single persons ; but as the 
 Church was then in straits and difficulties, it was 
 much better for its single members not to encum- 
 ber themselves with domestic embarrassments. 
 [This comprehensive wish he utters in view of the 
 near approach of Christ's second coming, when 
 humanity would be made like unto the angels, and 
 all marriage and giving in marriage would cease. — 
 Kling."] Every man hath his proper gift of God 
 — Continence is a state that cannot be acquired by 
 human art or industry; a man has it from God, or 
 not at all ; and if he have it from God, he has it 
 from him as the author of his nature. 
 
 8. The unmarried and widows — It is sup- 
 posed that the apostle in the word ciyayoi speaks 
 here of men who had been married, but were now 
 widowers ; as he does in the word XVP C " of women 
 who had been married, but who were now widows. 
 And when he says die nayu, even as i, he means that 
 he himself was a widower ; for several of the an- 
 cients rank Paul among the married apostles. 
 [On the contrary, Alford remarks : " This brings 
 the apostle'sown circumstances more clearly before 
 us than verse 7, which might be misunderstood; 
 and there can be littie doubt from this that he never 
 was married.'''' 
 
 9. But if they cannot contain — If they find it 
 inconvenient and uncomfortable to continue as 
 widowers and widows, let them remarry. It is 
 better to marry than to burn — Bishop Pearce 
 translates the original thus: For it is better to 
 marry titan to be made uneasy. TLvpovcdat, says he, 
 " signifies primarily to burn ; but in a metaphorical 
 sense, to be troubled, vexed, or made uneasy. So in 
 2 Cor. xi, 29, ' Who is offended and I bum not,' 
 nal ova eyco ivvpovyai, and I am not troubled." It 
 would be well to soften the sense of this word in 
 reference to the subject of which the apostle 
 speaks. All this may be said with the strictest 
 truth in such cases where the impure desire lias no 
 existence. 
 
 H>. I command, yet not I, but the Lord — I 
 do not give my own private opinion or judgment in 
 this case: for the Lord Jesus commands that man 
 .-hall not put asunder them whom God hath joined. 
 (Matt, v, 32; xix, 6.) The law among the Jews 
 was very loose relative to the marriage bond. 
 Sometimes they parted with mutual consent, and 
 this also was considered legal, as was also the mar- 
 riage of the separated parties toothers. Divorces 
 were easily obtained among them, and they were 
 considered the dissolving of the marriage bond; 
 and, in consequence of these, the parties might re- 
 marry with others. This was contrary to the orig- 
 inal institution of marriage, and is opposed botli by 
 our Lord and the apostle. 
 
 11. But and if she depart—[7/* she is sepa- 
 
 121
 
 L. M. 4«Bn. 
 
 T. COIJIXTIITANS. 
 
 d p. r«on 
 
 rris(f« 
 
 married, or be reconciled to her husband: and 
 let imi the husband put away his wife. 
 12 Bui to the resl speak I. " nol the Lord : If 
 any brother hath a wife thai believeth not, 
 and sin- be pleased to dwell with him, lei him 
 qoI put her away. B:{ And the woman which 
 hath a husband that believeth not, and if he 
 be pleased to dwell with her, let her not leave 
 him. II For the unbelieving husband is sanc- 
 
 n Ver. 6. o Mai -J. 15. 
 
 Rom. la 18 ! 14. 19: chap. II. 83; 
 
 rated.] The apostle puts the case as probable, be- 
 cause it was frequent, but lays it under restrictions. 
 [This tnusl refer to separations already accom- 
 plished; all future ones are forbidden.] Let her 
 remain unmarried — One having so departed must 
 not marry another : she must either continue un- 
 married, or be reconciled to her husband. And 
 let not the husband put away his wife — Di- 
 vorces cannot be allowed but in the case of forni- 
 cation : an act of this kind dissolves the marriage 
 vow; bu1 nothing else can. It is a fact thai 
 among the .lews the wife had just as much right 
 to put away her husband as the husband had to put 
 away his wife. As divorces were granted, it was 
 but righl thai each should have an equal power, 
 for this served as a mutual check. [But all such 
 acts are forbidden by the Gospel.] 
 
 12. Bat to the rest speak I, not the Lord — 
 A- it he ha I said : For what I have already spoken 
 I have the testimony of the Lord by Moses, and of 
 my own Lord and Master, Christ ; but for the direc- 
 tions which I am now' about to give there is no 
 written testimony, and 1 deliver them now for the 
 first time. These words do not intimate that the 
 apostle was not now under the influences of the di- 
 vine Spirit; but that there was nothing in the 
 sacred writings which bore directly on this point. 
 If any brother, a Christian man, have a wife 
 that believeth not, that is, who is a heathen, not 
 converted to the Christian faith, and she be 
 pleased (is willing) to dwell -with him, notwith- 
 standing his turning Christian since their marriage, 
 let him not put her away because she still con- 
 tinues in her heathen superstition. 
 
 L3. And the woman, converted from heathen- 
 ism to the Christian faith, which hath a hus- 
 band, who still abides in heathenism, if he be 
 pleased to dwell -with her, notwithstanding she 
 has become a Christian since their marriage, let 
 her not leave him because he still continues a 
 heathen. 
 
 1 1. The unbelieving husband is sanctified 
 by the wife — <>r, rather, is to be reputed as sanc- 
 tified on account of his wife ; she being a Christian 
 woman, and he, though a. heathen, being by mar- 
 riage one flesh with her, her sanctity, as far as it 
 refers to outward things, may be considered as im- 
 puted to him, so as to render their connexion not 
 unlawful. The case is the same when the wife is 
 a heathen and the husband a Christian. The word 
 sanctification, here, is to be applied much more to 
 the Christian statetha,x\ to any moral change in the 
 persons; for ayioi, saints, is a common term for 
 Christians — those who were baptized into the faith 
 of Christ; and as its corresponding term, D'u'Hp, 
 kedoshim, signified all the .lews who were in the 
 covenant of God by circumcision, the heathen hus- 
 band and wife were considered to be in this holy 
 state by mean- of their connexion with those who 
 were by their Christian profession saints. [Holi- 
 
 tiiied by the wife, and the unbelieving wif is 
 sanctified by the husband: else "were your 
 
 children unclean; but now are they holy. 
 
 B.> But if the unbelieving depart, lei him de- 
 part. A brother or a sister is nol under bond- 
 age in such rusts ; but God hath called usPito 
 peace. c<> For w hal know esl thou, < » \\ ife, 
 
 whether tllOU shall 'sa\c thy lnt-bainl ? Or 
 
 "how knowesl thou. () man, whether thou 
 
 Heb. 12. 14. — tjV.v. in peace. 
 
 ■ i Pet. :;. I. 8 Or*, what. 
 
 ness uinler the Co-pel answers to dedication to God, 
 under the law ; the if) tao/jivoi under the Gospel are 
 the body of Christian nun dedicated to God, and 
 
 thus bee his in a peculiar manner; anil this 
 
 being so. things belonging to, relatives inseparably 
 connected with, the people of God, are said to be 
 hallowed by their ayi&rr,c, (hallowing.) — Alford.~\ 
 Else were your children unclean — If this kind 
 of relative sanctification were not allowed, the 
 children of these persons could nol be received 
 into the Christian Church, nor enjoy any rights or 
 privileges as Christians; but the Church of God 
 never scrupled to admit such children as members, 
 
 just as well as she did those who had Sprung from 
 
 parents both of whom wire Christians. The .lews 
 considered a child as born out of holiness whose 
 parents were not proselytes al Ihe time of the 
 birth, though afterward the\ became proselytes. 
 On the other hand, they considered the children of 
 heathens born in holiness, provided the patents 
 became proselytes before the birth. All the chil- 
 dren of the heathens were reputed "unclean" by 
 the .lews ; and till their own children holy. 
 
 15. But if the unbelievirg depart — Wh< ther 
 husband or wife; if such obstinately depart, and 
 utterly refuse all cohabitation, a brother or a 
 sister, a Chiistian man or woman, is not under 
 bondage to any particular laws, so as to be pre- 
 vented from remarrying. Such, probably, (?) the 
 law stood then : but it is not so now ; for the mar- 
 riage can only be dissolved by death or by the 
 ecclesiastical court. Even fornication or adultery 
 does not dissolve the marriage contract ; nor will 
 
 the obstinate separation of any of the parties, how- 
 ever Iohl;- continued, give the party abandoned 
 authority to remarry. If the person have been 
 beyond sea and nol heard of for seven years, it is 
 presumed he may be dead; and marriage has been 
 connived at in such cases. If there be no person 
 to complain, it may be presumed that there is none 
 injured, lint I have known instances where even 
 tt. marriage after seven years' absence has been very 
 unfortunate; the husband returning al the end of 
 ten or twelve years, and to his utter distress find- 
 ing his wife married to another man, and with issue 
 of that marriage ! There can be no safety in this 
 case, unless there be absolute certainty of the death 
 of the party in question. [ for illustration, see Ten- 
 nyson's "Enoch Arden."] God hath called us 
 to peace — The refractory and disagreeing party 
 should not be compelled to fulfil such matrimonial 
 engagements as would produce continual jarring and 
 
 discord. At the same time each should take care 
 that he give no cause for disagreements and sepa- 
 rations, for the Author of the Christian religion is 
 the Author of "peace," and litis "called us" to it. 
 
 16. For what knowest thou, O wife — You 
 that are Christians, and who have heathen part- 
 ners, do not give them up because they are such, 
 for you may become the means of saving them 
 
 122
 
 Directions for men to abide in 
 their providential callings. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 shalt save thy wife? 17 But as God hath 
 distributed to every man, as the Lord hath 
 called every one, so let him walk. And 'so 
 ordain I in all churches. 18 Is any man 
 called being circumcised? let him not become 
 uncircumcised. Is any called in uncircum- 
 cision? "let him not he circumcised. 10 v Cir- 
 cumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is 
 nothing, hut w the keeping of the command- 
 
 £Chap. 4. 17: 2 Cor. II. 2*. — m Acts 15. 1,5. 19.24, 28; Gal. 
 
 5. 2. otJal. ">. K: 6. 15. irjotin 1".. 14; 1 John 2. 3; 3. 24. 
 
 a- John 8. 36; Rom. 6. 18, 22; Philem. 16. 
 
 unto eternal life. Bear your cross, and look up 
 to God, and he may give your unbelieving husband 
 or wife to your prayers. 
 
 17. But as God hath distributed to every 
 man, etc. — Let every man fulfil the duties of the 
 state to which God, in the course of his providence, 
 has called him. So ordain I in all churches — 
 I do not lay on you a burden which others arc not 
 called to bear; this is the general rule which, by 
 the authority of God, I impose on every Christian 
 society. 
 
 18. Is any man called being circumcised — 
 Is any man who was formerly a Jew converted to 
 Christianity ? Let him not become uncircum- 
 cised — Let him not endeavour to abolish the sign 
 of the old covenant which he bears in his flesh. 
 The Greek words //;) i-to-acOu, let him not draw 
 over, are evidently an elliptical expression ; the 
 words ev anpofivoria being understood. Some, in 
 their zeal against Judaism, endeavoured to abolish 
 this sign of it in their flesh ; it is most evidently 
 against this that the apostle speaks. Let him 
 not be circumcised — Let no man who, being a 
 Gentile, has been converted to the Christian faith, 
 submit to circumcision as something necessary to 
 his salvation. (See Gal. v, 2.) 
 
 19. Circumcision is nothing — Circumcision 
 itself, though formerly commanded of God, is 
 nothing of itself, it being only a sign of the justi- 
 fication which should be afterward received by 
 faith. At present, neither the fact of circum- 
 cision nor the want of it either hinders or furthers 
 the work of grace ; and keeping of the command- 
 ments of God, from his love shed abroad in a be- 
 lieving heart, is the sum and substance of religion. 
 [In themselves circumcision and uncircumcision are 
 alike indifferent; such things are of importance 
 only in so far as they are an observing of the 
 commandments of God. — MeyerJ} 
 
 20. Let every man abide in the same call- 
 ing — As all who are in Christ have the same ad- 
 vantages, and enjoy the same facilities, so any 
 situation of life may be equally friendly to the sal- 
 vation of the soul if a man is faithful to the 
 grace he has received. Therefore, in all situations 
 a Christian should be content, for all things work 
 together for good to him who loves God. [In 
 Christian missions this becomes a practical ques- 
 tion, which is rightly answered J»y requiring the 
 converts to forsake all their heathen customs, but 
 permitting them to retain all that are simply social 
 and national.] 
 
 21. Art thou called being a servant — Aov- 
 ?.oc Ehi?i/'/6//c, art thou converted to Christ while thou 
 ait a slave — the property of another person, and 
 bought with his money? Care not for it — This 
 will not injure thy Christian condition; but if thou 
 canst obtain thy liberty, use it rather; prefer 
 
 ments of God. 20 Let every man abide 
 in the same calling wherein he was called. 
 21 Art thou called being a servant? care not 
 for it: but if thou mayest be made free, use it 
 rather. 22 For he that is called in the Lord, 
 being a servant, is * the Lord's y freeman : like- 
 wise also he that is called, being free, is 
 7 Christ's servant. 23 "Ye are bought with 
 a price ; be not ye the servants of men. 
 
 ?/Greek. made free. s Chapter 9. 21 . GalatiatisS. 13; Kplie- 
 
 sians li. 6; 1 Peter 2. 10. ((Chapter 6. 20; 1 Peter 1. Is, 19; 
 
 see Leviticus 25. 42. 
 
 this state for the sake of freedom and the tem- 
 poral advantages connected with it. [The mean- 
 ing of the phrase, /uaXAov xpijoai, '.' use it rather," 
 is very uncertain in respect to what that is which 
 is to be used — the estate el' slavery or the possible 
 freedom Verbal and grammatical criticism can- 
 not help the case, as cither rendering will meet all 
 requirements of the words. If to escape harass- 
 ing care were the ruling motive, slavery might be 
 preferable to freedom, and Paul seems here to be 
 in an accommodating mood ; but for himself he 
 certainly valued freedom, which he might also de- 
 sire for all his brethren. Meyer, who never forgets 
 the second advent, speaks of the recommendation to 
 obtain freedom as (in Paul's estimation) "an advice 
 comparatively unimportant and paltry in view of 
 the parousia believed to be at hand."] [It maybe 
 added, that the idea of true Christian equality car- 
 ries in itself the germ of the abolition of slavery ; 
 the latter is the *ipe fruit of the former. The 
 moral consciousness of Christendom has not in 
 this respect advanced beyond the standpoint of 
 Paul. — Meyer.] [This, which was prophecy when 
 first enunciated, has now become history in this 
 country.] 
 
 22. For he that is called — The man who, 
 being a slave, is converted to the Christian faith, is 
 the Lord's freeman ; his condition as a slave does 
 not vitiate any of the privileges to which he is en- 
 titled as a Christian ; on the other hand, all free- 
 men who receive the grace of Christ, must e< in- 
 sider themselves the bondservants of tin /.<>r<l, 
 that is, his real property, to be employed and dis- 
 posed of according to his godly wisdom, who, 
 notwithstanding their state of subjection, will find 
 the service of their Master to lie perfect freedom. 
 
 23. Ye are bought with a price — As truly as 
 your bodies have become the property of your 
 master, in consequence of his paying down a price 
 for you; so sure you are now the Lord's property, 
 in consequence of your being purchased by the 
 blood of Christ. [In whatever condition of life 
 you maybe called, be content therein to abide; 
 but as you now recognise yourselves as eminently 
 the servants of God. bought with a price, render to 
 him your supreme devotion.] In these verses the 
 apestle shows that the Christian religion does not 
 abolish our civil connexions; in reference to them, 
 where it finds us there it leaves us. In whatever 
 civil relation we stood before our embracing Chris- 
 tianity, there we stand still; our secular condition 
 being no further changed than as it may be affected 
 by the amelioration of our moral character. Put 
 slavery, and all buying and selling of the bodies 
 and souls of men, no matter of what colour or com- 
 plexion, is a high offence against the holy and just 
 God, and a gross and unprincipled attack on the 
 liberty and rights of our fellow creatures. 
 
 123
 
 A. M. 4 "f.O. A. D. 56. 
 
 \V;.r 
 
 I. CORINTHIANS. 
 
 Dlisuaiions from marriage 
 
 n 
 
 21 Brethren, '"lei every man, wherein Le is 
 called, therein abide with God. 2.> Now con- 
 cerning virgins'] have do commandmenl of 
 
 the Lord: yel I give my judgment, as one 
 •'that hath obtained mercy of the Lord "to be 
 faithful. 20 I suppose therefore thai this is 
 good for the present ""distress, / say, -that it 
 
 <.vp>o<l I'm- a man SO to he. 27 Art thou Ik mi ml 
 
 b Veise 20.- 
 
 c Vi rses fi, 10, 10: -J <'.,r. 8. 8. 10. 
 I hi. i. 2; 1 Tim. 1. 12. 
 
 ' 1 Tim. 
 
 24. Let every man . . . abide with God — 
 Let him live to Cod in whatsoever station he is 
 placed by Providence. If he be a slave, God will 
 be with him even in his slavery, if he be faithful 
 to the grace which he has received. It is very 
 likely that some of the slaves at Corinth who had 
 been converted to Christianity had been led to 
 think that their Christian privileges absolved them 
 from the necessity of continuing slaves; or, at 
 least, brought them on a level with their Christian 
 
 masters. A spirit of this kind mighl have s i 
 
 led to confusion and insubordination, and brought 
 scandals into the Church. It was therefore a very 
 proper subjeel for the apostle to interfere in, and 
 to his authority the persons concerned would 
 doubtless respectfully how. [The complicated vil- 
 lain- of slavery was in many eases to be patiently 
 endured, for in the apostle's time the condition of 
 the slaves was scarcely worse than that of the 
 freedmen. And any possible effort on the part of 
 the slaves for self-emancipation would be simply 
 hopeless. It was therefore best for them to quietly 
 "abide with God" — wait on the course of his 
 providence.] 
 
 25. Now concerning virgins— This was an- 
 other subject on which the Church at Corinth had 
 asked the advice of the apostle. The word Trapdi- 
 voq, virgin, we take to signify a pure, unmarried 
 young woman ; fait it is evident that the word in 
 this place means young unmarried persons of either 
 sex, as appears from verses 26, 27, 32-34, and 
 from Rev. xiv, 4. The word irapdevoc, virgin, is 
 frequently applied to u,,,i as well as to women. In 
 verse 36 the word is supposed to mean the state of 
 virginity or celibacy, and very probable reasons are 
 assigned for it ; and it is evident that persons of 
 either sex in a state of celibacy are the persons in- 
 tended. I have no commandment of the Lord — 
 There is nothing in the sacred writings that directly 
 touches this point, neither have I received any spec- 
 ial instruction. Yet I give my judgment — ■ 
 VvufiTjv, view, opinion, as every way equal to such 
 commandments, had there been any, seeing I 
 have received the teaching of his own Spirit, and 
 have obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful 
 to thi- heavenly gift, so that it abides with me to 
 lead me into ail truth. In this vvay I think the 
 apostle's words may lie safely understood. 
 
 26. This is good for the present distress — 
 There was no period in the heathen times when the 
 Church was not under persecutions ami afflictions; 
 on some occasions these were more oppressive than 
 at others. The word avaynT) signifies necessity, dis- 
 tress, tribulation, and calamity. (See Luke xxi,23; 
 2 Cor. vi, 4 ; xii, 10.) In such time-, when the peo- 
 ple of Coil had no certain dwellingplace, when 
 they were lying at the mercy of theii enemies with- 
 out any protection from the state— the state itself 
 often among the persecutors — he who had a family 
 to care for would find himself iu very embarrassed 
 
 124 
 
 unto a wife V seek not to be loosed. Art thou 
 loosed from a wife? seek not a wife. 2* Cut 
 ami if thou marry, thou basl doI sinned. Ami 
 if a virgin marry, she hath m>t sinned. Nev- 
 ertheless such shall have trouble in the flesh: 
 luit I spare you. 29 But h this I Bay, breth- 
 r< n. the time is shorl : it reinaineth, thai both 
 they that have wives be as though thej bad 
 
 1 1 lr, n. i , Hsity. 
 
 Verses l, 8. * Rom. 18. 11 : 1 Pet. 4. 7; 
 
 2 ivt. 
 
 circumstances, as it would be much more easy to 
 provide for his personal safety than to have the 
 care of a wife and children. On this account it 
 was much better for unmarried persons to continue 
 
 for the present in their celibacy: [because the 
 parousia is near, and still nearer, therefore, must 
 be the general calamities which are to precede it. 
 (Matt, xxiv, 3.) — Meyer.'] [Hut, in fuel, the pa- 
 rousia, as generally understood, was not at hand: 
 was Haul, then, in error, and did that error enter 
 into lu- apostolic utterance- ?] 
 
 27. Art thou bound unto a wife — That is, 
 married; for the marriage contract was considered 
 in the light of a bond. Seek not to be loosed — 
 Neither regret your circumstances, notwithstanding 
 the present distress, nor seek on this account for a 
 dissolution of the marriage contract. Hut if thou 
 art under no matrimonial engagements, do not for 
 the present enter into any. 
 
 28. But and if thou marry — As there is no 
 law against this, even in the "present distress," 
 thou hast not sinned ; ami it is only on account of 
 prudential reasons that I give this advice. And 
 if a virgin marry — Hoth the man ami the woman 
 have equal privileges in this case; either of them 
 may marry without sin. It is probable, as there 
 were many sects and parties in Corinth, that there 
 were among them those who forbade to marry, 
 (1 Tim. iv, 3,) and who might have maintained other 
 doctrines of devils besides. These persons, or such 
 doctrines, the apostle has in view when he says, 
 if they marry they do not sin. Trouble in the 
 flesh — From the simple circumstance of the incum- 
 brance of a family while under persecution; be- 
 cause of the difficulty of providing for its comfort 
 and safety while Hying before the lace <d' persecu- 
 tion. But I spare you — The evil is coming ; hut 
 I will not press upon you the observance of a pru- 
 dential caution which you might deem too heavy 
 a cm--. 
 
 29. The time is short — These persecutions and 
 distresses are at the door, and life itself will soon 
 he run out. Even then Nero was plotting those 
 grievous persecutions with which he not only 
 afflicted, but devastated, the Church of Christ. 
 [Many commentators insist that Haul i- here refer- 
 ring to the time forward, to the second advent, 
 which, they say, he supposed would he short,awea- 
 ra'/ iii em. compressed, full of distress. Hut how- 
 could an event that was certainly not t :cur for 
 
 more than lsmi years he used a- a motive for dis- 
 regarding temporal interests ? Some nearer event — 
 the persecution under Nero, or, perhaps, the de- 
 struction of Jerusalem — was evidently that espec- 
 ially contemplated as impending.] They that 
 have wives — Let none begin to think of any 
 comfortable settlement for his family; let him sit 
 loose to all earthly concerns, and stand ready pre- 
 pared to escape for his life, or meet death, as the 
 providence of God may permit. The husband will
 
 CHAPTER VTT. 
 
 A. T>. 56. 
 me, 809. 
 
 none ; 30 And they that weep, as though they 
 wept not; and they that rejoice, as though 
 they rejoice not; and they that buy, as though 
 they possessed not; 31 And they that use 
 this world, as not 'abusing it: for k the fash- 
 ion of this world passeth away. 32 But I 
 would have you without carefulness. ' He 
 that is unmarried careth for the things '"that 
 belong to the Lord, how he may please the 
 Lord : 33 But he that is married careth for 
 
 i Chap. 9. 18. k Psa. 39.6; James 1. 10; 4. 14; 1 Pet. 1. 24; 
 
 4. 7; 1. John 'J. 17. 
 
 be dragged from the side of his wife to appear 
 before the magistrates, and be required either to 
 abjure Christ or die. 
 
 30. They that weep, etc. — There will shortly 
 he such a complete system of distress and confu- 
 sion that private sorrows and private joys will he 
 absorbed in the weightier and more oppressive 
 public evils: yet let every man still continue in his 
 calling ; let him buy and sell and t raffia as usual ; 
 though in a short time, either by the coming per- 
 secution or the levelling hand of death, he that had 
 earthly property will be brought into the same cir- 
 cumstances with him who had none. 
 
 31. And they that use this world — Let them 
 who have earthly property or employments dis- 
 charge conscientiously their duties, from a convic- 
 tion of the instability of earthly things. Make a 
 right use of every thing, and pervert nothing from 
 its use. To use a thing, is to employ it properly in 
 order to accomplish the end to which it refers. 
 To abuse a thing, signifies to pervert it from that 
 use. So pass through things temporal as not to 
 lose those which are eternal. [X/xj'zeiw. . . . Karn- 
 Xpauevoi, the;/ that use the world as they that, do not 
 over-use it, not to surfeiting, abitse.] For the 
 fashion of this world — To oxijua rob KAofiov 
 tovtov signifies properly the present state or con- 
 stitution of things; the frame of the world, that 
 is, the world itself. But often the term koo/joq, 
 world, is taken to signify the Jewish state and pol- 
 ity; the destruction of this was then at hand, and 
 this the Holy Spirit might then signify to the apostle. 
 
 32. Without carefulness — Though all these 
 things will shortly come to pass, yet do not be 
 anxious about them. Every occurrence is under 
 the direction and management of God. The wrath 
 of man shall praise him, and the remainder of it 
 he shall restrain, and none can harm you if ye be 
 followers of that which is good. He that is un- 
 married careth for the things that belong to 
 the Lord — He has nothing to do with a family, 
 and therefore can give his whole time to the ser- 
 vice of his Maker, having him alone to please. 
 
 33. But he that is married — He has a family 
 to provide for and his wife to please, as well as to 
 ful til his duty to God and attend to the concerns of 
 his own soul. The single man has nothing to attend 
 to but what concerns his own salvation; the mar- 
 ried man has all this to attend to, and, besides, to 
 provide for his wife and family, and take care of 
 their eternal interests also. The single man has 
 very little trouble, comparatively ; the married man 
 has a great deal. The single man is ai atom in 
 society ; the married man is a small community in 
 himself. The former is the centre of his own exis- 
 tence, and lives for himself alone ; the latter is dif- 
 fused abroad, makes a much more important part 
 of the body social, and provides both for its sup- 
 
 the things that are of the world, how he may 
 please his wife. 3-1 There is difference also 
 between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried 
 woman "careth for the tilings of the Lord, that 
 she may be holy both in body and in spirit: 
 but she that is married careth for the things 
 of the world, how she may please her husband. 
 35 And this I speak for your own profit; not 
 that I may cast a snare upon you, but for that 
 which is comely, and that ye may attend upon 
 
 l 1 Tim. 5. 5. 
 
 ->n Or. of the Lord, ns verse 34.- 
 
 40, etc. 
 
 port and continuance. The single man lives for 
 and does good to himself only; the married man 
 lives both for himself and the public. Both the 
 State and the Church of Christ are dependent on 
 the married man, as from him, under God, the one 
 has subjects, the other members; while the single 
 man is but an individual in either, and by and by 
 will cease from both, and, having no posterity, is 
 lost to the public for ever. The married man, 
 therefore, far from being in a state of inferiority 
 to the single man, is beyond him out of the limits 
 of comparison. He can do all the good the other 
 can do, though perhaps sometimes in a different 
 way : and he can do ten thousand goods that the 
 other cannot possibly do. And therefore both 
 himself and his state are to be preferred infinitely 
 before those of the other. Nor could the apostle 
 have meant anything less; only for the present 
 distress he gave his opinion that it was best for 
 those who were single to continue so. And who 
 does not see the propriety of the advice ? 
 
 34. There is a difference also between a 
 wife and a virgin — That is, there is this differ- 
 ence between a married and an unmarried woman. 
 The unmarried careth (only) for the things of 
 the Lord, having no domestic duties to perform. 
 That she may be holy — Separated to divine em- 
 ployments, both in body and spirit. Whereas 
 she that is married careth (also) for the things 
 of the ■world, how she may please her hus- 
 band, having many domestic duties to fulfil, her 
 husband being obliged to leave to her the care of 
 the family and all other domestic concerns. [In- 
 terpreted in the light of the world's history and 
 experience, these words of the apostle take on a 
 widely different meaning from what they must have 
 seemed to mean when first written. What seemed 
 to indicate the speedy coming of Christ must now 
 be referred to events which occurred during the 
 first century, or else more generally to the vanity 
 of all human affairs, the brevity of life, and the 
 certainty of death. Nor are the views of the apos- 
 tle respecting the comparative devotedness and re- 
 ligious activity of the single and the manied well 
 sustained by the experiences of the Church.] 
 
 35. This I speak for your own profit — The 
 advices belong to yourselves alone, because of the 
 peculiar circumstances in which yon arc placed. 
 Nothing spoken here was ever designed to be of 
 general application; it concerned the Church at 
 Corinth alone, or Churches in similar circumstances. 
 Not that I may cast a snare upon you — Ovx 
 'iva ftpoxov vu'tv E7Ttjid?.u. The apostle intimates 
 that what he says was not intended absolutely to 
 bind them, but to show them the propriety of bil- 
 lowing an advice which in the present case would 
 be helpful to them in their religious connexions. 
 For that which is comely, and that ye may 
 
 125
 
 A. M. 4"fiO. A. D. 56. 
 
 I. C0THNTI1IAXS. 
 
 tin.- Lord without distraction. 'Hi But if any 
 man think that he behaveth himself uncomely 
 toward his virgin, it she pass tlie flower of her 
 age, ami need so require, let him do what he 
 will, he sinneth not : Ie1 them marry. :{7 Ne\ 
 ertheless he that standel h steadfasl in his heart, 
 having qo necessity, but hath power over his 
 own will, and hath so decreed in his hearl that 
 
 a Il'ii. 1 .:. 1. /< Rom. 7. 
 
 attand upon the Lord -without distraction — 
 I i original, n/ ■■ ■ n> nal evirdpedpov 
 
 Tu> K . i- thus translated by Bish- 
 
 op Pearson: But for the sake of decency, and of 
 attending more easily upon the Lord witliout dis- 
 
 36. Uncomely toward his virgin — Different 
 meanings have been assigned to this verse. I shall 
 mention three of the principal : 1) "In those early 
 times, both among the Hebrews and Christians, the 
 rs were wholly in the power of the father, 
 so that he mighl give or not give them in marriage 
 a< he chose; and might bind them to perpetual 
 celibacy if he thought proper. If, however, the 
 ir found cause to change his purpose in the 
 matter, believing that it would be wrong to force 
 hi- daughter to continue in her state of celibacy, 
 lu' mighl alter his purpose without sin, and per- 
 mit her to marry." 2) "The whole verse and 
 its c mtexl speaks of young women dedicated to 
 tin- service of God, who were called rrapdivoi, vir- 
 gins, in the primitive Church. And a case is put 
 'i hat circumstances might occur to render the 
 breach of even a vow of this kind necessary, and 
 so an -in be committed.' " 3) "The apostle, by 
 i , does not mean a virgin, but the state of 
 virginity <>v celibacy, whether in man or woi m,,." 
 Both Mr. Locke and Dr. Whitby are of this opin- 
 ion, and the latter reasons on it thus: — 
 
 It i- supposed that these three verses (36-38) 
 relate to virgins under the power of parents and 
 ans, and the usual inference i-, that children 
 are to he disposed of in marriage by the parents, 
 guardians, etc. Now this may lie true, but it, has 
 nidation in the text, for Ttjpelv rfjv iaurov Trop- 
 in nut to keep his daughter's, but his own, 
 ity, or rather his purpose of virginity ; for, 
 ;i- Phavorinus says, "He is called a virgin who 
 freely gives himself up to the Lord, renouncing 
 matrimony and preferring a life spent in conti- 
 nen ." And that this must he the true import of 
 these words appears from this consideration, that 
 'hi- depends upon the purpose of his own heart, 
 and tin' power he has over his own will, and the 
 no necessity arising from himself to change this 
 i e. Whereas the keeping a daughter unmar- 
 ried depends nut on these conditions on her fa- 
 ther's part, hut on her own; for, let her have a m- 
 cessity, an 1 surely the apostle would not advise the 
 father to keep her a virgin because he had deter- 
 mined so to do; nor could there he any doubt 
 whether the father had power over his own 
 will or not, when no necessity lay upon him to be- 
 troth hi- virgin. This last opinion seems to he the 
 true sense of the apostle. It may he necessary to 
 make a few general observations on these verses, 
 summing up what has been said: 
 
 1) Hapdi vog, here, should he considered as im- 
 plying not a virgin, hut the state of virginity or 
 celibacy. -) 'Yirfpaityoc, over-aged, must refer to 
 the passing of that time in which both the laws 
 126 
 
 lie will keep his virgin, doeth wall. :£«-•< 'So 
 then he that giveth lii r in marriage doeth well; 
 hut he that giveth her nol in marriage doeth 
 better, 'lit pThe wife is hound by the law as 
 Ion-- as her husband liveth ; hut if her husband 
 in- diad. she is at liberty to be married to 
 whom she will; « only in the Lord. <l<> But 
 she is happier if she so abide, ' after my judg- 
 
 i/ -2 Cor. i'i. li. -/• \ ■ ■ 
 
 ami customs of Jews and Gentiles required men to 
 marry. 3) Kal oi : > affai, and r.eed so 
 
 require, or, il thert appear to be a nee 
 be understood of any particular change in his cir- 
 cumstances or in his feelings; or, that he finds, 
 from the law and custom in the case, that it is a 
 scandal for him not to marry; then let him do 
 what fir wills or purposes, -i ) Instead of yayeiTuaav, 
 hi 'hum marry, yayeiru, l<t him marry, is the read- 
 ing of a number of respectable MSS. and Versions. 
 This reading is nearly of the same import with (he 
 other: Let him dp what hi willeth, In sinneth not; let 
 him marry, or, h& sinneth not if In marry. 5) 'I lie 
 whole of the 37th verse relati - to the pur] ose that 
 the man has formed, and the strength that I e has 
 
 to keep his purpose of perpetual celibacy, | e jng 
 
 under no necessity to change thai purpose. 6) In- 
 stead of it .'/i, niiut.if. In- aim ijit'tth her in marriage, 
 I purpose to read 6 yayi^uv, he who marrieth, 
 which is the reading of the Codex AliA.inili inns, 
 the Codex Vaticanus, No. 1209, [Codex Sinaiticus,] 
 and some others; with (dement, Methodius, and 
 Basil. Tf/V eavrov wapdtvov, lis ov. n virgin, is 
 
 added after the above I iy several very ancient and 
 
 reputable MSS., as also by the Syriac, Armenian, 
 Vulgate, iEthiopic, Clement, Basil, Optatus, and 
 
 others; but it seem.- very much like a ijloss. He 
 /I, n vim marrieth, though previously intending 
 perpetual virginity, doeth well ; as this i- 
 able to laws both divine and human ; and he uho 
 marrieth not, doeth better, because of the present 
 distress. (See verse 26.) 
 
 3P 1 . The wife is bound by the law — This 
 Seems to I e spoken in answer to si me other <|i:os- 
 tiiui of the Corinthians to this effect: "May a 
 woman remarry whose husband is dead, or who has 
 abandoned her? " To which he replies, in gi neral, 
 That as long as her husband is living the law 
 binds her to him alone ; but if the husband die, 
 she is free to remarry, but ... only in the Lord ; 
 that i.-, she mu.-t not many a heathen nor an irre- 
 ligious man ; and she should not i nl\ marry a g< n- 
 uine Christian, but one of her own religious senti- 
 ments; tor, in reference to domestic peace, much 
 depends on this. 
 
 40. But she is happier if she so abide — If 
 >]\c continue in her widowhood because of the pres- 
 ent distress, for this always must be taken in, that 
 consistency in the apostle's reasoning may be pre- 
 served. She who had tried both the state of celi- 
 bacy and the .-late of marriage could certain!} best 
 tell which was mosl for her comfort ; and he could 
 not tell any thine, but by an express revelation from 
 heaven, relative to the future state of any widow; 
 it is certain that Paul can never be understood as 
 speaking in general, as there are multitudes of 
 
 persons abundantly l ■>■ happy in their l 'lied 
 
 than in their single state; and there are many wid- 
 ows also much more happy in their second marriage 
 than they have been in their first. After my 
 judgment — According to the view I have of the
 
 P;v.il declares his statements as to 
 marriage to be advisory. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 ment: and S I think also that I have the Spirit 
 of God. 
 
 8 1 Thess. 4. H. 
 
 subject, which view I take by the light of the di- 
 vine Spirit, who shows me the tribulations which 
 are coming on the Church. But, says he, (verse 28,) 
 I spare you — I will not be more explicit concerning 
 coming evils, as I wish to save you from all fore- 
 bodings which bring torment. I think ... I have 
 the Spirit of God — Aoku <5t- /cayoi Ylvtv/ia Qeov 
 ex^iv might be translated : / also seem to have 
 [am conscious of having] the Spirit of God. The 
 word doneiv is used by the ancients, not always to ex- 
 press what is doubtful, but often to express what is 
 true and certain. They must have understood 
 him as assorting that he had the direction of the 
 Spirit of God in giving those opinions, else they 
 would not have been ready to obey them. 
 
 1. In the preceding chapter we have met with 
 subjects both of difficulty and importance. As to 
 the difficulties, it is hoped that they have been so 
 generally considered in the notes that few or none 
 of them remain ; and on the subjects of peculiar 
 in) port a nee much time has been spent, in order to 
 impress them on the mind of the reader. 
 
 2. On the important subject of marriage, I have 
 said what I believe to be true, and scruple not to 
 say that it is the most useful state in which the 
 human being can be placed ; and consequently that 
 in which most honour may be brought to God. 
 The doctrine of the greater sanctity of celibacy is 
 both dangerous and anti-scriptural : and I hope I 
 have sufficiently vindicated Paul from being its 
 patron or supporter. 
 
 3. While I contend for the superior excellence 
 of the marriage state, I am not the apologist of in- 
 discriminate marriages; many of which are indeed 
 blamable in a very high degree. If, instead of 
 common sense and propriety, childish affections, 
 brutish passions, or the love of money are the rul- 
 ing motives ; such marriages are miserable, and 
 cannot be otherwise. Butas a rule, genuine Christ- 
 ians can never be so useful in any state as that of 
 marriage; but to be happy, the marriage must be 
 in the Lord. When believers match with unbe- 
 lievers, generally the good becomes perverted ; and 
 Satan has his triumph when he has got an immortal 
 soul out of the Church of Christ into his own syn- 
 agogue. But who among young people will lay this 
 to heart ? And how few among young men and 
 young women will not sell their Saviour and his 
 people for a husband or a wife! 
 
 4. The doctrine of second marriages has been long 
 a subject of controversy in the Church. The Scrip- 
 tures, properly understood, have not only nothing 
 against them, but much for them. And in this 
 chapter St. Paul, in the most pointed manner, ad- 
 mits of them. A widow may many again, only let 
 it l>e in the Lord; and a widower has certainly the 
 same privilege. 
 
 5. The conversion which the Scripture requires, 
 though it makes a most essential change in our souls 
 in reference to God, and in our icorks in reference 
 both to God and man, makes none in our civil 
 state. Even if a man is called, that is, converted, in 
 a state of slavery, he does not gain his manumission 
 in consequence of his conversion; he stands in the 
 same relation both to the state and to his fellows 
 that he stood in before; and is not to assume any 
 
 N CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 OW a as touching tilings offered unto idols, 
 
 a Acts 15. 20, 29 ; chap. 10. 19. 
 
 civil lights or privileges in consequence of the con- 
 version of his soul to (tod. The apostle decides 
 the matter in this chapter, and recommends that 
 every man should abide in the calling wherein he 
 is called. [While freedom is every man's natural 
 right, it may not always be expedient to assert that 
 right ; especially if it can be successfully asserted 
 only by violence.] 
 
 6. From the 20th to the 23d verse the apostle re- 
 fers to the state of slavery among the Greeks ; and 
 from what he says, we find that even among the 
 slaves there v ere Christian converts, to whom, though 
 he recommends submission and contentment, yet he 
 intimates that if they could get their freedom they 
 should prefer it; and he strongly charges those 
 that were free not to become again the slaves of 
 men, (verse 23 ;) from which we learn that a man 
 might dispose of his own liberty, which, in a 
 Christian, would be a disgrace to his redemption 
 by Christ, The word kXevdepoc means properly 
 freedman, one who had been a slave but had re- 
 gained his liberty. It is the same as liberties among 
 the Romans, one who was manumitted. [The 
 seeming permission to Christian masters to still 
 hold their brethren in Christ as slaves, (see 
 Philemon,) must be understood as exceptional, like 
 the dissuasives against marriage, " by reason of 
 the distress " (and disability) that then rested on the 
 Church. (Verse 20.)] 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER VIII. 
 1 . As touching things offered unto idols — 
 [Ilfpt tie ruv el6u2x)di)Tuv, about the meats </< dicaU d to 
 idols.] This was another subject on which the Co- 
 rinthians had asked the apostle's advice, which he 
 now gives with both fulness and precision. [ K< ea 
 eldu2.6dvTa, (iv. Mace, v, 1.) These were those por- 
 tions of the animal (which had been) offered in 
 sacrifice which had not been laid on the altar, and 
 which belonged partly to the priests, partly to those 
 who had offered them. These remnants were 
 sometimes eaten at feasts holden in the ten, pie, 
 (see verse 10,) or in private houses, (chapter x, 2*7,) 
 sometimes sold in the market by the priests, or by 
 the poor, or by the niggardly. . . . Christians were 
 thus in continual danger of meeting with such rem- 
 nants. Partaking of them was an abomination 
 among the Jews, (see Numbers xxv, 2 ; Psa. cvi, 28,) 
 and was forbidden by the apostles and elders. 
 (Acts xv, 2 ( .» ; xxi, 25.) That Paul, in this whole 
 passage, makes no allusion to that decree, but deals 
 with the question on its own merits, probably 
 is to be traced to his wish to establish his posi- 
 tion as an independent apostle, endowed with Cod's 
 Holy Spirit sufficiently himself to regulate such 
 matters. But it also shows how little such decisions 
 were at tliat time regarded as lastingly binding on 
 the whole Church; and how fully competent it was, 
 even during the lifetime of the apostles, to Christians 
 to open and question, on its own merits, a matter 
 which they had, for a special purpose, once already 
 decided. — Alford.] [ Out of the differences of 
 opinions 011 the subject there came to be] much 
 misunderstanding and offence in the Corinthian 
 Church; the converted Jews abominated every 
 thing that they knew had been used in the heathen 
 worship, while the converted Gentiles would feel no 
 
 127
 
 I. CORINTHIANS. 
 
 Of eating tliintrs tliM have been 
 offered to idoU. 
 
 we know thai we all have ' knowledge. 
 • Knowledge puflfeth op, bul charity edifieth. 
 2 And ' if any man think that he knowetli any 
 thing, he knoweth nothing yel as he ought to 
 kno.w. 'i l!nt if any man love God, e the same 
 i> known of him. -1 As concerning therefore 
 the eating of those things thai are offered in 
 sacrifice unto idols, we know thai 'an idol is 
 nothing in the world, -and thai then is none 
 other God but one. -> For though there he 
 
 5 Ro ii. 11. 11,22. cRom. 14. 8, 10. d rhap. 13. ?, ft I !; 
 
 1:1 Tina. B. I. . Exo I. 33. I-'. 17: N ih. I. 7; Matt 
 7. ■:'■: Gal. 1. 9; 2 Tim. 2. 19. -^'l-;i. )!. 24; chap. I >. 1'. 
 li.-ut. I. 39; <■. 1: l-i. ii 8; M irk L2. - 1: » ra • i ; I !] 
 
 scruple on the account. We know that we all 
 have knowledge — [ 11" know i\ that is, 
 
 the apostle himself and all others who have yvuoiv, 
 knowle Ige, clear understanding, all such very well 
 knew that •' an idol is nothing." (Verse 4.) See 
 Meyer.] All we who are converted to God bj 
 1 l have sufficient knowledge concerning idols 
 and idol worship; and we know also the liberty 
 which we havethrough the Gospel, not being hound 
 by Jewish laws ; but many carry their knowledge in 
 this liberty too Far, and do what is neither seemly 
 nor convenient, and thus give offence to others. 
 Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth — 
 This knowledge may, however, become very nearly 
 allied to pride ; it puffeth uj) the mind with vain 
 conceit, makes those who have it bold and rash, 
 and readers them careless of the consciences of 
 others. And this knowledge, hoisted of by the 
 Corinthians, led them to contemn others. |()n the 
 Other hand, true charity (brotherly love) would in- 
 cline the strong, the knowing, to deal tenderly with 
 the scruples of others, in order to their edifica- 
 tion, an 1 confirmation in the faith.] 
 
 2. He knoweth nothing yet, etc. — The person 
 who acts in this rash, unfeeling way, from the gen- 
 eral knowledge which he has of the vanity of idol- 
 atry and the liberty which the Gospel affords from 
 Jewish rites, with all his knowledge does not know 
 this, that though the first and greatest command- 
 menl says, "Thou shalt love the hurl thy (hid with 
 all thy heart," etc., yel the second is like unto it, 
 "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." He, 
 then, that can offend his neighbour's weak or ten 
 inscience with his foul or his conduct, does 
 not love him as himself, and therefore knows noth- 
 ing as he ought to know. 
 
 :; But if any man love God — In that way 
 which the comman Iment requires, which will neces- 
 sarily beget love to his neighbour, the same is 
 known of him — is approved of God, and acknowl- 
 e Iged as his genuine follower. 
 
 1. Things that are offered in sacrifice — [Tow 
 elduAod'uTuv. (See on verse hi) An idol is noth- 
 ing in the world — [The idols of the heathen- 
 — not strictly the images, hut the persons repre- 
 sented by them — have no existence in the world. 
 That they who worship idols worship devils the 
 apostle himself asserts, (chapter x, 20;) hut that 
 is no contradiction to the present sentence, which 
 asserts that the deities imagined by them have ab- 
 solutely no existence. — Afford.] 
 
 5. There be that are called gods — There are 
 many images that are supposed to be representa- 
 tions of divinities; hut these divinities are noth- 
 ing, the figments of mere fancy; and these images 
 have no corresponding realities. Whether in 
 heaven or in earth — As the sun, moon, planet?, 
 128 
 
 thai are h called gods, whether in heaven or in 
 earth, (as t here he gods many, and lords many,) 
 <> Bui 'to us then is but one God, the Father, 
 of whom "/•< all things, ami we ' in him; ami 
 m one Lord Jesus Christ, n by whom are all 
 things, and we by him. 7 Efowbeil then is 
 not in every man that knowledge: for -nine 
 
 °with conscience of the idol unto this hour cat 
 it as a thing offered unto ;m idol: and their 
 conscience being weak is ndefiled. H But 
 
 t Tin,. 2. 5. — h John in. 84- 8 Mai. 2. 10; Eph.4. 6.- /• Acta 
 17.28; Rom. II. ::>;.- lOr.Jbr him.- w John 13. :::; Acts . 
 !H; cl,.|>. 12. :: ; Eph. 4.5; Phil. 2. 11.- v .Mm 1. A; Col. 1. 
 16; Heb. 1. ■:. o( hap. 10. 2-, 29. p Ri m. 14. 1 1. 2::. 
 
 stars, the ocean, rivers, trees, etc. And thus there 
 are, nominally, gods many and lords many. 
 
 6. But to us there is but one God, the 
 Father — Who produced all things, himself un- 
 created and imoriginated. And -we in him — Kai 
 //'."■ i/r avrov, anil we for him ; [we exist, elf, in 
 respect to him;] all intelligent beings having been 
 created for the purpose of manifesting his glory, 
 li\ receiving and reflecting his wisdom, goodness, 
 and truth. And one Lord Jesus — Onl) one visi- 
 ble Governor of the world and the Church. By 
 whom are all things — Who was the Creator, as 
 he is the Upholder, of the universe. And we by 
 him— Being brought to the knowledge oi the true 
 God by the revelation of Jesus Christ; for it is 
 the only-begotten Son alone that can reveal the 
 Father. The gods of whom t'lie apo-tle Bpeaks 
 were their divinities, or objects of religious wor- 
 ship; the lords were the rulers of the world, the 
 emperors, who were considered next to gods, and 
 some of them wore deified. In opposition to those 
 gods he places "God the Father," the fountain of 
 plenitude and being; and in opposition to the Innls 
 he places Jesus Christ, who made and who gov- 
 erns all things. We, as creatures, live in reference, 
 elc avrov, to him, God the Father, who is the foun- 
 tain of our being; and, as Christians, we live 6i' 
 avrov, by or through him, Jesus Christ; by whom 
 we are bought, enlightened, pardoned, and saved. 
 
 7. There is not in every man that knowl- 
 edge — This is spoken in reference to what is said, 
 verse 4 : We know that nn 'nl"l i.- nothing in tin' 
 
 world ; for some villi a conscience of /In- idol — 
 namely, that it is something — eat it: the flesh that 
 was offered to the idol, as being thus offered, 
 considering the feast as a sacred banquet, bj which 
 they have fellowship with tin- !>/■'/. And their 
 conscience being weak — Nol properly instructed 
 in divine things. Is defiled — He performs what he 
 does as an act of religious worship, and thus his 
 conscience contracts guill through this idolatry. 
 
 As in the commencement of Christianity, among 
 the .lews that were converted, tl many 
 
 found who incorporated the rites of the law with 
 the principles of the Gospel ; so. doubtless, »among 
 the Gentiles, there were some who did not at 
 once throw aside all their idolatry or idolatrous no- 
 tion-, Imt preserved some of its more spiritual and 
 imposing part-, and might think it allowable to 
 mingle idolatrous leasts with thelitis of Christian- 
 it} ; a- the sacrament of the Lord's Hipper was 
 certainly considered as a feast upon a sacrifice. 
 As the minds of many id' these young Gentile con- 
 verts could not, as yet, have been deeply endued 
 with spiritual knowledge, they might incorporate 
 these feasts, and confound their nature and prop- 
 erties.
 
 rmtttfins njrainst doing aught to 
 .ui^e :i brother to stumble. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 'i meat commendeth us not to God: for nei- 
 ther, if we eat, r are we the better; neither, 
 if we eat not, 'are we the worse. 9 But 
 'take heed lest by any means this "liberty 
 of yours become v a stumblingblock to them 
 that are weak. 10 For if any man see 
 thee which hast knowledge sit at meat in the 
 idol's temple, shall not "the conscience of 
 him which is weak be * emboldened to eat 
 
 <? Rom. 14. 17. — r Or, haveioethe more. — *0r, ha/ce uetke 
 I, ,vx. — £Gal. 5. 13. a Or, power. — r Rom. 14. 1.;. 21). 
 
 8. Meat commendeth us not to God— No 
 such eating or abstaining can be a recommendation 
 
 of our souls or persons to the Supreme Being. As 
 to the thing, considered in itself, the eating gives 
 us no spiritual advantage ; and the eating not is no 
 spiritual loss. 
 
 9. But take heed — Lest by frequenting such 
 feasts and eating things offered to idols, under the 
 conviction that "an idol is nothing," and that you 
 may eat those things innocently, this liberty of 
 yours, which may be well enough for you, should 
 become a means of causing a weak brother to 
 stumble who has not your knowledge, or inducing 
 one who respects you for your superior knowledge 
 to partake of these things with the conscience and 
 belief that an idol is something, and to conclude 
 that as yon partake of such things, so he may 
 also, and with safety. He is not possessed of your 
 information on this point, and he eats to the idol 
 what you take as a common meal. 
 
 10. If any man see thee which hast knowl- 
 edge — Yvuatv. (See verse 1.) Sit at meat in 
 the idol's temple — It seems strange that any pro- 
 fessing the knowledge of the true God should even 
 enter one of those temples, and much more so that 
 any Christian should lie found to feast there. 
 Perhaps the man of knowledge mentioned by the 
 apostle was one of those who, possessing a con- 
 venient conscience, could accommodate himself to 
 all circumstances; be a heathen without and a 
 Christian within, and vice versa, as circumstances 
 might require. [Were these temples used as places 
 for taking occasional meals, after the manner of 
 modern restaurants, much used in large cities?] 
 Be emboldened to eat — O'lKoSota/dr/aerai, be built 
 up, be continued and established in that opinion 
 which before he doubtingly held, that on seeing 
 you eat he may be led to think there is no harm in 
 feasting in an idol temple, nor in eating things 
 offered to idols. 
 
 11. Shall the weak brother perish — Being 
 first taught by thy conduct that there was no harm 
 in thus eating, he grieves the Spirit of God ; be- 
 comes again darkened and hardened, and, sliding 
 back into idolatry, dies in it, and so finally perishes. 
 For whom Christ died — So we learn that a man 
 may perish for whom Christ died: this admits of 
 no quibble. If a man "for whom Christ died," 
 apostatizing from Christianity, (for he is called a 
 "brother," though "weak,") return again to and 
 die in idolatry, then a man for whom Christ died 
 may perish everlastingly. And so, if it is possible 
 for a believer, whether strong or weak, to retrace 
 his steps back to idolatry and die in it, it is equally 
 possible for a man who had escaped the pollutions 
 that are in the world, to return to it, live and die 
 in its spirit, and perish everlastingly also. Let him 
 that readeth understand. 
 
 12. But when ye sin so against the breth- 
 Vol. II.— 9 
 
 those things which tire offered to idols; 
 
 11 And y through thy knowledge shall the 
 weak brother perish, for whom Christ died? 
 
 12 But 'when ye sin so against the brethren, 
 and wound their weak conscience, ye sin 
 against Christ. 13 Wherefore, "if meat make 
 my brother to offend, 1 will eat no flesh while 
 the world standeth, lest I make my brother to 
 offend. 
 
 w Chap. 10 28, 32. 0) Gr. eilifi'-'l. ;/ It. .in. 14. 1", 20. 
 
 z Matt. 25. 40, 4."). a Horn. 14. 21 : 2 Cur. 11. 29. 
 
 ren — [The manner in which they had used their 
 liberty had rendered the otherwise allowable act 
 positively sinful. — Poor.] Ye sin against Christ 
 — By causing to err from the truth, and so sending 
 to perdition, through your bad example, a soul for 
 whom Christ shed Ids blood, thus defeating the gra- 
 cious intentions of his sacrificial death. 
 
 13. Wherefore, etc. — Rather than give any 
 occasion to a Christian to sin against, and so to 
 harden his conscience that he should return to 
 idolatry and perish, I would not only abstain from 
 all meats offered to idols, but I* would eat no flesh 
 should I exist through the whole course of time, 
 but live on the herbs of the field, rather than 
 cause my brother to stumble, and thus fall into 
 idolatry and final nun. The following words of 
 Origen contain a very solemn lesson and warning : 
 " If we did more diligently attend to these things, 
 we should avoid sinning against our brethren and 
 wounding their weak conscience, that Ave might 
 not sin against Christ ; our brethren that are 
 among us, for whom Christ died, often perishing, 
 not only by our knowledge, but by many other ways 
 and tilings, in which things we, sinning against 
 Christ, shall suffer punishment ; the souls of them 
 that perish by us being required of and avenged 
 upon us." 
 
 1. The greater our reputation for knowledge and 
 sanctity, the greater mischief we shall do by our 
 influence and example if we turn aside from the 
 holy commandment delivered unto us. Every man 
 should walk so as to light and lead his brother to 
 heaven. 
 
 2. [A forcible and perfectly legitimate use is 
 made of this injunction, in favor of abstinence 
 from intoxicating drinks; for though a Christian 
 may feel that he is in no danger from that cause, 
 yet his Christian liberty used by some other — in 
 that particular a " weak brother" — may be the oc- 
 casion of his perdition. This caution is enforced 
 by thousands of examples of ruins so accom- 
 plished.] 
 
 3. It is the duty of every Christian to watch 
 against apostasy in his own case, and to prevent it 
 as much as possible in that of others. That a 
 person for whom Christ died may finally perish is 
 strongly argued from this place and Rom. xiv, 15 ; 
 for here the apostle dissuades the Corinthians from 
 scandalizing their weak brethren by an argument 
 taken from the irreparable mischiefs they may do 
 them, the eternal ruin they may I. ting upon them 
 by this scandal; whereas if it be, as some assert, 
 that all things, even the sins of tin elect, work to- 
 gether for their good, and that they shall never 
 perish, there can be no danger. 
 
 Moreover, by thus offending, saith the apostle, 
 "ye sin against Christ;" namely, by sinning against 
 those whom he has purchased by his blood, and de- 
 
 129
 
 A. M. ■'. 80. A. P. 56. 
 Veal 
 
 I. CORINTHIANS. 
 
 il nutliority. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 AM ' I not an apostle '. am I nol free '. ' have 
 I nol seen Jesus Olirisl cur Lord? c are nol 
 ye ray work in the Lord? % 1 If I be nol an 
 apostle unto ol hers, yel doubtless 1 am to you : 
 
 : 2 Cor. 12. 12; Gal. 2. 7, 8; 1 Tim. 
 3. 7: 2 I'li:. : 17; 18. 9; 22. 14, 18; 23. H ; 
 
 destroying them for whose salvation he suffered. 
 If this intent of Christ's death be denied, how can 
 we show in what Chris! has demonstrated his great 
 love to them that perish ? 
 
 •1. It is natural for man to wish and affecf to be 
 wise : and when this desire is cultivated in refer- 
 to law fnl objects, (and with due humility,) it 
 
 will be an indescribable g 1 ; but when, like Eve, 
 
 we see in a i s nn< thing to be desired to 
 
 one wise, we are then, like her, on the vei 
 
 of our fall. Though extensive knowledge is not 
 given to all, ye1 it is given for all, and is the pub- 
 lic property of the Church. For the misuse and 
 misapplication of this talent we shall give account 
 to God, as well as of other gifts and graces. 
 
 5. Persons of au over-tender and scrupulous con- 
 Bcience may be very troublesome in a Christian so- 
 ciety; but as this excessive scrupulosity comes 
 from want of more light, more experience, or more 
 judffrnentjYre should bear with them. Though such 
 should often run into ridiculous extremes, yet we 
 must take care that we do not attempt to cure them 
 
 with ridicule or wrath. Such persons re- 
 quire the most ju licious treatment, else they will 
 be stumbled, and turned out of the way. We 
 should be verj careful lest in using what is called 
 Christian liberty we occasion their fall; and for 
 our own sake, we must take heed that we do not 
 sinful indulgences Christian liberties. 
 
 6. Though we are bound to take heed that we 
 put not a stumblingblock in the way of a weak 
 brother, yel if such a brother be stumbled at any 
 pari of our conduct which is not blamable in it- 
 self, but of which he may have taken a wrong 
 view, we are not answerable for the conse. |uences. 
 
 We are called to walk by the testimony of God; 
 not according to the measure of any man's con- 
 science, how sincere soev ir he may be. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER IX. 
 1. Am I not free — After the waiving of Ins own 
 liberties in respecl to eating, etc., and especially 
 his genera] declaration (chapter viii, 13) that he is 
 ready to permanently forego the use of his natural 
 and Christian freedom for the benefit of his 
 "brother," the apostle now returns to reassert his 
 freedom and his apostolic rights and privileges. 
 Am I not an apostle — It is sufficiently evident 
 that there ■■■■ is at < 'orinth who questione I 
 
 the apostleship of St. Paul; and that he was 
 obliged to walk verj circumspectly that they might 
 not find any occasion against him. It appears that 
 he had given them all his apostolical labours 
 gratis; an 1 even this, which was the highest proof 
 of his disinterested benevolence, was produced 
 by his opposers as an argument against him. 
 " Prophets and all divinely commissioned men have 
 a right to their secular support; you take nothing: 
 is not this from a conviction that you have no 
 apostolical right?" On this point the apostle im- 
 mediately enters on his own defence. Am J mtt 
 (in apostle 2 Am 1 not free? (The besi authori- 
 ties require thai the order of these two questions 
 should be reversed.] These questions are till de- 
 130 
 
 for d the seal of mine apostleship .are ye in the 
 l.unl. :{ Mine answer to them that do exam- 
 ine is this : I ■ Have \\ e not power to 
 
 eat and io drink? 5 Have we nol power to 
 Lad about a sister, a ' wife, as well as other 
 
 chap. 15. 8. - t'l.;.|). X 6: 4. 15. (12 Cor.3.2; 12. 12. 
 
 eVeis ! i i Tin - 2 6; 2 I '■■■- I. 9. /Or, woman. 
 
 signed as assertions of the affirmative: / am <m 
 apostle; and I am free- possessed of all the rights 
 
 and privilege.- of an apostle. Have I not seen 
 Jesus Christ — From whom, on his personal apptar- 
 ance to me, I received my apostolic commission. 
 This seeing Christ was judged essentially necessary 
 to constitute an apostle. (See Acts \.\ii, 14, 15; 
 xxvi, 16.) Are not ye my work — Your conver- 
 sion from heathenism (and induction into the priv- 
 ileges of the Church) is the proof that I have 
 preached with the divine unction and authority. 
 
 2. If I be not an apostle unto others — If 
 there be other Churches in which my apostleship 
 has not been demonstrated, it is not so with you. 
 The seal of mine apostleship are ye — Your 
 conversion is God's seal to my apostleship. Had 
 not God sent me, I could not have profited your 
 souls. The cQpayic, or seal, was a figure cut in a 
 stone, and that set in a ring, by which letters of 
 credence and authority were stamped The an- 
 cients, particularly the Greeks, excelled in this 
 kind of engraving. [The significance of the seal 
 was to designate ownership and approval^ In 
 the Lord — It was, however, by the grace and in- 
 lluenee of God alone that he was an apostle, and 
 that they were converted to Christianity. 
 
 3. Mine answer to them— II kfjit, hiroTioyia 
 toIq kfie avatcpivovoiv. This is my defence against 
 those who examine me. The words are forensic ; 
 and the apostle considers himself as brought before 
 a legal tribunal, and questioned so as to be obliged 
 to answer as upon oath. His defence, therefore, 
 was this, that they were converted to God by his 
 means. This verse belongs to the two preceding 
 verses. [Air//, this, namely, this fact, that you 
 are the seal of mine ii-ucru'/i/ (apostleship.) — 
 Meyer.~\ 
 
 4. Have we not power to eat and to drink 
 — ''Etjovaiav, the right. The necessaries, not the 
 superfluities, of life wore what those primitive 
 messengers of Christ required; it was just that 
 they who labouredia the (hispid should live by the 
 Gospel; a living was all they desired. It was 
 
 probably in reference to the same moderate and 
 reasonable desire that the provision made lor the 
 clergy in this country was called .a living; and 
 their work for winch they got this living was called 
 the cure intra, care) of mmls. Such a labourer is 
 worthy of (morally entitled to) his hire; and he 
 that preaches the Gospel should live bj the Gos- 
 pel. [It is usually the most profitable to all par- 
 ties for those who receive Ha' services of a min- 
 ister of the Gospel to contribute directly for his 
 temporal support, and this law extends also to mis- 
 sions among i hi' heathen.] 
 
 5. Have we not power to lead about a 
 sister, a wife — The word hl-ovoiav, as above, im- 
 plying authority or right ; authority from Him who 
 gave them that office; from the constitution of 
 nature; and from universal propriety or the fitness 
 of things. When the apostle speaks of leading 
 about a sister, a wife, he mean- thai he and all 
 other apo-tles, ami consequently all ministers of 
 the Gospel, had a rbjld to marry. For it appears
 
 Gospel preachers to be supported 
 by tuose whom they serve. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 A. M. 40fi0. A. D. 56. 
 Year of Rome, 809, 
 
 apostles, and as eth.e brethren of the Lord, and 
 '■Cephas? © Or I only and Barnabas, 'have 
 not we power to forbear working? 7 Who 
 k goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? 
 who ' planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of 
 the fruit thereof? or who '"feedetb a flock, 
 and eatetli not of the milk of the flock? 8 Say 
 I these things as a man? or saith not the law 
 the same also? 9 For it is written in the law 
 of Moses, n Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth 
 of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth 
 God take care for oxen '. 10 Or saith he it 
 altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no 
 doubt, this is written : that "he that plougheth 
 should plough in hope ; and that he that 
 
 g Matt. 13. 55 ; Mark 6. 3: Luke 6. !i>; Gal. 1. 19. AMatt. 
 
 8. 14. i-1 Thess. 3. 8, 9. A; 2 Cor. 10. 4; 1 Tim. 1. 18: fi. 13; 
 
 2 Tim. 2. 3; 4. 7. 1 Deut. 20. 6; Prov. 27.1-*; chap. 3.(1.7,8. 
 
 ?».Tc>hn 21. 15; 1 Pet. .">. 2. » Deut. 25. 4; 1 Tim. 5. 18. 
 
 a 2 Tim. 2. 6. i> Rom. 15. 27 : Gal. (i. 6. 
 
 that our Lord's brethren, James and Jude, were 
 married ; and we have infallible evidence in Matt. 
 viii, 14, that Peter was a married man. ['A(M</»)v 
 yvvalita, a sister, that is, a believer, a wife; not a 
 servicus matronq, which is against the plain mean- 
 ing of the words, without shadow of historical sup- 
 port, and supposes a somewhat unseemly relation. 
 — Meyer. ~\ 
 
 6. Or I only and Barnabas — It appears from 
 this that the apostles did not generally support 
 themselves by their own labour, but that Paul and 
 Barnabas did. Some of the others probably had 
 not a business at which they could conveniently 
 work, as these had. 
 
 7. Who goeth a warfare ... at his own 
 charges — These questions, which are all supposed 
 from the necessity and propriety of the cases to be 
 answered negatively, point out more forcibly the 
 providence of God, which indicates that every 
 man should live by the fruits of his labour. The 
 first question applies particularly to the case of 
 the apostle, rig ffrpareverac ISioig bipuvioig. Does 
 a soldier provide his own rations ? 'Oipuviov is 
 used to express the military pay or wages, by the 
 Greek writers; for the Roman soldiers were paid 
 not only in money, but in victuals ; and hence corn 
 was usually distributed among them. (See Luke 
 hi, 14.) 
 
 8. Say I these things as a man — Is this only 
 human reasoning? or does not God say in effect 
 the same things? (Rom. vi, 19.) 
 
 9. Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the 
 ox — (See on Deut. xxv, 4.) Doth God take 
 care for oxen — This question is to be understood 
 thus: Is it likely that God should be solicitous for 
 the comfort of oxen, and lie regardless of the wel- 
 fare of man? [What Paul means is, that this 
 class of creatures, the oxen, are not (primarily) the 
 obj 'cts of the divine solicitude in that provision of 
 the law; that which expresses the care to be taken 
 for the oxen is said, not for their sakes, but Sl' 
 iji ■ ir, for us. — Meyer.] 
 
 10." That he that thresheth in hope should 
 be partaker of his hope — Instead of 6 aAocrv, 
 rf/g sl-idog avrov fierexeiv, t~' i'/rrici, many of the 
 best MSS. and Versions read the passage thus : 6 
 akouv eir' s/.-ith tov /uetexeiv, o,nd he who thresheth 
 in hope of partaking, [which reading is now gen- 
 erally accepted.] [The command (not to muzzle 
 the ox) was written on account of us, (Christian 
 teachers,) because we ploughers (in the yeupytov 
 
 th'resheth in hope should be partaker of his 
 hope. II r If we have sown unto you spirit- 
 ual things, is if a great thing if we shall reap 
 your carnal things? EvJ If others be partakers 
 ill' this power over you, are not we rather? 
 i Nevertheless we have not used this power; 
 but suffer all things, ' lest we should hinder the 
 gospel of Christ. \'i ' Ho ye not know that 
 they which minister about holy things 'live of 
 the things of the temple? and they which wait 
 at the altar are partakers with the altar? 
 14 Even so "hath the Lord ordained "that 
 they which preach the gospel should live of 
 the gospel. 15 But W I have used none of 
 these things: neither have I written these 
 
 <7 Acts 20. 33 ; verses 15, is-. 2 Cor. 11. 7. R ; 12. 13 : 1 Thess. 2. 6. 
 
 /'2 Cor. II. 12. «l.ev. (j. ]i-;, 2«; 7 t>, etc. : Nnin 5. 9,111; 
 
 18. 8-211; Deut.lll.9j 18.1. tOr.feeil. it Matt. in. 10; Luke 
 
 in. 7. v Gal. 6. fi: 1 Tim. 5. 17. to Acts 18. 3; 20. 34; cluu>. 
 
 4. 12 : verse 12 ; 1 Thess. 2. 9 ; 2 Thess. 3. 8. 
 
 Beov, the Lord's field, chapter iii, 9) ought to plough 
 in hope, and we threshers (answering to the (iovg 
 ciXouv, oxen of the threshing floor) ought to work 
 in hope of (as the ox) having a share. — Alford.] 
 
 1 1 . If we have sown unto you spiritual 
 things — If we have been the means of bringing 
 you into a state of salvation by the divine doc- 
 trines which we have preached unto you, is it too 
 much for us to expect a temporal support when we 
 give ourselves up entirely to this work ? Every 
 man who preaches the -Gospel has a right to his 
 own support and that of his family while thus 
 employed. 
 
 1:2. If others be partakers of this power — 
 If those who in any matter serve you have a 
 right {e^ovaia) to a recompense for that service, 
 surely we who have served you in the most essen- 
 tial matters have a right to our subsistence while 
 thus employed in your service. We have not 
 used this power — Though we had this light, we 
 have not availed ourselves of it, but have worked 
 with our hands to bear our own charges, lest any 
 of you should think that we preached the Gospel 
 merely to procure a temporal support, and so be 
 prejudiced against us, and -thus prevent our success 
 in the salvation of your souls. [Which was allow- 
 able as a temporary expedient, but not as a general 
 rule.] 
 
 13. They which minister about holy things 
 — All the officers about the temple had a right to 
 their support while employed in its service. The 
 priests partook of the sacrifices; the others had 
 their maintenance from tithes, firstfruits, and 
 offerings made to the temple; for it was not law- 
 ful for them to live on the sacrifices Hence the 
 apostle makes the distinction between those who 
 "minister about holy things" and those who wait 
 at the altar. 
 
 14. Even so hath the Lord ordained — This 
 is evidently a reference to our Lord's ordinatio i, 
 (Matt, x, ID,) "The workman is worthy of his 
 meat;" (and Luke x, 7,) "The labourer is worthy 
 of his hire." And in both places it is the preacher 
 of the Gospel of whom he is speaking. It was a 
 maxim among the Jews, "that the inhabitants of a. 
 town where a wise man had made his abode should 
 Support him, because ho had forsaken the world 
 and its pleasures to study those thing- by which 
 he might please (hid and be useful to men." 
 
 15. Neither have I written, etc. — Though I 
 might plead the authority of God in the la 
 
 131
 
 . 
 
 J. CORINTHIANS. 
 
 mi I ■ pre. ill tile gospel. 
 
 things, that it should be so done unto me: for 
 » it w - tor me to die, than that anj 
 
 man should make my glorying void. I<» For 
 though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to 
 glory of: for J necessity i> laid upon me; yea. 
 woe is unto me, if I preach not. the gospel ! 
 17 For if I do this thing willingly, ■ I have a 
 reward: but if against my will, a 'dispensa- 
 tion of the gospel is committed unto me. 
 I* What is my reward then' Verily that, 
 'when 1 preach the gospel, i may make the 
 I of Christ without charge, that I e abuse 
 n >! my power in the gospel. 1?) For though 
 
 4. 1 
 4. 5 
 
 > Cor. 11. in. —y Rom. l.ll. sChap. 3. 8,14. — nChap. 
 
 Gal. '..'. 7; Phil. 1. 17: Col. I. 25. b Chap. 10. 33; i Cor. 
 
 11. 7. cChap. 7. 31. d Verse 1. ■& Gal. 5. 13. 
 
 Christ in the Gospel, the common consent of our 
 own doctors, and the usages of civil society, yet I 
 have not availed myself of my privileges; nor do 
 1 now write with the intention to lay in my claims. 
 
 16. For though I preach the gospel — I have 
 indeed cause of glorying that I preach the Gospel 
 free of all charges to you, and of this no man 
 shall deprive me; but I cannot glory in being a 
 minister of Christ's Gospel, because I have received 
 both the office and the grace by which I execute 
 the office, from God. I have not only his authority 
 to preach, but that authority obliges me to preach ; 
 an 1 if I did not. I should endanger my salvation : 
 yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gos- 
 paL As every genuine preacher receives his com- 
 mission from God alone, it is God alone who can 
 
 it away. Woe to that man who runs when 
 God has not sent him ; and woe to him who refuses 
 to run, or who ceases to run, when God has sent 
 him. 
 
 17. For if I do this thing willingly — If I be 
 lial co-operator with God. I have a reward 
 
 ■ — An incorruptible crown. (Verse 27i.) Or, if I 
 I eely preach this Gospel without being burden- 
 to any, I have a special reward; but if I do 
 not, I have simply an office to fulfil, into which God 
 lias put me, and may fulfil it conscientiously, and 
 claim my privileges at the same time; but then I 
 lose that special reward which I have in view by 
 
 ling theGospel without charge to any. These 
 two verses (17 and L8) have been variously trans- 
 lated: Sir Norton Knatchbull, and after him Mr. 
 
 ield, translate the two passages thus : For if 
 J do this willingly, I have a reward ; but if I am 
 intrusted with an office without my consent, what is 
 my reward then? to make the Gospel of Christ, 
 
 I preach it, without charge, in not using to the 
 utmost my pi t 'ie Gospel. 
 
 Is. That Iabu.se not my power — Karaxpf}- 
 is here to be understood, not in the sense of 
 
 7, but of using to the uttermost — exacting 
 every thing that a man can claim by law. [Paul's 
 making the Gospel to be without cost was nol his 
 
 , (wages,) but his um fflfia (boasting, ground 
 of exultation) only. The two are not identical ; 
 the latter is present, the former future. — Alford.~\ 
 19. For though I be free — Although 1 am 
 under no (especial) obligation to any man, yet I act 
 as if every individual had a particular property in 
 me, and as if 1 were the slave of the public. [In 
 the first instance, the idea of enslavement to all is 
 suggested bythe servile labour he had undertaken, as 
 distinct from the free independence which he might 
 
 enjoyed as an apostle ; but he rapidly passes 
 
 132 " 
 
 1 be 'free from all men, yel have • I made my- 
 self servant unto all. 'that 1 might gain the 
 more. tiO And -unto the Jews I became as a 
 dew, that 1 mighl gain the Jews; to them that 
 are under the law, as under the law, that 1 
 
 might gain them thai are under the law; 
 
 21 h To 'them that are without law, as with- 
 out law, (■ being not without law to God, hut 
 
 under the law to Christ,) that I might gain 
 them that are without law. 'i'.i l To the weak 
 became 1 as weak, thai 1 mighl gain the weak: 
 m 1 am made all things to all men, "that I might 
 by all means save some. 2:j And this 1 do 
 
 /Matt. 18. 15: 1 Pet. 3.1. a Acts 1(5.3; 1«. 18: 2n. 23, etc. 
 
 &Gal.3.2. -i Rom. 2. 12,14. —A Chap. 7. 22. IU .15.1; 
 
 ■2 Cor. 1). 29. in Lhap. 10. 33. n Rom. 11. 14; chap. 7. 115. 
 
 from this to his accommodation to the various feel- 
 ings of his converts, in the hope that of this mass 
 he might gain the greater part, rove irXeiovag, (all 
 the more,) to the cause of Christ. — Stanley in Al- 
 ford.] 
 
 20. Unto the Jews I became as a Jew — 
 (Actsxvi, 3.) Once, for the sake of the unconverted 
 Jews, he circumcised Timothy. To them that are 
 under the law — To those who considered them- 
 selves still under obligation to observe its rites and 
 ceremonies, though they had in the main embraced 
 the Gospel, he became as if under the same obli- 
 gations ; and therefore purified himself in the tem- 
 ple (Acts xxi, 26.) After the first clause, "to 
 them //"if are under tht law as under the law" the 
 words uij i.)i> avTbgvKo v6//.ov, not beingmyselj under 
 the law, are added [by many highly respectable 
 authorities, among them Griesbach.] [It is now 
 generally accepted. Here Paul again asserts his 
 Christian liberty.] 
 
 21. To them that are without law — £Av6uoic, 
 heathens, not under the law of Moses. To such 
 Paul became as not under the merely formal de- 
 mands of the Jewish law ; he disregarded its cere- 
 monial requirements, but its moral and spiritual re- 
 quirements he still recognised as incumbent upon 
 him.] lie might among the heathens appear as if 
 he were not a Jew, and discourse with them on the 
 great principles of that eternal law, the outlines of 
 which had been written in their hearts, in order to 
 show them the necessity of < mbracing that Gospel. 
 
 22. To the weak became I as weak — Those 
 who were conscientiously scrujndous, even in re- 
 spect to law) al things. (Chapter viii, 9-13.)] I am 
 made all things to all men — I assumed every 
 shape and form consistent with innocency and per- 
 fect integrity ; giving up my own will, my own tastes, 
 my own ease, my own pleasure, and my own profit, 
 that I might save the souls of all. Let those who 
 plead for the system of accommodation on the ex- 
 ample of St. Paul, attend to the end he had in view, 
 and the manner in which he pursued that end. It 
 was not to get money, influence, or honour; but to 
 save souls ; it mis not to get case, but to increase 
 his labours. It was not to save hi- lite, but rather 
 
 that it should be a sacrifice lor the good Of im- 
 mortal sold-! [Toig iramv, to (the) all. This sums 
 up the above, and others not enumerated in our 
 general rule, and the various occasions of his prac- 
 tising the condescension in one general ride, . . . 
 Tivac, some, out of each class, (still recognising the 
 painful truth that some, probably, will not he 
 saved.)— A Iford.] 
 
 23. And this I do for the Gospel's sake — In-
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 A. M. 4060. A. P. 56. 
 Year of Rome, B09. 
 
 for.tlie gospel's sake, that I might be partaker 
 thereof with you. 24 Know ye not that they 
 
 which run in a race run all, hut one receiveth 
 the prize? °So run, that ye may obtain. 
 25 And every man that Pstriveth for the mas- 
 tery is temperate in all things. Now they do 
 it to obtain a corruptible crown ; but we i an 
 incorruptible. 26 I therefore so run, r not as 
 uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beat- 
 
 oGal. 2. •->; 5. 7: Phil. 2. 16; 3. 14: 3 Tim. 4. 7; Heb. 12. 1. 
 
 1> Eph. 6. 12 ! 1 Tim. 6. 12 : 2 Tim. 2. 5; 4. 7. g 2 Tim. 4. 8 ; 
 
 James 1. 12; 1 Pet. 1.4; o 4; Rev. 2. 10; 3. II. 
 
 stead of tovto, this, iravra, all things, (I do all things 
 for the Gospel's sake,) is the approved reading. 
 [I do all tilings on account of the Gospel. Its fur- 
 therance was his riding purpose.] That I might 
 be partaker thereof •with you — \JZwkqivuvoc ah- 
 tov ye rujjia, that I may become a sharer of it.] That 
 I might attain with you to the reward which the 
 Gospel offers. To eiiayyeXiov may be rendered here 
 prize, or reward; this is a frequent meaning of the 
 original word. 
 
 24. They which run in a race run all — It is 
 Sufficiently evident that the apostle alludes to the 
 athletic exercises in the games which were cele- 
 brated every fifth year on the isthmus, or narrow 
 neck of land, which joins the Peloponnesus, or 
 Morea, to the mainland ; and were thence termed 
 the Isthmian Games. The exercises were running, 
 wrestling, boxing, throwing the discus or quoit, etc.; 
 to the three first of these the apostle especially al- 
 ludes. But one receiveth the prize — [This is 
 my aim in all I do; but inasmuch as many run in a 
 race, many reach the goal, but one only receives the 
 prize. I as an apostle vwumy course, and you must 
 so run yours as each to labour not to be rejected at 
 last, but to gain the glorious and incorruptible 
 prize. — Afford.'] 
 
 25. Every man that striveth — [Ilac 6e 6 ayo- 
 vii,6ii£voc, every agonist. [Every one who engages 
 in any athletic contest. — Alford.] Is temperate 
 in all things — [ndvra kyupaTeveTai, is self-com- 
 manding as to all things.] All those who con- 
 tended in these exercises went through a long state 
 and series of careful preparations. To this line 
 Epietetus refers, (cap. 35:) " Do you wish to gain 
 the prize at the Olympic Games ? Consider the re- 
 quisite preparations and the consequences; you 
 must observe a strict regimen; must live on food 
 which you dislike; you must abstain from all deli- 
 cacies; must exercise yourself at the necessary and 
 prescribed times both in heat and in cold ; you 
 must drink nothing cooling ; take no wine as for- 
 merly ; in a word, you must put yourself under the 
 directions of a trainer as you would under those of 
 a physician, and afterward enter the lists. Here 
 you may get your arm broken, your foot put out of 
 joint, be obliged to swallow mouthfuls of dust, to 
 receive many stripes, and after all lie conquered." 
 This shows the propriety of the apostle's words: 
 " Every man that striveth for the mastery,'''' navra 
 eynpaTEveTai, " is temperate, self-restrained, in all 
 things. They do it to obtain a corruptible 
 crown — The "crown" won by the victor in the 
 Olympian Games was made of the wild olive ; in the 
 Pythian Games, of laurel ; in the Xemean Games, of 
 parsley; and in the Isthmian Games, of the pine: 
 all of them highly perishable. In opposition to 
 these, the apostle contended for an incorruptible 
 crown, the heavenly inheritance that fadeth not 
 away. (1 Pet. v, 4.) 
 
 eth the air : 27 'But I keep under my body, 
 and 'bring it into subjection: lest that by any 
 means, when I have preached to others, I my- 
 self should be u a castaway. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 MOREOVER, brethren, I would not that ye 
 should be ignorant, how that all our fa- 
 thers were under a the cloud, and all passed 
 
 r2 Tim. 2. 5. sRrtm. 8. 13; Col. 3. 5. 1 Rom 6. 8, 19. ■ 
 
 u Jer. H. 30; 2 Cor. 13. 5, «. a Ex. id. 13. 21 ; 40. 34: Num. 
 
 9. 18; 14. 14; Dt-ut. l. 33; Neb. 9. 12. 19; Psh. 7S. 14; 103. 39. 
 
 26. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly — 
 
 In any of those games, how many soever ran, only 
 one could have the prize ; therefore, all run uncer- 
 tainly. In the Christian course, every one who runs 
 according to rule receives the prize. The word 
 adi/Auc, which we translate " uncertainly," has other 
 meanings. It signifies ignorantly, or without ob- 
 servation. [Not without a clearly conscious assur- 
 ance and certainty of running so as to reach the 
 goal. — Meyer.] Not as one that beateth the air 
 — [Here he passes over to another kind of contest, 
 namely, boxing, (-vkth'cu,') as not striking in the air, 
 in random strokes, which, instead of hitting the an- 
 tagonist, spend themselves in the air. . . . He is 
 representing himself as engaged in actual fight. — 
 Kling.] 
 
 27. But I keep under my body — By all kinds 
 of self-denial. And bring it into subjection — 
 To my spirit and to God. The words are strongly 
 figurative, and signify the mortification of the body 
 of sin, by an allusion to the natural bodies of tin se 
 who were bruised or subdued in combat. Lest 
 that by any means, -when I have preached — ■ 
 Discharged the office of a herald, (still carrying on 
 the allusion,) whose office it was to proclaim the con- 
 ditions, and to display the prizes. I myself should 
 be a castaway — Disapproved by the Judge, and 
 so falling short of the prize. [This single text may 
 give us a just notion of the scriptural doctrine of 
 election and reprobation, and it clearly shows us 
 that particular persons are not in Holy Writ rep- 
 resented as elected unconditionally to eternal life; 
 but that believers in general are elected to enjoy 
 the Christian privileges on earth, which, if they 
 abuse, th'ose very elect persons will become repro- 
 bate. St. Paul was certainly an elect person, and 
 yet he declares it was possible he himself might 
 become a reprobate. Nay, he actually would have 
 become such if he had not thus kept his body 
 under, even though he had been so long an elect 
 person, a Christian, and an apostle. — Wesley.] 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTEK X. 
 1. I would not that ye should be ignorant 
 
 — It seems as if the Corinthians had supposed that 
 their being made partakers of the ordinances of 
 the Gospel, such as baptism and the Lord's supper, 
 would secure their salvation, notwithstanding they 
 might be found partaking of idolatrous feasts. To 
 remove this destructive supposition, which would 
 have led them to endless errors both in principle 
 and practice, the apostle shows that the Jews had 
 sacramental ordinances in the wilderness similar to 
 those of the Christians; and that, notwithstanding 
 they had the typical baptism from the cloud, and 
 the typical eucharist from the paschal Iamb and 
 the manna that came down from heaven, yet when 
 they joined with idolaters and partook of idolatrous 
 feasts God was not only displeased with them, but 
 
 133
 
 A.M. 4060. A. D. 56. 
 
 I. CORINTHIANS. 
 
 i 
 
 drawn from God'i 
 
 through b the sea; 2 And were all baptized 
 unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; 
 it And did .-ill ea1 the same "spiritual meat; 
 -1 And did all drink the same d spiritual drink ; 
 for they drank of thai spiritual Rock that 
 - fill In wed them: and thai Rock was Christ. 
 •» But with many of them God was nol well 
 pleased : for they ' were overthrown in the 
 wilderness. « Now these things were our 
 
 iiExnrt. 14. 22;Num 33. 8; Josh. I. 23 : Psa. 78. 13. — cExod. 
 1, l . 15 . Neh. 9. 13,20; Psa. 78. 21. rfExnd. 17. 6; Num. -J". 
 II: Psa. 78. 15.- 8<>r, went with them. Deut, 9. 21; Psa. 
 105. II. /Num. 14.29,32,35:26.64,65; Psa. L06. 26: Heb.3.17; 
 
 signified this displeasure by pouring out his judg- 
 ments upon them. Under the cloud— The mi- 
 raculous cloud in the wilderness performed a three- 
 fold office to the Israelites: 1) In the form of a 
 jiilliir it was a cloud to direct their journeyings by 
 day 2) It was a pillar of -fire to give light to the 
 camp by night. 3) It was a covering for them dur- 
 ing the day, preserving fchem from the scorching 
 ravs of the sun; and its humidity was so abundani 
 that the apostle here represents the people as thor- 
 oughly sprinkled and enveloped in its aqueous va- 
 pour. (See Exod. xiii, 21.) 
 
 2. And •were all baptized unto (eif, into) 
 Moses — Into the covenant of which Moses was the 
 mediator; and by this typical baptism they were 
 brought under the obligation of acting according to 
 the Mosaic precepts, just as Christians receiving 
 Christian baptism are said to be baptized into 
 Christ, and are thereby brought under obligation to 
 keep the precept- oi I be < l-ospel. 
 
 ■i. Spiritual meat — The manna is here called 
 "spiritual," because it was provided supernat lira lly, 
 and because it was a type of Jesus Christ, who, 
 ing of it, tells us (John vi, 31, etc.) that it was 
 a type of that trut Bread which came down from 
 lieaven, which gives life unto the world, (verse "-,) 
 and that himself was that Breadoflife. (Verse 18.) 
 
 4. Spiritual drink — By the ppa/ia wvevfiariKOV, 
 
 " spiritual meat," and k6jiq 
 
 :r: niar/Kin', 
 
 " spiritual 
 
 drink," the apostle certainly meant both meat and 
 drink, which were furnished to the lsraelitish 
 assembly miraculously as well as typically. That 
 spiritual Rock that followed them — [The 
 thoughts to which Paul here gives expression are 
 the following: 1) To guard and help the Israelites 
 in their journey through the wilderness, Christ 
 accompanied them, namely, in his preexistenl di- 
 vine nature, and consequently as the Son of God, 
 (the Logos, John i, 1,) who afterward appeared as 
 man. 2) The (spiritual) " Hock " from which the 
 water they drank flowed was not an ordinary nat- 
 ural rock, but a Kerpa -i': IIIH7H,/]', (a spiritual Rock;) 
 not the mere appearance or phantasm of a rock, 
 but an actual one, although of supernatural and 
 heavenly origin, inasmuch as h was the real self- 
 
 t.tion "n>/ manifestation of the Sun of God, 
 who invisibly accompanied the host in its march; 
 it was, in other words, the very Christ from 
 heaven, as being his own substantial and efficient 
 presentation of himself to men. 3) Christ, in his 
 preexistent condition, went constantly with them, 
 so that everywhere in the wilderness his essential 
 presence could manifest itself in their actual ex- 
 perience through the Hock with its abundant waters, 
 Meyer.'] And that Rock was Christ — [Or, 
 Christ was that " Rock." | 
 
 5. They were overthrown in the wilder- 
 ness — And yet all these persons " were under the 
 
 134 
 
 examples, to the intent we should nol lust after 
 evil things, as b the} also lusted. 7 'Neither 
 be ye idolaters, as were some of them: as it is 
 written, k The people sal down to eat and 
 drink, and rose up to play. * ' Neither I 
 commit fornication, as some of them com- 
 mitted, and " fell in one day three and twenty 
 thousand. J) Neither lei us tempt Christ, as 
 '-nine of them also tempted, and "werede- 
 
 Judea. g6r. our fio'trex. '/Num. 11. 4,33,31: Psa. am. 
 ii i Verse II. '. Exod. ■■■2. 6. /1 Imp. 6. 18: Rev. 2. 11. 
 — m Num. 25. 1,9; Psa IOi n. Exod. 17. 2, 7 ; Num -1. 
 
 5; Deul 6. 16; Psa. 78. 18, 56; 95. 9; 106. it. o Num. 21. 6. 
 
 cloud" — "all passed through the sea" — "all were 
 baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the i a 
 — "all ate the same spiritual meat" — "all drink 
 the same spiritual drink;" they all were made 
 partakers of the "spiritual Rock, Christ." [The 
 
 practical lesson here taught is, that they who have 
 
 enjoyed the special privileges of (bid's elect may, 
 nevertheless, fall away and be lost. (Hell, vi, 5-7 ; 
 x, 26 -28.)] 
 
 6. These things were our examples — The 
 punishments which God inflicted on them furnish 
 us with evidences of what God will inflict upon us 
 if we sin alter the similitude of those transgressors. 
 We should not lust after evil things — The 
 apostle shows them that their sin was of the same 
 nature as that of the murmuring, rebellious Israel- 
 ite- whom (iod so severely punished ; ami if he did 
 not spare the natural branches, there was no likeli- 
 hood that he would spare them. (See Numbers 
 xi, 4.) 
 
 7. Neither be ye idolaters — The apostle con- 
 siders partaking of the idolatrous feasts (if eaten 
 doubtingly, Rom. xiv, 'J".) as being real acts of idol- 
 atry; because those who offered the flesh to their 
 gods considered them as feeding invisibly with them 
 on the flesh thus offered, and that every one that 
 partook of the feast was a real participator with 
 the god to whom the flesh or animal had been 
 offered in sacrifice (See verse 21.) Rose up to 
 play — See on Exod. .xxxii, <i. The Jews generally 
 explain this word as implying idolatrous acts only; 
 
 I have considered it as implying acts of impurity, 
 with which idolatrous acts were often accompanied. 
 
 II also means those dances which were practised in 
 honour of their gods. [This comprised dancing, 
 (Exod. xxxii, If),) and from ancient customs, gener- 
 ally at sacrificial feasts; but to understand tin! 
 phrase as indicating unchastity is contrary to the or- 
 dinary use of the language employed. — Afeyei:] 
 
 8. Neither let us commit fornication — [An- 
 other prominent point in the sins of the Corinthian 
 Church. — Alford.] Fell in one day three and 
 twenty thousand — In Num. xxv, 9, the number is 
 24,000; and, allowing this to be the genuine read- 
 ing, (and none of the Hebrew ]\ISS. exhibit any 
 various reading in the place,) Moses and the apostle 
 disagree. [A slip of memory on the apostle's part, 
 (Meyer,) concurred in by A 1 lord and Klin-. | [Sup- 
 posing that it could be proved that St. Paul's 
 knowledge was imperfect, this need not surprise us, 
 for there seems no reason to suppose that divine 
 inspiration would instrucl the apostles in truth- dis- 
 coverable by uninspired research and noli essential 
 to their religious mission. — Conybeare and Howson.'] 
 [Either Paul erred in the number, or the abbrevia- 
 tion was falsely read by the transcribers. Josephus 
 has only 14,000. — Olshausen.] 
 
 '.». Neither let us tempt Christ— I have al-
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 A. M. 40W1. A. D. 56. 
 Year of Rome, 809. 
 
 stroyed of serpents. 10 Neither murmur ye, 
 asPsoine of them also murmured, and i were 
 destroyed of r tlie destroyer. 11 Now all 
 these things happened unto them for "ensam- 
 ples : and 'they are written for our admoni- 
 tion, "upon whom the ends of the world are 
 come. 12 Wherefore T let him that thinketh 
 lie standeth take heed lest he fall. 13 There 
 hath no temptation taken you but such as is 
 
 pi 
 
 xod. 
 
 16. 3 
 
 ; 17. 2; 
 
 Sum. 
 
 14 
 
 - 
 
 20; 
 
 16. 41. 
 
 -<7N 
 
 mi. 14. 
 
 S7; 
 
 V>. V. 
 
 . » 
 
 • Kxo 
 
 I. 12. 23 
 
 : 2 Sam. 
 
 24 
 
 If, 
 
 1 Chron 
 
 21 
 
 o. « 
 
 Or, 
 
 till' 
 
 -.«. — 
 
 -2K0 
 
 ii. 15. 4: 
 
 chap 
 
 .9 
 
 10 
 
 
 -u Chap. 
 
 V 20 
 
 Phil.- 
 
 . 5; 
 
 Heb. 
 
 10. % 
 
 ,37; 
 
 1 John 
 
 •1. 18. 
 
 
 -V 
 
 Rom. 11. 20. 
 
 
 
 
 ready supposed (in the note on verse 4) that Christ 
 is intended by the spiritual Rock that followed 
 them : and that it was he, not the rock, that did 
 follow or accompany the Israelites in the wilder- 
 ness. Tins was the angel of God's presence who 
 was with the Church in the wilderness, to whom our 
 fathers would not obey. (Acts vii, 38, 39.) In- 
 stead of Xpiarov, Christ, several MSS. and Versions 
 have Kvpiov, the Lord, [and that reading is now ac- 
 cepted.] By tempting Christ (or the Lord) is 
 meant disbelieving the providence and goodness of 
 God ; and presuming to prescribe to him how he 
 should send them the necessary supplies, and of 
 what kind they should be, etc. 
 
 10. Neither murmur ye — (See Exod. xvi, 2; 
 xvii, 2 ; Num. xiv, 2, 29.) Probably the Corin- 
 thians were murmuring against God and his apos- 
 tle on account of the constraints laid upon them, 
 just as the Israelites did in the wilderness in ref- 
 erence to a similar subject. See the history of 
 Phineas, with Zimri and Cozbi, and the rebellion 
 of Korah and his company, etc., etc. Destroyed 
 of the destroyer— [The destruction referred to 
 must be that related Num. xvi, 49, when the 
 pestilence took off 14,700 people. — Alford.~] Those 
 who die violent deaths, or deaths that are not in 
 the common manner of men, were by the Jews 
 consi lered as perishing by immediate judgments 
 from God. 
 
 11. Happened unto them for ensamples — 
 TvmKuc, typically. [By way of figure. — A/ford.] 
 [In such a way that, as they fill out a typical char- 
 acter, a predictive reference impressed itself upon 
 them, (the ravra.) — Meyer.] Upon whom the 
 ends of the world are come — Td teXt/ tuv aiu- 
 vuv. The end of the times included within the 
 the whole duration of the Mosaic economy. We 
 are to consider the apostle's words as referring to 
 the. end of the Jewish dispensation and the com- 
 mencement of the Christian, which is the last dis- 
 pensation which God will vouchsafe to man in the 
 state of probation. [Td teXti tuv aiuvuv is iden- 
 tical (in meaning) with i) awrE?ieia tuv aiuvow, 
 (since the foundation of the world, Heb. ix, 26,) 
 the consummation of the ages.] [The "ages," 
 here are the great world periods preceding the 
 manifestation of Christ, (at the incarnation,) and 
 the outgoings of which mark the incoming of the 
 manifestation. Christianity (the Christian dispen- 
 sation) is the goal and end of all earlier revelations. 
 — Kliny.] [All the ages before Christ's coming 
 were times of preparation for that event, at which 
 all the ends (purposes, teXo) of those ages reached 
 their fulness. (See Gal. iv, 4.) The reference is 
 wholly retrospective.] 
 
 12. Let him that thinketh he standeth — 
 "Qote 6 doauv erjTavai (37letteto pij ir'tan. Let him 
 who has the fullest conviction in his own con- 
 
 1V common to man : but * God is faithful, y who 
 will not suffer you to be tempted above that 
 ye are able; but will with the temptation 
 also x make a way to escape, that ye may be 
 able to bear it. 14 Wherefore, my dearly 
 beloved, "flee from idolatry. 15 I speak as to 
 'wise men; judge ye what I say. 16 r The 
 cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the 
 communion of the blood of Christ? d The 
 
 wOr, moderate. -.'-Chap. 1. 9. y Psa. 125. 3; 2 Pet. 2. 9. 
 
 sJer. 29. 11. «Verse7; 2 Cor. 6. 17; 1 John 5. 21. — 
 
 &0hap. 8. 1. e Matt. 2fi. 26, 27, 28. d Acts 2. 42, 4ti ; chap. 
 
 11. 2:;, 21. 
 
 science that his heart is right with God, anil that 
 his mind is rigid in the truth, take heed lest he 
 fall from his faith and from the state of holi- 
 ness in which the grace of God has placed him. I 
 have already shown that the verb do/ceZv, which we 
 render to seem, to think, to suppose, is used by the 
 best Greek writers, not to lessen or weaken the 
 sense, but to render it stranger and more emphatic. 
 (See Luke viii, 18.) In a state of probation every 
 thing may change ; while we are in this life we may 
 stand or fall ; our standing in the faith depends on 
 our union with God; and that depends on our 
 watching unto prayer, and continuing to possess 
 that faith that takes hold upon Christ ; and also 
 works by love. The highest saint under heaven can 
 stand no longer than he depends upon God and con- 
 tinues in the obedience of faith. He that ceases to 
 do so will fall into sin, and get a darkened under- 
 standing and a hardened heart ; and he may con- 
 tinue in this state till God come to take away his 
 soul. Therefore, let him who most assuredly stand- 
 eth take heed lest he fall; not only partially, 
 but finally. 
 
 13. But such as is common to man — 'Avflpu- 
 ttivoc. [JVo temptation lias taken you, except human, 
 such as are according to the normal, ordinary con- 
 ditions of men ] God will not suffer you to be 
 tried above the strength he gives you ; but as the 
 trial comes, he wdll provide you with strength to re- 
 sist it ; as the trial comes in, he will make your 
 way out. The words are very remarkable, -m^au 
 avv tu TveipaayC) mi t?/v li<ftaaiv, " He will, with the 
 temptation, make the deliverance, or way out." 
 Satan is never permitted to block up our way, 
 without the providence of God making a way 
 through the wall. Should an upright soul get into 
 difficulties and straits, he may rest assured that 
 there is a way out, as there was a way in ; and 
 that the trial shall never be above the strength 
 that God shall give him to bear it. 
 
 14. Wherefore . . . flee from idolatry — This 
 is a trial of no great magnitude; to escape from so 
 gross a temptation requires but a moderate portion 
 of grace and circumspection. [This verse would it- 
 self, by inference, forbid the Corinthians to have 
 any share in the idol feasts. — Afford.] 
 
 15. I speak as to wise men — [Probably a 
 concession (not in irony) that they were wise, and 
 therefore the apostle appeals to their own sense of 
 what is congruous and possible. See Alford.] 
 
 16. The cup of blessing — The apostle speaks 
 here of the eucharist, which he illustrates by the 
 cup of blessing, over which thanks were expressed 
 at the conclusion of the passover. (See .Matt, xxvi.) 
 The communion of the blood of Christ — We 
 who partake of this sacred cup, in commemoration 
 of the death of Christ, are made partakers of his 
 lnuhi and blood, and thus have fellowship with him ; 
 
 135
 
 A. H. 4<W>n. A. I». 56. 
 
 I. CORINTHIANS. 
 
 bread which we break, is it not the commun- 
 ion of the body of Chrisl ' 17 For "webeing 
 man)' ar one bread, and one body : for we are 
 all partakers of that one bread. I*» Behold 
 r Israel c after the flesh: h are hoi they which 
 eat of tin' sacrifices partakers of the altar? 
 10 What say 1 then? 'thai the idol is any 
 thing, or that which is offered in sacrifice 
 to idols is any thing? 20 But / say, thai 
 the things which the Gentiles k sacrifice, they 
 Bee to devils, and not to God : and I 
 
 m. 12. 5; chap. 12. 27. — /Rom. 4. 12; Gal. 0. IB. 
 o Koui. ». 1 : 9.3,5; 2 Or. II. 19 -h Lev. .. '■: 7. 15. - -i Chap. 
 8.4. — kUev. 17. 7; Deut. 32.17; Paa, 106.37; Rev. 9. 20. 
 
 as those who partake of an idol feast, thereby, as 
 much as they can, participate with the idol, to whom 
 the sacrifice was offered. [It is a question, here, 
 whether the word "body" is used figuratively of 
 the Church, which is the body "l Christ, as some 
 would interpret il both here and in verse 16. — 
 Kling.] [It appears from this passage that the 
 Lord's supper has been instituted as a real com- 
 munion, and not as a mere symbol. — Neander.'] 
 
 17. For wa baing many are one bread — 
 The original would be better translated thus: Be- 
 cause there is one bread, or loaf, ire, who are many, 
 are one body. As only one* loaf was used at the 
 passover, an 1 those who partook of it were con- 
 sidered to be one religious body; so we, who par- 
 take of the eucharistical bread and wine in com- 
 memoration of the sacrificial death of Christ, are 
 one spiritual society, because we are all made par- 
 takers of that one Christ whose blood was she 1 for 
 us to make an atonement for oar sins. [For 
 it in one bread; one body are we, the many ; that is, 
 for throu jh one bread being e ilen in the supper, we 
 Christi nigh as individuals we are many, 
 
 form together on (ethical) body. — Meyer.] [As at 
 the Lord's table all real believers meet together as 
 chil lren of the same family, so we many are one ; 
 and because we all use this sacrament with like 
 faith in the sam • Christ, sacrificed and risen again 
 for us, we are thus brought into communion (koi- 
 vuvui) with him, and, through him, with all that 
 are part ikers of the sane blessed faith.] 
 
 18. Bahold Israel after the flesh— [The whole 
 Jewish nation contemplated in its theocratic.il re- 
 lations.] All who join together in celebrating the 
 Lord's supper, and are partakers of that one bread, 
 profess in thai acl that they are Christians, and 
 have fellow-hip with Christ, just as all the Israelites 
 wdio offer sacrifice, and partake of those sacrifices, 
 confess that they are Jews, and are in fellowship 
 with the object of their worship: so they who join 
 in idol festivals, and eat things which have been 
 offered to idols, give proof that they are in com- 
 munion with those idolaters, and that they have 
 fellowship with the demons they worship. 
 
 19. What sa/ I then — / conclude, therefore, 
 that although an i lol is nothing — has neither power 
 nor influence — and that the things offered to idols 
 are essentially no worst! for being thus offered ; 
 yet, as the things sacrificed by the Gentiles are 
 sacrificed to demons and not to God, those who 
 
 partake of them have (or max Seem to themselves 
 to have) fellowship with demon- ; and therefore, 
 those who profess Christianity cannot have fellow- 
 ship both with Christ and with demons. 
 
 21. Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord — 
 It is in vain that you who frequent those idol fes- 
 tivals profess the religion of Christ, and commem- 
 136 
 
 would nol thai ye should have fellowship 
 with devils. 21 'Ye cannol drink the cup 
 of the Lord, and m the cup of devils: ye can- 
 not be partakers of the Lord's table, and of 
 the table of devils. 22 I><> we n provoke the 
 Lord to jealousj ' "are we stronger than he? 
 
 '2'1 P All tilings are law fill fnr me, but all things 
 
 are nol expedient: all things are lawful for me, 
 but all things edify not. 22 'Lei no man seek 
 bis own, but every man another's wealth. 
 25 'Whatsoever is sold in the shambles, that 
 
 12 Cor. 6. 15, H'.. m Deut, 32. 38. n Deut. 32. 21. 
 
 o Ezek. 22. 14. i> Chap. >■■ 12. </ lean. 1 i. 1, 2; verse 33; 
 
 chap. 13.5; Phil. 2. 4, 21. — /• 1 Tim. I. I. 
 
 orate hi- death and passion in the holy eucharist ; 
 for you cannot have that fellowship with Christ 
 which this ordinance implies while you are par- 
 takers id' the table of demons. The Gentiles, ill 
 their sacrifices, partook of the .-lain beasts, and ate 
 bread and drank wine in honour of their gods. 
 
 22. Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy — 
 All idolatry is represented as a sort of spiritual 
 adultery ; it is giving that heart to Satan that should 
 be devoted to Cod ; and he is represented as being 
 jealous, because of the infidelity of iho.-e who have 
 covenanted to give their hearts to him. Are we 
 stronger than he — Sinners should consider, while 
 they are in rebellion against God, whether they are 
 able to resist that power whereby God will inflict 
 vengeance. 
 
 23. All things are lawful for me — I may law- 
 fully eat all kinds of food ; but all . . . are not ex- 
 pedient — Ov iravra ovyQipet. It would nol be be- 
 coming in nie to eat of all, because I should bj this 
 cause many weak minds to stumble. (See chapter 
 vi, 12, etc.) 
 
 24. Let no man seek his own, etc. — [Though 
 lawful for one like Caul, yet because the tree use 
 of his better knowledge and more intelligent faith 
 might prove unedifyingXo others, he charitably and 
 conscientiously abstained. He would not seek his 
 own.] 
 
 25. Whatsoever is sold in the shambles, 
 that eat— Tin' case to which the apostle refers is 
 simply this: one part of the sacrifice was consumed 
 on the altar of the idol : a second part was dressed 
 and eaten by the sacrifice!- ; and a third belonged 
 to the priest, and was often sold in the shambles. 
 To partake of the second share was forbidden, be- 
 cause this was one part of the religious worship 
 which was paid to the idol; and was therefore in- 
 compatible with receiving the sacrament of the 
 Lord's supper, which was the communion of the 
 body and blood of Christ. Bui as to the third 
 -hare, the apo.-tle lea\ e.- them at liberty either to 
 
 eat of it. or forbear; except that, by eating, their 
 
 weak brethren should be offended : in that case, 
 though the thing was lawful, it was their duty to 
 ah-tain. ( See chapter viii, 1 .) Asking no ques- 
 tion for conscience' sake — Dr. Lightfoot ob- 
 serves, that "the Jews ware vexed with innumer- 
 able scruples as to the eating of the thing, as well 
 as to the company with which they ate; and even 
 the manner of their eating. Of fruits and herbs 
 brought to the table, they were to inquire whether 
 
 they were tithed, whether they were duly conse- 
 crated, whether thej were clean, or touched with 
 some pollution, etc-. And concerning flesh set on 
 
 the table, they were to inquire whether it was of 
 that which had been offered to idol-; whether it 
 were the flesh of an animal that had been torn by
 
 The Christian to ilo fill things to 
 the glory of God. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 eat, asking no question for conscience 1 sake: 
 26 For "the earth is the Lord's, and the ful- 
 ness thereof. 27 If any of them that helieve 
 not hid you to a feast, and ye he disposed to 
 go; ° whatsoever is set before you, eat, asking 
 no question for conscience' sake. 28 But if 
 any man say unto you, This is offered in sacri- 
 fice unto idols, eat not Pfor his sake that showed 
 it, and for conscience 1 sake: fori the earth is 
 the Lord's, and the fulness thereof; 29 Con- 
 science, I say, not thine own, hut of the other: 
 for r why is my liberty judged of another 
 man's conscience? 30 For if I by s grace be 
 a partaker, why am I evil spoken of for that 
 •for which I give thanks? 31 "Whether 
 
 «Ex»ii. 19. 5; Deut. 1(1. 14; I'sa. 24. 1 ; 60. 12 : verse 28. 
 
 l.uke 10. 7. ;>Chap. 8. 19, 12. g Deut. in. 14; Psa.24. 1 : 
 
 verse 28. r Rom. 14. 16. — .s- Or, thanksgiving. 1 Rom. 
 
 14. H: 1 Tim. 4. 3, 4. w Col. 3. 17 ; 1 Pet. 4. 11. v Rom. 14. 
 
 13; chap. 8. 13 : 2 Cor. 6. 3. wGr. Greeks. 
 
 wild beasts ; or of that which had been strangled, or 
 not killed according to the canons, etc. All which 
 doubts the liberty of the Gospel abolished as to 
 one's own conscience, with this proviso, that no 
 scandal or offence be cast before another man's 
 weak or scrupulous conscience." 
 
 26. For the earth is the Lord's — And be- 
 cause God made the earth and its fulness — all ani- 
 mals, plants, and vegetables — there can be nothing 
 in it or them impure or unholy ; because all are 
 the creatures of God. 
 
 27. If any . . . bid you to a feast — Any com- 
 mon meal, not an idol festival. Whatsoever is 
 set before you, eat — Do not act like the Jews, 
 torturing both themselves and others with ques- 
 tions such as those mentioned on verse 25. 
 
 28. This is offered in sacrifice unto idols — 
 While they were not apprized of this circumstance 
 [or no notice was taken of it] they might lawfully 
 eat ; but when told that the flesh set before them 
 had been offered to an idol, then they were not to eat, 
 [because they might not seem to take any part with 
 the worship of idols, as well as] for the sake of his 
 weak conscience who pointed out the circumstance. 
 For the apostle still takes it for granted that even 
 the flesh offered in sacrifice to an idol might be 
 eaten innocently at any private table, as in that 
 case they were no longer in danger of being par- 
 takers with devils, as this was no idol festival. 
 For the earth is the Lord's, and the fulness 
 thereof — This whole clause, which appears also in 
 verse 26, has scarcely any authority to support it in 
 this place. 
 
 29. 30. For why is my liberty judged of 
 another man's conscience, etc. — Though in the 
 case of flesh offered to idols, and other matters 
 connected with idolatry, (on which it appears there 
 was much tenderness of conscience among some of 
 the Corinthians,) it was necessary to sacrifice some- 
 thing to over-scrupulousness, yet the Gospel of 
 Christ did not lay any man under this general bur- 
 den, that he must do nothing at which any weak 
 brother might feel hurt or be stumbled ; for the 
 liberty of the Gospel must not take for its rule the 
 scrupulosity of any conscience ; for if a man, by 
 grace — by the allowance or authority of the Gospel 
 — partake of any thing that God's bounty has sent, 
 and which the Gospel has not forbidden, and give 
 thanks to God for the blessing, no man has right 
 or authority to condemn such a person. This seems 
 to be the meaning of these two verses ; and they 
 
 therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye 
 do, do all to the glory of God. 32 v Give 
 none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the 
 w Gentiles, nor to x the church of God : 33 Even 
 as y 1 please all men in all things, z not seeking 
 mine own profit, but the profit of many, that 
 they may be saved. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 BE "ye followers of me, even as I also am 
 of Christ. 2 Now I praise you, brethren, 
 '■that ye remember me in all things, and c keep 
 the d ordinances, as 1 delivered them to you. 
 3 But I would have you know, that e the bead 
 of every man is Christ; and The head of the 
 
 x Acts 20. 28; chap. 11. 22; 1 Tim. 3. 5. ?/ Rom. 15. 2; chap. 
 
 9. 19. 22. e Verse 24. a Chap. 4. Hi; Eph. 5. 1: IM.il. 3. 17. 
 
 1 Thess 1.6; 2 Thess. 3. 9. b Chap. 4. 17. c Chap. 7. 17. 
 
 '/Or, tradition*; 2 Thess. 2. 15; 3. 6. e Eph. 5. 23. 
 
 /Gen. 3. 16; 1 Tim. 2. II, 12: 1 Pet. 3. 1,5,6. 
 
 read a lesson of caution to rash judges, and to those 
 who are apt to take offence 
 
 31. Whether therefore ye eat, or drink — As 
 no specific rules covering all possible cases can be 
 laid down in reference to the above particulars, there 
 is one maxim of which no Christian must losesight — 
 that whether he eats or drinks of this or the other 
 kind of aliment, or whatever else he may do, he 
 must do it so as to bring glory to God. This is a 
 sufficient rule to regulate every man's conscience 
 and practice in all indifferent things, where there 
 are no express commands or prohibitions. 
 
 32. Give none offence, etc. — Scrupulously 
 avoid giving any cause of offence to either Jews or 
 Gentiles, so as to prejudice them against Christian- 
 ity. Nor to the church of God — Made up, as it 
 is, of converts from the above parties. 
 
 33. Even as I please all men — Act as / do : 
 forgetting myself, my own interests, convenience, 
 ease, and comfort, I labour for the welfare of others ; 
 and particularly that they may be saved. How 
 blessed and amiable was the spirit and conduct of 
 this holy man ! Though many of the advices given 
 in this chapter appear to respect the Corinthians 
 alone, yet there is none of them that is not appli- 
 cable to Christians in general in certain circum- 
 stances. God has given no portion of his word to 
 any people or age exclusively ; the whole is given 
 to the Church universal in all ages of the world. 
 In reading this epistle let us seriously consider what 
 parts of it apply to ourselves ; and if we are dis- 
 posed to appropriate its promises, let us act con- 
 scientiously, and inquire how many of its reprehen- 
 sions we may fairly appropriate also. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER XI. 
 
 1 . Be ye followers of me — This verse certain- 
 ly belongs to the preceding chapter, and is the 
 hortatory conclusion of what the apostle had just 
 stated respecting his practice in the cases named. 
 [It is so arranged in the Revised Version.] 
 
 2. I praise you, brethren — [A conciliatory pre- 
 amble to the sharp correction which follows.] 
 Keep the ordinances — \Ylapad6aeie, | prt cepts, tra- 
 ditions^) might refer to doctrines as well as to 
 usages and discipline; but the tenor of the follow- 
 ing context shows that Paul means here directions 
 of the latter sort, which he had before delivered to 
 them. — Meyer.'] 
 
 3. The head of every man is Christ— The 
 apostle is speaking particularly of Christianity and 
 
 137
 
 A M I (SO. A. P. 56. 
 Year of R 
 
 I. COKINTIIIAXS. 
 
 "< f-^r the 
 deportment of females. 
 
 woman is the man; and sthe head of Chrisl is 
 (mil. -I Every man praying or h prophesying, 
 having his head covered, dishonoureth his head. 
 i> Bui 'every woman thai prayeth or prophe- 
 sieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth 
 her head : for that is even all one as if she were 
 k shaven. <» \ : <<v it' the woman be not covered, 
 
 .. 23; 13 27, '2-; Phil. 2. :. 8, 9. - h Chap. 
 13. 10,20; 11. I, etc. /' A Is 21. 9 - i Deut. 21. 12. 
 
 its ordinances : Christ is the Head or Author of 
 this religion, and is the Creator, Preserver, and 
 Lord of every man. The man, also, is the lord or 
 
 /,,,/,/ ,./■' /•/;, woman; and the Head or Lord q/ 
 Christ, a> Mediator between 0od and man, is (?od 
 the Father. Here is the order: Cod sends lii.s 
 Son Jesus Christ to redeem man ; Christ comes and 
 lays down his life for the world; every man who 
 
 es Christianity confesses that Jesus Christ is 
 Lord, to the glory of God the Father; and everj 
 believing woman will acknowledge, according to 
 
 ; - iii. 16, that God has placed her in a de- 
 pendence on and subjection to the man. So far 
 there is no difficulty in this passage. [Paul is not 
 thinking of the general order of creation, accord- 
 ing to which Christ is the head of all things, (Col. 
 i, 16; ii, 10,) but of the organization of Christian 
 fellowship as it is based upon the work of redemp- 
 tion. . . . The relation indicated by ho'//// (head) is 
 that of organic subordination, even in the last 
 clause: He to whom Christ is subordinate is God, 
 (chapter iii. 23 ; xv, 28 ; viii, 6 ; Col. i, 5 ; Rom. i.\, 5 ;) 
 not simply Christ in his human nature, nor, again, 
 in his voluntary subjection, but the objective, and, 
 notwithstanding his essential equality with God. 
 (Phil. ii. 6,) necessary subordination of the Son 
 to the Father in the divine economy of redemp- 
 tion. . . . The gradation of ranks rises up to the 
 supreme Head over all, who is the Head of the man 
 also, mediately, through Christ. — Meyer.] 
 
 4. Praying or prophesying — Any person who 
 engages in public acts in the worship of God, 
 whether praying, singing, or exhortation; for we 
 learn from the apostle himself that TcpoQnreveiv, to 
 prophesy, signifies to speak unto una to edification, 
 
 vtion, and comfort. (Chapter xiv. 3.) And 
 this comprehends all that we understand by exhor- 
 tation, or even preaching. Having his head 
 covered— With his cap or turban on, dishonoureth 
 his head ; because the head being covered was a 
 sign of subjection; and while he was employed in 
 the public ministration of the word, he was to be 
 considered as a representatibe of Christ, and on 
 this account his being veiled or covered would be 
 improper. [God is the head of Christ, is not said 
 of his essence, but of his ministries. The Son, as 
 Mediator, accepts service according to the divine 
 counsel, as he often said, The Father sent me. 
 This is said, not of the essential arcana, ( 
 things of the divine Being,) but of ministry. — 
 Melanehthon.~\ [Even the exalted and reigning 
 Christ is engaged in this ministerium, and finally 
 delivers up the kingdom to the Father. (See chap. 
 xv, 23.)] 
 
 5. But every woman that prayeth, etc. — 
 "Whatever may be the meaning of praying and 
 prophesying, in respeel to the man, they have pre- 
 cisely the same meaning in respect to the woman. 
 So that some women at least, as well as some men, 
 might speak to others to edification, and exhorta- 
 tion, and comfort. The only difference marked by 
 
 138 
 
 let her also be shorn : but if it be ' a shame for 
 a woman to be shorn or shaven, Ie1 her be 
 covered. 7 For a man indeed ought nol to 
 cover his head, forasmuch as "he is the image 
 and glory of God: bul the woman is the glory 
 of the man. fc For "the man is not of the 
 w oman ; but the woman of the man. 9 » Wi- 
 
 /Nimi. 5.18: Deut. 22 5 — wGen. 1. 26,27: 5. I; 9. 6. 
 
 Gi a. 2. 21,22. oGep. 2. 18, 
 
 the apostle was, the man had his head uncovered, 
 because he was the representative of Christ; the 
 woman had hers covered, because she was placed 
 by the order of God in a state of subjection to the 
 man, and because it was a custom, both among the 
 Creeks and Romans, and among the. lews an ex- 
 press /<(//', that no woman should be seen abroad 
 without a veil. If. then, a woman should appear 
 in public without a veil she would dishonour her 
 hmd — her husband. And she musl appear like to 
 those lewd women who had their hair shorn off that 
 their character might be known. 
 
 6. Por if the woman be not covered — If she 
 will not wear a veil in the public assemblies, let 
 her also be shorn — let her cany a public badge of 
 infamy. But if it be a shame — If to be shorn or 
 shaven would appear, as it must, a badge of in- 
 famy, then let her be covered — let her by all 
 means wear a veil. In Hindustan a woman cuts 
 off her hair at the death of her husband, as a 
 token of widowhood; but this is never pertormed 
 by a married woman, whose hair is considered an 
 essential ornament, The veil of the Hindu women 
 is nothing more than the outer garment brought over 
 the face, which is always very carefully done by 
 the higher classes of women when they appear in 
 the streets. — Ward's Customs. 
 
 1. A man indeed ought not to cover his 
 head — He should not wear his cap or turban in the 
 public congregation, for to cover the head was a 
 badge of servitude: and besides, it was contrary 
 to the custom that prevailed both among the 
 Creeks and Romans. He is the image and glory 
 of God — He is God's vicegerent in this lower 
 world; and, by the authority which he has received 
 from his Maker, he is his representative among the 
 creatures, and exhibits, more than any other part 
 of the creation, the glory and perfections of the 
 Creator. But the woman is the glory of the 
 man— As the man is the representative of the 
 glory and perfections of God, so the woman is, in 
 the house and family, the representative of the 
 power and authority of the man. I believe this 
 to lie the meaning of the apostle; and that he is 
 speaking here principally concerning power and 
 authority, and skill to use them. It i- certainly 
 not the moral image of God nor his celestial glory 
 of which he speaks in this verse. [Man is God's 
 glory: He has put on him his majesty, and he rep- 
 resents God on earth; woman is mart's glory: 
 
 taken from man, shining not with light direct fi 
 
 God, but with light derived from (through) man. 
 . . . This, of course, is true only as regards her 
 place in creation and her providential subordina- 
 tion, not in respect of the dependence of every 
 woman's individual soul directly on God. — Alford.] 
 
 8. For the man is not of the woman — [The 
 fact that the woman was formed out of the man, 
 (/,- i\vi\iiir,) and was destined to be his helper, (6ia 
 rbv avS/ja tK-iotin,) is employed by Paul to exhibit 
 herdependence,(social subordination.) — Olshausen.]
 
 The woman, in public, should be veiled, 
 as a sign «•( subjection. 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 ther was the man created for the woman; but 
 the woman for the man. 10 For this cause 
 
 p Gen. 24. 65. q Thiit is. a covering, in sign that she 
 
 9. Neither was the man created, etc.— Koi 
 yap ovk EKriadr}, for the man was not created upon 
 the woman's account. The reason is plain from 
 what is mentioned above ; and from the original 
 creation of woman she was made for the man, to 
 be his proper or suitable helper. (See Gen. ii, 
 22-24 ) 
 
 10. For this cause ought the woman to have 
 power (/iovaiav) on her head because of the 
 angels — There are few portions in the sacred writ- 
 ings that have given rise to such a variety of conjec- 
 tures and explanations, and are less understood, than 
 this verse. Our translators were puzzled with it; 
 and have inserted here one of the largest marginal 
 readings found anywhere in their work ; but this 
 is only on the words "power on her head," which 
 they interpret thus : that is. a covering, in sign, that 
 she is under the power of her husband. But admit- 
 ting this marginal reading to be a satisfactory so- 
 lution so far as it goes, it by no means removes all 
 the difficulty. Mr. Locke ingenuously acknowledged 
 that he did not understand the meaning of the 
 words; and almost every critic anil learned man 
 has a different explanation. Bishop Pearce con- 
 tends, 1) That the original should be read, Where- 
 fore the woman ought to have a povu r upon her head, 
 that is, the power of the husband over the wife ; the 
 word power [h^ovaiav) standing for the sign or token 
 of that power, which was a covering or veil. 2) The 
 word " angels " presents another difficulty. Some 
 suppose that by these the apostle means the fallen 
 angels, or devils ; others, the governors of the 
 Church ; ami others, those who were deputed 
 among the Jews to espouse a virgin in the name of 
 a lover. All these senses the learned bishop re- 
 jects, and believes that the apostle uses the word 
 "angels " in its most obvious sense, for the heav- 
 enly angels ; and that he speaks according to the 
 notion which then prevailed among Jews, that the 
 holy angels interested themselves in the affairs of 
 men, and particularly were present in their religious 
 assemblies, as the cherubim, their representation, 
 were present in their temple. All which supposes 
 that the angels know what passes here upon earth ; 
 which notion, whether just or not, prevailed among 
 the Jews ; and if so, St. Paul might speak according 
 to the common opinion. 3) Another difficulty lies in 
 the phrase Sia tovto, wherefore, which shows that 
 this verse is a conclusion from what the apostle 
 was arguing before ; which we may understand 
 thus : that his conclusion, from the foregoing ar- 
 gument, ought to have the more weight upon ac- 
 count of the presence, real or supposed, of the holy 
 angels, at their religious meetings. See Bishop 
 Pearce, in he. The learned bishop is not very 
 willing to allow that the doctrine of the presence 
 of angelic beings in religious assemblies is legiti- 
 mate; but what difficulty can there be in tins, if 
 we take the words of the apostle in another place : 
 "Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to 
 minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation ? " 
 (Heb. i, 1-J.) And perhaps there is no time in which 
 they can render more essential services to the fol- 
 lowers of God than when they are engaged in di- 
 vine ordinances. On the whole, the bishop's sense 
 of the passage and paraphrase stands thus: "And 
 because of this superiority in the man, I conclude 
 
 ought the woman Pto have i power on her 
 head r because of the angels. It Neverthe- 
 
 is under the power of her husband. — r Eccles. 5. 6. 
 
 that the woman should have on her head a veil, the 
 mark of her husband's power over her, especially 
 in the religious assemblies, where the angels are 
 supposed to be invisibly present." 
 
 In his view of this text, Kypke differs from all 
 others ; and nothing that so judicious a critic ad- 
 vances should be lightly regarded. He contends 
 that h^ovaiav occurs nowhere in the sense of veil, 
 and yet he supposes that the word inY/vuiia, veil, is 
 understood, and must in the translation of the pas- 
 sage lie supplied. He shows that both the Latins 
 and Greeks use debere and btpeifeiv to express that 
 to which one is obnoxious or liable. He contends 
 that the words taken in this sense agree perfectly 
 with the context, and with flui tovto, wherefore, in 
 this verse, " Because the man was not created for 
 the woman, but the woman for the man, therefore 
 she is subject to his authority, and should have a 
 veil on her head as a token of that subjection; and 
 particularly before the holy angels, who ate present 
 in the congregation of the saints." For Dr. Light- 
 foot's opinion, that by "angels" we are to understand 
 the paranymplis, or messengers who came on the 
 part of others to look out for proper spouses for 
 their friends, see "Works, vol. ii, p. 7*7'2. The reader 
 has here before him whatever may lie likely to cast 
 light on this difficult subject, and he must either 
 adopt what he judges to be best, or else think for 
 himself. 
 
 After all, the custom of the Xazaiite may cast 
 some light upon this place. As Nazarite means one 
 who has separated himself by vow to some religious 
 austerity, wearing his own hair. etc. ; so a married 
 woman was considered a Nazarite for life, that is, 
 separated from all others, and joined to one hus- 
 band, who is her lord; and hence the apostle, al- 
 luding to this circumstance, says, "The woman 
 ought to have power on her head," that is, wear 
 her hair and veil, for her hair is a proof of her 
 being a Nazarite, and of her subjection to her hus- 
 band, as the Nazarite was under subjection to the 
 Lord, according to the rule or law of his order. 
 (See Num. vi, o- 1 ?.) [Modern commentators are 
 but very little more successful in dealing with this 
 text than were their predecessors, though each 
 one, like the suitors with the bow of Ulysses, must 
 try his hand, and, like them, only to demonstrate 
 their inability. Alford, followed by Meyer and 
 others, and following most of the later critics, 
 makes if ovaia mean power to which the woman is 
 subject, that is, of her husband, which ought to 
 teach her proper modesty, an interpretation that 
 harmonizes sufficiently with the context. As to the 
 more difficult phrase, because of the angels, fita rove 
 i'r ; shove, there is less unanimity. Neander inclines 
 to reckon it a gloss, in which lie has a respectable 
 but not numerous following, but he shows not much 
 authority for his conjecture, which, however, would 
 be welcome if only moderately well sustained. 
 There is also a question whether good or evil an- 
 gels are meant. St. Clement thought they v/ ere pious 
 rrn : Warn, prophets; Ambrosiaster, those presiding 
 in the assembly; ami a host of German commenta- 
 tors, spies; and Meyer, while claiming that only 
 good angels can lie meant, speaks of the passage as 
 showing "a fine trait of apostolic mysticism."] 
 
 [The most geuerallv accepted interpretation of 
 
 139
 
 T. CORINTHIANS. 
 
 allium reproved for tlieir 
 
 less 'neither is the man withoul the woman, 
 neither the woman without the man, in the 
 Lord. 12 For us the woman is of the man. 
 even so is the man also by the woman; 'bul 
 all things of God. i:S Judge in yourselves : is 
 ii comely that a woman pray unto God un- 
 covered '. It I >< >t 1 1 not even nature itself 
 teacli you. that, if a man haw- long hair, it is 
 a shame unto him? 15 But if a woman have 
 long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair i> 
 given her for a "covering. 10 But r if any 
 man seem to be contentious, we have no 
 
 gQal. 3. -\ tKom. II. 36. — wOr, veil. '' 1 Tim. 6. 4. 
 
 ■ — io Chap. 7. 17; II. 33.- — »Chap. 1. 10, 11, 1-' ; 3. 3. u Or, 
 
 schism*. 
 
 these words, which a large share of the best com. 
 mentators endorse, evidently for want of some- 
 thing better, is thus expressed by Alford: "Be- 
 in the Christian assemblies tin' holy angels 
 of God arc present, ami delighting in the due order 
 ami subordination of the ranks of God's servants, 
 and by a violation of that order we should he giving 
 offence to them." Perhaps this is as good, and as 
 probable, as any that van he given ; it may be pre- 
 sumed, however, that it would not lie so satisfac- 
 tory were it not all that ean lie gotten. Here, as 
 everywhere, it seems that commentators must say 
 something; but as there is great difference of 
 opinion among the learned, the unlearned m 
 lect among thein, 01 still more wisely, consent to 
 remain \\ ithout an opinion ) 
 
 1 1 . Neither is the man -without the -woman 
 — Probably the apostle means that the human race 
 i< continued by an especial providence of God. 
 Others think that he means that men and women 
 equally make a Christian .society, and in it have 
 equal rights and privileges. 
 
 12. For as the -woman is of the man — For 
 as the woman was at first forme 1 out of the side of 
 man, man has ever since been formed id' the sub- 
 stance of the woman ; hut they, as all other created 
 things, are of God. [Probably there is here no 
 reference to either creation or generation, hut to 
 tin' relations of the man and the woman in the or- 
 der of God.] 
 
 13. Judge in yourselves — Consider the sub- 
 ject iii your own common sense, and then say 
 whether it he decent for a woman to pray in public 
 without a veil on her head ? The heathen priest- 
 ess - prayed or delivered their oracles bareheaded 
 or with dishevelled hair; to he conformed to them 
 would he very disgraceful to Christian women. 
 And in reference to such things as these, the apos- 
 tle appeals to their sense of honour and dcccncv. 
 
 14. Doth not . . . nature . . . teach you, that, 
 if a man have long hair — The tpvcig is the 
 natural relation of the judgment and feeling to the 
 matter in question, the native inborn sense and 
 perception of what is seemly. This instinctive con- 
 sciousness of propriety had been, a- respected the 
 point in hand, established by custom, and had be- 
 come <pvatc, (second nature,) ... a something in its 
 own nature accidental and subsisting as an actual 
 fact only for the man accustomed to it, (hut still) 
 the confirmation of what the order of things in con- 
 formity villi their creation teaches, independently 
 of all other instruction. — Meyer.] 
 
 15. But if a -woman have long hair — The 
 Author of their being has given a large covering 
 of hair to the head of women : and to them it is an 
 
 140 
 
 Mich custom, "neither the churches of God. 
 17 Now in this that I declare "/-■" you I praise 
 you m>t. that ye come together ii"t for the 
 better, bul for the worse. I* For first of all, 
 when ye coine together in the church, v I hear 
 that tlu-re he y divisions among you: and I 
 partly believe it. Ii) For 'there rnusl he also 
 'heroics among you, 'that they which are 
 approved may he made manifest among you. 
 iiO When ye come together therefore into one 
 place, "this is ii< ii to eat the Lord's supper. 
 21 For in eating every onetaketh before other 
 
 sMatt. I- 7; Luke 17. 1 -. Vets 20. 30: 1 Tim. -I. 1: 2 Pet. 2, 
 
 1,2. — a Or, sects. b Luke 2.35; 1 John 2. 19; see Deut 
 
 13. :'. — c Or, ;/<■ can not eat. 
 
 especial ornament, and may in various case- serve 
 as a vi ii 
 
 16. But if any man seem to be contentious 
 — EJ 6i tic doKEt <piX6veiKO[ elvtu. If any person 
 sets himself up as a wrangler — puts himself for- 
 ward as a defender of such points, that a woman 
 limn jirnii in- teach with Iter fiead uncovered, and that 
 a man may, without reproach, have long hair; let 
 him know that we have no such custom as cither, 
 nor are they sanctioned by any of the Churches of 
 God, whether among the Jews or the Gei 
 From the attention Paul has paid to the subject of 
 veils and hair, ii would seem to have been a dis- 
 turbing element in the Church of Corinth. Like 
 trifles have often produced like effects. 
 
 17. Now in this ... I praise you not — In 
 the beginning of this chapter the apostle did 
 " praise " them for their attention in general to the 
 rules he had laid down, (see verse - ;) hut here la- 
 is obliged to audi urn certain irregularities which 
 had crept in among them, particularly relative to 
 the celebration of the Lord's supper. The teachers 
 which had crept into the Corinthian Church appear 
 to have perverted the whole of this divine institu- 
 tion, making it a ng them part of an Ordinary 
 
 meal. The people came together, and, it appeals, 
 brought their provisions with them; some had 
 much, others had less; some ate to excess, others 
 had scarcely enough to suffice nature. One %cas 
 hungry, and the other was drunken, ueBvei, was 
 filed to lli> full; (this is the sense of the word in 
 many places of Scripture.) These irregularities, 
 connected with so many indecencies, the apostle re- 
 proves ; for, instead of being benefited by the divine 
 ordinance, they were injured; they cami together 
 not for the better, but for the worse. 
 
 IS. There be divisions among you — They 
 had oxio~ua~a, schisms, among them; the old par- 
 ties were kept up, even in the place where they as- 
 sembled to eat the hold'.- .-upper. 
 
 19. There must be also heresies — kip 
 sects, parties. Net a. common cons it of the mem- 
 bers ni the Church, either in the doctrines of the 
 Gospel or in the ceremonies of the Christian re- 
 ligion. Their difference in religious opinion led to 
 a difference in their religious practice, and thus the 
 
 church of Cod, that should have been one body, 
 was split into sects and parties. The "division" 
 and the ''heresies" sprung out of each others. I 
 have spoken largely on the word heresy in Acts 
 v, 17, to which place I refer tic reader. 
 
 20. This is not to eat the Lord's supper — 
 They did not come together to eat the Lord's sup- 
 per exclusively, which they should have done, and 
 not have made it Apart of an ordinary meal.
 
 Corinthinns reproved for theii 
 abuses of the Lord's supper. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 A. M. -Wfift. A. D. 56. 
 Year of Rome, 809. 
 
 his own supper: and one is hungry, ami '' an- 
 other is drunken. 22 What! have ye not 
 houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye 
 e the church of God, and f shame ethem thai 
 have not? "What shall I say to you? shall I 
 praise you in this? I praise you not. 23 For 
 h l have received of the Lord that which also 1 
 delivered unto you, 'That the Lord Jesus, the 
 same night in which he was betrayed, took 
 bread: 24 And when he had given thanks. 
 he brake it, and said, Take, eat; this is my 
 body, which is broken for you: this do k in 
 remembrance of me. 25 After the same 
 maimer also he tooJc the cup, when he had 
 
 d-2 Pet. 2. 13; Judel2. eChap. 10. 32. — /James2. R. 
 
 g Or, them that are poor? h. Chap. 15. 3; Gal. 1.1. 11. 12. 
 
 i Matt 26. 26; Mark 14. 22: Luke 22. 19. k Or, for a re- 
 
 m< mbranee. lOr,show ye. 
 
 21. Every one taketh before . . . his own 
 supper — -They had :i grand feast, though the dif- 
 ferent sects kept in parties by themselves ; but all 
 took as ample a supper as they could provide (each 
 bringing his own provisions with him) before they 
 took what was called the Lord's supper. (See on 
 verse 17.) 
 
 22. Have ye not houses to eat and to drink 
 in — They should have taken their ordinary meal 
 at home, and have come together in the assembly 
 only to celebrate the Lord's supper. Despise ye 
 the church of God — Ye render the sacred as- 
 sembly and the place contemptible by your con- 
 duct, and ye show yourselves destitute of proper 
 respect for the place set apart for divine worship. 
 And shame them that have not — Tovc yrj zx ov - 
 rac, them that are poor; not them who had not 
 victuals at that time, but those who were so poor as 
 to be incapable of furnishing themselves as others 
 had done. (Matt, xiii, 12.) [What an abuse of fel- 
 lowship, what a mockery of charity, when in this 
 ipavog, or hollowed repast of free contributions, the 
 poor man fasts till he is famished, the rich man 
 feasts till he is drunken! Face to face, Hunger 
 with revel, and this in the holy congregation! I am 
 amazed ! Give you praise herein ? Praise I do 
 not. — Sp taker's Com.] 
 
 23. I have received of the Lord — [By n ve- 
 lation direct, arch tov Kvpiov, whether in ecstatic or 
 other form we know not. . . . How well calculated 
 to shock into sobriety the frivolity of the Corin- 
 thian agapse. — Speaker's Com.] It is possible that 
 some of the people at Corinth did receive the bread 
 and wine of the eucharist as they did the paschal 
 bread and wine, as a mere commemoration of an 
 event. And as our Lord had by tins institution 
 consecrated that bread and wine, not to be the 
 means of commemorating the deliverance from 
 Egypt, and their joy on the account, but their de- 
 liverance from sin and death by his passion and 
 cross, therefore the apostle states that he had re- 
 ceived from the Lord what he delivered ; namely, 
 that the eucharistic bread and wine were to be un- 
 derstood of the accomplishment of that of which the 
 paschal lamb was the type — the body broken for 
 them, the blood shed for them. The Lord Jesus 
 . . . took bread — See on Matt. xxvi. 
 
 24. This is my body. . . for you — [Ka.v vov, 
 broken, is spurious ; Meyer ( ; ) sustained by the great 
 preponderance of MSS.] This do in remem- 
 brance of me — [This presupposes his absence in 
 body for the future. (See Luke xxii, 19.) — Meyer.'] 
 
 26. Ye do show the ..Lord's death — [The 
 
 supped, saying, This cup is the new testament 
 in my blood : this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, 
 in remembrance of me. 26 For as often as 
 ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ' ye 
 do show the Lord's death m till he come. 
 27 n Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, 
 and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, 
 shall be guilty of the body and blood of the 
 Lord. 28 But "let a man examine himself, 
 and so let him cat of that bread, and drink of 
 that cup. 29 For he that eateth and drinketh 
 unworthily, eateth and drinketh i damnation 
 to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. 
 30 For this cause many are weak and sickly 
 
 
 W? J 
 
 i.hn 14. 3: 21. 22 
 
 : A 
 
 ■ts 1 . 
 
 11 ; chat). 
 
 4. 5 
 
 : 1.".. 
 
 23; 
 
 Thess. 
 
 -!. 
 
 16; 
 
 2 Thess. l. ](i; 
 
 .hi, 
 
 • ■ 11 
 
 Rev. i. : 
 
 
 
 >< Num. {i 
 
 10, 13; 
 
 John 
 
 6. 51, 63, 64: 13 
 
 27 ; 
 
 chap, in 21 — 
 
 — o'l 
 
 Cor 
 
 13. 
 
 5; Gal. 
 
 li 
 
 4.- 
 
 — p or, yuOgmt nt. 
 
 lom 
 
 IS. 2. 
 
 
 
 
 
 apostle is substantiating the application of the 
 Lord's words by the acknowledged nature of the 
 rite. It is a proclamation of his death; and thus is 
 a remembrance of him, (especially in his sacrificial 
 office.) It is so, by our making mention of it, and 
 seeing visibly before us and partaking of (the 
 symbols of) his body broken, and Ids bloodshed. — 
 Alford.] 
 
 27. Whosoever shall eat . . . drink . . . un- 
 worthily— 'Avatjiuc, carelessly. To eat and drink 
 the bread and wine in the Lord's supper " un- 
 worthily," is to eat and drink as the Corinthians did, 
 without any proper reference to Christ's sacrificial 
 death. These mongrel Christians at Corinth used 
 it simply as an historical commemoration of the 
 death of Christ; but did not discern (apprehend 
 by faith) the Lord's body and blood as a sacrificial 
 offering for sin ; and besides, in their celebration 
 of it, they acted in a way utterly unbecoming the 
 gravity of a sacred ordinance. Shall be guilty cf 
 the body and blood of the Lord — If he use it 
 irreverently, if he deny [or fail to realize] that 
 Christ suffered for our sins, then he in effect joins 
 hands with the Jews in their condemnation and cru- 
 cifixion of the Lord Jesus, and renders himself 
 guilty of the death of our blessed Lord. Some, 
 however, understand the passage thus : Is guilty, 
 that is, eats and drinks " unworthily," and brings on 
 himself that punishment mentioned verse 30. 
 
 28. Let a man examine himself — Let him try 
 whether he has proper faith in the Lord Jesus ; 
 and whether he discerns the Lord's body ; [that is, 
 that he clearly and from the heart confesses that 
 Christ's body, person, was offered as a sin-offering,-] 
 and whether he duly considers that the bread and 
 wine point out the crucified body and spilt blood 
 of Christ.] 
 
 29. Eateth and drinketh damnation — Kpifta, 
 judgment, condemnation; and yet this is for their 
 emendation. (See verse 32.) 
 
 30. For this cause— That they partook of this 
 sacred ordinance without discerning the Lord's 
 body. Many are weak and sickly — It is hard 
 to say whether these words icier to the consequences 
 of their own intemperance or to some extraordinary 
 disorders inflicted immediately by God himself. 
 [Experimental proof of the Kpipa eavrcj, (condem- 
 nation to himself,) from the present sicknesses and 
 frequent deaths among the Corinthian believers. — 
 Alford.~\ Many sleep — Not a few. Physically 
 and perhaps morally, "weak." — Speaker's Com] 
 [The explanation which refers this to moral weak- 
 ness and deadness is not to be rejected on the 
 
 141
 
 A. U. -)i-n. A. P. 56. 
 
 T. CORINTHIANS. 
 
 t.r kn.. 
 
 m only by the 
 
 among you, and many sleep. J51 Forflif we 
 would judge o we should not be 
 
 judged. 3*2 But when we are judged, r we 
 
 tastened of the Lord, that we should not 
 ondemned with the world. 3:8 Where- 
 
 rny brethren, when ye come togethef to 
 
 eat, tarry one for another. Ml And if any 
 
 man •hunger. let him vat at 'home; thai ye 
 
 ther unto "condemnation. And 
 
 the rest "will I set in order when w 1 con 
 
 QPsa.Zi.5; (John I. 9. rPsa. 94. 12, 13; Ueb. 12. .VII. 
 
 Oi ( !hap. 7. 
 
 17: Titus 1- 5. - wChap. 4. 19. — n < 
 
 i. 2. II, 12; 1 l'hess. 1. 9; Titus3.3; 1 Pet. I. 3. 
 
 1 that this moral sickness and deadness must 
 have been represented as the cause of the unworthy 
 participation, for from the Pauline standpoint they 
 might as well be regarded as it- co 
 
 r.] [The apostle here alludes 
 ■ extraordinary widespread weakness and 
 disease prevailing at that time in the Church, and 
 often proving fatal, which he regarded aa a divinely- 
 inflicted punishment on their desecration of the 
 Lo I's supper. — Kling.~\ [So Calvin, Neander, and 
 many others.] [We are strongly inclined to prefer 
 understanding Paul as declaring the judicial effects 
 of thei communion to be, their 
 
 ing weakly, sickly, sleeping Christians. — 
 »»..] [The only rational meaning.] 
 
 31. If we ... judge ourselves — If, having acted 
 improperly, we condemn our conduct and humble 
 
 we shall not be judged, that is, pun- 
 for the -in we have committed. [Ei 
 
 -Ifwi pass judgment on ourselves, bring 
 
 ourselves to judgment. This denotes the thorough- 
 
 mnation which springs from earnest 
 
 animation, involving a thorough severance of 
 
 tli ■ carnal from the spiritual within us. — KlingJ] 
 
 > the divine cliaslisenient which lies within the 
 
 sphere of the divine redemptive agency, se 
 
 xii, 6; Titus ii, 12; 1 Tim. i. 20; 2 Tim. ii, 25.— 
 
 32. But 'when we are judged — See on verse 20. 
 
 33. When ye come together to eat (the Lord's 
 supperi tarry one for another — Do not eat and 
 drink in par ■■ have done e; and 
 do not connect it with any other meal. 
 
 '■',-'.. And if any man hunger — Let him not 
 come to the God to eat an ordinary meal, 
 
 let him eat at home; take that in his own house 
 which is necessary for the support of his body 
 
 before he co s to that sacred repast where he 
 
 I have the feeding of his soul alone in view. 
 That ye come not together unto condemna- 
 tion — That ye may avoid the curse that must fall 
 on such unworthy communicants as those above 
 mentioned; an 1 that ye may get thai especial bless- 
 ing which every one that discerns the Lord's body 
 in the eucharist must receive. The rest will I set. 
 in order, etc. — All the other matter- relative to this 
 i which you have referred in your letter, 
 I will regul I '-nine to visit you; as, God 
 
 permitting, I fully design. The apostle did visit 
 them about one year after tl ally be- 
 
 lieved. 
 
 NOTES OX CHAPTER XII. 
 
 1. Now concerning spiritual gifts — This was 
 a subject about which they appear to have 
 to the apostle, and concerning which there were 
 probably some contentions among them. The 
 112 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 NOW concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, 
 I would nol have yon ignorant. 2 Ye 
 know Mliat ye were Gentiles, carried away 
 unto these c dumb idols, even as ye were led. 
 :{ Wherefore I give you to understand, d that 
 no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth 
 
 e accm*acd : and ' that no man cai 
 that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. 
 1 Now ethere are diversities of gifts, hut 'the 
 
 ePsa. 115. 5. '7 Mark 0. 39; 1 John 4. 2, 3. eOr. 
 
 ' Matt. 16. 17: John la. 2H: 2 ( or. :,. .'j. , a Uom. 12. 
 4,etc; Ueb. 2. I; 1 L'et. I. 10. h Eph.4. i. 
 
 words irepl tuv irvevfiaTCKuv may as well be trans- 
 lated conct rning spiritual persons, as spiritual gifts; 
 
 and indeed the former agrees much heller with the 
 context. [Taken as a neuter, the word may mean 
 things spiritual, and so include both gifts ai. I 
 sons, and als at ions generally.] I would 
 
 not have you ignorant — 1 wish you fully to 
 know whence all such gifts come, and for what end 
 they are given, that each person may serve the 
 Church in the capacity in which God has | 
 him; that there may be no misunderstandings and 
 no schism in the body. 
 
 2. Ye were Gentiles — Previously to your con- 
 version to the Christian faith ye were hea 
 Carried away— Not guided by reason or truth, but 
 hurried by your passions into a senseless w< 
 
 the chief part of which was calculated only I 
 cite and gratif\ animal propensities. Dumb idols 
 — [Td . speecldess images ] Tl 
 
 often supplicated, they could never return an an- 
 swer; so that not only the image could nol speak, 
 but the god or demon pretended to be represi ated 
 by it could not speak: a full proof thai an ido 
 
 in tin world. [The spiritual condition into 
 which they bad entered as Christians was, of 
 course, an entirely new one to men who had been 
 heathen, entirely without precedent or analogy in 
 the experiences of their former sad estate, — all the 
 more, therefore, requiring to be subjected to a 
 trustworthy and collect judgment. — Meyer.~\ 
 
 3. No man speaking by the Spirit of God — 
 It was granted on all hands that there could be no 
 religion without divine inspiration, because Cod 
 
 could make his will known to men; hence 
 nism pretended to this inspiration; Ju 
 had it in the law and the prophets; and it was the 
 very essence of the Christian religion. The heathen 
 priests and | pretended to receive, by in- 
 
 spiration from their god, the answers which they 
 
 votaries. And as far as the | 
 believed their pretensions, so far were they led by 
 their teaching. But as the Holy Spirit through all 
 the law and the prophets gave testimony to thi 
 siah, and as Jesus proved bimsi If to be the Christ 
 both by his miracles and doctrines, no man 
 the inspiration of the divine Spirit could say to him 
 anathema — thou art a deceiver, and a person « oi thy 
 of death, etc., as the Jews did. No man can say 
 that Jesus is the Lord — [The confession di 
 by the Spirit, which is here given as the criterion of 
 the Spirit's inspiration, is, thai Jesus of Nazareth is: 
 very God. (See l John iv, 1, 'J, where the human 
 side of this confession is set forth.)] [The founda- 
 tion of all spiritual utterance is the COnfessii 
 
 Lord ; " and without the S] i it no 
 such confession can be made. . . . Jesus — nol Christ, 
 the name of office, but Jesus, the personal name;
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 A. M. 4nsn. A. T>. 56. 
 Year of Rome, 809. 
 
 same Spirit. 5 'And there are differences of 
 k administration?, but the same Lord. 6 And 
 there are diversities of operations, but it is the 
 same God 'which worketh all in all. 7 '"But 
 the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every 
 man to profit withal. & For to one is given 
 
 i Rom. 12. fi, 7,-; Eph. 4. It. k Or, ministries. / l\ph. 
 
 1.23. -m Rnra. 12. 6,7,8; chap. II. _v> : Eph. 4. 7; 1 Pet. 4. 
 1U. 11. n Chap. 2. 6, 7. Chap. 1. 5 ; 13. 2 ; 2 Cor. H. 7. 
 
 the historical person whose life was matter of fact : 
 the curse and the confession are in this way far 
 deeper. "Lord," Kvptog, is used in the Septuagint 
 
 as the equivalent of the Hebrew Jehovah. — At ford.] 
 
 4. Now — [Rather, but; as contrasted with the 
 absolute unity of the test-confession. All believers 
 have the gift of faith that confesses the Messiahship 
 of Jesus ; after that, and in respect to other and 
 less important matters, diversities find place in the 
 ministrations of the Holy Spirit.] There are di- 
 versities of gifts — Xapca/iaTuv] gracious endow- 
 ments, leading to miraculous results. And these all 
 came by the extraordinary influences of the Holy 
 Spirit. 
 
 5. Differences of administrations — Iiokoviuv ; 
 various offices in the Church, such as apostle, 
 prophet, and teacher ; the qualifications for such of- 
 fices, as well as the appointments themselves, com- 
 ing immediately from the one Lord Jesus Christ. 
 [AiaqiEGE'c diaicoviav, varieties of ministries (ser- 
 vices) appointed in the Church, in which, as their 
 channels of manifestation, the x a f ia ! m7a iff'/ 1 ") 
 would work. — Alford J 
 
 6. Diversities of operations — 'EvepynuaTuv. 
 Miraculous influences exerted on others. All these 
 proceeded from (rod the Father, as the fountain of 
 all goodness and power, and the immediate dis- 
 penser of every good and perfect gift. [Thus we 
 have God the Father, the first source and operator 
 of all spiritual influences in all ; God the Son, the 
 ordainer in his Church of all ministries by which 
 this influence may be brought out for edification; 
 God the Holt Ghost, dwelling and working in the 
 Church, and effectuating in each man such meas- 
 ures of his gifts as he sees fit. — Alford.] 
 
 7. The manifestation of the Spirit — ^avepuatc 
 me KvevjJLarog; the illumination, or demonstration, 
 or operation, of the Spirit. Whatever gifts God has 
 bestowed, or in what various ways soever the Spirit 
 of God may have manifested himself, it is all for 
 the common benefit of the Church. God has given 
 no gift to any man for his own private advantage 
 or exclusive profit. lie has it for the benefit of 
 others, as well as for his own salvation. To 
 every man — ['E/cdffrcj , to each one — showing the 
 individual distinction of gifts. — A [ford.] [Me} cr 
 gives the following arrangement, (of the things 
 hereinafter named.) I. Gifts having reference to 
 intellectual power: 1) Aoyog aoejiac, (doctrine of 
 wisdom;) 2) .\6yor yvuaeug, (doctrine of knowl- 
 edge.) II. Gifts whose condition is an exalted faith : 
 1) Faith itself; 2) Practical workings of the same 
 viz., a) lafiara, (healings ;) b) dwdpetg, (miracles;) 
 3) Oral working of the same, viz., wpot 
 (prophecy;) 4) Critical working of the same, the 
 iianpic " -r: v laruv, (discriminating among >pirits.| 
 III. Gifts having reference to the y"kuco~ai : 1 i Speak- 
 ing with tongues; 2) Interpretation of tongues. All 
 of which may be a proper classification, but not es- 
 pecially available as a means of interpretation, so 
 as to lead to the proper meaning of the apostle's 
 language.] 
 
 by the Spirit "the word of wisdom : to anoth- 
 er "the word of knowledge by the same Spirit ; 
 9 pTo another faith by the same Spirit; to 
 another a the gifts of healing by the same 
 Spirit; JO r Tp another the working of mir- 
 acles; to another - prophecy ; l to another dis- 
 
 p Matt. 17. 19,20; chap. 13.2: 2 Cor. 4. 13. — ffMark 16. 18; 
 
 .1 s '. 14. /• Ver->'< -. -j.' ; M.c l< 111. 17 : Gal. 3. 0. S Hum. 
 
 12. 6; chap. 13. 2; 14. 1, etc. <Chap. 14. 29; 1 Juhu4. 1. 
 
 8. Word of wisdom — Aoyoc, doctrine. It is 
 very difficult to say what is intended here by the 
 different kinds of gifts mentioned by the apostle : 
 they were probably all supernatural, and were nec- 
 essary at that time only, for the benefit of the 
 Church. 1) Doctrine of wisdom, the mystery of our 
 redemption, in which the wisdom of (ioil is emi- 
 neiith conspicuous, (chaptei ii, 1, 10,) and which is 
 called the manifold wisdom of God, (Eph. iii, 10.) 
 Christ, the great teacher of it, is called the wisdom 
 of God, (chapter i, '24,) and in him are said to be 
 contained (Col. ii, 3) edl the treasures of wisdom 
 and knowledge. The apostles to whom this doctrine 
 was committed are called wise nun, (.Matt, xxiii, 
 34, ) and they are said to teach this Gospel accord- 
 ing to the wisdom given them. (2 Peter iii, 15.) 
 2) By the doctrine o/knowledge we may understand 
 either a knowledge of the types, etc, in the Old 
 Testament, or what are termed mysteries — tin- call- 
 ing of the Gentiles, the recalling of the Jews, the 
 mystery of iniquity, of the beast, etc., and especially 
 the mystical sense or meaning of the Old Testament, 
 with all its rites, types, ceremonies, etc., etc. 
 ["Wisdom" — knowledge. According to Neander, 
 (wisdom) is the skill (aptitude) which is able 
 to reduce the whole practical Christian life into its 
 due order in accordance with its foundation princi- 
 ples ; yvuaig is the theoretical insight into divine 
 things. With this agree Olshausenand others, which 
 affords a good Pauline sense, but with a rather 
 more finespun distinction than is agreeable to 
 Paul's usual method.] 3) By faith (verse 9) we 
 are to understand that miraculous faith by which 
 they could remove mountains, (chapter xiii, 2,) or a 
 peculiar impulse, as Or. Whitby calls it, that came 
 upon the apostles when any difficult matter was to 
 be performed, which inwardly assured them that 
 God's power would assist them in the performance 
 of it. Others think that justifying faith, received 
 by means of Gospel teaching, is what is intended. 
 ["Faith," -klotlc — not saving faith in general, for 
 that is possessed by every Christian; nor yet ex- 
 clusively the faith of miracles, a- this would in- 
 clude only "healings " and " wonders " — but rather 
 a high degree of faith in Christ, produced by the 
 Holy Spirit, et heroism of faith, manifested in tin; 
 several ways named. See Meyer.] 4) Gifts 
 of healing, simply refers to the power which at 
 particular times the apostles received from the 
 Holy Spirit to cure diseases; a power which was 
 not always resident in them; for Paul could not 
 cure Timothy, nor remove his own thorn in the 
 flesh; because it was given only on extraordinary 
 occasions, though perhaps more generally than 
 many others. 5) The working of miracles — 
 'Evepyq/iara dwafieuv. (Verse I'M This seems to 
 refer to the same class as the operations, hep; 
 twv, (verse 6.) as the words are the same; and 
 
 to signify those powers by which the apostles w 
 
 enabled at particular times to work miraculously 
 on others; ejecting demons, or inflicting punish- 
 ments or judgments, as in the cases mentioned 
 
 113
 
 T. CORINTHIANS. 
 
 Christ • r,-)i elio 
 
 memta 
 
 cerning of spirits; to another "divers kinds of 
 es; to another the interpretation of 
 tongues: 11 Bat ail these worketh thai one 
 and the selfsame Spirit, 'dividing to every man 
 severally w as he will. 12 For*as the body 
 is one, and hath many members, and all the 
 members of that one body, being many, are 
 one body; 'so also is Christ. I'i For 'by 
 one Spirit arc we all baptized into one body, 
 ■whether ux be Jews or ' Gentiles, whether n-, 
 ad or free; ami c have been all made to 
 
 '/ Vets 2. I; 10. 16; chap. 13. 1. — >• Rom. 12. 6; chap. 7. 7: 
 
 I Fohn 3. 8; Heb. 2. 4. e Rom. 
 
 12. 4, a ; Eph. I. 4, It!. U Vor.se 27 ; rial. 3. 16. 
 
 under verse 6. Mighty operations. h) Prophecy — 
 This seems to import two things: (1) The prediet- 
 ing fi ts, such as tlien particularly con- 
 
 cerned the state of the Church ami the apostle-; 
 as the dearth foretold by Agabus, (Acts xi, 28,) ami 
 the binding of St. Paul, and delivering him to the 
 Romans, (Acts xxi, 10;) ami St. Paul's foretelling 
 his on-ii. ski] Malta, (Acts xxvii, 25,) etc.: 
 
 and (2) as implying the faculty of teaching or ex- 
 pounding the Scriptures, which is also a common 
 acceptation of the word. [77te prophet (one hav- 
 ing th b) is one who, standing in the fore- 
 I of God, announces on divine impulse and 
 with divine power truths unveiled to his spiritual 
 perception. — Speaker's Com.] 1) Discerning of 
 spirits — A gift by which the person so privileged 
 could discern a false miracle from a true one; or a 
 pri '< a. I r to inspiration from him who was made real- 
 ly partaker of the Holy Ghost. It probably extended 
 also to the discernment of false prof essors from true 
 - appears in Peter in the case of Ananias 
 and his wife. [Judgments which avail, and that 
 imme liately on hearing the utterances, for the 
 vation of the Church from misleading in- 
 fluences, by informing it from wdiat spirits the ut- 
 terances proceeded and by whom they were carried 
 on — whether by the Holy Spirit, or the human 
 spirit merely, or even demoniac spirits, (t Timothy 
 iv, 1 ; 1 John iv, 1.) — Mn/er.] 8) Divers kinds of 
 tongues — Tii'r/ y'/.uaauv ; difft n at languages which 
 tiny had never learned, and which God gave them for 
 the immediate instruction of people of different 
 countries who attended their ministry. (See chapter 
 xii, 1.) 'J) Interpretation of tongues — It was neces- 
 sary that while one was speaking the deep things 
 of God in a company where some were present who 
 did not understand, there should he a person who 
 could immediately interpret what was said to that 
 part of the congregation that did not understand 
 the language. This power to interpret was also ail 
 immediate gift of God's Spirit, ami is classed here 
 among the miracles. 
 
 1 1. But all these worketh that one and the 
 selfsame Spirit — All these gifts are miraculously 
 bestowed; they cannot lie acquired by human ait 
 or industry, hut they we're given in such a way and 
 in such circumstances as sufficiently proved that 
 they also were miraculous gifts, [and were all in 
 harmony.] 
 
 12. For as the "body is one — Though the hu- 
 man body lias many members, and though it is 
 composed of a great variety of parts, yet it is but 
 one entire system; every part and member being 
 necessary to the integrity and completeness of the 
 whole. So also is Christ — That is, So is the 
 Church the body of Christ, being composed of the 
 different officers already mentioned, and especially 
 111 
 
 drink into one Spirit. 14 for the body is not 
 one member, bill many. 15 If the foot shall 
 say, Because I am no1 the hand, 1 am nol of 
 the hoily; is it therefore nol of the body? 
 Hi And if the ear shall say. Because I am not 
 the eye, I am not oi the body; i- it therefore 
 not of the body? 17 If the whole body were 
 an eye, where were the hearing? If the 
 whole were hearing, where wer< the smelling? 
 §* But now hath «God sel the members every 
 one of them in the body, "as it hath pleased 
 
 eItom.fi. 5. — fr Gal. 3. 28; Epli. 2. 13, 11, 16; Col. ::. 11. 
 
 bQr. Greeks. — cJohn tf. t>3; :. 37, 38, 39. d Verse 28. 
 
 . Rom. 12. :;; chap. :;. •■ ; verse 11. 
 
 of those enumerated, (verse 2S,) <ij„,.s//,s, prophets, 
 teachers, etc. It cannot be supposed thai Christ is 
 composed of many members, etc., ami therefore the 
 term Church must be understood; unless we sup- 
 pose, which is not improbable, the term 6 Xpiordg, 
 the Christ, is used to express the Church, or whole 
 holy of Christian believers. 
 
 13. For by one Spirit are we all "baptized, 
 etc. — As the hody of man, though ci mposed of 
 many members, is informed ami influenced by one 
 soul; so the Church of Christ, which is his body, 
 though composed of many members, is informed 
 
 and influenced by one Spirit, the Holy Ghost, actu- 
 ating ami working by hi- spiritual hody, as the hu- 
 man soul does in the body of man. To drink in- 
 to one Spirit — We are to understand being made 
 partakers of the gifts of the Holy Ghost, agreeably 
 to the words of our Lord, (John \ii. 37 : ) "If any 
 man thirst, let him come unto me and drink: . . . 
 this spake he id' the Spirit which they thai believe 
 on him should receive." [ W< havt all l"< n wade to 
 drink into oik Spirit : Render, and we nil with •■,,,■ 
 Spin/ were drenched. No doubt here flashes across 
 the writer's mind the first grand instalment of the 
 spiritual outpouring on the Pentecostal birthday of 
 the infant Church. . . . The special allusion, how- 
 ever, is to the after-effusion of these miraculous 
 gifts, in which they were all consciously interested. 
 — Speaker x ( 'om . ] 
 
 14. For the body is not one member — The 
 mystical hody, the Church, as well as the natural 
 body, is composed of many members. [The har- 
 monious growth and gradual coalition of the many- 
 member ed community into a single totality in the 
 all-combining unity of the Holy Ghost, is founded 
 upon the fact that in one Spirit also we all into one 
 I,, i/i/ were baptized. . . . The idea expanded is, 
 unity must dominate multiplicity, until the myriads 
 upon myriads of living members, of whatever na- 
 tionality and of whatever social status, all of them, 
 one by one engrafted into the Church through the 
 coming centuries, shall from a growing multiplicity 
 become ■■< settled totality. Into one body — Elf iv 
 cuma — with a view to forming one body. — Speaker's 
 <''iin.\ [As the natural (human) body is made up 
 of many individual members, and yet is really one, 
 (not many,) so the Church of (hid, though com- 
 posed of many (and diversely gifted) members, 
 (persons,) is still «/»•, the mystical hody of Christ, 
 the holy Catholic Church.] 
 
 15. If the foot shall say, etc. — As nil the 
 members of the body are necessarily dependent on 
 each other, and minister to the general support of 
 the system, so is it in the Church. All the mem- 
 bers are intimately connected among themselves, 
 and also with their pastors ; without which union 
 no Church can subsist.
 
 lion nnwn7 the 
 , ot tlie bo<Zy 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 M. 4Afirt. A. n. 56. 
 l'ear of Rome, 80s). 
 
 ]ii::i. 19 And if they were all one member, 
 where were the body? 20 But now are they 
 many members, yet but one body. 21 And the 
 eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need 
 of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have 
 no need of you. 22 Nay, much more those 
 members of the body, which seem to be more 
 feeble, are necessary: 25$ And those mem- 
 bers of the body, which we think to be less 
 honourable, upon these we f bestow more 
 abundant honour; and our uncomely parts 
 have more abundant comeliness. 24 For our 
 comely parts have no need : but God hath 
 
 yOr, put on. g Or, division. h Rom. 12. 5; Eph. 1. 23 i 
 
 4. 12; 5.23, 30: Col. 1. 24. iEph. 5. 30. k Eph. 4. 11. 
 
 I Eph. 2. 20; 3. 5. 
 
 19. Where were the body — [What kind of a 
 body would it be ?] 
 
 21. And the eye cannot say unto the hand, 
 I have no need of thee — The apostle goes on, 
 with his principal object in view, to show that the 
 gifts and graces with which their different teachers 
 were endowed were all necessary for their salvation, 
 and should be collectively used ; for not one of 
 them was unnecessary, nor could they dispense 
 with the least of them ; the body of Christ needed 
 the whole for its nourishment and support. 
 
 22. Those members . . . which seem to be 
 more feeble — These, and the less honourable 
 and uncomely, mentioned in the next verses, seem 
 to mean the principal viscera or internal organs. 
 These, when compared with the arms and limbs, 
 are comparatively weak ; and some of them, con- 
 sidered in themselves, uncomely and less honour- 
 able ; yet these are more essential to life than any 
 of the others. Hence these parts are not only 
 covered, but the parts in which they are lodged are 
 surrounded, ornamented, and fortified for their 
 preservation and defence, on the proper perform- 
 ance of whose functions life so immediately de- 
 pends. 
 
 23-25. Upon these we bestow (in the form 
 of apparel) abundant honour — In comparison 
 with the comely face, which, with the neck and 
 hands, is left bare and exposed to the weather and 
 to view. It is plain that St. Paul here almost per- 
 sonifies the human body and its members (sever- 
 ally.) The last clause, (of verse 25,) "have the 
 same solicitude" proves this. That there should 
 be no schism — [(Setting of member against mem- 
 ber,) Iva fifj ?] oxio/ia, (expressing a caution against 
 a possible result.) The mutual recognition of their 
 several duties, and of the interdependence among 
 themselves, is a condition necessary for thus avoid- 
 ing the dreaded ax'ayjiara.] [The more abundant 
 (verse 24) indicates a seemliness in excess of others, 
 and denotes nature adorned versus nature un- 
 adorned, that is, God's gift of clothing added to 
 God's gift of (in) creation. See Speaker's Com.] 
 
 26. And whether one member suffer — As 
 there is a mutual exertion for the general defence, 
 so there is a mutual sympathy. If the eye, the 
 hand, the foot, etc., be injured, the whole man 
 suffers ; and if by clothing, or any thing else, any 
 particular member or part is adorned, strengthened, 
 or better secured, it gives a general pleasure to the 
 whole man. 
 
 27. Ye are the body of Christ— The apostle, 
 having finished his apologue, comes to his applica- 
 tion. As the members in the human body, so the 
 
 Vol. II.— 10 
 
 tempered the body together, having given 
 more abundant honour to that part which 
 lacked: 25 That there should be no s schism 
 in the body; but that the members should 
 have the same care one for another. 26 And 
 whether one member suffer, all the members 
 suffer with it; or one member be honoured, 
 all the members rejoice with it. 27 Now h ye 
 are the body of Christ, and 'members in par- 
 ticular. 28 And k God hath set some in the 
 church, first 'apostles, secondarily '"prophets, 
 thirdly teachers, after that "miracles, then 
 gifts of healings, Phelps, i governments, r di- 
 
 m Acts 13. 1; Rom. 12. 6. v Verse 10. o Ver-e ft- 
 
 p Num. 11. 17. Q Rom. 12. 8; 1 Tim. 5. 17; lleb. 13. 17.24. 
 
 r Or, kinds., verse in. 
 
 different members of the mystical body of Christ. 
 All are intended by him to have the same relation 
 to each other ; to be mutually subservient to each 
 other ; to mourn for and rejoice with each other. 
 He has also made each necessary to the beauty, 
 proportion, strength, and perfection of the whole. 
 Not one is useless ; not one unnecessary. Paul, 
 Apollos, Kephas, etc., with all their variety of gifts 
 and graces, are "for the perfecting of the saints, 
 for the. work of the ministry, for the edifying of 
 the body of Christ." (Eph. iv, 12.) 
 
 28. God hath set some in the church — As 
 God has made evident distinctions among the mem- 
 bers of the human body, so that some occupy a 
 more eminent place than others, so has he in the 
 Church. First apostles — 'Attogto'/xwc, persons 
 immediately designated by Christ, and sent by him 
 to preach the Gospel to all mankind; (to propa- 
 gate the Gospel and establish the Church of God 
 among men.) [The name apostle indicates here 
 only the twelve, (what about Paul and Barnabas, 
 and James, our Lord's brother?) so that we may 
 plainly see from their relation to the other classes 
 of teachers how the twelve were regarded as pos- 
 sessing an especial, and, indeed, the highest, rank 
 among all the teachers of the Church. The body 
 of the twelve apostles, however, was intended only 
 for the earliest times of the Church ; it was not to 
 be successively filled up. Even on the death of 
 James the elder we hear of no new election in his 
 place. (Acts xii, 1.) — Olshausen*] Secondarily 
 prophets — Upo<p7/rar, a person who, under divine 
 inspiration, predicts future events; but the word is 
 often applied, and probably so in this case, to those 
 who preach the Gospel. (See on verse 10.) [The 
 gift of prophecy was that charism which enabled its 
 possessor to utter, with the authority of inspiration, 
 divine strains of warning, exhortation, encourage- 
 ment, or rebuke; and to teach and enforce the 
 truths of Christianity with supernatural energy and 
 effect. . . . The apostle looks upon the gift of 
 prophecy as one of the great instruments for the 
 conversion of unbelievers, and as far more service- 
 able in this respect than the gift of tongues. — 
 Conybeare and Hbwson.] Thirdly teachers — 
 A/tfaox'«Ao?.'c, persons whose chief business it was to 
 instruct the people in the elements of the Christian 
 religion and their duty to each other. (Rom. viii, 8.) 
 [AidaoaaTiovg, teachers. These had the gilt of the 
 Holy Spirit for preaching the Gospel in the way 
 of the intellectual development of its teaching. — 
 Meyer."] Miracles — Awa/xetr. [After earning the 
 three chief "gifts," Paul passes from the concrete to 
 the abstract.] Endowments of miraculous gifts 
 
 145
 
 A. M. 4060. A. n. Si. 
 Year "t Roini 
 
 T. CORINTHIANS. 
 
 • i)l.' •difir.itlon 
 ..I the Church. 
 
 versitiea of tongues. '20 Are all apostles? art 
 all prophets ? <w< all teachers? art all "workers 
 of miracles? HO Have all the eifts of heal- 
 
 ■ I lr, /M.ir, ;-.s. 
 
 (Mark wi, it, 18) for casting out devils, speaking 
 with new tongues, etc. (Verse 10.) Gifts of 
 healings — X.apiofiara iafidruv. Such as laying 
 hands upon the sick and healing them, (Mark wi, 
 18,) which, as being one of the mosl beneficent 
 miraculous powers, was most frequently conceded. 
 Helps — \\ i r, '//,!/ otic, (aids, reliefs, not. persons,) 
 though Dr. Lightfoot conjectures that these were the 
 apostles' helpers; persons who accompanied them, 
 baptized those who were converted by them, and 
 were sent by them to such places as they could 
 not attend to, beiug otherwise employed. (See Luke 
 i, •") I ; Rom. viii, 26.) Governments — Ki kpvfyaeig, 
 ability to direct. Dr. Lightfoot contends that this 
 word does not refer to the power of ruling, but to 
 the case of a person endued with a deep and com- 
 prehensive mind, who is profoundly wise and pru- 
 dent ; and he thinks that it implies the same as 
 " discerning of spirits." (Verse In.) Diversities 
 of tongues — I'. i , y'Xuaauv, kinds of tongues : that 
 is. different kinds. The power to speak, on all 
 necessary occasions, languages which they had not 
 learned. (Versi 10.) 
 
 29 Are all apostles, etc. — That is, all arc iiot 
 apostles, all are not prophets, etc. God has dis- 
 tributed his various gilts among various persons, 
 each of whom is necessary for the complete edifica- 
 tion of the body of Christ. (Verses 7-10.) 
 
 31. But covet earnestly — Desire earnestly. 
 This disposition toward heavenly things is highly 
 laudable; toward earthly things, is deeply criminal. 
 A man may possess the best of all these gifts and 
 yet be deficient in what is essentially necessary to 
 his salvation, for he may lie without that love or 
 charity which the apostle here calls the more ex- 
 cellent way, and which he proceeds in the next 
 chapter in describe. Some think that, tins verse 
 should he read affirmatively: )'< earnestly contend 
 iiln, ni tin best gifts : hut 1 show unto you </ more ex- 
 cellent way: that i-, get your hearts Idled with love 
 to God and man— love, which is the principle of 
 obedience, which works no ill to its neighbour, and 
 which is the fulfilling of the law. This is a not 
 improbable reading, for there were certainly more 
 contentions in the Church of Corinth about the 
 gifts than about the graces of the Spirit. 
 
 Bishop Pearce, who could neither see Church 
 
 government nor State government in these words 
 '•helps" and "governments," expresses himself 
 thus: "These two words, alter all that the commen- 
 tators say about them, I do not understand; 1 in 
 
 no other part of the New Testament is either of them, 
 in any sense, mentioned as the gift of the Spirit : 
 especially it i- observable that in verses 2'.', 30, 
 where the -ift- of the Spirit are again enumerated, 
 no notice is taken of any thing like them, while all 
 the other several parts are exactly enumerated. 
 Some men are peculiarly qualified for governing by 
 either providence or grace ; and others can neither 
 govern nor direct, but ate good helpers. These 
 characters are often -ecu in different places in the 
 Church of God; happy is it for the Church if each 
 of these stand in his own lot. [Respecting the 
 spiritual gifts, Kvev/iaTCKuv, the spirituals, spirit 
 gifts, spoken of chapters xii, 1 ; xiv, 1, much has 
 146 
 
 ing? do all speak with tongn.es ? do all inter- 
 pret? :tl But 'covet earnestly the 1. est gift- 
 ami yet show 1 unto you a more excellent way. 
 
 / Chap. II. 1. 39. 
 
 been written, hut still the subject is not entirely 
 cleared up. What follows is taken fromthi Speak- 
 er's Commentary, introduction to chapter .xii. J 
 [The first divine impulse which, in the form ol a 
 charismata, or miraculous grace-gift, was communi- 
 cated to the new creation of the Christian Church, 
 was destined in the course of two or three centuries 
 to subside by degrees into the quiet pulsef and 
 more tegular life of a growing organism. The in- 
 fancy of Christianity from the day of Pentecost 
 was, in all who yielded themselves to the divine in- 
 fluence, emphatically marked by depth of purpose 
 and power of action, and in particular by ex- 
 traordinary experiences of mystical raptures, mani- 
 fested in a threefold ecstasy — mystic, prophetic, 
 and glossolalic. This marvellous light shone all the 
 brighter from its marked contrasl with the mar- 
 ginal darkness of the heathen world that environed 
 the luminous centre. The initial outpouring id' 
 miraculous endowments .-(ems to have settled down 
 -lowly within mote defined limits into a calm cur- 
 rent of spiritual graces and of acquired knowledge. 
 As regards the singular manifestations recorded 
 in these chapters, (xii and xiv,) the following re- 
 marks may help to clear away some of the Iiaze 
 (aoaqeiav) which, to us moderns, owing to our lack 
 of .experimental knowledge, continues to veil these 
 mysteries of apostolic ecstasies. 
 
 [That which, in man, thinks and wills and expe- 
 riences, is called in general ■KVtvfm, or spirit. The 
 noblest and innermost region of human nature is 
 self-conscious, and appears to be tripartite. . . . 
 This culminating point seems to be the quin- 
 tessence (the reality) of man's spirit-nature; it is 
 the meeting-place between God condescending and 
 man apprehending; the central point of contact 
 between the divine Spirit and the human, which are 
 two substantially kindred natures, tor spiritus hu- 
 manus et substantia it efficieutia simillimus divino est 
 This eminent nature, toweling above the nou* and 
 the logos, and yet in constant communication with 
 both, excepting in cases of ecstatic glossolalia, is the 
 serene region of immediate experience of the di- 
 vine love, and also of immediate intuition into di- 
 vine mysteries. All three, nous and logos and 
 /on inioi, are in their nature consubstantial, that is, 
 of one spiritual contexture; and thus all three 
 together make up the human spirit, regarded as 
 one division in the human trichotomy. (1 These. 
 v, 23.) 
 
 [This idea, that it is tlte inmost spirit of man's 
 spirit-nature which comes into immediate contact 
 and ineffable communion with the lh>l\ Spirit will 
 serve to account for the order of sequence which, 
 in the cardinal texts of chapter xii, 4, 5, 6, St. 
 Paul assigns to the three divine persons. . . . This 
 idea may also tend to throw sonic light into the re- 
 cesses ol the two ecstasies of prophesying and 
 uttering with tongues ; for that w hich is common 
 to both those divine raptures is consciot 
 exalted above the human sphere, vet consciousness 
 exercised in what may be termed man's shrinal 
 spirit. In this penetrale, possessed in the ecstasy 
 by the divine influence, experience or tasting of 
 heavenly mysteries seems to precede intuition or 
 comprehension. It may here be remarked; in
 
 Importance of the grace of 
 charity or love. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 T 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 IIOUGII I speak with the tongues of men 
 
 reference to chapter xiv, that in the glossolalia 
 communications between man's higher pneuma and 
 his nous, or between "the citadel and the city," are 
 during the ecstasy interrupted and suspended; in 
 the prophetic utterance they are maintained with- 
 out interruption.] 
 
 [Conybeare and Howson (Life and Epistles of 
 St. Paul, vol. i, pp. 460-462) discuss the subject 
 with characteristic frankness and learning, assum- 
 ing also that the "gift" was not known after 
 the apostolic times, which however is not inti- 
 mated by St. Paul, and so whether or not it has 
 ceased to be among possibly attainable " gifts " in 
 the Church and the Christian experience of later 
 times becomes a question of fact, of Church his 
 tory, or the records of our own times.] [With re- 
 gard to " the gift of tongues," from the passages 
 where it is mentioned, (Mark xvi, 17; Acts xi, 15— 
 17; 1 Cor. xii ; 2 Cor. xiv,) we may gather thus 
 much concerning it: first, that it was not a knowl- 
 edge of foreign languages, as is often supposed ; 
 we never read of its being exercised for the conver- 
 sion of foreign nations, nor (except on the day (if 
 Pentecost alone [where also it is doubtful]) for 
 that of individual foreigners, and even on that oc- 
 casion the foreigners present were all Jewish prose- 
 lytes, and most of them understood the Hellenistic 
 dialect. Second, we learn that this gift was the re- 
 sult of a sudden influx of supernatural inspiration, 
 which came upon the new believer immediately 
 after his baptism, and recurred afterward at un- 
 certain intervals. Third, we find that while under 
 its influence the exercise of the understanding was 
 suspended, while the spirit was rapt in a state of 
 ecstasy by the immediate communication of the 
 Spirit of God. In this ecstatic trance the believer 
 was constrained by an irresistible power to pour 
 forth his feelings of thanksgiving and rapture in 
 words : yet the words which issued from his mouth 
 were not his own ; he was even (usually) ignorant 
 of their meaning; they were the words of some 
 foreign language, and not intelligible to the by- 
 standers, unless some of these chanced to be na- 
 tives of the country where the language was spoken. 
 St. Paul desired that those who possessed this gift 
 should not be suffered to exercise it in the congre- 
 gation unless some one present possessed another 
 gift (subsidiary to this) called " the interpretation of 
 tongues" by which the ecstatic utterances of the 
 former might be rendered available for general 
 edification. Another gift also was needful for the 
 checking of false pretensions to this and some 
 other charisms, viz., the gift of discerning spirits, 
 the recipients of which could distinguish between 
 the real and the imaginary possessors (if spiritual 
 gifts. (1 Thess. v. 21.) — Conybeare and Houson.~\ 
 
 [The foregoing are the best and ablest discus- 
 sions of this difficult subject, found in recent biblical 
 writings. That they are ably written, and in a de- 
 vout spirit, will be granted; but their attempted 
 solution of the case will not prove altogether satis- 
 factory. What were the forms of these irvevfiaTt 
 na, things spiritual, cannot lie certainly determined, 
 and this is especially the case with the AaXuv ykfoa- 
 c://, speaking villi tongues, a matter very largely 
 discussed by St. Paul, and yet left in great perplex- 
 ity. Evidently there had occurred certain remark- 
 able physical, or rather psychological, phenomena, 
 
 and of angels, and have not charity, I am be- 
 come as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. 
 
 among the religious exercises of the Corinthian be- 
 lievers, which had caused some agitation among 
 them, and to which the apostle's attention had 
 been called. These aie spoken of by him as g< n- 
 uine "spiritual gifts," products of the operation of 
 the Spirit of God. and therefore to be desired; but 
 he counts them inferior to the less showy but 
 more useful "gift" of prophesying, (chapter xiv.) 
 which is defined as simply teaching divine truth, 
 intellectually conceived, but enforced by the power 
 of the Spirit. And though it is said (chap! xiii. 8) 
 that the "tongues shall cease," the same thing 
 is also said in the same place of "pro] hecies" and 
 "knowledge;" and as these are to continue in the 
 Church during the whole of the present dispensa- 
 tion, alfov, there seems to be an implication that the 
 same will be the case with "tongues." The 
 assumption, therefore, that this phenomena was de- 
 signed only for these earliest times is not sustained 
 by the words of the apostle, nor are we sufficiently 
 informed in respect to the nature of that "gift" to 
 enable us to determine the case on general piin- 
 ciples. Nor is the case so clearly settled by the 
 fact of its non-appearance in the later Church as to 
 entirely free it from all doubt. Phenomena bear- 
 ing striking resemblance to those here indicated 
 have appeared in modern times, in seasons of high 
 religious interest ; but in these, as in those, their 
 spiritual import seems to be doubtful.] 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER XI1T. 
 
 1. Though I speak, etc. — At the conclusion of 
 the preceding chapter the apostle premised to show 
 the Corinthians a "more excellent way" than that 
 in which they were now proceeding. They were so 
 distracted with contentions, divided by ] arties, and 
 envious of each other's gifts, that unity was nearly 
 destroyed. This was a full proof that love to God 
 and man was wanting, and that, without this, their 
 numerous gifts and othei graces were nothing in 
 the eyes of God; for it was evident that ihe\ did 
 not love one another, which is a proof that they 
 did not love God, and consequently, that they had 
 not true religion. ['Eav '/a'/u supposes a ca^e 
 which never has been exemplified. Tongues — 
 T'/uccate, languages. Of men and of angels — < If 
 all men and all angels, whatever those tongues n ay 
 be. — Alford."] ["Of angels," added simply for the 
 sake of making the' statement as strong as possible, 
 and not with any distinct idea that angels used 
 either tongues eir language. — Klivg.~] Some think 
 that the apostle means only the most splendid elo- 
 quence; but it is more likely that he Fpeaks here 
 after the manner of his countrymen, who imagined 
 that there was an angelic language which was the 
 key to many mysteries ; a language which mighl I e 
 acquired, and which, they say. had been learned by 
 some. Sounding brass — XaTjibc fofwv; that is, 
 like a trumpet made of brass ; for although ,\o'/hi,c 
 signifies brass, and as signifies the same, yet we 
 know the latter is often employed to signify the 
 trumpet, because generally made of this metal. 
 Tinkling (clanging) cymbal— The cymbal was a 
 concavo-convex plate of brass, the concave side of 
 which being struck against another plate of the 
 same kind, produced a clanging, unmelodious 
 sound. 
 
 147
 
 A.M.A'-f". A. T>. SB. 
 
 I. CORINTHIANS. 
 
 N.-Uur,- nn.l properties of 
 charity, 
 
 IS Ami thongh I have the gift of "prophecy, 
 and understand all mysteries, and all knowl- 
 edge; and though I have all faith, b so that 1 
 could remove mountains, and have doI char- 
 ity, 1 am nothing. .'6 And "though I bestow 
 .•ill my goods to feed the poor, and though I 
 give my body to be burned, and have no! 
 
 • I tp. 12. 8, P, 10, 28 ; 14. 1, etc. : Mitt. 7. 
 
 17.2 : Murk 11. 23; Luke 17. 6. c Mutt. 6. 1, 2. 
 
 13 i 1 Pet. i - 
 
 '. Matt. 
 ~d 1'rov. in. 
 
 2. Though I have . . . prophecy, etc. — [Gifts, 
 however excellent for their own purposes, are 
 valueless except as they are the endowment of .1 
 heart in which the divine love dwells and abounds.] 
 Have not charity — [Without this grace the most 
 excellent and splendid gifts are valueless: with 
 without that,! am nothing -worthless spirit- 
 ually and ethically. The word aydirn, rendered 
 in our version charity, is by most modern commen- 
 tators rendered love. It is conceded by all, that in 
 
 most places where the word occurs in the New Test- 
 ament the latter is the nearer English equivalent, 
 though it is also conceded that the English word 
 love is not the same in sense with the original ayatrrj, 
 which is exclusively a New Testament word, ami 
 not -imply tin; equivalent of any other found in 
 the Greek writings. It is also well known that the 
 English word love often signifies much that is al- 
 together alien to that here spoken of — ipuc, Lat. 
 amor. The philosophical conception of love as an 
 affection of the heart is that of emotion, an out- 
 moving impulse ; while that treated of in this chap- 
 ter is simply character, very decided and effective 
 indeed in directing the outgoings of all the impulses 
 of the soul, a disposition to kindliness, abiding in 
 and distinguishing the ethical character, and giving 
 its own qualities to all the acts and purposes of the 
 man. It is a principle of universal goodwill abid- 
 ing in the soul, and ever ready to direct the out- 
 goings of its active powers. The ordinary idea of 
 love curies with it the notion of personal partial- 
 it)', which is excluded from the aydirn here spoken 
 of. If, therefore, the English word love is taken as 
 the rendering id' that term, it. must he largely modi- 
 lie 1 in its sense from its ordinary acceptation. The 
 New Testament writers, having a something to call 
 by name for which no word was found in their 
 language, adapted the word aydirn to tin.' case, and 
 St. Jerome, in rendering it into Latin, finding 
 neither amor nor amicitia its proper equivalent, 
 adopted charitus, which, though it has sometimes 
 been minified into simply almsgiving, is still, as to 
 the conceptions which it, expresses, the best render- 
 ing of the inspired original, godlikeness, in the 
 form of universal and ever«abiding benevolence.] 
 
 :;. And though I bestow all my goods to 
 feed — The word tpuui^a, which we translate "to 
 feed the poor," signifies to divide into morsels and 
 put in/i, the mouth : which implies carefulness and 
 tenderness inapplyingthe bounty thus freely given. 
 [//' / should dole out in food all my substance.] 
 And though I give my body to be burned — 
 "Iva Kavxvc!b)jim, if I immolate myself. [The apos- 
 tle evidently mean- selfsacrifici for country or 
 friend-. Both the deeds mentioned in this verse 
 are such as ordinarily are held to be the fruits of 
 love, but they may be done without it, and if so 
 an- worthless. — Alford.~] 
 
 4. Charity suffereth long — Manpodvuel, has a 
 long mind, to the end of which neither trials, ad- 
 versities, persecutions, nor provocations can reach. 
 148 
 
 charity, it profiteth me nothing. I ""Charity 
 suffereth lone-, and is kind: charity envieth 
 not; charity e vaunteth not itself, is nol puffed 
 up, H Doth nol behave itself unseemly, r seel 
 eth not her own, is not easily provoked, think- 
 eth in> evil; a * Rejoiceth nol in iniquity, but 
 •rejoiceth 'in the truth; 7 k Beareth till 
 
 , in. Ut notraah. /"chap. 10. 24: Phil. 2. 4. — r/Psa. 10, B; 
 
 Rom. 1.32. li 3 John 1. iOr, with ttc truth. . Rom. 
 
 15. 1: Gal. 6. 2; 2 Tim. 'J. 24. 
 
 The love of God, and of our neighbour for God's 
 sake, is patient toward all men; it suffers all the 
 weakness, ignorance, errors, and infirmities of the 
 
 children of God, and all the malice and wickedness 
 of the children of this world. It also waits God's 
 time of accomplishing his gracious or providential 
 purposes without murmuring or repining; and 
 hears its own infirmities, 'as well as those of others, 
 with humble submission to the will of God. Is 
 kind — Xpnort l/erat. It is tender and compassionate 
 in itself, and "kind" and obliging to Others; mild, 
 gentle, and benign. Charity envieth not — Oti 
 tyfkoi. Is not g ieved because of another's pos- 
 sessions or prosperity. Those who have this pure 
 love rejoice as really at the happiness, the honour, 
 and comfort of others as they can do in their own. 
 Charity vauriteth not itself — Ov Kepirepeverai, 
 mil lli mil rashly, insolently. There i< a phrase in 
 our own language that expresses what I think to 
 he the meaning of the original, doe- not set itself 
 forward, (is not self-asserting.) Is not puffed up 
 — ih ; ijrnmi nil. is mil inflated. Every man whose 
 heart is full of the love of God is full of humility. 
 
 5. Doth not behave itself unseemly — Owe 
 ao~XT]uovei, does not misbehave. [So far from "the 
 manners making the man," //" nmn makes tin man- 
 ners. True politeness is one of the many fruits of 
 the divine root; it is based upon the principle of 
 respect for God's image in man: ''Why dost thou 
 se1 at naught thy brother?" (Rom. xiv, 10.) — 
 Speaker's Com.] Seeketh not her own — Ov 
 Ci/rn Tii kavrijg, is not specially careful fur her nun 
 things. Love is never satisfied hut in the welfare, 
 comfort, and salvation of nil. That man is no 
 Christian who is solicitous for his own happiness 
 alone, and cares not how the world goes so that 
 himself he comfortable. Is not easily provoked 
 ■ —Oil napot-vveTat, is nut provoked, is nut irritated, 
 is not made sour or bitter. Irritation of any kind 
 is inconsistent with self-government, and with 
 peace and communion with God. However favour- 
 ably we may think of our own state, and however 
 industrious we may he to find out excuses for sal- 
 lies of passion, etc., still the testimony of Cod is, 
 Love is not provoked; and if I have not such a 
 love, whatever el-e I may possess, it profiteth me 
 nothing. Thinketh no evil — Ov fayyifrrat ru /,-/- 
 k6v, does mil indulge in evil surmi sings ; does not 
 invent or devise any evil ; does not reason on any 
 particular act or word sons to infer evil from it; 
 for this would he inconsistent with line to his 
 brother; it would he ruinous to charity and be- 
 nevolence. 
 
 6. Rejoiceth not in iniquity — Oil xaipei '"' ~>i 
 adiKup, rejoiceth nut in falsehood, hut, on the con 
 trary. rejoiceth in tin truth : this meaning a6atla 
 has in different parts of the Scriptures. Rejoiceth 
 in the truth — VLvvxaipet Si rfi aknBeig.. Truth is 
 here personified, meaning especially the spread of 
 the truth of the Co-pel. and indeed of truth in gen- 
 eral, in opposition to those " who hold the truth in
 
 Soperlo 
 
 CHAPTER XIIT. 
 
 things, believeth all tilings, hopeth all things, 
 endureth all things. 8 Charity never faileth: 
 but whether there be prophecies, they shall 
 fail; whether there be tongues, they shall 
 cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall 
 vanish away. 9 ' For we know in part, and 
 we prophesy in part. 10 But when that 
 which is perfect is come, then that which is in 
 
 ZChap. 8. 2. m Or, reasoned. nl Cor. 3. 18; 5. 7; Phil. 
 
 (undistinguished from) unrighteousness," (Rom. i, 
 18,) and who " turn away their ears from the truth." 
 (2 Tim. iv, 4.)— A/ford.) 
 
 7. Beareth ali things — Udvra artyst. This 
 word is also variously interpreted; to endure, bear, 
 sustain, cover, conceal, contain. [Bears whatever 
 may in am/ way be borne. — Grotius.~\ [She covers 
 up all, that is, is disposed to excuse all 
 wrong: the opposite of a distrustful (or censorious) 
 spirit. — Meyer J\ Believeth all things — Tlcivra 
 tciotevei, is ever ready to believe the best of every 
 person, and will credit no evil of any but on the 
 most positive evidence ; gladly receives whatever 
 may tend to the advantage of any person who 
 may have suffered from obloquy and detraction, or 
 even justly because of misconduct. Hopeth all 
 things — liavra kTmi^ec. Love comes in with its 
 hope where it could not work by its faith ; and 
 is ready to make allowances as far as a good con- 
 science can permit ; and further, anticipates the 
 repentance of the transgressor, and his restoration 
 to the good from which he had fallen. Endureth 
 all things — ndvra vnoutvei, bears up under all 
 persecutions and maltreatment from open enemies 
 and professed friends ; bears adversities with an 
 even mind, as it submits with perfect resignation to 
 every dispensation of the providence of God, and 
 never says of any trial, affliction, or insult, this 
 cannot be endured. . 
 
 8. Charity never faileth — Never faileth off, 
 eniriirTec. Love to God and man is essential to 
 social and religious life ; without it there can be no 
 communion with God, nor a preparation for eternal 
 glory. Without it there never was true religion, 
 nor ever can be ; and it not only is necessary 
 through life, but will exist to eternity. Prophecies 
 . . . shall fail — Though the accurate prophet and 
 the eloquent, persuasive preacher may be useful in 
 their day, they shall not be always so ; nor shall 
 their gifts fit them for glory ; nothing short of love 
 can fit a soul for the kingdom of God. Tongues 
 . . . shall cease — The miraculous gift of different 
 languages, that also shall cease as being unneces- 
 sary. Knowledge . . . shall vanish away — All 
 human arts and sciences, as being utterly useless 
 in the eternal world, though so highly extolled and 
 useful here. [Prophecy, speaking with tongues, 
 deep knowledge, are all appointed for the good of 
 the Church, for the time ; afterward these tem- 
 porary phenomena shall fall away, even the yvuaic 
 (Christian learning) shall do so ; for then comes in 
 the perfect knowledge, (verse 12,) and that as the 
 common heritage of all, whereby the deep knowl- 
 edge of gifted individuals, which is still but imper- 
 fect, will necessarily cease to exist. — Meyer.] 
 
 9. For we know in part — We have here but 
 little knowledge even of earthly, and much less of 
 heavenly, things. He that knows most knows little 
 in comparison of what is not known. 
 
 10. But when that which is perfect — The 
 state of eternal blessedness. Then that which is 
 
 part shall be done away. 11 When 1 was a 
 child, I spake as a child, I understood as a 
 child, I m thought as a child: but when I be- 
 came a man, I put away childish things. 
 12 For "now we see through a glass, ° darkly; 
 but then pface to face: now 1 know in part; 
 but then shall I know even as also J am 
 known. 13 And now abideth faith, hope, 
 
 3. 12. o Gr. in a riddle. — p Matt. 18. 10 ; 1 John 3. 2. 
 
 in part — That which is imperfect, shall be done 
 away. [The appearance of the perfected condi- 
 tion of things necessarily brings with it the aboli- 
 tion of what is only partial. With the advent of 
 the absolute the imperfect finite ceases to exist, as 
 the dawn ceases at the rising of the sun. — Meyer. | 
 
 11. When I was a child — This future state of 
 blessedness is as far beyond the utmost perfection 
 that can be attained in this world as our adult state 
 is above our state of natural infancy, in which we 
 understand only as children understand. [Inas- 
 much as our present condition, when compared with 
 our condition in the future state, (atuv fie'lfajv,} is 
 like that of the child in comparison with that of 
 the man. The man has given up the practices 
 (the speaking, understanding, and reasoning) .of 
 the child. 'Ecppovow (I understood) refers to the 
 interests and efforts, device and endeavour; l/n}i- 
 L,6fi7]v (I reasoned) to the judgment and reflective 
 faculties— reflective intellectual activity. — Meyer. \ 
 
 1 2. Now we see through a glass, darkly — 
 Ai' laonrpov ev alviyfiari. The word iaompov, which 
 we translate a glass, literally signifies a mirror or 
 reflector ; and among the ancients minors were 
 certainly made of fine polished metal. The word 
 here may signify any thing by which the image of a 
 person is reflected, as in our looking-glasses. The 
 word is not used for a glass to look through ; nor 
 would such an image have suited the apostle's de- 
 sign. [Our knowledge of divine things is, in our 
 present condition, no immediate knowledge, but one 
 coming through an imperfect medium. We must 
 (here) think not only of our glass mirrors, but 
 (more particularly) of the imperfectly-reflecting 
 metal minors of the ancients. The words iv euvi}- 
 fiari, (in an enigma,) which we render "darkly." 
 will help us to the true meaning of the place. We 
 see in an enigma, in which one thing answers or 
 stands in correspondence to, or as the representa- 
 tive of, another, which is in some respects similar 
 to it. " Now " — in this life — we see by means of a 
 mirror reflecting the images of heavenly ami spir- 
 itual things in an enigmatical manner, invisible 
 things being represented by visible, spiritual by 
 natural, eternal by temporal ; but then— in the 
 eternal world — face to face, every thing being seen 
 in itself, and not by means of a representative or 
 similitude. [By following the figure of the mirror 
 a little further, we should get the idea that all our 
 present knowledge of spiritual or heavenly things 
 is thrown out of shape by the medium through 
 which it comes to us, just as all images seen in the 
 "glass" are seen in a reversed position.] 
 
 13. And now (in this present life) abideth 
 faith, hope, charity — These three supply the 
 place of that direct vision which no embodied spirit 
 can have; these abide or remain for the present 
 state. "Faith," by which we apprehend spiritual 
 blessings, and walk with God. " Hope," by which 
 we view and confidently expect eternal blessedness, 
 and so pass through things temporal as not to lose 
 
 14'J
 
 A. M. 1060. A. D. r.a. 
 V.- ,r ..i Rome, M>». 
 
 I. COTMNTITTAXS. 
 
 Of spoiklng in an nnknown tnngna 
 And ->r prophei ying. 
 
 charity, these three; but the greatesl of these 
 is charil v. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 IjlOLLOW after charity, and 'desire spiritual 
 gifts, ' luit rather that ye may prophesy. 
 '2 For he that c speaketh in an unknown tongue 
 speaketh uol unto men, but unto God: for no 
 man d understandeth him; howbeit in the 
 spirit he speaketh mysteries, 't But he thai 
 prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, 
 
 a Chap. 12.31. //Num. 11. 25,29. 
 
 sight of those which arc eternal. " Charity," or love, 
 which is the essential grace which we receive by 
 faith, and in which we live a life of obedience to 
 God and of goodwill and usefulness to man. But 
 the greatestof these is charity — Without " faith " 
 it is impossible to please God ; nor can we partake 
 
 of the gra( four Lord Jesus: without " hope " we 
 
 could not endure as seeing Him who is invisible; 
 nor have any adequate notion of the eternal world; 
 nor bear up under the afflictions and difficulties of 
 life: but great and useful and indispensably neces- 
 sary as these are. yet "charity," or love, is greater. 
 Love is the fulfilling of the law; but this is never 
 said of faith or hope. Love is properly the image 
 of Go 1 in the soul ; for God is love. By faith we 
 receive from our Maker; by hope we expect, a future 
 and eternal good ; but by love we are like God; 
 and by it alone are we qualified to enjoy heaven, 
 and be one with him forever. Faith, says one, is 
 the foundation of the Christian life, and of good 
 works; hope gives stability to the superstructure; 
 but love finishes, completes, and crowns it in a 
 blessed eternity. Faith and liope respect ourselves 
 alone; love takes in both GOD and MAN. Faith 
 saves us, and hope sustains us; but love to God 
 and man makes us obedient and useful. This is 
 sufficient to show that love is greater than either 
 faith or hope, and that it abides forever. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 1. Follow after charity — Most earnestly la- 
 bour to be put in possession of this divine love. 
 This clause belongs to the preceding chapter. De- 
 sire spiritual gifts — [Pursue after love; mean- 
 time, however, eagerly desire the Spirit-gifts, yet, 
 more than all the rest, (desire) that ye (may) proph- 
 esy. — Speaker's Com.~\ Particularly desire that ye 
 may prophesy; that ye may lie able to teach and 
 instruct others in the things of their salvation. 
 
 2. For he that speaketh in an unknown 
 tongue — This chapter is crowded with difficulties. 
 It is not likely that the Holy Spirit should, in the 
 Church, suddenly inspire a man with the knowledge 
 of some foreign language, which none in the Church 
 
 understood but himself, 1 lead him to treat the 
 
 mysteries of Christianity in that language, though 
 none in the place could profit by his teaching. Dr. 
 Lightfoot's mode of reconciling these difficulties is 
 the most likely I have met with, lie supposes that 
 by the unknown tongue the Hebrew is meant, and 
 that God restored the true knowledge of this lan- 
 guage when he gave the apostles the gifl of tongues. 
 [Which, however, is quite too improbable a theory 
 to allow it to lie seriously entertained, or to require 
 to be disproved.] Speaketh not unto men, but 
 unto God — God alone knowing the truth and im- 
 port of what he says. [No one but one who is 
 specially gifted . . . has a perceiving ear for such 
 
 150 
 
 and exhortation, am! comfort. I He that 
 speaketh iii aii unknown tongue edifieth him- 
 self; luit he that prophesieth edifieth the 
 church. 5 I would that ye all spake with 
 tongues, Imt rather thai ye prophesied: for 
 greater is he thai prophesieth than he that speak- 
 eth with tongues, except lie interpret, that the 
 church may receive edifying. <> Now. breth- 
 ren, if I come unto you speaking with tongues, 
 
 what shall I profit you. except I shall speak to 
 
 c Acts 2. 4; 10. 40. d Qr. heareth. Acts 22. 9. 
 
 utterances of spiritereated tongues, which arc akin 
 to the iijijiiira pTjpaTQ (unspeakable nurds) that fell 
 
 on the apostle's spiritual ear in paradise. — Speak- 
 er's I'nni. I In the spirit he speaketh mysteries 
 — Though his own mind (for so irvevuart is under- 
 stood here by many eminent critics) apprehends 
 the mysteries contained in the words which he 
 reads or utters ; but if by the spirit we understand 
 the Spirit of God, (which probably we should not,) 
 it only shows that it is by that Spirit that he is en- 
 abled to speak ami apprehend these mysteries. (See 
 verse 19.) [The mysterious characterof the speak- 
 ing with tongues did not consist in the things them- 
 selves, but in the mode of expression ; which, as not 
 being brought about and determined by the intellec- 
 tual activity of the vovc, (lh< understanding,') there- 
 by lacked the condition connecting it with the in- 
 tellectual activity of the hearer. — Meyer.~\ 
 
 3. But he that prophesieth — The person who 
 has the gift of teaching is much more useful to the 
 Church than he who has only the gift of tongues, 
 because he speaks to the profit of men : namely, to 
 their edification by the Scriptures he expounds; 
 to their exhortation by what he teaches; and to 
 their comfort by his revelation. — Wliitby. [Edifi- 
 cation- — olKodopfjv, upbuilding, spiritual increase; 
 exhortation — •KapaKkqaiv, admonition, warning; com- 
 fort — -apa/uvdiav, encouragement. The first may 
 be taken as a generical term, of which the other 
 two are species.] 
 
 4. He that speaketh in an unknown tongue 
 — [The intensity of the feeling of prayer or praise 
 in which he utters the words is edifying to himself, 
 though the words themselves are unintelligible (to 
 himself.) This view is necessary on account of 
 what is said in the next verse. — Afford.] But he 
 that prophesieth — Has the gift of preaching. 
 Edifieth the church — Speaketh unto men to edi- 
 fication, exliortation, and comfort. (Verse 3.) 
 
 5. I would that ye all spake with tongues — 
 The word Oi?.u does not so much imply a wish or 
 desire as a command or permission. As if he had 
 said : 1 do not restrain you to prophesying or /<"<■//. 
 iiaj, though I prefer that. The apostle said tongue, 
 in the singular number in verses 2, 4, because he 
 -poke of a single man ; now he says tongues, in the 
 plural number, because he speaks of many speak- 
 ing; but he has the same meaning in both places. — 
 Lightfoot. Greater is he that prophesieth — 
 | Superior iii usefulness, and therefore in dignity. — 
 Alford.~\ A useful, zealous preacher, though un- 
 skilled in learned languages, is much "greater" in 
 the sight of God, and in the eyes of sound common 
 sense, than he who has the gift of those learned 
 tongues, except he interpret: and we seldom 
 find great scholars good preachers. 
 
 tt. Speaking with tongues — Without interpret- 
 ing. What shall I profit you — I shall not profit
 
 Religious doctrines and experience 
 bhould be stated intelligently. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 A. M. 4"m. A.D. 56. 
 Year of Rome, 809. 
 
 you either by e revelation, or by knowledge, or 
 by prophesying, or by doctrine? 7 And even 
 things without life giving sound, whether pipe 
 or harp, except they give a distinction in the 
 f sounds, how shall it be known what is piped 
 or harped? 8 For if the trumpet give an 
 uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to 
 the battle? 9 So likewise ye, except ye otter 
 by the tongue words eeasy to be understood, 
 how shall it be known what is spoken? for ye 
 shall speak into the air. lO There are, it may 
 be, so many kinds of voices in the world, 
 and none of them is without signification. 
 1 1 Therefore if I know 7 not the meaning of 
 the vo;ce, I shall be unto lam that speaketh a 
 
 eVer.26. — -/Or, tunes. gGv. significant. hGr. ofspir. 
 
 you. Except I shall speak to you either by 
 revelation — Of some secret thing ; or by knowledge 
 of some mystery; or by prophesying, disclosing 
 some divinely-given truth ; or by doctrine, instruct- 
 ing you what to believe and practise. These four 
 words are taken in different acceptations by learned 
 men. The general sense of the terms is that given 
 above ; but the peculiar meaning of the apostle is 
 perhaps not easily discerned. [The apostle pos- 
 sessed the gift of " tongues," (verse 18,) but might 
 also be his own interpreter, and he might apply 
 these apostolic charisma (gifts) which belonged to 
 him for prophesying and teaching. — Meyer.] 
 
 7. And even things -without life — If the pipe 
 or harp were to utter mere sounds without order, 
 harmony, or melody, though every tone of music 
 might be in the sounds, surely no person could dis- 
 cern a tune in such sounds, nor receive pleasure 
 from such discords ; even so is the person who speaks 
 in an unknown tongue but does not interpret. 
 
 8. If the trumpet give an uncertain sound 
 — If, when the soldier should prepare himself for 
 the battle, the trumpet should give a different sound 
 to that ordinarily used on such occasions, the sol- 
 dier would not be informed of what he should do, 
 and therefore would not arm himself ; consequently 
 that vague, unintelligible sound of the trumpet 
 would be of no use. [The bugle notes must be sig- 
 nificant by being intelligible ; and so must it be 
 with the words of warning and instruction of the 
 Christian teacher.] 
 
 9. Likewise ye — If ye do not speak in the 
 Church so as to be understood, your labour is use- 
 less. Ye shall speak into the air — Your speech 
 will be lost, without conveying any meaning to any 
 person. Such gifts, so used, are valueless. 
 
 10. There are, it may be — Ei tvxoi, for ex- 
 ample. So many kinds of voices — Tevn cpuvuv, 
 kinds of sounds. So many different languages, each 
 of which has its distinct articulation, pronunciation, 
 emphasis, and meaning, (are not without significa- 
 tion, or inarticulate.) 
 
 11. If I know not the meaning of the voice 
 — T//i> 6bvay.iv tt]c (bui'TJg, the power and significa- 
 tion of the language. I shall be unto him that 
 speaketh a barbarian — I shall appear to him, and 
 he to me, as a person who had no distinct and ar- 
 ticulate sounds which can convey any kind of 
 meaning. (For the meaning and origin of the woid 
 "barbarian" see the note on Acts xxviii, 2.) 
 
 12. Forasmuch as ye are zealous — Seeing 
 ye affect so much to have spiritual gifts, seek that 
 ye may get those by which ye may excel in edifying 
 
 barbarian, and he that speaketh shall be a bar- 
 barian unto me. 12 Even so ye, forasmuch 
 as ye are zealous h of spiritual gifts, seek that 
 ye may excel to the edifying of the church. 
 
 13 Wherefore let him that speaketh in an un- 
 known tongue pray that he may interpret. 
 
 14 For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my 
 spirit prayeth, but my understanding is un- 
 fruitful. 15 What is it then? I will pray 
 with the spirit, and I will pray with the un- 
 derstanding also : ' I will sing with the spirit, 
 and I will sing k with the understanding also. 
 16 Else, when thou shalt bless with the spirit, 
 how shall he that occupieth the room of the 
 unlearned say Amen 'at thy giving of thanks, 
 
 its. -iEph. 5. 19; Col. 3. 16. k Psa. 47. 7. /Chap. 11. ! 
 
 the Church. [Hvevyaruv, of spirits, in the same sense 
 as TTVEvyaTLnuv, of spiritual gifts, (verse 1,) but here 
 with a suggestion of " possession " by a spirit.] 
 
 13. Pray that he may interpret — [Wherefore 
 let him who speaketh with a tongue in his prayer, 
 (or when praying,) strive that he may interpret. — 
 Alford.] 
 
 ] 4. For if I pray in an unknown tongue — 
 [If I utter words in prayer whose import I do not 
 understand, though my heart maybe in my utter- 
 ances, there is no thought in them, and such an ex- 
 clusively spiritual exercise would be unfruitful of 
 good results.] 
 
 15. I will pray with the spirit — I will en- 
 deavour to have all my prayers influenced and 
 guided by the Spirit of God ; and to have my own 
 heart deeply affected in and by the work. [An in- 
 telligent sense of one's spiritual wants is requisite to 
 profitable praying.] And I will pray with the 
 understanding also — I will endeavour so to pray 
 that others may understand me, and thus be edilied 
 and improved by my prayers. And therefore I will 
 pray in a language in the public congregation that 
 may be understood by all present, so that all may 
 join, not only in the act, but in the spirit, of 
 devotion. I will sing with the spirit — As the 
 practice of singing psalms or spiritual hymns came 
 originally through an immediate afflatus or inspira- 
 tion of God, there is no doubt that it was ex- 
 ceedingly edifying: and must have served greatly 
 to improve and excite the devotional spirit of all 
 that were present. Probably their singing consisted 
 in solemn, well-measured recitative, and not the 
 jingling and sprightly sounds which we use when a 
 single monosyllable is sometimes shivered into a 
 multitude of semiquavers ! [It appears from these 
 words that the two departments in which the gift 
 of tongues was exercised were prayer and praise. 
 On the day of Pentecost it was confined to the lat- 
 ter of these. — A /ford.] 
 
 16. He that occupieth the room of the un- 
 learned — One who is not acquainted with the lan- 
 guage in which you speak, sing, or pray. Say 
 Amen — Give his assent and ratification to what he 
 does not understand. It was very frequent in 
 primitive times to express their approbation in the 
 public assemblies by the Amen. [The "Amen:'' 
 From the Jewish synagogue was derived to the 
 Christian Church the time-hallowed usage of 
 pronouncing the loud Amen at the close of a 
 public prayer; it was an expression of assent to 
 the contents of the prayer, and a declaration of 
 faith in its being heard of God. — Speaker's Com.] 
 
 151
 
 P. 56. 
 
 I. CORINTHIANS 
 
 ill's prefervnci 1 for tenrhing 
 
 ■ 
 
 Beeing he understandeth not what thou sayesl : . With men of other tongues and other lips will 
 17 For thou verily givest thanks well, but the 1 speak unto tins people; and yel for all that 
 other is not edified. 1* 1 thank ray God, I j will they nol hear me, saith the Lord, 
 speak with tongues more than ye all : 19Yet|22 Wherefore tongues are I'm- a Bign, not 
 i.. the church] had rather speak five words] to them thatbejieve, but t<> them that be- 
 lieve nut: hut prophesying serveth nol for 
 them that believe nut. bu1 for them which be- 
 lieve. 2;{ If therefore the whole church be 
 come together into one place, and all speak 
 with tongues, and there conn- in those that are 
 unlearned, or unbelievers, r will they nol Bay 
 
 with ray understanding, that by my voice I 
 might teach others also, than ten thousand 
 words in an unknown tongue. '20 Brethren, 
 »>be not children in understanding: howbeit 
 in malice "be ye children, hut in understand- 
 ing ho "mi n. 21 i In the law it is u written, 
 
 mPsa 111. 2: Matt, 11. 25: J& 3: 19. 14; Bom. 16. 19: cliap. 
 
 :,. l; Krli. I. II: I kb. 5. 12. R u Matt. U. 3; 1 Pel. 2. 2. 
 
 17. Thou verily givest thanks well — Be- 
 cause he felt gratitude, and, from a sense of his 
 obligation, gave praise to God; but because this 
 
 was in an unknown tongue those who heard him 
 
 receiv ed no edification. 
 
 18. I speak with tongues (a tongue) more 
 than ye all — lie understood more languages than 
 any of them did; and this was indispensably neces- 
 sai'v, as lie was the apostle of the Gentiles in gen- 
 eral, and had to preach to different provinces 
 where different dialects, if not languages, were 
 used. | It is worthy of note, that, according to the 
 correct reading— "a tongue" and not "tongues" — 
 both heir ami elsewhere, when an individual is 
 spoken of as endowed with this gift, he is said to 
 speak only with a single tongue. This shows 
 that the gift in question did not signify a faculty 
 for speaking in various languages. — Dr. Poor, in 
 Lange.] L' 5ut tlns declaration of the apostle 
 east's no light on the question respecting the nature 
 and the design of the "gift of tongues."] 
 
 1 '.». Yet in the church— As the grand object of 
 public worship is the edification of those who at- 
 tend, five (a very few) words spoken so as to con- 
 vey edification were of much more consequence 
 than ten thousand (a great many) which, not being 
 understood, could convey none. One of the great- 
 est difficulties, says Bishop Pearce, in this epistle, 
 is contained in the words nvevfia and vovg, spirit 
 and understanding, which are frequently used in 
 this chapter; and fixing the true meaning of these 
 words will solve the difficulty. In this verse the 
 apo-tle explains >o/;/i' T<]> vol, l<> speak with the un- 
 derstanding, by Iva aXhovg kclttixvgu, that 1 migM 
 teach ot/iers ; so that the sense of vovg, under 
 standing, seems to he ilmi understanding which the 
 hearer has of what is said; and this sense will 
 agree well with, I will sing with the spirit, and with 
 the understanding. (Verse 15.) He observes also 
 that rrvevfza, spirit, and vovg, understanding, have a 
 sense opposite to each other: so that if vovg is 
 rightly rendered, the understanding which another 
 has of what is said; then Kvev/xa will signify a 
 man's own mind, that is, his <>"■/> understanding, 
 (consciousness,) of what lie himself speaks; and this 
 sense agrees well with verse 2: "In the spirit he 
 speaketh my.-teiie ." 
 
 20. Brethren — [An affectionate address, min- 
 gling tenderness with authority.] Be not children 
 in understanding — There are //,/■"' words here to 
 which we must endeavour to affix the proper sense : 
 1) TLatdia sienifies children in general, but particu- 
 larly such as are grown up, SO as to he fit to send 
 to school'm order to receive instruction; 2) TSfpnog 
 signifies an infant; one that cannot yet speak, and 
 is in the lowest stage of infancy; 3) TfAeioi, com- 
 pleted or perfected, signifies those who are arrived 
 152 
 
 oGr. perfect, or. of a ripe arte. chan. 2. fi. p John 10. 34. 
 
 vlsi. 28. 11, 12. rActs J. 13. 
 
 at perfect maturity, both of growth and understand- 
 ing. We shall now see the apostle's meaning: 
 Brethren, In' not natdia, as little children, just 
 beginning to go to school, in order to learn the first 
 elements of their mother tongue, ami with an 
 understanding only sufficient to apprehend those 
 (dements. In malice — Kania, in wickedness, vniri- 
 dt^ETe, be ye as infants, who neither speak, </<>, nor 
 purpose evil. But in understanding — Te?.etoi yi- 
 vioOe, be ye perfect (grown-up) men, whose vigour of 
 body and energy of mind .-how a complete growth 
 and a well-cultivated understanding. 
 
 21. In the law it is written — (Isa. xxviii, 11.) 
 For the term law was frequently used by the .lews 
 io express the whole Scriptures, and they used it to 
 distinguish these sacred writings from the words of 
 the scribes. With men of other tongues — To 
 enter into the apostle's meaning we must enter into 
 that of the prophet. The Jewish people were un- 
 der the teaching of the prophets who were sent 
 from God; these instructed, reproved, and cor- 
 rected them by this divine authority. They, how- 
 ever, became so refractory and disobedient that 
 God purposed to east them off and abandon them 
 to the Babylonians; then they had a people to 
 teach, correct, and reprove them whose language 
 they did not understand. The discipline that they 
 received in this way was widely different from that 
 which they received while under the teaching of 
 the prophets and the government of God; and yet 
 for all this they did not humble themselves before 
 their Maker that this affliction might be removed 
 from them. 
 
 22. Wherefore tongues are for a sign — The 
 miraculous gift of tongues was never designed for 
 the benefit ol those who have already believed, but 
 for the instruction of unbelievers, that they might 
 see from such a miracle that this i^ the work of 
 God, and so embrace the Gospel. P'he most satis- 
 factory explanation is to take "sign" in the gen- 
 eral sense of any indication of the divine presence. 
 "Tongues are a manifestation ol' 'hid, having 
 reference not to believers, but to unbelievers." — 
 Hodge.] Prophesying— Teaching the things of 
 God in a known language [is lor the edification of 
 believers, and] is of infinitely more consequence 
 than speaking in all the unknown tongues in the 
 universe. 
 
 j::;. Will they not say that ye are mad — 
 [Conybeare and HOWSOU remark, in a note on this 
 passage: " We must not be led, from any apparent 
 analogy, to confound the exercise of the gift of 
 tongues in the primitive Church with modern ex- 
 hibitions of fanaticism, which bear a superficial 
 resemblance to it. We must remember that such 
 modern pretensions to tin- gifl must, of course, re- 
 semble the manifestations of the original gift in
 
 worship all things should be 
 done unto edification. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 that ye are mad? 24 But if all prophesy, 
 
 and there come in one that believeth not, or 
 one unlearned, he is convinced of all, lie is 
 judged of all: 25 And thus are the secrets 
 of his heart made manifest ; and so falling 
 down on his face he will worship God, and 
 report ! that God is in you of a truth. 26 How 
 is it then, brethren? when ye come together, 
 every one of you hath a psalm, ' hath a doc- 
 trine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath 
 
 slsa. 45. 14; Zech. s. 21 ^Vevse fi: chapter 12. 8, 9, 10. 
 
 2* Chap. 12. 7; 2 C»r. 12. 19; Eph. 4. 12. 
 
 external features, because these very features have 
 been the objects of intentional imitation." But 
 this wholly fails to meet the demands of the case. An 
 "apparent analogy" and resemblance between the 
 two sets of phenomena is conceded ; and since their 
 " external features " are alike, and their internal 
 natures not understood, who can say that the for- 
 mer k divine and the latter human? the one the 
 result of inspiration, and the other of " fanati- 
 cism?" The intimation that all such "exhibi- 
 tions " are " intentional imitation " is not only 
 gratuitous, but contrary to the plainest evidence. 
 It is an easy but not altogether commendable 
 method for getting rid of a difficult question of 
 facts and phenomena to quietly assume that they 
 are without any real importance. A wide field for 
 inquiry by learned and judicious biblical scholars, 
 and one that has never been satisfactorily exam- 
 ined, is found in the matter of the " Spirit gifts," 
 and especially of the "tongues." Nothing given 
 above or elsewhere fully meets the necessities of 
 the case. Both secular scientists on the one hand, 
 and biblical and theological teachers on the other, 
 have hitherto made a sorry display of their incom- 
 petency to deal with the subject of " physical phe- 
 nomena" in connexion with spiritual manifesta- 
 tions.] 
 
 24. But if all prophesy — If all those who 
 teach do it in the tongue which all understand ; if 
 an unbeliever come in and hear in his own language 
 things just suited to his own state, he is convicted 
 by all and he is judged by all. [By all, bnb tt&vtuv, 
 those who "prophesy" in a language that may lie 
 understood. The saving work was to be done by 
 the truth delivered to men's understandings and 
 hearts rather than by signs.] 
 
 25. And thus are the secrets of his heart — 
 [Nothing else can so effectively manifest to one's 
 own consciousness the hidden sinfulness of his 
 heart as the truth of God, clearly and forcibly de- 
 clared. (Heb. iv, 12.)] The sinner, thus convinced 
 that God alone could uncover the secrets of his 
 heart, is constrained to fall down on his face, 
 abashed and confounded, and acknowledge that God 
 was truly among them. 
 
 26. How is it . . . every one of you hath a 
 psalm, etc. — When the whole Church came to- 
 gether, among whom there were many persons with 
 extraordinary gifts, each of them wished to put 
 himself forward and occupy the time and attention 
 of the congregation; hence confusion must neces- 
 sarily take place, and perhaps not a little conten- 
 tion. This was contrary to that edifying which 
 was the intention of these gifts. 
 
 27. Speak in an unknown tongue — The He- 
 brew, as some have conjectured, (the fflossalalia, 
 whatever that may have been.) Let it be by two, 
 or at the most by three, and that by course — 
 
 an interpretation. "Let all things be done 
 unto edifying. 27 If any man speak in an 
 unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the 
 most by three, and that by course ; and let one 
 interpret. 28 But if there be no interpreter, 
 let him keep silence in the church ; and let 
 him speak to himself, and to God. 29 Let 
 the prophets speak two or three, and v let the 
 other judge. J5© If tot// tiling be revealed to 
 another that sitteth by, w let the first hold his 
 
 V Chap. 12. 10. w 1 Thess. 5. 19, 20. 
 
 Let only two or three in one assembly act in this 
 way, that too much time may not be taken up with 
 one exercise; and let this be done "by course," 
 the one after the other, that two may not be speak- 
 ing at the same time ; and let one interpret for 
 all that shall thus speak. 
 
 28. But if there be no interpreter — If there 
 be none present who can give the proper sense of 
 this Hebrew (?) reading and speaking, then let him 
 keep silence, and not occupy the time of the Church 
 by speaking in a language which only himself can 
 understand. [In verses 27 and 28 it would be the 
 most natural to understand the " tongues " as only 
 unknown human languages, which should be used 
 in the congregation only when there was some one 
 present able to interpret it, so that all might under- 
 stand it ; but in other places this most rational sense 
 of the term is scarcely admissible.] 
 
 29. Let the prophets — Those who have the 
 gift of speaking to men to edification and exhorta- 
 tion and comfort. (Verse 3.) Two or three — As 
 prophesying implied psalmody, teaching, and ex- 
 hortation, the meaning of the place may lie : Let 
 one sing who has a psalm ; let another teach who 
 has a doctrine ; and let a third exhort, or comfort, 
 who has a gift of that kind. And let the other 
 judge — The other prophets, or qualified persons, 
 should judge of the correctness and propriety of 
 what had been spoken. It appears to have been 
 taken for granted that a man might pretend to 
 this spirit of prophecy who was not sent of God; 
 and therefore it was the duty of the accredited 
 teachers to examine whether what he spoke was 
 according to truth and the analogy of faith. For 
 the spirits of the prophets are subject to the proph- 
 ets ; every man's gift was to be judged of by 
 those whose age, experience, and wisdom gave them 
 a right to decide. 
 
 30. Be revealed to another that sitteth by 
 — Probably those who were teachers sat on a par- 
 ticular seat or place, from which they might most 
 readily address the people; and this may be the 
 meaning of sitting by. [These minute directions 
 concerning matters not very well understood afford 
 to the commentators the opportunity for not a lit- 
 tle of exegetical gymnastics. The following is taken 
 directly from Lange's Commentary (Dr. Kling, with 
 notes by Dr. Poor) at this place: "The fact 
 that the Spirit impelled another to speak was a 
 hint to the first Speaker that it was time lor him to 
 be done." — Burger. " It was of more importance to 
 catch the first burst of a prophecy than to listen to 
 the completion of one already begun."— >Stanfey. 
 Hut this would imply that an inspired discourse 
 reversed the order of ordinary address, where tie 
 peroration is generally the most eloquent part. " By 
 this injunction the apostle does not intend that the 
 second speaker shall wait until the first one had 
 
 15J
 
 T. CORINTHIANS. 
 
 Order nnd regularity should 
 orshlp. 
 
 peace. :J1 For ye may all prophesy one by 
 
 one, that all may learn, and all may be com- 
 forted. :$2 A.nd*the spirits of the prophets 
 arc subjecl ti» the prophets. 'I'i For God is 
 no1 the author of ' confusion, luit of peace, "as 
 in all churches of the saints. :{.| »Let your 
 women keep silence in the churches: tor it is 
 not permitted unto them to speak; bul ' ///<// 
 an commanded to lie under obedience, as also 
 
 a 1 John -i. 1. 
 
 y Or. tumult, or, wnquietness. — z Chap. 
 11. 16. « 1 Tim. 2. II, 12. 
 
 finished, (Hodge?) but that in ease he gives some 
 token, perhaps by rising, that he has received a 
 
 revelation and wishes to speak h ediately, the 
 
 first should not then prolong his speech, hut should 
 give way to the first gush of inspiration in the 
 oilier, although perhaps not so as to break off too 
 abruptly." " Did not the apostle also intend here to 
 BUggesI a convenient way by which tedious and 
 long winded speakers could have a period put to 
 their too protracted harangues?" — Dr. Poor. Be- 
 sides, the revelation is not to he regarded precisely 
 in the light of a new disclosure occasioned by the 
 speech just heard; although, as a general thing, a 
 susceptibility for further revelations would he 
 awakened and furthered by the prophetic discourse 
 of another. The proper meaning of all this is still 
 to be ascertained. To the Church of the present 
 day the apostle's words are scarcely more intelligible 
 than were the " tongues," which he so wisely de- 
 preciates.] 
 
 31. For ye may all prophesy one by one — 
 The gifts which God grants are given for the pur- 
 pose of edification ; hut there can he no edification 
 where there is confusion; therefore let them speak 
 one by one. 
 
 32. And the spirits of the prophets, etc. — 
 Let no one interrupt another; and let all be ready 
 to prefer others before themselves; and let each 
 feel a spirit of subjection to his brethren, (rod 
 grants no ungovernable gifts. [The "subjection" 
 is that which is involved in a sound Christian dis- 
 position, and accords with the true prophetic spirit. 
 — Kling. ] 
 
 33. For God is not the author of confusion 
 — The apostle calls such conduct atiaTaoTaaia, tu- 
 mult, sedition ; and such it is in the sight of God, 
 and in the sight of all good men. How often is a 
 work of God marred and discredited by the folly 
 of men! for nature will always, ami Satan, too, 
 mingle themselves as far as they can in the gen- 
 uine work of the Spirit, in order to discredit and 
 destroy it. Nevertheless, in great revivals of re- 
 ligion it is almost impossible to prevent wildfire 
 from getting in among the true fire; hut it is the 
 duty of the ministers of God to watch against and 
 prudently check this ; but if themselves encourage 
 it, then there will he confusion and every evil work. 
 
 34. Let your women keep silence in the 
 churches — This was a Jewish ordinance ; women 
 were not permitted to teach in the assemblies, or 
 even to ask questions. The rabbins taught that "a 
 woman should know nothing but the use of her 
 distaff." This was their condition till the time of 
 the Gospel, when, according to the prediction of 
 Joel, the Spirit of God was to be poured out on 
 the women as well as on the men, that they might 
 prophesy; that is, teach. And that they did pro- 
 phesy or teach is evident from what the apostle 
 says, (chapter xi, 5,) where he lays down rules to 
 
 154 
 
 saith the 'law. :{.> And if they will learn 
 any thing, let I hem ask their husbands at 
 home: lor it is a shame lor women to speak 
 in the church. '.Hi What ! came the word of 
 < oid out from you '. or came it unto you only ? 
 :{7 ,j If .any man think himself to he a prophet, 
 or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the 
 things that 1 write unto you .are the command- 
 ments of the Lord. JJS Bui if any man he 
 
 SChap. 11. 3; Eph.5.22; Col. 3. I-: Titus 2. 5: 1 Pet. 3.1. 
 
 ( ; ('.en. :J. lii. d 2 Cor. 10. 7 : 1 John 4. 0. 
 
 regulate this part of their conduct while minister- 
 ing in the Church. It was permitted to any man 
 to ask questions, to object, altercate, attempt to re- 
 fute, etc., in the synagogue ; but this liberty was not 
 allowed to any woman. St. Paul confirms this in 
 reference also to the Christian Chinch; he orders 
 them to keep .silence; and, if they wished to learn 
 
 any thing, let them inquire oj t7ieir husbands at 
 
 Inn nr ; because it was deemed indecorous for 
 women to be contending with men in public assem- 
 blies, on points Of doctrine, eases of conscience, etc. 
 [Paul does not intend to say that their women, 
 (wives,) in distinction from all others, were to keep 
 silence in the Churches; hut the point is made in 
 reference to women in general. . . . The prohibition 
 is confirmed by a reference to the established order 
 in this respect. — Kling.'] But ... to be under 
 obedience, as also saith the law — This is a ref- 
 erence to Gen. iii, 16: "Thy desire shall he to thy 
 husband, and he shall rule over thee." From this 
 it is evident that it was the disorderly and dis- 
 obedient that the apostle had in view, ami not any 
 of those on whom God had poured out his Spirit. 
 
 35. Let them ask their (own) husbands at 
 home — [The verb tirepuTau generally means to in- 
 quire, and is not to he taken as expressing a de- 
 sire to hear yet more in addition to that which they 
 had heard in the Church. — Osiander.] For it is a 
 shame for women to speak in the church— The 
 Jews would not suffer a woman to read in the syna- 
 gogue ; though a servant or even a child had this per- 
 mission ; but the apostle refers to irregular conduct, 
 such conduct as proved that they were not under 
 obedience. (Verse 34.) [As the peculiar power 
 and usefulness of women depend on their being ob- 
 jects of admiration and affection, any thing which 
 tends to excite the opposite sentiments should, for 
 that reason, he avoided. — Hodge.] 
 
 36. Came the word of God out from you — 
 Was it from you that other Churches received the 
 Gospel? Are you the mother Church? that you 
 should have rules, and orders, and customs, differ- 
 ent from'all others; and set yourselves up for a 
 model to be copied by all the Churches of Christ? 
 Or came it unto you only — [Were you the first 
 and only recipients of the will of God, respecting 
 the order of the Church's affairs?] [This seems 
 to refer to nil tin points of church custom which 
 Paul has been noticing, ami to he inseparably con- 
 nected with what follows — the recognition of his 
 apostolic orders as those of (hid. — Alford.~\ 
 
 :i7. If any man think himself to be a proph- 
 et, etc. — [As an inspired apostle, Paul had the 
 right to test all pretences to inspiration by their 
 agreement with himself, as only an apostle could.] 
 
 38. But if any man be ignorant — If he be so 
 entirely ignorant, let him be ignorant; let him 
 keep it to himself, and not attempt to teach 
 others.
 
 ability to prophesy to be 
 eierred to other gifts. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 M. 4Cf,0. A. 11. 56. 
 k'car of R me, 809. 
 
 ignorant, let him be ignorant. 39 Where- 
 fore, brethren, >' covet to prophesy, and forbid 
 not to speak with tongues. 40 z Let all things 
 be done decently and in order. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 MOREOVER, brethren, I declare unto you 
 the gospel a which I preached unto you, 
 which also ye have received, and b wherein ye 
 
 yCh.<p. 13. 31 ; 1 Thess. 5. 2(1. z Verse 33. <i Gal. 1. 11. 
 
 Htnui. 5. 2. — <• Kom. 1. 16: chap. 1. 21. d Or, holdfast. 
 
 e (i\: by what speech. fGn\. 3. 4. — gCh. 11. 2, 23. — 
 
 h Gal. 1 12. i Psa. 22. 15. etc. ; lea. 53. 5, : Dan. 9. 26 ; Zech. 
 
 39. Covet to prophesy — Let it be your en- 
 deavour and prayer to be able to teach the way of 
 God to the ignorant ; this is the most valuable, be- 
 cause the most useful, gift of the Spirit. And for- 
 bid not to speak with tongues — [Whatever the 
 gift of tongues may have been, and there seems 
 to be no satisfactory explanation of what it was, 
 the apostle, though he accounted it an inferior gift, 
 did not altogether discountenance it.] 
 
 40. Let all things be done decently — Evoxn- 
 yovwc, in their proper forms ; with becoming rever- 
 ence: according to their dignity and importance. 
 Every thing in the Church of God should be con- 
 ducted with gravity and composure, suitable to the 
 importance of the things, the infinite dignity of the 
 object of worship, and the necessity of the souls in 
 behalf of which those religious ordinances are in- 
 stituted. And in order — Kara rd^iv. In due 
 gradation. Every thing in its place, every thing 
 in its time, and every thing suitably. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTEE XV. 
 It appears from this chapter that there were 
 some false apostles at Corinth, who denied the res- 
 urrection, (see verse 12;) in consequence of which 
 St. Paul discusses [the subject in the form of] three 
 questions in this chapter : 
 
 1. Whether there be a resurrection of the 
 
 dead ? verses 1-35. 
 
 2. What will be the nature of the resurrec- 
 
 tion '? verses 35-51. 
 
 3. What should become of those who would 
 
 be found alive in the day of judgment ? 
 verses 51-57. 
 
 I. The resurrection [of Christ] he proves : 
 
 1. From Scripture, verses 1-4. 
 
 2. From eyewitnesses, verses 5-12. 
 
 II. He proves the resurrection by showing the 
 
 absurdity of the contrary doctrine : 
 
 1. If the dead rise not, Christ is not risen, 
 
 verse 13. 
 
 2. It would be absurd to have faith in him, 
 
 according to the preaching of the Gospel, 
 if he be not risen, verse 14. 
 
 3. The apostles must be false witnesses who 
 
 attest this resurrection, verse 15. 
 
 4. The faith of the Corinthians must be vain 
 
 who believe it, verses 16, 17. 
 
 5. All the believers who have died in the faith 
 
 of Christ have perished, if Christ be not 
 risen, verse 18. 
 
 6. Believers in Christ are in a more miserable 
 
 state than any others, if there be no res- 
 urrection, verse 19. 
 
 7. Those who were baptized in the faith that 
 
 Christ died for them and rose again, are 
 deceived, verse 29. 
 
 stand; 2 c By which also ye are saved, if ye 
 d keep in memory e what I preached unto you, 
 unless f ye have believed in vain. 3 For el 
 delivered unto you first of all that h which 1 also 
 received, how that Christ died for our sins 
 ■according to the Scriptures; 4 And that he 
 was buried, and that he rose again the third 
 day k according to the Scriptures: 5 'And 
 that he was seen of Cephas, then m of the 
 
 13. 7 ; Luke 21. 26, 46 ; Arts 3. 18 ; 26. 23 ; 1 Pet. 1. 11 ; 2. 24. 
 
 4-1'sa. 2. 7; Hi. Hi; Isa. 53. 10; Hos. ti. 2; Luke 21. 26,46; Acts 
 
 2. 25-31 ; 13. 33,31. X: ; '3',. 22, 23; 1 Pet. 1. 11. / Luke 24. 31. 
 
 mMatt.28.17Jtf ark 16.14; Luke 24.36; John 211.19,26; Acts 10.41. 
 
 8. The apostles, and Christians in general, 
 who suffer persecution on the ground 
 that, after suffering awhile here, they 
 shall have a glorious resurrection, are 
 acting a foolish and unprofitable part, 
 verses 30-32. 
 
 1. I declare — [I now proceed to restate to you 
 the Gospel in some of its principal and distin- 
 guishing parts.] The gospel which I preached 
 unto you — This Gospel is contained in Christ 
 dying for our sins, being buried, and rising again 
 the third day. [This first paragraph (verses 1, 2) 
 of this chapter shows us, that not only the doc- 
 trine of the resurrection of the dead, (mentioned 
 in Heb. vi, 2 as one of the principles of Chris- 
 tianity,) but also the fact of Jesus's resurrection, 
 belonged essentially to the doctrinal teaching of 
 Christian antiquity. — Ohhausen.~\ 
 
 2. By ■which also ye are saved — [SM^eerfle, are 
 being saved, are in the way of salvation.] That is, 
 ye are now in a salvable state; and are saved from 
 your Gentilism and from your former sins. If ye 
 keep in memory — Your future salvation, or be- 
 ing brought finally to glory, will now depend on 
 your faithfulness to the grace that ye have received. 
 
 3. For I delivered unto you first of all — 
 'Ei> Trpdiroic, among the chief things, as some of the 
 matters of the greatest importance ; fundamental 
 truths. That which I . . . received — By reve- 
 lations from God himself, and not from man. 
 [Paul here and elsewhere asserts his own prophetic 
 character, as himself the recipient, by direct reve- 
 lation from God, of the doctrines which he taught.] 
 That Christ died for our sins — The death of 
 Jesus Christ, as a vicarious sacrifice for sin, is kv 
 -ptjToic ; among the things that are of chief im- 
 portance, and is essential to the gospel scheme of 
 salvation. According to the Scriptures -[As 
 respects his death, see Psalms xxii and Isaiah liii ; 
 as to his rising again, see Psa. xvi, 10, and Hosea 
 vi, 1, 2.] Bishop Pearce and others refer to .Matt. 
 xii, 40 ; xvi, 21; and Luke ix, 22; "which two 
 gospels having been written at the time when Paul 
 wrote this epistle, may have been called by the 
 name of the Sacred Scriptures." 
 
 5. That he was seen of Cephas — [Our Lord's 
 appearance to Peter is not related in the form of a 
 narrative, but is referred to as a fact in Luke 
 xxiv, 24.] Then of the twelve — Instead of 
 Ajdf/va, twelve, evdeica, eleven, is the reading of M>me 
 respectable authorities. (See also Mark xiv, 14.) 
 Perhaps the term twelve is used here merely to 
 point out the society of the apostles, who, though 
 at this time they were only eleven, were still called 
 the twelve, because this was their original number, 
 and a number which was afterward tilled up. (See 
 John xx, 24.) [The reference is to the appear- 
 ance of Jesus to the disciples on the evening (as 
 
 155
 
 A. M. 4060. A. D. 56. 
 
 Year • ! Km, 
 
 I. CORINTHIANS. 
 
 Paul ugerti bli own nbundant 
 
 Twelve: 6 After that. lie was seen of above 
 
 five hundred brethren at once; of whom the 
 greater part remain unto this present, but 
 
 some are fallen asleep. 7 After that he was 
 
 seen of .lames; then "of all the apostles, 
 g Ami last of all he was seen of me also, as 
 of I one born out of due time. f> For 1 am 
 q the leasl of the apostles, that am not met to 
 he called an apostle, because ' 1 persecuted the 
 
 n Luke 24. V: Acts 1. :!. 4. o Acts 9. 4, 17:22. 14.18; chap. 
 
 9. I. /- or. ,,,, abortive. </ Eph. :). 8. r Acts 8. 3; H. 1; 
 
 Gal 1. 13; Phil. :!. ti ; 1 Tim. 1. 13. 
 
 we should say) of the resurrection day, after the 
 return of the two from Emmaus. (See Luke 
 xxiv, 13, 36.)] 
 
 6. Above five hundred brethren at once — 
 This was probably in Galilee, where our Lord had 
 many disciples. (See Matt, x.wiii, 16.) Five hun- 
 dred persons saw him at one time; the greater 
 part of whom were alive when the apostle wrote, 
 before some of whom he might have been con- 
 fronted had he dared to assert a falsity. 
 
 7. After that he was seen of James — But 
 where, and on what occasion, we are not told ; nor 
 indeed do we know which James is intended. 
 [Probably, from no distinguishing epithet being 
 added, the celebrated James, the brother of the 
 Lord. (See Gal. i, 19.) — A/ford.] Then of all 
 the apostles — Including, not only the eleven, but, 
 as some suppose, the seventy -two disciples. [This 
 is decisive for a much wider use of the term arrua- 
 toAoc than as applying to the twelve only, and it 
 is a strong presumption that the James just men- 
 tioned, and evidently here and in Gal. i, 19 in- 
 cluded among the apostles, was not one of the 
 twelve. — Alford.] 
 
 8. And last of all — [" Last of all " up to the 
 time of this writing. He was afterward seen of 
 St. John, as narrated Rev. i, IS.] It seems that it 
 was essential to the character of a primitive apos- 
 tle that he had seen and conversed with Christ; 
 and it is evident, from the history of Saul's con- 
 version, (Acts ix, 4-7.) that Jesus Christ did ap- 
 pear to him ; ami he pleaded this ever after as a 
 proof of his call to the apostleship. He was seen 
 of me also — [Namely, on the road to Damascus. 
 (Acts ix, 3, 6, 17.) This and this only can here be 
 meant, as he is not speaking of a succession of 
 visions, but of some one definite apparition. — Al- 
 ?'<>>■</. | [And yet there seem to be intimations of 
 special and marked revelations made to the apostle 
 subsequently to that first manifestation of Christ to 
 him. (See 2 Cor. xii, 2-5.)] As of one born 
 out of due time — The apostle considers himself as 
 coming after the time in which Jesus Christ per- 
 sonally conversed with his disciples; and that, 
 therefore, to see him at all, he must see him in this 
 extraordinary way. Probably the apostle refers to 
 the original institution of the twelve apostles, in 
 the rank of whom he never stood, being appointed 
 not to fill up a place among the twelve, but as an 
 extra ami additional apostle. 
 
 9. I am the least of the apostles — This was 
 literally true in reference to his being chosen last, 
 and chosen not in the number of the twelve, but as 
 an extra apostle. Taken as a man and a minister 
 of Christ, he was greater than any of the twelve ; 
 taken as an apostle he was less than any of the 
 twelve, because not originally in that body. Am 
 not meet to be called an apostle — None of the 
 twelve had ever persecuted Christ, nor withstood 
 
 156 
 
 church of God. 10 Bui 'by the grace of God 
 1 am what I am : and hi- grace which was Ix - 
 stowed upon me was not in vain; bul 'I la- 
 boured more abundantly than they all: u ye1 
 
 not I, hut the grace of (iod which was with 
 me. II Therefore whether it were 1 or they, 
 so we preach, and bo ye believed. 12 Now if 
 
 Chrisl be preached that lie rose from the dead, 
 how say some among you that there is no res- 
 
 »Ephesians3. 7,8. 1 2 Corinthians 11. 23; 12.11.— »Mat- 
 tlit-w in. 2fl; Ramans l">. K 19; 2 Corinthians 3. 5; Galatiaua 
 .'. 8; Ephesians3. 7: Philippians 2. 13. 
 
 his doctrine; Saul of Tarsus had been, before his 
 conversion, a grievous persecutor; and therefore 
 he says, ovk etui licavbg, I mn not proper t>> he called 
 an apostle, I,,, -mis, I persecuted the Church <</' God, 
 that is, of Christ, which none of the [other] apos- 
 tles ever did. [Although he had deeply repented 
 of his sins, and had received the most abundant 
 assurance that he was freely and fully forgiven, yet 
 he could never cease to remind himself of the fact 
 that he laid persecuted the Lord in the persons of 
 his disciples.] 
 
 10. But by the grace of God I am what I 
 am — (iod, by his free grace and goodwill, has 
 called me to be an apostle, and has denominated 
 me such. [I accept my calling thankfully, and 
 confess that it is all of grace.] And his grace, 
 etc. — Nor have I been unfaithful to the divine 
 call; I used the grace which he gave me; and 
 when my labours, travels, and sufferings are con- 
 sidered, it will be evident that / have laboured 
 more abundantly than the whole twelve. Yet not 
 I, but the grace of God — [And even in the work 
 that I have done, I have been only the willing in- 
 strument, while all the efficiency has been of God.] 
 
 11. Whether it were I or they — All the 
 apostles of Christ agree in the same doctrines; we 
 all preach the same things; and, as we preached, 
 so ye believed ; having received from us the true 
 apostolical faith, that Jesus died for our sins, and 
 rose again for our justification ; and that his res- 
 urrection is the pledge and proof of ours. Who- 
 ever teaches contrary to this does not preach the 
 true apostolic doctrine. Paul was the last of the 
 primitive apostles. There were many apostles 
 after this time, but they were all secondary ; they 
 had a divine call, but it was internal, and never 
 accompanied by any vision id' external demonstra- 
 tion of that Christ wdio had been manifested in the 
 flesh. 
 
 12. Now if Christ be preached, etc. — Seeing 
 it is true that we have thus preached Christ, and 
 ye have credited this preaching, how say some 
 among you, who have professed to receive this 
 doctrine from us, that there is no resurrection 
 of the dead. [It is an interesting question mho 
 these riveg ("some") were; and it can only be an- 
 swered by the indications which the argument in 
 the chapter furnishes. It seems scarce]] probable 
 that they were Sadducees, for the apostle's argu- 
 ments do not appear to be addressed to such deniers 
 as were they ; nor is there any reason to believe that 
 any of that sect were found among the early dis- 
 ciples. (»n the other hand, and for like reasons, the 
 Epicureans musl be excluded, for the apostle's use of 
 their maxim, "Let us eat and drink," etc., implies 
 that those whom he opposed would by no means 
 accept that maxim. They could not have been 
 Jew-, either Pharisees or Essenes, for neither of 
 these sects denied the resurrection ; nor could they
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 urrection of tlie dead? 13 But if there be no 
 
 resurrection of the dead, 'then is Christ not 
 risen: 14 And if Christ be not risen, then is 
 our preacbing vain, and your faith is also vain. 
 15 Yea, and we arc found false witnesses of 
 God : because w we have testified of God that 
 he raised up Christ : whom be raised not up, 
 if so be that the dead rise not. 16 For if 
 
 v 1 Thessalonians 4.14. — w Acts 2. 24, 32 ; 4.10, 33 ; 13.30. — 
 # Romans 4. U5. 
 
 have been of the company of Hymenaeus and Plii- 
 letus, who allegorized the doctrine, for evidently the 
 apostle is arguing not against such, but against 
 those who denied the fact of Christ's resurrection, 
 and the doctrines derived from that great truth. 
 Whether the apostle regarded the resurrection of 
 the body as inseparably bound up with a future exist- 
 ence does not very clearly appear in this chapter, 
 (though all that he says will admit of that con- 
 struction.) From the use of the word aTvMovro, 
 have perished, (verse 18.) which must refer not to 
 annihilation but to perdition, it would seem that he 
 admitted an independent existence of the soul. 
 (See also Phil, i, 23.) But from verse 32 it would 
 seem that the apostle regarded the denial of the 
 resurrection as involving that of the future state 
 and judgment, (or else he regarded the avdaraaiQ 
 VEKpuv, simply the rising into that better state of 
 being for which he longed, (Phil, i, 23,) as " fat- 
 better " than the present. On the question to 
 which of the (supposed) Corinthian parties the op- 
 ponents belonged, I have nothing to say, not rec- 
 ognising the divisions into Pauline, Petrine, etc., 
 parties, as having any historical foundation. — See 
 Alford.] That there was some false teacher (or 
 teachers) among them, who was endeavouring to 
 incorporate Mosaic rites and ceremonies with the 
 Christian doctrines, and even to blend Saddu- 
 ceeism with the whole, appears pretty evident. To 
 confute this mongrel Christian, and overturn his 
 had doctrine, the apostle writes tins chapter. 
 
 13. If there be no resurrection of the dead 
 — There seems to have been some at Corinth who, 
 though they denied the resurrection of the dead, 
 admitted that Christ had risen again: the apostle's 
 argument goes therefore to state that, if Christ 
 was raised from the dead, mankind may and most 
 certainly will be raised. [This argument has force 
 only if the resurrection is understood as a glorifi- 
 cation of the body, (the oaua, self, me, ipsum,) and 
 therefore an overcoming of death. — Olshausen J 
 
 14. Then is our preaching vain — Our whole 
 doctrine is useless, nugatory, and false. And 
 your faith is also vain — Your belief of a false 
 doctrine must necessarily be to you unprofitable. 
 [A second consequence, the absurdity of holding 
 that the Gospel, with all its provisions and promises, 
 with all it had done and yet proposed to effect, 
 was a delusion, (must follow the denial that Christ 
 is risen.) — Dr. Poor.'] 
 
 15. False witnesses — As having testified the 
 fact of Christ's resurrection, as a matter which our- 
 selves had witnessed. [Persons who Iiave testified 
 what is false against (rod, (rather, concerning God.) 
 — Alford.] Every consciously false giving of 
 testimony that God has done something, is testi- 
 mony against God, because an abuse of Ids name 
 and an injury to his holiness. — Meyer.] [The 
 apostles everywhere, and on all occasions, pro- 
 claimed as a fact known by themselves, that Christ 
 
 the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised : 
 17 And if Christ he not raised, your faith is 
 vain; "ye are yet in your sins. 18 Then they 
 also which arc fallen asleep in Christ are per- 
 ished. 19 J It in this life only we have hope 
 in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. 
 20 But now z is Christ risen from the dead, 
 and become "the firstfruits of them that sleep. 
 
 V 2 Timothy 3. 12. s 1 Peter 1. 3. a Acts 26. 23 ; verse 23 : 
 
 Colossians 1. 18; Revelation 1. 5. 
 
 had risen (had been raised) from the dead. Its 
 denial was therefore an impeachment of their 
 veracity.] [Why may not a man admit that Christ, 
 the incarnate Son of Cod, arose from the dead, and 
 yet consistently deny that there is to be a general 
 resurrection of the dead ? Because the thing de- 
 nied was, that the dead could rise. The denial was 
 placed on ground which embraced the case of 
 Christ.— Hodge.] 
 
 17. Ye are yet in your sins — [Paul evidently 
 assumes, all through this argument, that the resur- 
 rection of Christ was an. essential part of his work 
 of redemption, and that to deny that fact was to 
 render invalid the whole scheme of salvation 
 through and by him. (See Rom. v, 10.)] 
 
 18. They also which are fallen r.sleep — All 
 those who, either by martyrdom or natural death, 
 have departed in the faith of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, are perished ; their hope was without 
 foundation, and their faith had not reason and 
 truth for its object. [" Perished," perdition, i per- 
 ishing,) according to Scripture, is not annihilation, 
 but the state of damnation, remaining in Gehenna, 
 as a consequence of being vet in sin. — Kliny.\ 
 (See John v, 25, 28, 29 ; xi, 25, 26, etc.) 
 
 19. If in (at, or during) this life only we have 
 hope — [If our hope in Christ extends only to the 
 present life, we are . . . most miserable, for, 1 ) we 
 have consented to forego the present life, in order 
 to win the future ; and 2) because all our high 
 hopes of eternal life are doomed to disappoint- 
 ment.] [If. therefore, there was no resurrection, 
 (avacTaaic, uprising?) and consequently no (future) 
 kingdom of God, no restoration of (and to) paradise, 
 the Christians sacrificing everything in this life in 
 order to gain all in the next, were (would be) the 
 most miserable of men. — Olshausen.] [Here, as 
 elsewhere, it would appear that the resurrection 
 and the future life are either identified or the two 
 are inseparably bound up together.] 
 
 20. But now is Christ risen — [Rather, raised.] 
 On the contrary, Christ is raised from the dead, 
 and is become the firstfruits of them that 
 slept. His resurrection has been demonstrated, 
 and it is assumed that our resurrection follows as a 
 result. Just as the firstfruits are the promise of the 
 future harvest, so the resurrection of Christ is the 
 assurance of ours. Christ being security for our res- 
 urrection — the firstfruits only id' those who slept — 
 the resurrection (of the whole human race) had com- 
 menced with him. — Olshausen?] [Now Christ, the 
 firstfruits of them that sleep, has ri*<n (waked "/<) 
 fromthedead. \ly virtue of Christ's conquest over 
 death, they who are in Christ, in departing from the 
 body, fall asleep (lThess. iv, 13-15) in him, and be- 
 come also partakers of his resurrection. Christ's 
 resurrection was not for himself only or personally, 
 but as the head of the race, the second Adam, 
 
 verse 22.) he triumphed over death as the me- 
 diator and the representative of redeemed humanity, 
 
 157
 
 t. comvnTTAxs. 
 
 21 For '•since by man came death, c by man cam* 
 also the resurrection <>f the dead. '2*2 For 
 ;is in Adam all die, even so in Christ Bhal] all 
 be made alive. 2:5 But J everj man in his 
 own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward 
 they that are Christ's at his coming. 21 Then 
 cometh the end, when he shall have delivered 
 up e the kingdom to God, even the Father; 
 
 h Rom. 5. 12, 17. .'John II. •-'.-,: Horn. (',. 2:1. — d Verse 20; 
 
 l. 15, LB, 17. ■ Dan. 7. 14, 27. /Psa 111). 1: Acts 2. 
 
 and in that act achieved the resurrection of those 
 that sleep in him.] 
 
 21. For since by man came death — Death 
 came bj Adam, life from the dead by Christ; so 
 sure as all have been subjected to death by Adam, 
 so sure shall all he raised again by Christ Jesus. 
 (See on Rom. v, 12-18.) 
 
 22. As in Adam ... so in Christ — [l*n commu- 
 nity with, as partakers of a common nature with, 
 "Adam" and "Christ," (both of whom were the 
 divinely appointed heads and representatives of the 
 
 vho are (also) respectively the sources to the 
 whole of that nature {-i'iv7f(\ all men) of death and 
 life. The fact of Christ's being the Lord of life 
 ami righteousness, and the second and spiritual 
 head of our nature, 13 assumed; to us, he is the 
 bringer-in of life, as Adam was the bringer-in of 
 deal 1 1. — Alford.] 
 
 23. But every man in his own order — The 
 apostle mentions three orders here: 1) Christ, 
 who rose from the dead by his own power. 2) Them 
 that are Christ's: all his apostles, martyrs, con- 
 fessors, and faithful followers. 3> Then cometh 
 
 tin /. when the whole mass shall be raised. 
 
 Whether this order be exactly what the apostle 
 intends, I shall not assert. Of the first, Christ's 
 own resurrection, there can be no question. The 
 second, the resurrection of his followers before 
 that of the common dead, is thought by some very 
 reasonable. "They had here a resurrection from a 
 death of sin to a life of righteousness, which the 
 others bad not, because they would not be saved in 
 Christ's way. That they should have the privilege 
 of being raised first,' to behold the astonishing 
 changes and revolutions which shall then take 
 place, has nothing in it. contrary to propriety and 
 fitness;" but it seems contrary to verse 52, in 
 which all the dead&re said to rise in a moment, in 
 the twinkling of an eye. "And, thirdly, that all 
 the other mass of mankind should be raised last, 
 just to come forward and receive their doom, is 
 equally reasonable:" but -it is apparently incon- 
 sistent with the manner in which Cod chooses to 
 act. (See verse 53 I Some think that by them 
 that are Christ's at his coming, "we are to under- 
 stand Christ's coming to reign on earth a thousand 
 years with his saints previously to the general 
 judgment;" but I must confess I find nothing in 
 the sacred writings distinctly enough marked to 
 support this opinion of the millennium or thousand 
 years' reign ; nor can I conceive any important end 
 that can be answered by this procedure. We 
 should be very cautious how we make a figurative 
 expression, used in the most figurative book in the 
 Bible, the foundation of a very important literal 
 system that is to occupy a measure of the faith, 
 and no small portion of the hope, of Christians. 
 The strange conjectures formed on this very un- 
 certain basis have not been very creditable either 
 to reason or religion. [Each one (not "every 
 
 158 
 
 when he shall have put down till rule, and all 
 authority and power. 25 For he must reign, 
 'till in- hath put all enemies under his feet. 
 2<» *The last enemy that shall be destroyed is 
 death. 27 For he h hath put all things under 
 his feet. But when he saith, All things are 
 put under him, if is manifest that he is ex- 
 cepted, which did put all things under him. 
 
 3t, 3.i 
 20. It. 
 
 Eph. 1. 22; Heh. 1. 13; 10. 13. </•-> Tim. 1 10: Rev. 
 
 - -// I'sa. s. H; Matt. 2*. IS; lleb. 2. *; 1 Pet. 3. 22. 
 
 man")w?, his own order, rdyuan, is indicative of 
 gradation of dignity rather than of time.'] [The 
 key to the understanding of this passage is to lie 
 found in the prophecy of our Lord. I Malt. x\iv 
 and xxv,) — Alford;] hut it has been shown that the 
 predictions of those chapters found their fulfil- 
 ment in the destruction of Jerusalem. (See the 
 notes on these places.) 
 
 24. Then . . . the end — [FAra -b -Doc ; the 
 consummation, coming in its proper order, after 
 Christ'- resurrection, (the firstfruits,) and the bring- 
 ing with him those that are his, (1 Thess. iv, 14,) 
 
 which shall be the final act of the great drat >f 
 
 the world's redemption — the accomplishment of 
 which is the purpose of "the kingdom of Cod," 
 that is, the mediatorial reign. (See on Matt, iii, 2.)] 
 When he shall have delivered up the king- 
 dom — The mediatorial kingdom, which compre- 
 hends all the displays of his grace in saving sinners, 
 and all his spiritual influence in governing the 
 ( hurch. All rule, and all authority and power 
 — 'ApXV v ■ ■ ■ i^ovaiav ko'i dvvautv. Our Lord Jesus 
 is represented here as administering the concerns 
 of the kingdom of grace in this lower world during 
 the time that this divine economy lasts ; and when 
 the end — the time determined by the wisdom of 
 God comes, then the kingdom is delivered up unto 
 the Father. 
 
 25. For he must reign, etc. — This is according 
 to the promise, (I'sa. ex, 1,) " The Lord said unto my 
 Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until 1 make thine 
 enemies thy footstool." Therefore the kingdom 
 cannot be given up till all rule and government be 
 cast down. So that while the world lasts, Jesus, 
 as the Messiah and Mediator, must, reign ; and all 
 human beings are properly his subjects, under his 
 government, and accountable to him. 
 
 26. The last enemy (death) shall be de- 
 stroyed — 'KarapyeiTai, shall be counter-worked, 
 subverted, and finally overturned. But death can- 
 uot be destroyed by there being simply no further 
 death ; death can only be destroyed and annihi- 
 lated by a general resurrection : if there be no gen- 
 eral resurrection it is most evident that death will 
 still retain his empire. Therefore, the fact that 
 death "shall be destroyed" assures the fact that 
 there shall be a general resurrection : and this is a 
 proof, also, that after the resurrection there shall 
 be no more death (or dying.) 
 
 27. For he hath put all things under his 
 feet — The Father hath put all things under the 
 feet of Christ, according to the prophecy of Psa. ex. 
 He is excepted — That is, the Father, who hath 
 put all things under the Son. This observation 
 seems to be introduced by the apostle to show 
 that he does not mean that the divine nature shall 
 be subjected to the human nature. Christ, as 
 Messiah and Mediator between Coil and man, must 
 ever be considered inferior (secondary) to the 
 Father: and his human nature, however dignified
 
 inn, our Lord him- 
 ubject to G< d. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 2§ 'And when all things shall be subdued un- 
 to him, then k shall the Son also himself be 
 subject unto him that put all things under him, 
 
 i Phil. 3.21. 
 
 in consequence of its union with the divine nature, 
 must ever be inferior to God. [As it is the Father 
 who has subjected all things to the Son, it follows 
 of course that he is to be excepted from the " all 
 things " placed under him ; rather, he exalts the 
 Redeemer, as having taken man's nature in him- 
 self, to the joint possession of his throne, (Psa. 
 ex, 1 ;) that is, the Father reigns through the Son. 
 — Olshausen.~\ The whole of this verse should be 
 read in a parenthesis. 
 
 28. The Son also himself be subject — When 
 the administration of the kingdom of grace is finally 
 closed; when there shall be no longer any state of 
 probation, and consequently no longer need of a 
 distinction between the kingdom of grace and the 
 kingdom of glory ; then the Son, as being man and 
 Messiah, shall cease to exercise any distinct do- 
 minion ; and God be all in all: there remaining 
 no longer any distinction in the persons of the 
 glorious Trinity as acting any distinct or separate 
 parts in either the kingdom of grace or the king- 
 dom of glory ; and so the one Infinite Essence shall 
 appear undivided and eternal. And yet, as there 
 appears to be a personality essentially in the in- 
 finite Godhead, that personality must exist eter- 
 nally ; but how this shall be we can neither tell 
 nor know till that time comes in which we shall 
 see him as he is. (1 John iii, 2.) [This whole 
 section (verses 24—28) is in explanation of the giv- 
 ing up of the kingdom ; and it rests on this weighty 
 verity : the kingdom of Christ over this world, in its 
 beginning, its furtherance, and its completion, has 
 one great end, the glorification of the father by 
 the son. Therefore, when it (that is, the kingdom) 
 shall be established, every enemy overcome, every- 
 thing subjected to him, he will not reign over it, or 
 abide its king, but deliver it up to the father 
 Hence (verse 25) his reign will endure not like that 
 of earthly kings, when he shall have put all his ene- 
 mies under his feet, but only until he shall have 
 done so, and then will be absorbed in the all-per- 
 vading majesty of him for whose glory it was from 
 first to last carried onward. This respects only the 
 mediatorial work and kingdom; the work of re- 
 demption, and that lordship over both the dead and 
 the living, for which Christ both died and rose. 
 Consequently, nothing is here said that can affect 
 either — 1) His co-equality and co-eternity with the 
 Father, which is pri>>r to and independent of this 
 mediatorial work, and is not limited to the media- 
 torial kingdom; or, 2) the (future) eternity of his 
 humanity; for that humanity ever was and is sub- 
 ordinate to the Father; and it by no means follows 
 that when the mediatorial kingdom shall be given 
 up to the Father, the humanity in which that king- 
 dom was won shall be put off; nay, the very fact 
 of Christ in the body (Ins humanity) being the first- 
 fruits of the resurrection, proves that his body, 
 (manhood,) as ours, will endure forever; as the 
 truth that our humanity even in glory can only sub- 
 sist before God by virtue of his humanity, makes 
 it plain that he will be very man to all eternity. — 
 Afford.] 
 
 29. Else what shall chey do which are bap- 
 tized for the dead — This is one of the most diffi- 
 cult passages in the New Testament ; and accord- 
 
 that God may be all in all. 29 Else what 
 shall they do which are baptized for the dead, 
 if the dead rise not at all? why are they then 
 
 k Chap. 3. 
 
 ingly there are nearly as many different interpreta- 
 tions of it as there are interpreters. I shall not 
 employ my time nor that of my reader with a vast 
 number of discordant and conflicting opinions ; I 
 shall make a few remarks: 1) The doctrine of the 
 resurrection of our Lord was a grand doctrine 
 among the apostles ; they considered and preached 
 this as the demonstration of the truth of the Gos- 
 pel. 2) The multitudes who embraced Christianity 
 became converts on the evidence of this resurrection. 
 3) This resurrection was considered the pledge and 
 proof of the resurrection of all believers in Christ 
 to the possession of the same glory into which he 
 had entered. 4) The baptism which they received 
 they considered as an emblem of their natural 
 death and resurrection. This doctrine St. Paul 
 most pointedly preaches. (Romans vi, 3, 4, 5 :) 
 "Know ye not, that so many of us as were bap- 
 tized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his 
 death ? Therefore we are buried with him by bap- 
 tism into death : that like as Christ was raised up 
 from the dead . . . even so we also should walk in 
 newness of life. For if we have been planted to- 
 gether in the likeness of his death, we shall be also 
 in . . . his resurrection." 5) It is evident from this, 
 that all who died in the faith of Christ died in the 
 faith of the resurrection ; and therefore cheerfully 
 gave up their lives to death, as they took joyfully 
 the spoiling of their goods, knowing in themselves 
 that they had in heaven a better and an enduring 
 substance. (Heb. x, 34.) 6) As those who were 
 properly instructed and embraced Christianity 
 believed that all who had died in the faith of 
 Christ should rise again, so they were baptized in 
 the same faith. 1) As many of the primitive fol- 
 lowers of Christ sealed the truth with their blood, 
 every man who took on him the profession of 
 Christianity, which was done by receiving baptism, 
 considered himself as exposing his life to the most 
 imminent hazard, and offering his life with those 
 who had already offered and laid down theirs. 
 8) He was therefore baptized in reference to this 
 martyrdom ; and, having a regard to those dead, he 
 cheerfully received baptism, that, whether he were 
 taken off by a natural or violent death, he might 
 be raised in the likeness of .lesus Christ's resurrec- 
 tion, and that of his illustrious martyrs. 9) As 
 martyrdom and baptism were thus so closely and 
 intimately connected , (3aTr-t&odai, to be baptized, 
 was used to express the being put to a violent death 
 bv the hands of persecutors. (So Matt, xx, 22. 23 ; 
 Mark x, 38 ; Luke xii, 50.) 10) The sum of the 
 apostle's meaning appears to be this: If there be 
 no resurrection of the dead, those who, in becoming 
 Christians, expose themselves to all manner of pri- 
 vations, crosses, severe sufferings, ami a violent 
 death, can have no compensation, nor any motive 
 sufficient to induce them to expose themselves to 
 such miseries. But as they receive baptism as an 
 emblem of death, so they now consider themselves 
 to be risen with Christ, (Col. iii, 1-4.) Thus they 
 are baptized for the (bad, in perfect faith of the 
 resurrection. [All attempted interpretations of 
 this passage are proved to lie failures by the fact 
 that each interpreter rejects all but his own. That 
 given by Dr. Keudricks, in a note to his translation 
 
 159
 
 A.M. 4050. A. P. 56. 
 Ve.ir of Ron 
 
 T. CORINTHIANS. 
 
 Exhortattoni founded on khfl 
 
 baptized for the dead? 30 And 'why stand 
 we in jeopardy every hour? 31 I protest 1 > v 
 '■" 'your rejoicing which I have in Chrisl Jesus 
 .mi- Lord, ° I die daily. 32 [f p after the man- 
 ner of men i 1 have fought with beasts al 
 
 {3 Cor. 11.26; Gtal. 8.11. mSorae readt our. n I These 
 
 2. 19. — o I! B. 36: chap. I. ■<; 2 Cor. •». 10, 11; 11. 23. — 
 
 p Or, to speak aft, r the manner cfnu n. 
 
 of Olshausen's remarks on this passage, is worthy 
 of a respectful consideration, though not very for- 
 cibly sustained. Collating this with verse 19, he 
 remarks: "The connexion clearly points to and 
 seems to demand a reference to the perils of the 
 Mil-profession ; to the folly and senselessness 
 of assuming a profession (unless there is to be a fu- 
 ture life) which is almost, a certain devotion to 
 death." This he thinks is what the apostle means 
 by their being "baptized for the dead." This is 
 clearly a forced interpretation ; but who has a 
 better?] 
 
 30. And why stand we in jeopardy every 
 hour — Is there any reason why we should volun- 
 tarily submit to so many sufferings, and every hour 
 be in danger of losing our lives, if the dead rise 
 not? We have counted the cost, despise suffer- 
 ings, and exult at the prospect of death, because 
 we know we shall have a resurrection unto eternal 
 life. 
 
 31. I protest by your rejoicing — N>) t?)v 
 vfi ripav Kav^aiv, [/>;/ that glorying in you: Re- 
 vise I Version.] [His boast of them as his work 
 in Christ. — Alford.] [So truly as ye, yourselves, 
 are the object of my boasting. — Meyer.~\ [As truly 
 as I can boast of yon, in Jesus Christ our Lord, do 
 I daily tremble myself amid the dangers of death. — 
 Kling. ] [By my glory that 1 have in you.— Olshaus- 
 oi.~\ I declare by the exultation which I have in 
 Christ Jesus, as having died for my offences and 
 risen again for my justification, that I neither fear 
 sufferings nor death ; and am daily ready to be 
 offere 1 up, and feel myself continually exposed to 
 death. The phrase, your glorying, is equivalent to 
 glorying on your account : 1 profess, by the glory- 
 ing or exultation which I have on account of your 
 salvation, that i anticipate with pleasure the end of 
 my earthly race. I die daily — A form of speech 
 for, I am continually exposed to death. 
 
 32. If after the manner of men, etc. — [After 
 t'i' manner of men, el Kara avBpuirov, if us a man, 
 (merely,) that is, according to this world's views, as 
 one who has no hope beyond the grave. — Alford.] 
 Does the apostle mean that he had literally fought 
 with wild beasts at Ephesus? or, that he had met 
 with brutish, savage men, from whom he was in 
 danger of his life? [The former interpretation is 
 ren Iered improbable, not only because of the 
 rights of Roman citizenship, which Paul enjoyed, 
 which precluded such punishment, and to which 
 he could have appealed in case he had been con- 
 demned tu it ; but also from the fact that no men- 
 tion of any such an extraordinary occurrence is 
 elsewhere made. (See for omissions. Act-, passim, 
 and 2 Cor. ix, 23, etc.) . . . Whatever be the danger 
 (referred to,) it must be the same of which he 
 speaks in Rom. xv, 4; 2 Cor. i, 8; Acts xx, 19. — 
 KUng.] As we do not read of any imminent dan- 
 ger to which he was exposed at Ephesus, sufficient 
 to justify the expression I have fought with 
 beasts at Ephesus, it leaves room for the conjec- 
 ture that he was at some time, not directly mentioned 
 bv his historian or himself, actually exposed to wild 
 
 160 
 
 Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead 
 rise not '. 'let us eat and drink; for to morrow 
 we die. :{:j Be not deceived : • evil communi- 
 cations corrupt good manners. 3-1 'Awake 
 to righteousness, and sin nol ; for -ohm- have 
 
 ?2 Cor. 1.8. rEccles 2.24; Isa. 22. i:i: ",i;. ej . l.uKc 12. Hi. 
 
 « Chapter 5. 6. Mtomans 13. 11; Ephesians 5. 14. 
 
 u i Thess. 1.5. 
 
 beasts at Ephesus. To something of this kind be per- 
 haps refers in 2 Cor. i, 8, 9, 10: " For we would not, 
 brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which 
 came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of 
 
 measure, above strength," naff !■-> p/jo2 /,r . 
 
 ''/,//, r r.-.'/i dvvafiiv, insomuch that we despaired 
 
 even of life. But we had the Sentence Of death in 
 ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, 
 
 but in God which raiseth the dead: who delivered 
 us from so great a death." These expressions 
 refer to some excessive and unprecedented danger, 
 from which nothing less than a miraculous inter- 
 ference could have saved him ; and it might have 
 been an actual exposure to wild beasts, or any other 
 danger equally great, or even greater. What ad- 
 vantageth it me, if the dead rise not — I be- 
 lieve the common method of pointing this verse is 
 erroneous; 1 propose to read it thus: If after 
 tin manner of men / have fought with beasts at 
 Ephesus, what doth it advantage m> ? It the dead 
 rise not, let us eat and drink, for to morrow we die. 
 What the apostle says here is a regular and 
 legitimate conclusion from the doctrine that there 
 is no resurrection, that is, no future life. For 
 if there be no resurrection, then there can be no 
 judgment — no future state of rewards and punish- 
 ments ; why, therefore, should we bear crosses, 
 and keep ourselves under continual discipline ? 
 Let us eat and drink, take all the pleasure we tan, 
 for to morrow we die ; and there is an end of us 
 for ever. The words, Let us eat and drink, for 
 to morrow we die, are taken from Isa. xxii, 13, 
 as they stand now in the Septuagint, and are a 
 pretty smooth proverbial saying, which might be 
 paralleled from the writings of several Epicurean 
 heathens, tyayujiev ical Ttiufiev avpiov yap anotfvijOKo- 
 
 flEV. 
 
 33. Be not deceived — Do not impose on your- 
 selves, and permit not others to do it. [An inti- 
 mation that there was danger of such a delusion.] 
 Evil communications corrupt good manners — 
 There are many sayings like this among the Greek 
 poets, but this of the apostle is generally supposed 
 to have been taken from Menander's lost comedy 
 of Thais: Qdeipovoiv ifiri \pfja& bfiikiai Kauai, bad 
 company good morals doth corrupt. 
 
 34. Awake to righteousness — Shake oil' your 
 slumber ; awake fully, thoroughly, dacaiug, g.sye ought 
 to i/ii ; so the word should be rendered ; not awake 
 tn righteousness. lie in earnest : do not trifle with 
 (hid. your souls, and eternity. ['Eyi / i urt , wake up! 
 marks the quick momentary awaking, to be done 
 at once ; urj dfiapravere, sinnot. on the other hand, 
 indicates the enduring practice of abstinence from 
 sin, (sinning.) — Meyer and Alford.] Sin not — 
 For this will lead to the destruction both of body 
 and soul. Fib' is but a moment : improve it. 
 Heaven has blessings without end. [It should not 
 be too hastily inferred, from verses 33, 34, that the 
 deniers of the resurrection would have abhorred 
 the Epicurean maxim, though, as Paul assumes, his 
 readers generally would have considered it anti- 
 Christian, but the Ttvic (some, verse 12) among
 
 (IT AFTER XV. 
 
 A. M. 4060. A. D. 5 
 Year of Rome, 81 9. 
 
 not the knowledge of God: V I speak this to 
 your sharne. 35 But some man will say, 
 "How are the dead raised up? ami with what 
 hody do they come? 36 Thou fool, "that 
 which thou so west is not quickened, except it 
 die: 37 And that which thou sowest, thou 
 sowest not that body that shall he, but bare 
 grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some 
 
 r Chap. 6, 5. (0 Ezek. 37. 3. 
 
 them must, according to the apostle's warning and 
 exhortation, have been already carried away, incon- 
 sequence of this denial, to a frivolous tendency of 
 life; otherwise Paul would not warn against being 
 led away by their immoral companionship. . . . 
 The warning i- not against mistaking arid neglect- 
 ing saving trutlis, but against corruption of whole- 
 some habits, that is, immoralities. . . . This danger 
 of going astray is not to be conceived of as having 
 arisen through intercourse with heathen fellow 
 countrymen, but through association with those in 
 the Church who had become morally careless, by 
 reason of the denial of the resurrection. This 
 (understanding) is demanded by the whole con- 
 nexion. See Meyer.] [The assumption is, which 
 the facts in this ease appear to have proved, that 
 the denial of the future life is destructive of 
 Christian morals.] Some have not the knowl- 
 edge of God — The original is very emphatic : 
 hyvuaiav yap Oeov tivec . l \ovo~lv, some hare an igno- 
 rance of God; they do not acknowledge God. 
 They have what is their bane ; and they have not 
 what would be their happiness and glory. To have 
 an ignorance of God — a sort of substantial dark- 
 ness, that prevents the light of God from penetra- 
 ting the soul — is a worse state than to be simply in 
 the dark, or without the divine knowledge. ['Ay- 
 vuaiav Qeov : atticism, a condition of spiritual in- 
 scrutability and blindness, possessing and ruling the 
 soul, by which all moral restraints are removed, 
 and the man becomes the subject of his passions 
 and lusts, a most grievous condition and an occa- 
 sion for shame.] 
 
 85. But some man will say — W2.2.a kpel tic. 
 The apostle, by rig, some, some one, some man, 
 means any one of the rivec, (verse 12,) and partic- 
 ularly some false apostle or teacher at Corinth, who 
 was chief in the opposition to the pure doctrines of 
 the Gospel, and to whom, in this covert way, he 
 often refers. The second part of the apostle's dis- 
 course begins at this verse. What shall be the 
 nature of the resurrection body ? The question is 
 stated (verse 85) anil answered: first, by a .simili- 
 tude, (verses 36-38;) secondly, by an application, 
 (verses 39-41 ;) and thirdly, by explication. (Verses 
 42-50.) 
 
 36. Thou fool — \\6puv. If this be addressed, 
 as it probably is, to the fedse apostle, there is a pe- 
 culiar propriety in it; as this man seems to have 
 magnified his own wisdom, and set it up against 
 both God and man ; and none but a fool could act 
 so. At the same time, it is folly in any to assert 
 the impossibility of a thing because he cannot com- 
 prehend it. [The term does not necessarily ex- 
 press any bitterness of feeling, for our blessed Lord 
 used the like to his doubting disciples. (Luke 
 xxiv, 15.) It was the senselessness of the objection 
 that is here attacked. — Hodge.'] That which 
 thou sowest is not quickened, except it die — 
 I have shown the propriety of this simile of the 
 apostle in the note on John xii, 24, to which 1 
 Vol. II.— 11 
 
 other grain : 3§ But God giveth it a body 
 
 as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his 
 own body. 39 All flesh is not the same flesh: 
 but tin re is one Mnd of flesh of men, another 
 flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another 
 of birds.. 40 There are also celestial bodies, 
 and bodies terrestrial: hut the glory of the 
 celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial 
 
 X John 12. 24. 
 
 must refer the reader. A grain of wheat, etc., is 
 composed of the body or lobe, and the germ. The 
 latter forms an inconsiderable part of the mass of 
 the grain; the body, lobe, or farinaceous part, 
 forms nearly the whole. This body dies — becomes 
 decomposed, and forms a hue earth, from which the 
 germ derives its first nourishment ; by the nourish- 
 ment thus derived the germ is quickened, receives 
 its first vegetable life, and through this means is 
 rendered capable of deriving the rest of its nourish- 
 ment and support from the grosser earth in which 
 the grain was deposited. Whether the apostle 
 would intimate here that there is a certain germ in 
 the present body, which shall become the seed of 
 the resurrection body, this is not the place to in- 
 quire. [Evidently, however, this interpretation 
 leads to the " germ " theory, which very few now 
 accept.] 
 
 37. Thou sowest not that body that shall 
 be — [The point of this illustration seems to be, 
 that as the plant which comes in tin- place of the 
 seed is something quite different in character and 
 appearance from that which was sown, and which 
 seemed to have perished, so will the resurrection 
 body differ from the natural body. It is certain 
 that the life of the plant existed potentially in the 
 seed before its germination.] 
 
 38. But God giveth it a body — [Ami such a 
 body as was that on which the seed sown grew. 
 To every seed his (its) own body — A body of 
 its own distinctive nature, whether of wheat or of 
 any other grain. The illustration teaches, that as 
 with the seed, so with the human body. God will, 
 at the resurrection, give to every dead human being 
 the same body, in all its essential parts, as formerly 
 belonged to it, but adapted to the changed and 
 higher mode of existence on which it is about to 
 enter.] 
 
 39. All flesh is not the same flesh— Though 
 the organization of all animals is, in its general 
 principles, the same, yet there are no two different 
 kinds of animals that have flesh of the same fla- 
 vour, whether the animal be beast, fowl, or fish. 
 [With the unity of the genus, (<iai>i, flesh, the 
 animal kingdom.) there exists a striking difference 
 in the species. — A'/ing.] [If, then, we see such a 
 variety in the organization of flesh and blood here, 
 the inference is, that we may had a still greater 
 variety of organizations existing in other spheres. — 
 l)r. Poor.] [Even earthly bodies differ from 
 earthly, and heavenly bodies from heavenly. What 
 wonder, then, if heavenly bodies differ from earthly : 
 or the bodies which rise from those that lav in the 
 grave?] 
 
 40. There are also celestial bodies, and bod- 
 ies terrestrial — The apostle certain]} docs no! 
 speak of " celestial " and "terrestrial" bodies in 
 the sense in which we use those terms : we invari- 
 ably mean by the former the sun, moon, planets, 
 and stars ; by the latter, masses of inanimate mat- 
 ter. But the apostle speaks of human beings, 
 
 161
 
 A. TV 56. 
 Veai ol R 
 
 T. CORINTHIANS. 
 
 The did- ■ . present 
 
 mid tin- futun 
 
 is another. -11 'Finn is one glory of the sun, 
 and another glory of the moon, and another 
 glory of the stars; for ont star differeth from 
 another star in glory. IvI J So also is the res- 
 urrection of the dead. It is sown in corrup- 
 
 t/Dan. 12.3; Matt. 13. &. 
 
 of whicli were clothed with celestial, others 
 with terrestrial, bodies. [It is not agreed whether 
 the apostle here means, 1) the bodies of angels, 
 
 icting which we know nothing at all,) or 
 2) h< m\ ii eh as the sun, moon, and 
 
 stars. The first, is maintained by Meyer and De 
 Wette, Alford and Stanley, and is apparently 
 favoured l»y Whedon ; the second, (and preferable 
 one,) is favoured by Osiander and Neander, also by 
 
 Calvin, 1.1 nfield, Henry, Poole, Barnes, Hodge, 
 
 Wesley, and mosi Kling (in Lange) pre 
 
 fers the latter, but Dr. Poor, his translator, favours 
 the former. Th ap istle's intent, however, is suf- 
 ficiently manifest: namely, that since there are 
 such varieties and diversities in God's works, and 
 such remarkable changes sur under the opera- 
 tions of his power, no inference can be made from 
 men's present bodies as to what they will be in the 
 future life. This only is the entire scope and pur- 
 pose "i ment: "It doth not yet appear 
 what sve shall be."] 
 
 41. There is one glory of the sun — As if he 
 hadsaid: This may be illustrated by the present ap- 
 pearance of thecelestial bodies which belong to our 
 
 system. The sun has a greater degr »f splendour 
 
 tii in the moon ; the moon, than the planets ; and the 
 planets have a greater than the stars. And even 
 in the fixed stars one lias a greater degree of splen- 
 dour than another. [Paul is here arguing from 
 existing diversities in the various organizations 
 foun 1 throughout the universe, to prove that there 
 may be still other aud greater varieties yet to ap- 
 pear; that neither the wisdom nor the power of God 
 has been exhausted in the production of the dif- 
 
 bo li ;s : and both will be made 
 more signally manifest in providing for saints a 
 lory of Christ's coming king- 
 dom. — Dr. Poor."] [It seems to be required that 
 the word rju;j.a, body, ;\< it is used in this argu- 
 ment, shall be taken in its largest and most inde- 
 finite sense | 
 
 42. So also is the resurrection of the dead 
 — [The i i of the foregoing statements.] 
 [The mi jxpi esse 1 sul e predicates am - 
 
 - ovn " and " raised,"' i 
 •I -i-l 1. 1 mi - - ta : but e\ identic 
 
 that v. i I in ISl l>e understood as indicative 
 
 of the whole man, and not -imply his material car- 
 ing *' which takes place tit what 
 
 i- usually called ••natural death, - ' and which ex- 
 
 ole man, is that falling into ruin 
 
 m's complex organism which constitute- the 
 
 complete an 1 significant humiliation of the "hole 
 
 personality. (See Job xiv, 10 ; Psalms ciii, 14 16; 
 3. xii. 7; 1 Peter i, 24, etc.) To the human 
 iidity, (the man in his present state.) so cast 
 
 down and destroyed by death, is given the promise 
 
 Of i gl GTCLGIC. ; our I ' 1 he redemp- 
 
 tion of our body," ( Horn, viii, 23,) understanding the 
 word "body" as above. Its corruption shall be 
 replaced \<\ : i1 d \ononr, by glory ; 
 
 its weakness, by strength ; its psychical organism, by 
 a purely spiritual modi- of subsistence.] It is 
 sown in corruption, it is raised in incorrup- 
 162 
 
 tion, it is raised in incorruption : C *S 'It is 
 sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory: it is 
 sou n in weakness, it is raised in power: II It 
 is sown a natural body, it i- raised a spiritual 
 body. There i- a natural body, and there i- a 
 
 e Phil. 3.21. 
 
 tion.- '] .'// </ corruptible 
 
 ••inl, . . . hi nn incorruptible state. 
 
 43. Sown in dishonour — PEv arifiia, "in dis- 
 honour." Raised in glory — 'En 66^v, " in glory. 11 
 This reference is only to the resurrection of the 
 just, as throughout the whole chapter. — Alford.] 
 It is sown in weakness — The principles of dis- 
 solution, corruption, and decay have prevailed over 
 it; disease undermined it, and death made it his 
 prey. It is raised in power — To he no mote 
 liable to weakness through labour, decay !■ 
 wasting by disease, .and dissolution by death. 
 
 44. It is sown a natural body — 2u//a \pv {ik6v. 
 | It (that is, the man) goes down to death, having 
 existed as a complex organism, in which the merely 
 animal wants and appetites and instincts have acted 
 a principal, often a predominating, part; that is, 
 man in his present state is verj largely a creature 
 of animal characteristics and propensions, from 
 which he can be entirely delivered only when he 
 shall eease to bear "the image of the earthly." 
 ( Verse 49.)] It is raised a spiritual body — One 
 built up' on indestructible principles, and therefore 
 no longer liable to death. [Recognising the essen- 
 tial difference in kind between matter and spirit, it 
 becomes evident that no amount of "being subtil- 
 ized" can change the former into the latter. A 
 "spiritual body" must be, therefore, in it- essence, 
 nut a '•natural" (that is, a material) body. The 
 English word body, answering very fairly to the 
 Greek oofia, signifies an individualized entity. 
 
 /'/.• "a whole, consisting of parts in due order." — 
 J)uin<i,,,i's Lexicon. "Substance, reality." — Rob- 
 inson. Body : " Any substance distinct from other-." 
 — Webster.) A " spiritual body " i-, then, a purely 
 spiritual essence individualized, of which "the 
 angels of God in heaven " (Matt, xxii, 30) tire dis- 
 tinctive specimens.] These thing- must ma he 
 treated a- ral >1 linical dotages. The different similes 
 used by Paul have one spirit and design. As the 
 -eed which is sown in the earth rots, and nut 
 of the germ contained ill it God produces a root, 
 
 stalk, leaves, ear, and a great numerical increase of 
 
 : i- it Imt likeh thai Cod, out of si eS- 
 
 sential parts of tin' body that now is, will produce 
 the resurrection body; and will then give the soul 
 a body as it pleaseth him ; and so completely pre- 
 serve the individuality of every human bein 
 he due- of every grain; giving to each its own 
 body '.' (Verse 88.) So that, as surely as the grain 
 of wheat shall produce when! alter it i- cast in the 
 earth, corrupts, and die-. SO surely shall our bodies 
 produce the same bodies a- to their essential indi- 
 viduality. As the germination ol' seed- is produced 
 by his wisdom and power, so shall the pure and 
 pei feet human body he in the resurrection. Hence 
 - r.ot say the body is buried, Imt the bodj i- 
 sown : it is sown in weakness, it i- sown in dis- 
 honour, etc. There is a natural (psychical) body, 
 and there is a spiritual body — [Such essentially 
 diverse organisms are not only conceivable, but they 
 
 actually exist, and both ate found (the latter a- yet 
 incomplete and held hi check by the former) in 
 man's complex temporal constitution.]
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 L. M. 40fi0. A. P. 56. 
 Year of K. id 
 
 spiritual body. 45 And so it is written, The 
 first man Adam "was made a living soul ; 'the 
 last Adam was made c a quickening spirit. 
 46 Howbeit that was not first which is spirit- 
 ual, but that which is natural; and afterward 
 that which is spiritual. 47 d The first man is 
 of the earth, e earthy: the second man is the 
 
 rtOen. 2. 7. h Rnrn. 5. 14. .-John 
 
 54.57: Phil. 3. 21 : Cm). 3. 4. tf John i. 31.- 
 
 /John 3. 13, 31. 
 
 21 : S. 33, 39, 4(1, 
 -eGm. 2. 7; 3 19. 
 
 45. The first man Adam was made a living 
 soul — These forms of expression are coimmm 
 among the Jews. The apostle says this is written, 
 evidently referring to Gen. ii, 7, in the words, the 
 breath of liven : " the living soul " of the text. The 
 last Adam ... a quickening spirit — This is also 
 said to be written ; but where, asks Dr. Lightfoot, 
 is this written in the whole sacred book? [Accord- 
 ing to this rendering, Gen. ii, 7, expresses two dis- 
 tinct processes in Adam's creation: l)The inbreath- 
 ing of a psychical life, which man has in common 
 with all animals; and 2) the superinduction on 
 and over this of a rational, spiritual soul, Trvev/ia, 
 something different from and infinitely above merely 
 psychical being. Such a nvsv/ia, with power to 
 impart his life to mankind, was our Lord Jesus 
 Christ. Hence it is said that the life that was in 
 him was " the light of men," (John i, 4.) and he also 
 declares himself to be (John xi, 25) "the resurrection 
 and the life." (See also John v, 21, and 1 John v, 
 11, 12.)] "It ought not to be passed by," says Dr. 
 Light font, "that Adam, receiving from < rod the prom- 
 ise of Christ, Tlie seed of the woman shall bruise 
 the head of the serpent, and believing it, named his 
 wife nin, Chavvah, that is, IAfe ; so the Sephcagint, 
 Kal EKakeaev 'A.6ap. to bvofia ri/r yiwamhc avrov Zu>} ; 
 and Adam called the name of his wife, Life. Adam 
 perceived (rbv eaxarov 'A6a.fi) the last Adam exhib- 
 ited to him in the promise to be wvevfia ^uowoiovv, 
 a quickening or life-giving spirit ; and had brought 
 in a better life of the soul ; and should at last bring 
 in a better life of the body. Hence is that saving, 
 (John i, 4,) 'Kv <zi»r<p „'w/} rp>, In HIM was LIFE." 
 [God gave to Adam such life as other animals en- 
 joy ; but the last Adam, Christ, is a quickening 
 spirit. As he hath life in himself, so he quickeneth 
 whom he will. — Wesley.] 
 
 46. That was not first which is spiritual — 
 [The natural or animal body, constitution, aofia rpv- 
 X'kov, (verse 44,) was the first in the order of se- 
 quence; that body or psychical nature in which 
 Adam was create I, in common with all irrational 
 animals. The spiritual body, at'jya irvex uariKOV, is 
 the last in order, and is that with which man was 
 endowed by the breath of the Creator, (see Gen. 
 ii, 7, Job xxxii. 8,) which being also indestructible, 
 becomes the subject of the avaaraaic, the resur- 
 rection.] 
 
 47. The first man is of the earth, earthy : 
 the second man is the Lord from heaven 
 ■ — ["The first man," being "of the earth," 
 is subject to corruption and dissolution like the 
 earth from which he came. "The second man," 
 St. Paul could not so well say, "is from heaven, 
 heavenly;" because, though man owes it to the 
 earth that he is earthy, yet the Lord dues not owe 
 his glory to heaven. He himself made the heav- 
 ens, and by descending from thence showed himself 
 to us as the Lord. Christ was not the second man 
 in order of time; but in this respect, thai as Adam 
 was a public person who acted in the stead of all 
 
 Lord f from heaven. 48 As is the earthy, 
 such are they also that are earthy: Band as is 
 the heavenly, such are they also that are 
 heavenly. 49 And h as we have borne the 
 image of the earthy, 'we shall also bear the 
 image of the heavenly. iH) Now this I say, 
 brethren, that k tlesh and blood cannot inherit 
 
 cl'liil. 3. 2ti. 21. AGenesis 5. 3. £ Rom. 8. 29: 2 Cm. 
 
 3. 18: 4. 11 ; Ptailippians3. 21 ; 1 John 3. 2. * Matthew 16, 17 : 
 
 John 3. 3, 5. 
 
 mankind, so was Christ. As Adam Mas the first 
 general representative of men, Christ was the sec- 
 ond and the last. And what they severally did ter- 
 minated not in themselves, but affected all whom 
 they represented. — Wesley.] 
 
 48. As is the earthy, etc. — As Adam was, who 
 was formed from the earth, so are all his descend- 
 ants ; frail, decaying, and subject to death. As is 
 the heavenly — As is the heavenly, (that is, Christ, 
 the second Adam,) so are they that are iv Xpuj~€>, 
 in Christ, and so have become partakers of his 
 spiritual nature, which carries with it his immor- 
 tality. (1 Tim. vi, 6.) 
 
 49. And as we have borne the image of the 
 earthy — As being of the stock of Adam we all 
 bear his likeness, and are subject to the same cor- 
 ruption and death; but being also iv Xpiorp, con- 
 joined to Christ as our living head. (Eph. iv, 15, 
 Col. i, 18,) we shall be renewed after the likeness 
 of his glorious body. (Phil, iii, 21.) 
 
 50. Flesh and blood cannot inherit the 
 kingdom — This is a Hebrew periphrasis for man, 
 and man in his present state of infirmity and de- 
 cay. Man in his present state cannot inherit Ihe 
 kingdom of God ; his nature is not suited to that 
 place; he could not, in his present weak state, en- 
 dure an exceeding great and eternal weight if 
 glory. Therefore, it is necessary that he should die 
 or be changed ; that he should have a celestial, body 
 suited to the celestial state. The apostle is cer- 
 tainly not speaking of "flesh and blood" in a 
 moral sense, to signify corruption of mind and 
 heart, but in a natural sense; as such, "flesh and 
 blood" cannot inherit glory for the reasons already 
 assigned. [By "flesh and blood," not our sinful, 
 fallen nature is intended, but our mortal nature, 
 the animal body in its present organization. That 
 this corporeal constitution cannot enter the king- 
 dom of God without chance is still further shown 
 from the incompatibility between the two. — Kling.] 
 [But by what "change" can this "corporeal" 
 substance become "incorporeal?" Matter, how- 
 ever largely attenuated, is math r still, and sph 
 
 ized matter is a contradiction in terms.] [-"/^ xai 
 mil,,, "flesh and blood," are nol the same in their 
 united import as nt.iua tpvxiicov, and must refer to 
 something of a material nature, which would 
 tn indicate that the aufia Trvevy.a-tic6v of the resur- 
 i is not a material body. | [St. Paul tells us that 
 every individual, when he rises again, will have a 
 spiritual body; but how diU'ereiit is the idea con- 
 veyed by these words from that which some persom 
 entertain, that we shall rise again with 7, 
 identical body. St. Paul appears effectually to pre- 
 clude this notion when In- says: Flesh and blood 
 cannot inherit tin kingdom of God. — Burton's I ■ - 
 tures, quoted by Conybeart and Howson.] ['Hi 
 . . . ?/ ■■', {corruption . . . incorruj 
 
 the abstracts, representing the impossibility of the 
 fdaprdv (the corrupted) inheriting the aQdapri 
 not corrupted,) as one grounded in these qualities. 
 
 163
 
 
 T. CORINTHIANS. 
 
 BUrrecllon hodyto 
 
 L] :tl.le. 
 
 the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption 
 inherit incorruption. 51 Behold, I show you 
 ;i mystery ; ' We shall not all ul we 
 
 shall all he changed, 52 In a moment, in the 
 twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: "for 
 lie. trumpet shall sound, ami the dead shall he 
 raised incorruptible, ami we -hall he changed. 
 5:S For this corruptible musl put on incorrup- 
 tion, and "this mortal must put on immortality. 
 5 I So when this corruptible shall have put on 
 incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on 
 
 / 1 Thess. 4. 15. lri, 17. m Phil. 3. 21. nZecli. 9. 14: Matt. 
 
 24. 31; John 5. 25; 1 Thess. 4. K o2 Cor. 5. 4. p Isa. 
 
 b. 2. 14, 15; Rev. 20. 14. 
 
 The words ovde . . . i&npovouei (doth not inherit) set 
 forth I i impossibility in the natun of 
 
 th i ngs. — A Ifo rd. ] 
 
 51. I show you a mystery — That is, a thing 
 Which you have never known before. Hut what is 
 this ''mystery?" Why, that we shall not all 
 sleep; we shall nut all die. But we shall all be 
 changed — I if this the Jews had not distinct no- 
 tions. For, as flesh ami blood cannot inherit glory, 
 ami Some shall not lie found 'lead at the day of 
 
 judgment, then these, too, must he "changed." 
 (Without doubt Paul included himself also in the 
 r/uelc, because ho hoped to live until the coming id' 
 I . — < tUlmiis, a. So Meyer and Alt'ord. Elli- 
 
 cott doubts hesitatingly.] 
 
 52. In a moment — 'Ev ardfia ; in mi ■ 
 
 that is, an indivisiblt point of time. In the twink- 
 ling of an eye — As soon as one can wink. The 
 resurrection of all the dead, from the foundation 
 of the world to that time, and the change of all the 
 living then upon earth, shall lie the work of a 
 single moment. At the last trump — This, as 
 as all the rest of the peculiar phraseology of 
 this chapter, is merely Jewish, and we must go to 
 the Jewish writers to know what is intended. On 
 this subject the rabbins use the very same expres 
 sion. Thus, Rabbi Akiba: "How shall the holy, 
 blessed God raise the dead? We are taught that 
 God ha- a trumpet a thousand ells long, according 
 to the ell of God: this trumpet he .-hall blow, so 
 that the sound of it -hall extend from one extrem- 
 ity of the earth to the other." This tradition shows 
 us what we are to understand by the " last trump" 
 of the apostle; it is, that when the dead shall be 
 all raised, and being clothed upon with their eternal 
 vehicles, they -hall he ready to appear before the 
 at -cat of God. | Are these " eternal ve- 
 hicles " made of earthy mattery and if so, have 
 the properties of matter, and, of course, sub- 
 tils? Hut if they are not earthy — 
 ' this corporeal constitution "—then will the dust in 
 the sepulchres he revivified at the resurrection? 
 
 Or i- that great even ..holly within the 
 
 spiritual realm V] For the trumpet shall sound 
 • — ISythis the apostle confirms (adapts his discourse 
 to) the substance of the tradition, there shall he the 
 
 sound of a trumpet on this great dav. (See Zech 
 is, 1 I ; 'Matt, x.xiv, :;1 ; John v, -j;, ; 1 Thess. iv, 16.) 
 ] apostle treats this subject among the The.-. 
 salonians (see the notes there) very much a- he 
 does here among the ( 'orinthians. Shall ba raised 
 incorruptible — Fully clothed with a new body, to 
 die no more. We shall be changed — Thai i-. 
 those «ho -hall then he found alive. 
 
 53. For this corruptible, etc. — Because flesh 
 and blood cannot inherit glory; therefore, there 
 
 li'l 
 
 immortality, th« n -hall he broughl to pas- the 
 
 saying that i- written. P Death i- -wallowed up 
 
 in victory. 55 ■' < > death, where is thy Mine.:' 
 o r grave, where is thy victory? 5(» The 
 Bting of death is sin; ami -the strength of sin 
 is i he law. 57 ' But thank- /<« to God. which 
 giveth ii- the victory through our Lord Jesus 
 Christ. 58 'Therefore, mj beloved brethren, 
 he ye steadfast, immovable, always abounding 
 in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know 
 "that your labour is not in vain in the Lord. 
 
 v II..—,, k II. r Or, hell. — sRom. 4. 15: 5. 13: 7.5, 13. 
 t Romans 7. -Jo. — «i John 5. 4, 5. — v2 Peter :;. u. — 
 wChapti i 3. -. 
 
 must he a refinement by death, or a change without 
 
 it. [Is this to be a chance that .-hall make '■ lle.-h 
 ami blood " not flesh and blood?] 
 
 ■ ' I Death is swallowed up in victory — Ka- 
 rt-iilhj a thiriiriir e'lC VIKOQ. These word- arc a quo- 
 tation from Isa. xxv, S: he (God) hath swallowed 
 a ji death in victory; or, for ever. Death i.- here 
 personified and represented as a devouring being, 
 swallowing up all the generations of men; and by 
 the resurrection, and the destruction of the empire 
 of death, God is represented a- swallowing him up. 
 How glorious a time to the righteous, when the in- 
 habitant shall no more say, I am sick ; when God 
 shall have wiped away all tears from oil' all faces, 
 and when there shall lie no more death ! 
 
 55. O death, where is thy sting ? O grave, 
 ■where is thy victory — Ihr aoji, &avare, 
 
 rpov; - ./. to viicog. [Nearly all the later 
 
 critics, instead of <f.dn (gravis) have Bavare (death) 
 a second time, which, however, does not substan- 
 tially alter the sense.] [The souls in hades In ing 
 freed b\ the resurrection, death's victory is gone. — 
 A /ford'.] 
 
 56. The sting of death is sin — [Dm/It. a- 3im- 
 ply the transition of the spiritual self-hood (me, i/*- 
 sinii) from this to another form of existence would 
 have been stingless hut forswi, which itself receives 
 its strength from that law of which it is the trans- 
 gression. Hut since through Christ's death for our 
 sins i\w~r 3) the power of sin is removed, (Horn. 
 viii, 1,) and by his resurrection, (his victory over 
 death in his coming up from hades, Psa. xvi, In,) 
 which was done in his mediatorial character, by 
 ;/(</// for man, we are delivered from the power of 
 death, our victory, so gained for us, is complete.] 
 The strength of sin is the law— Sin has its con- 
 trolling and binding power from the law. Tin- law 
 curses the transgressor, and provides no help for 
 him; and if nothing else intervene, he must, 
 through it. continue ever under the empire of death. 
 
 ."iT. But thanks be to God — What the law 
 could not do, because it is law, (and law cannot pro- 
 vide pardon,) i- done bj the Gospel of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ; he ha- died to slay death; he has 
 risen again to bring mankind from under the em- 
 pire of hades. 
 
 58. Be ye steadfast — 'Edpdioi, from eSpa, a 
 seat ; be. settled; confide in the truth of this doc- 
 
 tri d' the resurrection, ami every thing that per- 
 
 lains to the future life, as confidently as a man sits 
 down on a seat which he knows to he solid, firm, 
 and safe. Unmovable-'A»'"'. , A'iv i -n/; let nothing 
 move you away from this hope of the Gospel which 
 is given unto you. Always abounding in the 
 ■work of the Lord — The " work of the Lord" is 
 obedience to his holy word ; even believer in Christ
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 NOW concerning a the collection for the 
 saints, as I have given order to the 
 churches of Galatia, even so do. ye. 2 ''Upon 
 the first day of the week let every one of you 
 lay by him in store, as God hath prospered 
 him, that there be no gatherings when I come. 
 3 And when I come, c whomsoever ye shall 
 approve by your letters, them will I send to 
 bring your J liberality unto Jerusalem. 4 e And 
 if it be meet that I go also, they shall go 
 
 a Acts II. 29; 24. 17- Rom. 15. 26: 'J Cm-. 8. I; !». 1. 12; Gal. 
 
 !. 10. h Acts 20. 7: Rev. I in c2Cor. 8. lit. d Or. gift, 
 
 ICor. 8. 4, ii, 19.- — < -1 Cor. 8. 4, 19. /Acts 19. 21; 2 Cor. 1.16. 
 
 is a workman of God. And he must not only work, 
 but abound in that work ; ever striving to exceed 
 his former self; and this not only for a time, hut 
 always. Your labour is not in vain — And this 
 labour cannot be " in vain ; " you shall have a 
 resurrection unto eternal life; not because you 
 have laboured, but because Christ died and gave 
 you grace to be faithful. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 1. The collection for the saints — Tlepi . . . ttjc 
 "koy'iac, from teyo, to gather or collect; translated 
 by the Vulgate, de collectis, a contribution made by 
 the rich for the relief of the poor. The Christians 
 living at Jerusalem, we may naturally suppose, were 
 greatly straitened ; as the enmity of their country- 
 men to the Gospel of Christ led them to treat those 
 who professed it with cruelty, and spoil them of 
 their goods; (see Heb x. 34, and Rom. xv, 26;) 
 and the apostle hereby teaches that it was the duty 
 of one Christian congregation to help another when 
 in distress. [That poverty was no doubt increased 
 by the continual troubles with which Jerusalem 
 was harassed in this, the distressful close of the 
 Jewish national history. — A/ford.] 
 
 2. Upon the first day of the week — The 
 apostle prescribes the most convenient and proper 
 method of making this contribution. Every man 
 was to feel it his duty to succour his brethren in 
 distress, and this he was to do, according to the 
 ability which God gave him, at the conclusion of 
 the week, when he had cast up his weekly earnings 
 and had seen how much God had prospered his 
 labour. He was to bring it on the "first day of 
 the week," probably to the church or assembly, 
 that it might be put into the common treasury. It 
 also appears that the "first day of the week " was 
 the day on which their principal religious meetings 
 were held in Corinth and the Churches of Galatia, 
 and most likely in all other places where Christian- 
 ity prevailed ; and this is a strong argument for the 
 keeping of the Christian sabbath. [Just contrary 
 to the practice now prevalent, by which the mother 
 Churches not only bestow the Gospel but also 
 large pecuniary gifts upon the heathens, these 
 heathen converts send their thankofferings of 
 " temporal things " to those from whom they had 
 received "spiritual things."] 
 
 3. Whomsoever ye shall approve by your 
 letters — It is probable that Paul lefers here to 
 letters of recommendation which they had sent to 
 him while he was away ; and he now promises, 
 that when he should come to Corinth he would ap- 
 point those persons whom they had recommended 
 to carry the alms to Jerusalem. [Some MSS. and 
 
 with me. 5 Now I will come unto you. 
 f when I shall pass through Macedonia: for I 
 do pass through Macedonia. 5 And it may 
 he that I will abide, yea, and winter with 
 you, that ye may s bring me on my journey 
 whithersoever I go. 7 Fori will not see you 
 now by the way; hut I trust to tarry awhile 
 with you, h if the Lord permit. 8 But I will 
 tarry at Ephesus until Pentecost. 9 For 'a 
 great door and effectual is opened unto me, 
 and k there are many adversaries. 10 Xow 
 
 ./ Acts 15. ■'; 17. 15; 21. ■",; Rom. 15. 24; 2 Cor. 1. HI A Acts 
 
 is. -21 ; chap. 4. 19; .lames 4. 15. — /Acts 14.27; 2 Cor. 2. 12; 
 Col. 4. ;;; Rev. o. 8. k Acts 19. 9. 
 
 several Versions join oV kmoTo'Xarv, by letters, to the 
 following words, and read the verse thus: "When 
 
 1 come, those whom ye shall approve I will send 
 with letters to bring your liberality to Jerusalem." 
 This seems most natural.] 
 
 4. And if it be meet, etc. — If it be a business 
 that requires my attendance, and it be judged 
 proper for me to go to Jerusalem, I will take those 
 persons for my companions. [With what admi- 
 rable delicacy Paid managed this whole business, 
 and how carefully he guarded against the possibility 
 of the suspicion that he was in any way caring for 
 himself in what he was doing, is seen in these pre- 
 cautionary measures, in all which he has set a val- 
 uable example for all ministers or other person's 
 who may become the keepers of charitable or trust 
 funds.] " 
 
 5. I will come unto you, when I shall pass 
 through Macedonia — St. Paul was now at Ephe- 
 sus, for almost all allow that this epistle was 
 written there. Though Macedonia was not in the 
 direct way from Ephesus to Corinth, yet the apos- 
 tle intended to make it in his way. And it was be- 
 cause it was not in the direct road, but lay at the 
 upper end of the yEgean Sea, and very far out of 
 his direct line, that he says, 1 do pass through 
 Macedonia — I have purposed to go thither before I 
 go to Corinth. 
 
 6. Yea, and winter with you — He purposed 
 to stay till pentecost at Ephesus ; after that to go to 
 Macedonia, ami probably to spend the summer there; 
 and come in the autumn to Corinth, and there spend 
 the winter. That ye may bring me on my 
 journey — That ye may furnish me with the means 
 of travelling. It appears, that in most cases the 
 different Churches paid his expenses to other 
 Churches; where this was not done, he laboured 
 at his business to acquire the means of travel- 
 ling. 
 
 7. I will not see you now by the way — from 
 Ephesus to Corinth was merely across the .Euean 
 Sea, and comparatively a short passage. 
 
 8. I will tarry at Ephesus — And it is very 
 probable that he did so, and that all these jour- 
 neys were taken as he himself had projected. (See 
 verse 5.) 
 
 9. A great door and effectual is opened — 
 Qi-pa yap fiot i'o-.o.j; •/'//;; a/ 1, mi evepy^g, a great and' 
 rntryilir dour {tmv requiring much labour) is opened 
 tome; that is, God has made a grand opening to 
 me in those parts, which 1 perceive will require 
 much labour; and besides, I shall have many adver- 
 saries to oppose me. [This plan was a change 
 from his former intention, which had been (see 
 
 2 Cor. i, 15, 16) to pass through them to Macedonia, 
 and again return to them from Macedonia, and 
 
 105
 
 A. M. -1 iCT. A. D, 56. 
 Yeai 
 
 T. CORINTHIANS. 
 
 Paul eiv 
 
 if 'Timotheus come, see that he may be with 
 you wiiliciut fear: for ,n he worketh the work 
 of the Lord, as I also do. 11 "Let no man 
 therefore despise him: bul conduct him forth 
 °in peace, thai he may come unto me: for 1 
 look for him with the brethren. 12 As 
 touching our brother i Apollos, I greatly de- 
 sired him to come unto you with the brethren : 
 but his will was not at all to come at this time; 
 but he will conic when he shall have conve- 
 nient time. 13 a Watch ye, 'stand fast in the 
 
 / Arts 19. 22: clian. 4. 17. m Rom. 16. 21 : Phil. 2. 20, 23; 
 
 1 Thess. :;. 2.— n 1 Tim. 4. 12. o Acts, lj ;!:;. pChap. 
 
 1. 12; 3 5. -q Matt. 24. 12: 25. 13: 1 Thes*. 5. 6: 1 Pi 
 
 rChap. 1J. 1; Phil. 1.27: I. 1 ; 1 Thess. :;. 8 : 2 Thess. 2. 15. 
 
 • to Judea. . . . This second plan he adhered 
 to.— Afford.] 
 
 10. Now if Timotheus come — Of Timothy we 
 have heard before. (Chapter iv, 17.) And we learn 
 i lets \ix, 22) that Paul sent him with Erastus from 
 Ephesus to Macedonia. It is evident, therefore, that 
 
 istle itself was not scut by Timothy That 
 he may be with you without fear — 'A<p6 >< > 
 That lie may he treated well, and not perplexed and 
 
 e 1 with your divisions and jealousies. For 
 he worketh the work of the Lord — He is di- 
 vinely appointed, as 1 also am. [There must have 
 Imm'h some special reason for this caution. . . . His 
 youth occurs to us, (see 1 Tim. iv, 12,) but that is 
 not enough. . . . Possibly because he would be rec- 
 ognised as a friend of Paul, to whom the opposi- 
 tion to the apostle might be transferred. See 
 Alford.] 
 
 1 1 . Let no man . . . despise him — Let none 
 pretend to say that he has not full authority from 
 (iod to do the work of an evangelist. But con- 
 duct him forth in peace — I believe, with Bishop 
 
 P 'ce, that this clause should be translated and 
 
 pointed thus: Accompany him upon his journey, 
 that he may come unto >'"' in peace, sv Eiprjvri, in 
 safi ty. For I look for him with the brethren 
 — 'Ek<U x°! ini ■ ■ ■ avrbv fiera ruv adf?.6uv. This 
 clause should not be understood as if Paul was 
 expecting certain brethren with Timothy; but it 
 was the brethren that were with Paul that were 
 looking for him; J, with the brethren, am looking 
 for him. 
 
 12. As touching our brother Apollos — It ap- 
 pears from this that the brethren of whom the 
 apostle speaks in the preceding verse were then 
 with him at Ephesus; 7, with the brethren, greatly 
 desired him to come. But his will was not at 
 all to come — As there had been a faction set up 
 in the name of Apollos at Corinth, he probably 
 thought it not prudent to go thither at this time, 
 lesl hi- presence might be the means of giving 
 i: either strength or countenance. 
 
 13. Watch ye — You have many enemies; be 
 continually on your guard; be always circumspect. 
 Watch against evil, and for opportunities to receive 
 and to do good. Watch over each other in love, ami 
 that none may draw you aside from the belief ami 
 unity of the Gospel. Stand fast in the faith — 
 Hold in conscientious credence what you have al- 
 ready received as the truth of God; for it is the 
 Gospel by which ye shall be saved, and by which 
 ye are now put into a state of salvation. (See chap- 
 ter xv, 1, 2.) Quit you like men — Be not like 
 children tossed to and fro with every wind of doc- 
 trine ; let your understanding receive the truth ; 
 let your judgment determine on the absolute neces- 
 
 " 166 
 
 faith, 1 1 u it yon like men, » be strong. 11 ' Let 
 all your things be done with charity. t.~» 1 
 beseech yon. brethren, (ye know "the house of 
 Stephanas, that it i> > the firstfruits of Achaia, 
 and that they have addicted themselves to 
 "the ministry of the saint-.) l<> "That ye 
 submit yourselves unto such, ami to every one 
 'hat helpeth with us, and rlaboureth. 17 1 
 am glad id' the coming of Stephanas and For- 
 tnnatus and Achaicus: 'for that which was 
 lacking on your part they have supplied. 
 
 8 Eph.6. in: Col. 1. 11. — «Chap. it. 1 : ! Pet. 4. 8. — uClinp. 
 
 1. 10.- cRom. Ii'i. 5. »2 Cor. 8. 4; ;>. 1: Heb. (5. 10 
 
 irHeb. 1:1. 17. v Heb. «. 10. zi Cor. II. 9; PbJl. 2. 30: 
 
 Phllem. 13. 
 
 sity of retaining it ; and give up life rather than 
 
 give up the testii iy of God. Be strong — Put 
 
 forth all the vigour and energy which Cod has 
 given you in maintaining and propagating the truth, 
 and your spiritual strength will increase by usage. 
 The terms in this verse are all military: "Watch 
 ye," ypnyopeirs, watch, and be continually on 
 your guard, lest you be surprised by your enemies: 
 keep your scouts out and all your sentinels at 
 their posts, lest your enemies steal a march upon 
 you. See that the place you are in be properly 
 defended; and that each be alert to perform his 
 duty. 
 
 14. Let all your things be done with char- 
 ity — Let love to God, to man, and to one another 
 be the motive of all your conduct. [There 
 
 to have been all along a silent sense of the lack of 
 that degree and precedence" of true charity among 
 the Corinthian believers which was essential to 
 their best interests. Hence this passing exhor- 
 tation.] 
 
 15. Ye know the house of Stephanas — They 
 are reminded that Stephanas ami his family had 
 been addicted to the helping of the followers of 
 Christ, and had been the chief instruments of sujv- 
 porting the work of (iod in Achaia, of which work 
 they themselves had been the firstfruits. (See 
 Rom. xvi, 5.) 
 
 16. That ye submit yourselves unto such 
 — Hence they are exhorted to have due regard to 
 them, and consider them as especial instruments in 
 the hand of God for countenancing and carrying on 
 his great work. The submission here recommended 
 does not imply obedience, but kind and courteous 
 demeanour. (Eph. v, 21; 1 Pet. v, !}.) [Labours 
 and sacrifices in the interests of Christ's cause 
 justly entitle those who do these things to special 
 consideration in the Church's councils.] 
 
 17. I am glad of the coming of Stephanas, 
 etc.— It was by these that the Corinthians had sent 
 that letter to the apostle, to answer which was a 
 main part of the design of St. Paul in this epistle. 
 Fortunatus — This man is supposed to have sur- 
 vived St. Paul, ami to be the same mentioned by 
 
 Clement in his epistle to the Corinthians (sec. 59) 
 as the bearer of that epistle from Clement at Pome 
 to the Christians at Corinth. For that which 
 was lacking on your part — This may either refer 
 to additional communications besides those con- 
 tained in the letter which the Corinthians sent to 
 
 the apostle — which additional circ stances were 
 
 furnished by the persons above, and from them St. 
 Paul had a fuller account of their spiritual State 
 than was contained in the letter— or to some con- 
 tributions on their part for the support of the apos- 
 tle in his peregrinations and labours.
 
 Various salutatio 
 apostolic ble 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 1§ "For they have refreshed my spirit and 
 yours: therefore b acknowledge ye them that 
 are such. 19 The churches of Asia salute you. 
 Aquila and Priscilla salute you much in the 
 Lord, c with the church that is in their house. 
 20 All the brethren greet you. d Greet ye one 
 
 a Col. 4. 8. 
 
 -5 Phil. 2.29 
 
 PUilem 2.- 
 
 I Thess. 5. 12. C Rom. 16. 5, 15; 
 
 — d Rom. 16. 16. 
 
 18. They have refreshed my spirit and 
 yours — They have been a means of contributing 
 greatly to my comfort ; and what contributes to my 
 comfort must inci'ease yours. This is probably the 
 meaning of the apostle. Therefore acknowledge 
 ye them — Pay them particular respect, and let all 
 be held in esteem in proportion to their work and 
 usefulness. When this is made the rule of respect 
 and esteem, then foolish and capricious attachments 
 will have no place. A man will then be honoured 
 in proportion to his merit ; and his merit will be 
 estimated by his usefulness among men. 
 
 19. The churches of Asia salute you — That 
 is, the Churches in Asia Minor. Ephesus was in 
 this Asia. Aquila and Priscilla — Of these emi- 
 nent persons we have heard before. (See Acts 
 xviii, 2, 18, 26 ; Rom. xvi, 3.) With the church 
 that is in their house — That is, the company of 
 believers who generally worshipped there. There 
 were then no buildings specially set apart as places 
 of religious concourse, and the assemblies of 
 Christians were necessarily held in private houses. 
 It appears that Aquila and Priscilla devoted their 
 house to this purpose. The house of Philemon was 
 of the same kind. (Philem. verse 2.) So was like- 
 wise the house of Nymphas. (Col. iv, 15.) 
 
 20. With a holy kiss — The ancient patriarchs, 
 and the Jews in general, were accustomed to kiss 
 each other whenever they met ; and this was a 
 token of friendship and peace with them, as shak- 
 ing of hands is with us. The primitive Christians 
 naturally followed this example of the Jews. (See 
 Rom. xvi, 1 (3. ) 
 
 21. The salutation of me Paul •with mine 
 own hand — This should be rendered : " The salu- 
 tation is written by the hand of me Paul ; " yeypa~- 
 rai, is written, being understood. It is very likely 
 that the apostle wrote this and the following verses 
 with his own hand. The rest, though dictated by 
 him, was written by an amanuensis. 
 
 •22. If any man love not the Lord Jesus — 
 This is directed immediately against the Jews. 
 From chapter xii, 3, we find that the Jews, who 
 pretended to be under the Spirit and teaching oi 
 God, called Jesus avddsya, or accursed ; that is, a 
 person who should be devoted to destruction. In 
 this place the apostle retorts the whole upon them- 
 selves, and says: "If any man love not the Lord 
 Jesus Christ," let him be avddsya, accursed, and de- 
 voted to destruction. This is not said in the way of 
 1 a wish or imprecation, but as a prediction of what 
 would certainly come upon them if they did not re- 
 pent, and of what did come on them because they 
 did not repent, but continued to hate and execrate 
 the Lord Jesus ; and of what still lies upon them, 
 because they continue to hate and execrate the 
 Redeemer of the world. Anathema, Maran-atha 
 — " Let him be accursed ; our Lord comcth." The 
 former is Greek, the latter is Syriac. Our Lord is 
 coming; that is, to execute the judgment de- 
 nounced. Does not the apostle refer to the last 
 verse in the Bible: Lest I come and smite the land 
 
 another with a holy kiss. 21 e The salutation 
 of me Paul with mine own hand. 22 If any 
 man f love not the Lord Jesus Christ, elet him 
 be Anathema, h Maran-atha. 23 ' The grace of 
 our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. 24 My 
 love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen. 
 
 eCol. 4. 18; 2 Tliess. 3. 17. — /Eph. 6. 24. aGal. 1. 8, 9. 
 
 //.Juue 14. 15. i Kom. 1(5. 20. 
 
 (Din. cJierem) with a curse? And does he not in- 
 timate that the Lord was coming to smite the Jew- 
 ish land with that curse? Which took place a very 
 few years after, and continues on that gainsaying 
 and rebellious people to the present' day. What 
 the apostle has said was prophetic, and indicative 
 of what was about to happen to that people. God 
 was then coming to inflict punishment upon them ; 
 he came, and they were broken and dispersed. It 
 is generally allowed that the apostle refers here 
 to the forms of excommunication among the 
 Jews. 
 
 23. The grace of our Lord Jesus — May the 
 favour, influence, mercy, and salvation procured by 
 Jesus Christ be with you— prevail among you, 
 rule in you, and be exhibited by you in your life and 
 conversation ! Amen. 
 
 24. My love be with you all in Christ 
 Jesus — It appears exceedingly strange that the 
 apostle should say, My love be with you ; as he 
 said, The yrace of Christ be with you. We can 
 easily conceive what the latter means ; the grace 
 of Christ is an active, powerful, saving principle ; 
 it is essential to the existence of the Christian 
 Church that this grace should be ever with it; and 
 without this grace no individual can be saved. 
 But what could the " love " of the apostle do with 
 them? The pronoun yov, my, is wanting in the 
 Codex Alexandrinus. Read without that, it either 
 says, May love prevail among you .' or, supplying 
 the word Qeov, Gon, as in 2 Cor. xiii, 14, The love 
 of God be with you ! This gives a sound sense ; 
 for the love of God is as much a principle of ligM, 
 life, and salvation as the grace of Christ. And 
 possibly MOT, my, is a corruption for 0EOY, (of 
 God.) And this is the more likely, because he 
 uses this very form in the conclusion of his second 
 epistle to this Church. [And yet the accepted read- 
 ing is retained by the best modern critics.] [Paul's 
 heart impels him still to add this assurance at the 
 very end, all the more because the divisions, im- 
 moralities, and disorders in the Church had forced 
 from him such severe rebukes, and even now such 
 corrective appeals. He loves them, and loves them 
 all. — Meyer.'] [The subscription, which indicates 
 Philippi as the place where this epistle was written, 
 is without any authority, and its statement almost 
 absolutely and certainly incorrect.] [But this sub- 
 scription is wanting in all the best MSS. and Ver- 
 sions, either in whole or in part. There are various 
 forms in the different copies, hut quite certainly 
 only those are correct which state that the epistle 
 was sent from Ephesus.] 
 
 ADDITIONAL OBSERVATIONS. 
 In closing my observations on this epistle I feel 
 it necessary once more to call the reader's atten- 
 tion to the many difficulties contained in it. It has 
 
 already been noticed that evidently the Church at 
 Corinth had written to the <</io.s//c lor advice and in- 
 formation on a variety of points, ami that this 
 epistle is, in the main, an answer to the epistle 
 
 167
 
 A. M. 4n«n. A. P. 56 
 Vearol l: 
 
 T. CORINTHIANS. 
 
 observation! on 
 
 tl,i. 
 
 from Corinth. Bad we that episth these difficulties 
 would probably disappear, but us its questions arc 
 not directly stated, but only referred to incidentally, 
 it is impossible to fully understand what thej were. 
 Clearly the epistle abounds with matters thai seem 
 tn be only local and temporary, often of merelj 
 private application, and only indirectly useful for 
 general purposes. Yet it is both very curious and 
 useful ; it gives insight into several customs and 
 not a few forms of speech and matters, relative tu 
 the discipline of the primitive Church, which we 
 can find nowhere else; and it reads a very awful 
 lesson to those who disturb the peace of society, 
 make schisms in the Church of Christ, and en- 
 deavour to set up one preacher at the expense of 
 another. It shows us also how many improper 
 things may, in a state of ignorance or Christian in- 
 fancy, !»■ consistent with a sincere belief in the 
 Gospel of Christ, and a conscientious and zealous 
 attachment to it. 
 
 In different parts of the epistle we find the 
 apostle speaking very highly of the knowledge of 
 tin- Church; and its various gifts and endowments. 
 How, then, can we say that its blemishes arose from 
 ignorance? I answer, that certainly only a few of 
 the people at Corinth could possess, those eminent 
 spiritual qualifications, because the things that are 
 attributed to this Church in other places are ut- 
 terly inconsistent with that state of grace for 
 which the apostle, in other places, appears to give 
 them credit. There were, no doubt-, in the Church 
 at Corinth many highly gifted and very gracious 
 people; there were also there many more who, 
 though they might have been partakers of some 
 extraordinary gifts, had very little of that religion 
 which the apostle describes in the thirteenth chap- 
 ter of this epistle. We must not suppose that 
 eminent endowments necessarily imply gracious dis- 
 »is. A man may have much light and littlt 
 love; he may be very wise in secular matters, and 
 know but little of himself, and less of his God. 
 There is as truly a learned ignorance as there is a 
 refined and useful learning. The Corinthians 
 abounded in knowledge and science and eloquence, 
 and various extraordinary gifts ; but in many eases, 
 distinctly enough marked in this epistle, they were 
 grossly ignorant of the genius and design of the 
 Gospel. .Many, since their time, have put words 
 and observances in place of the weightier matters of 
 the Law and the spirit of the Gospei,. The 
 apostle has taken great pains to correct these 
 abuses among the Corinthians, and to insist on 
 that great, unchangeable, and eternal truth, that 
 looe to God and man, filling the heart, hallowing 
 the passions, regulating the affections, and produ- 
 cing universal benevolence and beneficence, is the 
 fulfilling of all law; and that all profusions, 
 knowledge, gifts, etc., without this, are absolutely 
 useless. And did this epistle contain no more than 
 what is found in the 13th chapter, vet that would 
 106 
 
 be an unparalleled monument <d' the apostle's deep 
 acquaintance with God, ami an invaluable record 
 
 of the sum and substance of the Gospel, hit by 
 God's mercy to the Church, as a touclustom lor the 
 
 trial of creeds, confessions of faith, and ritual 
 observances. 
 
 1 have often had occasion lo note that the whole 
 epistle refers so much to Jewish affairs, customs, 
 forms of speech, ceremonies, etc., that it neces- 
 sarily Supposes the people lo have been well ac- 
 quainted with them; from this 1 infer that a large 
 pari of the Christian Church at Corinth was com- 
 posed of converted Jews ; and it is likely that this 
 was the case in all the Churches of Asia Minor and 
 Greece. Many Gentiles wen.' undoubtedly brought 
 to the knowledge of the truth; but the child' con- 
 verts were from among the Hellenistic Jews. In 
 many respects Jewish phraseology prevails more in 
 this epistle than even in thai lo the Roman*. 
 Without attention to this it would be impossible to 
 make any consistent sense out of the loth chapter, 
 where the apostle treat.- SO largely on the doctrine 
 of the resurrection, as almost every form ami turn 
 of expression is Jewish; and we must know what 
 ideas they attached to such words anil firms id' 
 speech in order to enter into the spirit of the 
 apostle's meaning. 
 
 Before 1 finish my concluding observations on 
 this epistle, I must beg leave to call the reader's 
 attention once more to the concluding words of 
 the apostle: If any man lovt not tin Lord Jesus 
 Christ, /•/ him be anatJiema, maran-atha. Though 
 I am ready to grant that the bad I 'hristian, namely, 
 the man who professes Christianity, and yet lives 
 under the power of .-in, is in a very dangerous 
 state; and that he who, while he credits Chris- 
 tianity, is undecided as to its profession and prac- 
 tice, is putting his eternal interests to the most 
 awful hazard; yet I must also grant that the mean- 
 ing sometimes put on the words in question is not 
 correct. The words apply to the gainsaying and 
 blasphemous Jews; to those who were calling 
 Christ anathema, or <i<-citrs><l ; and cannot be ap- 
 plied to any person who respects I/is minn , or con- 
 fiilis in him lor his salvation; much less do they 
 apply to him who finds, through the yet prevalence 
 of evil in his heart, and the power of temptation, 
 that he has little, and, to his own apprehension, no 
 love to the Lord Jesus. The anathema of the 
 apostle is denounced against him only who gives 
 the anathema to Christ. It is the duty of all to 
 love him with an undivided heart; if any be not 
 yet able to do it, let him not be discouraged ; if the 
 Lord cometh to execute judgment on him who call- 
 eth Jesus accursed, he cometh also to fulfil the 
 desire of them who fear him; to make them par- 
 take of the divine nature, and so cleanse their 
 hearts by the inspiration of his Holy Spirit that 
 they shall perfectly luce him and worthily magnify 
 his name.
 
 PREFACE TO THE SECOND EPISTLE 
 
 TO 
 
 THE COKINTHIANS. 
 
 AUTHORSHIP AND INTEGRITY. 
 
 THERE seems to be no good ground for calling in question the very generally- 
 accepted opinion that this epistle was, as indicated in its first sentence, 
 written by the Apostle Paul. It is intimately connected with the first, following 
 it up, and only differing from it as was clearly called for by the changed con- 
 ditions of the circumstances among which it professes to have been written. The 
 internal evidence of its identity of authorship with the preceding epistle, and of 
 the Pauline origin of both, is as nearly complete as the case will allow. The ex- 
 ternal evidence is also complete and entirely satisfactory, being quoted as Paul's 
 by Irenseus, Athenagoras, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, and others of the 
 principal Fathers of the first and second centuries. 
 
 Respecting its integrity, doubts have been suggested, but without any adequate 
 evidence for their support. It has been suggested that the epistle, as it now 
 stands, is made up of three distinct documents, or epistles ; namely, 1) The first 
 eight chapters which Titus bore on his second mission to Corinth ; 2) A second 
 (third) letter, written a little later by the apostle, in justification of what he had 
 written in the first epistle ; (chapters x-xii ;) 3) Still another epistle, sent to 
 other Churches in Achaia, (chapter xiii.) But all such fancies are entirely un- 
 authorized by either the substance of the epistle, or anything in its history, or in 
 the discussions of any of the original church authorities. Its integrity must 
 therefore be accepted as entirely unimpeachable. 
 
 TIME, PLACE, AND OCCASION. 
 
 It is sufficiently evident that this second epistle was written not long (probably 
 less than a year) after the date of the former one. Paul had recently left Asia, 
 (1 Cor. i, 8,) and came by Troas (chapter ii, 12) into Macedonia, (Acts xx, 1, 2,) 
 where he was, and at which place he was informed of the excitement, nav^nai, 
 which his first epistle to the Corinthians had produced. All who were well dis- 
 posed were humbled by his reproofs; while his adversaries (of whom there 
 appears to have been not a few) had been further embittered. Under these cir- 
 cumstances he wrote this epistle, and sent it before him, as he designed to visit 
 them, to conciliate all the true friends of the Gospel, and to prepare the rebellious 
 for the severity which he contemplated being compelled to use. (See chapter 
 xiii, 10.) Titus, having borne Paul's first epistle to the Corinthians, (2 Cor. 
 
 169
 
 PREFACE TO THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 
 
 viii, 16-18,) returned to him in Macedonia. [^ l wn;lt particular city is uncertain, 
 though certainly not Philippi.] 
 
 MATTER, STYLE, AND CONTEXTS. 
 
 " In no other epistle," says Alford, " arc these so various and so rapidly shifting 
 from one character to another. Consolation and rebuke, gentleness and severity, 
 earnestness and irony, succeed one another at short intervals, and without notice. 11 
 Meyer remarks: "The excitement and the interchange of the affections, and 
 probably also the haste under which Paul probably wrote this epistle, certainly 
 render the expressions often obscure and the constructions difficult, but serve only 
 to exalt our admiration of the great oratorical delicacy, art, and power with 
 which this outpouring of Paul's spirit, especially interesting as a self-defensive 
 apology, Hows and streams onward, till at length, in the sequel, its billows com- 
 pletely overflow the opposition of the adversaries.' 1 
 
 The matter of the epistle divides itself naturally into three parts : 
 
 I. A vindication of Paul's apostolic walk and character, both generally and in 
 regard to themselves. (Chapters i-vii, 16.) 
 
 II. A reminder of their duty to complete the collections for the poor saints 
 at Jerusalem. (Chapters viii— ix, 10.) 
 
 III. A justification of his apostolic dignity and efficiency against the asper- 
 sions of his disparagers. (Chapters xi-xii, 1-13.) 
 
 170
 
 THE SECOND EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE 
 
 TO 
 
 THE COKESTTHIAETS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAUL, a an apostle of Jesus Christ by the 
 will of God, and Timothy our brother, 
 unto the church of God which is at Corinth, 
 'with all the saints which are in all Achaia: 
 
 2 c Grace be to you, and peace, from God our 
 Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 3 J Blessed be God, even the Father of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and 
 the God of all comfort; 4 Who comforteth 
 us in all our tribulation, that we may be able 
 
 a 1 Cor. 1. 1 : Eph. 1. 1; Col. 1.1:1 Tim. 1. 1 ; 2 Tim. 1. 1. — 
 
 h Phil 1. 1 ; Col. I. 2. c Uom. 1. 7 ; 1 Cor. 1. 3 : Gal. 1. 3 ; Phil. 
 
 1. 2: Col. 1. 2; 1 Thess. 1. 1; 2 Tliess. 1. 2 ; Philem. 3. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER I. 
 
 1. Paul, an apostle — See on 1 Cor. i, 1. And 
 Timothy — [Whose relation to this epistle is the 
 same as that of Sosthenes to the first, not as aman- 
 uensis, but as (subordinate) joint sender. — Meyer.] 
 Our brother — [Rather, 6 ade?i<j>6g, /he brother, as in 
 1 Cor. i, 1.] In all Achaia — The whole of the Pelo- 
 ponnesus, or that country separated from the main- 
 land by the Isthmus of Corinth. From this we 
 may learn that this epistle was not only sent to the 
 Church at Corinth, but to all the Churches in that 
 country. [Not as an encyclical letter, but to the 
 Christians scattered through Achaia, and attached 
 to the Church community at Corinth. See Meyer.] 
 
 2. G-race be to you, and peace — See on 
 Rom. i, 7. 
 
 3. Blessed be God — Let God have universal and 
 eternal praise ; for he is the Father of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ, who is the gift of his endless love 
 to man, (John i, 16,) and the God of all comfort 
 — the Fountain whence comes all consolation. 
 
 4. Who comforteth us in all our tribulation 
 — Never leaving us a prey to anxiety, care, persecu- 
 tion, or temptation ; but, by the comforts of his 
 Spirit, bearing us up in, through, and above all our 
 trials and difficulties. That we may be able to 
 comfort them — Even spiritual comforts are not 
 given to us for our use alone; they, like all the 
 gifts of God, are given that they may be distrib- 
 uted, or become the instruments of help to others. 
 The soul that has not gone through the travail of 
 regeneration, and the heart that has not felt the 
 love of God shed abroad by the Holy Ghost, can 
 neither instruct the ignorant nor sympathize with 
 and comfort the distressed. (See verse •>.") 
 
 5. The sufferings of Christ — Sufferings en- 
 
 to comfort them which are in any trouble, by 
 the comfort wherewith we ourselves are com- 
 forted of God. 5 For as e the sufferings of 
 Christ abound in us, so our consolation also 
 abounded) by Christ. 6 And whether we be 
 afflicted, ( it is for your consolation and salva- 
 tion, which eis effectual in the enduring of 
 the same sufferings which we also suffer: or 
 whether we be comforted, it ?s for your con- 
 solation and salvation. 7 And our hope of 
 you is steadfast, knowing, that h as ye are par*- 
 
 d Er.hesi:i!is 1. 3; 1 Peter 1. 3. e Acts 9. 4: chap. 4. 10; 
 
 Oolossians 1. 24. ./'Chapter 4. 15. g Or, is wrought. 
 
 h Romans 8. 17, 2 Timothy 2. 12. 
 
 dured for the cause of Christ; such as persecu- 
 tions, hardships, and privations of different kinds. 
 [Td nadr/fia-a tov Xpiorou are not the sufferings for 
 Christ's sake, (as Pelagius and others would say,) 
 but the sufferings of Christ (himself,) in so far as 
 every one who suffers for the Gospel suffers the 
 same in category as Christ suffered. (1 Pet. iv, 13.) 
 — Meyer.] [Christ's sufferings were of two cate- 
 gories — one mysterious and atoning, and to be 
 shared by no creature; the other natural and in- 
 cidental, with which we may have fellowship. 
 (Phil, iii, 10.)] Our consolation also abound- 
 eth — We stood as well, as firmly, and as easily in 
 the heaviest trial as in the lightest ; because the 
 consolation was always proportioned to the trial 
 and difficulty. Hence we learn that he who is up- 
 held in a slight trial need not fear a great one ; for 
 if he be faithful, his consolation shall abound as 
 his sufferings abound. Is it not as easy for a man 
 to lift one hundred pounds' weight as it is for an 
 ■infant to lift a few ounces ? The proportion of 
 strength destroys the comparative difficulty. 
 
 6. And whether we be afflicted — (See on 
 verse 4.) Which is effectual — While ye abide 
 faithful to God no suffering can be prejudicial to 
 you; on the contrary, it will be advantageous, God 
 having your comfort and salvation continually in 
 view, by all the dispensations of his providence; 
 and while you patiently endure, your salvation is 
 advanced; sufferings and consolations all becoming 
 energetic means of accomplishing the great design, 
 for all things work together for good to them that 
 love God. 
 
 7. And our hope of you is steadfast — [The 
 apostle is here speaking generally of the coramu- 
 
 i nity of consolation subsisting mutually between 
 
 171
 
 A.M. 4 n «1. A. P. 57. 
 
 Ymot 1. 
 
 IT. CORINTHIANS. 
 
 takers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of 
 the consolation. N For we would not, breth- 
 ren, have you ignorant of 'our trouble which 
 cairn.' to us in Asia, thai we were pressed out 
 of measure, above strength, insomuch thai we 
 despaired even of life: f> But we had tin' 
 k sentence of death in ourselves, that we should 
 1 not trust in ourselves, Inn in God \\ hich raisel li 
 the dead: 10 "'Who delivered us from so 
 great a death, and dot li deliver: in whom we 
 trust that he will yet deliver us ; 11 Ye also 
 "helping together by prayer for us, that "for 
 
 i Acts 19. 23: 1 Corinthians 15. 32; lit. 9. & Or, answer- 
 
 {Jeremiah 17. 5, 7. — m 1 Peter 2. ;>. 
 
 himself and the Corinthians, ami it was this thought 
 that helped to console him. — A/ford.] 
 
 8. Our trouble which came to us in Asia — 
 To what part of his history the apostle here refers 
 we know not; some think it is to the Jews lying in 
 wait to kill him, as stated, Acts xx, 3; others, to 
 the insurrection raised against him by Demetrius 
 and his fellow-craftsmen, as recorded Acts xix, 23; 
 others, to his fighting with beasts at Ephesus, men- 
 tioned 1 Cor. xv, 32; anil others think that there is 
 a reference here to some persecution which is not 
 recorded in any part of tin- apostle's history. [All 
 these may be in a general way referred to.] We 
 ■were pressed out of measure, above strength 
 — The original is exceedingly emphatic: icaff vnep- 
 (5oa?/i i S'vvapiv, we were weighed 
 down beyond what (our) natural strength could 
 support. Probably St. Paul refers to his being 
 stoned at Lystra, or to certain facts which are not 
 recorded. As Lystra was in Asia, ami his stoning 
 at Lystra did approximately destroy his life, so that 
 his being raised seemed to lie an effect of the mi- 
 raculous power of God, he may be supposed to 
 refer to this. (See Acts xiv, 19, etc.) Perhaps, 
 however, the reference is to some terrible persecu- 
 tion which he hail endured some short time before 
 his writing this epistle, and with the outlines of 
 which the Corinthians had been acquainted. 
 
 9. We had the sentence of death in our- 
 selves—The tribulation was so violent and over- 
 whelming that his only hope of escaping death was 
 in Cod, with whom are the issues of life and death. 
 
 10. Who delivered us from so great a death 
 — For the circumstances were such that no human 
 power could avail. Will yet deliver us — Having 
 had such a signal evidence of His interposition 
 already, we will confide in Him with an unshaken 
 confidence that He will continue to support and 
 deliver. 
 
 11. Ye also helping together by prayer — 
 Even an apostle felt the prayers of the Church of 
 God necessary for his comfort and support. What 
 innumerable blessings do the prayers of the follow- 
 ers of (jod drawdown on those who are the objects 
 
 ii ! The gift bestowed ... by the means 
 of many persons — The blessings communicated 
 by means of their prayers. Thanks may be 
 given by many — Prayers answered are naturally 
 ami properly changed to thanksgiving. Thus, the 
 prayers of many obtain the gift; and the thanks- 
 
 . of many acknowledge the mercy. The gift, 
 XapiG/ui, which the apostle mentions, was his deliv- 
 erance from the dangers and deaths to which he 
 was exposed. 
 
 12. For our rejoicing is this — ■ II mi \ 
 
 our boasting, exultation, subject of glorying. The 
 
 the L'ift bestowed upon us by the means of many 
 persona thanks may lie given by many on our 
 behalf. 12 Lor our rejoicing in this, the tes- 
 timony of our conscience, that in simplicity 
 and p godly sincerity, qnol with fleshly wisdom, 
 but by the grace of ( rod, we have had our con- 
 versation in the world, and more abundantly 
 to yon-ward. i:$ For we write none other 
 things unto you, than what ye read or ac- 
 knowledge; and 1 trust ye shall acknowledge 
 even to the end; II As also ye have ac- 
 knowledged us ill parr, ' that we are your rejoic- 
 
 30; Phil. I. IS; Philem. 22.- 
 17; 4. 2. q\ Cor. 2. -1. 13. 
 
 -oCh. I. 15.- 
 
 -rl h. :.. 12. 
 
 ;/ Cli. 
 
 testimony of our conscience — Naprvpiov 7r]r 
 ovveidi/oeuc, [consciousness.] That testimony or 
 w itness which the mind, under the light and influence 
 of the Spirit of God, renders to the understanding 
 
 of its stale, sincerity, safety, etc. In simplicity 
 — 'A— /.UT//TI, ii"/ compounded, without duplicity, 
 having no sinister purpose, noby-ends to answer. In- 
 stead of u-'/iit^ti, many MSS. and Versions have 
 ayio-qri, holiness, [which is now the generally ac- 
 cepted reading.] And godly sincerity — El?.tKpivig 
 TOO Qeoi), tin sincerity (if God : that is, such a 
 sincerity as comes from his work in the soul ; [a 
 " godly" sincerity, maintained as in the service of, 
 and with respect to, Cod. — Alford.] Not with 
 fleshly wisdom — [Owe ev uocpia oapniKi), in a 
 strictly ethicd sense ] The cunning and duplicity 
 of man, who is uninfluenced by the Spirit of (.ml, 
 and has his secular interest, ease, profit, pleasure, 
 and worldly honour in view. But by the grace 
 of God — Which alone can produce the simplicity 
 and godly sincerity before mentioned, and inspire 
 the wisdom that conies from above. We have 
 had our conversation — 'Avearpam/fitv, pro] erly 
 refers to the whole tenor of a man's life — all that 
 he does, says, and intends; and the object or end 
 he has in view, and in l eference to which he speaks, 
 acts, and thinks. Thus acted Paul; thus acted the 
 primitive Christians ; and thus must every Christian 
 act who expect.- to see God in his glory. In the 
 world — Among the unbelievers, both .lews and 
 Gentiles, always walking as seeing Him who i- in- 
 visible. More abundantly to } ou-ward — That 
 is, vol' have witnessed the holy manner in which 
 we have always acted; and Gon is witness of the 
 purity of the motives by which we have been actu- 
 ated; and our conscience tells us that we have 
 lived in uprightness before him. 
 
 13. Than what ye read — Namely, in the 
 first epistle which he had sent them. Or acknowl- 
 edge — To be the truth of God; and which he 
 hoped they would continue to acknow ledge, and not 
 permit themselves to be turned aside from the hope 
 of the Gospel. [Paul asserts his candour in writing, 
 which must have been assailed by his opponents, 
 who probably maintained, "Hi- letters to us are 
 not the expression of his genuine, inmost opinion." 
 —Meyer.] 
 
 II Have acknowledged us in part — A to 
 uepovc, some of you. It is evident, from the dis- 
 tracted state of the Corinthians and the opposition 
 raised then' against the apostle, that it was only 
 a part of them that did acknowledge him, and re- 
 ceive and profit by his epistles and advice. We 
 are your rejoicing, etc. — [There existed between 
 tin an so close and sacred a relation as to preclude the 
 possibility of his deceiving them. One side of this
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 A. M. 4061. A. D. 51. 
 Year of Rome, 910. 
 
 ing, even as s ye also are ours in the day of the 
 Lord Jesus. 15 And in this confidence 'I 
 was minded to come unto you before, that ye 
 might have u a second "benefit; 16 And to 
 pass by you into Macedonia, and w to come 
 again out of Macedonia unto you, and of you 
 to be brought on my way toward Judea. 
 17 When I therefore was thus minded, did I 
 us L - lightness \ or the things that I purpose, do 
 1 purpose x according to the flesh, that with me 
 there should be yea, yea, and nay, nay ? 18 But 
 
 8 Phil. 2. 16; 4. 1; 1 Thes*. 2. 19,20. t\ Cor. 4. 19. k Rom. 
 
 1. 11. b Or, grace. w\ Cor. 1>;. 5, 0. — a; Chap. 10. 2. 
 
 V Or, preach ing. z Mark 1. 1 : Luke 1. 35 ; Acts 9. 20. 
 
 relation is, that he, as their spiritual father, was a 
 pride and boast to them. . . . The other side of the 
 relation was, that they also were his pride and boast. 
 — Speaker's Com.~\ In the day of the Lord Jesus 
 — [In the apostle's mind every thing in his ministry 
 held a very intimate relation to Christ, as the Head 
 of the Church, and to his judgments in the future 
 allotments of awards for the discharge of the du- 
 ties of his ministry. This, rather than any specific 
 "day of judgment," or parousia, seems to be here 
 intended.] 
 
 15. I was minded — I had purposed, in this 
 confidence that our sacred relations were mutually 
 recognised, to come unto you before, (1 Cor. 
 xvi, 5.) He had intended to call on them in his 
 way from Macedonia, but this purpose he did not 
 fulfil. (See verse 23.) A second benefit — He 
 had been with them once, and they had received an 
 especial blessing in having the seed of life sown 
 among them by the preaching of the Gospel ; and 
 he had purposed to visit them again, that they 
 might have a " second " blessing in having that seed 
 watered. 
 
 16. To pass by you into Macedonia — [If 
 this be the same journey which is announced in 
 1 Cor. xvi, 5, the idea of visiting them in the way 
 to Macedonia, as well as after having passed through 
 it, must have occurred to him subsequently to the 
 sending of that epistle; or may even then have 
 been a wish not expressed, from uncertainty as to 
 its possibility, the main and longer visit being then 
 principally dwelt upon. . . . Paul had announced to 
 them in the last epistle (see 1 Cor. v, 9) his inten- 
 tion of visiting them on his way to Macedonia ; but 
 the intelligence from "them of Chloe"(l Cor. 
 i, 1 1 ) had altered his intention, so that in 1 Cor. 
 xvi he speaks of visiting them after he had passed 
 through Macedonia. For this he was accused of 
 levity of purpose, ("lightness," ti] zkafypiq, fickle- 
 ness.) Certainly some intention of coming to them 
 seems to have been mentioned in the last epistle. 
 (See 1 Cor. iv, 18.) But the "being brought for- 
 ward toward Judea" can hardly but be coinci- 
 dent with the almsgiving scheme of 1 Cor. xvi, 4 ; 
 in which ease the two plans certainly are modifica- 
 tions of one and the same. — Alford.] 
 
 17. Did I use lightness — When I formed this 
 purpose, was it without due consideration? and did 
 I abandon it through fickleness of mind? Ac- 
 cording to the flesh — [Kara adpica, according to 
 the changeable, self-contradictory, and insincere pur- 
 poses of the merely worldlv and ungodly man. — 
 Alford.-] 
 
 18. But as God is true — Setting the God of 
 truth before my eyes, I could not act in this way ; 
 and as sure as he is true, so surely were my pur- 
 
 r^.s- ( rin! is true, our y word toward you was not 
 yea and nay. 19 For z the Son of God, Jesus 
 Christ, who was preached among you by us, 
 even by me and Silvamis and Timotheus, was 
 not yea and nay, 'but in him was yea. 20 ^For 
 all the promises of God in him are yea, and 
 in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us. 
 21 Now be which stablisheth us with you in 
 Christ, and • hath anointed us, is God ; 22 Who 
 d hath also sealed us, and 'given the earnest of 
 the Spirit in our hearts. 23 Moreover ' 1 call 
 
 a Ileh. 13. 8. h Rom. 15. «, 9. e 1 John 2. 20, 27. <7 Eph. 
 
 1. 13; 4 30; 2 Tim. 2. 19; Rev. 2. 17. e Cli;ip. 5. 5; Eph. 1. 14. 
 
 : /'Rom. 1. 9; chap. 11. 31 ; fcral. 1. 20; Phil. 1. 8. 
 
 poses sincere; but. because of my uncertainty 
 about your .state. I was induced to postpone my 
 visit. (See verse 2o.) 
 
 19. For the Son of God, etc. — If I could have 
 changed my purpose through carnal or secular in- 
 terest, then I must have had the same interest in 
 view when I first preached the Gospel to you, with 
 Silvanus and Timotheus. But did not the whole of 
 our conduct prove that we neither had nor coidd 
 havt such interest in view? [In this whole verse 
 there lies a solemn, sacred emphasis. The writer 
 reminds the readers of thefirst preaching of Christ 
 among them, and in order to make this first preach- 
 ing come to them with the whole personal weight 
 of the preachers ... he adds a more precise defi- 
 nition of the 6C fjfiav, {through us,) that is, him- 
 self and Silvanus and Timotheus, to show that 
 Christ had not become Net not Or — Yes and No. He 
 (Christ) has not become affirmation and negation, 
 as one who affirms and denies. — Meyer.~\ 
 
 20. For all the promises of God — Did not 
 God fulfil his promises by us — by our instrumen- 
 tality, to your salvation and his own glory ? God is 
 true; therefore every promise of God is true. God 
 will not make use of trifling, worldlv men, as the 
 instruments by which to fulfil his promises; but he 
 has fulfilled them by ns. In him are yea, and 
 in him Amen — All the promises which God has 
 made to mankind are "yea" — true in themselves, 
 and "amen" — faithfully fulfilled to them who be- 
 lieve in Christ Jesus. The promises are all made 
 in reference to Christ; for it is only on the gospel 
 system that we can have promises of grace. From 
 what the apostle says here, and the serious and 
 solemn manner in which he vindicates himself, it 
 appears that his enemies at Corinth had made a 
 handle of his not going to that city, according to 
 his proposal, to defame his character and to de- 
 preciate his ministry. 
 
 2 1 . Now he which stablishe th us with you — 
 Who has brought both us and you to this sure state 
 of salvation through Christ ; has anointed us, giv- 
 ing us the extraordinary influences of the Holy 
 Ghost, that we might effectually administer this 
 Gospel to your salvation. Is God — This phrase 
 is [the subject of the whole sentence, including 
 verses 21, 22; of which all that is said of establish- 
 ing, anointing, and sealing, are grammatically the 
 predicate-.] 
 
 22. Who hath also sealed U3 — Deeply im- 
 pressedhis truth and image n/mii cur hearts, by the 
 gifts of the Holy Spirit. And given the earnest 
 of the Spirit — Tbv appa )uva tov HvEvua~or. A 
 clear testimony in our souls, by the divine Spirit 
 dwelling constantly in us, of our acceptance with 
 God, and that our ways please him. The word 
 
 173
 
 A.M. 4061. A. P. 57. 
 Wir of Etomi 
 
 IT. CORINTHIANS. 
 
 Paul's renionfl for nnt visiting 
 ected. 
 
 God for ;i record upon my soul, -that to spare 
 you I came not as yet unto Corinth. 21 Not 
 for ''that we have dominion over your faith, 
 but are helpers of your joy : for 'by faith ye 
 
 stand. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 BUT I determined this with myself, 'thai I 
 would not coin./ again to you in heaviness. 
 2 For if I make you sorry, who is he then 
 that maketh me glad, hut the same which is 
 
 g\ Cor. 4. 21 : chap, i- ■'.: 12. ■_'■' : 13. 2, in. h I Cor. 3. 5; 
 
 1 Peter 5. 3. i Rom. 1!. 20; 1 Cor. 15. 1. — a Chap. 1. 2:!; 
 
 iv properly signifies an earnest of something 
 promised; apart of the price agreed forbetweena 
 buyer and seller, by giving and receiving of which 
 the bargain is ratine 1 ; or a deposit, which was to 
 be restored when the thing promised was given, or 
 retained as parr of the price. From the use of the 
 term in Genesis, which the apostle pats here in 
 letters, we may at once see bis meaning 
 above, and in Eph. i, 1 1 : the Holy Spirit being an 
 
 lest" in the heart, and an "earnest" of the 
 promised inheritance, means a security given in hand 
 for the fulfilment of all God's promises relative to 
 i il life. We may learn from this 
 that eternal life will be given in the great day to 
 fill who can produce the arrhabon, or pledge. He 
 who is found then with the earnest of God's Spirit 
 in his heart, shall not only be saved from death, 
 
 tve that eternal lite of which it is tin; pledge, 
 the earnest, and the evidence. Without this there 
 can l>e no glory. (See Gen. xxxviii, 13, etc.) 
 
 ■21. I call God for a record upon my soul — 
 The apostle here resumes the subject which he lefl 
 verse 16, and in the most solemn manner calls Co 1 
 to witness (and consequently to punish, if he as- 
 
 i any thing false) that it was through tender- 
 ness to them that he did not visit Corinth at tin' 
 time proposed. As there were so many scandals 
 
 ig them, the apostle had reason to believe that 
 he should lie ohliged to use the severe and author- 
 itative part of his function in the excommunication 
 of those who had sinned, delivering them over to 
 Satan for the destruction of the flesh, etc. ; though 
 to gi\ iceto amend, ami to see what effect 
 
 his epistle mighl produce, (not having heard as vet 
 from them,) he proposed to delay his coming. It 
 is plain that St. Paul's doctr ine has been op 
 
 by so of Corinth, (1 Co:-, xv, 12,) his apostL hip 
 
 questioned, (1 Cor. ix, 1, ~i, •-! for. \ii, 13,) and 
 himself despised as a person who. conscious of his 
 own worthlessness, dare 1 not tocome. (1 Cor. iv, IS.) 
 l£is I' ft. rs, say th thty an Ipowi rful — full 
 
 of boastings of what he can and what he will do; 
 but his bodily presence is «■■ ■ '!:. <t,i<l his speech con- 
 hie. (2 C >r. x, l'».) This being the state i,, 
 which his reputation was then at Corinth, and he 
 having promised tocome to them, (1 Cor. xvi, 5,) 
 he could not but think it necessary to vindicate his 
 failing them by reasons which should he both con- 
 vincing and kind, such as those contained in the 
 ■ 
 
 2 1 . Not for that we have dominion over 
 your faith — [This seems to be added to remove 
 
 any I':' hich might have I n drawn 
 
 . [sparing, \ • i ing to 
 
 asserl an u i se of power over them. 
 
 . . . He had power over them, but it was inmatters 
 of discipline, not of faith : over matters of faith not 
 
 174 
 
 made sorry by me? '.I And I wrote this same 
 unto you. lest, when 1 cam.'. '1 should have 
 sorrow from them of whom I ought to rejoice; 
 c having confidence in you all, thai mj joy is 
 the joy of you all. 4 For out of much addic- 
 tion and anguish of heart I wrote unto you 
 with many tears; ''not that ye should be 
 grieved, hut thai ye might know the love 
 which I have more abundantly unto you. 
 5 But e if any have caused grief, he hath not 
 r grieved me, but in part : that I may nol over- 
 
 12. 20, 21 : 13 10- — bChap. 1l>. -21. — cChap. 7. 16; 8. 22; Gal. 
 5. lu. — .i i liapti - :. \ 'a, 12. — e 1 Cor. 5. 1. — /Gal. I. 12. 
 
 even an apostle has power, seeing that it is in each 
 mail's faith that he stands befort God. — Alford.] 
 The Sacred Writings, and they alone, contain what 
 is necessary to faith and practice ; ami no man, (or 
 number of men.) society, church, council, presbytery, 
 consistory, or conclave, has dominion over any 
 man's faith. The word of God alone is his rule, 
 and to its Author he i- to give account of the use 
 he has made of it. For by faith ye stand — 
 Vou believe not in us, but in God. (2 Tim. i, 12.) 
 We have prescribed to you, on his authority, what 
 you are to believe; you received the Gospel as 
 coming from Him, and ye Stand in and by that 
 faith. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER II. 
 
 1. But I determined this — The apostle con- 
 tinues to give further reasons why he did not visit 
 them at the proposed time. Because of the scan- 
 dals that were among them he could not see them 
 comfortably; and therefore he determined not to 
 see them at all till he had reason to believe that 
 those evils were put away. 
 
 ■2. For if I make you sorry — Should he have 
 come and used his apostolical authority in exercis- 
 ing discipline upon the transgressors, this would 
 have been a common cause of distress. And 
 though he might expect that the sound part of the 
 Church would be a cause of consolation to him, yet 
 as all would be overwhelmed with trouble on ac- 
 count of the transgressors, he could not rejoice to 
 see those whom he loved in distress. 
 
 3. And I •wrote this same unto you — Thi< I 
 particularly marked in my first epistle to you; ear- 
 nestly desiring your reformation, lest, if I came be- 
 fore this had taken place, I must have collie with 
 a rod, and have inflicted chastisement on the trans- 
 gressors. (See l tor. v. 5.) My joy is the joy 
 of you all — [In order that he might find no afflic- 
 tion when present among them, he has communi- 
 cated the matter by letter, because he i- convinced 
 that they would find their own joy in his joy, which, 
 in the present instance, could not but lie produced 
 by the doing away of the existing evils according 
 to the instructions of his letter. — Meyer. ] 
 
 4. For out of much affliction, etc. — Tin 
 
 tie vindicates himself from this chargeof harshness 
 and austerity by solemnly asse tjng tint this was 
 the most painful part of his office ; and that the 
 writ in"; of his first epi tie to them cost him much 
 affliction and anguish of heart, and many tears. 
 
 5. But if any have caused grief — Here he 
 seems to refer particularly to the case id' the in- 
 cestuous person. Grieved me, but in part — I 
 cannot help thinking that the EK fiepovc, and n-i) 
 
 . which we render in part, and which the 
 apostle >>-<■• -o frequently in these epistles, are to 
 be referred to the people. A part of them had
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 charge you all. 6 Sufficient to such a man is 
 this e punishment, which was inflicted h of 
 many. 7 'So that contrariwise ye ought rath- 
 er to forgive him, and comfort him, lest per- 
 haps such a one should be swallowed up with 
 overmuch sorrow. § Wherefore I beseech 
 you that ye would confirm your love toward 
 him. J> Fur to tins end also did I write, that 
 1 might know the proof of you, whether ye he 
 k obedient in all things. lO To whom ye for- 
 give any thing, \ forgive also: for if I forgave 
 any thing, to whom I forgave it, for your 
 
 aOr,ceiixure. h\ Cor. 5. 4, 5: 1 Tim. 5. 20. iGal 6. 1. 
 
 A Chap. 7. to; 10. 6. 
 
 acknowledged the apostle, (chapter i, 14 ;) and 
 here a part of them had given him cause of grief; 
 and therefore he immediately adds, that I may not 
 overcharge you all; as only a part of you has put 
 me to pain, (namely, the transgressor, and those who 
 had taken his part,) it would lie unreasonable that 
 I should load you all, km lapa wavrag vuag, with the 
 blame which attaches to that party alone. 
 
 6. Sufficient to such a man is this punish- 
 ment — That is, the. man has already suffered suf- 
 ficiently. He had been disowned by the Church ; 
 he had deeply repented ; and now the apostle pleads 
 for him. Of many — [Ttto tuv 7r2.ei6vwv, by the 
 majority, (that is, of the Corinthian Church.) It 
 is probable that the majority of the church mem- 
 bers had considered the sinner as one excommuni- 
 cated, (though that was not really the case,) and 
 had given up all fellowship with him. . . . The real 
 and great repentance of the sinner (see verse '7) in- 
 duced the apostle to overlook the incompleteness 
 in carrying out his orders for excommunication, 
 (1 Cor. v, 13,) and now to pronounce the iKavbv, 
 "enough," and desire his pardon. — Meyer.'] 
 
 7. Ye ought rather to forgive him — The pun- 
 ishment inflicted had answered its end, and there 
 was siime danger that, if this poor culprit were not 
 restored to the bosom of the Church, his distress 
 might drive him to despair. 
 
 8. That ye would confirm your love to- 
 ward him — Now that In- has repented. Ibeseech 
 you to confirm, (nvpuaat, to ratify,) by a public act 
 of the Church, your love to him ; give him the 
 fullest proof that you do love him, by restoring him 
 to his place in the Church. 
 
 9. For to this end also did I write — "~Eypaipa, 
 in the former epistle, also the advices and commands 
 which I now give you, that I might know wheth- 
 er ye be obedient in all things. [Of which 
 their prompt obedience gave ample proof.] 
 
 10. To whom ye forgive any thing — Here 
 Paul further shows them that his object in the pun- 
 ishment inflicted on the transgressor was his amend- 
 ment, and therefore he promises to ratify, in the 
 name and autlwrity of Christ, the free pardon 
 which he exhorts them to dispense. In the per- 
 son {presence, Kpoaund) of Christ — As I believe 
 Christ acts toward his penitent soul, so do I. [In 
 the fullest purity and truth. It has taken place in 
 ihepresen.ee of Christ, so that he was a witness of 
 it. — Meyt r.] 
 
 11. Lest Satan should get an advantage — 
 PTva pi/ -'/ roviiYrt/tloipfi' inch rur 'Earava, lest we 
 should be defrauded (outdone) by Satan, in robbing 
 us of some of our people, namely, in causing the 
 penitent offender to despair and fall away from the 
 faith. . . . The reference has the further propriety, 
 
 sakes forgave I it ' in the person of Christ ; 
 
 11 Lest Satan should get an advantage of 
 us: for we are not ignorant of his devices. 
 
 12 Furthermore, '"when 1 came to Troas to 
 preach Christ's gospel, and "a door was opened 
 unto me of the Lord, Hi °I had no resl in 
 my spirit, because I found not Titus my broth- 
 er; but taking my leave of them, I went from 
 tlu-nce into Macedonia. 14 Now thanks be 
 unto God, which always causeth us to triumph 
 in Christ, and maketh manifest Pthe savour of 
 his knowledge by us in every place. 15 For 
 
 IOy, in the sight. m Acts 16. 8; 20. 6. n 1 dr. 16. 9. 
 
 eCliap. 7. 5, li. /' Cant. 1. 3. 
 
 since the offender was to be delivered over to Sa- 
 tan " for the destruction of the flesh," (1 Cor. v, 5,) 
 (the scourging away of his fleshly 7 lusts,) and now 
 care must be taken that this shall not be carried 
 too fur, so that his soul shall also be in danger of 
 perishing.] For we are not ignorant of his 
 (Satan's) devices — [To vofyfiara, thoughts, (things 
 studied out. designs;) such as coming from him 
 should be special matters of observation toeuiy 
 Christian, and especially so to all Christian minis- 
 ters. . . . The personality and (intelligent) agency of 
 the adversary can hardly be recognised in plainer 
 terms than is here done. See Alb ml.] 
 
 12. When I came to Troas — After having 
 written the former epistle, and not having heard 
 what effect it had produced on your minds; though 
 the Lord had opened me a particular door to preach 
 the Gospel, in which I so especially rejoice and 
 glory. Etc ri/v TpudSa, (the region rather than the 
 city.) 'EWuv, coming, namely, mi his journey from 
 Ephesus. (Acts xx, 1, 2; 1 Cor. xvi, 5-9.) E/c ro 
 t i a - ] ; :-'/ :ni\ <ni accou nt if tin Gospel, that is, for the 
 purpose of preaching it. A door was opened — 
 Opportunity was given. (1 Cor. xvi, 9.)] 
 
 13. I had no rest in my spirit — I was so con- 
 cerned for you, through the love I bear you, that I 
 was greatly distressed because I did not find Titus 
 returned to give me an account of your state. 
 But taking my leave of them — I went thence 
 into Macedonia, expecting to find him there; and 
 thither he did come, and gave me a joyous account 
 of your state. (See chapter viii, 6, 7.) [Titus was 
 instructed by Paul to travel from Corinth back to 
 Tinas through Macedonia, and to meet him again, 
 either there or here. ... In Macedonia, however, he 
 had met Titus, and through him received good 
 news of the impression made by his former epistle. 
 (Chapter vii, <;.) — Meyer.] 
 
 14. Now thanks be unto God — His coining dis- 
 pelled all my fears, and was the cause of the hi{ 
 satisfaction to my mind; and tilled my heart "ith 
 gratitude to God, who always causeth us to tri- 
 umph in Christ; not only gives us the victory, but 
 such a victory as involves the total ruin of our ene- 
 mies, and gives us cause of triumphing in him 
 through whom we have obtained this victory. A tri- 
 umph among the Romans, to which the apostle here 
 alludes, was a public and solemn honour conferred by 
 them on a victorious general, by allowing him a mag- 
 nificent procession into ami through the city. This 
 was not granted by the senate unless the general had 
 gained a very signal and decisive victory, conquered 
 a province, etc. On such occasions the general was 
 usually clad in a rich purple robe intern oven with 
 figures of gold, setting forth the grandeur of his 
 achievements; his buskins were beset with pearls, 
 
 17.3
 
 A. M. J 61. A. T>. 51 
 Year of Rome, flu. 
 
 TT. CORINTHIANS. 
 
 nlnlBten are Tinto God 
 
 we are unto God a sweel savour of Christ, 'tin 
 them thai are saved, and ' in them thai perish : 
 Hi »To the one we are the savour of < K-.-it li 
 unto death; and to the other the savour of 
 lit'.-. And ' who is sufficienl for these things? 
 17 For we ai*e not as many, which "corrupt' 
 the word o( God: but as w of sincerity, bu1 as 
 
 ?1 Cor. 1. 18. rChap. t. :'. -«Luke 2. 34: John 
 
 1 ivt. -.*. 7. - —t\ Cor. 1 j. 10; chap. A. 5, 0. u Or, deal de- 
 ceitfully with. 
 
 and he wore a crown, which at first was of laurel, 
 but was afterward of pure gold. In one hand he 
 
 had a branch of laurel, the enable I' victory, and 
 
 in the other, his truncheon. He was carried in a 
 magnificenl chariot adorned with ivory and plates 
 of gold, and usually drawn by two white horses. 
 (Other animals were also used: when Pompey tri- 
 umphed oxer Africa, his chariot was drawn by ele- 
 phants; that of Mark Antony, by lions; that (d' 
 Heliogabalus, by tigers; and that of Aurelius, by 
 deer.) Bis children either sat at his feet in the 
 chariot, or rode on the chariot horses.' Musicians 
 led up the procession, and played triumphal pieces 
 in his praise; these were followed by young men, 
 who led the victims which wl-w to lie sacrificed on 
 tiie occasion, having their horns gilded and their 
 heads and necks :l [orned with ribbons and gar- 
 lands. Next followed carts loaded with the spoils 
 taken from the enemy, with their horses, chariot-, 
 etc. These were followed by the kings, princes, 
 or generals taken in the war, loaded with chains. 
 I n a diately after these came the triumphal chariot, 
 before which, as it passed, the people strewed 
 flowers, and shouted /<> triumphe! The triumphal 
 chariot was followed b\ the senate; and the pro- 
 cession was closed by the priests and their attend- 
 ant-, with the different sacrificial utensils, and a 
 white ox, which was to be the chief victim. They 
 then passed through the triumphal arch, along the 
 Via Sacra, to the capitol, where the victims were 
 slain. During this time all the temples were opened, 
 and every altar smoked with offerings and incense. 
 St. l';i ul had now a triumph, hut of a widely different 
 kind ; his triumph was in Christ, and to Christ he 
 gives ;dl the glory; his sacrifice was that of thanks- 
 giving to his Lord; and the incense offered on the 
 occasion caused the savour of the knowledge of 
 Christ to be manifested in every place. As the 
 smoke of the victims and incense offered on such 
 an occasion would fill the whole city with their 
 perfume, so the odour of the name and doctrine of 
 Christ filled the whole of Corinth and the neigh- 
 bouring regions; and the apostles appeared as tri- 
 umphing, in and through Christ, over devils, idols, 
 superstition, ignorance, and vice, wherever they 
 came. 
 
 15. For we are unto God a sweet savour of 
 Christ — The apostle still alludes to the case of a 
 triumph ; the conqueror always represented the 
 person of Jupiter; as even the heathens supposed 
 that (rod alone could give the victory; and as the 
 punishment of death was inflicted on some of the 
 captives, who had often rebelled and broken 
 leagues and covenants, so others were spared, 
 made tributaries, and often became allies. Allud- 
 ing to tins, the apostle says: We tire a "sweet 
 savour to God " — we have fulfilled his will in faith- 
 fully proclaiming the Gospel and fighting against 
 sin. Ami as lie has determined that those who be- 
 lieve shall be saved, and those who believe not shall 
 176 
 
 of God, iii the sight of God speak we *in 
 ( Ihrist. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 DO "we begin again t<> commend ourselves? 
 or Deed we. as some others, b epistles of 
 coi m mux hit ion to you. or l< it, rs oi commenda- 
 tion from you '. 2 ' Ye are our epistle written 
 
 »Chnp. 4. i\ 11. 13: 1 Peter 2. X — wCtaap. 1. 12; I. 2. 
 xOr,ttf. a Chap. 5. 12; 10. 8, 12; 12. 11. -&Act8l8.27. 
 C I Cur. 9. 2. 
 
 perish, we are equally acceptable to him though we 
 
 unsuccessfully preach the Gospel to some who ob- 
 stinately reject il, and so perish, as we tire in 
 
 preaching to others who believe and toe saved. 
 
 16. To the one we are the savour of death 
 unto death — The Gospel is the means of salvation 
 to them that believe, of destruction to the unbe- 
 lieving; lor they are not only not saved because 
 they do not believe the Gospel, but they are con- 
 demned because they reject it. That the saved, 
 au^6[i£voi, and lliey that perish, airoTCkvixevoi, mean 
 those who receive and obey the Gospel and those 
 who reject it and live and die in sin. needs no 
 proof. No other kinds of reprobate and elect, in 
 reference to the eternal world, are known in the 
 Book of God. Who is sufficient for these 
 things — Is it the false apostle that has been la- 
 bouring to pervert you V Or is it the men to whom 
 God has given an extraordinary commission, and 
 sealed it by the miraculous gifts of the Holy Ghost ? 
 That this is the apostle's meaning is evident from 
 the follow ing verse. 
 
 17. For we are not as many, which corrupt 
 the word of God — Cod litis made rs "sufficient 
 for these things " by giving us his own pure doctrine, 
 the ministry of reconciliation, which we preach ; and 
 we act, not like many among you, who, having re- 
 ceived that doctrine, " corrupt" it ; mingling with 
 it their own inventions, and explaining away its 
 force and influence, so as to accommodate it to men 
 of carnal minds. The word /a/ ~/,/i i <>vr:c (royrnjit- 
 ing) is used to signify tiny artifice employed to gi t 
 gain by making a thing look more or better than it 
 is ; or mingling that which is excellent with what 
 is not so to promote the gain of the adulterator. 
 But as of sincerity — E> eiAiicpiviac. (See chapter 
 i, 12.) We receive the doctrine pure from God; 
 we keep it pure, and deliver it in its purity to you. 
 Speak we in Christ — In the tilings of his 
 Gospel, as being in the sight of God — Our whole 
 souls and all their motives being known to him. As 
 the unprincipled dealer knows thai lie adulterates 
 his wares; so we know that we deliver the sincere 
 truth of God, as we receive it by the inspiration of 
 the Spirit of truth. 
 
 NOTES OX CHAPTEE [IT. 
 
 1. Do we begin again to commend ourselves 
 — | In the first epistle there is something like self- 
 assertion on the part of the apostle, in a variety of 
 places, and this he does not now pin pose to repeat. 
 Some others (referring to the disturbers who laid 
 come among them) may have need of epistles of 
 commendation /« them, or on their departure from 
 them; but not so we, (the apostle and his fel- 
 low-labourers.) for the reason given in the next 
 verse. | 
 
 J. Ye are our epistle written in our hearts — 
 [Not borne in our hands tobeshown, but engraven, 
 in the consciousness of our work among you, in
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 A. M. 4061 A. D. 5 
 Year of Rome, 810. 
 
 in our hearts, known and read cf all men: 
 3 Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared 
 to be the epistle of Christ d ministered by us. 
 written not with ink, hut with the Spirit of 
 the living God; not e in tables of stone, but 
 f in fleshly tables of the heart. 4 And sucli 
 trust have we through Christ to God-ward: 
 
 d 1 Cor. 3. 5. e Exod. 24. 12 ; 34. 1. 1 Psa. 40 8 : Jer. 31. 33 ; 
 
 Ezek. 11. in; 36. 2ri: Heb. 8. 10. — <;/ John 15. 5; chap. 2.16. — 
 
 h 1 Cor. 15. Id; Phil. _'. 1;;. i\ Cor. 3. 5; 15. Id: chap. 5. 18; 
 
 Eph. 3. 7, Col. 1. 2.3,29: 1 Tim. 1. 11,12; 2 Tim. 1. 11. 
 
 our hearts.] Known and read of all men — 
 
 [Because all men are aware what issue my work 
 among you lias had, and receive me the more fa- 
 vourably on account of it. But " all men " includes 
 the Corinthians themselves ; his success among 
 them was his letter of recommendation to them, aa 
 well as to others from them. — Alford.] For wher- 
 ever I go 1 mention you ; speak of your various gifts 
 and graces ; and praise your knowledge in the Gospel. 
 Si. Manifestly declared to be the epistle of 
 Christ — [The words forasmuch as ye are, as they 
 are not in the original, so they add nothing to the 
 sense, and detract from the force of the sentence. 
 The Revised Version is a great improvement upon 
 this, being made manifest that ye are, etc.] Ye are in 
 our hearts, and Christ has written you there ; your- 
 selves are the epistle of Christ ministered by 
 us ; ye are the writing, but Christ used us as the pen : 
 Christ dictated, and we wrote ; and the divine char- 
 acters are not made with ink, but with the Spirit 
 of the living God ; not in tables of stone, where 
 men engrave contracts, or record events, but in 
 'fleshly tables of the heart, the work of salva- 
 tion taking place in all your spiritual nature, work- 
 ing that change within that is so signally mani- 
 fested without. Here is not only an allusion to 
 making inscriptions on stones, where one dictates 
 the matter and another cuts the letters; (and prob- 
 ably there were certain cases where some colouring 
 matter was use! to make the inscription the more 
 legible ; and when the stone was engraved, it was 
 set up in some public place, as monuments, inscrip- 
 tions, and contracts were, that they might be see?i, 
 known, and read of all nun ;) but the apostle may 
 here refer to the ten commandments, written by 
 the finger of God upon two tables of stone ; which 
 writing was an evidence of the divine mission of 
 Moses, as the conversion of the Corinthians was an 
 evidence of the mission of St. Paul. Eapicivatg, 
 (fleshly,) as opposed to hdivatc, (stony,) must imply 
 the notion of something better, (see Ezekiel xi, 19, 
 xxxv, 26,) namely, the thought of the living recep- 
 tivity and susceptibility, (but nothing directly ethi- 
 cal.) — Meyer.] 
 
 4. Such trust have we — We have the fullest 
 conviction that God has thus accredited our minis- 
 try ; and that ye are thus converted unto him, and 
 are monuments of his mercy, and proofs of the 
 truth of our ministry. 
 
 5. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves — 
 We do not arrogate to ourselves any power to en- 
 lighten the mind or change the heart, we are only 
 instruments in the hand of God. Nor was it pos- 
 sible for us apostles to think, to invent, such a 
 scheme of salvation as is the Gospel; nor could we 
 have fulfilled such promises as this scheme of sal- 
 vation abounds with. [Tloitffia, something made, a, 
 work.~\ Ye are God's workmanship ; and it is only 
 by God's sufficiency that we have been able to do 
 any thing. The words, '/.oyioaattai n, which we 
 . Vol. 11.— 12 
 
 .> e Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to 
 think any thing as of ourselves; but h our suf- 
 ficiency is of (iod; 6 Who also hath made us 
 able 'ministers of k the new testament; not 
 1 of the letter, but of the spirit : for '"the let- 
 ter killeth, "but the spirit "giveth life. 7 But 
 if r the ministration of death, '< written and 
 
 /•Jer. 31. 31; Matt. 26. 28: Heb. 8. 6.8. /liora. 2. 27. 29; 
 
 7. 6. rnRom. 3 20; 4. 15; 7. 9, 10, 11; Gal. 3. 10. rcjohn 
 
 6. 63; Rom. 8. 2. «Or, guickeneth. — p Uoin. 7. 10. 
 
 <i Exod. 34. 1, 28; Dent, 10. 1. etc. 
 
 translate "to think any thing," signify, properly, to 
 find any thing out by reasoning; and as the Gospel 
 
 scheme of salvation is the subject in hand, to that 
 subject the words are to be referred and limited. 
 The words, however, contain also a general truth ; 
 for we can neither think, act, nor be, without (iod. 
 
 6. Who . . . hath made lis able ministers — 
 ['I/cavtwrev, hath endowed us as ministers, etc., sig- 
 nifying simply their divine call to the ministry of 
 the Gospel, without any reference to this further, 
 or relative ability as such.] This is a more formal 
 answer to the question, Who is sufficient for these 
 things? Tvpbc ravra r/r ihavrje. (Chapter ii, 16.) We 
 apostles execute, under the divine influence, what 
 God himself has devised. We are ministers of the 
 new covenant; a system which not only proves it- 
 self to have come from God, but necessarily im- 
 plies that God himself, by his own Spirit, is the one 
 great agent in it, ever bringing its mighty purposes 
 to pass. Not of the letter, but of the spirit — 
 The apostle does not mean here, as some have im- 
 agined, that he states himself to be a minister of 
 the New Testament in opposition to the Old; and 
 that it is the Old Testament that kills, and the New 
 that gives life ; but that the New Testament gives 
 the proper meaning of the Old ; for the old cove- 
 nant had its "letter" and its "spirit," its literal 
 and its spiritual meaning. The Law was founded 
 on the very supposition of the Gospel, and all its 
 sacrifices, types, and ceremonies refer to the Gos- 
 pel. The Jews rested in the letter, which not only 
 afforded no means of life, but killed, by condem- 
 ning every transgressor to death. They did not look 
 at the spirit ; did not endeavour to find out the 
 spiritual meaning; and therefore they rejected 
 Christ, who was the end of the law for justifica- 
 tion, and so for redemption from death to every 
 one that believes. The new covenant set all these 
 spiritual things at once before their eyes, and 
 showed them the end, object, and design of the 
 law ; and thus the apostles who preached it were 
 ministers of that Spirit which gives life. The Gos- 
 pel has both its letter and its spirit ; and multitudes 
 of professing Christians, by resting in the fetter, re- 
 ceive not the life which it is calculated to impart. 
 Water, in baptism, is the letter that points out the 
 purification of the soul ; they who rest in this let- 
 ter are without this purification; and, dying in that 
 state, they die eternally. Bread and wine, in the 
 sacrament of the Lord's supper, are the letter; 
 the atoning efficacy of the death of Jesus, and the 
 grace communicated by this to the soul of a be- 
 . are the spirit, Multitudes rest in this let- 
 ter, simply receiving these symbols, without refer- 
 ence to the atonement, or to their guilt ; and thus 
 lose the benefit of the atonement and the salvation 
 of their souls. 
 
 7. The ministration of death — [77ie ministry 
 conducing to death."] The law. h was a ministra- 
 tion, diuKovia, or service of death, since it was its 
 
 177
 
 ■' 
 
 Year Of Koine, 
 
 TT. CORINTHIANS. 
 
 Comparative excellence of tha 
 old and 
 
 engraven in stones, was glorious, r so thai the 
 children of Israel could not steadfastly behold 
 the face of Moses for the glory of his counte- 
 nance; which glory was to be done away; 
 fc EIow shall no! the ministration of the spirit 
 be rather glorious ? f) For if the ministration 
 of condemnation fo glory, much more doth the 
 ministration 'of righteousness exceed in glory. 
 10 For even thai which was made glorious 
 had no glory in this respect, by reason of the 
 
 . - sGal. 3. 5.— £ Romans 1. 17: .1. 2'. 
 — u Chapter ;. I : Eph.6. 19 v Or, boldness. w Kxod.34. 
 
 province to ascertain (declare) the dmy of man, to 
 assign his duties, and to fix penalties for transgres- 
 Aud as man is prone to sin, and is con- 
 tinually committing it, this law was to him a con- 
 tinual "ministration of death." its letter killed; 
 and it was only the Gospel to which it referred 
 thai could givi life, because thai alone held out an 
 a\ ailable atom mt nt. Yet this ministration of death 
 (the ten commandments, written on stones; a part 
 of the Mosaic institutions being put for the whole) 
 was glorious — was i'ull of sple?idour ; for the apos- 
 Fers to the thunderings, and lightnings, and 
 luminous appearances which took place in the giv- 
 ing of the law ; so that the very body of Moses 
 partook of the effulgence in such a manner that the 
 children of [srael could not look upon his 1'aee ; and 
 he, to hide it, was obliged to use a veil. All this 
 was intended to show the excellency of that law as 
 an institution coming immediately from God; and 
 the apostle gives it all its heightenings, that he may 
 compare it to the Gospel, and thereby prove that, 
 glorious as it was, it. had no glory that could be 
 iared with that of the Gospel; and that even 
 the glory it had was but transitory, to be done 
 away, as th the stars, planets, and moon 
 
 is lost in the splendour of the sun. (See Romans 
 vii; Exod. xix; xx; xxxiv, 29, etc.) 
 
 8. The ministration of the spirit — -The Gos- 
 pel dispensation, which gives the true spiritual 
 sense of the law, [and is revealed in men's spirit- 
 ual nature by the power of the Holy Spirit.] Be 
 rather glorious — [The ministry of the Spirit, 
 whose are righteousness, life, and 
 
 peace, (Rom. viii, 6,) is in its own nature glorious, 
 and that not a temporary, but a permanent, glory. 
 . . . The apostle says, "Shall be in glory" (future) 
 because he is looking forward to the (ever-increas- 
 lory of) Messiah's king lom, whirl, glory, now 
 :i, (only partially displayed,) shall be man- 
 ifested. — Sp> "■',■ ,•'„■ ( 'om. | 
 
 '.». The ministration of condemnation — The 
 Law, which ascertained sin, and condemned it to 
 just punishment. The ministration of right- 
 eousness — The Gospel, the grand business of which 
 was to preclaim the doe-trine (dinaioavvqg) of justifi- 
 ■ : and to show how God could be jus t and 
 yet the justifier of him who believeth in Jesus. 
 Exceed in glory — For great, glorious, and awful 
 as the law may be, in its opposition to and punish- 
 ment of sin ; yet it must be vastly exceeded by thai 
 system which, evidencing an equal abhorrence of 
 sin, finds out a method by which to take away its 
 guilt from the conscience, and remove all its infec- 
 tion from the soul. That this could be done, the 
 (ceremonial) law pointed out by its blood of bulla 
 a d of goats : but it was impotent to the doing of 
 the work: the Gospel does what the law signified ; 
 and forasmuch as the performance of a promise is 
 178 
 
 glory that excelleth. El For if thai which is 
 done away was glorious, much more thai which 
 remaineth is glorious. 82 Seeing then that 
 we have such hope, "we use greal 'plainness 
 of speech: E:t And nol as Moses, " which put 
 a veil over his face, thai the children of Israel 
 could not steadfastly look to " the end of that 
 which is abolished: 18 But y their minds 
 were blinded : for until this day remaineth the 
 same veil untaken away in the reading of the 
 
 33, 33. — a- Romans 10. 4: Gal. 3. 23. — yl«a. 6. m: Matt. 13. 
 11, 14; John 12. 40; Acts .-. 26; Koui. 11. 7, 8,25; cl aptei i. i. 
 
 greater than the promise itself, and the substance 
 of a thing is greater than the shadow, so is the 
 Gospel of Jesus Christ greater than the Law, with 
 all its promises, types, ceremonies, and shadows. 
 
 10. For even that which was made glo- 
 rious — The Law, which was exhibited for a time in 
 great glory and splendour, partly when it was given, 
 and partly by the splendour of (h.d in the taber- 
 nacle and first temple; but all this <rii.su/ and was 
 done away; was intended to give place to the Gos- 
 pel. The glory that excelleth — The gospel dis- 
 pensation, giving supei eminent displays of the jus- 
 tice, holiness, goodness, mercy, and majest] of God. 
 
 11. For if that which is done away, etc. — 
 The law is, to Karapyov/ievov, that which is counter- 
 worked and abolished; the Gospel, to fievov, that 
 which continues, which is not for a particular time, 
 place, and people, as the law was; but for all 
 times, all places, and all people. As a great, uni- 
 versal, and permanent good vastlj excels a 
 
 that is small, partial, and transitory; so does the 
 gospel dispensation that of the law. 
 
 12. Seeing . . . we have such hope — [From a 
 consciousness of this superior glory of his minis- 
 tration the apostle uses great plainness of speech, 
 (clearness, without dissimulations or double mean- 
 ings,) and does not, as Moses, use a veil. — Al/o d. \ 
 We use gi eat plainness of speech — IF.//,, rrap- 
 l'ir.'i xpajieda. We speak not only with all confi- 
 dence, but with all imaginable " plainness ; " keep- 
 ing hack nothing; disguising nothing; concealing 
 nothing: and here we differ greatly from the Jew- 
 ish doctors and from the Gentile philoso] hers, 
 who affect obscurity, and endeavour, by figures, 
 metaphors, and allegories, to hide every thing from 
 the vulgar. Bu1 we wish that all may hear ; and 
 we speak so that all may understand. 
 
 13. And not as Moses — The splendour of Mo- 
 ses's countenance was so greal that the Israelites 
 could not hear to look upon Lis face, and therefore 
 he was obliged to veil his lace: this the apostle 
 applies typically to represent the types and shadows 
 by which the whole dispensation of which Moses 
 was the minister was covered. So that the Israel- 
 ites could not steadfastly look — could not then 
 have the full view or discernment of that in which 
 the Mosaic dispensation should issue and terminate. 
 
 11. But their minds were blinded — By rest- 
 ing in the letter, and looking no further, they con- 
 tracted a hardness or stupidity of heart. And the 
 veil that was on the face oi Moses, which prevented 
 the glory of his face from shining out, became em- 
 blematical of the veil of darkness and ignoranceon 
 their hearts, which hinders the glory of the Gospel 
 from shining in. Until this day remaineth the 
 same veil — They are still ignorant of the spiritual 
 meaning and intention of their own law, called here 
 -a'/.uia i)iutltjKT] } the old covenant. In the reading
 
 CHAPTER ITT. 
 
 old testament; which veil is done away in 
 Christ. 15 -But even unto this day, when 
 Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart. 
 16 Nevertheless, m when it shall turn to the 
 Lord, "the veil shall be taken away. 17 Now 
 "the Lord is that Spirit : and where the Spirit 
 of the Lord is, there is liberty. 8 8 But we 
 all, with open face beholding Pas in a glass 
 ■J the dory of the Lord, ' are changed into the 
 
 vi Exod. 34. 34; Rom. 11.23, 26. »Isa. 25. 7. olCor. 
 
 15. 45: verse ti. /< 1 Cor. 1:!. 12. (/Chap. 4. 4, 6; 1 Tun. 1. 1L 
 
 r Rom. 8. 29; 1 Cor. 15. iH; Co!. 3. 10. 
 
 of the old testament — Here is an evident allu- 
 sion to the conductor" the. Tews in their synagogues ; 
 when they read the law they cover their head with 
 a veil, which they term the HvE, tallith, veil (;) 
 and tins voluntary usage of theirs the apostle 
 makes an emblem of the darkness of their hearts 
 while they are employed even in sacred duties. 
 Which veil is done away in Christ — It is only 
 by acknowledging Christ that the darkness is re- 
 moved, and the end and spiritual meaning of the 
 law discerned. 
 
 lo. When it shall turn to the Lord — [" When 
 it," (that is, napiYta abruv, not Israel, nor Moses, 
 nor r/i', some <>u<\ but th< heart of tin people; and 
 tics taking away becomes an individual matter, 
 happening whenever and wherever conversion takes 
 place. . . . When the heart goes m, to speak with God — 
 ceases to contemplate the dead letter, and begins to 
 commune with the Spirit of the old covenant — then 
 the veil is removed, as it was from the face of 
 Moses. — Afford.] [There does not appear to be 
 here any reference to the Jewish nation as such, 
 nor can any argument be derived from this pas- 
 sagein respect to their future conversion, en masse. \ 
 
 17. Now the Lord is that Spirit — The Lord 
 (that is, Christ) is the Spirit. [Not as to hypostat- 
 ical identity, but according to the dynamical, econom- 
 ic (administrative) point of view. . . . Christ is the 
 Spirit, in so far as at conversion, and generally in the 
 whole arrangement of salvation, he communicates 
 himself in the Holy Spirit, the living principle of 
 the influence and indwelling of Christ. (Rom. 
 viii, 9-11.) — Meyer.~\ And where the Spirit of 
 the Lord is — Wherever this Gospel is received, 
 there the Spirit of the Lord is given; and where- 
 ever that Spirit lives and works, there is liberty, 
 not only from Jewish bondage, but from the 
 slavery of sin, from its power, its guilt, and its pol- 
 lution. (See John viii, 33-o6.) 
 
 18. But we all, with open face — The Jews 
 were not able to look on the face of Moses, the 
 mediator of the old covenant, and therefore he was 
 obliged to veil it ; but all we Christians, with face 
 uncovered, behold, as clearly as we can see our 
 own natural face in a mirror, the glorious promises 
 and privileges of the Gospel of Christ ; and while 
 we contemplate, we anticipate them by desire and 
 hope, and apprehend them by faith, and arechanged 
 from ilo' glory there represented to the enjoymertt 
 of the thing which is represented, even the glorious 
 image — righteousness and true holiness — of the 
 God of glory. KaTOTrrpt^opEVoi properly conveys 
 the sense of looking into <i mirror, or discerning by 
 reflected light. Mirrors, among the Jews, Greeks, 
 and Romans, were made of highly polished metal, 
 (see the note on 1 Cor. xiii, 12;) it would thus often 
 happen, especially in strong light, that the face 
 would be greatly illuminated by this strongly re- 
 
 same image from glory to glory, even as 5 by the 
 Spirit of the Lord. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THEREFORE, seeing we have ■ this minis- 
 try, 'tis we have received mercy, we faint 
 not; 2 But have renounced the hidden things 
 of c dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, d nor 
 handling the word of God deceitfully; but, 
 
 s Or. of the Lord tlie Spirit. — a Chap 
 2.5: 1 Tim. 1. 13. — c (Jr. shame, Rom. 1. . 
 2. 17 : 1 1'hess. 2. 3, 5. 
 
 6. b 1 Cor. 7. 
 
 6. 21. </Chap. 
 
 fleeted light; and to this circumstance the apostle 
 seems here to allude. So, by earnestly contem- 
 plating the Gospel of Jesus with the open vision 
 of faith, the soul becomes illuminated with his di- 
 vine splendour, for this sacred mirror reflects back 
 on the believing soul the image of Him whose per- 
 fections it exhibits ; and thus we see the glorious 
 form after which our minds are to be fashioned ; 
 and by believing and receiving the influence of his 
 Spirit, pE-auopyoiptda, our form is changed, ri/V 
 avTijv ecKova, into the same image which we be- 
 hold there. And this is the image of God, lost by 
 ouv fall, and now recovered and restore'.! by Jesus 
 Christ ; for the shining of the face of God upon us, 
 that is, approbation through Christ, is the cause 
 of our transformation into the divine image. As 
 by the Spirit of the Lord — By the energy of 
 that Spirit of Christ by which we ate made par- 
 takers of the divine nature, and escape all the cor- 
 ruptions that are in the world. 
 
 NOTES UN CHAPTER IV. 
 
 1. Seeing we have this ministry — The [min- 
 istration of the] Gospel, spoken of in the preceding 
 chapter. We faint not — We meet with many 
 trials and discouragements, but are supported in 
 and through all by the grace of the Gospel. In- 
 stead of ova 'tKKaiiovfMEV, we Joint not, owe kyuaKov- 
 uev, we act not badly, that is, cowardly, is the read- 
 ing now generally accepted. The whole verse may 
 be read thus : Wherefore, as we have obtained no rcy, 
 or been graciously intrusted (rj2.e^dnpev) fill* this; 
 ministry, we do not act wickedly, [do not give up 
 through faintheartedness or cowardice — Alford, ] /"it 
 have renounced (he hidden things of dishonesty, etc. 
 
 '2. But have renounced — 'AneLnapetia ; we 
 have disclaimed, etc, ru h t n<-Ta rf/c alaxvvng, the 
 hidden things of shame; those things which wicked 
 men do ; and which they are ashamed to have 
 known and ashamed to own. Dr. Whitby thinks 
 that the apostle refers to carnal abominations, of 
 which the Jews and their rabbins were notoriously 
 guilty. It appears from the first epistle that there 
 were persons in Corinth who taught that fornication 
 was no sin ; and also that some had taken the part 
 of the incestuous person. Not walking in craf- 
 tiness — Havovpyia, in subtlety and clever cunning, 
 as the false teachers did, who were accomplished 
 fellows, and capable of any thing. Nor handling 
 the word of God deceitfully — Not using the 
 doctrines of the Gospel to serve any secular or car- 
 nal purpose; not explaining away their force so as 
 to palliate or excuse sin. There were deceitful 
 handlers of lids kind in Corinth, and there are 
 many of them still in the garb of Christian minis- 
 ters ; persons who disguise that part of their creed 
 which, though the) believe it is of God, would make 
 them unpopular; affecting moderation in order to 
 
 179
 
 \. M. 1061. \. D. 5T. 
 
 TT. CORINTHIANS. 
 
 ^by manifestation of the truth, f commending God, should shine unto them. '* m For we 
 
 ourselves to every man's conscience in the sighl 
 of God. :J But if our gospel be hid, k il is hid 
 to them thai are losl : I In whom b th< 
 of this world 'hath blinded the minds of them 
 which believe not, lest k the ligbt of the glo- 
 rious gospel of Christ, 'who is the image of 
 
 I ip. 6. 1.7: 7. 14. ./ i i,:,,,. 5 |i. o 1 Cor. 1.18; 
 
 in !'.'. 31 : 14.30; 16. 11 ; Eph. 6. 12. 
 ■ : . 10; John I-'. 1 1; chap. 3. 1 1. — *Chap. 
 11,18; •■ 
 
 audience and more extrusive sup- 
 port; not attacking prevalenl and popular vices; 
 calling dissipation of mind relaxation, and worldly 
 irnal plea oa nt amust merits, etc. In 
 
 a word, turning with the tide, and shifting with the 
 wind of popular opinion, prejudice, fashion, etc. 
 [So did not the apostle.] But, by manifestation 
 of the truth — An open, explicit acknowledgment 
 ire know to be "the truth" — what we are 
 assured is the Gospel of Jesus; concealing nothing; 
 blunting the edge of no truth; explaining spir- 
 itual things, nor in the words of man's wisdom, 
 but in those taught by the Spirit of God. Com- 
 mending ourselves to every man's conscience 
 — Speaking so that every man's conscience shall 
 hear its testimony that we proclaim the truth of 
 God. This is one characteristic of divine truth ; 
 every man's " conscience " will acknowledge it. 
 decidedly against his own prai 
 [Paul here ascribes to "every man" the capacity 
 of moral judgment, and thus also the knowledge of 
 the moral law as the major proposition of the in- 
 ference of conscience. Meyer.] In the sight of 
 God — Who-.' eye is ever on the hearl and con- 
 science of man, and who always hears testimony to 
 his own word. [A sign of thorough sincerity.] 
 
 :;. But if our gospel be hid — K 
 veiled. The apostle refers to the subject that he 
 had treated so particularly in the conclusion of the 
 preceding chapter. If there he a veil on the Gospel, 
 it i- only to the wilfully blind ; and it' any man's 
 be veiled that hears this Gospel, it is a 
 proof thai he is among the lost, ii-n'/'/iiurnic, those 
 who are fully under the power of sin; who have 
 given up themselves to work wickedness. The 
 word more properly signifies, not those who w\. 
 lost, (beyond recovery,) but those who are perish- 
 ing, and will perish forever if not soughl and saved. 
 
 4. In whom the god of this world, etc. — We 
 see here that those whose minds are blinded are 
 they who believe not; and because they believe 
 not, their minds continue in darkness, and are 
 proper subjects for Satan to work on; and he 
 deepens the darkness, and increases the hardness. 
 But who is meant by the "pod of this world"? 
 Beyond a doubt, the Mime- who is called the prince 
 of this world, (John xvi, 11,) and the prince of 
 this world is Satan. (See on John xii, 31.) [All 
 that is .-aid in verse I is an explanatory predicate 
 i 'u m that ",■' Inst, in verse 3. 
 In them, (in all such,)//"' devil has made //////./. that 
 is, incapable of the perception of the truth, the 
 perceptive power oi the 
 conscience, chapter iii, II) of the unbelieving. \\ 
 is his (the devil's) work- to make the unbelieving 
 blind, as respects the bringing forward of their 
 power of thought to confront (and ight of 
 
 the Gospel. See Meyer.] Lest the light of the 
 glorious gospel — They ha, n isted the -race 
 which God gave them, and have refused to yield to 
 ISO 
 
 preach not ourselves, hut Chrisl Jesus the 
 Lord; and "ourselves your servants for Jesus' 
 sake. <> For ( rod, ° who commanded the light 
 to shine out <>f darkness, i hath <i shined in our 
 hearts, to give 'the lighl of the knowledge <>f 
 the glory of God in tin- face of Jesus Christ. 
 
 /.I. .l,a 1. 1-; 12. 15; it. '.'; Phil. 'J. 8; Col. I. L5; Heb, 1. 3. 
 
 n i Cor. '.'. !•'; chap. i. 21 — 
 
 oRi i r 3 pGr. is he- icko hath. v- Peter 1. 19. 
 
 I i : I Pet. -2. '.'. 
 
 the evidences which amply prove the Messiahship 
 of Jesus; and therefore their eyes are judicially 
 darkened, as it is said in the prophet : " lie hath 
 closed their eyes, ami hath given them the spirit of 
 slumber." That is, they have shut their 
 against the light, and their blindness and stupor 
 are the consequence. (Johniii, 19.) By "glorious 
 Gospel" we are to understand the luminous Gos- 
 pel ; that which comes with so much light ami evi- 
 dence to every candid mind. [ Eic rb uf, av] aoai, etc., 
 in nrili i- tlint shall nut shine unto them, tin glorious 
 Gospt 1. 1 ( The purpose is of the devil, who blinds the 
 minds of the unbelieving, in order that the enlight- 
 ening truth of the Gospel might not be known and 
 appropriated by them. — Meyer.'] Who is the 
 image of God — Christ is called (Iieb. i, ■'■) the 
 brightness of God's glory, and the express image of 
 his "person." See the note there. 
 
 5. For we prea<9h not ourselves — We pro- 
 claim neither our own wisdom nor power; we have 
 nothing hut what we have received; we do not 
 wish to establish our own authority, nor to pn 
 our own emolument. But Christ Jesus the Lord 
 — We proclaim the Christ, 6 Xpioroc, as theauthor 
 of this glorious Gospel, the Messiah, the Anointed 
 (tin ; him of whom the prophets wrote; and who 
 is the expectation, as he is the glory, of Israel. We 
 proclaim him ;i^ Jesus, l$, , L'"irp. Yehoshua,) the Sa- 
 viour and Deliverer, who saves men from their 
 sins. (Matt, i, 21.) And we proclaim Jesus of 
 Nazareth to be the long-expected Messiah; and 
 that there will he none other. Ami further, we 
 proclaim this Jesus the Messiah to be the Lord, 6 
 I . the great Ruler who has all power in 
 
 heaven and earth; who made mid governs the 
 world; and who can save to the uttermosl dl that 
 com- to God through him. Such was the whole 
 Gospel preached by Si. Paul. And ourselves 
 your servants — We do this for Christ's sake; for 
 although we by our labour show ourselves to he 
 your servants, (doWiorf,) yet it is a voluntary ser- 
 vice; and we are neither employed b,^ you nor re- 
 ceive our wages from yon. Webelong toJesus: ami 
 are your servants on his account, and by his o 
 
 i'). For God, 'who commanded the light to 
 shine out of darkness — The apostle refers here 
 to Gen. i, 8. For, when (hid created the hi 
 and the earth, darkness was <>u tin face <;/' tin 
 nnil God said, Lit there be ru.ni ; and ther 
 light. Thus he caused the light to shine out of 
 aess. Hath shined in our hearts — He has 
 given our hearts the glorious light of the Gi 
 as ho has given the world the glorious light of the 
 sun. The light of the knowledge— To • 
 thai light, thai we might enlighten other's; this ap- 
 
 of the aposl 
 (puTiGubv -//• yvuoet ii Gfi ii, or, as Dr. 
 
 Whitby paraphrases ir. to give us, nml enahU us to 
 givi In others, the Ugh, ■ no :ledgi of God 
 
 through Christ. In V.\^ A ,.ca oi Jesus Christ —
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 7 But we have this treasure in s earthen ves- 
 sels, 'that the excellency of the power may be 
 of God, and nut of us. 8 We are "troubled 
 on every side, yet not distressed; we are per- 
 
 « Chapter 5. I, 1 1 Cor. 2. 5 ; chapter 12. 9. u Chapter 7. 5. 
 
 — <• Or, not altogether without help, or, means. 
 
 It is in and through Jesus that we can receive the 
 divine light, and it is in and by him that we can be 
 made partakers of the divine glory. [Apart from 
 this figurative clothing, the sense is : For it is God, 
 the creator of light, who bestowed on as the spir- 
 itual light communicated to us, not that we might 
 retain it for ourselves without further communica- 
 tion, but that we should convey the knowledge of 
 the divine glory to others in making this knowledge 
 manifest to them in Christ, whom we teach them 
 to know. — Meyer.] 
 
 7. But we have this treasure in earthen 
 vessels — ['Ev borpaicivoic; ant veoiv, in vt sst Is of clay. 
 Contrasting with rbv driaavpbv, (this treasure,) be- 
 cause for such a treasure some more costly and 
 Listing vessel seems suitable. Paul (who speaks 
 not for himself alone) wishes not to affirm some 
 special weakness of himself, but to say generally, 
 Though we hare so glorious a trust, yet is our body, 
 (or the whole personality,) the outward organ of 
 our working, subject to the lot of being easily de- 
 structible. — Meyer,'] The original, barpaidvoic gkev- 
 eaa; signifies, more literally, vessels made of s/iells, 
 which are very brittle. The word barpaaiva also 
 means an earthen vessel which has been burnt in 
 the kiln, and earthen vessels or pottery in general; 
 the difference between anew/ barpaidva, earthen 
 ware, and amrh nepd/iewc, the potter's vessel, is this: 
 the latter implies the vessel as it comes out of the 
 hands of the potter before it is burnt ; and the 
 other is the vessel after it has passed through the 
 kiln. The light and salvation of Cod in the soul is 
 a heavenly treasure in a very mean casket. That 
 the excellency of the power may be of God, 
 and not of us — God keeps us continually depen- 
 dent upon himself; we have nothing but what we 
 have received, and we receive every necessary sup- 
 ply just when it is necessary; and have nothing at 
 our own command. The good, therefore, that is 
 done, is so evidently from the power of Cod, that 
 none can pretend to share the glory with him. 
 [The "excellency" (v-epfi/i/. excess) means not 
 only that the power is exceedingly great in itself, 
 but that it greatly preponderates overall resistance. 
 God intended that this be his, (in appearand as 
 well as in fact,) for had he used as his ministers 
 the great ones of the earth, it might have seemed 
 that the Gospel was established by human agency. 
 But it was clear that the work was God's when the 
 organs employed were frail and worn. — Speaker's 
 Corn.] 
 
 8. We are troubled on every side — In this 
 and the three following verses the apostle makes 
 allusion to the Isthmian or Corinthian games ; and 
 the terms which he employs in these verses can be 
 best understood by a reference to those agonistical 
 exercises to winch he alludes. Dr. Hammond has 
 explained the whole on this ground ; and I shall here 
 borrow his help. There are four pairs of expres- 
 sions taken from the customs of the agones: 
 1) Troubled on every side, yet not distressed. 2) Per- 
 plexed, but not in despair. 3) Persecuted, but not 
 forsaken. 4) Cast down, but not destroyed. Three 
 of these pairs belong to the customs of wrestling ; 
 
 plexed, but 'not in despair; 9 Persecuted, 
 but not forsaken; "cast down, but not de- 
 stroyed; lO x Always bearing about in the 
 body the dying of the Lord Jesus, ythat the 
 
 it- Psa. 37. 24. ,rl Cor. 15. 31 : chap. 1. 5, it; Gal. 6. 17: Phil. 
 
 3. 10. y Romans 8. 17; 2 Tim. -J. 11,12; 1 Peter 4. 13. 
 
 the fourth, to that of running in the race. " Troubled 
 on every side,"' etc., ev Travri 62.ij36pevoi. The word 
 adai belongs clearly to -<;///, wrestling, and 
 signifies to be pressed down ; to which is here 
 opposed, as in a higher degree, aTevoxupeiodai, to 
 In brought to distress, as when one cannot get out 
 of his antagonist's hand, nor make any resistance 
 against him. So in Isaiah: 0T£1 o \ upoi u. si w 01 fiv. 
 vdpsda [iciXEoBat, we are brought to such extremities 
 that we can fight no longer. Perplexed, but not 
 in despair — 'Airopovpt ~vot a/'/' ovk k^anopovfievoL. 
 The word awopeiodai, to be in perplexity, is lit for 
 the wrestlers who, being puzzled by their antago- 
 nists' skill, know not what to do: yet they are not 
 kgaTropovfiEvoi, they miscarry not finally. 
 
 9. Persecuted, but not forsaken — AcukSuevoi 
 a/i?.' ovk EyKa~a'AEi~6uiroi. The duJuoyevot, pursued, 
 is peculiar to the dpouog, or race, when one being 
 foremost others pursue, and get up close niter him, 
 endeavouring to outstrip him, but cannot succeed : 
 this is the meaning of ovk EyKardkEinofiEvoi, not 
 outstripped, or outgone, as the word implies. Cast 
 down, but not destroyed — Ka-a/3a'X2.6yevoi a?JC 
 ovk airo'AAvpEvoL. This also belongs to wrestlers, 
 where he that throws the other first is conqueror. 
 And then, the being not " destroyed " signifies 
 that, although they were thrown down — cast into 
 troubles and difficulties, yet they rose again, and 
 surmounted them all. [Four pairs of contrasts 
 illustrate the frailty of the instruments and the ex- 
 cess of the power, as shown in St. Paul's experi- 
 ence. 1) Crushed, but not penned into a corner. 
 The idea is that of being jostled in a crowd. (Mark 
 iii, 9.) They are hard pressed for space, but not 
 driven into hopeless straits. 2) In difficulties as 
 to the ways and means of carrying on their ministry 
 effectually, but not reduced to utter helplessness. 
 8) Persecuted, but not left in the enemies' hand- ; 
 not given over to persecutors. 4) Thrown to the 
 ground, but not destroyed. The notion is the pur- 
 suit of a fugitive in war, who, when overtaken and 
 thrown down, is usually slain. Here was the over- 
 throw, but, by God's grace, not the slaughter. The 
 first pair of these contrasts refer to circumstantial 
 difficulties ; the second to the animosities of ene- 
 mies. — Speaker's Com.] [Agonistic figures would 
 be out of place in the present passage, and the 
 attempt to find them has bewildered most of the 
 modern commentators. — Afford.] 
 
 1 1 ). Always bearing about in the body, etc. 
 — Being every moment in danger of losing our lives 
 in the cause of truth, as Jesus Christ was. We, in 
 a word, bear his cross, and are ready to oiler up 
 our lives for him. \J&£K.puctc, the putting to death. 
 At all linns we bear about tin putting t<> death if 
 Jesus, in our body, {ourselves,) . . . to violent depri- 
 vation if life for thr Gospel's sake. The constant 
 supreme danger of this death, (as the climax of all 
 their sufferings,) and the constant actual persecu- 
 tions and maltreatments, make the dying of Jesus, 
 in the conception of the sufferer as of the observer, 
 
 appear as something clinging to the body of the 
 person 'concerned, which he carries aboul »ita 
 him. — Meyer.] That the life also of Jesus might 
 
 lbl
 
 A. M. 1061. v r>. 5'. 
 rear •■■ R line, MO. 
 
 IT. CORINTHIANS. 
 
 
 nr.» trmpnrnry. 
 
 life also of Jesus mighl be made manifest in 
 oar body. 11 For we wbich live * are al way 
 delivered onto death for Jesus's sake, that the 
 life also df Jesus mighl be made manifesl in 
 our mortal flesh. 1*2 So then 'death worketh 
 in us, but life in von. I'i We having 
 same spirit of faith, according as it is written, 
 ■ I believed, and therefore have 1 spoken; we 
 also believe, and therefore speak ; 11 Know- 
 ing thai d he which raised up the Lord Jesus 
 shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall pre- 
 
 3 Psa. J4. 23; Rom. 8. 36; 1 Cor. l.j.31. 49. a Chap. 13. 9. — 
 
 &Rom. 1.12; 2 Pet. 1.1. cPsa. 116. 1 I. — d Rom 8. 11; 1 Cor. 
 ti. M. — 6 1 Cor. 3. 21; chap. 1.6; Col. 1.24; 2 Tim. 2. 10. 
 
 be made manifest — That in our preservation, the 
 
 success of our ministry, and the miracles we work, 
 we mighl be able to give the fullest proof thai 
 Jesus is risen again from the dead ; and that we are 
 strengthened by him to do all these mighty works. 
 
 11. For we which live — Ami yet, although we 
 are preserved alive, we are in such continual dan- 
 gers that we cany our life in our hands, and are 
 
 i stantly in the spirit of sacrifice. But the life 
 
 — the preserving power — of Christ is manifest in 
 our continual support. [We live in constant peril 
 of death ; bul since we live by faith, the life of 
 Christ in us, by the power of the Holy Spirit, is 
 made manifest in us, our persons and lives.] 
 
 12. Death worketh in us, etc. — -We apostles 
 are in continual danger, and live a dying life; while 
 you who have received this Gospel from us are in no 
 danger. [The veKpuaic, dying, of Jesus i- especially 
 Been in our case; the _'<.</,, life, of Jesus, in yours. 
 As private Christians the Corinthians were not ex- 
 posed to any great personal inconveniences, while 
 the apostles Stood in jeopardy every hour.] 
 
 13. We having the same spirit of faith — As 
 David had when he wrote, i Psa. cxvi, In,) " [ be- 
 lieved, therefore have I spoken:" we also believe 
 that we shall receive the fulfilment of all God's 
 promises; and being fully convinced of the truth 
 of tin' Christian religion, we speak and testify that 
 our deliverance is from God ; and that he does not 
 fail those who trust in him; and that he saves to 
 the uttermost them who come unto him through 
 Christ Jesus. 
 
 11 Knowing that he which raised up the 
 Lord, etc. — Ami though we -hall at last seal this 
 truth with our blood, we fear not, being persuaded 
 that as Christ was raised from the dead by the 
 power of the Father, so shall we he raised, aid shall 
 ternal life with him in glory. 
 
 l.j. For all things are for your sakes — We 
 proclaim all these truths and hear all these suffer- 
 ings for your sakes, thinking all our sufferings 
 nothing if we can gain i i Christ, and build 
 
 believers up on then- most holy faith. [All our la- 
 bours, sacri ices, and dangers are intimately related 
 to your salvation ; through them come grace to you 
 >Go 1 ] That the abundant grace — 
 'li ■■ -'-■■■■■ laaaa; the abounding benefit — the 
 is outpouring of the gifts and graces of the 
 Holy Spirit, by which yon have been favoured and 
 enriched, may, through the thanksgiving of 
 many, redound to the glory of God. That is, 
 that the gratitude of the multitudes which have 
 been converted may keep pace with the blessings 
 which they have received, and irepiaaevay, abound, 
 as these blessings have abounded. 
 
 16. For which cause we faint not Oi 
 
 : we do not lose heart. (See on verse 1.) 
 182 
 
 -nt us with you. 15 Km- "all things are for 
 your sakes, thai r the abundant grace i 
 through the thanksgiving of many redound to 
 tin- glory of Cud. 1(> For which cause we 
 faint not ; hut though our outward man per- 
 ish, yet -the inward m.in is renewed day by 
 day. 17 Cm- '•our lighl affliction, which is 
 
 but for a moment, worketh for us a far more 
 
 exceeding uml eternal weight of glory; 
 18 'While we look not at the things which 
 are seen, but at the things which are nol se< D : 
 
 /Chap. 1. 11 ; B. 19; 9. 11, VI. -~g R..m. 7. 22; Eph. 3. 16; Col. 
 ;. l": I Pet. ::.4. — // Matt. 5. 1 ; Rum. 8. 1-; 1 Ret. 1. 6:5. 10. 
 
 i Rom 8. 24; chap. 5. 7; ll.-l,. 11. 1. 
 
 But though our outward man — That is, our 
 body — that part of us that can be seen, Jieard, and 
 felt. Perish — Be consumed by continual trials 
 and affliction-, and be martyred at last. The in- 
 ward man — The soul, the spiritual self. Is re- 
 newed — 1< revived, and receives a daily increase 
 of light and life from (hid; so that we grow more 
 hoi), more happy, and more meet for glory every 
 day. It is a good antidote against the fear of death 
 to find, as the body grows old and decays, the Foul 
 grows young and is invigorated. By the use of the 
 terms the "outward man" and the "inward man" 
 St. Paul shows that he was no materialist: he be- 
 lieved thai we have both a body and a sotd : and so 
 far was he from supposing that when the body 
 dies the whole man is decomposed, and continues 
 so to the resurrection, that he asserts that the de- 
 cay of the one leads to the invigorating of the 
 other; and that the very decomposition of the body 
 itself leaves the soul in the state of renewed youth. 
 The vile doctrine of materialism is not apostolic. 
 
 17. For our light affliction, etc. — "The light- 
 ness of the trial is expressed by to kXa<j>pbv r- 
 
 the lightness of our affliction; as if he had 
 said, it is even levity itself in such a comparison, 
 (hi the other hand, the kuO' i-; ; > '•<>/,, r ,•<<; i-epfio- 
 ///r, which we render far more exceeding, is in- 
 finitely emphatical, and cannot be fully expressed 
 by any translation. It signifies that all hyperboles 
 fall short of describing that weight — eternal glory 
 — so solid and lasting that you may pass from hyper- 
 bole to hyperbole and yet, when you have gained 
 the last, are infinitely below it." — Dr. Dodd. The 
 apostle opposes things present to things future ; 
 a moment to eternity; lightness to weight; afflic- 
 tion to glory. Nor is he satisfied with this, but 
 he adds another word, and doubles it, saying 
 
 This is a magnitude ex- 
 cessively exceeding. — < 'hrysostom. 
 
 18. While we look not at the things which 
 are seen — M/} ckowovvtuv. While we aim not at 
 the things which are seen; do not make them our 
 object; are not striving to obtain them; and be- 
 cause they are irpdoicatpa, temporary, are to have 
 a short duration, and must soon end. But the 
 things which we make our scope and aim are not 
 seen ; they are spiritual, and therefore invisible to 
 the outward eye ; and besides, they are aluvia, tier mil 
 
 -things that are permanent ; they are things which 
 belong to God; holiness, happiness, and the end- 
 communication and fruition of himself. But 
 we musl remark that the light afflictions work out 
 this far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory 
 only to those who do not look at tht things which 
 ares, iii. A man may be grievously afflicted, and 
 yet have his eye be«1 on temporal good; from his 
 afflictions he can derive no benefit; though many
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 M.4H. A. T> 51 
 ¥ear .1 Home, 810. 
 
 for the things which are seen are temporal; 
 hut the things which arc not seen are eternal. 
 
 F 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 OR we know that, if »our earthly bouse of 
 
 a Job 4. 19; chap. 4. 7 ; 2 Pet. 
 
 think that their glorification must be a necessary 
 consequence of their afflictions, and hence we do 
 not unfrequently hear among the afflicted poor, 
 " Well, we shall not suffer both here and in the 
 other world too." Afflictions may be means of 
 preparing us for glory if, during them, we receive 
 grace to save the soul ; but afflictions of themselves 
 have no spiritual nor saving tendency; ou the con- 
 trary, they sour the unregenerated mind, and cause 
 murmurings against the dispensations of divine 
 Providence. That which the eyes of the flesh are 
 capable of perceiving is not worthy of a soul capa- 
 ble of possessing God. Nothing which is of a per- 
 ishable nature can be the chief good of a being 
 that was made for eternity! — Quesnel. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER V. 
 [Having indicated in the closing words of the pre- 
 ceding chapter, which are closely connected with 
 what follows, the contrast in respect to durability 
 between the visible and the invisible things, the apos- 
 tle now proceeds to express that thought more fully 
 by declaring at length their sure hopes of immortal- 
 ity and eternal life. Our present state is compared 
 with a tent dwelling slightly constructed, adapted 
 only to temporary use, and evidently designed to be 
 presently superseded. It is called an earth!;/ house, 
 as belonging to our terrestrial estate; perhaps, also, 
 in reference to its composition of earthly materials. 
 The " if," kav, is not used to indicate any doubtful- 
 ness as to the suggested dissolution, but to show 
 that although that event must come, there is be- 
 yond it, or in its stead, a more glorious alternative ; 
 not the fragile and temporary " tent house," but the 
 substantial "edifice," built by God; not a frail, 
 hand-made structure, but an inorganic and spirit- 
 ual substance — hypostasis. No doubt, by the disso- 
 lution referred to natural death is meant, and there- 
 fore " our earthly house" stands for our physico- 
 psychical system, which is then dissolved ; and over 
 against this stands another and widely dissimilar 
 state of being, the "not-constructed house," or 
 condition of being at once heavenly and eternal. 
 The present state of being, even to those who are in 
 Christ, is an incomplete condition, and therefore 
 not in itself satisfactory. While in it we " walk by 
 faith " and are "saved by hope," and therefore we 
 "groan," areva^o/xev, are not satisfied, not however 
 because of any present positive discomforts, but be- 
 cause of our desire for ourbetter estate. The uncloth- 
 ing (here the figure is changed) is desired, not for its 
 own sake, "not that we would be unclothed," but 
 as an act precedent to and preparatory for the 
 clothing upon, the new conditioning, in the heaven- 
 ly estate. Though the present life has its burdens, 
 they are nevertheless quite endurable ; but deliver- 
 ance from it is to be desired, since "to depart and 
 be with Christ is far better." (Phil, i, 23.) The re- 
 moval from the present state, which is here likened 
 to one's clothing, will not be a going out into na- 
 kedness, or unclothing, but a transition into a bet- 
 ter, an exchange of our mortality to a realized im- 
 mortality. For this God has " wrought " us, Karep- 
 
 this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a 
 building of God, a house not made with hands, 
 eternal in the heavens. '2 For in this h we 
 groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon 
 with our house which is from heaven: 3 If 
 
 1. 13, 14. b Romans 8. 23. 
 
 yaaa.fj.evoc, brought us into being, "predestinated," 
 (Rom. viii, 29,) and he has already, in part, accom- 
 plished this work in us by his Spirit, which also 
 has become to us the Holy Spirit of promise, and 
 the "earnest" of our inheritance in heaven. < tin- 
 present state, though our temporary home, is still 
 an "absence," a residence away from our real home, 
 which is with the Lord Christ. The hope of im- 
 mortality is the theme here considered ; the im- 
 agery of house and clothing is only imagery, and ' 
 teaches nothing respecting the condition of the 
 future.] 
 
 1. We know — [Oldauev, speaking for himself, 
 but of what was also common among believers.] 
 If our earthly house of this tabernacle — ['II 
 E-iyeioc yaHiv oiKia rov cidjvovg, this our terrestrial 
 house of tent, or " tent house," indicative of the 
 slightness and the temporary nature of our phys- 
 ico-psychical system.] By earthly house the apos- 
 tle most evidently means the body, in which the soul 
 is represented as dwelling or sojourning for a time, 
 and from which it is to be liberated at death; tol- 
 as death dissolves the tabernacle, it can then be no 
 habitation for the soul. A building of God — 
 [OiicodouTjv eK Qeov, an edifice of God, as provided 
 or prepared by him.] Some think this refers to a 
 certain celestial vehicle with which God invests 
 holy souls on their dismissal from the body; others 
 suppose it relates to the resurrection body; and 
 some imagine that it relates merely to the slate of 
 blessedness which the saints shall possess in the 
 kingdom of glory. See the following note. 
 
 2. For in this we groan — Ursvd^ouev, are ill 
 at ease. While in this state, and in this body, we 
 are encompassed with many infirmities, and ex- 
 posed to many trials, so that life is a state of dis- 
 cipline and affliction, and every thing within and 
 around us says, " Arise and depart, for this is not 
 your rest." Desiring to be clothed upon with 
 our house — This and the following verses are, in 
 themselves, exceedingly obscure, and can be only in- 
 terpreted by considering that the expressions used 
 by the apostle are all Jewish, and should be in- 
 terpreted according to their use of them. Schoett- 
 gen has entered largely into the argument here em- 
 ployed by the apostle, and brought forth much use- 
 ful information. He observes that the Hebrew 
 word £>3^>, lab'ash, which answers to the apostle's 
 k-~Evd'vaaatiaL, to be cloth' d, signifies to be surrounded, 
 covered, or invested with any thing. The Jews at- 
 tribute garments to the soul, both in this and the 
 other world ; and as they hold that all human souls 
 pre-exist, they say that previously to their being 
 appointed to bodies, they have a covering which 
 answers the same end to them before they come in- 
 to life as their bodies do afterward. [This notion 
 is also held by the Mormons, and is made to do 
 service in favour of polygamy ] By this garment 
 or covering of the soul they mean simphj what we 
 understand by acquiring the image of God — being 
 made holy. This image they assert " Adam lost by 
 his fall, and they represent man in a sinful state as 
 being naked." Yet they all agree in assigning cer- 
 tain vehicles to separate spirits, in which thev act; 
 
 183
 
 A. M 1 «1. A. P. 
 : Lome, 810. 
 
 TT. CORINTHIANS. 
 
 Life or death, iu G. 
 
 so be that c being clothed we shall not be found 
 naked. I For we that are in this tabernacle 
 do groan, being burdened: not for that we 
 would be unclothed, but a clothed upon, thai 
 mortality might be swallowed up of life. 
 ."> Now e he that hath wroughl us for the self 
 same thing ia God, who also 'hath given unto 
 us the earnesl of the Spirit. <» Therefore we 
 ilways confident, knowing that, whilst we 
 
 cRev. 3. 18; 16. 15. - rl l I . - I -a. 29.23: Eph. 
 
 •2. 10. p i. 22 Eph. I. 14; 1. 30. - (/Rom. 
 
 8. 24, 25; I. 18; Heb. 11. 1. 
 
 but of these vehicles thej have strange aotions ; yet 
 they acknowledge that without them, whether they 
 be of light, fire, etc., or whatever else, they cannot 
 see and contemplate tin 1 Supreme Wisdom. When 
 the apostle says that they earnestly desired "to be 
 clothed upon with" their house which is from 
 heaven, he certainly means that the great con- 
 cern of all the genuine followers () |" (;,,(! was to be 
 fully prepare 1 to enjoy the beatific vision of their 
 Maker and Redeemer. 
 
 3. If so ba that being clothed — That Is, fully 
 prepared in this life for the glory of God. Weshall 
 not be found naked — Destitute in that future 
 state of that divine image which shall render us 
 capabl ing an endless glory. 
 
 4. For we that are in this tabernacle — We 
 who are in this state of trial and difficulty do groan, 
 being burdened; as if he Bad said : The whole of 
 human life is a state of suffering, and especially 
 our lot, who are troubled on ever y side, perplexed, 
 persecuted, cast down, bearing about in the body tht 
 dying of our Lord Jesus, and being always delivered 
 unto death on tht account of Jesus. (Chap, iv, 8— 11.) 
 These were suffi i. at burdens, and sufficient causes 
 of groaning. Not for that we would be un- 
 clothed — We do not desire death ; nor todie, even 
 with the full prospect of eternal glory before our 
 eyes, an hour before that time which God in his 
 wisdom has assigned. But clothed upon — To 
 have the fullest preparation for eternal glory. We 
 wish not to die, whatever tribulation we may be 
 called to pass through, till the whole will of God is 
 accomplished in us and by us. That mortality 
 might be swallowed up of life — Being fully 
 prepared for the eternal state we shall scarcely be 
 said to die, all that is mortal being cast off and 
 replaced by immortality and ulory. (Sec ] Cor. 
 xv, 51-56.) Fro e of these expressions 
 among the Jews this seems to be the general mean- 
 ing of the apostle, [who adopted and applied their 
 language ana imagery, but not their fancies.] 
 
 5. Now he that hath wrought us for the 
 selfsame thing— God himself has given us this 
 insatiahl hungering and thirsting after righteous- 
 
 and immortality ; 
 
 Whence this pleasing hope, this fond desire, 
 
 Thi r immortality t 
 
 Earnest of the Spirit— See note on chap, i, 22. 
 
 6. We are always confident — Qappovrr 
 
 always full of couragt ; we never 
 despond; we know where our help lies, and, hav- 
 ing the "earnest of the Spirit," we have the full 
 assurauce of hope. Whilst we are at home in 
 the body, etc. — The original words in this sen- 
 tence are \:v\ emphatic: kv6 w v, signifies to dwell 
 among one's people; inth/iir/r, to be a siijimr,>er 
 among a strange people. Heaven is the home of 
 every genuine Christian, and it is claimed by them as 
 such. (See Phil, i, 23.) Yet, while here below, the 
 184 
 
 arc at borne in the body, we .arc absenl from 
 the Lord: 7 (For ewe walk by faith, not by 
 sight:) N We are confident, I say, and 'wil- 
 ling rather to be absenl from the body, and to 
 Kc present with the Lord. J) Wherefore we 
 'labour, that, whether present or absent, we 
 may be accepted of him. IO - l-'or we must 
 all appear before the judgmenl seal of Christ; 
 'that every one may receive the things dorn in 
 
 // Phil. 1. 23. ''nr. , nd n Mai 25. 31, 2; Ro- 
 
 mans 1 1, in. /Romans 2. 0; Ual. 6. 7; Eph. 6. : ; < ol. :i. 24, 
 
 ■Sr. Rev. 22. 12. 
 
 body is the temporary home "f the soul ; hut as the 
 soul is made for eternal glory, that glory is its 
 country ; ami therefore it is considered as being 
 from its proper home while below in the body. A- 
 all human souls arc made for this glory, therefore 
 all are considered, while here, to lie absent from 
 their own country. And it is not merely heaven 
 that they have in view, but the Lord; without 
 whom, to an immortal spirit possessed of infinite 
 desires, heaven would neither be a home nor a place 
 of rest. There is not the slightest intimation here 
 that the soul sleeps, or rather, that there is no BOUl ; 
 ami, when the body is decomposed, that there is no 
 more of the man till the resurrection : 1 mean, ac- 
 cording to the sentiments of those who do conde- 
 scend to allow us a resurrect ion, though they deny 
 us a soul. But this is a philosophy in which St. 
 Paul got no lessons, either from Gamaliel, Jesus 
 Christ, the Holy Ghost, or in the third heaven, 
 where he heard even unutterable things. 
 
 7. For we walk by faith — While we arc in 
 the present state "faith " supplies the place of t!i- 
 rect vision. In the future world we shall have sight 
 — the utmost evidence of spiritual and eternal 
 things; as we shall be present with them, and live 
 in them. Here we have the testimony of God, and 
 we cannot doubt Ins word. And to make this nunc 
 convincing he gives us the earnest of his Spirit, 
 which is a foretaste of that glory. 
 
 8. We are confident — We are of good com-",/,, 
 notwithstanding our many difficulties, ami for the 
 time being we are . . . willing rather to be ab- 
 sent from the body — we certainly prefer a state 
 of glory to a state of suffering, and the enjoyment 
 of the beatific vision to even the anticipation of it 
 by faith and hope; but, as Christians, we may not 
 desire to die before our time. 
 
 !>. Wherefore we labour — Qdaripovfieda ; we 
 acl at all times on the principles of honour; we 
 are. in the proper sense of the word, ambitious to 
 do and say every thing consistently with our high 
 vocation ; and. as we claim kindred to the inhabi- 
 tants of heaven, to act as they do. We may be 
 accepted of him — Evapeoroiai r&elvai, In In pleas- 
 ing t" him. Through the love we have to God, we 
 study ami labour to please him. This is and will 
 /» our heaven, to study to love, please, anil serve 
 him from whom we have received both our being 
 and its blessings. [ Wherefort also we make it our 
 aim, (or arc ambitious.) whetlier at homt <<r absent, 
 Id I,, well pleasing unto him. — Revised Version.^ 
 
 lit. For we must all appear before the judg- 
 ment seat — We labour to walk so as to please 
 him, because we know that we shall have to give a 
 solemn account of ourselves before the judgment 
 
 seat of Christ; when- he. whose religion we pro- 
 fess, will judge us according to its precepts, and 
 according to the light and grace which it affords. 
 That every one may receive the things — Ko-
 
 Christ's dentil an 
 lowers ii"t t-> li 
 
 nple to his fol- 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 A. M. 4061. A. T). S 
 Vearnl Romi , i 10. 
 
 Ms body, according to that lie hath done, 
 whether it he good or bad. 11 Knowing 
 therefore "the terror of the Lord, we persuade 
 men; but n we are made manifest unto God ; 
 and I trust also are made manifest in your 
 consciences. 12 For" we commend not our- 
 selves again unto you, but give you occasion 
 Pto glory on our behalf, that ye may have 
 somewhat to answer them which glory iin ap- 
 pearance, and not in heart. 13 For r whether 
 
 m Job 31. 23 ; Hebrews 10. 31 ; Jude 23. n Chapter 4. 2. — 
 
 r<Chap. 3. 1. pChap. 1. 11. q Gr. in the face. /Chap. 
 
 11. 1. lb', 17; 12. 6, 11. 
 
 /; ar/rai enaaTog; that each may receive to himself, 
 into his own hand, his own reward and his own 
 wages. The things done in his body — That 
 is, while he was in this lower state; for in this 
 sense the term " body " is taken often in this epistle. 
 We may observe also that the soul is the grand 
 agent; the body is but its instrument. And it shall 
 receive according to what it has done in the body. 
 
 1 1 . Knowing therefore the terror of the 
 Lord — Eldoreg ovv top <j>6/3ov rov Kvpiov, knowing 
 than fun the fear (or worship) of the Lord. As we 
 know what God requires of man, because we are 
 favoured with his own revelation, we persuade 
 men to become Christians, and to labour to be ac- 
 ceptable to him, because they must all stand before 
 the judgment seat ; and if they receive not the 
 grace of the Gospel here, they must there give up 
 their accounts with sorrow and not with joy. This 
 is a powerful motive to persuade men to accept the 
 salvation provided for them by Christ Jesus. The 
 fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. We lead 
 men to God through his fear and love, and with the 
 fear of God the love of God is ever consistent ; 
 (and indeed it is always implied.) But we are 
 made manifest unto God — God, who searches 
 the heart, knows that we are upright in our en- 
 deavours to please him ; and because we are fully 
 persuaded of the reality of eternal things, therefore 
 we are fully in earnest to have sinners converted to 
 him. Manifest in your consciences — We have 
 reason to believe that you have had such proof of 
 our integrity and disinterestedness that your con- 
 sciences must acquit us of every unworthy motive 
 and of every sinister view. 
 
 12. For we commend not ourselves— I do 
 not say these things to bespeak your good opinion, 
 to procure your praise, but to give you an oc<-<isimi 
 to glory — to exult — on our behalf; and to furnish 
 you with an answer to all those who either malign 
 usoroui ministry. Them which glory in appear- 
 ance — St. Paul probably speaks here concerning 
 the false apostle, who had been dividing the Church 
 and endeavouring to raise a party to himself, by 
 vilifying both the apostle and his doctrine. 
 
 13. Beside ourselves — Probably he was re- 
 puted by some to be deranged. Festus thought so. 
 And his enemies at Corinth might insinuate, not 
 only that he was deranged, but attribute his de- 
 rangement to a less worthy cause than intense study 
 and deep learning. It is to God — If we do ap- 
 pear, in speaking of the glories of the eternal 
 world, to be transported beyond ourselves, it is 
 through the good hand of our God upon us. and we 
 do it ti> promote his honour. Whether we be 
 sober — Speak of divine things in a more cool and 
 dispassionate manner, it is that we may the better 
 instruct and encourage you. 
 
 14. For the love of Christ constraineth us 
 
 we be beside ourselves, it is to God: or 
 
 whether we be sober, it is for your cause. 
 14 For the love of Christ constraineth us; 
 because we thus judge, that s if one died for 
 all, then were all dead : 15 And that he died 
 for all, "that they which live should not hence- 
 forth live unto themselves, but unto him which 
 died for them, and rose again. 16 "Where- 
 fore henceforth know Ave no man after the 
 flesh : yea, though we have known Christ 
 
 s Rom. 5. 15. /Rnm.fi. 11,12; 14. 7. 8; ] Cor. 6. 19: Gal. 2. 20; 
 
 1 Thess. 5. 10; 1 Peter 4. 2. u Matt. 12. 50; Julio 15. 14; (ial. 
 
 5.6; Phil. 3. 7, 5; Col. 3. 11. 
 
 — It is the effect produced by this love which rrrrt- 
 \:/ fjuag, bears us away with itself, which causes us 
 to love after the similitude of that love by which 
 we are influenced ; and as God so loved the world 
 as to give his Son for it, and as Christ so loved the 
 world as to pour out his life for it, so we, influenced 
 by the very same love, desire to spend and be spent 
 for the glory of God and the salvation of immortal 
 souls. By the fear of God the apostles endeav- 
 oured to persuade and convince men, and the love 
 of Christ constrained them so to act. If one died 
 for all, then were all dead — The first position 
 the apostle takes for granted; namely, that Jesus 
 Christ dial for all mankind. This no apostolic 
 man nor primitive Christian ever did or could 
 doubt. The second position he infers from the 
 first, and justly too; for if all had not been guilty, 
 and consigned to eternal death because of their sin, 
 there could have been no need of his death. There- 
 fore, as he most certainly died for all, then all 
 were dead, ami needed his sacrifice, and the quick- 
 ening power of his Spirit. 
 
 1 5. And that he died for all, that they 
 which live, etc. — This third position Paul draws 
 from the preceding: If all were dead, and in danger 
 of endless perdition; and if Uedied for all, to save 
 them from that perdition; then it justly follows 
 that they are not their own, that they arc bought 
 by his blood ; and should not . . . live unto them- 
 selves, for this is the way to final ruin ; but unto 
 him who died for them, and thus made an atone- 
 ment for their sins, and rose again for their justifi- 
 cation. (See Gal. ii, 20.) 
 
 16. Know we no man after the flesh — [Kara 
 aapua, according to merely human appearance, leav- 
 ing out of account family or race, wealth, position, 
 learning, freedom, or bondage, or any merely nat- 
 ural conditions. See Meyer.] As we know that 
 all have sinned and come short of the glory of <>od ; 
 and as we know that all are alienated from God, 
 and are dead in trespasses and sin-; then lore we 
 esteem no man on account of family relations, or 
 the stock whence he proceeded, because we see all 
 are shut up in unbelief, and all are children of wrath. 
 Yea, though we have known Christ after the 
 flesh — We cannot esteem a man who i> a sinner, 
 were he even allied to the blood royal of David, 
 and were he of the same family with the man 
 Clirist himself; nor can we prize a man because 
 he has seen Christ in the flesh. Nothing weighs 
 with us, nor with God, but redemption through 
 this death, and living to him. who died lor them. 
 We know that the Jew.- valued themselves much in 
 having Abraham for their father; and some of 
 the Judaizing teachers in Corinth might value them- 
 selves in having seen Christ in the flesh, which cer- 
 tainly St. Paul did not ; hence he take- occasion to 
 say here that this kind of privilege availed uoth- 
 
 185
 
 i. M. 1061. A. T>. 57. 
 Year of R 
 
 IT. CORINTHIANS. 
 
 If a man be in Chritt ha la 
 :i in >\ creature. 
 
 after the flesh, ( yel dow henceforth know we 
 him mi more. 17 Therefore if any man "-be 
 in Christ, x /<<■ is > a new creature: "old things 
 are passed away; behold, all things are be- 
 come new. lw And all things are of God, 
 •who hath reconciled us to himself bj 
 Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of 
 
 ... Ro 1)19 - 9; 16. 7 ; Gal. ' ; 15. IP Or. let 
 
 him he b; 6. 15. -a Isaiah 43. 18, 19 ; 65. 17 ; Eph. 
 
 2.15; Rev. I 
 
 ing : for the old creature, however noble, or well de- 
 l in the sighl of men, is undei the curse ; 
 aii'l the new creature only is such as God can ap- 
 ; 
 
 17. If any man be in Christ — [Ei X pun 
 Christ. By this phrase the state of the saved soul 
 is very often designated; its far-reaching, even its 
 mystical, signification cannot be overlooked. We 
 are saved, not dnly through Christ, and by him, but 
 also ami eminently in him.] A new creature — 
 [Kan/) ktigiq, a new something, that which by nature 
 he cannot become — " born again."] Only he who is 
 " in Christ " is a genuine Christian, and he is a "new 
 creature;" his old state is changed: he was a child 
 of Satan, he is now a child of God; he was a slave 
 of sin, and his works were death; he is now made 
 free from sin. and has his fruit unto holiness, and 
 the end everlasting life. He was before lull of 
 pride an 1 wrath ; he is now meek and humble. He 
 formerly had his portion in this life, and lived for 
 this world alone; he now has God for his portion, 
 and he looks not at the things which arc seen, hut 
 at the things which are eternal. Therefore, old 
 things are passed away ; behold, all things 
 are become new — The man is not only mended, 
 but he is iu w made: he is a creature, something new, 
 a little world in himself, a new creation. 
 
 18. And all things are of God — As the thor- 
 ough conversion of the soul is compared to a new 
 creation, an 1 this total change of heart, soul, 
 and life, which takes place under the preaching of 
 the Co-pel, is effected by the power and gract of 
 Cod, this salvation must be of the Lord. Who 
 hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ 
 — Having given Jesus Christ to die for sinners, 
 they have through him access unto Cod; for his 
 sake and on his account God can receive them. 
 [This reconciliation is, on God's part — not onlyjoro- 
 visional and prospective, but actual, a fact accom- 
 plished; and therefore Cod freely offers the bless- 
 ings of salvation toall men — would have them to he 
 saved. | [The reconciliation of all men, KOGjiov, took 
 place objectively through Christ's death, although 
 the subjective appropriation of it is conditioned by 
 the faith of the individual. — Meyer.] It is only by 
 the grace and Spirit of Christ that the proud', 
 fierce, and diabolic nature of men can hi' changed 
 and reconciled to God; and /»/ and through his 
 sacrifice Cod can be propitious to them. There is 
 an enmity m the heart of managainst sacred things ; 
 the grace of Chrisl alone can remove this enmity. 
 The ministry of reconciliation — Aianov av r,< 
 KaraKfaiyfic; the office or function of thin recon- 
 ciliation ; called, verse lit, tin- word, TOV \6yov TT,c 
 Kura'/'/r, ... > , the doctrine, of this reconciliation-. 
 [God being reconciled to man in the death of 
 Christ, it is now the great business of Christ's minis- 
 ters to persuade men to he reconciled to God, 
 (verse 20,) which is accomplished through the con- 
 joint forces of the word and the Holy Spirit, ami in 
 its final results the man himself must both yield 
 
 186 
 
 reconciliation; If) To wit. thai God was in 
 Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not 
 imputing their trespasses unto them ; ami hath 
 ■ committed unto us the word of reconciliation. 
 •20 Now tin -n we are ■' ambassadors for Christ, 
 as 'iliotiv.il God did beseech you by us: we 
 pray you in Christ's stead, he ye reconciled to 
 
 UK ro.5. 10;Epb.2.16:Col 1.2 :Uohn2. 2;4 10. E-Rnm. 
 '?,. 2-1, •_'.■>.-—<•<: r. i>"! in w. — dJi b ■ 23; Vial. 4 J. 7; chai». 
 3.6: Epli. 6. 20.— • Chap. 6. I. 
 
 himself to those forces, and also lay hold upon 
 Cod, in the exercise of a divinely inspired faith.] 
 
 1'.). That God was in Christ— This is the doc- 
 trine which this ministry of reconciliation holds out, 
 and the doctrine which it uses to bring about the 
 reconciliation itself. [The work of Christ in he- 
 half of the world was effectual, only because God 
 was /'// him .' Cod, in Christ, reconciled the world to 
 himself; otherwise he would not have left the sins 
 of men without imputation, nor have imparted to 
 the apostolic teachers the won! of reconciliation 
 that they might preach (proclaim) it. . . . The doc- 
 trine of reconciliation, which is to he preached, is 
 regarded as something deposited in tlu souls of the 
 preachers for further communication. See Meyer.] 
 
 The whole of this important doctrine was short, 
 simple, and plain. Let us consider it iu all its con- 
 nexions : 1) You believe there is a Cod. ii ) You 
 know he has made you. 3) He requires you to 
 love and serve him. 4) To show you how to do this 
 he has given a revelation of himself, which is con- 
 tained in his law, etc. 5) You have broken this 
 law, and incurred the penalty, which is death. 
 6) Far from being aide to undo your offences, or 
 make reparation to the offended majesty of Cod, 
 your hearts, through the deceitfulness and influ- 
 ence of sin, are blinded, hardened, and filled with 
 enmity against your Father and your Judge. 7) To 
 redeem you out of this most wretched and accursed 
 state, God, in his endless love, has given his Son 
 for you ; who has assumed your nature, and died 
 in your stead. 8) In consequence of this he has 
 commanded repentance toward Cod and remission 
 of .-ins to be published in his name iii all the earth, 
 9) In honor of Christ's death, and iu answer to his 
 intercession before the Father, (Heb. \ii, 25,) the 
 Holy Spirit is sent forth to show to men their dan- 
 ger and their remedy through Christ, and to move 
 their hearts, that they may have a good will, and 
 to work with them when they have that good will. 
 (Phil, ii, 12.) 10) All who repent, and believe in 
 Christ as having died for them as a sin-offering, 
 (verse 21,) shall receive remission of sins. I 1) And 
 if they abide in him they shall have an eternal in- 
 heritance among them that are sanctified. 
 
 20. We are ambassadors for Christ — "Ywep 
 Upcarov . . . Kpeo iebofiev; wc execute the function 
 of ambassadors in Christ's stead, who came from 
 the Father to mankind on this important embassy. 
 He has left the world, and appointed US in his place. 
 
 An ambassador is a person .-cut from one sovereign 
 power to another ; and is supposed to represent the 
 perMin of the sovereign by whom he is deputed. 
 
 Christ, while on earth, represented the pel- f 
 
 the Sovereign of the world; his aposttles and their 
 successors represent the person oi Christ. Christ 
 declared the will of the Father to mankind; apos- 
 tles, etc., declare the will of Christ to the world. 
 As though God did beseech you by us— What 
 we Bay to you we sav on the authority of Cod ; our 
 entreaties are his entreaties; our warm love to you,
 
 Ministers, as workers with God, 
 to use the grace given. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 God. 21 For f he hath made him to be sin 
 
 for us, who knew no sin: that we might be 
 made & the righteousness of God in him. 
 
 w 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 E then, as "workers together with him, 
 beseech you also c that ye receive not 
 
 /I-a. 53. fi, 9, 12: Gal. 3. 13i t Peter 2. 32, 21 : I John 3. 5- 
 g Kom. 1. 17 ; 5. 19 ; 10. 3. (I 1 Cor. 3. 9. b Chap. 5. 20. 
 
 a faint reflection of his infinite love ; we pray you 
 to return to God, it is his will that yon should do so ; 
 we promise you remission of sins; we are author- 
 ized to do so by God himself. In Christ's stead we 
 pray you to lay aside your enmity and be . . . rec- 
 onciled to God ; accept pardon, peace, holiness, and 
 heaven ; which are all procured for you by his blood, 
 and offered to you on his own authority. [As " am- 
 bassadors for Christ" the apostles (and after them 
 all Christian ministers) are, first, to declare the terms 
 of reconciliation," and, second, to earnestly plead 
 with men to accept the proffered terms, because 
 Christ desires their salvation, and this is the only 
 way by which it can be secured. Beyond that tiny 
 have no ambassadorial power. On the other hand, 
 this characteristic of the ministry of the apostles 
 implies something like a sovereign power in the per- 
 sons addressed ; a power of final determination, as to 
 the acceptance or rejection of the proffered grace.] 
 21. For he hath made him to be sin for us 
 — TDv ///) yvovra dgapriav vrrep //uuv auapriav e~oi- 
 7/(7 v, //'■ made him who knew no sin (who w r as in- 
 nocent) a sin-offering for us. The word agapria 
 occurs here twice ; in the first place it means sin, 
 that is, transgression and guilt; and of Christ it is 
 said. In' km in no sin, that is, was sinless. In the 
 second place, it signifies a sin-offering, or sacrifice 
 fur sin, and answers to the nXt^n, chattaah, and 
 nX'jn, cfiattath, of the Hebrew text; which signifies 
 both sin and sin-offering in a great variety of places 
 in the Pentateuch. [But this gives no countenance 
 to the doctrine] that our sins were imputed to Christ, 
 and that he was a proper object of the indignation 
 of divine justice, because he was blackened with im- 
 puted sin. [The act of God in respect to the suf- 
 fering of Christ is offered as a motive toward lead- 
 ing men to accept the terms of reconciliation. The 
 siulessness of Christ, rbv pi) yvovra a/iapriav, is em- 
 phasized to anticipate any possible inference of the 
 contrary. This, indeed, was the necessary postu- 
 late for his accomplishing the work of reconcilia- 
 tion. Xo doubt the sinlessness of Jesus was pres- 
 ent to the mind of God when he made him (Christ) 
 to be aitapriu, (sin.) And yet. it is to be noted that 
 ifiapria, just like mrapa, (Gal. iii, 13.) includes in 
 itself the notion of guilt. But the guilt and curse 
 of which Christ appears a bearer was not his own, 
 (in the sense that he was either in conduct or char- 
 acter a sinner,) and therefore the guilt of men who 
 through his death were to be justified by God, was 
 in some way so "laid upon him," that lie was made 
 to "bear their iniquities," (Isa. liii, 0, 11,) and in 
 return the meritorious results of those sufferings 
 are transferred to those for whom Christ suffered. 
 The gnilt of men, for which he suffered, and which 
 he took away by his sufferings, was not his own 
 "iniquity," (Bom. iii, '25; Coi. ii, 14; Heb. ix, 28; 
 1 Pet. ii, 24 ; John i, 20 ;) and yet his sufferings 
 are regarded in Scripture, not simply as a calamity 
 that befell him, but as guilt-atoning, and penal. 
 (See 1 John ii, 2.) See Meyer.] That we might 
 
 the grace of God in vain. 2 (For lie saith, ''I 
 have heard thee in a time accepted, and in tin- 
 day of salvation have I succoured thee : behold, 
 now is the accepted time; behold, now is the 
 day of salvation.) 3 L ' (living no offence in 
 any tiling, that the ministry be not blamed: 
 4 But in all things ' approving ourselves eas 
 
 e Heb. 12. 15. d Isa. in. 8. —e Romans 14. 13; 1 Or. 9. 12; 
 10.32. — /Or. commending, chapter 4. 2. g 1 Cor. 4. 1. 
 
 be made the righteousness of God in him — 
 
 "The righteousness of God" signifies here the sal- 
 vation of God, as comprehending justification 
 through the blood of Christ and sanctification 
 through his Spirit ; or here, " the righteousness of 
 • hid" may mean a thorough righteousness, complete 
 justification, compleU sanctification' such as none 
 but God can give, such as the sinful nature and 
 guilty conscience of man require, and such as is 
 worthy of God to impart. And all this righteous- 
 ness, justification, and holiness, we receive in, by, for, 
 and through him, as the grand sacrificial, procur- 
 ing, and meritorious cause of these and every other 
 blessing. Some render the passage : We are justi- 
 fied through him, before God; or, We are justified, 
 according to God's plan of justification, through him. 
 
 NOTES OX CHAPTER VI. 
 
 1. We then, as workers together with him 
 — I,vvep}oi'VTEC 6e kcu irapatca'Axrv/iev. The two last 
 words, with him, are not in the text, [and they are 
 either without meaning, or else they are mislead- 
 ing.] lie, (that is. apostles,) being fellow-workers, 
 also entreat you nut tu receive the grace of God in 
 vain. [The partnership indicated by the word av- 
 vi .) •lirrrr is that of the apostles among themselves. 
 So Alford and Olshausen, following Theodoret and 
 Bengel ; though Meyer says, "The apostles are fel- 
 low-workers with Christ just in this, that they are 
 ambassadors for Christ, and as such have to repre- 
 sent his cause and prosecute his work."] By the 
 grace of God, ryv %apiv ~°v ©" r 'c, the apostle cer- 
 tainly means the grand sacrificial offering of Christ 
 for the sin of the world, which he had just before 
 mentioned. It is therefore evident that the apostle 
 has in view that grace or benefit which reconciles 
 us to God, and makes us divinely righteous. And 
 this, and all other benefits of the death of Christ, 
 may be received in vain. 
 
 2. For he saith — That is, God hath said it, by 
 the prophet Isaiah. (Chapter xlix, 8.) The advent 
 of the Messiah and the promulgation of the Gospel 
 constituted the time of God's pleasure, of which all 
 the faithful were in expectation; and the day of 
 salvation was the time in which this salvation 
 should be manifested and applied. The apostle 
 therefore informs them that this is the time pre- 
 dicted by the prophet; and therefore the apostle 
 confidently asserts, behold, now is the accepted 
 time, now the Messiah reigns, now is the Gospel 
 dispensation, and therefore now is the day of 
 salvation. 
 
 3. Giving no offence — The word npocKOin, 
 (reads -puniaiuua, Rom. xiv, V.',) signifies a stumbling- 
 block in general, or any thing over which a man 
 stumbles or falls; and here mean- any transgres- 
 sion or scandal that might take place anion-' the 
 ministers, or the Christians themselves, whereby 
 the Jews or Gentiles might take occasion of of- 
 fence, and vilify the Gospel of Christ. 
 
 4. But in all things approving ourselves — 
 
 187
 
 TT. CORINTHIANS. 
 
 the ministers of God, in much patience, in af- 
 flictions, in necessities, in distresses, '* h ln 
 stripes, in imprisonments, 'in tumults, in la- 
 bours, in patchings, in fastings; <> By pure- 
 ness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kind- 
 ness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned, 
 7 By the word of truth, by 'the pow 
 God, by ' the armour of righteousness on the 
 
 ■ II. 23, etc. — i Or, in toasings to and fro. —A; Chap. 
 4. 2: 7. 14. l\ Cor. 2. 4. 
 
 The apostle now proceeds to show how conscien- 
 tiously himself and his fellow labourers acted, in 
 to rendei the mini-try of reconciliation ef- 
 ! to tin' salvation of men. They not only 
 gave no offence in any thing, but they laboured to 
 manifest themselves to be true men, and the gen- 
 uine ministers of God. In much patience — Bear- 
 ing calmly up under the most painful and oppres- 
 siv • conditions. In afflictions — 'Ev dPutpeaiv. This 
 may signify the series of persecutions and the state 
 of cruel suffering in which the Church of God and 
 the apostles then existed. In necessities — 'Ev 
 uc; airnils and difficulties ; including all that 
 want and affliction which arose from the impov- 
 erished state of the Church. In distresses — 'V.r 
 : such straits and difficulties as were 
 absolutely unavoidable and insurmountable. The 
 word implies, being reduced to a narrow place, 
 driven to a corner, hemmed in on every side. So 
 was it often with the apostles ; all human help 
 failed, and their deliverance came from Cod alone. 
 
 5. In stripes, in imprisonments —Of these the 
 history of the Acts of the Apostles gives ample 
 
 Qony ; and there were doubtless many instances 
 of persecution in various forms which are not on 
 record. In tumults — 'A 
 tions, raised against them because of the Gospel, or 
 
 cutions which obliged them to fiee from place 
 to place. In labours — Both with their own liands 
 tu provide for themselves the necessaries of life, that 
 they might not be chargeable to others; and "in 
 labours" to spread tJie Gospel of God through all 
 countries where his providence opened their way. 
 In watching.? — Passing many nights without sleep 
 or rest. In fastings — 1'artly constrained through 
 want of food; and partly voluntary, as a means of 
 obtaining an increase of grace both for themselves 
 and for the Churches. 
 
 6. By pureness — 'Ei> ayv6~T]Ti\ in simplicity 
 of intention, and purity of affection ; together with 
 that chastity and holiness of life which the Gos- 
 pel enjoins. By knowledge — Of the divine mys- 
 teries. By longsuffering — Under till provoca- 
 tions. By kindness — To their must virulent per- 
 secutors, and to till men. By the Holy Ghost 
 — There are doubts among learned men whether the 
 apostle here means that Spirit who is called the 
 
 third person of the Holy Trinity, or so grace, 
 
 disposition, or gudlity of the soul, which was thus 
 
 limited, as implying a spirit wholly pm 
 and fitted to be a Iiabitation of God. [The latter 
 seems most in harmony with the context.] By 
 love unfeigned — ''Evayait 
 
 risy ; such as disposed us at till times 
 to lay down our life for the brethren, and to spend 
 and be spent for the glory of God and the good oi 
 mankind. 
 
 7. By the word of truth — The doctrine of 
 truth received immediately from God, and faithfully 
 and affectionately preached to men. By the pow- 
 168 
 
 right hand and on the left, S By honour and 
 dishonour, by evil report and good report : as 
 deceiver-, .and /// / true; «> As unknown, and 
 "yet well known; °as dying, and behold, w e 
 live; Pas chastened, .and nol killed; 10 As 
 sorrowful, yel alway rejoicing; .as pour, yel 
 making many rich; as having nothing, and yet 
 po ising all things. 11 O yt Corinthians, 
 
 in Ch. 1.4; I Vh 6. 11, 13; 'J Tim. 4. 7. — nCh. 4. 2: 5. II ; 11.6. 
 olCor.4.9: cliap.1.9; 4. 10.11.— pl'sa. 
 
 er of God — Confirming this doctrine, not only by 
 the miracles which we were enabled to work, but 
 also by the application of that truth to the Mad.- of 
 the people by the energy of God. By (did, through) 
 the armour of righteousness — Eph. vi, 13-17. 
 On the right hand and on the left — [Armour is 
 for defence, and the justification of the belii 
 his complete defence. See Rom. viii, 33.] We 
 have the doctrine of truth, and the power of God, 
 as an armour to protect us on all sides, everywhere, 
 and on uU occasions. By the doctrine of the Gospel, 
 and b\ the power of God, the apostles were fur- 
 nished with both offensive and defensive weaj ons. 
 
 8. By honour and dishonour — By 
 through both; sometimes respected, sometimes de- 
 spised. By evil report and good report — 
 Sometimes praised, at oilier time.- calumniated. As 
 deceivers — Said to cany about a false doctrine 
 for our secular emolument. And yet true — Dem- 
 onstrated by the nature of the doctrine, as well as 
 by our life and conversation, that we are true men. 
 
 9. As unknown— Persons of neither birth, 
 parentage, nor respectable connexions in life; and 
 perhaps having dark designs. Yet well known 
 — Proved by our whole conduct, and demonstrated 
 to be holy, upright, and useful h\ our w hole course, 
 through which we can be readily traced, having 
 preached oj enly, and done nothing in a corner. 
 As dying — Through continual dangers, fatigues, 
 and persecutions. And, behold, we live — We 
 are preserved by the mighty power of God even 
 amid the greatest dangers. As chastened — As 
 though we were disobedient children. And not 
 killed — Though we continue in the very same line 
 of conduct that is supposed to bring on us those 
 chastisements, and which, if it were criminal, would 
 justly expose us to death for incorrigible obstinacy ; 
 but our preservation is a proof that we please God. 
 
 10. As sorrowful — On account of our p 
 cuted state and laborious occupation, while desti- 
 tute of the necessaries of life. Yet alway re- 
 joicing — Having the consolati if God's Spirit at 
 
 all times, and a glorious prospect of a blessed im- 
 mortality. As poor — Destitute of worldly goods 
 and secular interest. Yet making many rich — 
 liv dispensing to them the treasures of salvation; 
 making them rich in faith, and heirs of the king- 
 dom. [Enriching many with spiritual benefits, 
 (1 Cor. i. 5; 2 Cor. viii, 9,)and having inpos 
 
 • vi ry thing, (because intrusted with the store of all 
 divine benefits in order to impart them to oth- 
 ers.] The Co-pel, when faithfully preached and 
 fully receive.], betters the condition of the poor. 
 It makes them sober; -o they .-ave what before 
 
 they profusely and riotously spent. It makes them 
 diligent ; and thus t!,e\ employ time to useful pur- 
 poses which they before squandered away. They 
 therefore both save and gain bj religion ; and 
 mu-t lead to an increase of property. Therefore 
 they are made rich ; at least in comparison with
 
 uiions his converts net 
 •iate with unbel even. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 P. 57. 
 . 810. 
 
 our mouth is open unto you. ') our heart is en- 
 larged. 12 Ye arc not straitened in us, but 
 r ye are straitened in your own bowels. 
 1:{ Now for a recompense in the same, ( S I 
 speak as unto my children,) be ye also en- 
 larged. SI 'Be ye not unequally yoked to- 
 gether with unbelievers: for "what fellowship 
 hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and 
 what communion hath light with darkness? 
 
 7 Chap. 7. 3. /'Chap. 12. 15. 8] Cor. 4. 14. fDeut. 7- 
 
 2.3; 1 Cor. 5. 9; 7.39. u 1 Sam. 5. 2, 3 ; 1 Kinss 18. 21 ; 1 Cor. 
 
 10. 21 ; Eph. 5. 7, 11. vl Cor. 3. 16; 6. 13; Eph.2. 21, 22; Heta. 
 
 that sinful, profligate state in which they were be- 
 fore they received the truth of the Gospel. As 
 having nothing, being the must ahjeet of the 
 poor, and yet possessing all things that are 
 really necessary to the preservation of our lives. 
 For the wants under which we labour for a time 
 are supplied again by a bountiful Providence. The 
 man who possesses a contented spirit possesses 
 "all things; " for he is satisfied with every dispen- 
 sation of the providence of God ; and " a contented 
 mind is a continual feast." [This comprehensive 
 statement of the apostle's relations to the Corin- 
 thians, and the result of their mutual relations, cul- 
 minates in a passionate expression of earnest affec- 
 tion, indicated in his outbursting speech, and his 
 enlarged heart toward them. See Meyer.] 
 
 11. O ye Corinthians, our mouth is open 
 unto you — We speak to you with the utmost free- 
 dom and fluency, because of our affection for you. 
 Our heart is enlarged — Expanded to take you 
 and all your interests in ; and to keep you in the 
 most affectionate remembrance. 
 
 12. Ye are not straitened in us — The meta- 
 phor here is taken from the ease of a person pent 
 up in a small or narrow place, where there is 
 scarcely room to breathe. [Such is not their case 
 in the apostle's affection.] Ye are straitened in 
 your own bowels (affections) — The " bowels " are 
 used in Scripture to denote the most tender affec- 
 tions. (See the note on Matt, ix, 36.) [The nar- 
 rowness of affection was all with themselves, and 
 therefore the apostle proceeds to show the remedy.] 
 
 13. Now for a recompense in the same— 
 That you may, in some sort, repay me for my affec- 
 tion toward you, I speak (to you) as unto my 
 children, whom I have a right to command. Be 
 ye also enlarged — Love me as I love you. 
 
 14. Be ye not unequally yoked together 
 with unbelievers — This is a military term: keep 
 in your own ranks; do not leave the Christian com- 
 munity to join that of the heathens. Some apply 
 this exhortation to pious persons marrying with 
 those who are not decidedly religious and con- 
 verted to God, That the exhortation may be thus 
 applied I grant; but that is scarcely the meaning 
 of the apostle in this place. Nevertheless, com- 
 mon sense and true piety show the absurdity of 
 two such persons pretending to walk together in a 
 way in which they are not agreed. A very wise and 
 very holy man has given his judgment on this 
 point: "A man who is truly pious, marrying with 
 an unconverted woman, will either draw back to 
 perdition or have a cross during life." The same 
 may be said of a pious woman marrying an uncon- 
 verted man. Such persons cannot say this petition 
 of the Lord's prayer, " Lead us not into temptation." 
 They plunge into it of their own accord. For what 
 fellowship, etc. — As righteousness cannot have 
 communion with unrighteousness, and light can- 
 
 15 And what concord hath Christ with Be- 
 lial ? or what part hath he that helieveth with 
 an infidel i Hi And what agreement hath the 
 temple of God with idols '. for ' ye are the tem- 
 ple of the living God : as God hath said, * I 
 will dwell in them, and walk in them ; and I 
 will be their God, .and they shall be my people. 
 17 "Wherefore come out from among them, 
 and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch 
 
 3.6. icExod. -29. 45; Lev. 26. 12; Jer. 31. 33; 32. 3s : Kzek. 
 
 II. 20; 36. 28; 37- 26, etc. ; Zech. 8. S; 13. 9. » Isaiah 52. 11 ; 
 
 chapter 7. 1 ; Rev. 18. 4. 
 
 not dwell with darkness, so Christ can have no 
 concord with Belial, nor can he that believeth 
 have any with an infidel. All these points were 
 self-evident : how, then, could they keep up the 
 profession of Christianity, or pretend to tie under 
 its influence, while they associated with the un- 
 righteous, had communion with darkness, concord 
 with Belial, and partook with infidels? [Belial, (in 
 the best MSS. Beliar, BeTdap.) The Vulgate fre- 
 quently treats this word as a proper name, (in 
 which it is followed by the Authorized Version,) 
 particularly in the Old Testament, and where it is 
 connected with "man of," or -'son of," having the 
 sense of active ungodliness, or essential opposition 
 to "the righteousness of Gcd." In 2 Cor. vi, 15, 
 it is generally considered as an appellation of Satan, 
 or as the personification of all that is bad. Bengel 
 explains it as the essential anti-Christ, the spirit 
 of opposition to Christ. Milton's conception of the 
 character designated seems admirably to answer to 
 the requirements of the ease : that of the polite and 
 godlt ss worlding, 
 
 On the other side uprose 
 Belial, in act more graceful and humane: 
 A fairer person lost not heaven ; he seemed 
 For dignity composed and high exploit; 
 But all wasfuUe and hollow, though his tongue 
 Dropped manna, and could make the worse appear 
 The better reason, to perplex and dash 
 Maturest counsels ; for his thought* were hue, 
 To vice industrious, but to nobler deeds. 
 Timorous and slothful. 
 
 —Pai adixe Lust, book ii, lines 108-118.] 
 
 16. What agreement hath the temple of 
 God with idols — The worship of the two is 
 wholly incompatible. An idolater never worships 
 the true God; a Christian never worships an idol. 
 If ye join in idolatrous rites, it is impossible that 
 ye should be Christians. Ye are the temple of 
 the living God — Cod intends to make the heart 
 of every believer his own house. I will dwell in 
 them, and walk in them — The words are very 
 emphatic: hoiKr/au kv a'vro'ic, 1 will inhabit in 
 fL, in. I will not be as a wayfaring man, who turns 
 aside to tarry for a night, but I will take up my 
 constant residence with them ; I will dwell in and 
 among them. I will be their God — I will be to 
 them all that an infinite, eternal, and self-sufficient 
 Father can be to his intelligent offspring. They 
 shall be my people— I will take them for my 
 people; and instruct, enlighten, defend, provide 
 for, support, and bless them. 
 
 1 7. Wherefore come out from among them 
 —Those who will have the promises of God lid- 
 filled to them must come under the conditions of 
 these promises: if they are not separate— if fchey 
 touch . . . the unclean thing— Cod will not receive 
 them; and therefore will not be their God, nor 
 shall they be his people. [In the spirit of this ex- 
 hortation is the promise and covenant expressed in 
 
 ]89
 
 A.M. 4 BI. A. D. 57. 
 
 TT. CORINTHIANS. 
 
 Thi> promt* 
 toholil 
 
 not the unclean thing; and I will rec< ive you. 
 I* j Ami will be a Father unto you, ami ye 
 shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord 
 Almighty. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 HAVING 'therefore these promises, dear- 
 ly beloved, lei us cleanse ourselves from 
 
 1,9; Rev. 21. 7. -a Chap. 6. 17,18; 1 John 3. 3. 
 
 the service for baptism; "Dosl thou renounce the 
 devil and all Ins works, tin' vain pomp and glory of 
 tin- world, ami the carnal desires of the flesh, so 
 that thou 'a ill not follow nor be led by them ; " and 
 this solemn and far-reaching covenant is upon all 
 who are in Christ, not simply by the authority of 
 . irch, l>ut rather required by the Church be- 
 cause it i< due to ( Jhrist. | 
 
 1 8. Will be a Father unto you — I will act 
 toward you as the most affectionate father can act 
 toward his most tender and best-beloved child. 
 And ye shall be my sons and daughters — Ye 
 shall all be of the household of God, the family of 
 heaven; ye shall be holy, happy, and continually 
 safe. Saith the Lord Almighty — Kvpioc Trav 
 the Lord, the Governor of all things. 
 The Lord who ma le an 1 who governs all things 
 can never lack will, power, nor means. The prom- 
 ise is sure to the children; and the children are 
 those who take the Almighty for their God. (See 
 John i. 13.) For the promise belongs to no soul 
 that is not "separate" from sinful ways, works, and 
 men ; those who " touch not the unclean thing." All 
 this - i- mosl forcibly stated by 'hid himself in these 
 [God has, under all his dispensations, 
 dwelt anion-' men, the form of his presence being 
 varied with the changes of those dispensations. 
 Under the old dispensation he dwelt among men 
 through the visible sign of his power and presence. 
 At the incarnation he pitched his tent and encamped 
 among men. (.John i, 14.) Since his glorification — 
 his resurrection and ascension — the Son, and also 
 the Father, have dwelt in believers through the 
 Holy Spirit, in the Church as a body, which is the 
 living temple of God, and in beli 'vers individually, 
 who are living stones in Go le. The con- 
 
 summation will he the entile pervasion of the hu- 
 man by the divine, "when this mortal shall put Oil 
 immortality." See Speaker's Com.] 
 
 NOTES ox CHAPTER VII. 
 1. Having therefore these promises — [Ovv, 
 therefore^] In view of what has jus) been said. 
 The "promises " mentioned in the three last verses 
 of the preceding chapter. [The apostle now pro- 
 o make a practical application of the great 
 just stated, in the form of personal exhorta- 
 tion.] Let us cleanse ourselves — Let us seek 
 forthe grace of purification; and avoid everything 
 in spirit and practice which has a tendency to pol- 
 lute the soul. Fillhiness of the flesh — The apos- 
 tle undoubtedly means drunkenness, fornications, 
 adultery, ami all such sins as are done immediately 
 against the body; and by filthiness of tin- spirit, 
 all impure desires, unholy thoughts, and polluting 
 imaginations. We may turn away our eyes and 
 ear.- from evil, or we may indulge both in what will 
 infallibly begel e\ il desires and tempers in the soul ; 
 and under the same influence we maj avoid every 
 act of iniquity ; for even Satan himself cannot, bj 
 any power he lias, constrain us to commit unclean- 
 ness, robbery, drunkenness, murder, etc. But still, 
 190 
 
 all filthiness of the flesh .ami spirit, perfecting 
 holiness in the fear id' God. 2 Receive us; 
 we bave wronged no man, we have corrupted 
 no man, ''we bave defrauded no num. ii I 
 -peak not this io condemn you: fur' I have 
 said before, thai ye are in our hearts to die 
 ami live with you. '6 d Great is my boldness 
 
 b Acts 20. 33; chap. 12. 17. — C Chap. 6. 11,12. d Chap. 3. V2. 
 
 withholding the eve, the ear, the hand, and the 
 body in general, from sights, re] orts, and oc 
 evil, will not purify a fallen spirit ; it is the 
 ami Spiiit of Chris! alone, powerfullj applied for 
 this very purpose, that can purify the conscience 
 and the heart from all dead works. And while we 
 are striving againsl sin, we may expect the Spirit 
 of God to purify us by his inspiration from all un- 
 righteousness, that we may perfectly love ami mag- 
 nify our Maker. How can those expect God to 
 purify their hearts who are continually indulging 
 their eyes, ears, and hands in what is forbidden, 
 and in what tends to increase and bring into ac- 
 tion all the evil propensities of the soul? Per- 
 fecting holiness — \ L~:t;'/< / 1 reg, bringing to ripe- 
 ness. The spiiit of holiness ir- implanted in the 
 soul by the renewing of the Holy Ghost, bul rot in 
 a matured form: to bring this plaul of righteous- 
 ness to its completeness is the great business of 
 the Christian life, ei <." '<•> Beov, recognising God's 
 ethical demands, and aiso remembering the as- 
 sured future judgment. The fear of the believer is 
 not slavish, nor the service that it enforces burden- 
 some."] 
 
 2. Receive us — "Kup^aare ?'/iidr. This address 
 is variously understood. "Receive is" into your 
 affections- — love us as we love you. "Receive 
 us " as your apostles and teachers; we have given 
 you full proof that God hath both sent and owned 
 us. "Receive," comprehend, what we now say to 
 you, am! carefully mark it. We have wronged 
 no mail — We have ni ver acted contrary to the 
 strictest integrity. We have coirupted no man 
 — With any false doctrine or pernicious opinion, or 
 evil practices. We have defrauded no man — 
 Quite unlike your false teachers, who hart be t 
 
 you from the simplicity of the truth, and thus cor- 
 rupt d your m inds, (chapter xi, 3,) and have brougM 
 you into bondagt : thej have taken of you, devoured 
 you, ' talted themselves <t(ja'<nst you, and ye have pa- 
 tiently suffered all this. (Chapter xi, 20.) It is 
 plain that Paul refers here to the false aj ostli s oi 
 teachers which they had among them. 
 
 3. I speak not this to condemn you — I wish 
 yon to open your eyes and see how you are cor- 
 rupted, spoiled, and impoverished by those whom 
 ye have incautiously preferred to the true apostles 
 of Jesus Christ. I have said before, that ye 
 are in our hearts — (See el, tpter i, 6 8; ii, i. 12; 
 iii, 2 ; and verse 13.) To die and live with you 
 — An expression which points out the strongest 
 affection, as in cases where love blinds us to the 
 faults of those whom we love, and causes us to 
 prefer them to all others. From all appearance 
 there never was a Church less worthy of an apos- 
 tle's affections than this Church was at this time; 
 and y<t no one ( \ er more beloved. [With all their 
 ureat and positive moral deficiencies, there seems to 
 have been certain countervailing elements of char- 
 acter among them — a forcefulness and zeal which 
 strongly commended them to the apostle's favour.] 
 
 4. Greatis my boldness of speech — He seems
 
 Paul expresses to the Corinthians 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 of speech toward you, e great is my glorying 
 of you: f I am tilled with comfort, I am ex- 
 ceeding joyful in all our tribulation. 5 For, 
 t'wliL'ii we were come into Macedonia, our 
 flesh had no rest, but h we were troubled on 
 every side; 'without were fightings, within 
 were fears, ii Nevertheless k God, that coin- 
 forteth those that are east down, comforted 
 us by 'the coming of Titus; 7 And not by 
 his coming only, but by the consolation where- 
 with he was comforted in you, when lie told 
 us your earnest desire, your mourning, your 
 fervent mind toward me; so that 1 rejoiced 
 the more. § For though 1 made you sorry 
 with a letter, I do not repent, m though I did 
 repent: for I perceive that the same epistle 
 hath made you sorry, though it were hut for a 
 
 el Cor. 1. 4. clmp. 1. 14.- 
 — pChap. 2. 13. 
 
 -/Chap. 1. 1: 
 
 -h Chap. 4. S.- 
 
 Phil. 2. 17: Col. 1. 24. 
 — i Deut. 32. 25. 
 
 to refer to the manner in which he spoke of them 
 to others. Great is my glorying of you — They 
 had probably been very loving and affectionate 
 previously to the time in which they were perverted 
 by their false apostles. He therefore had boasted 
 of them in all the Churches. I am filled 'with 
 comfort — My affection for you has still the most 
 powerful ascendency in my soul. Here we may see 
 the affection of the most tender father to his chil- 
 dren. I am exceeding joyful — 'Y-EpTTspiaasvo/Liat. ; 
 I superabound in joy : 1 have a joy beyond expres- 
 sion. In all our tribulation — Perhaps em, here, 
 should be rendered under instead of "in;" (see 
 Mark ii, 26 ; Luke iii, 2 ; Acts xi, 28 :) undt r all 
 our tribulations, I feel inexpressible jot/ on your ac- 
 count. 
 
 5. When we were come into Macedonia — 
 St. Paul, having left Ephesus, came to Troas, where 
 he stopped for some time ; afterward he came to 
 Macedonia, (Philippi,) whence he wrote this epistle. 
 Our flesh had no rest — So exceedingly anxious 
 was he to know their estate, and especially the suc- 
 cess of his first epi-tle to them. Without were 
 fightings — The oppositions of pagans, Jews, and 
 false brethren. Within were fears — Uncertain 
 conjectures and misgivings ; fears lest their affec- 
 tion should lie utterly alienated from him; fears 
 lest the teaching of false instructors should have 
 perverted their minds from the simplicity of the 
 truth : all was uncertainty and apprehension. 
 
 6. Comforted us by the coming of Titus — 
 Who brought hin a most satisfactory account of the 
 success of his epistle, and the good state of the 
 Corinthian Church. 
 
 7. He told us your earnest desire — To see 
 me, and correct what was amiss among yourselves. 
 Your mourning — Because you had sinned. Your 
 fervent mind — The zeal you felt to testify your 
 affectionate regard for me. 
 
 8. I do not repent, though I did repent — 
 Though I had many doubts in my mind concerning 
 
 uccess of my letter ; and though I grieved thai 
 I was obliged to write with so much severity, the 
 case absolutely requiring it; yet now I am not 
 sorry that I have written that letter, because I find 
 it has completely answered the end for which it 
 was intended. 
 
 9. Ye sorrowed to repentance — Ye had such 
 a sorrow as produced a complete change of min 
 and conduct. We see that a man may sorrow, and 
 yet not repent. L!Zado sorry after a godly man- 
 
 season. 9 Now I rejoice, not that ye were 
 made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repent- 
 ance: for ye were made sorry "after a godly 
 manner, that ye might receive damage by us in 
 nothing. 10 For "godly sorrow worketh re- 
 pentance to salvation not to be repented of: 
 i but the sorrow of the world worketh death. 
 
 11 For behold this selfsame thing, that ye 
 sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness 
 it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of your- 
 selves, yea, what indignation, yea. wha i fear, 
 yea. what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, 
 what revenge! In all things ye have ap- 
 proved yourselves to be clear in this matter. 
 
 12 Wherefore, though I wrote unto you, I 
 did it not for his cause that had done the 
 wrong, nor for his cause that suffered wrong, 
 
 fcChsip. 1. 4.- 
 Ivg t'i Goil.- 
 
 -JChap. 2. 13. )/' Cliiip. 2.4. n Or. fit cord- 
 
 - 02 Sam. 12. 13; Matt.2fi. 75. — /< I'rov. 17.22. 
 
 nsr — It was not a sorrow simply because ye were 
 found out, and thus solemnly reprehended, but a 
 sorrow because ye had sinned against God, and 
 which consideration caused you to grieve morethan 
 the apprehension of any punishment. Damage by 
 us in nothing — Your repentance prevented that 
 exercise of my apostolic duty, in the excommuni- 
 cation of those who had offended. 
 
 10. For godly sorrow — That which [is 
 wrought in the heart l.\ the power of the Holy 
 Spirit, and] has the breach of God's holy law for 
 its object. Worketh repentance — A thorough 
 change of /mind unto salvation, because the person 
 who feels it cannot rest till he finds pardon through 
 the mercy of (iod. [Genuine conviction of sin 
 surely causes sorrow in the soul and leads to thor- 
 ough repentance, 1 ) in breaking off from sin, and 
 2) in turning to God for his pardoning love in 
 Christ. This kind of repentance so induced and so 
 operating brings no sorrow after it, is not to be re- 
 pented of.] But the sorrow of the world work- 
 eth death — Sorrow for earthly losses or bereave- 
 ment brings with it no consolation ; it is all bitter- 
 ness because it is without hope. This sorrow leads 
 to destruction, the other leads to salvation ; the 
 one leads to heaven, the other to hell. 
 
 11. What carefulness is wrought in you — 
 Carefulness of obeying my directions, (verse 15;) 
 yea, what clearing of yourselves from guilt by 
 inflicting censures on the guilty person, and putting 
 away evil from among you, (1 Cor. xv, 18 ;) yea, 
 what indignation against him who had dishon- 
 oured his profession and defiled the Church; yea, 
 what fear of my displeasure, and the rod which I 
 threatened, (1 Cor. iv, 21 ;) yea, what vehement 
 desire to rectify what was amiss in this matter, 
 (verse 7 ;) yea, what zeal for me ; yea, what 
 revenge in punishing the delinquent. In all 
 things, etc. — In the whole of your conduct in this 
 affair since ye have received my letter, ye have 
 approved yoursslves to be clear, ayvobc; and 
 have dune all in your power to rectify the al 
 which had crept in among you. The Corintl 
 were not ''clear," that is, innocentor void of blame 
 in the fact, but they were "clear'' of all blame in 
 their endeavours to remove the evil. 
 
 12. Not for his cause that had done the 
 wrong — Namely, the incestuous person. Nor for 
 his cause that suffered wrong — Some think the 
 apostle means himself; others, that he means the 
 Church at Corinth, the migular being put for the 
 
 101
 
 IT. CORINTHIANS. 
 
 q but that our care for j ou in the sight of < rod 
 might appear unto you. 13 Therefore we 
 were comforted in 3 our comfort : yea, and ex- 
 ceedingly the more joyed we for the joy of 
 Titus, because his spirit ' was refreshed 63 you 
 all. 11 For it' I have boasted any thing to 
 him of you, I am uot ashamed; but as we 
 spake .-ill things to you in truth, even so our 
 boasting, which / made before Titus, is found 
 a truth. !•> And his 'inward affection is 
 more abundanl toward von, whilst he remem- 
 bereth 'the obedience of you all, how with 
 
 Chap. :!. 1. — r Rom. 15. 32. sGr. bow< Is, chap. 6. 12. — 
 p. 2. 9; Phil. 2. 12. 
 
 il ; others, the family of the incestuous per- 
 and others, thefat/ier of the incestuous per- 
 issuming that this person was yet alive; or 
 these words might be spoken in reference to the 
 father, if dead, whose cause should be vindicated, 
 as Ids injured honour might be considered, like 
 A.bi ilood, to be crying from the earth. But 
 that our care for you . . . might appear — 
 It was not chiefly to get the delinquent punished, 
 nor merely to do justice to those who had suffere I 
 in this business, that the apostle wrote his epistle 
 to them, but that they might have the fullest proof 
 of his fatherly affection for them, and his concern 
 for the honour of God. 
 
 1 3. For the joy of Titus — Titus, who had now 
 met St. Paul in Macedonia, gave him the most en- 
 couraging accounts of the improved state of the 
 Corinthian Church; and indeed their kind treat- 
 ment of Titus was a full proof of their affection 
 for St. Paul. 
 
 14. For if I have boasted — The apostle had 
 given Titus a very high character of this Church, 
 and of their attachment to himself, and doubtless 
 this was the ease previously to the evil teacher 
 getting among them, and causing them to change 
 theiv views, feelings, and conduct; but now they 
 return in affection to him, so that the good char- 
 acter which the apostle gave them before, and 
 which they had for a time forfeited, is now as ap- 
 plicable to them as ever. Therefore his boasting 
 of them is .-till found a truth. 
 
 15. And his inward affection — Ta airlayx va 
 avrov, those bowelsofhis — his most tender affection. 
 Whilst he remembereth the obedience of you 
 all — This is a very natural picture; it represents 
 Titus as overjoyed even while he is delivering his 
 account of the Corinthian Church. lie expatiated 
 on it with extreme delight, and thereby showed at 
 once both his love for St. Paul and for them. He 
 love I tl i because thej so loved the apostle; and 
 
 e thej ha I shown such kindness to himself; 
 and also because he found so many excellent and 
 rare gifts, joined to so much humility, producing 
 such an exemplary and holy life. With fear and 
 trembling ye received him — Ye reverenced his 
 autho.ity;ye were obedient to his directions; and 
 ye dreaded lest any thing should he undone or ill 
 done which he had delivered to you in the name of 
 God. 
 
 10. I have confidence in you in all things 
 — It appears that the apostle was now fully per- 
 Buaded, from the accounts given by Titus, that every 
 scandal had been put away from this Church; that 
 the faction which had lung distracted and divided 
 them was nearly broken ; that all was on the eve 
 of being restored to its primitive purity and ex- 
 192 
 
 fear and" trembling ye received him. 10 1 re- 
 joice therefore that "1 have confidence in you 
 in all things. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 MOREOVER, brethren, we do you to wit 
 of the grai f God bestowed on the 
 
 churches of Macedonia; 2 How thai in a 
 great trial of affliction, the abundance of their 
 joy and "their deep poverty abounded unto the 
 riches of their ^liberality. .'8 For to their 
 power,] hear record, yea, and beyond their 
 power, they were willing of themselves; 
 
 «2Thess. 'i. 4; Philera. 8, 21. - (/.Mark 12. 44. 
 pHoitu, chap. St. II. 
 
 cellence; and that their character was now so firm- 
 ly fixed that there was no reason to apprehend 
 that they would be again tossed to and fro with 
 every wind of doctrine — happy termination to an 
 affair that seemed likely to ruin the Church, not 
 only at Corinth, but through all Greece. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 1 . Moreover, brethren, -we do you to wit — 
 Vvupi^ouev 6i 1'iir, we make known unto you, re- 
 mind yon. The grace of God bestowed — Xdpiv 
 rov Qeov, here, signifies the charitable contribution 
 made by the Churches in Macedonia, to which they 
 were excited by the grace of God in their hearts; 
 6e6oukvtn> ev, given in. That t"/<" means liberality, 
 appears from verse 6: \\'< desired Titus that as he 
 Iiinl begun, so he would finish I "/, v . tjv) this 
 charitable contribution. And verse 7 : That ye 
 abound (ev Tavri) rij %apm) in this liberal contribu- 
 tion. And verse 19: Who was chosen of the 
 Church to travel with us (<ri < t with 
 this charitablt contribution, which is administered — 
 which is to be dispensed— by us. So chapter ix, 8: 
 God is able to make (rraaav %apiv) all liberality, to 
 abound toward yoti. And 1 Cor. wi, 3: To briny 
 {n,r x&piv) your liberality, to the poor saints. 
 Hence ]"/<" is by Efesychius and Phavorinus inter- 
 preted a gift, as ii is here by the apostle: Thanks 
 be to God for his unspeakable gift. This charity is 
 styled the "grace of God," either from its exceeding 
 greatness, or as proceeding from God, who is the dis- 
 penser of all good, and the giver of this disposition ; 
 for the motive of charity must come from him. 
 (See Rom. x, 2; '2 Cor. v, 14 ; Titus ii, 11.) The 
 churches of Macedonia — These were Philippi, 
 Thessalonica, Berea, i tc. 
 
 2. In a great trial of affliction — The sense of 
 this verse is the following: The Macedonians, 
 though both poor and persecuted, rejoiced exceed- 
 ingly that an opportunity was afforded them of 
 doing good to their more impoverished and more 
 persecuted brethren. We can scarcely ever speak 
 of poverty and "affliction" in an absolute sense; 
 they are only comparative. Even the poor are 
 called to relieve those who are p er than them- 
 selves; and the afflicted, to comfort those who are 
 more afflicted than they are. The poor and af- 
 flicted Churches of Macedonia felt this duty, and 
 therefore came forward to the Uttermost of their 
 
 to relieve their more impoverished and af- 
 flicted brethren in Judea. 
 
 3. For to their power, etc. — In their liberality 
 they had no rule but their ability; they believed 
 they were hound to contribute all they could; and 
 even this ride they transgressed, for they went be- 
 yond " their power ; " they deprived themselves for
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 4 Praying us with much entreaty that we 
 would receive the gift, and take upon us c the 
 fellowship of the ministering to the saints. 
 
 5 And this they did, oot as we hoped, but 
 first gave their own selves to the Lord, and 
 unto us by the will of God. 6 Insomuch that 
 d we desired Titus, that as lie had begun, so he 
 would also finish in you the same e grace also. 
 7 Therefore, as f ye abound in every thing, in 
 faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and in 
 all diligence, and in your love to us, see ethat 
 ye abound in this grace also. 8 h I speak not 
 
 c Acts 11. 29 ; 24. 17 ; Rom. 15. 25, 20 : 1 Cor. 16. 1, 3, 4 ; chap 
 
 9. 1. (/Verse 17; chap. 12. 1*. e Or, gift, verses 4, 19. 
 
 /l Cor. 1. 5 ; 12. 13. ( ; Chap. 9. 8. 
 
 a time of the comforts of life, in order to give to 
 others who were destitute even of necessaries. 
 
 4. Praying us with much entreaty — We had 
 not to solicit them to this great act of kindness ; 
 they even entreated us to accept their bounty, and to 
 take on ourselves the administration or application 
 of it to the wants of the poor in Judea. 
 
 5. Not as we hoped — They far exceeded our 
 expectations, for they consecrated themselves en- 
 tirely to the work of God ; giving themselves and 
 all they possessed first unto the Lord ; and then, 
 as they saw that it was the will of God that they 
 should come especially forward in this charitable 
 work, they gave themselves to us, to assist to the ut- 
 termost in providing relief for the suffering Christ- 
 ians in Judea. 
 
 6. That we desired Titus — Titus had prob- 
 ably laid the plan of this contribution when he was 
 before at Corinth, according to the direction given 
 by the apostle in 1 Cor. xvi, 1, etc. The same 
 grace — Liberality. See the note on verse 1. 
 
 7. As ye abound in every thing — (See 1 Cor. 
 i, 5.) In faith — Crediting the whole testimony of 
 God. Utterance — Aoyu, in doctrine, knowing 
 what to teach. And knowledge — Namely, of 
 God's will, and prudence to direct you in teaching 
 and doing it. Diligence — To amend all that is 
 wrong among you, and to do what is right ; and 
 in love to us, whom now ye prize as the apostles of 
 the Lord, and your pastors in him. Abound in 
 this grace also — Be as eminent for your chari- 
 table disposition as ye are for your faith, doctrine, 
 knowledge, diligence, and love. 
 
 8. I speak not by commandment — I do not 
 command this ; I assume no right of authority over 
 your property ; what you devote of your substance 
 to charitable purposes must be your own work, and 
 a freewill offering. The forwardness of others 
 — Namely, the Churches of Macedonia, which had 
 already exerted themselves so very much in this 
 good work. And the apostle here intimates that 
 he takes this opportunity to apprize them of the 
 zeal of the Macedonians, lest those at Corinth, who 
 exeelled in every other gift, should be outdone in 
 this. 
 
 9. For ye know the grace of our Lord Je- 
 sus Christ — This was the strongest argument of 
 all ; and it is urged home by the apostle with ad- 
 mirable address. [This expression places that 
 great act (our Lord's condescension) in the cate- 
 gory of manifestations of brotherly love, and marks 
 its suitableness as an example in the present case, 
 (as in all others of like character.) — Speaker's 
 Com.] That, though he was rich — The pos- 
 sessor, as he was the creator, of the heavens and 
 
 Vol. II.— 13 
 
 by commandment, but by occasion of the for- 
 wardness of others, and to prove the sincerity 
 of your love. 9 For ye know the grace of 
 our Lord Jesus Cnrist, 'that, though he was 
 rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that 
 ye through his poverty might be rich. 10 And 
 herein k 1 give /////advice: for 'this is expe- 
 dient for you, who have begun before, not 
 only to do, but also to be lnn forward a year 
 ago. 11 Now therefore perforin the doing 
 of it ; that as there was a readiness to will, so 
 there may he a performance also out of that 
 
 h 1 Cor. 7. >i. {Matt, 8. 20; Luke 9. 58 : Pl.il. 2. 6, 7. k 1 Cor. 
 
 7. 25. 1 l'rov. 19. 17 ; Matt. 10. 42 ; 1 Tim. ti. IS, 1U ; lleb. 13. 10. 
 
 m Gv. willing. n Chap. 9, 2. 
 
 the earth. For your sakes he became poor — 
 
 He emptied himself, and made himself of no repu- 
 tation, and took upon himself the form of a ser- 
 vant, and humbled himself unto death, even the 
 death of the cross, (Phil, ii, 5, 8 ;) that ye 
 through his poverty (through his humiliation 
 and death) might be rich — Might regain your 
 forfeited inheritance, and be enriched with every 
 grace of his Holy Spirit, and brought at last to his 
 eternal glory. If Jesus Christ, as some contend, 
 was only a mere man, in what sense could he be 
 said to be "rich?" His family was poor in Beth- 
 lehem ; his parents were very poor also ; he himself 
 never possessed any property among men from the 
 stable to the cross ; nor had he any thing to be- 
 queath at his death but his peace. And in what 
 way could the poverty of one man make a multitude 
 " rich ? " These are questions which, on the So- 
 cinian scheme, can never be satisfactorily an- 
 swered. [The words " he became poor," denote 
 the once-occuning entrance into the condition of 
 being poor, and therefore certainly the having be- 
 come poor, and not the whole life led by Christ in 
 poverty and lowliness, dining which he was never- 
 theless rich in grace, rich in inward blessings. . . . 
 The riches conferred on us are, the reconciliation, 
 justification, illumination, sanctification, peace, joy, 
 certainty of eternal life — in short, the whole sum of 
 spiritual and heavenly blessings which Christ has 
 obtained for believers by his humiliation and death. 
 See Meyer.] 
 
 10. Herein I give my advice — For I speak 
 not by way of commandment. (Verse 8.) For 
 this is expedient for you — It is necessary you 
 should do this to preserve a consistency of conduct ; 
 for ye began this work a year ago, and it is neces- 
 sary that ye should complete it as soon as possible. 
 Not only to do, but also to be forward — To 
 iron/oat . . . Kai to (jefoiv, literally, to do and to will ; 
 but as the will must be before the deed, Oifeivmust 
 lie taken here in the sense of delight, as it fre- 
 quently means in the Old and New Testaments. A 
 year ago — 'A77-0 Trtpvoi. It was about a year he- 
 fore this that the apostle, in his first epistle, (chap- 
 ter xvi, 2.) had exhorted them to make this con- 
 tribution ; and there is no doubt that they, in obe- 
 dience to his directions, had begun to lay up in 
 store for this charitable purpose; he therefore 
 wishes them to complete this good work, and thus 
 show that they were not led to it by the example 
 of the Macedonians, seeing they themselves had 
 been first movers in this business. 
 
 11. A readiness to wiU, so there may be a 
 performance — Ye have willed and purposed this; 
 now perform it. Out of that which ye have — 
 
 193
 
 A. M. 4061. A. T1. 57. 
 Ye:ir .)'• Rome, Sill. 
 
 II. CORINTHIANS. 
 
 which ye have. 12 For °if there be first a 
 willing mind, it is accepted according to that 
 a man hath, and not according to that lie hath 
 not. 13 For / mean not that other men 
 be eased, and ye burdened : 14 But by an 
 equality, that now at this time your abun- 
 dance may be a supply for their want, that 
 their abundance also may be a supply for your 
 want: that there may be equality : 15 As it 
 is written, rile that had gathered much had 
 nothing over; and he that had (lathered little 
 had no lack. 16 But thanks be to God, which 
 put the same earnest care into the heart of Ti- 
 tus for yon. 17 For indeed he accepted i the 
 exhortation; but being more forward, of his 
 own accord he went unto you. 18 And we 
 have sent with him ' the brother, whose praise 
 is in the gospel throughout all the churches; 
 19 And not that only, but who was also 
 
 o Mark 13. 43,44; Luke 21. 3. V Exoil 16.18. i/VeiseR. 
 
 /• Chap. 12. 18. si Cur. hi. 3, 4. tQv, gift, verses 1. 6, 7. 
 
 Give as God has enabled you ; and give as God has 
 disposed you. He requires each man to do as he 
 can, and accepts the will where the means are 
 wanting to perform the deed. 
 
 12. According to that a man hath — Accord- 
 ing to his real property ; not taking that which be- 
 longs to his own family, and is indispensably nec- 
 essary for their support; and, above all, not taking 
 that which belongs to others ; namely, what he owes 
 to any man. 
 
 13. That other men be eased — I do not de- 
 sign that you should impoverish yourselves in order 
 that others may live affluently. 
 
 14. But by an equality — That you may do to 
 those who are distressed now, as, on a change of 
 circumstances, you would wish them to do to you. 
 And I only wish that of your abundance you would 
 now minister to their wants: and it maybe that 
 their abundance may yet supply your wants. 
 That there may be equality — Your abundance 
 supplying them with that of which they are utterly 
 destitute. 
 
 15. He that hath gathered much, had noth- 
 ing over — (See Exod. xvi, 18.) The Corinthians, 
 in the course of God's providence, had gathered 
 more than was necessary for their own support ; 
 by giving the surplus to the persecuted and im- 
 poverished Christian Jews there would be an equal- 
 ity ; both would then possess the necessaries of life, 
 though still the one might have more prosperity than 
 the other. [Only what was effected under the old 
 dispensation by a wonder-working providence is 
 left, under the new, as a gracious task for brotherly 
 love to perform in the inevitable nnevenness of 
 earthly possessions. — Speah r's Com.l 
 
 16. But thanks be to God — With his usual 
 address, St. Paul considers all this as done in the 
 behalf of the Corinthian Church ; and though the 
 poor Christians in Judea are to have the immediate 
 benefit, yet Cod put honour upon them in making 
 them his instruments in supplying the wants of 
 others. He who is an almoner to God Almighty is 
 highly honoured indeed. 
 
 17. He accepted the exhortation — I advised 
 him to visit you and excite you to this good work, 
 and I found that he was already disposed in his 
 heart to do it; Cod put this earnest care in the 
 heart of Titus for you. (Verse 16.) 
 
 194 
 
 s chosen of the churches to travel with us with 
 this 'grace, which is administered by us "to 
 the glory of the same Lord, and declaration 
 of your ready mind: 20 Avoiding this, that 
 no man should blame us in this abundance 
 which is administered by us: 21 "Providing 
 for honest things, not only in the sight of the 
 Lord, but also in the sight of men. 22 And 
 we have sent with them our brother, whom 
 we have oftentimes proved diligent in many 
 things, but now much more diligent, upon 
 the great confidence which "'/ have in you. 
 2:5 Whether any do inquire of Titus, lie is my 
 partner and fellow helper concerning you: or 
 our brethren be inquired of, they are "the 
 messengers of the churches, and the glory of 
 Christ. 24 Wherefore show ye to them, 
 and before the churches, the proof of your 
 love, and of our > boasting on your behalf. 
 
 chap. 0. 8. v Chap. 4. 15. r Rom. 12. 17; Phil. 4.8; 1 Peter 
 
 2. 12. if Or, he hath. a! Phil. 2. 2.5. (/Chap. 7. 14; 9. 2. 
 
 18. The brother whose praise is in the 
 gospel — Who this " brother " was we cannot tell ; 
 some suppose it was St. Luke, who wrote one of 
 the gospels, and who was the companion of St. 
 Paul in several of his travels. Whoever the per- 
 son was he was sufficiently known to the Corin- 
 thians, as we learn by what the apostle says of him 
 in this place. 
 
 19. Chosen of the churches to travel with 
 us — Xeiporovqdeig. Appointed by a show of hands. 
 Tin's appointment, by the suffrage of the Churches, 
 seems to refer more to St. Luke than any one else; 
 unless we suppose he refers to the transaction re- 
 corded Acts w, -to, 41, and then it would appear 
 that Silas was the person intended. With this 
 grace — Liberal contribution. (See on verse 1.) 
 Your ready mind — Your willingness to relieve 
 them. But instead of i i i fi>, yoi r, juuv, our, is the 
 reading of almost all the best MSS. and all the 
 Versions. This is, doubtless, the true reading. 
 
 2' I. Avoiding this, that no man should blame 
 us — Taking this prudent caution to have witnesses 
 of our conduct, and such as were chosen by the 
 ('lunches themselves, that we might not be sus- 
 pected of having either embezzled or misapplied 
 their bounty. (See the note on 1 Cor. xvi, 4.) [A 
 wise precaution, and an example to all who may be 
 intrusted with the administration of benevolences.] 
 
 21. Providing for honest things — Taking 
 can- to act so as not only to be clear in the sight 
 of God, but also of all men ; avoiding even the 
 appearance, or possible suspicion, of evil. (See 
 1 Cor. xvi, 4.) 
 
 22. We have sent with them — Titus, and 
 probably Luke, our brother, or possibly Apol- 
 los. Now much more diligent — Finding that 
 I have the fullest confidence in you, he engages in 
 this business with alacrity, and exceeds even his 
 former diligence. 
 
 23. Whether any do inquire of Titus — Should 
 it be asked, Who is this Titus? I answer, He is my 
 companion, and my fellowlabourer in reference to 
 you. (Chapter ii, 13 ; vii, 6, 7.) Should any in- 
 quire, Who are these brethren, Luke and Apollos? 
 I answer, They are, aw6o~TO?LOi, apostles of the 
 <_'Ii a relics, and intensely bent on promoting the 
 glory of Christ. 
 
 24. Wherefore show ye to them, and before
 
 Encouragements to liberal 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 A. M. 40B1. A. D. 57. 
 Year of Rome, 810. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 FOR as touching "the ministering to the 
 saints, it is superfluous for me to write to 
 you : 2 For I know ''the forwardness of your 
 mind, c for which 1 boast of you to them of 
 Macedonia, that d Achaia was ready a year 
 ago; and your zeal hath provoked very many. 
 3 e Yet have I sent the brethren, lest our 
 boasting of you should be in vain in this be- 
 half; that, as I said, ye may be ready. 4 Lest 
 haply if they of Macedonia come with me, and 
 find you unprepared, we (that we say not, ye) 
 should be ashamed in this same confident 
 boasting. 5 Therefore I thought it necessary 
 
 a Acts II. 29; Rom. 15. 2fi; 1 Cor. 16. 1; chap. 8. 4; Gal. 2. 10. 
 
 &Chnp. 8. 19. C Chap. 8. 24. rfCliap. R. 10. — eChap. 
 
 8. 6, 17, 18, 22. — /Gr. blessing, Gen. 33. 11 ; 1 Sara. 25. 27; 
 2 Kings 5. 15. 
 
 the churches, etc. — Seeing they are persons 
 every way worthy in themselves, and coming to you 
 on such an important occasion, and so highly rec- 
 ommended, receive them affectionately ; and let 
 them thus see that the very high character I have 
 given of you is not exaggerated, and that you are 
 as ready in every work of charity as I have stated 
 you to be. Act in this for your honour. 
 
 1. The whole of this chapter and the following is 
 occupied in exciting the richer followers of Christ 
 to be liberal to the poorer ; the obligation of each 
 to be so, the reasons on which that obligation is 
 founded, the arguments to enforce the obligation 
 from those reasons, are all clearly stated, and most 
 dexterously and forcibly managed. These two 
 chapters afford a perfect model for a Christian 
 minister who is pleading the cause of the poor. 
 
 2. In the management of charities a man ought 
 carefully to avoid the least suspicion of avarice, 
 self-interest, and unfaithfulness. How few persons 
 are entirely free from the upbraiding of their own 
 consciences in the matter of alms ! But who will 
 be able to hear the upbraidings of Christ at the 
 time of death and judgment'? No man can waste 
 without injustice, or neglect without sin, those 
 things of which he is only the dispenser and 
 steward. 
 
 3. God has not settled an equality among men by 
 their birth, to the end that this equality might be 
 the work of his grace. He has put the temporal 
 portion of the poor into the hands of the rich, and 
 the spiritual portion of the rich into the hands of 
 the poor, on purpose to keep up a good understand- 
 ing betwixt the members of the same body by a 
 mutual dependence on one another. He who with- 
 holds the part belonging to the poor steals more 
 from himself than from them. Let every one 
 answer this admirable design of God, and labour to 
 re-establish equality; the poor, in praying much 
 for the rich: and the rich, in giving much to the 
 poor. See Quesnel. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTEE IX. 
 
 1. It is superfluous for me to write to you — 
 I need not enlarge, having already said enough. 
 (See the preceding chapter.) 
 
 2. I know the forwardness of your mind — 
 You have already firmly purposed to contribute to 
 the support of the poor and suffering saints. That 
 Achaia was ready a year ago — The whole of 
 the Morea was anciently called "Achaia," the cap- 
 
 to exhort the brethren, that they would go be- 
 fore unto you, and make up beforehand your 
 'bounty, s whereof ye had notice before, that 
 the same might be ready, as a mutter of boun- 
 ty, and not as o/'covetousness. 6 h But this / 
 say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap 
 also sparingly ; and he which soweth bounti- 
 fully shall reap also bountifully. 7 Everyman 
 according as he purposeth in his heart, so let 
 him give; 'not grudgingly, or of necessity: 
 for k God loveth a cheerful giver. 8 'And 
 God is able to make all grace abound toward 
 you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in 
 all tiling*, may abound to every good work: 
 
 g Or, which hath lieen go much spot en of before. // Prov. 
 
 11.24; 19.17; 22.il: Oal.fi. 7,!'. 1 Dent. 15. 7.- — * Exod. 25. 2 ; 
 
 35. 5; Prov. 11. 25; Koiu. 12. 8; chap. 8. 12. ll'row 11. 24, 25; 
 
 2-. 27; Phil. 4. 19. 
 
 ital of which was Corinth. The apostle means, not 
 only Corinth, but other Churches in different parts 
 about Corinth ; we know there was a Church at 
 Cenchrea, one of the ports on the Corinthian Isth- 
 mus. Your zeal hath provoked very many — 
 Hearing that the Corinthians were so intent on the 
 relief of the sufferers in Palestine, other Churches, 
 and especially they of Macedonia, came forward the 
 more promptly and liberally. 
 
 3. Yet have I sent the brethren — Titus and 
 his companions, mentioned in the preceding chap- 
 ter. That, as I said, ye may be ready — And 
 he wished them to be ready, that they might pre- 
 serve the good character he had given them- this 
 was for their honour ; and if they did not takecare 
 to do so, he might be reputed a liar ; and thus 
 both they and himself be " ashamed " before the 
 Macedonians, should any of them at this time ac- 
 company him to Corinth. 
 
 5. Whereof ye had notice before — Instead 
 of TTpoKarap-icuo/, spoken of before, Trpoeinp/yu- 
 /levqv, what was promised before, [is the now ac- 
 cepted reading.] Bounty, and not as of covet- 
 ousness — Had they been backward, strangers 
 might have attributed this to a covetous principle ; 
 as it would appear that they were loath to give up 
 their money, and that they parted with it only when 
 they could not for shame keep it any longer. This 
 is the property of a covetous heart; whereas readi- 
 ness to give is the characteristic of a liberal 
 mind. 
 
 6. He which soweth sparingly— This is a 
 plain maxim; no man can expect to reap but in 
 proportion as he has sowed. And here almsgiving 
 is represented as a seed sown, which shall bring 
 forth a crop. (See Isa. xxxii, 20; Hos. x, 12.) 
 
 7. Not grudgingly, or of necessity — The 
 benefit of almsgiving is lost to the giver when he 
 does it with a grumbling heart. And, as he does 
 not do the duty in the spirit of the duty, even the 
 performance of the letter of the law is an abomi- 
 nation in the sight of God. 
 
 8. God is able to make all grace abound — 
 We have already seen (chapter viii, 1) that the 
 word x<iptr, in the connexion in which the apostle 
 uses it in these chapters, signifies a charitable 
 gill ; God is able to give you, in his mercy, abun- 
 dance of temporal g 1 ; that, having a sufficiency, 
 
 ye may abound in every good work. This refers to 
 the sowing plenteously; those who do so shall reap 
 plenteously — they shall have an abundance of God's 
 blessings. 
 
 195
 
 A. M. 4161. A. D. 57. 
 Year ol Rome, M . 
 
 IT. CORINTHIANS. 
 
 Paul pr.ivs that the Chnrch may 
 bd enriched in liberality. 
 
 9 (As it is written, ln lie hath dispersed abroad ; 
 lie hath given to the poor : his righteousness 
 reraaineth for ever. 10 Now he that "minis- 
 tereth seed to the sower both minister bread 
 for your food, and multiply your seed sown, 
 and increase the fruits of your "righteousness ;) 
 1 1 Being enriched in every thing to all 
 p i bountif ulness, r which causeth through us 
 thanksgiving to God. 12 For the adminis- 
 tration of this service not only "supplieth the 
 want of the saints, but is abundant also by 
 many thanksgivings unto God; 13 While 
 by the experiment of this ministration they 
 
 m Psa. 112. 9. mlsa.55. 10. oTTos. 10. 12: Matt. 6. 1. 
 
 joOr, lilifrn/if>/. '/ (; r. xiini)licit y; chap. 8. 2. rChap. 
 
 1. 11; 4. 15. * Chap. 8. 11 
 
 9. He hath dispersed abroad — Here is still 
 the allusion to the sower [who scatters his seed 
 with an apparent wastefulness. (See Eceles. xi, 1 ; 
 Psa. cxii, 9.)] He hath given to the poor — 
 This is the interpretation of "he hath dispersed 
 abroad;" and therefore it is said, his righteous- 
 ness remaineth forever — his good work is had in 
 remembrance before God. By " righteousness " 
 we have already seen that the Jews understand 
 almsgiving. (See the note on Matt, vi, 1.) 
 
 10. Now he that ministereth (supplietli) seed 
 to the sower — The " sower," as we have already 
 seen, is he that gives alms of what he hath; and 
 God, who requires him to give these alms, is here 
 represented as providing him with the means. Thus 
 God is represented as, in the course of his providence, 
 associating and connecting causes and effects ; keep- 
 ing each thing in its proper place and state of de- 
 pendence on another, and all upon himself; so 
 that summer and winter, heat and cold, seedtime 
 and harvest, regularly succeed each other. Thus 
 God leads up (kirixoprryer) this grand chorus of 
 causes and effects ; provides the seed to the hand of 
 the sower ; blesses the earth, and causes it to bring 
 forth and bud, so that it may again minister seed 
 to the sower and bread to the eater; and, by a 
 watchful providence, preserves every thing. The 
 figure is beautiful, and shows us the grand system 
 of causes and effects, all directed by and under the 
 immediate guidance and government of God him- 
 self. The fruits of your righteousness — Your 
 beneficence ; for so Sinaioovvn is here to be under- 
 stood. (See the note on Matt, vi, 1, already re- 
 ferred to.) 
 
 11. Being enriched in every thing — Why 
 does God give riches? That they may be applied 
 to his glory and the good of men. Why does he 
 increase riches? That those who have them may 
 ex( rcise all bountifulness. And if they be " enriched 
 in every thing," what will be the consequence if 
 they do not exercise all bountifulness? Why, 
 God will curse their blessings ; the rust shall canker 
 them, and the moth shall consume their garments, 
 (.las. v, 2.) But if, on the other hand, they do thus 
 apply them, then they cause thanksgiving to God. 
 
 12. For the (your) administration of this 
 service — [Almsgiving, when performed as a re- 
 ligious service, not onlv serves the end of supply- 
 ing by its help the wants of its objects, but it is 
 also and especially super abounding, Trepiaatvovaa, 
 extending incomparably farther in the form of 
 grateful service to God himself. — Alford.~\ 
 
 13. By the experiment of this ministration 
 — In this, and in the preceding and following 
 
 196 
 
 ' glorify God for your professed subjection un- 
 to the gospel of Christ, and for your liberal 
 "distribution unto them, and unto all men; 
 14 And by their prayer for you, which long 
 after you for the exceeding v grace of God in 
 you. 15 Thanks be unto God w for his un- 
 speakable gift. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 ~Vf 0"W a I Paul myself beseech you by the 
 _Ll meekness and gentleness of Christ, b who 
 c in presence am base among you, but being 
 absent am bold toward you : 2 But 1 beseech 
 
 ZMatt. 5. 16. wFIeb. 13. 16. v Chap. 8. 1. w James 
 
 1. 17. a Rom. 12. 1. h Verse in ; chap. 12. 5. 7, it. c Or, 
 
 in outward appearance. 
 
 verses, the apostle enumerates the good effects that 
 would be produced by their liberal almsgiving to 
 the poor saints at Jerusalem. 
 
 14. The exceeding grace of God in you — 
 By the VTepfiakTwvaav %apiv, super abounding, or 
 transcending, grace of God, which was in them, the 
 apostle most evidently means the merciful and 
 charitable disposition which they had toward the 
 suffering saints. They had the means of charity, 
 but God had given these means ; they had a feeling 
 and charitable heart, hut God was the author of it. 
 Their charity was superabundant, and God had fur- 
 nished both the disposition, the occasion, and the 
 means by which that disposition was to be made 
 manifest. 
 
 15. Thanks be unto God for his unspeak- 
 able gift — Some think that Christ only is here in- 
 tended. It is, however, evident that the avEiidivyjjTLt 
 duped, unspeakable gift, is precisely the same with 
 
 the VTTEp ..;//« rr;j %&piC, sujn rubouitili up peace Or 
 
 benefits, of the preceding verse. It is, therefore, 
 most evident that it is the work of Christ in them, 
 and not Christ himself, which is intended in the 
 14th verse; and consequently, that it is the same 
 work, not the operator, which is referred to in this 
 last verse. Still, the first application is a good and 
 highly comforting one. 
 
 Jesus Christ, tJie gift of God's lore to mankind, 
 is an unspeakable blessing ; no man can conceive, 
 much less declare, how great this gift is ; for these 
 things the angels desire to look into. Therefore 
 he may be well called the unspeakable gift, as he 
 is the highest God ever gave or can give to man; 
 though this is not the meaning of the last verse. 
 [It is impossible to apply such a term, so emphat- 
 ically placed as here, to any gift short of that one. 
 And the ascription as coming from Paul's fervent 
 spirit is very natural in this connexion. — Alford.] 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER X. 
 1. I Paul myself beseech you by the meek- 
 ness — Having now finished his directions and ad- 
 vices relative to the collection for the poor, he re- 
 sumes his argument relative to the false apostle, 
 who, it seems, had gained considerable influence by 
 representing St. Paul as despicable in his person, 
 his ministry, ami his influence. Under this obloquy 
 the apostle was supported by the meekness and 
 gentleness of Christ. Who in presence am base 
 among you, but being absent am bold toward 
 you — He seems to quote these as the words of his 
 calumniator, as if he had said: "This apostle of 
 yours is a mere pretender ; when he is among you, 
 you know how base and contemptible he is ; when
 
 The weapons of the Christian 
 ministry not carnal. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 l. M. 4061. A. D. 57. 
 Year of Rome, MO. 
 
 you, d that I may not be bold when I am pres- 
 ent with that confidence, wherewith I think 
 to be bold against some, which e think of us as 
 if we walked according to the flesh. 3 For 
 though we walk in the flesh, we do not war 
 after the flesh : 4 ( f For the weapons s of our 
 warfare are not carnal, but h mighty 'through 
 God k to the pulling down of strong holds ;) 
 
 el 1 Cor. 4. 21 ; chap. 13. 2, 10. e Or, reckon. /Eph. 6. 13 ; 
 
 1 Tliess. 5. S. g\ Tim. 1. 15; 2 Tim. 2. 3. h Acts 7. 22; 
 
 1 Cor. 2. 5; chap. b\ 7; 13. 3, 4. i Or, to God. 
 
 absent, see how he brags and boasts." The word 
 raireivbg, which we render " base," signifies lowly, 
 and, as some think, short of stature. The insinuation 
 is, that when there was danger or opposition at hand, 
 St. Paul acted with great obsequiousness, fearing 
 for his person and authority, lest he should lose his 
 influence. See the following verse. 
 
 2. Some, which think of us as if we walked 
 according to the flesh — It is customary for cow- 
 ards and overbearing men to threaten the weak 
 and the timid when present ; to bluster when ab- 
 sent; and to be very obsequious in the presence of 
 the strong and courageous. This conduct they ap- 
 pear to have charged against the apostle, which he 
 calls here walking after the Jlesh — acting as a man 
 who had worldly ends in view, and would use any 
 means in order to accomplish them. 
 
 3. Though we walk in the flesh — Although 
 I am only a human being, and must live as such, yet 
 I do not war after the flesh; I do not act the 
 coward or the poltroon, as they insinuate. I have 
 a good cause, a good Captain, strength at will, and 
 courage at hand. I neither fear them nor their 
 master. [The word oap%, Jlesh, is used, in this 
 verse, in two distinct and opposite senses; the first 
 referring to the simply animal organism, in which, 
 of course, all men "walk," that is, live (actively;) 
 the second refers to man's naturally depraved 
 ethical character, in which all the unregenerate 
 " walk," but from the dominion of which the apos- 
 tle and his associates were delivered. In this latter 
 sense, the term carnal, is used in the next verse.] 
 
 4. The weapons of our warfare — (See Eph. 
 vi, 10-17; 1 Tim. i, 18; 2 Tim. ii, 3, 4, 5.) Are 
 not carnal, but mighty through God — [By the 
 " weapons," are to be understood the means which the 
 apostolic activity makes use of in the strife with 
 the hostile powers. . . . Now since fleshly weapons, 
 as such, are weak, (Matt, xxvi, 41, Rom. vi, 19,) and 
 not in keeping with the aims of the apostolic work, 
 the weapons opposed to them are not designated 
 according to their nature, (though evidently they 
 are bir'Aa Trvevfiartud, spiritual weapons,) but at once 
 according to their specific potency made powerful, 
 by God. — Meyer. ] 
 
 5. Casting down imaginations — Ao; iouovc ; 
 reasonings or opinions. The Greek philosophers 
 valued themselves especially on their ethic systems^ 
 in which their reasonings appeared to be very pro- 
 found and conclusive ; but they were obliged to 
 assume principles which were either such as did not 
 exist, or were false in themselves, as the whole of 
 their mythologic system most evidently was. Every 
 high thing — [Their merely human knowledge is 
 lifted up against the knowledge of God; that is, 
 the Gospel itself. — Alford.] The knowledge of 
 God — It is amazing how feeble a resistance hea- 
 thenism made, by argument or reasoning, against the 
 doctrine of the Gospel ! It instantly shrunk from 
 the divine light, and called on the secular power to 
 
 5 'Casting down "imaginations, and every 
 high thing that exalteth itself against the 
 knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity 
 every thought to the obedience of Christ; 
 
 6 n And having in a readiness to revenge all 
 disobedience, when °your obedience is fulfilled. 
 
 7 i' Do ye look on things after the outward 
 appearance? ilf any man trust to himself that 
 
 X Jer. 1. 10. 1 1 Cor. 1. 19 ; :!. V.l m Or, reasonings. 
 
 raChap. 13. 2, 10. o Chap. 2. 9; 7. 15. p John 7. 24; 
 
 chap. 5. 12; 11. 18. q 1 Co.. 14.37; 1 John 4. 6. 
 
 contend for it ! Popery sunk before Protestantism 
 in the same way, and defended itself by the same 
 menus. The apostles destroyed heathenism where- 
 ever they came ; the Protestants confuted the Pa- 
 pists wherever their voice was permitted to be 
 heard. Bringing into captivity every thought 
 — [Ai^'wo/wr/^oiTfC ttav voi/ya, leading captive t vt ry 
 intent of the mind ; not thought nor intellectual sub- 
 jection is here intended, but that of the will. — 
 Alford.'] [This is the work of the apostles, but 
 only by the Spirit of God working through and by 
 them.] The obedience of Christ — [Eir tt/v 
 i'TTutioijV tov "Kqigtov; into subjection to Christ; 
 the new state into which the will (the moral na- 
 ture) is brought by its subjection, as the country 
 into which it is led captive. (Luke xxi, 24.) — Al- 
 ford.] [The work of the practical redemption of 
 the soul by the power of the word and the Spirit 
 of God, is first of all a conquest and a capture, and 
 next a willing defection of the captive from his 
 former allegiance and his complete self-subjection 
 to the power and good pleasure of the conqueror ; 
 and with his changed relations comes also a change 
 of heart and spirit to the captive, and he finds to 
 his great joy that the yoke that he has taken upon 
 himself is easy, and the burden light.] 
 
 6. And having in a readiness to revenge all 
 disobedience — I am ready, through this mighty 
 armour of God, to punish (logically and spiritually) 
 those opposers of the doctrine of Christ, and the 
 disobedience which has been produced by them. 
 When your obedience is fulfilled — When you 
 have, in the fullest manner, discountenanced those 
 men, and separated yourselves from their commun- 
 ion. The apostle was not in haste to pull up the 
 tares, lest he should pull up the wheat also. All 
 the terms in these two verses are military. Allu- 
 sion is made to a strongly fortified city, where the 
 enemy had made his last stand. The army of God 
 comes against the place and attacks it ; the strong- 
 holds, i i vpufidruv, all the fortified places, are carried. 
 The imaginations, "koyicyoi, engines, and whatever 
 the imagination or skill of man could raise, are 
 speedily taken and destroyed. Every high thing, 
 irav vipuya, is thrown down and demolished ; and the 
 besieging army, carrying every thing at the point 
 of the sword, enters the city, and storms and takes 
 the citadel. Everywhere defeated, the conquered 
 submit, and are brought into captivity, alxy-a^uTi r ov- 
 tec, are led away captives ; and thus the whole gov- 
 ernment is destroyed. It is easy to apply those 
 things, as far as may be consistent with the apos- 
 tle's design. The general sense I have given in the 
 preceding notes. 
 
 7. Do ye look on things after the outward 
 appearance — Do not be carried away with oj>/><ur- 
 ances ; do not be satisfied with show and parade. 
 If any man trust to himself that he is 
 Christ's — Here, as in several other places of this 
 and the preceding epistle, the tlc, any or certain 
 
 197
 
 IT. CORINTHIANS. 
 
 Paul refutes some ca 
 uttered against hi 
 
 lie is Christ's, let him of himself think this 
 again, that, as he is Christ's, even so are T we 
 Christ's. 8 For though I should boast some- 
 what more 'of our authority, which the Lord 
 hath given us for edification, and not for your 
 destruction, * I should not be ashamed : 9 That 
 I may not seem as if I would terrify you by 
 letters. 10 For his letters, u say they, are 
 weighty and powerful; but "his bodily pres- 
 ence is weak, and his "speech contemptible. 
 
 r\ Cor. 3. 23: 9. 1; chap. 11. 23. sChap. 13. 10. 1 Chap. 
 
 7. 14 ; 12. 6. u Or. mitli. he. » 1 Cor. 2. 3. 4 : verse 1 ; chap. 
 
 person, most evidently refers to the false apostle 
 who made so much disturbance in the Church. And 
 this man trusted to himself — assumed to himself 
 that he was Christ's messenger. [There had evi- 
 dently come to Corinth, perhaps from Jerusalem, 
 teachers of the Judaizing party, who depreciated 
 Paul's apostleship as irregular in its origin, and his 
 teaching as contrary to the authorized and original 
 doctrines of the Gospel ; and it is to these that the 
 apostle is here responding.] Let him of himself 
 think this — \Tovto Tloyi^&odu, settle Ms mind to this 
 conclusion.] As he arrogates to himself the char- 
 acter of a minister of Christ, let him acknowledge 
 that even so we are Christ's ministers; and that I 
 have, by my preaching and the miracles which I 
 have wrought, given full proof that I am especially 
 commissioned by him. 
 
 S. For though I should boast, etc. — I have a 
 greater authority and spiritual power than I have 
 yet shown, both to edify and to punish ; but I em- 
 ploy this for your edification in righteousness, ami 
 not for the destruction of any delinquent. " This," 
 savs Calmet, " is the rule which the pastors of the 
 Church ever propose to themselves in the exercise 
 of their authority ; whether to enjoin or forbid, to 
 dispense or to oblige, to bind or to loose. They 
 should use this powei only as Jesus Christ used 
 it . . . for the salvation, and not for the destruction, 
 of souls." 
 
 9. That I may not seem, etc. — I will add no 
 more concerning this part of the subject, lest I 
 should seem, as my adversary has insinuated, to 
 wish to terrify you by (my) letters. 
 
 10. For his letters, say they, are weighty 
 and powerful — He boasts of high powers, and 
 that he can do great things. (See on verses 1, 2.) 
 But his bodily presence is weak — -When you 
 behold the man, you find him a feeble, contemp- 
 tible mortal; and when ye hear him speak, his speech, 
 (6 Aoyoc, probably his doctrine,) (e^ovdevnusvoc,) is 
 good for nothing ; his person, matter, and manner 
 are altogether uninteresting, unimpressive, and too 
 contemptible to be valued by the wise and the 
 learned. Many, both among the ancients and 
 moderns, have endeavoured to find out the ground 
 there was for any part of this calumny: as to the 
 moral conduct of the apostle, that was invulnerable ; 
 his motives, it is true, were suspected and de- 
 nounced by this false apostle and his partisans ; 
 but they could never find any thing in his conduct 
 which could support their insinuations. What 
 they could not attach to his character, they disin- 
 genously attached to his person and his elocution. 
 [No countenance is given by these words to the 
 idea that Paul was of weak physical constitution, 
 or short in stature. His own explanation of them 
 is sufficient. (See 1 Cor. ii.) It is, that when he 
 was present among them, he brought, not the 
 
 198 
 
 11 Let such a one think this, that, such as we 
 are in word by letters when we are absent, 
 such will %oe he also in deed when we are 
 present. 12 * For we dare not make our- 
 selves of the number, or compare ourselves 
 with some that commend themselves : but 
 they, measuring themselves by themselves, and 
 comparing themselves among themselves, y are 
 not wise. 13 z But Ave will not boast of 
 things without our measure, but according to 
 
 12. 5,7, 9; Gal. 4. 13. ir\ Cor. 1. 17: 2. 1,4: chap. 11. B. 
 
 a; Chap. 3. 1 ; 5. 12. u Or, understand it not. — z Verse lj. 
 
 strength of presence or words of the carnal teach- 
 ers, but abjured all such influence, and in fear and 
 trembling preached Christ crucified. It was this, 
 and not weakness of voice, which made his " speech 
 contemptible." At the same time the contrast be- 
 tween his epistles and his word of mouth — his author- 
 ity as unaccompanied or accompanied by his pres- 
 ence — it must be assumed that there was something 
 (see on chapter xii, 7) which discommended his ap- 
 pearance and delivery. (See Winer's Realwerk.) — 
 Alford.~] That St. Paul could be no such diminu- 
 tive person we may fairly presume from the office 
 he filled under the high-priest in the persecution 
 of the Church of Christ; and that he had not an 
 impediment in his speech, but was a graceful orator, 
 we may learn from his whole history, and espec- 
 ially from the account we have in Acts xiv, 12, 
 where the Lycaonians took him for Mercury, the 
 god of eloquence, induced thereto by his powerful 
 and persuasive elocution. In short, there does not 
 appear to be any substantial evidence of the apos- 
 tle's deformity, pigmy stature, bald 7iead,pale and 
 wrinkled face, hi rye nose, stammering speech, etc. 
 These are probably all figments of fancy and fool- 
 ish surmisings. 
 
 11. Such as we are in word — [The added 
 words will we be, which make the latter part of the 
 sentence a promise, perhaps a threat, are not au- 
 thorized by the connexion. The apostle simply re- 
 iterates what had been said, that what he did v\hile 
 present with them was in the fullest harmony with 
 wdiat appeared in his letters.] 
 
 12. We dare not make ourselves, etc. — As if 
 he had said : I dare neither to associate with, nor 
 compare myself to, those who are full of self -com- 
 mendation. Some think this to be an ironical 
 speech. But they, measuring themselves by 
 themselves — [They were their own models of ex- 
 cellence. The Greek (of the text) carries the two 
 ideas of reciprocal exaltation and sell-exaltation, 
 and, no doubt, these persons practised both. They 
 were a mutual-admiration and a self admiration 
 society. The apostle contents himself with the 
 criticism, " they do not understand," which is tame 
 in sound, but contains a latent sting. ... If it is 
 not ironical, it means that their self-measurements 
 and self-comparisons had only blinded their under- 
 standings as to the true qualifications of an apos- 
 tle. — Speaker's Com.] 
 
 13. Things without our measure — By the 
 "measure," mentioned here, the apostle seems to 
 mean the commission he received from God to 
 preach the Gospel to the Gentiles ; a measure or 
 district that extended through all Asia Minor and 
 Greece, down to Aehaia, where Corinth was situated, 
 a measure to reach even >uit<> you. [But according 
 to the measure of /lie boundary line (auerpa) which 
 God (not our own choice) has assiyned to us as
 
 The region of Corinth a part of 
 Paul's riehl of Labour. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 the measure of the "rule which God hath dis- 
 tributed to us, a measure to reach even unto 
 you. 14 For we stretch not ourselves beyond 
 our measure, as though we reached not unto 
 you ; b for we are come as far as to you also in 
 preaching the gospel of Christ: 15 Xot boast- 
 ing of things without our measure, that -is, c of 
 Other men's labours; but having hope, when 
 
 a Or, line. b 1 Cor 3. 5, 10 ; 4. 15 ; 9. 1. c Rom. 15. ! 
 
 d Or, magnified in you. 
 
 measure, to reach even unto you. Our boasting will 
 restrict and measure itself according to the limit 
 which God has drawn for us, and by which he has 
 measured off the sphere of our activity in order that 
 we should reach even to you with our working. By 
 this Paul is manifestly aiming at the vainglorious- 
 ness of the false apostles, who, . . . intruded into 
 the provinces of others, ... as indeed, in particular, 
 they had come also to Corinth, which lay within the 
 boundary-line of Paul's apostolic action, and were 
 now boasting as if the church-life iu Corinth were 
 chiefly their work. — Meyer.] 
 
 14. For we stretch not ourselves beyond — 
 [For we do not usurp for ourselves any extension 
 of our working at variance with its destined limit, as 
 would be the case if you lay beyond the measured- 
 off province which is divinely assigned to us. . . . 
 If he were not destined (by God) to extend his 
 official working even to Corinth, and yet wished to 
 do so, he would resemble a man who stretches him- 
 self beyond the boundary-line drawn for him. — 
 Meyer.] For we are come as far as to you 
 — An appeal to well known facts in proof of the 
 apostle's divine call to preach the Gospel in Corinth, 
 in which God gave to him and his associates a 
 precedence in that place.] 
 
 15. Not boasting of things without our 
 measure — We speak only of the work which God 
 has done by us, for we have never attempted to 
 enter into other men's labours, and we study to 
 convert those regions assigned to us by the Holy 
 Spirit. But having hope, . . . your faith is 
 increased — [That being among the conditions that 
 must precede what is further anticipated, namely, 
 to be enlarged (in favour) among you, according to 
 our rule, Kara rov navova, as to our sphere, or bound- 
 ary-line. Paul trusted that the improved spiritual 
 condition of the Corinthian Church would afford 
 him still further opportunities for extending his 
 apostolic labours.] 
 
 16. To preach the gospel in the regions be- 
 yond you — He probably refers to those parts of 
 the Morea, such as Sparta, etc., that lay southward 
 of them; and to Italy, which lav on the west. It 
 does not appear that he considered his measure or 
 province to extend to Libya, or any part of Africa. 
 Not to boast in another man's line — So very 
 .scrupulous was the apostle not to build on another 
 man's foundation, that he would not even go to 
 those places where other apostles were labouring. 
 He appears to think that every apostle had a par- 
 ticular district or province of the heathen world 
 allotted to him, and which God commissioned him 
 to convert to the Christian faith. No doubt every 
 apostle was influenced in the same way; and this 
 was a wise order of God ; for by these means the 
 Gospel was more quickly spread through the hea- 
 then provinces than it otherwise would have been. 
 
 1 7. He that glorieth, let him glory in the 
 Lord — Instead of boasting or exulting even in your 
 
 your faith is increased, that we shall he d en- 
 larged by you according to our rule abundantly, 
 16 To preach the gospel in the regions beyond 
 you, and not to boast in another man's e line 
 of things made ready to our hand. 17 f But 
 he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. 
 18 For snot he that commendeth himself is 
 approved, but h whom the Lord commendeth. 
 
 e Or, rule.- 
 
 -/Isaiali 65. ID : Jer. 9. -24 ; 1 Cor. 1. 31. 
 27. 2. h Kom. 2. 29 ; 1 Cor. 4. 5. 
 
 -g I'rov. 
 
 own success in preaching the Gospel, as none can 
 be successful without the especial blessing; of God, 
 let God who gave the blessing have the glory. 
 Even the genuine apostle, who has his commission 
 immediately from God himself, takes no praise to 
 himself from the prosperity of his work, but gives 
 it all to God. 
 
 18. Not he that commendeth himself — Xot 
 the person who makes a parade of his own attain- 
 ments; who preaches himself, and not Christ Jesus 
 the Lord ; and, far from being your servant for 
 Christ's sake, affects to lie your ruler; not such a 
 one shall be approved of God by an especial Mess- 
 ing on his labours ; but he whom the Lord com- 
 mendeth, by giving him the extraordinary gifts of 
 the Holy Spirit, and converting the heathen by his 
 ministry. These were qualifications to which the 
 false apostle at Corinth could not pretend He had 
 language and eloquence, and show and parade ; but 
 he had neither the gifts of an apostle nor an apos- 
 tle's success. [Certain practical lessons of Christ- 
 ian comity may be learned from this last paragraph, 
 (verses 12-18,) the last of which has been shame- 
 fully violated in modern times, and especially in 
 foreign mission fields.] 
 
 1. We find that from the beginning God ap- 
 pointed to every man his province, and to every 
 man his labour ; and would not suffer even one apos- 
 tle to interfere with another. This was a very wise 
 appointment; for by this the Gospel was not only 
 more speedily diffused over the heathen nations, as 
 we* have already remarked, but the Churches were 
 better attended to, the Christian doctrine preserved 
 in its purity, and the Christian discipline properly 
 enforced. What is any man's work is no man's 
 in particular; and thus the work is neglected. In 
 every Church of God there should be some one 
 who, for the time being, has the care of it, who 
 may be properly called its pastor, and who is ac- 
 countable for its purity in the faith ami iis godly 
 discipline. 
 
 2. Every man who ministers in holy things 
 should be well assured of his call to the work ; 
 without this he can labour neither with confidence 
 nor comfort. And he should be careful to watch 
 over the flock, that no destroying wolf be permitted 
 to enter the sacred fold, and that the fences of a 
 holy discipline be kept in proper repair. 
 
 3. It is base, abominable, and deeply sinful, for 
 a man to thrust himself into other men's labours, 
 and, by sowing doubtful disputations among a 
 Christian people, distract and divide them, that he 
 may get a party to himself. Such persons gen- 
 erally act as the false apostle at Corinth; preach 
 a relaxed morality; place great stress upon certain 
 doctrines which flatter and soothe self-love; calum- 
 niate the person, system of doctrines, anil mode of 
 discipline of the pastor who perhaps planted that 
 Church, or who, in the order of God's providence, 
 
 199
 
 A.M. 4061. A. P. 57. 
 Vear of Rome, 810. 
 
 II. CORINTHIANS. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 WOULD to God ye could bear with me a 
 little in K my folly: and indeed b bear 
 with me. 2 For I am c jealous over you with 
 godly jealousy: for d I have espoused you to 
 one husband, e that I may present you ' as a 
 chaste virgin to Christ. 3 But 1 fear, lest 
 by any means, as ethe serpent beguiled Eve 
 through his subtilty, so your minds ''should 
 be corrupted from the simplicity that is in 
 
 a Verse 16: chapter 5. 13. &Or, ye do bear with me. 
 
 ,M;;ilati:ni* a 17, 1*. d Hosea 2. 13, 20: 1 Corinthians 
 
 4. 15 eOlossians 1. 2?. /'Leviticus 21. 13. (/Genesis 
 
 3 4; John 8 41. h Ephesians 6. 21; Colossians 2. 4, 8, 18; 
 
 Christ. 4 For if he that conieth preacheth 
 another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or 
 ■if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not 
 received, or 'another gospel, which ye have 
 not accepted, ye might well bear k with Mm. 
 5 For I suppose ' 1 was not a whit behind the 
 very chiefest apostles. 6 But though m I be 
 rude in speech, yet not "in knowledge; but 
 ° we have been thoroughly made manifest 
 
 has the oversight of it. This is an evil that has 
 prevailed much in all ages of the Church; there is 
 at present much of it in the Christian world, and 
 Christianity is disgraced by it. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER XI. 
 
 1. Would to God ye could bear with me — 
 
 "0<l>eAov avsixEode fiov [iiKpov. [As the divine name 
 does not appear in the original, so it should not be 
 in the translation, which should read, Would that 
 ye could bear with me a little.] The too frequent 
 use of this sacred Name produces a, familiarity with 
 it that is not at all conducive to reverence and 
 godly fear. [The same censure will apply to the 
 usual translation of the strong negation,/*? yevotro, 
 by the phrase God forbid, though neither of these 
 two words has an equivalent in the original.] In 
 my folly — In my seeming "folly;" for being obliged 
 to vindicate his ministry, it was necessary that he 
 should speak much of himself, his sufferings, and 
 his success. And as this would appear like boast- 
 ing, those who were not acquainted with the neces- 
 sity that lay upon him to make this defence might 
 be led to impute it to vanity. 
 
 2. I am jealous over you, etc. — [I watch over 
 you with intense solicitude and carefulness.] That 
 I may present you as a chaste virgin — There 
 seems to be a reference to Lev. xxi, 14, that the 
 high priest must not marry any one that was not a 
 pure virgin. Here, then, Christ is the high priest, 
 the spouse or husband ; the Corinthian Church the 
 pure virgin to be espoused; the apostle and his 
 helpers the [qi'aoc tov vvfupiov, friend of the bride- 
 groom, mdrriage friend, { Meyer, )] who had educated 
 and prepared this virgin for her husband, and es- 
 poused her to him. (John iii, 29.) 
 
 3. As the serpent beguiled Eve through his 
 subtilty — This is a strong reflection on the false 
 apostle and his teaching : he was nubile, (rravovp- 
 }'«;,) and by his subtlety, (navovpyia,) his ver- 
 satility of character and conduct, his capability of 
 doing all work, and accommodating himself to the 
 caprices, prejudices, and evil propensities of those 
 to whom he ministered, he was enabled to corrupt 
 the minds of the people from the simplicity of the 
 Gospel of Christ. 
 
 4. For if he that cometh — The false apostle, 
 one taken as representing the whole class. Preach- 
 eth another Jesus — Another historically, and also 
 more powerful to save than that Jesus whom I 
 have pleached. Or if ye receive another spirit 
 — Than the Holy Ghost, which has been given to 
 you on your believing on the Christ whom we 
 preached. Or another gospel — Than that which 
 we have preached and which ye have accepted, then 
 ye might well bear with him. [Caustic satire 
 and reproach. The context shows that the apostle 
 
 200 
 
 1 Timothy 1. 3; 4. 1; Hebrews 13. 9: 2 Peter 3. 17. iGala- 
 
 tians 1. 7. 8- X" Or, with me. /l Corinthians 15. 10: chap- 
 ter 12. 11 ; Galatians 2. c. m 1 Cor. 1. 17; 2. 1, 13; chapter 
 
 10. 10. n Ephesians 3. 4. o Chapter 4. 2 : 5. 11 ; 12. 12. 
 
 considers what he puts hypothetic-ally to be actually 
 going on. The Jesus preached by the Judaizers 
 was so different from the Jesus of St. Paul, that 
 he is called another. . . . From their preaching his 
 readers took, or " caught," a spirit different in 
 kind from that which they took from him ; that is, 
 a spirit of fear and bondage, (Rom. viii, 16,) in- 
 stead of a spirit of liberty and adoption, (iii, 17.) 
 They took also a Gospel of a radically different 
 character from that which they "received" from 
 him, for the glad tidings of free salvation, justifi- 
 cation by faith, and sanetitieation by the Spirit, 
 were cancelled if man still had to be saved by imi- 
 tating Christ's obedience to the law. From a dif- 
 ferent Christology followed a different theory of 
 salvation. — Speaker's ( '<<m.\ 
 
 5. I was not . . . behind the very chiefest 
 apostles — [Here Paul begins the defense of his 
 assertion of his apostleship, the purity and power 
 of the Gospel preached by him, and his own irre- 
 proachableness of life and character, being com- 
 pelled to this course by the false teachings and the 
 assaults of his adversaries.] The most eminent of 
 the apostles have not preached Christ, ministered 
 the Spirit, explained and enforced the doctrines of 
 the Gospel, in a more powerful and effectual man- 
 ner than I have done. [The reference of this pas- 
 sage to Peter, James, and John, was supported 
 among the earlier Protestants from polemical con- 
 siderations, for the comparison in itself, and the 
 plural expression, were urged against the primacy 
 of Peter. (See Calovius, Bibl. Ill, p. 505.) In 
 defence of this primacy it was maintained by the 
 older Catholic writers that the equality referred to 
 preaching and gifts, not to power and jurisdiction. 
 (See Cornelius a Lapide.) — Meyer.] 
 
 6. But though I be rude in speech — 'Ifiiurr/c 
 T<I> ?i6y<j) : though I speak in plain, unadorned 
 phrase, studying none of the graces of eloquence, 
 yet I am not unskilled in the most profound knowl- 
 edge of God, of spiritual and eternal things ; ye 
 yourselves are witnesses of this, as in all these 
 things I have been thoroughly made manifest 
 among you. [How Paul, with the great eloquence to 
 which all his epistles and speeches in the Book of 
 Acts bear testimony, could yet with truth call himself 
 "rude in speech," (Aoyoc, language,) is explained in 
 the fact that he so describes his speech — or manner 
 of teaching — in contradistinction to the artificial 
 eloquence of the Sophists. — Meyer.] Inspired men 
 received all their doctrines immediately from God, 
 and often the very words in which those doctrines 
 should be delivered to the world; but in general 
 the Holy Spirit appears to have left them to their 
 own language, preventing them from using any ex- 
 pression that might be equivocal, or convey a con- 
 trary sense to that which God intended. [This
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 an offence Pin abasing myself that ye might be 
 exalted, because 1 have preached to you the 
 gospel of God freely? 8 I robbed other 
 churches, taking wages of them, to do you 
 service. 9 And when I was present with 
 you, and wanted, q I was chargeable to no 
 man: for that which was lacking to me r the 
 brethren which came from Macedonia sup- 
 plied : and in all things 1 have kept myself 
 s from being burdensome unto you, and so will 
 
 V Acts 18. 3 ; 1 Cov. 9. fi. 12 ; chap. 111. 1. <i Acts 20. 33 ; ch;ip. 
 
 12. 1?<; 1 Thess. 2. it; 2 Thess. :i. 8, 9. r Phil. 4. 10, 15, 16. 
 
 8 Chap. 12. 14, lfi. 1 Rom. U. 1. «Or. this boast inu shall 
 
 not be stopped in me. 
 
 recognises and defines the human element in the 
 Holy Scriptures.] 
 
 7. Have I committed an offence in abasing 
 myself — [ n H d/iapriav iwoir/aa kpavrbv tcittelvuv 'iva 
 v/ieig vipudfjTS ; have I committed sin, abasing my- 
 self that you may be exalted? The fore- going of his 
 apostolic right to be supported, h^ovaia, is brought 
 into question as of at least doubtful expediency, 
 though certainly they ought not to bring it against 
 him as a sin, seeing he had done it that they might 
 be exalted.] [The exaltation which they received 
 by his demeaning himself was that of reception into 
 the blessings of the Gospel, which (was intended to 
 be) more effectually wrought thereby. — A/ford.] 
 
 8. I robbed other churches — this part of the 
 sentence is explained by the latter, taking wages 
 ... to do you service. The word bipuviov signifies 
 the pay of money and provisions (rations) given 
 daily to a Roman soldier. As if he had said : I re- 
 ceived food and raiment, the necessaries of life, from 
 other churches while labouring for your salvation. 
 Will you esteem this a crime ? The whole sentence 
 is a stinging irony. [The divine ordinance, that 
 "they who preach the Gospel should live of the 
 Gospel," (1 Cor. ix, 14,) is much more than simply 
 permissive, a justification of the preacher in receiv- 
 ing a temporal maintenance from those to whom he 
 ministers ; it is evidently a divine appointment de- 
 signed for the benefit of the giver quite as much as of 
 the receiver. The experience of the Church in all ages 
 and countries shows that the Gospel is uniformly 
 the most effective when those who are ministered 
 to in spiritual things render in return carnal (tem- 
 poral) things, as their free gifts to those who min- 
 ister the Gospel to them. It is quite possible that 
 Paul felt this when he asked whether he had done 
 wrong to the Corinthians in waiving his claim for 
 a support from their hands, though there can be no 
 doubt of the goodness of his intention, nor had the 
 Corinthians a right to be offended with him for it. 
 In Churches, even missionary Churches, self-sup- 
 port seems to be the divinely appointed condition 
 of the successful preaching of the Gospel.] 
 
 9. And 'when I was present 'with you — I 
 preferred to be, for a time, even without the neces- 
 saries of life, rather than be a burden to you. To 
 whom was this a reproach, to me or to you? [Per- 
 haps to both.] The brethren 'which came from 
 Macedonia— He probably refers to the supplies 
 which he received from the Church at Philippi, 
 which was in Macedonia; of which he says, that 
 in the beginning of the Gospel no Church communi- 
 cated with me, as concerning giving and net icing, 
 but you only ; for even at Thessalonica ye sent once 
 and again to my necessity. (Phil, iv, 15, 10.) [The 
 evident unchristian churlishness of some of the 
 Corinthians made it necessary for the apostle, in 
 
 I. keep myself. 10 'As the truth of Christ is 
 in me, uv no man shall stop me of this boasting 
 in the regions of Achaia. 11 Wherefore ? " be- 
 cause I love you not? God knoweth. 12 But 
 what I do, that I will do, x that I may cut off 
 occasion from them which desire occasion ; 
 that wherein they glory, they may be found 
 even as we. 13 For such y are false apostles, 
 z deceitful workers, transforming themselves 
 into the apostles of Christ. 14 And no mar- 
 
 v 1 Cor. 9. 15. — w Chap. 6. 11 : 7. 3; 12. 15. x 1 Cor. 9. 12. 
 
 ;/Acts 15. 24; Romans lti. 18; Gal. 1. 7: (5. 12; Phil. 1. 15: 
 
 2 Peter 2. 1 : 1 John 4. 1 ; Kev. 2. 2. e Chap. 2. 17 ; Phil. i. 2 ; 
 
 Titus 1. 10, 11. 
 
 order to protect the honour of the Gospel and his 
 own self-respect, to waive his just and proper claim 
 to be supported by those to wdiom he ministered. 
 Among the hard conditions of the case this may 
 have been expedient, perhaps necessary, but the 
 whole thing was wrong, nevertheless.] 
 
 10. As the truth of Christ is in me — "Eariv 
 a/J/tisia Xptorov iv iyol ; the truth of Christ is in 
 me. I speak as becomes a Christian man, and as 
 influenced by the Gospel of Christ ; a solemn form 
 of asseveration, but scarcely to be considered in 
 the sense of an oath. In the regions of Achaia 
 — The whole of the Peloponnesus, or Morea, in 
 which the city of Corinth stood. From this it ap- 
 pears that he had received no help from any of the 
 other Churches in the whole of that district. 
 
 11. Wherefore — Aia ri. Why have I acted thus ? 
 and why do I propose to continue to act thus ? is it 
 because I love you not, and will not permit you to 
 contribute to my support ? God knoweth the con- 
 trary ; I do most affectionately love you. 
 
 1'2. But what I do, etc. — I act thus that I mug 
 cut i iff occasion of glorying or calumniating from 
 them — the false prophets or teachers, //•/<<* seek oc- 
 casion — who would be glad that I should become 
 chargeable to you, that it might in some sort vin- 
 dicate them who exact much from you; for they 
 bring you into bondage, and devour you. (Verse 
 20.) Nothing could mortify these persons more 
 than to find that the apostle took nothing, ami was 
 resolved to take nothing ; while they were fleecing 
 the people. It is certain that the passage is not to 
 be understood as though the false apostles took 
 nothing from the people, to whatever disinterest- 
 edness they might pretend, for the apostle is as- 
 sured of the contrary. [They did accuse him and 
 his colleagues of mal-appropriation. (Chapter 
 xii, 18.) They boasted, too, of their own unselfish- 
 ness, but their practise contradicted their profes- 
 sion. (Chapter ii, 17; xi, 20.) They did not re- 
 ceive money or goods openly, but they did so in 
 secret. He is resolved that his example shall con- 
 strain them to desist from this clandestine spolia- 
 tion. Herein appears the hypocritical villany which 
 he proceeds to denounce. — Speaker's L'"m.] 
 
 13. For such are false apostles — Persons who 
 pretend to be apostles, but have no mission from 
 Christ. Deceitful workers — They do preach and 
 labour, but they have nothing but their own emol- 
 ument or partisan purposes in view. Transform- 
 ing themselves — Assuming, as far as they pos- 
 sibly can consistently with their sinister views, the 
 habit, manner, and doctrine of the apostles of 
 Christ. 
 
 14. And no marvel — Kal ov Oaiua; and no 
 wonder j it need not surprise you what the disci- 
 ples do, when vou consider the character of the 
 
 2ul
 
 A. M. 4061. A. D. 57. 
 Year of Rome, MO. 
 
 II. CORINTHIANS. 
 
 Paul justifies himself and 
 
 vel; for Satan himself is transformed into 'an 
 angei of light. S;» Therefore it is no greal 
 tiling if his ministers also he transformed as 
 the ''ministers of righteousness; c whose end 
 shall be according to their works. 16 d I say 
 again, Let no man think me a fool ; if other- 
 wise, vet as a fool e receive me, that I may 
 boast myself a little. 17 That which I speak, 
 f I speak it not after the Lord, but as it were 
 foolishly, ein this confidence of boasting. 
 18 h Seeing that many glory after the flesh, 
 I will glory also. 19 For ye suffer fools 
 
 a Gal. 1 
 chapter 12 
 ter 9. 4. 
 
 8 b Chapter 3. 9. c Phil. 3. 19. d Verse 1; 
 
 G. 11. e Or, suffer. — fl Cor. 7. 15, 12. g Chap- 
 
 master. Satan himself is transformed into an 
 angel of light — As in verse 3 the apostle had the 
 history of the temptation and fall of man particu- 
 larly in view, it is very likely that here he refers to 
 the same thing. In whatever form Satan appeared 
 to our first mother, his pretensions and professions 
 gave him the appearance of a good angel ; and by 
 pretending that Eve should get a great increase of 
 light, that is, wisdom and understanding, he de- 
 ceived her, and led her to transgress. 
 
 15. Whose end shall be according to their 
 works — A bad way leads to a bad end. The way 
 of sin is the way to hell. 
 
 16. Let no man think me a fool — As the 
 apostle was now going to enter into a particular 
 detail of his qualifications, natural, acquired, and 
 spiritual, and particularly of his labours and suf- 
 ferings, he thinks it necessary to introduce the 
 discourse once more, as he did verse 1. 
 
 17. I speak it not after the Lord— Were it 
 not for the necessity under which I am laid to vin- 
 dicate my apostleship, my present glorying would 
 be inconsistent with my Christian profession of 
 humility, and knowing no one after the flesh. 
 
 IS. Seeing that many glory after the flesh 
 — Boast of external and secular things. [There are 
 times when Christian duty may command silence, 
 even under reproach and calumny ; there are other 
 times and circumstances when it becomes the duty 
 of a Christian, and especially of a minister of the 
 Gospel, to repel such attacks, and to vindicate his 
 own good name, and his claim to confidence.] 
 
 ] 9. Ye suffer fools gladly, seeing ye your- 
 selves are wise — A very tine irony. It would be 
 dishonourable to you as wise men to fall out with a 
 fool; you will therefore patiently bear with his im- 
 pertinence and foolishness because of your own 
 profound wisdom. 
 
 20. For ye suffer— As you are so meek and 
 gentle as to submit to be brought into bondage 
 — to have your property devoured, your goods 
 taken away, yourselves laid in the diist, so that 
 others may exalt themselves over you — vea, and 
 will bear from those the most degrading indignity; 
 then, of course, you will bear with one who has 
 never insulted, defrauded, devoured, taken of you, 
 exalted himself against you, or offered you any kind 
 of indignity ; and who only wishes you to bear his 
 confident boasting concerning matters which he 
 can substantiate. The expressions in this verse are 
 some evidence that the false apostle was a Judaizing 
 teacher. You suffer, says the apostle, if a man, 
 Karadovhii, brine/ you into bondage, probably mean- 
 ing to the Jewish rites and ceremonies. (Gal. iv, 9.) 
 If a man . . . devour you — As the Pharisees did 
 202 
 
 gladly, 'seeing ye yourselves are wise. 20 For 
 ye suffer, b if a man bring you into bondage, 
 if a man devour you, if a man take of you, 
 if a man exalt himself, if a man smite you 
 on the face. 21 1 speak as concerning re- 
 proach, ' as though we had been weak. How- 
 beit, m whereinsoever any is bold, (I speak 
 foolishly,) I am bold also. 22 Are they He- 
 brews ? " so am I. Are they Israelites ? so am 
 I. Are they the seed of Abraham ? so am I. 
 23 Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as 
 a fool,) I am more; "in labours more abun- 
 
 ftPhil. 3.3,4. i\ Cor. 4. 10. h Gal. 2. 4; 4.9. /Chap. 
 
 10. 10. m Phil. 3. 4. n Acts 22.3; Rom. 11. 1 ; I'hil. 3. 5. 
 
 o 1 Cor. 15. 10. 
 
 the patrimony of the widows, and for a pretence 
 made long prayers. If a man take of you — Ex- 
 act different contributions, pretendedly for the tem- 
 ple at Jerusalem, etc. Exalt himself — Pretend- 
 ing to be of the seed of Abraham, infinitely higher 
 in honour and dignity than all the families of the 
 Gentiles. If a man smite you on the face — 
 Treat you with indignity, as the Jews did the Gen- 
 tiles, considering them only as dogs, and not fit to 
 be ranked with any of the descendants of Jacob. 
 
 21. I speak as concerning reproach — Dr. 
 Whitby thus paraphrases this verse: "That which 
 I said of smiting you upon the' face, I speak as con- 
 cerning the reproach they cast upon you as profane 
 and uncircumcised, whereas they all profess to be 
 a holy nation. As though we had been weak 
 — Inferior to them in these things, not aide to as- 
 cribe to ourselves those advantages as well as they. 
 Howbeit, whereinsoever any is bold, and can 
 justly value himself on these advantages, I am 
 bold also, and can claim the same distinctions, 
 though I speak foolishly in setting any value on 
 those things; but it is necessary that I should 
 show that such men have not even one natural good 
 that they can boast of beyond me." [See also Al- 
 ford, Meyer, Schrader, and others.] 
 
 22. Are they Hebrews — Speaking the sacred 
 language, and reading in the congregation from the 
 Hebrew Scriptures? the same is my own language. 
 Are they Israelites— Regularly descended from 
 Jacob, and not from Esau ? 1 am also one. Are 
 they the seed of Abraham — Circumcised, and 
 in the bond of the covenant ? So am I. I am no 
 proselyte, but I am a Hebrew of the Hebrews, both 
 by father and mother ; and can trace my genealogy, 
 through the tribe of Benjamin, up to the father of 
 the faithful. 
 
 23. Are they ministers of Christ — So we find 
 that these were professors of Christianity; and 
 that they were genuine Jews, and such as endeav- 
 oured to incorporate both systems, and, no doubt, 
 to oblige to be circumcised those who had believed ; 
 and this appears to have been the bondage into 
 which they had brought many of the believing Co- 
 rinthians. I am more — More of a minister of 
 Christ than they are, and have given fuller proofs 
 of it. I have suffered persecution for the cross 
 of Christ, and of the Jews, too ; and had I preached 
 up the necessity of circumcision, I should have been 
 as free from opposition as these are. In labours 
 more abundant — Far from sitting down to take 
 my ease in a Church already gathered into Christ, 
 I travel incessantly, preach everywhere, and at all 
 risks, in order to bring the heathen from the power 
 of darkness into the kingdom of God's Son. In
 
 Paul narr.ites hii 
 
 CHAPTER XT. 
 
 i. M. 40B1. A. T>. 5T. 
 
 Year of It e, BIO. 
 
 dant, pin stripes above measure, in prisons 
 more frequent, iin deaths oft. 24 Of the 
 Jews five times received I 'forty stripes save 
 one. 25 Thrice was I s beaten with rods, 
 'once was I stoned, thrice I "suffered ship- 
 wreck, a night and a day I have been in the 
 deep; 26 In journeyings often, in perils of 
 waters, in perils of robbers, v in penis by mine 
 own countrymen, " in perils by the heathen, 
 
 p Acts 9. Ifi: 20. 23: 21. 11; chapter 6. 4,5. <?] Tor. lo. 30, 
 
 31, 32; chapter 1. 9. 1"; 4. II; H. 9. r Deut, 25. 3. sActs 
 
 IB. 22. 1 Acts 14. 19. u Acts 27. 41. c Acts 9. 23 : 13. 5U; 
 
 stripes above measure — Being beaten by the 
 heathen, who had no particular rule according to 
 which they scourged criminals; and we find from 
 Acts xvi, 22, 23, that they beat Paul unmercifully 
 — with many stripes. In prisons more frequent 
 — See Acts xxi, 11, and the whole of the apostle's 
 history ; and his long imprisonment of at least two 
 years at Rome. (Acts xxviii.) It does not appear 
 that there is any one instance of a false apostle 
 having been imprisoned for the testimony of Christ ; 
 this was a badge of the true apostles. In deaths 
 oft — That is, in the most imminent dangers. (See 
 1 Cor. xv, 31 ; 2 Cor. iv, 11, and the apostle's his- 
 tory in the Acts.) 
 
 24. Of the Jews five times received I forty- 
 stripes save one — That is, he was five times 
 scourged by the Jews, whose law (Dent, xxv, 3) al- 
 lowed forty stripes ; but they, pretending to be 
 lenient, and to act within the letter of the law, in- 
 flicted but thirty-nine. To except one stripe from 
 the forty was a very ancient canon among the 
 Jews. They thought it right to stop under forty, 
 lest the person who counted should make a mis- 
 take, and the criminal get more than forty stripes, 
 which would be injustice, as the law required only 
 forty. The Jews did not usually repeat scourgings 
 except for enormous offences. But they had 
 scourged the apostle five times ; for with those 
 murderers no quarter would be given to the dis- 
 ciples, as none was given to the Master. 
 
 25. Thrice was I beaten with rods — This 
 was under the Roman government, as their Victors 
 beat criminals in this way. We hear of the apos- 
 tle's being treated thus once, namely, at Philippi. 
 (Acts xvi, 22.) Once was I stoned— Namely, at 
 Lystra. (Acts xiv, 19, etc.) A night and a day 
 I have been in the deep — -It is generally sup- 
 posed that in some shipwreck not on record the 
 apostle had saved himself on a plank, and was a 
 whole day and night on the sea, tossed about at the 
 mercy of the waves. Others think, less probably, 
 that (3v()6g, the deep, signifies a dungeon of a ter- 
 rible nature at Cyzicum, in the Propontis, into 
 which Paul was cast as he passed from Troas. 
 
 26. In journeyings often — He means the par- 
 ticular journeys which he took to different places, 
 for the purpose of propagating the Gospel. In 
 perils of waters — Exposed to great dangers in 
 crossing rivers ; for of rivers the original, —orayuv, 
 must be understood. Of robbers— Judea itself, 
 and perhaps every other country, was grievously 
 infested by banditti of this kind; and no doubt the 
 apostle, in his frequent peregrinations, was often at- 
 tacked, but, being poor, and having nothing to lose, 
 he passed unhurt, though not without great dan- 
 ger. In perils by mine own countrymen — 
 The Jews had the most intense antipathy to him 
 as an apostate from the true faith, and also as the 
 
 in perils in the city, in perils in the wilder- 
 ness, in perils in the sea. in perils among false 
 brethren; 27 In weariness and painfullness, 
 Mil watchings often. > in hunger and thirst, in 
 fastings often, in cold and nakedness. 2Si He- 
 sides those things that are without, that which 
 cometh upon hie daily, z the care of all the 
 churches. 29 ' Who is weak, and I am not 
 weak ? who is offended, and 1 burn not? 30 If 
 
 14 5; 17. 5; 20. 3; 21.31 : 23. 10,11; 25.3. M'Acts 14.5: 19. 23. 
 
 a- Acts 20. 31 ; chapter B. 5. // 1 Cor. 4. 11. g Seu Acts 
 
 20. !•*, etc. ; Romans 1. 14. a 1 Cor. 8. 13 ; 9. 22. 
 
 means of perverting many others. There are sev- 
 etal instances of this in the Acts; and a remark- 
 able conspiracy against his life is related Acts 
 xxiii, 12, etc. In perils by the heathen — In 
 the heathen provinces whither he went to preach 
 the Gospel. Several instances of these perils occur 
 also in the Acts. In perils in the city — The dif- 
 ferent seditions raised against him in Jerusalem, 
 Ephesus, and Damascus, etc. Perils in the wilder- 
 ness — In such places it is easy to imagine many 
 dangers from banditti, wild beasts, cold, starvation, 
 etc. Perils in the sea— The different voyages he 
 took in narrow seas, such as the Mediterranean, 
 about dangerous coasts, and without compass. 
 False brethren — Persons who joined themselves 
 to the Church simply to act as spies or apostates 
 from the faith. 
 
 27. In weariness and painfulness — Tribula- 
 lations of this kind were his constant companions. 
 Had not St. Paul been deeply convinced of the 
 truth and absolute certainty of the Christian re- 
 ligion, he could not have continued to expose him- 
 self to such hardships. 
 
 28. Besides those things that are without 
 — Independently of these outward things, I have 
 innumerable troubles and mental oppressions. 
 Which cometh upon me — 'H ewioTaatc; this co?i- 
 tinual press of business ; this tumult of cases to be 
 heard and solved relative to the doctrine, disci- 
 pline, persecution, and supply of all the Churches. 
 All his perils were little in comparison of what he 
 felt relative to the peace, government, and estab- 
 lishment of all the Churches among the Gentiles ; 
 for as he was the apostle of the Gentiles, the gov- 
 ernment of all the Churches among these fell in 
 some sort on him, whether they were of his own 
 planting or of the planting of others. (See Col. ii, 1.) 
 None but a conscientious minister, who has at heart 
 the salvation of souls, can enter into the apostle's 
 feelings in this place. [The ordering of the Gen- 
 tile Churches, which was largely an original work, 
 not simply a copying of the Churches of Judea, 
 naturally and providentially devolved on St. Paul, 
 and required of him a great amount of thought and 
 labour.] 
 
 29. Who is weak — What Church is there un- 
 der persecution with which I do not immediately 
 sympathize? or who, from his weakness in the 
 faith and scrupulousness of conscience, is likely to 
 he stumbled, or turned out of the way, to whom I 
 do not condescend, and whose burden I do not 
 bear? Who is offended — Or likely to be turned 
 out of the way, and I burn not with zeal to re- 
 store and confirm him. [The meaning of the verse 
 is to express the most cordial and lively sympathy, 
 (eomp. 1 Cor. xii, 20,) of his care amid the dangers 
 to which the Christian character and life of the 
 brethen are exposed. — Meyer. ~\ 
 
 203
 
 II. CORINTHIANS. 
 
 I must needs glory, w I will glory of the things 
 which concern mine infirmities. 31 x The 
 God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 y which is blessed for evermore, knoweth that 
 I lie not. 32 z h\ Damascus the governor un- 
 der Aretas the king kept the city of the Dam- 
 ascenes with a garrison, desirous to apprehend 
 me: 33 And through a window in a basket 
 
 w Chap. 12. 5, 9, 10. a' Rom. 1.9; 9. 1 ; chap. 1. 23; Gal. 1. 20; 
 
 1 Thess. 2. 5. !/ Horn. 9. 5. 
 
 30. I will glory . . . which concern mine in- 
 firmities — Ta TJjg aadsveiac, the thing of my weak- 
 ness. I will not boast of my natural or acquired 
 powers ; neither in what God lias done by me ; but 
 rather in what I have suffered for him. The verb 
 aadevicd signifies to be weak, infirm, sick, poor, des- 
 picable, through poverty, etc. And in a few places it 
 is applied to weakness in the faith, to young con- 
 verts, who are poor in religious knowledge — not yet 
 fullv instructed in the nature of the Gospel. (Rom. 
 iv, 19 ; xiv, 1, 2.) And it is applied to the works of 
 the law, to point out their inability to justify a sin- 
 ner, (Rom. viii, 3 ;) but it is never applied to inward 
 sin, and inward corruption. [The apostle's weak- 
 ness (verse 29) and his infirmities (verse 30) indi- 
 cate his sympathy with the weak ; and, with his 
 anxious care, (verse 28,) altogether imply an un- 
 rest of the flesh and spirit which is justly termed 
 weakness. The reference also plainly extends to all 
 that is enumerated in verses 23-28, and the term 
 weakness is evidently used in a wide sense. See 
 Speaker's Com.] 
 
 31. The God and Father of our Lord — 
 Here is a very solemn asseveration ; an appeal to 
 the ever-blessed God for the truth of what he as- 
 serts. It is something similar to his asseveration 
 or oath in verse 10 of this chapter. (See also 
 Rom. ix, 5, and Gal. i, 20.) And from these and 
 several other places we learn that the apostle 
 thought it right thus to confirm his assertions on 
 these particular occasions. But here is nothing to 
 countenance profane swearing, or taking the name 
 of God in vain, as many do in exclamations when 
 surprised, or on hearing something unexpected, 
 etc. St. Paul's appeal to (rod is in the same spirit 
 as his most earnest prayer. This solemn appeal 
 the apostle makes in reference to what he mentions 
 in the following verses. This was a fact not yet 
 generally known. 
 
 32. In Damascus the governor under Are- 
 tas — (Acts ix, 2, 23.) As to King Aretas, there 
 were three of this name. The first is mentioned 
 2 Mace, v, 8. The second, by Josephus, Antiq, 
 1, xiii, chapter 15, section 2; and 1, xvi, chapter 
 1, section 4. The third, who is the person sup- 
 posed to be referred to here, was the father-in- 
 law of Herod Antipas, who married the daughter of 
 Aretas, but divorced her in order to marry Hero- 
 dias, his brother Philip's wife. Aretas, on this in- 
 dignity offered to his family, made war upon Herod. 
 Herod applied to Tiberius for help, and the em- 
 peror sent Vitellius to reduce Aretas, and to bring 
 him, alive or dead, to Rome. By some means or 
 other Vitellius delayed his operations, and in the 
 meantime Tiberius died; and thus Aretas was 
 snatched from ruin. (Jos., Antiq., lib. xviii, chap- 
 ter 5.) What Aretas did in the interim is not 
 known; but it is conjectured that he made an ir- 
 ruption into Syria and seized Damascus. The 
 governor — 'Edvapxqg. Who this ethnarch was 
 
 204 
 
 was I let down by the wall, and escaped his 
 hands. 
 
 CIIAPTEPv XII. 
 
 IT is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. 
 a I will come to visions and revelations of 
 the Lord. 2 I knew a man h in Christ above 
 fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I 
 
 z Acts 9. 24, 25. a Or. For I will came. b Horn. 16. 7: 
 
 chap. 5. 17 ; CJal. 1. 22. 
 
 we cannot tell. The word ethnarch signifies the 
 governor of a province under a king or emperor. 
 Desirous to apprehend me— The enemies of the 
 apostle might have represented him to the govern- 
 or as a dangerous spy, employed by the Romans. 
 
 33. Through a window in a basket — Am 
 dvpidoc, by means of a little door ; iv aapyavy, in a 
 wickerwork, that is, a basket. Probably the house 
 was situated on the wall of the city. (See Aets ix, 
 23-25.) [In Acts, (ix, 24,) the 'watching of the 
 gates is ascribed to the Jews, and here to the eth- 
 narch ; probably the ethnarch caused the gates to be 
 watched by the Jews themsdves, at their suggestion. 
 Michaelis suggests that "Jewish gold had perhaps 
 also some effect with the emir." He went to 
 Arabia (Gal. i, 17) only in consequence of this in- 
 cident. — Meyer.] [The naming of this incident in 
 connexion with what he immediately proceeds to de- 
 clare, may suggest that not improbably the trance or 
 vision there named took place during his abode in 
 Arabia. The time, fourteen years before the date of 
 this epistle, agrees sufficiently well with the date.] 
 
 KOTES ON CHAPTER XII 
 
 1. It is not expedient for me — The phi in 
 meaning of the apostle, in this and the preceding 
 chapter, in reference to glorying, is, that though to 
 boast in any attainments, or in what God did by 
 him, was in all possible cases to be avoided as 
 contrary to the humility and simplicity of the Gos- 
 pel, yet the circumstances in which he was found 
 in reference to the Corinthian Church and his de- 
 tractors there, rendered it necessary, not for his 
 personal vindication, but for the honour of the 
 Gospel, the credit of which was certainly at 
 stake. I will come to visions — 'Q--aoiac, sym- 
 bolical representations of spiritual and celestial 
 things, in which matters of the deepest impoitance 
 are exhibited to the eye of the mind by a variety of 
 emblems, the nature and properties of which serve 
 to illustrate those spiritual things. Revelations 
 — 'AironaM'Tpeic, a manifestation of things not be- 
 fore known, because they are a part of God's own 
 inscrutable counsels. 
 
 2. I knew a man in Christ — I knew a Christ- 
 ian, or a Christian man ; for to such alone God now 
 revealed himself, for vision and prophecy had been 
 shut up from the Jews. ['Ev Xfitovu — in Christ, 
 so often used by the apostle, seems to have a spe- 
 cific sense, indicating the mystical union of the be- 
 liever with the personal Christ.] Fourteen years 
 ago — On what occasion, or in what place, this trans- 
 action took place we cannot tell ; there are many con- 
 jectures among learned men concerning it, but of 
 what utility can they lie when every thing is so pal- 
 pably uncertain V Allowing this epistle to have been 
 written some time in the year 57, fourteen years 
 counted backward will lead this transaction to the 
 year 42 or 43, which was about the time that Bar- 
 nabas brought Paul from Tarsus to Antioch, (Acts
 
 r™l ri 
 
 riderful exyt 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 A. M. 4161. A. D. 57. 
 Year of home, 810. 
 
 cannot tell ; or whether out of the body, I 
 cannot tell: God knowetli ;) such a one 
 c caught up to the third heaven. 3 And I knew 
 such a man, (whether in the body, or out of 
 the body, I cannot tell : God knoweth ;) 
 4 How that he was caught up into d paradise, 
 and heard unspeakable words, which it is not 
 e lawful for a man to utter. 5 Of such a one 
 will I glory: f yet of myself I will not glory, 
 
 c Acts 22. 17. d Luke 
 
 . 43. — e Or, posiible. /Cliap. 
 
 11. 30. 
 
 xi, 25, 26,) and when lie and Paul were sent by the 
 Church of Antiouh with alms to the poor Christ- 
 ians at Jerusalem. It is very possihle that, on this 
 journey, or while in Jerusalem, he had this vision, 
 which was intended to be the means of establishing 
 him in the faith, and supporting him in the many 
 trials and difficulties through which he was to pass. 
 This vision the apostle had kept secret fov fourteen 
 years. [See note at the end of the preceding chap- 
 ter.] Whether in the body I cannot tell — 
 The apostle was probably in an ecstasy or trance, 
 something like that of Peter. (Acts x, 9, etc.) 
 Caught up to the third heaven — He appeared 
 to have been carried up to this place ; but whether 
 bodily he could not tell, or whether the spirit were 
 not separated for the time and taken up to the 
 third heaven, he could not tell. The third heaven 
 — The Jews talk of seven heavens, and Mohammed 
 has received the same from them ; but these are 
 not only fabulous but absurd. In the sacred writ- 
 ings three heavens only are mentioned. The first 
 is the atmosphere — the firmament or expansion, 
 (Gen. i, ti.) The second, the starry heaven ; where 
 are the sun, moon, planets, and stars ; but these 
 two are often expressed under one term. (Gen. i, 17.) 
 And, thirdly, the place of the blessed, or the throne 
 of the divine glory. But on these subjects the 
 Scripture affords us but little light ; and on this 
 distinction the reader is not desired to rely. Schoett- 
 gen has shown, that ascending to heaven, or being 
 caught up to heaven, is a form of speech among the 
 Jewish writers to express the highest degrees of in- 
 spiration. If we may understand St. Paul thus, it 
 will remove much of the difficulty from this place ; 
 and perhaps the unspeakable ivords (verse 4) are 
 thus to be understood. He had the most sublime 
 communications from God, such as would be im- 
 proper to mention; though it is very likely that we 
 have the substance of these in his epistles. In- 
 deed, the two epistles before us seem, in many 
 places, to be the effect of most extraordinary 
 revelations. 
 
 4. Caught up into paradise — The Jewish 
 writers have no less than four paradises, as they 
 have seven heavens ; but it is needless to wade 
 through their fables. On the word "paradise," see 
 the note on Gen. ii, 8. Among the Christian 
 writers paradise generally means the place of the 
 blessed, or the state of separate spirits. Whether 
 the third heaven and paradise be the same place 
 we cannot absolutely say ; [probably St. Paul used 
 the two terms in reference to the state of divine 
 rapture into which he had been thrown. It is not 
 to be supposed that any removal to some distant 
 place is here indicated. The whole affair, being in 
 an ecstasy, must have been subjective.] Which 
 it is not lawful for a man to utter — It is prob- 
 able that the apostle refers to some communication 
 concerning the divine nature and the divine ecou- 
 
 but in mine infirmities. 6 For e though I 
 would desire to glory, I shall not be a fool ; 
 for I will say the truth : but now I forbear, 
 lest any man should think of me above that 
 which he seeth me to be, or that he hearetb of 
 me. 7 And lest I should be exalted above 
 measure through the abundance of the revela- 
 tions, there was given to me a h thorn in the 
 flesh, 'the messenger of Satan to buffet me, 
 
 a Chap. 10. 8; 11.16. 
 
 -h See Ezek. 28. 24 ; Gal. 4. 13, 14.- 
 2. 7 ; Luke 13. 10. 
 
 -i Job 
 
 omy of which he was only to make a general use 
 in liis preaching and writing. No doubt that what 
 he learned at this time formed the basis of all his 
 doctrines. 
 
 5. Of such a one will I glory — Through mod- 
 esty he does not mention himself, though the ac- 
 count can be understood of no other person. 
 
 6. I shall not be a fool — Who that had got 
 such honour from God would have been fourteen 
 years silent on the subject ? I will say the truth 
 — I speak nothing but truth ; and the apostle seems 
 to have intended to proceed with something else of 
 the same kind, but, finding some reason probably 
 occurring suddenly, says, I forbear — I will say no 
 more on this subject. Lest any man should 
 think of me above — The apostle spoke of these 
 revelations for two purposes : first, lest his enemies 
 might suppose they had cause to think meanly of 
 him ; and, secondly, having said thus much, lie for- 
 bears to speak any further of them, lest his friends 
 should think too highly of him. It is a rare gift to 
 discern when to speak and when to be silent, and 
 to know when enough is said on a subject, neither 
 too little, nor too much. 
 
 7. And lest I should be exalted— There were 
 three evils to be guarded against: 1) The contempt 
 of his gifts and call by his enemies. 2) The over- 
 weening fondness of his friends. And, 3) Self- 
 exaltation. A thorn in the flesh — The word 
 cuoloip signifies a stake, and aramio/.o-i^eadat, to be 
 tied to a stake by way of punishment ; and it is 
 also used to signify the most oppressive afflictions. 
 What this " thorn in the flesh " might be has given 
 birth to a multitude of childish conjectures. 1 be- 
 lieve the apostle to refer simply to the distresses 
 he had endured through the opposition he met with 
 at Corinth ; which were as painful and grievous to 
 him as a thorn in Ms flesh, or his being bound to a 
 stake; for, if he could have devoted himself to de- 
 struction (Rom. ix, 3) for his rebellious and unbe- 
 lieving countrymen, what must he have suffered on 
 account of an eminent Church being perverted and 
 torn to pieces by false teachers? God permitted 
 this to keep the apostle humble, and at last com- 
 pletely delivered the Church out of the hands and 
 influence of this deceiver. The messenger of 
 Satan — Another mode of expressing what he calls 
 the "thorn in the flesh;" and he seems most 
 plainly to refer to the false apostle at Corinth. The 
 apostle himself was, as he styles himself to this 
 Church, aTToaTo7x>c X/ugtov 'I/jcov. (chapter i, 1,) 
 the apostle of Jesus Christ. The person in question 
 is styled here ayyehoc ~La~ava, the apostle ok angel 
 of Satan. It is almost impossible to mistake the 
 apostle's meaning and reference. Jesus Christ 
 si ut Paul to proclaim his truth, and to found a 
 Church at Corinth. Satan, the adversary of God's 
 truth, sent a man to preach lies at the same place, 
 and turn the Church of God into his own synagogue; 
 
 2U5
 
 IT. CORINTHIANS. 
 
 Paul S lr 
 
 rfle rings 
 
 lest I should be exalted above measure. § k For 
 this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it 
 might depart from me. 9 And he said unto 
 me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my 
 
 strength is made perfect in weakness. Most 
 gladly therefore ' will I rather glory in my in- 
 firmities, '"that the power of Christ may rest 
 upon me. lO Therefore " I take pleasure 
 in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in 
 persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: 
 
 frSee Deut. 3. 23-27: Matt. 26. 44. I Chap. 11. 30. 
 
 w 1 Peter 4. 14. n Rom. 5. 3; chap. 7. 4. oChap. 13. 4. 
 
 pChup. 11. 1,16, 17. 
 
 and by his teaching, lies, and calumnies the apostle 
 was severely buffeted. Many, however, think that 
 the apostle had really some bodily infirmity that 
 rendered him contemptible, and was the means of 
 obstructing the success of his ministry, and that 
 the false apostle availed himself of this to set St. 
 Paul at naught, and to hold him out to ridicule. 
 I have shown this, elsewhere, to be very unlikely. 
 
 8. I besought the Lord — That is, Christ, as 
 the next verse proves, and the Socinians themselves 
 confess. And if CI i list be an object of prayer in 
 such a case as this, or indeed in any case, it is a 
 sure proof of his divinity. Thrice — Some suppose 
 this to be a certain number for an uncertain ; as if 
 he had said, I often besought Christ to deliver me 
 from this tormentor; or, which is perhaps more 
 likely, the apostle may refer to three solemn, fixed, 
 and fervent applications made to Christ at different 
 times ; at the last of which he received the answer 
 which he immediately subjoins. It is worthy of 
 remark, that our Lord in his agony acted in the 
 same way ; at three different times he applied to 
 Coil that the cup might depart from him, and in 
 each application he spoke the same words. (Matt. 
 xxvi, 39-44.) 
 
 9. My grace is sufficient for thee— Thou shalt 
 not be permitted to sink under these afflictions. 
 Thy enemies shall not be able to prevail against 
 thee. My strength is made perfect in weak- 
 ness — The more, and the more violently, thou art 
 afflicted and tried, being upheld by my power and 
 prospered in all thy labours, the more eminently 
 will my power be seen and acknowledged. For 
 the weaker the instrument I use, the more the 
 power of my grace shall be manifested. (See at 
 the end of this chapter.) Will I rather glory in 
 my infirmities — His " infirmities " do not. of 
 course, mean corruptions, or sins, or sinfulness of 
 any kind; for in these no man could "glory" lie- 
 fore God. That the power of Christ may rest 
 upon me — 'E-icn>/r<l)tjij £-' kus, that it may over- 
 shadow me as a tent, or tabernacle ; affording ine 
 shelter, protection, safety, and rest. This expres- 
 sion is like that of John i, 14 : " And the Word was 
 made flesh," nai hani/vuoEv iv r/yiv, and made his 
 tabernacle among us — "full of grace and truth." 
 The same eternal word promised to make his tab- 
 ernacle with the apostle, and give him a proof that 
 lie was still the same — " full of grace and truth," 
 by assuring him that his grace should lie sufficient 
 for hint. Paul, knowing that the promise of grace 
 could not fail, because of the divine truth, says : 
 Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in an/ 
 afflictions, that, such a power of Christ may over- 
 shadow ;nid defend me. The words are also sim- 
 ilar to those of the Prophet Isaiah, chapter iv, 5 : 
 " On all the glory shall be a defence." God gives 
 
 206 
 
 "for when I am weak, then am I strong. Ill 
 am become Pa fool in glorying; ye have com- 
 pelled me: for I ought to have been com- 
 mended of you : for i in nothing am 1 behind 
 the very chiefest apostles, though r I be noth- 
 ing. 12 s Truly the signs of an apostle were 
 wrought amongyou in till patience, in signs, and 
 wonders, and mighty deeds. 13 'For what is 
 it wherein ye were inferior to other churches, 
 except it be that " i myself was not burden- 
 
 g Chap. 11. 5; Gal. 2. fi. 7. «. r 1 Cor. 3. 7 ; 15. s, 9 ; Eph. 3. 8. 
 
 — s Rom. 15. 18,19; 1 Cor. 9. 2: chap. 4. 2; 6.4:11. 6. JlCor. 
 
 1.7. tt 1 Cor. 9. 12; chap. 11.9. 
 
 the glory, and God gives the defence of that glory. 
 The apostle had much glory or honour ; both Satan 
 and his apostles were very envious ; in himself the 
 apostle, as well as all human beings, was weak, 
 and therefore needed the power of God to defend 
 such glory. Grace alone can preserve grace. 
 When we get a particular blessing we need another 
 to preserve it ; and without this, we shall soon be 
 shorn of our strength and become as other men. 
 Hence the necessity of continual watchfulness and 
 prayer, and depending on the all-sufficient grace of 
 Christ. (See on chapter xi, 30.) 
 
 10. Therefore I take pleasure — I not only en- 
 dure them patiently, but am pleased when 1 feel or 
 suffer them; for I do it for Christ's saki — mi his 
 account. For when I am -weak — Most .op- 
 pressed with trials and afflictions, [most sensible 
 of my own insufficiency,] then am I strong; God 
 supporting my mind with his most powerful influ- 
 ences, causing me to rejoice with joy unspeakable 
 and full of glory. 
 
 11. I am become a fool in glorying — It is 
 not the part of a wise or gracious man to boast ; 
 but ye have compelled me : I have been obliged to do 
 it, in order to vindicate the cause of God. I ought 
 to have been commended of you — You should 
 have vindicated both myself and my ministry 
 against the detractors that are among you. The 
 very chiefest apostles — See on chapter xi, 1. 
 Though I be nothing — Though I have been thus 
 set at naught by your false apostle ; and though, in 
 consequence of what he has said, some of you have 
 been ready to consider me as " nothing." [Although 
 I am quite without value and without importance; 
 the same humility as in 1 Cor. xv, 8-10. But how 
 fraught with shame to the opposing party, with 
 which those false apostles were of so great account. 
 — Meyer.] 
 
 12. The signs of an apostle were wrought 
 among you — Though I have been reputed as 
 not/iing, [and I confess that of myself I can do 
 nothing, (1 Cor. iv, 40,)] I have given the fullest 
 proof of my divine mission by various signs, won- 
 ders, and miracles, and by that patience which I 
 have manifested toward you. 
 
 13. For what is it wherein ye were in- 
 ferior — 'HoociOz/ts, placed at disadvantage. This is 
 a fine, forcible, yet delicate stroke. It was your 
 duty and your interest to have supported your apos- 
 tle ; other Churches have done so. But I did not 
 require this from you ; in this respect all other 
 Churches are superior to you. I am the cause of 
 your inferiority, by not requiring you to minister 
 to my necessities : forgive ijje this wrong I have 
 done you. It is the privilege of the Churches of 
 Christ to support the ministry of his Gospel among 
 them. Those who do not contribute their part to
 
 The disinterestedness of Paul 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 A.M. 4dfil. A.D. 5T. 
 Year <>! P.oim-, Mn. 
 
 some to you ? forgive me v this wrong. 14 w Be- 
 hold, the third time I am ready to come to 
 you ; and I will not be burdensome to yon : 
 for "I seek not yours, but you: J for the chil- 
 dren ought not to lay up for the parents, but 
 the parents for the children. 15 And L l will 
 very gladly spend and be spent "for 'you; 
 though c the more abundantly I love you, the 
 less I be loved. 16 But be it so, d l did not 
 burden you : nevertheless, being crafty, 1 
 
 V Chap. 11 7. w Chap. 13. 1. x, Acts 20. 33 ; I Cor. 10. 33. 
 
 2/1 Cor. 4. 14, 15. z Phil. 2. 17; 1 Thess. 2. 8. a John 
 
 10. 11 ; chap. 1. rj ; Col. 1. 24 ; 2 Tim. 2. 10. 
 
 the support of the Gospel ministry either care 
 nothing for it or derive no good from it. [To be 
 excused is to suffer a wrong.] [Bitterly ironical 
 justification of what was said in verse 12, for in 
 nothing have you come behind- (in privileges) as 
 compared with other Churches, except, etc. In this 
 exception lies the painful bitterness of the passage, 
 which, in the request that follows, " forgive me this 
 wrong," becomes still sharper. — Meyer.] 
 
 14. The third time I am ready — That is, this 
 is the third time that "I am ready" — have formed 
 this resolution to visit you. He had formed this 
 resolution twice before, but was disappointed. (See 
 1 Cor. xvi, 5; 2 Cor. i, 15, 16.) He now formed 
 it a third time, having more probability of seeing 
 them now than he had before. (See chapter xiii, 2.) 
 [It is an open question, in the interpretation of this 
 passage, whether the " third time," rpirov, refers to 
 his purpose to come to them, or that his actual 
 coming, should it take place, would be a third visit. 
 Meyer, favouring the latter view, remarks, " It was 
 not on his third readiness to come that anything 
 depended, but on the third arrival, for only as having 
 arrived could he be burdensome."] I seek not 
 yours, but you — I seek your salvation, I desire 
 not your property; others have sought your prop- 
 erty, but not your salvation. (See chapter xi, 20.) 
 For the children ought not to lay up for the 
 parents — You may have many teachers, but you 
 have but one father; "for in Christ Jesus I have 
 begotten you through the Gospel. (See 1 Cor. 
 iv, 15.) Ye are my children, and I am your father. 
 You have not contributed to my support, but I 
 have been labouring for your life. I will act to- 
 ward you as the loving father who works hard, and 
 lays up what is necessary to enable his children to 
 get their bread. 
 
 15. And I will very gladly spend and be 
 spent for you — I will continue to act as a loving 
 father, who spends all he has upon his children, 
 and expends his own strength and life in providing 
 for them the things necessary for their preserva- 
 tion and comfort. Though the more abundant- 
 ly I love you — I will then act toward you with 
 the most affectionate tenderness, though it happen 
 to me, as it often does to loving fathers, that their 
 disobedient children love them less, in proportion 
 as their love to them is increased. Does it not 
 frequently happen that the most disobedient child 
 in the family is that one on which the parents' ten- 
 derness is more especially placed? See the parable 
 of the prodigal son. It is in the order of God that 
 it should be so, else the case of every prodigal 
 would be utterly deplorable. The shepherd feels 
 more for the lost sheep than for the ninety-nine 
 that have not gone astray. [He cannot forbear ap- 
 pending to this avowal of ever-increasing and su- 
 
 caught you with guile. 17 e Did I make a 
 gain of you by any of them whom I sent unto 
 you? 18 f l desired Titus, and with him I 
 sent a e brother. Did Titus make a gain of 
 you? walked we not in the same spirit? walked 
 we not in the same steps? 19 h Again, think 
 ye that we excuse ourselves unto you? 'we 
 speak before God in Christ : k but we do all 
 things, dearly beloved, for your edifying. 
 20 For 1 fear, lest, when I come, 1 shall not 
 
 bGr. your souls. cChap. 6. 12, 13. d Chap. 11. 0. 
 
 cChap. 7. 2. /('hap. 8. (>, 10, 22. a ('hap. 8. 18. /tChap. 
 
 5. 12. i Kom. a. 1 ; chap. 11. 31. k 1 Cor. 10. 33. 
 
 perabounding love, a reproachful reminder of the 
 niggardly, and, until recently, ever-diminishing, re- 
 quital of it by his readers. — Speaker's Com.] If 
 I be asked, " Should Christian parents lay up money 
 for their children ? " I answer : It is the dutv of 
 every parent who can, to lav up what is neces- 
 sary to put every child in a condition to earn his 
 living. If he neglect this, he undoubtedly sins 
 against God and nature. But God shows, in 
 the course of his providence, that laying up for- 
 tunes for children is not right ; for there is scarce- 
 ly ever a case where money has been saved up to 
 make the children independent and gentlemen, in 
 which God has not cursed the blessing. It was 
 saved from the poor, from the ignorant, from the 
 cause of God ; and the canker of his displeasure 
 consumed this ill-saved property. 
 
 16. But be it so, I did not burden you— That 
 is : You grant that I did not burden you, that I 
 took nothing from you, but preached to you the 
 Gospel freely : but you say that, being crafty, / 
 caught you with guile; that is, getting from you, 
 by means of others, what I pretended to be un- 
 willing to receive immediately from yourselves. 
 [Tlavobpyoc, crafty, expert, nearly always used in a 
 had sense — full of devices. The slander seems to 
 have been, that while he pretended to be entirely 
 disinterested, he was carrying on underhanded de- 
 vices for his own advantage.] 
 
 17. Did I make a gain of you — Did any per- 
 son I ever sent to preach the Gospel to you, or 
 help you in your Christian course, ever get any 
 thing from you for me ? Produce the proof, if you 
 can. 
 
 18. I desired Titus — I never sent any to you 
 but Titus and another brother. (Chapter viii, 6, IS.) 
 And did Titus make a gain of you — Did lie get 
 anything from you, either for himself or for mt ? 
 You know he did not. He was actuated by the 
 same spirit, and he walked in the same steps, as 
 myself. [This mission of Titus is not that before 
 alluded to, (chapter viii, 17,) upon which he had not 
 yet been actually despatched, but that on which he 
 had "previously initiated" (chapter viii, 6) the 
 making up of the collection. — Speaker's Com.] 
 
 19. Think ye that we excuse ourselves — 
 'Anoloyobudla, that we make an apology for our 
 conduct ; or, that I have sent Titus and that broth- 
 er to you because I was ashamed or afraid to come 
 myself? We speak before God in Christ — I 
 have not done so; I speak the truth before God; 
 he is judge whether I was actuated in this way by 
 any sinister or unworthy motive. For your edi- 
 fying — Whatever I have done in this or any other 
 way, I have done for your " edifying," not for any 
 emolument to myself or friends. 
 
 2U. I fear, lest, when I come — I think the 
 
 207
 
 II. CORINTHIANS. 
 
 P.inl express his feirs for 
 the Church at C'oriulh. 
 
 find you such as I would, and that ' I shall be 
 found unto you such as ye would not : lest 
 there lie debates, envyings, wraths, strifes, 
 backbitings, whisperings, swellings, tumults: 
 21 And lest, when I come again, my God 
 
 1 1 Cor. 4. 21 ; chap. 10. 2 ; 13. 2. 10. m Chap. 
 
 present time is used here for the past ; the apostle 
 seems most evidently to be giving them the reason 
 why he had not come to them according to Ills for- 
 mer purposes, and why lie sent Titus and his com- 
 panion. He was a f laid to come at that time lest 
 he should have found them perverted from the 
 right way, and he be obliged to make use of his 
 apostolical rod, and punish the offenders ; but, feel- 
 ing toward them the heart of a tender father, he 
 was unwilling to use the rod; and sent the first 
 epistle to them, and the messengers above men- 
 tioned, being reluctant to go himself till he had 
 satisfactory evidence that their divisions were ended, 
 and that they had repented for and put away the 
 evils that they had committed; and that he should 
 not be obliged to bewail them who had sinned so 
 abominably and had not repented for their crimes. 
 If this verse be understood in this way, all difficulty 
 will vanish ; otherwise, what is here said does seem 
 to contradict what is said in chapter vii, 6, 16, etc. ; 
 as well as many things both in the eighth and ninth 
 chapters. [There is, however, no sufficient authority 
 for this substitution of the past tense for the pres- 
 ent, in this case ; and it is quite evident, that though 
 some things had been collected, many abuses were 
 still continued in the Corinthian Church.] De- 
 bates, envyings — From these different expres- 
 sions, which are too plain to need interpretation, 
 we see in what a distracted and divided state the 
 Church at Corinth must have been. Brotherly 
 love and charity seem to have been driven out of 
 this once heavenly assembly. These " debates," 
 etc., are precisely the opposite to that love which 
 the apostle recommends and explains by its differ- 
 ent properties in the 13th chapter of his first 
 epistle. 
 
 21. Lest, •when I come again— -And, even after 
 all that has been done for you, I fear that when 
 I do come, my God -will humble me; will per- 
 mit me to be affected with deep sorrow through 
 what I may see among you ; as I have been by the 
 buffetings of the apostle of Satan who has per- 
 verted you. Humiliation is repeatedly used for 
 affliction, and here TaKEivuan has certainly that 
 meaning. Have sinned already — II/jo///za/jr;/- 
 Korutv, who hare sinned before; wdio were some of 
 the first offenders, and have not yet repented. Of 
 the uncleanness, etc. — And although what is here 
 spoken could only be the case of a few, yet the 
 many were ill disciplined, else these must have 
 been cast out. On the whole, this Church seems 
 to have been a composition of excellences and de- 
 fects, of vices and virtues; certainly not a mod, I 
 for a Christian Church. 
 
 1. From St. Paul we receive two remarkable 
 sayings of our Lord, which are of infinite value to 
 the welfare and salvation of man; which are prop- 
 erly parts of the Gospel, but are not mentioned by 
 any evangelist. The first is, in Acts xx, 35: "I 
 have showed you the words of the Lord Jesus, 
 how he said, It is more blesseo to give than to 
 receive." Every liberal heart feels this in bestow- 
 ing its bounty ; and every poor man, who is obliged 
 208 
 
 "'will humble me among you, and that I shall 
 bewail many n which have sinned already, and 
 have not repented of the uncleanness and "for- 
 nication and lasciviousness which they have 
 committed. 
 
 2. 1, 4. wCliap. 13. 2. o 1 Cor. 5. 1. 
 
 to receive help, and whose independency of spirit 
 is still whole in him, feels this too. To the-ffewuine 
 poor it is more burdensome to receive a kindness 
 than it is to the generous man who gives it. The 
 second is recorded in the ninth verse of this chap- 
 ter : " He said unto me, My grace is sufficient 
 
 FOR THEE ; FOR MY STRENGTH IS MADE PERFECT IN 
 
 weakness." Of these two most blessed sayings 
 St. Paul is the only evangelist. This last is of gen- 
 eral application. In all states and conditions of 
 life God's grace is sufficient for us. If in any case 
 we miscarry, it is because we have not sought God 
 earnestly. Let no man say that he is overcome by 
 sin through want of grace ; God's grace was suffi- 
 cient for him, but he did not apply for it as did St. 
 Paul, and therefore he did not receive it. Men 
 often lay the issue of their own infidelity to the 
 charge of God — they excuse their commission of sin 
 through their scantiness of grace ; whereas the 
 whole is owing to their carelessness and refusal to 
 be saved in God's own way; and in this wag alone 
 will God save any man, because it is the only effec- 
 tual way. 
 
 2. The apostle must have been brought into a 
 blessed state of subjection to God, when he could 
 say, " I take pleasure in infirmities ; " that is, in 
 afflictions and sufferings of different kinds. Though 
 this language was spoken on earth, we may justly 
 allow, with one, that he learned it in heaven. 
 
 3. St. Paul preached the Gospel without being 
 "burdensome." In every case the labourer is 
 worthy of his hire. He who labours for the cause 
 of Cod should be supported by the cause of God : 
 but woe to that man who aggrandizes himself and 
 grows rich by the spoils of the faithful: ami to 
 him especially who has made a fortune out of the 
 pence of the poor ! In such a man's heart the love 
 of money must have its throne. As to his professed 
 spirituality, it is nothing ; he is a whited sepulchre, 
 and an abomination in the sight of the Lord. If a 
 man will love the world, (and he does love it who 
 makes a fortune by the offerings of the poor,) the 
 love of the Father is not in him. 
 
 Remarks on Paul's Ecstasy, (verses 1-4.) 
 [The original word for visions (eKaraoi) signifies, 
 in nearly all cases, supernatural sights presented to 
 the spiritual or spiritualized gaze of one sleeping, 
 waking, or in ecstasy. The ''visions and revela- 
 tions of the Lord " does not mean those in which 
 the Lord was seen and revealed, although the words 
 in some cases admit of that sense. (See Matt, 
 iii, 2 ; Luke xxiv, 23.) Visions and revelations in- 
 clude not only those eases in which Christ himself 
 was seen and revealed, and of which he was also 
 the author, but also others. (See Acts xvi, 9.) 
 The vision, says Theophylact, "permits only to see," 
 but the revelation "discloses also something deeper 
 than the thing seen." It may reasonably be con- 
 jeetured that, in the case before us, the vision and 
 revelation concerned, in part at least, St. Paul's re- 
 turn from Arabia to a new sphere of action. For 
 other instances take, above all, his conversion, and 
 those cases referred to in Gal. ii, 2 ; Acts xxiii, 9,
 
 Considerations on Paul's ecstasy, 
 and the thorn in the flesh. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 M. 4061. A. P. 57. 
 If ear of Rome, 810. 
 
 and xxii, 17-21. As he received many such dis- 
 closures of Christ's will, his teaching, his conduct of 
 his ministry, and his government of the Churches 
 were placed beyond question or appeal. 
 
 [In this particular case the personal will (and 
 normal consciousness) was so completely overborne 
 that he speaks of himself as though he were an- 
 other, and not himself. "A man in Christ " might 
 merely describe his Christian state, but in this con- 
 text it expresses that his individuality was swal- 
 lowed up in Christ ; that it was the Spirit of Christ, 
 in which (for the time being) he lived, that rendered 
 him capable of the translation and its experiences. 
 The specific date, " fourteen years ago," enables us 
 to synchronize this rapture approximately with 
 events at Damascus, (chapter xi, 32, 'S3,) as Paul's 
 mind passes vividly over the event of his escape 
 from that city and his retirement into Arabia. The 
 circumstantiality of the exact time shows that he is 
 describing an actual event. Of the rapture itself 
 he knows. What he does not know is, whether the en- 
 tire man was rapt, or the man without the body. 
 His human consciousness as to this point was ob- 
 literated ; and he was also probably alone, otherwise 
 the doubt might have been solved by information. 
 It is impossible to determine precisely St. Paul's 
 conception of the heavens, though no doubt he had 
 one; he mentions a third, and also paradise, which 
 may mean the same, or it may indicate a further 
 stage of translation. The sameness in kind of this 
 ecstasy with that of Isa. vi, with the transfiguration, 
 and with John's vision in Patmos, is manifest. — 
 See Speaker'* Com.] 
 
 [The revelations which Paul received were so sub- 
 lime and holy, that the further communication of 
 them would have been at variance with their char- 
 acter. What was disclosed to him was to be for 
 him alone — for Ins special enlightenment, strength- 
 ening, comforting, with a view to the fulfilment of 
 his great task. To others it was to remain a mys- 
 tery, in order to preclude fanatical or other misuse. 
 As to what it was that Paul heard for himself, the 
 fathers and schoolmen make many conjectures, 
 after their fashion. From whom, as to the organ 
 of communication, he heard it. remains veiled in 
 apocalyptical indetiniteness. — Meyer.] 
 
 The Thorn in the Flesh, (verses 7 and 8.) 
 [The exposition given of verses 7 and 8 of the 
 foregoing chapter will probably be generally ac- 
 cepted as sufficiently clearly setting forth its most 
 probable meaning. A somewdiat fuller presenta 
 tion of the subject, giving the views of the best 
 commentators, may lie acceptable to the reader. 
 
 [As regards the thorn itself, (niu'j'/mb, any body 
 with a sharp point, Donxegan's Lexicon.) very 
 many and some very absurd conjectures have been 
 hazarded. They may be resolved into three heads, 
 two of which, from the nature of the case, may be 
 said to be out of the question : 1) That Paul alludes 
 to spiritual solicitations of the devil, (injectiones 
 Satance,) who suggested to him blasphemous 
 thoughts, (so Luther, how characteristically!) or 
 remorse for his former life, (so Osiander and Mos- 
 heim,) or (according to the Romanist interpreters, 
 who want to find here a precedent for their monk- 
 ish stories of temptations) incitements to lust. 
 2) That he alludes to opposition from his adver- 
 saries, or some especial adversary. (So many com- 
 mentators, both ancient and modem.) 3) That he 
 points to some grievous bodily pain, which has been 
 curiously specified bv different commentators as 
 Vol. II.— 14 
 
 KetyaXaXyia, (headache,) hypochondria. On the 
 whole, putting together the figure here used — thatof 
 a thorn occasioning pain, and the noTiatyiGfioc, buf- 
 feting, or putting to shame — it seems quite necessary 
 to infer that the apostle alludes to some painful 
 and tedious bodily malady which at the sametime put 
 him /<> shame before those among whom he exer- 
 cised his ministry. Of such a kind may have been 
 the disorder of his eyes, more or less indicated in 
 several passages in Ins history and epistles. (See 
 Acts xiii, ',) ; xxiii, 1, etc.; Gal. iv, 14, 15; vi, 11.) 
 But it also may have been something besides this, 
 and to such an inference probability would lead us; 
 disorders in the eyes, however sail in their conse- 
 quences, not being usually of a very painful or dis- 
 tressing nature in tliemselves. — Alfordi] 
 
 [It is necessary to insist, that, when St. Paul as- 
 cribes to the stake (uKo2.oip, thorn) a twofold rela- 
 tion to the invisible world, and sees in it a concur- 
 rence of divine and of Satanic agency, the latter 
 controlled by the former, he is neither speaking 
 figuratively nor merely stating his own personal 
 impressions in accordance with popular views, but 
 affirming what he knew to be a truth, and his state- 
 ment is amply supported by other representations 
 in Scripture. 
 
 [The admixture of Satanic action makes the at- 
 tempt precarious to identify the " stake " (thorn) 
 with any known malady or ailment, such as acute 
 headache, earache, a complaint of the eyes, or epi- 
 lepsy. The view which chiefly claims consideration 
 under this head, although there is an ancient and 
 sustained tradition in favour of headache, is, that 
 it was epilepsy. Both Jews and pagans deemed 
 epilepsy a supernatural visitation, and hence its 
 name, morbus divinus, or sacer .... Persons may 
 become subject to epilepsy at middle age by a great 
 shock, physical or moral, or both, such as St. Paul's 
 conversion was. Those who may have seen a per- 
 son seized with epilepsy while officiating in divine 
 service will comprehend the language of Gal. 
 iv, 14, and how natural it would be for St. Paul to 
 regard any bodily liability at all resembling it as a 
 terrible hinderance to his ministry. . . . 
 
 [It may be questioned whether such inquiries and 
 speculations as these, although interesting, can 
 lead to any solid results, on account of the perfect- 
 ly exceptional character of the apostle's ease. 
 There is reason to think that no malady or bodily 
 disorder brought about by demoniacal agency, is 
 ever identical with ordinary disease. If similarities 
 are traceable, they are rather symptomatic than es- 
 sential affinities. There are not sufficient data for 
 determining what peculiar ingredient characteristic 
 of Satanic malignity there was in the apostle's af- 
 fliction, but it would seem to have been something 
 calculated to overwhelm him with ignominy rather 
 than to excruciate him with pain. It is consolatory 
 to know, that, however hard it was to bear, the 
 grace of Christ enabled him ultimately to rejoice 
 and glory in it as a means whereby the power of 
 the Lord more fully tabernacled upon him and in- 
 vested him with true strength for doing his Mas- 
 ter's work. — Speakers Com.] 
 
 [In respect to this "angel of Satan," which should 
 not be identified with the aaoAof, (thorn,) Meyer well 
 remarks "at his first and second request no answer 
 was given to him ; on the third occasion it came ; and 
 his faithful resignation to the Lord's will prevented 
 his asking again." He prayed the Lord (Christ) that 
 it, or he, (the angel of Satan,) might depart. See 
 Luke iv, 13, Acts xxii, 29. (See Alford.)] 
 
 200
 
 IT. CORINTHIANS. 
 
 : apostle sharply threatens 
 the incorrigible. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 HIS is a the third time I am coming to yon. 
 'In the mouth of two or three witnesses 
 shall every word be established. 2 C I told 
 you before, and foretell you. as if I were pres- 
 ent, the second time; and being absent now I 
 write to them ''which heretofore have sinned, 
 and to all other, that, if I come again, e l will 
 not spare: 3 Since ye seek a proof of Christ 
 1 speaking in me, which to you-ward is not 
 
 flChap. 1'2. 14. 6Num.35. 30: Deut- 17. 6; 19. 15; Matt. 
 
 J8. 16; John S. 17; Heb. 10.28. — cChap. 111. 2. '/Chap. 12.21. 
 
 , (hap. 1. i.I. /Matt. HI 20: 1 Cor. 5. 4; chap. 2. 10. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 1. This is the third time I am coming to 
 
 you — (Chapter xii, 14,) According to Schoettgen, 
 thefrst coming of the apostle to Corinth was when 
 lie personally visited them, and there founded the 
 Christian Church. By his second coming we are to 
 understand his first epistle to them; and, by his 
 beini; now ready to come to them the third time, we 
 are to understand this second epistle, which he was 
 then going to send them. These were the two wit- 
 nesses, and the apostle the third, which he gave to 
 the Corinthians concerning the truth of his own 
 ministry, or the falsity of the ministry of the pre- 
 tended apostle. Calmet, on the other hand, contends 
 that the apostle had been twice before at Corinth, 
 and that he now purposed to go a third time; and 
 that these visits were the two or three witnesses to 
 which the apostle appeals. [This latter opinion is 
 now very generally accepted as the more probable.] 
 With respect to the two or three witnesses estab- 
 lishing the subject, Dr. Whitby says: "Though 
 these words seem to be cited from Deut. xix, 15, 
 rather than from Matt, xviii, 16, it being rate to 
 find this apostle citing any thing from the New 
 Testament without calling it an ordinance of the 
 Lord, yet it is probable that he here alludes to 
 the practice there prescribed for the reclaiming of 
 offenders. (See Matt, xviii, 16.) 
 
 2. I told you before, etc. — As Calmet main- 
 tains that Paul had already been twice at Corinth, 
 it is well to hear his reasons : " St. Paul came to 
 Corinth the latter end of the year of our Lord 52, 
 and remained there eighteen months. (Acts xvii, 1, 
 etc.) He came there a sicmtil time in the year 55, 
 but stayed only a short time, as he had to return 
 speedily to Ephesus, (1 Cor. xvi, 7 ;) hence it is 
 that St. Luke makes no mention of this second jour- 
 ney in the Acts. Finally he determined to visit 
 them a third time; as in effect he did about the 
 year 57. Of his second voyage to Corinth, which 
 is not mentioned in the Act-, he speaks expressly 
 in this verse." I will not spare — I will inflict 
 the proper punishment on every incorrigible of- 
 fender. [Paul at his second presence threatened 
 those who had before transgressed, and he threatens 
 them also now. On the two occasions the threat 
 referred to the same kiml of persons, to those who 
 had before sinned, (chapter xii, 21,) and were still 
 sinners. But the individuals were not (may not 
 have been) quite the same, on the two occasions. — 
 Meyer.] 
 
 3. Since ye seek a proof of Christ — The con- 
 version of the Corinthians was to themselves a 
 solid proof that Christ spoke by the apostle ; and 
 therefore he could, with great propriety, say that 
 this power of Christ, far from being weak, was 
 mighty among them. But is mighty in you — 
 
 210 
 
 weak, but is mighty -in you. 4 h For though 
 he was crucified through weakness, yet 'he 
 liveth by the power of God. for k we also 
 are weak 'in him, but we shall live with him 
 by the power of God toward you. 5 "' Ex- 
 amine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith ; 
 prove your own selves. Know ye not your 
 own selves, "how that Jesus Christ is in you, 
 except ye be "reprobates? 6 But I trust that 
 ye shall know that we are not reprobates. 
 
 O 1 Cm-. 2. // Phil. 2. 7. 8 : 1 Peter 3 18. — i Unmans 6. 4. 
 
 — X'See chap. 10. 3, 4. /Or. with l< im. m 1 Cor. 11. 28. 
 
 — n Koreans 8. 10; Gal. 4. IP. — olCor. 9. 27. 
 
 [Not of the inter mil in dwi dling and pervading, 
 (Christ ;) but the Christ speaking in Paid has the 
 power of asserting himself de facto as the vin- 
 dicator of his word and work in the Church. — 
 Meyer.] 
 
 4. For though he was crucified through 
 weakness — [The fact that Christ died was proof of 
 his mortality; itself distinctively a "weakness;" 
 but over against this stands the fact of his resur- 
 rection, by the power of God, in which glorified 
 state he liveth (in perpetuity) by the same glorious 
 power.] [The "weakness" which culminated in a 
 death suffered once for all, not only thereby ceased 
 forever, but was succeeded by a life coming from 
 the power of God. For we also are weak in 
 him, etc. — As he (Paul) is in Christ, Christ's 
 weakness is reproduced in him ; but, on the other 
 hand, Christ's might also took effect in him, and 
 the time was at hand when he would put it forth. 
 — Speaker's Com.] 
 
 5. Examine yourselves, whether ye be in 
 the faith — 'J&avrovg TretpafeTE, try yourselves; 
 pierce your hearts ; test yourselves by what I have 
 written, and see whether ye retain the true faith of 
 the Gospel. Prove your own selves — 'Eai i 
 6oKipaC,ere, put yourselves to the test, us yon would 
 try gold or silver suspected of adulteration. No 
 longer take that for Gospel which is not so. 
 Know ye not your own selves — Does Jesus 
 Christ dwell in you V You have his Spirit, his 
 power, his mind, if ye be Christians; the Spirit of 
 Christ bear- witness with your spirit that ye are 
 the children of God. And this is the case except 
 ve be reprobates, ac'oKiuoi, base counterfeits, mongrel 
 Christians. They had a Judaizing Christian among 
 them; such, presumptively, was the false apostle: 
 they had received his Judaico-Christian doctrine, 
 and were what the prophet said of some of the Israel- 
 ites in his time : " Reprobate silver shall men call 
 them." (Jer. vi, 30.) And thus, when they were 
 brought to the test, they were found reprobate; 
 that is, adulterated with this mixture of bail doc- 
 trine. This reprobation came of the people them- 
 selves. Man pollutes himself; then God repro- 
 bates the polluted. 
 
 6. Ye shall know that we are not repro- 
 bates — Ye have had, and ye shall have, the fullest 
 proof that I (we) have preached the true faith 
 among you; and that God has confirmed it by his 
 testimony ; and thus that I am proved and mani- 
 fested to be what I ought to lie, and shown to be 
 approvi dot God. He courted the fullest and freest 
 investigation of his spirit and actions. [However 
 it may fall out with your proof of yourselves, I hope 
 (confidently believe) that ye shall know that we are 
 not worthless, that is, unable to abide the proof to 
 which you put us. — A/ford.]
 
 Paul expresses bts desire for the 
 prosperity of the Church. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 7 Now I pray to God that ye do no evil ; not 
 that we should appear approved, hut that ye 
 should do that which is honest, though p we 
 be as reprobates. 8 For we can do nothing 
 against the truth, but for the truth. 9 For 
 we are glad, i when we are weak, and ye are 
 strong : and this also we wish, r even your per- 
 fection. 10 "Therefore I write these things 
 
 pCliap. 6. 9. q\ Cor. 4. 10; chap. 11. 30; 12. 5, 9, 10. 
 
 rl Thess. 3. 1". Si Cor. 4. 21; chap. 2. 3; 10. 2; 12. 20, 21. 
 
 * Titus 1. 13. wChap. 10.8. 
 
 7. I pray to God that ye do no evil — That 
 ye do not persist in that course which will oblige 
 me to use the authority of Christ to punish you. 
 Some apply this prayer to the apostle himself : 
 Now I pray to God that I may do you no evil — that 
 I may not be obliged to use my apostolic rod, and 
 inflict evil upon you. [The proper sense of this 
 rather obscure passage has been much disputed ; 
 perhaps the conclusions of Dr. Whedon may be 
 accepted as the most probable: "Their salvation, 
 from (by reason of) well-doing, was his supreme 
 object. If by such (their) well-doing he was proved 
 a true apostle, very good ; if it rendered him as a 
 no apostle, still may they do well."] Not that we 
 should appear approved — We are not concerned 
 to give this proof that we are approved of God; 
 (let that take care of itself.) But that ye should 
 do that which is honest — That ye may do that 
 which is right and seemly, to naXbv, though we 
 should be, in consequence of that, as reprobates, 
 as persons not approved of God ; because your ref- 
 ormation will prevent the exercise of this power, 
 which would otherwise have given an awful proof 
 that we are approved of God. [There is here an 
 evident apposition — an alliteration — between kokov 
 and m?.bv : the one to be shunned, the other 
 sought.] 
 
 8. For we can do nothing against the truth, 
 but for the truth — The Gospel of Jesus is truth ; 
 and my testimony concerning it is truth. In my 
 coming, and in my rod, you have nothing to fear, 
 if you retain and abide in this truth. [Should 
 those who have fallen away from the true Gospel 
 (xi, 3) return ; should those who had violated the 
 obligation of love (xii, 20) and purity (xii, 21) re- 
 pent ; — the cause of truth, doctrinal and practical, 
 would be thus far re-established, and his power of 
 chastising would be nullified, because it is, in its 
 very nature, capable of being applied only for and 
 never against the truth. — Speaker's Com ] 
 
 9. For we are glad, when we are weak — It 
 will give me only pleasure that I should still ap- 
 pear to be poor, and without any display of powt r 
 to punish, so that you be strong in all the gifts 
 and graces of the Holy Spirit. And this also we 
 wish, even your perfection — We cannot be 
 satisfied that persons with such eminent capabili- 
 ties, and who have once received the truth as it is in 
 Jesus, should be deficient in any of the graces that 
 constitute the mind of Christ. Kardpriaic, com- 
 plete restoration, re-articulation. Beza says on this 
 passage : " The apostle's meaning is, that whereas 
 the members of the Church were all, as it were, 
 dislocated and out of joint, they should be joined 
 together in love; and they should endeavour to 
 make perfect what was amiss among them, either 
 in faith or morals." The " perfection," or rejointing 
 which the apostle wishes, is that which refers to 
 the state of the Church in its fellowship, unity, or- 
 der, etc. And perfection in the soul is the same, 
 
 being absent, lest being present ' I should use 
 sharpness, "according to the power which the 
 Lord hath given me to edification, and not to 
 destruction. 11 Finally, brethren, farewell. 
 Be perfect, be of good comfort, v be of one 
 mind, live in peace ; and the God of love w and 
 peace shall be with you. 12 x Greet one an- 
 other with a holy kiss. 13 All the saints 
 
 V Rom. 12. It!, 18; 15. 5; 1 Cor. 1. 10; Phil. 2. 2: 3 16; 1 Pet. 
 
 3. 8. w Rom. 15. 33. x Rom. 1(5. lti ; 1 Cor. 10. 20 ; 1 Thess. 
 
 5. 2tf; 1 Peter 5. 14. 
 
 in reference to it, as perfection in the Church is to 
 its order and unity. 
 
 10. Therefore I write these things — I only 
 warn you now, by this epistle, to put you on your 
 guard, and lead you to reformation before I visit 
 you ; that I may not then have occasion to use 
 sharpness, ,//// u~or6uuc xpqoupai, that I mug not 
 deal sharply in the use of a power which (hid has 
 given me to be employed in your edification rather 
 than in your destruction. [Verse 10 indicates the 
 aim and special purpose of this whole epistle, 
 namely, to put the Church on his arrival in person 
 into that frame of mind which it was necessary 
 that Paul should find, in order that he might 
 thereupon set to work among them, not with stern 
 corrective authority, but for their edification. But 
 in order to attain this aim, he had to make it his 
 chief task to elucidate, confirm, and vindicate his 
 apostolical authority, which, in consequence of his 
 former letter, had been assailed still more vehe- 
 mently, openly, and influentially by his opponents. 
 For if that were regained, his whole influence 
 would be regained ; if the Church were again con- 
 firmed on this point, and the opposition defeated, 
 every hindrance to his successful personal labour 
 among them would be removed. With the estab- 
 lishment of his apostolical character and reputation 
 he is therefore chieflj occupied in the whole epistle. 
 — Meyer.'] 
 
 11. Finally — \oi-6v. All that remains for me 
 now is, to wish you all manner of happiness, and 
 so to take my leave. Farewell — Xaipere, all hail. 
 A good wish from our old mother tongue. May you, 
 go well; go on prosperously ! Be perfect — Karap- 
 TL^ecde, be compact ; get into joint again ; let 
 unity and harmony he restored. Be of good com- 
 fort — HapaicaAeiode, receive admonition, that ye 
 may receive comfort. Be of one mind — To abrb 
 (ppoveire, think the same; let there be no dissen- 
 sions among you. Be of the same creed, and let 
 disputes about that religion which should be the 
 bond of peace for ever subside. Live in peace — 
 EipT/VEvere, be peaceable ; or, as he says elsewhere, 
 follow peace. (Heb. xii, 14.) Cultivate a peace- 
 able disposition, and neither say nor do any thing 
 which has a tendency to irritate each other. And 
 the God of love and peace shall be with you 
 — " Love " cannot exist where there are brawls, con- 
 tentions, and divisions. And where neither " peace " 
 nor " love " is to be found, there God cannot be. And 
 if he be not there, yourselves and the devil make 
 the whole assembly. 
 
 12. Greet one another with a holy kiss — 
 Use every means by which a good understanding 
 may be brought about. Let the spirit of friend- 
 ship live among you, and encourage its continuance 
 by every friendly act. (See Bom. xvi, 10.) 
 
 1:5. All the saints — The Christians of Mace- 
 donia or Philippi. In the primitive Church a saint 
 and a Christian meant the same. 
 
 211
 
 IT. CORINTHIANS. 
 
 Conclusion nf th^ ep : *tle. 
 Apostolical benediction. 
 
 salute you. 14 yThe grace of tlie Lord 
 Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and z the 
 
 y Rom. 16. 24. 
 
 14. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ — 
 All the favour and beneficence that come from and 
 through the Redeemer of the world ; as the Lord, 
 the ruler, the governor, of all things; as Jescs, the 
 Saviour of all men by his passion and death ; as 
 ( 'hrist, the distributer of all that divine unction 
 which enlightens, comforts, harmonizes, and puri- 
 ties the mind. May this most exalted, glorious, and 
 all-sufficient Saviour be ever with you! And the 
 love of God — In the fullest manifestations of 
 that love which caused him to give his only-begot- 
 ten Son, that they who believe on him should not 
 perish, but have everlasting life. May this God of 
 love, and this love of God, be ever with you ! 
 And the communion of the Holy Ghost — May 
 that Holy Spirit, that divine and eternal energy 
 which proceeds from the Father and the Son ; that 
 heavenly fire- that gives light and life, that purifies 
 and refines, sublimes and exalts, comforts and 
 invigorates, make you all partakers with himself! 
 Koivuvia, which we translate fellowship and com- 
 munion, signifies properly participation ; having 
 things in common ; partaking with each other. 
 This points out the astonishing privileges of true 
 believers; they have communion with God's Spirit ; 
 share in all his gifts and graces; walk in his light; 
 through him they have the fullest confidence that 
 they are of God, that he is their father and friend, 
 and has blotted out all their iniquities ; this they 
 know by the Spirit which he has given them. And 
 is it possible that a man shall be a partaker with 
 the Holy Ghost, and not kn'ow it .' that he shall be 
 full of life and love, and not know it ! that he shall 
 have the spirit of adoption, by which he can cry, 
 Abba, Father! and yet know nothing of his rela- 
 tionship to God but by inference from indirect 
 proofs.' In a word, that he shall have the grace 
 <>f our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and tin 
 communion of the Holy Ghost with him, and all 
 the while know nothing certain of the grace, as to 
 his portion in it; feel nothing warming from the 
 love, as to its part in him ; and nothing energetic 
 from the communion, as to his participation in the 
 212 
 
 communion of the Holy Ghost, he with you 
 all. Amen. 
 
 2 Phil. 2. l. 
 
 gifts and graces of this divine energy ! This is all 
 as absurd as it is impossible. Every genuine Christ- 
 ian, who maintains a close walk with God, may 
 have at all times a comfortable assurance of the 
 divine favour, and his acceptance with God through 
 Christ, and to deny this gracious privilege to all 
 true believers is to refuse them the consolations 
 designed for them by the Spirit of all grace, in 
 infinite goodness for them all. This text, as well as 
 that in Matthew iii, 16, 17, and that other, Matthew 
 xxviii, 19, strongly marks the doctrine of the holy 
 Trinity. (See the note on this latter text.) And 
 had not the apostle been convinced that there was 
 a personality in this ever-blessed and undivided 
 Trinity, he could not have expressed himself thus. 
 And had not our Lord intended to be understood in 
 this way, he would not have given such a commis- 
 sion to his apostles, to baptize the nations in the 
 name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the 
 Holy Ghost. The doctrine is the teaching of God, 
 let men make of it what they please. And the gen- 
 uine Church of God have ever received and under- 
 stood it in this way. Amen — This word is want- 
 ing, as usual, in almost every MS. of authority. 
 " Amen " seems to have been anciently added at the 
 conclusion of books, exactly as we add the word 
 finis, both merely signifying the end. As to the in- 
 scription, it is wanting, either in whole or in part, 
 in almost all the ancient MSS. The subscriptions 
 to this epistle in the various MSS. and Versions 
 are exceedingly various, but none of them of any 
 value. It has been often remarked that no depen- 
 dence can be placed on many of the subscriptions 
 to the sacred books, which are found in MSS. and 
 Versions, because those subscriptions were not 
 written by the authors of those books, but were 
 afterwards added by the transcribers or copyists, 
 who either followed tradition or their own judg- 
 ment. It is generally allowed that this second epis- 
 tle was written from some part of Macedonia — 
 probably from the city of Philippi, then a place of 
 considerable importance. It is now a mass of 
 ruins. See the preface to this epistle.
 
 PREFACE TO THE EPISTLE 
 
 TO 
 
 THE GALATIANS. 
 
 AUTHORSHIP. 
 f\F all the epistles that bear the name of St. Paul no one is more clearly shown 
 ^ to be genuine than this. The character of its style, spirit, and manner of 
 argumentation is so clearly Pauline that the case admits of no question. The 
 external testimony to the same point is also abundant; and it need not be here 
 rehearsed. 
 
 THE PERSONS ADDRESSED. 
 Galatia, called also Gallo-Grrecia by Strabo, derived its name from the Gauls, 
 who settled in that region in the third century before Christ. It was situated 
 near the middle of Asia Minor, having Bithynia and Paphlagonia for its northern 
 boundary; Phrygia for its western; Lycaonia for its southern; and Pontus and 
 Cappadocia for its eastern. Jerome states in his time: "The Galatians — except- 
 ing the Greek, which all the East speaks — have nearly the same language which 
 the Treviri have." There can be no doubt that the most of them understood 
 Greek, so that there could have been no difficulty either in preaching or Writ- 
 ing to them in that language. It appears, also, that " as early as the time of 
 Augustus many Jews lived in Galatia, to whom the emperor granted a letter of 
 protection." These Jews, then, and others who doubtless adhered to them, 
 would naturally be first addressed, and the converts from among them would 
 form the nucleus of the Church, which had already become very powerful in that 
 region in the first part of the second century. And yet it seems, from chapter 
 iv, 8, that the greatest part of the Galatian Church were converted Gentiles. 
 
 TIME AND PLACE OF WRITING. 
 
 Paul's second visit to Galatia was made about A. D. 55, and the epistle was 
 written after that, though probably not very long afterward. 
 
 Paul and Timothy preached the Gospel to the Galatians about A. D. 52. 
 (Acts xvi, 6.) About three years later the apostle passed through the 
 country of Galatia and Phrygia, "strengthening the disciples." (Acts xviii, 23.) 
 These are all the references to the Galatians in the Acts. In the First Epistle Id 
 the Corinthians (chapter xvi, 1) Paul states that he had "given order to the 
 Churches of Galatia" respecting a collection. The First Epistle to the Corin- 
 thians was written about A. D. 58, (our date says 56,) and Paul refers here to his 
 visitation of the Galatians about three years earlier, which was his second mis- 
 sionary tour through that country. 
 
 213
 
 PREFACE TO THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 
 
 If the above date is accepted as that of the writing of the epistle, then Ephe- 
 sus would be the probable place of its composition. If not that, then Corinth. 
 
 ITS OBJECT. 
 
 This is clearly indicated in the epistle itself. Judaizing teachers had followed 
 the apostle in Galatia, opposing his doctrine respecting the non-use of the 
 ceremonial law by Gentile converts, and also calling in question his apostolic 
 authority, (chapter i, 1-11,) and requiring that all converts should be circum- 
 cised and keep the law, (chapter v, 2; vi, 12;) and evidently a strong party had 
 been raised up against Paul personally, as well as against his doctrine. He had 
 already testified against these in person, (i, 9 ; iv, 16,) and now, because the evil 
 was still increasing, he writes the epistle to expressly and directly controvert it. 
 
 The object of the epistle was, therefore, (to borrow the words of Alford,) 
 " 1) To defend his own apostolical authority. 2) To oppose the Judaistic 
 error by which they were being deceived. Accordingly it contains two parts, 
 the apologetic, (chapters i, ii,) and the polemic, (chapters iii-v, 12.) These are 
 naturally followed by a hortatory conclusion." 
 
 MATTER AND STYLE. 
 
 Its apologetic portion is especially valuable as containing a statement and 
 defence of St. Paul's calling to the apostleship, and of his apostolic career. 
 The polemical portion is in the same line with the epistle to the Romans — 
 asserting and proving the doctrine of salvation through Christ to be secured by 
 faith alone, but less elaborate in its arguments and more directly controversial. 
 It mingles somewhat strangely together severity and tenderness ; and is among 
 the most valuable portions of holy writ " for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, 
 for instruction in righteousness." 
 
 [Judaizing Christian teachers with Pharisaic leanings — probably from Pal- 
 estine — had made their appearance among the Galatian Churches after Paul, and 
 with their attacks upon his apostolic dignity, and their assertion of the necessity 
 of circumcision for Christians, which involved as a necessary consequence the 
 obligation of the whole law, had found but too ready a hearing, so that a Judaiz- 
 ing tendency was on the point of getting the upper hand. ... In accordance with 
 this state of things, which gave occasion to the letter, it was the object of Paul to 
 defend in it his apostolic authority, and to bring his readers to a triumphant con- 
 viction of the freedom of the Christian from circumcision and the Mosaic law 
 through the justification arising from the grace of Christ. Nor are we to assume 
 that he overstates the danger of the case, as it involved the most vital question 
 of Pauline Christianity, and along with it, also, the whole personal function and 
 position of the apostle, who was divinely conscious of the truth of his Gospel, and 
 therefore must not be judged in relation to his opponents according to the usual 
 standard of party against party. — Jfeyer.] 
 
 214
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE 
 
 TO 
 
 THE GALATIA2STS. 
 
 ■ CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAUL, an apostle, ('not of men, neither by 
 man, but b by Jesus Christ, and God the 
 Father, °wbo raised him from the dead;) 
 2 And all the brethren a which are with me, 
 e unto the churches of Galatia: 3 ' Grace be 
 to you, and peace, from God the Father, and 
 
 a Veis-sll, 12. b Acts 9. 6: 22. 10, 15,21 ; 26. 16; Titus 1. 3. 
 
 Acts 2. 24. dPhil. 2. 22; 4. 21. el Cor. 16. 1. 
 
 /Hum. i: 7; 1 Cor. 1. 3; 2 Cor. 1. 2; Eph. 1. 2; Phil. 1. 2; Col. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER I. 
 [The very beginning of the Epistle to the Gala- 
 tians introduces to us the peculiar state of things 
 which prevailed in their Churches, and which 
 caused the apostle to compose it. The Judaizing 
 false teachers had impugned Paul's apostolical au- 
 thority, and represented him as subordinate to the 
 T wel ve. — Olsha usen.] 
 
 1. Paul, an apostle — [Paul asserts his apostle- 
 ship, and also declares its originality,"/''/! a-' dvBpa- 
 ■nitv obfii 8£ avOpanov. 'A— 6, in the first clause, re- 
 fers to the remote or originating cause ; 6td, in the 
 second, to the nearer or instrumental cause ; from 
 both of which human agency is excluded, and the 
 divine, both of the Father and of Christ, is asserted. 
 See Alford.] Not of men — Not commissioned by 
 any assembly or council of the apostles, nor accord- 
 ing to any order or institution among men, or any 
 other man, nor by any one of the apostles. But 
 by Jesus Christ — Having his mission immediately 
 from Christ himself. And God the Father — 
 [Christ is the immediate agent of Paul's apostle- 
 ship, inasmuch as he was the instrument through 
 which God called him ; but God was the causa 
 principalis. — Meyer.] Who raised him from the 
 dead — [The resurrection, including and implying 
 the ascension, was the Father's bestowal on Christ 
 of gifts for men, by virtue of which Paul's apostle- 
 ship had been received. — Afford.] Raised him 
 from the dead — (See Acts xxii, 14, 15,) and com- 
 manded him to go both to the Jews and to the Gen- 
 tile's, to open their eyes, to turn them from dark- 
 ness to light, and from the power of Satan unto 
 God, that they might obtain remission of sins, and 
 an inheritance among them that are sanctified. 
 (See Acts ix, 1, etc., and the notes there.) 
 
 2. And all the brethren which are with me 
 — Those who were his assistants in preaching the 
 Gospel, [probably at Ephesus.] Churches of 
 Galatia — Galatia was a region or province of 
 Asia Minor; there was neither titynov town of ihis 
 name. But as, in this province, St. Paul had 
 
 from onr Lord Jesus Christ, 4 s Who gave 
 himself for our sins, that he might deliver us 
 h from this present evil world, according to the 
 will of God and our Father: 5 To whom be 
 glory for ever and ever. Amen. 6 I marvel 
 that ye are so soon removed 'from him that 
 called you into the grace of Christ unto an- 
 
 I. 2; 1 Th.-ss. 1. 1: 2 Thess. 1. 2: 2 John ?,. r, Mutt. 2". 2" ; 
 
 Horn. 4. 25; chap. 2. 20; Titus 2. 14. /< See Is i 65. 17 : John 
 
 15. 19; 17. 11; Heb. 2.5; 6.5; 1 John 5. 19. /Chap. 5. 8. 
 
 planted several Churches, he directs the epistle to 
 the whole of them, as they all needed the same 
 instructions. 
 
 3. Grace be to you, etc. — See on Rom. i, 7. 
 
 4. Who gave himself for our sins — Who 
 became a sin-offering to Cod in behalf of mankind, 
 that they might be saved from their sins. [Ylcpl 
 ruv d/zaprcuv i)iii.n\ concerning, or in respect to, our 
 sins; not imep, as in chapter ii, 20, where for me, 
 means instead of me. Christ gave himself to die 
 instead of (vnep) sinners, and in respect to their 
 sins, which wen- the occasion of his dying.] De- 
 liver us from this present evil world — [Our 
 personal deliverance consists partly in our pardon, 
 and partly in strength to overcome the evil which 
 comes to us in the form of temptation. . . . This 
 deliverance rests on the atonement, without which 
 it could not be ; it is the end and purpose of the 
 atonement. — Howson.] 
 
 5. To whom be glory for ever — Let him have 
 the glory to whom alone it is due, for having d( livt red 
 us from the present evil world. [St. Paul's manner 
 is to break out suddenly into thanksgiving when 
 he had occasion to make mention of the mercy of 
 God. (2 Cor. ix, 15; Eph. iii, 20.) — Howson.] 
 
 6. I marvel that ye are so soon removed — 
 It was a matter of wonder to the apostle that a 
 people so soundly converted to God, should have 
 so soon made shipwreck of their faith. [This 
 abruptness of manner is indicative of the apostle's 
 deep feeling respecting their falling away. This is 
 seen all through the epistle.] \Qav/id£a, in this 
 sense, is a word of mildness, inasmuch as it im- 
 ports that better things were expected of them, and 
 of condescension, as letting down the writer to the 
 level of his readers, and even challenging explana- 
 tion of them. Si ill, like many other such mild 
 words, it carries to the guilty conscience even 
 sharper rebuke than a harsher one would. — Alford.] 
 From him that called you — [Of course God 
 only, not Paul. The medium of the call is the 
 grace of Christ, (Olshausen ;) their removal consisted 
 
 215
 
 GALATIANS. 
 
 Paul gives account of his conversion 
 and call to tin.- apostleship. 
 
 other gospel: 7 t Which is not another; but 
 there be some 'that trouble you, ;ind would 
 pervert the gospel of Christ. S But though 
 "'we, or an angel from heaven, preach any 
 other gospel unto you than that which we 
 have preached unto you, let him be accursed. 
 9 As we said before, so say 1 now again, If 
 any man preach any other gospel unto you 
 "than that ye have received, let hiin be ac- 
 cursed. 10 For u do 1 now v persuade men, 
 or God? or ido I seek to please men? for if I 
 yet pleased men, I should not be the servant 
 of Christ. 1 1 r Bat I certify you, brethren, 
 that the gospel which was preached of me is 
 
 k 2 Cor. 11. 4. 1 Acts 15. 1, 24 : 2 Cor. 2. 17 ; 11. 13 : chap. 5. 
 
 in, 12. m 1 Cor. 16. 22. ii Deut. 4. 2; 12. 32: Pro v. 30. 6; 
 
 (lev. 22. 13. o 1 Thess. 2. 4. p 1 Sam. 24. 7; Matt. 28. 14: 
 
 1 John .!. 19. ql Thess. 2. 4; James 4. 4. rlCor. 13. 1. 
 
 * i Cor. 15. 1, 3; verse 1. 1 Eph. 3. 3. 
 
 iii their going back from the doctrine of salvation 
 by faith without the deeds of the law, "to that of 
 salvation by the works of the Jewish law," which 
 indeed was entirely another gospel than that which 
 was at first preached to them, and in following 
 which they had been brought into the liberty of 
 the suns of God.] 
 
 7. Which is not another— It is called a gospel, 
 but it differs essentially from the real one published 
 by the evangelists. It is not gospel, that is, good 
 tidings, for it loads you again with the burdens 
 from which the genuine Gospel lias disencumbered 
 yon. Instead of giving you peace, it troubles yon ; 
 instead of being a useful supplement to the Gospel 
 of Christ, it perverts that Gospel. 
 
 8. But though we, or an angel — That Gospel 
 which I have already preached to you is the only 
 true Gospel ; were I to preach any other, I should 
 incur the curse of God. If your false teachers 
 pretend, as many in early times did, that they re- 
 ceived their accounts by the ministry of an angel, 
 let them be accursed — separate them from your 
 company, and have no religious communion with 
 them. Leave them to that God who will show his 
 displeasure against all who corrupt, all who add to, 
 and all who lake from, the word of his revelation. 
 
 '.». Let hini be accursed — 'Avdde/ia. The 
 word here may be understood as implying that such 
 a person should have no countenance in his bad 
 work, but let him, as Theodore! expresses it, 'A'A- 
 /iorpioc eotw tov koivov auuarog rf/r inn'Ai/aiag, be 
 separated from the communion of the Church. 
 This, however, would also imply that unless the 
 person repented, the divine judgments would soon 
 follow. 
 
 10. Do I now persuade men, or God — The 
 words weideiv tov Q: 6i< may be rendered to court or 
 solicit the favour of God, as the after clause suf- 
 ficiently proves. While the apostle was a persecut- 
 or of the Christians, he was the servant of mm, 
 and pleased nan. When he embraced the Christian 
 doctrine, he became t\\eservant of (ion, and pleased 
 him. He therefore intimates that he was a widely 
 different person now from what lie had been while 
 a Jew. 
 
 1 1. But I certify you, brethren, etc. — I wish 
 you fully to comprehend that the Gospel which I 
 preached to you is not after man ; there is not a 
 spark of human invention in it, nor the slightest 
 touch of human cunning. 
 
 12. I neither received it of man — By means 
 of any apostle, as was remarked on verse 1. No 
 
 210 
 
 not after man. 12 For S I neither received it 
 of man, neither was I taught it, but ' by the 
 revelation of Jesus Christ. 13 For ye have 
 heard of my conversation in time past in the 
 Jews' religion, how that "beyond measure I 
 persecuted the church of God, and v wasted it: 
 14 And profited m the Jews' religion above 
 many my "equals in mine own nation, "being 
 more exceedingly zealous >'of the traditions of 
 my fathers. 15 But when it pleased God, 
 2 who separated me from my mother's womb, 
 and called me by his grace, 16 a To reveal 
 bis Son in me, that '■ I might preach him 
 among the heathen; immediately I conferred 
 
 u Acts 9. 1 : 22. 4 : 20. 11 ; 1 Tim. 1. 13. r Acts 8. 3. IP Or. 
 
 equal* in years. ir Act! 22. 3: 26. 9: Phil. 3 6. J/Jer. 
 
 H. 14; .Matt. 15. 2; Mark 7. 5. slsa. 49. 1, •"> ; Jer. 1. .i; Acts 
 
 9. 15: 1:1. 2; 22. 14, 15: Kom. 1. 1. a 2 Cor. 4.0. 6 Acts 9. 15; 
 
 22.21 ; 20. 17, 18; Rom. 11. 13: Enh. 3. 8. 
 
 man taught me what I have preached to you. 
 But by the revelation of Jesus Christ — Being 
 commissioned by himself alone; receiving the 
 knowledge of it from Christ crucified. [When did 
 this revelation lake place V Clearly, soon after his 
 conversion, imparting to him as it did the knowledge 
 of the Gospel which he afterward preached; in all 
 probability it is to be placed during that sojourn in 
 Arabia referred to in verse 17. — A/ford] 
 
 13. Ye have heard of my conversation — 
 T//V i/i//V a ninr/iui n,i\ my manner of life; the 
 mode in which I conducted myself. [ Ye heard, r)Kov~ 
 care, not "have heard," when I was among you.] 
 Beyond measure I persecuted the church — 
 For proofs of this the reader is referred to Acts ix, 
 1, 2 ; xxii, 4, and the notes there. 
 
 14. And profited in the Jews' religion — 
 [HpoenoTTTOV kv rtj 'Iovdaia/i<f>, became proficient in 
 Judaism.] The apostle does not mean that he be- 
 came more exemplary in the love and practice of 
 the pure love of God than any of his countrymen, 
 but that he was more profoundly skilled in the 
 traditions of the fathers than most of his fellow 
 students or contemporaries were. 
 
 15. Who separated me from my mother's 
 womb — [The language of the passage calls our 
 attention, as distinctly as possible, to the fact that 
 the divine will acted supremely in this whole mat- 
 ter, independently of any human plan or effort. 
 The verb, (evdoicic),) the free and unconditioned 
 (and at the same time good and gracious) will of 
 God, operating first in the choosing of Paul, and 
 secondly in his calling. The apostle now passes on 
 to a third point, the inward revelation which fitted 
 for the efficient discharge of his high mission. — 
 HowsonJ] 
 
 1(3. To reveal his Son in me— To make me 
 know Jesus Christ, and the power of his resurrection. 
 That I might preach him among the heathen 
 — For it was to the Gentiles, and the dispersed 
 Jews among the Gentiles, that St. Paul was espe- 
 cially sent. Peter was sent more particularly to the 
 Jews in the land of Judea ; Paul to those in the 
 different Greek provinces. [Paul seems to intimate 
 that being sent to preach Christ "among the hea- 
 then," he had nothing further to do with that form of 
 Judaism from which he had been converted. This 
 he employed as an argument suited to the point in 
 hand.] I conferred not with flesh and blood 
 — I did not take counsel with men ; adj)^ nal aiua, 
 (which is a literal translation of the Hebrew ~\V2 
 □~n, basar vedam, flesh and blood,) is a periphrasis
 
 The apostle giv< 
 some of his i 
 
 not with c flesh and blood: 17 Neither went 
 Lup to Jerusalem to them which were apostles 
 before me; but I went into Arabia, and returned 
 again unto .Damascus. IS Then after three 
 years J l e went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, 
 and abode with him fifteen days. 19 But 
 1 other of the apostles saw 1 none, saves James 
 the Lord's brother. 20 Now the things which 
 
 TTTAPTFT? T A. m. 4.-61. a. r>. st. 
 
 ^IlAriJlIl 1. Year of Rome, 810. 
 
 I write unto you, b behold, before God, I lie 
 ii"t. 21 'Afterwards I came into the regions 
 of Syria and Oilicia; 22 And was unknown 
 by face k unto the churches of Judea which 
 1 were in Christ : 23 But they had heard only, 
 That he which persecuted us in times past now 
 preacheth the faith which once he destroyed. 
 24 And they glorified God in me. 
 
 cMaU. Ill 17; 1 Cor. 15. 50: Eph. fi. 1'?. -/ Acts 'J. 26.- 
 
 r, turned.— J 1 Cor. 9. 5. 
 
 -eOr, 
 
 for man, any man, a human being, or beings of any 
 kind. Many suppose that the apostle means he did 
 not dally, or take counsel, with the erroneous sug- 
 gestions and unrenewed propensities of his own 
 heart, (or love of ease,) or those of others. [The 
 expression " flesh and blood " denotes man in gen- 
 eral, with a shade of depreciation in reference to 
 the weakness and ignorance of human nature. — 
 Nowso/i.] 
 
 17. Neither -went I up to Jerusalem — The 
 aim of the apostle is to show that he had his call 
 so immediately and pointedly from God himself 
 that he had no need of the concurrence even of the 
 apostles, being appointed by the same authority, 
 and fitted to the work by the same grace and Spirit, 
 as they were. But I went into Arabia — That 
 part of Arabia which was contiguous to Damascus, 
 over which Aretas was then king. Of this journey 
 into Arabia v,e have no other account. As St. 
 Luke was not then with Paul it is not inserted 
 in the Acts of the Apostles. Jerusalem was the 
 stated residence of the apostles ; and, when all the 
 other believers were scattered throughout the re- 
 gions of Judea and Samaria, we find the apostles 
 still remaining, unmolested, at Jerusalem ! (Acts 
 viii, 1.) 
 
 18. After three years I went up to Jeru- 
 salem — These three years may be reckoned either 
 from the departure of Paul from Jerusalem, or 
 from his return from Arabia to Damascus, [though 
 almost certainly from the time of his conversion.] 
 To see Peter — 'laropf/aai liirpov, to become per- 
 sonatty acquainted with Peter; for this is the prop- 
 er import of the verb laropeiv. [The verb here 
 employed denotes more than would appear from 
 the English Version. It means close and pains- 
 taking inquiry into that which deserves careful in- 
 vestigation. — Howson.] And abode with him 
 fifteen days — It was not, therefore, to get relig- 
 ious knowledge from him that he paid him this 
 visit. He knew as much of the Jewish religion as 
 Peter did, if not more ; and as to the Gospel, he 
 had received that from the same source, and had 
 preached it three years before this. 
 
 19. James the Lord's brother — Dr. Paley ob- 
 serves : There were two apostles, or at least two 
 eminent members of the Church, of the name of 
 James. Acts xii, 2 relates the death of James, 
 the brother of John; and in chapter xv, and in 
 chapter xxi, 18, is a speech delivered by James in 
 the assembly of the apostles and elders. Some 
 think there were three of this name : 1) James, our 
 " Lord's brother," or cousin, as some will have it ; 
 2) James, the son of Alpheus; and 3) James, the 
 son of Zebedee. [It seems very difficult to identify 
 this "James the Lord's brother" with ''James the 
 son of Alpheus." (See Farrar.)] 
 
 20. Before God, I lie not — This he speaks in 
 reference to having seen only Peter and James at 
 Jerusalem ; and consequently to prove that he had 
 
 (/ Matt. 13. 55; Mark fi. 3. /(.Rom. 9. 1. i Acts 9. 30. 
 
 £1 Thess. 2. 14. Htom. 16. 7. 
 
 not learned the Gospel from the assembly of the 
 apostles at Jerusalem, nor consequently received 
 his commission from them. [He confirms this 
 communication with his oath, (solemn assevera- 
 tion,) in order to remove any possible doubt, show- 
 ing the importance attached by the apostle to the 
 fact that he had neither received the Gospel nor 
 been commissioned to preach it from the apostles 
 or the Church of Jerusalem.] 
 
 21. Afterwards I came into the regions of 
 Syria, etc. — The course of the apostle's travels, 
 after his return from Arabia, was thus : He went 
 from Damascus to Jerusalem, and from Jerusalem 
 into Syria and Cilicia. "At Damascus the disci- 
 ples took him by night, and let him down by the 
 wall in a basket; and when Saul was come to 
 Jerusalem, he assayed to join himself to the dis- 
 ciples." (Acts ix, 2, 26.) Afterward, when the 
 brethren knew the conspiracy formed against him 
 at Jerusalem, they brought him down to Cesarea, 
 and sent him forth to Tarsus, a city of Cilicia. 
 (Acts ix, 30.) This account in the Acts agrees 
 with that in this epistle. [Were those who con- 
 spired against Saul professed Christians ?] 
 
 22. And was unknown by face — 1 was not 
 personally acquainted with any of the Churches of 
 Judea ; I was converted in another place, and had 
 not preached the Gospel in any Christian congrega- 
 tion in that country; I knew only those at Jerusa- 
 lem. [And probably only a few individuals of them.] 
 
 23. They had heard only — As a persecutor 
 of the Chinch of Christ I was well known; and as 
 a convert to Christ I was not less so. The fame of 
 both was great, even where I was personally un- 
 known. 
 
 24. They glorified God in me — Hearing now 
 that I preached that faith which before I had per- 
 secuted and endeavoured to destroy, they glorified 
 God for the grace which had wrought my conver- 
 sion. I owe nothing to them ; I owe all to God ; and 
 they themselves acknowledge this. I received all 
 from God, and God has all the glory. 
 
 1) It appeared of great importance to St. Paul 
 to defend and vindicate his divine mis-ion. As he 
 had no, a from imin, it was the more necessary that 
 he should be able to show plainly that he had one 
 from God. Paul was not brought into the Christ- 
 ian ministry by any rite ever used in the Christian 
 Church. 
 
 2) The apostle was particularly anxious that the 
 Gospel should not be corrupted, that the Church 
 might not be perverted. Whatever corrupts the 
 Gospel subverts the Church. The Church is a 
 spiritual building, and stands on a spiritual founda- 
 tion. Its members are compared to stones in a 
 building, but they are living stones — each instinct 
 with the spirit of a divine life; Jesus is not only 
 the foundation and the headstone, but the spirit 
 that quickens and animates all. 
 
 217
 
 ^M. 4"5S. A.T). 52. 
 Year of R 
 
 GALATIANS. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THEN" fourteen years after * I went up again 
 to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and took Ti- 
 tus with me also. 2 And 1 wont up by reve- 
 lation, ! ami communicated unto them that gos- 
 pel which I preach among the Gentiles, but 
 c privately to them which were of reputation, 
 
 «Acts 15. 2. &Acts 15. 13. c Or, severally. d Phil. 
 
 2. 16 ; 1 Thess. 3. 5. 
 
 3) If he is a dangerous man in the Church who 
 introduces Jewish or human ceremonies which God 
 has not appointed, how much more is he to be 
 dreaded who introduces any false doctrine, or who 
 labours to undermine or lessen the influence of that 
 which i- 1 trite? And even he who does not faith- 
 fully and earnestly preach and inculcate the true 
 doctrine is not a true pastor. 
 
 4) How is it that we have so many Churches 
 like those in Galatia ? Is it not because, on one 
 hand, we disturb the simplicity of the Christian 
 worship by Jewish, heathenish, or improper rites 
 and ceremonies; and on the other, corrupt the 
 purity of its doctrines by the inventions of men ? 
 How does the apostle speak of such corrupters ? 
 Let tin hi tic accursed. 
 
 5) St. Paul well knew, that if he endeavoured to 
 pleasi in' a, he could not be the servant of Christ. 
 The interests of Christ and those of the world are 
 so opposite, that it is impossible to reconcile them ; 
 and lie who attempts it shows thereby that he 
 knows neither Christ nor the world, though so 
 deeply immersed in the spirit of the latter. 
 
 6) God generally confounds the expectations of 
 men-pleasing ministers ; they seldom ultimately suc- 
 ceed, even with men. God abhors them, and those 
 whom they have flattered find them to be dishon- 
 est, and cease to trust them. He who is unfaithful 
 to his God should not be trusted by man. 
 
 NOTES OX CHAPTER IT. 
 
 1. Then fourteen years after — There is a con- 
 siderable difference among critics concerning the 
 time specified in this verse : the apostle is, however, 
 generally supposed to refer to the journey he took 
 to Jerusalem, about the question of circumcision, 
 mentioned in Acts xv, 4, etc. These years, says 
 Dr. Whitby, must be reckoned from the time of 
 his conversion, (mentioned here chapter i, 18,) which 
 took place A. D. 35, (33 ;) his journey to Peter was 
 A. D. 38, (36,) and then between that and the coun- 
 cil of Jerusalem, assembled A. D. 49, (o2,) will be 
 fourteen intervening years. The dates in paren- 
 theses are according to the chronology which I fol- 
 low in the Acts of the Apostles. [A very great 
 amount of learned labour has been bestowed upon 
 the question of this date; but that here given still 
 remains the most probable.] [The point of import- 
 ance in the argument is, that he was labouring in 
 the cause of Christ many years without any inter- 
 ference from the older apostles, and without any 
 dependence upon them. — Howsonl\ 
 
 2. I went up by revelation — This either 
 means, that he went up at that time by an express 
 revelation from God that it was his duty to do so, 
 made either to the Church of Antioch to send these 
 persons to Jerusalem, or to these persons to go ac- 
 cording to the directions of that Church ; or it may 
 refer to the revelation made to certain prophets 
 who came to Antioch, and particularly Agabus, 
 who signified by the Spirit that there would be a 
 
 218 
 
 lest by any means d I should run, or had run. 
 in vain. 3 But neither Titus, who was with 
 me, being a Greek, was compelled to be cir- 
 cumcised: 4 And that because of e false 
 brethren unawares brought in, who came in 
 privily to spy out our f liberty which we have 
 in Christ Jesus, ethat they might bring us into 
 
 e Acts 15. 1, 24 ; 2 Cor. 11. 26. /Chap. 3. 25 ; 5. 1, 13- 
 
 11. 20; cluip. 4.3,9. 
 
 -g 2 Cor. 
 
 dearth; in consequence of which the disciples pur- 
 posed to send relief to their poor brethren at Jeru- 
 salem. [In the history, (Acts xv,) his outward 
 commission is named; in the epistle, the inward 
 communication to himself. This is quite natural, 
 and we have several parallel cases. — Howson.] 
 Communicated unto (laid before ) them — ['Avcfe- 
 jirjv ; giving the apostles at Jerusalem a state- 
 ment of the Gospel which he had preached to the 
 heathen. Though he would not subject either him- 
 self or the Churches he had foimed to the apostles, 
 yet he was free to lay before them a statement of 
 the subject-matter of his preaching.] But pri- 
 vately to them which were of reputation — 
 To/c donovGiv, to the chief men; those who were 
 highest in reputation among the apostles. Aokovv- 
 r:-r, according to Hesychius, is ol evdoi-oi, tin hon- 
 ourable. With these the apostle intimates that he 
 had some private conferences. Lest by any 
 means — As he held these private conferences 
 with these more eminent men to give them infor- 
 mation how, in consequence of his divine call, he 
 had preached the Gospel to the Gentiles, and the 
 great good which God had wrought by his ministry, 
 so it was also necessary that he should give the 
 apostolic council the fullest information that he 
 had acted according to the divine mind in every re- 
 spect, and had been blessed in his deed. [The ren- 
 dering of the Revised Version of this somewhat 
 difficult clause seems to express its real meaning; 
 "Lest by any means I should be running, or had 
 run, in vain." Either it was designed to show- 
 that Paul had preached the pure Gospel of Christ, 
 or else to submit the case to the chiefs of the 
 Church at Jerusalem, that they might correct him 
 if found to be in error.] 
 
 3. But neither (ovde, not even) Titus, who was 
 with me — The apostle proceeds to state that his 
 account was so satisfactory to the apostles, that 
 they not only did not require him to insist on the 
 necessity of circumcision among the Gentiles, but 
 did not even require him to have Titus, who was a 
 Greek, circumcised; though that might have ap- 
 peared expedient, especially at Jerusalem, to have 
 prevented false brethren from making a handle of 
 liis uncircumcision, and turning it to the prejudice 
 of the Gospel in Judea. 
 
 4. And that because of false brethren, etc. — 
 [The construction is difficult ; but the simplest way 
 to understand the sentence seems to be, that be- 
 cause of the mischievous influence and bad coun- 
 sel of these " false brethren " Paul refused to 
 yield to the moral compulsion brought to bear upon 
 him. — Ho/vson.] To spy out our liberty — The 
 Judaizers got into the assembly of the apostles in 
 order to find out what was implied in the liberty of 
 the Gospel, that they might know the better how to 
 oppose St. Paul and his fellows in their preaching 
 Christ to the Gentiles, and admitting them into the 
 Church without obliging them to observe circum- 
 cision and keep the law.
 
 Paul and Rnrnahas receive the 
 right bands of fellowship. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 A.M. 4056. A. n. 52. 
 Year uf Rome, w'5. 
 
 bondage: 5 To whom we gave place by sub- 
 jection, no, not for an hour; that h the truth 
 of the gospel might continue with you. 6 But 
 of those 'who seemed to be somewhat, what- 
 soever they were, it maketh no matter to me: 
 k God accepteth no man's person: for they 
 who seemed to be somewhat 'in conference 
 added nothing to me: 7 But contrariwise, 
 m when they saw thai the gospel of the uncir- 
 cumcision "was committed unto me, as the 
 gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter; 
 S (For lie that wrought effectually in Peter to 
 the apostleship of the circumcision, "the same 
 was p mighty in me toward the Gentiles;) 
 9 And when -lames, Cephas, and John, who 
 seemed to be « pillars, perceived r the grace 
 
 h Verse 14; chap. 3 1 : 4. 16. iChap. 6. 3. X- Acts 10. 34; 
 
 Rom. ill. 2 3 Cor. 13 11. m Acts 13.46; Rom. 1.5: [1.13; 
 
 ITim. 3. 7: 2 Tim. 1.11. n 1 Thess. 2. 4. o ActsS. 15; 13.2; 
 
 22. 21 ; 26. 17, 18; 1 Cor. 15. 10; chap. 1. 16; Col. 1. 2». 
 
 5. To whom we (Paul and his fellows) gave 
 place by subjection — [This decided refusal to 
 yield had been adequately explained by the char- 
 acterization " false brethren ; " it is now given again. 
 — Sc7imoller.~\ They continued to insist on the ex- 
 emption of the Gentiles from the necessity of sub- 
 mitting to Jewish rites ; that the truth of the 
 gospel — this grand doctrine, that the Gentiles are 
 admitted by the Gospel of Christ to be fellow-heirs 
 with the Jews — might continue. [See the ren- 
 dering of this text in the Revised Version, mar- 
 
 6. Those who seemed to be somewhat — 
 Td)i' (foiioi'VTuv elvai tc, those who were of acknowl- 
 edged reputation ; so the words should be under- 
 stood. (See verse 2.) The verb SokeIv, to seem, is 
 repeatedly used by the best Greek writers, not to 
 call the sense in question, or to lessen it, but to 
 deepen and extend it. 
 
 1. But contrariwise — They were so far from 
 wishing me to alter my plan, or to introduce any 
 thing new in my doctrine to the Gentiles, that they 
 saw plainly that my teaching was the same as their 
 own, coming immediately from the same source ; 
 and therefore gave to me and to Barnabas the right 
 hand of fellowship. The gospel of the uncir- 
 cumcision — They saw, to their utmost satisfaction, 
 that I was as expressly sent by God to preach the 
 Gospel to the Gentiles as Peter was to preach it to 
 the Jews. 
 
 8. For he that wrought effectually — '0 hep- 
 yqcac Utrpio, hrhpynoev teal kfiol, he who wrought 
 powerfully with Peter, wrought powerfully also with 
 me. He gave us both those talents which were 
 suited to ouf work, and equal success in our differ- 
 ent departments. 
 
 9. James, Cephas, and John, who seemed 
 to be pillars — 01 Sokovvteq otv/di elvai, ir/io were 
 known to be very eminent, and acknowledgt </ as chit f 
 men among the apostles. Among the Jews, per- 
 sons of great eminence and importance are repre- 
 sented as pillars and foundations of the world. So 
 Schoettgen: "These pillars must be distinguished 
 from the foundation. The foundation of the 
 Church is Jesus Christ alone; the pillars are the 
 more eminent teachers, which, without the founda- 
 tion, are of no value." The right hands of fel- 
 lowship — Giving the right hand to another was 
 the mark of confidence, friendship, and fellowship. 
 (See Lev. vi, 2.) That we should go unto the 
 
 that was given unto me, they gave to me and 
 Barnabas the right hands of fellowship ; that 
 we should go unto the heathen, and they unto 
 the circumcision. lO Only they would that 
 we should remember the poor; »the same 
 which 1 also was forward to do. 11 'Put 
 when Peter was come to Antioeh, I withstood 
 him to the face, because he was to be blamed. 
 12 For before that certain came from .lames, 
 u he did eat with the Gentiles: hut when they 
 were come, he withdrew and separated him- 
 self, fearing them which were of the circtmi- 
 cision. 13 And the other Jews dissembled 
 likewise with him; insomuch that Barnabas 
 also was carried away with their dissimulation. 
 14 Put when I saw that they walked not up- 
 
 pi'hap. 3. 5 cMatt. 16. 18; Eph. 2. 20: Itev. 21. 14. 
 
 >-Kom. 1. 5; 12. 3,6; 15. 15; 1 Cor. 15. 10: Eph. 3. 8. — 8 Acts 
 
 11.91; 24. 17; Rom. 15. 25: 1 Cor. 16. 1 ; 2 Cor. chaps. 8, ». 
 
 / Acts 15. 35. n Acts 10. 2i: 11. 3. 
 
 heathen, etc. — [This division of labour was not, 
 and could not be, strictly observed. Even where in 
 the Acts we find Paul preaching " to the Jews 
 first," and everywhere the Judaizers followed on 
 his track. — Alford.] 
 
 10 Only they would that we should re- 
 member the poor — They saw plainly that God 
 had as expressly called Barnabas and me to go to 
 the Gentiles as he had called them to preach to the 
 Jews; and they did not attempt to give us any new 
 injunctions, only wished us to remember the poor 
 in Judea ; but this was a thing to which we were 
 previously disposed. 
 
 11. When Peter was come to Antioeh — 
 There has been a controversy whether II 
 Peter, here should not be read KnQac, Kephas ; 
 and whether this Kephas was not a different person 
 from Peter the apostle. [The reading K?/0dc is 
 probably the correct one, but it in no wise changes 
 the sense. There can be no question that the 
 apostle Peter is meant. An open outbreak had 
 been with some difficulty avoided at Jerusalem ; 
 but at Antioeh, where Paul and his party could use 
 greater liberty, the collision at length occurred.] 
 Because he was to be blamed — [Karej vuo/iivog, 
 was blameworthy. This was a case id' temporizing, 
 fjv, which might or might not be allowable. ( for <\ en 
 Paul temporized in the circumcision of Timothy,) 
 but Paul saw in it the betrayal of a most sailed 
 principle in the work of the Gospel. Later devel- 
 opments showed that Paul had the right of the 
 matter; though Peter ought not to be too severely 
 blamed.] 
 
 12. Before that certain came from James — 
 [ Who, it appears, considered the ritual law still to be 
 in force.] He did eat with the Gentiles— [Thus 
 leading them to suppose that he deemed the re- 
 strictions imposed by the law to bo dour away.] 
 
 13. And the other Jews dissembled likewise 
 — The converted "Jews," who had ceased to observe 
 the Jewish ritual, seeing Peter act this part, and also 
 fearing them that wert of the circumcision, separated 
 themselves from the converted Gentiles, and acted 
 so as to concede the moral obligation of that ritual : 
 ami SO great was the force of such an example, that 
 Barnabas also was carried away by tin ir dis- 
 simulation, avTuv rij vrroKpiGEi, with //"ir hypocrisy 
 — feigning to lie what they really were not. 
 
 1 1. That they walked not uprightly— Owe 
 bpdoKodovaiv they did not walk with a straight step, 
 
 219
 
 A.M. 4056. A. D.52. 
 Yearut Rome, 805. 
 
 GALATIANS. 
 
 No man is justified by the 
 works of t lie hiw. 
 
 rightly according to v the truth of the gospel, 
 1 said unto Peter "before them all, * If thou, 
 being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gen- 
 tiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest 
 thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews? 
 15 > We who are Jews by nature, and not 
 •sinners of the Gentiles. 1« » Knowing that 
 a man is not justified by the works of the law, 
 but b by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we 
 have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might 
 be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by 
 
 <o Verse 5. wl Tim. 5. 20. x Acts 10. 28; 11. 3. j/Acts 
 
 15. ID, 11. z M itt. 9. 11 ; Eph 2. 3, 12. n Acts 13. 38, 39. 
 
 b Rom. 1. 17 ; 3. 22, 28 ; 8. 3 ; chap. 3. 21 ; Heb. 7. 18, 19. 
 
 [they dissembled ;] they did not maintain a firm 
 footing. According to the truth of the gospel 
 — According to that true doctrine which states that 
 Christ is the end of the law for justification to every 
 one that believeth; and that such are under no obli- 
 gation to observe circumcision and the other pe- 
 culiar rites and ceremonies of the law. [Paid be- 
 held, in the conduct of Peter and other Jewish 
 Christians, an infringement of the "truth of the 
 Gospel," (its essential spirit,) especially of the 
 principle of Christian freedom founded in the Gos- 
 pel. — Schmoller.] Before them all — [Very prob- 
 ably in an assembly of the Church, although not 
 convened immediately for this purpose. — Meyer, .] 
 If thou, being a Jew, livest, etc. — [Notably in 
 the case of Cornelius, (Acts x,) and probably after- 
 ward, Peter had departed from Jewish custom by 
 eating with uncircumcised persons ; but now, be- 
 cause of the clamour raised by the Judaizers, he 
 apparently abandoned the principle he had been 
 taught of God, and on which he had then acted, not 
 to call any man common or unclean.] Why com- 
 pellest thou the Gentiles — Thou didst once con- 
 sider that they were not under such an obligation, 
 and now thou actest as if thou didst consider the 
 law in full force ; but thou art convinced that the 
 contrary is the case, yet actest differently ! This is 
 hypocrisy. 
 
 15. We who are Jews by nature — We (you 
 and I) who have been born, bred, and educated 
 Jews. And not sinners of the Gentiles— 'A/iap- 
 Tu'koi. Not without the knowledge of God, as they 
 have been. ' AuapruAoc often signifies a heathen 
 — one who had no knowledge of the true God. 
 [Paul puts himself for the moment in the position 
 of the most prejudiced Jew, uses his language, and 
 thus makes his argument as strong as possible. 
 Admitting, to the full, all the' religious advantages 
 of Judaism, and all the moral degradation of 
 Heathenism, yet "even we" have renounced this hope 
 of being justified through Judaism. This manner 
 of speaking of the heathen was customary and pro- 
 verbial among the Jews. — Howson.] 
 
 16. Knowing that a man is not justified — 
 (See the notes on Rom. i, 17; hi, 24, 27; and 
 viii, 3 ; and see on Acts xiii, 38, 30 ; in which places 
 the subject of this verse is largely discussed.) Nei- 
 ther the works of the Jewish law, nor of any other 
 law, could justify any man; anil if justification or 
 salvation could not have been attained in some other 
 way, the whole world must have perished. Justifica- 
 tion by faith in the boundless mercy of (rod is as rea- 
 sonable as it is scriptural and necessary. For by the 
 works of the law — [Paul here adduces the same 
 quotation from Psalm cxliii as in Rom. iii, '20, and 
 in the same form and with the same freedom. . . . 
 
 22U 
 
 the works of the law: for c by the works of 
 the law shall no flesh be justified. 17 But if, 
 while we seek to be justified by Christ, we 
 ourselves also are found d sinners, is therefore 
 Christ the minister of sin? God forbid. 
 
 18 For if I build again the things which I 
 destroyed, 1 make myself a transgressor. 
 
 19 For I e through the law 'am dead to the 
 law, that 1 might elive unto God. 20 I am 
 h crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet 
 not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life 
 
 c Psa. 143. 2 ; Rom. 3. 20 : chap. 3. 11. '' 1 John 8. 9. e Horn. 
 
 8.2. /ltom. li. 14; 7.4,6. y Rom. 6. 11 : 2 Cor. 5. 15; IThess. 
 
 5.10; Heb.ii. 11; 1 Pet. 4. 2. It Rom. 6. 6 ; chap. 5. 24 ; 6. 14. 
 
 No fitter and more pointed sentence can be imagined 
 for the termination of his address to St. Peter. — 
 Howson.] [AVith this verse it is supposed that the 
 address of Paul to Peter, as recollected and re- 
 hearsed by the writer of the epistle, ended ; and 
 what follows is addressed as original arguments to 
 the Galatians.] 
 
 17. But if, while we seek to be justified — 
 [Ei 6e ^tjtovvtec diKaiudi/vai tv X/naru, k. r. '/.., but 
 if, seeking to be justified in Christ, we are found 
 sinners, for only sinners can be so justified, and 
 coming to Christ for justification implies the rec- 
 ognition and confession of sin, from which it is 
 conceded the law is not able to save.] Is therefore 
 Christ the minister of sin — [The apostle rejects 
 the inference of the adversaries of the doctrine of 
 justification by faith with the greatest abhorrence 
 and detestation. It is no new prejudice, though a 
 very unjust one, against the doctrine of justification 
 by faith alone, that it opens a door to licentious- 
 ness, and makes Christ the minister of sin. — Riddle.'] 
 God forbid — Mi/ yevoiTO, is something much more 
 than a direct negation, such as " No verily : " it is 
 a vehement expression of indignant aversion. . . . 
 And therefore the English God forbid .' properly 
 understood, that is, God forbid that any one should 
 so speak, is a fit rendering of it. — Riddle.] [The 
 phrase is clearly an imperative negative. Its lit- 
 eral and grammatical equivalent in English is, " Let 
 it not be," or, " It must not be." Its idiomatic 
 equivalent is No, no! of course with an imperative 
 signification.] 
 
 18. For if I build agiin the things which I 
 destroyed — If I act like a Jew, and enjoin the 
 observance of the law on the Gentiles, which I have 
 repeatedly asserted and proved to be superseded by 
 Christ, then I build up what I destroyed, and thus 
 makt myself a transgressor. 
 
 1 9. For I through the law am dead to the 
 law — [I, (emphatic, as a case of personal experi- 
 ence,) I, for my own part, letting my own experience 
 speak, to say nothing of the experience of others. 
 — Meyer.] [The law itself had taught him (chap- 
 ter iii, 24) that he must utterly discard the law as 
 the ground of justification. He had tried the ex- 
 periment of being justified by the law, and had 
 failed at every point. See Romans vii, passim. — 
 Riddle.] 
 
 20. I am crucified with Christ — The death 
 of Christ on the cross has showed me that there is 
 no hope of salvation by the law; I am therefore as 
 truly dead to all expectation of justification by the 
 law as Christ was dead when he gave up the ghost 
 upon the cross. Through him alone I live — Enjoy 
 a present life, and have a prospect of future glory. 
 Yet not I — It is not of my natural life I speak,
 
 The foolishness of the Galatii 
 iu rejecting tin- I rospel. 
 
 CHAPTER IT. 
 
 which I now live in the flesh f I live by the 
 faith of the Son of God, s who loved me, and 
 gave himself for me. 21 I do not frustrate 
 the grace of God: for Mf righteousness come 
 by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 FOOLISH Galatians, Mvho hath be- 
 witched you, that ye should not obey 
 l, the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ 
 hath been evidently set forth, crucified among 
 
 
 n 
 
 Cor. 5. 
 
 la 
 
 1 Thess 
 
 5. 
 
 1(1; IP 
 
 t t. 
 
 .. - 
 
 — 
 
 Chap. 
 
 1 1 
 
 Eph. 
 
 s 
 
 2; 
 
 Titus : 
 
 1- 
 
 . h CI 
 
 ap 
 
 . 3. 21 ; 
 
 II. 1 
 
 7. 
 
 II 
 
 
 e |{ 
 
 Mil. 
 
 11. 6; 
 
 c 
 
 lai 
 
 .5.4.— 
 
 — a 
 
 Chap. 5. 
 
 
 —h Ch 
 
 ip. ■: 
 
 It; 
 
 5. 
 
 7 - 
 
 — «; 
 
 Act. 
 
 2.38; 
 
 « 
 
 15 
 
 10. 17 ; 
 
 15. 
 
 8; verse 
 
 11 
 
 Eph. 1 
 
 13; 
 
 Ilel 
 
 . (5. 
 
 ■J. 
 
 
 
 
 nor of any spiritual things which I myself have 
 procured ; but Christ livelh in me. God made man 
 to be a habitation of his own Spirit ; the law can- 
 not live in me so as to give me a divine life; it 
 does not animate, but kills ; but Christ lives in me ; 
 he is the soul of my soul ; so that I now live to 
 God. But this life I have by the faith of the 
 Son of God ; by believing on Christ as a sacrifice 
 for sin; for he loved me, and because he did so, 
 he gave himself for me: made himself a sacri- 
 fice unto death, that I might be saved from the 
 bitter pains of death eternal. [Paul, beyond all 
 doubt — as in the parallel expressions of Christ 'abid- 
 ing in believers, of his making his abode in their 
 hearts, (John xiv, 23,) — means to assert a real in- 
 dwelling of Christ in the soul through the commu- 
 nication of his being. . . . The personality does 
 not cease through Christ in us, nor even the life of 
 faith; but it is in that very abiding faith that we 
 receive Christ. . . . Faith is here taken for a spir- 
 itual receptivity for God and the divine workings 
 of grace, not as the mere accepting of certain doc- 
 trines as true, which is merely a consequence of 
 living faith. — Olshausen.~] 
 
 21. I do not frustrate — Ok adsrf.), I do not 
 contemn, despise, or set aside the grace of God; 
 the doctrine of Christ crucified; which I must do 
 if I preach the necessity of observing the law. 
 For if righteousness — If justification and salva- 
 tion come by an observance of the law, then 
 Christ is dead in vain; his death is useless if an 
 observance of the law can save us ; but no obser- 
 vance of the law can save us, and therefore there 
 was an absolute necessity for the death of Christ. 
 [This verse contains an implied charge against 
 those of the opposite part, of doing what the apos- 
 tle says he does not do ; for, as Luther says, " to 
 seek to be justified by works of the law is to re- 
 ject the grace of God."] 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER III. 
 1 . O foolish Galatians — \^Av6tjtoi, sloio of un- 
 derstanding.] stupid people ; you act like those 
 who are fascinated. That ye should not obey 
 the truth — This clause is wanting in nearly all the 
 ancient MSS. and in the most important of the 
 Greek and Latin Fathers. It should certainly be ex- 
 punged. There are several various readings on this 
 verse, from which it appears that the verse in the 
 best ancient MSS. and Versions was read thus: 
 foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you ? Before 
 whose eyes Jesus Christ crucified hath been plainly set 
 forth. [Christ crucified, as preached by the apos- 
 tles, logically implied Paul's doctrine of justification 
 by faith.] Among you — 'Evv/uv is wanting in 
 the best MSS. and Versions, and should be omitted. 
 
 you? 2 This only would I learn of you. Re- 
 ceived ye c the Spirit by the works of the law, 
 d or by the hearing of faith? 3 Are ye so 
 foolish? B having begun in the Spirit, are ye 
 now made perfect by 'the flesh? 4 s Have ye 
 suffered h so many things in vain? if it be yet 
 in vain. 5 He therefore 'that ministereth to 
 you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among 
 you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or 
 by the hearing of faith? 6 Even as k Abra- 
 ham believed God, and it was ' accounted to 
 
 d Roman? in. 16 
 
 17 
 
 
 -eCh 
 
 .p. 4. 
 
 9 
 
 /Ileb 
 
 rewa 7. 
 
 Ifi 
 
 ; 9, 
 
 10. 
 
 — a Hebrews l». 
 
 :'.">. 
 
 8t> 
 
 2 Jol 
 
 nC- 
 
 
 /; Or, bo great.— 
 
 
 2( 
 
 ' r. 
 
 ::. ?. /,' (k-iiesis 
 
 15. 
 
 H; 
 
 Ronii 
 
 ns 4 
 
 H 
 
 ■i, 21, 22; 
 
 James 
 
 2, 
 
 :«.- 
 
 
 ^Or, imputed. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 2. Received ye the Spirit by the works of 
 the law — This may refer to the miraculous gifts of 
 
 the " Spirit," which were very common in the apos- 
 tolic Church. It may also refer to the "Spirit" of' 
 adoption, and consequently to their sonship. [The 
 " works of the law and the hearing of faith" are 
 contrasted as sharply as possible. (See Rom. i, 5 ; 
 xvi, 26.) The phrase, " hearing of faith," comprises 
 in its meaning (objectively) the preaching which 
 addresses itself to faith, and (subjectively) that 
 hearing of the heart which is the result of faith in 
 that which is preached. — Hoicson.~\ 
 
 3. Having begun in the Spirit — Having re- 
 ceived a spiritual religion, and having received the 
 Holy Spirit, the Spirit of adoption, by whom ye 
 were assured of the remission of sins, and incorpo- 
 ration with the family of God. Are ye now made 
 perfect by the flesh — Are ye seeking to complete 
 that spiritual religion, and to perfect these spiritual 
 gifts, by the carnal right of circumcision, [with 
 its implied obligations and observances?] It ap- 
 pears that by the " Spirit," here, both the Holy Spirit 
 and his gifts are to be understood; and by the 
 " flesh," circumcision itself. [Zap!; (flesh) and 
 TrvEVfia (Spirit) are here united, (contrasted,) in the 
 same way as ypa/i/ia (the letter) and irvev/ua (the 
 spirit) in Rom. ii, 29, as designations of the out- 
 ward and the inward, the form and the essence. — 
 Ols7iausen.~\ 
 
 4. Have ye suffered (did ye suffer) so many 
 things in vain — [Have you not profited by what 
 you have experienced.] Though it is possible that 
 the Galatians had suffered some perscution for the 
 truth of Christ, yet it is as likely that the apostle 
 refers also to the benefits which they had received. 
 Ye have received faith, the pardon of your sins, 
 the gift of the Holy Spirit, and with it many ex- 
 traordinary gifts and graces; and have ye suffered 
 the loss of all these things ? Have ye received all 
 these in vain ? If yet in vain — [A repetition of 
 the epiestion in verse 2, in another form.] 
 
 %. He therefore that ministereth to you the 
 Spirit — The apostle means himself, [though his 
 words may have a wider application.] He had 
 been, the means of conveying the Holy Spirit to 
 them, and by that "Spirit" he wrought miracles 
 among them ; and he did all this, not as a Jew, (for 
 as such he had no power,) but he did all as a be- 
 liever in Christ. The word ETr/^opnyuv. which we 
 translate " ministereth," is very emphatic, and sig- 
 nifies leading up the chorus, bringing up one after 
 another, adding grace t<> grace, benefit to him jit. 
 God, by means of his apostle, had greatly enriched 
 them with various spiritual blessings. 
 
 6. Abraham believed God — This is quoted 
 from Gen. xv, (3 ; and St. Paul produces it, Rom. 
 
 221
 
 A. M. 4066. A. D. 52. 
 
 Venr of Rome, su5. 
 
 GALATIANS. 
 
 him for righteousness. 7 Know ye therefore 
 that '"they which are of faith, the same are 
 the children of Abraham. 8 And "the Scrip- 
 ture, foreseeing that God would justify the 
 heathen through faith, preached before the 
 gospel unto Abraham, saying, u In thee shall 
 all nations be blessed. 9 So then they which 
 be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. 
 10 For as many as are of the works of the 
 law are under the curse: for it is written, 
 p Cursed is every one that continueth not in all 
 things which are written in the book of the 
 
 m.Inlm 5.39: Rom. 4. 11,12,16. n. See Rom. 9. 17 ; verse 22. 
 
 - — oGen. 12.3: is. 18; 22. 18; Arts.". 25. — p Drut. 27. 26; Jer. 
 
 11. 3. </ Chap. •-'. 16. rHab. 2. 4; Koni I. 17; Ileb. 10. 38. 
 
 sRom. 4. 4. 5; 10. 5, 6; 11. 6. t\.ev. 18. 5; Neb. 9. 29; 
 
 iv, 3-5. Abraham, while yet uncircumcised, be- 
 lieved in God, and his faith was reckoned to him 
 for justification, and so he is called the father 
 of the faithful, or of bdic vers. If, then, he was 
 justified without the deeds of the law, he was jus- 
 tilied by faith ; and if he was justified by faith, 
 long- before the law was given, then the law is not 
 necessary to salvation. 
 
 7. They which are of faith, etc. — [Going hack 
 of the law, and before the institution of the rite of 
 circumcision, the doctrine of justification by faith 
 is found to be exemplified in the ease of Abraham 
 himself; and therefore they who are now saved by 
 faith alone are in that fact shown to be the sons 
 of Abraham.] 
 
 8. The Scripture, foreseeing — See the notes 
 on Horn, iv, 3-16. As God intended to justify 
 the heathen (that is, all men) tli rough faith, he 
 preached the Gospel of salvation by faith before, 
 to Abraham, while he was vet outside of the special 
 Abrahamic covenant, and thus he is called the 
 father of believers; all, therefore, who shall be- 
 lieve the same Gospel, whether Jews or Gentiles, 
 with a genuine faith, should find in themselves the 
 promise fulfilled: In thee Khali all the nations of 
 the earth be blessed. 
 
 9. They which be of faith— All who believe, 
 as Abraham believed, are made partakers of 
 Abraham's blessing. ["Of faith," -iareuc, has 
 the emphasis . . . o'vv (is used) to show their com- 
 munity with him (Abraham) in the blessing. Tw 
 tugtu, to show wherein the community consists, 
 namely, Faith. — Alford.J 
 
 10. As many as are of the works of the 
 law — All that seek salvation by the performance 
 of the works of the law are under the curse, be- 
 cause it is impossible for them to come up to the 
 spiritual meaning and intent of the law; and the 
 law pronounces them cursed that continue not in 
 all things which are written in the book of the law 
 to do them. Hence, every Jew is necessarily under 
 the curse of God's broken law; and every one is 
 under the same curse, though he be not a Jew, who 
 does not take refuge in the salvation provided for 
 him by the Gospel. ["Of the works of the law," 
 "Octo/ yap k£ spyuv v5/iov, those who depend upon tin 
 works of the law, inrb narapav eioiv, are under the 
 curse, being in that state, tv tyvaei, by nature, and 
 never having been delivered, since " works " can- 
 not accomplish that deliverance, they remain "under 
 the curse."] Cursed is every one, etc. — [Prob- 
 ably quoted from Deut. xxvii, 26, which says: 
 "Cursed be (is) he that confirmeth not all the 
 words of this law, to do them," ami in Jer. xi, 3, 
 are the words, " Cursed be (is) the man that obey- 
 
 222 
 
 law to do them. 11 But q that no man is 
 
 justified by the law in the sight of God, it is 
 evident: for, r Tlie just shall live by faith. 
 
 12 And s the law is not of faith : but, 'The 
 man that doeth them shall live in them. 
 
 13 "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse 
 of the law, being made a curse for us: for it 
 is written, v Cursed is every one that hangeth 
 on a tree : 14 "That the blessing of A lira- 
 ham might come on the Gentiles through Je- 
 sus Christ; that we might receive x the prom- 
 ise of the Spirit through faith. 15 Brethren, 
 
 Ezek. 20. 11: Rom. '10. 5. v Rom. 8. 3 : 2 Cor. 5. 21 ; chap. 
 
 4. 5. V Deut, 21. 23. W Rom. 4. ft 16. 3' Isa. 32. 15; 44. 3; 
 
 Jer 31. 33; 32. 4(1; Kzek. 11. 19; 36. 27; Joel 2. 28, 29; Zecli. 
 12. 10: John ;. 39; Acts 2. 33. 
 
 eth not the words of this covenant." The law 
 prescribed duties, and pronounced curses upon all 
 possible forms and degrees of delinquents, but 
 made no provisions either to help the feeble and 
 erring, or to pity or relieve the guilty.] 
 
 11. But that no man is justified by the 
 law — By the observance of the law, suppose he 
 had even continued in all things that are written 
 in it to do them, is evident; for the Prophet Ilab- 
 akkuk (chapter ii, 4) has declared, under the direct 
 influence of the Spirit of God, "The just shall live 
 by faith ;" or, he who is just by faith shall live: 
 therefore this justification comes not by works, or 
 the observance of the law, but by faith. (See Rom. 
 i, 17 ; Ileb. x, 38.) 
 
 12. And the law is not of faith — It promises 
 no forgiveness to believing, but requires obedience. 
 It asks not, What do you oelievt ' but, What have 
 you done? The man that doeth them perfectly, at 
 all times, and in all places, shall live in them; 
 — But if in any case he fails, he forfeits his life. 
 
 13. Christ . . . redeemed us — '££>/; opaaev. [Re- 
 deemed, not "hath;" the tense is important as 
 referring the act to a definite time.] Bought us 
 with a price, namely, his blood or life. Being 
 made a curse for us — Being made an atonement 
 for our sins ; for whatever was offered as an atone- 
 ment for sin was considered as bearing the punish- 
 ment due to sin, and the person who suffered for 
 transgression was considered as bearing the curse 
 in his body. Every culprit was considered ac- 
 cursed of God, (Deut. xxi, 22, 23 ;) hence the neces- 
 sity of removing the accursed thing out of sight, by 
 a speedy burial. [It is to be observed, on the one 
 hand, that Kardpag, (curse,) is without the article, 
 thus (being unlimited) covering the whole ground 
 of the disadvantage and condemnation under 
 which we lay; and on the other hand, that Paul 
 does not say, in the words of the original quota- 
 tion, that Christ was "cursed and separated by 
 God," (KeKarnpafih'oc imb Qebv.) — Howson.] 
 
 14. That the blessing of Abraham — That is, 
 justification, or the pardon of sin, with all other 
 blessings consequent on it, such as peace with God, 
 spiritual life, and eternal glory. Might come on 
 the Gentiles through Jesus Christ — So we 
 find that he was made a curse for (instead of) us, 
 that the blessings promised to Abraham might be 
 given to all who believe on him, he having been 
 made a curse, that is, an expiatory victim, for them. 
 [The sacrifice of Christ was not merely a Jewish 
 offering for a specially favoured race : it was as wide 
 in its purpose as the promise to Abraham, "in thy 
 seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed."] 
 The promise of the Spirit — The Spirit of adop-
 
 Ths law could not 
 promise t<> 
 
 nnul the previous 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 A. M. 405G. A. 11. 52. 
 Year of R me, 806. 
 
 I speak after the manner of men; J'Though 
 it be but a man's ^covenant, yet if it be con- 
 tinned, no man disannulleth, oraddeth thereto. 
 16 Now 'to Abraham and liis seed were the 
 promises made. lie saith not. And to seeds. 
 as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, 
 which is '"Christ. 17 And this I say. that 
 the covenant, that was confirmed before of 
 
 yHeb. P. 17. z Or. testament. — a Gen. 12. 3, 7; 17. 7; 
 
 verse 8. b 1 Cur. 12. 12. cExod. 12. 40. 41. d Rom. 4. 
 
 tion, sonship with God; and the Spirit of God to 
 attest that sonship. And all this was through 
 faith. Hence, from the beginning God had pur- 
 posed that salvation should be through faith, and 
 never expected that any soul of man should be 
 justified by the works of the law; and only gave 
 that law that the exceeding sinfulness of sin might 
 appear, and that man might be prepared to wel- 
 come the Gospel, which proclaimed salvation to a 
 lost world through the atoning passion and death of 
 Christ. [The rendering of this verse in the Re- 
 vised Version is especially felicitous. By placing 
 "upon the Gentiles" foremost, according to the 
 original, due prominence is given to that ultimate 
 object of the blessing (kvkoyia) of Abraham which 
 was to be made effective " in Christ Jesus ;" and 
 then in the last clause, in opposition to " the bless- 
 ing," is placed the i~ay^EAtav rov ■Kveviiarnc;, the 
 promised things of the Spirit, which we, all be- 
 lievers in common, are to receive through faith.] 
 
 15. I speak after the manner of men — I am 
 about to produce an example taken from civil 
 transactions. If it be confirmed — If an agree- 
 ment or bond be properly executed. No man dis- 
 annulleth — It stands under the protection of the 
 law, and nothing can be legally erased or added. 
 
 16. Now to Abraham and his seed — The 
 promise of salvation by faith was made to Abra- 
 ham and his posterity ; [spiritual rather than nat- 
 ural.] Hs saith not, And to seeds— The diffi- 
 culty of this passage has been generally confessed, 
 and the attempted solutions have not always been 
 satisfactory. [Dean Howson remarks, " The apostle 
 sees in the promise something far beyond the mere 
 Jews, however numerous and however widely scat- 
 tered. He sees in it that deep unity which .com- 
 prehends all mankind. . . . The whole force of the 
 fulfilment is concentrated in Christ; and the more 
 it is concentrated in him, the more comprehensive 
 and universal is its meaning." To Paul's mental 
 vision the Old Testament seemed radiant with 
 prophecies of Christ.] As we know that promises 
 of justification, etc., could not properly be made to 
 Christ in himself, we must conclude his members to 
 be here intended, ami the word Christ is put here 
 for Christians. It is from Christ that the grace 
 flows which constitutes Christians. Christians are 
 •Jiose who believe after the example of Abraham ; 
 they, therefore, are the spiritual seed. Christ, work- 
 ing in and by these, makes them the light and salt 
 of the world ; and through them, under and by 
 Christ, are all the nations of the earth blessed. 
 This appears to be the most consistent inteipreta- 
 tion, though everything must be understood of 
 Christ in the first instance, and then of Christians 
 only through him [and as of his mystical body.] 
 
 1 7. And this I say - — [Tovto 6e teyu, this 
 is what I mean.] The covenant — [Rather, a 
 covenant, diatlr/Kt/v, (without the article.) Any 
 covenant so made, would be safe against subse- 
 
 God in Christ, the law, c which was four hun- 
 dred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, 
 d that it should make the promise of none efr 
 feet. 18 For if e the inheritance be of the 
 law, f it is no more of promise : but God gave 
 it to Abraham by promise. 19 Wherefore 
 then serveth the law ( £ It was added because 
 of transgressions, till h the seed should come to 
 
 13, 14; verse 21. e Rom. 8. 17. ./Rom. 4. 14. pJohn 15. 
 
 22; Rom. 4. 15; 5. 20; 7. S, 13: 1 Tim. 1. !'. A Verse 16. 
 
 quent changes. Eif Xpiardv, in Christ, is want- 
 ing in the best Ml<S., and is now generally given 
 up.] Confirmed before of God in Christ — 
 [The covenant made with Abraham was wider than 
 the law ; and being before it in point of time, was 
 of higher authority; and, being a covenant in 
 which two parties were concerned, it was not al- 
 lowable that one of the parties to it, acting as a 
 legislator, should set it aside.] Four hundred 
 and thirty years after — [There are various meth- 
 ods of obviating the chronological discrepances of 
 this passage, as collated with the Old Testament. 
 If taken from the call of Abraham to the giving 
 of the law, the interval would be about six hundred 
 years. If from Jacob's going down to Egypt, about 
 four hundred and thirty"; but why assume the lat- 
 ter date as the terminus a quo?] [Paul follows 
 the statement of the Septuagint, which was well 
 known to and current among his readers, without 
 entering further into this point of chronology, 
 which was foreign to his aim. — Meyer.] Justifica- 
 tion by faith is promised in the Abrahamic cove- 
 nant, and attributed to that alone; therefore it is 
 not to be expected from the law, nor can its works 
 justify any, for the law in this respect cannot an- 
 nul or affect the Abrahamic covenant. But sup- 
 pose, ye say, that the law, which was given four 
 hundred and thirty years after the covenant with 
 Abraham, lias superseded this covenant, and lim- 
 ited and confined its blessings to the Jews? I an- 
 swer: This is impossible, for the covenant most 
 specifically refers to the Messiah, and takes in, not 
 the Jewish people only, but all nations; for it is 
 written, In thy seed — the Messiah and his spiritual 
 progeny — shall all the nations of the earth />< bh SS( d. 
 This universal blessedness can never be confined, 
 by any figure of speech or by any legal act, to the 
 Jewish people exclusively ; and, as the covenant was 
 properly made and confirmed, it cannot be annulled ; 
 it must therefore remain in reference to its object. 
 
 IS. For if the inheritance be of the law — 
 See the preceding arguments, in which this is 
 proved. [The proof depends on the relation of 
 contrast between law and promise, whereby the 
 working of the one excludes the like working of the 
 other. For, if the possession of tht Messianic sal- 
 vation proceeds from tJie law, which must have 
 been the case if God's covenant with Abraham had 
 lost its validity by means of the law, then this pos- 
 session comes no longer /rem promise. "But God 
 gave it unto Abraham by promise." — Meyer.] 
 
 19. Wherefore then "serveth the law — If the 
 law does not annul (supersede) the Abrahamic cove- 
 nant, and cannot confer salvation on its votaries, 
 why did Cod give if? Tins was a very natural 
 objection, and must arise in the mind of any Jew 
 wlio had paid attention to the apostle's reasoning. 
 It was added because of transgressions— 1 1 was 
 given that we might know (detect) our sinfulness, 
 and need of the mercy of God. The law is the 
 
 223
 
 \. M. 4 56. A. D. 52. 
 Year dI Home , 805. 
 
 GALATTAXS. 
 
 whom the promise was made; and it was 'or- 
 dained by angels in the hand k of a mediator. 
 20 Now a mediator is nol a mediator of one, 
 'but God is one. 21 Is the law then against 
 the promises of God? God forbid: '"for if 
 there had been a law given which could have 
 given life, verily righteousness should have 
 been by the law. 22 But "the Scripture hath 
 
 £ Acts 7. 53; II eh. 2. 2. 
 
 22, '.:;. 27, 31 : Jobn 1. 17: 
 £9, SI). wChap. 2. 21. 
 
 X-Ex.hI. 2d. 1'.., 21. 
 
 Acts 7. 38; 1 Tim. 2. 
 
 ?2; Dent. 5. 5, 
 j. /.Horn. 3. 
 
 right line, the straight edge, that determines the 
 obliquity of our conduct. (See the notes on Rom. 
 iv, 15; and especially on Rom. v, 20, where this 
 subject is largely discussed, and the figure ex- 
 plained.) Till the seed should come — The law 
 was to be in force till the advent of the Messiah, 
 (the true seed of Abraham.) After that it was to 
 cease. [The law was temporary and intermediary, 
 extending from Moses to Christ, during which time 
 it served to reveal God's essential righteousness, 
 and to show to men their sins, and the impossi- 
 bility of justification by the "deeds of the law," 
 and to lead them to accept Christ and his salvation. 
 — Verse 24.] It was ordained by angels — The 
 ministry of angels was certainly used in giving 
 the law. (See Psa. lxviii, 17; Acts vii, 53; Heb. 
 ii, 2.) But they were only instruments for trans- 
 mitting; Moses was the mediator between God and 
 the people. (Deut. v, 5.) [The term " angels " may 
 here be taken in the most general sense as includ- 
 ing every kind of intermediary agencies. Before 
 the advent of Christ divine communications to 
 men were made at second hand ; but Christ, as the 
 Sent of God, and himself the eternal Word, spake 
 directly to men without any intermediary agency.] 
 
 20. A mediator is not a mediator of one — 
 A- a mediator (jieo'lttiq) signifies a middle person, 
 there must necessarily be two parties, between 
 whom he stands and acts in reference to both, as 
 he is supposed to have the interests of both equally 
 at heart. [Of these, in the former case, God was 
 one and Israel the other party; but of this lat- 
 ter covenant Christ is the mediator, and God and 
 man the parties severally; who, at first separated 
 on account of man's sin, are now reconciled through 
 Christ's mediation with a sacrifice.] The sense of 
 the whole is : Moses was the mediator of one (the 
 literal) part of Abraham's seed, namely, the Israel- 
 ites ; but of the other seed, the Gentiles, lie was 
 certainly not the mediator, for the mediator of that 
 seed, according to the promise of God and the cove- 
 nant made with Abraham, is Christ. Dr. Whitby 
 sums up the case in the following words : " But this 
 mediator ( Moses) was only the mediator of the 
 Jews, and so was only the mediator of one party, to 
 whom belonged the blessings of Abraham. (Verses 
 8, 14.) But God, who made' the promise that in 
 one should all the families of the earth lie blessed, 
 is one; the God of the other party, the Gentiles, 
 as well as of the Jews, ETreiTvep elg 6 Oeog, seeing lit- 
 is one God, who will justify the circumcision by 
 faith and the uncircumcision through faith." 
 (Rom. iii, 30.) This exposition is so plain, and so 
 well supported by the different Scriptures already 
 quoted, that there can be but small, if any, doubt of 
 its propriety. The clause has been translated thus : 
 "Now a mediator supposes two parties, of which 
 God is but one." 
 
 21. Is the law then against the promises of 
 God — [Paul saw that this thought might arise, 
 
 224 
 
 concluded "all under sin, Pthat the promise by 
 faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them 
 that believe. 23 But "before faith came, we 
 were kept under the law, shut up unto the 
 faith which should afterwards be revealed. 
 24 Wherefore i the law was our schoolmaster 
 to bring us unto Christ, 'that we might be 
 justified by faith. 25 But after that faith is 
 
 » Verse 8. o Rom. 3. 9. 19, 23; 11. 32. p Rom. 4. 11, 
 
 12,16. '/Matt 5. 17; Rom. 10. 4; Col. 2.17; Heb. it. 9, 1U. 
 
 >■ Acts 13. 39 ; chap. 2. lb. 
 
 and therefore he anticipates it, first with a strong 
 negation, and next with the true exposition of the 
 case.] [Notwithstanding all the above features of 
 contrast between the law and the promise, it is not 
 against them, for it does not pretend to perform 
 the same office; if it did, then there would be this 
 rivalry, which now does not exist. — Alford.l For 
 if there had been a law, etc. — If any law or rule 
 of life could have been found out that would have 
 given life — saved sinners from death and made 
 them truly happj — then righteousness (justifica- 
 tion) should have been by that law. [Christ's atone- 
 ment met an emergency in our case.] 
 
 22. But the Scripture hath concluded — All 
 the writings of the prophets have uniformly de- 
 clared that men ate all sinners, and the law de- 
 clares the same by the continual sacrifices which it 
 prescribes. All have sinned and come short of the 
 glory of God; and, being found guilty, awEKfaiaev 
 !) ~}pa<pi/, the Scripture (as the voice of < ;<><!) hath 
 shut them up — put them in prison, till the time 
 should come in which the sentence of the law 
 should be executed upon them. (See Rom. iii, 9- 
 20; Rom. xi, 32, where the apostle uses the same 
 metaphor.) That the promise (of justification) 
 by faith of Jesus Christ, etc. — (Rom. viii, 3, 4.) 
 
 23. But before faith came — Before the Gospel 
 was published. We were kept under the law, 
 shut up — 'ErjgovpoiuiBa, we were kept as in a 
 stronghold, (avryKEidiEiafikvoL,') locked up. Unto (elg) 
 the faith — The religion of the Lord Jesus. 
 Which should afterwards be revealed — [Etc 
 indicates the preparatory design, and not merely 
 the result of the arrival of the manifestation of 
 the way of salvation by faith.] Here the same 
 metaphor is used as above, and for its explanation 
 I must refer the reader to the same place. (Rom. 
 xi, 32.) 
 
 24. The law was (became) our schoolmaster — 
 '0 vouoc naidayoybg iyu.n m i Ig Xjircrov, the law 
 became our pedagogue unto (in respect to) Christ. 
 The Traida-}G)}6<; (pedagogue) is not the schoolmas- 
 ter, but the servant who had the care of the chil- 
 dren to lead them to and bring them back from 
 school, and had the care of them out of school 
 hours. [The word "schoolmaster" does not ex- 
 press the meaning fully; but it disturbs the sense 
 less than those have done who have selected one 
 portion only of the pedagogue's duty, and under- 
 stood by it the slave who leads a child to the house 
 of the schoolmaster, thus making Christ the (real) 
 schoolmaster, which is inconsistent with the ima- 
 gery. On the contrary, the whole schoolmaster's 
 work is included in the rraidayuydg, and Christ rep- 
 resents the efevdepia (liberty) of the grown-up son. 
 . . . To Christ, as teacher, there is here no allusion. 
 — Alford.} 
 
 25. But after that faith is come — (Faith hav- 
 ing come.) [Through the power of the Holy 
 Spirit, received by faith, we (all believers) have
 
 ?vers in ChrWl are 
 i equal footine. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. 
 26 For ye "are all the children of God by 
 faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For 'as many of 
 you as have been baptized into Christ "have 
 put on Christ. 2§ 'There is neither Jew nor 
 Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there- is 
 neither male nor female: for ye are all "one 
 in Christ Jesus. 29 And * if ye be Christ's, 
 then are ye Abraham's seed, and > heirs ac- 
 cording to the promise. 
 
 sJohnl. 12: Rom 8. 14, 15, Id; chap. 4. 5; 1 John 3. 1, 2. 
 
 <Rora.i;. 3. iiRnm. 13. 14. » Rom. 10. 12; 1 Cor. 12 13; 
 
 chai). 5. 6: Col. 3. 11. it- John 111. 1« : 17. 20, 21; Eph. 2. 14, 
 
 15, 16: 4. 4,15. seGen. 21. 10, 12; Rom. 9. 7; Heb. 11. 18. 
 
 V Rom. 8. 17 ; chap. 4. 7, 28 ; Eph. 3. b'. 
 
 ceased to be children, to be led passively, and 
 taught only the first element of the truth, by the 
 law, acting as a pedagogue.] It is worthy of re- 
 mark, that as 6 v6fiog, the law, is used by St. Paul 
 to signify not only the law, properly so called, but 
 the whole of the Mosaic economy, so i] niariq, the 
 faith, is used by him to express not merely the 
 act of believing in Christ, but the whole of the 
 Gospel. 
 
 26. For ye — Who have believed the Gospel. 
 Are all the children (sons) of God by faith in 
 Christ Jesus — But no man is a child of God by 
 circumcision., nor by any observance of the Mo- 
 saic law. 
 
 27. As many of you as have been baptized 
 into Christ — All of you who have believed in 
 Christ as the promised Messiah, and received bap- 
 tism as a public confession of your faith, have 
 put on Christ — have received his Spirit, and en- 
 tered into his interests and copied his manners. 
 To " put on," or to be clothed with one, is to assume 
 the person and character of that one ; and they 
 who do so are bound to act his part, and to sus- 
 tain the character which they have assumed. The 
 profession of Christianity is an assumption of the 
 character of Christ ; he has left us an example 
 that we should follow his steps ; and we should, as 
 Christians, have that mind in us which was in him. 
 (See Rom. vi, 3, 4 ; xiii, 14.) 
 
 28. There is neither Jew nor Greek — 
 "E'/J.nv, Greek, is put here for eOvmoc, heathens. 
 Under the Gospel all distinctions are done away, 
 as either helping or hindering ; all are equally wel- 
 come to Christ, and all have an equal need of him ; 
 all persons, of all sects and conditions and sexes 
 who believe in him, become one family through 
 him ; they are one body, of which he is the head. 
 Neither male nor female — Between the privi- 
 leges of men and women there was a great dis- 
 parity among the Jews. In many cases women 
 were treated more like children than as adults ; and 
 to this day they are not permitted to assemble with 
 the men in the synagogues, but are put up in gal- 
 leries, where they can scarcely see, nor can they be 
 seen. Under the blessed spirit of Christianity 
 they have equal rights, equal privileges, and equal 
 blessings ; and, let me add, they are equally 
 useful. 
 
 29. And if ye be Christ's — If ye have all re- 
 ceived justification through his blood, and the mind 
 that was in him, then are ye Abraham's seed ; (that 
 other seed, to whom the promises were made ;) and 
 then heirs according to that promise, being fitted 
 for the rest that remains for the people of God — 
 that heavenly inheritance which was typified to the 
 Jews bv the earthly Canaan. 
 
 Vol." II.— 15 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 NOW I say, That the heir, as long as he is 
 a child, differeth nothing from a servant, 
 though he be lord of all ; 2 But is under tu- 
 tors and governors until the time appointed of 
 the father. 3 Even so we, when we were 
 children, a were in bondage under the l, ele- 
 ments of the world : 4 But c when the ful- 
 ness of the time was come, God sent forth his 
 Son, d made e of a woman, f made under the 
 
 a Verse 9; chap. 2. 4; 5. 1; Col. 2. 8,20: Hen. 9. 10. b O r , 
 
 rudiments. — c6en.4ft.10: Dan. 9.24; Markl.lo; Eph. 1. in. 
 
 '/John 1. 14; Rom. 1. 3; Phil. 2. 7: Hen. 2. 14 eGen. 
 
 3. IS: Isa. '. 14; Micah 5. 3; Matt. 1. 23; Luke 1. 31 ; 2. 7. 
 
 /.Matt. 5. 17; Luke 2. 27. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTEK IV. 
 [The supposition in our text is, that a father has 
 pre-ordained a time for his son and heir to come of 
 age, and till that time has subjected him to guar- 
 dians and stewards. In the type, the reason might 
 be absence, or decease, or even high office or in- 
 tense occupation of the father ; in the antitype, it 
 is the father's sovereign will ; but the circumstances 
 equally exist. — Alford.] 
 
 1. The heir, as long as he is a child — Though 
 he be appointed by his father's will heir of all his 
 possessions, yet till he arrive at the legal age he is 
 master of nothing, and does not differ from one of 
 the common domestics. 
 
 2. But is under tutors — 'E7nrpo77orc, guardians 
 and governors ; o'uiovoyovq, those who have the 
 charge of the family. These words are nearly sim- 
 ilar ; but we may consider the former as executor, the 
 latter as the person who superintends the concerns of 
 the family and estate till the heir become of age; 
 such as we call trustee. Until the time ap- 
 pointed of the father — The time of maturity 
 mentioned in his father's will or testament. 
 
 3. Even so we — The whole Jewish people 
 were in a state of nonage while under the law. 
 [Christians generally, the Jewish and Gentile 
 Christians together. . . . The pre-Christian coib- 
 dition in relation to the Christian condition of the 
 same persons, was their age of boyhood. — Meyer.] 
 The elements of the world — A mere Jewish 
 phrase, " the principles of this world." The apos- 
 tle intimates that the law was not the (complete) 
 science of salvation, it was only the elements or al- 
 phabet of it ; and in the Gospel this alphabet is 
 composed into a most glorious system of divine 
 knowledge. [The Jewish religion, and in a certain 
 sense all heathen religions too, had this relation to 
 the full revelation of the Gospel. — Howson.] 
 
 4. When the fulness of the time was come 
 — [This "fulness of the time " will appear in the 
 following particulars: 1) Christ was manifested 
 in the flesh when the world needed him the most. 
 2) When the powers of the human mind had been 
 cultivated to the utmost both in Greece and Rome, 
 and had made every possible effort, but all in vain, 
 to find out some efficient scheme of happiness. 
 :; I When the Jews were in the lowest state of 
 corruption, ami had the greatest need of the prom- 
 ised Deliverer. 4) When the fulness of the time 
 came foretold by the prophets. 5) When both 
 .Jews and Gentiles, the one from their jealousy the 
 oilier from their learning, were best qualified to 
 detect imposture and to ascertain fact. 6) In a 
 word, Christ came when his advent was most 
 likely to promote its great object — glory to God in 
 the highest, and peace and goodwill among men. 
 
 225
 
 A. M. 4056. A. D. 52. 
 Year oi Rome, M)5. 
 
 GALATTANS. 
 
 The apostle rehnke 
 have departed (tl 
 
 those wlio 
 ii Christ. 
 
 law. 5 ^ To redeem them that were under 
 the law, h that we might receive the adoption 
 of sons. 6 And because ye are sons, God 
 hath sent forth 'the Spirit of his Son unto 
 your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. 7 Where- 
 fore thou art no more a servant, but a son ; 
 k and if a son, then an heir of God through 
 Christ. 8 Howbeit then, ' when ye knew not 
 God, m ye did service unto them which by na- 
 ture are no gods. 9 But now, "after that ye 
 
 !7 Matt. 20. 28; ch;ip. 3. 13 
 
 Eph. 1. 7; Titus 2. 14; Heb. 9. 12; 
 
 1 Pet. 1. 18, 19. //John 1. 
 
 2; chap. 3. 2ii ; Eph. 1. 5. / Horn. 
 
 5.5: 8.15. /fcRom.8. Iti, 17 
 
 chap. 3. 29. / Eph. 2. 12 ; 1 Thess. 
 
 4. 5. MiKom. 1. 25; 1 Cor 
 
 12. 2 ; Eph. 2. 11,12; 1 Thess. 1. 9. 
 
 And the success that attended the preaching of 
 Christ and his apostles, together with the wide and 
 rapid spread of the Gospel, all prove that it was 
 the due time, hard naipbv, the proper season; and 
 that divine wisdom was justified in fixing upon that 
 time in preference to all others. God sent forth 
 his Son — Him who came immediately from God 
 himself. Made of a -woman — According to the 
 promise, (Gen. iii, 15 ;) produced by the power of 
 God in the womb of the Virgin Mary without any 
 intervention of man ; the Son of God. (See Luke, 
 chapter i, 35, and the note there.) ^E^atriaTeiTiEv, 
 sent forth, from himself; the same word is used in 
 verse 6 in respect to the sending forth of the Spirit, 
 indicating that both the Son and the Spirit " pro- 
 ceeded forth and came from God."] Made under 
 the law — In subjection to it, that in him all its de- 
 signs might be fulfilled, and by his death the whole 
 might be abolished. [Both yvvaiKoc {woman) and 
 vo/xog (law) without the limitation of the article, 
 made of woman, made under /<<»•, the former imply- 
 ing our Lord's identification with universal human- 
 ity, the latter, his subjection to universal law. The 
 Jewish law is indeed included herein, but only as 
 the less in the greater, a part in the all-compre- 
 hending whole.] 
 
 5. To redeem them — 'E^ayopaoy, [that he 
 might redeem,] to pay down, a jiricc for them, and 
 thus buy them off from the curse, and to bring 
 them into the liberty of children of God. That 
 we might receive the adoption of sons — It is 
 the Gospel only that puts us among the children, 
 and gives us a place in the heavenly family. (On 
 the nature of adoption, see the notes on Rom. 
 viii, 15.) 
 
 6. And because ye are sons — By faith in 
 Christ Jesus being redeemed both from the bond- 
 age and curse of the law ; God — the Father, called 
 usually the First Person of the glorious Trinity — 
 hath through Jesus Christ, the Second Person, sent 
 forth the Spirit, the Holy Ghost, the Third Person, 
 crying, Abba, Father, from the fullest and most 
 satis factory evidence that God, the Father, Son, and 
 Spirit, hatl become their portion. (See Mark xiv, 
 36, and Rom. viii, 15.) 
 
 7. Thou art no more a servant — Thou who 
 hast believed in Christ art no longer a slave, either 
 under the dominion of sin or under obligation 
 to the Mosaic ritual ; but a son of God, adopted 
 into the heavenly family, [saved by grace, not of 
 works.] And if a son, then an heir — Having a 
 right to the inheritance. But this heirship is the 
 most extraordinary of all; it is not an heirship of 
 any tangible possession, either in heaven or earth ; 
 it is not to possess a part or the whole of either ; it 
 is to possess Him who made all things; not God's 
 works, but God himself ; heirs of God through Christ. 
 
 22G 
 
 have known God, or rather are known of God, 
 °how turn ye p again to i the weak and beg- 
 garly r elements, whereunto ye desire again to 
 be in bondage? 10 s Ye observe days, and 
 months, and times, and years. Ill am afraid 
 of you, 'lest I have bestowed upon you labour 
 in vain. 12 Brethren, I beseech you, be as 
 I am; for 1 am as ye are: " ye' have not in- 
 jured me at all. 13 Ye know how "through 
 infirmity of the flesh 1 preached the gospel 
 
 11 1 Coi 
 
 .8.3; 13. 
 
 12 
 
 2 
 
 Tim. 
 
 2. 19. — 
 
 -oChap. 3 
 
 3; 
 
 Col. 
 
 2. 20. — - 
 
 p Or, tni 
 
 ck. q 
 
 Ko 
 
 n. 
 
 8. 3 
 
 ; Heb. 
 
 7. 18.— 
 
 -■> 
 
 Or 
 
 rtnlliu, TltS. 
 
 verse 3.- 
 
 — .vRoni 
 
 11 
 
 ;) 
 
 Col 
 
 2 16. — 
 
 -2 Chap 
 
 2 
 
 2; 5 
 
 2, -I 
 
 : 1 Thess. 
 
 3. 5. w2 Cor. 2 
 
 0.- 
 
 
 -E 1 Cor. 2. 3 
 
 2 Cor. 
 
 ll 
 
 30 
 
 12. 
 
 7,9. 
 
 8. When ye knew not God — [The Galatian 
 converts having escaped from one form of bondage, 
 and come into the liberty of sons of God, are now 
 exhorted to maintain that liberty.] 
 
 9. Now, after that ye have known God- 
 After having been brought to the knowdedge of 
 God as your Saviour. Or rather are known of 
 God —Are approved of him, having received the 
 adoption of sons. [They did not so much acquire 
 the knowledge of God, as they were taken into 
 knowledge, recognised, by him. And this made their 
 fall from him the more matter of indignant appeal, 
 as being a resistance of his will respecting them. — 
 Alford.] To the weak and beggarly elements 
 — After receiving all this, will ye turn again to the 
 ineffectual rites and ceremonies of the Mosaic law 
 — rites too weak to counteract your sinful habits, 
 and too poor to purchase pardon and eternal life 
 for you. [Having given up "external formalism in 
 one shape, they were now ready to renew it in 
 another. It startles us to see Heathenism and Ju- 
 daism thus classed together. ... In no way could 
 the apostle have more severely condemned the Ju- 
 daistic system of justification than by this co-ordi- 
 nation. — Ellicott.~\ 
 
 10. Ye observe days — Ye superstitiously re- 
 gard the sabbaths, and particular days of your own 
 appointment. And months — New moons. Times 
 — Festivals, such as those of tabernacles, dedica- 
 tion, passover, etc. Years — Annual atonements, 
 sabbatical years, and jubilees. 
 
 11. I am afraid of you — I begin now to be 
 seriously alarmed for you, and fear you may become 
 so thoroughly perverted from the Gospel of Christ, 
 that all my pains and labour in your conversion 
 will prove to have been thrown away. 
 
 12. Be as I am — Thoroughly addicted to the 
 Christian faith and worship, from the deepest con- 
 viction of its truth. For I am as ye are — I was 
 formerly a Jew, and as zealously addicted to the 
 rites and ceremonies of Judaism as ye are, but I am 
 saved from that mean and unprofitable dependence : 
 " Be therefore as I am now, who was once as you 
 now are." Others think the sense to be this : " Be 
 as affectionate to me as I am to you, for ye were 
 once as loving to me as I am now to you." Ye 
 have not injured me at all — I do not thus ear- 
 nestly entreat you to return to your Christian pro- 
 fession because your perversion has been a loss to 
 me, nor chiefly because your conversion can be to 
 me any gain. Ye have not injured me at all; ye 
 only injure yourselves. [Personally, I have nothing 
 to gain or lose in the matter.] I entreat you, there- 
 fore, through the intense love I bear to you, as my 
 once-beloved brethren in Christ Jesus, to return to 
 him from whom ye have revolted. 
 
 13. Ye know how through infirmity - [Ai'
 
 The apostle expresses his grief 
 at their estrangement. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 unto you w at the first. 14 And my tempta- 
 tion which was in my flesh ye despised not, 
 nor rejected ; but received me * as an angel of 
 God, y even as Ciirist Jesus. 15 z Where is 
 then the blessedness ye spake of? for I bear 
 you record, that, if it had been possible, ye 
 would have plucked out your own eyes, and 
 have given them to me. 16 Am 1 therefore 
 become your enemy, a because I tell you the 
 
 wChap. 1. 6. <e2 Sam. 19. 27; see Zech. 12. 8; Mai. 2. 7. 
 
 1/ .Matt. 10. 40; Luke 10. 10 ; John 13. 20; 1 Tuess. 2. 13. 
 
 eOr, What was then. 
 
 aaOtvsiav ttjq oapubq, on account of an attack of 
 bodily illness. — Howsoh.] [It is clear that on Paul's 
 first journey through Galatia (Acts xvi, 0) he was 
 compelled, by reason of bodily weakness, to make a 
 stay there, which probably did not form a part of 
 his plan. . . . Whether he suffered from natural 
 sickness or from ill-treatment, which he had pre- 
 viously endured on account of the Gospel, (Gal. 
 vi, 17,) we do not know. — Meyer.] The apostle 
 seems to say that he was much afflicted in body 
 when he first preached- the Gospel to them. This 
 might have been only an occasional affliction, while 
 labouring in that part of Asia Minor ; and not a 
 continual and incurable infirmity, as some have too 
 hastily conjectured. 
 
 14. And my temptation which was in my 
 flesh — The word Tceipaafibv, which we translate 
 " temptation," signifies trial of any kind. The verse 
 therefore may be read, " Ye despised not your 
 trial, which was in my flesh:" that is, what my 
 flesh suffered on your account, the afflictions I 
 passed through in consequence of my severe labours 
 on your account. You did not consider me less 
 an apostle of God on account of my sinking for a 
 time under the weight of my work. Had they been 
 disaffected toward him at that time, they would 
 have used this to the prejudice of his apostolic 
 mission. But, on the contrary, notwithstanding 
 these afflictions, they received turn as an angel of 
 God — as a messenger from heaven, and as Christ 
 Jesus himself. That St. Paul had frequent and 
 severe afflictions, in consequence of his constant 
 and severe exertions in the Gospel ministry, we may 
 readily believe, and of this his own words bear suf- 
 ficient testimony. (See 2 Cor. xi, 23-29.) 
 
 15. Where is then the blessedness {jiaaa- 
 ptoybc, gratulation"] ye spake of — [What was that 
 demonstrative enthusiasm on my account worth, it 
 it is so soon passed away ? — Hbwson.] If we under- 
 stand the words as implying the benedictions they 
 then heaped on the apostle, the sense will be suffi- 
 ciently natural, and agree well with the concluding 
 part of the verse: for I bear you record, that, if 
 possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes, 
 and have given than to me. You had then the 
 strongest affection for me; you loved God, and you 
 loved me for God's sake, and were ready to give 
 me the most unequivocal proof of your love. 
 Dearer than one's eyes, or to profess to give one's 
 eyes for the sake of a person, appears to have 
 been a proverbial expression, intimating the high- 
 est tokens of the strongest affection. [The infer- 
 ence of any ocular disease from these words, seems 
 to me precarious. — Alford.] 
 
 16. Am I therefore become your enemy — 
 How is it that you are so much altered toward me, 
 that you who formerly loved me with the must fer- 
 vent affection now treat me as an enemy ? Is it 
 because I tell you the truth ? [rather, " speaking 
 
 truth? 17 They b zealously affect you, but 
 not well; yea, they would exclude c you, that 
 ye might affect them. 18 But it is good to 
 be zealously affected always in a good thing, 
 and not only when I am present with you, 
 
 19 d My little children, of whom 1 travail in 
 birth again until Christ be formed in you, 
 
 20 I desire to be present with you now, and 
 to change my voice; for e I stand in doubt of 
 
 a Chap. 2. a, 14. b Rom. 10. 2; 2 Cov. 11. 2. cOr, us. 
 
 d\ Cor. 4. 15; l'hilem. 10; James 1. Is. — eOr, / urn per- 
 plexed for you. 
 
 the truth,'' 1 not only in this letter, but eminently in 
 preaching to you the Gospel,] that very "truth'' 
 for which you at first so ardently loved me? 
 
 17. They zealously affect you, but not wel. 
 — 7ir]?wvGiv vfiac ov na'Auc. [They are very zealous 
 about you, but "not well," to any good end. J These 
 false teachers endeavour to conciliate your feelings, 
 but not on. honest or true principles ; they work 
 themselves into your good graces ; they wish you 
 to place all your affection upon themselves. They 
 would exclude you — They wish to shut you out 
 from the affection of your apostle, that ye might 
 affect them, ira avrorg ^/.ovre, that you might 
 love them alone, hear them alone, abide by their 
 directions only, and totally abandon him who called 
 you into the grace of the Gospel of Christ. [The 
 sharpness of the controversy then carried on be- 
 tween the two parties in the apostolic Church is iu 
 dicated in this passage.] 
 
 18. It is good to be zealously affected — It is 
 well to have a determined mind and an ardent 
 heart in reference to things which are laudable and 
 good. [If understood as a mi<l<ll< , J/'/ueotiat would 
 indicate that the Galatians were (perhaps ironi- 
 cally) congratulated for their great interest in re- 
 ligious inquiry; but Grotius and others understand 
 it passively, and to refer to the apostle himself : "It 
 is good when others court our favor." Either in- 
 terpretation makes a good sense.] Not only 
 when I am present — You were thus attached to 
 me when I was among you, but now ye seem to 
 have lost both your reverence and affection for me. 
 Your false teachers pretended great concern for 
 you, that you might put all your confidence in 
 them ; they have gained their end ; they have es- 
 tranged you from me, and got you to renounce the 
 Gospel, and have brought you again into bondage. 
 
 19. My little children — Teicvia fiov, my be- 
 loved children. As their conversion to God had 
 been the fruit of much labour and prayers, so he 
 felt toward them as his children, and peculiarly dear 
 to him; therefore he represents himself as suffer- 
 ing the same anxiety and distress which he endured 
 at first when he preached the Gospel to them, when 
 their conversion to Christianity was a matter of 
 great doubt and uncertainty. The metaphor winch 
 he uses needs no explanation. Until Christ be 
 formed in you — Till you once more receive the 
 Spirit and unction of Christ in your hearts, from 
 which you are fallen by your rejection of the 
 spirit of the Gospel. [The state of "Christ having 
 been formed in man " is by no means realized (com- 
 pleted) so soon as a man becomes </ Christian, 
 but, . . . (it) is the goal of development, which the 
 process of becoming Christian (in all its fulness) 
 has to reach; when this goal is attained, the Christ- 
 ian i- he in irhoui Christ lives. — Meyer.'] 
 
 20. I desire to be present with you — [I wish 
 we were once more face to face. (See verse 18, 
 
 227
 
 GALATIANS. 
 
 you. 21 Tell me, ye that desire to be under 
 the law, do ye not hear the law? 22 For it is 
 written, that Abraham had two sons, f the one 
 by a bondmaid, fthe other by a free woman. 
 2JS But he who was of the bondwoman h was 
 born after the flesh ; 'but he of the free wom- 
 an was by promise. 24 Which things are an 
 allegory: for these are the two k covenants; 
 
 /"Gen. 16. 15. (7 Gen. 21. 2. h Rom. 9. 7, 8. i Gen. 
 
 18. in, 14; 21. 1,2; lieb. 11. 11. k Or, testaments. IGv. 
 
 last clause.) — Howson.~] I wish to accommodate 
 my doctrine to your state ; I know not whether 
 yon need stronger reprehension, or to be dealt with 
 more leniently. To change my voice — [If pos- 
 sible, from rebuke to commendation.] I stand in 
 doubt of you — I have doubts concerning your 
 state, the progress of error and conviction among 
 you, which I cannot fully know without being 
 among you. 
 
 21. Tell me — [Now follows an illustration of the 
 relative positions of the law and the promise, by 
 an allegorical interpretation of the history of the 
 two sons of Abraham. See Alford.] Ye that 
 desire to be under the law— Ye who desire to 
 incorporate the Mosaic institutions with Chris- 
 tianity, and thus bring yourselves into bondage to 
 these oppressive rites. Do ye not hear the 
 law — Do ye not understand what is written in 
 the Pentateuch relative to Abraham and his chil- 
 dren ? [Here, in its first use, the word vofior (law) 
 is without the article, vttu voijlov, under law ; the 
 second has the article, ~bv vu/mv, do ye not hear the 
 law, that is, as it was given to Abraham. The Ga- 
 latian Christians were seeking for a legal justifica- 
 tion, and the apostle seeks to show them, that even 
 under the Abrahaniic covenant justification was 
 by faith.] 
 
 22. For it is written — Namely, in Gen. xvi, 15, 
 and xxii, 1, etc., that Abraham /<»"/ //'■" sons, Ish- 
 mael and Isaac; tin one, Ishmael, by << bondmaid, 
 Kagar; the other, Isaac, by a free n-a,,,,/,/, Sarah. 
 [Paul, of course, accepts the patriarchal narrative 
 as literally and historically true. But he says that 
 it is capable also of an allegorical interpretation. 
 A mystical meaning lies hid under this literal his- 
 tory, and the spiritually-instructed mind can see in 
 it an expression of principles deeper than that 
 which lies on the surface. — Howson.] [Just as the 
 house of Abraham was the true Church, so there is 
 no doubt that the principal and most memorable 
 events that happened therein were types for us. 
 Just as there was allegory in circumcision, in the 
 sacrifices, in the whole Levitical priesthood, so 
 likewise there was allegory in the house of Abra- 
 ham. — Calvin.] 
 
 23. Was born after the flesh — Ishmael was 
 born according to the ordinary course of nature, 
 his parents being both of a proper age, so that 
 then- was nothing uncommon or supernatural in 
 his birth ; this is the proper meaning of the apos- 
 tle's aa-a aapKa, after or according to the flesh ; 
 naturally, according to the common process of na- 
 ture. By promise— The birth of Isaac was su- 
 pernatural ; the effect of an especial promise of 
 God, and it was only on the ground of that prom- 
 ise that it was either credible or possible. 
 
 21. Which things are an allegory — They ai'e 
 
 to be understood spiritually ; more being intended 
 
 in the account than meets the eye. For these 
 
 are the two covenants — These signify two dif- 
 
 228 
 
 the one from the mount ' "'Sinai, which gen- 
 dereth to bondage, which is Agar. 25 For 
 this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and n an- 
 swereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in 
 bondage with her children. 26 But "Jeru- 
 salem which is above is free, which is the 
 mother of us all. 27 For it is written, pBc- 
 joice, thou barren that bearest not; break 
 
 Sina. on Deut. 33. 2. n Or, is in the same raufc with. 
 
 olsa. 2. 2; lleb. 12. 22; Rev. 3. 12; 21. 2, 10. ;- Isa. 54. 1. 
 
 ferent systems of religion : the one by Moses, the 
 other by the Messiah. The one from the 
 mount Sinai — On which the law was published ; 
 which was typified by Hagar, Abraham's bond- 
 maid. Which gendereth to bondage — For as 
 the bond-maid or slave could only bring forth her 
 children in a state of slavery, and were themselves 
 slaves from their birth, so all that live under those 
 Mosaic institutions live in a state of bondage. 
 
 25. For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia 
 — To yap "Ayap "Lira bpoc early kvry 'ApajSia. 
 This is the common reading ; but it is read differ- 
 ently in some of the most respectable MSS., Ver- 
 sions, and Fathers; tints: ru yap "Liva opoc karlv 
 kv ttj ' Apafiia, for this Sinai is <> mountain of Ara- 
 bia, the word "Ayap, Agar, being omitted. [The 
 discovery of the Sinaitic manuscript has settled a 
 point which was previously doubtful, and it ap- 
 pears that the true reading is simply this: "For 
 Mount Sinai is in Arabia," the very region which 
 was the home of Agar and Ishmael.] Answer- 
 eth to Jerusalem — Hagar, the bondmaid, bring- 
 ing forth children in a state of slavery, "answereth 
 to Jerusalem that now is," cvvaroi x?i , points out, or, 
 bears a similitude to, Jerusalem in her present state 
 of subjection; which, with her children — her 
 citizens, is in bondage to the law, to its oppres- 
 sive ordinances, and to the heavy curse which it 
 has pronounced against all those who do not keep 
 them. [The burdensomeness of the ordinances of 
 the law was not the substance of its slavery, but 
 the fact that it had, in itself, no power to set free 
 the guilty, but only to condemn.] 
 
 26. But Jerusalem which is above — The 
 apostle still follows the Jewish allegory, showing 
 not only how the story of Hagar and Sarah, Ish- 
 mael and Isaac, was allegorized, but pointing out 
 also that even "Jerusalem" was the subject of al- 
 legory. [Jerusalem represents here, as it always 
 did in the Old Testament, the Jewish people. — 
 Schmoller."] Is free, which is the mother of us 
 all, (which is our mother) — There is a spiritual 
 Jerusalem, of which this is the type; and this Je- 
 rusalem, in which the souls of all the righteous 
 are, is free from all bondage and sin ; or by this, 
 probably, the kingdom of the Messiah was intend- 
 ed ; and this certainly answers best to the apostle's 
 meaning, as the subsequent verse shows. There is 
 an earthly Jerusalem, but this earthly Jerusalem 
 typifies a heavenly Jerusalem : the former, with all 
 her citizens, is in bondage ; the latter is a free city, 
 and all her inhabitants are free. And this Jerusa- 
 lem is our mother ; it signifies the Church of 
 Christ, (the true city of Cod;) the state of liberty 
 into which all true believers are brought. 
 
 2'7. Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not — 
 This quotation is taken from Isa. liv, 1, and is cer- 
 tainly a promise which relates to the conversion of 
 the Gentiles, as the following clause proves: for 
 the desolate — the Gentile world — hath many
 
 Believers in Christ are childr 
 promise, uot of the bond won 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for 
 the desolate hath many more children than she 
 which hath a husband. 2S Now we, breth- 
 ren, as Isaac was. are i the children of prom- 
 ise. 29 But as then r he that was born after 
 the flesh persecuted him that teas born after 
 the Spirit, s even so it is now. 30 Neverthe- 
 less what saith 'the Scripture? "Cast out the 
 bondwoman and her son: for v the son of the 
 bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of 
 the free woman. 31 So then, brethren, we 
 
 q Acts3. 25; Horn. 9. 8i chap. 3. 20. r Gen. 21.9. *Chap. 
 
 5. 11; ti. 12. M.'liap. 3. 8,22. wGen. 21. 10, 12. cJolm 
 
 8. 35. ic John 8. ijti ; chap. 5. 1, 13. 
 
 more children — is a much larger and more nu- 
 merous Church — than she, Jerusalem, the Jewish 
 state, which hath a husband; has been so long 
 in covenant with God, living under his continual 
 protection, and in possession of so great spiritual 
 advantages ; and especially those offered to her by 
 the Gospel which she has rejected, and which the 
 Gentiles have accepted. 
 
 28. Now we (who believe in the Lord Jesus) 
 are the children of promise — Are the spiritual 
 offspring of the Messiah, the seed of Abraham, in 
 whom the promise stated that all the nations of the 
 earth should be hlessed. 
 
 29. But as then he (Ishmael) that was born 
 after the flesh — Whose birth had nothing super- 
 natural in it, but was according to the ordinary 
 course of nature. Persecuted him (Isaac) who 
 was born after the Spirit — Who had a supernat- 
 ural birth according to the promise, and through 
 the efficacy of the Holy Spirit giving effect to 
 that promise, " Sarah shall have a son." (Gen. xvii, 
 16—21, xxi, 1, etc.) Persecuted him— The per- 
 secution here referred to is that mentioned in 
 Gen. xxi, 9. It consisted in Ishmael's mocking his 
 brother Isaac. Even so it is now— So the Jt'\\*, 
 in every place, persecute the Christians, and show 
 thereby that they are rather of the posterity of 
 Hagar than of Sarah. 
 
 80. What saith the Scripture — (In Gen. xxi, 
 10.) Cast out the bondwoman and her son — 
 And what does this imply in the present case? 
 Why, that the present Jerusalem and her children 
 shall be cast out of the favour of God, and shall 
 not be heir with the son of the free woman 
 — Shall not inherit the blessings promised to Abra- 
 ham, because they believe not in the promised 
 Seed. [It implies that they who seek to be jus- 
 tified by the deeds of the law must be rejected 
 — cast out — and must give place to those who 
 are the saved according to the grace of the 
 Gospel.] 
 
 31. So then . . . we (Jews and Gentiles, who 
 believe on the Lord Jesus) are not children of 
 the bondwoman — Are not in subjection to the 
 Jewish law. But of the free — And conse- 
 quently are delivered from all its bondage, obli- 
 gation, and curse. Tims the apostle, from their 
 own Scripture, explained by their own allegory, 
 proves that it is only by Jesus Christ that they can 
 have redemption: and because they have not be- 
 lieved in him, therefore they continue to be in bond- 
 age: and that shortly God will deliver them up in- 
 to a long and grievous captivity: for we may nat- 
 urally suppose that the apostle has reference to 
 what had been so often foretold by the prophets, 
 and confirmed by Jesus Christ himself. And this 
 
 are not children of the bondwoman, w but of 
 the free. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 STAN I > fast therefore in «tlie liberty where- 
 with Christ hath made us free, and be not. 
 entangled again 'with the yoke of bondage. 
 *2 Heboid, I Paul say unto you, that c if ye be 
 circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. 
 3 For I testify again to every man that is cir- 
 cumcised, d that lie is a debtor to do the whole 
 law. 4 e Christ is become of no effect unto 
 
 a John 8. 32; Rom. 6. IS; 1 Pet. 2. l(i. b Acts 15. 10; chap. 
 
 2. 4; 4. 9. c Acts 15. 1; see Acts lti. 3. d Chap. 3. 10. ■ 
 
 flfiom. 9. 31,32; chap. 2. 21. 
 
 was the strongest argument Paul could use to show 
 the Galatians their folly and their danger in sub- 
 mitting again to the bondage from which they had 
 escaped, and exposing themselves to the most, 
 dreadful calamities of an earthly kind, as well as 
 to the final ruin of their souls. They desired to be 
 under the law ; then they must take all the conse- 
 quences; and these the apostle sets fairly before 
 them. 
 
 On allegorizing, in explaining the word of God, 
 something has already been said, under verse 24; 
 but on the subject of allegory in general much 
 might be said. That very learned and accurate 
 critic Dr. Lowth, in his work I)e Sacra Poesi He- 
 brceorum has entered at large into the subject of 
 allegory as existing in the sacred writings, in which 
 he has discovered three species of this rhetorical 
 figure. First, that which rhetoricians term a con- 
 tinued metaphor, as Solomon's portraiture of < Id 
 age. (Eccles. xii, 2-6.) A second kind of allegory 
 is that which, in a more proper and restricted 
 sense, may be called parable. (See Matt, xiii, and 
 the note on verse 3 of that chapter.) The third 
 species of allegory is that in which a double mean- 
 ing is couched under the same words. These are 
 called mystical allegories; and the two meanings 
 are termed the literal and mystical senses. For 
 examples of all these kinds I must refer to the 
 learned prelate above named. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER V. 
 
 1 . Stand fast therefore in the liberty — Hold 
 fast your Christian profession [and faith in Christ, 
 as your sole and sufficient Saviour, that] brii gs 
 spiritual liberty; on the contrary, Judaism is spir- 
 itual bondage. The "liberty" mentioned by the 
 apostle is not only freedom from Jewish rites and 
 ceremonies, called properly the yoke of bond- 
 age, but also and eminently liberty from the power 
 anil guilt of sin, which nothing but the grace of 
 Christ can take away. 
 
 2. If ye be circumcised — By circumcision you 
 take on you the whole obligation of the Jewish law, 
 ami consequently profess to seek salvation by 
 means of its observances ; and therefore < Ihrisl can 
 profit you nothing; lor, by seeking justification by 
 the works of the law you renounce justification by 
 faith ia < 'hrist. 
 
 :>. He is a debtor to do the whole law — 
 Lays himself, by receiving circumcision, under 
 the obligation to fulfil all its precepts, ordi- 
 nances, etc. 
 
 4. Christ is become of no effect unto you — 
 It is vain for you to attempt to unite the two sys- 
 tems. You must have the law and no Christ, or 
 
 229
 
 GALATIANS. 
 
 you, whosoever of you are justified by the law ; 
 ' ye are fallen from grace, o Fur we through 
 the Spirit e wait for the hope of righteousness 
 by faith. « For h in Jesus Christ neither cir- 
 cumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircum- 
 cision; but 'faith which worketh by love. 
 7 Ye k did run well; ' m who did hinder you 
 that ye should not obey the truth? 8 This 
 pel suasion cometh not of him " that calleth you. 
 
 /tleb. 12. 15. (7 Rom. S. 24. 25 : 2 Tim. 4. 8. h 1 Cor. 7. 19; 
 
 chap. 3.28; 6. 15; Col. 3. 11. JlThess. 1.3; .lames ± 18,20, 22. 
 
 — /.' 1 Cor. 9. 24. / Or, who did drive you back. — m Chap. 
 
 3. 1. n Chap. 1. 6. 
 
 Christ and no law, for your justification.. Ye are 
 fallen (away) from grace — From the Gospel. 
 They had been brought into the grace of the Gos- 
 pel; and now, by adopting the Mosaic ordinances, 
 they had abandoned the Gospel as a system of per- 
 sonal faith. [The verse expresses the consequence 
 of becoming a "debtor to keep the whole law." 
 The two conditions of grace and merit, the former 
 distinguishing the Gospel and the latter the Law, 
 are not compatible, and cannot be conjoined as 
 means of salvation. To accept the former is, de 
 facto, to fall away from the latter.] 
 
 5. For we (Christians) through the Spirit 
 — Through the operation of the Holy Ghost, under 
 this spiritual dispensation of the Gospel. Wait 
 for tho hope of righteousness — Expect that 
 which is the object of our hope, on being justified 
 by faith in Christ. " Righteousness," otnaioavvq, 
 may here, as in many other places of St. Paul's 
 epistles, mean justification; and the hope of justifi- 
 cation, or (the object of) the hope excited and in- 
 spired by it, is the possession of eternal glory; for, 
 says the apostle, (Rom. v, 1, 2,) Being justified by 
 
 faith we have peace oith God . . . and rejoice in 
 hope of the glory of God. But, as this glory is 
 necessarily future, it is to be waited for; but this 
 waiting is not only a blessed expectation, but also 
 a continual foretaste of it; and therefore the 
 apostle says, anendExoueda, we receive out of it. 
 This is the experience of every genuine Christian ; 
 lie is continually receiving foretastes of that glory, 
 the fulness of which he expects after death. Thus 
 they are receiving the end of their faith, the salva- 
 tion of their souls. (1 Pet. i, 9.) 
 
 6. For in Jesus Christ — By the dispensation 
 of the Gospel all legal observances, as essential to sal 
 vation, are done away ; the Gentile state contributes 
 as much to salvation as the Jewish state ; that is, 
 they are both equally ineffectual ; and nothing now 
 avails in the sight of God but that faith (oY a; anyc 
 evepyovjievjj) which is made active, or energetic, by 
 love. Faith which does not work by love will not 
 stand its possessor in stead when God comes to take 
 away his soul : it availeth nothing. Faith without 
 love has neither soul nor operation ; in the language 
 of the Apostle James, it is dead, and can perform 
 no function of the spiritual life. 
 
 7. Ye did run well — Ye once had the faith 
 that worked by love — ye were genuine, active, use- 
 ful Christians. Who did hinder — Who prevented 
 you from continuing to obey the truth? Ye could 
 only be turned aside by your own consent. St. 
 Paul here, (as in 1 Cor. ix, 24,) compares the Christ- 
 ian life to a race. 
 
 8. This persuasion — [^TLtia/iovn, persuading 
 force, convincing you of the necessity of being cir- 
 cumcised and obeying the law of Moses, is not of 
 him that calleth you. I never preached such a 
 
 230 
 
 9 "A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. 
 
 10 i'i have confidence in you through the 
 Lord, that ye will be none otherwise minded : 
 but i be that troubleth you r shall bear his judg- 
 ment, whosoever lie be. II 'And 1, brethren, 
 if I yet preach circumcision, ' why do 1 yet 
 suffer persecution? then is "the offence of the 
 cross ceased. 12 v I would they were even 
 cut off w which trouble you. 13 For, breth- 
 
 o 1 Cor. 5. G; 15. 33. v 2 for. 2. 3 : 8. 22. q Chap. 1. 7. 
 
 c2 0or. Hi. 6. sChap. 6. 12. 1\ Cor. 15. 3"; chap. 4. 29; 
 
 C. 17. u 1 Cor. 1. 23. » Josh. 7. 25 ; 1 Cor. 5. 13 ; chap. 1. 8, l J. 
 
 w Acts 15. 1,2,24. 
 
 doctrine to you ; I called you out of bondage to 
 liberty, from a galling yoke to a cheerful service. 
 Some translate ireiagovi], obedience or subjection. 
 This subjection of yours to the Mosaic law is op- 
 posed to the will of God, and never was preached 
 by me. 
 
 9. A little leaven leaveneth the whole 
 lump — A proverbial expression, (see 1 Cor. v, 6,) 
 very aptly applied to those who receive the small- 
 est tincture of false doctrine relative to the things 
 essential to salvation, which soon influences the 
 whole conduct, so that the man becomes totally 
 perverted. They might have argued, "It is a 
 small thing, and should not be made a subject of 
 serious controversy, whether we be circumcised or 
 not." Granted that in itself it is a small matter; 
 but if it is relied on as a means of life, every man 
 who is circumcised is a debtor to do the whole law, 
 (verse 3,) and so your circumcision leads necessarily 
 to your total perversion ; as the little portion of 
 leaven mixed with the meal soon leavens the whole 
 lump. [Since each of the fundamental doctrines 
 of the Gospel implies all the rest, the acceptance 
 of any one essential untruth perverts the whole 
 system.] 
 
 10. I have confidence in you — I now feel a 
 persuasion from the Lord that I shall not be per- 
 mitted to expostulate with you in vain. That ye 
 will be none otherwise minded — That ye will 
 come to see the danger to which ye are exposed, 
 and will retreat in time, and recover the grace 
 which ye have lost. But he that troubleth you 
 — The false teacher, who sowed doubtful disputa- 
 tions among you, and thus has troubled the repose 
 of the whole Church, shall bear his judgment — 
 shall meet with the punishment he deserves, for 
 having sown his tarts among God's wheat. 
 
 11. If I yet preach circumcision — It is very 
 likely that some of the false apostles, hearing of 
 Paul's having circumcised Timothy, (Acts xvi, 3,) 
 which must have been done about this time, reported 
 him as being an advocate for circumcision, and by 
 this means endeavoured to sanction their own doc- 
 trine. To this the apostle replies : Were I a friend 
 to this measure, is it likely that I should suffer 
 persecution from the Jews ? But were I a friend 
 to this doctrine, the offence of the cross — preach- 
 ing salvation only through the sacrifice of Christ — 
 would soon cease ; the Jews would be no longer my 
 enemies. 
 
 12. I would they were even cut off which 
 trouble you — \_0 that they who disturb yon would 
 mutilate (emasculate) themselves.] This saying has 
 puzzled many, and different interpretations of the 
 place have been proposed by learned men. At 
 first sight it seems as if the apostle was praying for 
 the destruction of the false teachers who had per- 
 verted the Churches of Galatia. As the persons
 
 e the fiilfillin? of the law. 
 etit of the Spirit's leading. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 ren, ye have been called unto liberty ; only 
 x use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, 
 but > by love serve one another. 14 For z all 
 the law is fulfllled in one word, even in this; 
 a Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 
 15 But if ye bite and devour one another, 
 take heed that ye be not consumed one of an- 
 other. 16 This I say then, b "Walk in the 
 
 x\ Cor. ?. 9; 1 Peter 2. 16; 2 Peter 2. 19.; Jnde 4. y 1 Cor. 
 
 9. 19: chap. 6. 2. sMatt 7. 12; 22. 40; .lames 2. 8. u Lev. 
 
 19. 18; Matt. 22. 39; Rom. 13. 8, 9. b Uom. ij. 12; 8. 1, 4, 12: 
 
 who were breeding all this confusion in the Churches 
 of Galatia were members of that Church, the apos- 
 tle appears to me to be simply expressing his de- 
 sire that they might be cut off, or excommunicated, 
 from the Church. And the whole passage is so 
 parallel to that in 1 Cor. v, 6, 7, that I think there 
 can be no reasonable doubt of the apostle's mean- 
 ing : " Let those who are unsettling the Church of 
 Christ in your district be excommunicated ; this is 
 my wish, that they should no longer have any place 
 among you." [Modern critics and commentators 
 have been even more perplexed with this passage 
 than the older ones were. The verb is conceded to 
 have a middle sense, and its grammatical sense is 
 the act of self-emasculation, which but for reasons 
 of taste and good morals all would be ready to ac- 
 cept. And it has been pertinently asked, " Have 
 we a right to adopt forced interpretations in order 
 to avoid a natural one, because it seems to us 
 unrefined ? "] 
 
 13. Ye have been called unto liberty — A total 
 freedom from all the burdensome rites and ceremo- 
 nies [and impossible requirements] of the Mosaic 
 law. Only use not (this) liberty for an occasion 
 to the flesh — By " flesh," here, we may understand 
 all the unrenewed desires and propensities of the 
 mind; whatsoever is not under the influence and 
 guidance of the Holy Spirit of God. The Gospel pro- 
 claims liberty from the ceremonial law ; but binds 
 you still faster under the moral law ; [not, however, 
 as a basis of justification before God, but as the 
 fruit of that faith whereby we are saved.] To be 
 freed from the ceremonial law is the Gospel lib- 
 erty ; to pretend freedom from the moral law is 
 Antinomianism. By love serve one another — 
 Having that faith which worketh by love, serve 
 each other to the uttermost of your power. (Chap- 
 ter vi, 2.) 
 
 14. For all the law is fulfilled—All which 
 respects our duty to our fellows is comprehended 
 in one word : [ev evl /.oyu, in one sentence, or pre- 
 cept.] " Thou shall love thy neighbour as thyself" 
 [Hue vo/ioc, the totality of the law in contradistinc- 
 tion to its single utterances, (precepts,) irfajpovdai, 
 is complied with, (comprehended in,) rbv nAi/aiov. 
 Neighbour originally meant "thy fellow Israelite," 
 but our Lord, in the parable of the Good Samaritan, 
 gave it the wider sense, which must be here under- 
 stood and accepted.] (See Matt, xix, 19, and Rom. 
 xiii, 9.) 
 
 15. If ye bite and devour one another — 
 These Churches seem to have been in a state of 
 great distraction ; there were continual altercations 
 among them. They had fallen from the grace of 
 the Gospel ; and, as Christ no longer dwelt in their 
 hearts by faith, pride, anger, illwill, and all unkind 
 and uncharitable tempers took possession of their 
 souls, and they were in consequence alternately 
 destroying each other. [Chrysostom remarks at 
 
 Spirit, and c ye shall not fulfil the lust of the 
 flesh. 17 For d the flesh lusteth against the 
 Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and 
 these are contrary the one to the other; e so 
 that ye cannot do the things that ye would. 
 18 But f if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are 
 not under the law. 19 Now e the works of 
 the flesh are manifest, which are these, Adul- 
 
 13. 14; verse 2."). 1 Peter 2. 11. cOr, fulfil not. d Horn. 
 
 7. 23; 8. K, 7. e Horn. 7. 15, 1H. — /Rom. 6. 14; 8. 2. 
 
 g 1 Cor. 3. 3 ; Eph. 5. 3 ; Col. 3. 5 ; James 3. 14, 15. 
 
 this point, " He (Paul) says not simply bite, which 
 indicates sudden anger, but devour, which implies 
 continuance in an evil mind."] [Mutual anger 
 and mutual hate must result in mutual destruction. 
 — Howson.~\ 
 
 16. Walk in the Spirit — [" Walk," TrepnrareiTe, 
 live continuously and actively, Trvevaari, (dative of 
 manner,) not simply in a spiritual manner, as op- 
 posed to the Jftsh. but in the Holy Ghost. See this 
 idea expanded in the succeeding verses.] Ye 
 shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh — If the 
 Holy Spirit dwell in and rule your heart, the whole 
 carnal mind will be destroyed ; and then not only 
 carnal ordinances will be abandoned, but also the 
 works and propensities of the flesh wili be effec- 
 tually resisted. 
 
 17. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit 
 — (" Lusteth," emBv/iel, commonly with a bad sense, 
 but not necessarily nor always. It is the verb to 
 be supplied after the word Spirit, where the sense 
 cannot be bad.] [The essential commentary on 
 these words is in the seventh chapter of Romans. 
 . . . It is not the final victory of the Christian 
 that is here described, but the conflict that precedes 
 it. — HowsonJ] 
 
 18. But if ye be led of the Spirit — If ye re- 
 ceive again, and abide in, the grace of Christ, and 
 permit yourselves to be governed by the Holy Spirit, 
 ye are not under the law. [Through the ruling 
 power of the Spirit ye find yourselves in such a 
 condition of moral life (newness of life, Rom. vi, 4) 
 that the law has no power to censure, to condemn, 
 or to punish you, (because you walk by faith.) — 
 Meyer. .] 
 
 19. Now the works of the flesh are mani- 
 fest — By " flesh " we are to understand the evil 
 and fallen state of the soul, no longer under the 
 guidance of God's Spirit and right reason, but un- 
 der the animal passions ; and they are even ren- 
 dered more irregular and turbulent by the influence 
 of sin ; and so all-commanding is this evil nature 
 that it leads men into all kinds of crimes ; and 
 among them the following, which are manifest — 
 (recognizable) — known to all, and most prevalent ; 
 and, though these are most solemnly forbidden by 
 the law, the observance of its ordinances gives no 
 power to overcome them, and provides no pardon 
 for the guilt and condemnation produced by them. 
 Adultery — Mot^eia ; illicit connexion with a mar- 
 ried person. This word is wanting in this place in 
 the best MSS., Versions, and Fathers. [Is omitted 
 in Revised Version.] Fornication — ILopveid ; il- 
 licit connexion between single or unmarried per- 
 sons, yet often signifying udulu ry also. Unclean- 
 ness — ' ' AnaBapoia ; whatever is opposite to purity; 
 probably meaning here, (as in Rom. i, '24; 2 Cor. 
 xii, 21,) unnatural practices; sodomy, bestiality. 
 Lasciviousness — 'AaeXyeia ; whatever is contrary 
 to chastity; all lewdness. 
 
 231
 
 GALATIANS. 
 
 tery, fornication, unoleanness, lasciviousness, 
 
 20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, em- 
 ulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 
 
 21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revel- 
 lings, and such like: of the which I tell you 
 before, as I have also told you in time past, 
 
 ftlCor.6.9; Eph. 5- 5; Col*. 3.6: Rev. 22. 15. iJoknl5.2; 
 
 Eph. 5. 9. k. Col. 3. 12 ; James 3. 17. 
 
 20. Idolatry — Eifiulolarpia; worshipping of 
 idols ; frequenting idol festivals ; all the rites of 
 Bacchus, Venus, Priapus, etc., which were common 
 among the Gentiles. Witchcraft— A'apyania, (poi- 
 son mingling,) from QapuaKov, a drug or poison, 
 because in all spells and enchantments, whether 
 true or false, drugs were employed. [Sorcery was 
 very prevalent, especially in Asia. — Meyer.] Ha- 
 tred — "Exdpai ; aversions and antipathies, when 
 opposed to brotherly love and kindness. Vari- 
 ance — "Epcg; contentions, where the principle of 
 hatred proceeds to open acts ; hence, contests, al- 
 tercations, lawsuits and disputes in general. Em- 
 ulations — Tjfpvoq; that is, strife to excel at the ex- 
 pense of another; lowering others to set up one's 
 self; unholy zeal, fervently adopting a bad cause, 
 or supporting a good one by unrighteous means. 
 Wrath — Qvuoi; turbulent passions, disturbing the 
 harmony of the mind, and producing domestic, so- 
 cial, and civil broils and disquietudes. Strife — 
 'Epidiat; disputations, janglings, logomachies, or 
 strife about words, [uncharitable judging.] Se- 
 ditions — \ix oa ~ aaicu ; divisions into separate fac- 
 tions ; parties, whether in the Church or State. 
 Heresies — Kipkauc; factions; parties in the 
 Church, separating from communion with each 
 other, and setting up altar against altar. The 
 word, which is harmless in itself, is here used in a 
 bad sense. 
 
 21. Envyings — $66voi; "pain felt and malig- 
 nity conceived at the sight of excellence or happi- 
 ness." A passion the most base ami the least cu- 
 rable of all that disgrace pr degrade the fallen soul. 
 (See Rom. -xiii, 13.)] Murders — \§6voi ; omitted 
 by the best authorities.] Drunkenness — M, Qai : 
 taking more wine or any kind of inebriating liquor 
 than is necessary for health; whatever unfits lor 
 public, domestic, or spiritual duties; even the 
 cares <;/' tin world, when they intoxicate the mind. 
 (See Rom. xiii, CI.) Revellings — Kayot ; lascivi- 
 ous feastings, with obscene songs, music, etc. (See 
 Rom. xiii. 13.) And such like — Kal ra uyo/a ro'e- 
 ntic ; all that proceeds from the evil passions of a 
 fallen spirit, besides those above specified ; and all 
 that the law of God specifies and condemns. Of 
 the which I tell you before — [I forewarn you 
 now.] As I have also told you in time past — 
 When I was with you. The apostle had visited 
 them twice. (See Acts xvi, 6; xviii, 23.) [In 
 preaching the Gospel to the heathen the apostles 
 were especially zealous in enforcing its morals.] 
 Shall not inherit— They are not children of Cod, 
 and, therefore, cannot inherit the kingdom, which 
 belongs onlv to the children of the divine family. 
 
 22. But the fruit of the (Holy) Spirit— [Tlie 
 sharp contrast between epya (works) and nap-bc 
 (fruit) should be carefully observed. On this 
 Chrysostom remarks that what is bad comes read- 
 ily from ourselves alone, whereas the good that we 
 do depends not on ourselves only, but (it is prima- 
 rily of the Spirit, and always) needs God's fostering 
 care. — Ilowson.] Roth flesh — the sinful disposi- 
 
 2;j2 
 
 that h they which do such things shall not in- 
 herit the kingdom of God. 22 But 'the fruit 
 of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, 
 k gentleness, 'goodness, ,n faith, 23 Meekness, 
 temperance: "against such there is no law. 
 24 And they that are Christ's "have crucified 
 
 — ml Cor. 13. 7. Bl Tim. 1.9.- 
 
 13. 14 ; chap. 2. 20 ; 1 Peter 2. 11. 
 
 -o Rom. 6. 6; 
 
 tions of the human heart and spirit — the soul 
 purified by the grace and Spirit of God, are repre- 
 sented by the apostle as trees, one yielding good, 
 the' other bad, fruit; the productions of each being 
 according to the nature of the tree, as the tree is 
 according to the nature of the seed from which it 
 sprung. Love — 'Ayann; an intense, loving affec- 
 tion toward God and all mankind ; the very soul and 
 spirit of all true religion ; the fulfilling of the law, 
 and what gives energy to faith itself. (See verse 
 i».) Joy — Xapa ; the exultation that arises from 
 a sense of God's mercy, revealed in the soul in the 
 pardon of its iniquities, and the assured hope of 
 eternal glory, of which it has the foretaste in the 
 pardon of sin. (See Rom. v, 2.) Peace — Elpf/vn ; 
 the calm quiet and order which take place in the 
 justified soul, instead of the doubts, fears, and 
 dreadful forebodings which every true penitent 
 less or more feels and must feel until the assur- 
 ance of pardon brings peace and satisfaction to the 
 mind. Peace is the first sensible fruit of the par- 
 don of sin. (See Rom. v, 1.) Longsuffering — 
 Maicpodvfjiia ; bearing with the frailties and provo- 
 cations of others, from the consideration that Cod 
 has borne long with ours; submitting cheerfully 
 to every dispensation of God's providence, and thus 
 deriving benefit from every occurrence. Gentle- 
 ness — X fti,c~6~rjc ; a long holding out of the mind 
 before it gives room for action or passion. [A man 
 has this grace who, having to do with injurious 
 persons, does not suffer himself to be easily pro- 
 voked by them. — IVench.] Goodness — 'Ayaflu- 
 gvvt) ; the perpetual and dominant desire to do good 
 to the bodies and souls of men to the utmost of 
 our ability, springing from a good heart — purified 
 by the Spirit of Cod. Faith — Uiarig, here used 
 for fidelity; punctuality in performing promises; 
 conscientious carefulness in preserving what is 
 committed to our trust ; neither betraying the se- 
 crets nor disappointing the confidence of those 
 wdio trust us. 
 
 23. Meekness — Ylpavrric ; mildness, patient 
 suffering of injuries without feeling a spirit of re- 
 venge ; the entire opposite to anger. Temper- 
 ance — 'EyKpareia ; continence, self governmeid, or 
 moderation, principally with regard to sensual or 
 animal appetites. Moderation in eating, drinking, 
 sleeping, etc. Against such there is no law — 
 Those whose lives are adorned by the above vir- 
 tues cannot be condemned by any law, for the 
 whole purpose and design of the moral law of God 
 is fulfilled in those who have the Spirit of God 
 producing in their hearts and lives the preceding 
 fruits. 
 
 24. And they that are Christ's — All genuine 
 Christians. Have crucified the flesh — Are so 
 far from obeying its dictates and acting under its 
 influences that they have crucified their sensual ap- 
 petites; hence says St. Paul, (Rom. vi, 6,) our old 
 man —the Hesh, with its affections and lusts — is cru- 
 cified, with him, that the body of sin might he de- 
 stroyed, that henceforth we should nut serve sin,
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 A. M. 4056. A. D. 52. 
 Ifear of Rome, 8115. 
 
 the flesh with the p affections and lusts. 25 1 1f 
 we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the 
 Spirit. 26 r Let us not be desirous of vainglory, 
 provoking one another, envying one another. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 RETIIREN", »>'if a man be overtaken in a 
 
 B 
 
 pOr, passions. 
 
 
 -a Rom. 
 
 8. 4. 5; verse 
 
 16 
 
 
 -/• Phil. 
 
 2. 3. 
 
 a Rom. 
 
 14. 1; 
 
 .. 
 
 1 | lie). 
 
 12. 13 ; James 
 
 o. 
 
 m 
 
 b Or 
 
 ,,,'. 
 
 though. — 
 
 -clCor 
 
 ■_' 
 
 15 ; 3. 1 
 
 (/ 1 Cor. 4. 
 
 21 
 
 2 
 
 Thess. 3 
 
 IS; 
 
 2 Tim. 2. 25 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 that is, all that a man may feel contrary to love and 
 purity, and all that he may desire contrary to 
 moderation and that self-denial peculiar to the 
 Christian character. [The strength of the expres- 
 sion " crucified " should be noted — first, because it is 
 in harmony with the frequent mention of the cru- 
 cifixion of Christ in this epistle ; and secondly, be- 
 cause it expresses separation from sin in the most 
 decisive way — by death — and by a painful death. 
 (See chapter ii, 20, and vi, 14.) — Ilowson.] 
 
 25. If we live in the Spirit — [If by the (Holy) 
 Spirit we have our life, £a/iev, (in God,) let us go 
 forward, otoixg>/iev, in the Spirit. Let us walk 
 worthy of our vocation, (Eph. iv, 1.)] Let us show in 
 our lives and conversation that the Spirit of God 
 dwells in us. 
 
 2(5. Let us not be desirous of vainglory — 
 Ksvodo^oi ; let us not be vainglorious, [covetous of 
 the honours that come from men, self-opinioned. | 
 Provoking one another — [These words are ad- 
 dressed to all the Galatians ; the danger was com- 
 mon to both parties, the obedient and disobedient, 
 the orthodox and the Judaizers. — AlfoirL] But 
 the exhortation is necessary for every Christian, 
 and for every Christian Church. He who professes 
 to seek the honour that comes from God should not 
 be desirous of "vainglory." He who desires to keep 
 the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace should 
 not provoke another. He who knows that he 
 never deserved any gift or blessing from God 
 should not envy another those blessings which the 
 divine goodness may have thought proper to be- 
 stow upon him. If all Christians would be con- 
 tent with the honour that comes from God, if they 
 would take heed to give no provocations to their 
 fellow Christians, if they would cease from envy- 
 ing those on whom either God or man bestows 
 honours or advantages, we should soon have a hap- 
 pier and more perfect state of the Christian 
 Church than we now see. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER VI. 
 1. Brethren, if a man be overtaken — 'Eav 
 
 Tpo/iTjucpdri ; if he be surprised, seized on without 
 warning, suddenly invaded, taken before he is 
 aware: all these meanings the word has in connex- 
 ions similar to this. [Probably during the dis- 
 turbed state of the Christians of Galatia there had 
 been on the one hand not a few personal backslid- 
 ings, and on the other unbrutherly severity toward 
 such ; hence the apostle's exhortation.] [" Breth- 
 ren," bespeaking their attention by a friendly ad- 
 dress ; marking also the opening of a new subject, 
 connected, however, with the foregoing. — AlfordJ] 
 Overtaken in a fault — [A lapse.] [In a mild and 
 trustful tone Paul conceives the sin which might 
 occur among his Galatians only as a sin of precipi.- 
 tancy. — Meyer.] Ye which are spiritual — Ye 
 who still retain the grace of the Gospel, and have 
 wisdom and experience in divine things. [Paul 
 
 fault, ye ° which are spiritual, restore such a 
 one J in the spirit of meekness; considering 
 thyself, e lest thou also be tempted. 2 f Bear 
 ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil sthe 
 law of Christ. 3 For h if a man think himself 
 to be something, when 'he is nothing, he de- 
 ceiveth himself. 4 But k let every man prove 
 
 e I Cor. 7. 5; 10. 12. /"Rom. 15. 1 ; chap. 5. 13; 1 Thess. 5. 14. 
 
 (7 John 13. 14, 15, 34: 15. 12; James 2. 8; 1 John 4. 21. 
 
 It Rom. 12. 3; 1 Cor. 3. 2; chap. 2. ti. ii Cor. 3. 5; 12. 11. 
 
 k\ Cor. 11. 28; 2 Cor. 13.5. 
 
 thus puts it to the consciousness of every reader to 
 regard himself as included or not. Ye that are 
 "spiritual," (pi irvev/iaTinol, tin- spiritual?) that is, 
 who are led by the Holy Spirit, the opposite of "the 
 mind of the flesh." (Rom. viii, 6.) See Meyer.] 
 Restore such a one — Ka-apTi(ere tov toiovtov ; 
 bring the man back info his plaee. It is a meta- 
 phor taken from a dislocated limb, brought back 
 by the hand of a skilful and tender surgeon into 
 its place. In the spirit of meekness — Use no 
 severity nor haughty carriage toward him ; as the 
 man was suddenly overtaken, he needs encourage- 
 ment and lenient usage. There is a great differ- 
 ence between a man who, being suddenly assailed, 
 falls into sin, and the man who transgressed in eon- 
 sequence of having walked in the counsel of the 
 uncodly, or stood in the way of sinners. Con- 
 sidering thyself — ZKoiriJv ceavrSv ; looking to 
 thyself ; as he fell through a moment of unwatch- 
 fulness, look about, that thou be not surprised ; as 
 he fell, so mayest thou; thou art now warned at 
 his expense ; therefore keep a good lookout. Lest 
 thou also be tempted — [The change of the num- 
 ber of the pronoun, (thou for ye,) makes the ad- 
 vice all the more pointed, (ai; thou, thyself.) 
 Hence, " the spirit of meekness " becomes us in 
 trying to " restore " others. Nor is any other 
 spirit likely to be successful. — Howson.~\ 
 
 2. Bear ye one another's burdens — Have 
 sympathy; feel for each other; and consider the 
 case of a distressed brother as your own. PAJMsJ- 
 'Mov, of one another. Mutually one of the other bear 
 ye the burdens. Ha [iaprj, figuratively denotes moral 
 faults, pressing on men with a sense of guilt. The 
 mutual bearing of moral (spiritual) burdens is the 
 mutual loving participation in another's feeling of 
 guilt, weeping with those who weep (in sorrow for 
 sin.) — MeyerJ[ And so fulfil the law of Christ 
 — The law or commandment to love one another ; 
 or that to do unto all men as we would they sliould 
 do unto us. We should be as indulgent to the in- 
 firmities of others as we can be consistently with 
 truth and righteousness : our brother's infirmity 
 may be his burden. 
 
 3. If a man think himself to be something, 
 when he is nothing — Those who suppose them- 
 selves to excel all others in piety, understanding, 
 etc., while they are harsh, censorious, and over- 
 bearing, prove that they have not the charity that 
 thinketh no evil; and in the s i ti h t of God are only 
 as sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal. There 
 are no persons more censorious or uncharitable than 
 those among some religious people who pretend to 
 more light and a deeper communion with God than 
 others. They are generally carried away with a sort 
 of sublime, high-sounding phraseology, which seems 
 to argue a wonderfully deep acquaintance with 
 divine things; stripped of this, many of them are 
 like Samson without his hair. 
 
 4. Prove his own work — By the words and 
 
 233
 
 GALATIANS. 
 
 Ins own work, and then shall he have rejoic- 
 ing in himself alone, and ' not in another. 
 5 For '"every man shall hear his own burden. 
 C " Let .him that is taught in the word com- 
 municate unto him that teacheth in all good 
 things. 7 "Be not deceived; rGod is not 
 mocked : for "* whatsoever a man soweth, that 
 shall he also reap. 8 r For he that soweth 
 
 /See Luke 1*. 11 — 
 
 
 Romans 
 
 2 
 
 6; 1 
 
 Cor. 3. S. 
 
 n 
 
 Ro- 
 
 mans 15. 27 
 
 1 Cor. 9 
 
 11 
 
 14. o 
 
 1 I 
 
 ir. ii. 
 
 9; 15. 31. 
 
 7> 
 
 lob 
 
 13. 9. (j Li 
 
 ike Hi. 25 
 
 i: 
 
 omans 2. 
 
 0: 
 
 J Cnr 
 
 0. ti. / 
 
 .lob 4. 8; 
 
 Proverbs 11 
 
 18; 22. 
 
 8; 
 
 Husea 8 
 
 7; 
 
 10. 
 
 2; Romans s. 
 
 13: 
 
 example of Christ ; and if he find that they bear 
 this touchstone, then he shall have rejoicing in 
 himself alone, feeling that he resembles his Lord 
 ami Master, and not in another — not derive his 
 consolation from comparing himself with another 
 who may be weaker or less instructed than him- 
 self. The only rule for a Christian is the work of 
 Christ ; the only pattern for his imitation is the ex- 
 ample of Christ. He should not compare himself 
 with others : they are not his standard. Christ 
 hath left us an example that we should follow his 
 Steps. 
 
 5. Every man shall bear his own burden- 
 All must answer lor themselves, not for their neigh- 
 bours. And every man must expect to be dealt 
 with by the divine Judge as his character and con- 
 duct have been. The greater offences of another 
 will not, excuse thy smaller offences. Every man 
 must give account of himself to God. [Evidently 
 the reference is, not to the final judgment, but to 
 the course of affairs in human life ; there are bur- 
 dens to be borne by all, and toward all charity and 
 forbearance should be cheerfully exercised. See Al- 
 ford.j 
 
 G. Let him that is taught in the word — He 
 who receives instructions in Christianity by the 
 public preaching of the word. Communicate un- 
 to him that teacheth — Contribute to the support 
 of the man who has dedicated himself to the work 
 of the ministry, and who gives up his time and his 
 life to preach the Gospel. It appears that some of 
 the believers in Galatia could receive the Christian 
 ministry without contributing to its support. [From 
 the mention of bearing one another's burdens, the 
 apostle naturally passes to one way and one case 
 in which those burdens may be borne, namely, by 
 relieving the necessities of their ministers. — Af- 
 ford.] [It is often found among the relatively 
 poor, and in mission Churches gathered from the 
 heathen, that it is especially necessary to instruct 
 them in respect to this duty.] 
 
 7. Be not deceived — Neither deceive your- 
 selves nor permit yourselves to be deceived by oth- 
 ers, lie seems to refer to tlie Judaizing teachers. 
 God is not mocked — Ye cannot deceive him, and 
 he will not permit you to mock him with pretended 
 instead of real services. Whatsoever a man 
 soweth — Whatsoever kind of seed a man sows in 
 his field, of that shall he reap ; for no other species 
 of fruit can proceed from that which is sown. 
 Darnel will not produce wheat, nor wheat darnel. 
 
 8. He that soweth to his flesh — In like man- 
 ner, he that sows " to tiie flesh " — who indulges his 
 sensual and sinful appetities — shall have corruption 
 as the crop. According as your present life is, so 
 will be your eternal life ; whether your sowing be to 
 thejlesh or to the Spirit, so will your eternal reaping 
 be. To sow, here, means transacting the concerns of 
 a man's nattered life: to reap, signifies his enjoyment 
 
 234 
 
 to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; 
 hut he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the 
 Spirit reap life everlasting. 9 And 'let us not 
 be weary in well doing: for in due season we 
 shall reap, 'if we faint not. 10 "As we have 
 therefore opportunity, v let us do good unto all 
 men, especially unto them who are of w the 
 household of faith. 1 1 Ye see how large a 
 
 James 3. 18. si Cor. 15. 58: 2 Thess. 3. 13. /Matt. 24. 13: 
 
 Hebrews 3. 6, 14; 10. 30; 12. 3, 0: Rev. 2. 10. itjohn 0. 4; 
 
 12. 35. /• 1 Thess. 5. 15 : 1 Timothy ti. 18; Titus 3. 8. w Ephe- 
 
 sians 2. 19 ; Hebrews 3. ti. 
 
 or punishment (both in the present and) in another 
 world. [Every art in life, and every imagination of 
 the heart, are of the nature of seeds ; they root 
 themselves in the soul, and reproduce their kind, 
 whose fruits must be reaped soon or late.] He 
 who rejects the Gospel, and follows the leadings 
 of his own depraved lusts, will reap endless disap- 
 pointment and misery. He who trusts in Christ, 
 and receives the gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit, 
 shall reap life everlasting. [If carnal indulgence 
 (or worldly pursuits) is the end for which a man 
 lives, moral ruin must lie the result. If he aims at 
 the higher life, which comes through the operations 
 of the Holy Spirit, the higher life will be his re- 
 ward. — Howson.] ["Corruption," (ptiopdv, destruc- 
 tion, here, is, in accordance with tin.' contrast of 
 " eternal life," eternal destruction. (Rom. viii, 13.) 
 — Meyer. ] 
 
 9. Let us not be weary in well doing — 
 " Well doing " is easier in itself than ill doing ; and 
 the danger of growing " weary " in the former 
 arises only from the opposition to good in our 
 own nature, or the outward hinderances we may 
 meet with from a gainsaying and persecuting world. 
 In due season we shall reap— As the husband- 
 man, in ploughing and sowing, is supported by the 
 hope of the harvest ; so every follower of Christ may 
 be persuaded that if he shall live in conformity to 
 his Master's will, he will assuredly reap the fruit of 
 it in eternal glory. This is .sowing /<> the Spirit; and 
 the impulse and the grace to persevere to the end 
 are furnished by Christ Jesus, and by him the king- 
 dom of heaven is opened to all believers ; but only 
 those who believe, love, and obey, (and endure to 
 the end,), shall enter into it. 
 
 10. As we have . . . opportunity — While it is 
 the time of sowing let us sow (he good seed ; and 
 let our love be, as the love of Christ is, freely mani- 
 fested to all. Let us help all who need help ac- 
 cording to our power, but let the first objects of 
 our regards be those who ate of the household of 
 faith, the members of the Church of Christ, who 
 form one family, of which Jesus Christ is the head. 
 These have the first claims on our attention ; but 
 all others have their claims also, and therefore we 
 should do good unto all. 
 
 1 1 . Ye see how large a letter — There is a 
 strange diversity of opinions concerning the apos- 
 tle's meaning in this place. Some think he refers 
 to the length of the epistle, others to the largeness 
 of the letters in which this epistle is written, others 
 to the inadequacy of the apostle's writing. It ap- 
 pears plain that most of his epistles were written 
 by an ama?iuensis, and simply subscribed by him- 
 self; but the whole of the epistle to the Galatians 
 was written by his own hand. As to writing the 
 Greek, there was in his time nothing difficult, be- 
 cause the uncial character was that which was alone 
 in use in those days, and this character is as easily
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 A.M. 4056. A.D. 52. 
 Year ..!' Rome, «)*. 
 
 letter I have written unto you with mine own 
 hand. 12 As many as desire to make a fair 
 show in the flesh, " they constrain you to be 
 circumcised ; y only lest they should z suffer per- 
 secution for the cross of Christ. IJJ For nei- 
 ther they themselves who are circumcised keep 
 the law; but desire to have you circumcised, 
 that they may glory in your flesh. 14 ■'But 
 
 a-.Ch. 2.3.14. yPhn.-3.ia — sCh.o. II. — a Phil. 3 3, 7. B. 
 
 b Or. whereby. c Uom. G. ti ; ch. 2. 20. d 1 Cor. 7. 19 ; 
 
 made, as the capitals in the Roman alphabet, which 
 have been taken from it. I conclude, therefore, 
 that what the apostle says must be understood of 
 the length of the epistle, in all probability the 
 
 largest he had ever written with his own hand ; 
 though several, much larger, have been dictated by 
 him, but they were written by his scribe or aman- 
 uensis. [Paul adds to the letter, which up to this 
 point he had dictated, the conclusion from verse 11 
 onward in his own handwriting. By means of these 
 autograph endings the epistles indicated their au- 
 thentic character. But this close of our epistle . . . 
 was intended to catch the eyes of the readers, as 
 something so especially important, that, from verse 12 
 to the end, the apostle wrote it in very large letters, 
 just as we, in writing and printing, distinguish by 
 letters of a larger size any thing we wish to be con- 
 sidered as peculiarly significant. — Meyer.~\ 
 
 12. A fair show in the flesh — The Jewish re- 
 ligion, as it was then professed and practised among 
 the Jews, had nothing very grievous to the " old 
 man;" an unrenewed nature might go through all 
 its observances with little pain or crossbearing. 
 On the other hand Christianity could not be very 
 popular; it was too strict. A Jew made a "fair 
 show," according to his carnal system, and it was a 
 temptation to a weak Christian to swerve into 
 Judaism, that he might be exempted from perse- 
 cution, and be creditable among his countrymen. 
 This is what the apostle intimates: "They con- 
 strain you to be circumcised, lest they should suf- 
 fer persecution for the cross of Christ." 
 
 13. Neither they themselves who are cir- 
 cumcised — They receive circumcision and profess 
 Judaism, not from a desire to be conformed to the 
 will of God, but because Judaism is popular, and 
 the more converts the false teachers can make the 
 more occasion of glorying they will have ; and they 
 wish to get those Christian converts to receive 
 circumcision, that they may glory in their fesh. 
 Thus they would have gloried, or boasted, not that 
 the people were converted to Cod, but that they 
 were circumcised [ — immersed, or confirmed.] 
 
 14. But God forbid that I should glory — 
 [But let me not glory, e/iol 6e yr/ yevoiro Kav%aodai. 
 The phrase " God forbid " is not found in the orig- 
 inal, neither here nor elsewdieie.] Whatever oth- 
 ers may do, or whatever they may exult or glory in, 
 I will exult only in the cross of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ ; in the grand doctrine that justification and 
 salvation are only through Christ crucified, he hav- 
 ing made an atonement for the sin of the world by 
 his passion and death. And I glory, also, in the 
 disgrace and persecution which I experience through 
 my attachment to this crucified Christ. By whom 
 the world is crucified unto me — Jewish rites 
 and Gentile vanities are equally insipid to me; I 
 know them to be empty and worthless. If Jews 
 and Gentiles despise me, I despise that in which 
 they trust ; through Jesus, all are crucijivd to me — 
 
 God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross 
 of our Lord Jesus Christ, L by whom the world 
 is ■ 'crucified unto me, and I unto the world. 
 15 For d in Christ Jesus neither circumcision 
 availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but *a 
 new creature. 16 f And as many as walk 
 s according to this rule, peace be on them, 
 and mercy, and upon h the Israel of God. 
 
 ch. 5. 6; Col. 3. 11. c2 Cor. 5. 17. fPta. 125. 5. ff Phil. 
 
 3. 16. /i Hum 2.29; 4. 12; 9. (5, 7,8; ch. 3.7,9,29; Phil. 3. 3. 
 
 their objects of dependence are as vile and execra- 
 ble to me as I am to those in whose sight these 
 things are of great account. 
 
 15. In Christ Jesus — Under the dispensation 
 of the Gospel, of which he is head and supreme; 
 neither circumcision — nothing that the Jew can 
 boast of, nothing that the Gentile can call excellent ; 
 availeth any thing — can in the least contribute 
 to the salvation of the soul. [The words rendered 
 " in Christ " are now, by general consent, excluded 
 as not authentic. The universal worthlessness of 
 circumcision is the object of the apostle's earnest 
 asseveration".] But a new creature— 'A/ > a naivrj 
 KTto/c, but <i new creation, [but a new thing;] a 
 total renewal of the whole man, of all the powers 
 and passions of the soul : and as creation could 
 not be effected but by the power of the Almighty, 
 so this change cannot be effected but by the same 
 energy; no rites nor ceremonies can do this; only 
 the power that made the man at first can new 
 make him. (See 1 Cor. vii, 19; 2 Cor. v, 17.) 
 [The idea of creation is probably not here intended, 
 but the fact that only the something new, " that 
 winch by nature we cannot have," can avail to the 
 soul's salvation.] 
 
 16. As many as walk according to this rule 
 — Ti> Kavdvi tovtu, this canon ; namely, that re- 
 demption is through the sacrifice of Christ ; that 
 circumcision and uncircumcision are equally un- 
 available ; and that none can be saved without being 
 created anew. This is the grand canon or rule in 
 Christianity. Peace be on them — Those who act 
 from this conviction will have the peace and mercy 
 of God ; for it is in this way that mercy is com- 
 municated and peace obtained. The Israel of 
 God — The true Chris/inns, called here the "Israel 
 of God," to distinguish them from Israel according 
 to the flesh. (See Rom. ii, 29 ; iv, 12.) [What Paul 
 says in this section (11-18) of the Judaistie teach- 
 ers applies strikingly, mutatis mutandis, to the 
 great mass of nominal Christians. They by no 
 means wish to keep the law in its whole extent, — 
 that is much too burdensome for them ; on the con- 
 trary, they appeal to the fact that they, forsooth, 
 believe on Christ, and therefore are free from the 
 yoke of the law. I5ut now, on the other hand, 
 they have as little mind to believe on Christ in the 
 whole extent of faith ; what is inconvenient in this 
 they leave behind, and that is the cross of Christ; 
 that is, so Car as it is a means of quieting the con- 
 science it is willingly accepted, but so far as it in- 
 cludes the dying of the old man, and the entering 
 into a fellowship of the cross with Christ, they will 
 none of it. Instead of this, men turn rather to the 
 otherwise despised law, and arbitrarily make the 
 law to consist in this or that particular, some prac- 
 tice, some abstinence, and imagine themselves 
 thus to lie satisfying all the severer requirements 
 of God, while yet they are far from this (the apos- 
 tle's) utterance: "The world is crucified to me, 
 
 235
 
 A. M. 415B. A. D. 52. 
 Year of Rome, 8U5. 
 
 GALATIANS. 
 
 17 From henceforth let no man trouble me: 
 
 for 'I bear in my body the marks of the Lord 
 
 *2Cor. I. 5; 4. 10; 11. 23; chap. 5. 11 ; 
 
 and I to the world ! " Christ's cross is the touch- 
 stone of true Christianity ; it is in this that salva- 
 tion and comfort is to be sought, and so far it 
 would not lie very hard to glory in the cross of 
 Christ, which many are willing to do. But salva- 
 tion and consolation are to be sought exclusively 
 in that, — no longer in the world, no longer in one's 
 self, every tiling else is to be accounted loss, and 
 on the other hand the fellowship with the cross of 
 Christ is to be counted no loss : in brief, there 
 must come into being a new creature. This, {verse 
 16,) is the " canon " for a Christian ; and only he 
 who guides himself according to this is, in truth, a 
 Christian. — Schmoller in Lange.] 
 
 17. From henceforth let no man trouble me 
 — Put an end to your contentions among your- 
 selves ; return to the pure doctrine of the Gospel ; 
 abandon those who are leading you astray; sepa- 
 rate from the Church those who corrupt and dis- 
 turb it ; and let me be grieved no longer with your 
 defections from the truth. I bear in my body 
 the marks of the Lord Jesus— The arty/iara 
 (stigmata) of which the apostle speaks here, may be 
 understood as implying the scars of the wounds 
 which he had received in the work of the ministry. 
 Or, the apostle may allude to the stigmata or marks 
 with which servants and slaves were often im- 
 pressed in order to ascertain whose property they 
 were. "Do not trouble me; I bear the marks of 
 my Lord and Master, Jesus ; I am his, and will re- 
 main so. You glory in your mark of circumcision; 
 I glory in the marks which I bear in my body for 
 the testimony of the Lord ; I am an open, professed 
 Christian, and have given full proof of my attach- 
 ment to the cause of Christianity." The first sense 
 appears to be the best: "I have suffered already 
 sufficiently ; I am suffering still ; do not add any 
 more to my afflictions." [Ta GTiy/uara, the marks 
 branded on slaves to indicate their owners. These 
 marks, in St. Paul's case, were of course the scars 
 oj his wounds received in the service of his Master. 
 (See 2 Cor. xi, 23.) There is no allusion whatever to 
 any similarity between himself and our Lord, "the 
 marks which Jesus bore ; " such an allusion would 
 be quite irrelevant : and with its irrelevancy falls a 
 whole fabric [of mystic sentimentalism, and ascetic 
 egotism as well as] of Romanist superstition which 
 ■ 236 
 
 Jesus. 1§ Brethren, k the grace of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen. 
 
 Col. 1. 24. A- 2 Tim. 4. 22; Philem. 25. 
 
 has been raised on this verse, and which the fair and 
 learned Windischmann, giving, as he does, the hon- 
 est interpretation here, yet attempts to defend in 
 a supplemental note. Neither can we naturally 
 suppose any comparison intended between these 
 aTiynara, as Christ's servant, (bondman,) and cir- 
 cumcision, for he is not now on that subject, but on 
 his authority as sealed by Christ ; and such a com- 
 parison is alien from the majesty of the sentence. — 
 A!ford.~\ [In this passage the Church of Rome 
 pretended to find its authority for the miracle of 
 stigmatizati-on, — the most remarkable instance of 
 which is that of St. Francis of Assi.-i, who, after 
 submitting to the severest austerities, during many 
 years, at length received the stigmata. " His hands 
 and feet," says the account, " were (miraculously) 
 pierced with nails in the middle. The heads of the 
 nails, round and black, were in the palms of his 
 hands and forepart of the feet. The points of 
 the nails, which were a little long, and which ap- 
 peared on the other side, were bent backward on 
 the wound which they made. He also had on his 
 right side a red wound, as if it had been pierced 
 with a lance, which often shed sacred blood on his 
 tunic." Other instances, to the number of eighty, 
 occur in the traditions of the Romish Church, 
 though the stigmatization in some of them is only 
 partial. The affair, in all its phases, constitutes a 
 remarkable case of the effects of an intense fanat- 
 icism, turned to account by priestcraft in its worst 
 forms. See M'Clintock and Strong.] 
 
 18. Brethren— ['Ac thpoi This word is the last 
 one in the Greek text of this epistle, emphasizing 
 by its position the writer's tender regard for those 
 whom he had so warmly rebuked.] [The epistle, 
 in great part so severe, ends with a mode of address 
 which still breathes unaltered love. — Meyer.] The 
 grace — Favour, benevolence, and continual influ- 
 ence of the Lord Jesus be with your spirit — may it 
 live in your heart, enlighten and change your souls, 
 and be conspicuous in your life ! With your 
 spirit — [Instead of the persons, simply, we find, 
 that with greater simplicity and fervor, the spirit of 
 the persons is named, because it is on the spirit 
 (nvt -i iia) of man (the higher principle of life) that 
 the grace of Christ works. — Meyer.] Amen — So 
 let it be !
 
 PREFACE TO THE EPISTLE 
 
 TO 
 
 THE EPHESIANS. 
 
 I. TO WHOM ADDRESSED. 
 
 IN the first verse of the Authorized Version this question seems to be decided 
 in favour of the commonly accepted opinion, that this epistle was written 
 to the "saints," (believers,) at Ephesus, and the Revised Version also retains that 
 reading, but with a marginal note that says, " Some very ancient authorities omit 
 at Ephesus." The question thus recognised is one of long standing, and for each 
 side of which there is a very considerable show of authority. In the last century 
 those two eminent scholars, Drs. Lardner and Paley, took opposite sides, the 
 former arguing in favour of its destination to Ephesus, and the latter opposing, 
 with his characteristic fulness of argumentation, and favouring the notion that this 
 was the epistle to the Laodiceans referred to Col. iv, 16. 
 
 The subscriptions found at the end of the epistle in most of the MSS. and 
 Versions favour the traditional opinion, though these are of very little authority 
 as witnesses in the case. Among modern critics of the highest authority, Tre- 
 gelles adopts kv 'E0eaoj, in Ephesus, and Tischendorf inserts it in brackets, as of 
 doubtful authenticity. Meyer, after reviewing the argument on both sides, de- 
 cides, " In view of all that has been said we must defend kv 'E0eacj, that is, as 
 decidedly genuine;'''' and Alford sums up a full review of both sides of the 
 question with these decided words: " I infer, then, in accordance with the prev- 
 alent belief of the Church in all ages, that this epistle was veritably addressed to 
 the saints in Ephesus, and to no other Church. The testimony of the most ancient 
 MSS. is divided. In both the Vaticanus and the Sinaiticus, the kv 'E^eoo) in 
 the first verse is w r anted, but both of them have the subscription to the Ephesians. 
 In all others of the oldest and best MSS., with a single unimportant exception, it 
 is found, and the authority of the Fathers and of the Versions is decidedly in 
 its favour. There seems, therefore, no sufficient reason against the commonly 
 accepted opinion ; and though the question may be accounted an open one among 
 critics, there is no good reason to seek any change of the title. 
 
 THE PLACE AND THE PEOPLE. 
 
 Ephesus was a city of Ionia, in Asia Minor, and once the metropolis of that 
 
 part of the world. The ancient city was situated at the mouth of the river 
 
 Cayster, on the shore of the ^Egean Sea, about fifty miles south of Smyrna. The 
 
 Ephesus in which St. Paul founded a Church, and which for a time flourished 
 
 237
 
 PREFACE TO THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 
 
 gloriously, was not the ancient Ephesus; for that was destroyed, and a new city 
 of the same name was built by Lysimachus. 
 
 This most famous of all the Asiatic cities is now a miserable village, composed 
 of mean huts formed out of the ruins of its once magnificent structures. 
 
 In its ancient glory Ephesus was an abode of commerce, arts, and sciences, and 
 the seat of the world-renowned worship of Artemis, the Diana of the Romans. 
 Here Paul, having been preceded by Aquila and Priscilla, planted Christianity, 
 (Acts xviii, 19; xix, 1;) and his successful labours in that city for nearly three 
 years placed him in those close confidential relations to the Church of which his 
 touching farewell to the elders (Acts xx, 17) is an imperishable memorial. At 
 first the Church was a mixed one, composed of Jewish and Gentile converts, per- 
 haps chiefly of the former, but at the later date, when this epistle was written, it 
 is evident that the latter predominated. Paul's address at Miletus shows that 
 the Church at Ephesus was thoroughly organized under its own proper officers, 
 having, after Paul's departure, remained for some time under the care of Timo- 
 thy. Here, too, the apostles encountered some rather formidable antagonists, 
 notably the sons of Sceva, Hymeneus and Alexander, and also Phygellus and 
 Hermogenes. The name of the Apostle John is also closely connected with Eph- 
 esus, which Church was one of those written to by him under the direct instruction 
 of Christ, (Rev. ii, 1,) and also in the story of his later life as given by Eusebius. 
 Ignatius, also, addressed one of his epistles to this Church. 
 
 THE AUTHOR AND THE PURPOSE OF THIS EPISTLE. 
 
 The epistle opens with the name and title of its reputed author, and the 
 evidence in favour of the correctness of its implication as to its authorship is too 
 clear and strong to admit of any serious question. And accordingly, critics 
 and biblical scholars of every class have, with almost absolute unanimity, conceded 
 its Pauline original. " The genuineness and authenticity," says Bishop Ellicott, 
 ''admit of no reasonable doubt. The testimonies of the early Church are usually 
 strong and persistent, and have never been called in question till comparatively 
 recent times." In addition to the united testimony of the early Church, that of the 
 early heretics may also be cited, for they without dissent concur in confessing its 
 genuine Pauline authorship. 
 
 As to the occasion that called it out: it does not appear to have been written 
 to meet any special demand, but rather as an expression of the deep love felt 
 by the apostle for his converts and fellow Christians of the Ephesian Church, 
 and his earnest desire not only that they should remain steadfast in the faith, but 
 also attain to all of their high privileges in the Gospel. " The epistle thus con- 
 tains many thoughts that had pervaded the nearly contemporaneous epistle to the 
 Colossians, reiterates many of the same practical warnings and exhortations, bears 
 even the tinge of the same diction, but at the same time enlarges upon such pro- 
 found mysteries of the divine counsels, displays so fully the origin and develop- 
 ment of the Church in ( 'hrist, its union, communion, and aggregation in him, 
 that this majestic epistle can never be rightly deemed otherwise than one of the 
 most sublime and consolatory outpourings of the Spirit of God on the children of 
 men. To the Christians at Ephesus dwelling under the shadow of the great tem- 
 ple of Diana, daily seeing its outward grandeur, and almost daily hearing of its 
 pompous ritualism, the allusions in this epistle to that mystic building of which 
 Christ was the corner stone, the apostles the foundations, and himself and his 
 fellow Christians portions of the august superstructure, (ii, 19-22,) must have 
 
 li:;3
 
 PREFACE TO THE EPISTLE TO THE EPTTESIANS. 
 
 spoken with a force, an appropriateness, and a reassuring depth of teaching that 
 cannot be overestimated." — M' Clintock and Wrong. 
 
 [We are unable to perceive from the letter itself any special occasion for it 
 on the part of the Ephesians. It appears that Paul simply availed himself of the 
 opportunity offered by the mission of Tychicus and Onesimus to Colosse, to send 
 Tyehicus also to Ephesus, in order not only to supply the Christians there with 
 oral news of himself and to obtain news of them, but also to address to them a 
 written discourse, partly on the glory of redemption and of their state as Christ- 
 ians, and partly on the conduct in keeping with it, in order to strengthen and further 
 them in steadfastness and unity of faith and Christian morality. There are no 
 traces of Ephesian false teachers similar to those at Colosse in this epistle, neither 
 is a precautionary regard to such theosophy and asceticism hinted at in the epistle. 
 Paul may, however, have had in the background the thought of the possible 
 approach of that Gnostic danger, though he did not consider it necessary or suit- 
 able at this time to furnish an express reference or warning to that effect. — See 
 
 Meyer.] 
 
 THE TIME AXD PLACE OF ITS COMPOSITION 1 . 
 
 The writer of this epistle styles himself " the prisoner of the Lord," (chapter 
 iv, 1; vi, 20,) which definitely fixes the place of the writing, and approximately 
 the time; for it has always been the prevailing opinion that this imprisonment 
 was the captivity at Rome, extending over the two years named at the close 
 of the Acts of the Apostles. (See preface to Philippians.) [St. Paul's (first) 
 imprisonment at Rome commenced early in A. D. 61, and lasted at least two 
 years. The three epistles (Colossians, Ephesians, and Philemon) were certainly 
 sent at one and the same time. In speaking therefore of the time and place of 
 writing this epistle, we are dealing with the others likewise. That all these were 
 written at Rome during that imprisonment has been the general belief from 
 ancient times downward, and all the circumstances of this epistle are readily 
 adapted to that theory. The theory that assigns its composition to Paul's im- 
 prisonment at Cesarea, (Acts xxiv, 27,) which is favoured by Meyer, is not so easily 
 adjusted to statements and allusions in the epistle. From Ephesians vi, 19, 20, 
 we gather that Paul had a certain amount of freedom in preaching the Gospel 
 which is not consistent with what we read in Acts xxiv, 23, of his imprisonment 
 at Cesarea : At Rome also his friends had much more ready access to him than 
 seems to have been the case in the former place. The mention of the compan- 
 ions that were with him agrees much better with the circumstances of the latter 
 imprisonment. Probably this question (of the place of writing, as between 
 Cesarea and Rome) will never be settled with absolute certainty, though the 
 evidence seems to be decidedly in favour of the Roman side. We may then 
 safely assume that our epistle was from Rome, probably during the period com- 
 prised in Acts xxviii, 30, before St. Paul's imprisonment assumed the harsher 
 character which seems to come before us in the epistle to the Philippians. See 
 
 Alford.] 
 
 CONTEXTS OF THE EPISTLE. 
 
 The apostle thanks God for the privileges enjo} T ed in the Gospel through the 
 
 divine predestination, and declares that he ever gives thanks and prays for those 
 
 to whom he writes, that God may enable them to see the riches of the Gospel 
 
 and the greatness of its power as displayed in God's raising Christ from the 
 
 dead and exalting him to heaven. (Chapter i.) He reminds them of what they 
 
 once were, when dead in sins; but now he declares they have been saved by grace 
 
 '239
 
 PREFACE TO THE EPISTLE TO THE EPIIESIANS. 
 
 through faith in Jesus Christ, who is our peace, and has broken down the middle 
 wall of partition between Jews and Gentiles, and that they are no longer 
 strangers, but fellow-citizens with the saints. He declares that a dispensation of 
 the Gospel has been committed to him, to whom it was revealed that the Gentiles 
 should be fellow heirs and partakers of the blessings of the Gospel, which it is 
 his mission to preach among the Gentiles. He prays that they may be fully 
 established in grace, and be enabled to know fully the love, and to be filled with 
 the fulness, of God. (Chapters ii, iii.) He exhorts them to walk worthy of their 
 high vocation, in humility, love, and unity, and speaks of the various officers in 
 the Church appointed by Christ for its edification and unity. He exhorts them 
 to live, not as other Gentiles, in blindness and lust, but to put on the new man 
 of righteousness and holiness; to be truthful, angry without sin, honest, chaste 
 in conversation; to lay aside all bitterness, anger, and evil speaking, and to walk 
 in love and purity of life, redeeming the time; to be sober, to praise God in 
 sacred songs, and to be thankful. He illustrates the relation existing between 
 husbands and wives by that which exists between Christ and his Church; de- 
 scribes the mutual duties of parents and children, of servants and masters, and 
 exhorts the saints to put on the whole armour of God, which he describes, that 
 they may master their spiritual foes. He asks their prayers for himself in his 
 bonds, and informs them that he has sent Tychicus, who will give them informa- 
 tion respecting his affairs, and closes by invoking upon them the divine blessing. 
 (Chapters iv-vi.) — Harman. 
 
 [The student of the epistle to the Ephesians must not expect to go over his 
 ground rapidly; must not be disappointed if the week's end find him still on the 
 same paragraph, or even on the same verse, weighing and judging — penetrating 
 gradually, by the power of the mind of the Spirit, through one outer surface 
 after another — gathering in his hand one and another of the ramifying threads, 
 till at last he grasps the main cord whence they all emerged, and where they all 
 unite, and stands rejoicing in his prize, deeper rooted in the faith, and with a 
 
 firmer hold on the truth as it is in Christ. — Alforcl] 
 
 240
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE 
 
 TO 
 
 THE EPHESIANS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAUL, an apostle of Jesns Christ "by the 
 will of God. 'to the saints which are at 
 Ephesus, c and to the faithful in Christ Jesus : 
 2 d Grace be to you, and peace, from God 
 
 a 2 Cor. 1.1. 
 6. '21 ; Col. 1. 2 
 
 -/, Rom. 1. 7: 2 Cor. 1. 1. c\ Cor. 4. 17: chap. 
 
 — a Gal. 1. 3 ; Titus 1. 1. e2Cor. 1. 3; 1 IVt. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER 1. 
 
 1. An apostle of Jesus Christ — [Rather, of 
 Christ Jesus ; which is the order of the Greek 
 text.] The expression Xotorov 'Ir/aov seems rather 
 to denote possession, than to belong to cittogto'aoc 
 and designate the person by whom sent. — A/ford.] 
 By (through) the will of God — [Am deUjuaroc 
 Qeov. Referring to the preveniently purposed grace, 
 by the operation of which all actual and perfected 
 grace among believers is " begun, continued, and 
 finished."] To the saints which are at Eph- 
 esus — The words hv 'E^tuoj, in Ephesus, have been 
 called in question. The consideration of the sub- 
 ject will be found in the preface. By the term 
 " saints," dyioic, we are to understand those who in 
 that place professed Christianity, and were mem- 
 bers of the Christian Church. "Saint" properly 
 signifies a holy person, and such the Gospel of 
 Christ requires every man to be, and such every 
 true believer is, both in heart and life ; but " saint " 
 appears to have been as ordinary a denomination 
 of a believer in Christ in those primitive times, as 
 the term Christian is now. Yet many had the 
 namt who had not the thing. [The first verse may 
 be rendered — Paul an apostle (belonging to) Jesus 
 Christ, (made such) through the will of God, to 
 those who are saints [in Ephesus] and to the be- 
 lievers in Christ Jesus.] The faithful in Christ 
 Jesus — TLioTolg, the believers ; the persons who 
 received Christ as the promised Messiah and the 
 Saviour of the world, (their personal Saviour,) and 
 continued in the grace which they had received. 
 
 2. Grace be to you — See note on Romans 
 i, 7. 
 
 3. Blessed be the God — See the note on 2 Cor. 
 i, 3, where the same form is used. With all spirit- 
 ual blessings — \TLvevfiaTiic6c, in the New Testa- 
 ment, always implies the working of the Holy 
 Spirit, never bearing merely our modern inaccurate 
 sense of spiritual as opposed to bodily. — Alford.] 
 With the pure doctrines of the (Jospel, and the 
 abundant gifts and graces of the Holy Ghost, justi- 
 fying, sanctifying, and building us up on our most 
 holy faith. In heavenly places — 'Ev rolg ettov- 
 
 Vol. II.— 10 
 
 our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 3 e Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all 
 spiritual blessings in heavenly f places in Christ : 
 
 4 According as she hath chosen us in him 
 
 1. 3. /Or, things, cliap. 6. 12. g Rom. 8. 28 ; 2 Thess. 2. 13 ; 
 
 2 Tim. 1. »; James 2. 5; 1 1'et. 1. 2; 2. 9. 
 
 pavioic, in heavenly things, such as those mentioned 
 above. Some think the word should be understood 
 as signifying blessings of the most exalted or excel- 
 lent kind, such as are spiritual in opposition to 
 those that are earthly ; such as are eternal in oppo- 
 sition to those that are temporal ; and all these in, 
 through, and by Christ. [Besides in this passage, 
 the phrase ev role e-orpavioic is found in verse 20; 
 ii, 6 ; iii, 10; vi, 1'2, and in all with a local sense — 
 in the domain of the heavenly ; hence, in accord- 
 ance with the nature of the matter, it is not to be 
 taken in any coarse, sensuous signification as meas- 
 urable space, but as domain, region. — Braune.] 
 
 4. According as he hath chosen us in him 
 — As he has decreed from the beginning of the 
 world, and has kept in view from the commence- 
 ment of the religious system of the Jews, (which 
 the phrase sometimes means,) to bring us Gentiles 
 to the knowledge of this glorious state of salvation 
 by Christ Jesus. The Jews considered themselves 
 an elect or chosen people, and wished to monopolize 
 the whole of the divine love and beneficence. The 
 apostle here shows that God had the Gentiles as 
 much in the contemplation of his mercy and good- 
 ness as he had the Jews ; and the blessings of the 
 Gospel, now so freely dispensed to them, were the 
 proof that God had thus chosen them, and that his 
 end in giving them the Gospel was the same which 
 he had in view by giving the Law to the Jews, name- 
 ly, that they might be holy and without blame be- 
 fore him. [KaOur, according, since, seeing that. 
 This word explains and expands the foregoing, 
 showing wherein the evTwyia (blessing) consists as re- 
 gards us, and in God's working toward us. — Alford.] 
 I'H/iuc, us, we, our, (used thirteen times in verses 
 3-12,) while it explicitly includes himself (the apos- 
 tle) and the Ephesians, it also by implication takes 
 in all believers. — Whedon.] ["Hath chosen us,"' 
 egetet-aTo, selected us. I render selected in prefer- 
 ence to elected, as better giving the middle sense, 
 "he choose us for himself," and the '- (-hows) that 
 it is a choosing out of the world. — Alford."] [The 
 prefix ek, out of. implies an unchosen remainder 
 really or conditionally left, which remainder consti- 
 
 241
 
 EPITESIANS. 
 
 h before the foundation of the world, that we 
 should ' be holy and without blame before him 
 in love: 5 k Having predestinated us unto 
 1 the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to 
 himself, "'according to the good pleasure of 
 his will, 6 To the praise of the glory of his 
 
 M Pot. 1. 2, 20. jLuke 1. 75: chap. 2. 10: 5. 27; Col. I. 22: 
 
 1 Thess. 4. 7 : lit. 2. 12. /' Horn. 8. 29, 30: verse II. /John 
 
 I. 12; R«m. a 15: 2 Cor. 6. 18: tial. 4 o; 1 John 3. I. m Matt. 
 
 II. 26 ; Luke 12. 32 ; 1 tor. 1. 21 ; verse 9. 
 
 tutes the anti-Church of chapter v, 1-21. This 
 choice was part of the grand divine ideal, the univer- 
 sal restoration of verse 10. — Wliedon.~\ ['Ev avrw, 
 in him, Christ, as the head and representative of the 
 spiritual, as Adam was the representative of the nat- 
 ural, humanity. — EHicott.] Before the founda- 
 tion of the world — [II/xj KaTaftoXqg koguov. The 
 election of grace took place before the creation, the 
 beginning of the carrying out of the well-ordered 
 plan of the universe, (udo/iog.) Thus the reference 
 to the eternity preceding time is made very strong. 
 — Branne.~\ [Eiror ayiovc ml ayuyovc, to be holy 
 and blameless, the infinitive of design. The calling 
 of believers is not because they are holy, but that 
 they may become so.] 
 
 5. Having predestinated us — Upoopiaag. The 
 verb Trpoopi^u, I define, or terminate, (whence bpog, 
 a boundary or limit,) signifies to define beforehand, 
 and circumscribe by certain bounds or limits. Here 
 the word is used to point out God's fixed purpose 
 or predetermination to bestow on the Gentiles the 
 blessing of the adoption of sons by Jesus Christ, 
 which adoption had been before granted to the 
 Jewish people. And the apostle marks that all this 
 was f ©redetermined by God ; that the Jews had no 
 reason to complain, for God had formed this pur- 
 pose before he had given the law, or called them 
 out of Egypt ; and that, therefore, the conduct of 
 God in calling the Gentiles now — bringing them into 
 his Church, and conferring on them the gifts and 
 graces of the Holy Spirit, was in pursuance of his 
 original design ; and that, as the Jews were taken 
 to be his peculiar people, not because they had any 
 goodness or merit in themselves; so the Gentiles 
 were called, not for any merit they had, but ac- 
 cording to the good pleasure of his will; that 
 is, according to his eternal benevolence, show ing 
 mercy and conferring privileges in this new crea- 
 tion, as he had done in the original creation ; for 
 as, in creating man, he drew every consideration 
 from his own innate eternal benevolence, so now, 
 in redeeming man, and sending the glad tidings of 
 salvation both to the Jews and the Gentiles, he 
 acted on the same principles, deriving all the rea- 
 sons of his conduct from his own infinite good- 
 ness. 
 
 [Predestination here, as in Rom. viii, 29, is a des- 
 tination to a particular thing, namely, (in this case,) 
 to sonship in the image of Christ. . . . Election is 
 the preference for the conditioned object, (person,) 
 lying in the eternal divine nature; predestination, 
 the specific direction of the object to its (his) par- 
 ticular blessed destiny. It (predestination) is the 
 divinely established connexion between tin conditioned 
 object and his final salvation, never being affirmed of 
 the wicked. — Whedon.] 
 
 6. To the praise of the glory of his grace 
 — A6^i/c Tfjc xapuoc avrov, the glory of his grace, 
 for X"I"C evdoi-og, bis glorious or illustrious grace, 
 according to the Hebrew idiom. The grace or 
 mercy of God is peculiarly illustrated and glorified 
 
 242 
 
 grace, "wherein he hath made us accepted in 
 ■the Beloved : 7 Pin whom we have redemp- 
 tion through his blood, the forgiveness of 
 sins, according to 1 * the riches of his grace; 
 » Wherein he hath abounded toward us in 
 all wisdom and prudence; 9 r Having made 
 
 n Rom. 3. 24: 5. 15. o Matt. 3. 17; 17. 5: John 3. 35; 10. 17. 
 
 1> Acts 20. 28; Rom. 3. 24; Col. 1. 14: Heb. 9. 12: 1 I'et. I. 
 
 is, 19; Rev. 5. 9. <j Rom. 2. 4; 3. 24; 9. 23; chap. 2. 7; 3. 8, 10; 
 
 Phil. 4. 19. /• Rom. ltj. 25 ; chap. 3. 4, 9 ; Col. 1. 26. 
 
 in the plan of redemption by Christ Jesus. By the 
 giving of the law God's justice and holiness were 
 rendered most glorious ; by the giving of the Gos- 
 pel his grace and mercy are made equally conspic- 
 uous. Wherein he hath made us accepted in 
 the Beloved — This translation of ev ?}c exapiruaev 
 fjyac ev rw i]yaTVT]uevu is not clear; with which he 
 has graciously favoured us through the Beloved, is at 
 onee more literal and more intelligible. Whitby, 
 Maeknight, and Wakefield translate the passage in 
 nearly the same way. [Wherewith he endued us 
 in the Beloved. — Revised Version.} 
 
 7. In whom we have redemption — God has 
 glorified his grace by giving us redemption by the 
 blood of • his Son, and this redemption consists in 
 forgiving and delivering us from our sins; so then 
 Christ's blood was the redemption price paid down 
 for our salvation ; and this was according to the 
 riches of his grace ; as his grace is rich or abundant 
 in benevolence, so it was manifested in beneficence 
 to mankind, in their redemption by the sacrifice of 
 Christ, the measure of redeeming grace being the 
 measure of God's own eternal goodness. Through 
 his blood — [The choice of these words (by the 
 apostle) is of itself a testimony to the idea of ex- 
 piation having been in his mind. Not the death of 
 the victim, but its blood, was the typical instru- 
 ment of expiation. — Harle$s.~\ [The nexus we may 
 not be able to discover fully, but . . . the death of 
 Christ has governmental relations — has an influence 
 on our salvation totally different in nature and 
 sphere of operation from its subjective power in 
 subduing the heart by the love which it presents, 
 and the thrilling motives which it brings to bear 
 upon it. — EadieJ] 
 
 S. Wherein he hath abounded— That is, in 
 the dispensation of mercy and goodness by Christ 
 Jesus. In all wisdom and prudence — Giving 
 (to) us apostles the most complete instructions in 
 heavenly things by the inspiration of his Spirit; 
 and at the same time " prudence," that we might 
 know when and where to preach the Gospel so that 
 it may be effectual to the salvation of those who 
 hear it. Nothing less than the Spirit of God could 
 teach the apostles that " wisdom " by which they 
 were to instruct a dark and sinful world ; and noth- 
 ing less than the same Spirit could inspire them with 
 that " prudence " (discreetness) which was necessary 
 to be exercised in every step of their life and ministry. 
 Every minister of Christ needs these still ; and if 
 he abide not under the influence of both, not only 
 his prayers but his ministerial labours will be all 
 hindered. 
 
 9. Having made known unto us the mys- 
 tery — That the Gentiles should ever be received in- 
 to the Church of God, and have all the privileges 
 of the Jews, without being obliged to submit to 
 circumcision and perform the rites and ceremonies 
 of the Jewish law was a "mystery" — a hidden 
 thing which had never been published before. It 
 was Cod's will that it should be so, but that
 
 God's purpose tn form one Church 
 of all telieving men. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 known unto us the mystery of his will, ac- 
 cording to his good pleasure • which he hath 
 purposed in himself: lO That in the dispen- 
 sation of ' the fulness of times ' lie might gather 
 together in one v all things in Christ, both 
 which are in w heaven, and which are on earth ; 
 
 *Chap. 3.11: 2 Tim. 1.9. «Gal.4.4; lleb. 1.2:9. 10: 1 Pet. 
 
 1. 2». ii I Or. 3. SB, 23 : 11. 3; chap. 2. 15 ; 3. 15. v Phil. 2. 
 
 9, 10; Col. 1. 20. — ioGr. the In avt m- 
 
 " will " he kept hiddt n to the present time. A "mys- 
 tery " signifies something hidden, hut it ceases to 
 be a mystery as soon as it is revealed. (See the 
 note on Matt, xiii, 11; and particularly that on 
 Rom. xi, 25.) [St. Paul ever represents the re- 
 demptive counsel of God as a mystery; that is, a 
 design hidden in his counsel, until revealed to man- 
 kind in and by Christ, — Alford.] Good pleas- 
 ure — T/)r evdoidav, that benevolent design which he 
 hath purposed in himself, it not being induced 
 by any consideration from without. 
 
 10. In the dispensation cf the fulness of 
 times — E;c o'uiovouiav tov Tr/jjpuuaroc ruv natpwv. 
 The word o'lKovofiia, from which comes our word 
 economy, signifies, as Dr. Macknight has well ob- 
 served, " the plan which the master of a family, or 
 Ins steward, has established for the management of 
 the family ; " it signifies, also, a plan for the man- 
 agement of any sort of business ; and here it means 
 the dispensation of the Gospel — that plan by which 
 God has provided salvation for a lost world; and 
 according to which he will gather all believers, 
 both Jews and Gentiles, into one Church under Je- 
 sus Christ, their head and governor. By the phrase 
 " fulness of times " we are to understand either 
 the dispensation of the Gospel, which is the con- 
 summation of all preceding dispensations, and the 
 last that shall be afforded to man ; or that ad- 
 vanced state of the world which God saw to be the 
 most proper for the full manifestation of those benev- 
 olent purposes which he had formed in himself rela- 
 tive to the salvation of the world by Jesus Christ. 
 (See Gal. iv, 4.) That ... he might gather 
 together in one — ' AvaKEoa'/.aiuaaadai, to reduce to 
 one sum; to add up; to bring different sums to- 
 gellier, and fractions of sums, so as to reduce them 
 under "//<■ denomination ; to recapitulate the princi- 
 pal matters contained in a discourse. Here it means 
 the gathering together both Jews and Gentiles, who 
 have believed in Christ, into one Church and flock. 
 (See the preceding note.) All things . . . which 
 are in heaven, and which are on earth — This 
 clause is variously understood : some think, by 
 "things in heaven" the Jewish State is meant; 
 and by "things on earth" the Christian. Others 
 imagine that the "things in heaven" mean the an- 
 gelical hosts; and the " things on earth," believ- 
 ers of all nations, who shall all be joined together 
 at last in one assembly to worship God throughout 
 eternity. And some think that the "things in 
 heaven" mean the saints who died before Christ's 
 advent, and who are not to be made perfect till the 
 resurrection unites them with their holy souls, to 
 reign in his presence for ever. And some think 
 tint the "heavens" and "the earth," signifying 
 all creatures, are to be understood of all mankind, 
 without discrimination of peoples, kindreds, or 
 tongues ; Jews, Greeks, or barbarians. All that 
 are saved of all nations, (being saved in the same 
 way, namely, by faith in Christ Jesus, without any 
 distinction of nation or previous condition,) and all 
 
 even in him: 11 * In whom also we have ob- 
 tained an inheritance, i being predestinated 
 according to *the purpose of him who work- 
 eth all things after the counsel of his own 
 will: 12 "That we should be to the praise of 
 his glory, ''who first c trusted in Christ. 13 In 
 
 X Vets 20. :".2: 26. 1*: Rom. S. 17; Col. 1. 12; 3. 21: Titus :. 7; 
 
 Jam. 2. 5: 1 Pet. 1. 4. (/Verse 5. s Isa. 40. 10,11. a Verse 
 
 t>. 14; 2Thess. 2. 13. b Jain. 1. 18. cOr, hoped. 
 
 gathered into one Church or assembly. Evidently 
 the forming one Church out of both .lews and 
 Gentiles is that to which the apostle refers. This 
 agrees with what is said in chapter ii, 14-17. [ '/'he 
 things i» the heavens, universal — not limited to the 
 angels, nor spirits of the just, still less to be un- 
 derstood of the Jews, those upon the earth being 
 Gentiles, but the apostle's meaning extends much 
 further. The construction is a common one, . . . 
 all creation is summed up in Christ; it was the re- 
 sult of the love of the Father for the Son, and in 
 the Son it is all regarded by the Father. . . . The 
 Church, of which the apostle here mainly treats, is 
 subordinated to him in the highest degree of con- 
 scious and joyful union. — A/ford.] 
 
 11. In whom — Christ Jesus. Also we — Christ- 
 ians, both Jews and Gentiles. Have obtained 
 an inheritance — What was promised to Abraham 
 and his spiritual seed, namely, the adoption of sons 
 and the kingdom of heaven, signified by the privi- 
 leges under the Mosaic dispensation and the pos- 
 session of the promised land. Being predesti- 
 nated — God having determined to bring both Jews 
 and Gentiles to salvation, not by works, nor by any 
 human means or schemes, but by Jesus Christ ; that 
 salvation being defined and determined before in 
 the divine mind, and the means by which it should 
 be brought about all being according to his purpose, 
 who consults not his creatures, but operates ac- 
 cording to the counsel of his own will, that be- 
 ing ever wise, gracious, and good. The original 
 reference is still kept up here in the word -paapic- 
 Btvrec, being predestinated, as in the word wpooplcag, 
 verse 5. And as the apostle speaks of obtaining 
 the inheritance, he most evidently refers to that of 
 which the promised land was the type and pledge. 
 And as that land was assigned to the Israelites by 
 limit and lot, both of which were appointed by- 
 God, so the salvation now sent to the Gentiles was 
 as expressly their lot or portion as the promised 
 land was that of the people of Israel. All this 
 shows that the Israelites were a typical jieoph ; 
 their land, the manner of possessing it, their civil 
 and religious code, etc., all typical ; and thai 
 
 and through them, God had fore-determined, fore- 
 described, and fore-ascertained a greater and more 
 glorious people, among whom the deepest counsels 
 of his wisdom should be manifested, ami the most 
 powerful works of his eternal mercy, grace, holi- 
 ness, goodness, anil truth be fully exhibited. Thus 
 there was nothing fortuitous in the Christian 
 scheme; all was the result of infinite counsel and 
 design. (See on verse 5.) 
 
 12. That we — ['H/iag, we, here first distinguished 
 from bjieic, ye, in the next verse.] Apostles and 
 messengers of God, to whom the first otters of sal- 
 vation were made, and who were the first that be- 
 lit vi d in ( hrist. Should be to the praise of his 
 glory — By being the means of preaching Christ 
 crucified to the Gentiles, and spreading the Gospel 
 throughout the world. 
 
 243
 
 A. M. 4A65. A. D. fil. 
 Year of Rome, -14. 
 
 EPIIESIANS. 
 
 whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard d the 
 word of truth, the gospel of your salvation : 
 iu whom also, after that ye believed. D ye 
 Mere sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, 
 14 f Which is the earnest of our inheritance 
 e until the redemption of b the purchased posses- 
 sion, ' unto the praise of his glory. 15 When- 
 fore I also, k after 1 heard of your faith in the 
 
 rf.Tohn 1. 17: 2 Cor. 6. 7. f2 Cor. 1. 22; chap. 4. 30. 
 
 f-1 Cor. 1. 22; a. 5. a Luke 31. 28 i Rom. 8. 23 ; chap. 4. 30. 
 
 fi Acts J i. -is. iVersesb', 12 ; 1 Pet. 2. H. £Col. 1. 4 ; Philem. 5. 
 
 13. In whom ye also trusted— [There is no 
 word for "trusted" in the original. Some good 
 critics would supply earf were, which is less violent, 
 and makes good sense. The apostle delighted to 
 reiterate the idea that Christians are in Christ. 
 See Alton!.] Ye Gentiles, having heard from us 
 the word, rbv Aoyov, the doctrine of the truth, 
 which is the gospel, or glad tidings, of your sal- 
 vation, have believed, as we Jews have done, and 
 received similar blessings to those with which God 
 has favoured us. "In whom also," ev a, Christ 
 Jesus — after that ye believed, namely, that he 
 was the only Saviour, and that through his blood 
 redemption might be obtained, ye were sealed 
 with that Holy Spirit of promise: that is, The 
 Holy Spirit, which is promised to those who believe 
 on Christ Jesus, was given to you, and thus you 
 were ascertained to be the children of God; for 
 God has no child who is not a partaker of the Holy 
 Ghost, and he who has this Spirit has God's seal 
 that he belongs to the heavenly family. It was 
 customary among all nations, when a person pur- 
 chased goods of any kind, to mark with his seal 
 that which he had bought, in order that he might 
 know it, and be able to claim it if mixed with the 
 goods of others ; to this custom the apostle may 
 here allude: but it was also customary to sel a seal 
 upon what was dedicated to God, or what was to be 
 offered to him in sacrifice. (See on John vi, '27.) 
 [The sealing was objective, making manifest to 
 others; but also subjective, an approval and sub- 
 stantiation of their faith . . . This, and not the 
 other alternative, that the Spirit confirms God's 
 promises to us, is the true rendering. The fact 
 that the Spirit is to us "the Spirit of promise," is 
 abundantly expressed in the following clause. See 
 Alford.] 
 
 1 1 . Which is the earnest of our inheritance 
 — The Holy Spirit, sealing the soul with truth and 
 righteousness, is earnest, foretaste, and pledge of the 
 heavenly inheritance. And he who can produce 
 this earnest — this witness of the Spirit — in the day 
 of judgment, shall have an abundant entrance into 
 the holiest. On the appaSuv, or earnest, see the 
 notes on 2 Cor. i, 22. The redemption of the 
 purchased possession — ' A-o/vrpuoiv rfjc -Kepnroi- 
 t/oeoc, [used here in the sense as "the Church 
 which he purchased with his own blood." (Acts 
 xx, 28.) The Church is already purchased, and so 
 belongs to Christ of right; its complete redemption 
 is not yet consummated, but is assured.] Unto 
 the praise of his glory — [The thorough and final 
 redemption of the Church which he has acquired 
 to himself (through Christ,) is the greatest triumph 
 of his (the Father's) glory. — Alford.] 
 
 [In verges 15-23 the idea of the Church is car- 
 ried forward in the form of a prayer for the Ephe- 
 sians, in which the fulfilment of the Father's coun- 
 sel through the Son and by the Spirit, in his peo- 
 ple, is set forth, as consisting in the knowledge of 
 244 
 
 Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, 
 16 ' Cease not to give thanks for you, making 
 mention of you in my prayers; 17 That ,n the 
 God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of 
 glory, "may give unto you the spirit of wis- 
 dom and revelation "in the knowledge of him : 
 IS PThe eyes of your understanding being en- 
 lightened ; that ye may know what is a the 
 
 /Rom. 1. 9; Phil. 1. 3, 4: Col. 1. 3; 1 Tliess. 1. 2: 2 Thess. 
 1. 3. m John 2d. 17. n Col. 1. y. oOr.>,- tin- acknowl- 
 edgment; Col. 2. 2. />Acts 26. 18. q Chap. 2. 12; 4. 4. 
 
 the hope of calling, of the riches of his promise, 
 and the power which he exercised on his saints as 
 first wrought by him, in Christ, whom he has made 
 head over all to the Church. — Alford.] 
 
 15. Wherefore — [A/a tovto, for this. What is 
 named in verses 13, 14, anovoaq, having heard of.] 
 Faith . . . and love unto all — Cordial reception 
 of the Christian religion, amply proved by their 
 love to all the saints — to all the Christians. Per- 
 haps " love," here, implies not only the kind affec- 
 tion so called, but also all the fruits of love — be- 
 nevolence, and kind offices of every description. 
 
 16. Cease not to give thanks — The apostle 
 intimates, so fully satisfied was he of the genuine- 
 ness of their conversion and of their steadiness 
 since their conversion, that it was to him a con- 
 tinual cause of thanksgiving to God, who had 
 brought them into that state of salvation ; and of 
 prayer, that they might be preserved blameless to 
 the end. Making mention of you — ["Of you " 
 is not in the original, and probably it should be 
 exchanged for of them, that is, your faith and 
 love.] 
 
 17. That the God of our Lord Jesus — Jesus 
 Christ, as man and mediator, has the Father for his 
 God and Father; and it is in reference to this 
 that he himself says : I ascend unto my Father and 
 your Father, and to my God and your God. (John 
 xx, 17.) The Father of glory — The author and 
 giver of that glory which you may expect as 
 being found in Christ. This may be a Hebraism 
 for glorious Father, but the former appears to be 
 the better sense. [God is the Father — by being the 
 God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ — of that 
 glory, the true and all-including glory, and only 
 yf<>ri/, ot the Godhead, which shone forth in the 
 manhood of the only begotten Son, (John i, 14,) the 
 true shechinah, which his saints beheld in the face 
 of Christ. — Alford.] The Spirit of wisdom and 
 revelation — I pray that God may give you his 
 Holy Spirit, by whom his will is revealed to men, 
 that he may teach and make you wise unto salva- 
 tion, that you may continue to have the full knowl- 
 edge (e -tyvLJotc) of him, Christ Jesus, as your only 
 Lord and Saviour. 
 
 18. The eyes of your understanding being 
 enlightened — [Instead of diavoiag, (understand- 
 ing,) most of the best authorities have napSiae, 
 ( heart.) which doubtless should be received.] What 
 the eye is to the body the heart is to the soul; and 
 as the eye is not light in itself, and can discern noth- 
 ing but by the means of light shining not only on 
 the objects to be viewed but into the eye itself, so 
 the heart of man can discern no sacred thing of or 
 by itself, but sees by the influence of the Spirit of 
 wisdom and revelation ; for without the influence 
 of God's Holy Spirit no man ever became wise un- 
 to salvation, no more than a man ever discerned an 
 object (no matter how perfect soever his eye might 
 have been) without the instrumentality of light.
 
 Conclusion of tli^ 
 wonderful pi 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 A. M. 4065. A. P. 51. 
 Year of Rome, 814. 
 
 hope of his calling, and what the riches of 
 the glory of his inheritance in the saints, 
 
 19 And what is the exceeding greatness of 
 his power to us-ward who believe, 'accord- 
 ing to the working 'of his mighty power, 
 
 20 Which he wrought in Christ, when 
 "he raised him from the dead, and 'set him 
 at his own right hand in the heavenly 
 places, 21 "Far above all "principality, 
 and power, and might, and dominion, and 
 
 /■Verse II. sCliap. 3.7; Col. 1. 20; 2. 12. tGr. of the 
 
 might of his power. — u Acts 2. 24, vs. 1 ,. — >■ Psa. llo. 1 : Acts 
 
 7. 55, 56; Col. 3. 1 : Heb. 1. 3; 10. 12. w Phil. 2. 9, 10; Col. 2. 
 
 10; Heb. 1. 4. asKom. 8. 38; Col. 1. 16; 2. 15. y Psa. 8. 6: 
 
 The hope of his calling — That you may clearly 
 
 discern [have just appreciation of] the glorious and 
 important objects of your hope, to the enjoyment 
 of which God has called you ; and the riches of the 
 glory of his inheritance — The glorious abundance 
 of the spiritual things to which you are entitled in 
 consequence of being made children of God. 
 
 19. The exceeding greatness of his power 
 — [The third object of the insight is the power of 
 God, which leads from the calling to the inheri- 
 tance. The "exceeding greatness" of this power 
 is a worthy object of profound (spiritual) insight. 
 It must and can also be experienced, since it makes 
 itself felt " to us-ward " — to those " who believe." — 
 Braune.] According to the working of his 
 mighty power — Kara rfp> tvepyeiav rob Kparovg 
 rf/r 'laxi'or avrov, according to (through, by virtue 
 of) the energy of Ike power of his might. We may 
 understand these words thus: might, iox'uoc, is the 
 state or simple efficiency of this attribute in God ; 
 power, KfHtrovc, is this might or efficiency in action ; 
 energy, evipyeia, is the quantum of force, mo- 
 mentum, or velocity with which the power is ap- 
 plied. Though they appear to be synonymous terms 
 they may be thus understood : passive power is 
 widely different from power in action ; and power 
 in action will be in its results according to the 
 energy or momentum with which it is applied. 
 The effect here is, in proportion to the cause and 
 the energy he puts forth in order to produce it. 
 But such is the nature of God's power in action, 
 that it is perfectly inconceivable to us; and even 
 these astonishingly strong words of the apostle are 
 to be understood as used in condescension to hu- 
 man weakness. [The resurrection of Christ was not 
 a mere bodily act, an earnest of our bodily resur- 
 rection, but was a spiritual act, the raising of his hu- 
 manity (which is ours) . . . from infirmity to glory, 
 from the curse to the final triumph. — A/ford] 
 
 21. Far above ail principality, and power, 
 and might, and dominion — [That is, God hath 
 invested him with uncontrollable authority over all 
 demons in hell, all angels in heaven, and all the 
 princes and potentates on earth. And every name 
 that is named — We know the king is above all, 
 though we cannot name all the officers of his court. 
 So we know that Christ is above all, though we are 
 not able to name all his subjects. Not only in 
 this world, but also in that which is to come 
 — The world "to come" is so styled, not because 
 it does not exist, but because it is not yet visible. 
 Principalities and powers are named now. But 
 those also who are not even named in this world, 
 but shall be revealed in the world to come, are all 
 subject to Christ. — Wesley.] It is certain that the 
 apostle means that all created power, glory, and 
 influence are under Christ'; and hence it is added — 
 
 vwvy name that is named, not only in this 
 world, but also in that which is to come: 
 22 And y hath put all things under his 
 feet, and gave him z to be the head over all 
 filing* to the church, 23 "Which is his 
 body, r the fulness of him 4 that rilletli all 
 in all. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 ND "you hath he quickened, ''who were 
 
 A 
 
 Matt. 28 18; 1 Cor. IS. 27; Heb. 2. 8. gChap. 4. 15, 16; Col. 
 
 I. 18; Heb. 2. 7. o Kom. 12. 5; 1 Cor. 12. 12, 27: chap. 4. 12; 
 
 :,. 23, 30; Col. 1. 18, 24. pCol. 2. 0. q 1 Cor. 12. 6; chap. 4. 
 
 10; Col. 3. 11. a John 5. 24 j Col. 2. 13. — frVer.5; chap. 4. 18. 
 
 22. And hath put all things under his feet — 
 
 All beings and things are subject to him, whether 
 they be thrones, dominions, principalities, or pow- 
 ers; (Col. i, 10-18, and ii, 10;) for he, God the Fa- 
 ther, has given him to be head — chief and supreme 
 over all, to the Church, the Church having no ruler 
 but Jesus Christ; others may be officers in his 
 Church, but he alone is head and supreme. 
 
 23. Which is his body — As he is head over all 
 things, he is head to the Church ; and this Church 
 is considered as the body of which he is especially 
 the head; and from him as the head, the Church 
 receives light, life, and intelligence. The ful- 
 ness of him — That in which he especially man- 
 ifests his power, goodness, and truth ; for though 
 he fills all the world with his presence, yet he tills 
 all the members of his mystical body with wisdom, 
 goodness, truth, and holiness, in an especial man- 
 ner. Some understand the "fulness" or -'/ijpuiia, 
 here, as signifying the thing to be filled ; so the 
 Christian Church is to be filled by him whose ful- 
 ness fills all his members with all spiritual gifts 
 and graces. And this corresponds with what St. 
 John says, (chapter i, It'.:) "And of his fulness 
 have all we received, and grace for grace:" and 
 with what is said in Col. ii, 9, 10, "Ye are complete 
 in him;" kcu ears iv civtg) ireirAqpufiivoc, and ye 
 are in him filled full ; that is, with gifts and grace. 
 
 How, in any other sense, the Church can be said 
 to be the fulness of him who fills all in all, is diffi- 
 cult to say. However, as Jesus Christ is repre- 
 sented to be the head, and the Church, the body 
 under that head, the individuals being so many 
 members in that body; and as it requires a body 
 (members) to make a head complete : so it requires a 
 Church, or general assembly of believers, to make 
 up the body of Christ. When, therefore, the Jews 
 and Gentiles are brought into this Church, the 
 body may be said to be complete; and thus Christ 
 has his visible fulness upon earth, and the Church 
 may he said to be the fulness of him, etc. (Sir 
 verse 10.) [It (the Church) is veritably his bod> ; 
 not that which in our glorified humanity he per- 
 sonally bears, but that in which he, as the Christ of 
 (iod, is manifested and glorified by spiritual or- 
 ganization. — A lford.~\ 
 
 NOTES ON CI1APTEE II. 
 1. And you hath he quickened — [And yon 
 
 also ; the sentence is incomplete, but the sense is 
 plain, as expressed by the words supplied.] [In the 
 l'.ith and 20th verses of the preceding chapter, Paul 
 spoke of God's working in them by the same al- 
 mighty power whereby he raised Christ from the 
 dead. On the mention of this he, in the fulness of 
 his heart, in the three following verses, runs into a 
 
 245
 
 A. M. 4065. A. D. 61. 
 Year of Rome, M4. 
 
 EPIIESIANS. 
 
 ■ character and conversion 
 of the Ephesians. 
 
 dead in trespasses and sins; 2 c Where- 
 in in time past ye walked according to the 
 course of this world, according to d the prince 
 of the power of the air, the spirit that now 
 worketh in e the children of disobedience: 
 3 ' Among whom also we all had our conver- 
 sation in times past in sthe lusts of our flesh, 
 
 cl Cor. 6. 11; chap. 4. 22; Col. 1. 21; 3. 7: 1 John 5. 19.— 
 
 dChap. 6. 12. eChap. 5. 6: Col. 3. 6. — -/Titus 3. 3; 1 Pet, 
 
 4. 3. ptial. 5. lo. AGr. the wills. i Psa. 51. 5: Rom. 
 
 flow of thought concerning the glory of Christ's 
 exaltation. He here resumes the thread of his dis- 
 course. Who were dead — Not only diseased, 
 but dead ; absolutely void of all spiritual life ; and 
 as incapable of quickening yourselves, as persons 
 literally dead. — Wesley.] In trespasses and sins 
 — [It is doubtful whether or not the apostle intended 
 different things by the two words " trespasses " and 
 "sins;" if so. the former may refer to sinful acts, 
 and the latter to the depraved state of their hearts.] 
 '2. Wherein in time past ye walked — There 
 is much force in these expressions ; the Ephesians 
 had not sinned casually, or now and then, but con- 
 tinually ; it was their continual employment: they 
 " walked " in trespasses and sins ; and this was not 
 a solitary case, all the nations of the earth acted in 
 the same way ; it was the course of this world, 
 aara tuv aiuva rov koojuov tovtov, according to the 
 lift, mode of living, or successive ages of /his world. 
 The word al<l>v, the literal meaning of which is con- 
 stant duration, is often applied to things which 
 have a complete course ; so, here, the whole of life 
 is a tissue of sin from the cradle to the grave, 
 every human soul, unsaved by Jesus Christ, con- 
 tinues to transgress. And the nominally Christian 
 world is in the same state to the present day. Age 
 after age passes on in this way and the living lay it 
 not to heart. The prince of the power of the 
 air — ['A///), air, which in its etymology reminds us 
 of altjv and in its nature of irvevjia, (spirit.) is (liter- 
 ally) the air, the atmosphere surrounding the earth, 
 breathed by all, acting upon the icdafioc, the world of 
 men, standing in many relations to and exerting 
 great power and influence upon their life; hence 
 the power which the prince (the devil) controls is 
 described as "of the air ; " in this (the spirit of the 
 world, society) are found the place and character of 
 the power — its medium, element, region, and domain, 
 its means and mode. . . . We too say, it lies in the 
 air, in the time, thus denoting a quiet, profound, and 
 powerful operation. Thus Satan, with his kingdom, 
 is sharply characterized ; his nature spreading wide- 
 ly miasmata of corrupting power, from which even 
 those truly living can scarcely withdraw or defend 
 themselves; miasmata from diabolical choke-damp, 
 (as in the French Revolution,) even to the most re- 
 fined ethereal poisons of classical aesthetic litera- 
 ture. — Braune.] [The koo/zoc of the New Testa- 
 ment is opposed to God, for it hates Christianity : 
 the believer does not belong to it, (John xvii, 14,) 
 for it is crucified to him and he to it. (Gal. vi, 14.) 
 That same world may be an ideal sphere compre- 
 hending all that is sinful in thought or pursuit, all 
 that out-field which lies beyond the living Church of 
 Christ. — Sadie.] The spirit that now worketh 
 — Tov vvv hepyovvroc. The sphere of the opera- 
 tions of the prince of this world (John xiv, 30, 
 etc.) is the wicked heart of man, and in this he 
 works with energy. He seldom inspires indiffer- 
 ence to religion; the subjects in whom he works 
 are either determinate opposers of true religion, or 
 246 
 
 fulfilling h the desires of the flesh and of the 
 mind; and 'were by nature the children of 
 wrath, even as others. 4 But God, '' who is 
 rich in mercy, for his great love whereAvith he 
 loved us, 5 'Even when we were dead in 
 sins, hath ""quickened us together with Christ, 
 ("by grace ye are saved;) 6 And hath raised 
 
 5. 12, 14. /-Rom. in. 12; chap. 1. 7; verse 7. /Rom. 5. fi, 
 
 8, 10; verse 1. »n Rom. t;. 4. 5; Col. 2. 12, 13; 3. 1, 3. 
 
 n Or, hy whose grace. : see Acts 15. 1 1 ; verse 8 : Titus 3. 5. 
 
 they are systematic and energetic transgressors of 
 God's laws. Children of disobedience — Per- 
 haps a Hebraism for disobedient children; but, 
 taken as it stands here, it is a strong expression in 
 which " disobedience," ?'/ aTtetOeia, appears to be 
 personified, and wicked men exhibited as her chil- 
 dren; the "prince of the power of the air" being 
 their father, while "disobedience" is their mother. 
 Thus they are emphatically, what our Lord calls 
 them, (Matt, xiii, 38,) children of the tricked one ; for 
 they show themselves to be of their father the 
 devil, because they will do his works. (John viii, 44.) 
 
 3. Among whom also we all had our con- 
 versation — " We " Jews, as well as you Gentiles, 
 have lived in transgressions and sins; avtGTpaipt/fJEv, 
 this was the course of our life ; we lived in sin, walked 
 in sin, it was woven through our whole constitution, 
 it tinged every temper, polluted every faculty, and 
 perverted every transaction of life. The lusts — 
 the evil, irregular, and corrupt affections of the 
 heart showed themselves in the perversion of the 
 mind as well as in our general conduct. The mind 
 was darkened by the lusts of the flesh, and both 
 conjoined to produce acts of unrighteousness. It was 
 not the will of God that was done by us, but the 
 will of the flesh and of the mind. Ar.d were 
 by nature the children of wrath — [Wrath- 
 children by nature. — Meyer.] For the in. port of 
 the phrase, by nature, <j>icei, see the note on Gal. 
 ii, 15, and Rom. ii, 14. [4>ictc, in its fundamental 
 idea, is that which has grown as distinguished from 
 that which has been effected. . . . The (pvatc, nature, 
 of any individual thing denotes the peculiarity of 
 its being, which is the result of its being as op- 
 posed to every accessary quality. — Harless.] [The 
 wrath of Cod is not to be understood merely of that 
 of the future judgment, the holy emotion of abso- 
 lute displeasure at evil (sin) which is necessarily 
 posited by absolute love to the good, and is thus the 
 necessary principle of temporal and eternal punish- 
 ment on the part of God. — Meyer.] "Children of 
 wrath " is the same as son of perdition, son of death, 
 etc. ; that is, persons exposed to Cod's displeasure 
 because of their sins. 
 
 4. But God, who is rich in mercy— As they 
 were corrupt in their nature, and sinful in their 
 practice, they could possess no merit, nor have any 
 claim upon God ; and it required much " mercy " 
 to remove so much misery and to pardon such 
 transgressions. His great love — God's infinite 
 love is the groundwork of our salvation; in refer- 
 ence to us (fallen men) that love assumes the form 
 of mercy, and that mercy provides the Saviour, the 
 Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 5. Even when we were dead in sins — [Re- 
 peating this affirmation to give it emphasis because 
 of its importance.] [God vivifies (quickens) us to- 
 gether with Christ; in the one act and fact of his 
 (Christ's) resurrection he raised all his people to 
 spiritual life, and to victory over death. — A/ford.] 
 Hath quickened us together with Christ — God
 
 Salvation i 
 faith, a: 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 its up together, and made us sit together ° in 
 heavenly places in Christ Jesus: 7 That in 
 the ages to come he might show the exceed- 
 ing riches of iiis grace, in fhis kindness to- 
 ward us, through Christ Jesus. 8 iFor hy 
 grace are ye saved r through faith; and that 
 not of yourselves: s it is the gift of God; 
 
 9 "Not of works, lest any man should boast. 
 
 10 For we are u his workmanship, created in 
 
 oChap. 1. 20. p Titus 3 4. (/Romans 3. 24: verse 5: 
 
 o Tim. 1. 9. /• Romans 4. 16. « Matt. 16. 17 ; John 6. 44, 65; 
 
 Romans 111. 14, 15, 17; chap. 1. 19; Phil. 1. 29. 7 Romans :!. 
 
 20,27. 2s: 4. 2; 9. 11; 11. 6:1 Cor. 1. 29,30,31; 2 Tim. I. 9; X tus 
 3. 5. «Deut. 32. 6; I'sa. 100. 3; Isa. 19. 25: 29. 23: 44. -.1 ; 
 
 has given us as complete a resurrection from the 
 death of sin to a life of righteousness as the body 
 of Christ had from the grave. And as this quicken- 
 ing, or making alive, was most gratuitous on God's 
 part, the apostle, with great propriety, says : By 
 grace ye are saved. 
 
 6. And hath raised us up together ... in 
 Christ Jesus — [Not only with Christ, by virtue 
 of our fellowship, but in Christ, by virtue of our 
 mystical, central, or organic union with him. — 
 Eadit.] 
 
 7. That in the ages to come — [Here it is man- 
 ifest, 1) that the aluveg (ages) from which the mys- 
 tery was hidden are the past ages of the world ; and 
 2) that those to whom, as here, God will make 
 known the riches of his glory, are his saints, his 
 Church on earth. The aicjvec inepxofiiveq, are the 
 coming ages of the Church, and the persons involved 
 in them are the future members of the Church, 
 (that is, believers.) Chapter i, 12. — A/ford.] That 
 ... he might show — [The verb stands emphatical, 
 first, (in the original,) and has the signification of 
 an efficient cause, making known through causing 
 to experience. — ^JBraune.'] This observation of the 
 apostle is of great use and importance ; because we 
 are authorized to state, in all the successive ages of 
 the world, that he who saved the sinners at Ephe- 
 sus is ever ready to save all who, like them, repent 
 of their sins, and believe in Christ Jesus. 
 
 8. 9. For by grace are ye saved, through 
 faith — Since, when this Gospel reached you, you 
 were all found dead in trespasses and in sins, 
 therefore it was God's free mercy to you, manifested 
 through Christ, in whom ye believed by the power 
 of the Holy Spirit, that ye received, and were 
 sealed by, the Holy Spirit of promise ; so that this 
 salvation is not of yourselves, (as to either power 
 or worthiness,) but is the free gift of God ; and 
 not of any kind of works; so that no man can 
 boast as having wrought out his own salvation, or 
 even contributed any thing toward it. This is a 
 true doctrine, and continues to be essential to the 
 salvation of man to the end of the world. " By 
 this grace ye are saved through faith: and this 
 (tovto, this salvation) not of you ; it is the gift of 
 God, not of works: so that no one can boast." 
 "The relative tovto, this, which is in the neuter 
 gender, cannot stand for iriorig, faith, which is the 
 feminine; but it has the whole sentence that goes 
 before for its antecedent." Faith is the gift of 
 God as to the grace by which it is produced ; but 
 the grace or power to believe, and the act of be- 
 lieving, are two different things. Without the grace 
 or divinely given power to believe, no man ever did 
 or can exercise saving faith ; but with that power 
 the act of faith is a man's own. God never be- 
 lieves for any man any more than he repents for 
 
 Christ Jesus unto good works, v which God 
 hath before w ordained that we should walk in 
 them. 11 Wherefore "remember, that ye 
 l>i ing in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who 
 are called Uncircumcision hy that which is 
 called y the Circumcision in the flesh made by 
 hands; 12 "That at that time ye were with- 
 out Christ, "being aliens from the common- 
 wealth of Israel, and strangers from 'the cove- 
 
 John 3. 3, 5: 1 Cor. 3. 9: 2 Cor. 5. 5, 17; chap. I. 24; Titus 2. 14. 
 
 oChap. 1. 4. wOr, prepared. a-1 Cor. 12. 2; chap. 
 
 5. 8: Col. 1. 21: 2. 13. i/Eom»ns2. 28, 29; Col. 2. 11. 
 
 aChap. 4. 18; Col. 1. £1. — a isee Kzek. 13. 9; John 10. 16. 
 
 o Romans 9. 4, 8. 
 
 him ; the penitent, through this grace enabling him, 
 believes for himself: nor docs lie believe 7iecesxa- 
 rily, or by compulsion, when he has that power: the 
 power to believe may be present when it is not 
 exercised, else why the solemn warnings with which 
 we meet everywhere in the word of God, and threat- 
 enings against those who do not believe ! This, 
 therefore, is the true state of the case: God gives 
 the power, man uses the power thus given, and 
 brings glory to God : without the power no man 
 can believe ; with it, any man may, (or may 
 not.) 
 
 10. For we are his workmanship — So far is 
 this salvation from being our own work, or granted 
 for our own works' sake, that we are ourselves not 
 only the creatures of God, but our new creation is 
 produced by his power ; for we are created in 
 Christ Jesus unto good works — For though we 
 are not saved for our good works, yet we are saved 
 that we may perform good works, to the glory of Cod 
 and the benefit of man. [Of him we are the handi- 
 work. A spiritual creation, with the incidental design 
 that we should render " good works," not being 
 saved by them, or on account of their deserts, but 
 having been saved, that corresponding works should 
 be rendered.] Which God hath before ordained 
 — O/c 7T(jo?/Toi/jaon>, for which God before pre- 
 pared lis, that we might walk in them. The before 
 ordaining, or rather preparing, may refer to the 
 time when God began the new creation in their 
 hearts, [and also the original purposes of grace in 
 respect to all that are truly and experimentally 
 called,] for obedience to the will of God is the 
 very element in which a holy or regenerated soul 
 lives. 
 
 11. Wherefore — [Since so many and great 
 blessings are given by God to his people, among 
 whom ye are.] Remember — [What ye were — 
 heathens — without the mark of the Abrahamic cove- 
 nant in your flesh.] [The expression (aicpo(JvGTia, 
 rendered rather freely Uncircumcision) is depre- 
 ciatory; as concerns the people who bore the name 
 HepvTOfuj, (Circumcision.) — Meyer.] [They are 
 reminded of their former state of entire separa- 
 tion from the covenanted mercy of God. (Rom. i.\, 
 4, 7.)] 
 
 12. That at that time ye were without 
 Christ — Not only were not Christians, but had no 
 knowledge of the Christ or Messiah, and no (out- 
 ward) title to the blessings which were to proceed 
 from him. Being aliens from the common- 
 wealth of Israel — [Both as to their temporal priv- 
 ileges and spiritual blessings. And strangers from 
 the covenants of promise — The great promise in 
 both the Jewish and Christian covenants was the 
 Messiah; having no hope, because they had no 
 promise whereon to ground their hope. And (be- 
 
 247
 
 l. H. 4065. A. P. fil. 
 Year of Koine, M4. 
 
 EPHESIANS. 
 
 nants of promise, c having no hope, d and with- 
 out God in the world: 13 e But now, in 
 Christ Jesus, ye who sometime were f far off 
 are made nigh by the blood of Christ. 14 For 
 she is our peace, h who hath made both one, 
 and hath broken down the middle wall of par- 
 tition between us ; 15 'Having abolished k in 
 his desh the enmity, even the law of command- 
 
 clThe-s. 4. 13. r/Gal. 4. 8 ; 1 Thess. 4. 5. efial. 3. 28. 
 
 /Acts 2 39; verse 17. a Micah 5. 5; John 16. 33; Acts 10. 
 
 36: Romans 5. 1; Col. 1. 20. /(..John HI. 16: Gal. 3. 28. 
 
 tCol. 2. 14, 20. A Col. 1. 22. 12 Cor. 5. 17; Gal. 0. 15; 
 
 chap. 4. 24. 
 
 ing) without God — Wholly ignorant of the true 
 God, and so in effect atheists. Such in truth are, 
 more or less, all men in all ages, till they know 
 God by the teaching of his own Spirit. In the 
 ■world — The wide, vain world, wherein ye wan- 
 dered up and down, unholy and unhappy. — Wes- 
 ley.] [The apostle seems to seek especially to im- 
 press those whom he addressed with a deep and 
 lively sense of the misery of their condition, until 
 saved by the Gospel. As the picture here drawn is 
 simply that of the heathen world as such, it leaves 
 but little room for hope in respect to them in their 
 relations to the divine judgment.] 
 
 13. But now — [Xcri, in antithesis to t£> Katpu 
 kneivG), at that time, of verse 12, marking the transi- 
 tion.] In Christ Jesus — [Before they were with- 
 out Christ, A'wp'f, away from him ; now they are in 
 him.] Ye who sometime were far off— Being 
 " far off," signified the state of the Gentiles, as con- 
 tradistinguished from the Jews, who were nigh. 
 And these expressions were used in reference to 
 the tabernacle, God's dwellingplace among the Is- 
 raelites, and the sacrifices there offered. All those 
 who had access to this tabernacle, or were nigh to 
 it or encamped about it, were said to be nigh to 
 God; those who had no access to it were said to be 
 far off. Hence the latter phrase is used to distin- 
 guish the Gentiles from the Jewish people. [All 
 who are brought into Christ receive his peace, (Rom 
 v, 1,) and are also reconciled to all men. (Luke 
 ii, 14.)] You Gentiles, who were unacquainted with 
 God, and were even witfiout God in the world, are 
 brought to an acquaintance with him ; and are now, 
 through Christ Jesus, brought into the favour and 
 fellowship of God. And as the Jews of old ap- 
 proached God by the blood of their sacrifices, so 
 you approach him by the blood of Christ. 
 
 14. For he is our peace — [ Avrbg, emphatic, 
 HE and no other ; he alone, as the Christ, the Re- 
 storer.] Jesus Christ has died for both Jews and 
 Gentiles, and has become a peace offering, to recon- 
 cile both to God and to each other. Who hath 
 made both one — Formed one Church out of the 
 believers of both people. [Td aptyorepa, the both, 
 and ev, one; neuters with nouns; the two kinds or 
 classes have become one.] The middle wall of 
 partition — By abolishing the law of Jewish ordi- 
 nances, he has removed that which kept the two 
 parties not only in a state of separation, but also at 
 variance. [The reconciliation which Christ effected 
 between Jew and Gentile was in fact only a subor- 
 dinate step of the great reconciliation of both to 
 G.id, which he effected by his sacrifice in the flesh. 
 — Alford.~\ This expression, "the middle wall," can 
 refer only to that most marked distinction which the 
 Jewish laws and customs made between them and 
 all other nations whatsoever. [Which itself grew 
 out of the separated life of the Jews, as God's pe- 
 
 248 
 
 ments contained in ordinances ; for to make in 
 himself of twain one ' new man, so making 
 peace; 16 And that he might rn reconcile 
 both unto God in one body by the cross. " hav- 
 ing siain the enmity "thereby: 17 And came 
 p and preached peace to you which were afar 
 off, and to 'them that were nigh. 1§ For 
 r through him we both have access 6 by one 
 
 m Col. 1. 20, 21. 22. n Rom (>. 6; 8. 3: Col. 2. 14. o Or, 
 
 in himself. p Isa. 57. 19; Zecli. 9. Hi; Acts 2. 39; in 3H; 
 
 Rom. 5. 1; verses 13, 14. q Psa. 148. 14. >John 10. 9; 14.0; 
 
 Rom. 5. 2; chap. 3. 12; Heb. 4. 10; 10. 19, 20; 1 Peter 3. 18. 
 
 si Cur. 12. 13; chap. 4. 4. 
 
 culiar people. The added words " between us," are 
 entirely superfluous.] 
 
 15. Having abolished in his flesh — By his 
 incarnation and death Jesus Christ not only made 
 an atonement for sin, but he appointed the doctrine 
 of reconciliation to God, and of love to each other, 
 to be preached in all nations ; and thus glory was 
 brought to God in the highest, and on earth peace 
 and goodwill were diffused among men. The en- 
 mity — The "enmity " of which the apostle speaks 
 was reciprocal among the Jews and Gentiles; the 
 former detested the Gentiles, and could hardly allow 
 them the denomination of men; the latter had the 
 Jews in the most sovereign contempt, because of 
 the peculiarity of their religious rites and cere- 
 monies, which were different from those of all the 
 other nations of the earth. [Their enmity against 
 God was the real cause of separation, first from 
 God, and then between Jew and Gentile. Christ, by 
 abolishing the first, abolished the other also. — Al- 
 ford.~\ The law of commandments — Contained 
 in, or rather concerning, ordinances; which law 
 was made (among other things) for the purpose of 
 keeping the Jews a distinct people, and pointing 
 out the Son of God till he should come. When, 
 therefore, the end of its institution was answered, 
 it was no longer necessary ; and Christ, by his death, 
 abolished it. To make in himself — To make one 
 Church out of both people, which should be con- 
 sidered the body of which Jesus Christ is the head. 
 Thus he makes one new man — one new Church ; 
 and thus he makes and establishes peace. 
 
 10. That he might reconcile both. . . in one 
 body — [The relation of the believer to Christ is 
 direct and primary; but to the Church it is only 
 secondary, as to both time and sequence. And as 
 all who are saved arc in him, so they compose " one 
 body." The reconciliation of men to God, by the 
 death of Christ, effectually destroys the enmity. 
 The outward cause of it is taken away by the in- 
 coming of the Gospel, by which the law of "ordi- 
 nances " is superseded ; the inward by the work of 
 the divine Spirit, creating our peace.] 
 
 IT. And came and preached peace — [Pro- 
 claimed the readiness of God to forgive and save 
 both Jews and Gentiles.] 
 
 IS. For through him (Christ Jesus) we both 
 (Jews ami Gentiles) have access by one Spirit, 
 through the influence of the Holy Ghost, unto the 
 Father, God Almighty. This text is a plain proof 
 of the Holy Trinity. Jews and Gentiles are to be 
 presented unto God the Father ; the Spirit of God 
 works in their hearts, and prepares them for this 
 presentation ; and Jksus Christ himself introduces 
 them. No soul can have access to God but by Je- 
 sus Christ, and he introduces none but such as re- 
 ceive his Holy Spirit. All who receive that Spirit 
 are equally dear to him ; and, whatever their names
 
 The CTiurch is founded upon 
 Christ and his truth. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 M. 4066. A. D. 61. 
 
 ¥ear of Rome, 814. 
 
 Spirit unto the Father. 19 Now therefore ye 
 are no more strangers and foreigners, hut 'fel- 
 low citizens with the saints, and of "the house- 
 hold of God; 2© And are T built " upon the 
 
 foundation of the * apostles and prophets, Jesus 
 
 ('Phil. 3. 20; Ileb. 12. 22. 23. u Gal. 6. 10; chap. 3. 15. 
 
 r 1 Cor. i. 9. in : chap. 4. 12 ; 1 Peter 2. 4, o. w Matt. lt>. 16 : 
 
 Gal. 2. 9; Hev.il. 1-1. 
 
 may be among men, they are known in heaven as 
 children of God and heirs of eternal glory. 
 
 19. Ye are no more strangers — [In this chap- 
 ter the Church of God is compared to a city, which 
 lias a variety of privileges, rights, etc., founded on 
 regular charters and giants. The Gentiles, having 
 believed in Christ, are all incorporated with the be- 
 lieving Jews in this holy city. Formerly, when any 
 of them came to Jerusalem, being givoi, strangers, 
 they had no kind of rights whatever; nor could 
 they, as mere heathens, settle among them. Again, 
 if any of them acknowledged the God of Israel, 
 but did not receive circumcision, he might dwell in 
 the land, but he had no right to the blessings of 
 the covenant ; such might be called izapoimi, so- 
 journers — persons who have no social or political 
 status in the commonwealth. Fellow citizens 
 with the saints — [Called to the enjoyment of the 
 common privileges of believers ; who were bound to 
 be holy, and therefore were often called saints, or 
 holy persons, when both their hearts and conduct 
 were far from being right in the sight of God. 
 But the saints spoken of here are the converted 
 or Christianized Jews. Of the household of 
 God — The house of God is the temple; the temple 
 was a type of the Christian Church ; this is now 
 become God's house ; all genuine believers are 
 considered as being olneioi, domestics, of this house, 
 the children and servants of God Almighty, [or 
 as to the city, enfranchised citizens,] having all 
 equal rights, privileges, and advantages ; as all, 
 through one Spirit, by the sacred Head of the family, 
 or commonwealth, had equal access to God, and 
 each might receive both grace and glory. 
 
 20. And are built upon the foundation — Fol- 
 lowing the same metaphor, comparing the Church 
 of Christ to a city and to the temple, the believing 
 Ephesians are represented as parts of that build- 
 ing; the living stones, out of which it is principally 
 formed, (1 Pet. ii, 4, 5,) having for foundation, 
 ground plan and superstructure, the doctrine taught 
 by the prophets in the Old Testament and the 
 apostles in the New : Jesus Christ being the cor- 
 ner stone, or aapoyuvudoc, the chief angle, the 
 connecting medium, by which both Jews and Gen- 
 tiles were united in the same building. Elsewhere 
 Jesus Christ is termed the foundation stone: "Be- 
 hold, I lay in Zion a foundation stone, a tried stone, 
 a precious corner stone," (Isa. xxviii, 16 ;) but the 
 meaning is the same in all the places where these 
 terms (foundation and corner stone) occur. 
 
 21. In whom — -By which foundation corner 
 stone, Christ Jesus — [rather in him, for the process 
 is in him, as well as by him, and by him only as it 
 is in him] — all the building, composed of con- 
 verted persons, whether Jews or Gentiles, fitly 
 framed together, owapuotoyovuevn, -properly joint- 
 ed and connected together, groweth unto a holy- 
 temple, is continually increasing, as new converts 
 are added. It is not a finished building, but will 
 continue to increase and become more and more 
 perfect till the day of judgment. 
 
 22. In whom ye also are builded— [The 
 
 Christ himself being ythe chief corner stone; 
 
 21 » In whom all the building fitly framed to- 
 gether groweth unto* a holy temple in the Lord: 
 
 22 ''In whom ye also are builded together for 
 a habitation of God through the Spirit. 
 
 a' 1 Cor. 13. 28 ; chap. 4. 11. u Psa. 118. 22 ; Isa. 28. 16 : Matt. 
 
 21. 42. z Chap. 4. 15, 16. a 1 Cor. 3. 17 ; 6. 19; 2 Cor. 0. 16. 
 
 b 1 Pet. 2. 5. 
 
 apostle now applies the metaphor to the purpose 
 for which he produced it, retaining, however, some 
 of the figurative expressions. As the stones in a 
 temple are all properly placed so as to form a com- 
 plete house, and be a habitation for the deity that 
 is worshipped there, so ye are all, both believing 
 .lews and Gentiles, prepared by the doctrine of the 
 prophets and apostles, under the influence of the 
 Spirit of Christ, to become a habitation of God, a 
 Church in which God shall be worthily worshipped, 
 and in which he can continually dwell] 
 
 [1. The divine ideal of the Church is given in the 
 last four verse.- of this chapter, in a twofold meta- 
 phor, first of a political organism, or state, and then 
 of an edifice or temple. But, aside from all such 
 figurative representations, it may lie described as 
 essentially a. fellowship, closely united and organic. 
 Her support (foundation) is in Christ; her begin- 
 ning, in the pure and powerful word of God, in his 
 apostles and prophets ; her design respects every 
 man and every nation ; her task is not merely the 
 worship of God, but abiding fellowship with God, 
 and accordingly each individual must be prepared 
 in the work of the Holy Ghost, freed from his 
 singularity, (ego-ism,) and framed into the whole. 
 (Verses 19-22.) She is "the assured residence 
 and abiding working place" of God, from which 
 he will and does work further into this world. In the 
 world he indeed already has his real, immanent, 
 continued presence, but in the Church he is present 
 in an extraordinary manner : she is his palace, his 
 immediate surroundings, his family, while the world 
 is his broad kingdom on which he operates from 
 this, and which is subservient to it. Certain as the 
 permanence of the Church is, she is still in process 
 of growth, not yet complete : but she is real, not 
 merely ideal. 
 
 2. [In the expression " the foundation of the apos- 
 tles and prophets," (verse 20,) the Holy Scriptures 
 are referred to. There is evidently here a rem- 
 iniscence of the words of Christ, (Matt, xvi, 18, 
 " Thou art Peter," etc.,) in which he promises to 
 build his Church, not upon the person of Peter, 
 but upon Peter's confession of the person of Christ. 
 The foundation of the Church, the beginning of this 
 building, is not the persons of the apostles, but 
 their witness of him — the preaching of the apostles. 
 Scripture is not the producer, but the product; not 
 before the Church, but within and for her. The 
 word of God springing up in the apostles, as 
 prophets of God, as men to whom revelation was 
 imparted by the Holy Ghost, and preached by 
 them, is the foundation, but what is given in fixed 
 form in the Scriptures is the norm for the Church. 
 She has her support and deepest ground in Christ, 
 her beginning in the preaching of the apostles, but 
 her rule in the standard of truth contained in the 
 apostolic and prophetical Scriptures, the sufficiency 
 of which is such that no tradition is needed in ad- 
 dition. — Browne.] 
 
 [And no other foundation can suffice. "When 
 philosophical speculation or critical erudition, 
 
 249
 
 EPHESIANS. 
 
 i purpose to call the Gentiles 
 revealed to Paul. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 FOR this cause I Paul, -the prisoner of Je- 
 sus Christ b for you Gentiles, 2 If ye 
 have heard of c the dispensation of the grace of 
 
 a Acts 21. 33 ; 28. 17, 20: chap. 4. 1 ; H. 20; Phil. 1. 7, 13, 14. IB: 
 
 Col. 4. 3, I*; 2 Tim. 1. 8 ; 2. H: I'hilem. 1,9. & Gal. 5. 11; Col. 
 
 1. 24; 2 Tim. 2. 10. cltom. 1. 5; 11. 13; 1 Cor. 4. 1; chap. 4. 7; 
 
 political affinity or human enactment, supplants it, 
 the structure topples, and is about to fall. The 
 opinions of Luther, Calvin, Cranmer, Wesley, 
 Knox, or Erskine, (and these were all " pillars," ) 
 are not the foundation ; nor are the edicts and 
 creeds of Trent, Augsburg, Dort, or Westminster. 
 Such writings may originate sectional distinctions, 
 and give peculiar shape to column or portico, 
 shaft or capital, in the great edifice, but they 
 can never be substituted for the one Foundation. 
 — EadieJ] 
 
 3. Of this glorious Church every Christian soul 
 is an epitome ; for as God dwells in the Church at 
 large, so he dwells in every believer in particular : 
 each is a "habitation of God through the Spirit." 
 In vain are all pretensions among sects and parties 
 to the privileges of the Church of Christ if they 
 have not the doctrine and life of Christ. Traditions 
 and legends are not apostolic doctrines, and showy 
 ceremonies are not the life of God in the soul of man. 
 
 4. Religion has no need of human ornaments or 
 trappings ; it shines by its own lij^li t, and is reful- 
 gent witli its own glory. Where it is not in life 
 and power, men have endeavoured to produce a 
 specious image, dressed and ornamented with their 
 own hands. Into this God never breathed, there- 
 fore it can do no good to man, and only imposes 
 on the ignorant and credulous by a vain show of 
 lifeless pomp and splendour. This phantom, called 
 true religion and the Church by its votaries, is in 
 heaven denominated vain superstition ; the speech- 
 less symbol of departed piety. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER JIT. 
 [The rendering of this whole chapter is brought 
 into doubt by the uncertainty that prevails as to 
 the construction of the first verse, and its relations 
 to the rest of the chapter. Among the various 
 constructions that have been given to it a few may 
 be mentioned: 1) Some would supply the verb elfii 
 after 6 6eo/iiog, when the sentence would read: For 
 this cause I Paul am the Lord's prisoner for 
 you Gejitiles. This is the reading of the Syrian 
 Version, was adopted by Chrysostom, and was 
 pretty generally accepted by the early Church. It 
 is objected against it, though still favoured by many 
 eminent scholars, that it makes the two clauses, 
 For this cause, and for yon Gentiles, tautological, 
 — that Paul calling himself .6 Aio/jior, the "prisoner 
 of the Lord," as if he alone was such, would be an 
 undue assumption, and not in character. There 
 are also serious grammatical objections urged 
 against it. 2) Some make a sudden breaking off 
 at the end of this verse, leaving the subject iyu 
 Unv/oc without a predicate ; and then making all 
 the further portion of the chapter a parenthesis, 
 with the resumption of the discourse at the begin- 
 ning of the next chapter, and the repetition there 
 of the subject. Alford objects to this, and his 
 objection is pretty widely accepted as well taken, 
 that "chapter,, iii is no parenthesis, but an integral 
 and altogether complete portion of the epistle, fin- 
 ished, moreover, with the doxology, (verses 20, 2],) 
 and altogether distinct in subject and character 
 250 
 
 God d which is given me to you-ward : 3 e How 
 that f by revelation ehe made known unto me 
 the mystery ; ( h as I wrote ' afore in few words : 
 4 Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand 
 
 Col. 1. 25. d Acts 9. 15 : 13. 2 ; Kom, 12. 3 : Gal. 1. 16 ; verse 8. 
 
 e Acts 22. 17,21; 2ti. 17, 18. /Gal. 1 12. g Rum. lb. 25; 
 
 Col. 1. 26, 27. h Chap. 1. 9, 10. iOi; a little before. 
 
 from chapter iv." 3) The preponderating major- 
 ity of modern authorities favour the opinion that 
 no predicate should be supplied to the subject 
 of the first verse, but that it should be read as 
 abruptly suspended, while the matter extending 
 through the next five verses (2-6) should be read as 
 a parenthesis, to which the next paragraph (verses 
 1-12) is an important side thought; and then, at 
 verse 13, the matter of this first verse is resumed, 
 with the repetition of the opening clause, tovtov 
 X a P iV i followed by the verb in the first person. 
 Thus, the subject f t ii Uav/oc; deoptog Xptarov (in 
 the first verse) has for its predicate KapwTu ra 
 yovara, : ' I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus, bow 
 my knees," the clause tovtov x c 'P"\ for this cause, 
 being repeated. As a solution of a merely gram- 
 matical difficulty this seems at least plausible, 
 and less liable to serious objections than any 
 other ; it also brings clearly into view the ob- 
 vious sense of the whole passage.] 
 
 1. For this cause — Tovtov x&prv, for this, be- 
 cause Paul maintained that the Gentiles were ad- 
 mitted to all the privileges of the Jews, and all the 
 blessings of the new covenant. [And still more 
 comprehensively, for the service rendered as an 
 apostle, on account of which he had been sent 
 prisoner to Rome.] (See Acts xxi, 21-2S, etc.) 
 
 2. If ye have heard of the dispensation — 
 The compound particle tl ye, which is commonly 
 translated if indeed, may also mean since indeed, 
 or si tiny that, and should be translated so in 
 this verse and in several other places of the New 
 Testament. Seeing "ye have heard of the dispen- 
 sation of God which is given me to you-ward : " this 
 they had amply learned from the apostle during 
 his stay at Ephesus, for "he had not shunned to 
 declare unto them the whole counsel of God," 
 (Acts xx, 27,) and " had kept back nothing that teas 
 profitable to tliem." (Verse 20.) And this was 
 certainly among those things that were most 
 profitable and most necessary to be known. By 
 the "dispensation of the grace of God" we may 
 understand either the apostolic office and gifts 
 granted to St. Paul for the purpose of preaching 
 the Gospel among the Gentiles, (sec Rom. i, 5,) 
 or the knowledge which God gave him of that 
 gracious and divine plan which he had formed for 
 the conversion of the Gentiles. For the meaning 
 of the word economy see the note on chapter i, 10. 
 
 3. By revelation he made known unto me 
 the mystery — [Instead of i ; vupiae, he made 
 hnoum, eyvupiadr), was made known, is doubtless 
 the true reading. MvoTqpcov, a mystery, without the 
 article, that is, the dispensation of saving grace to 
 all men — Gentiles and Jews alike.] The apostle 
 wishes the Ephesians to understand that it was 
 not an opinion of his own, or a doctrine which he 
 was taught by others, or which he had gathered 
 from the ancient prophets ; but one ihat came to 
 him by immediate revelation from God, as he had 
 informed them before in a few words, referring to 
 what he had said chapter i, '.»-12. 
 
 4. Whereby \irpbc b, by which thing, that is, 
 7-eadiuyl -when ye read — When ye refer back
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 A. M. -WfiS. A. T>. 61. 
 Year of koine, 814. 
 
 my knowledge k in the mystery of Christ,) 
 5 ' Which in other ages was not made known 
 imto the sons of men, '"as it is now revealed 
 unto his holy apostles and prophets by the 
 Spirit; 6 That the Gentiles "should be fellow 
 heirs, and °of the same body, and p partakers 
 of his promise in Christ by the Gospel: 
 7 i Whereof 1 was made a minister, r accord- 
 
 l-\ Cor. 4. 1; chap. ti. 19. /Acts 10. 28; Romans 16. 25; 
 
 verse 9. HiChsp. 2. 20. » Gal. :!. 28, 29; chap. 2. 11. — 
 
 pChap -. 15. It) pGal. 3 14. (/Romans 15. 16; Col. 1. 
 
 £3, l'5. /• Romans 1. 5. 
 
 to tlienV [By which, when ye read, (it,) ye may 
 understand my knowledge — Apprehend and 
 appreciate it.] 
 
 5. Which in other ages was not made 
 
 known — That the calling of the Gentiles was made 
 known by the prophets in different ages of the 
 Jewish Church is exceedingly clear ; but it certain- 
 ly was not made known in that clear and pre- 
 cise manner in which it was now revealed by the 
 Spirit unto the ministers of the New Testament ; 
 nor was it made known unto them at all that the 
 Gentiles should find salvation without coming under 
 the yoke of the Mosaic law, and that the Jews them- 
 selves should be freed from that yoke of bondage: 
 these were discoveries totally new, and now re- 
 vealed for the first time by the Spirit of God. His 
 holy apostles and prophets — Paul conceives of 
 the "apostles and prophets" as a corporation, 
 (body,) (chapter iv, 1 1,) and as such, in their official 
 character, he gives them the predicate ayioc, (holy,) 
 as he styles believers, conceived as a whole, ayioi 
 or i lt taaiiEvoi, but never as individuals. — AlfordJ] 
 
 6. That the Gentiles should be fellow heirs 
 — This is the substance of that mystery which had 
 been hidden from all ages, and which was now 
 made known to the New Testament apostles and 
 prophets, and more particularly to St. Paul. [" Fel- 
 low heirs," <TWKfajppv6//.a, comprises the whole, on 
 the ground of the relation to God as a Father, who 
 has prepared an inheritance for his children, fel- 
 low members, (of the same body,) oiwauua, denotes, 
 by a peculiarly formed word, the membership in 
 that body, the head of which is Chrst. Fellow par- 
 takers of the promise, cvv/jLeroxa tjjc eirayyeMac, de- 
 notes participation in the promise, the fulfilment of 
 which is already begun, but by no means complete. 
 — Braune. \ 
 
 7. Whereof I was made a minister— Ahzko- 
 voc, a deacon, a servant acting under and by the di- 
 rection of the great Master, Jesus Christ; from 
 whom, by an especial call and revelation, I received 
 the apostolic gifts and office, and by ryv ivepysiav 
 rijc fivvcifieuc abrov, the energy, the in-working of 
 his power, this Gospel which I preached was made 
 effectual to their salvation. 
 
 8. Less than the least of all saints — 'E/a^<r- 
 rorffXf) iravruv ayiuv. As the design of the apos- 
 tle was to magnify the grace of Christ in the salva- 
 tion of the world, he uses every precaution to pre- 
 vent the eyes of the people from being turned to 
 any thing but Christ crucified ; and although he 
 was obliged to speak of himself as the particular 
 instrument which God had chosen to bring the Gen- 
 tile world to the knowledge of the truth, yet he 
 does it in such a manner as to show that the ex- 
 cellency of the power was of God, and not of him ; 
 and that, highly as he and his fellow apostles were 
 honoured, they had the heavenly treasure in earthen 
 vessels To lay himself as low as possible, [per- 
 
 ing to the gift of the grace of God given unto 
 me by 'the effectual working of his power. 
 8 Unto me, 'who am less than the least of 
 all saints, is this grace given, that "1 should 
 preach among the Gentiles v the unsearchable 
 riches of Christ ; 9 And to make all men see 
 what is the fellowship of " the mystery, v which 
 from the beginning of the world hath been hid 
 
 S Romans 15 18; chap.l. 19; Col. 1.29. — 1\ Cor. 15. 9: I Tim. 
 1.13, 15. — wOal.l. 1H; 2.x; 1 Tim. 2. 7 ; 2 Tim. 1.11 — ©Chap. 
 1. 7: Col. 1. 27. — wChap. 1. 9; verse 3. — a; Romans 10. 25; 
 vtrse 5 ; 1 Cor. 2. 7 ; Col. 1. 26. 
 
 haps with a humbling recollection of what he had 
 been,] consistently with his being in the number of 
 divinely commissioned men, he calls himself "less 
 than the least." On £?mxio~toc, least, which is the 
 superlative of hTiax'i'C, little, St. Paul forms his 
 comparative, ilaxiGTOTepoc, " less than the least," a 
 word of which it wotdd lie vain to attempt a better 
 translation than that given in our own version. 
 [This rendering cannot be improved. — Riddle.] It 
 most strongly marks the humility of the apostle, 
 and the amazing condescension of God in favour- 
 ing him who had been before a persecutor and 
 blasphemer, with the knowledge of this glorious 
 scheme of human redemption, and the power to 
 preach it so successfully among the Gentiles. Tha 
 unsearchable riches of Christ — The word avei-ix- 
 viaoTOV is well chosen; it refers to the footsteps 
 of God, the plans he had formed, the dispensations 
 which he had published, and the innumerable prov- 
 idences which he had combined to prepare, mature, 
 and bring to full effect and view his gracious de- 
 signs in the salvation of a ruined world by the in- 
 carnation, passion, death, and resurrection of his 
 Son. There were in these schemes and providences 
 such "riches " — such an abundance, such a variety, 
 as could not lie comprehended even by the natu- 
 rally vast, and, through the divine inspiration, un- 
 paralleledly capacious, mind of the apostle. Yet he 
 was to proclaim among the Gentiles these astonish- 
 ing wonders and mysteries of grace ; and as he pro- 
 ceeds in this great and glorious work, the Holy 
 Spirit that dwelt in him opens to his mind more 
 and more of those riches — leads him into those 
 footsteps of the Almighty which could not be in- 
 vestigated by man nor angel, so that his preaching 
 and epistles, taken all in their chronological order, 
 will prove that his views brighten and his discover- 
 ies become more numerous and more distinct in 
 proportion as he advances. And had he lived, 
 preached, and written to the present day he had 
 not exhausted the subject, nor fully declared to the 
 Gentiles [that is, to all men] the "unsearchable 
 riches of Christ" — the endless depths of wisdom 
 and knowledge treasured up in him, and the infin- 
 ity of saving acts and saving power displayed by 
 him. 
 
 9. And to make all men see — Kal tiurioai 
 wavrac, andto illuminate <rfl ; to afford them a suf- 
 ficiency of light, so that they might be able dis- 
 tinctly to discern the great objects exhibited in this 
 Gospel. What is the fellowship of the mys- 
 tery — ['11 oiKOVOfiia rov pvornpiov, the economy of 
 the mystery, the dispensation (arrangement or 
 regulation) of the union of Jews and Gentiles in 
 Christ, (and the salvation of all alike that believe,) 
 is now to be humbly traced and acknowledged in 
 the fact of its having secretly existed (not fully de- 
 clared) in the primal counsels of God, and now having 
 been revealed to the heavenlv powers by means of 
 
 251
 
 EPIIESIANS. 
 
 in God, y who created all things by Jesus 
 Christ: lO *To the intent that now a unto 
 the principalities and powers in heavenly 
 places ''might be known by the church the 
 manifold wisdom of God, 11 c According 
 to the eternal purpose which he purposed in 
 
 y Psalm 33. 6; John I. 3: Colnssians 1. 16 : Hebrews 1. 2. 
 
 s 1 Peter I. 12. a Romans 8. 38; chap. i. 21 : Colossians 1. 16; 
 
 1 Peter 3. 22. b 1 Corinthians 2. 7 ; 1 Timothy 3. 16. 
 
 the Church. — E/lico/t.] Who created all things 
 by Jesus Christ — Some very judicious critics are of 
 opinion that this does not refer to the material crea- 
 tion; and that we should understand the whole as 
 referring to the formation of all God's dispensa- 
 tions of grace, mercy, and truth which have been 
 planned, managed, and executed by Christ from 
 the foundation of the world to the present time. 
 [He who created all thai exist* must already have 
 had implicitly contained in his creative plan the 
 great unfolding of the world, which forms the con- 
 tents of this mystery. — Meyer.] The words 6ia 
 'lijaov Xptarov, by Jesus Christ, are conceded to be 
 not genuine. The text, therefore, should be read : 
 which from tin beginning of the world had been hid- 
 den in God, who created all things. 
 
 10. That now unto the principalities and 
 powers in heavenly places — Who are these 
 " principalities and powers ?" Some think evil angels 
 are intended, because they are thus denominated 
 chapter vi, 12. Others think good angels are 
 meant; for as these heavenly beings are curious to 
 investigate the wondrous economy of the Gospel, 
 though they are not its immediate objects, (see 
 1 Pet. i, 12,) it is cprite consistent with the good- 
 ness of God to give them that satisfaction which 
 they require. And in this discovery of the gospel 
 plan of salvation, which reconciles things in heaven 
 and things on earth — both men and angels — these 
 pure spirits are greatly interested, and their praises 
 to the divine Being rendered much more abundant. 
 Dr. Macknight supposes that " the different orders 
 of angels in heaven are intended, whose knowledge 
 of God's dispensations must be as gradual as tin.' 
 dispensations themselves ; consequently their knowl- 
 edge of the manifold wisdom of God must have 
 been greatly increased by the constitution of the 
 Christian Church.'' By the church — That is, 
 by the Christians and by the wonderful things done 
 in the Church ; and by the apostles, who were its 
 pastors. The manifold wisdom of God — II 
 7to?ivxoiKi?MC oocjia, that multifarious and greatly 
 diversified wisdom of God ; laying greal and infinite 
 plans, and accomplishing them by endless means, 
 through the whole lapse of ages ; making every oc- 
 currence subservient to the purposes of his infinite 
 mercy and goodness. God's gracious design to 
 save a lost world by Jesus Christ could not be de- 
 feated by any cunning skill or malice of men or 
 devils : whatever hinderances are thrown in the way 
 his wisdom and power can remove; and his infinite 
 wisdom can never want ways or means to effect its 
 designs. [It is all one in sublime unity of truth 
 and purpose; but cannot be apprehended in finite 
 minds in this its unity, and therefore is by him 
 variously portioned out to each finite race and 
 finite capacity of individuals so that the Church is 
 a mirror of God's wisdom, chromatic, so to speak 
 with the rainbow colours of that light which in it- 
 self is one and undivided. — A/ford.] 
 
 1 1 . According to the eternal purpose — Kara, 
 252 
 
 Christ Jesus our Lord : 12 In whom we have 
 boldness and d access "with confidence by the 
 faith of him. l',i * Wherefore I desire that ye 
 faint not at my tribulations efor you, h which 
 is your glory. 14 For this cause I bow my 
 knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 
 oCliap. 1. 9. tfCliap. 2. 18. e Hebrews 4. 16. /Acts 
 
 14. 22; Philippians 1. 14; 1 The;-salonians 3. 3. g Verse 1. 
 
 — h 2 Corinthians 1. C 
 
 irpoOeaiv ruv alcjvuv, according to the purpose of the 
 ages, [the genitive of time, or duration, ami so the 
 English translation is evidently correct.] Which 
 he purposed in Christ Jesus — 'Ei> eivoijiaev. 
 Which he made or constituted in or for Christ 
 Jesus. The manifestation of Christ, and the 
 glory which should follow, were the grand objects 
 which God has kept in view in all his dispensa- 
 tions. 
 
 12. In whom we have boldness — By whom 
 we (all believers, including Gentiles) have {ri/v nap- 
 pr/oiav) this liberty of speech, (so that we may say 
 any thing by prayer and supplication,) and riiv rrpo- 
 aa-} cj-j i/i 1 , this introduction, into the divine presence 
 by faith in Christ. It is only in his name we can 
 pray to God, and it is only by him that we ran come 
 to God ; none can give us an introduction but Christ 
 Jesus, and it is only for his sake that God will 
 either hear or save us. It is on the ground of such 
 Scriptures as these that we conclude all our prayers 
 in the name and for the sake of Jesus Christ our 
 Lord. 
 
 13. I desire that ye faint not — " I suffer my 
 present imprisonment on account of demonstiating 
 your privileges, of which the Jews are envious: I 
 bear my afflictions patiently, knowing that what I 
 have advanced is of God, and thus I give ample 
 proof of the sincerity of my own conviction. The 
 sufferings, Therefore, of your apostles are honour- 
 able to you and to your cause ; and far from being 
 any cause why you should "faint," or drawback 
 like cowards, in the day of distress, they should 
 be an additional argument to induce you to per- 
 severe." 
 
 14. For this cause I bow my knees — [Here 
 the apostle resumes the line of remark that was 
 broken off at verse 1, repeating the words, tovtov 
 Xapiv, for this cause.] The best modern authorities 
 omit the words roil Kvpiov r/guv 'Ir/aov ~Kpicrov, <</' 
 our Lord Jisas Christ, and then the passage reads: 
 I tnnr my knees unto the Foliar. The apostle prays 
 to God the Father, that they may not " faint ; " and 
 he bows his knees in this praying. [The sign de- 
 notes the substance (of prayer.) — Calvin.] [We 
 have no need to think of an actual falling on his 
 knees during the writing. — Meyer.] [And yet it 
 would not have been strange if, in view of the won- 
 derful and glorious things that filled his mind and 
 heart, he had done so.] Many parts of this prayer 
 hear a strict resemblance to that offered up by 
 Solomon, (2 Chron. vi, 1, etc.) when, dedicating the 
 temple, "He kneeled down upon his knees before 
 all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his 
 hands toward heaven." (2 Chron. vi, 13.) The 
 apostle was now dedicating the Christian Church 
 that then was, and that ever should be, to God ; and 
 praying for those blessings which should ever rest 
 on and distinguish it ; and he kneels down after 
 the example of Solomon, and invokes Him to whom 
 the first temple was dedicated, and who had made 
 it a type of the gospel Church.
 
 ■ that the Ephesiai 
 trengthened by <- 
 
 Ch'ircli may 
 J'a Spirit. 
 
 CHAPTER ITT. 
 
 15 Of whom 'the whole family in heaven and 
 
 earth is named, 16 That he would grant you, 
 k according to the riches of his glory, 'to he 
 strengthened with might hy his Spirit in m the 
 
 tChap. 1. Ill; Phil. 2. 9, 10, II. k Rom. 9. 23; chap. 1. 7; 
 
 Phil. 4. 19; Col. 1. 27. /Ch;ip. 6. 10; Col. 1. II. n, Rom. 
 
 15. Of whom the whole family — ['Ef ov rraca 
 naTjua . . . ovoud^erai,] [every family, not the whole 
 family, as in the English version. — Alford.] [Here 
 God is certainly characterized as universal Father; 
 as Father of all angel classes in heaven, and all 
 peoples upon earth. . . . But it is not at all meant 
 by the apostle in the bare sense of creation, nor in 
 the rationalistic conception of the all-fatherhood, 
 when he says that every Trarpia (gens, tribe) derives 
 this name (in Qeov) from God as from its father; 
 but in the higher spiritual sense of the divine Fa- 
 therhood and the Sonship of God. — Meyer.] [It is 
 also pretty evident that Paul had in mind, and de- 
 signed to assert, the common relations of the divine 
 Father to both Gentiles and Jews.] 
 
 16. That he would grant you — This prayer 
 of the apostle is one of the most grand and sublime 
 in the whole oracles of God. The riches of the 
 grace of the Gospel, and the extent to which the 
 soul of man may be saved here below, are most 
 emphatically pointed out. Every word seems to 
 have come immediately from heaven, labouring to 
 convey ideas of infinite importance to mankind. 
 No paraphrase can do it justice, and few commen- 
 tators seem to have entered into its spirit, perhaps 
 deterred by its unparalleled sublimity. I shall only 
 attempt a few observations upon the terms, to show 
 their force and meaning, and leave all the rest to 
 that Spirit by which these most important words 
 were dictated. That he would grant you — Only 
 as & free gift through Christ Jesus; this should be 
 the ruling sentiment of our hearts when we pray. 
 According to the riches of his glory — Accord- 
 ing to the measure of his own eternal fulness ; 
 God's infinite mercy and goodness being the meas- 
 ure according to which we are to be saved. In the 
 bestowments of his grace God acts up to the dignity 
 of his infinite perfections ; he gives u according to 
 the riches of his glory." To be strengthened 
 with might — We have many enemies, cunning and 
 strong ; many trials, too great for our natural 
 strength ; many temptations, which no human pow- 
 er is able successfully to resist ; many duties, to 
 perform which cannot be accomplished by the 
 strength of man ; therefore we need divine strength. 
 "We must have " might ; " and we must be " strength- 
 ened " everywhere, and every way fortified by that 
 might. Mightily and most effectually strengthened. 
 By his Spirit — By the sovereign energy of the 
 Holy Ghost. This fountain of spiritual energy can 
 alone supply the spiritual strength which is neces- 
 sary for this spiritual work and conflict. In the 
 inner man — Every man is a compound being; he 
 has a body and a soul. The outer man is that 
 alone which is seen and considered by men ; the 
 "inner man" is that which stands particularly in 
 reference to God and eternity. The outer man 
 is strengthened by earthly food, etc. ; the inner 
 man, by spiritual and heavenly influences. Knowl- 
 edge, love, peace, and holiness are the food of the 
 inner man. The soul must be as truly fed and 
 nourished by divine food as the body by natural 
 food. [E/c tIiv iau avOpu-ov, in respect to the in- 
 ner man,] [tif is not for iv, (in,) but in reference to 
 
 inner man; 17 "That Christ may dwell in 
 your hearts by faith; that ye, "being rooted 
 and grounded in love, 18 pMay be able to 
 comprehend with all saints i what is the 
 
 7. 22; 2Cnr. 4. in. n John 14. 23: chap. 2. 22- 
 
 2. 7. ii Chap. 1. 18. Q Kom. 10. 3, 11, 12. 
 
 -oCol. 1.23; 
 
 tlir inner mm), containing the more precise defini- 
 tion of the relation. The inner man, (not to be 
 identified with the naivbc avOpunog, the new man, 
 chapter ii, 15; iv, 24,) is the rational and moral 
 ego, self, the ethical personality. This, in the tin- 
 regenerate, is under the bondage of sin, and even in 
 the regenerate it needs constant renewing and 
 strengthening by the Spirit of God; whose seat 
 of operation it is, in order not to be overcome by 
 the sinful desires (propensions) in the/esA, (oapit,) 
 of which the i>i'x>], the animal soul-nature is the 
 living principle. See Meyer.] 
 
 1 *7. That Christ may dwell in your hearts 
 by faith — In this, as well as in many other pas- 
 sages, and particularly that in chapter ii, 21, the 
 apostle compares the body or Church of true be- 
 lievers to a temple, built up to be a habitation of 
 God through the Spirit. Paul, having considered 
 the Church at Ephesus completely formed, prays 
 that God may continue, and in increased measure, 
 to dwell in it. And as there could lie no indwelling 
 of God but through Christ, and no indwelling of 
 Christ but by faith, he prays that they may have 
 such faith in Christ as shall keep them in constant 
 possession of his love and presence. This is what 
 the apostle points out to the believing Ephe- 
 sians in praying that Christ might intensely and 
 constantly dwell (KaroiKrjoai) in their hearts by 
 faith. That ye, being rooted and grounded in 
 love — Here is a double metaphor; one taken from 
 agriculture, the other, from architecture. As trees, 
 they are to be " rooted in love " — this is the soil in 
 which their souls are to grow ; as a building, their 
 foundation is to be laid in this love. Here is the 
 ground on which alone the soul, and all its hopes 
 and expectations, can be safely founded. This is a 
 foundation that cannot be shaken ; and it is from 
 this alone that the doctrine of redemption flows to 
 man, and from this alone has the soul its form and 
 comeliness. In this, as its proper soil, it grows: 
 on this, as its only foundation, it rests. 
 
 18. May be able to comprehend with all 
 saints — "Iva iiiaxvo/Te naTa?.ai3io(1a/. These words 
 are so exceedingly nervous and full of meaning 
 that it is almost impossible to translate them. The 
 first word, ff/u^-iw/re, signifies that they might be 
 thoroughly able, by having been "strengthened 
 with might " by God's power. The second word, 
 Ka-a7ia f 3ic8at, may be translated, that ye may fully 
 comprehend this wonderful mystery of (,'nd.' ' The 
 mind must be rendered apt, and the soul invigor- 
 ated, to take in and comprehend these mysteries. 
 ["With all (the) saints." All the people of God in 
 whom is fulfilled that which is here prayed for. — 
 Alford.] [All these are the common heritage of 
 believers as such, not special mercies reserved lor a 
 favoured few.] What is the breadth, and 
 length, and depth, and height — lien/ the apostle 
 still keeps up the metaphor comparing the Church 
 of God to a building. They were to be builded up 
 a "heavenly house," a "habitation of God through 
 the Spirit;" and tins must have its latitude or 
 breadth, its longitude or length, its altitude or 
 height, and its profundity or depth. [Of what are 
 
 253
 
 EPHESIANS. 
 
 Praver that the Ephesian Church 
 may be tilled with Ood. 
 
 breadth, and length, and depth, and height ; 
 19 And to know the love of Christ, which 
 passeth knowledge, that ye might be tilled 
 r with nil the fulness of God. 20 Now s unto 
 him that is able to do exceeding abundantly 
 
 rJolm 1. llj; chap. 1. 
 
 23; Col. 2. 9, 10. 
 Jude 24. 
 
 -»■ Romans 10. 2o ; 
 
 these dimensions predicated? Not of the Christ- 
 ian Church, as the spiritual temple of God, which 
 is at variance with the context. Not of the ivork of 
 redemption, because after verse 14 the fivari/giov 
 (the mystery) is not again mentioned. Not of 
 the love of God to us, because previously ev aycnvy 
 (in love) does not apply to this love. Not of the 
 divine gracious nature, nor of the wisdom of God. 
 The love of Christ to men (verse 10) is the subject, 
 the boundless greatness of which is depicted. — 
 Meyer.'] 
 
 19. To know the love of Christ, which 
 passeth knowledge — It is only by " the love of 
 Christ " that we can know the love of God; the 
 love of God to man induced him to give Christ 
 for our redemption ; Christ's love to man induced 
 him to give his life's blood for our salvation. The 
 gift of Christ to man is the measure of God's 
 love ; the death of Christ for man is the measure 
 of Christ's love. [The apparent (not real) para- 
 dox lies in the fact that an adequate (full and all- 
 comprehensive) knowledge of the love of Christ 
 transcends human capacity, but the relative knowl- 
 edge of the same opens up in a higher degree the 
 more the heart is filled with the Spirit of Christ. — 
 Meyer.] That ye might be filled with all the 
 fulness of God — Among all the great sayings in 
 this prayer this is the greatest. To he filled with 
 God is a great thing ; to be filled with the ful- 
 NESS <>/' God is still greater; but to be filed with 
 all the fulness of God, nav to Tr'kypuya tov Qeoi), 
 utterly bewilders the sense and confounds the un- 
 derstanding. To be "filled with all the fulness of 
 God," is to have the whole soul filled with meekness, 
 gentleness, goodness, love, justice, holiness, mercy, 
 and truth. And as what God fills neither sin nor 
 Satan can fill, consequently it implies that the 
 soul shall be emptied of sin, that sin shall neither 
 have dominion over it nor a being in it. It is im- 
 possible for us to understand these words in a lower 
 sense than this. But how much more they imply 
 (for more they do imply) I cannot tell. As there 
 is no end to the merits of Christ, no bounds to the 
 mercy and love of God, no limits to the unprova- 
 bility of the human soul, so there can be no hounds 
 set to the saving influence which God will dispense 
 to the heart of every believer. We may ask, and 
 we shall receive, and our joy shall be full. 
 
 20. Now unto him — Having finished his short, 
 but most wonderfully comprehensive and energetic 
 prayer, the apostle brings in his dozology, giving 
 praise to Him from whom all blessings come, and 
 to whom all thanks are due. That is able to do 
 exceeding abundantly — It is impossible to ex- 
 press the full meaning of these words. God is om- 
 nipotent, therefore he is able to do all things, and 
 able to do imep ek Trepiaaov. superabundantly above 
 the greatest abundance. All that we ask or 
 think — We can " ask " every good of which we 
 have heard, every good which God has promised in 
 his word; and we can "think" of, or imagine, 
 goods and blessings beyond all that we have either 
 read of or seen: yea, we can imagine good things 
 to which it is impossible for us to give a name; we 
 
 254 
 
 'above all that we ask or think, "according 
 to the power that worketh in us, 21 v Unto 
 him he glory in the church by Christ Je- 
 sus throughout all ages, world without end. 
 Amen. 
 
 HCor. 2.9. u Verse 7; Col. 1 29. c Romans 11. 36; 16.27; 
 
 Heb. 13.21. 
 
 can go beyond the limits of all human descrip- 
 tions ; we can imagine more than even God has 
 specified in his word; and can feel no bounds to 
 our conceptions of good but impossibility and 
 eternity; and after all, God "is able to do more 
 for us than we can ask or think;" and his ability 
 here is so necessarily connected with his milling- 
 7iess, that the one indisputably implies the other. 
 According to the power that worketh in us — 
 All that he can do, and all that he has promised 
 to do, will be done " according" to what he has done, 
 by that "power " of the Holy Ghost, rr/j> hep-j ovyevr/v, 
 which worketh strongly in us — acts with energy in 
 our hearts, expelling evil, purifying and refining 
 the affections and desires, and implanting good. 
 21. Unto him — Thus possessed of power and 
 goodness. Be glory in the church — Be unceas- 
 ing praises ascribed in all the assemblies of the 
 people of God, wherever these glad tiding- are 
 preached, and wherever this glorious doctrine shall 
 be credited. By Christ Jesus — Through whom 
 and for whom all these miracles of mercy and 
 power are wrought. Throughout all ages — E;c 
 Tvdoac Tag yeveag, through all succeeding generations 
 — while the race of human beings continues to 
 exist on the face of the earth. World without 
 end — Tov aluvog ruv aluvuv, throughout the eter- 
 nity of the eternities — -in the coming world as well 
 as in this. The song of praise begun upon earth, 
 and protracted through all the generations of men, 
 shall be continued in heaven by all that arc re- 
 deemed from the earth, where eras, limits, and 
 periods are no more for ever. Amen — So let it be ! 
 the counsels of God are faithfulness and truth ; 
 and not one jot or tittle of his promise has failed, 
 nor can fail, till mortality is swallowed up of life. 
 Therefore to the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost lie 
 glory, dominion, power, and thanksgiving, now, 
 henceforth, and for ever. Amen and Amen. 
 
 1. For the great importance of the matter con- 
 tained in this chapter, and the sublimity of the 
 language and conceptions, there is no portion of 
 the New Testament equal to this. The apostle was 
 now shut up in prison, but the word of the Lord 
 was not bound; and the kingdom of God seems to 
 have been opened to him in a most astonishing 
 manner. There seems to have been exhibited to 
 him a view of the divine counsels and conduct rela- 
 tive to the salvation of man, before and from the 
 foundation of the world to the end of time; and 
 while, with the eye of his mind, he contemplates 
 this plan, he describes it in language at once the 
 most elevated that can be conceived, and every- 
 where dignified and appropriate to the subject ; 
 so that he may with safety be compared with 
 the finest of the Grecian writers. It is very difficult 
 to give any literal translation of the many com- 
 pound epithets which the apostle uses. Indeed, his 
 own nervous language seems to bend and tremble 
 under the weight of the divine ideas which it 
 endeavours to express. 
 
 2. With such portions of the word of God before 
 us, how is it that we can be said conscientiously to
 
 Paul beseeches ttie Eph. 
 walk worthy oi tlieir >■ 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 i. U. 40fi5. A. D. 61. 
 Year of Rome, 814. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 I THEREFORE, "the prisoner ''of the Lord, 
 beseech you that ye c walk worthy of the 
 vocation wherewith ye are called, 2 d With 
 all lowliness and meekness, with longsivffering, 
 forbearing one another in love; 3 Endeavour- 
 
 a Cluip. ?,. 1 : Philera. 1, 9. b Or. in the Lord. c I'liil. 1. 
 
 27: Col. 1. 10; 1 Thess. 2. 12. — d Acts 2d. Ill: ( i al . o. 22, 23 ; Col. 
 3. 12, 13. e Col. 3. 14. — ./Rom. 12. 5; 1 Cor. 12. 12, 13 ; chap. 
 
 credit the doctrines of Christianity, and live satis- 
 fied with such slender attainments in the divine 
 life? Can any man that pleads for the necessary 
 and degrading continuance of indwelling sin 
 believe what the apostle has written ? Can we, 
 who profess to believe it, be excusable, and live 
 under the influence of any temper or passion that 
 does not belong to the mind of Christ '? It is the 
 will of God that all these blessings should be en- 
 joyed by his true followers, that Christ should 
 dwell in their hearts, and that they should be 
 filled with all the fulness of God ; yea, and that 
 God should do for them more abundantly than they 
 can ask or think. Tins necessarily implies that 
 they should be saved from all sin, inward and 
 outward ; that the thoughts of their hearts should 
 be cleansed by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, 
 that they might perfectly love him and worthily 
 magnify his holy name. As sin is the cause of the 
 ruin of mankind, the gospel system, which is its 
 cure, is called good news, or glad tidings ; and 
 it is good news because it proclaims Him who saves 
 his people from their sins. It would be dishonour- 
 able to the grace of Christ to suppose that sin 
 had made wounds which that cannot heal. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER IV. 
 [With chapter iv begins the second principal 
 division of this epistle, which is chiefly practical 
 and hortatory, deriving its motives from the great 
 doctrinal truths presented in the preceding.] 
 
 1. I therefore — "Therefore," because God has 
 provided for you such an abundant salvation; and 
 ye have his testimonies among you, and have full 
 liberty to use all the means of grace. The pris- 
 oner of the Lord — Who am deprived of my lib- 
 erty for the Lord's sake. Beseech you that ye 
 walk — \JlapaKa?.G), I call upon, admonish, you, —epi- 
 Tzari/acii, to walk, is the usually employed figure 
 for a continuous course of life.] The vocation 
 wherewith ye are called — The calling, K/\rjaic, is 
 the free invitation they had from God to receive 
 the privileges of the Gospel, and become his sons 
 and daughters, without being obliged to observe 
 Jewish rites and ceremonies. Their vocation, or 
 calling, took in their Christian profession, with all 
 the doctrines, precepts, privileges, duties, etc., of 
 the Christian religion. [Their call out of the Gen- 
 tile state into the high privileges of the Gospel 
 devolved upon them the most sacred obligations to 
 devote themselves to holy living, as specified in 
 what follows.] 
 
 2. With all lowliness — It is by acting as the 
 apostle here directs that a man walks worthy of 
 this high vocation. Taireivodpoovvq signifies subjec- 
 tion or humility of mind. Meekness — The op- 
 posite to anger and irritability of disposition. 
 Longsuffering — MaK.podvfJ.iag, longmindedness — 
 never permitting a trial or provocation to get to 
 the end of your patience. Forbearing one an- 
 other — ' Avexduevoi a?.?,r/?.uv, faithfully caring for 
 one another ; or. if the word be taken in the sense of 
 
 ing to keep the unity of the Spirit e in the bond 
 of peace. 4 f There is one body, and seme 
 Spirit, even as ye are called in one ''hope of 
 your calling; 5 'One Lord, k one faith, 'one 
 baptism, G '"One God and Father of all, who 
 is above all, and "through all, and in yon all. 
 
 2. 16.- 
 12. 5: 
 Heb. 
 
 — fflCor. 12.4,11. /(Chap. 1. 18. 21 Cor. I. 13; 8. 6 J 
 
 •2 Cor. 11. 4 A- Verse 13; Jude 3. /Gal. 3. -7, 2-; 
 
 ;. 6 m Mai. 2. 10; 1 Cor. 8. li ; 12. 6. ;/ Horn. 11. 3G. 
 
 Inuring with each other, (which is scarcely author- 
 ized,) it may mean that, through the love of God 
 working in our hearts, we should bear with each 
 other's infirmities, ignorance, etc., knowing how 
 much others have been or are still obliged to bear 
 with us. 
 
 3. Endeavouring to keep the unity of the 
 Spirit in the bond of peace — Probably the 
 Church at Ephesus was composed of both Jews and 
 Gentiles, and, from the different manner in which 
 they had been brought up, there might be frequent 
 causes of altercation. The apostle cautions them 
 against this, and shows them that they should in- 
 tensely labour (for so the word cnovddfeiv implies) 
 to promote and preserve peace and unity. By the 
 " unity of the Spirit " we are to understand, not only 
 a spiritual unity, but also a unity of sentiments, 
 desires, and affections, such as is worthy of and 
 springs from the Spirit of God. By the " bond of 
 peace " we are to understand a peace of union, 
 where the interests of all parties are concentrated, 
 cemented, and sealed ; the Spirit of God being the 
 seal upon this knot. 
 
 4. There is one body — Namely, of Christ, 
 which is his Church. One Spirit — The Holy 
 Ghost, who animates this body. [The assertion of 
 the unity of the Church and of our Lord in all his 
 operations and ordinances, springs immediately out 
 of the last exhortation, as following it up to its 
 great primal ground in the verities of God. — Al- 
 ford.] One hope — Of everlasting glory, to which 
 glory ye have been called by the preaching of the 
 (iospel ; through which ye have become the body 
 of Christ, instinct with the energy of the Holy 
 Ghost. 
 
 5. One Lord — Jesus Christ, who is the governor 
 of this Church. One faith — One system of re- 
 ligion, proposing the same objects to the faith of 
 all. [The subjective medium by which that one 
 Lord is apprehended and appropriated. — Alford.] 
 One baptism — Administered in the name of the 
 holy Trinity; indicative of the influences, privi- 
 leges, and effects of the Christian religion. [The 
 objective seal of the subjective faith, by which, as 
 a badge, the members of Christ arc outwardly and 
 visibly stamped with his name. — Alford.] 
 
 6. One God — The fountain of all being — self- 
 existent and eternal. And Father of all — Both 
 Jews and Gentiles, because he is the Father of the 
 spirits of all flesh. Who is above all — '0 i~l 
 vrdvTuv, who is over all ; as the King of kings, 
 and Lord of lords. And through all — Pervading 
 everything; being present with everything; pro- 
 viding for all creatures; and by his energy sup- 
 porting all things. And in you all— liy the 
 energy of his Spirit enlightening, quickening, puri- 
 fying, and comforting; in a word, making your 
 hearts the temples of the Holy Ghost. Some think 
 the mystery of the blessed Trinity is contained in 
 this verse': God is over all, as Futh< r ; through 
 • ill, by the Logos or Word; and in all, by the Holy 
 
 Spirit. 
 
 1 255
 
 EPHESIANS. 
 
 The various nffie 
 designed for i 
 
 7 But °unto every one of us is given grace 
 according to the measure of the gift of 
 Christ. § Wherefore he saith, p When lie as- 
 cended up on high, ihe led r captivity captive, 
 ami gave gifts unto men. 9 ('Now that he 
 ascended, what is it but that he also descended 
 first into the lower parts of the earth. lO He 
 that descended is the same also 'that ascended 
 
 o Rom. 1-2. 3, 6 : 1 Cor. 12. 11. p Psa. B?. 18. q JuoV. 5. 12 ; 
 
 Col. 2. 1"). /'Or, a multitude of captives. aJohn 3. 13; 
 
 6. 33, 62. 1 Acts 1. 9, 11 ; 1 Tim. 3. 1(5; Heb. 4. 14; 7. 26; 8. 1; 
 
 9. 24. wActs 2. 33. 
 
 7. Unto every one of us is given grace — 
 Though we are all equal in the respects already 
 mentioned, yet we have all different offices and situa- 
 tions to till in the Church and in the world ; and 
 we receive a free gift from Christ according to the 
 nature of the office. According to the measure 
 of the gift of Christ — With the same fulness and 
 freeness as is bestowed on him, according to the 
 office or function which he has given us to fulfil. 
 
 8. Wherefore he saith — The reference seems 
 to he to Psalm lxviii, 18, which, however it may 
 speak of the removal of the tabernacle, appears to 
 have been also intended to point out the glorious 
 ascension of Jesus Christ after his resurrection. 
 [That psalm is a song of triumph at some bringing 
 up of the ark to the hill of Zion. It is therefore 
 a Messianic psalm. Every part of the ark, every 
 stone of that hill, was full of spiritual meaning. 
 Every note struck on the lyres of the sweet singers 
 of Israel is but part of a chord, deep and world- 
 wide, sounding from the golden harps of redemp- 
 tion. The partial triumphs of David and Solomon 
 only prefigured, as in a prophetic mirror, the uni- 
 versal and eternal triumph of the incarnate Son of 
 God. — Alford.] When he ascended up on high 
 — The whole of this verse, as it stands in the psalm, 
 seems to refer to a military triumph. Take the fol- 
 lowing paraphrase: Thou hast ascended ci high: 
 the conqueror was placed in a very elevated chariot. 
 Thou hast led captivity captive : the conquered kings 
 and generals were usually bound behind the chariot 
 of the conqueror, to grace the triumph. Thou hast 
 received gifts for (Paul, given gifts unto) men : at 
 such times the conqueror was wont to throw money 
 among the crowd. Even t<> tin- rebellious: those who 
 had fought against him now submit unto him, and 
 share his munificence; for it is the property of a 
 hero to be generous. That the Lord God might 
 dwell among them : the conqueror being now come 
 to fix his abode in the conquered provinces, and 
 subdue the people to his laws. All this the apostle 
 applies to Christ. The apostle, under the inspira- 
 tion of God, applied the verse in this way; and 
 whatever David might intend, and of whatever 
 event he might have written, we see plainly that 
 the sense in which the apostle uses it was the sense 
 of the Spirit of God ; for the Spirit in the Old and 
 New Testaments is the same. The gifts which Je- 
 sus Christ distributes to man, he has received in 
 ami by virtue of his incarnation; and it is in con- 
 sequence of his being made man that it may be 
 said, The Lord God dwells among them ; for Jesus 
 was called Immanuel, God with us, in consequence 
 of his incarnation. This view of the subject is 
 consistent with the whole economy of grace, and 
 suits well with the apostle's application of the 
 words of the psalmist in this place. 
 
 9. He ascended . . . also descended — The mean- 
 ing of the apostle appears to be this : The person 
 
 256 
 
 up fiir above all heavens, "that he might r fill 
 all things.) 11 w And he gave some, apostles; 
 and some, prophets; and some, * evangelists ; 
 and some, y pastors, and z teachers; 12 "For 
 the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the 
 ministry, ''for the edifying of c the body of 
 Christ : 13 Till we all come d in the unity of 
 the faith, c and of the knowledge of the Son of 
 
 r> Or, fulfil. "'1 Cor. 12. 28; chnp. 2. 20. a' Acts 21. 8; 
 
 2 Tim 4. 5. j/ Acts 20. 28. z Rom. 12. 7. a] Cor. 12. 7. 
 
 /> 1 Cor. 14. 26. c Chap. 1. 23 ; Col. 1. 24. d Or, into the 
 
 unity. e col. 2. 2. 
 
 who ascended is the Messiah, and his ascension 
 plainly intimates his descension; that is, his incar- 
 nation, humiliation, death. 
 
 10. He that descended — He who descended so 
 low is the same who has ascended so high. He 
 came to the lower parts of the earth — the very 
 deepest abasement, having emptied himself, taken 
 upon him the form of a servant, and humbled him- 
 self unto death, even the death of the cross; now 
 he is ascended far above all heavens — higher than 
 all height ; he has a name above every name. Here 
 his descending into the "lower parts of the earth" 
 is put in opposition to his ascending "fai above all 
 heavens." His abasement was unparalleled ; so 
 also is his exaltation. That he might fill all 
 things — That he might be the fountain whence all 
 blessings might How ; dispensing all good things to 
 all his creatures, according to their several capaci- 
 ties and necessities ; and, particularly, fill both con- 
 verted Jews and Gentiles with all the gifts and 
 graces of his Holy Spirit. 
 
 [Verses 9 and 10 make a parenthesis, showing 
 that as the person spoken of in the foregoing quo- 
 tation, who is here assumed to have been the Mes- 
 siah, is said to have ascended, so he had first de- 
 set ndi d; so tracing our Lord's career from the throne 
 of his eternal glory with the Father in heaven to 
 earth in his incarnation, and to hades in his death, 
 from which descent he rose again in his resurrec- 
 tion and ascended up to his Messianic throne, upon 
 which he is here contemplated, "tilling all things."] 
 
 11. He gave some, apostles — [By his provi- 
 dence and through the Holy Spirit he assigned to cer- 
 tain persons their appropriate duties,] and, to qualify 
 them for their work, gave them the proper "gifts." 
 [No equivalent for the word " some " is found in the 
 original, and its use here is uncalled for and mis- 
 leading. The statement is, that the ascended and 
 enthroned Head of the Church has given " apos- 
 tles," etc., for the purposes afterward named.] 
 
 12. For the perfecting of the saints — For 
 the complete instruction, purification, and union of 
 all who have believed in Christ Jesus, both Jews 
 and Gentiles. For the meaning of KarapTic/zoc, per- 
 fection, see the note on 2 Cor. xiii, 0. For the 
 work of the ministry — Aianovlag, for the work 
 of service. [The same idea of the Church, viewed as 
 a well-regulated household, is continued — in which 
 all who serve are dtaicovor, servants, whether apos- 
 tles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, or teachers.] 
 Edifying of the body — The body of Christ is his 
 Church, (see chapter ii, 20, etc. ;) and its edifica- 
 tion consists in its thorough instruction in divine 
 things, and its being filled with faith and holiness. 
 
 13. In the unity of the faith — [Intellectual, 
 experimental, and practical.] Jews and Gentiles 
 being all and alike converted according to the doc- 
 trines laid down inthe faith — the Christian system. 
 The knowledge of the Son of God — A true un-
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 . M. 4065. A. TV 6 
 Year jl Rome, -1 1 
 
 GikI. unto f a perfect man, unto the measure 
 of the e stature of the fulness of Christ: 
 14 That we henceforth be no more h children, 
 'tossed to and fro, and carried about with 
 every k wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, 
 and cunning craftiness, ' whereby they lie in 
 wait to deceive; 15 But mn speaking the truth 
 in love, "m ay grow up into him in all things, 
 p which is the bead, even Christ: 16 iFrom 
 
 f\ Cor. 14. 20; Col. 1. 28. g Or, age. h Isa. 28. 9: 1 Cor. 
 
 14. 20. iHeb. 13.9. X- Matt. 11. 7. /Rom. 16. 18; 2Cor. 
 
 2. 17. m Or, being sincere. n Zech. 8. 16 ; 2 Cor. 1. 2; 
 
 derstanding of the mystery of the incarnation — God 
 
 manifest in the flesh to reveal God to man and in 
 order to human salvation. Unto a perfect man 
 — TeKeiov, fullgrown. One thoroughly instructed ; 
 the whole body of the Church being fully taught, 
 justified, sanctified, and sealed. Measure of the 
 stature — The full measure of knowledge, love, and 
 holiness which the Gospel of Christ requires, and 
 for the attainment of which it provides. The 
 " measure of the stature " of the fulness is too 
 seldom seen; the measure of the stature of little- 
 ness, dwarfishness and emptiness is often exhib- 
 ited. 
 
 14. Be no more children — " Children," here, 
 are opposed to the " perfect man " in the preced- 
 ing verse ; and the state of both is well explained 
 by the apostle's allusions. The man is grown up 
 strong and healthy, and has attained such a meas- 
 ure or height as qualifies him for the most respect- 
 able place in the ranks of his country. The child 
 is ignorant, weak, and unsteady, tossed about in 
 the nurse's arms, or whirled round in the giddy 
 sports or mazes of youth ; this seems to be the 
 apostle's allusion. By the sleight of men — The 
 words tv T(i avSia refer to the arts used by game- 
 sters, who employ false dice that will always throw 
 up one kind of number, which is the reason why 
 those who play with them cannot win. Cunning 
 craftiness — It is difficult to give a literal transla- 
 tion of the original words : kv iravovpyia ■npogrip jie- 
 Oodiav rijg 7rAav//g : " By cunning, for the purpose of 
 using the various means of deception." Tlavovpyia 
 signifies craft and subtlety in general, cheating and 
 imposition. Medodia, from which we have our term 
 method, signifies a wile, a particular sleight, mode 
 of tricking and deceiving; it is applied to the arts 
 which the devil uses to deceive and destroy souls ; 
 (see chapter vi, 11 ;) called there the wiles of the 
 devil. From this it seems that various arts were 
 used, both by the Greek sophists and the Judaizing 
 teachers, to render the Gospel of noue effect, or to 
 adulterate and corrupt it. 
 
 15. But speaking the truth in love — The 
 "truth " recommended by the apostle is the whole 
 system of Gospel doctrine; this they are to teach 
 and preach, and this is opposed to the deceit men- 
 tioned above. This truth, as it is the doctrine of 
 • roll's eternal love to mankind, must be preached in 
 " love." Scolding and abuse from the pulpit or 
 press, in matters of religion, are truly monstrous. 
 He who has the truth of God has no need of 
 any means to defend or propagate it but those 
 which love to God and man provides. Grow up 
 into him — This is a continuance of the metaphor 
 taken from the members of a human body receiving 
 nourishment equally, and growing up, each in its 
 due proportion to other parts and to the body in 
 general. The truth of God should be so preached 
 
 Vol. II.— 17. 
 
 whom the whole body fitly joined together 
 and compacted by that which every joint snp- 
 plieth, according to the effectual working in 
 t he measure of every part, maketh increase 
 of the body unto the edifying of itself in 
 love. 17 This I say therefore, and testify in 
 the Lord, that r ye henceforth walk not as 
 other (.entiles walk, "in the vanity of their 
 mind, 18 l Havingthe understanding darkened, 
 
 verse 25: 1 John 3. 18. "Chap. 1. 22: 2. 21. p Col. 1. 18. 
 
 q Col. 2. 1H. r Chap. 2. 1, 2, .', : verse 22 : Col. a. 7 ; 1 Pet«r 
 
 4. 3. *Rom.' 1. 21. /Acts 26. IS'. 
 
 to all the members of the Church of God that they 
 may all receive an increase of grace and life ; so 
 that each, in whatever state lie may be, may get 
 forward in the way of truth and holiness. In the 
 Church of Christ there are persons in various 
 states: the careless, the penitent, the lukewarm, the 
 tempted, the diffident, little children, young men, and 
 fathers. He who has a talent for the edification of 
 only one of those classes should not stay long in a 
 place, else the wdiole body cannot grow up in all 
 things under his ministry. 
 
 16. From whom the whole body — "The 
 apostle's meaning is, that as the human body is 
 formed by the union of all the members to each 
 other, under the head, and by the fitness of each 
 member for its own office and place in the body, so 
 the Church is formed by the union of its members 
 under Christ, its head. Further, as the human 
 body increases till it arrives at maturity by the 
 energy of every part in performing its proper 
 function, and by the sympathy of every part with 
 the whole, so the body or Church of Christ grows 
 to maturity by the proper exercise of the gifts and 
 graces of individuals for the benefit of the whole." 
 — Macknight. Not only the general ideas here, but 
 the whole phraseology also, is anatomical. The ar- 
 ticulation of the bones, the composition and action 
 of the muscles, the circulation of the fluids, carry- 
 ing nourishment to every part and depositing some 
 in every place, the energy of the system in keeping 
 up all the functions, being particularly introduced, 
 and the whole terminating in the general process 
 of nutrition, increasing the body, and supplying all 
 the waste that had taken place in consequence of 
 labour, etc. 
 
 17. This I say therefore — [Tovto ovv /.•}<■>. 
 The word ovv, " therefore," again refers back to the 
 beginning of the chapter, as supplying the grounds 
 for the further exhortation.] Walk not as other 
 Gentiles walk — Ye are called to holiness by the 
 Gospel, the other Gentiles have no such calling; 
 walk not as they walk. In this and the two fol- 
 lowing verses the apostle gives a most awful ac- 
 count of the conduct of the heathens who were 
 without the knowledge of the true God. They 
 walked in the vanity (foolishness) of their mind 
 — 'Ev f.iarat6ri]7i roil vobg avruv, in the mind. [Ma- 
 raiorqe is to be understood of the whole intellectual 
 n ml moral character of heathenism, in which the 
 rational and moral principle is theoretically and 
 practically estranged from the truth, and subject to 
 error and the service of sin. — Meyer.~\ 
 
 18. Having the understanding darkened — 
 Having no means of knowledge, the heart, naturally 
 dark, became more and more so by means of ha- 
 bitual transgressions. Every thing in the Gentile 
 system had a direct tendency to blind the eyes and 
 darken the whole soul. Being alienated from 
 
 257
 
 EPIIESIANS. 
 
 ! to be put off by 
 
 it iii Christ. 
 
 being "alienated from the life of God through 
 the ignorance that is in them, because of the 
 v w blindness of their heart: 19 * Who being 
 past feeling >' have given themselves over unto 
 laseiviousness, to work all uncleanness with 
 greediness. 20 But ye have not so learned 
 Christ ; 2 1 z If so be that ye have heard him, 
 
 nCh»p. 2. 12: Gal. 4. 8; 1 Tliess. 4. 5. cKom. 1. 21. 
 
 wOr, hardness. — sclTim. 4. 2. j/Rom. 1. 24, 2t>; 1 Peter 
 
 4. 3. z Chap. I. 13. a Col. 2. 11 ; 3. 8, 9; Heb. 12. 1 ; 1 Peter 
 
 the life of God— The " life of God " in the soul 
 of man is that without which true happiness was 
 never found by any human spirit ; from this, 
 through the ignorance that is in them, tita ri/v 
 uyvoiav T7/v ovaav, there was nothing to instruct, 
 nothing to enlighten ; for the most accurate writ- 
 ings of their best philosophers left them entirely 
 ignorant of the real character of God. Their moral 
 state became so wretched that they are represented 
 as abhorring everything spiritual and pure, for 
 this is the import of the word airrfAlorpiujitvoi, 
 alienated. They abhorred everything that had a 
 tendency to lay any restraint on their vicious pas- 
 sions and inclinations. Because of the blind- 
 ness (callousness) of their heart — Am rrp 7?apu- 
 civ. Callous signifies a thickening of the outward 
 skin of any particular part, especially on the hands 
 and feet, by repeated exercise or use, through 
 which such parts are rendered insensible. This 
 may lie metaphorically applied to the conscience of 
 a sinner, which is rendered stupid and insensible 
 by repeated acts of iniquity. 
 
 1 9. Who being past feeling — Olrtvec awrjlyn- 
 k6tsc. [They being without any moral sense, and 
 therefore shameless and remorseless, utterly regard- 
 less of conduct, character or retribution.] Have 
 
 given themselves over unto laseiviousness — 
 " Laseiviousness," dffi Ayeia, is here personified ; and 
 the Gentiles in question are represented as having 
 delivered themselves over to her jurisdiction. This 
 is a true picture of the Gentile world ; uncleanness 
 and debauchery of every kind flourished among 
 them without limit or restraint. Almost all their 
 gods and goddesses were of this character. [See 
 a terrible demonstration of this in the discoveries 
 made among the ruins of Pompeii.] To work all 
 uncleanness with greediness — This is a com- 
 plete finish of the most abandoned character. To 
 do an unclean act is bad, to labour in it is worse, to 
 labour in all uncleanness is worse still; but to do 
 all this in every cist- to the utmost extent, ev ttaeo- 
 vE^ia, with desire exceeding time, place, opportunity, 
 and strength, is worst of all, and leaves nothing 
 more profligate or more abandoned to be described 
 or imagined : just as Ovid paints the drunken Si- 
 lenus, whose wantonness survives his strength, and 
 keeps alive his desires though old age has de- 
 stroyed the power of gratification. Such was the 
 state of the Gentiles before they were blessed with 
 the light of the Gospel; and such is the state of 
 those nations who have not yet received the Gos- 
 pel; and such is the state of multitudes of those 
 in Christian countries who refuse to receive the 
 Gospel, endeavour to decry it, and to take refuge 
 in the falsities of infidelity against the testimony 
 of eternal truth. 
 
 20. But ye have not so learned Christ — Ye 
 have received the doctrines of Christ, and therefore 
 are taught differently; ye have received the Spirit 
 of Christ, and therefore are saved from such dis- 
 positions. [But you (emphatic in contrast with 
 
 258 
 
 and have been taught by him, as the truth is 
 in Jesus: 22 That ye "put off concerning 
 'the former conversation c the old man, which 
 is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts ; 
 23 And d be renewed in the spirit of your 
 mind; 24 And that ye e put on the new man, 
 which after God f is created in righteousness 
 
 2. 1. &Chap. 2. 2. 3; verse 17; Col. 3. 7; 1 Peter 4. 3. 
 
 c Rum. ri. (i. d Rom. 12. 2 ; Col. 3. 10. 6 Rom. 6. 4: 2 Cor. 
 
 5. 17 ; Gal. 6. 15: chap. 6. 11 ; Col. 3. 10. /Chap. 2 10. 
 
 them) "have not so learned Christ;" Christ, per- 
 sonal ; not simply Christian iiiorali.fi/, but Christ 
 himself, who is the subject of all Christian preach- 
 ing and Christian learning. To know him (Phil, 
 iii, 10) is the great lesson of the Christian life, 
 which these Ephesians began to learn at their con- 
 version. See Alford.] 
 
 21. If so be that ye have heard him — E« ye. 
 Seeing that, since indeed, ye have heard us proclaim 
 his eternal truth ; we have delivered it to you as 
 we received it from Jesus. [The idea of the in- 
 dwelling Christ is still maintained.] 
 
 -2-1. That ye put off — Aud this has been one 
 especial part of our teaching, that ye should aban- 
 don all these, and live a life totally opposite to 
 what it was before. The old man — See the note 
 on Rom. vi, 6, and especially the notes on Rom. 
 xiii, 13, 14. Which is corrupt — The whole of 
 your former life was corrupt and abominable; ye 
 lived in the pursuit of pleasure and happiness; ye 
 sought this in the gratification of the lusts of the 
 flesh ; and were ever deceived by these lusts, and 
 disappointed in your expectations. ['AirodioOat, 
 the infinitive of purpose, having the force of the 
 imperative, to put off, Kara r?/v nportpav avaarpotyyv, 
 as to your former manner of life."] [This intact 
 concerns the whole moral nature before conversion ; 
 and putting off the old man affirms that the con- 
 verted man is to retain nothing of his pre-Christian 
 moral personality ; but utterly to do away with the 
 old ethical individuality, and to become the new 
 man. — Meyer.] 
 
 23. And be renewed in the spirit of your 
 mind — The whole " spirit " of the " mind " i.- to be 
 renovated ; all its faculties and powers must be 
 thoroughly, completely, and universally renewed. 
 [Since (before conversion) the rcvevfia, spirit, in 
 which the vovc, mind or will, has its determining 
 agent, is under the power of sin, in the flesh non- 
 free, bound, and weak, ... it needed renewal unto 
 moral freedom, which it receives in regeneration by 
 means of the Holy Spirit. — Meyer.] 
 
 24. Put on the new man — Get a new nature ; 
 for in Christ Jesus neither circumcision avails 
 anything nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. 
 Which after God is created in righteousness 
 — In the beginning God created man in his own 
 image. (Gen. i, 27.) And here St. Paul says that 
 they should " put on the new man, which after God 
 is created in righteousness and true holiness," or, 
 baiorrj-i rf/Q aAr/Oeiar, in the holiness of truth. From 
 the apostle we learn what Moses meant by the 
 image of God ; it was righteousness and, the truihof 
 holiness. It is not this or the other degree of 
 moral good which the soul is to receive by Jesus 
 Christ, it is the tehole image of God ; and it is to 
 be formed Kara Qebv, according to God, the ethical 
 likeness of the divine Being. [This new habitude 
 appears as the new man, which God has created, 
 but man appropriates for himself, so that moral 
 freedom is not annulled. — Meyer]
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 A. M. 4065. A. D. 61 
 
 Vear of Rome, B I I. 
 
 and strue holiness. 25 Wherefore putting 
 ft way lying, h speak every man truth with his 
 neighbour: for 'we are members one of an- 
 other. 26 k Be ye angry, and sin not : let not 
 tin.' sun so down upon your wrath : 27 ' Nei- 
 ther give place to the devil. 2* Let him that 
 st < >!<.' steal no more : but rather '"let him labour, 
 working with his hands the thing which is 
 
 g Or, holiness of truth. h Zech. 8. it;: verse 15; Col. 3.9. 
 
 i Rom. 12. 5. /.' l'sa. -I. 4: :!7. s. 1-1 Coy. 2. Hi. II ; Jam. 
 
 4. 7; 1 Peter .">. 9. m Arts 20. 35; 1 Thess. 4. 11 ; 2 Thess. 3. 8, 
 
 11, 12. n Or, to distribute. — o Luke :;. 1 1. 
 
 25. Wherefore putting away lying — All 
 
 falsi///, all prevarication, because this is opposite to 
 the " truth " as it is in Jesus, (verse 21,) and to the 
 holiness of truth. (Verse 24.) Speak every man 
 truth with his neighbour — Truth was but of 
 small account among many of even the best 
 heathens, for they taught that on many occasions a 
 lie was to be preferred to the truth itself. Having 
 been brought up in such a loose system of morality, 
 these converted Gentiles had need of these apos- 
 tolic directions — Put away lying ; speak the truth ; 
 let lying never come near you; let truth.be ever 
 present with you. We are members one of 
 another- — Consider yourselves as one body, of 
 which Jesus Christ is the head ; and as a man's 
 right hand would not deceive or wrong his left 
 hand, so deal honestly with each other ; for ye 
 "are members one of another." 
 
 26. Be ye angry, and sin not — 'Opyi&ade, 
 here, is the same as ei fiev bpyi^eade, if ye be 
 a?tgry, do not sin. If we consider anger as imply- 
 ing displeasure simply, then there are multitudes 
 of cases in which a man may be innocently, yea 
 laudably, angry. [Paul does not forbid bpyi&odai, 
 to be angry, in itself, and could not, because there 
 is a holy anger, which is calcor virtutis. (the sphere 
 of virtue,) as there is also a divine anger. The im- 
 perative may, however, be rendered conditionally, 
 in accordance with Hebrew usage, //' ye are angry 
 do not sin. — Meyer.~\ Let not the sun go down 
 upon your "wrath— That is : If you do get angry 
 with any one, see that the lire be cast with the ut- 
 most speed out of your bosom. Anger, continued 
 in, may produce malice and revenge. [That anger 
 which is an infirmity, by being cherished may be- 
 come a sin. — Alford.] 
 
 27. Neither give place to the devil — Your 
 adversary will try to influence your mind, and irri- 
 tate your spirit; watch and pray that he may not 
 get any place in you, or ascendency over you. [Nor 
 again give scope (opportunity of action, which you 
 would do by continuing in a state of angry excite- 
 ment) "to the devil," (not to calumniators, etc., as 
 some commentators wotdd say,) for diabolos, as a 
 substantive, always has this personal meaning in 
 the New Testament. — Alford.] 
 
 28. Let him that stole (<) kT&tttwv, the steal- 
 er) steal no more — [Let the stealer steal no 
 more. As there were in the apostolic Church for- 
 nicators, so were there also stealers. . . . Paul's 
 design was not to give any complete instruction on 
 the point of stealing, but only to inculcate the pro- 
 hibition of the same, and the obligation of the 
 opposite, which also supposes restitution. — Meyer.] 
 [This is a warning against the pilfering usual 
 among slaves ; converts from this class might not 
 yet have unlearned all their old habits. — Speaker's 
 Com.] Stealing, overreaching, defrauding, pur- 
 loining, etc., are consistent with no kind of religion 
 
 good, that he may have "to give "to him that 
 aeedeth. 29 nLet no corrupt communication 
 proceed out of your mouth, but ithaf which is 
 g 1 'to the use of edifying, 'that it may min- 
 ister grace unto the hearers. 30 And 'grieve 
 not the Holy Spirit of God, "whereby ye are 
 sealed unto the day of " redemption. !SH * Let 
 all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and cluni- 
 
 p Matt. 12. 36; chap. 5. -4; Col. :i. 8. q Col. 4. I>: 1 The- 
 
 5. 11. rOr, to edify prWUaMy. — »Col. 3. .16. — tU 
 
 13: 63. 1"; Ezek. li 
 (J Luke 21. 28; Kom. 
 
 1 Thess. 5. 19. «Ch«p. 1. 13.- 
 
 23 ; chap. 1. 14. «■ Col. 3. 8, 19. 
 
 that acknowledges the true God. If Christianity 
 does not make men honest, it does nothing for 
 them. Those who arc not saved from dishonesty 
 fear not God, though they may dread man. 
 
 20. Let no corrupt communication — Tide 
 '/ o} or oaTrpur, [literally, bad, putrid ; tropically, and 
 in a moral sense, foul, impure.] But that which 
 is good to the use of edifying — [Ei nc ayaOoc, 
 k.t.a.., but if there is any (discourse) good for edifi- 
 cation, sc, let it proceed, etc.] To be "g 1 " lor 
 
 a thing is a Grai'cism, as well as an Anglicism, for, to 
 be fit, proper, suitable. That it may minister 
 grace — "Iva 6u x&P LV - Let your conversation be 
 pure, wise, anil holy, that it may be the means of 
 conveying grace, or divine influences, to them that, 
 hear, and also be grateful or acceptable to the 
 hearers. Never wound modesty, truth, or religion 
 with your words; endeavour to edify those with 
 whom you converse; and, if possible, speak so as 
 to please them. 
 
 30. Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God — 
 Even those who have already a measure of the 
 light and life of God, which are brought in by the 
 Holy Spirit, and maintained by his constant in- 
 dwelling, may give way to sin, and so grieve this 
 Holy Spirit that it shall withdraw both its light and 
 presence; and, in proportion as it withdraws, then 
 hardness and darkness take place. Whereby ye 
 are sealed — The witness of the Holy Spirit in the 
 soul of a believer is God's seal, set on his heart to 
 testify that he is God's property, and that he 
 should be wholly employed in God's service. 
 
 31. Let all bitterness — Ylaoa iriKpia. All who 
 are censorious, who are unmerciful to the failings 
 of others, who have fixed a certain standard by 
 which they measure all persons in all circumstances, 
 and unchristian every one that does not come up to 
 this standard, these have the "bitterness'' against 
 which the apostle speaks. In the last century 
 there was a compound medicine, made up from a 
 variety of drastic acrid drugs and ardent spirits, 
 which was called Hiera Picra, lepa KiKpa, the holy 
 bitter; this medicine was administered in a multi- 
 tude of cases where it did immense evil, and per- 
 haps in scarcely any case did it do good. It has 
 ever appeared to me to furnish a proper epithet for 
 the disposition mentioned above, the ho/// bitter; 
 lor the religiously censorious act under the pre- 
 tence of superior sanctity. Such persons do much 
 evil in a Christian society, but very seldom any 
 good. And wrath — Qvy.bg, is more properly 
 anger, which may be considered the commencement 
 of' the passion. Anger — 'Opyrj is more properh 
 a-rat/i — the passion carried to its highest pitch, ac- 
 companied with injurious words and outrageous 
 acts, some of which are immediately specified. 
 And clamour — Kpavyfj Loud and obstrepi 
 speaking, brawling, railing, boisterous talk, often 
 the offspring of wrath; all of which are highly 
 
 25'J
 
 A.M. 4(165. A. D. 61. 
 Year of Rome, 314. 
 
 EPHESIANS. 
 
 our, and -evil speaking, be put away from you, 
 1 with all malice: 32 And " be ye kind one to 
 another, tenderhearted, T forgiving one another, 
 even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. 
 
 B 
 
 E 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 ■ye therefore followers of God, as dear 
 
 oTitus 3. 2; James 4. 11 ; 1 Peter 2. 1. iTitus 3. 3. 
 
 tt»Cor. '-'• 1": Col. :;. 13, 13. V Matt. 6. 14: Mark 11. 25. 
 
 ,i \i.itt 5. 15, 48; Luke ii. 3D: chap. 4. 32. 6 John 13. 34; la. 
 
 13; 1 Thess. 4. 9; 1 John 3. 11. 23; 4. 21. 
 
 unbecoming the meek, loving, quiet, sedate mind 
 of Christ and his followers. And evil speaking 
 — Blactyt/yia, blasphemy ; that is, injurious speak- 
 ing — words which tend to hurt those of whom or 
 ag dnst whom they are spoken. With all malice 
 — KaKta ; all malignity ; as anger produces wrath, 
 and wrath clamour, so all together produce " mal- 
 ice ;" that is, settled, sullen, fell wrath — which is 
 always looking out for opportunities of revenge. 
 [UiK/iia, fretting, spitefulness ; tiv/ibc, passion ; op-) //, 
 rage; (these two words are nearly synonymous;) 
 Kpavyri, outcry, clamour ; ft/iaofr/fiia, reviling; naaa 
 nania, all badness, ill-will, malignity, uncharitable- 
 ness. Such admonitions indicate the low moral con- 
 dition of these new converts from heathenism ; and 
 yet they are not without their adaptation to very 
 many Christian societies of our own times.] 
 
 32. Be ye kind to one another — YiveaOe . . . 
 XpVOTol ; be kind and obliging to each other ; study 
 good breeding and gentleness of manners. A 
 < Ihristian cannot be a savage and he need not be 
 a boor. Never put any person to needless pain. 
 Tenderhearted — Eco"-/a};rtw, compassionaU ; 
 commiserating the wretched and distressed. For- 
 giving one another — Should you receive any in- 
 jury from a brother, or from any man, be as ready 
 to forgive him as you desire that God for Christ's 
 sake will forgive you. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER V. 
 
 1. Be ye therefore followers of God — The 
 beginning of this chapter is properly a continuation 
 
 of the preceding, which should have ended with the 
 second verse of this. Mi/ujtcu, imitators: the word 
 signifies such as personate others, assuming their 
 gait, mode of speech, accent, carriage, etc. Imitate 
 your Lord in all your actions, words, spirit, and 
 inclinations ; imitate him as loving children do their 
 parents, and remember that you stand in the rela- 
 tion of beloved children to him. [As God (the Fa- 
 ther) dealt kindly (ixapiaaro, chap, iv, 32) toward 
 you in Christ, so do you imitate him in your benig- 
 nity toward each other, forgiving as he forgave 
 you.] 
 
 2. And walk in love — Let every act of life be 
 dictated by love to God and man. As Christ . . . 
 hath loved us — Laying down your lives for your 
 brethren, if necessary ; counting nothing too difficult 
 to be done in order to promote their eternal salva- 
 tion. Hath given himself for us — Christ hath 
 died in our stead, and become thereby a sacrifice for 
 our sins. An offering — TLpoatyopa, an oblation, a 
 eucharistic ottering, it means, any offering by 
 which gratitude was expressed for temporal bless- 
 ings received from the bounty of God. A sacrifice 
 — Qvaia, a sin-offering, a victim for sin ; the same 
 as ri3f, (zebach,) which almost universally means 
 that sacrificial act in which the blood of an animal 
 was poured out as an atonement for sin. These 
 terms may be justly considered as including every 
 
 200 
 
 children; 2 And 'walk in love, c as Christ 
 also hath loved us. and hath given him- 
 self for us an offering and a sacrifice to God 
 ll for a sweetsmelling savour. 3 But fornica- 
 tion, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, ' let 
 it not be once named among you, as becometh 
 saints ; 4 e Neither filthiness, nor foolish talk- 
 
 cGal. 1. 4; 2.20: H.h. 7. 27; 9.14,26; 10.10.12: 1 John 3 lrt. 
 
 it (ien. 8. 21 ; Lev. 1. 9 ; 2 Cor. 2. 15. e Horn. B. 13 ; 1 Cor. 
 
 6. is; 2 Cor. 12. 21 ; chap. 4. 19, 20: Col. 3. 5; 1 Thess. 4. 3, etc. 
 ;'l Cor. 5. 1. — o Matt. 12. 35 ; chap. 4. 29. 
 
 kind of sacrifice, offering, and oblation made to 
 God on any account ; and both these terms are 
 with propriety used here because the apostle's de- 
 sign was to represent the sufficiency of the offering 
 made by Christ for the sin of the world. And the 
 passage strongly intimates, that as man is bound to 
 be grateful to God for the good things of this life, 
 so he should testify that gratitude by suitable offer- 
 ings; but having sinned against God, he has for- 
 feited all earthly blessings as well as those that 
 come from heaven ; and that Jesus Christ gave 
 himself vizep fi/iuv, in our stead and on our account, 
 as the gratitude-offering, irpocQopd, which we owed 
 to our Maker, and without which a continuance of 
 temporal blessings could not be expected ; and also, 
 as a sacrifice for sin, dvaia, without which we could 
 never approach God, and without which we must 
 be punished with an everlasting destruction from 
 the presence of God and the glory of his power. 
 Thus we find that even our temporal blessings come 
 from and by Jesus Christ, as well as all our spir- 
 itual and eternal mercies. For a sweetsmelling 
 savour — Eir brj/i/jv evuSiag. The " sweet-smelling 
 savour " refers to the burnt-offerings, the fumes of 
 which ascended from the fire in the act of burning; 
 and as such odors are grateful to man, God repre- 
 sents himself as pleased with them when offered 
 by an upright worshipper according to his own 
 appointment. 
 
 3. But fornication — It is probable that the 
 three terms used here by the apostle refer to dif- 
 ferent species of the same thing. The word " for- 
 nication," nopveia, may imply not only fornication, 
 but adultery also, as it frequently does. Un- 
 cleanness — 'Aicadapoia may refer to all abomina- 
 ble and unnatural lusts — sodomy, bestiality, etc. 
 Covetousness — 11/; or, _-,</, to excessive indul- 
 gence in that which, moderately used, is lawful. 
 If, however, simple "covetousness" — that is, the 
 love of gain— he here intended, it shows from the 
 connexion in which it stands, (for it is linked with 
 "fornication" and "all uncleanness,") how de- 
 grading it is to the soul of man, and how abomina- 
 ble it is in the eye of God. In other places it is 
 ranked with idolatry, for the man who has an inor- 
 dinate love of gain makes money his god. [TIAeo- 
 ve!-ia is here simply avarice; and the conjunction // 
 is a negative disjunction, (nor,) separating another 
 vice from those before named, having neither un- 
 derstood before them. See Meyer.] Let it not 
 be once named — Let no such thing ever exist 
 among you, for ye are called to be saints. [Not 
 only should all such sins be avoided in action, 
 but the very thought of them, as in any possible 
 case allowable, should not be entertained. Such 
 vices should even be spoken of very carefully and 
 sparingly.] 
 
 4. Neither filthiness — AJo-y/wrz/c, anything 
 base or vile in words or acts. Foolish talking — 
 MupoXoyia, scurrility, buffoonery, ridicule, or what
 
 Impure persons have no share 
 in the kingdom of God. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 A. M. 4"65. A. r>. 61. 
 Year of Rome, BM. 
 
 ing, nor jesting, h which are not convenient : 
 but rather giving of thanks. 5 For this ye 
 know, that 'no whoremonger, nor unclean 
 person, nor covetous man, k who is an idolater, 
 1 hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ 
 and of God. <» '"Let no man deceive you with 
 vain words: for because of these things "Com- 
 eth the wrath of God ° upon the children of 
 r disobedience. 7 Be not ye therefore par- 
 
 h Rom. 1. 2S. — n Cor. 6. 9; Gal. 5. 10, 21. *Col. 3. 5.; 
 
 1 Tim. 6. 17.— J Hal. 5. 21 ; Rev. 22. 15.— m Jer. 29. 8; Matt. 
 
 24. 1; Col. 2. 4. 8, I"; 2 Thess. 2. 3. n Rom. 1. 18. flChap. 
 
 2.2. /MH-. mi/i, 7 £ Col. 3. 6. ylsa.9.2; Mutt. 4. HI; Acta 
 
 26. 18; Rom. 1. 21 ; chap. 2. 11, 12; 4. 18; Tit. 3. 3; 1 Pet. 2. 9. 
 
 tends to expose another to contempt. Nor jesting 
 — EvrpairsXia, artfully turned discourses of words; 
 words that can be easily turned toother meanings ; 
 double-eriiendres ; chaste words which, from their 
 connexion and the manner in which they are used, 
 convey an obscene or offensive meaning. It also 
 means jests, puns, witty sayings, and mountebank 
 repartees of all kinds. Which are not con- 
 venient — Ovn avr/Kovra, [unbecoming,] not coming 
 up to the proper standard; are utterly improper in 
 themselves and highly unbecoming in those who 
 profess Christianity. But rather giving of 
 thanks — TZbxapicrria, decent and edifying dis- 
 course, or thanksgiving to God. Prayer or praise 
 is the most suitable language for man ; and he 
 who is of a trifling, light disposition is ill fitted for 
 either. How can a man who has been talking 
 foolishly or jestingly in company, go in private to 
 magnify God for the gift of his tongue which he 
 has abused, or his rational faculties which he has 
 degraded ? 
 
 5. For this ye know — Ye must be convinced 
 of the dangerous and ruinous tendency of such a 
 spirit and conduct, when ye know that persons of 
 this character can never inherit the kingdom of 
 God. [Indulgence in such practices implies the want 
 of the life of the Spirit in the soul ; and even the 
 beginnings of it, in those who believe, indicate a 
 falling away from that life.l 
 
 6. Let no man deceive you — Suffer no man 
 to persuade you that any of these things are inno- 
 cent, or that they are unavoidable frailties of hu- 
 man nature ; they are all sins and abominations in 
 the sight of God: those who practice them are 
 children of disobedience; and on account of such 
 practices the wrath of God — divine punishment, 
 — must come upon them. Do not act as you see 
 others do; nor suffer their philosophy, with vain 
 words, KEVoir Myoig, with empty and illusive doc- 
 trines, to lead you astray from the path of truth. 
 
 7. Be not ye therefore partakers with them 
 — That there was much need for such directions 
 and cautions to the people of Ephesus has been 
 often remarked. It appears, from Athenseus, that 
 these people were largely addicted to luxury, ef- 
 feminacy, etc. He tells us that the famous Aspa- 
 sia, wdio was herself of the Socratic sect, brought 
 a vast number of beautiful women into Greece, 
 and by their means filled ffte country with pros- 
 titutes, Km i~/ rfiuVi V urrii T(i)V Tai'Tt/c CTaipidUV /'/ 
 "K'/'/ac, lib. xiii, cap. 25. Ibid., cap. 31, he also 
 observes that the Ephesians had dedicated tem- 
 ples iralpg ' A(ppo8i-ij, to the prostitute Venus. 
 Through the whole of this 13th book of Athenseus 
 the reader will see the most melancholy proofs of 
 the most abominable practices among the Greeks, 
 and the high estimation in which public prosti- 
 
 takers with them. 8 i For ye were some- 
 time darkness, but now r are ye light in the 
 Lord: walk as 'children of light; 9 (For 
 'the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness 
 and righteousness and truth;) 10 "Proving 
 what is acceptable unto the Lord. II And 
 'have no fellowship with "the unfruitful 
 works of darkness, but rather "reprove them. 
 12 >' For it is a shame even to speak of those 
 
 r John 8. 12; 12. tii; 2 Cor. 3. 18; 4. fi; 1 Thess. 5. 5; 1 John 
 
 2.9. * Luke 16. 8 ; John 12 36. £Gal.5.22.- - u Rom. 12.2; 
 
 Phil. 1. 10; 1 Thess. 5. 21; 1 Tim. 2. 3. r\ Cor. 5. 9. 11 ; 10. -20; 
 
 2 Cor. H. 14: 2 Thess. 3. 6, 14. w Rom. 6. 21 : 13. 12; Gal. 6. 8. 
 
 a- Lev. 19. 17; 1 Tim. 5. 20. tfRom. 1. 21, 26; verse 3. 
 
 tutes were held ; the greatest lawgivers and the 
 wisest philosophers among the Greeks supported 
 this system both by their authority and example. 
 In reference to their teaching and laws the apos- 
 tle says: "Let no man deceive you with vain 
 words." 
 
 8. For ye were sometime (ttStf, formerly) 
 darkness — While ye lived in darkness, ye lived in 
 these crimes. [An explanation, but not excuse.] 
 But now are ye light in the Lord — When ye 
 were in heathenish darkness ye served divers lusts 
 and pleasures, but now ye have the light — the 
 wisdom and teaching which come from God ; there- 
 fore walk as children of light — Be not slaves 
 to the flesh, but free, willing, rational servants of 
 the Most High. 
 
 ■J. For the fruit of the Spirit — Instead of 
 Spirit, \\r: riinroc, the best authorities of the Fa- 
 thers read (purog, light, which is unquestionably the 
 true reading, because there is no mention made of 
 the Spirit in any part of the context. [In Gala- 
 tians, chap, v, "22, what is here termed the fruit 
 of light, is called "the fruit of the Spirit;" not 
 as though (pujc (light) and irvevfia were the same 
 thing, but the Spirit, through whom God and 
 Christ dwell in the heart, produces light in the 
 heart, so that the fruit of the Spirit is also the fruit 
 of the light. — Meyer.] 
 
 10. Proving what is acceptable — [Ao/a / udfoi>- 
 reg, demonstrating, both subjectively to yourselves 
 and objectively to others. So shall ye yourselves 
 know what is right and acceptable, and others also 
 may learn of you.] 
 
 11. Have no fellowship — Have no connexion 
 whatever with heathen practices or worship. Un- 
 fruitful works of darkness — Perhaps alluding to 
 the mysteries among the heathens, and the differ- 
 ent lustrations and rites through which the ini- 
 tiated went. The apostle may also refer to magic 
 and incantations, for to these the Ephesians 
 were greatly addicted. Rather reprove them — 
 [Both by your words and your examples. Both 
 subjective and objective proofs are expressed by the 
 
 word i'/f] 1 (,). (show tin in. lip.)~\ 
 
 12. For it is a shame even to speak — The 
 Bleusinian and Bacchanalian mysteries were per- 
 formed in the night and darkness, and were so im- 
 pure and abominable, especially the latter, that the 
 Roman senate banished them both from Rome and 
 Italy. How the discovery Of these depths of Satan 
 was made, and the whole proceedings in that case, 
 may be seen in Livy, Hist., lib. xxxix, cap. 8-19, 
 where the reader will see the force of what the 
 apostle says here: " It is a shame even to speak of 
 those things which are done of them in secret;" 
 the abominations being id' the most stupendous 
 kind and of the deepest dye. 
 
 261
 
 A. M. 4065. A. D. 61. 
 Veal. . I R„inr, ~14. 
 
 ephesians. 
 
 things which are done of them in secret. 
 13 But z all things that are "reproved are 
 made manifest by the light: for whatsoever 
 doth make manifest is light. 14 Where- 
 fore 'he saith, c Awake, thou that sleepest, 
 and '' arise from the dead, and Christ shall 
 give thee light. 15 e See then that ye walk 
 circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, 
 
 sJohn3 20.21: Heb. 4.13. — a Or, discovered. oOr.it. 
 
 <■ Is... 60. 1 ; Rom. 13. 11, 12; 1 Cor. 15. 34 ; 1 Thess. 5. 6. 
 
 Of John 5. 2'i; Rom. 6. 4, 5 ; chap. 2 5: Col. 3. 1. eCol. 4. 5. 
 
 /Gal. 6. Ill; Col. 4. 5. (/Eccles. 11. 2; 12. 1; John 12. 35; 
 
 13. But all things that are reproved — Dr. 
 Macknight paraphrases this verse as follows : 
 '• Now all these reprovdble actions, iTieyxofieva, are 
 made manifest as sinful by the Gospel; and, seeing 
 evi rything which discovers the true nature of actions 
 is light, the Gospel, which discovers the evil nature 
 of the actions performed in these mysteries, is 
 light." 
 
 14. Wherefore he saith — It is a matter of 
 doubt and controversy whence this saying is de- 
 rived. Some think it taken from Isa. xxvi, 19 : " Thy 
 dead men shall live, . . . with my dead body shall 
 they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust," 
 etc. Others think that it is taken from Isa. lx, 
 l-:i: "Arise, shine; for thy light is come," etc. 
 But these passages neither give the words nor the 
 meaning of the apostle. It seems more natural to 
 understand the words "he saith," as referring to 
 the "light;" that is, the Gospel, mentioned verse 13. 
 And the did teyei should be translated, Wherefore 
 ii' saith, Awake thou, etc., that is : This is the gen- 
 eral, the strong commanding voice of the Gospel 
 in every part. Receive instruction; leave thy sins, 
 which are leading thee to perdition ; believe on the 
 Lord Jesus Christ, and he will enlighten and save 
 thee. [Since to address an exhortation to those 
 who have the power neither to hear nor to act would 
 be absurd; there is in this a clear indication that 
 the quickening power of the Spirit accompanies 
 the word of God in men's hearts to render it capa- 
 ble of becoming effective. 
 
 15. Walk circumspectly — [BTi-ere ovv hupc- 
 -<~)C rrtpr-areiTC, look therefore how emu fully 
 
 you walk.] Be every way watchful, wary, and cau- 
 ti ms, in order to avoid danger and discern enemies 
 before they come too nigh. But the original word, 
 anpi )''.<;, signifies correctly, accurately, consistently, 
 or perfectly. Be ye, who have received the truth, 
 careful of your conduct; walk by the rule which 
 God has given you ; exemplify your principles, 
 which are holy and good, by a corresponding con- 
 duct ; do not only profess, but live, the Gospel. 
 Not as fools, but as wise — Ms? uc aaoipot ii/'/' ug 
 o Mpoi. The heathens affected to be called oo<poi, or 
 wise men'. Pythagoras was perhaps the first who 
 corrected this vanity, by assuming the title of 
 ioc, <{ lover of wisdom; hence our term phi- 
 losopher, used now in a much prouder sense than 
 that in which the great Pythagoras wished it to be 
 applied. The apostle here takes the term ao<poc and 
 applies it to the Christian ; and instead of it, gives 
 the empty Gentile philosopher the title of aaoipoc, 
 without wisdom, fool. 
 
 lii. Redeeming the time — 'E^ayopa^oyevoi tov 
 naipov. Buying up those moments which others 
 seem to cast away ; steadily improving every pres- 
 ent moment, that ye may, in some measure, regain 
 the time ye have lost. Let time be your chief 
 commodity; deal in that alone; buy it all up, and 
 2(52 
 
 16 f Redeeming the time, ^because the days 
 are evil. 17 ''Wherefore be ye not unwise, 
 but 'understanding k what the will of the Lord 
 is. 1§ And 'be not drunk with wine, where- 
 in is excess; but be tilled with the Spirit; 
 19 Speaking to yourselves "in psalms and 
 hymns and spiritual songs, pinging and making 
 melody in your heart to the Lord; 52© "Giv- 
 
 ol 
 
 a p 
 
 6. 13. 
 
 ft Col 
 
 4. 
 
 .*) - 
 
 —i Rom 
 
 12. 2 
 
 1 1 Tl 
 
 es< 
 
 4. 
 
 3: 
 
 .">. 
 
 18.- 
 
 — 1 Prov 
 
 211 1 
 
 23 
 
 2(1 
 
 30; Isa 
 
 5. 11, 
 
 22; Luke 
 
 21. 
 
 ;:l - 
 
 
 Ill 
 
 Acts 16. 25; 
 
 1 Cor 
 
 14 
 
 2fi 
 
 Col. 3. 
 
 16; J 
 
 hips 5. 13. 
 
 
 a i 
 
 sa. 
 
 34 
 
 1; 
 
 Isa. 63. 7 
 
 ; Col. 
 
 3.1 
 
 
 1 Thess. 5. 18; 
 
 2 Thess. 1. 
 
 3. 
 
 
 
 use every portion of it yourselves. Time is that 
 on which eternity depends ; in time ye are to make 
 preparation for the kingdom of God ; if you do 
 not this in time, your ruin is inevitable ; therefore, 
 buy up the time. [Rescue your time from the 
 many causes that would divert it to other occupa- 
 tions.] No doubt the apostle means, in general, 
 embrace every opportunity to glorify God, save 
 your own souls, and do good to men. Because 
 the days are evil — The present times are dan- 
 gerous ; they are full of trouble and temptations, 
 [as are indeed all times ;] and only the watchful 
 and diligent have any reason to expect that they 
 shall keep their garments unspotted. 
 
 17. Wherefore be ye not unwise — Ms? yiveaOi 
 ciQpovtc, do not bufiui madmen. Here is a most 
 evident allusion to the orgies of Bacchus, in which 
 his votaries acted like madmen, [a warning against 
 " the deceivableness of unrighteousness."] But 
 understanding what the will of the Lord is — 
 It is the will of God that ye should be sober, chaste, 
 holy, and pure. Get a thorough understanding of 
 this; acquaint yourselves with God's will, that ye 
 may know how to glorify him. 
 
 18. Be not drunk with wine, wherein is ex- 
 cess — This is a further allusion to the mysteries of 
 Bacchus; in them his votaries got drunk, and ran 
 into all manner of excesses. Plato, though he for- 
 bade drunkenness in general, yet allowed that the 
 people should get drunk in the solemnities of that 
 god who invented wine. The word anuria, txcess, 
 means profligacy and debauchery of every kind; 
 such as are the concomitants of drunkenness, and 
 especially were so among the votaries of Bacchus in 
 Greece and Italy. [It is to lie feared that the ris- 
 ing from the specific to the general renders too 
 indefinite the very important piecept of tie aj ostle. 
 We may well hold fast to the plain, literal miming: 
 "Do not be made drunk with wine:" this is an in- 
 junction deserving all the prominence it receives, 
 even if no general sense is appended. — Riddle ] But 
 be filled with the Spirit — The heathen priests 
 pretended to be filled with the influence of the god 
 they worshipped ; and it was in these conditions that 
 they gave out their oracles. The apostle exhorts 
 the Ephesians not to resemble these, but to be Idled 
 with the Spirit of God; in consequence of which, 
 instead of those discoveries of the will of their 
 god to which, in their drunken worship, the vota- 
 ries of Bacchus pretended, they should be wise in- 
 deed, and should understand what the will of the 
 Lord is. 
 
 1 9. Speaking to yourselves in psalms — We 
 can scarcely say what is the exact difference be- 
 tween these three expressions. "Psalms," tyatyoi, 
 may probably mean those of David. Hymns — 
 "Yyvoic; extemporaneous effusions in praise of 
 God, uttered under the influence of the divine 
 Spirit, or a sense of his especial goodness. Songs
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 A. M. 4065. A. P. 61. 
 Ye.ir of Rome, 814. 
 
 ing thanks always for all things unto God and 
 the Father "in the name of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ; 21 pSubmitting yourselves <>ue to 
 another in the fear of God. 22 » Wives, 
 
 submit yourselves unto your own husbands, 
 r as unto the Lord. 23 For 8 the husband 
 is the head of the wife, even as 'Christ is 
 the head of the Church: and he is the Sav- 
 
 olfeli. 13. 1-"): 1 Peter 2. 5; 4. 11. pPhil. 2. 3 : 1 Peter 5. ",. 
 
 ■ tfGen. 3. 1(5; 1 Cor. 14. 34; Col. 3. 1*: Titus 2. 5; 1 Peter 3. 1. 
 
 /('hip >;. .5. vl Cor. 11. 3. JChap. 1. 22; 4. 15; Col. 
 
 1. IS. — « Chap. 1. 23. 
 
 — 'iiWf, odes; premeditated and regular poetic 
 compositions ; but, in whatever form they were 
 composed, we learn that they were all -vtvua-ina, 
 spiritual — tending to magnify God and edify men. 
 Singing and making melody in your heart — 
 The "heart" always going with the lips. It is a 
 shocking profanation of divine worship to draw 
 nigh to God with the lips while the heart is far 
 from him. It is too often the case, that in public 
 worship men are carried off from the sense of the 
 ■words by the sounds that are put to them. And how 
 few choirs of singers are there in the universe 
 whose hearts ever accompany them in what they 
 call singing the praises of God ! 
 
 2< >. Giving thanks always —God is continually 
 loading' you with his benefits ; you deserve nothing 
 of his kindness; therefore give him thanks for his 
 unmerited bounties. God and the Father — 
 That is, God, who is your Father, and the Father 
 of mercies. In the name of our Lord Jesus — 
 He is the only mediator; and through him alone 
 can ye approach to God ; and it is for his sake 
 only that God will hear your prayers or receive 
 your praises. 
 
 21. Submitting . . . one to another — Let no 
 man be so tenaeious of his own will, or of his opinion 
 in matters indifferent, as to disturb the peace of the 
 Church ; in all such matters give way to each other, 
 and let love rule. In the fear of God — [A de- 
 vout reference to God's will is the most effectual 
 incentive to Christian forbearance and brotherly 
 love. J 
 
 22. Wives, submit yourselves unto your 
 own husbands — As the "Lord," namely, Christ, 
 is the head or governor of the Church and the head of 
 the man, so is the man the head or governor of the 
 woman. This is God's ordinance, and should not 
 be transgressed. The husband should not be a 
 tyrant, and the wife should not be the governor. 
 [The idea of subjection, though not expressed in 
 the original is certainly implied. " Your own," Idioig, 
 " husbands," used emphatically by suggesting the in- 
 timacy of their relation, indicating also the resultant 
 duty. As unto the Lord — [In obeying your hus- 
 bands obey the Lord, not merely as in all things 
 we are to have regard to him, but because the hus- 
 band stands peculiarly in Christ's place. — EllicoH.'] 
 
 2:;. For the husband is the head of the wife 
 — Tins is the reason which the apostle gives for 
 his injunctions. He is the Saviour of the body 
 — As Christ exercises authority over the Church, so 
 as to save and protect it, so let the husband exer- 
 cise authority over his wife by protective, comfort- 
 ing, and ■providing for her. 
 
 24. In every thing — [A general subordination 
 in respect to authority between the two.] In 
 every lawfid thine/; for it is not intimated that 
 wii fs should obey their husbands in anything crim- 
 inal, or in anything detrimental to the interests of 
 
 iotir of "the body. 24 Therefore as the 
 church is subject, unto Christ, so let the wives 
 be to their own husbands l in every thing. 
 25 w Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ 
 also loved the church, "and gave himself for 
 it; 20 That he might sanctify and cleanse it 
 ■ v with the washing of water 2 by the word, 
 27 a That he might present it to himself a 
 
 V Col. 3. 
 
 20, 22; Titus 2. 9. w Col. 3. 19: 1 Peter 3. 7. 
 
 X Acts 20. 
 
 2-; Gal. 1. 4: 2. 20; verse 2. y John 3. 5; Titus 
 
 3. 5: Uel). 
 
 III. J2 ; 1 John 5. 0. z John 15. 3 ; 17. 17. </ 2 Cur. 
 
 11. 2; Col 
 
 1. 22. 
 
 their souls. The husband may be profligate, and 
 may wish his wife to become such also- he may lie 
 an enemy to true religion, and use his authority to 
 prevent his wife from those means of grace which 
 she finds salutary to her soul ; in none of these 
 things should she obey him. 
 
 25. Husbands, love your wives — Here is a 
 grand rule, according to which every husband is 
 called to act: Love your wife as Christ loved the 
 Church. Hut how did Christ love the Church V 
 He gave himself for it — he laid down his life for 
 it. So, then, husbands should make an offering 
 of their lives for their wives; and there is more 
 implied in the words than mere protection and sup- 
 port; for as Christ gave himself for the Church to 
 save it, so husbands should, by all means in their 
 power, labour to promote the salvation of their 
 wives, and their constant edification in righteous- 
 ness. Thus we find that the authority of the man 
 over the woman is founded on his love to her, ami 
 this love must be such as to lead him to devote his 
 life for her. As the care of the family devolves 
 on the wife, and the children must owe the chief 
 direction of their minds and formation of their 
 manners to the mother, she has need of all the 
 assistance and support which her husband can 
 give her ; and, if she performs her duty well, she 
 deserves the utmost of his love and approbation. 
 
 26. That he might sanctify and cleanse it — 
 — The Church is represented as the spouse of 
 Christ, as the woman is the spouse of the man ; 
 and, to prepare this Church for himself, he washes, 
 cleanses, and sanctifies it. There is certainly an 
 allusion here to the ancient method of purifying 
 women who were appointed to be consorts to 
 kings; twelve mouths, it appears, were in some 
 instances spent in this purification: Six months 
 with oil of myrrh, and six months with strut odours, 
 unit villi other things, for the purifying of women. 
 (See Esther, chapter ii, 12; Psa. xlv, 13, 14; Ezek. 
 xvi, 7-14.) With the -washing of water — [Tw 
 Tuovrpu, with the laver of water, (not "washing," 
 a meaning the word never has,) clearly a reference 
 to the purifying bath of the bride previous to 
 marriage. — Alford.] [There is only a supposed 
 and far-fetched reference to baptism, in these 
 words.] By the word — The doctrine "( Christ 
 crucified, through which the soul is purified from 
 all unrighteousness, the death of Vln*ist (through 
 the Holy Spirit) giving efficacy to all. 
 
 27. That he might present it to himself — 
 It was usual to bring the royal bride to the King in 
 the most sumptuous apparel. (See Psa. \lv. 13, 14: 
 "The king's daughter (Pharaoh's) is all glorious 
 within, her clothing is of wrought gold : she shall 
 be brought unto the king (Solomon) in raiment of 
 needlework.") The preseniation here spoken id' by 
 the apostle will take place on the last day. A 
 glorious church — Every way splendid and hon- 
 
 263
 
 A.M. I 65. A. P. 61. 
 Year oi Rome, -11. 
 
 EPHESIAXS. 
 
 glorious church, ''not having spot, or wrinkle, 
 or any such thing; c but that it should be holy 
 and without blemish. 28 So ought men to 
 love their wives as their own bodies, lie that 
 loveth his wife loveth himself. 29 For no 
 man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nour- 
 isheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the 
 church: 30 For d we are members of his 
 body, of his flesh, and of his bones. 31 e For 
 this cause shall a man leave his father and 
 mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and 
 they f two shall be one flesh. 32 This is a 
 
 b Ciint. 4. 7. c Chip. I. 4. ri Gen. 2. 23 : Rom. 12. 5 : 1 Cor. 
 
 6. 15: 12. 27. eGen. 2. -21: Matt. 1:'. 5; Mark 10. 7, 8. 
 
 /l Cor. 15. IS. g Wise 25; Col. 3. 19. 
 
 ourable, because pure and holy. Not having 
 spot — -Ti/'ir, no blemish on the face: no spots 
 upon the garment ; the heart and life both holy. 
 Wrinkle — 'Pvrida. The word is commonly ap- 
 plied to wrinkles on the face, indicative of sickness 
 or decay. Holy and without blemish — In every 
 sense holy, pure, and perfect. Now it was for this 
 purpose that Chris? gave himself for the Church; 
 and for this purpose he continues the different or- 
 dinances which he has appointed; and particularly 
 the preaching of the word — the doctrine of recon- 
 ciliation through faith in his blood. And it is in 
 this life that this purification is to take place ; for 
 none shall be presented at the day of judgment to 
 Him who has not here been sanctified, cleansed, 
 washed, and made glorious, having neither " spot, 
 wrinkle, blemish, nor any such thing." How vain 
 is the pretension of multitudes to be members of 
 the true Church while full of moral blemishes; 
 fondly supposing that their holiness is in their 
 Surety, because not in themselves. 
 
 28. As their own bodies — [The marriage rela- 
 tion is a mystical (not physical) union of the par- 
 ties, united by God himself, and therefore it cannot 
 be dissolved except according to God's law ; and 
 it implies the mutual affection and the common 
 interest of the parties.] The apostle, in all these 
 verses, refers to the creation and original state of 
 the first human pair. 
 
 29. No man ever yet hated his own flesh — 
 And this is a natural reason why he should love his 
 wife, and nourish and cherish her. 
 
 30. We are members of his body — He has 
 partaken of our nature, as we have partaken of 
 the nature of Adam. And as he is the head of the 
 Church anl the Saviour of this hody, so we, being 
 members of the Church, are members of his mystical 
 body. That is, we are united to him by one Spirit 
 in the closest intimacy, even similar to that which 
 the members have with the body. [The idea of the 
 mystical and purely spiritual union of believers 
 with Christ, which is presented in the earlier part 
 of this epistle, is evidently here present to the mind 
 of the apostle.] 
 
 81. Shall be joined unto his wife — Upoono'X- 
 /.'/'/, '7,-:«/, lie shall be closely joined to her; so 
 death alone can part the husband and wife; and 
 nothing but death should dissolve their affection. 
 
 32. This is a great mystery — To /ivcTqpiov 
 tovto !!■] a kaTiv, /Ins mystery is great. By this 
 "mystery" we may understand, 1) "the union of 
 the husband ami wife in marriage; and 2) (and 
 eminently) the union of Christ with his Church. 
 The creation and union of Adam and Eve were 
 intended, in the design of God, to point out the 
 264 
 
 great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ 
 and the church. 33 Nevertheless, e let every 
 one of you in particular so love his wife even 
 as himself ; and the wife seethat she b reverence 
 her husband. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 CHILDREN, » obey your parents in the Lord : 
 for this is right. 2 b Honour thy father 
 and mother; which is the first commandment 
 with promise; 3 That it may be well with 
 thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth. 
 4 And, c ye fathers, provoke not your children 
 
 h 1 Pet. 3. 6. a Prov. 23. 22; C>>1. 3. 20. b Exod. 20. 12; 
 
 Deut, 5. 16j 27. 16; Jer. 35. Is: Ezek. 22. 7; Mai. 1. U; Mutt. 
 15. i: Mark 7. 10. c Col. 3. 21. 
 
 union of Christ and tiie Church ; a union the most 
 important that can be conceived ; and therefore the 
 apostle calls it a great "mystery," (or design.) 
 
 33. Nevertheless — 1 1 > <, j •, moreover*, or there- 
 fore; on the consideration of God's design in the 
 institution of marriage, let every one of you love 
 his wife as himself, because she is both naturally 
 and by a divine ordinance a part of himself. That 
 she reverence her husband — Let the wife ever 
 consider the husband as her head ; and this he is, 
 not only by nature, but also by the ordinance of 
 God. These are very important mutters, and on 
 them the apostle lays great stress. [The Church 
 should never demean itself as merely parallel to 
 other circles of fellowship, for she is called to be- 
 come the inmost of all. From out of the family, 
 the concentrated life of the household, where a 
 filial spirit is born of wedded love and household 
 dependents regulate themselves accordingly, the 
 moral life of a nation also grows. The emancipa- 
 tion of the strong-minded woman, that most repul- 
 sive miscreation of natural corporealness, destroys 
 not only what is Christian, but what is germane. 
 Love is the only right dominion; there is then in 
 every house a church in parvo. The mystery of 
 marriage is a portico to the mystery of the sanctu- 
 ary : from the latter, too, a light streams into the 
 former. — Steir."] 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTEE VI. 
 
 1. Children, obey your parents — This is a 
 duty with which God will never dispense; he com- 
 mands it, and gratitude, from a sense of the high- 
 est obligations, most strongly enforces the com- 
 mand. In the Lord — 'Kr icupiu. [This character- 
 izes the obedience as Christian, the activity of 
 which moves in Christ, with whom the Christian 
 stands in communion of life. Ainaiov, according 
 to the law of God. — Meyer.] 
 
 2. Honour thy father- — \Tiiia (honour) includes 
 more than obedience. Altogether without respect 
 to any other relations than that of parents and 
 children, the duty of the latter not only to lie just 
 and kind to the former, but to render to them a 
 special reverence, is the purport of the command- 
 ment, from whose obligation nothing can in any 
 ease discharge them.] 
 
 :;. That it maybe well, etc. — [This is the first 
 commandment to which God has annexed a prom- 
 ise, and therefore we may learn, in some measure, 
 how important the duty is in the sight of God. In 
 Deut. v, 16, it is said, And /hut it may go well with 
 /In' ; we may therefore conclude that it will go id 
 with the disobedient.] 
 
 4. Fathers, provoke not your children to
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 to wrath: but d bring them up in the nurture 
 ;iik1 admonition of the Lord. 5 <* Servants, he 
 obedient to them that are your masters accord- 
 ing to the llesh, f with fear and trembling, nn 
 singleness of your heart, as unto Christ; 
 ii h Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but 
 as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God 
 from the heart; 7 With good will doing 
 service, as to the Lord, and not to men: 
 
 wrath — Avoid all severity; this will hurt your own 
 souls, and do your children no good ; rather, if 
 punished with severity or cruelty, they will be 
 only hardened and made desperate in their sins. 
 Cruel parents generally have bad children. He who 
 corrects his children according to God and reason 
 will feel every blow on his own heart more sensibly 
 than his child feels it on his body. Parents are 
 called to correct, not to punish, their children. 
 Those who pitnish them do it from a principle of 
 revenge; those who correct them do it from a prin- 
 ciple of affectionate concern. Bring them up — 
 'Enrpeipers a'vra kv Trauhia nai vovdeaia Kvpiov, liter- 
 ally, nourish them in the discipline and instruction 
 of the Lord. Tlaideia, discipline, may refer to all 
 that knowledge which is proper for children, in- 
 cluding elementary principles and rules for be- 
 haviour, etc. KovOeoia, instruction, may imply 
 whatever is necessary to form the mind ; to touch, 
 regulate, and purify the passions ; and necessarily 
 includes the whole of religion. Both these should 
 be administered in the Lord — all the important 
 lessons and doctrines being derived from his reve- 
 lation, (and taught in his Spirit,) therefore they are 
 called the discipline and instruction of the Lord. 
 
 5. Servants, be obedient — Though Sovloc fre- 
 quently signifies a slave or bondman, yet it often 
 implies a servant in general, or any one bound to 
 another, either for a limited time or for life. 
 Even a slave, if a Christian, was bound to serve him 
 faithfully by whose money he was bought, howso- 
 ever illegal the traffic might be considered. In 
 heathen countries slavery was in some sort excus- 
 able ; among Christians it is an enormity and a 
 crime for which perdition has scarcely an adequate 
 stat.' of punishment. According to the flesh — 
 Your masters in secular things; for they have no 
 authority over your religion nor over your souls. 
 With fear and trembling — Because the law gives 
 them a power to punish you for every act of diso- 
 bedience. [Ami because of your duty to God.] 
 [This does not refer to anger and rebuke and punish- 
 ment, nor is it to lie weakened into tender, anxious 
 conscientiousness. — BrauneJ] In singleness of 
 your heart — Not merely through fear of punish- 
 ment, but from a principle of uprightness, serving 
 them as you would serve Christ. 
 
 6. Not with eyeservice — Not merely in their 
 presence, when their eye is upon you, as unfaith- 
 ful and hypocritical servants do, without consult- 
 ing conscience in any part of their work. Doing 
 the will of God — Seeing that you are in the state 
 of servitude, it is the will of God that you should 
 act conscientiously in it. 
 
 7. With good will — Mer* ei<voiac, with cheer- 
 fulness; do not take up your service as a cross, or 
 bear it as a burden ; but take it as coming in the 
 
 S ' Knowing that whatsoever good tiling any 
 
 man doeth, the same shall lie receive of the 
 Lord, '< whether he he bond or free. 9 And, ye 
 1 masters, do the same things unto them, " "for- 
 bearing threatening: knowing that p your Mas- 
 ter also is in heaven; ".neither is there respect 
 of persons with him. 10 Finally, my breth- 
 ren, be strong in the Lord, and r in the power 
 of his might. 11 s Put on the whole armour 
 
 / Col. 4. 1. — m Leviticus 25. 43. n Or, moderating. — ■ 
 
 o Some read, both your and their Master.- 
 
 1 Cor. 7. 22. — (/Romans 2. 11: Col. 3. 25 rCh n I. IS; 
 
 ?,. 16; Col. 1. 11. * Romans 13. 12; 2 Cor. 6. 7; versi 13; 
 
 1 Thesis. 5. 8. 
 
 order of God's providence, and a thing that is 
 pleasing to linn. [The servants of Christ naturally 
 do the will of God, (John x, So.) and that, too, 
 " from the heart," without discontent with their 
 service, or murmuring in their service. — Braune.] 
 
 8. Whatsoever good thing any man doeth — - 
 Though your masters should fail to give you the due 
 reward of your fidelity and labour, yet as ye have 
 done your work as unto the Lord, he will take care 
 to give you the proper recompense. Whether he 
 be bond — A slave, bought wiflh money. Or free — 
 A person who has hind himself of his own free 
 accord. 
 
 9. Ye masters, do the same thing unto them 
 — Act in the same affectionate, conscientious man- 
 ner toward your slaves as they (ought to) do to- 
 ward you. Forbearing threatening ■ — If they 
 should transgress at any time, lean more to the side 
 of mercy than justice ; and when ye are obliged to 
 punish, let it he as lightly and moderately as possi- 
 ble ; and let revenge have no part in the chastise- 
 ment, for that is of the devil, and not of God. The 
 words forbearing threatening, avievrer rr/v u-ei- 
 ///!', signify to mitigate, relax, or not exact threat- 
 ening ; that is, the threatened punishment. The 
 sense is given above. In Shemoth Ro.bba, section 
 21, folio 120, there is a good saying concerning re- 
 spect of persons: "If a poor man come to a rich 
 man to converse with him, lie will not regard him ; 
 but if a rich man come he will hear and rehear 
 him. The holy and blessed God acts not thus ; for 
 all are alike before him — women, slaves, the \ oor 
 and the rich." Knowing that your Master 
 also is in heaven — Ye are their masters, <<or> is 
 yours. As you deal with them, so God will deal 
 with you; for do not suppose, because their con- 
 dition on earth is inferior to yours, that God con- 
 siders them to be less worthy of his regard than 
 you are; this is not so, for there is no respect of 
 persons with him. [The purportof the apostle's 
 instructions respecting the duty of masters and 
 servants or slaves toward each other seem- to lie, 
 that since their relations are fixed by the law.- and 
 social usages over which neither party had any 
 control, it was incumbent on both parties, as 
 Christians, to discharge the duties that belonged to 
 their positions. Nothing is intimated respectii 
 right or wrong of slavery, nor of the duly of the mas- 
 ter in respect to emancipation, wherever possible.] 
 
 10. Finally— Having laid before you your -rat 
 and high calling, and all the doctrines ami pn 
 
 of the GospCl, it is necessary that I should show you 
 the enemies that will oppose you, and the strength 
 which is requisite to enable you to repel them. 
 PEvdwa/iOvode, passive not middle, bt strengthened; 
 that is, in the Lord (Christ.) — A Iford.} 
 
 11. Put on the whole armour of God — 
 
 265
 
 EPIIESIANS. 
 
 of God, that ye may be able to stand againsl 
 the wiles of the devil. 12 For we wrestle not 
 against ' "flesh and blood, but against v princi- 
 palities, against powers, against " the rulers of 
 the darkness of this world, against "spiritual 
 wickedness in .'high places. 13 z Wherefore 
 
 tCtr. blood and flesh. — u Matt. 16. 17; 1 Cor. 15. 50. 
 
 rKoin. 8. 38; chap. 1. '21 ; Col. 2. 15. w Luke 22. 63; John 
 
 12. 31 : 14. 30; chap. '2. 2; Col. 1. 13. * Or, wicked apt/its. 
 
 t/Or, hec/Vt iily, as chap. 1. 3. 
 
 'EvduGaade r//v 7ravo-/Jav rov Qeov. The apostle 
 considers that every Christian has a warfare to 
 maintain against a powerful and subtle foe, and 
 that therefore he would need much strength, much 
 courage, complete armour, and skill to use it. The 
 panoply which is mentioned here refers to the ar- 
 mour of the heavy troops among the Greeks ; those 
 who were to sustain the rudest attacks, who were 
 to sap the foundations of walls, storm cities, etc. 
 Their ordinary armour was the shield, the helmet, 
 the sword, and the greaves or brazen boots. To all 
 these the apostle refers below. (See on verse 13.) 
 The ■wiles of the devil — Tag peOoSiag rov 6ia- 
 (ioAov, the methods of the devil ; the different means, 
 plans, schemes, and machinations which he uses to 
 deceive, entrap, enslave, and ruin the souls of men. 
 A man's method of sinning is Satan's method of 
 ruining his soul. 
 
 12. For we wrestle not against flesh and 
 blood — O'vk eariv rifilv r/ Tra/b? tt/joc alga nai adpua, 
 our wrestling or contention is not with nun like our- 
 selves : "ilesh and blood " is a Hebraism for men, 
 or human beings. The word it&'/j/ implies the ath- 
 letic exercises in the Olympic and other national 
 games, [and especially the Christian's hand-to-hand 
 fight with the adversary.] Here it signifies war- 
 fare in general. Against principalities — 'Ap i</< . 
 chief rulers. Powers — 'E^ovoiac, authorities, de- 
 rived from and constituted by the above. The 
 rulers of the darkness of this 'world — Tovc 
 Koa/j-on/jdropaQ rov androvg tovtov, the rulers of the 
 world; the emperors of the darkness if this state 
 of things. [That is, the militant age of the 
 Church.] Spiritual wickedness — Td nvevga- 
 Tina tFjc Trovi/piar, the spiritual things of wicked- 
 ness ; or the spiritualities of wickedness ; highly re- 
 fined and sublimed evil ; falsehood disguised in the 
 garb of truth ; antinomianism in the guise of re- 
 ligion ; [sacerdotalism and formalism ] In high 
 places — 'Ev role eTrovpavioig, in the most sub- 
 lime stations, [in Church, State, and society, in 
 customs and usages, in literature and public opin- 
 ion, for these are the rulers of the (spiritual) dark- 
 ness of the age. The array of the powers of the 
 Evil One, as they subsist and operate in the world, 
 in its institutions and affairs, is presented in the 
 form of the powers of kingdoms and orders of this 
 world; though evidently all that is here said is to 
 be taken as a general presentation of the activities 
 of Satan, and the hold that he has obtained, through 
 the agencies of man's fallen nature, of the various 
 elements of moral influence in the world. Probably 
 there is no reference to any other persons than the 
 chief combatants, Christ and Satan, and, after them 
 men who are at once active auxiliaries on either 
 side, and, also the prize contended for.] [The 
 contest in its essence is a single-handed struggle in 
 wrestling, in which each for himself is attacked. 
 The danger lies in the power and character of the 
 enemy and of his wiles, in which he does not himself 
 openlv appear. . . . The means for assault and con- 
 266 
 
 take unto you the whole armour of God, that 
 ye may he able to withstand "in the evil day. 
 and b having done all, to stand. 14 Stand 
 therefore, c having your loins girt about with 
 truth, and d having on the breastplate id' right- 
 eousness; 15 "And your feet shod with the 
 
 s2 Cor. 10. 1; verse 11. a Chap. 5. 16. h Or, having 
 
 overcome all. c Isaiah 11. 5; buke 12. 35; 1 Peter 1. 13- 
 
 r7 Isaiah 59. 17; 2 Cor. 6. 7 ; 1 Thess. 5. 8. e Isaiah 52. 7; 
 
 Rom. 10. 15. 
 
 flict are afforded to the Evil One by the world, which 
 
 is at his disposal, and by " flesh and blood " which 
 war against the soul, and become allies in the 
 service of Satan. . . . What is natural and created 
 is not the precise antagonist against whom we must 
 contend. — Braune.~\ 
 
 13. Wherefore — Because ye have such enemies 
 to contend with. Take unto you — Assume, as 
 provided and prepared for you, the whole armour 
 of God ; which " armour " if you put on and use, you 
 shall be both invulnerable and immortal. That ye 
 may be able to -withstand — That ye may not 
 only stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath 
 made you free, but also discomfit all your spiritual 
 foes; and, continuing in your ranks, maintain your 
 ground against them, never putting off your armour, 
 but standing always ready prepared to repel any 
 new attack. [The Christian warfare is chiefly, but 
 not entirely, defensive.] By evil day we may un- 
 derstand any time of trouble, affliction, and sore 
 temptation. And having done all, to stand — 
 Kai a~avra Karepyacauevoi CTjjvai, rather, and hav- 
 ing conquered all, stand; this is a military phrase, 
 and is repeatedly used in this sense by the best 
 Greek writers. 
 
 14. Stand therefore — Prepare yourselves for 
 combat. Having your loins girt about with 
 truth— The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the " truth " 
 of God ; unless this be known and conscientiously 
 believed no man can enter the spiritual warfare 
 with any advantage or prospect of success. The 
 breastplate of righteousness — The word " right- 
 eousness," Sucaioavvn, is of very extensive import. 
 Here it may imply assurance of justification through 
 the blood of the cross ; the principle of righteous- 
 ness or true holiness implanted in the heart ; and 
 a holy life, a life regulated according to the testi- 
 monies of God. As the "breastplate " defends the 
 heart and lungs, and all those vital organs that 
 are contained in what is called the region of the 
 thorax, so this "righteousness" — this life of God 
 in the soul of man — defends every thing on which 
 the spiritual existence depends. 
 
 15. Your feet shod — The Kvnjiidee, or greaves, 
 were deemed of essential importance in the ancient 
 armour; if the feet or legs are materially Vounded 
 a man can neither stand to resist his foe. pursue 
 him if vanquished, nor flee from him should he 
 have the worst of the fight. The Israelites were 
 commanded to eat the passover with their feet 
 shod, to show that they were ready for their jour- 
 nev. And our Lord commands his disciples to be 
 shod with sandals, .that they might be ready to go 
 and publish the Gospel, as the Israelites were to 
 go to possess the promised land. Every Christian 
 should consider himself on his journey from a 
 strange land to his own country, and not only stand 
 every moment prepared to proceed, but be every 
 moment in actual progress toward his home. The 
 preparation of the gospel — 'Eroigaaia, habitual 
 readiness, firmness. [It is the readiness, the ready
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 Above 
 :ili, taking f the shield of faith, wherewith ye 
 shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of 
 the wicked. 17 And stake the helmet of sal- 
 
 f\ John 5. 4. 
 
 -g Isaiah 59. 17: 1 Thess. 5. 8. 
 Rev. 1. Iti: 2. 16 i 19. 15. 
 
 -AHeb. 4. 12; 
 
 mind, the promptitude for the conflict in question 
 which the Gospel bestows, and which is produced 
 by means of it.— Meyt r.] Should we take the word 
 preparation in its common acceptation, it may im- 
 ply, that by a conscientious belief of the Gospel, 
 receiving the salvation provided by its author, 
 and walking in the way of obedience which is 
 pointed o it by it, the soul is prepared f or the king- 
 dom of heaven. 
 
 lii. Above all, (e~l iraaiv, outside of all the rest 
 of the armour,) taking the shield of faith — As 
 " faith " is the grace by which all others are pre- 
 Berved and rendered active, so it is properly repre 
 sented here under the notion of a "shield." Faith, 
 in this place, must mean that evidence of things 
 unseen which every genuine believer has that God, 
 for Christ's sake, has blotted out his sins, and by 
 ■which he is enabled to call God his Father, and feel 
 him to be his portion. Only this appropriating 
 faith can quench any dart of the " wicked one." 
 The fiery darts of the wicked — B/><», a dart, 
 signifies any kind of missile weapon ; every thing 
 that is projected to a distance by the hand, as a 
 javelin, or short spear; or by a bow, as an arrow; 
 or a stone by a sling. "The fiery darts" — ra i; '/ // 
 ra - -vguiikva, [fire-bearing arrows or javelins de- 
 i to set on fire that into which they were 
 thrown ; or poisoned arrows, so-called for their de- 
 structiveness.] To quench or extinguish such fiery 
 darts the shields were ordinarily covered with metal 
 on the outside, and thus the fire was prevented 
 from kindling upon the shield. When they stuck 
 on a shield of another kind and sec it on lire, the 
 soldier was obliged to cast it away, and thus be- 
 came defenceless. The "fiery darts" of the 
 '* wicked," rov irovqpov, the devil, are evil thoughts 
 and strong injections, as they are termed, which in 
 the unregenerate inflame the passions and excite 
 the soul to sin. While the faith is strong in Christ 
 it acts as a shield to quench these. 
 
 17. Take the helmet of salvation — Or, as it 
 is expressed in 1 Thess. v, 8, "and for a helmet, the 
 hope of salvation." The hope of conquering every 
 adversary and surmounting every difficulty through 
 the blood of the Lamb, is as a helmet that protects 
 the head, so that the blow of the battleaxe can- 
 not cleave it. The hope of continual safety and 
 protection, built on the promises of God, to which 
 the upright follower of Christ feels he has a divine 
 right, protects the understanding from being dark- 
 ened, and the judgment from being confused by 
 any temptations of Satan or subtle arguments of 
 the sophistical ungodly. He who carries Christ in 
 his heart cannot be cheated out of the hope of his 
 heaven. The sword of the Spirit — The ' sword " 
 of which St. Paul speaks is, as he explains it, the 
 word of God; that is, the revelation which God 
 has given of himself, or what we call the Holy 
 Scriptures. This is called "the sword of the 
 Spirit" because it comes from the Holy Spirit, and 
 becomes effective in the soul through the oper- 
 ation of the Holy Spirit. An ability to recall and 
 appropriate the word of God in times of tempta- 
 tion and trial has a wonderful tendency to cut in 
 pieces the snares of the adversary. In God's 
 
 nation, and h the sword of the Spirit, which is 
 the word of God: IN 'Praying always witli 
 all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and 
 k watching thereunto with all perseverance and 
 
 /I.uke is. 1; Rom. 12. 12; Col. 4. 2: 1 Thess. 5. 17. A" Matt. 
 
 26. 41 . Mark 
 
 word a genuine Christian may have unlimited con- 
 fidence, and to every purpose to which it i.- appli- 
 cable it may be brought with the greatest effect. 
 [The fiaxatfta rov Uvevfiaroq is the sword which 
 the Holy Spirit furnishes, and the sword is the wool 
 of God — the Gospel — the contents of which the 
 Spirit firings vividly to the consciousness of the 
 Christian, in order that he may defend himself by 
 the divine power of the Gospel against the assaults 
 of the diabolical powers, and may vanquish them, 
 as the warrior wards off and vanquishes the enemy 
 with the sword. — Meyer.] [It is much less special 
 passages of Scripture, than its general and compre- 
 hensive doctrines and spirit that constitute "the 
 sword of the Spirit." It is possible to so misquote 
 single texts as to wholly pervert them from their 
 true spirit, and legitimate design.] 
 
 18. Praying always — The apostle does not put 
 praying among the armour ; had he done so he 
 would have referred it, as he has done all the 
 rest, to some of the Grecian armour ; but as he 
 does not do this, therefore we conclude that his ac- 
 count of the armour is ended, and that now, having 
 equipped his spiritual soldier, he shows him the ne- 
 cessity of praying that he may successfully resist 
 those principalities, powers, the rulers of the dark- 
 ness of this world, and the spiritual wickedness in 
 heavenly places, with whom he has to contend. 
 When the apostle exhorts Christians to pray with 
 all prayer, we may at once see that he neither 
 means spiritual nor formal prayer, in exclusion of 
 the other. " Praying " {itpoaev \ "," f voi) refers to the 
 state of the spirit as well as to the act. With all 
 prayer — [With prayer and entreaty of every kind, 
 praying at each moment in virtue of the Spirit. — 
 Meyer.] This refers to the various kinds of prayer 
 that is performed in public, in the family, in the 
 closet, in business, on the way, in the heart with- 
 out a voice, and with the voice from the heart. 
 All these are necessary to the genuine Christian ; 
 and he whose heart is right with God will be fre- 
 quent in the whole. [Some there are, who use 
 only mental prayer or ejaculations, and think they 
 are in a state of grace, and use a way of worship 
 far superior to any other; but such only fancy 
 themselves to be above what is really above them ; 
 it requiring far more grace to be enabled to pour 
 out a fervent and continued prayer, than to offer 
 up mental aspirations. — Wesley^] And supplica- 
 tion — \f:i,r:uoe. Supplication seems to mean prayi r 
 continued in, strong and incessant pleadings till the 
 evil is averted or the good communicated. Prayer 
 should be ev -urn icaiptj), in every time, season, or 
 opportunity j and iv Tive'vyari, in or through (he 
 Spirit — that the heart should be engaged in it. and 
 that its infirmities should be helped by the Holy 
 Ghost. Watching thereunto — Being always on 
 your guard lest your enemies should surprise you. 
 Watch, not only against evil, but also for oppor- 
 tunities to do and to receive good. Without watch- 
 fulness, prayer and all the spiritual armour will lie 
 ineffectual. With all perseverance — Being al- 
 ways intent on your object, and never losing sight 
 of your danger or of your interest. The word im- 
 plies stretching out the neck, and looking al><>nt, in 
 
 267
 
 A. M. 4fifiR. A. n. 61. 
 Ifesr of Rome, M4. 
 
 EPHESIANS. 
 
 ■supplication for all saints; 19 '"And for 
 me, that utterance may be given unto me, 
 that I may open my mouth " boldly, to make 
 known the mystery of the gospel, 20 For 
 which °1 am an ambassador t « in bonds ; that 
 • therein s I may speak boldly, as I ought to 
 speak. 21 But 'that ye also may know 
 my affairs, and how I do, " Tychicus, a be- 
 loved brother and faithful minister in the 
 
 JChap. I. 16: Philippians 1. 4: 1 Timothy 2. 1. m Acts 4. 
 
 20; CoMssians 4. 3: 2 Thessalonians 3. 1. n2 Corinthians 
 
 3. 12. 02 Corinthians 5. 20. pOr, in n chain. </Acts 
 
 26. 29; 28 2o: chap. 3. 1 ; Philippians 1. 7, 13, 14; 2 Timothy 1. 
 
 order to discern an enemy at a distance. [" Per- 
 severance " and "supplication" here amount to 
 pi rs( r, ring supplication.. — Riddle.] For all saints 
 ■ — For all Christians ; for this was the character by 
 which they were generally distinguished, [[n pray- 
 ing for themselves they were uniformly to blend 
 petitions for all the saints. — Eadie. ] 
 
 19. And for me, that utterance may be 
 given unto me — "Iva uoi dody /.oyog. Kypke has 
 proved by many examples that 2.6ycv didovai signi- 
 fies permission and power to defend one's self in a 
 court of justice; and this sense of the phrase is 
 perfectly applicable to the case of St. Paul, who 
 was an ambassador in bonds, (verse 20,) and ex- 
 pected to be called to a public hearing, in which he 
 was not only to defend himself, but to prove the 
 truth and excellency of the Christian religion. And 
 we learn (from Phil, i, 12-14) that he had his de- 
 sire in this respect; for the things which happened 
 h> lii in fell out to the furtherance of the Gospel, so 
 that Ms bonds in Christ were manifest in oil the 
 palace, and in all other places. Thus God had en- 
 abled him to make a most noble defence, by which 
 the Gospel acquired great credit. The mystery 
 of the gospel — The whole doctrine of Christ, not 
 fully revealed previously to that time. 
 
 20. An ambassador in bonds — An ambassador 
 being the representative of his king, his person was, 
 in all civilized countries, held sacred. Contrary to 
 the rights of nations, this ambassador of the King 
 of heaven was put in chains ! He had, however, 
 the opnortunity of defending himself, and vindica- 
 ting the honour of his Master. As I ought to 
 speak — As becomes the dignity and the importance 
 of the subject. 
 
 21. That ye also — As well as other Churches 
 to whom I have communicated the dealings both of 
 God and man to me. May know my affairs — 
 May be acquainted with my situation and circum- 
 stances. And how I do — How I employ my time, 
 and what fruit there is of my apostolical labours. 
 Tychicus, a beloved brother — We learn (from 
 Acts xx, 4) that Tychicus was of Asia, and that he 
 was a useful companion of St. Paul. See the note 
 on the above place. This same person, and with 
 the same character and commendation, is mentioned 
 in the epistle to the Colossians, chapter iv, 7. He 
 is mentioned also in Titus iii, 12 and in 2 Tim. iv, 12 ; 
 from all these places it is evident that he was a 
 person in whom the apostle had the highest confi- 
 dence, and that he was a very eminent minister of 
 Christ. 
 
 22. Whom I have sent . . . for the same 
 268 
 
 Lord, shall make known to you all things; 
 
 22 ? Whom 1 have sent unto you for the 
 same purpose, that ye might know our af- 
 fairs, and that he might comfort your hearts. 
 
 23 "Peace he to the brethren, and love 
 with faith, from God the Father and the Lord 
 Jesus Christ. 24 Grace he with all them that 
 love our Lord Jesus Christ *yin sincerity. 
 Amen. 
 
 16; 2. 9; Philemon in. r Or, thereof. * Acts 2 s . 31; Phil. 
 
 1. 2il; 1 Tlu-ssa Ionian* 2. 2. 1 Colossians 4. 7. " Arts in. 4 ; 
 
 2 Timothy 4. 12; Titus 3. 12. >• Colossians 4. s. wl Peter 
 
 5. 14. — a 1 - Titus 2. 7. u Or, with ineorruption. 
 
 purpose — Namely, that the Ephesians might know 
 his affairs and those of the Church at Rome ; mes- 
 sengers of this kind frequently passed between the 
 Churches in those ancient times. Comfort your 
 hearts — By showing you how powerfully he was 
 upheld in all his tribulations, and how God turned 
 his bonds to the furtherance of the Gospel. This 
 must have been great consolation to all the follow- 
 ers of God, and particularly to those in Ephesua 
 or Laodicea, or to whomsoever the epistle was 
 directed. 
 
 23. Peace be to the brethren — If the epistle 
 were really sent to the Ephesians, a people with 
 whom the apostle was so intimately acquainted, it 
 is strange that he mentions no person by name. 
 This objection, on which Dr. Paley lays great stress, 
 has not been successfully answered. Peace — All 
 prosperity, and continual union with God and 
 among yourselves; and love to God and man, the 
 principle of all obedience and union ; with faith, 
 continually increasing, and growing stronger and 
 stronger, from God the Father, as the fountain 
 of all our mercies, and the Lord Jesus Christ, 
 through whose sacrifice and mediation they all 
 come. 
 
 24. Grace be with aU them — May the divine 
 favour and all the benedictions flowing from it, be 
 with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 In sincerity — '*Ev CMpOapala, in incorruptibility. 
 Those who show the genuineness of their love liy 
 walking before him in holiness of life. Many pro- 
 fess to love our Lord Jesus but are not sincere ; 
 on these the " grace " or favour of God cannot 
 rest; they profess to know him, but in works deny 
 him. Such can neither expect favour here nor 
 hereafter. [Insincerity is often of the heart alone, 
 while the understanding is not aware of its exist- 
 ence. So there may be an insincerity in one's hive 
 of Christ, of which he may not be conscious on ac- 
 count of the " deceivablenessof unrighteousness."] 
 Amen — This is wanting in many MSS. It is, how- 
 ever, more likely to be a genuine subscription here 
 than most others of its kind. The apostle might 
 have sealed his most earnest wish by this teord ; 
 which means not so much, so be it '. or may it l, so, 
 as it implies the faithfulness of Him w ho had given 
 the promises, and whose prerogative it was to give 
 effect to the prayers which his own Spirit had in- 
 spired. 
 
 The subscriptions to this epistle are [various, but 
 of very little authority. They generally favour the 
 notion that the epistle was really written to the 
 Ephesians.]
 
 PREFACE TO THE EPISTLE 
 
 TO 
 
 THE PHILIPPIANS 
 
 AUTIIORSniP. 
 
 TT lias been almost universally believed that this epistle was written by its 
 -■- reputed author, St. Paul. The traditions of the Church are unanimous in 
 this decision, and as there appears no assignable reason for any falsification in 
 the matter, the style and spirit of the composition, which are eminently Pauline, 
 would seem to sufficiently attest its genuineness. The suggestions of a few 
 (German) critics, that the whole of chapter iii, and the first nine verses of 
 chapter iv, constitute an interpolation, rests on an altogether too feeble reason to 
 entitle it to any serious consideration. The external testimonies in favour of its 
 Pauline authorship, derived from the unbroken consensus of the Fathers of the 
 early Church, are rich and abundant. 
 
 THE PLACE AND PEOPLE. 
 
 The city of Philippi was a town of Macedonia, in the territory of the Edones, 
 in Thrace, near the northern extremity of the vEgean Sea, built by Philip, the 
 father of Alexander the Great. Near to it occurred the famous battle of 
 Antony and Octavius against Brutus and Cassius, which sealed the fate of the 
 Roman republic. It is now an insignificant place called Felibejik. 
 
 The introduction of the Gospel into this city was in response to a call received 
 by Paul in a vision of the night, during his second missionary journey. There was 
 a man of Macedonia beseeching him, and saying, " Come over into Macedonia, 
 and help us," (Acts xvi, 9.) Paul, with Silas and Timotheus, soon afterward passed 
 over into that city, and began their evangelistic labour, which was the beginning 
 of a work which became a rich and prolific seed of future fruit. Paul probably 
 visited this place once, perhaps twice, subsequently. His persecutors were not 
 Jews; but certain pretenders whose trade Paul had spoiled by casting out the 
 demon from the girl by whom they had their gain. Paul and Silas were cast into 
 prison, but were delivered by a miracle which resulted in the conversion of the 
 jailer and his family, and Paul soon after left the city. Of his later visits to 
 this city no definite account is given. 
 
 OCCASION". 
 
 The relations of the apostle to the Philippian Church appear to have been 
 mutually agreeable and endearing. They alone of all the Churches sent subsi- 
 dies to relieve his personal necessities, which they did on two several occasions 
 
 soon after his departure from them, and aUo during his imprisonment at Rome. 
 1 269
 
 PREFACE TO THE EPISTLE TO THE PIIILIPPIANS. 
 
 In the absence of Jewish disturbers the Gospel was preached and received in its 
 simplicity; but at length the Judaizers came here also, but seem to have been 
 less successful in alienating the believers than in many other places. 
 
 The general state of the Church may be gathered from several hints in the 
 epistle and elsewhere. They were poor, but liberal, (2 Cor. viii, 1, 2,) and in 
 trouble, probably from persecution, (chapter i, 28-30;) in danger of, if not already 
 in, quarrel and dissension, (chapter ii, 1-4,) and apparently inclined to spiritual 
 pride and jealousies. 
 
 The epistle itself seems to be simply a message of Christian salutations, 
 elicited probably by the bounty shown to the writer, accompanied with kindly 
 cautions and reproofs. Epaphroditus had brought to the apostle the contribution 
 from his beloved Philippians; and on his return the apostle availed himself of 
 the opportunity to forward to them this epistle, and thus to pour out to them the 
 fulness of his heart in thanksgivings and in prayers and exhortations for their 
 spiritual welfare; and thus he was led on by the inspiration of the indwelling 
 Spirit to set forth truths and to dilate upon motives which are alike precious for 
 all ages and for every Church in the whole earth. 
 
 TIME AXD PLACE OF WRITING. 
 Respecting the place and time of the writing of this epistle there seems to Vie 
 very little room to doubt that it was written from Rome, during the apostle's 
 imprisonment, probably near the end of the "two years" referred to at the end 
 of the Acts. There have been some faint attempts to fix the place at Corinth and 
 at Cesarea, but neither of these places will suit the indications of the epistle itself. 
 The tone of the epistle, and also certain references to facts, seem to imply that 
 the partial freedom accorded to Paul during the earlier part of his imprisonment 
 had been somewhat abridged, and that he was expecting a speedy decision of his 
 case. There is a spirit of sadness and anxiety about the epistle, quite unlike any- 
 thing seen in others of his letters, which seems to indicate some unfavourable 
 change of his circumstances. This is accounted for by suspecting that at this 
 time the policy of Nero had become more cruel, and that the apostle was already 
 suffering from its rigours, as well as anticipating still greater severities. This 
 would fix its date after the two years of Acts xxviii. 
 
 STYLE AXD SPIRIT. 
 The language of this epistle is thoroughly Pauline. Its style, like all Paul's 
 epistles when he writes with fervour, is abrupt, often passing from one theme to 
 another; full of earnest exhortations, affectionate warnings, deep and wonderful 
 settings forth of his individual spiritual condition and feelings, of the state of 
 Christians and of the world, of the loving counsels of the Father respecting us, 
 and the self-sacrifice and triumph of the Redeemer. This epistle is especially 
 warm in its expressions of affection. The writer's whole soul seems to have been 
 penetrated to its depth by the love of the Spirit; his feeble frame, crushed to the 
 very verge of death, shaken with fightings and fears, burning at every man's 
 offence and weak with every man's infirmity, had yet its sweet refreshments and 
 
 calm restingplaces of affection. — Alford. 
 
 270
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE 
 
 TO 
 
 THE PHILIPPIA^S. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAUL and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus 
 Christ, to all the saints a in Christ Jesus 
 which are at Philippi, with the bishops and 
 deacons: 2 ''Grace be unto you, and peace, 
 from God our Father and from the Lord Je- 
 sus Christ. 3 c I thank my God upon every 
 
 <M Cor. 1.2. Jlta. 1. 7; 2 Cor. 1. 2; 1 Pet. 1.2. c Rom. 
 
 1. -, !•: 1 Cor. 1. 4; Eph. 1. 15, 16; Col. 1. 3; 1 Thess. 1. 2; 
 2 Thess. 1. 3. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER I. 
 1. Paul and Timotheus — That Timothy was at 
 
 this time with the apostle in Rome we learn from 
 chapter ii, 19, and also that he was very high in 
 the apostle's estimation. He had also accompanied 
 Paul on his two voyages to Philippi, (see Acts xvi 
 and xx,) and was therefore deservedly dear to the 
 Church in that city. It was on these accounts that 
 St. Paul joined his name to his own, not because he 
 was in any part the author of this epistle, but he 
 might have been the apostle's amanuensis, though 
 the subscription to the epistle gives this office to 
 Epaphroditus. Neither in this epistle, nor in those 
 to the Thessalonians and to Philemon, does St. Paul 
 call himself an apostle ; the reason of which ap- 
 pears to be, that in none of these places was his 
 apostolical authority called in question. Saints — 
 'A) mi. This term, used as here, absolutely as a 
 common designation of all Christians, appears in 
 the opening salutation of nearly all of St. Paul's 
 epistles to the churches. Bishops — ''Ekiokottoic, the 
 overseers of the Church of God. And deacons — 
 [Kal (hanovoig. (See Acts vi, 1, 2 ; 1 Tim. iii, 8.) Re- 
 specting these two classes of persons Bengcl aptly 
 remarks : " The former cared especially for the in- 
 ternal, and the latter for the external, affairs ; yet 
 not so but that the latter cared also for the inter- 
 nal, and the former for the external, affairs."] 
 •1. Grace be unto you — See on Rom. i, 7. 
 
 3. Upon every remembrance — As often as 
 you recur to my mind, so often do I thank God for 
 the great work wrought among you. Some think 
 that the words should be translated, f>r ell your 
 kind remembrance ; referring to their kind atten- 
 tion to the apostle in supplying his wants, etc. 
 
 4. Always in every prayer — I pray often for 
 you, and have great pleasure in doing it, seeing 
 what (rod has already wrought among you. 
 
 5. For your fellowship in the gospel — Konw- 
 via, spiritual "fellowship" or communion; not only 
 their attention to the Gospel, their readiness to 
 continue in it, and perseverance in it, but also their 
 
 J remembrance of you, 4 Always in every 
 prayer of mine for you all making request with 
 joy, 5 e For your fellowship in the gospel 
 from the first day until now ; 6 Being confi- 
 dent of this very thing, that he which hath 
 begun f a good work in you swill perform it 
 h until the day of Jesus Christ : 7 Even as it 
 
 d Or, mention. — eRom. 12. 13: 15. 26; 2 Cor. B. 1: chap. 
 
 4. 14. 15. — /John 6. 29; 1 Thess. 1.3. g Or, willjinish it. 
 
 /(Verse 10. 
 
 unity and affection among themselves. [On <i<-r<innt 
 of your fellowship in respect of the Gospel; the 
 common brotherly coherence which united the 
 Philippians together for the Gospel; the end at 
 which, in their mutual coherence, they aimed. — 
 Meyer."] 
 
 6. Being confident — There shall be nothing 
 lacking on God's part to support yon ; and to make 
 you wise, holy, and happy; and bring you at last to 
 his kingdom and glory. [That which he has begun 
 he will complete, by the further operations of his 
 grace. The idea of resistance to this grace, as a 
 human possibility, is not thereby excluded ; but Paul 
 had not this to fear on the part of his Philippian 
 converts, as he formerly had in the case of the Ga- 
 latians. — Meyer.] Until the day of Jesus 
 Christ — [On this clause Alford quotes Calvin, (and 
 characterizes the remark as "very beautiful,") that 
 "although they who are freed from the mortal 
 body have no longer to war against the lusts of the 
 flesh, and are beyond the stroke of the dart, (of 
 the adversary,) yet it would not be absurd if they 
 were said to be (only) in an advanced stage, (in 
 projectu,) because they have not yet reached that 
 to which they aspire, have not become possessed of 
 the felicity and glory which they hope for. The 
 day has not yet risen (illuxit) which shall reveal 
 the treasures now conceded in hope, and therefore 
 when this hope is spoken of our eyes are turned, 
 as to it< final object, to the happy resurrection." 
 On this Alford further remarks, "Doubtless this is 
 our lesson, and must be our application of such 
 passages; but this surely was not the sense in 
 which the apostle wrote them." Respecting the 
 theory of the second coming of Christ, to which 
 this passage is supposed to refer, it has been perti- 
 nently asked : "Ought not the commentary of his- 
 tory, the inexorable logic of events, to .-bed some 
 light upon this theory, ami to lead us tore-examine 
 our principles of exegesis V This hope, which if it has 
 been cherished for eighteen hundred years or fifty 
 years, has been cherished onlv to be disappointed."] 
 
 271
 
 A. M. 4066. A. P. 62. 
 
 Year of Rome, S15. 
 
 PIIILIPPIANS. 
 
 is meet for me to think this of you all, because 
 'I have you '< in my heart; inasmuch as both 
 in 'my bonds, and in m the defence and confir- 
 mation of the gospel, n ye all are "partakers of 
 my grace. 8 For pGod is my record, ihow 
 greatly I long after you all in the bowels of 
 Jesus Christ. 9 And this I pray, r that your 
 love may abound yet more and more in knowl- 
 edge and in all s judgment; 10 That 'ye 
 may "approve things that v are excellent; 
 
 iOr, ye hare me in your heart. k2 Cor. 3. 2 : 7. 3. 
 
 / Eph. 3. 1 ; t>. 20; Col. 4. 3, 18; 2 Tim. 1. 8. m Verse 17. 
 
 re Chap. 4. 14. oOr, partakers loith vie at grace. 
 
 7> Rom. 1. 9; 9. 1 ; Gal. I. 20; 1 Thess. 2. 5. ffChap. 2. 26 ; 
 
 4. 1. ri Thess. 3. 12; Philera. 6. 
 
 7. It is meet for me to think this — "Eanv 61- 
 Kaiov ; it is just that I should think so, because 
 I have you in my heart — you live in my warmest 
 love and most affectionate remembrance. Inas- 
 much as both in my bonds — Because you have 
 set your hearts upon me in my bonds, sending 
 Epaphroditus to minister to me in my necessities, 
 (chapter ii, 25,) and contributing of your own sub- 
 stance to me, (chapter iv, 14,) sending once and 
 again to me while I was in bonds for the defence 
 of the faith, (verses 15, 1(5,) those things con- 
 firm my hope concerning you; especially when I 
 find you yet standing firm under the like afflictions, 
 ''having the same conflict which ye saw in me" 
 when I was among you, (Acts xvi, 12, etc,) " and 
 now hear to be in me." (Chapter i, 30.) 
 
 8. For God is my record — Maprvq, witness. 
 I call God to witness that I have the strongest af- 
 fection for you, and that I love you with that same 
 kind of tender concern with which Christ loved the 
 world when he gave himself for it ; for I am even 
 ready " to be offered on the sacrifice and service of 
 your faith." (Chapter ii, 17.) [In the bowels 
 (f7T/<r | ;■!/, yearning affection) of Jesus Christ, so 
 that this longing of mine is not my own individual 
 emotion, but a longing which I feel in virtue of the 
 dwelling and working of Chris/ in me. — Meyer.] 
 
 9. This I pray— this is the substance of all 
 my prayers for you. That your love — To God, 
 to one another, and to all mankind. May abound 
 yet more and more — "En /.id/./.ov nai uakTuov 
 -Kspiaae'vn, [this rendering is literal and correct.] 
 In knowledge — ['E~'; vuaic, accurate knowledge 
 of moral and practical truth, (Alford,) which is im- 
 parted by the indwelling Spirit.] And in all judg- 
 ment — Kai -q/j/j alad^aei, in all spiritual or moral 
 feeling; [perceptivity,] that your feelings may be- 
 come more exercised in divine things, so that they 
 may lie increasingly sensible and refined. 
 
 10. That ye may approve things that are 
 excellent — E'n; to doKiua^eiv v/iac to. dcatyipovra, to 
 the end that ye may put to proof the things that dif- 
 fer, or the things that arc more profitable. By the 
 pure and abundant love which they received from 
 God they would be able to try whatever differed 
 from the teaching they had received, and from the 
 experience they had in spiritual things. That ye 
 may be sincere — "Ivei ire elXiKpivelc, {pure, unsul- 
 lied,) [without guile, or any insincerity of spirit.] 
 Sincerity, taken in its full meaning, is a word of 
 the most extensive import ; and, when applied in 
 reference to the state of the soul, is as strong as 
 the word perfection itself. Without offence — 
 'AwpdaKo^oi, neither offending God nor your neigh- 
 bour; neither being stumbled yourselves, nor the 
 cause of stumbling to others. Till the day of 
 
 272 
 
 "that ye maybe sincere and without offence 
 "till the day of Christ; 11 Being filled with 
 the fruits of righteousness, y which are by Je- 
 sus Christ, z unto the glory and praise of God. 
 12 But I would ye should understand, breth- 
 ren, that the things which happened unto me 
 have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of 
 the gospel; 13 So that my bonds "in Christ 
 are manifest ''in all c the palace, and d in all 
 other places ; 14 And many of the brethren 
 
 ,<tOr, sense. «Rom. 2. IS; 12. 2: Eph. 5. 10. u Or, try. 
 
 v0r,elitfer. M>Act«24. Hi; 1 Thrss. :i. 13 ; :,. 23. o-l Cor. 
 
 1.8. f/Jobii 15. 4,5; Eph. 2. 10; Col. 1. ti. zJohn 15. 8; 
 
 Eph. 1. 12,14. a Or, far Christ. b Chap. 4. 22. cOr, 
 
 < 'tsar's court.- — il Or, to all others. 
 
 Christ — [E(f f/aepav Xpicrov. Until, marks a con- 
 tinuation, whose terminus is to be the "day of 
 Christ," whatever that may be.] Till he comes to 
 judge the world, or, till the day in which you are 
 called into the eternal world. 
 
 11. Being filled with the fruits of righteous- 
 ness — By " righteousness " we may understand, 
 here, the whole work of the Spirit of (iod in the 
 soul of a believer ; and by the " fruits " of right- 
 eousness, all holy tempers, holy wards, and right 
 actions. And with these they are to be " filled," 
 -f-'/ ijpu/jih'oi, filled up, filled full ; the whole soul 
 and life occupied with and ruled by them, ever do- 
 ing something by which glory is brought to (iod, 
 or good done to man. By Jesus Christ — That is, 
 according to his doctrine, through the power of his 
 grace, and by the agency of his Spirit. [All these 
 things are the fruits of the indwelling Christ.] 
 Unto the glory and praise of God — God being 
 honoured when the work of his grace thus appears 
 to men in the fruits of righteousness ; and God is 
 praised by all the faithful when his work thus ap- 
 pears. Every genuine follower of God has his glory 
 in view by all that he does, says, or intends. He 
 loves to glorify God, and he glorifies him by show- 
 ing forth in his conversation the glorious workings 
 of the glorious power of the Lord. 
 
 12. That the things which happened unto 
 me — [T(i Kaf tin, the things concerning me, my af- 
 fairs. His imprisonment at Rome, and what hail 
 grown out of it. These, winch seemed at first to 
 be unfavourable to the spread of the Gospel, had 
 tended " rather " (instead) to its furtherance.] 
 
 13. My bonds in Christ are manifest in all 
 the palace — [They became known, not as a matter 
 simply of notoriety, but notoriety in Christ, that is, 
 in connexion with Christ's cause, as endured for 
 Christ's sake. — Alford.~\ The' prastorium, {-pai- 
 rupiov,) which we here translate palace, signifies the 
 court where causes were heard and judged by the 
 praetor or civil magistrate ; it sometimes signifies 
 the general's tent, and at others the emperor's pal- 
 ace. It is supposed that it is used in this latter 
 sense here. There were, no doubt, persons be- 
 longing to the emperor's household who would 
 bring the news of so remarkable a case to the pal- 
 ace ; for we find that there were Christians even in 
 Cesar's household. (Chapter iv, 22.) [The reading 
 of the Revised Version, " the praetorian guard," is 
 agreeable to the consent of a large share of modern 
 criticism, though some prefer to understand the word 
 npatTupiu) in a larger sense, so as to include all the 
 persons about the praetorium, or palace, perhaps even 
 the great fortified camp of the praetorian cohorts, 
 outside of the walls. It is evident that a wide- 
 spread interest in the Gospel had been awakened
 
 Paul's re jo 
 
 of the Gospel, 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, 
 are much more bold to speak the word with- 
 out fear. 15 Some indeed preach Christ even 
 of envy and 'strife; and some also of good 
 will: 16 The one preach Christ of conten- 
 tion, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction 
 to my bonds: 17 But the other of love, 
 knowing that I am set for r the defence of the 
 gospel. 1§ What then? notwithstanding, 
 every way, whether in pretence, or in truth, 
 Christ is preached; and 1 therein do re- 
 joice, yea, and will rejoice. 19 For I know 
 
 eCliap. 2. 3. /Verse 7. gi Corinthians 1. 11. hlio- 
 
 mans 8. 9. i lioinans s. 19. 
 
 about the imperial centre through Paul's presence 
 and teachings.] 
 
 14. Waxing confident — Finding the effect pro- 
 duced by the teaching of the apostle, converts were 
 greatly encouraged, and the more boldly and openly 
 proclaimed the doctrine of Christ crucified. The 
 word — The doctrine of Christ : several excellent 
 MSS. and Versions add Kvpiov — the word of the 
 Lord. This reading is probably genuine. [See 
 Revised Version.] 
 
 15. Some . . . preach Christ even of envy 
 and strife — [The conflict about circumcision, and 
 other Jewish rites, then tilled all places whither 
 the Gospel had come, and the antagonists of Paul 
 and his doctrine now confronted him in Rome ; 
 but even these Judaizers preached Christ after 
 their fashion, and so Christ and his doctrines be- 
 came known.] The word " preach " is not to be 
 taken here as implying that the different persons 
 mentioned were what we call preachers of the Gos- 
 pel ; all that we can understand from St. Paul's use 
 of the word is, that they proclaimed Christ as the 
 promised Messiah, espoused the Christian cause, 
 and contended, whether in public or private, that 
 this Jesus was the Christ; but nothing of this kind 
 appears to have been intended in reference to the 
 conversion of sinners. Some also of good will — 
 Some, through benevolence to the apostle, both 
 espoused his doctrine and vindicated his cause. 
 
 16. Preach Christ of contention — The Ju- 
 daizing teachers also preach Christ ; they ac- 
 knowledge that Jesus is the promised Messiah, 
 and preach him as such. Not sincerely — 0v% 
 dyvug, not with pure intention, garbling the Gospel ; 
 not speaking the whole truth, but just what served 
 their purpose ; and at the same time they denounced 
 the apostle as an enemy to the divine institutions 
 because he spoke against circumcision. 
 
 17. The other of love — Through a sincere de- 
 sire not only to make known the way of salvation 
 to the people, but also to vindicate and help the 
 apostle, because they considered him as appointed 
 by God to preach and defend the Gospel. 
 
 18. What then — It is a matter or rejoicing to 
 me that Christ is preached, though imperfectly. 
 I rejoice that anything is known of him ; and am 
 truly glad that the Gospel is even made partially 
 known, for this will lead to further inquiries, and 
 in the end be of service to the truth. 
 
 19. This shall turn to my salvation — That is, 
 it will be the means of my temporal safety — of my 
 deliverance ; for so the word ourqpia is here to be 
 understood ('? ). The Jews had denounced the apostle 
 as an enemy of Cesar; but he knew that when the 
 nature of the Gospel should be fully known, the 
 Romans would see that he could be no enemy to 
 
 Vol. II.— 17. 
 
 that this shall turn to my salvation * through 
 your prayer, and the supply of h the Spirit of 
 Jesus Christ, 20 According to my 'earnest, 
 expectation and my hope, that k in nothing I 
 shall be ashamed, hut that 'with all boldness, 
 as always, so now also Christ shall be magni- 
 fied in my body, whether it be by life, or by 
 death. 21 For to me to live is Christ, and to 
 die is gain. 22 But if I live in the flesh, this 
 is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall 
 choose I wot not. 23 For '"I am in a strait 
 betwixt two, having a desire to n depart, and 
 
 /• Romans 5. 5. ■ 
 
 — /Enhesiiins fi. 19, 20. — 
 5. 8. ii 2 Timothy 4. 6. 
 
 m 2 Corinthians 
 
 Cesar who simply proclaimed a prince whose king- 
 dom was not of this world ; and who had taught 
 in the most unequivocal manner that all Christians 
 were to give tribute to whom tribute was due, and, 
 while they feared God, to honour also the king. 
 Through your prayer — Knowing them to be 
 genuine followers of Christ, he was satisfied that 
 their prayers would be very available in his behalf; 
 and under God he places much dependence upon 
 them. The supply of the Spirit of Jesus 
 Christ — The word k-ixoprp/ta, which we translate 
 " supply," signifies furnishing whatever isnecessary. 
 The Spirit of God Paul expected to help all his in- 
 firmities, and to furnish him with all the wisdom, 
 prudence, strength of reason, and argument which 
 might be necessary for him in the different trials 
 he had to pass through with his persecutors, and 
 the civil powers at whose judgment seat he stood. 
 
 20. Earnest expectation — He had the most 
 confident expectation that God would stand by 
 him, so that he should be enabled, with the ///most 
 liberty of speech, kv ttugij 7rapp?;oia, to testify the 
 Gospel of the grace of God ; and, should he have 
 the liberty of tiding so, he was comparatively re- 
 gardless what the issue might be relative to him- 
 self. Whether life or death was to him perfectly 
 equal and perfectly indifferent, providing Christ 
 were magnified — his person, nature, doctrine, etc., 
 shown to be, what they really are, most noble, 
 most excellent, most necessary, and most glorious. 
 
 21. For to me to live is Christ— Whether I lire 
 or die, Christ is gain to me. While I live I am 
 Christ's property and servant, and Christ is my 
 portion ; if I die — if I be called to witness the truth 
 at the expense of my life — this will be gain ; I shall 
 he saved from the troubles and difficulties in life, 
 and be put immediately in possession of my heav- 
 enly inheritance. As, therefore, it respects myself, 
 it is a matter of perfect indifference to me whether 
 I be taken off by a violent death, or whether I lie 
 permitted to continue here longer ; in either case I 
 can lose nothing. 
 
 22. But if I live in the flesh— Should I be 
 spared longer, I shall labour for Christ as I have 
 done; and this is the fruit of my labour, that 
 Christ shall be magnified by my longer lite. 
 (Verse 20.) Yet what I shail choose I wot 
 not — Had I the two conditions left to my own 
 choice, whether to die now and go to glory, or 
 whether to live longer in persecutions and afflic- 
 tions, (glorifying Christ by spreading the Gospel, ) 
 I could not tell which to prefer. 
 
 23. For I am in a strait betwixt two — 
 Namely, the dying now, and being immediately 
 with God ; or living longer to preach and spread 
 the Gospel, and thus glorify Christ among men. 
 
 273
 
 A. M. 4066. A. D. 62. 
 Year of Rome, S15. 
 
 PHTLIPPIANS. 
 
 The apostle expresses his 
 strong confidence in God, 
 
 to be with Christ; which is far better: 
 24 Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more 
 needful for you. 25 And "having this confi- 
 dence, I know that I shall abide and continue 
 with you all for your furtherance and joy of 
 faith ; 26 That p your rejoicing may be more 
 abundant in Jesus Christ for me by ray coming 
 to you again. 27 Only i let your conversa- 
 tion be as it becometh the gospel of Christ : 
 that whether I come and see you, or else be 
 absent, I may hear of your affairs, ' that ye 
 stand fast in one spirit, s with one mind 'striv- 
 
 rtChap. 2. 24. p 2 Cor. 1. 14; 5. 12. q Eph. 4. 1 ; Col. 1. 
 
 10; 1 Thess. 2. 12; 4. 1. /•Chap. 4. 1. * 1 Cor. 1. 10. 
 
 tf.lude 3. 
 
 Having a desire to depart, and to be with 
 Christ — Tyv irriftvuiav ex iJV c 'f T ° avaAvaai, [to 
 loosen.] It appears to be a metaphor taken from 
 the commander of a vessel in a foreign port, who 
 feels a strong desire (avakixyat) to set sail and get 
 to his own country and family; but this desire is 
 counterbalanced by a convict ion that the general 
 interests of the voyage may be best answered by 
 his longer stay in the port where bis vessel now 
 rides. Such was the condition of the apostle ; he 
 was not at home, but although he was abroad it 
 was on his employer's business ; he wishes to re- 
 turn, but he has not received his last orders from 
 his owner, and, whatever desire he may feel to be at 
 home, he will faithfully wait till his final orders ar- 
 rive. Which is far better — TloTCka . . . /uuaIov 
 Kpeiaoov, multo magis melior, (Vulgate ;) much 
 more belter. The reader will at once see that the 
 words are very emphatic — [a triple comparative.] 
 
 24. To abide in the flesh — It would certainly 
 be gain to myself to die, but it will be gain to you 
 if I live. If I die I shall go immediately to glory ; 
 if I live I shall continue to minister to you, and 
 strengthen you in the faith. 
 
 25. Having this confidence, I know that I 
 shall abide — Convinced that it is necessary that I 
 should live longer for the spreading and defence of 
 the Gospel, I am persuaded that I shall now he 
 liberated. Tins was in fact the case, for, alter 
 having been two years in bonds at Rome, he was 
 released. For your furtherance— In the way of 
 righteousness. And joy of faith — And happiness 
 in that way. The further a man proceeds in the 
 way of truth, the stronger his faith will lie ; and 
 the stronger his faith, the greater his joy and hap- 
 piness. 
 
 26. That your rejoicing may be more abun- 
 dant — Men rejoice more in recovering a thing that 
 was lost, than they do in a continual possession of 
 what is of much greater. value. 
 
 27. Let your conversation be as it becometh 
 the gospel — The apostle considers the Church at 
 Philippi as a, free or imperial city, which possesses 
 great honours, dignities, and privileges; ami he 
 exhorts them to act, atjiug, worthy of or Suitably to 
 those honours and privileges. This is the idea that 
 is expressed by the word TroAirevcade, act according 
 to the nature of your political situation, the citizen- 
 ship and privileges which you possess in conse- 
 quence of your being free inhabitants of Christ's 
 imperial city, the Church. The apostle resumes 
 the same metaphor in chapter iii, 20 : yuuv . . . ~u 
 ■Ko'k'tTfVfia ev ovpavoic virapxei-, f>r our citizenship 
 is in heaven; but in this last verse he puts heaven 
 in the place of the Church, and this is all right ; 
 
 274 
 
 ing together for the faith of the gospel ; 
 2§ And in nothing terrified by your adver- 
 saries: "which is to them an evident token of 
 perdition, v but to you of salvation, and that of 
 God. 29 For unto you w it is given in the be- 
 half of Christ, * not only to believe on him, 
 but also to suffer for his sake ; 3© y Having 
 the same conflict z which ye saw in me, and 
 now hear to be in me. 
 
 I 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 F there be therefore any consolation in Christ, 
 
 u 2 Thess. 1. 5. 8 Rom. 8. 17 ; 2 Tim. 2. 11. w Acts 5. 41 ; 
 
 Rom. 5. 3. x Eph. 2. 8. v Col. 2. 1. 2 Acts 16. 19, etc. ; 
 
 1 Thess. 2. 2. 
 
 for he who is not a member of the Church of 
 Christ on earth can have no light to the kingdom 
 of heaven ; and he who does not walk worthy of the 
 Gospel of Christ cannot be counted worthy to en- 
 ter through the gates into the city of the eternal 
 King. Whether I come and see you — Leaving 
 the matter still in doubt as to them, whether he 
 should again visit them. In one spirit — Being all 
 of one mind under the influence of the Holy Ghost. 
 Striving together — TZwadAovvreg, wrestling to- 
 gether, not in contention with each other, but in 
 union against the enemies of the Gospel faith — the 
 doctrine of Christ crucified, and freedom from all 
 Mosaic rites and ceremonies, as well as from sin 
 and perdition, through his passion and sacrifice. 
 
 28. In nothing terrified by your adversaries 
 — So it appears that the Church at Philippi was 
 then under persecution. Which is to them — 
 "ling ic-LV avrolc. Some very judicious critics con- 
 sider ijrig as referring to tt'ictic, the faith of the 
 Gospel, which they, the heathen, considered to be 
 a token of perdition to all them who embraced it ; 
 but, as the apostle says, it was to them, the Phi- 
 lippians, on the contrary the most evident token of 
 salvation ; for, having embraced the faith of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ, they were incontestably in the 
 way of eternal blessedness. 
 
 29. Unto you it is given in the behalf of 
 Christ — "Yjiiv i y \-ap<ci0q, to yon if is gracionsfy 
 given ; it is no small privilege that God has so far 
 honoured you as to permit you to suffer on Clnist's 
 account. Be not therefore terrified by your ene- 
 mies ; they can do nothing to you which God will 
 not turn to your eternal advantage. We learn 
 from this that it is as great a privilege to suffer for 
 Christ as to believe on him ; and the former in cer- 
 tain cases (as well as the latter in all cases) be- 
 comes the means of salvation to them who are 
 thus exercised. 
 
 :!0. Having the same conflict— When Paul 
 preached the Gospel at Philippi he was grievously 
 persecuted, (as we learn from Acts xvi, 19-40,) be- 
 ing stripped, scourged, thrown into prison, even 
 into the dungeon, and his feet made fast in the 
 stocks. This was the conflict they had seen in 
 him ; and now they heard that he had been sent 
 prisoner to Rome as an evil-doer, and that he was 
 at present in bonds, and shortly to be tried for his 
 life before the Roman emperor, to whom he had 
 been obliged to appeal. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER II. 
 1. If there be therefore any consolation — 
 
 The «, if, does not express any doubt here, but on 
 the contrary is to be considered as a strong affirma-
 
 Lowliness of mind enforced 
 by the example of Christ. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 if any comfort of love, "if any fellowship 
 of the Spirit, if any 'bowels and mercies, 
 "2 e Fulfil ye my joy, d that ye be likeminded, 
 having the same love, being of one accord, of 
 one mind. 3 e Let nothing be done through 
 strife or vainglory; but f in lowliness of mind 
 
 rc2Cor. 13.14. 6 Col. 3. 12. cJ»hn3. 29. d Rom. 12. 16; 
 
 15.5; 1 Coi-. I. 10; 2 Cor. 13. 11; chap. l. 27; 3. 16; 4.2: I Pet. 3 8. 
 ©Gal. 5. 26; chnp. 1. 15, 10; James 3. 14. /Rom. 12. 10; 
 
 tion ; as there is consolation (napaiikriaie,, encour- 
 agement) in Christ — since there is, etc. If any 
 comfort of love — Hapafivdiov, consolation ; if the 
 
 followers of Christ, by giving proofs of their ar- 
 dent love to each other incases of distress, alleviate 
 the sufferings of the persecuted. If any fellow- 
 ship of the Spirit — If there be an intimate rela- 
 tion established among all Christians, by their 
 being made mutual partakers of the Holy Ghost. 
 If any bowels and mercies — If you, as persons 
 whom I have brought to God at the hazard of my 
 life, feel sympathetic tenderness for me now, in a 
 further state of suffering. [It must be noticed 
 that these elements fall into two parallel sections, 
 in each of which the first element (the first and 
 third) refers to the objective principle of the Christ- 
 ian life, (in Christ and in the Spirit,) and the sec- 
 ond (the second and fourth) to the subjective prin- 
 ciple, to the specific dis msition of the Christian ; 
 (love . . . bowels, [yearning emotions,] and mer- 
 cies.) — Meyer.] 
 
 2. Fulfil ye my joy — [In view of all these, 
 the reality of which is assumed, the further entreaty 
 is urged that they will fulfil (irXypuaare, make full) 
 his joy in them by being likeminded, (to ahrb 
 <j>pov^re, thinking the same thing,) having the same 
 love ... of one accord, (avvipvxoi,) united in senti- 
 ment and in thoughts, (views and estimates.) That 
 which he had spoken of before (chapter i, 27) as 
 an object of earnest desire, he now presents in 
 the form of an exhortation, seeing that its com- 
 pletion requires their willing concurrence and co- 
 operation.] 
 
 3. Let nothing be done through strife — 
 Never be opposed to each other ; never act from 
 separate interests ; ye are all brethren, and of one 
 body. But in lowliness of mind — Have always 
 an humbling view of yourselves, and this will lead 
 you to prefer others to yourselves; for as you 
 know your own secret defects, and as charity will 
 lead you to look favourably upon your brethren, 
 thinking no evil, [so you will come naturally to 
 think of them more favourably than you can of 
 yourselves,] and they will think the same of you, their 
 secret defects also being known only to themselves. 
 
 4. Look not every man on his own things — 
 Do nothing through self-interest in the things of 
 God; nor arrogate to yourselves gifts, graces, and 
 fruits which belong to others : ye are all called to 
 promote God's glory and the salvation of men. 
 [The negative is a qualified one, not absolute, as 
 that would be impossible; and the second clause, 
 by the use of the word also, (ml,) implies that the 
 T& eavruv, their own things, were also to be looked 
 to. See Alford.] 
 
 5. Let this mind be in you, which was also 
 in Christ Jesus — See that ye have the same dis- 
 position that was in Jesus. He was ever humble, 
 loving, patient, and laborious; his meat and drink 
 was to do the will of his Father, and to finish his 
 work. [Christ's example, even in the highest acts 
 of his mediatorial work, is that by which our own 
 
 let each esteem other better than themselves. 
 
 4 e Look not every man on bis own things, 
 but every man also on the tilings of others. 
 
 5 ''Let this mind be in you, which was also in 
 Christ Jesus: 6 Who, 'being in the form of 
 God, k thought it not robbery to be equal with 
 
 Eph. 5. 21 : 1 Pet. 5. 5. a 1 Cor. 10. 21, 33 ; 13. 5. // Matt. 
 
 11. 29; Jolm 13. 15: 1 Pet. 2. 21 : 1 Jolin 2. 6. (Join, 1. I. 2; 
 
 17. 5; 2 Cor. 4. 4; Col. 1. 15; lleli. 1.3. /fcjohn 5. 1-; Id. 33. 
 
 Christian devotion and labours are to be stimulated 
 and directed.] 
 
 6. Who, being in the form cf God — This 
 verse has been the subject of much criticism 
 and some controversy. ["'Who, being" ('Yirap- 
 jwv) implies prior being, and is equivalent to "to 
 be in the beginning." (John i, 1.) Its tense (im- 
 perfect) points to indefinite continuance of being — 
 subsisting. — Glwynn.] [Less cannot be implied in 
 this word than eternal pre-existence — Alford,"] "As 
 the apostle is speaking of what Christ was before 
 he took the form of a servant, the ' form id' God,' 
 of which he divested himself when he became man, 
 cannot be any thing which he possessed during his 
 incarnation, or in his divested state; consequently 
 neither the opinion of Erasmus, that the 'form 
 of God' consisted in those sparks of divinity by 
 which Christ, during his incarnation, manifested 
 his Godhead, nor the opinion of the Socinians, that 
 it consisted in the power of working miracles, is 
 well founded ; for Christ did not- divest himself 
 either of one or the other, but possessed both all 
 the time of his public ministry. In like manner, 
 the opinion of those who, by the 'form id' God' 
 understand the divine nature and the government 
 of the world, cannot be admitted; since Christ, 
 when he became man, could not divest himself of 
 the nature of God ; and with respect to the govern- 
 ment of the world, we are led, by what the apostle 
 tells, (Heb. i, 3,) to believe that he did not part 
 with even that; but, in his divested state, still con- 
 tinued to uphold all things l>;i the n-onl of his power." 
 — Macknight. [Christ Jesus is the one subject 
 of every predicate in that paragraph, (Phil, ii, 6-8.) 
 where the whole career of the Redeemer is con- 
 densed into one sublime example of condescension. 
 As to his divinity he was, or rather is, "in the form 
 of God ; " invapxuv, (subsisting,) establishes the eon- 
 substantial Deity, and popftj Qeov (form of God) tin' 
 personal subsistence in Trinity. As to his manhood, 
 lie is in fashion as a man rather than as man in the 
 likeness of men. — Pope.] [Of one and the same sub- 
 ject or person, it is here taught, that he existed 
 in the "form of God." The form of a thing is the 
 mode in which it reveals itself; and that is deter- 
 mined by its nature. It is not necessary to assume 
 that uop<j>y has here, as it appears to have in some 
 other cases, the sense of <f>voig, (nature,) the latter 
 is implied in the former. No one can appear, or 
 exist in view of others, in the "form of Cud," that 
 is, manifesting all divine perfections, who is not 
 God. — Hodge.] Thought it not robbery to be 
 equal with God — If we take these words as they 
 stand here, their meaning is, that as he was from 
 the beginning in the same infinite glory with the 
 Father, to appear ill t i ii it — dining his humiliation — 
 as (iod and equal with the Father was no encroach- 
 ment on the divine prerogative; for, as he had an 
 equality of nature, he had an equality of rights. 
 But the word dpnayfibv, which we translate "rob- 
 bery," has been supposed to imply a tiling eagerly to 
 be seized, coveted, or desired; and on this interpre- 
 
 275
 
 l. M. 4nr.fi. A. D. 
 Yiiir of Rome, 815 
 
 PIIILIPPIANS. 
 
 The humiliation ^n.1 exaltation 
 ..{" Jesus Chr'st. 
 
 God : 7 ' But made himself of no reputation, 
 and took upon him the form '"of a servant, 
 and "was made in the "likeness of men: 
 8 And being found in fashion as a man, he 
 humbled himself, and p became obedient unto 
 death, even the death of the cross. 9 Where- 
 fore God also *) hath highly exalted him, and 
 
 / Psa. 22. 6; Isa. 53.3; Dan. 9. 26: Mark 9. 12: Rom. 15. 3. 
 
 m [sa. 12. 1 ; 49. ::, r>: 52. l;i; 53. 11 : Kzek. 34. 23, 24 : Zech. 3. 8; 
 
 Matt. 20. 28; Luke 22. 27- //John 1.14: Rom. 1. 3; 8. 3; Gal. 
 
 4. 4; Heb. 2. 14, 17. oOr, habit. u Matt. 26. 39, 42; John 
 
 tation the passage has been translated, who, being 
 in the form of God, did not think it a matter to 
 be earnestly desired to appear equal to God; but 
 made himself of no reputation, etc. However the 
 word be translated, it does not affect the eternal 
 deity of our Lord. Though he was from eternity 
 in the form of God — possessed of the same glory — 
 yet he thought it right to veil this glory, and not 
 to appear with it among the children of men ; and 
 therefore he was made in the likeness of men, and 
 took upon him the form or appearance of a servant. 
 J prefer this sense of the word apwayfibv to that 
 given in our text, which does not agree so well 
 with the other expressions in the context. [The 
 emphasis is placed on dpwayubv, ("robbery,") and 
 therefore to elvai laa Qeti (to be equal with God) 
 cannot be something essentially different from ev 
 popipij Qsov vtrapxuv, (to be in the form of God,) 
 but must in substance denote the same thing, 
 namely, the divine habitus of Christ, which is ex- 
 pressed, as to its form of appearance, by ev fiopcpij 
 Qeoii vndpxuv, and, as to its internal nature, by 
 to eivat laa Qsov: dpnay^ibv does not mean prceda, 
 (prey,) or that which is seized on; but, actively, 
 robbing, making booty ... It is accordingly to be 
 explained, Not as robbing (as an act of robbery) 
 did he consider the bt ing equal with God. — Meyer A 
 
 7. But made himself of no reputation — 
 'EavTbv skevuoev; but himself he emptied — did not 
 appear in his glory, for he assumed the form of 
 a servant, being made in the likeness of man. 
 And his being made in the likeness of man, and 
 assuming the form of a servant, implied that he 
 had emptied himself — laid aside the effulgence of 
 his glory. 
 
 8. And being found in fashion as a man — 
 Kal oxr/fian evpedeig ug avdpu-og. This clause 
 should be joined to the preceding, and thus trans- 
 lated, being made in the likeness of man, and was 
 found in fashion as a man. He humbled him- 
 self — Laid himself in a lowly position among men : 
 1) In emptying himself— laying aside the effulgence 
 of his glory. 2) In being incarnate — taking upon 
 him the human form. 3) In becoming a servant — 
 assuming the lowest innocent character, that of 
 being the servant of all. 4) In submitting to the 
 power of death. 5) In condescending, not only to 
 death, but to the lowest and most ignominious kind 
 of death, the death of the cross. What must sin 
 be in the sight of God, seeing that it required so 
 deep abasement in Jesus Christ to make atonement 
 for it ! 
 
 9. Wherefore God also hath highly ex- 
 alted him — If by his humiliation he has merited 
 pardon and final salvation for the whole world, is 
 it to be wondered that the human nature, in which 
 this fulness of the Godhead dwelt, and in which 
 the punishment due to our sins was borne upon 
 the tree, should be exalted above all human and 
 all created beings ? And this is the fact ; for he 
 
 276 
 
 r given him a name which is above every name : 
 10 "That at the name of Jesus every knee 
 should bow, of tilings in heaven, and things in 
 earth, and things under the earth; 11 And 
 • that every tongue should confess that Jesus 
 Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 
 12 Wherefore, my beloved, "as ye have alway3 
 
 10. 18; Heb. 5. 8; 12.2. q John 17. 1,2, 5; Acts 2. 33; Heb. 
 
 2. 9. — rRph. 1. 2 1 . 21 : Heb. 1. 4. .visa. 45. 23; Matt. 28. 18; 
 
 Rom. 14. 11: Rev. 5. 13. /John 13. 13: Acts 2. 36: Rom. 14.9; 
 
 1 Cor. 8. 6; 12. 3. u Chap. 1. 5. 
 
 hath given him a name (-6 bvo/xa, the name) 
 ■which is above every name. According to 
 Eph. i, 20, 21, the man Christ Jesus "is exalted 
 to the right hand of God, far above all prin- 
 cipality, and power, and might, and dominion, 
 and every name that is named, not only in 
 this world, but also in that which is to come." 
 From which it appears that no creature of God is 
 so far exalted and so glorious as the man Christ 
 Jesus, human nature being in him dignified infi- 
 nitely beyond the angelic nature. 
 
 10. That at the name of Jesus every knee 
 should bow — That all human beings should con- 
 sider themselves redeemed unto God by his blood, 
 and look for an application of this redemption 
 price ; and that all who are saved from their sin 
 should acknowledge him the Author of their salva- 
 tion. ['Ev t£> ovojmtl 'Irjaov; not " at the name of 
 Jesus," as if the worship were to be offered to him ; 
 but in or through that name who is the only way 
 to the Father. (John xiv, 6.)] Of things in 
 heaven, ... in earth, . . . under the earth — In 
 a word, that irav kirovpaviuv, all the spirits of just 
 men made perfect, now in a state of blessedness; 
 Kal ETTiyEiuv, all human beings still in their state of 
 probation on earth ; Kal KaraxOoviuv, and all that 
 are in the shades Inlaw, who have, through their 
 own fault, died without having received his salva- 
 tion — should acknowledge him. [The glorified 
 Church, — the living militant Church,— and the un- 
 saved departed, — a comprehensive designation of 
 all men. Perhaps no order of time is intended, 
 nor distinction of conditions as saved or unsaved.] 
 Perhaps the three expressions are designed to com- 
 prehend all beings of all kinds, all creatures ; as it 
 is usual with the Hebrews, and indeed with all 
 ancient nations, to express, by things in heaven, 
 things on earth, and things under the earth, all 
 beings of all kinds; universal nature. But intelli- 
 gent beings seem to be those which are chiefly 
 intended by the words of the apostle ; for it 
 appears that nothing less than absolute rule over 
 angels, men, and devils can be designed in these 
 extraordinary words; and by confessing him to be 
 Lord, we may understand that worship which all 
 intelligent creatines are called to pay to God mani- 
 fested in the flesh ; for all should " honour the Son 
 even as they honour the Father." And the wor- 
 ship thus offered is to the glory of God. 
 
 1 1. And that every tongue should confess — 
 That all those before mentioned should acknowl- 
 edge that Jesus Christ is Lord, or absolute governor, 
 and thus glorify God the Father, who has exalted 
 his incarnate Son to this state of ineffable glory, 
 in virtue of his passion, death, resurrection, ami 
 the atonement which he has made, by which the 
 divine nature has become gloriously illustrated, the 
 divine law magnified and made honourable, and 
 eternal glory provided for man. 
 
 12. As ye have always obeyed — 'Y-r/KovoaTE,
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now 
 much more in my absence, work out your own 
 salvation with 'fear and trembling: 13 For 
 "it is God which worketh in you both io will 
 and to do of his good pleasure. II Do all 
 tilings * without murmurings and J disputings: 
 15 That ye may be blameless and z harmless, 
 
 v Eph. fi. 5. »<<2 0or. 3. 5; Heb. 13. 21. »1 Cor. 10. 10; 
 
 1 Pet. 4. 9. y Horn. 14. 1. z Or, sincere. a Matt. 5. 45; 
 
 Eph. 5. 1. ftl Pet. 2. 12. 
 
 have given heed, that is, to God, as Christ hath dune ; 
 not, as ordinarily, "to me," or "my Gospel." — 
 A/ford.] Work out your own salvation — Go 
 on, walking l>y the same rule, and minding the 
 same tiling, till your salvation be completed. [Work 
 out, — KaTepyd^eade, peragite usque at metam, carry 
 through to the end. — Grotius.] [The summons 
 claims the exercise of the new moral power be- 
 stowed on the regenerate man, without the exer- 
 cise of which he would fall away again from the 
 state of grace to which he had attained by faith. — 
 Meyer.] ['J&avrav ournpiav, the s at oat ion of your - 
 selves, which began with justification by faith, but 
 must be carried out, brought to an issue, by saneti- 
 fication of the Spirit, a life of holy obedience, and 
 advance to Christian perfection. — Alford.] With 
 fear and trembling — Considering [the inestima- 
 ble greatness of the issue,] the difficulty of the 
 work, and the possibility of miscarriage. There- 
 fore, watch, pray, and continually depend on God 
 lest your enemies surprise you, and your light and 
 life become extinct. 
 
 13. For it is God which worketh in you — 
 Every holy purpose, pious resolution, good word 
 and good work, must come from him ; ye must be 
 workers together with him, that ye receive not his 
 grace in vain ; because he worketh in you, therefore 
 work with him, and work out your own salvation. 
 To will and to do — To 6i?xiv mi to kvepyeiv. 
 The power to " will " and the power to " do " must 
 necessarily come from God ; but the act of volition 
 and the act of working is of man. God gives 
 power to will, man wills through that power ; God 
 gives power to act, and man acts through that 
 power. Without the (divinely given) power to will, 
 man can will nothing good ; without the power to 
 work, man can do nothing toward effectuating his 
 own salvation. God neither wills for man, nor 
 works in man's stead, but he furnishes him with 
 power to do both; he is therefore accountable to 
 God for these powers. Because God works in 
 them the power to will and the power to do, there- 
 fore the apostle exhorts them " to work out " their 
 "own salvation ; " most manifestly showing that the 
 use of the powers of volition and action belongs to 
 themselves. They cannot do God's work, they 
 cannot produce in themselves a power " to will and 
 to do;" and God does not do their work, he does 
 not work out their salvation "with fear and trem- 
 bling," (but enables them to do so.) Though men 
 have grievously puzzled themselves with questions 
 relative to the will and power of the human being ; 
 yet no case can be plainer than that which the 
 apostle lavs down here: the power to " will " and 
 "do" comes from Cod by the inwofking of the 
 Holy Ghost; the use of that power belongs to 
 man. He that has not this power can neither will 
 nor work; he that has this power can do both. 
 But. it does not necessarily follow that he to whom 
 these powers are given will use them; the posses- 
 sion of the powers does not necessarily imply their 
 
 •'the sons of God, without rebuke, ' in the midst 
 of c a crooked and perverse nation, among 
 whom de ye shine as lights in the world; 
 Hi Holding forth the word of life; that ' I 
 may rejoice in the day of Christ, that & I have 
 not run in vain, neither laboured in vain. 
 17 Yea, and if '' I be 'offered upon the sacri- 
 
 c Deut. 32. 5. ft Or, shine ye. e Matt. 5. 14, It! ; Eph. 5. S. 
 
 — fi Cor. 1.14:1 Thess. 2, 10. g Gal. 2. 2 ; 1 Thess. 3. 5. 
 
 A2 T.m. 4. 6. — iOt\: poured form. 
 
 use, because a man may have them and not use 
 them; therefore the apostle exhorts: "Work out 
 your own salvation." [We have no power to do 
 good works, pleasant and acceptable to God, with- 
 out the grace of God by Christ preventing us, that 
 we may have a good will, and working with us, 
 when we have that goodwill. — Articles of Relig- 
 ion.] Of his good pleasure — [In order that he 
 may carry out that good counsel of his will which 
 he hath purposed toward you. — Alford.] Every 
 good is freely given of God ; giving to some more, 
 to others less, but to all what is sufficient for their 
 salvation. 
 
 14. Do all things without murmurings — 
 Toyyvopuv Kai ina?.o-)iopuv, without grumblings and 
 altercations. Be patient in and contented with 
 your work ; and see that ye " fall not out by the 
 way." [Eo;} roy/dc, in every other place in the New 
 Testament, and also in the Septuagint, signifies 
 murmuring against men, and not against God ; and 
 the context here makes it best to keep to the same 
 sense. — Alford.] 
 
 15. That ye may be blameless — In your- 
 selves, and harmless to others. The sons [tekvo, 
 children] of God — Showing by your holy conduct 
 that ye are partakers of the divine nature. With- 
 out rebuke— Persons against whom no charge of 
 transgression can justly be laid. A crooked and 
 perverse nation — Probably referring to the Jews, 
 who were the chief opponents and the most Aim- 
 lent enemies which the Christian Church had. 
 Among whom ye shine — [Notr/o ye shine, (imp.,) 
 but ye do shine, (ind.,) for this is the mission of 
 Christians in the world. (Matt, v, 14.) See Al- 
 ford.] 
 
 16. Holding forth the word of life — ['E-/ \ ov- 
 tec, holding up to view.] An allusion, some think, 
 to lighthouses at the entrance of harbours. Genuine 
 Christians, by their holy lives and conversation, are 
 the means of directing others not only how to es- 
 cape those dangers to which they are exposed on the 
 tempestuous ocean of human life, but also of lead- 
 ing them into the haven of eternal safety and rest. 
 In the day of Christ — [In respect to (etc) a present 
 rejoicing in assured hope of a future blessing. " Day 
 of Christ " — see chapter i, 6 )] That I have not 
 run in vain — [Did not run, (imp.,) the past 
 tense from a point of view of "that day," i'n; kevov, 
 for nothing, ("on a fool's errand.") — Alford.] 
 Live so to glorify God and do good to men thai it 
 shall appeal- that I have not run and laboured in 
 vain for your salvation. 
 
 1 7. Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacri- 
 fice and service — [And even if Tarn offered, 
 (oTrevdopat, pres.) — am being poured forth — be- 
 cause the danger was besetting him »',n\ and waxing 
 onward to its accomplishment. lie uses the word 
 literally, (tint also with a figurative allusion,) with 
 reference to the (possible) shedding of his blood. — 
 Alford.] Parkhurst observes that the apostle com- 
 pares the faith of the Philippians to the sacrificial 
 
 277
 
 PHILIPPTAXS. 
 
 of Timothy 
 
 fice l! and service of your faith, ' I joy, and re- 
 joice with you all. 18 For the same cause also 
 do ye joy, and rejoice with me. 19 '" But 1 trust 
 in the Lord Jesus to send "Timotheus shortly 
 unto you, that I also may he of pood comfort, 
 when I know your state. 20 For I have no 
 man ° p likeminded, who will naturally care for 
 your state. 21 For all i seek their own, not 
 the things which are Jesus Christ's. 22 But 
 ye know the proof of him, 'that, as a son with 
 the father, he hath served with me in the gos- 
 pel. 23 Him therefore I hope to send pres- 
 ently, so soon as I shall see how it will go 
 with me. 21 But S I trust in the Lord that I 
 
 l- Rom. 15. Hi. Z2Cnr. 7. 4: Col. 1. 24. m Or, Moreover. 
 
 n Kom. lb. 21 : 1 Thess. 3. 2. o Or. so dear unto me. 
 
 V Psa. 55. 13. q 1 Cor. 10. 24. 33; 13. 5 ; 2 Tim, 4. 10, 10. 
 
 victim, and his own blood shed in martyrdom to the 
 libation, that is, the wine poured out on occasion of 
 the sacrifice. Tiie apostle had guided them safely 
 thus far ; their faith in the atoning death of Christ 
 was their sacrifice ; and he was willing [if Mich 
 were God's will] that his blood should be poured 
 out in martyrdom as a libation on that sacrificial 
 offering. 
 
 18. For the same cause also do ye joy — 
 Should I be thus offered, as I shall rejoice in it do 
 ye also rejoice that I am counted worthy of this 
 high honour. [Sw^aijoere fioi, share my joy.] 
 
 19. But I trust [i'/-i~u, I hope] in the Lord 
 Jesus — The governor and disposer of all events ; 
 and I humbly confide in his power and goodness 
 that I shall be able to send Timothy shortly to you. 
 That I also may be of good comfort — [Evipvx<-> 
 yvovQ, may be cheered in mind.] When I know 
 your state — By the direct information which I 
 shall receive from Timothy [on his return, which 
 information, Paul fully believed, would be of an 
 encouraging character.] 
 
 21 1. For I have no man likeminded — None of 
 all my fellow helpers in the Gospel have the same 
 zeal and affectionate concern for your prosperity in 
 every respect as he has. He is ic6\!n<\>n\ oj tin 
 sam< soul ; a man after my own heart. [Paulus 
 alter Timotheus. — Bengel.] 
 
 21. For all seek their own — This must relate 
 to the persons who " preached Christ even of envy 
 and strife;" (chapter i, 15;) and even those who 
 preached the Gospel "out of goodwill " might not 
 be fit for such an embassy as this, which required 
 many sacrifices, and consequently much love and 
 zeal to be able to make them. 
 
 22. Ye know the proof of him, that, as a son 
 with the father, he hath served with me — 
 The Philippians had full proof of the affectionate 
 attachment of Timothy to Paul, for he had laboured 
 with him there, (as we learn from Acts xvi, 1-3; 
 xvii, 1-1 ;) not as a servant to the apostle, but that 
 lie had served with Paul. They both laboured to- 
 gether in the word and doctrine. 
 
 23. I hope to send — I supposed it necessary, 
 ['Avayicalov 6e //-/nad/ur/v, necessity (or convenience) 
 was /hat I should send. The state of affairs seemed to 
 require it.] How it will go with me— The apos- 
 tle was now in captivity; his trial appears to have 
 been approaching, and of its issue he was doubtful ; 
 though he seems to have had a general persuasion 
 that he should be set free. (See verses 19, 24.) 
 
 25. Epaphroditus, my brother, etc. — [Epaph- 
 roditus is not mentioned elsewhere. We must not 
 278 
 
 also myself shall come shortly. 25 Yet 1 sup- 
 pose it necessary to send to you 'Epaphrodi- 
 tus, my brother, and companion in labour, and 
 "fellow soldier, v hut your messenger, and "lie 
 that ministered to my wants. 26 x For he 
 longed after you all, and was full of heaviness, 
 because that ye had heard that lie had been 
 sick. 27 For indeed he was sick nigh unto 
 death : but God had mercy on him ; and not 
 on him only, but on me also, lest 1 should 
 have sorrow upon sorrow. 28 1 sent him 
 therefore the more carefully, that, when ye see 
 him again, ye may rejoice, and that I may be 
 the less sorrowful. 29 Receive him therefore 
 
 rlCor. 4. 17: 1 Tim. 1. 2: 2 Tim. 1.2. sChap. 1. 25: Philem. 
 
 22. tfCliap. 4. 18. u Philem. 2. »2 Cor. 8. 23. 
 
 w>2 Cor. 11. y; chap. 4. 18. x Chap. 1. 8. 
 
 attempt to give a strict official meaning to each of 
 the words predicated of him. He was Paul's 
 " brother," that is, in Christ ; his "fellow labourer" 
 in the Gospel ; his " fellow soldier " in the conflicts 
 of the Christian life and ministry, especially in 
 those times of bloody persecutions ; but to them he 
 was "messenger," (a-ooro'/ov, in the lower or gen- 
 eral sense, probably in former services,) and the 
 " reliever "of his (Paul's) necessities. See Alford.] 
 
 26. He longed after you all — [Rather, for you 
 all ; (the imperfect tense is used for the present, as 
 was usual at that time, speaking from the posi- 
 tion, not of, the writer, but of the receiver of the 
 letter.) Whether there was any special reason, 
 more than affection, we cannot say. — Alfoi-d.] Ye 
 had heard that he had been sick — " In this 
 passage," says Dr. Paley, "no intimation is given 
 I hat the recovery of Epaphroditus was miraculous; 
 it is plainly spoken of as a natural event. This in- 
 stance, together with that in the second epistle to 
 Timothy, " Trophimushave I left at Miletum sick," 
 affords a proof that the power of performing cures, 
 and, by parity of reason, of working other miracles, 
 was a power which only visited the apostles occa- 
 sionally, and diil not at all depend upon their own 
 will. Paul undoubtedly would have healed Epaph- 
 roditus if he could ; nor would he have left Tro- 
 phimus at Miletum sick had the power of work- 
 ing cures awaited his disposal. [Miracles were de- 
 signed for attestations of divine power, and not 
 simply for men's temporal advantage.] 
 
 27. Lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow 
 — The sorrow of his death, added to the sorrow 
 endured on account of his sickness; or Paul may re- 
 fer to his own state of affliction, being imprisoned 
 and maltreated. [A/-;,r E7ri '/i~i,i\ sorrow coming 
 upon, or after, sorroxv. The second // ~>,v refers to 
 his own distress in his imprisonment, so often im- 
 plied in this epistle. — Alford.] 
 
 28. The more carefully — I.7vov^aioripcjr, with 
 the more haste or despatch; because, having suffered 
 so much on account of his apprehended death, they 
 could not be too soon comforted by seeing him 
 alive and restored. [If they rejoiced in seeing 
 Epaphroditus, his own trouble would be thereby 
 lessened. — Alford.] 
 
 29. Receive him therefore in the Lord — For 
 the Lord's sake receive him, and as the Lord's ser- 
 vant ; and hold such zealous, disinterested, and 
 holy preachers in reputation — honour those whom 
 ye perceive God hath honoured. [There certainly 
 seems to be something behind respecting him, of 
 which we are not informed. If extreme affection
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 in the Lord with all gladness; and '^hold such 
 in reputation: 30 Because for the work of 
 
 Christ he was nigh unto death, not regarding 
 his life, z to supply your lack of service toward 
 me. 
 
 CHAPTER 111. 
 
 FINALLY, my brethren, "rejoice in the 
 Lord. To write the same things to you, 
 to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is 
 safe. 2 b Beware of dogs, beware of °evil 
 workers, <i beware of the concision. 3 For we 
 sure e the circumcision, 'which worship God in 
 the spirit, and -rejoice in Christ Jesus, and 
 
 a-Or, honour such. F/lCor. 16. 18; 1 Thes<. .">. 12; 1 Tim. 
 
 5. 17. Jl Cor. 16. 17: chap. 4. 10. «2 Cor. 13. 11: ctiap. 
 
 4. 4; 1 Thess. a. 16 6Isa. 56. 10; Gal. 5. 15. o2 Cor. II. 13. 
 
 (/Kom. 2. 28: Gal. 5. 2. e Deut. in. 16; 30. 6; Jer. 4. 4: 
 
 Rom. 2. 29; 4. 11, 12; Col. 2. 11. — /John 4. 23, 24; Rom. 
 
 had been, the sole ground of his " being dejected," 
 no such exhortation as this would have been needed. 
 — Alford.] 
 
 30. For the work of Christ— Preaching the 
 Gospel, and ministering to the distressed. He was 
 nigh unto death — Having laboured far beyond his 
 strength. Not regarding his life — Hapajohcvoa- 
 pevoc t>j ipi'XV, risking his life. His frequent and 
 intense preaching, and labouring to supply the 
 apostle's wants, appear to have brought him nigh 
 to the gates of death. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTEE III. 
 
 1. Finally — [To lainov. The apostle appears 
 to have been closing the epistle, but to have again 
 gone off, on the vehement mention of the Judaizers, 
 into an explanation of his strong term, Kararogrj, 
 concision. — A/ford.'] Rejoice in the Lord — Be 
 always happy; but let that happiness be such as 
 you derive from " the Lord." To write the same 
 things — Those which he had formerly preached to 
 them or to other Churches. [Meyer thinks there is 
 here a reference to an earlier epistle from Paul to 
 the Philippians, now lost, in which the cautions 
 ■found in the second and third verses were given 
 more at large.] For you it is safe — It is [not 
 irksome to me thus to warn you, and your safety 
 requires it.] 
 
 2. Beware of dogs — [Toi>c nvvac, profane, im- 
 pure persons; the appellation occurs in various 
 references; but in the Jewish usage of it unclean- 
 ness was the prominent idea. — Alford.] Evil 
 workers — Judaizing teachers, who endeavoured 
 to pervert the Gospel. [This seems to point out 
 persons who actually wrought, and professedly for 
 the Gospel, but who were evil workmen, not merely 
 evildoers. — A Iford.] The concision — Kararopijv, 
 the cutting off or excision; not ireptTopjp>, the cir- 
 cumcision; the word is used by the apostle to de- 
 grade the pretensions which the Jews made to 
 Banctity by the cuffing in their flesh. Circumcision 
 was (in its day) an honourable thing, for it was a 
 sign of the covenant; but under the new covenant, 
 their outward circumcision was rendered uncircum- 
 cision, and is termed a cutting off, by way of degra- 
 dation. [A bitter paronomasia, (playing upon a 
 word,) because these men were circumcised merely 
 as regards the body, and placed their confidence in 
 this fleshly circumcision, but were wanting in the 
 inner, spiritual circumcision which that of the 
 body typified. — Meyer.'] 
 
 3. We are the circumcision — We, who have 
 embraced the faith of Christ crucified, are now en- 
 
 have no confidence in the flesh. 4 Though h I 
 might also have confidence in the flesh. If 
 any other man thinketh that he hath whereof 
 lie might trust in the flesh, I more: 5 'Cir- 
 cumcised the eighth day. k of the stock of Is- 
 rael, '<j/"the tribe of Benjamin, In a Hebrew of 
 the Hebrews ; as touching the law, n a Phari- 
 see; 6 "Concerning zeal, p persecuting the 
 church; itouching the righteousness which is 
 in the law, 'blameless. 7 But 'what things 
 were gain to me, those I counted loss for 
 Christ. 8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things 
 but loss 'for the excellency of the knowledge 
 
 7. 6. (/Cal. 6. 14. rt.2Cnr. 11. 18,21. /Gen. 17. 12. 
 
 X-2 Cor. 11. 22. /Rom. 11. 1. m 2 Cor. 11. 22. « Acts 
 
 23. C: 26. 4,5. o Acts 22. 3; Gal. 1. 13. 14. — p Acts 8. 3; H. 1. 
 
 — </Hom. 111. 5. cLukel.fi. sMntt. 13. 44. — tUa. 53. 
 
 11 ; Jer. y. 23, 24 ; John 17. 3 ; 1 Cor. 2. 2 : Col. 2. 2. 
 
 tered into the new covenant, and according to that 
 new covenant worship [Aarpevovrec, are serving] 
 God in the Spirit, exulting, Kavx&uevoi, making 
 our boast of Christ Jesus, as our only Saviour, hav- 
 ing no confidence in the flesh — in any outward 
 rite or ceremony prescribed by Jewish institutions. 
 
 4. Though I might also have confidence — 
 [" I," emphatical, applied by Paul to himself in con- 
 trast with the I'hilippian Christians.] It any have 
 cause to boast in outward rites and privileges I 
 have as much, yea, more than many. 
 
 5. Circumcised the eighth day — This was the 
 time that the law required the males to be circum- 
 cised. (See Gen. xvii, 12.) Of the stock of 
 Israel — Regularly descended from the patriarch 
 Jacob. Of the tribe of Benjamin — A favourite 
 son of that patriarch ; and a tribe that did not re- 
 volt with Jeroboam, (1 Kings xii, 21,) nor pollute 
 the "worship of God by idolatry. A Hebrew of 
 the Hebrews — Though born in a heathen country, 
 Tarsus, yet both my parents were Hebrews ; nor 
 has there ever been any strange blood mixed with 
 that of our family. Touching the law, a Phar- 
 isee — Belonged to that sect which, of all others, 
 was most scrupulously attached to the law. 
 
 6. Concerning zeal — I gave the fullest proof 
 of my zeal by persecuting the Church of Christ ; 
 and this is known to all my countrymen. Touch- 
 ing the righteousness — And as to the justification, 
 which the Jews say is to be obtained by an ok-ci- 
 vance of the law, 1 have done everything so con- 
 scientiously from my youth up, that in this respect 
 I am blameless ; and may, therefore, have more 
 confidence than most of them. [He compares him- 
 self with them in three particulars: 1) from .Jew- 
 ish extraction; 2) legal exactitude and position; 
 3) legal zeal.— Alford] 
 
 7. But what things were gain — The credit 
 and respect which I had from that source. I 
 counted loss for Christ — I saw that this could 
 stand me in no stead ; and that Christ crucified 
 could alone profit me. [These things formerly (f/v 
 fioL icepdn) were, actually gains, (plural;) not might 
 seem to be, but emphatically were.] 
 
 8. I count aU things but loss — \Znuiav y a 
 damage, as interfering with his simple faith and 
 undivided dependence on Christ crucified. The 
 contrast is of the present, " I count," (fiyovuai,) to 
 the past, (i/-.r;ua/,) I counted, verse 7, "I also con- 
 tinue to count them all to he [a] loss, [a detriment,] 
 <m account of the supereminence," etc. — Alford.] 
 The exceUence of the knowledge of Christ 
 — Justification through his blood, sanctification by 
 
 279
 
 PIIILIPPIANS. 
 
 u] tongs after ronfonnity to 
 Christ in liis death. 
 
 of Christ Jesus my Lord : for whom I have 
 suffered the loss of all things, and do count 
 them but dung, that 1 may ■win Christ, 9 And 
 be found in him, not having "mine own right- 
 eousness, which is of the law, but "that which 
 is through the faith of Christ, the righteous- 
 ness which is of Cod by faith: 10 That I 
 may know him, and the power of his resurrec- 
 tion, and "the fellowship of his sufferings, be- 
 
 ing made conformable unto his death ; 11 If 
 by any means I might x attain unto the resur- 
 rection of the dead. 12 Not as though I had 
 already y attained, either were already z per- 
 fect : but I follow after, if that I may appre- 
 hend that for which also I am apprehended 
 of Christ Jesus. 13 Brethren, I count not 
 myself to have apprehended : but this one 
 tiling I do, "forgetting those things which are 
 
 u Rom. 1(1. 3,5. fRom. 1. 17: X 21,22; Si. 30: 10. 3, 6: Gal. I 12: 1 Peter 4. 13. a' Arts 26. 7.— 
 
 . lti. w Rom. 6. 3, 4, 5 ; 8. 17 ; 2 Cor. 4. 10, 11 : 2 Tim. 2. 11, 12. 23. a I'salm 45. 10 ; Luke 9. 62 
 
 his Spirit, and eternal glory through his merits and 
 intercession. [This saving knowledge is the neces- 
 sary intelligence of faith, and grows with the expt ri- 
 ence of faith. — Meyer.'] I have suffered the loss 
 of all things — Some translate 6t' bv ra iravra k&fuu- 
 tii/v, for whom (Christ) I hare thrown away all things. 
 I have made a voluntary choice of Christ, his cross, 
 his poverty, and his reproach; and for these I have 
 freely sacrificed all I had from the world, and all I 
 could expect from it. And do count them, but 
 dung — The word mi'v,3a?.a means the vilest dross 
 or refuse of anything ; the worst excrement. The 
 word shows how utterly insignificant and una- 
 vailing, in point of salvation, [and how pernicious 
 when accepted or held to as at all able to save,] the 
 apostle esteemed every thing but the Gospel of Je- 
 sus. Of the utter unavailableness of anything but 
 Christ to save the soul the Apostle Paul stands as 
 an incontrovertible proof. By losing all that the 
 world calls excellent, he gained Christ, and endless 
 salvation through him. Of these glorious influ- 
 ences of the Gospe| he is an unimpeachable witness. 
 9. And be found in him — ['Ev avrti, in him, 
 not simply saved by his grace, but eminently, mys- 
 tically, ingrafted into him by spiritual regenera- 
 tion. They who are saved through Christ are also 
 "found in Christ," abiding in him. (See John 
 xvi, 4-7.)] [The apostle desires to be found in 
 Christ, as the element of his life, the whole per- 
 ceptible manifestation of his Christian being and 
 nature. — Meyer.] But that which is through 
 the faith of Christ — That justification which is 
 received by faith through the atonement made by 
 Christ. The righteousness which is of God — 
 God's method of justifying sinners through faith 
 in his Sun. (See Rom. iii, 21, 23, 25.) [Not the 
 righteousness (essential holiness) of which God is 
 the subject, but the estate of a sinner saved by 
 grace, according to the divine purpose in Christ, 
 which is attained to and maintained by faith.] 
 
 10. That I may know him— By my own con- 
 scious experience of all that salvation which he 
 has bought by his blood. The power of his 
 resurrection — [Xot the power by which he teas 
 raised, but the power which his resurrection exer- 
 cises on believers in (effecting and also) assuring 
 t'.iem of their justification. (Rom. iv, 25; 1 Cur. 
 xv, 17 ) — Alford.] [The 6vvay.LV, k.t./L, is not the 
 power by which lie lias been raised, but the power 
 which the resurrection of Chris/ has; its vis et 
 efficia in respect to believers. — Meyer.] [A resur- 
 rection which is Christ's, as to its effectuating 
 power, but of which man's spiritual nature is the 
 subject.] And the fellowship of his suffer- 
 ings — Christ died, not only as a victim for sin, but 
 as a martyr to the truth. No creature can have "fel- 
 lowship" with him in his vicarious sufferings; but 
 as a martyr to the truth, St. Paul wished to imitate 
 him. Not only in the apostle, but in the primitive 
 280 
 
 X Acts 26. 7. '/ I Tim. 6. 12.- 
 
 Cor. 5. 16. 
 
 Christians generally, there seems to have been a 
 strong desire after martyrdom. [This "fellow- 
 ship " consists, not merely in the fact of suffering 
 as he did, but in a spirit drawn nearer to him by 
 sufferings borne in his strength." — Gwynn.] Be- 
 ing made conformable unto his death — [This 
 conformity with Christ's death was to take place 
 by means of that perfect self-abjuration which he 
 here asserts of himself. — Al/ord. ) 
 
 11. The resurrection of the deed — EJc rr/v 
 t^araaraaiv t?,v kn VEKpav, to that resurrection 
 which is of th< dead. [The phrase from deads, in 
 vmpuv, may be a resurrection from their own dead 
 selves, (Luke xx, 35, 1 Cor. xv, 12,) that is, a res- 
 urrection from being (spiritually) dead. — Whedon.] 
 [" Resurrection from the dead," en veKpuv, from 
 among the dead, or from the state in which the dead 
 are. By most commentators this is understood to 
 refer to the general resurrection at the last day ; 
 some, however, find in it only an ethical sense, as if 
 Paul was looking forward to a still more complete 
 spiritual renewal in Christ. (See next clause.)] 
 
 12. Net as though I had already attained — 
 iir I on i/h/ i'/apov, for I have not yet received the 
 prize ; I am not glorified, for I have net fnislii d 
 my course ; and I have a conflict still to maintain, 
 and the issue will prove whether I should be 
 crowned. Either were already perfect — H i/t] 
 nrt'/iiujiai, nor am 1 yet perfected ; I am not yet 
 crowned in consequence of having suffered mar- 
 tyrdom. [I am not yet through. (See John xix, 
 28, oil.)] With Paul the re/ti^cic, ox perfection of 
 his whole career, was to be his martyrdom. In his 
 view every thing was imperfect or unfinished till 
 this had taken place. [The meaning here is, " I 
 do not pretend to have attained to what I wish or 
 hope to be." He had been converted ; he had 
 been raised up from the death of sin ; he had been 
 imbued with spiritual life and peace ; but there 
 was a glorious object before him which he had not 
 yet received. There was a kind of resurrection 
 which he had not arrived at. — Barnes.] [The ob- 
 ject of this eAafiov (attained, taken hold of) is not 
 the flpa(ieiov (the prize) supplied from verse 14; it 
 is rather to be supplied from what goes before, 
 namely, that moral perfection which is indicated in 
 the yvuvai, (to know,) verse 10. — Ohhavstn.] But 
 I follow after — Aiuku tie, but I pursue, [that 
 glorious comp/eteu ess.] That I may apprehend — 
 That I may receive those blessings to which I am 
 called by Christ Jesus, [and attain to all spiritual 
 fulness, and my eternal recompense.] 
 
 13. I count not myself to have appre- 
 hended — Whatever gifts, graces, or honours I 
 may have received from Jesus Christ, I consider 
 every thing as incomplete till I have finished my 
 course and got this crown. This one thing I 
 do — This is the concern, as it is the sole business, 
 of my life. ["Ev di—but one only.'} Forgetting
 
 Paal Dresses on to the attain- 
 meiitof his high calling. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 behind, and ''reaching forth unto those things 
 which are before, 14 C I press toward the 
 mark for the prize of <i the high calling of God 
 in Christ Jesus. 15 Let us therefore, as many 
 as be e perfect, f be thus minded: and if in 
 any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall 
 reveal even this unto you. 16 Nevertheless, 
 whereto we have already attained, elet us walk 
 h by the same rule, 'let us mind the same thing. 
 
 hi Cor. 9. 24, 26; Heb. 6. 1. c2 Tim. 4. 7, 8: Heb. 12. 1. 
 
 (I Heb. 3. 1. e 1 Cor. 2. 6; 14. 2H. — /Gal. 6. 10. >j Rom. 
 
 11 16; 15. ■">. — h Hal. 6. 1H. — JChap. 2. 2. kl Cor. 4. lti; 
 
 11. 1; chap. 4.9; 1 Thess. 1.6. 
 
 those things which are behind. — [He did 
 
 not stop to think of the difficulties that he had 
 overcome, or the troubles that he had met, but he 
 thought of what was yet to be accomplished. . . . 
 Let us not spend our time either in pondering the 
 gloomy past and our own unfaithfulness, nor in 
 (vainly) thinking of what we have done; but let us 
 keep the eye steadily on the prize, and run the 
 race (to the end) as though we had just commenced 
 it. — Barnes.] Reaching forth — The Greek word 
 i-£Kreiv6//£vog points out the strong exertions 
 made in the struggle, [the earnestness with which 
 faith seeks to appropriate its object, the things 
 before, that is, the perfection not yet reached. — 
 Alford.] 
 
 14. I press toward the mark — Kara okottov 
 6i6>K.u>, I pursue along the line. [Z/coxoc, " an ob- 
 ject set up in the distance, at which one looks and 
 aims." — See Robinson's Lexicon.] For the prize 
 of the high calling of God — The reward which 
 God from above calls me, by Christ Jesus, to re- 
 ceive. [The calling from above, rr,c avu n'/Jjaewg, 
 is that "heavenward calling" whereby every 
 Christian is called to enter on the race for the 
 prize. — Gioynii.] [The prize, to j3pa t 3eiov, pres- 
 ent grace, and eternal glory ; tov Qsov kv XpiGTti 
 'Ir/aoii, God in Christ, is he who calls, and also who 
 gives the prize; himself having watched the whole 
 race.] 
 
 15. As many as be perfect — Thoroughly 
 instructed in divine things. The word Tilecot, per- 
 fect, is taken here in the same sense in which it is 
 taken 1 Cor. xiv, 20: "Be not children in under- 
 standing . . . but in understanding be men, (rO.eioi 
 yiveade,) be ye perfect — thoroughly instructed, 
 deeply experienced." I Cor. ii, 6: "We speak 
 wisdom among them that are perfect," iv role 
 refaioic, among those who are fully instructed, 
 adults in Christian knowledge. Eph. iv, 13: "Till 
 we all come . . . unto a perfect man," e'tg avSpa 
 -k'/.ziov, to the state of adults in Christianity. "Let 
 us therefore," says the apostle, "as many as be per- 
 fect," — as have entered fully into the spirit and 
 design of the Gospel — " be thus minded," namely, 
 Forget the things which are behind, and stretch 
 forward along the mark for the prize. If in any 
 thing ye be otherwise minded — If any have not 
 yet entered into the full spirit and design of this 
 Gospel, God shall reveal even this unto you ; 
 for while you are sincere and upright, God will take 
 care that ye shall have full instruction in these 
 divine things. 
 
 16. Whereto we have already attained — 
 Let us not lose that part of the race which we have 
 already run. Let us walk by the same rule — 
 Let us keep our calling continually in view. Let 
 us mind the same thing — Always considering 
 the glorious prize which is held out by God through 
 
 17 Brethren, k be followers together of me, 
 and mark them which walk so as 'ye have us 
 for an ensam'ple. 18 (For many walk, of 
 whom I have told you often, and now tell you 
 even weeping, that they are '"the enemies of 
 the cross of Christ: 19 "Whose end in 
 destruction, "whose God is their belly, and 
 p whose glory is in their shame, iwho mind 
 earthly things.) 2© For r our conversation is in 
 
 l\ 1'eterS. 3. WiGal. 1. 7: 2. 21 ; 6. 12; elinp. 1. 15,16. 
 
 «2 Cor. 11. 15; 2 l'eter 2. 1. o Rom. 16. 18; 1 Tim. fi. 5; Tit. 
 
 1. 11. p llos. 4 7: 'J Cor. 11. 12; Gal. 6. 13. — q Kom. 8. 5. 
 
 /'Eph. 2. 6,19; Col. S. 1,3. 
 
 Christ Jesus to animate and encourage us. [As 
 far as we have attained towards Christian perfec- 
 tion, including both knowledge and practice, (of 
 both of which he had spoken in his own case.) 
 " Let," is to continue in the same earnest devi tion. 
 See Alford.] ["Let us mind the same thing:" 
 to ai'To tppovelv. This clause is wanting in nearly 
 all the best MSS., and is omitted by common con- 
 sent from all the latest critical editions.] 
 
 17. Brethren, be followers ... of me — In 
 the things of Christ let me be your exemplar; and 
 my writing, preaching, and conduct your rule. And 
 mark them — 'LkotteIte ; keep youi eye steadily fixed 
 on those who walk — live — as ye have us — my- 
 self, Timothy, and Epaphroditus — for an ensample 
 (or pattern.) 
 
 18. For many walk, etc. — The Judaizing 
 teachers, who wish to incorporate circumcision and 
 other ordinances of the law with the Gospel, continue 
 to preach. — [Perhaps also disorderly persons are 
 referred to.] They are the enemies of the cioss 
 of Christ — They rather attribute justification to 
 the Levitical sacrifices than to the sacrificial death 
 of Christ; and thus they are enemies to that cross, 
 and of course do not suffer persecution for its sake. 
 They please the world, and are in no danger of re- 
 proach. 
 
 10. Whose end is destruction — This is the 
 issue of their doctrine and of their conduct. Whose 
 God is their belly — They live only to eat, 
 drink, and be merry. Whose glory is in their 
 shame — They rejoice that they can fare sumptu- 
 ously every day, in consequence of preaching a 
 doctrine which flatters the passions of their hear- 
 ers. Who mind earthly things — Their whole 
 study and attention are taken up with earthly mat- 
 ters ; they have no spirituality. Despicable as these 
 men were, the apostle's heart was deeply pained on 
 their account, because they held and taught a false 
 creed, perverted many by that teaching, and were 
 themselves perishing through it. 
 
 20. Our conversation is in heaven— '11/ tam 
 to TToAiTEVfia, onr citizenship. The word properly 
 signifies the administration, government, or form 
 of a republic or state. It signifies also a republic, 
 a city, or the inhabitants of any city or place; or a 
 society of persons living in the same place, and 
 under the same rules and laws. [Christians, be- 
 cause they are born of the Spirit, and adopted into 
 the family of God, (Rom. viii, 17.) have their citi- 
 zenship in "the kingdom of God," now the king- 
 dom of grace, but destined to become the kingdom 
 of glory. 'Ef oi\ of which ttoMti vpa, citizt nsl , i r 
 by virtue of it, (see Bengel and others,) 
 wait f,r our Saviour, tic: Lord Jesus < hrisi. There 
 dues nut appear to be in all this any reference to 
 Christ's coming to raise the dead and judge the 
 world, but rather that, by virtue of our heavenly 
 
 231
 
 A. M. 4066. A. D. 62. 
 Year of Rome, 815. 
 
 PHILIPPIANS. 
 
 The Philippe 
 stand fast i 
 
 s exhortet to 
 the Lord. 
 
 heaven; s from whence also we 'look for the 
 Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: 21 "Who 
 shall change our vile body, that it may he fash- 
 ioned like unto his glorious hcdy, "according 
 to the working whereby he is able w even to 
 subdue all things unto himself. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THEREFORE, my brethren dearly beloved 
 and a longed for, h my joy and crown, so 
 r stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved. 
 2 I beseech Euodias, and beseech Syntyche, 
 
 sActs 1. H. 1\ Cor. 1. 7; 1 Thess. 1. 10; Titus 2. 13. 
 
 u\ Cor. 15. 13, 4", 19; Col. 3. 4 ; 1 John 3. 2. r Eph 1. 19. 
 
 Wl Cor. 15. 26, 27. (/Chap. 1. 8. 2 Cor. 1. 14; chap. 2. 
 
 16; 1 Thess. 2. 19, 20. cChap. 1. 27. (/Chap. 2. 2; 3. 16. 
 
 e Rom. 16. 3 ; chap. 1. 27. /Exod. 32. 32 ; Psa. 69. 28 ; 
 
 citizenship, we may expect all the saving offices of 
 Christ to be wrought in us ; and that our present 
 citizenship in Christ's kingdom will be perpetuated, 
 with infinitely exalted privileges in the future life.] 
 21. Who shall change our vile body — "Oc 
 jiETaaxrifia-'taei to cuya ryg TanEivwoEuc ////we, who 
 will refashion, or alter the fashion and condition, of, 
 the body of our humiliation ; this body that is dead 
 because of sin. [This is the method in. which this 
 Saviour will save us, — a way utterly precluding 
 our making a god of our body. (Verse 19.) — 
 Alford.] That it may be fashioned like unto 
 his glorious body — Eic to yiveadai abrb cvy-jiop- 
 <f>ov t<j G(',>/mTi Tf/c So^tjc avrov. [That it may be- 
 come something summorphous (avyyopcpog) (like in 
 form) to the body of his glory.'] [The change from 
 the dust of death, in the resurrection, however we 
 may accommodate the expression to it, was not 
 originally contemplated by it, (the word // eta o-,y ////«- 
 riffEi.) (Rom. vi, 12; v'iii, 11.) — Alford.] Ac- 
 cording to the working — Kara rip evipyeiav, 
 according to that energy by which he can briny all 
 things under subjection to himself. The thought of 
 this glorious consummation was a subject of the 
 highest joy and confidence among the primitive 
 Christians. This earth was not their home ; and 
 they were careful to pass through things temporal 
 so as not to lose those which were eternal. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER IV. 
 
 1. Therefore, my . . . beloved — Because ye 
 have this armour, and those enemies, and [such a 
 glorious inheritance with] God for your support, 
 see that ye stand fast in him. This verse most 
 unquestionably belongs to the preceding chapter. 
 
 2. Euodias and Syntyche — These are sup- 
 posed to have been two pious women, perhaps dea- 
 conesses in the Church at Philippi, who in some 
 points of doctrine and discipline had disagreed. 
 Paul exhorts them to be of the same mind, that is, 
 to compose their differences; and, if they could 
 not perfectly agree, to avoid all public opposition, 
 as their dissensions would strengthen the hands of 
 the common enemy, and stumble those believers 
 who were weak. 
 
 3. True yokefellow— 2vv(irye. [Who this re- 
 fers to it is not easy to determine ; and because of 
 this difficulty conjectures on the subject have been 
 almost innumerable — probably some one who 
 would be readily recognised at Philippi. J Help 
 those women which laboured with me — Roth 
 in the Grecian and Asiatic countries women were 
 kept much secluded, and it was not likely that even 
 the apostles had much opportunity of conversing 
 
 2S2 
 
 d that they be of the same mind in the Lord. 
 ii And 1 entreat thee also, true yokefellow, 
 help those women which e laboured with me 
 in the gospel, with Clement also, and with 
 other my fellow labourers, whose names are 
 in ' the book of life. 4 e Rejoice in the Lord 
 always: and again I say, Rejoice. 5 Let your 
 moderation be known unto all men. h The 
 Lord is at hand. 6 'Be careful for nothing; 
 but in every thing by prayer and supplication 
 with thanksgiving let your requests be made 
 known unto God. 7 And u the peace of God, 
 
 Dan. 12. 1: Luke 10. 20; Rev. 3. 5; 13. 8; 20. 12; 21. 27. 
 
 (/Rom. 12. 12; chap. 3. 1 : 1 Thess. 5. 16: 1 Pet. 4 13. h Ileb. 
 
 10. 25; James 5. 8, '.I; 1 Pet. 4. 7 : 2 Pet. 3. 8, 9; see 2 Thess. 
 
 2. 2. i Psa. 55. 22; Prov. 16. 3; Matt. U. 25; Luke 12. 22; 
 
 1 Pet. 5. 7. A- John 14. 27 : Horn. 5. 1 ; Col. 3. 1.5. 
 
 with them; it was therefore necessary that they 
 should have some experienced Christian women 
 with them who could have access to families, and 
 picach Jesus to the female part of them. The 
 apostle tells us that certain women " laboured 
 with" him in the gospel, and were assistants to 
 others also who had assisted him. Some think 
 the women here were Euodias and Syntyche ; but 
 as there is nothing certain known on the subject, 
 it is useless to conjecture. With Clement also — 
 Supposed (but without any sufficient authority) to 
 be the same who was afterward bishop of Rome, 
 and who wrote an epistle to the Corinthians which 
 is still extant. Whose names are in the book 
 of life — Who are genuine Christians; who are en- 
 listed or enrolled in the armies of the Lord, and have 
 received a title to eternal glory. (See Luke x, 20.) 
 
 4. Rejoice in the Lord always — Re contin- 
 ually happy; but this happiness you can find only 
 " in the Lord." The apostle repeats the exhorta- 
 tion, to show not only his own earnestness, but also 
 that it was God's will that it should he so, and 
 that it was their duty and privilege to rejoice. 
 
 5. Let your moderation be known — The 
 word etueikec is of very extensive signification ; 
 but " moderation " is expressive enough as a gen- 
 eral term. " Moderation," says Dr. Macknight, 
 " means meekness under provocation, readiness to 
 forgive injuries, equity in the management of bus- 
 iness, candour in judging of the characters and ac- 
 tions of others, sweetness of disposition, and the 
 entire government of the passions." [Stow to speak, 
 slme to wrath. James i, 19.] The Lord is at 
 hand— ['E; ; vc, near, as to either time or place, or 
 both. To help in every necessity ; or to note all 
 unfaithfulness.] 
 
 6. Be careful for nothing — Mqde'v yepiyvare, 
 be not anxiously solicitous ; do not give place to 
 carking care, let what will occur ; for anxiety can- 
 not change the state or condition of anything from 
 bad to good, but will infallibly injure your own 
 souls. By prayer and supplication — God 
 alone can help you ; he is disposed to do it, 
 but you must ask by prayer and supplication ; 
 without this he has not promised to help you. 
 " Ry prayer" — solemn application to God from a 
 sense of want. "Supplication "—continuance in 
 earnest prayers. With thanksgiving — For in- 
 numerable favours already received, and for dan- 
 gers, evils, and deaths turned aside. And let your 
 souls be found in such a disposition that this exer- 
 cise can be performed at all times, on all occa- 
 sions, and in all places. 
 
 V . And the peace of God — That harmonizing
 
 Is the Philippmns 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 which passeth all understanding, shall keep 
 your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. 
 8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are 
 true, whatsoever things are 'honest, whatso- 
 ever things are just, whatsoever things are 
 pure, whatsoever things are lovely, "'whatso- 
 ever things are of good report ; if there be any 
 virtue, and if there be any praise, think on 
 these tilings, f) n Those things, which ye have 
 both learned, and received, and heard, and 
 seen in me, do: and ° the God of peace shall 
 be with you. lO But I rejoiced in the Lord 
 greatly, that now at the last Pyour care of me 
 i hath nourished again; wherein ye were also 
 
 l Or. vtnertihl-e. — m 1 Thess. 5. 22. — n Chap. 3. 17. 
 
 oUmnins 15. 33; Id. 20; 1 Cor. 14, 33; 2 Cor. 13. U; 1 Thess. 
 5.23; Heb. 13. 20. 
 
 of all passions and appetites which is produced by 
 the Holy Spirit, and arises from a sense of pardon 
 and the favour of God. Shall keep your hearts 
 and minds — <S>povpha£i, shall keep them in a strong 
 place or castle. " Your hearts " — the seat of all 
 your affections and passions ; " and minds " — your 
 understanding, judgment, and conscience. Through 
 Christ Jesus — By whom ye were brought into this 
 state of favour, through whom ye are preserved 
 in it, and in whom ye possess it. Christ keeps 
 that heart in peace in which he dwells and rules. 
 This peace Christ has purchased, and God dis- 
 penses; it is felt by all the truly godly, but can be 
 explained by none; it is communion with the Fa- 
 ther and his Son Jesus Christ, by the indwelling of 
 the Holy Ghost, 
 
 8. Finally, brethren — The apostle (in again 
 attempting to close his epistle) would recommend 
 holiness and righteousness to them in every point 
 of view ; and would show that the Gospel of Christ 
 requires them to have the mind that was in Christ, 
 and to walk as he himself also walked. Whatso- 
 ever things are true — "Oaa . . . ah/6/}, all that is 
 agreeable to unchangeable and eternal truth. 
 [True subjectively, in an ethical rather than in a 
 merely logical sense.] Whatsoever things are 
 honest — "Qoa aepva, whatever is grave, decent, and 
 venerable. [It is difficult to give it (the true sense 
 of aspvd) in any one English word ; " honest " and 
 honourable, are too weak ; reverend and venerable 
 or grave are seldom applied to things. — Alford.~\ 
 Whatsoever things are just — "Oca dina/a, what- 
 soever is agreeable to justice and righteousness. 
 All that ye owe to God, to your neighbour, and to 
 yourselves. Whatsoever things are pure — 
 "Oca dyva, whatsoever is chaste, [indicating the 
 quality of purity of life and character.] Whatso- 
 ever things are lovely — "Qua 7rpoa<p/Xf/, whatso- 
 ever is amiable on its own account and on account 
 of its usefulness to others, whether in your con- 
 duct or conversation; [full of the soul of charity.] 
 Whatsoever things are of good report — 'Oca 
 ebcfrnpa, whatsoever things good people agree to ac- 
 cept as useful and profitable to men. If there be 
 any virtue — ['Apfr//, virtue, in its most general 
 ethical sense. — Alford.~] If there be any praise 
 — [Any thing worthy of praise, or commendation.] 
 Think on these things — [AoyiCeaOe, hare in 
 mind — things which by virtue of their obviously 
 beneficial character and influence commend them- 
 selves to the approval of men generally.] Esteem 
 them highly, recommend them heartily, and practise 
 them fervently. 
 
 careful, but ye lacked opportunity. 1 1 Not 
 that 1 speak in respect of want: for 1 have 
 learned, in whatsoever slate 1 am, therewith 
 to be content. 12 S I know both how to be 
 abased, and I know how to abound: every 
 where and in all things I am instructed both 
 to be full and to be hungry, both to abound 
 and lo suffer need. 13 I can do all things 
 •through Christ which strengthened me. 
 
 14 Notwithstanding, ye have well done, 
 that u ye did communicate with my affliction. 
 
 15 Now ye Philippians know also, that in the 
 beginning of the gospel, when I departed from 
 .Macedonia, v no church communicated with me 
 
 pi Cor. 11. 9 — QfOr, is revived. >■ 1 Tim. 6. 6, 8. 
 
 si Cor. 4. 11 : 2 Cor. 6. 10; 11.27. tioha 15.5; 2 Cor. 12. 9.- 
 
 it Chap. 17. — ci Cor. 11. 8, 'J. 
 
 9. Those things, -which ye ... . learned (not 
 have learned) — From my preaching, conversation, 
 and writing. And received — By faith, (through 
 ethical culture.] And heard — From me, in my 
 private communications with you ; and heard of me 
 from other Churches. And seen in me — While 
 living and labouring among you. Do — [UpaaotTe, 
 reduci to practice.] Take them for the rule of youv 
 faith and practice. [The word expresses an action 
 or course of acting, as continued or not yet com- 
 pleted ; as what one does repeatedly, continually, 
 habitually.] And the God of peace shall be 
 with you— See verse 7.) 
 
 10. But I rejoiced in the Lord — The apostle 
 thanks God for the kindness of the Philippians to- 
 ward him ; for it was God that gave them the 
 power, and directed their hearts to use it, Hath 
 nourished again — They had helped him before, 
 (chapter ii, 25;) they had ceased for a time, and 
 now they began again. For the time in which they 
 were apparently remiss he makes a delicate apology : 
 " Ye were careful, but ye lacked opportunity ; " or 
 rather i/KatpeiaOe, ye had not ability, ye wanted the 
 means, as the word sometimes implies. 
 
 11. Not that I speak in respect of want — 
 I am quite unconcerned in this respect ; leaving the 
 whole of my support, while bound for the testimony 
 of Jesus, to the providence of God. For I have 
 learned — Whatever the goodness of God deter- 
 mines, is the best, and I am perfectly contented 
 that he should order my affairs in that way which 
 seems to him good. 
 
 12. How to be abased ... to abound — I have 
 passed through all these states; I know how to 
 conduct myself in each, and how to extract good 
 from all. He was thoroughly instructed ; fully in- 
 itiated into all the mysteries of poverty and want, 
 and of the supporting hand of God in the whole. 
 
 13. I can do all things — It was not a habit 
 which he had acquired by frequent exercise, hut a 
 disposition gained by grace; and he was enabled 
 to do all by the power of the indwelling Christ, In 
 some of the best MSS., Versions, and Fathers the 
 word Xp/GTii), Christ, is omitted. 
 
 14. Ye have well done — Though I have 
 leai ned all these important lessons, and am never 
 miserable in want, yet ye have done well in sending 
 me relief in the time of affliction. 
 
 15. In the beginning of the gospel— When, 
 after the Gospel had been preached to you, I went 
 forth into Macedonia, I received help from none 
 of the Churches which 1 had founded but from you 
 alone. 
 
 283
 
 A. M. 4066. A. D. 62. 
 Year of Rome, 815. 
 
 PHILIPPIANS. 
 
 Benevolence of the Church at 
 Fhiliii],! toward Paul. 
 
 as concerning giving and receiving, but ye 
 only. 16 For even in Thessalonica ye sent 
 once and again unto my necessity. 17 Not 
 because I desire a gift : but I desire w fruit that 
 may abound to your account. 18 But x J have 
 all, and abound: 1 am full, having received 
 y of Epaphroditus the things which were sent 
 from you, z an odour of a sweet smell, a a sac- 
 rifice acceptable, well pleasing to God. 19 But 
 
 ■j/'Rom. 15. 28: Titus 3. 14. *0r, I hare re<eire<l all. 
 
 V Chap. 2. 2.5 z lleb. 13. 16. a 2 Cor. 9. 12. b Psa. 23. 1 ; 
 
 16. For even in Thessalonica — While labour- 
 ing to plant the Church there, he was supported 
 partly by working with his hands, (1 Thess. ii, 9, 
 2 Thess. iii, 7-9,) and partly by the contributions 
 sent him from Philippi. Even the Thessalonians 
 had contributed little to his maintenance. 
 
 17. Not because I desire a gift — I do not 
 speak thus to incite you to send me a further gift; 
 I speak this on the general subject, because I wish 
 you to bear such fruit as shall abound to your 
 account. 
 
 18. I have all — Ye have now sent me so much 
 by Epaphroditus, that I abound in all the neces- 
 saries of life. Having received . . . the things 
 — Probably a supply of clothes and such like nec- 
 essaries, as well as of money. An odour of a 
 sweet smell — Alluding to the thank-offerings un- 
 der the law. With what ye have done to me, his 
 servant, God is well pleased. (See Eph. v, 2.) 
 
 19. My God shall supply all your need — 
 As you have given to me in my distress, God will 
 never suffer you to want without raising up help to 
 you, as he raised you up for help to me. Accord- 
 ing to his riches — His fulness is infinite; and 
 through Christ, whose followers we are, he will 
 dispense every requisite blessing of providence, 
 grace, and glory to you. 
 
 20. Now unto God and our Father — [Our 
 God and Father."] God, our Father, is infinite in 
 the riches of his grace and glory, and out of his 
 abundance we have all received, and grace for 
 grace. Therefore, to God our Father, be glory for 
 ever and ever. 
 
 284 
 
 my God b shall supply all your need c according 
 to 1 lis riches in glory by Christ Jesus. 2© d Now 
 unto God and our Father be glory for ever and 
 ever. Amen. 21 Salute every saint in Christ 
 Jesus. The brethren e which are with me greet 
 you. 22 All the saints salute you, ,f chiefly 
 they that are of Cesar's household. 23 sThe 
 grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. 
 Amen. 
 
 2 Cor. 9. 8. cEph. 1. 7 ; 3. 16. //Rom. lri. 27; Gal. 1. 
 
 e Gal. 1. 2. J Chap. 1. 13. g Rom. Hi. 24. 
 
 21. Salute every saint — Remember to present 
 my affectionate wishes to every Christian at Phi- 
 lippi. The brethren which are with me — 
 Those who were fellow labourers with him, generally 
 supposed to be Aristarchus, Mark, Justus, Epaphras, 
 Luke, and Denias. See the end of the epistles to 
 the Colossians and to Philemon. 
 
 22. All the saints- -All the Christians now at 
 Rome. They that are of Cesar's household — ■ 
 Nero was at this time emperor of Rome ; yet in 
 his family there were Christians; but whether this 
 relates to the members of the imperial family, or to 
 guards, or courtiers, or to servants, we cannot tell. 
 If even some of his slaves were converted to Chris- 
 tianity, it would be sufficiently marvellous. Con- 
 verts to Christianity in this family there certainly 
 were; and this shows how powerfully the divine 
 word had been preached and spread. That the 
 Empress Poppceia may have been favourably in- 
 clined to Christianity is possible, for Josephus says, 
 [Ant. lib. xx, cap. 7,) "She was a worshipper of 
 the true God." St. Jerome states that St. Paul had 
 converted many in Cesar's family. Some imagine 
 that Seneca, the preceptor of Nero, and the poet 
 Lucan, were converted by St. Paul ; and there are 
 still extant letters which profess to have passed 
 between Paul and Seneca ; but they are not worthy 
 of any credit. 
 
 23. The grace of our Lord — The usual apos- 
 tolical benediction. (See Rom. i, 7; Gal. vi, 18.) 
 Be with you all — Instead of k&vtuv, all, jueto, 
 ■nvevfuiToc, be with your spirit, is the reading now 
 generally accepted.
 
 PREFACE TO THE EPISTLE 
 
 TO 
 
 THE COLOSSIANS. 
 
 THE PLACE. 
 
 COLOSSE was a city of Phrygia Pacatiana, now a part of Natolia, in Asia Minor, 
 seated on an eminence on the south side of the river Mseander, (now Meinder,) 
 near to the place where the river Lycas enters the earth, and begins to run under- 
 ground, which course it continues for about three quarters of a mile before it 
 emerges and falls into the Mseander. Of this ancient city not much is known. 
 It was situated about equidistant between Laodicea and Hierapolis. To this 
 place Xerxes came in his expedition against Greece. 
 
 The Macedonians transferred Colosse to the Persians; and it afterward passed 
 under the government of the Seleucidoe. After the defeat of Antiochus III., at 
 the battle of Magnesia, it became subject to Eumenes, king of Pergamos ; and 
 when Attains, the last of his successors, bequeathed his dominions to the Romans, 
 this city, with the whole of Phrygia, formed a part of the proconsular province 
 of Asia. 
 
 In the tenth year of the Emperor Nero, about a year after the writing of this 
 
 epistle, Colosse (with Laodicea and Hierapolis) was destroyed by an earthquake; 
 
 and the city which was raised in its place was called Chonos or Konos, which 
 
 name it now bears, 
 
 TIME OF WRITING. 
 
 The epistle to this city appears to have been written about the same time 
 with that to the Philippians, namely, toward the end of the year A. D. 02, and in 
 the ninth of the Emperor Nero. 
 
 That the two epistles were written about the same time is rendered probable 
 by the following circumstance: In the epistle to the Philippians (chapter ii, 19) 
 St. Paul purposes to send Timothy, who was then with him at Rome, to Philippi, 
 that he might learn the state of the Church there. As Timothy joins with the 
 apostle in the salutation at the beginning of this epistle, it is evident that he was 
 still at Rome, and had not yet been sent to Philippi; and as St. Paul wrote the 
 former epistle nearly at the close of his first imprisonment at Rome, the t wo 
 epistles must have been written within a short time of each other. See the 
 preface to the epistle to the Philippians. 
 
 WHO FOUNDED THAT CHURCH. 
 When or by whom Christianity was first preached at Colosse, and a Church 
 founded there, is not known, it is most likely, however, that it was by St. Paul 
 
 28o
 
 PREFACE TO THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 
 
 himself, during the three years in which he dwelt at Ephesus. (Acts xix, 10.) 
 That Paul preached in Phrygia we learn from Acts xvi, 6. 
 
 On the other hand, it is argued that as Paul did not preach in Laodicea, and 
 as Colosse was an unimportant place, only twelve miles distant, it is not prob- 
 able that he preached there; and therefore the reference in chapter i, 4, 8, 9, 
 should be understood as implying that Paul was personally unknown to them. 
 
 Some think that Epaphras, who is called their apostle, (chapter i, 7,) was the 
 first who planted Christianity among the Colossians. 
 
 AUTHORSHIP. 
 
 That this epistle is correctly ascribed to St. Paul scarcely admits of a 
 moment's doubt. Its personal allusions are sufficient of themselves to show its 
 Pauline origin. It appears from chapter iv, 12, that Epaphras was with Paul, and 
 we find Epaphras also with him when he writes to Philemon. (Verse 23.) Onesimus 
 is mentioned in chapter iv, 9, as a faithful and beloved brother, and one of the 
 Colossians. Archippus is exhorted to take heed to the ministry which he has 
 received of the Lord. (Chapter iv, 17.) This shows that Archippus was of Colosse. 
 Accordingly, when the apostle writes to Philemon and Archippus, we clearly see 
 that the former was also of Colosse, to which city Onesimus also belonged. In 
 chapter iv, 10, we find Aristarchus with Paul; and he is with him also in Philemon, 
 verse 24. And it appears from Acts xxvii, 2, that Aristarchus went with Paul to 
 Rome, where he appears in this epistle. Luke and Demas appear with Paul, 
 both in Colossians iv, 14, and in Philemon 24. The epistle to Philemon, which 
 is universally acknowledged to be Paul's, is so interwoven with that to the Colos- 
 sians, as to show that it must be a genuine ajwstolical production, the coincidences 
 evidently being undesigned. 
 
 STYLE AND SPIRIT. 
 
 The language of this epistle is bold and energetic, the sentiments are grand, 
 and the conceptions vigorous and majestic. The phraseology is in many places 
 Jewish, the reason for which is obvious: the apostle had to explain subjects which 
 never had a name in any other language. The mythology of the Gentiles could 
 not furnish terms to explain the theology of the Jews ; much less the more refined 
 
 and spiritual system of Christianity. 
 
 286
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE 
 
 TO 
 
 THE COLOSSIANS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAUL, a an apostle of Jesus Christ by the 
 will of God, and Tiinotheus our brother, 
 2 To the saints 'and faithful brethren in Christ 
 which are at Colosse : c Grace be unto you, and 
 peace, from God our Father and the Lord Je- 
 sus Christ. 3 d We give thanks to God and 
 the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying 
 always for you, 4 c Since we heard of your 
 faith in Christ Jesus, and of ' the love which 
 ye have to all the saints, 5 For the hope 
 
 rcKph. 1. 1. M Cor. 4. 17: Eph. 6. 21. cGal. 1. 3. 
 
 rfl Cor. l. 4; Eph. 1. 16; Phil. 1.3: 4. ti. e Eph. 1. 15; verse 
 
 9; Philem. 5. — r/Heh. 6. ID. gl Tim. 4. S : 1 Peter 1. 4. 
 
 h Matt. 24. 14: Mark IB. 15: Rora. 10. 18; verse 243. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER I. 
 
 1. Paul, an apostle ... by the will of God 
 
 — See on 1 Cot-, i, 1 . And Timotheus — Though 
 Timothy is here joined in the salutation, yet he 
 was probably only the amanuensis or scribe of the 
 apostle. 
 
 2. To the saints — Those who professed Chris- 
 tianity. See on Eph. i, 1. Which are at Co- 
 losse — See Introduction. Grace be unto you — 
 See on Rom. i, 7. And the Lord Jesus Christ — 
 This clause should be omitted. 
 
 3. We give thanks to God — Who is the au- 
 thor of all good. The Father of our Lord Je- 
 sus Christ — From whom the grace which has pro- 
 duced your conversion has sprung. [The adverb, 
 always, belongs to " give thanks," rather than 
 "praying." See Alford.J (See Eph. i, 15, 16.) 
 
 4. Since we heard of your faith — This is very 
 similar to Eph. i, 15, and it is certain that the 
 apostle seems to have considered the Church at 
 Ephesus ami that at Colosse to have been nearly 
 in the same state, as the two epistles are very sim- 
 ilar in their doctrine and phraseology. 
 
 5. For the hope which is laid up for you 
 in heaven — That eternal life which the apostle 
 mentions Titus i, 2 : In hope of eternal life, which 
 God promised before th< worldbtgan. The "hope" 
 is here used for the object of hope. In the word 
 of the truth of the gospel — In the doctrine of 
 that Gospel of your salvation which is the " truth " 
 of God. Of this doctrine they had heard before by 
 persons who had preached to them, and from whom 
 they received the Gospel. 
 
 6. Which is come unto you — [Tab TrapSvrog 
 etc, bfiag, coming to you, signifying both the coming 
 ami abiding — which has come to abide with you. 
 See Alford.] As it is in all the world — [Though 
 not yet announced to all nations, it is coining 
 
 s which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof 
 ye heard before in the word of the truth of 
 the gospel; 6 Which is come unto you, h as 
 it is in all the world; and 'bringeth forth 
 fruit, as it doth also in yon, since the day ye 
 heard of it, and knew k the grace of God in 
 truth : 7 As ye also learned of ' Epaphras 
 our dear fellow servant, who is for you "a 
 faithful minister of Christ; 8 Who also de- 
 clared unto us your "love in the Spirit. 
 9 °For this cause we also, since the day we 
 
 f Mark 4. S; John 15. 16: Phil. 1. 11. /.'2Cor. 6 1 : Eph. 
 
 3. 2; Titus 2. 11 ; 1 Peter 5. 12. /('hap. 4. 12; l'hilein. 2:i. — 
 
 m-2 Cor. 11. 23; 1 Tim. 4 (J. ft Rom. 15. a0. oEph. 1. 
 
 15, It! ; verse 3, 4. 
 
 (-apuv) to all the world, — the whole world being the 
 area in which it is proclaimed and working. — Al- 
 ford.'] And bringeth forth fruit — Wherever the 
 pure Gospel of Christ is preached, it is the seed <>f 
 the kingdom, and must be fruitful in all those who 
 receive it by faith in simplicity of heart. After 
 Kaf)7Tocjopoi'furoi\ bringing forth fruit, add kciI 
 av^avofjEvov, and increaseth. It had not only 
 brought forth fruit, but was multiplying its own 
 kind. [It is fruitbearing and growing, by which 
 is indicated the fact that the Gospel, wherever it is 
 present, is also in course of living dynamical devel- 
 opment. — Meyer.'] The grace of God in truth — 
 Ye were fruitful, and went on increasing in the 
 salvation of God from the time that ye heard and 
 acknowledged this doctrine to be of God's grace, 
 and received it in truth, sincerely and uprightly. 
 
 7. As ye also learned of Epaphras . . . who 
 is for you — Who this Epaphras was we cannot 
 tell; only it is likely that he was a Colossian, and 
 became, by the call and grace of Christ, a deacon 
 of this Church, faithfully labouring with the apostle 
 to promote its best interests. That he was a Colos- 
 sian is evident from chapter iv, 12: "Epaphras, 
 who is one of you," o i^ v//uv. He was raised up 
 among themselves to be their minister in the ab- 
 sence of the apostle, and he showed himself to lie 
 worthy of this calling by a faithful discharge of his 
 ministry, and by labouring fervently for them alt, 
 and pressing them forward, that they migM stand 
 perfect and complete in all the will of God. 
 
 8. Your love in the Spirit — Of this love of 
 theirs in the Spirit, and particularly toward the 
 apostle, Epaphras gave full proof, not only by de- 
 scribing to tin' apostle the affection they felt for 
 him, but in presenting to him those supplies which 
 their love to him caused them to furnish, 
 
 9. For this cause — Sec on Eph. i, 15, 16, where 
 
 287
 
 COLOSSIANS. 
 
 Paul's prave 
 
 heard it, do not cease to pray for you. and to 
 desire Pthat ye might be tilled with i the 
 knowledge of his will 'in all wisdom and 
 spiritual understanding; 10 "That ye might 
 walk worthy of the Lord 'unto all pleasing, 
 u being fruitful in every good work, and increas- 
 ing in the knowledge of God ; 11 "Strength- 
 ened with all might, according to his glorious 
 power, "unto all patience and longsuffering 
 
 V\ Cor. 1. 5. Q Rom. 12. 2: Eph. 5. 10, 17. r Eph. 1. 8. 
 
 .s- Eph. 4. 1 ; Phil. 1 27 : 1 Thess. 2. 11. 1\ Thess. 4. 1. 
 
 wjohn 15. Hi; 2 Cor. 9. 8: Phil. 1. 11 ; Titus 3. 1 ; lleb. 13. 21. 
 (Eph. 3. 16; ti. 10. w Eph. 4. 2. a' Acts 5. 41; Rom. 
 
 the same sentiment occurs. That ye might be 
 filled with the knowledge of his will — [Not 
 the product of mere human mental activity, but 
 an objective divine endowment by the Holy Spirit, 
 which must be brought about in spiritual wisdom 
 .and insight, by the communication of all spiritual 
 gifts. — Meyer.'] 
 
 10. That ye might walk worthy of the 
 Lord— Suitably to your Christian profession, ex- 
 emplifying its holy doctrines by a holy and useful 
 life. ['Aj<wf tov Kvpiov, worthy of the Lord, 
 (Christ,) that is, of your Christian profession, elg 
 Kaoav apsmdav, in order to all -pleasing, so that in 
 every way you may be pleasing to God. — Alfordf\ 
 | A parallel to the preceding clause.] (Eph. iv, 1 ; 
 Phil, i, 27.) Being fruitful in every good 
 work — See verse 6. St. Paul exhorts the Christ- 
 ians at Colosse, 1) To walk — to continue in their 
 Christian calling. 2) To walk worthily — suitably 
 to the dignity of that calling, and to the purity of 
 him (Christ) who had called them into this state 
 of salvation. 3) To do everything unto all pleas- 
 ing ; that God might be pleased with tin.' maimer, 
 the time, the motive, disposition, design, and object 
 of every act. 4) That they should be fruitful : 
 mere harmlessness would not be sufficient; as God 
 had sown good seed, he had a right to look for 
 good fruit. 5) That every work should be good ; 
 they must not be fruitful in some works and fruit- 
 less in others. 6) That they should increase in 
 religious knowledge as time rolled on, knowing, by 
 genuine Christian experience, more of God, of his 
 love, and of his peace, day by day. 
 
 11. Strengthened with all might — ['Ev Tzaaij 
 SwdfiEi 6vvay.ovp.Evoi, in all strength strengthened, 
 in all departments and of every kind.] That they 
 might be aide to walk worthy of the Lord, bring 
 forth fruit, etc. (See Eph. iii, 13, etc.) Accord- 
 ing to (in pursuance of) his glorious power — 
 [According to the power of his glory ,•] that suffi- 
 ciency of strength which may be expected from 
 Him who has all power both in the heavens and in 
 the earth. Unto all patience — [Not only in trib- 
 ulations, but generally in the life of the Spirit. 
 Endurance is the result of the union of inward and 
 outward strength. — ■ A I ford. J And longsuffer- 
 ing — Not only toward your enemies or persecutors, 
 but also in the conflict with error — which is more 
 in question in this epistle. — Afford.] With joy- 
 fulness — Feeling the continual testimony that ye 
 please God, which will be a spring of perpetual 
 comfort. (See Eph. iv, 2.) 
 
 12. Giving thanks unto the Father — [Of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ.] Knowing that ye have nothing 
 but what ye have received from his mere mercy, 
 and that in point of merit ye can never claim any 
 thing from him. Which hath made us meet — 
 'luavGxmvTi, capable, (not worthy.) Who has qual- 
 
 " with joyf ulness; 12 7 Giving thanks unto 
 the Father, which hath made ns meet to be 
 partakers of 2 the inheritance of the saints in 
 light: 13 Who hath delivered us from a the 
 power of darkness, lj and hath translated us 
 into the kingdom of c his dear Son: 14 d In 
 whom we have redemption through his blood, 
 even the forgiveness of sins: 15 Whois e the 
 image of the invisible God, f the firstborn of 
 
 5. 3. 2/ Eph. 5. 20: chap. 3. 15. sActs 26. 18; Eph. 1. 11. 
 
 r/Eph. t>. 12; lleb. 2. 14; 1 Pet. 2. 9. M Thess. 2. 12; 
 
 2 Pet. 1. 11. c'Gr. the Son of his lore; Matt. 3. 17; Eph. 
 
 1. G. d Eph. 1. 7. «2 Cor. 4. 4; lleb. 1. 3. /Rev. 3. 14. 
 
 ified us to be partakers, etc. Of the inheri- 
 tance — E\r rijv pepiSa tov K/J/pov; [rendering us 
 worthy of (tit for eic signifying purpose) the lot 
 of the inheritance of the saints. 'Ev tg> (puri, in 
 the light, indicates the condition of that lot or in- 
 heritance. See Alford.] The n'/i/por was the lot 
 or inheritance belonging to the tribe; the pepig was 
 the portion in that lot which belonged to each fam- 
 ily of that tribe. This was a type of the kingdom 
 of God, in which portions in eternal blessedness 
 are dispensed to the genuine Israelites. Of the 
 saints in light — " Light " expresses knowledge, 
 felicity, purity ; here it is put to point out the state 
 of glory at the right hand of God. 
 
 13. Delivered us from the power of dark- 
 ness — " Darkness " is here personified, and is repre- 
 sented as having k^ovaia, pout,-, authority, and 
 sway ; all men who are not saved by the Gospel 
 are under this authority and power; and nothing 
 less than the power of God can redeem any man 
 from this darkness, or prince of darkness, who by 
 means of sin and unbelief keeps men in ignorance, 
 vice, and misery. Translated us into the king- 
 dom, etc. — [A manifest reference to the rescue of 
 a captive : we were the bond slaves of sin (and 
 Satan;) were in its dominion, i^ovaia; but Christ 
 has, by the power of the Holy Spirit, delivered, 
 pertarnaev, transferred us into the kingdom of the 
 Son of the Fathers love.] 
 
 14. In whom we have redemption — ['Ev il>, 
 that is, in Christ, not simply by or through him, but 
 specifically and peculiarly in him,] who has paid 
 down the redemption price, even his own blood, 
 that our sins might be cancelled, and we made tit 
 to be partakers of the inheritance among the saints 
 in light. The clause, dia tov aipaTog avTov, 
 through his blood, is omitted by most authorities. 
 The same phrase is used Eph. i, 7, whore there is 
 no various reading in any of the MSS., Versions, or 
 Fathers. The forgiveness of sins — "Atyeciv rwv 
 auapriuv, the taking away of sins. [The idea of 
 rescue (redemption by power) is foremost, but that 
 of the remission of sin through the merits of 
 Christ's sacrifice is all the time a felt presence. 
 The work here indicated is concisely stated in the 
 line, " He breaks the power of cancelled sin."] 
 
 15. Who is the^mage of the invisible God — 
 The counterpart of God Almighty; and if the "im- 
 age " of the " invisible God," consequently noth- 
 ing that appeared in him could be that image ; for 
 if it could be visible in the Son, it could also be 
 visible in the Father; but if the Father be "invis- 
 ible," consequently his "image" in the Son must 
 be " invisible " also. This is that form of God of 
 which he divested himself; the Ineffable glory in 
 which he not only did not appear, as to its splen- 
 dour and accompaniments, but concealed also its 
 essential nature ; that inaccessible light which no
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 M. «««. A. I>. 62. 
 Ifearof Home, sla. 
 
 every creature: 16 For eby liiia were all 
 things created, that are in heaven, and that are 
 in earth, visible and invisible, whether they /•< 
 thrones, or h dominions, or principalities, or 
 powers: all tilings were created 'by him, and 
 
 17 John 1. 3; 1 Cor. 8. 6: Eph. 3. 9; Heb. 1. 2. A Horn. 
 
 8. 38; Eph. 1. 21; chap. 2. 10, 15; 1 Peter 3. 22. i Rom. 11. 
 
 3H ; lleb. 2.10. 
 
 man, no created being, can possibly see. This was 
 that divine nature, the fulness of the Godhead 
 bodily, which dwelt in him. The firstborn of 
 every creature— As in Phil, ii, !) : " God hath 
 given him a name which is above every name;" he 
 is at the head of all the creation of God; not a 
 creature, I'm- he himself created all things, and ex- 
 isted before any thing was made. (John i, 3.) If 
 it be said that God created him first, and that he, 
 by a delegated power from God created all things, 
 it is plain that the apostle's reasoning in the six- 
 teenth or seventeenth verses teaches quite the 
 contrary. [The phrase firstborn of every <-r<<tt>ir<\ 
 may imply that Christ was not only firstborn of his 
 mother in this world, but firstbegolten of his father 
 before the worlds, and that he holds the rank, as 
 compared with every created thing, of firstborn in 
 dignity. — Alford.] (See on verse 18.) 
 
 16, 17. For by him were all things created, 
 etc. — Four things are here asserted: 1) That 
 Jesus Christ is the Creator of the universe ; of all 
 things visible and invisible; of all things that had 
 a beginning, whether they exist in time or in eter- 
 nity. 2) That whatsoever was created was created 
 for himself ; that he was the sole end of his own 
 work. ?>) That he was prior to all creation, to all 
 beings, whether in the visible or invisible world. 
 4) That he is the preserver and governor of all 
 things ; for by him all things consist. 
 
 Creation is the proper work of an infinite and 
 unoriginated Being; possessed of all perfections; 
 for as, previously to creation, there was no being, 
 consequently he could not be actuated by any 
 motive, reason, or impulse without himself. Crea- 
 tion, therefore, is the work of Him who is unorig- 
 inated and infinite. Christ is the Creator of all 
 things ; therefore he must be, according to the plain 
 construction of the apostle's words, truly and prop- 
 erly God. 
 
 As, previously to creation, there was no being 
 but God, consequently the great First Cause must, 
 in the exertion of his creative energy, have respect 
 to himself alone ; the Creator, therefore, must 
 make every thing for himself. 
 
 As creation implies absolute and unlimited 
 power, there can be but one Creator ; since there 
 cannot be two or more Omnipotents, Infinites, or 
 Eternals. It is, then, evident that creation cannot 
 be effected by delegation, for this would imply a 
 Being conferring the office, and delegating such 
 power; and that the Being to whom it was dele- 
 gated was a dependent Being, consequently not 
 unoriginated and eternal ; but this the nature of 
 creation proves to be absurd. It is impossible; be- 
 cause, if omnipotence be delegated, he to whom it 
 is delegated had it not before, and he who dele- 
 gates it ceases to have it, and consequently ceases 
 to he God. On this supposition God ceases to 
 exist, though infinite and eternal, and another, not 
 naturally infinite 'and eternal, becomes such : and 
 thus an infinite and eternal Being ceases to exist, 
 and another infinite and eternal Being is produced 
 in time, and has a beginning. Again, if he had 
 
 Vol. II.— 1<J 
 
 for him : 5 7 k And he is before all things, and 
 
 by him all things consist : IS And ' he is the 
 head of the body, the church: who is the 
 beginning, m the firstborn from the dead; that 
 "in all things he might have the preeminence. 
 
 fcjohn 1. 1, 3; 17. 5; 1 Cor. S. 0. Z] Cor. 11. 3: Enh. 1. 10, 
 
 22 ; 4. I."] ; 5. 23. in Acts 20. 23 ; 1 Cur. 15. 20, 23 ; Kev. 1. 5. 
 
 ii Or, (iiiimid nil. 
 
 created by delegation or officially, it would have 
 been for that Being who gave him that office, and 
 delegated to him the requisite power; but the text, 
 says that all things were made BY him and FOB 
 him. 
 
 As all creation necessarily exists in time, and 
 had a commencement, whatever was before or 
 prior to that must be no part of creation ; and the 
 Being who existed prior to creation, and before all 
 things, must be the unoriginated and eternal God : 
 luit St. Paul says "the Son " was before all things. 
 
 As every effect depends upon its cause, and can- 
 not exist without it ; so creation, which is an effect 
 of the power and skill of the Creator, can only 
 exist and lie preserved by a continuance of that 
 energy that first gave it being. Hence God, as 
 the Preserver, is as necessary to the continuance 
 of all things as God the Creator was to their orig- 
 inal production. But this preserving or continuing 
 power is here ascribed to Christ, for the apostle 
 says. And "by him </<> all things consist „•" for as all 
 being was derived from him as its cause, so all 
 being must subsist by him, as the effect subsists by 
 and through its cause. 
 
 Taking, therefore, the apostle as an uninspired 
 man, giving his own view of the Author of the 
 Christian religion, it appears beyond all contro- 
 versy that himself believed Christ Jesus to be 
 God ; but, considering him as writing under the 
 inspiration of the Holy Ghost, then we have, from 
 the plain grammatical meaning of the words which 
 he has used, the fullest demonstration (for the 
 Spirit of God cannot lie) that he who died for our 
 sins and rose again for our justification, and in 
 whose blood we have redemption, was Con over all. 
 And as God alone can give salvation to men, and 
 God only can remit sin, we are with the strictest 
 propriety commanded to believe on the Lord Jesus, 
 with the assurance that we shall be saved. 
 
 18. He is the head of the body — What the 
 apostle has said in the two preceding verses refers 
 to the divine nature of Jesus Christ ; he now pro- 
 ceeds to speak of his human nature, and to show 
 how highly that is exalted beyond all created things, 
 and how in that he is Head of the Church — the 
 author and dispenser of light, life, and salvation 
 to the Christian world; or, in other words, that 
 from him, as the man in whom the fulness of the 
 Godhead bodily dwelt, all the mercy and salvation 
 of the Gospel system is to be received. "Of the 
 body" — [Of the Church, indicative of Christ's 
 official relation to his people contemplated as an 
 aggregated unity.] The beginning, the first- 
 born from the dead- — In 1 Corinthians xv, 20, 
 Christ is called " the firstfruits of them that slept ; " 
 and here, thechief and " firstborn from the dead ; " 
 he being the first that ever resumed life never 
 more to enter the empire of death after having 
 died a natural death, and in such circumstances as 
 precluded the possibility of deception. The 
 chief, head, or first, answers in this verse to the 
 enrapx'/, or firstfruits, of 1 Cor. .xv, 20, Jesus 
 Christ is not only the first who rose from the dead 
 
 289
 
 COLOSSIANS. 
 
 to Oo.l and holin 
 >i- men by Christ. 
 
 ID For it pleased the Father that "in him 
 should all fulness dwell; 2© And, n having 
 made peace through the blood of his cross, r by 
 him to reconcile s all things unto himself; by 
 him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or 
 things in heaven. 21 And you, 'that were 
 sometime alienated and enemies "in ^rarmind 
 
 o John 1. 16 ; 3. 34 : chap. 2. 9 ; 3. 11. p Or, making peace. 
 
 </Eph. 2. 14, 15, lti r-2 Cor. 5. 18. sEnh. 1. 10. 
 
 t Eph. 2. 1, 2, 12. l!i; 4. IS. wOr, by your mind in wicked 
 
 to die no more, but he is the firstfruits of human 
 beings; for as surely as the firstfruits were an in- 
 dication an 1 pledge of the harvest, so surely was 
 the resurrection of Christ the proof that all man- 
 kind should have a resurrection from the dead. 
 [Houroroicog, firstborn, as applied to the risen 
 Christ, implies that his self-deliverance from death 
 (his coating away from hades) was of the nature of 
 a birth, not a new life, but one before existing, ye1 
 in widely different conditions. And in the word 
 firstborn there is a prophecy and a promise of 
 others to follow.] That in all . . . he might 
 have the preeminence — That he might be con- 
 sidered, in consequence of his mediatorial office, as 
 possessing the first place in and being chief over 
 all the creation of Go 1 ; for is it to be wondered at 
 that the human nature, with which the great 
 Creator condescended to unite himself, should be 
 set over all the works of his hands? 
 
 19. For it pleased the Father that in him 
 should all fulness dwell — That the majesty, 
 power, an 1 goodness of God should be manifested 
 in and by Christ Jesus. The TrTJjpuim, or fulness, 
 must refer here to the divine nature dwelling in 
 the miu Christ Jesus. ["On kv ahrCi ebduKi/asv 
 - ii' to -'/ i/iuLia Ka-oiKTJaai, that in him it seemed 
 goo I allthe fulness should duo 11, repeating in another 
 form, and with a heightened view of Christ's essen- 
 tial glory, what is said in the preceding sentence.] 
 
 20. And, having made peace through the 
 blood of his cross — [The order of the first and 
 second clauses of verse twentieth should be ex- 
 changed, so as to read, (as in Revised Version,) and 
 through him (Christ) to reconcile all things t<> him- 
 self, (the Father,) having made peace bj the blood of 
 his cross. God the Father has made peace — brought 
 about a scheme of reconciliation — through the i?itt r- 
 /;/. diary of the sacrifice of Christ, of which the blood 
 of his cross is the sensible manifestation.] To rec- 
 oncile all things unto himself — The enmity was 
 on the part of the creature ; though God is angry with 
 the wicked every day, yet he is never unwilling to be 
 reconciled. But man, whose carnal mini is enmity 
 toward God, is averse from this reconciliation ; it re- 
 quires, therefore, the " blood of the cross " to atone 
 for the sin, and the influence of the Spirit to recon- 
 cile the transgressor to Him against whom he has 
 offended. (See 2 Cor. v, 19, etc.) Things in earth, 
 or things in heaven — This seems to be a kind of 
 collective phrase to signify (/// the world, or all man- 
 kin I. Some think possibly the reference is to the 
 Jems and the Gentiles; the state of the former being 
 always considered a sort of divine or celestial state, 
 while that of the latter was reputed to be merely 
 earthly, without any mixture of spiritual or heavenly 
 good. [Alford's solution, though somewhat fanci- 
 ful, is ingenious, and not unworthy of thought : 
 "All creation subsisted in Christ; all creation is 
 therefore affected by his act of propitiation ; sinful 
 creation is, in the strictest sense, reconciled from 
 being at enmitv ; sinless creation, even at a distance 
 
 290 
 
 v by wicked works, yet now hath he recon- 
 ciled 22 w In the body of his flesh through 
 death. x to present you holy and unblamable 
 and unreprovable in his sight: 23 if ye con- 
 tinue in the faith y grounded and settled, and 
 be z not moved away from the hope of the 
 gospel, which ye have heard, *eind which was 
 
 works. ?! Titus 1. 15, 16. «• Eph. 2. 15, 16. P'Luke 
 
 1. 75: Eph. 1. 4: 5.27: 1 Thess. 4. 7; Titus 2. 14: Jude 24. 
 
 V Eph. 3. 17 ; chap. 2. 7. z. John 15. 6. a Rom. in. 18. 
 
 from his unapproachable purity, is lifted into nearer 
 participation and higher glorification of him, and 
 is thus reconciled, though not in the strictest sense, 
 yet in a very intelligible and allowable one."] 
 
 21. And you, that were sometime alienated 
 — All men are "alienated " from God, and all are 
 enemies in their minds to him, and show it by their 
 wicked works ; but this is spoken particularly of 
 the Gentiles. While the Jews were, at least for- 
 mally, dedicated to God, the Gentiles were given up 
 to others; they worshipped not the true God, but 
 had gods many and lords many, to whom they 
 dedicated themselves, their religious service, and 
 their property. The verb ci/?o-pi6u, to alienate, 
 signifies to abalienate, to estrange utterly, to be 
 wholly the property of another. Thus the Gentiles 
 had alienated themselves from God, and were alien- 
 ated or rejected by him, because of their wicked- 
 ness and idolatry. [The objective state of enmity 
 is grounded in its subjective causes, and the intel- 
 ligent responsible being is contemplated in the 
 whole sentence. . . . Our passive enmity subsists, 
 not on account of any subjective actuality in us, 
 (sins committed,) but on account of the pollution 
 of our parent stock in Adam. — Alford.] Enemies 
 in your mind — They had the carnal mind, which 
 is enmity against God ; and this was expressed in 
 their outward conduct of wicked works. (See Rom. 
 v, 17.) The "mind" is taken here for all the soul, 
 heart, affections, passions, etc. 
 
 22. In the tody of his flesh — [His incarnate 
 personality.] By Christ's assumption of humanity 
 and dying for man he has made an atonement for 
 sin, through which men become reconciled to God 
 and to each other. [By the blood of Christ God 
 is provisionally reconciled to men, and that fact 
 is proclaimed in the preaching of the Gospel to per- 
 suade men to be reconciled to God.] To present 
 you holy — ['A} lore;, in the moral holiness which, 
 after the justification attained by means of faith, 
 is wrought by the Holy Spirit, (Rom. vii, 6 ; 
 viii, 2, 9;) and which, on the part of man, is 
 preserved and maintained by continuance in the 
 faith. (Verse 23.) — Meyer.~\ Unblamable and 
 unreprovable — ['A//o)//orc, uncensurabh ; avey- 
 KkhrovQ, nut agreeable; (the two words are very 
 nearly synonymous,) presenting negatively what 
 ayiovc presents positively.] In his sight — At the 
 day of judgment. [Christ, at his judicial appear- 
 ance, including also his perpetually exercised fo- 
 rensic discrimination of men's characters.] 
 
 23. If ye continue in the faith — This will he 
 the case if you, who have already believed in Christ 
 Jesus, continue in that faith, grounded in the 
 knowledge and love of God, and settled, made^rm 
 and perseveringly steadfast, in that state of salva- 
 tion. And be not moved away — Not permit- 
 ting yourselves to be seduced by false teachers. 
 Hope of the gospel — [That is, the hope of eter- 
 nal life in the Messianic kingdom, which has been 
 imparted to the believer in the Gospel. — Meyer."]
 
 The design of the ftpr>=tles 
 in teaching everj man. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 A. M. 4fi66. A. D. fi2. 
 Year of Home, 815. 
 
 preached Ho every creature which is under 
 heaven; e whereof I Paul am made a minister; 
 2-1 d Who now rejoice in my sufferings e for 
 you. ami till up f that which is behind of the 
 afflictions of Christ in nay flesh for '•'his body's 
 sake, which is the church : 25 Whereof I am 
 made a minister, according to b the dispensation 
 of God which is given to me for you, 'to fulfil 
 the word of God; 26 Even ''the mystery 
 which hath been hid from ages and from gener- 
 
 h Verse S. e Vets 1. 17 : 2 Cor. 3. 6: -t. 1 ; 5. I s ; Eph. 3. 7 ; 
 
 verse 2."> ; 1 Tim. 2. 7. d Rom. 5. 3: 2 Cor. 7. 4. 1 Eph. 3. 
 
 1.1.:. f"2Cor. 1.5, K; Phil. 3. 10; 2 Tim. I.8;2. 10. v Epli. 
 
 1. 23. — U l Cor. 9. 17; Gal. 2. 7: Eph. 3. 2; verse 23. /Or, 
 
 fully to preach the icon/ of God, Rom. 15. 19. 
 
 To every creature which is under heaven 
 — A Hebraism signifying the whole human race, 
 and particularly referring to the two grand divis- 
 ions of mankind, the Jews and Gentiles; to both 
 of these the Gospel had been preached, and to each 
 salvation by Christ had been equally offered. And 
 as none had been excluded from the offers of 
 mercy, and Jesus Christ had tasted death for every 
 man, and the Jews and Gentiles, in their great cor- 
 porate capacity, had all been invited to believe the 
 Gospel; therefore, the apostle concludes that the 
 Gospel was preached to [as being designed for] 
 every creature under heaven, and offered without 
 restrictions or limitations to the whole human race. 
 Am made a minister — [Constituted a ministering 
 servitor of God, in respect to authority and benefi- 
 cence; of man, as those upon whom the benefits 
 of his services were designed to come.] 
 
 24. Rejoice in my sufferings for you — St. 
 Paul always considers his persecutions, as far as the 
 Jews were concerned in them, as arising from this 
 simple circumstance — his asserting that God had 
 chosen the G^itiles and called them to enjoy the 
 very same privileges with the Jews, and to consti- 
 tute one Church with them. The consequences of 
 so preaching the Gospel he was now suffering in 
 his imprisonment in Rome. See on chapter iv, 2. 
 That which is behind of the afflictions of 
 Christ — I have still some afflictions to pass through 
 before my race of glory will be finished ; afflictions 
 which fall on me on account of the Gospel; such 
 as Christ bore from the same persecuting people. 
 It is worthy of remark that the apostle does not say 
 iradt/fiara, the passion of Christ, but simply OMipeig, 
 the afflictions; such as are common to all good men 
 who hear a testimony against the ways and fashions 
 of a wicked world. In these the apostle had his 
 share; in the passion of Christ he could have none. 
 He trod the winepress alone; of the people there 
 were none with him. His body's sake — Believers, 
 both of Jews and Gentiles, who now form that one 
 body, the Church, of which Christ is the head. 
 
 25. Whereof I am made a minister — \&l&k- 
 deacon, steward, dispe7iser.~\ Having received 
 
 especial commission from God to preach salvation 
 to the Gentiles. According to the dispensation 
 — Kara rr/v oinovouiav, according to the Gospel 
 economy or institution; the scheme or plan of salva- 
 tion by Christ crucified. To fulfil the -word of 
 God — The Greek Tilrjpuaai rbv 7i6yov rov Qeov may 
 be translated, fully to preach the doctrine of God. 
 (See Rom. xv, 19, and the note there.) Were we 
 to take the word in its common meaning it might 
 signify to accomplish the purpose of God, as pre- 
 dicted by the prophets. 
 
 26. The mystery which hath been hid — The 
 
 ai ions, i but now is made manifest to his saints : 
 27 "'To whom God would make known what 
 is "the riches of the glory of this mystery 
 among the Gentiles; which is Christ D in you, 
 i' the hope of glory: 2*i Whom we preach, 
 i warning every man, and teaching every man 
 in all wisdom; 'that we may present every 
 man perfect in Christ Jesus: 29 ■ Whereunto 
 I also labour, 'striving u according to his work- 
 ing, which worketh in me mightily. 
 
 /-Rom. 16.25; 1 Cor. 2. 7 ; Eph. 3. 9. /Matt. 13. It; 2 Tim. 
 
 1. 10. ml Cor. 2. 14. re Rom. 9. 23; Kph. 1. 7: 3. 8. 
 
 a Or, among ynn. — 1> 1 Tim. 1. 1. f/ Acts 2a. %\, 27,31. — ■ 
 
 /•2 Cor. 11. i; Eph. 5. 27; ra-se 22. si Cur. 15. 10. 
 
 /Chap. 2. 1. MEph. 1. 19; 3. 7, 20. 
 
 " mystery " is this : that God had designed to grant 
 the Gentiles the same privileges with the Jews, and 
 make them his people who were not his people. 
 (That this is what St. Paul means by the " mystery," 
 see Eph. iii, 8, etc.) Made manifest (by the 
 Holy Spirit, Acts x, 34) to his saints — All 
 who have embraced the doctrine of Christ cruci- 
 fied ; to all Christians. 
 
 27. The riches of the glory — God manifests 
 to these how abundantly glorious this Gospel is 
 among the Gentiles; and how effectual is this doc- 
 trine of Christ crucified to the salvation of multi- 
 tudes. Which is Christ in you, the hope of 
 glory — [Xpurrbc tv i//)v, Christ among you, (Gen- 
 tiles,) giving to you this hope. See Alford.] 
 
 28. Whom we preach — He proclaimed this 
 Christ as being in them. For the design of the 
 Gospel is to put men in possession of the Spirit 
 and power of Christ, to make them partakers of the 
 divine nature, and thus prepare them for an eter- 
 nal union with himself. Should it be said that the 
 preposition iv should be translated among, it 
 amounts to the same; for Christ was among them, 
 to enlighten, quicken, purify, and refine them. He 
 preached this present and indwelling Christ as the 
 " hope of glory." Warning every man — They 
 proved that both Jews and Gentiles were under sin ; 
 and that the wrath of God was revealed against all 
 ungodliness and unrighteousness of men ; that time 
 and life were uncertain; and that now was the day 
 of salvation. Teaching every man in all wis- 
 dom — They considered the world, that is, every 
 man, as being through sin ignorant of himself and 
 of God. They, therefore, instructed men in all wis- 
 dom ; for the knowledge of a man's self and his 
 God constitutes all that is essentially necessary to 
 be known for present and eternal happiness. [The 
 specification of the mode of announcement, admon- 
 ishing, vov6erovv7ti\ and teaching, SiSaoKovreg, corre- 
 sponds to the two main elements of the evangelical 
 preaching, repentance and faith, (Acts xx, 21, et 
 al.) — Meyer. \ That we may present every 
 man perfect in Christ Jesus — The words n 
 
 >v Xpiorw, perfect in or through Christ, signify that 
 they should be thoroughly instructed in the doctrines 
 of Christianity, SO that they should know the truth 
 as it is in Jesus, and that they should lie made par- 
 takers of the grace of the Gospel, SO that they might 
 be saved from all their sins, and he filled with his 
 fulness. [The words tv X/hotij contain the distin- 
 guishing specialty of the rr/././ry, perfection, as 
 Christian, which is not based on any other element 
 than just on him. The thrice-repeated "every 
 man" has a supreme force as to its opposition to the 
 Judaizing tendency of the false teachers. — Meyer.] 
 2'J. Whereunto I also labour — In order to 
 
 291
 
 COLOSSIANS. 
 
 Paul declares his great care and 
 concern for the churches. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 FOR I would that ye knew what great 
 "'•conflict 1 have for you, and for them at 
 Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my 
 face in the tlesh ; 2 c That their hearts might 
 be comforted, d being knit together in love, 
 and unto all riches of the full assurance of un- 
 derstanding, e to the acknowledgment of the 
 mystery of God, and of the Father, and of 
 
 aOr,fea>; or, aire, & Phil. 1. 30; chap. 1. 29; 1 Thess. 
 
 2. 2 e 2 Cor. 1. ii. d Chap. 3. 14. e Phil. 3. 8; chap. I. 9. 
 
 ■ /Or, Wherein. pi Cor. 1. 24; 2. 6, 7; Eph. 1. S; chap. 
 
 1. 9. 
 
 accomplish this end, I labour wifh the upmost zeal 
 and earnestness. Whoever considers the original 
 words, a-yuvi^ouevoc Kara, rf/v evipyeiav avrov tt/v 
 evepyovuivnv . . . . kv dwdusi, will find that no verbal 
 translation can convey their sense. God worked 
 energetically in St. Paul, and he wrought energeti- 
 cally with God: and all this was in reference to the 
 salvation of mankind. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER II. 
 
 1. What great conflict — The word ayuva, which 
 we here render " conflict," is to be understood as 
 implying earnest aire and solicitude. The ayuvt- 
 ^duevog of the preceding verse gave the apostle 
 occasion to use the word ayuv here. He agonized 
 with God, and his agony was for them. Laodicea 
 — A city of Asia Minor, on the borders of Caria, 
 Phrygia, and Lydia. It was originally called Dios- 
 polis, or the city of Jupiter, and afterwards Rhoas ; 
 but obtained the name of Laodicea from Laodice, 
 the wife of Antiochus. It is now called Ladik. It 
 was formerly celebrated for its commerce and the 
 fine black wool of its sheep. Colosse, or the city 
 of the Colossians, lay between it and Hierapolis. 
 This Hierapolis was also a town of Phrygia, famous 
 for its hot baths : it is now called Bambukholasi. 
 As many as have not seen my face in the 
 flesh— It is most likely that we should under- 
 stand the apostle as speaking collectively; that 
 he had the most earnest concern, not only for the 
 welfare of those Churches with which he was ac- 
 quainted, such as Colosse and Laodicea, but also 
 for those to whom he was not personally known. 
 [It lias been much disputed whether or not the 
 Colossians and Laodiceans are to be understood as 
 among those whom the apostle had not seen, as the 
 language will permit of either construction. Dr. 
 Clarke seems to favour the negative side.] 
 
 •2. That their hearts might be comforted — 
 That they might have continual happiness in God, 
 Slaving constant alliance in him. Being knit to- 
 gether in love — The word aw 1: laodevrec signifies 
 being united, as the beams or the timbers of a build- 
 ing by mortices and pins. The Church of Christ can- 
 not be in union with God unless it have unity in it- 
 self, and without "love" this unity is impossible. 
 Unto all riches of the full assurance of under- 
 standing— {The full certainty of Christian insight 
 is the lofty blessing, the whole ricJies of which, that 
 is, its blissful possession as a whole, they are to at- 
 tain. — Meyer.] This is the grand mystery of God, 
 which was now laid open by the preaching of the 
 Gospel. And of the Father, and of Christ 
 — These words are variously written in different 
 MSS. and Versions. The great variety of versions 
 leaves the strongest presumption that the words in 
 question are glosses which have crept into the text, 
 and are of no authority. Griesbach has left them 
 202 
 
 Christ; 3 fff In whom are hid all the treas- 
 ures of wisdom and knowledge. 4 And this I 
 say, h lest any man should beguile you with 
 enticing words. 5 For 'though I be absent in 
 the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joy- 
 ing and beholding k your order, and the ' stead- 
 fastness of your faith in Christ. 6 m As ye 
 have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, 
 so walk ye in him: 7 "Rooted and built up 
 
 
 /( Rom. 16. 
 
 18; 
 
 2 Coi 
 
 11. 13: 
 
 Eph. 4. 14 
 
 5. 
 
 ti; 
 
 verses 
 
 8, 18. 
 
 
 — i 1 Cor. 5 
 
 H: 
 
 1 Thess. 2. 17. 
 
 A- 1 Cor 
 
 11 
 
 411 
 
 / 1 Peter 
 
 
 
 9. in 1 Thess 
 
 .4.1; 
 
 Jude 3.- 
 
 — n Eph. 2 
 
 21, 
 
 22 
 
 3.17; 
 
 chap. 
 
 J 
 
 23. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 out of the text. [The latest authorities are about 
 equally divided between omitting and retaining the 
 word Xpiarov ; and some of the best render the 
 text tov Qeov mi Trarpuc rob Xpiarov, (of God and 
 the Father of Christ.) The Revised Version retains 
 Xpiarov, (of Christ,) as if in apposition with Qeov, 
 (God.)j 
 
 3. In whom are hid — Or, rather, in which ; re- 
 ferring to the mystery mentioned above. In this 
 glorious scheme of Christianity all the treasures — the 
 abundance and excellency of wisdom and knowledge 
 — are contained. No scheme of salvation or divine 
 knowledge ever equalled the Gospel plan in its depth 
 and excellency. A scheme which the wisdom of 
 God alone could devise, and which his power and 
 infinite mercy alone could accomplish. 
 
 4. Lest any man should beguile you — The 
 word irapa'AoyiO/rai means to deceive by sophistry 
 or subtle reasoning, in which all the conclusions 
 appear to be fairly drawn from the premises, but 
 the premises are either assumed without evidence 
 or false in themselves ; but this not being easily 
 discovered, the unthinking or unwary are carried 
 away by the conclusions which are drawn from 
 these premises. And this result is clearly intimated 
 by the term KidavoAoym/., enticing words, plausible 
 conclusions or deductions from this mode of reason- 
 ing. The apostle seems to allude to the Grecian phi- 
 losophers, who were notorious for this kind of argu- 
 mentation. Plato and Socrates are not free from it. 
 
 5. For though I be absent in the flesh — It is 
 hardly possible that such words as these in tins 
 verse could have been used to perfect strangers ; 
 they argue a knowledge of the people founded on 
 personal acquaintance. The whole verse shows 
 that this Church was sound in doctrine and strict 
 in discipline. They had steadfast faith in Christ, 
 and regular order or discipline among themselves. 
 
 6. As (since) ye have therefore received 
 Christ Jesus — Seeing ye have embraced the doc- 
 trine of Christ, continue to hold it fast, and not per- 
 mit yourselves to be turned aside by sophistical or 
 Judaizing teachers. [Their walk in Christ is to be 
 in harmony with the instruction by means of which 
 they have "received" Christ. . . . Christ was com- 
 municated to them as the clement of life. — Meyer.] 
 
 7. Rooted and built up in him — It is not 
 usual with the apostle to employ this double met- 
 aphor, taken partly from the growth of a tree and 
 the increase of a building. [A third figure is also 
 seen in the word " walk " in the previous verse.] 
 They are to be " rooted ; " as the good seed had 
 been already sown, it is to take root, and the roots 
 are to spread far, wide, and deep. They are to be 
 grown led; as the foundation has already been laid, 
 they are to build thereon. In the one case, they 
 are to bear much fruit ; in the other, they are to 
 grow up to be a habitation of Cod through the
 
 Exhortation to beware of 
 seducing teachers. 
 
 CHAPTER IT. 
 
 L D. G2. 
 e, 815. 
 
 in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have 
 been taught, abounding therein with thanks- 
 giving. 8 "Beware lest any man spoil yon 
 through philosophy and vain deceit, after Pthe 
 tradition of men, after the l ' 'rudiments of the 
 world, and not after Christ. *> For s in him 
 dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. 
 
 oJer. 29. 8; Rom. 16. 17; Kph. 5. (i ; verse 18; Heb. 13. 9. 
 
 p Matt 15. 2 : Gal. 1. 14 ; verso 22. </Or. element*. r Gal. 
 
 4. ;i. 9; verse 20. s John 1. 14 ; chap. 1. 19. 1 John 1. Hi. 
 
 Spirit. (See Eph. ii, 21, 22; iii, 17.) Abound- 
 ing therein with thanksgiving — No limitation is 
 
 ever set t<> the operations of God in the soul, or to 
 the growth of the soul in the knowledge, love, and 
 image of God. Those who are brought into such a 
 state of salvation should abound in gratitude and 
 loving obedience as they grow in grace. 
 
 8. Beware lest any man spoil you — Sivla- 
 yuyuv, robbing, as if by violence or rapine. Their 
 goods were the salvation they had received from 
 Christ; and both the Gentile and Jewish teachers 
 endeavoured to deprive them of these by per- 
 verting their minds, and leading them off from the 
 truths of Christianity. Philosophy and vain 
 deceit — Or, the vain or empty deceit of philosophy. 
 As the term " philosophy " stood in high repute 
 among the Gentiles, the Jews of this time affected 
 it ; and both Philo and Josephus use the word to 
 express the whole of the Mosaic institutions. The 
 Jewish philosophy, such as is found in the Cabala, 
 Midrashim, and other works, deserves the character 
 of "vain deceit" in the fullest sense and meaning 
 of the words. The inspired writers excepted, the 
 Jews have ever been the most puerile, absurd, and 
 ridiculous reasoners in the world. Even Rabbi 
 Maymon, (or Maimonides,) the must intelligent of 
 them all, is often most deplorably empty and vain. 
 [Am rf/g (j>t?ioGoif>iac (through the philosophy) — the 
 current popular philosophy of the day. — E/licott.] 
 [The character of the philosophy here meant, as 
 gathered from the descriptions which follow, was 
 that mixture of Jewish and Oriental which after- 
 ward expanded into Agnosticism. — Alford.] After 
 the rudiments of the world — According to the 
 doctrine of the Jewish teachers; or, according to 
 the Mosaic institutions as explained and glossed by 
 the scribes, Pharisees, and rabbins in general; what 
 the apostle calls the tradition of men are what 
 men, unauthorized by God, have taught as doctrines 
 received from him. Our Lord frequently refers to 
 and condemns these traditions. [It is merely a 
 traditional philosophy, and therefore of precarious 
 truth. It is human, and therefore deficient in au- 
 thority. It is elementary, belonging to the outworn 
 creed, to the rudiments of religion, and therefore 
 unfitted for Christian manhood. It is Material, not 
 connected with the soul's true home and centre, 
 but with the palpable and external, (tov koc/liov,) and 
 is therefore deficient in spirituality. And being 
 this, assuredly and as matter of fact, it is not after 
 Christ. — ,s)/. Com, /a ntary.~\ 
 
 8. For in him dwelleth all the fulness — 
 There is a " fulness " in Christ suited to the empty, 
 destitute state of the human soul, but in the phi- 
 losophy of the Jews and Gentiles nothing like this 
 was found ; nor indeed in the more refined and 
 correct philosophy of the present day. Xo sul ^fi- 
 nite has ever been found for the grace of the Lord 
 Jesus, and those who have sought for one have dis- 
 quieted themselves in vain. [The essence of God, 
 undivided and in its whole fulness, dwells in Christ, 
 
 10 l And ye are complete in him, " which is the 
 head of all v principality and power: II In 
 whom also ye are "circumcised with the cir- 
 cumcision made without hands, in "putting off 
 the body of the sins of the flesh by the circum- 
 cision of Christ: 12 ? Buried with him in 
 baptism, wherein also 2 ye are risen with him 
 
 u F.ph. 1. 20, 21 : 1 Peter 3. 22. v Chap. 1. 16 
 
 16; 30. 6; Jer. 4. 4: Rom. 2. 29; Phil. 3. 3.- 
 
 Eph. 4. 22; chap. 3. 8, 9. U Horn. 6. 4.- 
 
 ?rDeut. 10. 
 .- Rom, 6. C ; 
 ■s Chap 3. 1. 
 
 . . . so that he is the essential and adequate image 
 of God, which he could not be if he were not pos- 
 sessor of the divine essence. — Meyer.] Bodily — 
 Zu/iariKur, truly, really. In the body of Christ the 
 Deity, with all its plentitude of attributes, dwelt 
 really and substantially : for so the word cu/mtikcjc 
 means ; [personaliter.] 
 
 10. And ye are complete in him — K«f kare 
 iv avro} Tr£TT/?/i)c.i/iiivi, and ye are filled with him. 
 The philosophy of the world was empty, kzvtj, but 
 there was a ir/ii/pu/ia, or fulness, in Christ ; the 
 Colossians were empty — spoiled and deprived of 
 every good — while following the empty philosophy 
 and groundless traditions of Jewish and Gentile 
 teachers ; but since they had received Christ Jesus 
 they were ■K£n?.npu/uevoi, filled with him. The 
 head of all principality — See the notes on chap, 
 i, 16, 17. [The Christian's completeness in Christ 
 is not bound up with other dignities as objects of 
 adoration, for he is the Head of all such. See Al- 
 ford.] [The being filled depends on him, (it is in. 
 him,) on nothing and no one but on him, and every- 
 thing else which men may teach you, and with 
 which they may w ish to seize you and conduct you 
 in leadingstrings, is "not after Christ." (Verse 8.) 
 — Meyer.] 
 
 11. In whom also ye are circumcised — All 
 that was designed by circumcision, literally per- 
 formed, is accomplished in them that believe 
 through the Spirit and power of Christ. But, by 
 the circumcision of Christ, the operation of his 
 grace and Spirit is evidently intended ; the Law re- 
 quired the circumcision of the flesh ; the Gospel of 
 Christ required the circumcision of the heart. The 
 words tuv dfiapriui', of the sins, must be omitted. 
 Putting off the body of the sins of the flesh 
 — ['Ei» tij aTTEKciaei tov cu/mtoc ttjc capKOg. Paul 
 here conceives the old sinful nature as a body 
 which, in regeneration, the Christian puts off, and 
 that Gapi is to be understood only of the earthly 
 human life, (that is, of nothing properly material ) 
 —Julius Muller.] 
 
 12. Buried ... in baptism — ["Baptism" is a 
 sign of the new birth in Christ, in which (" baptism," 
 not " Christ ") ye an Inn-it d, and rise again, not liter- 
 ally but spiritually.] [In ?7(" baptism ") we both die 
 and rise again, both unclothe and are clothed : ye are 
 also risen with him — not your material, but your 
 spiritual, resurrection is in the foreground, . . . 6ia 
 ~f/c iriaTEwc T7jc kvepyeiac TdvQeov tov : j t ipavrog at rbv 
 in venpuv, through (your) faith in the operation of 
 God, (in Christ, that mighty power by which the 
 Father raised him,) who raised him from the dead. 
 There is much more asserted than the mere ixpoo- 
 a: veiv TTjy avaaraoiv, (continuing life from the grave;) 
 the power of God in raising the dead to life is one 
 anil the same in our Lord and in us ; the physical 
 power exerted in him is ... a condition and assur- 
 ance of a spiritual power exerted in us, whereby 
 we arc in spirit risen with Christ. — Alford.] [To 
 maintain from such a circumstance (as the use of 
 
 293
 
 A.T.I. 4066. A. D. 62 
 
 Year of Rome, 815. 
 
 COLOSSIANS. 
 
 varus the Cnlosslans r 
 i teachings of Jud.-iize 
 
 through a the faith of the operation of God, 
 'who hath raised him from the dead. HI c And 
 yon, being dead in your sins and the uncircura- 
 cision of your flesh, hath he quickened to- 
 gether with him, having forgiven you all tres- 
 passes; 14 J Blotting out the handwriting 
 of ordinances that was against us, which was 
 contrary to us, and took it out of the way, 
 
 a Eph. 1. 19; 3. 7. b Acts 2. 24. cEph. 2. 1, 5, fi, 11. 
 
 tfEph. 2. 15, 16. eden. 3. l.">; 1'salm US. Is; Isaiah 53. 12; 
 
 Matt. 12. 29; Luke 10. 18; 11. 22; John 12.31; 1U. 11; Eph. 4.8, 
 Heh. 2. 14. 
 
 these figures) that immersion is necessary in bap- 
 tism is surely the merest trifling, and a resuscitation 
 of the very ceremonial spirit which the apostle is 
 here arguing against. As reasonably might it be 
 argued, from the airtudvaig, (unclothing,) here, that 
 nakedness was an essential in that sacrament. 
 The things represented by both figures belong to 
 the essentials of the Christian life : the minor 
 details of the sacrament which correspond to them 
 may, in different ages and climates, be varied; but 
 the spiritual figures remain. — Alford.] [It is by 
 no means certain, nor indeed probable, that there 
 is in this passage any reference at all to the out- 
 ward form of administering baptism ; its whole sense 
 is entirely spiritual. (See Gal. ii, 20.)] The faith 
 of the operation of God — They were quickened, 
 changed, and saved, by means of faith in Christ 
 Jesus ; which faith was produced by the operation 
 or energy of God. Believing is the act of the soul. 
 
 13. And you, being dead in your sins — See 
 the notes on Eph. ii, 1, etc. The uncircum- 
 cision of your flesh — Referring to them as con- 
 verts from heathenism. 
 
 14. Blotting out the handwriting of ordi- 
 nances — [XeipoypaQov, the document of debt, or of 
 our indebtedness; not that we have written the docu- 
 ment, but that it authenticates us </.s- arrested for 
 debt, and is consequently against us. Tolg doyfiactv, 
 ("of [in] ordinances,") the precepts of the moral 
 law, with their proper penalties, -poa>/?Maar avrb tu 
 oravpC), nailing it (the handwriting, the condem- 
 ning record) to the cross. Since the law which 
 condemned man lost its punitive force through the 
 death of Christ on the cross, inasmuch as Christ 
 through this death suffered the curse of the law 
 for men, (Gal. iii, 13,) and became the end of the 
 law, (Rom. x, 4,) at the same time that Christ was 
 nailed as a propitiation (i'Aaarfjpmv) to the cross the 
 law was nailed to it also. See Meyer. ] 
 
 15. And having spoiled principalities and 
 powers — [' ATTEndvo-dfievoc, having stripped, put 
 off. ] Here is an allusion to the treatment of 
 enemies when conquered : they are spoiled of their 
 armour, (so much the word awend'vEiv implies,) and 
 they are exhibited with contumely and reproach to 
 the populace, especially when the victor has the 
 honour of a triumph. [In the doing away of the 
 law was involved the victory and triumph of God 
 over the devilish powers, since the strength of the 
 latter, antagonistic to God, is in sin, and the strength 
 of sin is in the law, (1 Cor. xv, 56;) with the 
 law therefore, the power of the devil stands or 
 falls. — Meyer.] A somewhat strange, but not im- 
 probable, rendering is given to this passage in the 
 following extract: [Having divested himself of , (not 
 " spoiled," which is foreign to the sense of the orig- 
 inal word,) rag apxag Kal rag hl-ovoiag, the things of 
 which he divested himself, which, in verse 10, and 
 chapter i, 16, 17, indicate not evil but good things. 
 
 294 
 
 nailing it to his cross; 15 And e having 
 
 spoiled f principalities and powers, he made a 
 show of them openly, triumphing over theme in 
 it. 16 Let no man therefore h judge you lk in 
 meat, or in drink, or 'in respect m of a holy- 
 day, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath 
 days: \*i " Which are a shadow of things to 
 come; but the body is of Christ. IS ° Let no 
 
 /Eph. U. 12. (/Or, in himself. Ii Rom. 14. 3, 10, 13 
 
 iOv, for eating ami it ri liking. k Horn. 14. 2, 17 ; 1 Cor. 8. 8. 
 
 ^Oi\ in part. mEoill, 14. 0; Gal. 4. 10. n lleb. 8. 5; 
 
 9. 9 ; 10. 1. oVerse 4. 
 
 The law (by which we were condemned) was 6ta- 
 rayeig 6C ayyD.uv, things disposed by angels, (Gal. 
 iii, 19; Acts vii, 53;) they were the promulgat- 
 ors of the adverse handwriting. That writing, that 
 investiture, (in which God was presented in the 
 law,) was rendered worthless, abrogated, by the of. 
 fering of Christ. . . . Thus God divested himself of, 
 put off from himself, that "dispensation of the 
 angels," manifesting himself henceforward in the 
 exalted person of Jesus. ... In his sacrifice the 
 "principalities and powers" (by which the law was 
 given) were all subjected to Christ, were declared 
 to be powerless as regards his work and his peo- 
 ple, and triumphed over by him. Phil, ii, 8, 9 ; 
 Eph. i, 20-21. — Alford.] [In it— 'Ev airru, that 
 is, the cross, in and by which the work is effected.] 
 
 16. Let no man . . . judge you in meat, or in 
 drink — The apostle speaks here in reference to 
 the " handwriting of ordinances," which had been 
 " taken away," namely, the distinction of meats 
 and drinks, what was clean and what unclean, ac- 
 cording to the law; and the necessity of observing 
 certain holydays or festivals, such as the new moons 
 and particular sabbaths, or those which should be 
 observed with more than ordinary solemnity ; all 
 these had been taken out of the way and nailed to 
 the cross, and were no longer of moral obligation. 
 [It is an exhortation to the assertion of their Christ- 
 ian liberty, which must lie maintained, and even 
 things indifferent in themselves must be disallowed 
 when they become badges of superstition, or stand 
 instead of Christ.] There is no intimation here 
 that the sabbath was done away, or that its moral 
 use was superseded, by the introduction of Chris- 
 tianity. "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it 
 holy," is a command of perpetual obligation, and can 
 never be superseded but by the final termination of 
 time. As it is a type of that rest which remains 
 for the people of God — of an eternity of bliss — it 
 must continue in full force till that eternity arrives; 
 for no type ever ceases till the antitype has come. 
 Besides, it is not clear that the apostle refers at all 
 to the sabbath in this place, whether Jewish or 
 Christian; his caSildruv, of sabbaths or weeks, most 
 probably refers to their feasts of weeks, of which 
 much has been said in the notes on the Pentateuch. 
 
 17. Which are a shadow — [2«d and oeb/xa are 
 placed in opposition; one is shadow, the other sub- 
 stance.] All these things were types, and were to ■ 
 be continued in force till the Christ whom they 
 represented came; who, together with his Messianic 
 works, is the body — the substance or design of 
 them. The [ceremonial] law was but the " shad- 
 ow " or representation of good things to come : none 
 should rest in it ; all that it pointed out is to be 
 sought and obtained in Christ. 
 
 18. Let no man beguile die fraud) you — M;/rf«c 
 vuag KaTaf3pa(3ev£Ta, let no man take the prize from 
 you which is the rightful award of your faith in
 
 Superstitious and carnal 
 noti >ns to be avoided. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 A. M. 4066. A. D. 62. 
 Year of Rome, 815. 
 
 man ra beguile you of your reward "in a vol- 
 untary humility and worshipping of angels, 
 intruding into those things "which he hath 
 not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, 
 B9 And not holding rthe Head, from which 
 all the body by joints and bands having 
 nourishment ministered, and knit together, in- 
 creaseth with the increase of God. 20 Where- 
 fore if ye be "Ulead with Christ from r the 
 •rudiments of the world, 'why, as though 
 living in the world, are ye subject to ordi- 
 
 vi Or, judge against you. (iGr. being a voluntary in 
 
 humility, verse 23. " Kzek. 13. '■',; 1 Tim. 1. 7. p Eph. 4. 
 
 15, 16. q Kora. 6. 3, 5 ; 7. 4, 6 ; Gal. 2. 19 : Eph. 2. 15. 
 
 r Verse 8. s Or, elements. 
 
 Christ. This language is borrowed from the rules 
 and practices of the Olympic or Isthmian games. 
 The Colossians had fought and conquered under the 
 direction of Christ, and he, as the sole judge in 
 this contest, had assigned to them the prize ; the 
 false teachers, affecting great modesty, humility, 
 and sanctity, endeavoured to turn them aside from 
 the Gospel, and to induce them to end in the Jfesh 
 who had begun in the Spirit. Against these the 
 apostle warns them. In a voluntary humility 
 and worshipping of angels — Tins is a difficult 
 passage, and in order to explain it I shall examine 
 the meaning of some of the principal terms of 
 the original. The word deheiv, to will, signifies also 
 to delight; aud raizEivo^poa'uvn signifies not only 
 lowliness or humility of mind, but also affliction of 
 mind ; and ra^Eivow rrjv Tpi>X nv , (Lev. xvi, 29, 31,) 
 and in many other places, signifies to afflict the .soul 
 by fasting and self-abnegation ; and Opr/ansia signi- 
 fies reverence and modesty. Hence the whole pas- 
 sage has been paraphrased thus : Let no man who 
 delights in mortifying his body, and walking with 
 the apparent modesty of an angel, affecting superior 
 sanctity in order to gain disciples, spoil you of the 
 prize adjudged to you, intruding into tilings which 
 he has not seen; for, notwithstanding his apparent 
 humility, his mind is carnal, and he is puffed up 
 with a sense of his superior knowledge and piety. 
 [M;/cf«c vfj.dg KarafipafJEvkTO dekuv iv raTreivocppo- 
 ainj, — let no man, though he wishes it, (Conybeare 
 and Howson,) — {6eA.cjv, of purpose, or so wishing) 
 defraud you, etc. The rendering " voluntary hu- 
 mility," of tiie Authorized Version and the Revised 
 Version, is manifestly wrong, and an evident sole- 
 cism. Persons with evil intent were seeking to 
 rob the Colossian believers of their rightful prize 
 through a. false humility — dvoippoa'uvt] — and by hold- 
 ing them back from Christ, and trusting in lower 
 orders of intermediary agents, OpijGneia tuv ayyekuv, 
 an angel cultus.] [The Colossians are warned that 
 there is no right in any man to trouble the peace of 
 Christians by declaring that an austerely regulated 
 life of ostentatious humility and reverence for 
 spiritual beings is necessary to salvation — no right 
 to pronounce those who will not accept such teach- 
 ing unworthy of the heavenly prizes. He who did 
 so was self-assuming and self-authorized, however 
 plausibly he might pretend to abject humility and 
 a worship of affected lowliness paid to angels. . . . 
 It is quite worthy of note that in the very district 
 where the first readers of this epistle lived the 
 cultus of angels prevailed among nominal Catholic 
 Christians in the fourth century. — Sj>. Commen- 
 tary.] Many have understood the passage as re- 
 ferring to the adoration of angels, which seems 
 to have been practised among the Jews, who ap- 
 
 nances, 21 ("Touch not; taste not; handle 
 
 not ; 22 Which all are to perish with the 
 using;) v after the commandments and doc- 
 trines of men? 23 "Which things have in- 
 deed a show of wisdom in » will-worship, and 
 humility, and > neglecting of the body; not in 
 any honour to the satisfying of the flesh. 
 
 I 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 F ye then "be risen with Christ, seek those 
 things which are above, where 'Christ sit- 
 
 tGa\. 
 
 Titus 1. 
 or. not 
 b Rom. 
 
 4. 
 14 
 
 si 
 
 8. 
 
 3, 9. ?/ 1 Tim. 1 3. 
 
 iv 1 Tim. 4. 8. x 
 
 tiring. — a Koto. 6. 
 34 ; Eph. 1. 20. 
 
 V 
 
 5 
 
 -r Isa 
 
 else lg 
 Eph. 
 
 Mil 29. 
 
 — V 
 
 2. ti; 
 
 13 
 Or 
 
 ch 
 
 Matt 
 
 t> '/ u i 
 
 ip. 2. 
 
 15.9; 
 
 y/iiug, 
 12. 
 
 pear (from Tobit xii, 15 ; Philo, in lib. de Somn. ; 
 Josephus, War, lib. ii, cap. 8, set'. 7) to have con- 
 sidered them as a sort of mediators between Cod 
 and man ; presenting the prayers of men before the 
 throne; and being, as Philo says, ueya'kov Bacikeoc 
 6(j>Ua?»/j.ol ml ura, the eyes and ears of the great King. 
 
 19. And not holding the Head — Not acknowl- 
 edging Jesus Christ as the only Saviour of man- 
 kind and the only "Head" or chief of the Christ- 
 ian Church, on whom every member of it depends, 
 and from whom each derives both light and life. 
 (For a further explanation of these words see the 
 notes on Eph. iv, 16, where the figures and phrase- 
 ology are the same.) 
 
 20. If ye be dead with Christ — Sec the notes 
 on Rom. vi, 3, 5. From, the rudiments of the 
 world — [Tuv GTotxeiuv roii koo/iov, the Jirst lessons 
 of the present world or life. [Why, if ye are dead 
 to the world, and so set free from its power and 
 laws, are you still subjecting yourselves to it?] 
 
 21. Touch not; taste not; handle not — Such 
 forms of expression were very frequent among the 
 Jews. [Avoid it : hands off !] 
 
 22. Which all are to perish with the using 
 — These are not matters of eternal moment ; the 
 different kinds of meats were made for the body, 
 and go with it into corruption: in like manner all 
 the rites and ceremonies of the Jewish religion now 
 perish, having accomplished the end of their insti- 
 tution. After the commandments and doc- 
 trines of men — These words should follow the 
 20th verse, of which they form a part. 
 
 23. Which things have indeed a show of 
 wisdom — All these prescriptions and rites have 
 indeed the appearance of wisdom, and are recom- 
 mended by plausible reasons ; but they form a wor- 
 ship which God has not commanded, and enjoin 
 macerations of the body, accompanied with a hu- 
 miliation of spirit, that are neither profitable to the 
 soul nor of any advantage to the body ; so that the 
 whole of their religion is nothing worth. [Ta-Ei- 
 votppocvvij (see verse 18) is here joined with di 
 OM/xarog, (austerity of — toward — the body,) whence 
 it seems to mean an exaggerated sell humiliation, 
 like that which has often been joined with ascetic 
 practices, and has shown itself by the devotee 
 wearing rags, exposing himself to insult, living 
 by beggary, etc. — Conybeare and Howson.~\ [The 
 whole theory of the meritoriousness of vows, fasts, 
 or austerities, is here discountenanced and stigma- 
 tized as evidences of pride and egotism.] 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER III. 
 1. If ye then — lv ovv, suing then that ye are 
 risen with Christ, \were mis, >/ up with, or by, 
 Christ.] This refers to what he had said, chapter 
 
 295
 
 COLOSSIANS. 
 
 Christians exhorted not to set the 
 affections on earthly things. 
 
 sitteth on the right hand of God. 2 Set your 
 c affection on things above, not on things on 
 the earth. 3 d For ye are dead, e and your life 
 is hid with Christ in God. 4 f When Christ, 
 who is sour life, shall appear, then shall ye 
 also appear with him h in glory. 5 'Mortify 
 therefore k your members which are upon the 
 earth; 'fornication, uncleanness, inordinate 
 affection, ,n evil concupiscence, and covetous- 
 ness, " which is idolatry : 6 °For which things' 
 
 cflr, mind. — rf Romans 6. 2; Galatians 2. 20; chap. 2. 20. 
 
 «2Cor. 5. 7: chap. 1. 5. f\ John 3. 2. g John U. 25: 
 
 It. S. // ! Cor. 15. 43 ; Phil. 3. 21. i Romans 8. 13 ; Galatians 
 
 5. 24. k Romans r>. 13. / Ephesians 5. 3. m 1 Tbess. 4. 5. 
 
 n Ephesians 5. 5. Romans 1. 18; Ephesians. 5.6; Reve- 
 
 ii, 12 : "Buried with him in baptism, wherein also 
 ye are risen with him." [By virtue of Christ's 
 power in them they had been raised to newness of 
 life in him ; and now they are exhorted to zealously 
 pursue the things that pertain to their resurrection 
 state] [Td avu (the things above) stands in opposi- 
 tion to ra k~l rfJQ y?)c, the things on the earth — 
 — Meyer (things lieavenly instead of earthly, not in 
 reference to place but kind.)] 
 
 2. Set your affection on things above — Td 
 avco <j>pov£lTE] love lieavenly tilings; study them; 
 let your hearts be entirely engrossed by them. [A 
 purposed zeal and devotion to spiritual things is a 
 condition essential to the maintenance and growth 
 of the spiritual life.] 
 
 3. For ye are dead — 'Airedavere. [This being 
 dead has dissolved in the consciousness of the 
 Christian the ties that hitherto bound him to earth- 
 ly tilings. He finds himself still in the realm of 
 the earthly, but he no longer lives therein. (See 
 chapter ii, 21 ; also Phil, iii, 20; Gal. ii, 20.) 'II r ufi 
 vfiuv, (your life,) must be the life which has followed 
 the being dead, ... a treasure in heaven, actually 
 possessed but still not fully revealed. It is in fellow- 
 ship with Christ in God, where Christ abides in the 
 bosom of the Father. (John i, 18.) See Meyer ] 
 Your life is hid with Christ in God — Christ 
 lives in the bosom of the Father; as your heart is 
 in him, ye also sit in heavenly places with Christ 
 Jesus. Christ is the life of your souls; and as he 
 is hidden in the bosom of the Father, so are ye, 
 who live through and in him. [The Christian life 
 is spoken of as hidden, because it is essentially 
 spiritual, and not of this world.] 
 
 4. When Christ, who is our life — When 
 Christ comes in the glory of his kingdom (revealing 
 himself in you) ye shall appear with him in his 
 glory, and in an eternal state of blessedness. 
 [When Christ reveals his glory in the hearts of his 
 people, they also have part in that glory.] 
 
 5. Mortify therefore your members — Ne/c- 
 puoare, put In death. \Ito no member of your body 
 to sin against God; keep all under dominion; and 
 never permit the mere animal to run away with the 
 rational man. To gratify any sensual appetite is to 
 give it the very power by which it tends to domi- 
 nate the whole soul, and nourishment by which it 
 lives, thrives, and is active. (See the notes on 
 Rom. vi, 11, etc.) Inordinate affection — Ua6or\ 
 unnatural and degrading passion; bestial lusts. 
 (See Rom. i, 26, 27, and the notes there.) Evil 
 concupiscence — 'EmOvfilav Kaidjv. As kmdvfiia 
 signifies strung and vehement desire of any kind, it 
 is here joined with imk/), evil, to show the sense 
 more particularly in which the apostle uses it. 
 Covetousness, which is idolatry — [(Greedi- 
 
 296 
 
 sake the wrath of God cometh on Pthe chil- 
 dren of disobedience; 7 ?In the which ye 
 also walked sometime, when ye lived in them. 
 8 r But now ye also put off all these ; anger, 
 wrath, malice, blasphemy, s filthy communica- 
 tion out of your mouth. 9 'Lie not one to 
 another, "seeing that ye have put off the old 
 man with his deeds; 10 And have put on 
 the new innu. which T is renewed in knowl- 
 edge w after the image of him that "created 
 
 lation 22. 15. v Ephesians 2. 2. q Romans 6. 19. 20: 7. 
 
 5: 1 Cor. (i. 11 ; Ephesians 2. 2; Titus 3. 3. /• Ephesians 4. 22; 
 
 Heb. 12. 1 ; James 1. 21 ; 1 Peter 2. 1. .* Ephesians 4. 29 ; 5 I. 
 
 if Lev. 19. 11; Ephesians 4. 25. u Ephesians 4. 22, 24. 
 
 v Romans 12. 2. w Ephesians 4. 23, 24. x Ephesians 2. 10. 
 
 ness.) W/eove^ia is a low form of worldliness, and 
 yet, more than almost any other, it engrosses the 
 whole soul, and drives out every other affection ; 
 and because it makes this world's wealth its su- 
 preme God it is specifically idolatrous.} 
 
 6. For which things' sake— [A;' d, (the best 
 authorities have 6, (singular.) but the sense is but 
 little affected by the change.) On account <;/' this 
 immorality, (not properly for tin- sake of.)] [It is 
 not the members (/'•//,) themselves, but their life- 
 activities, that call forth the wrath of God. — 
 Ifeyer.] The wrath of God cometh — God is 
 angry with such persons, and he inflicts on them the 
 punishment which they deserve. (See Eph. v, 5.) 
 
 V. In the which ye also walked sometime — 
 Walked — lived continuously. When ye were in 
 your unconverted state, ye served divers lusts and 
 pleasures. (See Rom. vii, 5; Eph. ii, '1.) 
 
 8. But now ye also put off all these — See on 
 Eph. iv, 22. [To this ra wavra ("all these") the 
 apostle then annexes directly and in rapid asyndetic 
 continuation yet other sin which were to be left 
 off. — Meyer.] Anger, wrath, etc. — They had not 
 only lived in the evils mentioned verse 5, but also 
 in those enumerated here ; and they had not only 
 laid aside the former, but they had laid a.-ide the 
 latter also. Blasphemy — The word stems here 
 to mean any injurious and calumnious speaking. 
 
 0. JLie not one to another — Do not deceive 
 each other ; speak the truth in all your dealings ; 
 | a general exhortation to truthfulness, not only in 
 words, but also in all the expressions of the life.] 
 Ye have put off the old man — See the note- on 
 Rom. vi, 6; and particularly on Rom. xiii, 11-14. 
 Ye have received a religion widely different from 
 that ye had before; act according to its principles. 
 
 10. And have put on the new man — See on 
 Rom. xii, 1, 2. Is renewed in knowledge — [Is 
 continually being reviewed. — Afford] Ignorance 
 (of spiritual things) was the grand characteristic of 
 the heathen state; knowledge is of the Christian. 
 The utmost to which heathenism could pretend was 
 a certain knowledge of nature. [The new man is 
 not anything ready at once and complete, (it is 
 something real but imperfect,) but ever in a state of 
 development, by which a new state and nature is 
 brought about in it, specifically different from that 
 of the old man. — Meyer.] After the image of 
 him that created him — See on Gen. i, 26; Eph. 
 iv, 23, 2 1. As the divine nature cannot exist in 
 forms or fashions, moral qualities alone are those 
 which must be produced. Hence the apostle, in- 
 terpreting the words of Moses, says that the image 
 in which man was made, and in which he must he 
 remade, (avanatvovfiEvov, made anero,) consists in 
 knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness.
 
 The Colossians exhorted to be merciful, 
 meek, patient, loving. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 him: II Where there is neither r Greek nor 
 Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barba- 
 rian, Scythian, bond //"/'free: *but Christ is 
 all, and in all. B2 'Pur on therefore, b as the 
 elect of God, holy and beloved, c bowels of 
 mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meek- 
 ness, longsuffering ; 1$ d Forbearing one an- 
 other, and forgiving one another, if any man 
 have a e quarrel against any: even as Christ 
 forgave you, so also do ye. 14 'And above 
 
 l/Romans 10. 13 j 1 Corinthians 12. 13; Galatians 3. 28; 5. 6; 
 
 Epliesians 6. H. — s Epliesians I. 23. — a Ephesians 4. 34. 
 
 h lThess:ilonian-l. 4: I I'eter 1. 2; 2 Peter I. 10. — c Galatians 
 5. 22; Ephesians 4. 2, 32; Philippians •_'. I. — rtMark II. 25; 
 Epliesians 4. 2, 32. eOr, complaint. — fl I'eter 4. 8. 
 
 1 1 . Where there is neither Greek nor Jew 
 — [Since this new creation is essentially spiritual, 
 and of heavenly origin, it is wholly independent of 
 the conditions and accidents of the present life.] 
 But Christ is all, and in all — 'A'/.'/.a rravra teal ev 
 iraaiv Xpiordg. Christ is the all-abounding and all- 
 pervading substance of this new life.] 
 
 12. Put on therefore, as the elect of God — 
 [Therefore, oiv, for these virtues are in keeping with 
 the new man. "Put on," hSbaaaOe ; although the 
 patting on of the new man has already taken place 
 through the conversion to Christ, . . . yet it has 
 also its continued acts, which are to take place by 
 appropriation of the virtues which the new man, as 
 such, must have. Elect of God— 'E/cAe/iro/, chosen 
 by God from profane humanity for eternal Messi- 
 anic salvation, who, as such, are holy, and beloved 
 of God. Bowels of mercies— Be merciful, not 
 in act merely, but in spirit and affection. The 
 apostle would have them to feel the slightest 
 touch of another's misery : and, as their clothes 
 are put over their body, so their tenderest feelings 
 should be always within the reach of the miser- 
 able. Let your feelings be at hand, and feel 
 and commiserate as soon as touched. (See on Eph. 
 iv, 2.) [The order of the words (in verse 12) an- 
 swers with exquisite fitness to the order of the 
 things. Eternal (not unconditional) election pre- 
 cedes sanctification 5 the sanctified first know the 
 love (of God) and then they imitate him. — Bengelf\ 
 
 13. Forbearing one another — Avoid all occa- 
 sions of irritating or provoking each other. For- 
 giving one another — If ye receive offence, be in- 
 stantly ready to forgive on the first acknowledg- 
 ment of the fault. Even as Christ forgave you 
 — Forgive, says the apostle, naOug nal 6 Xpiaroc, 
 " even as Christ forgave you ;" show the same dis- 
 position and the same readiness to forgive your 
 offending brethren as Christ showed toward you. 
 
 14. And above all these things— 'EttI ~ugl 6e 
 rovro.'r, upon all, ov< r all; as the outer garment 
 envelops all the clothing, so let charity or hive 
 invest and encompass all the rest. Let this, there- 
 fore, be as the upper garment, that invests the 
 whole man. Which is the bond of perfectness 
 — T//C rf'/£7or//7i»;, of completeness. Love to God 
 and man is not only to cover all, but also to unite 
 and consolidate the whole. To love God with all 
 the heart, soul, mind, and strength, and one's neigh- 
 bour as one's sell', is the perfection which the new 
 covenant requires, and which the grace ami Spirit 
 of <'hn>t work in every sincerely obedient, humble 
 believer; and that verj love, which is the fulfilling 
 of the law and the perfection itself which the Gos- 
 pel requires, is also the bond of that perfection. 
 
 15. And let the peace of God — Instead of 
 
 all these things sput on charity, which is the 
 h bund of perfectness. 15 And let 'the peace 
 of God rule in your hearts, k to the which also 
 ye are called ' in one body ; '"and be ye thank- 
 ful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you 
 richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonish- 
 ing one another "in psalms and hymns and 
 spiritual songs, singing ° with grace in your 
 hearts to the Lord. 17 And p whatsoever ye 
 do iu word or deed, do all in the name of the 
 
 Qeov, God, Xpiarov, Christ, is the now generally 
 accepted reading. Rule in your hearts — Bpa- 
 fievtrw, judge, decide, govern in your hearts. No 
 heart is right with God where the peace of Christ docs 
 not rule ; and the continual prevalence of the peace 
 of Christ is the decisive proof that the heart is right 
 with God. [The conception involves the superin- 
 tending, arranging, and administering activity, and 
 that in supreme deciding competence by the peace 
 of Christ in the heart. — Meyirf] In one body — 
 ['Ev hi oupari, as the result of your common call- 
 ing in Christ.] As "one body" continue in con- 
 nexion and dependence on Him who is your only 
 head ; to this ye are called; it is a glorious state 
 of salvation, and ye should be for ever thankful 
 that ye are thus privileged. 
 
 16. Let the word of Christ dwell in you 
 richly — [After enumerating so many privileges 
 and duties of believers, certain special Christian 
 means of grace are here enjoined — the understanding 
 of the word, doctrine of Christ, mutual instructions, 
 and united acts of worship, not only in form, 
 but eminently in spirit, "to the Lord."] The 
 singing which is here recommended is widely 
 different from what is commonly used in most 
 Christian congregations; a congeries of unmean- 
 ing sounds, associated to bundles of nonsensical, 
 and often ridiculous, repetitions, which at once 
 both deprave and disgrace the Church of Christ. 
 Melody, which is allowed to be the most proper for 
 devotional music, is now sacrificed to an exuberant 
 harmony, which requires not only many different 
 hinds of voices, but different musical instruments, to 
 support it. And by these preposterous means the 
 simplicity of the Christian worship is destroyed, 
 and all edification totally prevented. And this 
 kind of singing is amply proved to be very injurious 
 to the personal piety of those employed in it : even 
 of those who enter with a considerable share of 
 humility and Christian meekness, but few con- 
 tinue t<> sing with grace in their hearts to the Lord. 
 [The more than fifty years since the above was 
 written have only emphasized its truth.] 
 
 17. Whatsoever ye do in word or deed — 
 Let your words be right, and your actions upright. 
 Do all in the name of the Lord Jesus — Begin 
 with him and end with him; invoke his name and 
 pray for his direction and support in all that ye do ; 
 and thus every work will be crowned with all requi- 
 site success. Doing every thing in the name of ( tod, 
 and referring every thing to his glory, is as rational 
 as it is pious. [So that the name (of Christ) is the 
 holy moral element in which the action proceeds, 
 inasmuch as this name, as the sum of the faith 
 which moulds the new life, fills the consciousness, 
 and gives to the action its specific Christian quality 
 
 2'.) 7
 
 A. M. -infifi. A. D. 65. 
 Year of Rome, 815. 
 
 COLOSSIANS. 
 
 Lord Jesus, 'giving thanks to God and the 
 Father by him. 18 '"Wives, submit your- 
 selves unto your own husbands, "as it is fit in 
 the Lord. 19 "Husbands, love your wives. 
 ami be not p bitter against them. 20 « Chil- 
 dren, obey your parents r in all things: for 
 this is well pleasing unto the Lord. 21 "Fa- 
 thers, provoke not your children to anger, lest 
 they be discouraged. 22 'Servants, obey u in 
 all things your masters v according to the flesh ; 
 not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in 
 singleness of heart, fearing God: 23 "And 
 whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the 
 Lord, and not unto men; 24 » Knowing that 
 
 / Rom. 1. 8 : Eph. 5. 20 : chap. 1. 12 ; 2. 7 : 1 Thess. 5. IS ; Heb. 
 
 13. I,, ,„ Eph. :,. .2; Titus 2. 5; 1 Peter 3. 1. n Eph. a. 3. 
 
 oEph. o. 2.3. 28, 33: 1 Peter i. 7. p Eph. 4. 31. q Eph. 
 
 6. 1. /■ Eph. 5. 24 : Titus 2. 9. 8 Eph. 6. 4. t Eph. 6. 5. 
 
 etc : 1 Tim. 2. 9 ; 1 Peter 2. 18. u Verse 20. v Philem. lii. 
 
 w Eph. 6. 6, 7. 
 
 and consecration. — Meyer.'] Giving thanks to 
 God — Even praises, as well as prayers, must as- 
 cend to God through this Mediator. We have no 
 authority to say that God will accept even our 
 thanksgiving, unless it ascend to him through 
 Christ Jesus. 
 
 18. Wives, submit yourselves — Having done 
 with general directions, the apostle comes to par- 
 ticular duties, which are commonly called relative; 
 because they only belong to persons in certain 
 situations, and are not incumbent on all. No 
 woman has the duty of a wife to perform but she 
 who is one, and no man has the duty of a husband 
 to perform but he who is married. The directions 
 here to wives, husbands, children, parents, ser- 
 vants, and masters, are so exactly the same in sub- 
 stance with those prescribed in Eph. v, 22-33, vi, 
 1-9, that there is no need to repeat what has been 
 said on those passages; and to the notes there the 
 reader is requested to refer. As it is fit in the 
 Lord — God commands it ; and it is both proper 
 and decent. 
 
 19. Be not bitter against them — Wherever 
 bitterness is, there love is wanting. And where 
 love is wanting in the married life there is hell 
 upon earth. [As the husband's rightful authority 
 is recognised it becomes necessary to caution him 
 not to use that authority too sharply, -tupaivue, ex- 
 actinglyJ] 
 
 20. Children, obey ... in all things — That 
 is, in the Lord — in every thing that your parents 
 command you which is not contrary to the will or 
 word of God. 
 
 '21. Fathers, provoke not — See the notes on 
 Eph. vi, 4. 
 
 22. Servants, obey — See on Eph. vi, 5-8. 
 
 24. The reward of the inheritance — Here, 
 ye have neither lands nor property ; ye are ser- 
 vants or slaves ; be not discouraged, ye have an in- 
 heritance in store ; be faithful unto God and to 
 your employers, and Christ will give you a heavenly 
 inheritance. 
 
 25. But he that doeth wrong — God sees and 
 will punish every breach of honesty and trust. 
 Wasting, or not taking proper care of the goods 
 of one's master, is such a " wrong " as God will 
 resent. [The servants of the apostles' times were 
 principally slaves; but the same moral duties are 
 required of the free man, or free woman, who occu- 
 pies the position of a servant.] He that is un- 
 faithful in that which is little will be unfaithful in 
 
 298 
 
 of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the 
 inheritance: yfor ye serve the Lord Christ. 
 25 But he that doeth wrong shall receive for 
 the wrong wdiich he hath done: and 2 there is 
 no respect of persons. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 MASTERS, <give unto your servants that 
 which is just and equal; knowing that 
 ye also have a Master in heaven. 2 ''Con- 
 tinue in prayer, and watch in the same with 
 thanksgiving; 3 d Withal praying also for us, 
 that God would e open unto us a door of 
 utterance, to speak 'the mystery of Christ, 
 
 05 Eph. 6. 8. y\ Cor. 7. 22. z Rom. 2. 11: Eph. 6. 9; 
 
 1 Peter 1 17: see Deut, in. 17. a Eph. ti. 9. — M.uke 18. 1; 
 
 Rom. 12. 12: Eph. 6. 18: 1 Thess. 5. 17, 18. cChap. 2.7; 
 
 3. 15. il Eph. 0. 19: 2 Thess. ■). 1. e 1 Cor. 16. 9; 2 Cor. 
 
 2. 12. /Matt. 13. 11; 1 Cor. 4. 1; Eph. 0. 19; chap. 1. 26; 
 
 2. 2. 
 
 much, if he have opportunity; and God alone is 
 the defence against an unfaithful servant. There 
 is no respect — God neither esteems nor despises 
 any man because of his outward condition and cir- 
 cumstances. Every man is, in the eye of (hid, 
 what he is in his soul ; if holy, loved ; if wicked, 
 despised and rejected. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER IV. 
 
 1. Masters, give unto your servants — This 
 verse should have been added to the preceding, to 
 which it properly belongs ; and this chapter should 
 have begun with verse 2. That which is just 
 and equal— The condition of slaves among the 
 Greeks and Romans was wretched in the extreme. 
 The apostle, therefore, admonishes the masters 
 that they should aet toward them according to jus- 
 tice and equity ; for God, their Master, required 
 this of them, and would at last call them to account 
 for their conduct in this respect. 
 
 '2. Continue in prayer — This was the apostle's 
 general advice to all ; without this, neither wives, 
 husbands, children, parents, servants, nor masters 
 could fulfil the duties which God, in their respective 
 stations, required of them. Watch in the same 
 — Be always on your guard; and when you have 
 got the requisite grace by praying, take care of it, 
 and bring it into its proper action by watchfulness. 
 With thanksgiving — Being always grateful to 
 God, who has called you into such a state of sal- 
 vation, and affords you such abundant means and 
 opportunities to glorify him. 
 
 3. Praying also for us — Let the success and 
 spread of the Gospel be ever dear to you ; and ne- 
 glect not to pray fervently to God that it may have 
 free course, run, and be glorified. A door of 
 utterance — Qv/mv tov Aoyov. The word Ovpa, a 
 door, is often used metaphorically for an entrance 
 to any business, occasion or opportunity to com- 
 mence or perform any particular work. The apos- 
 tle excites them to pray, not that a readiness and 
 fluency of speech may be given to him and his 
 fellow labourers, but that they may have an op- 
 portunity of preaching the doctrine of Christ. [Per- 
 haps the thought of liberation suggested to him- 
 self the choice of the expression. — Meyer.] The 
 mystery of Christ — The Gospel, which had been 
 hidden from all former times, and which revealed 
 that purpose long hidden in the divine counsels, 
 that the Gentiles should be called to enjoy the 
 same privileges with the Jews. For which I am
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 ffor which I am also in bonds: 4 That I 
 may make it manifest, as I ought to speak. 
 5 h WaIk in wisdom toward them that are 
 without, 'redeeming the time. 6 Let your 
 speech he always k with grace, 'seasoned with 
 salt, '"that ye may know how ye ought to an- 
 swer every man. 7 "All my state shall Tych- 
 icus declare unto you, who is a beloved broth- 
 er and a faithful minister and fellow servant 
 in the Lord : 8 ° Whom I have sent unto you 
 for the same purpose, that he might know 
 
 Eph. <i. 20: Phil. 1. 7 h. Eph 5 15 : 1 Thess. 4. 12. i Eph. 
 
 5. lii. /fcEccles. 10. 12; chap. 3. lti. 1 Mark 9. 50. m 1 Pet. 
 
 also in bonds — He was suffering for preaching 
 this very " mystery." It was for asserting the fact 
 of God's impartial grace to Jews and Gentiles that 
 Paul was so persecuted at Jerusalem, that to save 
 his life he was obliged to appeal to Cesar ; and, 
 being taken to Rome, he was detained a prisoner 
 till his case was fully heard. He was a prisoner 
 at Rome on this very account when he wrote this 
 epistle to the Colossians. (See chapter i, 24.) 
 
 4. That I may make it manifest — It was a 
 mystery, and he wished to make it "manifest " — to 
 lay it open and make all men see it. [This duty 
 God had laid upon him.] 
 
 5. Walk in wisdom — ['Ei> oodta. Practical 
 Christian wisdom (not mere prudence) is to be the 
 element in which their walk . . . with the non- 
 Christians moves. Redeeming the time — Make 
 the right point of time your own . . . for all the 
 activities in which that same wise demeanour in in- 
 tercourse with the non Christians finds expression. — 
 M ye?:] [Because of the rapid and irresistible es- 
 cape of time it must be seized and put to use as it 
 passes ; and this use of it is here called " redeem- 
 ing" it.] 
 
 6. Let your speech be always with grace, 
 seasoned with salt — Let all your conversation be 
 such as may tend to exemplify and recommend 
 Christianity ; let it not only be holy, but wise, gra- 
 cious, and intelligent. A harsh method of propos- 
 ing or defending the doctrines of Christianity often 
 serves to repel men from those doctrines, and from 
 the way of salvation. " Salt," from its use in pre- 
 serving food from corruption, and rendering it 
 both savoury and wholesome, has always been 
 made the emblem of wisdom. (See Matt, v, 13 ; 
 Mark ix, 50.) How ye ought to answer every 
 man — That your discourse may be so judiciously 
 managed, that ye may discern how to treat the 
 prejudices and meet the objections both of Jews 
 and Gentiles. 
 
 7. All my state shall Tychicus — See the 
 note on Eph. vi, 21. Tychicus well knew the 
 apostle's zeal and perseverance in preaching the 
 Gospel, his sufferings on that account, his suc- 
 cess in converting both Je«s and Gentiles, and the 
 converts which were made in Cesar's household ; 
 he could give these to the Colossians in ample de- 
 tail, and some of them it would not have been 
 prudent to commit to writing. 
 
 8. That he might know your estate — Instead 
 of Iva ;r(."; 7d wspi vfiuv, that HE may know von: 
 affairs, read Iva yvure ra irepl y/iuv, that YE may 
 know our affairs; which is the true reading. 
 Tychicus was sent to them, not to know their affairs, 
 but, with Onesimus, to carry this epistle and make 
 the apostle's state known to them, and comfort 
 their hearts by the good news which he brought. 
 
 your estate, and comfort your hearts; 9 With 
 pOnesimus, a faithful and beloved brother, 
 who is one of you. They shall make known 
 unto you all tilings which are done here. 
 lO * Aristarchus my fellow prisoner saluteth 
 you, and '.Marcus, sister's son to Barnabas, 
 (touching whom ye received commandments: 
 if he come unto you, receive him;) 11 And 
 Jesus, which is called Justus, who are of the 
 circumcision. These only are my fellow work- 
 ers unto the kingdom of God, which have 
 
 3. 15. n Eph. G. 21. n Eph. 6. 22. pPliilem. 10. q Acts 
 
 19. 29; 20. 4; 27. 2; Philem. 24. r Acts 15. 37; 2 Tim. 4. 11. 
 
 9. With Onesimus . . . -who is one of you — 
 
 Onesimus was a native of some part of Phrygia, if 
 not of Colosse itself; and being lately converted to 
 the Christian faith by the instrun entality of the 
 apostle, he would be able, on this account, to give 
 them satisfactory information concerning the a] 0S- 
 tle's state. (See the epistle to Philemon.) All 
 things which are done here — These brethren 
 could give an account of the transactions at Rome 
 relative to the apostle and Christianity, which it 
 might not be prudent for him to commit to writ- 
 ing. (See on verse 7.) The reign of Nero was 
 not only cruel, but suspicious, jealous, and dan- 
 gerous. 
 
 10. Aristarchus my fellow prisoner — Con- 
 cerning Aristarchus, see Acts xix, 29 ; xx, 4 ; 
 xxvii, 2; and see the note on this latter place. 
 Aristarchus and Epaphras are mentioned as saluters 
 in this epistle, and in that to Philemon, written at the 
 same time ; but here he is said to he a "prisoner," 
 and Epaphras not. In that to Philemon, Epaphras 
 is called a prisoner, and Aristarchus not. Possibly 
 both were prisoners at that time. As Aristarchus 
 had been a zealous and affectionate adherent of St. 
 Paul, and followed him in all his journeys, minis- 
 tering to him in prison, and assisting him in 
 preaching the Gospel in Rome, he might have 
 been imprisoned on this account. We need not 
 suppose that both he and Epaphras were impris- 
 oned at the same time; about the same time 
 they might be imprisoned, but it might be so 
 ordered by the providence of God that when Aris- 
 tarchus was imprisoned Epaphras was at liberty, 
 and while Epaphras was in prison Aristarchus was 
 at liberty. This is a very possible and easily to be 
 conceived case. Marcus — See the account of this 
 person Acts xv, 89. Though there had been some 
 difference between the apostle and this Mark, yet 
 from this and 2 Tim. iv, 11 we find that they were 
 fully reconciled, and that Mark was very useful to 
 St. Paul in the work of the ministry. Touching 
 ■whom ye received commandments — What 
 these were we cannot tell ; they were some private 
 communications which had been previously sent to 
 the Colossian Church. 
 
 11. Jesus, which is called Justus— Jesus, 
 Joshua, or Jehoshua, was his name among his 
 countrymen, the Jews; "Justus" was the name 
 which he bore among the Greeks and Romans. 
 These only — Only Aristarchus, Marcus, and Jesus 
 Justus, who were formerly Jews or proselytes, as 
 oi inric in ~;i>itii/i/ i <\ //hi/ ircrc nf tin circumcision, 
 shows, and who assisted the apostle in preaching 
 the Gospel. It is evident that St. Peter was Dot 
 now at Rome, else he certainly would have been 
 mentioned in this list. Indeed, there is no certain 
 evidence that St. Peter ever saw Rome. 
 
 299
 
 COLOSSIAXS. 
 
 been a comfort unto ine. 12 "Epaphras, 
 who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth 
 yon, always ' "labouring fervently for you 
 in prayers, that ye may stand " perfect and 
 "complete in all the will of God. 13 For 
 I bear him record, that he hath a great zeal 
 for you, and them that are in Laodicea, and 
 them in Hierapolis. 14 "Luke, the beloved 
 physician, and > Demas, greet you. 15 Salute 
 the brethren which are in Laodicea, and Nym- 
 
 sdiap. I. 7; Philem. 23. — tOr, striving.— 
 
 i:Matt.5. 48; I Cor. 2. 6; 14.20; Phil. 3. 15 
 
 icOr.Jillerf. »2Tim. i. 11. 
 
 -v. Rom. 15. 30. 
 
 Heb. 5, 14. 
 
 12. Epaphras, who is one of you — A native 
 of some part of Phrygia, and probably of Colosse 
 itself. A servant of Christ — A minister of the 
 Gospel. Labouring fervently for you— 'Ayu- 
 vlC,6jj.evoc, agonizing ; very properly expressed by 
 our translators, labouring fervently. That ye 
 may stand perfect and complete — "Iva aradfjTt 
 teXeioi icai ~f-'/ i/potpopi/uh'oi ; that ye may stand firm, 
 perfectly instructed, and fully persuaded of the 
 truth of those doctrines which have been taught 
 you as the revealed will of God, [fully established 
 in them by faith.] This is such a persuasion as the 
 Spirit of God, by means of the Gospel, gives to 
 every sincere and faithful man ; and from which 
 arises the solid happiness of the genuine Christian. 
 They who argue against it prove, at least, that they 
 have not got it. 
 
 13. He hath a great zeal — Rather, labour, 
 k&vov. Labour and zeal are here nearly of the 
 same meaning, though the latter appears to be the 
 better and genuine reading. Laodicea, and . . . 
 Hierapolis — These were both cities of Phrygia, 
 between which Colosse was situated. (See on 
 chapter ii, 1.) The latter was called " Hierapolis," 
 or the holy city, from the multitude of its temples. 
 Apollo, Diana, JEsculapius, and Hygeia, were all 
 worshipped here, as appears by the coins of this 
 city still extant. 
 
 14. Luke, the beloved physician — This is 
 generally supposed to be the same with Luke the 
 evangelist. Some, however, suppose them to be 
 different persons ; because, where it is evident that 
 Luke the evangelist is meant, he never has more 
 than his simple name Luke ; and because the apos- 
 tle is supposed to intend a different person here, 
 he adds 6 iarpdc u a;«rr//r<>, ''the beloved physi- 
 cian." The word iarpdc signifies a healer, and 
 must not be restricted to " physician " in the sense 
 in which we use that word ; he was surgeon, physi- 
 cian, and dispenser of medicines, etc., for all these 
 were frequently combined in the same person. 
 And Demas — No commendatory word is affixed 
 to this name. Afterward he abandoned Paul, (see 
 Tim. iv, 1 ;) possibly the apostle even then had 
 doubts of him. See Meyer.] 
 
 15. Salute . . . Nymphas, and the church 
 ... in his house — This person and his whole 
 family, which probably was very numerous, appear 
 to have received the Gospel ; and it seems that, 
 for their benefit and that of his neighbours, he had 
 opened his house for the worship of God. In those 
 primitive times there were no consecrated places, 
 for the simple setting apart of places for the wor- 
 ship of God was deemed a sulheient consecration. 
 
 300 
 
 phas, and 7 tlie church which is in his house. 
 16 And when H this epistle is read among you, 
 cause that it be read also in the church of the 
 Laodiceans; and that ye likewise read the 
 epistlt from Laodicea. 17 And say to' Archip- 
 pus, Take heed to °the ministry which thou 
 hast received in the Lord, that thou fulfil it. 
 18 d The salutation by the hand of me Paul. 
 e Remember my bonds. ' Grace he with you. 
 Amen. 
 
 jr2Tim. 4. 10; Philem. 24. z Horn. 16. 5; 1 Cor. 16. 19. 
 
 a 1 Thess. 5 -.7. b I'hilem. 2. c\ Tim. 4. Ii. c/1 Cor. 16. 
 
 21 ; 2 Thess. 3. 17. e Ileb. 13. 3. J Ileb. 13. 25. 
 
 16. Cause that it be read also in the church 
 of the Laodiceans — That is, let a copy be taken, 
 and sent to them, that it may be read there also. 
 This appears to have been a regular custom in the 
 apostolic Church. That ye likewise read the 
 epistle from Laodicea — Some suppose that this 
 was an epistle sent from Laodicea to the apostle, 
 which he now sent by Aristarchus to the Colos- 
 sians, that they might peruse it ; that thereby they 
 might see the propriety of sending a copy of his 
 epistle to them to the Laodicean Church. Others 
 think that the epistle to the Ephesians is the epis- 
 tle in question, and that it was originally directed 
 to them, and not to the Ephesians. (See the notes 
 on Eph. i, 1, etc.) But others, equally learned, 
 think that there was an epistle different from that 
 to the Ephesians, sent by St. Paul to the Laodi- 
 ceans, which is now lost. There was an epistle 
 under this direction in the times of Theodoret and 
 Jerome, for both of them mention it ; but the latter 
 mentions it as apocryphal. The seventh (Ecumenic 
 Council, held in 787, states that the ancients allowed 
 that there was an epistle with this direction, but 
 that all the orthodox rejected it as supposititious. 
 
 17. Say to Archippus — Who this person was 
 we cannot tell. Whatever he was, it has been sup- 
 posed that he had been remiss in discharging the 
 duties of his office; but if the same person is 
 meant as in the epistle to Philemon, (verse 2,) whom 
 St. Paul calls his "fellow labourer" and "fellow 
 soldier," it cannot be supposed that any reproof is 
 here intended. It is more likely that the words of 
 the apostle convey no censure, but are rather 
 intended to stir him up to further diligence, and to 
 encourage him in the work, seeing he had so much 
 false doctrine and so many false teachers to con- 
 tend with. 
 
 18. The salutation by the hand of me Paul — 
 The preceding part of the epistle was written by a 
 scribe, from the mouth of the apostle : this, and 
 what follows, was written by the hand of St. Paul 
 himself. A similar distinction we find in 1 Cor. 
 xvi, 21, and in 2 Thess. iii, 17 ; and this, it seems, 
 was the means by which the apostle authenticated 
 every epistle which he sent to the different Churches. 
 The salutation of Paxil with my own hand, which is 
 the tolo n in every epistle, so I write. Remember 
 my bonds — See what proof ye have of the truth 
 of the Gospel: I am in bonds on this account; I 
 sutt'er patiently, yea, exult in the Lord Jesus, so 
 perfectly am I upheld by the grace of the Gospel. 
 Grace be with you — 'H xciptc; fieff vfiuv. [This 
 seems to be a form of valediction belonging to the 
 later period of the epistles of St. Paul. — A/ford.]
 
 PREFACE TO THE FIRST EPISTLE 
 
 TO 
 
 THE THESSALONIANS. 
 
 THESSALONICA (the modern Salonica) is a seaport town situated on what 
 was called the Thermaic Gulf, and was anciently the capital of Macedonia. It 
 was embellished and enlarged by Philip, king of Macedon, father of Alexander 
 the Great, who called it Thessalonica (QeooaXoviita) on account of the victory 
 he obtained there over the Thessalians; prior to which it was called Thermae. 
 Strabo and some others say that it obtained the name of Thessalonica from 
 that of the wife of Cassander, and daughter of Philip. 
 
 Thessalonica was first visited by St. Paul about A. D. 52. At that time it 
 contained many Jews, who had a synagogue, in which Paul for three sabbaths 
 preached Christ as the Messiah with partial success. But though the number of 
 Jewish believers was not large, a great multitude of devout Greeks, and many 
 noble women, believed. But the unbelieving Jews created a great disturbance 
 in the city, and to avoid a tumult the brethren sent away Paul and Silas by night 
 unto Berea. (Acts xvii, 1-10.) There they began anew their evangelical labours ; 
 the Jews of Thessalonica, however, pursued them thither and raised a fresh 
 tumult; so that St. Paul, being counselled by the brethren, made his escape to 
 Athens. (Acts xvii, 11-15.) 
 
 It does not appear that St. Paul stayed long at Athens; but while there he 
 sent Timothy to Thessalonica to establish the believers there, and comfort them 
 concerning the faith. (1 Thess. iii, 2.) From Athens Paul went to Corinth, 
 (Acts xviii, 1, etc.,) and while he abode there, Timothy and Silas came to him 
 from Thessalonica, and hearing by them of the steadfastness of the Thessalonian 
 converts in the faith of Christ, he wrote this epistle, and shortly after the second, 
 to comfort and encourage them, and to give them further instructions in the 
 doctrines and duties of Christianity. 
 
 As the apostle, on account of the uproar in Thessalonica, had left the brethren 
 very suddenly, and without imparting to them all the instruction desirable, and 
 fearing that their trials might discourage them, he wrote to them this epistle soon 
 after his arrival in Corinth. In the address to the Church, Silvanus (Silas) and 
 Timothy are associated with the apostle, (chapter i, 1,) which fact shows that the 
 epistle was written after Silas and Timothy had arrived at Corinth from Mace- 
 donia. (Acts xviii, 5.) And yet the manner of discussion and the allusions in the 
 epistle clearly indicate that it was written only a short time after Paul's arrival 
 at Corinth, about A.D. 52. 
 
 The First Epistle to the Thessalonians is allowed on all hands to be the first 
 
 SOI
 
 PREFACE TO THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE THESSA.LONIANS. 
 
 epistle that St. Paul wrote to any of the Churches of God; and from it two things 
 may be particularly noted: 1) That the apostle was full of the spirit of love. 
 2) That the Church at Thessalonica was pure, upright, and faithful, as we scarcely 
 find any reprehension in the whole epistle ; the Thessalonian converts had faith 
 that worked, a love that laboured, and a hope which induced them to bear 
 afflictions patiently and wait for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 ["The historical attestation of this epistle," says Meyer, "although there are 
 no sure indications of it found in the apostolic Fathers, is yet so old, continuous, 
 and universal that any justifiable reason for doubting its authenticity from exter- 
 nal grounds is inconceivable." Nor are the objections urged against its genuine- 
 ness from internal grounds at all formidable. If it is granted that this epistle 
 falls below some others of St. Paul's in both force and elegance of expression, it 
 may be simply an illustration of the fact that a writer is not always equal to his 
 own best performances. The objections that the utterances of the epistles 
 respecting the state of the Thessalonian Christians seem to imply, on their part, 
 a more advanced stage of Christian knowledge and experience than they could 
 have reached in so short a time, and that there appears to be references to 
 later events, and that its teachings respecting the second coming of Christ 
 (iv, 14-18) are not Pauline, (on the last compare 1 Cor. xv, 51, 52,) certainly rest 
 upon no solid foundation. No other of the apostolic epistles is more clearly 
 attested as to both its authenticity and its genuineness.] 
 
 3U2
 
 THE FIEST EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE 
 
 TO 
 
 THE THESSALONIANS. 
 
 P CHAPTER I. 
 
 AUL, and "Silvanus, and Titnotheus, un- 
 to the church of the Thessalonians tohich is 
 in God the Father, and in the Lord Jesus 
 Christ: b Grace be unto you, and peace, from 
 God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 2 c We give 1 hanks to God always for you all, 
 making mention of you in our prayers ; 3 d Re- 
 
 tt 2 Cor. 1. 19; 2 Thess. 1. 1 ; 1 Peter 5. 12. b Ephesians 1. 2, 
 
 c Romans 1.8: Ephesians 1. 16; Philem. 4. </ Chap. 2. 13. 
 
 e Jnhn 6. 29; Galatians 5. 6 ; chap. 3. ti ; 2 Thess. 1. 3, 11 ; 
 
 James 2. 17. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER I. 
 
 1. Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus — 
 
 Though St. Paul himself dictated this letter, yet he 
 joins the names of Silas and Timothy because they 
 had been with him at Thessalonica, and were well 
 known there. (See Acts xvii, 4, 14.) [St. Paul 
 does not name himself as an apostle, probably for 
 the reason given by De Wette : " Because his apos- 
 tleship needs no substantiation to (among) the 
 Thessalonians." Jowett says, " Probably the name 
 apostle, which in its general sense was used of 
 many, was gradually, and at no definite period, 
 (first) applied to him with the same special mean- 
 ing as to the apostles at Jerusalem." — Afford.] 
 [The words following " peace," (slpyvn, in verse 1,) 
 are not found in the best MSS., and have probably 
 been brought hither from other and later epistles. 
 (See 1 Cor. i, 3 ; 2 Cor. i, 2.)] And Silvanus— 
 This was certainly the same as Silas, who was 
 Paul's companion in all his journeys through Asia 
 Minor and Greece, (see Acts xv, 22; xvi, 19; xvii, 
 4, 10.) After Paul's separation from Barnabas, the 
 apostle took with him into Macedonia Silas and 
 Timothy, and they continued at Berea when the 
 apostle went thence to Athens ; from this place Paul 
 sent for them to come to him speedily, and, though 
 it is not said that they came while he was at Athens, 
 yet it is most probable that they did ; after which, 
 having sent them to Thessalonica, he proceeded to 
 Corinth, where they afterward rejoined him, and 
 from that place he wrote this epistle. 
 
 2. We give thanks— See Phil, i, 3, 4 ; Col. i, 3. 
 
 3. Your work of faith, and labour of love — 
 This verse presents a very high character of the be- 
 lievers at Thessalonica. They had " faith," not sim- 
 ply speculative and indolent, but a faith that worked. 
 They had " love," net that which simply became 
 enamoured of the perfections of God, but a love that 
 laboured with faith to fulfil the whole will of God. 
 They had " hope," not a cold, heartless expectation 
 
 membering without ceasing e your work of 
 faith, ' and labour of love, and patience of hope 
 in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God 
 and our Father; 4 Knowing, brethren ? be- 
 loved, h your election of God. 5 For 'our 
 gospel came not unto you in word only, but 
 also in power, and b in the Holy Ghost, 'and 
 in much assurance; as ,n ye know what man- 
 
 /Rnmans 16. fi: Heb. fi. 10. a Or, belorer/ of God, your 
 
 election. //Col. 3. 12; 2 Th^ss. 2. 13. i Mark 16. 2G : i Cor. 
 
 2. 4; 4. 20. Irl Cor. 6. (i. J Col. 2. 2: Heb. 2. 3. m Chap. 
 
 2. 1, 5, 1(1, 11 ; 2 Thess. 3. 7. 
 
 of future good, but a hope that produced a satisfying 
 assurance of future blessedness ; a hope, not hasty 
 and impatient of the trials of life, but as willing to 
 endure hardships as to enjoy glory itself. P'aith 
 worked, love laboured, and hope endured patiently. 
 
 4. Knowing . . . your election of God — Be- 
 ing assured that he has chosen and called you 
 Gentiles to the same privileges to which he chose 
 and called the Jews. This is the " election " w Inch 
 the Thessalonians knew ; and of which the apos- 
 tle treats at large in his epistle to the Romans, ami 
 also in his epistles to the Galatians and Ephesians. 
 That these blessings could be abused — become 
 finally useless and forfeited — they had an ample 
 proof in the case of the Jews, who, after having 
 been so long the elect of God, were now reprobates. 
 [It is evident that the apostle included in the mat- 
 ter of his thanksgiving the gracious purpose of the 
 Father in choosing them in Christ to be his ; and 
 also the personal and practical work of the divine 
 Spirit in effectually calling them to the experience 
 of that great salvation. (See 1 Peter i, 2.)] 
 
 5. For our gospel — That is, the glad tidings 
 of salvation by Jesus Christ, and of your being 
 elected to enjoy all its gracious privileges. Came 
 not unto you in word only — It was not by sim- 
 />/, teaching or mere reasoning that the doctrines 
 which we preached recommended themselves to you. 
 But also in power — 'Ev dwdfiei. [Power of ut- 
 terance and energy. — Afford.] [Not miraculous 
 powers, (else the word would be plural,) but the 
 reality, energy, and effective earnestness with which 
 the apostle and his fellows preached. — Ellicott.] 
 And in the Holy Ghost— By his influence on 
 your hearts, in changing and renewing them, and 
 [by which the word was rendered effectual in 
 bringing you to repentance, and] by the testi- 
 mony which ye received from him, that you were 
 accepted through the Beloved, and become the 
 adopted children of God. And in much assur- 
 
 303
 
 L. M. 4"56. A. D. 52. 
 Year ol Rome, tfOo. 
 
 T. THESSALONIANS. 
 
 The good estate of the Church 
 at Thessalonica. 
 
 ner of men we were among you for your 
 sake. 6 And "ye became followers of us, 
 and of the Lord, having received the word 
 in much affliction, "with joy of the Holy 
 Ghost : 7 So that ye were ensaniples to all 
 that believe in Macedonia and Achaia. 8 For 
 from you p sounded out the word of the Lord 
 not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also <• in 
 every place your faith to Godward is spread 
 abroad ; so that we need not to speak any 
 thing. 9 For they themselves show of us 
 ' what maimer of entering in we had unto you, 
 5 and how ye turned to God from idols to serve 
 
 11 
 
 dor 
 
 4 
 
 Hi 
 
 ; 11. 1 
 
 , 1'liil. 
 
 3 
 
 17; chap. 
 
 % 14 
 
 2 Thess. 3. 
 
 9, 
 
 
 
 > Acts 
 
 a. 
 
 41 ■ 
 
 Heb. 
 
 in. 34. 
 
 
 -p Rrmi. 10 
 
 IH.- 
 
 i] i ; i . 
 
 »; 
 
 HTI 
 
 ess. 1. 
 
 4 - 
 
 — 
 
 • Chap 
 
 2. 1.— 
 
 
 si Cor. 12.2 
 
 Ual 
 
 4. 8. 1 Ro 
 
 Ml. 
 
 & 7 
 
 l'hil 
 
 3. 
 
 20; 
 
 Titus 
 
 2. 13 ; i 
 
 I 
 
 eter 3. 12; 
 
 tev. 
 
 . 7. 
 
 
 ance — 'Ev -Arjpotpopig iro?Jky. [Indicating the ful- 
 ness and certainty of conviction, that is, the in- 
 ward confidence of faith with which Paul and his 
 assistants preached at Thessalonica. — Meyer.] 
 What manner of men we were — How we 
 preacJied and how we lived, our doctrines and our 
 practices ever corresponding ; how for your sake 
 \SC hunc, on account of you] we sustained difficul- 
 ties, endured hardships, and were incessant in our 
 labours. 
 
 6. Ye became followers of us — Ye became 
 imitators (un///7ai) of us — ye believed the same 
 truths, walked in the same way, and minded the 
 same things ; having received the same Spirit. 
 Having received the word in much affliction 
 — That they received the doctrine of the Gospel in 
 the midst of much persecution we may learn from 
 the history in general, and from Acts xvii, 5, 6. 
 With joy of the Holy Ghost— The consolations 
 which they received, in consequence of believing in 
 Christ, more than counterbalanced all the afflictions 
 which they suffered from their persecutors. [Of 
 this joy the Holy Ghost was not only the procuring 
 cause, but it was also in him. See Ellicott.] 
 
 7. Ye were ensamples — Tvnov, (singular,) ye 
 became a pattern; according to which all the 
 Churches in Macedonia and Achaia formed both 
 their creed and their conduct. 
 
 8. From you sounded out — As Thessalonica 
 was very conveniently situated for traffic, many mer- 
 chants from thence traded through Macedonia, 
 Achaia, and different parts of Greece. By these 
 the fame of the Thessalonians having received the 
 doctrine of the Gospel was doubtless carried far 
 and wide. And it appears that they had walked 
 so conscientiously before God and man, that their 
 friends could speak of them without a blush, and 
 their adversaries could say nothing to their dis- 
 grace. [Your ready reception and faith, as it 
 were, sounded forth the word of the Lord, the Gos- 
 pel message, loudly and clearly, through all parts. 
 To Godward — Hpbc rbv Qebv, your faith, which 
 has God for its object, as contrasted with idols in 
 the next verse. See Alford.] 
 
 9. For they — That is, the people of Macedonia 
 and Achaia proclaim, aTrayyeTiXowtv, are perpetual 
 witnesses respecting our manner of coming to you ; 
 that is, of our words and works among you, in 
 obedience to which you turned to God from 
 idols to serve the riving and true God. 
 The " living God," in opposition to the idols, which 
 were either inanimate stocks or stones, or the rep- 
 resentations of dead men. "The true God," in 
 opposition to the whole system of idolatry, which 
 
 304 
 
 the living and true God; 10 And 'to wait 
 for his Son "from heaven, v whom he raised 
 from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us 
 " from the wrath to come. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 I7V3R "yourselves, brethren, know our en- 
 . trance in unto you, that it was not in 
 vain : 2 But even after that we had suffered 
 before, and were shamefully entreated, as ye 
 know, at 'Philippi, c we were bold in our God 
 d to speak unto you the gospel of God e with 
 much contention. 3 f For our exhortation 
 
 n Acts 1. 11: rhup 4. Hi; 2 Thess. 1. 7. r Acts 2. 24. 
 
 ir Matt. 3. 7 : Rom. 5. '.I ; chap. 5. H. aChap. 1. 5, !». b Acts 
 
 Hi. 22. eChap. 1. 5. d Acts 17. 2. e l'hil. 1. 3d; Col. 2. 1. 
 
 /2 Cor. 7. 2; verse 5 ; 2 Peter 1. 16. 
 
 was false in the objects of its adoration, its preten- 
 sions, its promises, and in all its prospects. 
 
 10. And to wait for his Son from heaven — 
 To expect a resurrection of the body and a future 
 state of glory, according to the Gospel doctrine, after 
 the example of Jesus Christ, who was raised from 
 the dead am! ascended unto heaven, ever to appear 
 in the presence of God for us. Delivered us 
 from the -wrath to come — From all the punish- 
 ment due to us for our sins, and from the destruc- 
 tion which is about to come on the unbelieving and 
 impenitent Jews. This was the neu's,the sounding 
 out, that went abroad concerning the converted 
 Thessalonians. Everywhere it was said: They 
 have believed the Gospel ; they have renounced 
 idolatry ; they worship the living and true God ; 
 they have received the gifts and graces of the 
 Holy Spirit ; they are happy in their souls, un- 
 spotted in their lives, and full of joy; expecting an 
 eternal glory through that Christ who had died for 
 and purged away their sins, and who shall fashion 
 their degraded bodies and make them like to his 
 glorious body, and give them an eternal residence 
 with himself in a state of blessedness. [The es- 
 pecial aspect of the faith of the Thessalonians was 
 hope: hope of the return of the Son of God from 
 heaven; a hope, indeed, common to them, and to 
 all Christians in all ages, but evidently entertained 
 by them as pointing to an event more immediate 
 than the Church has subsequently believed it to 
 be. — Alford.] [On the subject of the " coming of 
 Christ," see at the end of the second epistle.] 
 
 NOTES OX CHAPTER II. 
 
 1. Our entrance in unto you — Paul's first com- 
 ing to preach the Gospel was particularly owned of 
 the Lord, many of the Thessalonians being con- 
 verted under his ministry. This consideration gave 
 him a right to deliver all the following exhortatit ns. 
 
 2. Shamefully entreated ... at Philippi — 
 There Paul and Silas had been beaten with many 
 stripes, shut up in the inner prison, and their feet 
 made fast in the stocks. (See Acts xvi, 23, etc.) 
 With much contention — The. words £v iroTi^u 
 ayuvi not only signify with intense labour and ear- 
 nestness, but may here mean, exposed, to the greaU I 
 danger; at the peril of our lies. The Greek 
 phrase quoted by Rosenmidler is to the point, kyuv 
 wpocbaoiv ovk avaytvei, in danger we must not de- 
 lay; activity and despatch are then indispensably 
 necessary. 
 
 3. Our exhortation was — Rather, is. The word 
 ■Kapan?,i]otc has a very extensive meaning; it sig- 
 nifies not only exhortation and teaching in general,
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 A. M. 4056. A. P. 52. 
 Year of Rome, 805. 
 
 was not of deceit, nor of nncleanness, nor in 
 guile: 4 But as &we were allowed of God 
 Ho be put in trust with the- gospel, even so 
 we speak; 'not as pleasing men, but God, 
 k which trieth our hearts. 5 For ' neither at 
 any time used we flattering words, as ye know, 
 nor a cloak of covetousness ; '" God is witness : 
 
 6 n Nor of men sought we glory, neither of 
 you, nor yet of others, when °we might have 
 Pbeen '* burdensome, r as the apostles of Christ. 
 
 7 But s we were gentle among you, even as a 
 
 a\ Cor. 7. 25: 1 Tim. 1. It, 12. h\ Cor. 9. 17; Gal. 2. 7; 
 
 Titus 1. ;!. — iGal. 1. in. AProv. 17.3; Romans 8. 27. — 
 
 /Acts 2i.. 33; 2 Cur. 2. 17; 4. 2; 7. 2: 12. 17. in Romans 1. 9. 
 
 /(John .5. 41,44; 12.43; 1 Tim. 5. 17. olCor.9. 4, li, 12, 18; 
 
 2 Cor. 10. 1, 2, 10, 11 ; 1:!. in ; 2 Thess. 3. 9 ; Pbilem. 8, 9. //Or, 
 
 but also encouragement, consolation, and the like. 
 When the apostles exhorted or admonished men 
 it was that they should turn from evil to good, from 
 misery to happiness, from Satan to God, and from 
 hell to heaven. Their exhortations having this ob- 
 ject, every word was consolatory ; and as the truth 
 which they delivered was unquestionable, therefore 
 their ministry was a subject of the highest encour- 
 agement and joy. Not of deceit — [n/oiv/c. The 
 word may mean either imposture or error; prob- 
 ably, here, the latter, (the former sense occurs in 
 do/.<j, guile.) — Alford.] We did not endeavour to 
 allure you with false pretences ; we did not deceive 
 you, nor were we deceived ourselves. Nor of un- 
 cleanness — Our Gospel was pure; came from the 
 pure and holy God ; was accompanied with the 
 influences of the Holy Spirit, and produced purity 
 both in the hearts and lives of all that received it; 
 [in all these things a contrast to the teaching of 
 the Gentiles. Perhaps expressing their purity of 
 purpose, the absence of all covetousness and self- 
 seeking in all that they did.] Nor in guile — We 
 had no false pretences, and were influenced by no 
 sinister motives. 
 
 4. But as -we were allowed of God — KaOuc 
 6e5oKLfj.ua ut 6a, as we were accounted worthy to be 
 put in trust — as God put confidence in us, and sent 
 us on his' most especial message to mankind, even 
 so we speak, keeping the dignity of our high call- 
 ing continually in view ; and, acting as in the sight 
 of God, we speak not to please or flatter men, 
 though our doctrine is the most consolatory that 
 can be conceived, but to please that God who 
 searcheth the heart, and before whom all our mo- 
 tives are constantly without a veil. 
 
 5. Flattering words — Though we proclaimed 
 the Gospel, or glad tidings, yet we diligently showed 
 [the people their sins, and warned them] that with- 
 out holiness none should see the Lord ; while we 
 preached the whole Gospel we gave no countenance 
 to sin. Nor a cloak of covetousness — We did 
 not seek temporal emolument ; nor did we preach 
 the Gospel for a cloak to our covetousness ; God is 
 witness that we did not ; we sought you, not yours. 
 Hear this, ye that preach the Gospel ! Can ye call 
 (iod to witness that in preaching it ye have no end 
 in view by your ministry hut his glory in the salva- 
 tion of souls ? The faithful labourer is worthy of 
 his hire ; for the ox that treads out the corn should 
 not be muzzled ; and they that preach the Gospel 
 should live by the Gospel. But woe to that man 
 who enters into the labour for the sake of the hire ! 
 he knows not Christ; and how can he preach him '.' 
 
 6. Nor of men sought we glory — As we 
 preached not for worldly gain, so we preached not 
 
 Vol. II.— 20. 
 
 nurse cherisheth her children : 8 So being 
 affectionately desirous of you, we were will- 
 ing 'to have imparted unto you, not the gos- 
 pel of God only, but also "our own souls, be- 
 cause ye were dear unto us. 9 For ye re- 
 member, brethren, our labour and travail : for 
 v labouring night and day, w because we would 
 not be chargeable unto any of you, we preached 
 unto you the gospel of God. 10 x Ye are wit- 
 nesses, and God also, J 1 how holily and ■justly 
 and unblamably we behaved ourselves among 
 
 used authority. q 2 Cor. 11.9; 12. 1?., 14: 2 Thess. 3. 8. 
 
 /■l Cor. 9. I, 2, 5. si Cor. 2. 3; 9. 22; 2 Cor. 1:!. 4; 2 Tim. 
 
 2. 24. t Romans 1.11; 15. 29. u 2 Cor. 12. 15. /■ Arts 
 
 2H. ::i ; 1 Cor. 4. 12; 2 Cor. 11. 9; 2 Thess. 3. 8. w2 Cor. 12. 
 
 13, 14. a) Chap. 1. 5. v 2 Cor. 7. 2 ; 2 Thess. 3. 7. 
 
 for popular applause ; we had what we sought for — 
 the approbation of God, and the testimony of a 
 good conscience. When we might have been 
 burdensome — They had a right to their mainte- 
 nance wdiile they devoted themselves wholly to the 
 work of the Gospel for the sake of the people's 
 souls. Others understand the words kv fiapet elvai, 
 to be honourable ; we sought no glory of you nor of 
 others, though we were honourable as the apostles 
 of Christ. (See 2 Cor. iv, 17.) 
 
 7. But we were gentle among you — Far 
 from assuming the authority which we had, we 
 acted toward you as a tender nurse or parent does 
 to a delicate child. We fed, counselled, cherished, 
 ami bore with you ; we taught you to walk, pre- 
 served you from stumbling, and ied you in a right 
 path. 
 
 8. Being affectionately desirous of you — We 
 had such intense love for you that we were nut 
 only willing and forward to preach the unsearch- 
 able riches of Christ to you, but also to give our 
 own lives, rag eavrwv i/w;rac, for your sake, because 
 ye were 'bar, 6i6n aya^r/rol fyuv, because ye were 
 beloved by us. [The comparison is exceedingly 
 tender and beautiful. As the nursing mother, 
 cherishing her children, joys to give not only her 
 milk but her life for them, — so we, bringing up 
 you as spiritual children, delighted in giving, not 
 only the milk of the word, but even (and here it 
 was matter of fact) our own lives for your nour- 
 ishment in Christ. — Alfordi] 
 
 9. Ye remember . . . our labour and travail 
 — From this it appears that Paul spent much more 
 time at Thessalonica than is generally supposed; 
 for the expressions in this verse denote a long 
 continuance of a constantly exercised ministry, 
 interrupted only by manual labour for their own 
 support; labouring [epya£6uEVOC, in its strict 
 meaning of manual labour, Alford,"] "night and 
 day, because we would not be chargeable unto you." 
 Probably Paul and his companions worked with 
 their hands by day, and spent a considerable part 
 of the. night, or evening, in preaching Christ to 
 the people. 
 
 10. Ye are ■witnesses, and God also, how 
 holily — 'Qoiug, piously, toward God; how justly, 
 fiiKaiuc, in reference to men ; and unblamably, 
 ■ in: u-7ur, in reference to our spirit and conduct, 
 whether as men or as ministers of Christ, we 
 behaved ourselves among you. What a con- 
 sciousness of his own integrity must Paid have 
 had to use the expressions that are here ! No 
 hypocrite, and none who did the work of the Lord 
 carelessly, could make such an appeal both to God 
 and man. 
 
 305
 
 I. TIIESSALONIANS. 
 
 Persecutions suffered by 01 
 an.l the early Christiti 
 
 you that believe: 11 As ye know how we 
 exhorted and comforted and charged every one 
 of you, as a father doth his children, 12 z That 
 ye would walk worthy of God, a who hath 
 called you unto his kingdom and glory. 13 For 
 this cause also thank we God b without ceas- 
 ing, because, when ye received the word of 
 God which ye heard of us, ye received it c not 
 as the word of men, but, as it is in truth, the 
 word of God, which effectually worketh also 
 in you that believe. 14 For ye, brethren, 
 became followers d of the churches of God 
 which in Judea are in Christ Jesus: for e ye 
 
 zKph. 4. 1: Phil. 1. 27: Col. 1. 10: chap. 4. 1. a 1 Cor. 1. 9; 
 
 Chap. 5. 24; 2 Thess. 2. 14; 2 Tim. 1. 9. b Chap. 1. 3. 
 
 cMatt. 10. 40: Gal. 4. 14: 2 Peter 3. 2. <ZGal. 1. 22. 
 
 e Acts 17. 5, 13. /Heb. 10. 33, 31. g Acts 2. 23 ; 3. 15 ; 
 
 5. 30 ; 7. 52. 
 
 11. How we exhorted — What pastoral care 
 is marked here ! They " exhorted," — were contin- 
 ually teaching and instructing the objects of their 
 charge ; this was their general work. And com- 
 forted — They found many under trials and tempta- 
 tions, and those they encouraged. And charged 
 — ^lapTvpoutpoi ; continued to witness to the peo- 
 ple that God required faith, love, and obedience ; 
 that he would not tolerate sin ; that Jesus died to 
 save them from their sins ; and that, without holi- 
 ness, none should see God. The spirit in which 
 they performed all these branches of the pastoral 
 care was that which was most likely to insure suc- 
 cess ; as a father treats his children, so they 
 treated every member of the Church. 
 
 12. That ye would walk worthy of God — 
 That they should, in every respect, act up to their 
 high calling, so that it would not be a reproach to 
 the God of holiness to acknowledge them as sons and 
 daughters. (See Eph. iv, 1 ; Phil, i, 27 ; Col. i, 10.) 
 [Kat yaprvpouEvoi., charging, conjuring, in r<sp<<i 
 to your walking worthily of, (in respect to, or 
 as required by your relation to) God calling 
 (present, indicating a perpetual calling) you into 
 (or unto) his own kingdom and glory. His king- 
 dom and glory — [The fiacrAtia rov Qeov is the 
 kingdom of his Son, that is, the kingdom of heaven, 
 of which even while here the true Christian is a 
 subject, but the full privileges and blessedness of 
 which are only to be enjoyed hereafter. The glory, 
 S6^a, to which he calls us in his own eternal glory, of 
 which all the true members of the Messianic king- 
 dom shall be partakers. — Ellicott.] 
 
 1 3. Ye received . . . the word of God — Ye re- 
 ceived the doctrine of God, not as any thing fabri- 
 cated by man, but as coming immediately from 
 God himself, we being only his messengers to de- 
 clare what he had previously revealed to vis. And 
 ye have had the fullest proof that ye have not be- 
 lieved in vain ; for that doctrine, under the power 
 iiinl influence of the Holy Ghost, has worked most 
 powerfully in you, filling you with light, life, ami 
 holiness. ['Er by.lv rolg kigtsvovocv, in you the be- 
 lieving, defines and limits the effectual working of 
 this grace, agreeable to the uniform teachings of 
 the Xew Testament, to them that believe.] 
 
 14. Ye . . . became followers of the churches 
 of God — There is not a word here of the Church 
 of Rome being the model after which the other 
 Churches were to be formed ; it had no such pre- 
 eminence : this honour belonged to the Churches of 
 Judea ; it was according to them, not the Church 
 at Rome, that the Asiatic Churches were modelled. 
 
 300 
 
 also have suffered like things of your own 
 countrymen. f even as they hare of the Jews: 
 15 eWho both killed the Lord Jesus, and 
 h their own prophets, and have 'persecuted us; 
 and they please not God, k and are contrary to 
 all men: 16 'Forbidding us to speak to the 
 Gentiles that they might be saved, '"to fill up 
 their sins always: "for the wrath is come up- 
 on them to the uttermost. 17 But we, breth- 
 ren, being taken from you for a short time "in 
 presence, not in heart, endeavoured the more 
 abundantly rto see your face with great de- 
 sire. 18 Wherefore we would have come 
 
 7> Matt. 5. 12 : 2"!. 3 t, 37 : Luke 13. 33, 34 : Acts 7. 52. i Or, 
 
 elianeduH out. /,■ Esth. ::. 8. / Luke 11. 52; Acts 13. 5": 14. 
 
 5,10; 17.5,13; IS 12: 10. 0; 22. 21. 22. m Gen. 15. 16 : Matt. 
 
 23. 32. n Matt. 24. 6, 14. v 1 Cur. 5. 3; Col. 2. 5. pChap. 
 
 3. 10. 
 
 The purest of all the apostolic Churches was that 
 of the Thessalonians, and this was formed after the 
 Christian Churches in Judea. \M.iy.Tjral, imitators, 
 certainly not in intention or design, (that is not 
 the point of likeness here spoken of,) but in 
 actual fact and result. — Meyer.'] Ye also have 
 suffered ... of your own countrymen — it is 
 worthy of remark, that in almost every case the 
 Jews were the leaders of all persecutions against 
 the apostles and the infant Church. Ami what 
 they could not do t/iemselves they instigated others 
 to do ; and, by gathering together lewd fellows of 
 the baser sort from among the Gentiles, they made 
 frequent uproars, especially at Thessalonica, where 
 the opposition to the Gospel was very high and 
 the persecution of the Christians very hot. 
 
 15, 16. Who both killed the Lord Jesus, 
 etc. — What a finished but just characterization is 
 this of the Jews ! 1) They slew the Lord Jesus. 
 2) They killed their own prophets. (Matt, xxiii, 
 37.) 3) They persecuted the apostles. 4) They did 
 not please God, though they pretended that their 
 opposition to the Gospel was through their zeal for 
 God's glory. 5) They were contrary to all men ; 
 their conduct and influence were against the best 
 interests of the whole human race. 6) They for- 
 bade the apostles to preach that truth to the Gen- 
 tiles by which alone men could be saved. 7) They 
 filled up their sins always ; they had no mere out- 
 lines of iniquity, all were filled up ; every evil ] mr- 
 pose was followed, as far as possible, with a wicked 
 act ! Is it any wonder, therefore, that wrath 
 should come upon them to the uttermost? It 
 is to lie reckoned among the highest mercies of 
 God that the whole nation was not pursued by the 
 divine justice to utter and final extinction. 
 
 1 7. Being taken from you for a short time 
 — Through the persecution raised by the Jews (see 
 Acts xvii) Paul was obliged to leave Thessalonica, 
 and yield to a storm that it would have been use- 
 less for him to have withstood. Being taken 
 from you ... in presence, not in heart — The 
 apostle had compared himself to a parent or nurse, 
 (verses 7-9,) and the people he considered as his 
 most beloved children; here he represents himself 
 as feeling what an affectionate lather must feel 
 when torn from his children ; for this is the import of 
 the word a—optpaviodevrec, bereft of children, which 
 we tamely translate "being taken from you." 
 Endeavoured the more abundantly — His sepa- 
 ration from them did not weaken his parental feel- 
 ing, while his being obliged to leave them increased 
 his desire to visit them as soon as possible.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 i. !U. 4056. A. D. 52. 
 Year ol' Rome, 305. 
 
 unto you, even I Paul, once and again; but 
 'Satan hindered us. 19 For r what is our 
 hope, or joy, or ■ crown of ' rejoicing ? Are not 
 even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ 
 " at Ins coming ? 20 For ye are our glory and 
 joy. 
 
 CHAPTER IIT. 
 
 WHEREFORE, a when we could no longer 
 forbear, 'we thought it good to be left 
 
 <7 Rom. 1. 13; 15. 22. >■} Cor. 1. 14; Phil. 2. 16; 4. 1. 
 
 sPiov. 16. Ml. tOr, gloryingt a 1 Cor. 15. 23; chap. 3. 
 
 13; Rev. 1. 7; 22. 12. <i Verse 5. 
 
 18. Even I Paul — He had already sent Timothy 
 and Silas to them ; but he himself was anxious to 
 see them, and had purposed this once and again; 
 but Satan hindered : that is, some adversary, as 
 the word means, whether the devil himself or some 
 of his children. There was, however, such a 
 storm of persecution raised up against him that 
 his friends did not think it prudent to permit him 
 to go till the storm had been somewhat allayed. 
 
 19. For what is our hope — I can have no 
 prospects from earth; I have forsaken all for the 
 Gospel ; and esteem every thing it can afford as 
 dross and dung that I may gain Christ. Why, 
 then, should I continually labour at the risk of my 
 life, preaching the Gospel ? Is it not that you may 
 be saved, that ye may be my crown of rejoicing in 
 the day of Christ/ For this I labour; and, having 
 planted the Gospel among you, I wish to take every 
 opportunity of watering it, that it may prow up 
 into eternal life. ['Ei-' ry avroii Trapovaia, literally, 
 in hi* presence; rendered also, his coming again. 
 The sense given to it is usually determined by the 
 reader's views respecting the " Second advent " of 
 Christ. (See at the end of the second epistle.)] 
 
 20. For ye are our glory and joy — Ye are 
 the seal of our apostleship ; your conversion and 
 steadfastness are a full proof that God hath sent 
 us. Converts to Christ are our ornaments ; per- 
 severing believers our joy in the day of judgment. 
 
 1. In the preceding chapter we have the charac- 
 teristics of a genuine pastor laid down in such 
 a manner as not to be misunderstood. Every man 
 who preaches the Gospel should carefully read 
 this chapter and examine himself by it. He who 
 expects nothing but the approbation of Christ will 
 labour for Christ ; and he who has the glory of his 
 Master only in view, will ever have his Master's 
 presence and blessing. 
 
 2. God, for reasons best known to himself, often 
 permits the most pious and benevolent purposes of 
 his servants to be frustrated for a time. It is well 
 that the good purpose was in the heart ; but God 
 knows the fittest time and place to bring it into 
 effect. Let the purpose be retained, and the best 
 time and place will be duly provided. As Satan 
 constantly endeavours to oppose every good work, 
 no wonder he is found opposing a good purpose, 
 even at the very time that God sees it improper to 
 bring it to the intended effect. "Man proposes, 
 but God disposes." 
 
 3. The apostle speaks of the " wrath " coming 
 upon the Jews: it was about twenty years after 
 this that their city was destroyed, their temple 
 burnt, more than a million of them destroyed, their 
 civil polity utterly subverted, and what remained <>f 
 this wretched nation scattered to all the winds of 
 heaven; and in this state, without a nation, with- 
 out a temple, they continue to this day, a monu- 
 
 at Athens alone; 2 And sent c Timotheus, 
 our brother, and minister of Cod, and our fel- 
 low labourer in the gospel of Christ, to estab- 
 lish you, and to comfort you concerning your 
 faith: 3 d Thatno man should be moved by 
 these afflictions : for yourselves know that e we 
 are appointed thereunto. 4 f For verily, when 
 we were with you, we told you before that w e 
 should suffer tribulation; even as it came to 
 
 l> Acts 17. 15. <■ Rom. IK. 21 ; 1 Cor. If.. 10; 2 Cor. 1. 10. 
 
 tfEph. 3. 13. cActs '.I. Hi; 14. 22; 20. 23; 21. 11; 1 Cor. 4. 9; 
 
 2 Tim. 3. 12; 1 Pet. 2. 21. -/Acts 20. 24. 
 
 ment of God's displeasure, and a proof of the 
 divine inspiration both of the prophets ami apos- 
 tles, who, in the most explicit manner, had pre- 
 dicted all the evils which have since befallen them. 
 Their crimes were great; to these their punish- 
 ment is proportioned. For what end God has pre- 
 served them distinct from all the people of the 
 earth among whom they sojourn we cannot pre- 
 tend to say ; but it must unquestionably be for an 
 object of the very highest importance. In the 
 meantime, let the Christian world treat them with 
 humanity and mercy. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTEE III. 
 
 1. Wherefore, when we could no longer, 
 
 etc. — The apostle was anxious to hear of the state 
 [of the Thessalonians,] and as he could obtain no 
 information without sending a messenger express, 
 he therefore sent Timothy from Athens ; choosing 
 rather to be left alone than to continue any longer 
 in uncertainty relative to their state. 
 
 2. Timotheus, our brother — It appears that 
 Timothy was but a youth when converted ; he had 
 now, however, been some years in the work of God : 
 Paul therefore calls him his " brother," being one 
 of the same Christian family, a son of God by 
 adoption; elsewhere he calls him Ms own sun, (1 Tim. 
 i, 2,) and his dearly beloved son, (2 Tim. i, 2.) be- 
 cause he was brought to the knowledge of the true 
 God and to salvation by Christ through the apos- 
 tle's instrumentality. (See the preface to the first 
 epistle to Timothy.) Minister of God— Employed 
 by God to preach the Gospel ; this was God's work, 
 and he had appointed Timothy to do it, and to 
 do it at this time in conjunction with Paul ; and 
 therefore he calls him his fellow labourer. 
 There were no sinecures then; preaching the Gos- 
 pel was God's work; the primitive preachers were 
 his workmen, and laboured in this calling. 
 
 3. That no man should be moved — That is, 
 caused to apostatize from Christianity. We [that 
 is, Christians] are appointed thereunto — Etc 
 tovto Kei/ieOa, we are (.rji<>se,/ tu this, we H> <>i>ni to 
 such, they are unavoidable in the present state of 
 things. [Kelfzeda, we are hji/x>;, ,/,,/, refers not 
 only to Paul, or to Paul and his companions, nor 
 also to Paul and the Thessalonians, but to Christ- 
 ians in general. — Meyer.~\ 
 
 4. That we should suffer tribulation — I 
 prepared you for it, because I knew that it was ac- 
 cording to their nature for wicked men to persecute 
 the followers of God. \Mi7L?x>f/.ev, like Kei(i£8a, 
 (verse 3,) is to be taken generally. But ».. : 
 H'/i,l;nti<u (we shall suffer tribulation) is distin- 
 guished from the simple future, since it character- 
 izes the sufferings as inevitable, and as predeter- 
 mined (not produced or purposed,) in the counsels 
 of God, olSare, (ye know,) horn your own experi- 
 ence. — Meyer. ~\ 
 
 30?
 
 A. M. 4056. A. D. 52. 
 Year of Rome, 8u5. 
 
 I. THESSALONIANS. 
 
 Paul expres i to thi 
 
 love, and desire to 
 
 Church hi: 
 isit theln. 
 
 pass, and ye know. 5 For this cause, ^when 
 I could no longer forbear, I sent to know your 
 faith, h lest by some means the tempter have 
 tempted you, and 'our labour be in vain. 
 6 k But now when Timotheus came from you 
 unto us, and brought us good tidings of your 
 faith and charity, and that ye have good re- 
 membrance of us always, desiring greatly to 
 see us, ' as we also to see you : 7 Therefore, 
 brethren, m we were comforted over you in all 
 our affliction and distress by your faith : 8 For 
 now we live, if ye "stand fast in the Lord. 
 9 "For what thanks can we render to God 
 again for you, for all the joy wherewith we 
 joy for your sakes before our God ; 10 p Night 
 
 (/Verse 1. hi Cor. 7. 5: 2 Oor. 11. 3. iGal. 2. 2; 4. 11 ; 
 
 Phi!. 2. 16. fcActs 18. 1, 5. 1 Phil. 1. S. m 2 Cor. 1. 4; 
 
 7. ii. 7, 13. fcPhil. 4. 1. oChap. 1. 2. /-Acts 26. 7; 
 
 2 Tim 1. 3. g Rom. 1. 10, 11 ; 15. 32. /-Chap. 2. 17. 
 
 5. For this cause — Knowing that you would 
 be persecuted, and fearing your possible apostasy. 
 I sent to know your faith — Whether you con- 
 tinued steadfast in the truth, lest you might have 
 been tempted by Satan to abandon the Gospel for 
 which you suffered persecution. 
 
 6. When Timotheus came — We have already 
 seen that he and Silas stayed behind at Thessalo- 
 nica when Paul was obliged to leave it ; for the per- 
 secution seems to have been principally directed 
 against him. When Paul came to Athens, he sent 
 pressingly to him and Silas to come to him with all 
 speed to that city. Afterward Paul sent Timothy 
 back to Thessalonica to comfort and build up these 
 new converts. After the departure of Timothy, 
 Paul went himself to Corinth, and there Timothy 
 soon after met him, with the good news of the 
 steadiness of the Thessalonian Church. Your 
 faith and charity — The good tidings which 
 Timothy brought from Thessalonica consisted of 
 three particulars: 1) Their "faith:" they con- 
 tinued steadfast in their belief of the Gospel. 
 2) Their "charity:" they loved one another, and 
 lived in unity and harmony. 3) They were affec- 
 tionately attached to the apostle ; they had good 
 remembrance of him, and desired earnestly to see 
 him. [And yet these three things were so closely 
 related, that they mutually implied each the others.] 
 
 7. Therefore . . . we were comforted — My 
 afflictions and persecutions seemed trifles when I 
 heard of your perseverance in the faith. 
 
 8. For now we live — Your steadfastness in 
 the faith gives me new life and comfort; I now 
 feel that I live to some purpose, as my labour in 
 the Lord is not in vain. 
 
 9. What thanks can we render to God — 
 The high satisfaction and uncommon joy which the 
 apostle felt are strongly depicted in this language. 
 How near his heart did the success of his ministry 
 lie ! It was not enough for him that he preached 
 so often, laboured so hard, suffered so much ; what 
 were all these if souls were not converted ? And 
 what were all conversions, if those who embraced 
 the Gospel did not walk steadily in the way to 
 heaven, and persevere ? [It is always well, and 
 quite allowable, for a minister of the Gospel to de- 
 sire success in his work ; it is, however, a higher 
 mark of faith when, in the absence of success, he 
 still earnestly and faithfully perseveres in his 
 work.] 
 
 10. Night and day praying exceedingly — 
 Supplicating God at all times ; mingling this with 
 
 308 
 
 and day i praying exceedingly r that we might 
 see your face, s and might perfect that which 
 is lacking in your faith? 11 Now God him- 
 self and our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 tu direct our way unto you. 12 And the Lord 
 v make you to increase and abound in love 
 w one toward another, and toward all men, even 
 as we do toward you : 13 To the end he may 
 * stablish your hearts unblamable in holiness 
 before God, even our Father, at the coming of 
 our Lord Jesus Christ y with all his saints. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 FURTHERMORE then we -beseech you, 
 brethren, and b exhort you by the Lord 
 
 82 Cor. 13. 9,11 ; Col. 4. 12. tOr, ffnii/e. u Mark 1. 3. 
 
 B Chap. 4. 10. w Chap. 4. 9: 5. 13 : 2 Pet, 1. 7. a! 1 Cor. I. 8; 
 
 Phil. 1.10; chap. 5.23; 2Thess. 2. 17; 1 John 3. 20,21. yZech. 
 
 14. 5; JuJe 14. a Or, request. //Or, best ech. 
 
 all my prayers ; v~£j)eK-epiaaov deoun-or, (above 
 measure, praying?) abounding and superabounding 
 in my entreaties to God to permit me to revisit 
 you. How strong was his affection for this Church ! 
 Might perfect that which is lacking — That I 
 might have the opportunity of giving you the full- 
 est instructions in the doctrine of Christ, that ye 
 might have every thing in the most ample detail ; 
 so that the great outlines of truth which you al- 
 ready know may be filled up, that ye may be per- 
 fectly fitted to every good word and work. 
 
 11. Now God himself and our Father — That 
 is: God who is our Father, who has adopted us 
 into the heavenly family, and called us his sons 
 and daughters. Direct our way — As Paul was 
 employed in God's work he dared not consult his 
 own wishes ; he looked for continual directions from 
 God, where, when, and Iww.Xo do his Master's work. 
 
 12. Make you to increase and abound in 
 love — They had already love to each other, so as 
 to unite them in one Christian body ; and he prays 
 that they may have an increase and an abundance 
 of it ; that they might feel the same love to each 
 other which he felt for them all. 
 
 13. To the end he may stablish your 
 hearts — Without love to God and man there can 
 be no establishment in the religion of Christ. It is 
 love that produces both solidity and continuance. 
 And, as love is the fulfilling of the law, he who is 
 tilled with love is unblamable in holiness. And 
 lie who has the love of God in him is a partaker of 
 the divine nature, for God is love. At the com- 
 ing of our Lord — God is coming to judge the 
 world ; every hour that passes on in the gen- 
 eral lapse of time is advancing his approach ; 
 whatsoever he does is in reference to this great 
 event ; and whatsoever we do should be in refer- 
 ence to the same. That person only whose heart 
 is established in holiness before God; shall be 
 able to bear the eve and strict scrutiny of his Judge. 
 Reader, lay this to heart, for thou knowest not what 
 a moment may bring forth. When thy soul departs 
 from thy body it will be the coming of the Lord to 
 thee. ['Ev tij izapovaia, k.t.2,., tin coming of tlie 
 Lord, is the same phrase as is found in chapter 
 ii, 19, and evidently its import is the same. (See 
 at the end of the second epistle.)] 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTEE IV 
 1. We beseech you, brethren, and exhort — 
 
 We give you proper instructions in heavenly things, 
 and request you to attend to our advice. The
 
 The Thessalonians exhorted to 
 chastity and holiness. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 M. 405B. A. P. 52. 
 Vearof Rome, 305, 
 
 Jesus, c that as ye have received of us ''how ye 
 ought to walk e and to please God, so ye would 
 abound more and more. 2 For ye know what 
 commandments we gave you by the Lord Je- 
 sus. 3 For this is f the will of God, even syour 
 sanctifieation, h that ye should abstain from 
 fornication: 4 'That every one of you should 
 know how to possess his vessel in sanctifiea- 
 tion and honour ; 5 k Not in the lust of con- 
 
 ePhil. 1. 27: Col. -2. 6. rfChap. 2. 12. e Col. 1. 10. 
 
 /■Romans II 2; Ephesiana 5. 17. — pEphesians 5. 27. 
 
 ?il Cor. 6. 15, 18: Epliesians 5. 3 ; Col. 3. 5. i Romans 6. 19; 
 
 1 Cor. ti. 15. 18. k Romans 1. 24,26; Col. 3. 5. JEphesians 
 
 4. 17, Is. ml Cor. 15. 84 ; Galatians 4. 8; Ephesiana 2. 12; 
 
 apostle used most pressing entreaties ; for he had a 
 strong and affectionate desire that this Church 
 should excel in all righteousness and true holiness. 
 Please God . . . more and more — God sets no 
 hounds in the communications of his grace and 
 Spirit to them that are faithful. And as there arc 
 no bounds to the graces, so there should be none 
 to the exercise of those graces. No man can ever 
 feel that he loves God too much, or that he loves 
 man too much for God's sake. [That in the way 
 ye have walked, ye will continue to walk in the 
 future. Continuance rather than increase is here 
 the ruling idea: though continuance will certainly 
 bring increase.] 
 
 2. Ye know 'what commandments we gave 
 you — This refers to Paul's instructions while he 
 was among them ; and to instructions on particular 
 subjects, which he does not recapitulate, but only 
 hints at. 
 
 3. This is the will of God, even your sanc- 
 tifieation — God has called you to holiness; he re- 
 quires that you should be holy; for without holi- 
 ness none can see the Lord. Tins is the general 
 calling, but in it many particulars are included. 
 Some of these he proceeds to mention ; and it is 
 very likely that these had been points on which he 
 gave them particular instructions while among 
 them. That ye should abstain from fornica- 
 tion — The word Kopveia, as we have seen in other 
 places, includes all sorts of uncleanness. Direc- 
 tions of this kind were peculiarly necessary among 
 the Greeks, and indeed heathens in general, who 
 were strongly addicted to such vices. ['0 ayioGfibc 
 differs from o; itjcvvi], for while the latter expresses 
 an abstract ethical property the former has an active 
 sense, indicating a purposed self-consecration, in 
 this case to be evinced by abstaining from actual 
 sin.] 
 
 4. How to possess his vessel — Let every man 
 use his wife for the purpose alone for which God 
 created her, and instituted marriage. The word 
 ckevoq, though it signifies " vessel " in general, has 
 several other meanings. And the rabbins fre- 
 quently express wife by it. St. Peter calls the 
 wife the weaker vessel. (1 Pet. iii, 7.) Others 
 think that the body is meant, which is the "ves- 
 sel" in which the soul dwells. In this sense Paul 
 uses it, (2 Cor. iv, 7:) "We have this treasure in 
 earthen vessels ; " and in this sense it is used by 
 both Greek and Roman authors. There is a third 
 sense which interpreters have put on the word, 
 which I forbear to name. The general sense is 
 plain : purity and continency are most obviously 
 intended, whether the word be understood as refer- 
 ring to the wife or the husband, as the following 
 verse sufficiently proves. 
 
 5. Not in the lusts of concupiscence — [Xot 
 
 cupiscence, ' even as the Gentiles m which know 
 not God: 6 "That no man go beyond and 
 "defraud his brother p in any matter: because 
 that the Lord i is the avenger of all such, as 
 we also have forewarned you and testified. 
 7 For God hath not called us unto unclean- 
 ness, r but unto holiness. § s He therefore 
 that 'despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, 
 "who hath also given unto us his Holy .Spirit. 
 
 4. 18; 2Thess. 1.8. n Leviticus 19. 11, 13; 1 Cor. 6. 8. o Or, 
 
 oppress, or, oiu rr< aah. — »Or, in the matter. — ij 2 Thess. 
 
 ). 8. r Leviticus 11. 44; 19. 2; 1 Cor. 1. 2; Hebrews 12. 14; 
 
 1 l'eter 1. 14, 15. s Luke 10. l'i. 1 Or, /•<• hcteth. u 1 Cor. 
 
 2. in; 7. 40; 1 John 3. 24. 
 
 in the lustfulness of desire, that morbid and sinful 
 state in which kiuOvftia becomes the ruling and 
 prevailing principle. (See Col. iii, 5.) — EllicottA 
 The Gentiles which know not God — These are 
 the beasts ; their own brutes are rational creatures 
 when compared with them. (See Rom. i and ii.) 
 They who wish to see more may consult Juvenal, 
 and particularly his sixth and ninth Satires; and 
 indeed nearly all the writers on Greek and Roman 
 morals. 
 
 6. That no man go beyond and defraud his 
 brother — That no man should by any means en- 
 deavour to corrupt the wife of another, or to alien- 
 ate her affections or fidelity from her husband; this 
 is most likely the apostle's meaning, though some 
 understand it in a more general sense. The Lord 
 is the avenger of all such — lie takes up the 
 cause of the injured husband wherever the case 
 has not been detected by man, and all such vices 
 he will signally punish. Every species of unclean- 
 ness was practised among the heathens, nor were 
 they reputed as vices. Their gods, their emperors, 
 their philosophers, and their great men in general, 
 gave them examples of every species of impurity; 
 and they had no system of ethics which forbade 
 these abominations. The Christian religion not 
 only discountenances these things, but forbids them 
 on the most awful penalties; therefore, wherever 
 Christianity prevails, these vices, if practised at all, 
 are obliged to seek the deepest gloom of midnight 
 to cover them from the eyes of men. 
 
 7. God hath not called us unto uncleanness 
 — He is the creator of male and female, and the 
 institutor of marriage, and he has called men and 
 women to this state; but the end of this and all 
 the other callings of God to man is holiness, not 
 uncleanness. And they who use the marriage state 
 as he directs will find it conducive to their holi- 
 ness and perfection. 
 
 8. He therefore that despiseth— He who will 
 not receive these teachings, and is led either to 
 undervalue or despise them, despises not us but 
 God, from whom we have received our commission, 
 and by wdiose Spirit we give these directions. 
 (See on verse 15.) Hath also given unto us 
 his Holy Spirit — Instead of etc #//dc, unto cs, etc 
 i'/mc, unto you, is the reading [now approved by 
 the best authorities.] God lias taught us that we 
 may teach you; and he has also given you his 
 Holy Spirit that ye might understand and be en- 
 abled to practise these things. It is one thing to 
 receive a revelation from the Spirit of God; it is 
 another thing tn receive that Spirit toenable a man 
 to live according to that revelation. [ Hence the 
 sin (your sin) in setting at naught such limitations 
 and rules is a fearful one, no less than setting at 
 naught God, the giver of the Holy Spirit. — Alford!\ 
 
 309
 
 A.M. 4d56. A. D. 52. 
 Yenr of Rome, R05. 
 
 I. THESSALONIANS. 
 
 9 But as touching brotherly love v ye need not 
 that I write unto you: for "ye yourselves are 
 taught of God x to love one another. 10 >' And 
 indeed ye do it toward all the brethren which 
 are in all Macedonia: but we beseech you, 
 brethren, z that ye increase more and more; 
 1 1 And that ye study to be quiet, and "to do 
 your own business, and 'to work with your 
 own hands, as we commanded you: 12 c That 
 
 »Chap. 5. 1. wJer. 31. 34; John 6. 45; 14. 26; Ileb. 8. 11 ; 
 
 1 John 2. 20, 27. X Matt. 22. 39; Jim 13. 34: 15. 12 ; E|ih. 5. 
 
 2; 1 Pet. 4 s; ! John ?,. II, 23; 4. 21. y Ch ip. 1. 7. sChap. 
 
 3. 12. a 2Thess. 3. 11 ; 1 Pet. 4. 1.3. b Acts 20. 35; Eph. 
 
 [Ill a qualified, but fearfully important, sense it is 
 sinning against the Holy Ghost.] 
 
 9. Touching brotherly love — They were re- 
 markable for this; and though the apostle appears 
 to have had this as a topic on which he intended 
 to write to them, yet, from the account which he re- 
 ceived of their prosperous state by Timothy, he 
 finds that it is unnecessary to spend any time in 
 inculcating a doctrine which they fully understood 
 and practised. (See chapter iii, (J.) 
 
 10. Ye do it toward all the brethren — Ye 
 not only love one another at Thessalonica, but ye love 
 all the brethren in Macedonia ; ye consider them 
 all as children of the s;mie Father; and that all 
 the Churches which are in Christ make one great 
 and glorious body, of which he is the Head. 
 
 11. That ye study to be quiet — Though in 
 general the Church at Thessalonica was pure and 
 exemplary, yet there seem to have been some idlers 
 among them, who disturbed the peace of others; 
 persons who gadded about from house to house; 
 did not work, but meddled with other people's bus- 
 iness, making parties, and procuring their bread by 
 religious gossipping. Respecting these the apostle 
 gives directions that they should "study to be 
 quiet," i)gvx<i&lv, to hold their peace^ as their relig- 
 ious cant, will never promote true religion ; that 
 tin) should do their own business, and let that 
 of others alone ; and that they should work with 
 their own hands, and not be a burden to the 
 Church of God. An idle person, though able to 
 discourse like an angel or pray like an apostle, 
 cannot lie a Christian ; all such are hypocrites ami 
 deceivers ; the true members of the Church of Christ 
 walk, work, ami labour. 
 
 12. That ye may walk honestly — Y,'vo-\)/u6vLje, 
 becomingly, decently, respectably; as is consistent 
 with the purity, holiness, gravity, and usefulness of 
 your Christian calling. Them that are without 
 — The unconverted Gentiles and Jews. (See Col. 
 iv, 5.) That ye may have lack of nothing — 
 That ye may be able to get your bread by honest 
 labour, which God will ever bless ; and be charge- 
 able to no man. He that is dependent on another 
 is necessarily in bondage; and he who is able to 
 get his own bread by the sweat of his brow should 
 not be under obligation even to a king. [Verses 
 1 1 and 12 cast much light on the social position 
 and manners of the Thessalonian Christians, show- 
 ing that they belonged chiefly to the working 
 classes, and were especially exposed to the tempta- 
 tions of such persons and of their associations] 
 
 1 3. I would not have (wish) you to be igno- 
 rant — Instead of e^o/iev, have, OiAouev, wish, is 
 doubtless the true reading. This was probably one 
 of the points which were lacking in their faith, 
 that he wished to go to Thessalonica to instruct 
 them in. Concerning them which are asleep 
 
 310 
 
 ye may walk honestly toward them that are 
 without, and that ye may have lack d of noth- 
 ing. 13 But 1 would not have you to be 
 ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are 
 asleep, that ye sorrow not, e even as others 
 '"which have no hope. 14 For ? if we believe 
 that Jesus died and rose again, even so h them 
 also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with 
 him. 15 For this we say unto you ' by the 
 
 4. 28; 2 Thess. 3. 7, 8, 12. e Horn. 13. 13: 2 Cor. 8. 21 : Col. 
 
 4. 5: 1 Pet. 2. 12. (/Or, of no mail. C See Lev. 111. 2s ; 
 
 Deut, 14. 1. 2; 2 Sam. 12 20. /Eph. 2. 12. g 1 Cor. 15. 13. 
 
 h\ Cor. 15. 18, 23: chap. 3. 13. i\ Kings 13. 17, 18; 20.35. 
 
 — That is, those who are dead. It is supposed that 
 the apostle had heard that the Thessalonians con- 
 tinued to lament over their dead, as the heathens 
 did in general who had no hope of the resurrection, 
 and that they had been puzzled concerning the 
 doctrine of the resurrection. To set them right on 
 this important subject he delivers three important 
 truths : 1) He asserts, as he had done before, that 
 they who died in the Lord should have, in virtue 
 of Christ's resurrection, a resurrection unto eternal 
 life and blessedness. 2) He makes a new discov- 
 ery, that the last generation should not die at all. 
 but be in a moment changed to immortals. 3) He 
 adds another new discovery, that, though the living 
 should not die, but be transformed, yet the dead 
 should first be raised, and so be made glorious 
 and immortal; and thus, in some measure, have 
 the preference and advantage of such as shall 
 then be found alive. [Most modern interpreters 
 seem rightly to coincide in the opinion that in 
 the infant Church of Thessalonica there had pre- 
 vailed, apparently from the very first, a feverish 
 anxiety about the state of those who had departed, 
 and about the time and circumstances of the Lord's 
 coming. They seem especially to have feared that 
 those of their brethren who had fallen on sleep lie- 
 fore the expected advent of the Lord would not 
 participate in its blessings and glories. (Verse 15.) 
 Thus their apprehensions did not so much relate 
 to the resurrection generally, as to the share which 
 the departed were to have in the irapovaia tov 
 Kvpiov. — Ellicott.~] (See end of second epistle.) 
 
 14. For if we believe that Jesus died and 
 rose again — Ei yap, seeing that ice believe; know- 
 ing that the resurrection of Christ is as fully au- 
 thenticated as his death. Even so them — It 
 necessarily follows that them who sleep (die) in 
 Jesus — in the faith of the Gospel — will God 
 bring with him. He will raise them up as Je- 
 sus was raised from the dead, that is, by his own 
 eternal power and energy; and he will bring them 
 " with him " — with Christ — for he is the headoi the 
 Church, which is his body. [Christ's resurrection 
 included in itself, provisionally and potentially, the 
 resurrection of all that are " in him," which is sure 
 to be realized at the proper time.] 
 
 15. This we say unto you by the word of 
 the Lord — This I have, by express revelation, 
 from the Lord ; what Paul now delivers he gives 
 as coming immediately from the Spirit of God. 
 In no place does the apostle speak more confidently 
 and positively of his inspiration than here. [It is 
 impossible to decide with certainty whether the 
 words iv Myu Kvpiov, in, by, or through the word 
 of the Lord, indicates a reference to what had pre- 
 viously been taught by Christ, (see Matt. xxiv. 31, 
 Mark xi, 27, John vi, 39,) or whether they indi- 
 cate a special revelation given at that time. Either
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 A. M. 4086. A. P. 55. 
 
 Ye:ir of Rome, 805. 
 
 .word of the Lord, that k we which are alive 
 and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall 
 not prevent them which are asleep. 16 For 
 1 the Lord himself shall descend from heaven 
 with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, 
 and with m the trump of God : "and the dead in 
 Christ shall rise first : 17 "Then we which 
 are alive and remain shall be caught up to- 
 gether with them Pin the clouds, to meet the 
 Lord in the air: and so i shall we ever be with 
 
 * 1 Cor. 15. 51. / Matt, 24. 30, 31 ; Acts 1. 11 : 2 Thess. 1. 7. 
 
 m 1 Cor. 15. 52. n 1 Cor. 15. 23, 52. o 1 Cor. 15. 51. 
 
 ■)• Acts 1. 9; Rev. 11. 12. (/John 12. 2(5; 14.3; 17. 24. 
 
 r Chap. 5. 11. 
 
 interpretation is admissible, but the language rather 
 favours the former.] We which are alive and 
 remain — By the pronoun " we," the apostle does 
 not intend himself and the Thessalonians, to whom 
 he was then writing; he is speaking of the genuine 
 Christians which shall be found on earth when 
 Christ comes to judgment. From not considering 
 the manner in which the apostle uses this word, 
 some have been led to suppose that he imagined 
 that the day of judgment would take place in that 
 generation, and while he and the then believers at 
 Thessalonica were in life. But it is impossible 
 that a man under so direct an influence of the Holy 
 Spirit should be permitted to make such a mis- 
 take ; nay, no man in the exercise of his sober 
 reason could have formed such an opinion : there 
 was nothing to warrant the supposition ; no prem- 
 ises from which it could be fairly deduced ; nor 
 indeed any thing in the circumstances of the Church, 
 nor in the constitution of the world, that could 
 have suggested a hint of the kind. The apostle is 
 speaking of the thing indefinitely as to the time 
 when it shall happen, but positively as to the order 
 that shall be then observed. [ Whether or not 
 the apostles, including Paul, expected the early 
 "coming of Christ," (napovoia,) is a question that 
 has been much disputed. The Germans usually 
 take the affirmative, but the English, with some 
 eminent exceptions, the negative.] Shall not pre- 
 vent them which are asleep — [Ob /«} ipOdau/iev, 
 shall not precede, not get ahead of.'] Those who 
 shall be found living in that day, though they shall 
 not pass through death, but be suddenly changed, 
 shall not go to glory before them that are dead, 
 for the dead in Christ shall rise first — [Upu- 
 rov, first, may here be used simply in respect to the 
 order of the apostle's statement, without any ref- 
 erence to the succession or the time of the events 
 named.] Those who shall be found alive on that 
 day shall not anticipate glory before the dead in 
 Christ. 
 
 16. The Lord himself— That is, Jesus Christ. 
 Shall descend from heaven — Shall descend in 
 like manner as he was seen by his disciples to as- 
 cend, that is, in his human form, but now infinitely 
 more glorious; for thousands of thousands shall 
 minister unto him, and ten thousand times ten thou- 
 sand shall stand before him; for the Son of man 
 shall come oh the throne of his glory; but who may 
 abide the day of his coming, or stand when he ap- 
 peareth ? With a shout — Or order, hv aeleva/xari. 
 [A word of command, as given to a body of sol- 
 diers or a gang of rowers ; the resurrection call. To 
 attempt to give the ivords of this command, or to in- 
 quire by whom it was uttered, is worse than useless ] 
 
 17. Then we •which are alive, etc. — ['Hueig oi 
 ^uvtcc ; whether or not Paul included himself in the 
 
 the Lord. IS 'Wherefore 'comfort one an- 
 other with these words. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 BUT of "the times and the seasons, brethren, 
 'ye have no need that 1 write unto you. 
 2 For yourselves know perfectly that c tho 
 day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the 
 night. 3 For when they shall say, Peace and 
 safety ; then d sudden destruction cometh upon 
 
 sOr, ex7tort. rvMatt. 24. 3, 36; Acts 1. 7. fcClisip. 4. !). 
 
 — C Matt. 24. 43, 44 ; 25. 13 ; l.uke 12. 39, 40; 2 Pet. 3. 10; Hev. 
 
 3. 3; 16. 15. rflsa. 13. 6, 8, 9; Luke 17. 27, 28, 29; 21. 34, 35; 
 
 2 Thess. 1. 9. 
 
 number of those who would be alive at the occur- 
 rence of the event he is describing will be answered 
 yes or no according to other things that are ques- 
 tioned in the subject. Strong critical forces are 
 arrayed on both sides.] 
 
 1 8. Comfort one another with these words 
 — Strange saying! comfort a man with the infor- 
 mation tluit he is going to appear before the judg- 
 ment seat of God ! Who can feel comfort from 
 these words '? That man alone with whose spirit the 
 Spirit of God bears witness that his sins are blotted 
 out, and the thoughts of whose heart are purified 
 by the inspiration of God's Holy Spirit, so that he 
 can perfectly love him and worthily magnify his 
 name. Reader, thou art not in a safe state un- 
 less it be thus with thee, or thou art hungering and 
 thirsting after righteousness. If so, thou shalt be 
 filled ; for it is impossible that thou shouldst be 
 taken away in thy sins while mourning after the 
 salvation of God. They that seek shall find. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER V. 
 1. But of the times and the seasons — It is 
 
 natural to suppose, after what Paul had saiil in the 
 conclusion of the preceding chapter concerning the 
 coining of Christ, the raising of the dead, and ren- 
 dering those immortal who should then be found 
 alive without obliging them to pass through the 
 empire of death, that the Thessalonians would feel 
 an innocent curiosity to know when those things 
 should take place. And it is remarkable that the 
 apostle answers here to these anticipated ques- 
 tions, as our Lord did (Matt, xxiv, 3) to the direct 
 question of his disciples; and he seems to refer 
 in these words, " Of the times and the seasons 
 ye have no need that I write unto you, for your- 
 selves . . . know that the day of the Lord so 
 cometh as a thief in the night," to what our Lord 
 then said. (Matt, xxiv, 44; xxv, 13.) It is very 
 likely, therefore, that the apostle, like our Lord, 
 couples these two grand events — the destruction of 
 Jerusalem and the final judgment. And it appears 
 most probable that it is of the former event 
 chiefly that he speaks here, as it was certainly of 
 the latter that he treated in the conclusion of the 
 preceding chapter. In the notes on Acts i, 6, 1. it 
 lias already been shown that the xpdruvr // natpovc, 
 times or seasons, (the very same terms which are 
 used here,) refer to the destruction of the .Jewish 
 commonwealth; and we may fairly presume that 
 they have the same meaning in this place. 
 
 2. For yourselves know perfectly — [Paul 
 had already, by word of mouth, taught them as 
 much as could be known.] As a thief — [It is 
 both the suddenness and the terrilileness of the 
 day's coming which is here dwelt upon. — Alford.] 
 
 3. For when they shall say, Peace and 
 
 311
 
 . M. 4056. A. D. 52. 
 Year of Rome, SOS. 
 
 I. TIIESSALONIANS. 
 
 them, e as travail upon a woman with child; 
 and they shall not escape. 4 f Bnt ye, breth- 
 ren, are not in darkness, that that day should 
 overtake you as a thief. 5 Ye are all =tlie 
 children of light, and the children of the day: 
 we are not of the night, nor of darkness. 
 <> h Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; 
 but 'let us watch and be sober. 7 For k they 
 that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be 
 
 e Jer. 13. 21 ; Hns. 13. 13. — /Rmn. 13. 12, 13; 1 John 2. 8. 
 
 p Kph. 5. B.—h Matt. 25. 5. — iMsitt. 24. 42; 25. 13; Rom. 13. 
 
 1 1, 12, 13; 1 Pi t. 5. 8. k Luke 21. 34, 36 ; Rom. 13. 13 ; 1 Cor. 15. 
 
 34; Epta. 5. 14. 
 
 safety — This points out, very particularly, the state 
 of the Jewish people when the Romans came 
 against them ; and so fully persuaded were they 
 that God would not deliver the city and temple to 
 their enemies, that they refused every overture that 
 was made to them. Sudden destruction — In the 
 storming of their city, and the burning of their 
 temple, and the massacre of several hundreds of 
 themselves; the rest being sold for slaves, and the 
 whole of them dispersed over the face of the earth, 
 As travail upon a woman — This figure is per- 
 fectly consistent with what the apostle had said 
 before, namely, that "the times and seasons" were 
 not known ; though the thing itself was expected, 
 our Lord having predicted it in the most positive 
 manner. All that was specifically known was this : 
 their destruction was coming, and it should be sud- 
 den, and they should not escape. 
 
 4. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness — 
 Probably St. Paul refers to a notion that was very 
 prevalent among the Jews, namely, that God would 
 judge the Gentiles in the nighttime, when utterly 
 secure and careless ; but he would judge the Jews 
 in the daytime, when employed in reading and per- 
 forming the words of the law. ['Ev ok6tei {in 
 darkness) refers to the ignorance and moral slum- 
 ber of the world which knows not God, . . . Iva, 
 in order that, giving the purpose of the divine ar- 
 rangement ; for with God all results are purposed. 
 -Alford.-] 
 
 5. Ye are all the children of light — Ye are 
 children of God, and enjoy both his "light" and 
 life. Ye are Christians — ye belong to Him who has 
 brought life and immortality to light by His Gos- 
 pel. This dispensation, under which ye are, has 
 illustrated all the preceding dispensations ; in its 
 "light" all is become luminous; and ye, who 
 walked formerly in heathen ignorance, or in the 
 darkness of Jewish prejudices, are now light in the 
 Lord, because ye have believed in him who is the 
 light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory and 
 splendour of his people Israel. We (all Christ- 
 ians) are not of the night, nor of darkness — Our 
 actions are such as we are not afraid to expose them 
 to the fullest and clearest light. Sinners hate the 
 light ; they are enemies to knowledge ; they love 
 '• darkness ;" they will not receive instruction ; and 
 their deeds are such as cannot bear the light. [For 
 Christians the day has already dawned inwardly, 
 though it does not yet prevail without. As chil- 
 dren of light they are now already doing that 
 which shall be their everlasting employment in the 
 day which will make all things manifest. — Lange.] 
 
 0. Let us not sleep, as do others — Let " us " 
 who are of the day — who believe the Gospel and 
 belong' to Christ — not give way to a careless, uncon- 
 cerned state of mind, like to the Gentiles and sin- 
 ners in general, who are stupified and blinded by 
 312 
 
 drunken 'are drunken in the night. 8 But. 
 let us, who are of the day, be sober, m putting 
 on the breastplate of faith and love; and for 
 a helmet, the hope of salvation. 9 For "Cod 
 hath not appointed us to wrath, "but to obtain 
 salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 p Who 
 died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, 
 we should live together with him. 1 1 m Where- 
 fore r comfort yourselves together, and edify 
 
 l Acts 2. 15. »i Isaiah 59. 17 : Eph. 6. 14, 16, 17. n Rom. 
 
 9. 22: chap. 1. Hi; 1 Pet. 2. 8; JuUe 4. »2 Tliess 2. 13, 14. 
 
 /<Rom. 14. 8,9; 2 Cor. 5. 15. ffChap. 4. 18. /Or, 
 
 exhort. 
 
 sin, so that they neither think nor feel ; but live in 
 time as if there were no eternity, no future state of 
 existence, rewards, or punishments. Let us 
 watch — Be always on the alert. And be sober 
 —Making a moderate use of all things. 
 
 f i. For they that sleep — Sleepers and drunk- 
 ards seek the night season; so the careless and the 
 profligate persons indulge their evil propensities, 
 and avoid all means of instruction ; they prefer 
 their ignorance to the word of God's grace, and to 
 the light of life. It was accounted doubly scanda- 
 lous, even among the heathen, to be drunk in the 
 daytime. They who were drunken were drunken 
 in the night. 
 
 8. Putting on the breastplate — We are not 
 only called to work, but we are called also to figlit; 
 ami that we may not be surprised, we must watch; 
 and that we may be in a condition to defend our- 
 selves, we must be sober; and that we may be en- 
 abled to conquer, we must be armed: and what the 
 breastplatt and helmet axe to a soldier's heart and 
 head, such are faith, love, and hope to us. 
 " Faith " enables us to endure, as seeing him who 
 is invisible; "love" excites us to diligenct and ac- 
 tivity, and makes us bear our troubles and difficul- 
 ties pleasantly ; "hope" helps us to anticipate the 
 great end, the glory that shall be revealed, and 
 which we know we shall in due time obtain if we 
 faint not. (See Eph. vi, 13-17.) 
 
 '.'. For God hath not appointed us to wrath 
 — j The divine purpose in the appointments of the 
 Gospel is, that men should be delivered from wrath, 
 (''':'; ',''.) which purpose, however, is conditioned on 
 the faith of those to whom it is offered, and on 
 their diligence in '•fighting the good fight of faith." 
 And to all such as so believe, the appointment is 
 not to wrath, but to salvation, through what Christ 
 has done and suffered for them.] 
 
 10. Who died for us — His death was an aton- 
 ing sacrifice for the Gentiles as well as for the 
 .I<ws. Whether we wake or sleep — Whether 
 we live or die, whether we are in this state or in 
 the other world, we shall live together with him — 
 shall enjoy his life, and the consolations of his 
 Spirit, while here; and shall be glorified together 
 with him in the eternal world. The words show 
 that everywhere and in all circumstances genuine 
 believers, who walk after God, have life and com- 
 munion with him, and are continually happy, and 
 constantly safe. 
 
 11. Comfort . . . one another — Rest assured 
 that in all times and circumstances it shall be well 
 with the righteous ; let every man lay this to heart ; 
 and with this consideration " comfort " and " edify " 
 each other in all trials and difficulties. [Here the 
 work of God and man's doing are intimately con- 
 joined, the former with the latter. By God's ap- 
 pointment Christ died for us, that we might live
 
 The Church exhorted to esteem its 
 ministers, ami to dwell in peace. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 one another, even as also ye do. 12 And 
 we beseech you, brethren, s to know them 
 which labour among you, and are over you 
 in the Lord, and admonish you; 13 And 
 to esteem them very highly in love for their 
 work's sake. ' And be at peace among your- 
 selves. 14 Now we "exhort you, brethren, 
 v warn them that are "unruly, "comfort the 
 feebleminded, y support the weak, z be pa- 
 
 «] Cor. 16. IS; Phil. 2. 29 ; 1 Tim. 5. 17; Heb. 13. 7, 17. 
 
 t Mark !i. 50. >i Or, beseech. »2 Thess. 3. 11, 12. xo Or, 
 
 disorderly. aslleb. 12. 12. yRom. U 1: 15.1; Gal. 6. 
 
 1. 2. z Gal. o. 22 : Eph. 1. 2; Col. 3. 12 : 2 Tim. 4. 2. it Lev. 
 
 19. 18; Prov. 20. 22; 21. 29; Matt. 5. Sit, 44 ; Rom. 12. 17; 1 Cur. 
 
 with him. Through Jesus Christ (by the imme- 
 diate agency of the Holy Spirit) we may, and ought 
 to, make salvation our own. He has (provisionally) 
 accomplished it, and on this foundation alone can 
 there be any mention of our obtaining it. We do 
 not, however, realize its benefits as a matter of 
 course — ex opere operato Jesu Christi, (by the work 
 done by Jesus Christ,) — but only when we allow 
 what he has done for us to work in us. To this 
 end is mutual exhortation directed. — Lange.~\ 
 
 12. Know them — Act kindly toward them; ac- 
 knowledge them as the messengers of Christ ; and 
 treat them with tenderness and respect. This is a 
 frequent meaning of the word yivuoKu. (See on 
 John i, 10.) Them which labour among you 
 — The word KomavTag is the participle of the pres- 
 ent tense, indicating the continuing of the work 
 referred to. Both it and the word izpolaraph>ovg, 
 the superintendents, refer to persons then actually 
 employed in the work of God. These were all ad- 
 monishers, teachers, and instructors of the people, 
 devoting their time and talents to this important 
 work. 
 
 13. Esteem them very highly in love — 
 Christian ministers who preach the whole truth, 
 and labour in the word and doctrine, are entitled 
 to more than respect; the apostle commands them 
 to be esteemed, vTrepeKirepiaoov, abundantly, and 
 superabundantly; and this is to be done "in love; 1 ' 
 and as men delight to serve those whom they love, 
 it necessarily follows that they should provide for 
 them, and see that they want neither the necessaries 
 nor conveniences of life; food, raiment, and lodg- 
 ing for themselves and their household. This they 
 ought to have for their work's sake; those who 
 do not ivork should not eat. As ministers of Christ, 
 such as labour not are unworthy either of respect 
 or support. 
 
 14. Warn them that are unruly — 'At&ktovq, 
 those who are out of their runts, and are neither in 
 a disposition nor situation to perform their duty; 
 those who will not do the work prescribed, and who 
 will meddle with what is not commanded. Com- 
 fort the feebleminded — Tovc bfayoijwxovg, the 
 
 fainthearted; those who are dispirited because 
 of the number of the enemy and their own feeble- 
 ness. Let them know that the battle is not theirs, 
 bur the Lord's ; and that those who trust in him 
 shall conquer. Support the weak — 'AvrixEode 
 tijv aadevuv, shore vp, prop, them that are weak ; 
 strengthen those wings and companies that are 
 likely to be most exposed, that they be not over- 
 powered and broken in the day of battle. Be pa- 
 tient toward all — ManpodvueiTt izpbg iravrag, the 
 disorder///, the feebleminded, and the weak, will ex- 
 ercise your patience and try your temper. We have 
 often seen that the Christian life is compared to a 
 
 tient toward all men. 15 "See that none 
 render evil for evil unto any man ; but ever 
 ''follow that which is good, both among your- 
 selves, and to all men. 1G c Rejoice ever- 
 more. 17 d Pray without ceasing. 18 e In 
 every thing give thanks: for this is the 
 will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. 
 19 f Quench not the Spirit. 20 e Despise 
 not prophesyings. 21 h Prove all things ; ' hold 
 
 6.7; 1 Peter 3. 9. 6Ga!.6.10; chap. 3. 12. c2Cor. 6. 10; 
 
 I'liil. 4. 4. — d Luke 18. 1; 21.36; Rom. 12. 12; Kph. 6. 18: Col. 
 4. 2; 1 Peter 4. :.— «Eph. 5. 20; Cnl. ?,. 17. — ' Eph. I. B0; 
 
 1 Tim. 4. 14: 2 Tim. 1. ti ; see 1 Cor. 14. ?,U. a 1 Cor. 14. 1, 39. 
 
 A I Cor. 2. 11, 15: 1 John 4. 1. i Phil. 4. 8. 
 
 warfare, and that the directions given to soldiers 
 are, allowing for the different systems, suitable to 
 Christians. (See Eph. vi.) The ministers of Christ, 
 being considered as officers, should acquaint them- 
 selves with the officer's duty. He who has the di- 
 rection and management of a Church of God will 
 need all the skill and prudence he can acquire. 
 
 15. See that none render evil for evil — 
 Every temper contrary to love is contrary to Chris- 
 tianity. A peevish, fretful, vindictive man may be 
 a child of Satan, he certainly is not a child of God. 
 Follow that which is good — That by which ye 
 may profit your brethren and your neighbours of 
 every description, whether Jews or Gentiles. 
 
 16. Rejoice evermore — Be always happy; the 
 religion of Christ was intended to remove misery. 
 He that has God for his portion may constantly 
 exult. 
 
 17. Pray without ceasing — Ye are dependent 
 on God for every good ; without him ye can do 
 nothing ; feel that dependence at all times, and ye 
 will always be in the spirit of prayer; and those 
 who feel this spirit will, as frequently as possible, 
 be found in the exercises of prayer. (See Eph. 
 vi, 8 ; Col. iv, 2.) [Cherishing a spirit of prayer, 
 and making devotion the real and true business of 
 life.] 
 
 18. In every thing give thanks — For this 
 reason, that all things work together for good to 
 them that love God; therefore, every occurrence 
 may be a subject of gratitude and thankfulness. 
 While ye live to God, prosperity and adversity will 
 be equally helpful to you. For this is the will 
 of God — That ye should be always happy ; that ye 
 should ever be in the spirit of prayer ; and that ye 
 should profit by every occurrence in life, and be 
 continually grateful and obedient; for gratitude 
 and obedience are inseparably connected. 
 
 19. Quench not the Spirit — The Holy Spirit is 
 represented as a fire, because it is his province to 
 enlighten and quicken the soul ; and to purge, 
 purify, and refine it. This Spirit's fire is repre- 
 sented as being quenc/ied when any act is done, 
 word spoken, or temper indulged, contrary to it. 
 It is love; ami therefore anger, malice, revenge, or 
 any unkind or unholy temper will quench it and 
 destroy its influences. It lias been observed that 
 tin- may be quenched as well by heaping earth on it 
 as by throwing water on it; and so the love of the 
 world will as surely ami effectually grieve and 
 quench the Spirit as an overt act of transgn 
 
 It is not the miraculous gifts of the Spirit which 
 the apostle means, for these were given to few, and 
 not always; and the direction in the texl is general, 
 and refers to a gilt of which they were generally 
 partakers. 
 
 20. Despise not prophesyings — Do not sup. 
 
 3 l :;
 
 I. THESS ALOX LANS. 
 
 The apostle*? coTieIucUn£ charge 
 
 fast that which is good. 22 k Abstain from 
 all appearance of evil. 23 And ' the very God 
 of peace ,n sanctify you wholly; and / pray 
 God your whole spirit and soul and hotly "he 
 preserved blameless unto the coining of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ. 24 ° Faithful is he that 
 
 J- Chap. 4. 12.- 
 1. 8. o\ Cor. 
 
 — / Pliil. 4. 9. vi Chap. 3. 13. n 1 Cor. 
 
 1. 9; 10. 13; 2 Tliess. 3. 3. v Col. 4. 3: 
 
 pose that ye have no need of continual instruction ; 
 without it ye cannot preserve the Christian life nor 
 go on to perfection. God will ever send a message 
 of salvation by each of his ministers to every faith- 
 ful, attentive hearer. They who slight or neglect 
 the means of grace, and especially the preaching of 
 God's holy word, are generally vain, empty, self- 
 conceited people, and exceedingly superficial both 
 in knowledge ami piety. 
 
 21. Prove all things — Whatever ye hear in 
 these " prophesvings " or preachings, examine hy 
 the words of Christ and by the doctrines which, 
 from time to time we have delivered unto you in 
 our preaching and writings. Try the spirits — the 
 different teachers— by the word of God. Hold fast 
 that which is good — Whatever in these proph- 
 esyings is found agreeable to the things you have 
 heard from us and has a tendency to increase 
 your faith, love, holiness, and usefulness, that re- 
 ceive and hold fast. There were prophets or teach- 
 ers even at that time who professed to be of God, 
 and yet were not. 
 
 22. Abstain from all appearance of evil — Sin 
 not, and avoid even the " appearance " of it. Do not 
 drive your morality so near the bounds of evil as to 
 lead even weak persons to believe that ye actually 
 touch, taste, or handle it. Let not the form of it 
 (eidovg) appear with or among you, much less the 
 substance. Ye are called to holiness ; be ye holy, 
 for God is holy. 
 
 23. And the very God of peace — That same 
 God who is the author of "peace," the giver of 
 "peace,'' and who has sent, for the redemption of 
 the world, the Prince of " peace," may that very 
 God sanctify you wholly; leave no more evil in 
 your hearts than his precepts tolerate evil in your 
 conduct. The word " wholly " (oAoretaZc) humus 
 precisely the same as our phrase to all intents and 
 purposes. May he sanctify you to the end and to 
 the uttermost, that, "as sin hath reigned unto 
 death, even so may grace reign through righteous- 
 ness unto eternal life, by Jesus Christ our Lord." 
 Your whole spirit and soul and body — Some 
 think that the apostle alludes to the Pythagorean 
 and Platonic doctrine, which was acknowledged 
 among the Thessalonians. I should rather believe 
 that lie refers simply to the fact that the creatine 
 called man. is a compound being, consisting, 1) Of 
 a body, (pufia,) an organized system composed of 
 bones, muscles, and nerves ; of arteries, veins, and 
 a variety of other vessels, in which the blood and 
 other fluids circulate. 2) Of a soul, (ipi'xh,) which 
 is [the animal life-principle,] the seat of the affec- 
 tions and passions and appetites. o) Of spirit, 
 (ttvi i uti,) [tlie rational soul,] the immortal principle, 
 which aione possesses the faculty of intelligence, 
 understanding, thinking, and reasoning. The apos- 
 tle prays that this compound being, in all its parts, 
 powers, and faculties, which he terms 6'Aok/ rjpov, 
 their whole, comprehending all parts, every thing 
 that constitutes man and manhood, may be sancti- 
 
 314 
 
 calleth you, who also will do it. 25 Breth- 
 ren, r pray for us. 26 i Greet all the brethren 
 with a holy kiss. 27 I r charge you hy the 
 Lord, that s this epistle be read unto all the 
 holy brethren. 28 ' The grace of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ be with you. Amen. 
 
 2Tliess. 3. 1 <?Rnin.l6. Ifi. rOr, adjure. sCol.4 16; 
 
 2 Thess. 3. 14. 1 Hon). Hi. 2(1,24; 2 Thess. 3. 18. 
 
 finl and preserved blameless till the coming of 
 'Christ. 
 
 24. Faithful is he that calleth you — In a 
 great variety of places in his word God has prom- 
 ised to sanctify his followers, and his faithfulness 
 assures us that he will fulfil his promises. He 
 who believes will find this thing also possible to 
 him. 
 
 25. Pray for us— Even apostles, while acting 
 under an extraordinary mission, and enjoying the 
 inspirations of the Holy Ghost, felt the necessity of 
 the prayers of the faithful. God requires that his 
 people should pray for his ministers ; and it is not 
 to be wondered at if they who pray not for their 
 preachers should receive no benefit from their 
 teaching. How can they expect God to send a 
 message by him for whom they, who are the most 
 interested, have not prayed? 
 
 26. Greet all the brethren — See on Rom. 
 xvi, 16. 
 
 27. I charge you by the Lord, that this 
 epistle be read — This may refer to the small- 
 er Churches contiguous to Thessalonica, or the 
 Churches in Macedonia in general, whom he wished 
 to hear it, as well as those to whom it was more 
 immediately directed. There is no doubt that the 
 apostles designed that their epistles should be 
 copied, and sent to all the Churches in the vicinity 
 of that to which they were directed. Had this not 
 been the case, a great number of Churches would 
 have known scarcely anything of the New Testament. 
 As every Jewish synagogue had a copy of the law and 
 the prophets, so every Christian church had a copy 
 of the gospels and the epistles, which were daily, or at 
 least every sabbath, read for the instruction of the 
 people. This the apostle deemed so necessary, that 
 he adjured them by the Lord to read this epistle to 
 all the brethren ; that is, to all the Christians in 
 that district. Other Churches might get copies of 
 it; and thus, no doubt, it soon became general. In 
 this way other parts of the sacred writings were 
 disseminated through all the Churches of the Gen- 
 tiles ; and the errors of the different scribes em- 
 ployed to take copies, constituted what are now 
 called the various readings. 
 
 28. The grace of our Lord Jesus — As the 
 epistle began so it ends ; for the grace of Christ 
 must be at the beginning and end of every work, in 
 order to complete it, and bring it to good effect, 
 Amen — This is wanting in many MSS. It was 
 probably not written by St. Paul. The stebscrip- 
 tions are, as in other cases, various and contradictory, 
 and of no value either doctrinally or historically. 
 That the epistle was not sent by either Silvanus or 
 Timothy is evident enough, for St. Paul associates 
 these two with himself in directing it to the Thes- 
 salonian Church. Others, however, say that it was 
 sent by Tychicus and Onesimus, but this also is 
 absurd. That it was written by St. Paul there is 
 no doubt ; and also that it was written at Corinth. 
 (See Preface.)
 
 PREFACE TO THE SECOND EPISTLE 
 
 TO 
 
 THE THESSALONIASTS. 
 
 ITS HISTORY AND OCCASION. 
 rpiIE time of writing this second epistle seems to have been less than a year 
 J-- after the date of the former one. It appears that the person who carried the 
 first epistle returned speedily to Corinth, and gave the apostle a particular account 
 of the state of the Thessalonian Church; and. among other things, informed him that 
 many were in expectation of the speedy coming of the Lord; and that they inferred 
 from his epistle already sent, (chapter iv, 15, 17, and v, 4, 6,) that it was to take 
 place while the apostle and themselves should be yet alive. And it appears 
 probable, from some parts of this epistle, that he was informed also that some, 
 expecting this sudden appearance of the Lord Jesus, had given up all their secu- 
 lar concerns as inconsistent with a due preparation for such an important and 
 awful event. (See chap, iii, 6-13.) To correct such a misapprehension, and redeem 
 them from an error which, if appearing to rest on the authority of an apostle, must 
 in its issue be ruinous to the cause of Christianity, Paul would feel himself 
 constrained to write immediately; and this is a sufficient reason why these two 
 epistles should appear to have been written at so short a distance from each other. 
 What rendered this speedy intervention of the apostle's authority and direction 
 the more necessary was, that there appear to have been some in that Church who 
 professed to have a revelation concerning this thing, and to have endeavoured to 
 confirm it by a pretended report from the apostle himself, and from the words 
 already referred to in the form < r </>i*tle. Hence he writes, "We beseech you, 
 brethren, be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by 
 word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand." As the 
 apostle, in this epistle, (chapter iii, 2,) entreats the Thessalonians to pray the Lord 
 that he and his companions might be delivered from unreasonable and wicked m< n, 
 Dr. Macknight supposes that the epistle was written soon after the insurrection 
 of the Jews at Corinth, in which they dragged Paul before Gallio, the proconsul 
 of Achaia, and accused him of persuading men to worship God contrary to the 
 law. (Acts xviii, 13.) This argument places it also in the year 52, or 53, in the 
 twelfth or thirteenth of Claudius, the successor of Caius. 
 
 ITS GENUINENESS. 
 
 With respect to the external attestation of Christian antiquity the authenticity 
 of this epistle is completely unassailable. It is quoted or referred to by Polycarpj 
 Justin Martyr, IrenaBUS, Clement Alexandrinus, and Tertullian ; is found in the 
 
 315
 
 PREFACE TO THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE TI1ESSALONIANS. 
 
 canon of Muratori, and the Pe.shito, and is accepted by Mareion. Doubt from 
 internal grounds did not arise until the beginning of the nineteenth century. 
 The first to object to this epistle was Christian Schmidt, (1801,) who calls in ques- 
 tion the authenticity of the whole epistle, and considers it a later production. 
 De Wette at first assented to Schmidt's objections, but in the later editions of his 
 Introduction to the New Testament he withdrew his assent. These objections 
 were ably and successfully contested by Winer, Engelhardt, and others. In 
 more recent times objections have also been suggested, among others, by Schrader 
 and Baur and Kern, chiefly on internal evidence, and especially because this epis- 
 tle appears to contradict Paul's doctrine of the second coming of Christ, as found 
 in the first epistle, and also as evidently referring to heresies that did not appear 
 till the second century — objections that are very easily responded to by those 
 who maintain the Pauline authorship of the second epistle. The minute differ- 
 ences of style and of expressions between the two epistles are certainly not 
 greater than between Ephesians and Colossians, or Romans and Galatians. After 
 conceding the whole force of the objections offered, if brought together they 
 mutually destroy each other, and many of them fall to pieces of their own weight, 
 and the verdict of antiquity remains unchanged. See Luneman.y. (See "Addi- 
 tional Note " at the end of the epistle.) 
 
 ITS STYLE. 
 
 [The style of this epistle, like that of the first, is eminently Pauline. In a 
 fresh and vigorous style there will ever be, so to speak, librations over any rigid 
 limits of habitude which can be assigned ; and such are to be judged of, not by 
 their mere occurrence and number, but by their subjective character, being or 
 not being in accordance with the writer's well-known characteristics. Professor 
 Jowett has treated, one by one, the supposed inconsistencies with Pauline usage, 
 and shown that there is no real difficulty in supposing any of the expressions to 
 have been used by St. Paul. He has also collected a very much larger number 
 of resemblances in manner and phraseology to the apostle's other writings. The 
 careful student will be able to mark all these for himself, and to convince him- 
 self that the style of this epistle is so closely related to that of the rest (of the 
 apostle's writings) as to show that the same mind was employed in the choice of 
 the words and the construction of the sentences. The prophetic section of the 
 epistle, (chapter ii, 1-12,) as it is distinguished from the rest in subject, so differs 
 in style, being, as is usual with the more solemn and declaratory paragraphs of 
 St. Paul, loftier in diction and more abrupt and elliptical in construction. The 
 passage in question will, however, be found on comparison to bear, in style and 
 flow of sentences, a close resemblance to the denunciatory and prophetic portions 
 
 of the other epistles. — Alfortl] 
 316
 
 THE SECOND EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE 
 
 TO 
 
 THE THESSALOKEANS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAUL, a and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto 
 the church of the Theasalonians L in 
 God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: 
 2 e Grace unto you, and peace, from God our 
 Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3 d We 
 are bound to thank God always for you, breth- 
 ren, as it is meet, because that your faith 
 groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every 
 one of you all toward each other aboundeth ; 
 
 «2 Cor. 1. 10. b\ Thess. 1. 1. el Cor. 1. 3. (1 1 Thess. 
 
 1. % 3; 3. 6, 9; ch;ip. 2. 13. e2 Cor. 7. 14; 9. 2; 1 Thess. 2. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER 1. 
 
 1. Paul, and Silvanus, etc. — See the notes on 
 1 Thess. i, 1. This epistle was written a short time 
 after the former; and as Silas and Timothy were 
 still at Corinth, the apostle joins their names with 
 his own, as in the former case. 
 
 2. Grace unto you, etc. — [The usual apostolic 
 salutation. See 1 Cor. i. 3 ; 2 Cor. i, 2 ; Gal. i, 3 ; 
 Eph. i, 2 ; Phil, i, 2 ; Col. i, 2 ; 1 Thess. i, ] ; 
 1 Tim. i. 2.] 
 
 3. Your faith groweth exceedingly — The 
 word i'TTKpav^avEL signifies grows luxuriantly, as a 
 good and healthy tree planted in a good soil ; and, 
 if a fruit tree, bearing an abundance of fruit. 
 Faith is one of the seeds of the kingdom ; this the 
 apostle had sowed and watered, and God gave an 
 abundant increase. Their faith was multiplied, and 
 their love abounded; and this was not the case 
 with some distinguished characters only, it was the 
 case with even/ one of them. 
 
 4. We ourselves glory in you in the 
 churches of God — We hold yon up as an ex- 
 ample of what the grace of God can produce when 
 communicated to honest and faithful hearts. For 
 your patience and faith — From Acts xvii, 5, 13, 
 and from 1 Thess. ii, 14, we learn that the people 
 of Thessalonica had suffered much persecution, 
 from both the Jews and their own countrymen ; 
 but being thoroughly convinced of the truth of the 
 Gospel, and feeling it to be the power of God unto 
 salvation, no persecution could turn them aside 
 from it. And having suffered for the truth, it 
 was precious to them. Persecution never essen- 
 tially injured the genuine Church of God. 
 
 o. A manifest token of the righteous judg- 
 ment of God — They who enter into the kingdom 
 of God go through great tribulation, (Rev. vii, 14;) 
 your going through that tribulation is a proof that 
 ye are entering in; and God sees it right and jiist 
 
 4 So that e we ourselves glory in y6n in tbe 
 churches of Cod, f for your patience and faith 
 sin all your persecutions and tribulations that 
 ye endure: 5 Which is h a manifest token of 
 the righteous judgment of God. that ye may 
 be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, 
 'for which ye also suffer: 6 k Seeing it is a 
 righteous thing with God to recompense trib- 
 ulation to them that trouble you ; 7 And 
 to you who are troubled 'rest with us, when 
 
 19,20. /] Thess. 1. 3. g\ Thess. 2. 14. hVhW. I. 28. 
 
 i 1 Thess. 2. 14. k Rev. 6. 10. / Rev. 14. 13. 
 
 that ye should be permitted to suffer before ye 
 enjoy that endless felicity. (Rom. v, 3-5.) The 
 words, however, may he understood in another 
 sense, and will form this maxim: "The sufferings 
 of the just and the triumphs of the wicked in 
 this life are a sure proof that there will lie a 
 future judgment, in which the wicked shall be 
 punished and the righteous rewarded." This 
 maxim is not only true in itself, but it is most 
 likely that this is the apostle's meaning. ["EvcJety/wz, 
 a token. What they had suffered, and the spirit 
 with which they accepted their lot, indicated their 
 gracious relations to God in r^c dtKaiag K/iianur — Ins 
 righteous dispensations in ordering their affairs. 
 To suffer persecution for righteousness' sake is a 
 sign of discipleship, and therefore a cause for re- 
 joicing. (See Matt, v, 11, 12.)] That ye may 
 be counted worthy — [Etc to KaTagiudijvai, in 
 order to the being accounted worthy, not as having 
 iix rited " the kingdom of God," but being prepared 
 to receive its glorious compensations.] (Col. i, ] 2 ; 
 Rev. iii, 4.) Tour patient endurance of these 
 sufferings is a proof that ye are rendered meet for 
 that glory on account of which ye suffer, and. in a 
 true Gospel sense of the word, worthy of that 
 glory ; for he who is a child of God, and a partaker 
 of the divine nature, is worthy of God's kingdom, 
 because he bears the image of God ; and the image 
 is that which indicates fitness. 
 
 6. Seeing it is a righteous thing — [laterally, 
 since God is just to return affliction to those who 
 afflict you.] Though, as to the full and linal com- 
 pensation, God neither rewards nor punishes in 
 this life, yet he often gives proofs of his displeas- 
 ure, especially against those who persecute his fol- 
 lowers. 
 
 7. And to you who are troubled, rest with 
 US — And while they have tribulation, you shall 
 have that eternal " rest " which remains for the 
 
 317
 
 II. THESSALONIANS. 
 
 171 the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven 
 with "his mighty angels, 8 "In flaming tire 
 Ptaking vengeance on them i that know not 
 God, and 'that obey not the gospel of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ : 9 s Who shall be punished 
 with everlasting destruction from the presence 
 of the Lord, and 'from the glory of his power; 
 10 " When he shall come to be glorified in Ins 
 saints, T and to be admired in all them that be- 
 
 m\ Thess. 4. 1H: Jade 14. » Gr. the angels of his poicer. 
 
 o Hel>. in. 27; 12. lM; 2 Peter 3. 7; Rev. 21. 8. p Or, yield- 
 ing. q Psa. 79. B: 1 Thess. 4. 5. r Uom. 2. 8. * Phil. 3. 
 
 people of God. When the Lord Jesus shall be 
 revealed— ['Ev r\\ aKOKCik'vipEi, at the revelation, or 
 manifestation. Not now, but at some future time, 
 shall this rectification of affairs, and the dispensa- 
 tion of righteous awards, be made.] With his 
 mighty angels— The coming of the Lord Jesus to 
 judge the world is often spoken of in the sacred 
 writings without mentioning the holy angels who 
 are to accompany him, and to form his court or 
 retinue. (See Deut. xxxiii, 2 ; Matt, xxv, 31 ; xvi, 
 27 ; xxvi, 64 ; Mark viii, 38.) 
 
 8. In flaming fire — 'Ev rrvpl (pTioyor, in fire of 
 flame. Taking vengeance — Inflicting just pun- 
 ishment on them that know not God, (John 
 xvii, 3,) will not acknowledge him, and on them 
 that obey not the gospel, who reject the Gos- 
 pel ; all nominal Christians who, though they con 
 less the Gospel to be a revelation from God yet do 
 not yield themselves to its power, nor " obey " it 
 as a rule of life. 
 
 9. Who shall be punished with everlasting 
 destruction — What this consists in we cannot 
 tell. It is not annihilation, for their being con- 
 tinues ; and as the destruction is '"everlasting," it 
 is an eternal continuance and presence of substantial 
 evil and absence of all good; for the most terri- 
 ble part of this punishment consists in being ban- 
 ished from the presence of the Lord — excluded 
 from his approbation for ever ; so that the light of 
 his countenance can lie no more enjoyed, as there 
 will be an eternal impossibility of ever being rec- 
 onciled to him. The glory of his power — Never 
 to see the face of God throughout eternity is a 
 heartrending, soul-appalling thought ; and to be 
 banished from the '' glory of his power " — that 
 power the glory of which is peculiarly manifested 
 in saving the lost and glorifying the faithful — is 
 what cannot be reflected on without confusion and 
 dismay. But this must be the lot of all who ac- 
 knowledge not God, " and obey not the Gospel of 
 our Lord Jesus Christ." 
 
 10. When he shall come to be glorified in 
 his saints — As the grace of God is glorified in 
 saving sinners and making them into saints, this 
 gracious power will be particularly manifested in 
 the great day, when countless millions will ap- 
 pear before that throne who have come out of great 
 tribulation, and have washed their robes and made 
 them white in the blood of the Lamb. And to be 
 admired — QavuaaBFjvai, to be wondered at (with 
 exultant praise) among ami on the account of all 
 them that believe. .Much as true believers ad- 
 mire the perfections of the Redeemer of mankind, 
 and much as they wonder at his amazing conde- 
 scension iu becoming man and dying for the sins 
 of the world, all their present amazement and 
 wonder will lie as nothing when compared with 
 what they shall feel when they come to see him in 
 all his glory — the glory that he had with the Father 
 
 318 
 
 lieve (because our testimony among you was 
 believed) in that day. 11 Wherefore also we 
 pray always for you, that our God would 
 " » count yon worthy of this calling, and fulfil 
 all the good pleasure of his goodness, and 'the 
 work of faith with power: 12 z That the 
 name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified 
 in yon, and ye in him, according to the grace 
 of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 19 ; 2 Peter :!. 7. 1 Dent. 33. 2 : Isa. 2. 19 : chap. 2- 8. u Psa. 
 
 89. 7. /■ Psa. lis. 35. ir Or, vouchnuj'e. a 1 Verse 5. 
 
 1/ 1 Thess. 1. 3. z\ Peter 1. 7; 4. 14. 
 
 before the world was. (John xvii, 24.) In refer- 
 ence to this we may apply those words of )-!t. John : 
 " Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth 
 not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, 
 when he shall appear, we shall be like him ; tor we 
 shall see him as he is." (1 John iii, 2.) Because 
 our testimony . . . was believed in that day 
 — [This is added for the comfort of the Thessalo- 
 nians, as it included them in the number of ihose 
 who should admire their coming Lord. The phrase, 
 "in that day," iv rij fifispa EKeivri, belongs to brav 
 hWn, when he shaH hare come. See Meyer.] The 
 Thessalonians had credited what the apostles had 
 said and written, not only concerning Jesus Christ 
 in general, but concerning the day of his coming in 
 particular. 
 
 11. We pray . . . that our God would 
 count you worthy — It is our earnest prayer that 
 God would make you worthy, a^iuay ; afford those 
 continual supplies of grace by his Holy Spirit, 
 without which you cannot adorn your holy voca- 
 tion ; and this being counted " worthy " implies that 
 you should lie holy, as He who has called you is 
 holy. Fulfil all the good pleasure of his good- 
 ness — 1) The "goodness " of God — his essential and 
 eternal kindness, has led him to call you into this 
 state of salvation. 2) It is the "pleasure" of that 
 "goodness " to save you unto eternal life. 3) It is 
 the "good pleasure;" nothing can please God 
 more than your receiving and retaining his utmost 
 salvation. 4) It is " all " the good pleasure of his 
 goodness thus to save you; this he has amply 
 proved by sending his Son to die for you, beyond 
 V)hich gift he has none greater. In this "all the 
 good pleasure of his goodness " (his beneficence and 
 divine charity) is astonishingly manifested. 5) And 
 if you be faithful to his grace, he will "fulfil" — 
 completely accomplish — all the good pleasure of his 
 goodness in you ; which goodness is to be appre- 
 hended and is to work by faith, the power of which 
 must come from him, though the aet or exercise of 
 that power must be of yourselves ; but the very 
 power to believe affords incitement to the exer- 
 cise of faith. 
 
 12. That the name of our Lord — This is the 
 great end of your Christian calling, that Jesus who 
 hath died for you may have his passion and death 
 magnified in your life and happiness ; that ye may 
 show forth the virtues of him who called you from 
 darkness into his marvellous light. And ye in 
 him — That his glorious excellence may be seen 
 upon you; that ye may be adorned with the graces 
 of his Spirit, as he is glorified by your salvation 
 from all sin. According to the grace — That 
 your salvation may be such as God requires, and 
 such as is worthy of his grace to communicate. 
 God saves as it becomes God to save; and thus the 
 dignity of his nature is seen in the excellence and 
 glory of his work.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 A. M. 4066. A. P. 5?. 
 Year of Rome, mi:,. 
 
 CHAPTER IT. 
 
 NOW we beseech yon, brethren, "by the 
 coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, ' and by 
 our gathering together unto him, "2 c That ye 
 be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, 
 
 a 1 Th.-ss. 4. 16. b Matt. '24. 31 ; Mark 13. '27 : 1 Thess. 4. 17. 
 
 c Matt. 24. 4; E]ih. 5. 6; 1 John 4. 1. 
 
 1. It is an awful consideration to the people of 
 the world that persecutions and afflictions should 
 be the lot of the true Church, and should be the 
 proof of its being such ; because this shows more 
 than any thing else the desperate state of man- 
 kind, their total enmity to God; they persecute, 
 not because the followers of God have done or can 
 do them hurt, but they persecute because they 
 have not the Spirit of Christ in them ! Men may 
 amuse themselves by arguing against the doctrine 
 of original sin, or the total depravity of the soul of 
 man ; but while there is religious persecution in 
 the world, there is most absolute disproof of all 
 their arguments. Nothing but a heart wholly 
 alienated from God could ever devise the persecu- 
 tion or maltreatment of a man for no other cause 
 but that he has given himself up to glorify God 
 with his body and spirit, which are his. 
 
 2. The everlasting destruction of the ungodly is 
 a subject that should be continually placed lief ore 
 the eyes of men by the preachers of the Gospel. 
 How shall a man he induced to take measures to 
 escape a danger of the existence of which he is not 
 convinced? Show him the hell which the justice 
 of God has lighted up for the devil and his angels, 
 and in which all Satan's children and followers 
 must have their eternal portion. All the perfec- 
 tions of God require that he should render to every 
 man his due. And what is the due of a sinner or 
 a persecutor, of one who is a determined enemy to 
 God, goodness, and good men ? Why, everlasting 
 destruction from the presence of the Lord and the 
 glory of his power. And if God did not award 
 this to such persons, he would not be just. 
 
 3. The grand object of God in giving his Gospel 
 to mankind is, to save them from their sins, make 
 them like himself, and take them to his eternal 
 glory. He saves according to the measure of his 
 eternal goodness ; the scanty salvation contended 
 for and expected by the generality of Christians it 
 would be dishonourable to God to administer. lie 
 saves according to his grace. His own eternal 
 goodness and holiness is the measure of his salva- 
 tion to man ; not the creeds and expectations of 
 any class of Christians. To be saved at all, we 
 must not oidy be saved in God's way, and upon his 
 own terms, but also according to his own measure. 
 He who is not filled with the fulness of God can- 
 not expect the glory of God. 
 
 4. Another proof of the fall and degeneracy of 
 men is, their general enmity to the doctrine of 
 holiness; they cannot bear the thought of being 
 sanctified throughout body, soul, and spirit, so as to 
 perfect holiness in the fear of God. Accordingly, 
 a spurious kind of Christianity largely prevails in 
 the world. Weakness, doubtfulness, littleness of 
 faith, confessed and tolerated inward corruptions, 
 and sinful infirmities, are considered as compatible 
 with a gracious state, rather than as evidences that 
 the persons in question have received just light 
 enough to show them their wretchedness and 
 danger, but not sufficient to lead them to the heal- 
 ing virtue of the blood of Christ. 
 
 neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as 
 from us, as that: the day of Christ is at hand. 
 3 d Let no man deceive you by any means: 
 for that day shall not come, ''except there 
 come a falling away first, and f that man of sin 
 
 (/Matt. 24. 4: Kpli. 5. K. el Tim. 4 1.- 
 
 1 John 2. 18; Rev. 13. 11, etc. 
 
 -/Dan. 7. 25; 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER II. 
 
 1. We beseech you ... by the coming of 
 our Lord — It is evident that the Thessalonians, 
 
 incited I >y deceived or false teachers, had taken a 
 wrong meaning out of the words of the first epis- 
 tle (chapter iv, 15, etc.) concerning the day of 
 judgment ; and were led thence to conclude that 
 that day was at hand; and this had produced great 
 confusion in the Church. To correct tins mistake 
 the apostle sent them this second letter, in which 
 he shows that this day must be necessarily distant, 
 because a great work is to be done previously to 
 its appearing. Of the day of the general judgment 
 he had spoken before, and said that it should 
 "come as a thief in the night," that is, when not 
 expected; but he did not attempt to fix the time, 
 nor did he insinuate that it was either near at hand 
 or far off. Now, however, he shows that it must 
 necessarily lie far off, because of the great trans- 
 actions which must take place before it can come. 
 
 2. Be not soon shaken in mind — 'Airb rov 
 vobc, from the mind ; that is, that they should re- 
 tain the persuasion they had of the truths which 
 he had before delivered to them ; that they should 
 still hold the same opinions, and hold fast the doc- 
 trines which they had been taught. Neither by 
 spirit — Any pretended revelation. Nor by ■word 
 — Any thing which any person may profess to have 
 heard the apostle speak. Nor by letter — Either 
 the former one which he had sent, some passages 
 of which had been misconceived and miscon- 
 strued, or by any other letter, as from us — pie- 
 tending to have been written by us, the apostles, 
 containing predictions of this kind. There is a 
 diversity of opinion among critics concerning this 
 last clause, some supposing that it refers simply to 
 the first epistle; others supposing that a. forged 
 epistle is intended. I have joined the two senses. 
 The word oalevOi/vat, to be shaken, signifies to be 
 agitated as a ship at sea in a storm, and strongly 
 marks the confusion and distress which the Thes- 
 salonians had felt in their false apprehension of 
 this coming of Christ. As that the day of 
 Christ is at hand — See the "Additional Note" 
 at the end of this epistle for the meaning of the 
 phrase the coming of Christ. Now the question 
 is : Whether does the apostle mean, the coming of 
 Christ to execute judgment upon the Jews, and de- 
 stroy their polity, or his coming at the end of time 
 to judge the world? There are certainly many ex- 
 pressions in the following verses that may be ap- 
 plied indifferently to either, and some seem to ap- 
 ply to the one and not to the other; and yet the 
 whole can scarcely be so interpreted as to suit any 
 out id' these comings exclusively. 
 
 3. Except there come a falling away first — 
 ' Airoaraaia, apostasy; a. dereliction of tin essential 
 principles of religious truth — either a total aban- 
 donment of Christianity itself, or such a corruption 
 of its doctrines as renders the whole system com- 
 pletely inefficient to salvation. But what this 
 apostasy means is a question which has not yet, 
 and perhaps never will be, answered to general 
 
 819
 
 IT. TIIESSALOXIANS. 
 
 rption of the man of s 
 and 1 1 i ^ tloiugs. 
 
 be revealed, ethe son of perdition; 4 Who 
 opposeth and h exalteth himself 'above all that 
 is called God, or that is worshipped; so that 
 he as God sitteth in the temple of God, show- 
 ing himself that he is God. 5 Remember ye 
 not, that, when 1 was yet with you, 1 told you 
 these things? 6 And now ye know what 
 k withholdeth that lie might be revealed in his 
 time. 7 For ' the mystery of iniquity doth 
 already work: only he who now letteth will 
 let, until he be taken out of the way. 8 And 
 
 (/.Tulm 17. 12. ATsa. 14. 13; Ezek. 28. 2, 6, 9s Dan. 7. 25; 
 
 11 36; Rev. 13. fi. i\ Cor. 8 5. fcOr, holdeth. / 1 John 
 
 2 IS: 4 3 — m Dan. 7. 1", 11. rajob 4. 9; Isa. 11. 4; Hosea 
 
 t>. 5; Revr. 2. It5; 19. 15,20,21. 
 
 satisfaction. At present I shall content myself 
 with making a few literal remarks on this obscure 
 prophecy, and afterward give the opinions of 
 learned men on its principal parts. That man 
 of sin — '0 avdpuiroc ttjq diiapriac, the perverse, ob- 
 stinate, and iniquitous man. It is worthy of re- 
 mark, that among the rabbins Samael, or the devil, 
 is called the man of Belial, and the man of iniq- 
 uity ; and that these titles are given to Adam after 
 his fall. The son of perdition — '0 viog ttjc utu- 
 '/■ lag, the son of destruction; the same epithet that 
 is given to Judas Iscariot in John xvii, 12. " Tlie 
 son of perdition," and the " man of sin," or, as 
 some excellent MSS. and Versions, with several of 
 the Fathers, read, the lawless man, (see verse 8,) 
 must mean the same person or thing. 
 
 4. Who opposeth and exalteth — He stands 
 against and exalts himself above all divine author- 
 ity, and above every object of adoration, and every 
 institution relative to divine worship, ff&(Sao/M, 
 himself, being the source whence must originate 
 all the doctrines of religion, and all its rites and 
 ceremonies ; so that sitting in the temple of God 
 — having the highest place and authority in the 
 Christian Church, he acts as God — taking upon 
 himself God's titles and attributes, and arrogat- 
 ing to himself the authority that belongs to the 
 Most High. [In the colours of his own time Paul 
 depicts an act which, as a symbol of permanent 
 spiritual significance, is confined to no locality, and 
 means to say: He places himself in God's room, 
 and forces himself on mankind as a divine ruler. — 
 Langei\ The words lot; Qeuv, as God, are wanting 
 in nearly all the best MSS. 
 
 5. I told you these things — [Literally, Do ye 
 not rememb r that, being yet with yon, I told yon 
 these things?] [Reminding them, with some de- 
 gree of implied blame, of the definite oral commu- 
 nications which had been made to them during the 
 apostle's first visit. — Ellicottl\ In several parts of 
 this description of the "man of sin," the apostle 
 alludes to a conversation which had taken place 
 between him and the membersof this Church when 
 he was at Thessalonica ; and this one circumstance 
 will account for much of the obscurity that is in 
 these verses. Besides, the apostle appears to speak 
 with great oaution, and does not at all wish to pub- 
 lish what he had communicated to them ; the hints 
 which he drops were sufficient to call the whole to 
 their remembrance. 
 
 6. And now ye know what withholdeth — 
 [To K.arkx ov i the hinder an ce; I told you this among 
 other things ; I informed you what it was that pre- 
 vented this man of sin, this son of perdition, from 
 revealing himself fully. [It is difficult to decide 
 whether this hinderance was against the " man of 
 
 320 
 
 then shall that Wicked be revealed, m whom 
 the Lord shall consume "with the spirit of his 
 mouth, and shall destroy "with the bright- 
 ness of his comiug : i} Even him, whose com- 
 ing is rafter the working of Satan with ;ill 
 power and i signs and lying wonders. 10 And 
 with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in 
 'them that perish; because they receive not 
 the love of the truth, that they might be 
 saved. 11 And "for this cause God shall 
 send them strong delusion, 'that they should 
 
 o Chap. 1. 8, 9; Heb. 10. '27. V John 8. 41 : Eph. 2. 2: Rev. 
 
 18. 23. Q See Deut. 13. 1 ; Malt. 24. 24 ; Rev. 13. 13; 19. 20. 
 
 r2.Coi\ 2. 15; 4.3. sliom. 1.24, etc. ; see 1 Kings 22. 22; Ezek. 
 
 14. 9. matt. 24. 5, 11; 1 Tim. 4. 1. 
 
 sin," or the apostle. Both views are held by 
 learned and able authorities.] 
 
 7. For the mystery of iniquity doth already 
 work — There is a system of corrupt doctrine, 
 which will lead to the general apostasy already in 
 existence, but it is a "mystery;" it is as yet 
 hidden ; it dare not show itself, because of that 
 which hindereth or withholdeth. But when that 
 which now restraineth shall be taken out of the 
 way, then shall that wicked one be revealed — it 
 will then be manifest who he is, and what he is. 
 
 8. Whom the Lord shall consume — He shall 
 blast him so that he shall wither and die away ; 
 and this shall be done by the spirit of his mouth 
 — the words of eternal life, the true doctrine of tin 
 Gospel of Jesus. This shall be the instrument used 
 to destroy this man of sin : therefore it is evident 
 his death will not be a sudden but a gradual one ; 
 because it is by the preaching of the truth that he 
 is to be exposed, overthrown, and finally destroyed. 
 The brightness of his coming — This may refer 
 to that full manifestation of the truth which had 
 been obscured and kept under by the exaltation of 
 this man of sin. 
 
 9. Whose coming is after the wo- king cf 
 Satan — The operation of God's Spirit sends his 
 messengers ; the operation of Satan's spirit sends 
 his emissaries. The one comes icar' kv'epyeiav tov 
 Qeov, after or according to tin- energy or inward 
 powerful working of God; the other comes nar" 
 kvepyeiav rov Zqrava, according to the energy or 
 inward working of Satan. With all power — T> 
 iraai) dwa/iet ; all kinds of miracles, like the Egyp- 
 tian magicians. And signs and lying wonders — 
 The word " lying " may be applied to the whole of 
 these ; they were lying miracles, lying signs, and 
 lying wonders ; only appearances of what was real, 
 and done to give credit to his presumption and im- 
 posture. Whereas God sent his messengers with 
 real miracles, real, signs, and real wonders; such 
 Satan cannot produce. 
 
 10. And with all deceivableness of un- 
 righteousness — With every art that cunning can 
 invent and unrighteousness suggest, in order to de- 
 lude and deceive. In them that perish — 'Ev 
 to'ic a-ii/'/ eii: fine \ among them that are destroyed ; 
 and they are destroyed and perish because they 
 ■would not receive the love of the truth, that 
 they might be saved. This has been true of all 
 the Jews from the days of the apostles until now. 
 
 11. God shall send them strong delusion — 
 For this very cause, that they would not receive 
 "the love of the truth," but had pleasure in un- 
 righteousness, therefore God permits "strong delu- 
 sion" to occupy their minds ; so that they believe a 
 lie rather than the truth ; prefer false apostles and
 
 •uil exhorts the ThessaU.nisi 
 to hold fast his teachings. 
 
 CHAPTER IT. 
 
 1. M. 405(5. A. D. 52. 
 Year of Rome, 805. 
 
 believe a lie: 12 That they all might be 
 damned who believed not the truth, but "had 
 pleasure in unrighteousness. 13 But ' we are 
 bound to give thanks always to God for you, 
 brethren beloved of the Lord, because God 
 v hath "from the beginning chosen you to sal- 
 vation J through sanctilication of the Spirit and 
 belief of the truth: 14 Whereunto he called 
 you by our gospel, to 'the obtaining of the 
 
 ii Rom. 1. 32. »Chap. 1. 3. 
 
 1. 4. ?/Luke 1. 75; 1 Pet. 1. 2 
 
 12: 1 Pet. 5. 10. 
 
 w 1 Thess. 1. 4. — x Epta. 
 
 -z John 17. 22: 1 Thess. 2. 
 
 their erroneous doctrines to the pure truths of the 
 Gospel, brought to them by the well-accredited 
 messengers of God ; being ever ready to receive any 
 false Messiah, while they systematically and viru- 
 lently reject the true one. 
 
 12. That they all might be damned — "Iva 
 Kpiduat, so that they may all be condemned who bc- 
 lieved not the truth when it was proclaimed to 
 them ; but took pleasure in unrighteousness, pre- 
 ferring that to the way of holiness. Their con- 
 demnation was the effect of their refusal to believe 
 the truth; and they refused to believe it because 
 they loved their sins. (For a further and more 
 pointed illustration of the preceding verses, see the 
 conclusion of this chapter.) 
 
 13, 14. God hath from the beginning chosen 
 you to salvation, etc. — In your calling God has 
 shown the purpose that he had formed from the 
 beginning, to call the Gentiles to the same privi- 
 leges with the Jews, not through circumcision and 
 the observance of the Mosaic law, but by faith in 
 Christ Jesus; but this simple way of salvation re- 
 ferred to the same end — holiness, without which 
 no man, whether Jew or Gentile, can see the Lord. 
 Let us observe the order of divine grace in this 
 business: 1) They were to hear the truth — the doc- 
 trines of the Gospel. 2) They were to believe this 
 truth when they heard it preached. 3) They were 
 to receive the Spirit of God in believing the truth. 
 4) That Spirit was to sanctify their souls — produce 
 an inward holiness, which was to lead to all out- 
 ward conformity to God. 5) All this constituted 
 their salvation — their being fitted for the inheri- 
 tance among the saints in light. 6) They were to 
 obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ — that 
 state of felicity for which they were fitted, by being 
 saved here from their sins, and by being sanctified 
 by the Spirit of God. 
 
 15. Therefore, brethren, stand fast — Their 
 obtaining eternal glory depended on their faithful- 
 ness to the grace of God; for this calling did not 
 necessarily and irresistibly lead to faith ; nor their 
 faith to the sanctification of the Spirit; nor their 
 sanctification of the Spirit to the glory of our Lord 
 Jesus. Had they not attended to the calling, they 
 could not have believed ; had they not believed, they 
 could not have been justified; had they not been 
 justified, they could not have been glorified. All 
 these things depended on each other; they were 
 stages of the great journey; and at any of these 
 stages they might have halted, and never finished 
 their Christian race. Hold the traditions which 
 ye have been taught — The woid wapaS6o~ic, which 
 we render "traditions," signifies any thing delivered 
 in the way of teaching; and here most obviously 
 means the doctrines delivered by the apostle to the 
 Thessalonians, whether in his preaching, private 
 conversation, or by these epistles ; and particularly 
 
 Vol. II.— 21. 
 
 glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 Therefore, 
 brethren, 'stand fast, and hold 'the traditions 
 which ye have been taught, whether by word, 
 or our epistle. 16 c Now our Lord Jesus 
 Christ himself, and God, even our Father, 
 d which hath loved us. and hath given U8 ever- 
 lasting consolation anil e good hope through 
 grace, 17 Comfort your hearts, f and stab- 
 lish you in every good word and work. 
 
 rtlCor. lb 13: Phil. 4.1. b\ Cor. 11. 2: chap. 3. 6. cChap. 
 
 1. 1,2. it 1 John 4. 10; Kev. 1. 5. e 1 Pet. 1. 3. f\ Cor. 1. 
 
 8; 1 Thess. :;. 13; 1 Pet. 5. 10. 
 
 the first epistle, as the apostle here states. What- 
 ever these traditions were, as to their matter, they 
 were a revelation from God: for they came by men 
 who spake and acted under the inspiration of the 
 Holy Spirit. 
 
 16. Now our Lord Jesus — As all your grace 
 came from God through Christ, so the power that is 
 necessary to strengthen and confirm you unto the 
 end must come in the same way. Everlasting 
 consolation — tlap&Khrioiv aluviav, the glad tidings 
 of the Gospel, and the comfort which ye have re- 
 ceived through believing; a gift which God had in 
 his original purpose in reference to the Gentiles ; a 
 purpose which has respected all times and places, 
 and which shall continue to the conclusion of time ; 
 for the Gospel is "everlasting," and shall not be 
 superseded by any other dispensation. It is the 
 last and best which God has provided for man ; 
 and it is good tidings, "everlasting consolation " — 
 a complete system of complete peace and happi- 
 ness. And good hope through grace — The 
 hope of the Gospel was the resurrection of the dead, 
 and their final glorification. This was the " good 
 hope " which the Thessalonians had ; not a hope that 
 they should be pardoned or sanctified, etc. Pardon 
 and holiness they enjoyed, therefore they were not 
 objects of "hope; " but the future life and eternal 
 glory were yet to be realized; these they had in 
 expectation; these they hoped for; and, through 
 the "grace " which they had already received they 
 had a "good hope" — a well-grounded expectation 
 — of this glorious state. 
 
 17. Comfort your hearts — Keep your soul* 
 ever under the influence of his Holy Spirit. And 
 stablish you — Confirm and strengthen you in your 
 belief of every good word or doctrine which we 
 have delivered unto you ; and in the practice of 
 every good work recommended and enjoined by the 
 doctrines of the Gospel. It is not enough that we 
 believe the truth; we must love the truth. The 
 testimony borne by the Gospel is : Believe, love, obey; 
 none of these can subsist without the other. The 
 faith of a true believer worketh by love ; and this 
 faith and love have respect not to some one com- 
 mandment, but to all ; lor Coil writes his whole 
 law mi the heart id' every genuine Christian, and 
 L r ives him that love which is the fulfilling of the 
 law. 
 
 The reader will have observed, that in going 
 through this chapter while examining the import 
 of every leading word, 1 have avoided fixing any 
 specific meaning to terms : the apostasy or falling 
 away; the wan of sin; son of perdition; him wlio 
 letteth or withholdeth, etc. The reason is, I have 
 found i1 extremely difficult to fix any sense to my 
 own satisfaction; and it was natural for me to 
 think that, if I could not satisfy mvself, it was not 
 
 321
 
 II. THESSALONIANS. 
 
 Paul requests the pravers of tha 
 Thessalonian's. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 FINALLY, brethren, *pray for us, that the 
 word of the Lord l, may have free course, 
 and be glorified, even as it is with you: 
 2 And c that we may be delivered from d un- 
 reast »nable and wicked men : e f or all men have 
 not faith. 3 But f the Lord is faithful, who 
 
 aEnh. ti. 13; Col. 4. 3 : 1 Thess. 5. 25. h dr. may run. 
 
 cRom. 15. 31. t?Gr. absurd. £ Acts 28. 24; Rom. 
 
 10. lti. 
 
 likely I could satisfy my readers. But, as some- 
 thing should be said relative to the persons and 
 things intended by the apostle, I choose to give 
 rather what others have said, than attempt any 
 new mode of interpretation. The great variety of 
 explanations given by wise and learned men only 
 prove the difficulty of the place. 
 
 1) The general run of Protestant writers under- 
 stand the whole as referring to the popes and 
 Church of Rome, or the whole system of the pa- 
 pacy. 2) Others think that the defection of the 
 Jewish nation from their allegiance to the Roman 
 emperor is what is to be understood by the apostasy 
 or falling off'; and that all the other terms refer to 
 the destruction of Jerusalem. 3) The Fathers un- 
 derstood the Antichrist to be intended, but of this 
 person they seem to have formed no specific idea. 
 
 4) Dr. Hammond refers the apostasy to the defec- 
 tion of the primitive Christians to the Gnostic 
 heresy ; and supposes that by the " man of sin " 
 and "son of perdition" Simon Magus is meant. 
 
 5) Crotius applies the whole to Caius Caesar. 
 
 6) Wetstein applies the apostasy to the rebellion 
 and slaughter of the three princes that were pro- 
 claimed by the Roman armies previously to the 
 reign of Vespasian; and supposes Titus and the 
 Flavian family to be intended by the " man of sin " 
 and "son of perdition." 7) Schoettgen contends 
 strongly that the whole refers to the case of the 
 Jews, incited to rebellion by the scribes and Phari- 
 sees, and to the utter and final destruction of the 
 rabbinic and Pharisaic system; and thinks he finds 
 something in their spirit and conduct, and in what 
 has happened to them, to illustrate every word in 
 this prophecy. Dr. Whitby is nearly of the same 
 sentiments. " 8) Calmet follows, in the main, the 
 interpretation given by the ancient Fathers ; and 
 wonders at the want of candour in the Protestant 
 writers, who have gleaned up every abusive tale 
 against the bishops and Church of Rome ; and asks 
 them, would they be willing that the Catholics 
 should credit all the aspersions cast on Protestant- 
 ism by its enemies ? 9) Bishop Newton has exam- 
 ined the whole prophecy with his usual skill and 
 judgment, and most modern commentators follow his 
 steps. He applies the whole to the Romish Church ; 
 the apostasy, its defection from the pure doctrines 
 of Christianity ; and the "man of sin," etc., the 
 general succession of the popes of Rome. 
 
 The labours of all these learned men have cer- 
 tainly narrowed the principal subjects of inquiry; 
 and we may now safely state, that in this very ob- 
 scure prophecy the Spirit of Cod had in view either 
 the Jewish or an apostate Christian Church, pos- 
 sessing great spiritual and secular influence and 
 jurisdiction. That the words appear to apply best 
 to the conduct of many of the popes, and the cor- 
 ruptions of the Romish Church, needs no proof; 
 but to which of these Churches, or to what other 
 Church or system, we should apply them, some men, 
 as eminent for their piety as for their learning, 
 
 shall stablish you, and ekeep you from evil. 
 4 And h we have confidence in the Lord touch- 
 ing you, that ye both do and will do the 
 things which we command you. 5 And ' the 
 Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, 
 and into k the patient waiting for Christ. 
 6 Now we command you, brethren, in the 
 
 f\ Cor. 1. 3: 1 Thess. 5. 24. g John 17. 15 ; 2 Peter 2. 3. 
 
 h 2 Cor. 7. 16; Gal. 5. 10. il Chron. 23. 18. — -JfcOr, the pa- 
 tience of Christ. 1 Thess. 1. 3. 
 
 hesitate to declare ; yet I must acknowledge that 
 the most pointed part of the evidence here adduced 
 tends to. fix the whole on the Romish Church, and 
 on none other. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER III. 
 
 1. Finally, brethren — The words to 'Aoltcov do 
 not metmfiuully, but furthermore — what remains is 
 this. Pray for us — God, in the order of his grace 
 and providence, has made even the success of his 
 Gospel dependent, in a certain measure, on the pray- 
 ers of his followers. It is therefore little less than 
 criminal to neglect to make fervent supplications 
 for the prosperity of the cause of God. May 
 have free course — They were to pray that the 
 doctrine of the Lord, 6 Myoc tov Kvpiov, might ran, 
 Tpkxi), [may run. A representation of quick and 
 unimpeded advancing; dofja&Tai, mag be glorified, 
 being recognised as the power of God unto salva- 
 tion to every one that believes. (Rom. i, 16.) — 
 Meyer.] 
 
 2. Unreasonable and wicked men — The word 
 arorruv, which we translate " unreasonable," signi- 
 fies rather disorderly, unmanageable ; persons out 
 of their place ; under no discipline, regardless of 
 law and restraint. For all men have not faith 
 — [Ob yap irav'uv ?) Triune, for fidelity is not of (be- 
 longs not to) all men.] The word tt'iotic is, without 
 doubt, to be taken here for fidelity or trustworthi- 
 ness and not for faith [in the usual evangelical 
 sen-e,] and this is agreeable to the meaning given 
 to it in the very next verse. 
 
 3. But the Lord is faithful — TIiotoc 6e egtiv 6 
 Kvpior. There are many, even of those who have 
 received a measure of the divine light, to win an 
 w r e cannot trust either ourselves or any thing that 
 concerns the cause of God. But the Lord is worthy 
 of your whole confidence; doubt him not; he will 
 establish you, and keep you from any evil to which 
 you may be exposed by these or such like per- 
 sons. From evil — 'A;r6 tov irovqpov may be trans- 
 lated from the evil one. They had disorderly men, 
 wicked men, and the evil one, or the devil, to con- 
 tend with ; God alone could support and give them 
 the victory ; he had promised to do it, and he might 
 ever be confided in as being invariably faithful. 
 
 4. And we have confidence — We have no 
 doubt of God's kindness toward you ; he loves you, 
 and will support you ; and we can confide in you, 
 that ye are now acting as we have desired you, and 
 will continue so to do. 
 
 5. The Lord direct your hearts into the 
 love of God — The love of God is the grand motive 
 and principle of obedience; this must occupy your 
 hearts; the heart is irregular in all its workings; 
 God alone, by his Spirit, can direct it into his love, 
 and keep it right, (KaTEvdvvai,) give a proper direc- 
 tion to all its passions, and keep them in order, 
 regularity, and purity. The patient waiting for 
 Christ — [^Tttoijov/jv signifies, not waiting for, but 
 simply endurance. The steadfastness of Christ is
 
 Paul directs the Church how to treat 
 idle mid disorderly persons. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 A. M. 4056. A. 11. 52. 
 
 Veiir of R in,-. 8U5. 
 
 name of our Lord Jesus Christ, ' that ye 
 withdraw yourselves '"from every brother 
 that walketh "disorderly, and not after °the 
 tradition which he received of us. 7 For 
 yourselves know Phow ye ought to follow 
 us: for i we behaved not ourselves disor- 
 derly among you; 8 Neither did we eat 
 any man's bread for naught; hut 'wrought 
 with labour and travail night and day, that 
 we might not he chargeable to any of you: 
 9 s Not because we have not power, hut to 
 
 /Rom. 16. 17: rerse It: 1 Tim. 6. 5: 2 John in. m 1 Cor. 
 
 5. II, 1'.. " 1 Thess. i. 11: 5. 14: verses 11, 12, 14. oChan. 
 
 2. 15. /' I Cur. 1. M; II. 1 : 1 Thess 1. 6, T. a 1 Thess. 2. III. 
 
 /• Acts In ;! ; 20. :'A ; 2 Cor. 11. 9; 1 Thess. 2. 9. 
 
 meant, (not that of which he is the subject, but the 
 author,) inasmuch as the endurance which the 
 Christian manifests in tribulation for the sake of 
 the Gospel, is in its nature nothing else than the 
 steadfastness which was peculiar to Christ himself 
 in his sufferings. See Meyer.] 
 
 6. That ye withdraw yourselves — Have no 
 fellowship with those who will not submit to proper 
 discipline; who do not keep their place; araKrur, 
 such as are out of their rank, and act according to 
 their own wills and caprices; and particularly such 
 as are idle and busybodies. These he had ordered 
 (1 Thess. iv, 11, 12) that they should study to be 
 quiet, mind their own business, and work with their 
 hands; now he desires the Church to exclude such 
 from their communion. [ZrD.'kecdaL vuac arcb izav- 
 rbc, to withdraw yourselves, the only excommunica- 
 tion which the Church has the right to inflict on any 
 offending member is to withdraw its (specifically 
 Christian) fellowship from him, and that not as a 
 punishment to the offender, but for the Church's 
 own purity and safety.] And not after the tra- 
 dition — [Kara rrjv Trapddoaiv, according to that 
 delivered.] This evidently refers to the orders con- 
 tained in the first epistle; and that first epistle 
 (with other teachings of the apostle) was the tradi- 
 tion which they had received from him. 
 
 7. We behaved not ourselves disorderly — 
 Oil* nraKr/jaauEv, we did not go out of our rank; 
 we kept our place, and discharged all its duties. 
 
 8. Neither did we eat any man's bread for 
 naught — We paid for what we used, and worked 
 with our hands that we might buy what was neces- 
 sary. Labour and travail night and day — We 
 were incessantly employed, either in preaching the 
 Gospel, visiting from house to house, or working at 
 our calling. As it is very evident that the Church 
 at Thessalonica was very pious, and most affection- 
 ately attached to the apostle, they must have been 
 very poor, seeing he was obliged to work hard to 
 gain for himself the necessaries of life. Had they 
 been able to support him he would not have worked 
 " with labour and travail night and dag" that he 
 might not be burdensome to them. It is no won- 
 der, therefore, that he is so severe against those 
 who would not labour, but were a burden to the 
 poor followers of Christ. 
 
 '.). Not because we have not power — fEfov- 
 aiav, the right and religious authorization; this the 
 apostle, while for special reasons he waived his 
 rightful claim, was careful to assert.] We have 
 the power, k£ovo~iav, the right, to be maintained by 
 tbose in whose behalf we labour. " The labourer 
 is worthy of his hire," is a maxim universally ac- 
 knowledged and respected ; and " they who preach 
 
 make 'ourselves an ensample unto you to 
 follow us. 10 For even when we were 
 with you, this we commanded you, u tha1 if 
 any would not work, neither should be eat. 
 11 For we hear that there are some • which 
 walk among you disorderly, w working not 
 at all, but are busybodies. 12 *jSTow them 
 that are such we command and exhorl by 
 our Ford Jesus Christ, J that with quiet- 
 ness they work, and eat their own bread. 
 13 But ye, brethren, z »be not weary in 
 
 si Cor. !>. 6; 1 Thess. 2. 6. M'ei-se 7. u On. :i. 19: 
 
 1 Thess. 4. 11. » Verse t>. w I Thess. 4. 11: 1 Tim. 5. 
 
 13; 1 Peter 4. 15. — sclThess. 4. 11. — tfKph. 4. 28. — sGal. 
 t>. 9. a Or, faint not. 
 
 the Gospel should live of the Gospel : " the apostle 
 did not claim his privilege, but laboured for his 
 own support, that he might be an example to those 
 whom he found otherwise disposed, and that lie 
 might spare the poor. (See 1 Cor. ix, 1, etc.) 
 
 10. If any would not work, neither should 
 he eat — This is a just maxim, and universal nature 
 inculcates it to man. If man will work, he mag 
 eat; if he do not work, he neither can "it. nor 
 should he eat. The maxim is founded on these 
 words of the Lord : " In the sweat of thy face 
 shalt thou eat bread." Industry is crowned with 
 God's blessing; idleness is loaded with his curse. 
 This maxim was a proverb among the .lews. .Men 
 who can work, and will rather support themselves 
 by begging, should not get one morsel of bread. 
 It is a sin to minister to necessities that are men ly 
 the fruits of indolence. 
 
 1 1 . For we hear that there are some — It 
 is very likely that St. Paul kept up some son of 
 correspondence with the Thessalonian Church ; for 
 he had heard every thing that concerned their stale, 
 and it was from this information that he wrote his 
 second epistle. Disorderly — 'At&ktuc, out of 
 their rank — not keeping their own place. Woik- 
 ing not at all- — Either lounging at home, or be- 
 coming religious gossips: f/qdev epya^ouivovg, doing 
 nothing. Busybodies — n.epiepya r O{iivovc, doing 
 every thing they should not do; impertinent med- 
 dlers with other people's business ; prying into 
 other people's circumstances and domestic affairs ; 
 newsmongers and telltales; an abominable race, the 
 
 curse of every neighbourhood where they live, I 
 
 a pest to religious society. 
 
 12. With quietness they work — Mera fjav- 
 X'ae, with silence; leaving their talebearing and 
 officious intermeddling. Less noise and more work! 
 That . . they work, and eat their own bread 
 — Their own bread, because earned by their own 
 honest industry. What a degrading thing while a 
 man is able to acquire his own livelihood! lie 
 who can submit to live on the bounty or mercy of 
 another has lost the spirit of independence; and 
 has in him a beggar's heart, and is capable of nothing 
 but base and beggarly actions. Witness great 
 masses of the people of England, who by their 
 dependence on the poor rates arc, from being labo- 
 rious, independent, and respectable, become idle, 
 profligate, and knavish ; the propagators and per- 
 petrators of clinic; a discredit to the nation and a 
 curse to society. The apostle's command is a cure 
 for such ; and the Church of Cod should discounte- 
 nance such, and disown them. 
 
 13. Be not weary in well-doing— \Ka~koTcoi- 
 ovvtec, literally, doing handsomely; but often used
 
 II. TIIESSALONIANS. 
 
 well doing. 14 And it* any man obey not 
 
 our word b by this epistle, note that man, and 
 'have no company with him, that he may 
 be ashamed. 15 d Yet count him not as an 
 enemy. e but admonish him as a brother. 
 16 Now f the Lord of peace himself give 
 
 7/ Or, signify that man by an epistle. — cMatt. 18. 17; 
 1 Cor. 5. !), 11 ; verse t>. tZLev. 19. 17; 1 Thess. o. 14. eTit. 
 
 in the New Testament with special reference to 
 works of beneficence.] While ye stretch out no 
 hand of relief to the indolent and lazy, do not for- 
 get the real poor — the genuine representatives of 
 an impoverished Christ. 
 
 14. If any man obey not — They had disobeyed 
 his word in the first epistle, and the Church still 
 continued to bear with them ; now he tells the 
 Church, if they still continue to disregard what is 
 said to them, and particularly his word by this 
 second epistle, they are to mark them as being 
 totally incorrigible, and have no fellowship with 
 them. Some, construe the words 5ta ri/c s-iarohjc 
 with tovtov anystovadf, give nu j information of that 
 man by a letter — let nie hear of his continued ob- 
 stinacy, and send me his name. The words of the 
 original will bear either construction, that in the 
 text, or that given above. 
 
 J 5. Count him not as an enemy — Consider 
 him still more an "enemy " to himself .than to you ; 
 and admonish him as a brother, though you 
 have ceased to hold religious communion with him. 
 His soul is still of infinite value; labour that it 
 may be saved. 
 
 16. The Lord of peace — Jesus Christ, who is 
 called oitr peace, (Eph. ii, 14 ;) and the Prince of 
 peace, (Isa. ix, 6.) May he give you peace, for he is 
 the Fountain and Dispenser of it. Always — Both 
 in your own consciences and among yourselves. By 
 all means — 'Ev Tcavri Tpoiru), by all means, meth- 
 ods, occasions, instruments, and occurrences ; peace 
 or prosperity in every form and shape. Instead of 
 ev kilvtI -poTnj, some read ev ttuvtI t&ku, in every 
 place : May God grant yon prosperity always, and 
 everywhere. The Lord be with you all — This is 
 agreeable to the promise of our Lord : " Lo, I am 
 with you alway, even unto the end of the world." 
 (Matt, xxviii. 20.) Christians are the temple of 
 God, and the temple of God has the divine pres- 
 ence in it. May you ever continue to be his Church, 
 that the Lord God may dwell among you ! 
 
 17. The salutation of Paul with mine own 
 hand — It is very likely that Paul employed an 
 amanuensis generally, either to write what he dic- 
 tated, or to make a fair copy of what he wrote. In 
 cither ease the apostle always subscribed it, and 
 wrote the salutation and benediction with his own 
 hand ; and this was what authenticated all his epis- 
 tles. A measure of this kind' would be very neces- 
 sary if forged epistles were carried about in those 
 times. (See 1 Cor. xvi, 21, and Col. iv, 18.) 
 
 18. The grace — The favour, blessing, and in- 
 fluence of our Lord Jesus Christ. Be with you 
 all — Be your constant companion. May you ever 
 feel his presence, and enjoy his benediction ! 
 Amen — So let it be ! Cod grant it ! This word in 
 this place has more evidence in favour of its gen- 
 uineness than it has in most other places: and was 
 probably added here by the apostle himself, or by 
 the Church of the Thessalonians. 
 
 I have often had occasion to observe that the 
 subscriptions at th« end of the sacred books are 
 324 
 
 you peace always by all means. The Lord he 
 with you all. 17 sThe salutation of Paul 
 with mine own hand, which is the token 
 in every epistle : so 1 write. 18 h The grace 
 of our Lord Jesus Christ he with you all. 
 Amen. 
 
 3. 10 /Rom. 15 
 
 1 Thess. 5. 23 
 
 id. :;:;; !ti. 20; 1 Cor. 14. 33: 2 Cor. 13. 11; 
 g 1 Cor. Hi. 21 ; Col. 4. 18. h Roiu. lri. 24. 
 
 not of divine origin : they are generally not trust- 
 worthy ; and yet some have quoted them as making 
 a part of the sacred text, and have adduced them 
 in support of some favourite opinions. 
 
 ADDITIONAL NOTE. 
 
 ON THE COMING OF OUR LORD. 
 
 [The words of St. Paul, in 1 Thess. iv, 13-18, and 
 again in 2 Thess. ii, 1-5, as they seem to have per- 
 plexed those to whom they were at first addressed, 
 have continued to be scarcely less perplexing dur- 
 ing all the subsequent ages of the Church. It is 
 well known that the expectation of Christ's coming 
 again to reveal himself to his disciples, and either to 
 dwell among them or to take them away with himself 
 to heaven, was widely prevalent during the early 
 Christian times. In the first of the passages cited 
 above, and also in 1 Cor. xv, the apostle seems to 
 be combatting a prevalent notion that to die before 
 Christ's second coming would be the greatest of 
 calamities, since those so d}ing could have no part 
 in the Messianic kingdom. To this false notion 
 Paul opposes the doctrine of the resurrection — that 
 is, of the future life — the abiding of all the saints, 
 even though they die, with Christ in his eternal 
 kingdom in heaven. The attendant circumstances 
 of Christ's coming to receive his own, as presented 
 in 1 Thess. iv, 13-18, evidently served to confirm 
 them in the expectation of his speedy coming, 
 which was not, indeed, a very far-fetched inference ; 
 and the partial correction of that impression, in the 
 second epistle, still leaves the subject somewhat in 
 doubt ; and the Church has been perplexed with 
 it from the apostolic age to our own times. The 
 language of the apostles — both Paul and others — 
 is strongly suggestive of the inference that they 
 themselves lived in the constant expectation of 
 the not distant outward revelation of Christ to set 
 up his kingdom in the world, and the practical ex- 
 hortations based on that expectation, assumed, not 
 only that he would assuredly come, but also that 
 the event would occur during the then present 
 generation. That certainly is the first and natural 
 implication of what is said in verse 17. And as 
 that is the first written of Paul's epistles, and as 
 the speedy coming of Christ is not afterward so 
 clearly assumed, and as the delay is accepted as a 
 fact which called for the modification of the early 
 too hasty expectation, (of which a marked example 
 is seen in 2 Peter iv, 4. 5,) to a merely critical 
 reader of the apostolic epistles the evidence that 
 their writers were at first themselves expecting the 
 speedy coming of Christ is pretty certain. But 
 that that expectation was gradually moderated by 
 the non-occurrence of the event as expected is 
 clearly obvious. But some resist the force of tins 
 evidence, because, since, the event did not justify 
 their expectation, and since eighteen hundred years 
 have come and gone without its fulfilment, to 
 grant that the apostles so believed is to concede 
 that they were in error, which, it is assumed, is
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 M 1056. A. P. 6 
 
 Veai "i l: ■ 31 5. 
 
 incompatible with their inspiration in the composi- 
 tion of their epistles. Ci oentators are accordingly 
 
 divided into two classes: one following the plain 
 teaching of criticism, and conceding that the apos- 
 tles were mistaken, and that some things that they 
 wrote were the results of their misapprehensions, 
 the other preferring to save the credit of the 
 sacred writers, even at the sacrifice of the apparent 
 meaning of their own words. 
 
 [Among the former class, in the last century, were 
 such eminent Christian scholars as Grotius and 
 Locke, and others, who concluded that the apos- 
 tles believed that the end of the world was to hap- 
 pen in their time, and that they declared that be- 
 lief in various passages in their epistles. Others, 
 perhaps not (heir inferiors, among whom Dr. Mac- 
 knight may be named, object to this opinion ; not, 
 however, from critical, but from dogmatic, reasons ; 
 for it is assumed that if the apostles erred in so 
 important a matter, they may have been mistaken 
 in other matters also, where their inspiration is not 
 more strongly asserted by them than in this in- 
 stance. He therefore concludes: "Seeing the 
 apostles certainly knew that the coming of Christ 
 to judgment was at a great distance, (as is shown 
 in all their epistles,) every impartial person must 
 be sensible that they have been placed in a false 
 position, not only by the enemies of revelation, but 
 by some of its friends, who have misunderstood 
 some of their expressions. All these (misappre- 
 hended) expressions may be applied to other events, 
 and therefore they ought to be so applied ; because 
 candour requires that sense to be put upon an au- 
 thor's words which renders him most consistent 
 with himself." This solution would be very ac- 
 ceptable were it tenable ; but the difficulty lies 
 deeper, for not only is the statement that " the 
 Lord is at hand " so made as to seem to imply the 
 immanence of his coming, but that fact is used as 
 an argument in favour of regulating present and tem- 
 porary relations and interests in view of that fact. 
 [Among later scholars and critics, the former 
 view has been pretty generally accepted by those 
 of Germany — of both the Rationalistic and the 
 Evangelistic schools — while both sides find support 
 among English-speaking Christians. 
 
 [Among these a foremost place must be conceded 
 to Alford, who, in his commentary on the passage 
 1 Thess. iv, 13-18, remarks: "It would certainly 
 seem as if the preaching of the kingdom of Jesus 
 at Thessalonica had been partially misunderstood, 
 and been perverted into a cause why they should 
 not quietly follow active life, and why they should 
 be uneasy about those who fell asleep before that 
 kingdom was brought in, imagining they would have 
 no part in its glory." Respecting the likeness, or 
 identity, of Christ's resurrection and that assured 
 to " them that fall asleep," that is, die, he says : 
 " The two clauses (Christ rose and God will bring 
 with him [Christ] them that are asleep in him) do 
 not accurately correspond. Still, ourur k<u (thus 
 also) betokens identity of lot of the two parties 
 concerned, namely, deathand resurrection. In this 
 they resemble, but in the expressed particulars here 
 they differ: Christ was simply raised, theirs shall 
 be a resurrection through him at his coming." He 
 further contends that the expression (ai-ec) means 
 more than simply the accompanying of those 
 spoken of with the risen Christ ; but rather, that it 
 implies that they shall be brought l><tek to US " that 
 are alive," so necessarily assuming that Christ's 
 coming is to occur while we, the people now living — 
 
 as a whole, though not necessarily including every 
 individual — are still alive. "Beyond a question," 
 he continues, "he (Paul) himself expected to be 
 alive, together with the majority of those to whom 
 he was writing, at the Lord's coining. For we can- 
 not for a moment accept the evasion of Theodoret, 
 and of many modern commentators, including Ben- 
 gel, «ho, warped by their subjectivities, would 
 make the " we who are alive " include, not we our- 
 selves, but the men of that (undefined) time. Nor 
 (can we accept) the ungrammatical rendering of 
 Lucretius and Pelt, "we, if ve live and remain;" 
 nor yet the idea, (that has been suggested,) that 
 the living (we who are alive) are the souls whose 
 bodies are "those that are asleep." We must take 
 the words in their only plain grammatical meaning: 
 ol (,uv7eq (the living) are a class distinguished 
 from ol Koi/xijdivreg, (those sleeping,) by being yet in 
 the flesh when Christ conies, in which class, by 
 prefixing yfitig, (we,) he includes his readers and 
 himself. That this was his expectation we know 
 from other passages, especially 2 Cor. v, 10. It 
 does not (however) seem to have been so strong to- 
 ward the end of his course. (See Phil, i, 20-26 ) 
 Nor need it surprise any Christian that the apostle 
 should, in this matter of detail, have found his per- 
 sonal expectations liable to disappointment respect- 
 ing a day of which it is solemnly said that no man 
 knoweth its appointed time — not the angels in 
 heaven, nor the Son — but the Father only.'' 
 
 [In his further defence of his position, as already 
 given, Dr. Macknight presents some valuable sug- 
 gestions respecting several classes of passages of 
 Scripture, all id' which are commonly used as alike 
 pointing to one and the same event — Christ's second 
 coming. The phrase "coming of Christ,'' has sev- 
 eral acceptations in the sacred writings, and there- 
 fore it is necessary in each case to clearly determine 
 the sense in which if is there used. There are more 
 than a single " coming of Christ" spoken of in the 
 New Testament, and neither the phrase nor its 
 equivalents can be safely assumed to uniformly re- 
 fer to the same great event. 
 
 [1. In the Old Testament any signal display of 
 God's power, whether for the salvation of his peo- 
 ple or the overthrow of his enemies, is called the 
 coming, or the appearance, or the presence, of the 
 Lord. So the apostle would naturally designate 
 any signal interposition of Christ in the Church 
 or among men as his coming, or his day, the "day 
 of the Lord," or the "day of the Son of man," his 
 wapovaia, appearing. 
 
 [2. A special coming of the Lord, irapovnia, is 
 spoken of in 2 Thess. ii, 8 — his interposition, by his 
 Spirit and providence, to resist and discomfit the 
 great adversary in respect to his evil designs 
 against the preaching of the Gospel. Such inter- 
 positions in favour of the welfare of the Church 
 and the honour of Cod are among the results of that 
 perpetual presence of Christ, and his oversight of 
 the affairs of the Church and the world, which 
 his promises assure us that he exercises. When 
 these become specially manifest they are termed 
 the coming of the Lord. 
 
 [3. It is quite certain that death, its time and the 
 event, is sometimes designated the coming of, the 
 Lord. And although the release of Christ's ser- 
 vants from their present state of trial is not usually 
 attended by any outward displays of God's power, 
 yet it may be fitly styled his coming or appearance, 
 as then the emancipated spirit enters into Christ's 
 manifest presence. 
 
 325
 
 II. THESSALONIANS. 
 
 [The term is also used to designate the end of the 
 present dispensation of the Church, or the incom- 
 ing of the millennium, or the day of judgment, 
 events only dimly shadowed in the word of God, 
 but which figure very largely in the legends and 
 poetry of the Church. The "end of all things," in 
 respect to both its time and what shall then fol- 
 low, appears to be purposely left in the deepest 
 obscurity, lest men's minds should be diverted, by 
 contemplating it, from the practical duties of the 
 pi -iiit time. Christ comings, in the three several 
 forms named above, are clearly within the range of 
 our faith, and it is our duty and privilege to live 
 constantly in view of these as great and certain 
 verities ; and, having these, we may safely trust all 
 else to Him who has reserved the subject of the 
 final consummation within his own unsearchable- 
 ness. (Matt, xxiv, 26 ; John xxi, 22 ; Acts i, 7.)] 
 
 ADDITIONAL NOTE, 2 Thess. i, 9. 
 
 [Such as shall suffer as penalty everlasting destruc- 
 tion {dinrjv riaovaiv o2.?:6pov aluvwv.) The first oc- 
 currence chronologically of the word aluviog in the 
 Epistles of St. Paul appears to be the proper place 
 for an examination of its meaning. 
 
 [1) The etymology of. the word aluv perhaps throws 
 some light upon the question. Aristotle saw that 
 aluv was in some way connected with ad, and sup- 
 posed that the connexion was that of direct deriva- 
 tion. That is, at least, an indication of the mean- 
 ing which aluv had for him, (anb rob aei elvat e'lXtj- 
 tpug rfjv i-t.irvuKu: De Ccelo, i, 9.) In Professor 
 Max Midler's opinion, "Aevum is from the same 
 root as aluv and the Sanskrit ay us; the root is i, 
 .in I means ' to go.' 'Aei, too, comes from the same 
 s iurce." (Quoted by Rev. J. Riddell, Note A on 
 Dr. Pusey's sermon, Everlasting Punishment, p. 32. 
 The curiously analogous derivation of the Hebrew 
 iy will be seen below.) 2) The meaning of the 
 •word a'ii'.)r in classical Greek, especially as used by 
 Aristotle, and in proportion as speculation advanced 
 in detiniteness, is unlimited prospective duration, 
 eternity at least d parte post. Aristotle's language 
 is very remarkable. " There is neither place, nor 
 space, nor time, external to the heaven ; whence 
 the things there being unchangeable, and having 
 the best and most self-sufficing existence without 
 passion, fulfil in their course the whole eternity, 
 (fiuireTiti tov awavra aluva.) And in fact this name 
 was divinely uttered by them of old time. For the 
 sum total (ji\nr) which comprises the time of the life 
 of each, out of which nothing can be conceived ac- 
 cording to the regular order of nature, is called the 
 aluv of each thing. And, analogously, the sum total 
 also of the entire heaven, and the sum total com- 
 prising all time and infinitude, is absolutely eternity, 
 (aluv,) a name derived from ever-existing." (Dt 
 < '<r/o, i, 9; see Mr. Riddell's note ut supra, pp. 
 32 35, who also shows that in Plato, especially 
 Legg., 904 a, aluviog is used " unequivocally and 
 intentionally of retrospective and prospective eter- 
 nity." A reference to Tiinteus (x, 37, e) will show 
 326 
 
 that he distinguishes aluv as " abiding," from 
 Xi>ovnc as its " mutable image." very much in the 
 spirit of St. Augustine. ( Confess., xi, 11-13.) 3) For 
 Hebrew and LXX. — Man everywhere struggles with 
 insuperable difficulties in finding words to enunciate 
 his conception of eternity. This is, indeed, from the 
 necessary conditions of thought, an effort to express 
 that which is inexpressible. Contradictory lines 
 are thus inwoven into the very texture of language. 
 So it was certainly with the Hebrews. Four words 
 are chiefly employed in Hebrew for eternity. 
 (a) Eternity is looked upon, in St. Augustine's 
 way, as "semper stans," and therefore as some- 
 thing in which we may trust. The word nVJ, con- 
 fidence, also means eternity, as we may confide in 
 those things which endure, (6) A second term 
 (Dip) denotes locally "what is before," "the 
 East;" hence temporally, "aforetime," indefinite 
 antiquity. In Micah v, 2, it answers in thought- 
 rhyme to "the eternal days" (DpIJJ ^ly, ££ ryiepuv 
 aluvog, LXX, and is translated by a7r' apxvg.) In 
 Psa. lv, [liv,] 20, [19,] God's eternity is spoken of 
 as "His being enthroned of old," (DTp,) translated 
 Trpb tuv aluvuv by the LXX. (No less than twenty 
 different Greek words are employed to render it by 
 the LXX. See Fuerst. Concord., p. 972.) (c) The 
 term most frequently used, however, to designate 
 eternity is DPiy. The word is derived from Bpy, to 
 hide or veil, and denotes that whose extremes are 
 unknown and undefinable as regards the past or 
 future. (d) St. Augustine has analyzed the ideas 
 of Time and Eternity with an acuteness and pro- 
 fundity which anticipate Kant. He shows that 
 "nothing, properly speaking, passes in eternity, but 
 that it is present wholly; that God's years neither 
 come nor go, but all his years, as it were, stand 
 simultaneously." "Anni tui onmes simul stant." 
 (Confess., lib." xi, 11-13; cf. Be. Civ. D. x, 12.) 
 But, do what we will, the idea of lapse and motion 
 clings to our conception of eternity as time infi- 
 nitely prolonged. This conception of eternity as 
 time prolonged is represented by "jy, (from my, to go 
 forward. — Geseuius.) These four words — implying 
 eternity as infinite "prolongation, perfect stability, 
 antiquity, and undefinability — are alike rendered 
 occasionally by aluv, aluviog, k. t. '/.., in the LXX. 
 (cf. for the first word Karoinuv tov aluva, Isaiah 
 lvii, 15; for the second iug a'tuvoc, Psa. xlix, 20, 
 [xlviii, 18;] for the third, Psa. liv, [lv,] 19 [20;] 
 for the fourth, passim — frequently of the Absolute 
 Eternity of God, Psalm lxxvii, [lxxvi,] 5; xc, 
 [lxxxix.] 2.) One of the Hebrew words translated 
 by a'u'.))', aluviog (Qpiy) is, indeed, occasionally used 
 of temporary duration — yet even in this modifica- 
 tion prospectively of an unbroken continuity, co- 
 extensive with the existence of that of which it is 
 spoken. So aluviog is predicated of a "covenant " 
 or " statute " conterminous with the existence of 
 the dispensation to which it belonged, of a servi- 
 tude final so far as the earthly life of the slave is 
 concerned. (Gen. xvii, 7, 13; Exod. xii, 14, 17; 
 Lev. xvi, 29. Dr. Pusey, Everlasting Punishment, 
 p. 22.) See Speaker's Commentary.]
 
 PREFACE TO THE FIRST EPISTLE 
 
 TO 
 
 TIMOTHY. 
 
 TIMOTHY'S HISTORY AND HIS RELATIONS TO ST. PAUL. 
 
 PAUL and Barnabas, in the course of their first apostolic journey among the 
 Gentiles, came to Lystra, a city of Lycaonia, where they preached the Gos- 
 pel with considerable success. (See Acts xiv, 5, G.) Here they found a Jewess 
 named Lois, and also her daughter Eunice, both of whom became converted to 
 the Christian faith. Eunice had married a Gentile, by whom she had Timothy, 
 whose father was probably at this time dead, the grandmother, daughter, and son 
 living together. (Compare Acts xvi, 1-3, with 2 Tim. i, 5.) Timothy, it appears, 
 had been brought up in the fear of God, and carefully instructed in the Jewish 
 religion by means of the Holy Scriptures. (Compare 2 Tim. i, 5, with 2 Tim. 
 iii, 15.) This young man also became a thorough convert to the Christian faith, 
 and a very tender intimacy grew up between him and St. Paul. 
 
 When the apostle came the second time to Lystra from Antioch, in Syria, he 
 found Timothy a member of the Church, and so highly reputed and warmly 
 recommended by the Church in that place, that Paul took him to be his com- 
 panion in his travels. (Acts xvi, 1-3.) It appears, also, that although Timo- 
 thy had been educated in the Jewish faith he had not been circumcised, for 
 his father was a Gentile. When the apostle had determined to take him with 
 him, he found it necessary to have him circumcised, because the Jew r s would 
 neither have heard him nor the apostle had not this been done. (Acts xvi, 3.) 
 
 Timothy seems to have had a special call of God to the work of an evangelist, 
 and to this the elders of the Church at Lystra solemnly set him apart by the 
 imposition of hands, (1 Tim. iv, 14,) led also to this by certain prophetic dec- 
 larations relative to him. (See 1 Tim. i, 18; iii, 14.) Some think, that after 
 this appointment by the elders the apostle himself laid his hands on him, not for 
 the purpose of his evangelical designation, but that he might receive those extraor- 
 dinary gifts of the Holy Spirit so necessary in those primitive times to demon- 
 strate the truth of the Gospel. (See 2 Tim. i, 6, 7.) Yet there is no satisfactory 
 proof that Timothy had two ordinations— one by the elders of Lystra and another 
 by the apostle; and it is most probable that Paul acted with the eldership. 
 (1 Tim. iv, 14.) 
 
 Timothy accompanied Paul and Silas when they visited the Churches of 
 Phrygia, and delivered to them the decisions of the apostles and elders at Jeru- 
 salem, freeing the Gentiles from the law of Moses as a term of salvation. Having 
 gone through these countries they at length came to Troas, where Luke joined. 
 
 :': 2 7
 
 PREFACE TO THE FIRST EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY. 
 
 them. (Acts xvi, 10, 11, etc.) In Troas, Paul had a vision, directing them to go 
 into Macedonia. Accordingly they all passed over to Neapolis; and thence they 
 went to Philippi, where many were converted, and a Christian Church was planted. 
 From Philippi they went to Thessalonica, probably leaving Luke at Philippi to 
 care for the Church in that place. (Verse 40.) In Thessalonica they were opposed 
 by the unbelieving Jews, and obliged to flee to Berea, whither the Jews from 
 Thessalonica followed them. To elude their rage, Paul, who was most 
 obnoxious to them, departed from Berea by night to go to Athens, leaving Silas 
 and Timothy at Berea. At Athens, Timothy came to the apostle and gave him 
 such an account of the afflicted state of the Thessalonian brethren, as induced 
 him to send Timothy back to comfort them. After that Paul preached at Athens, 
 but with so little success that he judged it proper to leave Athens and go forward 
 to Corinth, where Silas and Timothy came to him, and assisted him in his work 
 among the Corinthians. And when he left Corinth they accompanied him, first 
 to Ephesus, then to Jerusalem, and after that to Antioch in Syria. Having spent 
 some time in Antioch, Paul set out with Timothy on his third apostolical jour- 
 ney; in which, after visiting all the Churches of Galatia and Phrygia, in the order 
 in which they had been planted, they came to Ephesus the second time, and there 
 abode for a considerable time. It thus appears that from the time Timothy first 
 joined the apostle as his assistant, he never left him except when sent by him on 
 some special errand. By his affection, fidelity, and zeal, he so recommended him- 
 self to all the disciples, and acquired such authority over them, that Paul inserted 
 his name in the inscription of several of the letters which he wrote to the Churches. 
 His esteem and affection for Timothy was expressed still more conspicuously, by 
 writing to him those excellent letters in the canon which bear his name. 
 
 TIME AND PLACE OF THE EPISTLE'S COMPOSITION. 
 These can be ascertained only from the epistle itself and from some brief 
 references in the Acts of the Apostles. According to chapter i, 3, it appears to 
 have been written soon after the apostle had departed from Ephesus, where he had 
 left Timothy, and had gone into Macedonia, intending, however, soon to return 
 again, (see chapter iii, 14,) though perhaps some delay might intervene. To this 
 stay at Ephesus there is probably no reference in the Acts. His first residence 
 there was but for a short season, (Acts xviii, 19,) the second time extended to nearly 
 three years. (Acts xx, 31.) It is very evident, however, that the journey from 
 Ephesus to Macedonia (Acts xx, 1) is not the same with that of which the 
 apostle speaks at the beginning of this epistle, (1 Tim. i, 3;) for on the former 
 occasion Timothy Avas not left behind as bishop of the Church at Ephesus, but he 
 accompanied Paul for three months in Macedonia and Achaia. (Acts xx, 3.) 
 Nor does it appear that, when entering upon that journey, it was the purpose 
 to return so soon as he did; and when on his way to Jerusalem he expressed to 
 the elders of the Ephesian Church his forebodings that he should never visit 
 them again. (Acts xx, 16, 25.) It seems almost certain that Paul's journey from 
 Ephesus to Macedonia, referred to at the opening of this epistle, took place at a 
 later period, and after his release from his first imprisonment at Rome, but how 
 long after that event can be only approximately determined. Probably, very 
 soon after his release, he hastened to Ephesus to confront and discomfit the false 
 teachers in that his favourite Church, and from thence, leaving Timothy in charge, 
 he journeyed to Macedonia and Greece. If, then, the (first) imprisonment at Rome 
 was during the years 61-63, the date of this epistle should probably be near the 
 328
 
 PREFACE TO THE FIRST EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY. 
 
 end of A.D. 03, or the beginning of 64. With this date the contents of the letter 
 may be readily harmonized; but some eminent authorities would date it three or 
 four years later — A.D. 66 or 67. 
 
 Respecting the tlace of its composition, only an approximate opinion can be 
 formed. The subscriptions to the MSS. and Versions are quite unreliable, and 
 often wholly irreconcilable with internal evidences. That it was written during 
 Paul's imprisonment at Cesarea is entirely conjectural, and needs no refutation. 
 From the obscurity which hangs over this less important question, it is best to be 
 content with the general suggestion, that the letter was probably composed in 
 Macedonia, or at least in its neighbourhood. 
 
 ITS OCCASION AND PURrORT. 
 What the apostle at his early departure had feared, (Acts xx, 20,) had been 
 only too soon realized. Heretical teachers had arisen, (chapter i, 4,) and Timothy, 
 comparatively a young man, needed the counsel and guidance and moral support 
 of his older and superior minister. The nature of the false doctrines that had 
 been brought in is somewhat shown in such expressions as the avriOeoeic tijc 
 tpevduvvfiov yvuoeog, oppositions of science (knowledge) falsely so called, (chapter 
 vi, 20,) the beginnings of which were already apparent at that time, and this the 
 apostle opposes as wholly incompatible with the Gospel. Timothy's early 
 education (chapter iv, 12) had prepared him, in part, to become the antagonist 
 of these errors; and yet his comparative youth, the short period during which he 
 had been a Christian, his lack of the special apostolic gifts, (xapia/iara,) and his 
 comparatively less influence in the Church, rendered it desirable that he should 
 have in form the explicit instructions of Paul himself, as to both the agreement 
 of his doctrines with those of the apostle, and his authority to direct the adminis- 
 trative affairs of the Church. Whether or not Paul was conscious of the relations 
 that this epistle was to hold in the Church through all later times is a question 
 rather curious than pi'actically useful, but whoever believes that the Holy Spirit 
 guided his writing cannot fail also to believe that the future wants of the Church 
 were cared for, and that herein, more fully than anywhere else, the living Church 
 may at all times see a divinely modelled order of church government. Luther has 
 aptly said, " St. Paul writes this epistle as a model for all bishops, what they 
 shall teach, and how they shall rule the Christian Church in all circumstances, so 
 that they need not guide Christian men by their own human darkness." (See 
 
 Lange's Hible Work.) 
 
 CONTEXTS. 
 
 After the salutation, the apostle informs Timothy that he had requested him 
 to abide in Ephesus for the purpose of charging that sound doctrines be taught 
 and heresies avoided. He refers to himself as having been a persecutor, and to 
 his call to the ministry as an example of the divine mercy for (lie benefit of 
 others. He exhorts Timothy to perseverance in the faith. He directs that 
 prayers be offered for all men, especially for those in authority, declaring that 
 God wills the salvation of all through the Gospel of Christ, of which he has been 
 made a minister. He gives directions respecting the deportment of women, (chap- 
 ters i, ii.) He describes the qualifications of bishops and deacons, and the conduct 
 required of their wives. He expects to come shortly to see Timothy, but writes 
 in order that, if he does not come, Timothy may know how to conduct himself; 
 at the same time he speaks of the great mystery that is found in the gospel sys- 
 tem. (Chapter iii.) He foretells through the Spirit the coming apostasy and the 
 
 329
 
 PREFACE TO THE FIRST EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY. 
 
 heresies in the Church, instructs Timothy in the duties of personal religion, in the 
 treatment of elders and widows, and enjoins caution in ordaining men to the 
 ministry. (Chapter iv, 5.) He also describes the duties of servants to their mas- 
 ters, exhorts Timothy to withdraw from those who teach anything contrary to 
 the doctrines of Christ, points out the fatal consequences of a love of money, 
 exhorts Timothy in the most solemn manner to be faithful to warn the rich 
 against trusting in their riches, but to charge them to trust in God, to be rich in 
 good works, and benevolent; and he concludes by warning Timothy against the 
 pretences of a false science. — liar man. 
 
 GENUINENESS. 
 The evidence for the genuineness of this epistle is abundant and altogether 
 satisfactory. It is found in all the ancient Versions, and in nearly all the MSS., and 
 the Fathers quote from it, recognising it as the writing of Paul. It is attrib- 
 uted to Paul in the Peshito-Syriac Version, and in the Canon of Muratori, about 
 A.D. 150. IrenaBus gives part of chapter vi, 20, attributing the words to Paul, 
 and also other parts of the epistle. It is ascribed to Paul by Clement of Alex- 
 andria, and Tertullian, and Theophilus, bishop of Antiocli, about A.D. 180. It 
 was however rejected by the heretic Marcion, but only on dogmatic grounds. 
 An eminent German critic and commentator, (Huther,) after thoroughly consid- 
 ering the whole case, concludes, " If there are difficulties in vindicating the 
 Pauline authorship, it is still more difficult to prove, in whole or in part, how a 
 forger could manufacture three such epistles as these are (namely, I and II Tim- 
 othy, and Titus) in form and contents, and foist them on the Apostle Paul." 
 
 330
 
 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE 
 
 TO 
 
 TIMOTHY. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAUL, an apostle of Jesus Christ a by the 
 commandment b of God our Saviour, and 
 Lord Jesus Christ, c ic>hich is our hope; 2 Un- 
 to d Timothy, e my own son in the faith: 
 ' Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Fa- 
 
 a Acts 9. 15: Gal. 1. 1, 11. b Chap. 2. 3; 4. 10; Titus 1.3; 
 
 2. Ill; S. 4: Jude 25. cCol. 1. 27. d Acts l(i. 1; 1 Cur. 
 
 4. 17; Phil. 2. 19 ; 1 Thess. 3. 2. e Titus 1. 4. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER I. 
 
 1. Paul, an apostle ... by the command- 
 ment of God — We have already seen that the 
 term arroaroXog, apostle, literally signifies a person 
 sent from one to another, without implying any par- 
 ticular dignity in the person, or importance in the 
 message. But in the New Testament, it is usually 
 applied to those sent expressly by our Lord with 
 the message of salvation to mankind, [and to es- 
 tablish Christ's kingdom in the world.] It was 
 thus by the express command of God that St. Paul 
 went to the Gentiles preaching the doctrine of sal- 
 vation by faith in Christ Jesus. Jesus Christ . . . 
 our hope — He is called our " hope," as he is called 
 our life, our peace, our righteousness, etc., because 
 from him hope, Life, peace, righteousness, and all 
 other blessings proceed. 
 
 2. My own son in the faith — Brought to sal- 
 vation through Christ by my ministry alone. But 
 yvjjoiu) T£K.v(f> may mean my beloved son ; for in this 
 sense to yvr/aiov is not unfrequently used. In the 
 faith— The word TricTtg, faith, is taken here for 
 the whole of the Christian religion, " faith " in Christ 
 being its essential characteristic. [So Timothy was 
 Paul's beloved son in the Gospel, having through 
 him (Paul) been brought to believe in Christ.] 
 Grace, mercy, and peace — " Grace," the favour 
 and approbation of God. " Mercy," springing from 
 that grace, pardoning, purifying, and supporting. 
 " Peace," the consequence of this manifested mercy 
 — peace of conscience and peace with God — produ- 
 cing internal happiness, quietness, and assurance. 
 
 3. As I besought thee — [KaOuc indicates a 
 correlative clause with which to close the sentence, 
 but the apodosis is not given. The inserted words 
 so do recognise the defect, but scarcely remedy 
 it.] The apostle had seen that a bad seed had 
 been sown in the Church ; and, as he was obliged 
 to go then into Macedonia, he wished Timothy, on 
 whose prudence, piety, and soundness in the faith 
 he could depend, to stay behind and prevent the 
 spreading of a doctrine that would have been per- 
 nicious to the people's souls. I have already sup- 
 posed that this epistle was written after Paul had 
 
 ther, and Jesus Christ our Lord. 3 As 1 he- 
 sought thee to abide still at Ephesus, ewhen I 
 went into Macedonia, that thou mightest 
 charge some ''that they teach no other doe- 
 trine, 4 'Neither give heed to fables and 
 endless genealogies, k which minister questions, 
 
 /'Gal. 1. :'.: 2 Tim. 1.2:1 Pet. 1. 2. g Acts 20. 1, 3; 1'lnl. 
 
 2. 21. h (ial. 1. K. 7; cliap. 6. 3, 10. iChap. 4. 7; 6. 4, 20; 
 
 2 Tim. 2. It, IB, 23 ; Titus 1. 14 ; 3. 9. k Chap 6. 4. 
 
 been delivered from his first imprisonment at Pome, 
 about the end of the year 64, or the beginning of 
 65. (See the preface.) When, therefore, the apos- 
 tle came from Rome into Asia, he no doubt visited 
 Ephesus, where, ten years before, he had planted a 
 Christian Church ; and, as he had not time to tarry 
 then, he left Timothy to correct abuses. That 
 thou mightest charge some — He does not name 
 any persons ; the Judaizing teachers are generally 
 supposed to be those intended ; and the term rtai, 
 some, certain persons, which he uses, is expressive 
 of high disapprobation, and at the same time of 
 delicacy ; they were not apostles, nor apostolis men; 
 but they were undoubtedly members of the Church 
 at Ephesus, and might yet be reclaimed. [M# 
 £Ttpo6i6acKa?.eiv, literally, not to teach heresy, cor- 
 rectly rendered other doctrines, that is, than those 
 which the apostle had taught, nor different from 
 that by which they had been brought to Christ.] 
 4. Neither give heed to fables — Idle fancies ; 
 things of no moment ; doctrines and opinions unau- 
 thenticated ; silly legends, of which no people ever 
 possessed a greater stock than the Jews. End- 
 less genealogies — Some learned men suppose 
 that the apostle alludes here to the eons among 
 the Gnostics and Valentinians, of whom there were 
 endless numbers to make up what was called their 
 pleroma ; or to the sephiroth, or splendours, of the 
 Cabalists. But it is not certain that these heresies 
 had arrived to any formidable head in the apostle's 
 time ; and it has long been a doubt with me whether 
 they even existed at that time ; and I think it the 
 most simple way, and most likely to be the inten- 
 tion of the apostle, to refer all to the Jewish gen- 
 ealogies, which he calls "Jewish fables," (Tit. i, 14,) 
 to which we know they were strongly and even con- 
 scientiously attached. ' [Alford, after noticing and 
 rejecting the principal interpretations of those 
 words, favours the opinion that they refer to "the 
 lists of Gnostic emanations," inferring that even at 
 tliat early period, " though we must hardly under- 
 stand the ripened fruit of Gnosticism, but rather 
 the first beginnings of those genealogies in the 
 abuse of Judaism."] Which minister questions 
 
 331
 
 A. M. 4069. A. D. 65. 
 Year of Rome, 81s. 
 
 I. TIMOTHY. 
 
 rather than godly edifying which is in faith : 
 co do. 5 Now 'the end of the commandment 
 is charity m out of a pure heart, and of & good 
 conscience, and of faith unfeigned: 6 From 
 which some " having swerved have turned aside 
 unto "vain jangling; 7 Desiring to he teach- 
 ers of the law; p understanding neither what 
 
 l Rom. 13. 8, lu ; Gal. 5. 14. m 2 Tim. 2. 22. n Or, not aim- 
 ing at. 
 
 — They are the foundation of endless altercations 
 and disputes ; for, being uncertain and not consecu- 
 tive, every person had a right to call them in question. 
 Rather than godly edifying — Such discussions 
 as these had no tendency to promote piety, [nor to 
 build up any in the faith.] Instead of oinodofiiav 
 Qeov, godly edifying, or the edification of God, 
 oiKovofiiav Qeov, the economy or dispensation of 
 God, is evidently the true reading; and though the 
 old reading, which is supported by the Latin Fa- 
 thers and the Vulgate, gives a good sense, yet the 
 connexion and spirit of the place favours the latter. 
 This dispensation, says the apostle, is by faith, 
 oiKOVOfiiav Qeov ttjv kv tt'igtel. It was not by nat- 
 ural descent, nor by works, but by faith in Christ ; 
 therefore it was necessary that the people who were 
 seeking salvation in any other way should be strict- 
 ly informed that all their toil and labour would be 
 vain. 
 
 5. Now the end of the commandment is 
 charity — [" The end," teKoc, the purpose or de- 
 sign, that purposed to be attained to ; irapayyeMaq, 
 the things proclaimed, that is, the doctrines and 
 precepts of the Gospel.] "The end," aim, and 
 design of God in giving this dispensation to the 
 world is, that men may have a living faith, such as 
 lays hold on Christ crucified, and produces a good 
 conscience, [that apprehends Christ, and delights in 
 him and in doing his will,] and which leads cm to 
 purity of heart; love to God and man being the 
 grand issue of the grace of Christ here below, and 
 so fully preparing the soul for eternal glory. He 
 whose soul is filled with love to God and man has a 
 pure heart, a good conscience, and unfeigned faith. 
 But these blessings no soul can ever acquire but 
 according to God's dispensation of faith. The 
 paraphrase and note of Dr. Macknight on this verse 
 are very proper : " Now the scope of the charge to be 
 given by thee to these teachers is, that instead of 
 inculcating fables and genealogies, they inculcate 
 love to God and man, proceeding from a pure heart, 
 and directed by a good conscience, and nourished 
 by unfeigned faith in the Gospel doctrine. The 
 word Trapayys/iiac {commandment) denotes a mes- 
 sage or order, brought to be delivered by word 
 of mouth. The charge here meant is, that which 
 the apostle ordered Timothy to deliver to the 
 teachers in Ephesus ; for he had said, (verse 3,) 
 I had besought thee to abide still <it Ephesus, Iva 
 izapayyeifajg, that thou mightest charge some : here 
 he tells him what the scope of this charge was to 
 be." Of faith unfeigned — THoteuc avmvoKpirov, 
 a faith -not hypocritical. The apostle appears to 
 allude to the Judaizing teachers, who pretended 
 faith in the Gospel merely that they might have 
 the greater opportunity to bring back to the Mosaic- 
 system those who had embraced the doctrine of 
 Christ crucified. [A false faith may exist and 
 operate, while its subject may be quite unconscious 
 of his own hypocrisy. (See note on Matt, vi, 6.)J 
 
 6. From which some having swerved — 
 332 
 
 they say, nor whereof they affirm: 8 But we 
 know that 9 the law is good, if a man use it 
 lawfully; 9 r Knowing this, that the law is 
 not made for a righteous man, but for the law- 
 less and disobedient, for the ungodly and for 
 sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers 
 of fathers and murderers of mothers, for man- 
 
 oChap. 6. 4, 20. p Chap. 6. 4. q Rom. 7. 12. /Gal. 3. 
 
 19 ; 5. '23. 
 
 " From which some," though they have seemed to 
 aim at the T&og, scope, or object, have missed that 
 mark. Turned aside unto vain jangling — The 
 original term, yaraio'koyiav, signifies empty or vain 
 talking; discourses that turn to no profit ; many 
 words and little sense, and not worth the hearing. 
 Such, indeed, is all preaching where Jesus Christ 
 is not held forth. 
 
 7. Teachers of the law — Of Moses. To be 
 esteemed or celebrated as rabbins; to be reputed 
 cunning in solving knotty questions and enigmas, 
 which answered no end to true religion. Of such 
 the rabbinical teaching was full. Understanding 
 neither what they say — [They understand as 
 little about the one as the other ; neither the dia- 
 tribes which they actually put forth, nor those ob- 
 jective truths which properly belong to and Under- 
 lie the matters with which they are thus tamper- 
 ing. See Alford.] 
 
 8. But we know that the law is good — The 
 law as given by God is both good in itself, and has 
 a good tendency. (Rom. vii, 12-10.) If a man 
 use it lawfully — That is, interpret it according to 
 its own spirit and design, and use it for the purpose 
 for which God has given it. Even the ceremonial 
 law was a schoolmaster to lead us unto Christ, 
 and Christ is the end of that law for justification 
 to every one that believes. Now those who did not 
 use the law in reference to these ends, did not use 
 it lawfully — They did not construe it according to 
 its original design and meaning. 
 
 9. The law is not made for a righteous man 
 — The object of the moral law is to restrain crimes, 
 and to punish those that commit them. It was not 
 made for the " righteous " as a restrainer of crimes 
 and an inflicter of punishments; for the righteous 
 avoid sin, and by living to the glory of God expose 
 not themselves to its censures. The apostle does 
 not say that the law was not made for a righteous 
 man, but oi) Keirai, if. does not lie against a right- 
 eous man; because he does not transgress it : but 
 it lies against the wicked; for they have broken it, 
 and are condemned by it. The lawless — 'Avduoig ; 
 those who will not be bound by a law, and acknowl- 
 edge none, therefore have no rule of moral conduct. 
 Disobedient — 'AwTroTanrotg, those who acknowl- 
 edge no authority; they neither acknowledge law 
 nor executive authority, and consequently endeavour 
 to live as they list ; and from such dispositions all 
 the crimes in the following catalogue may naturally 
 spring. For the ungodly — 'AoEptoi, the irre- 
 ligious — those who do not worship God, or have no 
 true worship. For sinners — 'AuapruAoig, those 
 who transgress the laws. For unholy — 'Avoaioig, 
 persons ethically depraved. And profane — Be/3#- 
 Ao/g, moral outcasts, answering to our word profane, 
 which comes from procul a fauo, "away from the 
 temple." Murderers of fathers — FLarpoXuaic. 
 The murderer of a father or a mother, notwith- 
 standing the deep fall of man and the general 
 profligacy of the world, has been so rare, and is a
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 A. P. 65. 
 
 ine, S18. 
 
 slayers, DO For whoremongers, for them 
 that defile themselves with mankind, for men- 
 stealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if 
 there be any other thing that is contrary "to 
 sound doctrine; II According to the glori- 
 ous gospel of 'the blessed God, "which was 
 committed to my trust. 12 And I thank 
 Christ Jesus our Lord, v who hath enabled me, 
 "for that he counted me faithful, x putting me 
 
 sChap. fi. 3: 2 Tim. 4. 3; Tit. 1. 9: 2. 1. ('Chap. 6. 15. 
 
 Ml Cor. 9. 17: Gal. 2. 7; Col. I. 25: 1 Thess. 2. 4; chap. 2. 7; 
 
 2 Tim. 1. 11: Tit. 1. 3. b2 Cor. 12. 9. w\ Cor. 7. 25. 
 
 as2 Cor. 3. 5, 6; 4. 1 : Col. 1. 25. y Acts 8. :'.: !>. 1 : 1 Cor. 15. 
 
 crime so totally opposite to nature, that few civil- 
 ized nations have found it necessary to make laws 
 against it. Yet such monsters, like the most 
 awful and infrequent portents, have sometimes ter- 
 rified the world with their appearance. Perhaps the 
 original does not mean the murder of a father or 
 of a mother ; it may mean simply beating or striking 
 a father or mother. Manslayers — 'Av8po<f>6votc, 
 murderers simply; all who take away the life of a 
 human being contrary to law. For no crime, unless 
 it be murder, should any man lose his life. If the 
 law did not speak differently, I should not scruple 
 to say that he whose life is taken away, except for 
 murder, is murdered. 
 
 1(1. For whoremongers — Tiopvoic, adulterers, 
 fornicators, and prostitute* of all sorts. Them 
 that defile themselves with mankind — 'Apaevo- 
 Koiraic, a word too bad to be explained. Sodomites. 
 [And yet this pollution was fearfully common among 
 the most cultivated Greeks and Romans. Such is 
 culture without the Gospel.] Me.istealers — 'Av- 
 Spa-oSiaraic,slavedealers; whether those who carry 
 on the traffic in human flesh and blood, or those 
 wlio steal a person in order to sell him into bondage, 
 or those who buy such stolen men or women, no 
 matter of what colour or what country, or those who 
 sow dissensions among barbarous tribes in order 
 that they who are taken in war may be sold into 
 slavery, or the nations who legalize or connive at 
 such traffic ; all these are " menstealers," and God 
 classes them with the most flagitious of sinners. 
 For liars — ^svaraic, they who speak for truth 
 what they know to be false. For perjured per- 
 sons — 'E-iopnotc, perjurers, or bearers of false 
 witness, trueebreakers. And if there b3 any- 
 other thing — Every species of vice and immo- 
 rality — all must be necessarily included — that is 
 contrary to sound doctrine — to the immutable 
 moral law of God, as well as to the pure precepts 
 of Christianity wherein that law is incorporated, 
 explained, and rendered more sacredly binding. 
 
 11. According to the glorious gospel — The 
 "sound doctrine" mentioned above, which is here 
 called £i<ayye?uov t?)c 66i;//c rnv fianapiov Qeov, the 
 Gospel of the glory of the blessed or adorable God 
 — a dispensation which exhibits the glory of all his 
 attributes: and by saving man in such a way as is 
 consistent with the glory of all the divine perfec- 
 tions, while it firings peace and goodwill among 
 men, also brings glory to God in the highest. Sin 
 has dishonoured God, and robbed him of his glory; 
 the Gospel provides for the total destruction of sin, 
 and thus brings back to God his glory. 
 
 12. I thank Christ — [I give thanks to Christ, 
 etc.; %nptv f,tw, / have gratitude, is the Greek 
 equivalent for our give 'thanks.] I feel myself un- 
 der infinite obligation to Christ who hath strength- 
 ened me, inh'va/XGJGavri, who hath endued me with 
 
 into the ministry; 13 'Who was before a 
 blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: 
 hut I obtained mercy, because 2 ] did if igno- 
 rantly in unbelief. 14 "And the grace of our 
 Lord was exceeding- abundant b with faith c and 
 love which is in Christ Jesus. 15 d This is a 
 faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, 
 that "Christ Jesus came into the world to save 
 sinners; of whom I am chief. 16 Ilowbeit 
 
 9; Phil. 3. 6. s Luke 23. 34 : John 9. 39, 41 ; Acts 3. 17: 26. 9. 
 
 (/ Rom. 5 20; 1 Cor. 15 10. /, 2 Tim. I. 13. e [.like 7. 17. 
 
 rfChap. 3. 1 ; 4. 9; 2 Tim. 2. 11 : Tit. 3. 8. e Matt, 9. 13; 
 
 Mark 2. 17 , Luke 5. 32 ; 19. 10 : Item. 5. 8 : 1 John 3. 5. 
 
 various miraculous gifts of his Holy Spirit, and put 
 me into the ministry, dianoviav, the deaeonship, the 
 service of mankind, by preaching the Gospel, for 
 that he counted me— he knew that I would be — 
 faithful to the charge that was delivered to me. 
 [Constituted me worthy by his own will, as an act of 
 sovereign grace and of infinite condescension.] 
 
 13. A blasphemer — Speaking impiously and 
 unjustly of Jesus, his doctrine, his ways, and his 
 followers. And a persecutor — Endeavouring, 
 to the uttermost of my power, to exterminate all 
 who called on the name of the Lord Jesus. And 
 injurious — Kai v/3pcoryv; as full of insolence as I 
 was of malevolence ; and yet all the while think- 
 ing I did God service, while sacrificing men and 
 women to my own prejudices and intolerance. I 
 did it ignorantly in unbelief — Not having con- 
 sidered the nature and evidences of Christianity, 
 and not having believed that Jesus was the prom- 
 ised Messiah, I acted wholly under the prejudices 
 that influenced my countrymen in general. God, 
 therefore, showed me mercy, because I acted under 
 this influence, not knowing better. This extension 
 of mercy does not, however, excuse the infuriated 
 conduct of Saul of Tarsus, for he says himself that 
 he was exceedingly mad against them. Let us be- 
 ware lest we lose the man's former crimes in his 
 after character. [His ignorance did not give him 
 any claim on God's mercy, but merely put (left) 
 him within the pale of its operation. — Mlicott.\ 
 [There is certainly here, and also in our Lord's 
 prayer for his murderers, a presumption that such 
 unbelief as that under which both they and Paul 
 acted, forms in some way a condition favourable to 
 their repentance.] 
 
 14. The grace of our Lord was exceeding 
 abundant — The original is very emphatic, that 
 grace of oar Lord, v~tp?Tr'/r6rao~(v, hath super- 
 abounded — it manifested itself in a way of extraor- 
 dinary mercy. With faith and love — Not only 
 pardoning such offences, but leading me to the full 
 experimental knowledge of Christ's salvation; of 
 that faith and love which are essential to it ; and 
 giving me authority to proclaim it to mankind. 
 
 15. 16. Christ Jesus came into the -world to 
 save sinners— This is one of the most glorious 
 truths in the book of God; the most important 
 that ever reached the human ear, or can be enter- 
 tained by the heart of man. All mm are .-inner- ; 
 and, as such, justly condemned to eternal death. 
 Christ Jesus became incarnate, suffered, and died 
 to redeem them ; and, by his grace and Spirit, saves 
 t hem from their sins. This saying or doctrine he 
 calls, first*, a faithful or true saying, ttigtoc ii 2.6yoc; 
 it is a doctrine that may lie credited without the 
 slightest doubt or hesitation. Cud himself has 
 spoken it ; and the death of Christ and the mission 
 of the llolv Ghost, sealing pardon on the scads of
 
 A. M. 4nP9. A. P. 65. 
 Year of Rome, 818. 
 
 I. TBIOTHY. 
 
 Paul ascribes praise to God. 
 His charge to Timothy. 
 
 for this cause f I obtained mercy, that in me 
 first Jesus Christ might show forth all long- 
 suffering, efor a pattern to them which should 
 hereafter believe on him to life everlasting. 
 17 Now unto '' the King eternal, 'immortal, 
 k invisible, 'the only wise God, m be honour and 
 glory for ever and ever. Amen. 1§ This 
 
 /2Cor. 4. 1. a Acts 13. 39. h Psa. 10. 16; 145. 13; Dan. 
 
 7. 14: chap. fi. 15, ltV i Kom. 1. 23. /-John 1. 18; Heb. 11. 
 
 27 ; 1 John 4. 12. 1 Rom. lti. 27 ; Jude 25. 
 
 all who believe, have confirmed and established the 
 truth. Secondly, it is worthy of all acceptation; as 
 all need it, it is worthy of being received by all. It 
 is designed for the whole human race, for all that 
 are sinners; is applicable to all, because all are sin- 
 ners; and may be received by all, being put within 
 every man's reach, and brought to every man's ear 
 and bosom, either by the letter of the word, or, 
 where that revelation is not yet come, by the power 
 of the divine Spirit, the true light from Christ that 
 lightens every man that Cometh into the world. 
 From this also it is evident that the death of Christ, 
 and all its eternally saving effects, were designed 
 for every man. Of whom I am chief — [*i2r Tvpuroc 
 elfii kya, of whom, that is, sinners. The aim and 
 extent of the Lord's mercy intensifies the feeling of 
 Paul's own special unworthiness ; rrpuroc expresses, 
 nut time, but degree; the expression is one of the 
 deepest humility, only another form of the publi- 
 can's /not tu> duapTu/.C), to me a sinner. (Luke 
 xviii, 13.) In one's own sight, (when truly awa- 
 kened,) other men's crimes seem to sink into nothing 
 in comparison, and a man's own to be the chief and 
 only ones. — Afford.] Keeping this idea strictly in 
 view, he adds : Howbeit, for this cause I obtained 
 mercy; that in me Jesus Christ might show forth 
 all iongs offering, for a pattern to them which should 
 
 HEREAFTER (jUV jieTJiOVTUV) believe on hint to life 
 
 everlasting. And this great display of the pardon- 
 ing mercy of (bid, granted in so singular a manner, 
 at the very first promulgation of the Gospel, was 
 most proper to be produced as a pattern for the 
 encouragement of all penitent sinners to the end of 
 time. If Jesus Christ, with whom there can be no 
 respect of persons, saved Saul of Tarsus, no sinner 
 need despair. 
 
 17. Now unto the King eternal — This burst 
 of thanksgiving and gratitude to God naturally 
 arose from the subject then under consideration. 
 God has most wondrously manifested bis mercy, in 
 this beginning of the Gospel, by saving me, and 
 making me a pattern to all them that shall here- 
 after believe on Christ. He is Jiaat?.Evc ruv aluvuv, 
 the Kiny of eternities, the eternity that was before 
 time was, and the eternity that shall be when time 
 is no more. Therefore, ewer living to justify and 
 save sinners to the end of the world. Immortal 
 — 'AQd&pru, incorruptible, ess< ntially imp, rishable. 
 Some copies read aOavaru, immortal, which our 
 translation follows; but it is not the original read- 
 ing. Invisible — 'Aopdra, [in his own nature in- 
 capable of being seen. (John i, 18. ij The only- 
 wise God— The word c6(j>G), wise, must be omitted : 
 to the only God; nothing visible or invisible being 
 worthy of adoration hut himself. [Essentially sole.'] 
 Be honour — Reverence, worship, glory — all ex- 
 cellence and perfection. And this for ever and 
 ever — through eternity. (Gal. i, 5.) [This doxology 
 is to the Father, not to the Trinity, nor the Son. . . . 
 The abstract adjectives of attribute are used al- 
 most as substantives, and stand by themselves, re- 
 334 
 
 charge n I commit unto thee, son Timothy, 
 11 according to the prophecies which went be- 
 fore on thee, that thou by them mightest p war 
 a good warfare; 19 i Holding faith, and a 
 good conscience ; which some having put away, 
 concerning faith r have made shipwreck : 20 Of 
 whom is • Hymeneus and 'Alexander; whom 
 
 ml Chron. 2!t. 11. «Chap. 6. 13, 
 
 oChap. 4. 14. J> Chap. 6. 12; 2 Tim. 
 
 r Chap. 6. 9. »■ 2 Tim. 2. 17. f. 
 
 14, 20; 2 Tim. 2. 2. 
 
 !. .'. ; 4.7. (/Chap. 3.9. 
 
 Tim. 4. 14. 
 
 ferring not to fiaoi/.ei immediately, but to him 
 of whom (3aai?id-c (the king) is a title, the King of 
 the ages, the Incorruptible, the Invisible, the one 
 (or sole) God. — Alford.~\ 
 
 18. This charge — See the note on verse 5. It 
 was a "charge" that the Judaizing teachers should 
 not teach differently from that doctrine which the 
 apostle had delivered to him. (See verse 3.) Ac- 
 cording to the prophecies — This may refer to 
 some predictions by inspired men, (e. g., Silas,) rel- 
 ative to what Timothy should be ; and he wishes 
 him to act in all things conformably to those pre- 
 dictions. He was now called to that estate to which 
 the prophecies may have referred ; and now he is 
 to act worthily of that calling, according as he might 
 fight the good warfare and hold faith and a good 
 conscience. Some think that the wrpoayovoac npo<pT/- 
 re/ac, the foregoing prophecies, refer to revelations 
 which the apostle himself had received concerning 
 Timothy, while others think that the word is to be 
 understood of advices, directions, and exhortations 
 which the apostle had previously delivered to him. 
 We know that sometimes •Kpotynrtvu signifies to 
 speak to men to edification, to exhortation, and to 
 comfort, (tjee 1 Cor. xiv, 3.) This is a very sober 
 and good sense of the passage. War a good 
 warfare — The trials and afflictions of the followers 
 of God are often represented as a "warfare" or 
 campaign. (See Isa. xl, 2 ; 1 Cor. ix, 7 ; 2 Cor. 
 x, 4 ; see also Eph. vi. 13.) [2,TpaTeveo0ai includes 
 the whole business of the employed soldier, not 
 merely of fighting, properly so called, . . . but the 
 whole campaign. — At/ord.] 
 
 19. Holding faith— All the truths of the Christ- 
 ian religion ; firmly believing them, and fervently 
 proclaiming them to others. And a good con- 
 science — So holding the truth as to live according 
 to its dictates, that a " good conscience" may lie 
 ever preserved. As the apostle had just spoken of 
 the Christian's warfare, no he here refers to the 
 Christian armour, especially to the shield and 
 breastplate; the shield of faith, and the breastplate 
 of righteousness. (See on Eph. vi, 13, etc., and 
 1 Thess. v, 8.) Which (the good conscience) 
 some having put away — Wttugquevoi, having 
 thrnst away. [There is something in the word 
 implying the violence of the act required, and 
 the importunity of consciences reluctant to be 
 so extended. — Alford.] Concerning faith — The 
 great truths of the Christian religion. Have 
 made shipwreck — Being without the faith, that 
 only infallible system of truth ; and a good cou- 
 science, that skilful pilot, that steady and com- 
 manding helm, that faithful and invariable load- 
 stone ; have been driven to and fro by every wind 
 of doctrine, and, getting among shoals, quick- 
 sands, and rocks, have been shipwrecked and en- 
 gulfed. 
 
 20. Of whom . . . Hymeneus and Alexander 
 — Who had the faith but thrust it away; who had 
 a good conscience through believing, but made ship-
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 A. D. 65. 
 ne, 818. 
 
 I have "delivered unto Satan, that they may 
 learn not to v blaspheme. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 T "EXHORT therefore, that, first of all, sup- 
 J. plications, prayer,-, intercessions, and giving 
 of thanks, be made for all men; 2 b For kings, 
 
 n 1 Cor. 5. '). V Acts 13 4."). 
 
 10; Jer. 29. 7. <■ Horn. 13. 1. - 
 
 e Rom. 12. 2 ; chap. 5. 4. 
 
 -a Or, desire, — ft Ezra 6. 
 ■dOr, eminent j/lace. 
 
 wreck of it. Delivered unto Satan — For the 
 destruction of the flesh, that the spirit might be 
 saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. (See 1 Cor. 
 v, 5 ) What this sort of punishment was no man 
 now living knows. It seems to have been some- 
 thing done solely by apostolical authority, under the 
 direction of the Spirit of God. [For any one now 
 to presume on a like course of action would be a 
 flagrant presumption.] ''Hymeneus and Alexan- 
 der" denied the resurrection, (2 Tim. ii, 17, 18 ;) but 
 whether this "Alexander" be the same with Al- 
 exander the coppersmith, (2 Tim. iv, 14,) or the Al- 
 exander of Acts .xix, 33, [or still some other,] cannot 
 be determined. Whether they were brought back 
 to the acknowledgment of the truth does not ap- 
 pear. From what is said in the second epistle the 
 case seems extremely doubtful. Let him who most 
 assuredly standeth take heed lest he fall. He that 
 is self-confident is already half fallen. He who 
 professes to believe that God will absolutely keep 
 him from falling finally, and neglects watching 
 unto prayer, is not in a safe state. He who lives 
 by the moment, walks in the light, and maintains 
 his communion with God, is in no danger of apos- 
 tasy. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER II. 
 
 1. I exhort — [Ylapana'/.u, make a practical use of 
 the things named, to enforce and explain which is 
 the design of the epistle. Therefore — Ovv, in view 
 of what has been said, and what the case requires. 
 First of all — ILparov k&vtuv, imprimis, not in 
 point of time, but dignity, qualifying "I exhort," 
 rather than should In: made. See Ellicott.l Prayer 
 for the pardon of sin, and for obtaining necessary 
 supplies of grace and continual protection from 
 God, with gratitude and thanksgiving for mercies 
 already received, are duties which our sinful and 
 dependent state renders absolutely necessary ; and 
 which should lie chief in our view, and " first of all " 
 performed. It is difficult to know the precise dif- 
 ference between the four words used here by the 
 apostle. They are sometimes distinguished thus: 
 Supplications — Aeqaeig, special petitions. Pray- 
 ers — Ilpocrsvxdc, prayers generally. Interces- 
 sions — 'Evrevgeig, on behalf of others. Giving 
 of thanks — Ev ^apiar'tag, thanksgivings. Prob- 
 ably the apostle gives directions here for public 
 worship; and that the words may be thus para- 
 phrased: "Now, I exhort first of all, that in the 
 public assemblies deprecations of evils and suppli- 
 cations for such good things as are necessary, and 
 intercessions for their conversion and thanksgiving 
 for mercies, be offered in hehalf of all men — for 
 heathens as well as for Christians, and for enemies 
 as well as for friends." (See Macknight.) 
 
 2. For kings — As it is a positive maxim of 
 Christianity to pray for all secular governors, so it 
 has ever been the practice of Christians. When 
 St. Cyprian defended himself before the Roman 
 proconsul, he said: " We pray to God, not only for 
 ourselves, but for all mankind; and particularly for 
 
 and c for all that are in d authority; that we 
 may lead a quiet and peaceable life ia all god- 
 liness and honesty. 3 For this is e good and 
 acceptable in the sight f of God our Saviour; 
 
 4 eWho will have all men to be saved, h and 
 to come unto the knowledge of the truth. 
 
 5 'For there is one God, and k one mediator 
 
 /Chnp. 1. 1 ; 2 Tim. 1. 9. g Ezek. 18. 23 ; John 3. 16, 17 : Tit. 
 
 2. 11 ; 2 Pet. 3. 9. h John 17. 3 ; 2 Tim. 2. 25. i Rom. 3. 29, 
 
 30 : 10. 12 ; Gal. 3. 20. k Heb. 8. G; 0. 15. 
 
 the emperors." Tertullian, in his Apology, is more 
 particular, (cap. 30,) " We pray i'cr all the emperors, 
 that God may grant them long life, a secure gov- 
 ernment, a prosperous family, vigorous troops, a 
 faithful senate, an obedient people; that the whole 
 world may be in peace; and that God may grant, 
 both to Cesar and to every man, the accomplish- 
 ment of their just desires." So Origen: (Cont. 
 < '■ Is., lib. viii :) " We pray for kings anil rulers, that 
 with their royal authority they may be found pos- 
 sessing a wise and prudent mind." Indeed, thev 
 prayed even for those by whom they were perse- 
 cuted. If the state be not in safely, the individual 
 cannot be secure; self-preservation, therefore, 
 should lead men to pray for the government under 
 which they live. ['T~'<< fiaoiteuv, for kings gen- 
 erally, without any special reference to the Roman 
 emperors, ev vTrspoxy, in autlvority, all who have 
 any share of the constituted authority.— -£7#«>ft.] 
 That we may lead a quiet and peaceable life — 
 We thus pray for the government that the public 
 peace may be preserved. Whether the rulers be 
 good or bad, prayer for them is the duty of all 
 Christians; and the answer to their prayers, in 
 either case, will be the means of their being enabli d 
 to " lead a quiet and peaceable life " in all godli- 
 ness and honesty. [The relation of the apostles 
 and the primitive Church was that of passive obe- 
 dience and loyal support, accepting the govern- 
 ment de facto, as also dejure, so far as the subjects 
 were concerned. The idea of the political rights of 
 persons, as such, was then unknown; and since 
 Christians held their citizenship in heaven, they 
 were as aliens in the world, and could only ask for 
 libertv to live in peace and godliness. See Rom. 
 xiii, i-7.] 
 
 3. This is good and acceptable — Prayer for 
 all legally constituted authorities is " good " in itself, 
 because useful to ourselves and to the public at large, 
 and it is "acceptable in the sight of God our Sav- 
 iour;" and this is its highest sanction and its high- 
 est character; it is good; it is well pleasing to God. 
 
 4. Who ■will have all men to be saved — Be- 
 cause he wills the salvation of all men, therefore 
 he wills that all men should be prayed for. And 
 to come unto the knowledge of the truth — E'tg 
 ETviyvumv n'/ ijt): me, lii the acknowledgment <>f Vie 
 truth; that they may receive the truth, and make 
 it the rule of their faith, the model and director of 
 their life and actions. [All attempted restrictions 
 of this vital te\t are as much to be reprehended, on 
 the one hand, as (is) that perilous universalism, on 
 the other, which ignores or explains away the clear 
 declaration of Scripture, that there are those whose 
 perdition (bT&dpog) shall be eternal, (alaviog,) 
 (2 Thess. i, 9,) and whose portion shall be tin s,,,, ,1 
 death, (devrepog Bdvarog.) (Rev. xxi, S.) — JEllicotl.] 
 
 5. There is one God — Who is the maker, gov- 
 ernor, and preserver of all men, of every condition, 
 and of every nation ; anil equally wills the salvation 
 of all. And one mediator— The word mairr/g, 
 
 335
 
 I. TIMOTHY. 
 
 The apostle declares that Christ 
 became a ransom lor all men. 
 
 between Clod and men, the man Christ Jesus; 
 H ' Who gave himself a ransom for all, "'"to 
 be testified "in due time. 7 p Whereunto I am 
 ordained a preacher, and an apostle, (i I speak 
 
 l Matt. 20. 28 : Murk in. JS; Eph. 1. 7; Tit. 2. 14. mOr.a 
 
 testimony. n.\ Cor. 1.6:2 I'hess. 1. 10; 2 Tim. 1.8. o Kom. 
 
 5. 6; Gal. 4. 4; Eph. 1. 9; 3. 5; Tit. 1.3. 
 
 mediator, signifies, literally, a middle person, one 
 whose office it is to reconcile two parties at enmity ; 
 and hence Suidas explains it by elprjvoirot6c, a 
 peacemaker. God was offended with mankind ; to 
 restoie-them to his peace Jesus Christ was incar- 
 nated : and, being God and man, both God and 
 men met in and were reconciled by him. But 
 this reconciliation required a sacrifice on the part 
 of the peacemaker or mediator, hence what fol- 
 lows. 
 
 6. Who gave himself a ransom — The word 
 Tivrpov signifies a ransom paid for the redemption 
 of a captive; and hvTikmpov, the word used here, 
 and applied to the death of Christ, signifies that 
 ransom which consists in the exchange of one per- 
 son for another, or the redemption of life by life. 
 As <iod is the God and father of all, ( one God,) 
 (verse 5,) and Jesus Christ is the mediator of all, so 
 he gave himself a ranson for all ; that is, for all 
 that God made, every human soul. The argument 
 of the apostle is plainly this: 1) God is one, sole. 
 2) He is the Creator of all. 3) He has made a 
 revelation of his kindness to all. 4) He wills (it is 
 according to the purpose of his goodness) to have 
 all men saved. 5) Their salvation must be through 
 coming to the knowledge of the truth; and, 6) He 
 has provided a mediator for all, who has given 
 himself a ransom for all. As surely as God has 
 created all men, so surely has Jesus Christ died 
 fur all men. This is a truth which the nature 
 and revelation of God unequivocally proclaim. 
 [The deliverance of man from sin, misery, and 
 all other evils arising from his transgression, which 
 constitutes our redemption by Christ, is not a 
 gratuitous deliverance, granted without a consid- 
 eration as an act of pure prerogative ; the ransom, 
 the redemption price, (avTiTwrpov,') was exacted and 
 paid ; one thing was given (and accepted) for 
 another, the precious blood of Christ for captive 
 and condemned men. (See Watson's Theological 
 Institutes, vol. ii, p. 128.)] To be testified in 
 due time — To paprvpiov aaipoic Idioic. [To /iap- 
 r'vpiov is an accusative, in opposition to the preced- 
 ing sentence, and in its turn governs the dative of 
 time, Kcupoir idio/r;, a witness for its men times, im- 
 plying also its purpose.] This, (the iirri?.vrpov,) in 
 the times which seemed best to the divine wisdom, 
 was to be testified to every nation and people and 
 tongue. The apostles had begun this testimony ; 
 and, in the course of the divine economy, it has 
 ever since been gradually promulgated; and at 
 present runs with a more rapid course than ever. 
 
 7. I am ordained a preacher — lam set opart, 
 irtdtjv, appointee],. The word does not imply any 
 imposition of hands by either bishop or presbytery, 
 as is vulgarly supposed, [hut simply Christ's own 
 act. (Gal. i, 1.)] I speak the truth in Christ — 
 As I have received my commission from him, so I 
 testify his truth. I did not run before I was sent ; 
 and I speak nothing but what I have received. 
 A teacher of the Gentiles — Being specially com- 
 missioned to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles. 
 In faith and verity — Faithfully and train; 
 preaching the truth, the whole truth, and nothing 
 33(3 
 
 the truth in Christ, and lie not.) r a teacher of 
 the Gentiles in faith and verity. 8 I will 
 therefore that men pray s every where, 'lifting 
 up holy hands, without wrath and doubting. 
 
 -pEph. 3.7,8; 2 Tim. 1. 11. </ Rom. 9. 1. rRnm. 11. 13; 
 
 15. 1H; Gal. 1. 16. sMal. 1. 11; John i. 21. iPsa. lot. ^; 
 
 Isa. 1. 15. 
 
 but the truth ; and this fervently, affectionately, 
 and perseveringly. [The whole stress of this 
 verse rests on the words, " teacher of the Gen- 
 tiles," (so indicating the substance taught.) — Ols- 
 haaseo.] 
 
 8. I will therefore— Seeing the apostle had his 
 authority from Christ, and spoke nothing but what 
 he received from him, his [3or?.opai, I will, is equal 
 to / command. That men pray — That is, for the 
 blessings promised in this testimony of God. For 
 although God has provided them, yet their bestow- 
 ment is conditioned on their being asked for. (See 
 the note on verse 1, the subject of which is here 
 resumed.) Every ■where — 'Ev Travri rdrru, in 
 every place. That they should always have a pray- 
 ing heart, and this will ever find a praying place. 
 The Jews thought, at first, that no prayer could be 
 acceptable that was not offered at the temple at 
 Jerusalem; afterward this was extended to the 
 Holy Land ; but when they became dispersed 
 among the nations, they built oratories or places of 
 prayer, principally by rivers and by the seaside, 
 and in these they believed that public prayer might 
 be offered, but nowhere else. In opposition to this, 
 the apostle, by the authority of Christ, commands 
 men to pray " every where ; " that all places belong 
 to God's dominions; and as he fills every place, in 
 every place he may lie worshipped and glorified. 
 (John iv, '21-24.) [In every place where prayer is 
 made, it is to be marie in the manner prescribed in 
 the following instructions. In every place, how- 
 ever, certainly refers to the different places of meet- 
 ing.— Ohliaitseu.'\ Lifting up holy hands — It was 
 a common custom, not only among the Jews but 
 also among the heathens, to lift up or spread out 
 their arms and hands in prayer. It is properly the 
 action of entreaty and request; and seems to be an 
 effort to embrace the assistance requested. But 
 the apostle probably alludes to the Jewish custom 
 of laying their hands on the head of the animal 
 which they brought for a sin-offering, confessing 
 their sins, and then giving up the life of the animal 
 as an expiation for the sins thus confessed. And 
 this very notion is conveyed in the original term, 
 ETzaipovrag. This shows us how Christians should 
 pray. They should come to God ; humble them- 
 selves for their sins ; bring as a sacrifice the Lamb 
 of God ; and by faith offer this sacrifice to God in 
 their souls' behalf, expecting salvation through his 
 meritorious death alone. Without wrath — Hav- 
 ing no vindictive feeling against any person; har- 
 bouring no unforgiving spirit while they are im- 
 ploring pardon for their own offences. (Psa. lxvi.i, 
 18; Luke xi, 14, 15.) The "holy hands" refer to 
 the Jewish custom of washing their hands before 
 prayer; this was done to signify that they had put 
 away all sin, and purposed to live a holy life. And 
 doubting — Aia/Mytapuv, inward disputations, such 
 as are often felt by distressed penitents and timid 
 believers ; faith, hope, and unbelief appearing to 
 hold a controversy in their own bosoms. The 
 apostle, therefore, wills them to come implicitly re- 
 lying on the promises of God and the sacrifice and 
 mediation of Jesus Christ.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 A. M. 4069. A. r\ 6 
 
 Ve:ir if Rome, 818. 
 
 9 In like manner also, that "women adorn 
 themselves in modest apparel, with shame 
 facedness and sobriety; not with 'braided 
 hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; 
 
 10 w But (which becometh women professing 
 godliness) with good works, ll Let the 
 •women learn in silence with all subjection. 
 
 ttl Peter 3. 3. r Or, plaited.— 
 
 14. 34. 
 
 -u-l Peter 3. 4. a- 1 Cor. 
 
 9. In like manner also— That is, he wills or 
 commands what follows, as he had commanded 
 what went before. That ■women adorn them- 
 selves — Koi rag ; walnac ev KaraoToJ ;/ Koa/btiu. The 
 apostle seems to refer here to different parts of the 
 Grecian and Roman dress. The aroTJj, stola, seems 
 to have been originally very simple. The KaTaoToTJj 
 serins to have been the same as the pallium or 
 mantle, which was made nearly in the form of the 
 stola, and hung loosely over it without being con- 
 fined by the zona, ox girdle. With shamefaced- 
 ness and sobriety — The stola, catastola, girdle, 
 etc., though simple in themselves, were often highly 
 ornamented both with gold and precious stones; and, 
 both among the Grecian and Roman women, the 
 hair was often crisped and curled in the most 
 variegated and complex manner. To this the apos- 
 tle alludes when he says: "Not with plaited hair, 
 or gold, or pearls, or costly array." The "costly " 
 raiment might refer to the materials out of which 
 the raiment was made, and to the workmanship ; 
 the "gold" and "pearls," to the ornaments on the 
 raiment. " With shamefacedness," or modesty, /tern 
 aiSovc, this would lead them to avoid every thing 
 unbecoming or meretricious in the mode or fashion 
 of their dress. " With sobriety," Kal aufypoavvrjc ; 
 moderation would lead them to avoid all unnecessary 
 expense. They might follow the custom or cos- 
 tume of the country as to the dress itself, for 
 nothing was ever more becoming than the Grecian 
 stola, catastola, and zona; but they must not imi- 
 tate the extravagance of those who decked them- 
 selves merely to attract the eye of admiration, or 
 set in lying action the tongue of flattery. The ex- 
 travagance to which the Grecian and Asiatic women 
 went in their ornaments might well be a reason for 
 the apostle's command. "When either women or 
 men spend much time, cost, and attention on deco- 
 rating their persons, it affords a painful proof that 
 within there is little excellence, and that they are 
 endeavouring to supply the want of mind and moral 
 good by the feeble and silly aids of dress and orna- 
 ment. Were religion out of the question, common 
 sense would say in all these things : Be decent ; but 
 be moderate and honest. 
 
 10. But (which becomethj) etc. — That is: 
 Good works are the ornaments with which, above 
 all these, women professing Christianity should seek 
 to be adorned. ["Good works," that is, works of 
 beneficence, in which "women professing godliness" 
 seem to especially excel, and through which they 
 may the most eminently adorn themselves. A true 
 "sister of mercy" is (next to that of a wife and 
 mother) the most honourable style of a Christian 
 woman, nor are the two characters entirely incom- 
 patible. The real excellence of this character has 
 been the occasion of its ostentatious and super- 
 abundant counterfeits.] 
 
 11. Let the women learn in silence — This is 
 generally supposed to be a prohibition of women's 
 preaching. I have already said what I judge neces- 
 
 Vol. II.— 22 
 
 \'i But X I suffer not a woman to teach. 
 J nor to usurp authority over the man, but 
 to he in silence. 13 For s Adam was first 
 formed, then Eve. 1-1 And "Adam was not 
 deceived, but the woman being deceived was 
 in the transgression. 15 Notwithstanding 
 site shall be saved in childbearing, if they 
 
 i/Eph. 5. 24. zGen. 1. 27; 2. 1*, 22: 1 Cor. 11.8,9.- 
 
 3.6; 2 Cor. 11.3. 
 
 sary on this subject elsewhere. (See 1 Cor. xi, 5, 
 etc., and xiv, 34, 35.) 
 
 12. Nor to usurp authority — A woman should 
 attempt nothing, either in public or private, that be- 
 longs to man as his peculiar function. This was 
 prohibited by the Roman laws. But to be in 
 silence — It was lawful for men, in public assem- 
 blies, to ask questions, or even interrupt the speaker 
 when there was any matter in his speech which 
 they did not understand ; but this liberty was not 
 granted to women. (See the note on 1 Cor. xiv,' 
 34, 35.) [There is here an antithesis in every 
 word. "In silence" is opposed to drawing atten- 
 tion to themselves by a public appearance. . . . Let 
 her learn is opposed to teach. In nil subjection is 
 in opposition to usurping autlwrity over tht num. 
 Being in subjection is in that passage represented 
 as the proper position of the woman, which of it- 
 self excludes the teaching in public assemblies, but 
 not, of course, teaching in general. (Acts xviii, 25.) 
 — Olshausen. \ 
 
 13. For Adam was first formed, then Eve — 
 And by this very act God designed that he should 
 have the pre-eminence. God fitted man, by the 
 robust construction of his body, to live a public 
 life, to contend with difficulties, and to be capable 
 of great exertions. The structure of woman's 
 body plainly proves that she was never designed 
 for those exertions required in public life. In this 
 the chief part of the natural inferiority of woman 
 is to be sought. 
 
 14. Adam was not deceived — It does not 
 appear that Satan attempted the man ; the woman 
 said: "The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat." 
 Adam received the fruit from the hand of his wife; 
 he knew he was transgressing, he was not 
 "deceived;" however, she led the way, and in 
 consequence of this she was subjected to the dom- 
 ination of her husband : " Thy desire shall be to 
 thy husband, and he shall rule over thee." (Gen. 
 iii, 16.) God has not only rendered her unfit to 
 rule, but he has subjected her, expressly, to the 
 government of the man. 
 
 15. She shall be saved in childbearing — 
 ^otii/arrai 6e tun r//<; TEKvoyovlag, she shall be saved 
 through childbearing — she shall be saved by means, 
 or through the instrumentality, of childbearing or of 
 bringing forth a child. Amid the different opin- 
 ions given of the meaning of this very singular 
 text, that of Dr. Macknighl appears to me the most 
 probable, which 1 shall give in his paraphrase and 
 note. 
 
 " The word cudr/aerat, saved, in this verse, refers 
 to ?'/ ywij, lln woman, in tin; foregoing verse, which 
 is certainly Eve. But the apostle did not mean to 
 say that she alone was to he saved through child- 
 bearing, but that all her posterity, whether male or 
 female, are to be saved through the childbearing 
 of a woman; as is evident from his adding, //' 
 they live in faith and lure and Ito'infss, with 
 sobriety. For safety in childbearing does not 
 
 337
 
 A. M. 4069. A. D. 65. 
 Y.ar of Rome, Sl§. 
 
 I. TIMOTHY. 
 
 Concerning bishops and 
 
 their 'jualilicni.un-. 
 
 continue in faith and charity and holiness with 
 sobriety. 
 
 T CHAPTER TIL 
 
 HIS a & a true saying, If a man desire the 
 
 a Chap. 1. 15. h Acts 20. 28 : Phil. 1. 1. c Eph. 4. 12. 
 
 depend on that condition at all ; since many pious 
 women die in childbearing, while others, of a con- 
 trary character, axe preserved. The salvation of 
 the human race, through childbearing, was inti- 
 mated in the sentence passed on the serpent. 
 (Gen. iii, 15.) Accordingly, the Saviour is truly 
 the seed of the woman who was to bruise the head 
 of the serpent; and a woman, by bringing him 
 forth, has been the occasion of our salvation." 
 [" Childbearing " evidently denotes (figuratively) the 
 sphere which properly belongs to the woman, and 
 thus stands in opposition to the sphere of public 
 teaching, which she enters upon only by usurpa- 
 tion. ... In this sphere, to which God has 
 appointed her — not in one of active duty for the 
 advancement of the kingdom of God, to which she 
 is not called, and which contradicts the position 
 assigned to her by God — she will be saved under the 
 conditions which are the same in all. — Olshausen.] 
 [In that, her normal relation, bearing its burdens 
 and doing its duties, the Christian woman shall 
 be saved; that is the lot assigned them in God's 
 appointments.] If they continue — 'Eav /ueivuoiv 
 is rightly translated if thai live; for so it signifies 
 in other passages. (See Phil, i, 25.) The change 
 in the number of the verb from the singular to the 
 plural, which is introduced here, was designed by 
 the apostle to show that he does not speak of Eve, 
 nor of any particular woman, but of the whole .-ex. 
 (See Macknight.) Without faith it is impossible to 
 please Cod, or to be saved; and without love it 
 will be impossible to obey. Faith and love are 
 essentially necessary to holiness and sobriety; and 
 unless both men and women live in these, they 
 cannot, scripturally, expect to dwell with God for 
 ever. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 1. This is a true saying — Tliorbc 6 Myoc, thin 
 is a true doctrine. These words are joined to the 
 last verse of tin.' preceding chapter by several of 
 the Greek Fathers, and by them referred to the 
 doctrine there stated. [If so used, they form a 
 kind of (1,1,(11 to what has gone before; but Alford, 
 and many, perhaps most, think they refer to what 
 the apostle is proceeding to say.] If a man desire 
 — The word bpb/ETai, which we translate "desire," 
 signifies earnest, eager, passionah desire; and i—i6v- 
 fiEi, which we also translate "de-ire," also signifies 
 earnestly to desire or covet. It is strange that the 
 episcopacy, in those times, should have been an 
 object of intense desire to any man, when it was a 
 place of danger, and exposure to severe labour, 
 want, persecution, and death, without any secular 
 emolument whatsoever. The office of a bishop — 
 'E-iOKo-//:, the episcopacy, overseership, or superin- 
 tend, ,(>■(/. 'E-/ gkotttjc appears to have been equiva- 
 lent to that of pastor or rector of some particular 
 Church, who was usually of the order of elders.'] 
 Our term bishop comes" from the Anglo-Saxon biscop, 
 which is a mere corruption of the Greek eTrioiioiroc, and 
 the Latin episcopus; the former, being compounded 
 of k-i, over, and GKenrofiai., I look or inspect, sig- 
 nifies one who has the inspection or oversight of a 
 place, persons, or business ; what we commonly 
 term a superintendent. The New Testament writers 
 338 
 
 office of a '• bishop, lie desireth a good 
 c work. 2 d A bishop then must be blameless, 
 e the husband of one wife, vigilant, softer, f of 
 good behaviour, given to hospitality, *>'apt to 
 
 d Tit. 1. 6, etc. e Chap. 5. 9. — -/Or, modeit. g 2 Tim . 2. 21. 
 
 have borrowed the term from the Septuagint, it 
 being the word by which they translate the TDQ, 
 pakid, of the Hebrew text, which signifies a visitor, 
 one that personally inspects the people or business 
 over which he presides. It is given by St. Paul 
 to the elders at Ephesus, who had the oversight 
 Of Christ's flock, (Acts xx, 28.) and to such like 
 persons in other places. (Phil, i, 1 ; Titus i, 7.) 
 [In the pastoral epistles we must fairly acknowl- 
 edge, with Jerome, that the terms Itt igkottoq (bishop) 
 and npeapbrepoQ (elder or presbyter) are applied 
 indifferently to the same persons. The first was 
 borrowed from the Greeks, and pointed to the of- 
 fice on the side of duties; the second, which marked 
 primarily the age of the occupant, was taken from 
 the Jews, and pointed to the office on the side of 
 gravity and dignity. — E/licott.] [The hmoKonoi 
 (bishops)oi the New Testament have officially noth- 
 ing in common with our (modern) bishops. (See 
 Acts xx, 17,28.) The identity of the kwiGKOTrog 
 and KpeG^vrepog, in apostolic times, is evident 
 from Titus i, 5, 7. — Alford.] A good work — A 
 " work" it then was, heavy, incessant, and painful. 
 There were no unpreaching prelates in those days, 
 and should be none now. 
 
 2. A bishop then must be blameless — 'Ave- 
 -■'/ !,n-7av, a person against whom no evil ecu )>e 
 proved; the word is a metaphor, taken from the 
 case of an expert and skilful pugilist, who defends 
 every part of his body. So a Christian bishop 
 ought to be one that has so conducted himself as 
 to put it out of the reach of any person to allege 
 that he is either unsound in the Christian faith or 
 deficient in respect to any duty incumbent on a 
 Christian. He " must " be irreprehensible ; for how 
 can he reprove that in others which they can reprove 
 in him V The husband of one wife — He should 
 lie :i married man, and not a polygamist. The aims- 
 tie's meaning appears to be this : that he should 
 not be a man who has divorced his wife and mar- 
 ried another; nor one that has two wives at a 
 time. It does not appear to have been any part 
 of the apostle's design to prohibit second mar- 
 riages, of which some have made such a serious 
 business. Vigilant — Nn<pd?uov- a bishop has to 
 watch over the Church, and watch for il ; and this 
 will require all his care and circumspection. Sober 
 — ZuQpova, prudent, or, more literally, a men, of <i 
 sound mind; having a good understanding, and the 
 complete government of all his passions. A bishop 
 should be a man of learning, of an extensive and 
 well-cultivated mind, dispassionate, prudent, and 
 sedate. Of good behaviour — KSo/niov, or< 
 dean!, (/roe,, and cornel in the whole of his ((/,- 
 pearance, carriage, and conduct. A clownish, rude, 
 or boorish man should never have the rule of the 
 Church of God; the sour, the sullen, and the bois- 
 terous should never be invested with a dignity 
 which they would most infallibly disgrace. Given 
 to hospitality — faMijevov, literally, a lover of 
 strangers. " Hospitality," in those primitive times, 
 was a great and necessary virtue: then there were 
 few inns, or places of public entertainment ; to 
 those who were noted for benevolence the neces- 
 sitous stranger had recourse. Apt to teach —
 
 Concerning bishops find 
 their qualifications. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 teach; 3 '"Not given to wine, k no striker, 
 'nut greedy of filthy lucre ; but m patient, not 
 a brawler, not covetous; 4 One that ruletli 
 well his own house, "having his children in 
 subjection with all gravity; 5 (For if a man 
 know not how to rule his own house, how 
 shall he take care of the church of God?) 
 
 /M)r. Not r, ,ui ij to quarrel, and offi r im mi a, an oru in 
 
 icine. — iVerse8; Titusl.7. — /■"-' Tim. 2. '.'4. /l Peter 
 
 5. '2. in 2 Tim. 2. 24. n Titus 1. 6. oOr, inn 
 
 AidanTiicdv, one capable <<f teaching; uot only wise 
 himself, but ready to communicate his wisdom to 
 others. One whose delight is to instruct the igno- 
 rant, and those who are out of the way. lie must 
 be a preacher; an able, ze'alous, fervent, and as- 
 siduous preacher. 
 
 3. Not given to wine — M$ napotvov. This word 
 not only signifies one who is inordinately addicted 
 tu wine, a winebibber or tippler, but also one who 
 acts out his inebriety. No striker— M// -//'jkt//i\ 
 not quarrelsome; not ready to strike a person who 
 may displease him; no persecutor of those who 
 may ditt'e: from him. It is said of Bishop Bonner, 
 of infamous memory, that when examining the 
 poor Protestants whom he termed heretics, when 
 worsted by them in argument he was used to smite 
 them with his ii-ts, and sometimes scourge and 
 whip them. But though he was a most ignorant 
 and consummate savage, yet from such a Scripture 
 as this he might have seen the necessity of surren- 
 dering his mitre. Not greedy of filthy lucre— 
 M// aiaxpoKEpdfiQ, not desirous of base gain; not 
 using base and unjustifiable methods to raise and 
 increase his revenues ; not trading or trafficking ; 
 for wdiat would be honourable in a secular char- 
 acter would be base and dishonourable in a. minister 
 of the Gospel. These two words are probably not 
 authentic. The word covetous, which we have 
 below, expresses all the meaning of this. (See 
 verse 8.) Patient — 'Eirietitij, meek, gentle; the op- 
 posite to rr/;//c7;/r, a quarrelsome person, which it 
 immediately follows when the spurious word a'ia- 
 Xpoicspcrjc is removed. Where meekness and pa- 
 tience do not reign, gravity cannot exist, and the 
 love of God cannot dwell. Not a brawler — 
 "Auaxov, not contentious or litigious, but quiet and 
 peaceable. Not covetous — ' ' Atyikapyvpov, nut a 
 lur, r of money; not desiring the otliee for the sake 
 of its emoluments. 
 
 4. One that ruleth well his own house — 
 T<w Idiov oIkov ixn'/i~:ir Kpo'LaTajievov, one who properly 
 (handsomely) presides over (and governs) his own 
 family. One who has the command of his own 
 house, not by sternness, severity, and tyranny, but 
 with all kindness and " gravity." This is a 
 maxim of common sense; no family can be pros- 
 perous that is not under subjection, and no person 
 can govern a family but the head of it, the husband, 
 who is, both by nature and the appointment of 
 (bid, the head or governor of his own house. (Eph. 
 v, 22.) 
 
 5. For if a man know not — Method is a 
 matter of great importance in all the affairs of 
 life. He who has a disorderly family has no gov- 
 ernment of that family; he probably has none be- 
 cause he has no method, no plan, of presiding. If 
 a man'- domestic arrangements be not good, he 
 should not be trusted with any branch id' govern- 
 ment, whether ecclesiastical or civil. 
 
 0. Not a novice — Nedfvrov; not a young plant, 
 not recently ingrafted, that is, one wi wig conv< 
 
 6 Not °a novice, lest being lifted up with 
 
 pride i' lie fall into the condemnation of the 
 devil. 7 Moreover he niiisi have a good re- 
 port l i of 1 1 leni which are without; lest he fall 
 into reproach '.and the snare of the devil. 
 S Likewise must "the deacons he grave, not 
 
 double-tongued, 'not given to much wine, not 
 
 come to the faith. p Isa. 14. 12. q Acts 22. 12; 1 Cor. 
 
 5. 12: 1 Tlirs*. I. 12. — rChap. 6. '>; 2 Tin. 2. 26. — 8 Acts 6. 3. 
 — thev. 10. 9; Ezek. 41. 21 ; \a-r*e3. 
 
 tin faith. It i< impossible that one who is not long 
 and deeply experienced in the ways of God can 
 guide others in the way of life. Hence presbyters 
 or elders were generally appointed to have the 
 oversight of the rest, and hence presbyter and 
 bishop seem to have been two names for the same 
 office; yet presbyters or elders certainly were not 
 all bishops. Lest being lifted up with pride 
 he fall into the condemnation of the devil — 
 The apostle's term, rv<j>udzlc, puffed up, inflated, is a. 
 metaphor taken from a bladder when filled with 
 air or wind. It is light, can be the sport of the 
 wind, but has nothing in it but air. 
 
 In Eeelus. x there are some excellent sayings 
 concerning pride: "Pride is hurtful before God 
 and man." "Why is earth and ashes proud?" 
 "The beginning of pride is when one departeth 
 from (bid." " For pride is the beginning of sin ; 
 and he that hath it shall pour out abominations." 
 " Pride was not made for men." (See verses 7. 9, 
 12, 13, and 18, of the above chapter.) 
 
 7. Moreover he must have a good report of 
 them which are without — \M.aprvpiav na/it/v, a 
 good record, favourably reputed.] That he should 
 be one who had not been recently a profligate, or 
 scandalous in his life. Such a person, when con- 
 verted, may be a worthy private Christian, but 
 should not be at once called to the work of the 
 ministry. [Certainly not until, by a somewhat ex- 
 tended course of well-doing, he comes to have such 
 a "good report."] " Them which are without" are 
 the Jews, Gentiles, and the unconverted of all kinds. 
 Lest he fall into reproach — For his former scan- 
 dalous life. And the snare of the devil — Snares 
 and temptations such as he fell into and fell by be- 
 fore. This is called the ''snare of the devil;" for 
 he well knows the constitution of such persons, : I 
 what is most likely to prevail. Backsliders in gen- 
 eral fall by those sins to which they were addicted 
 previously to their conversion. Former inveten te 
 habits will revive in him who does not continue to 
 deny himself, and watch unto prayer. "The snare 
 of the devil," some would translate the snare of (lie 
 accuser; and they give the same meaning to 
 word in verse 6, because it is evident that dia 
 
 has that meaning in verse 1 1, where our translators 
 render it slandt r< rs. 
 
 8. Likewise must the deacons — The term 
 "deacon," diaicdvovg, simply signifies a regular or 
 stated servant. (Sec Matt, xx, 26.) As nearly the 
 same qualifications were required in the deacons as 
 in the bishops, the reader may consult what i- said on 
 the preceding verses. Grave — Of a sedate and dig- 
 nified carriage and conduct. Not double-tongued 
 — Speaking one thing to one person and another 
 thing to another on the same subject. Not given 
 to much wine — Neither a drunkard, tippler, nor 
 what is called a jovial companion. All this would 
 be inconsistent with gravity. Not greedy of 
 filthy lucre — See on verse 3. [The repetition of 
 the caution indicates it.- importance. J
 
 A. M. 4069. A. T>. 65. 
 Year of Rome, 818 
 
 I. TIMOTHY. 
 
 Concerning; deacons an> 
 their qualifications. 
 
 greedy of filthy lucre; 9 "Holding the mys- 
 tery of the faith in a pure conscience. 10 And 
 let these also first be proved ; then let them 
 use the office of a deacon, being found blame- 
 less. 11 v Even so must their wives be grave, 
 not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things. 
 12 Let the deacons be the husbands of one 
 wife, ruling their children and their own 
 houses well. 13 For "they that have "used 
 
 u Chap. 1. 19. v Titus 2. 3. w See Miitt. 25. 21. 
 
 sOr, 
 
 0. Holding the mystery of the faith — 
 [Mvorypiov tj/q niareug, the doctrines of the Gospel, 
 that great objective truth which man of himself 
 knows not, but which the Spirit of God reveals to 
 the faithful. (Rom. xvi, 25; 1 Cor. ii, 7-10.) . . . 
 Probably t?jc -rriareur is here to be taken subjec- 
 tively: their faith, the apprehension which appro- 
 priates to them the contents of God's revelation of 
 Christ.— Jlford.] 
 
 10. Let these ... be proved — Let them not 
 be young converts, or persons lately brought to the 
 knowledge of the truth. (See verse ft.) Let no 
 man be put into an office in the Church till he has 
 given full proof of his sincerity and steadiness, by 
 having been for a considerable time a consistent 
 private member of the Church. Being found 
 blameless — 'Ari}K?,r/Toi. ovrec, being irreproach- 
 able; persons against whom no evil can be proved. 
 (See verse 2.) [Let the stewards (whose office 
 answers to that of the scriptural deacons) be per- 
 sons of solid piety, who both know and love the 
 Methodist (Christian) doctrine and discipline, and 
 of good natural and acquired abilities. — Methodist 
 Discipline. 
 
 11. Even so must their wives be grave — 
 TwaiKac uoabruc cefivac, let the women likewise be 
 grave. Whatever is spoken here becomes women 
 in general. If the apostle had those termed dea- 
 conesses in his mind, the words are peculiarly 
 suitable to them. That there was such an order in 
 the apostolic and primitive Church, and that they 
 were appointed to their office by the imposition of 
 hands, has already been noticed. (Rom. xvi, 1.) 
 Possibly, therefore, the apostle may have had these 
 in view, to whom it was as necessary to give coun- 
 si Is and cautions as to the deacons themselves; and 
 to prescribe their qualifications, lest improper per- 
 sons should be brought into that office. Not 
 slanderers — Mi/ diafioXovg, literally, not devils. 
 (See on verse 7.) This may be properly enough 
 translated slanderers, backbiters, talebearers, etc., 
 for all these are of their father, the devil. (See 
 on verse 2.) Faithful in all things — The 
 deaconesses had much to do among the poor, 
 and especially among poor women, in dispensing 
 
 ie bounty of the Church! They were not only 
 aithfully to expend all they had received, and for 
 he purpose for which they received it; but they 
 must do this with impartiality, showing no respect, 
 of persons, the necessities of each ease being the 
 only rule by which the distribution was to be regu- 
 lated. 
 
 12. Let the deacons be the husbands of one 
 ■wife — See on verses 2, 4, and 5. 
 
 13. That have used the office of a deacon 
 well — They who, having been tried or proved, 
 (verse 10,) have shown by their steadiness, activity, 
 and zeal, that they might be raised to a higher 
 office, are said to purchase to themselves a 
 
 340 
 
 the office of a deacon well purchase to 
 themselves a good degree, and great bold- 
 ness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus. 
 14 These things write 1 unto thee, hoping 
 to come unto thee shortly: 15 But if 1 
 tarry long, that thou niayest know how 
 thou oughtest to behave thyself J in the 
 house of God, which is the church of the 
 living God, the pillar and 2 ground of the 
 
 ministered. v Eph. 2 21, 22 ; 2 Tim. 2. 20. z Or, stay. 
 
 good degree, fiad/ibv naTibv; for, instead of hav- 
 ing to administer to the bodies and bodily wants 
 of the poor, the faithful deacons were raised to 
 minister in holy things ; and, instead' of minister- 
 ing the bread that perisheth, they were raised to 
 the presbyterate or episcopate to minister the bread 
 of life to immortal souls. And hence the apos- 
 tle adds : and great boldness in the faith — Ilo>. 
 Ttfjv TrappTjoiav, gnat liberty of speech; that is, in 
 teaching the doctrines of Christianity, and in ex- 
 pounding the Scriptures and preaching. It seems 
 to have been a practice, dictated by common sense, 
 that the most grave and steady of the believers 
 should first be employed as deacons ; the most ex- 
 perienced and zealous of the deacons should be 
 raised to the rank of elders ; and the most able 
 and pious of the elders be consecrated bishops or 
 pastors. 
 
 14. These things write I — That is, I write 
 only these things ; because / hope to come unto 
 thee shortly. 
 
 15. But if I tarry long — That is, Notwith- 
 standing I hope to come to thee shortly, and there- 
 fore do not feel the necessity of writing at large, 
 yet, lest I should be delayed, I write what I judge 
 necessary to direct thy conduct in the Church of 
 God. The house of God — This is spoken in al- 
 lusion to the ancient tabernacle, which was God's 
 house, and in which the symbol of the divine 
 majesty dwelt. So the Christian Church is God's 
 house, and every believer is a habitation of God 
 through the Spirit. [If the Church in general (the 
 comprehending body of believers) is the house of 
 God, then any portion of it may clearly partake of 
 the title and the dignity.] The church of the 
 living God — The assembly in which God lives and 
 works; each member of which is a living stone, all 
 of whom, properly united among themselves, grow 
 up unto a holy temple in the Lord. [The " Holy 
 Catholic Church" of the Apostles' Creed.] The 
 pillar and ground of the truth — Never was there 
 a greater variety of opinions on any portion of the 
 sacred Scripture than has been on this and the fol- 
 lowing verse. Commentators and critics have 
 given senses and meanings till there is no meaning 
 to be seen. The house of God is the Church of 
 the living God ; which (Church) is the pillar and 
 ground of the truth. The full revelation of God's 
 truth is in the Christian Church. The great doc- 
 trines of that Church are the truth. Formerly the 
 truth was but partially revealed, much of it being 
 shadowed with types, ritualistic ceremonies, and 
 comparatively dark prophecies; but now all is made 
 plain, and the full revelation given ; and the foun- 
 dations on which this truth rests are the grand facts 
 detailed in the Gospel; especially those which con- 
 cern the incarnation, miracles, passion, death, and 
 resurrection of Christ, and the mission of the Holy 
 Spirit.
 
 The great mystery of 
 godliness. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 truth. 16 And without controversy great 
 is the mystery of godliness: "God was b man- 
 
 f?John 1. 14: 1 Jo) in I. 2. — 6Gr. manifested.- eMatt. 
 ?>.]<,; John 1.32.33; 15. -■'■: 16. 8,9; Rom. 1.4; 1 Peter 3. 18; 
 1 John j. 6. etc. (2 Matt. 2-. 2; Mark 16. 5; Luke 'J. 13; 
 
 16. And without controversy — Kai by.o'Xoyov- 
 /tircjr, and confessedly, by general consent, it is a 
 thing which aomancan ov ought to dispute. Great 
 is the mystery of godliness — | Meya eotiv to ttjq 
 evoefieiag uvcnr/ptov. This sentence is a paraphrase 
 of the a'At'/fcia, (the truth, the wfiole Gospel,) in the 
 preceding verse. It is so called by the apostle lie- 
 cause, as the subject of the Christian fear of God, 
 or piety, it is hidden from the world, the mystery of 
 the faith. (Verse 9.)] God was manifest in the 
 flesh — &ebc £<j>avepaBq iv aapni. Instead of Oeof, 
 God, several MSS., Versions, and Fathers have 6f 
 or 6, who or which. The insertion of 0e6c for of, 
 or of for 0fOf, may be easily accounted for. In 
 ancient times the Greek was all written in capital 
 letters, for the common Greek character is com- 
 paratively of modern date. In these early times 
 words of frequent recurrence were written contract- 
 
 edly, thus: for narqp, rrp; 0f6f, tt,-; Kiptoc, nc ; 
 
 'Iqaovg, it/c, etc. This is very frequent in the oldest 
 MSS., and is continually recurring in the Codex 
 Bezte and Codex Alexandrinus. If, therefore, the 
 middle stroke of the 0, in 0C, happened to be faint, 
 or obliterated, and the dash above not very appa- 
 rent, both of which I have observed in ancient 
 
 MSS., then ©C\ the contraction for 0EOC, God, 
 might be mistaken for OC, which or who; and vice 
 versa. This appears to have been the case in the 
 Codex Alexandrinus in this passage. To me there 
 is ample reason to believe that the Codex Alexan- 
 drinus originally read OC, God, in this place; but 
 the stroke becoming faint by length of time and 
 injudicious handling, of which the MS. in this place 
 has had a large proportion, some person has sup- 
 plied the place, most reprehensibly, with a thick 
 black line. This has destroyed the evidence of 
 this MS., as now it can neither be quoted pro nor 
 cm, though it is very likely that the person who 
 supplied the ink line did it from a conscientious 
 
 conviction that OC was the original reading of this 
 MS. The enemies of the deity of Christ have been 
 at as much pains to destroy the evidence afforded 
 by the common reading in support of this doctrine 
 as if this text were the only one by which it can be 
 supported; they must be aware that John i, 1 
 and 14, (and many other passages,) proclaim the 
 same truth ; and that in those places there is no 
 authority to doubt the genuineness of the reading 
 [The reading Otdf is no longer supported by any 
 respectable authority, and the only dispute is be- 
 tween be (who) referring to an omitted antecedent, 
 Christ, and 6, (which,) having uvarijpiov (the mys- 
 tery) for its antecedent, and the preference is to 
 be given very decidedly to the former.] ["Of is not 
 "he who," (emphatic,) including in itself both the 
 demonstrative and relative, but is a relative to 
 an omitted, though easily recognised, antecedent, 
 namely, Christ. . . . The rhythmical as well as the 
 antithetical character of the clauses, and the known 
 existence of such compositions, lender it by no 
 means improbable that the words (following) are 
 
 quoted from s e well-known hymn\ or possibly 
 
 from some familiar confession of faith. — Ellicott.] 
 [It should be noticed, in a question which now 
 
 if est in the flesh, c justified in the Spirit, d seen 
 of angels, ° preached unto the Gentiles, f he- 
 
 2) 
 
 •1 
 
 J. 
 
 in 20. 
 
 12; 
 
 Eph. ::. 
 
 10 
 
 1 
 
 Peter i 
 
 1 ' 
 
 
 -e Acts in. 
 
 34; 
 
 13. 
 
 li 
 
 48; 
 
 Horn. 
 
 i". 
 
 18; Gal 
 
 2. 
 
 H 
 
 Eph. J. 
 
 5, li 
 
 8; 
 
 Ool 
 
 27 
 
 ->; 
 
 eh 
 
 ip 
 
 2. 7 
 
 — /Col. 
 
 1. 6,23. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 happily no longer depends on internal consider- 
 ations, how completely the whole glorious sentence 
 is (would be) marred and disjoined by the substitu- 
 tion of 0edY. It is not the objective fact of God 
 being manifested of which the apostle is speaking, 
 but the life of God lived in the Church — the truth, 
 of which the congregation of believers is the pillar 
 and basement — as identical (John xiv, 6) with Him 
 who is its centre and heart and stock, as unfolded 
 once for all in the unfolding of Him. — Alford.~\ 
 Justified in the Spirit — ['Eowawfift? h Tcvevfian, 
 was vindicated in spirit, in the higher sphere of the 
 divine life. . . . The nvevfia of Christ is not here 
 the Holy Spirit, nor y Usia Svva/ug, the divine 
 power or miracles, but the higher principle of 
 spiritual life, which was not in itself the divinity, 
 but especially and intimately united (not blended) 
 and associated with it. — Mlicott.] Seen of angels 
 — By ayy£?.oic here, some understand not those 
 celestial or infernal beings commonly called 
 "angels," but apostles and other persons who be- 
 came messengers, to carry far and wide, and attest, 
 the truth of his resurrection from the dead. If, 
 however, we take the word "seen," in its Jewish 
 acceptation for madt known, we may here retain 
 the term "angels" in its common acceptation; for 
 it is certain that previously to our Lord's ascension 
 to heaven, these holy beings could have little 
 knowledge of the necessity, reasons, and economy 
 of human salvation, or of the nature of Christ as 
 God and man. St. Peter informs us that the angels 
 desire to look into these things (1 I'et. i, 12.) And 
 St. Paul says the same thing (Eph. iii, 9, 10) when, 
 speaking of the revelation of the Gospel plan of 
 salvation, which he calls the mystery which from the 
 
 BEGINNING OF THE WORLD had be, n 1110 in God, and 
 
 which was now published, that unto the principali- 
 ties and powers in heavenly places might be made 
 known by (did, through) the Church, the mani- 
 fold wisdom of God. Even those angelic beings 
 have obtained an accession to their blessedness by 
 an increase of knowledge in the things which con- 
 cern Jesus Christ, and the whole scheme of human 
 salvation through his incarnation, passion, death, 
 resurrection, ascension, and glorification. The 
 "mystery of godliness," as displayed in the incar- 
 nation, manifests the Godhead in communion with 
 our race to the higher orders of spiritual beings, so 
 making them sharers, though apparently incident- 
 ally, in the beneficial results of that stupendous 
 transaction.] | It is very probable that the general 
 manifestation of Christ to angel.- through his incar- 
 nation, rather than the specific appearances of them 
 during some scenes of his earthly life, or any [as- 
 sumed] specific manifestation in heaven, is here al- 
 luded to. — Ellicott.] Preached unto the Gen- 
 tiles — This was one grand pari of the "mysien " 
 which had been " hidden in God " — that the Gentiles 
 should be made fellow heirs with the Jews, and be 
 admitted into the kingdom of Cod. To the Gentiles, 
 therefore, he was proclaimed as having pulled d 
 the middle wall <>j partition between tlwni and the 
 J, ws; that, through him, God has granted unto them 
 repentance unto life; and that they also mi 
 have "redemption in his blood, the forgiveness of 
 sins." ["The mystery of godliness " includes in 
 
 341
 
 I. TIMOTHY. 
 
 Corruptii 
 
 lieved on in the world, ^received up into 
 glory. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 NOW the Spirit "speaketh expressly, that 
 1 in the hitter times some shall depart from 
 the faith, giving heed f to seducing spirits, d and 
 doctrines of devils; 2 e Speaking lies in hy- 
 
 ffLukp 24. Si; Acts 1. 9; 1 Peter 3. 22. a John 16, 13; 
 
 2 Thess. 2. 3 : 2 T in. 3. 1, etc. ; 2 Peter 3. 3; 1 John i. 18 : Jude 
 
 4, is. ;\ Peter I. 20. c2 Tun. 3. 13; 2 Peter 'J. I; Rev. 
 
 lti. 14. ,1 Dan. 11. 35,37. 38; Rev. 9. 20. eMatt. 7. 15; 
 
 its far reaching purposes of salvation all men, 
 which is seen in the commission to preach the 
 Gospel to all nations, Jews and Gentiles alike, and 
 without any ethnic distinctions.] Believed on 
 in the world — This is a most striking part of the 
 " mystery of godliness," that one whose kingdom 
 is not of this world, and whose doctrines are op- 
 posed to all the sinful propensities of the human 
 heart, should, wherever the Gospel is preached, be 
 acknowledged as the only Saviour of sinners, and 
 the Judge of quick and dead! And, notwithstand- 
 ing their prejudices, many even of the Jews be- 
 lieved on him; and a "great company of the 
 priests " themselves, who were his cruci-fiers, 
 'became obedient to the faith." (Acts vi. 7.) 
 | The facts of the spiritual conquests of the Gospel 
 in the world constitute no mean proof of its great- 
 ness as a divine mystery. In these Christianity has 
 an ever-increasing demonstration of its divinity.] 
 Received up into glory — Even that human na- 
 ture which he took of the Virgin Mary was taken 
 up into glory. (Acts i, 9.) This is a part of the 
 mystery of godliness which, while we have every 
 reasonable evidence to believe, we have not powers 
 to comprehend. His reception into glory is of the 
 utmost consequence to the Christian faith; as, in 
 consequence, Jesus Christ in his human nature ever 
 appears before the throne as our sacrifice and 
 our mediator. [Christ in his proper person — the 
 God-man — is the subject of which all that is here 
 said (in verse 16) is predicated. He was mani- 
 fested in the flesh. He was justified in the spirit, 
 etc., and in him was embodied all that mystery of 
 grace which we call spiritual religion. (1 Cor. i, 
 24, 80 ; Col. ii, 3.)] 
 
 NOTES ON CIIAPTEK IV. 
 1. Now the Spirit speaketh expressly — 
 
 'V>/T(,)t_\ manifestly, openly. It is very likely that 
 the apostle riders hereto a prophecy then furnished 
 by the Holy Ohost, and probably immediately after 
 he had written the words in the preceding verses ; 
 and as this prophecy contains things nowhere else 
 spoken of in the sacred writings, and which are 
 of the utmost moment to the Christian Church, 
 they should be read with reverence. In the latter 
 times — This does not necessarily imply the last 
 ages of the world, but any times subsequent to 
 those in which the Church then lived. Depart 
 from the faith — ' A-oarijcovrai r/rtr r?/r iriareug, 
 they will apostatize from the faith, that is, from 
 Christianity; in effect renouncing the whole system, 
 by bringing in doctrines winch render its essential 
 truths null and void, or denying and renouncing 
 such doctrines as are essential to Christianity as a 
 system of salvation. A man may hold all the 
 truths of Christianity, and yet render them of none 
 effect by holding other doctrines which counteract 
 their influence; or he may apostatize by denying 
 some essential doctrine, though he bring in nothing 
 342 
 
 poerisy; 'having their conscience seared with 
 a hot iron; 3 s Forbidding to marry, ^and 
 commanding to abstain from meats, which 
 God bath created ' to be received k with thanks- 
 giving of them which believe and know the 
 truth. 4 For 'every creature of God is good, 
 and nothing to be refused, if it be received 
 
 Rom. lti. 18: 2 Peter 2. 3. fF,\>h. 4. 19. a 1 Cor. 7 28, 36, 
 
 38; Col. 2. 20. 21: Heb. 13. 4. // Rom. 14. 3. 17 ; 1 Cor. 8. 8. 
 
 JGen. 1. 29; 9. 3. fr Rom. ]4. tj; 1 Cor. 10. 30. 1 Kom. 
 
 14. 14, 20 ; 1 Cor. 10. 25 ; Titus 1. 15. 
 
 heterodox. [Ta>ec, some, are not the heretics, but 
 those who are led away from the faith by them. 
 The apostasy belonged to the future, but the heresy 
 to the present. — Hutheri] Giving heed to se- 
 ducing spirits. — Uvti/iaai -'/.avoir. Deception 
 has its spirits, emissaries of every kind, which she 
 employs to darken the hearts and destroy the souls 
 of men. Pretenders to inspiration, and false 
 teachers of every kind, belong to this class. And 
 doctrines of devils — Aai/xovluv, demons, either 
 meaning fallen spirits or dead men, spectres, etc., 
 or doctrines inspired by Satan relative to these, by 
 which he secures his own interest, and provides for 
 his own worship. [The words signify not doctrines 
 concerning demons, but proceeding from demons. 
 ... A man never stands isolated ; if the divine 
 Spirit does not lead him, the evil spirit will ; hence 
 the heresies are here represented as inspirations of 
 the demons, ministers of Satan. (2 Cor. xi, 15.) 
 — Olshausen.] 
 
 2. Speaking lies in hypocrisy — Persons pie- 
 tending not only to divine inspiration, tint also to ex- 
 traordinary degrees of holiness, self-denial, mortifi- 
 cation, etc.. in order to accredit the "' lies " and false 
 doctrines which they taught. Of this kind are the 
 " lies " framed concerning miracles pretended to 
 be wrought by the relics of departed saints, etc. 
 Having their conscience seared with a hot 
 iron — They bear the marks of their hypocrisy as 
 evidently and as indelibly in their conscience in the 
 sight of God as those who have been cauterized for 
 their crimes do in their bodies in the sight of men. 
 | Cauterizing was a form of punishment for marking 
 criminals as such: as these bore the brand on their 
 forehead, ... so do these heretics bear in their 
 conscience the knowledge of their own guilt. — 
 Olshausen.~\ 
 
 o. Forbidding to marry — These hypocrites 
 pretended that a single life was much more favour- 
 able to devotion and to the perfection of the 
 Christian life. This sentiment was held by the 
 Essenes, a religious sect among the Jews; and we 
 know that it is a favourite opinion among the Ro- 
 manists, who oblige all their clergy to live a single 
 life by a vow of continency. To abstain from 
 meats — Among the heathens, Jews, and Romanists, 
 certain ''meats" were prohibited; some always, 
 others at particular times. This, the apostle in- 
 forms us, was directly contrary to the original de- 
 sign of (hid ; and says that those who know the 
 truth know this. [It does not appear what were 
 the kinds of meats that were forbidden, but prob- 
 ably flesh is intended. There is here a faint 
 shadowing of an incipient Gnosticism, already 
 showing itself, although its full development did 
 not occur till considerably later.] 
 
 4. For every creature of God is good — That 
 is, every creature which God has made for man's 
 nourishment is good for that purpose, and to be 
 thankfully received whenever necessary for the
 
 Godliness declared to be profitable 
 unto all things. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 with thanksgiving: 5 For it is sanctified by 
 the word of God and prayer. <> If thou put 
 the brethren in remembrance of these things, 
 thou shalt he a good minister of Jesus Christ, 
 ■"nourished up in the words of faith and of 
 good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained. 
 7 But "refuse profane and old wives 1 fables, 
 and "exercise thyself rather unto godliness. 
 
 m '2 Tim. 3. 14, 15. n Chap. 1. 4: 6. 30 : 'J Tim. 2 lfi, 23 ; 4. 4 : 
 
 Titus I. 4.-— oUeb. 5. 14. — pi Cor. 8. 8; Col. 2.23. — ?Or, 
 for a little time. — rChap. B. B. 
 
 support of human life; and nothing of that sort is 
 at any time to be refused, ovdev u-u.f/./jrov, rejected 
 or despist d. 
 
 5. For it is sanctified by the word of God — 
 Am "kdyov deov, "by the command of God ;" prob- 
 ably referring to Gen. i. 29 : " And God said, I have 
 given you every herb . . . and every tree ... to 
 you it shall be for meat;" and to chapter i\, 8, 
 "Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat foi 
 you; even as the green herb have I given you all 
 things ; " that is, I have given you every animal 
 that is proper for food, as I have given you every 
 herb and fruit proper for nourishment. Therefore, 
 all this was " sanctified," set apart, and appropriated 
 to this use by this command. And when man is 
 alio it to use it, he is to sanctify or set it apart to 
 that use by prayer to God; 1) That it may answer 
 the end to us for which it was designed ; 2) That 
 we may use it with gratitude and moderation ; 
 S) That all the strength derived from it may be 
 devoted to God in filling up the duties of those 
 situations in which his providence has placed us. 
 Those who thank not God for their food, and pray 
 not for his blessing in the use of it, are unworthy 
 even of a morsel of bread and of the breath they 
 breathe. 
 
 (I. If thou put tha brethren in remembrance 
 of these things — Show the Church that even now 
 there is danger of this apostasy ; put them on their 
 guard against it ; for the forewarned are forearmed. 
 Nourished up in the words of faith — By acting 
 as I command thee, thou wilt show that thou art a 
 good minister of Jesus Christ, and that thou hast 
 been nourished from thy youth up in the doctrines 
 of faith. The apostle seems to allude here to Tim- 
 othy's Christian education. (See the preface to this 
 epistle.) Whereunto thou hast attained — *H 
 -tioi/Ko'/nrHi/mc, which thou hast thoroughly under- 
 stood. [Hast followed along by tracing its course 
 and accompanying it. — Alford.~] 
 
 7. But refuse profane and old wives' fables 
 — \Tpau5eic, (from ypal/g, an old woman,) silly .] 
 This seems to refer particularly to the Jews, whose 
 Talmudical writings are full of the most ridiculous 
 and profane fables that ever disgraced the human 
 intellect. The same may with equal propriety be 
 saiil of the legends of the Romish Church. Let any 
 man read the Aurea Legenda, ami he will find of 
 "profane and old wives' fables" what may .-land, 
 with considerable propriety, column for column with 
 the Talmud. See Joseline's Life of St. Patrick for 
 miracles abundantly more numerous and more stu- 
 pendous than all that were wrought by Jesus Christ 
 and his apostles ! No doubt the Spirit of God had 
 these and similar corruptions, and this corrupt 
 Church particularly, in view. Exercise thyself 
 rather unto godliness — [Vr/irtut 61 oeavrbv, keep 
 yourself to a course of gymnastics. (Sir Il.li. \, 
 14 ; xii, 11 ; 2 Peter i, 14.) Rpbg evae^eiav, in ref- 
 
 8 For r bodily exercise profiteth i little : r but 
 godliness is profitable unto all things: 'hav- 
 ing promise of the life that now is, and id' that 
 which is to come. 9 'This is a faithful say- 
 in-', and worthy of al! acceptation. 10 For 
 therefore "we both labour and suffer reproach, 
 because we l trust in the living God, "who is 
 the Saviour of all men, specially of those that 
 
 sPsa. :;:. 4; 84. 11 : 112. 2.3; 145. 1'.': Matt. 6. 33; If. 29; Mark 
 
 10. 30; Rom. 8. 25. — iChap. 1. 15. n\ Cor. 4. 11, 12. 
 
 r Chap. 6. 17. — w Psa. 36. B; IU7. -, 6, etc. 
 
 erence to practical culture in piety.] Timothy was 
 to exercise himself unto godliness, that he might be 
 prepared to direct his hearers to the kingdom of 
 heaven, and the crown that fadeth not away. (See 
 the notes on 1 Cor. ix. 24, etc.) 
 
 8. For bodily exercise (outward observances) 
 profiteth little — Updc ok'vyov iarlv uQiht/uog, are 
 but little worth; but godliness (evaeftsia) has the 
 promise of this life and the life to come; it is 
 profitable for all things; and for both time and 
 eternity. Having promise of the life that now 
 is — The man that fears, loves, and serves God has 
 God's blessing all through life. His religion saves 
 him from all those excesses, both in action and 
 passion, which sap the foundations of life and ren- 
 der existence itself oftena burden. The peace and 
 love of God in the heart produce a serenity and 
 calm which cause the lamp of life to burn clear, 
 strong, and permanent. Evil ami disorderly pas- 
 sions obscure and stifle the vital spark. Every 
 trulv religious man extracts the uttermost good out 
 of life itself, and through the divine blessing secures 
 the uttermost good that is in life ; and, what is 
 better than all, acquires a title through grace to 
 an eternal life of glory above. Thus godliness has 
 the assured promise of, and secures the blessings 
 of, both the present and the future life. 
 
 9. This is a faithful saying — [Confirmatory 
 of what immediately precedes. — EllicottJ] The truth 
 of this doctrine none need doubt ; and every man 
 has it in his power to put this to the proof. (See 
 i. 15.) 
 
 10. For therefore we both labour — This verse 
 was necessary to explain what the apostle had he- 
 fore said ; and here he shows that his meaning was 
 not that the followers of God should enjoy worldly 
 prosperity and exemption from natural evils ; for, 
 said he, it is because we exercise ourselves in god- 
 liness that we have both labour and reproach, ami 
 we have these because we trust in the living Cod. 
 ['H/.— iiicijin\ have set our hearts upon the living God ; 
 we make him the object of our confidence for time 
 and eternity.] Who is the Saviour of all men 
 — Who has provided salvation lor the whole human 
 race, and has freely offered it to them in his word and 
 by his Spirit. Specially of those that believe — 
 What God intends for .\u., he actually gives to 
 them that believe in Christ. As "all "have been 
 
 purchased by his blood, SO "all" may believe; 
 
 and consequently " all " may be saved. Those that 
 perish, do so through their own fault. 1) God 
 
 wills that all men should be saved. (Chapter ii, I.) 
 2) Be has provided a ransom price by which all 
 may be saved. (Ileb. ii, 9.) •".) By virtue of that, 
 provision all men are brought to a state of initial 
 salvation. (Ileb. x, 2!».) 4) Hut the consilium;. tion 
 of that salvation in personal redemption and ever- 
 lasting life is conditioned on the faith of the in- 
 i dividual subject.] 
 
 343
 
 A. M. 4069. A. P. 65. 
 Year of Rome, 818. 
 
 I. TIMOTHY 
 
 Counsels to Timothy respecting 
 reading and preaching. 
 
 believe. 11 "These things command and 
 teach. 12 >'Let no man despise thy youth; 
 but z be thou an example of the believers, in 
 word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in 
 faith, in purity. 13 Till I come, give attend- 
 
 a-Cliap. 6. 2. • 
 
 -y\ Cor. lfi. 11; Titus 2. 15. z Titus 2. 7; 
 
 1 Peter j. 3. 
 
 11. These things command and teach — Let 
 
 it be the sum and substance of thy preaching: 
 that true religion is profitable for both worlds; 
 that vice destroys both body and soul; that Christ 
 tasted death for every man; and that he saves to 
 the uttermost all them that believe in his name. 
 
 12. Let no man despise thy youth — Act 
 with all the gravity and decorum which become 
 thy situation in the Church. As thou art in the 
 place of an elder, act as an elder. Concerning 
 Timothy's age, see the conclusion of the preface to 
 this epistle. Be thou an example of the be- 
 lievers — [Tv-or, a type-model, here used in a 
 moral sense. (See 1 Pet. v, 3; Phil, iii, 17, etc.)] 
 Though, according to the just judgment of God, 
 they who die in their sins have their blood on 
 their own head ; yet, if they have either gone into 
 sin or continued in it through the watchman's fault, 
 their blood will God require at his hand. (See Ezek. 
 xxxiii, 1-10.) In word — '!•> /loycj, in doctrine; 
 teach nothing but the truth of God. In conver- 
 sation — 'Ev avaarpotyy, in the whole of thy manner 
 of life. In charity— 'Ev <;;</-//, in love to God and 
 man — in universal good will. In spirit — 'Ev nvt v- 
 l-iari, in the manner and disposition in winch thou 
 dost all things. [These words are wanting in the 
 best copies.] In faith — 'Ev Kiarei, be faithful to thy 
 trust, to thy flock, to thy domestics, to the public, 
 to thy (Ion. Fidelity consists in honestly keeping, 
 preserving, using, and delivering up when required, 
 whatever is intrusted to our care. In purity — 
 'Ev ayvia, chastity of body and mind; a direction 
 peculiarly necessary for a young minister, who lias 
 more temptations to break its rules than perhaps 
 any other person. " Converse sparingly with 
 women, and especially with young women," was the 
 advice of a very holy and experienced minister of 
 Christ. [We cannot but observe that there is a 
 certain order in the succession of these terms. 
 First we have, in "word" and in "conversation." 
 the former including every kind of speaking, (not 
 merely doctrine,) that is, teaching, exhorting, Winn- 
 ing, comforting, etc., both in public and private; 
 the latter is the life as embodied in deeds. "Love " 
 and "faith" belong to the inner life, and denote the 
 powers that give motion to the Christian life. The 
 last word, "purity," denotes not chastity specific- 
 ally, but generally, — " purity of moral behaviour." 
 — Huther. ] 
 
 13. Give attendance to reading — Timothy 
 could easily comprehend the apostle's meaning; 
 but at present this is not so easy. What books 
 does the apostle mean ? The books of the Old Test- 
 ament were probably what he intended; these tes- 
 tified of Jesus, and by these he could either con- 
 vince or confound the Jews. But whether was the 
 reading of these to he public or private? Probably 
 both. It was customary to read the Law and the 
 Prophets in the synagogue, and doubtless in the 
 assemblies of the Christians ; after which there 
 was generally an exhortation founded upon the 
 subject of the prophecy. Hence the apostle says : 
 Give attendance to rending, to exhortation, to 
 
 34-1 
 
 ance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. 
 14 "Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which 
 was given thee '' by prophecy, c with the laying 
 on of the hands of the presbytery. 15 Medi- 
 tate upon these things ; give thyself wholly to 
 
 a 2 Tim. 1. 6. b Chap. 1. 18 c Acts i;. i, ; s. 17 ; 13. 3 ; 19. 6 ; 
 
 chap. 5. 22; 2 Tim. 1. 6. 
 
 doctrine. Timothy was therefore to be diligent in 
 reading the sacred writings at home, that he might 
 be the better qualified to read and expound them 
 in the public assemblies to the Christians, and to 
 others wdio came to these public meetings. As to 
 other books, there were not many at that time 
 that could be of much use to a Christian minister. 
 In those days the great business of the preacher 
 was to bring forward the grand facts of Christian- 
 ity, to prove these, and to show that all had hap- 
 pened according to the prediction of the prophets ; 
 and from these to show the work of God in the 
 heart, and the evidence of that work in a holy 
 life. The works of various scholars prove of how 
 much consequence even the writings of heathen 
 authors, chiefly those of Greece and Italy, are to the 
 illustration of the sacred writings. And he who is 
 best acquainted with the sacred records will avail 
 himself of such helps with gratitude both to God 
 and man. Though so many languages and so much 
 reading are not absolutely necessary to form a min- 
 ister of the Gospel, (for there are many eminent 
 ministers who have not such advantages,) yet if 
 properly used they are helps of the first magnitude 
 to those who have them and know how to use them. 
 
 14. Neglect not the gift that is in thee — The 
 word ,Y«P' cr r /a i here, must refer to the gifts and 
 graces of the divine Spirit which Timothy received 
 when set apart to the work of an evangelist by the 
 imposition of St Paul's hands (2 Tim. i, 6) and by 
 that of the presbytery or eldership. [The word 
 \i'ij)ioun may be applied to every gift of God be- 
 stowed on man by God's j»/'";, (grace.) In the 
 \ew Testament it denotes both — generally, the new 
 spiritual life wrought in the believer by the Holy 
 Spirit, and also specially, every faculty imparted 
 for every Christian work. Here, where the apostle 
 is speaking of Timothy's official work, it can only 
 mean the faculty given him for the sake of the 
 office, [work,] in regard to both the governing and 
 the calling and teaching. — Huther.~\ Given thee 
 by prophecy — It has been conjectured (chapter 
 i. Is) that there had been some remarkable pre- 
 diction relative to the future destiny ami usefulness 
 of Timothy. And probably it was in consequence 
 of this that he was set apart to the office id' evan- 
 gelist and bishop in the Church at Ephesus. When 
 apostles laid their hands on men they ordinarily 
 received the Holy Spirit with this imposition. This 
 may fie what the apostle calls to the remembrance 
 of Timothy, and tells him not to neglect what he 
 had received, nor the purpose for which he hail 
 received it. 
 
 15. Meditate upon these things — Tavra fiste- 
 ra, care for these things; revolve them frequently 
 in thy mind; consider deeply their nature and im- 
 portance; get them deeply fastened in thy heart, 
 and let all thy conduct flow from this inward feel- 
 ing and conviction. Let the nature, reasons, and 
 motives of thy ministry be ever in the view of thy 
 heart and conscience. Give thyself wholly to 
 them — 'Ei» tovtoiq iadi, be thou hi these things. 
 Occupy thyself wholly with them ; make them not
 
 Paul givpg sundry directions 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 tliem; that thy profiting may appear a to all. 
 16 e Take heed unto thyself, and unto the 
 doctrine; continue in them : for in doing this 
 thou shalt botli 'saw thyself, and ethem thai 
 
 hear thee. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 REBUKE a not an elder, but entreat him as 
 a father; and the younger men as breth- 
 ren; 2 The elder women as mothers; the 
 younger as sisters, with all purity. i$ Honour 
 
 dOr, in ill! thing*. — e Acts 20. 28. fV.r.ek. 33. 0. 
 
 o Horn. 11. 14; 1 Cor. 9. 22: .1 imes .V '2". it Lev. 19. 32. 
 
 inverses 5, 18. c Or, kindness. dSee Gen. 15. 10, 11; 
 
 only thy chief, but thy sole, concern. To this let all 
 thy reading and study he directed ; this is thy great 
 business, ami thou must perform it as the servant 
 and steward of the Lord. [He who is wholly in 
 tin se things will he little in worldly company, in for- 
 eign studies, in collecting books, shells, ami coins, 
 in which many ministers consume a principal part of 
 their life. — Bengel.] Such should be prayed for 
 and pitied. That thy profiting may appear to 
 all — By being made a universal blessing, convinc- 
 ing ami converting sinners, and building up the 
 Church of God on its most holy faith. [That t/n/ 
 progress in the Christian life, and with reference to 
 the duties of thy office, ami especially as respects 
 the caution given, (verse 12,) that no man despise 
 thy youth, may /« manifest to nil. — Afford.] 
 
 16. Take heed unto thyself — See that the life 
 of God remains and the work of God prospers in 
 thine own soul. "Take heed unto" thy doctrine, 
 that the matter he pure and scriptural ; that thou 
 teach nothing for truth but what God has revealed. 
 Continue in them — That is, in these things, avroic, 
 [all that has been enjoined in the preceding in- 
 structions. See Huther and Ellicott.] Without 
 this, the divine influence shall recede from thy 
 heart, and the divine gift from thy intellect ; and, 
 like Samson shorn of his strength, thou wilt soon 
 become as a common man; thou shalt be no longer 
 able to persuade men; the unction shall depart 
 from thy soul; and, destitute of spiritual feeling 
 thyself, thou shalt not be able to cause others to 
 feel. Take the apostle's advice, and thou shalt 
 save thy own soul and the souls of them that hear 
 thae. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTEK V. 
 
 1. Rebuke not an elder — An elderly person; 
 for the word 7rpeaj3vTEpog (elder) is here taken in 
 its natural sense, ami signifies one advanced in 
 years. At verse 17 it is taken in what may be 
 termed its ecclesiastical meaning, and signifies an 
 officer in the Church, a presbyter or bishop; for 
 sometimes these terms were confounded. There 
 are but few eases in which it at all becomes a 
 young man to reprove an old man, and especially 
 one who is a father in the Church. If Such a one 
 does wrong, or gets out of the way, he should lie 
 entreated as a lather, with great caution and re- 
 spect. To this at least his age entitles him. The 
 words //// i-irz'/ 'i/i'ijr signifies, do not smite; that is, 
 do not treat them harshly, nor witli magisterial 
 austerity. The younger men as brethren — 
 [The word TrapamTiet {entreat) applies equally to 
 all of the several kinds or classes of persons named. ] 
 Showing humility, and arrogating nothing to thy- 
 self on account of thy office. Feel for them as 
 thou oughtest to feel for thy own brethren. 
 
 2. The elder women as mothers — Treating 
 
 widows ''that are widows indeed. 4 But if 
 any widow have children or nephews, let them 
 learn first to show "piety at home, and d to re- 
 quite their parents : e for thai is good and ac- 
 ceptable before God. 3 'Now she that is :i 
 widow indeed, and desolate, trust eth in God, 
 and k continueth in supplications and prayers 
 h night and day. G 'But she that livetll k in 
 pleasure is dead while she liveth. 7 'And 
 these things give in charge, that they may lie 
 
 Matt, 15. I : Eph 6. 1, 2. 6 riiap. 2. 3. f\ Cor. 7. 32. — - 
 
 a I.uke 2 37 ; W. 1 it Acts 2ti. 7. / James J. '■>. /.' Or, 
 
 delicately. — I Chap. 1. :;-, 4. 11; c. 17. 
 
 them with the respect due to their age. The 
 younger as sisters — Feel for every member of 
 the Church, old and young, male and female; con- 
 sider them as fathers, mothers, brothers, and sis- 
 ters; treat them all with gentleness, as well as 
 pastoral solicitude. With all purity — 'Er wdan 
 a) via, with all chastity. (See chapter iv, 12.) 
 
 3. Honour widows that are widows indeed 
 — Our meaning of the word ri/ia, to honour, is to 
 support, sns/ihii, etc., (Matt, xv, 4, 5 ;) and here it 
 is mosl obviously to be taken in this sense. Pro- 
 vide for those widows especially which are "widows 
 indeed" — persons truly destitute, being aged and 
 helpless, and having neither children nor friends to 
 take care of them, and who behave as becometh 
 their destitute state. But .-ee the note on verse 10. 
 
 4. But if any widow have children or 
 nephews — This shows that "widows indeed" are 
 those that have neither children nor nephews, that 
 is, no relatives that either will or can help them, or 
 no near relatives alive. Let them (the children, 
 etc.) learn first to show piety at home — Let 
 these children and nephews provide for their aged 
 or helpless parents or relatives, and no1 burden the 
 Church with them while they are able to support 
 them. And to requite their parents — Kal 
 a/j.oij3dg airodidovai role irpoydvoie. [And to give 
 hack requitals to their progenitors, thai is, mothers 
 and grandmothers. | This is called showing piety; 
 and there is doubtless an allusion to the fifth com- 
 mandment, "Honour thy father and thy mother;" 
 provide for them in their old age and afflictions ; 
 Cod commands this. 
 
 5. And desolate — Kai ue/ibvufievr/, left entirely 
 iiloiii — having neither children nor relatives to take 
 care of her. Trusteth in God — finding she has 
 no other helper, she continues in prayer and sup- 
 plication, that she may derive that from God which, 
 in the course of his providence, he has deprived 
 her of among men. 
 
 6. But she that liveth in pleasure — II de 
 aTcaraTiUaa, she that liveth delicately, indulging her- 
 self with dainties; it docs not indicate grossly 
 criminal pleasures, but simply means one who in- 
 dulges herself in good eating and drinking, pam- 
 pering her body, is dead while she liveth— No 
 purpose of life is answered by the existence of such 
 a person. [Although physically and psychically 
 alive, she is spiritually dead; and therefore should 
 have no place in a specifically spiritual community. J 
 
 7. That they may be blameless- Charge the 
 whole Church to attend to these things, thai they 
 may be blameless. The words are no1 spoken of 
 the widows only, but of the Church or its officers; 
 
 it need not lie restrieted to the widows, for the ad- 
 jective in-Ti/ ijii-toi, is both of the masculine and 
 feminine gender. 
 
 345
 
 A. M. 4069. A. I). 65. 
 fear of Rome, 818. 
 
 I. TIMOTHY. 
 
 Paul gives sundry directions 
 
 blameless. 8 But if any provide not for his 
 own, m and specially for those of his own 
 "house, °he hath denied the faith, land is 
 worse than an infidel,. 9 Let not a widow be 
 4 taken into the number under threescore years 
 old, r having been the wife of one man, 
 10 Well reported of for good works; if she 
 have brought up children, if she have s lodged 
 
 wilsa. 58. 7; Gal 6. 10. » Or. /.-initio/. 
 
 Titus l. 16. p .Matt. is. 17. g Or, chosen.- 
 
 -02 Tim. :;. 5; 
 -)• Luke 2. 86 ; 
 
 8. But if any provide not for his own — His 
 own people or relatives. Those of his own house 
 
 — That is, his own family, or a poor widow or rela- 
 tive that lives under his roof. Hath denied the 
 faith — The Christian religion, which strongly in- 
 culcates love and benevolence to all mankind, and 
 especially to one's kindred. Is worse than an 
 infidel — For what are called the dictates of nature 
 lead men to feel for and provide for their own fam- 
 ilies. Heathen writers are full of maxims of this 
 kind ; Tacitus says : Lib< rm euique ac propinquos 
 natdra carissimos esse voluit, " Nature dictates 
 that to every one his own children and relatives 
 should be most dear." And Cicero, (in Epist. ad 
 Caption:) Suos quisque debet titer/, " Every man 
 should take care of his own family." 
 
 9. Taken into the number — Let her not be 
 taken into the list of those for whom the Church 
 must provide. But some think that the apostle 
 means the list of those who were deaconesses in 
 the Church ; and that no widow was to lie admitted 
 into that rank who did not answer to the following 
 character. Under threescore years — As it might 
 be supposed that previously to this age they might 
 he able to do something toward their own support. 
 (See on verse 10.) Having been the wife of one 
 man — Having lived in conjugal fidelity with her 
 husband; or having had but one husband at a 
 time; or, according to others, having never been 
 but once married. But the former is the opinion 
 of some of the most eminent of the (heck Fathers, 
 and appears to be the most consistent with the 
 scope of the place and with truth. 
 
 It). Well reported of for good works — 
 Numbers being able to bear testimony, as the word 
 implies, that she has not only avoided all sin, but 
 thai -lie has walked according to the testimony of 
 God. [There seems to be here a special reference to 
 works of beneficence. (See Titus iii, 8.)] Brought 
 up children — It was customary among the Gen- 
 tiles to expose their children, when so poor that 
 they were not able to provide for them. Pious and 
 humane people took these up; and fed, clothed, 
 and educated them. The words "brought up" 
 may refer to the children of others, who were edu- 
 cated in the Christian faith by pious Christian 
 women. Lodged strangers — If she had been 
 given to hospitality, freely contributing to the ne- 
 cessitous when she had it in her power. Washed 
 the saints' feet— This was an office of humanity 
 shown to all strangers and travellers in the eastern 
 countries, who, either walking barefoot or wearing 
 only a sort of sole, needed to have the feet washed 
 when they came to their journey's end. Pious 
 women generally did this act of kindness. Re- 
 lieved the afflicted — Visited and ministered to 
 the sick. Diligently followed every good 
 work — In a word, if she have been altogether a 
 Christian, living according to the precepts of the 
 Gospel, and doing the Lord's work with all her 
 346 
 
 strangers, if she have ' washed the saints' feet, 
 if she have relieved the afflicted, if she have 
 diligently followed every good work. 11 But 
 the younger widows refuse: for when they; 
 have begun to wax wan: on against Christ, they 
 will marry; 12 Having damnation, because 
 they have cast off their first faith. 13 "And 
 withal they learn to be idle, wandering about 
 
 chap. S. 2. .v Acts 16. 15; [Feb. 13 2; 1 Peter 4. 9. /Gen 
 
 1?. 4; in. 2: Luke 7. 38, 44; John 13. 5,14. «2Tli.ss. 3. 11. 
 
 heart, soul, and strength. From the character 
 given here of the " \\ idow indeed," it may he 
 doubted whether xf/pa, widow, is not here used as 
 the name of an office, which name it might have- 
 from being ordinarily filled by widows. It can 
 hardly be supposed that any widow, unless she had 
 considerable property, could have done the things 
 enumerated in this verse, some of winch would oc- 
 casion no small expense. The "widow indeed" 
 may mean a person who was to be employed in some 
 office in the Church ; and Timothy is enjoined not 
 to take any into that office unless she had been 
 before remarkable for piety and humanity. Some 
 think that the widows of whom the apostle speaks 
 had been deaconesses, and wished now to be taken 
 on what might be termed the superannuated li.-t ; 
 and the apostle lays down rules for the admission 
 of such, the sum of which is : Let none come on 
 this superannuated list unless she be at least sixty 
 years of age, and can bring proof of her having 
 conscientiously discharged the office and duty of a 
 deaconess. 
 
 11. But the younger widows refuse — Do 
 not admit those into this office who are under sixty 
 years of age. Probably those who were received 
 into such a list promised to abide in their widow- 
 hood. But, as young or comparatively young women 
 might have both occasion and temptations to re- 
 marry, and so break their engagement to Christ, 
 they should not be admitted. Not that the apostle 
 condemns their remarrying as a crime in itself, 
 but because it was contrary to their engagement. 
 (See verse 14.) Wax wanton — Karao-Tpm>cdauo-iv, 
 from kcltci, intensive, and crpm>iaa, to act in a lux- 
 urious or wanton manner. This metaphor is taken 
 from a pampered horse, from whose mouth the 
 rein has been removed, so that there is nothing to 
 check or confine him. The metaphor is plain 
 enough, and the application easy. [The word has 
 commonly a bad significance; but here may imply 
 ungovernahleiiess, by reason of natural (not neces- 
 sarily criminal) impulses.] 
 
 1 '2. Having damnation — In the sense in which 
 we use this word I am satisfied the apostle never 
 intended it. It is likely that he refers hereto some 
 promise or engagement winch they made when 
 taken on the list already mentioned, and now they 
 have the guilt of having violated that promise; 
 this is the npi/ja, or condemnation, of which the 
 apostle speaks. They have cast off their first 
 faith — By recently pledging their fidelity to a hus- 
 band they have cast off their fidelity to Christ, as a 
 married life and their previous engagement are in- 
 compatible. 
 
 13. And withal they learn to be idle — They 
 do not love work, and they will not work ; [' Apa 
 6e nal apyal pavddvovaiv, itepiepx6p.evai rac olidag, 
 and at tin same time, being 'nib, they learn (become 
 accustomed) tn go (gad) about among the housex;] 
 gossiping ; never contented with home ; always
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 A. M. 4069. A. P. 65. 
 Yesrol Rome. 818. 
 
 from house to house; and not only idle, but 
 tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things 
 which they ought not. 14 v l will therefore 
 that the younger women marry, hear children, 
 guide the house, "give none occasion to the 
 adversary x to speak reproachfully. \~* For 
 some are already turned aside after Satan. 
 16 If any man or woman that believeth have 
 widows, let them relieve them, and let not the 
 
 r 1 Cor. 7. 9. wChap. 6. 1 : Titus '2. 8. «Gr., for tl,, ir 
 
 railing. - -i/ Verses 3, 5. z Rom. 12. 8: 1 Cor. '.». 10, 1 1 ; QaL 
 6. 6 ; Phil. 2. 29 ; 1 Thess. 5. 12, la ; lleb. 13. 7, 17. 
 
 visiting. And not only idle — [<&?ivapoi, full of 
 talk.] Busybodies — [Hepiepyoi, intermeddling.] 
 Speaking things which they ought not — 
 [Aa/oiOTu ra /lit) deovra, telling things not proper, 
 that is, to be told.] [From idleness and case is en- 
 gendered curiosity, which is itself the mother of 
 senseless talkativeness. — Calvin.] [Paul's fear is, 
 that these younger widows will not only do the 
 Church's work idly, but make mischief by bearing 
 about tales and scandal. — Alford.] 
 
 14. I will therefore that the younger wom- 
 en marry — As the preceding discourse has been 
 about the younger widows, and this is an inference 
 from it, it is most evident that by the "younger 
 women" the apostle means the young widows. 
 These he considers unfit for the office of the female 
 diaconate, and therefore wills them to marry, edu- 
 cate children, and give themselves wholly up to 
 domestic affairs. Here the apostle, so far from 
 forbidding second marriages, directly recommends 
 them. The adversary — Tu avTucei/iEvu, not Sa- 
 tan, but any person, whether Jew or Gentile, who 
 might be watching for an occasion to reproach, 
 through the misconduct of its professors, the cause 
 of Christianity. 
 
 15. For some are already turned aside — 
 Some of these young widows, for he appears to be 
 still treating of them, are turned aside from chas- 
 tity, propriety, discretion, to follow Satan instead of 
 Christ. [The agency of the great adversary in 
 promoting the defection of those who have once 
 entered upon the Christian life is here, as often, 
 recognised by the apostle. To his spiritual con- 
 ception Satan was ever a real presence, seeking to 
 circumvent the work of grace. The fearful possi- 
 bility of a fatal and final turning aside by real be- 
 lievers (to which class the " some '' of verse 15 must 
 have belonged) is here clearly implied.] 
 
 16. If any man or woman that believeth — 
 If any Christian man or woman have poor willows 
 which are their relatives, let them relieve them 
 — provide them with the necessaries of life, and 
 not burden the Church with their maintenance, that 
 the funds may be spared for the support of those 
 widows who were employed in its service teaching 
 children, visiting the sick, etc., etc. For the per- 
 forming of such offices it is very likely that none 
 but widows were employed ; and these were chosen, 
 other things being equal, out of the most indigent 
 of the widows, and therefore called by the apostle 
 here and in verse 3, raic in-rur xfipaic, widows in- 
 deed — widows desolate, without support and with- 
 out relatives. (See the note on verse 10.) [The 
 higher excellence of the family, as compared with 
 every and all churchly arrangements for the order- 
 ing of the temporal affairs of believers. " the saints," 
 is clearly recognised and declared in these warn- 
 ings and instructions]. 
 
 church be charged; that it may relieve >' them 
 that are widows indeed. 17 z Let the elders 
 that rule well "be counted worthy of double 
 honour, especially they who labour in the word 
 and doctrine. IS For the Scripture suit Ik 
 '■Thou shall not muzzle the ox that treadeth 
 out the corn. And, 'The labourer is worthy 
 of his reward. 19 Against an elder receive 
 not an accusation, but de before two or three 
 
 a Act 
 
 - 28 
 
 10.- 
 
 1,1) 
 
 ■ut 
 
 25. 
 
 4: 1 
 
 Cnr 
 
 'i 
 
 1 
 
 
 l.p\ 
 
 19 
 
 13? 
 
 Dent. 2 
 
 11 
 
 15? 
 
 Matt. 
 
 11). 
 
 1"; 
 
 Luke 10 
 
 
 
 rf.Oi 
 
 II II 
 
 dec 
 
 
 eUeut. 
 
 19. 
 
 0. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 17. Let the elders that rule well— Elder is 
 probably here the name of an ecclesiastical officer, 
 similar to what we now term pre&byler, [and not 
 simply an elderly person, as in verse ].| Dr. Mac- 
 knight has remarked, that "in the first age the 
 name KpeofivTEpoc, elder, was given to all who exer- 
 cised any sacred office ill the Church, as is plain 
 from Acts xx, 28, where the persons arc called 
 ETrioKOTTOt, bishops, who (verse 17) were called irpea- 
 
 Ivrepot, <lil< rs. The same thing appears from Tit. is 
 i, 5, where those are called (hi rs who (verse 7) are 
 named bishops; and from 1 Tim. iv, 14, where, col- 
 lectively, all who held sacred offices in Lystra are 
 called TTpeofivTEpiov, the presbytt r/i or eldership, and 
 are said to have concurred with St. Paul in setting 
 Timothy apart to the ministry." Double honour 
 — A/-///C Ti/iijr. Almost every critic of note allows 
 that tiiu'j here signifies reward, stipend, wages. 
 Let him have a double or a larger salary who rules 
 well; and why? Because in the discharge of his 
 office he must be at expense, in proportion to his 
 diligence, in visiting and relieving the sick, in lodg- 
 ing and providing for strangers; in a word, in his 
 being given to hospitality, which was required of 
 every bishop or presbyter. Especially they who 
 labour in the word and doctrine — Those who 
 not only preach publicly, but instruct privately, 
 catechize, etc. Some think this refers to distinct 
 ecclesiastical orders; but these technical distinc- 
 tions were, in my opinion, a work of later times. 
 [The words iv '/<>)( : > ml 6t6acKa?iia certainly seem 
 to imply two kinds of ruling presbyters: those who 
 preached and taught, and those who did not ; ami 
 it may be naturally supposed that there existed, in 
 the large community at Ephesus, a clerical college 
 of chief presbyters, some of whom might have tin' 
 gift (K<'i(>i(7/ia) of teaching more eminently than 
 others. See Ellicott,] 
 
 18. The Scripture saith, Thou shalt not 
 muzzle the ox — This is a manifest proof that by 
 ''/''/, honour, in the preceding verse, the apostle 
 means salary or wages: "Let the elders that rule 
 well be accounted worthy of double honour"- — a 
 larger salary than any of the official widows men- 
 tioned before — for "the labourer is worthy of his 
 hire." The maintenance of every man in the 
 Church should be in proportion to his own labour 
 and tin 1 necessities of his family. He that dors no 
 work should have no wages. In the Church of 
 Christ there never can be a sinecure. They who 
 minister at the altar should live b>/ the altar; the 
 ox that treadeth out the corn should not t, t m" 
 
 /he labourer is worthy of his hire; but tin' altar 
 should not support him who i/ms not minister at it ; 
 if the ox //•"/// / read o ut tin corn, let him go to the 
 common or be muzzled ; if the man will not labour, 
 let him have no hire. 
 
 19. Against an elder — Be very cautious of re- 
 
 84?
 
 A. M. 4nfi!>. A. T>. 65. 
 
 Ye:ir of Ronif, 518. 
 
 I. TIMOTHY 
 
 witnesses. 20 f Them that si a rebuke before 
 all, ethat others also may fear. 21 h I charge 
 thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, 
 and the elect angels, that thou observe these 
 things 'without preferring one before another, 
 doing nothing by partiality. 22 k Lay hands 
 suddenly on no man, ' neither be partaker of 
 other men's sins : keep thyself pure. 2?J Drink 
 
 /Gal. 2. 11, 14 ; Titus 1. 13. g Dent. 13. 11. h Chap. 6. 13 ; 
 
 2 Tim. 2. 11; 1. 1. — iOr, without prejudice. 
 
 ceiving evil reports against those whose business ii 
 is to preach to others and correct their vices. Do 
 not consider an elder as guilty of any alleged crime, 
 unless it be proved by two or three witnesses. 
 This the law of Moses required in respect to all. 
 Among the Romans a plebeian might be condemned 
 on the deposition of one credible witness ; but it 
 required two to convict a senator. The reason of 
 this difference is evident: those whose business it 
 is to correct others will usually have many enemies ; 
 great caution, therefore, should be used in admit- 
 ting accusations against such persons. 
 
 20. Them that sin rebuke before all — That 
 is, before the members of the Church ; which was 
 the custom among the Jews in their synagogues. 
 But, if the words refer to the elders alone, then 
 the transgressing elder is to be reproved before his 
 fellows, and be tried by them. That others also 
 may fear — This is the grand object of Church 
 censures — to reclaim the transgressors and to give 
 warning to others. 
 
 21. I charge thee before God — The apostle 
 would have Timothy to consider that all he did 
 should be done as in the sight of God, the Father 
 of the spirits of all flesh ; in the sight of Christ, 
 the Saviour of sinners, who purchased the Church 
 with his own blood ; and in the sight of the most 
 holy, approved, and eminent angels, whose office it 
 was to minister to the heirs of salvation. Elect 
 angels — The angels as such (that is, all angels) 
 are elect of God, whom God has chosen (made) 
 the objects of his love; e/cAe/enSc {elect) is synony- 
 mous with Evnfiog, (precious.) (1 Pet. 'ii, 4.) — 
 Huther.~\ The word eide/crav, fleet, applied to the 
 angels here, is used to indicate God's favour towards 
 them on account of their personal holiness and 
 fidelity to the trusts committed to them. Perhaps 
 there is nothing else meant than the angels that are 
 chosen out from among others, by the Lord him- 
 self, to lie ministering servants to the Church. 
 Without preferring one before another — 
 Xuplc KpoK.pifj.aTog, without prejudice. Promote 
 no man's cause, weigh both sides, and hear both 
 parties, with their respective witnesses; and then 
 act impartially, as the mutter may appear to be 
 proved. A minister of the Gospel who, in the ex- 
 ercise of discipline in the Church, is swayed and 
 warped by secular considerations, will scarcely be 
 a blessing to the people of God. Accepting the 
 persons of the rich, in ecclesiastical matters, has 
 been a source of corruption in Christianity. 
 
 22. Lay hands suddenly on no man — Do 
 not hastily appoint any person to the sacred minis- 
 try; let the person lie well proved before he re- 
 ceives the imposition of hands. Some understand 
 this of laying hands on the sick. [In the New 
 Testament the laying on of hands is mentioned on 
 various occasions, specially, 1) In healing the sick, 
 whether by Christ or his disciples; 2) in bestow- 
 ing the divine blessing, (Matt, xix, 13, 1 5 ;) 3) In 
 
 34S 
 
 no longer water, but use a little wine m for 
 thy stomach's sake and thine often infirmi- 
 ties. 2S "Some men's sins are open before- 
 hand, going before to judgment; and some 
 men they follow after. 25 Likewise also the 
 good works of some are manifest, before- 
 hand ; and they that are otherwise cannot he 
 hid. 
 
 fcActs 6. 6; 13. 3; chap. 4. 14: 2 Tim. 1.6. 12 John 11. 
 
 in L'sa. 104. 15. n Gal. 5. 19. 
 
 imparting the Holy Spirit, (Acts viii, 17 ;) 4) In 
 appointing to a definite ecclesiastical office, (Acts 
 vi, 6 ;) 5) in setting apart for special Church work, 
 (Acts xiii, 3.) . . . It will be most correct to take 
 the exhortation quite generally, applying to all 
 occasions, and for the reason immediately added. — 
 /In/In /■.] Neither be partaker of other men's 
 sins — It is a sin for any improper person to thrust 
 himself into the sacred office ; and he partakes of 
 that sin who introduces, helps him forward, or sanc- 
 tions him in it. 0, what an account will rash, un- 
 discerning, and prejudiced bishops, presbyters, and 
 others have to render to God for their ordinations ! 
 Keep thyself pure — From this and every other 
 evil. [Not here to be referred to personal purity 
 and chastity, (though that would be the most im- 
 portant of all elements in carrying out the precept,) 
 but in respect to partaking of other men's sins. — 
 Afford.] 
 
 23. Drink no longer water, but use a little 
 wine — The whole of this verse seems, to several 
 learned critics and divines, strangely inserted in 
 this place; it might have been, according to them, 
 a note which the apostle inserted on the mat gin of 
 his letter, on recollecting the precarious state of 
 Timothy's health, and his great abstemiousness 
 and self denial. [Paul's exhortation to Timothy to 
 keep himself pure, taken in connexion with the re- 
 quirement that bishops and deacons should not be 
 addicted to wine-drinking, makes it probable that 
 entire abstinence from wine was at least viewed 
 favourably, perhaps required of officials, in the 
 apostolic Church. But the state of Timothy's 
 health called for some mitigation of that rule in 
 his case, and as the injunction or permission was 
 based on a special condition of things, making it a 
 dietetic necessity; and as the indulgence is care- 
 fully limited to "a little," the whole piece of advice 
 becomes a strong plea for abstinence in all ordina- 
 ry cases.] As Timothy's life was of great conse- 
 quence to the Church of God at Ephesus, it was not 
 unworthy of the Spirit of God to give the direction 
 in the text, ami to mingle it immediately with what 
 some have called more solemn and important ad- 
 vice. 1 ) It was necessary that the work should be 
 done in the Church at Ephesus which the apostle 
 appointed to Timothy. 2) There was no person at 
 Ephesus fit to do this work but Timothy. 3) Tim- 
 othy could not continue to do it if he followed his 
 present mode of abstemiousness. 4) It was nec- 
 essary therefore that he should receive direction 
 from divine authority relative to the preservation 
 of his life, and consequently the continuation of his 
 usefulness, as it is not likely that a minor author- 
 ity would have weighed with him. 
 
 24. Some men's sins are open beforehand, 
 etc. — [The sins of some men are manifest, -/»» rfkoi, 
 conspicuous, and so, in some manner, challenging 
 censure, (h/iioiv;) to others, Tialv, some, they rather 
 follow after ; yet in their longer or shorter course
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 i. M.4HRS. A. P. G5. 
 
 Y.;ir of 1: 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 LET as many " servants as are under the yoke 
 count their own masters worthy of all 
 honour, L that the name of God and Ms doc- 
 trine be not blasphemed. 2 And they that 
 have believing masters, let them not despise 
 them, c because they are brethren; but rather 
 
 aEph. 6. 5: Col. 3. 22; Titus 2. 9: 1 Peter 2. 18. h Tsa. 
 
 52. 5; Rom 2. 24; Titus 2. 5, 8. c Col. 4. 1. dOt, be- 
 lieving. 
 
 they are discovered. . . . So, in like manner, good 
 works are in seme cases readily manifest, and even 
 those that seem to lie otherwise will at length re- 
 veal themselves in their results. . . . To limit, the 
 Kpiatq, judgment, to the case of candidates for or- 
 dination is to give a verse almost obviously and 
 Btudiedly general a very narrow and special inter- 
 pretation. See Ellicott.] 
 
 NOTES OX CHAPTER VI. 
 
 1. Let as many servants as are under the 
 yoke — The word doi<?.oi here means slaves con- 
 verted to the Christian faith; and the fyybv, or 
 yoke, is the state of slavery; and by (fecrrorfl/, mas- 
 ters, despots, we are to understand the heathen mas- 
 ters of those Christianized slaves. Even these, in 
 such circumstances, and under such domination, 
 are commanded to treat their masters with all hon- 
 our and respect, that the name of God, by which 
 they were called, and the doctrine of God, Chris- 
 tianity, which they had professed, might not he 
 blasphemed — might not be evil spoken of in con- 
 sequence of their improper conduct. Civil rights 
 are never abolished by any communications from 
 God's Spirit. The civil state in which a. man was 
 before his conversion is not altered by that conver- 
 sion ; nor does the grace of God absolve him from 
 any claims which either the State or his neighbour 
 may have on him. All these outward things con- 
 tinue unaltered. (See the notes on Eph. vi, 5, etc. ; 
 and 1 Cor. vii, 21, etc.) 
 
 '2. And they that have believing masters — 
 Who have been lately converted as well as them- 
 selves. Let them not despise — Supposing them- 
 selves to be their equals, because they are their 
 brethren in Christ; and grounding their opinion on 
 this, that in Him there is neither bond nor free; 
 for, although all are equal as to their spiritual priv- 
 ileges and state, yet there still continues in the or- 
 der of God's providence a great disparity in their 
 station ; the master must ever be, in this sense, supe- 
 rior to the servant. But rather do them service 
 — Obey them the more cheerfully, because they are 
 faithful and beloved : " faithful " to God's grace, 
 "beloved" by him and his true followers. [The 
 (Christian) slaves who were under heathen masters 
 (deoirdrai) were positively to regard their masters 
 as deserving of honour, (because of their relation;) 
 the slaves under Christian masters were, negatively, 
 not to evince any want of respect. The former were 
 not to be insubordinate nor the latter disrespectful. 
 — Ellicott.] [The right or wrong of slavery is not 
 here brought into noti< e, but its existence as a le- 
 galized social institution is recognised ; and 
 ably to the uniform practice of our Lord and his 
 disciples, obedience to " the powers that be/' with- 
 out respect to the rightfulness or otherwise of 
 their authority, is enjoined as a Christian duty in 
 all things not contrary to God's law. So, also, 
 nothing is said of the dutv of believing masters to 
 
 do them service, because they are d faithful and 
 beloved, partakers of the benefit. e These 
 things teach and exhort. 3 If any man f teach 
 otherwise, and consent snot to wholesome 
 words, even the words of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, h and to the doctrine which is accord- 
 ing to godliness; 4 He is 'proud, k knowing 
 
 eChap.4. n. — /Chap. 1. 3. — </Chap. 1. in : 2 Tim. i. 13; 
 4. 3 ; Tims 1. <J. h Titus 1. 1. i Or, afoul. /.' 1 Cor. 8. 2 ; 
 
 chap. 1 7. 
 
 emancipate their slaves, since the state of society 
 was such that emancipation might In 1 a doubtful 
 favour; nm were they called upon to denounce 
 slaveholding as sinful, since they themselves ex- 
 ercised no political power, and also because the 
 ameliorating influences of Christianity usually pro- 
 ceed by genera] rather than special and incidental 
 expressions of its purposes.] Partakers of the 
 benefit — Tr/c Evspyeoiag avriAay. lavdfti voi,jointpar- 
 takers of the benefit. This i.- generally understood 
 as referring to the master's participation in the ser- 
 vices of his slaves. Because thosi who art partak- 
 ers of the benefit of your services are faithful ami 
 beloved; or it may apply to the servants who are 
 partakers of many benefits from their Christian 
 masters. Others think [without proper authority] 
 that " benefit " here refers to thegraa of theGospel, 
 the common salvation of believing masters and 
 slaves. [Serve (your masters) nil the more, that 
 they, devoting themselves to kindness toward you, 
 are believei'S, "ml /></,, ml (of God.) — HutJier.] 
 
 o. It any man teach otherwise — It appears 
 that there were teachers of a different kind in the 
 Church, a sort of religious levellers, who preached 
 that the converted servant had as much right to 
 the master's service as the master had to his. 
 Teachers of this kind have been in vogue since 
 long Indole the days of Paul and Timothy. And 
 consent not to wholesome words — 'Y; ta 
 '/irmr, healing doctrines; doctrines which give 
 nourishment and health to the sold, which is the 
 true character of all the doctrines taught by our 
 Lord Jesus Christ ; doctrines which are according 
 to godliness — securing as amply the honour and 
 glory of God as they do the peace, happiness, and 
 final salvation of man. All this may refer to the 
 general tenor of the Gospel; and not to any thing 
 said, or supposed to have been said, by our Lord 
 relative to the condition of slaves. With political 
 questions, or questions relative to private rights, 
 our Lord scarcely ever meddled; he taught all men 
 to love one another ; to respect each other's lights ; 
 to submit to each oilier ; to show all fidelity ; to be 
 obedient, humble, and meek; and to know that his 
 kingdom was not of this world. [The Gospel, 
 though eminently revolutionary in its ulterior re- 
 sults, is never itself an inciter to revolutionary 
 actions, but. waits for the growth and normal de- 
 velopment of its principles in society. The civil 
 and social operations of Christianity are incidental 
 and secondary, — are produced at second hand, in 
 society, and these belong not to the Church as 
 such, nor to Christians in their immediate relations 
 to the Church.] 
 
 4. He is proud — Tervforrai, he is llmni up or 
 inflated with a vain opinion of his own knowledge; 
 [beclouded, besotted with pride, (and self-conceit,) 
 yet knowing nothing, (no1 properly understanding.) 
 Knowing nothing — [Yet knowing "nothing," 
 (though so proud.) (See chapter i, 7.) — EUicotL\ 
 
 349
 
 A. M. 4063. A. D. 65. 
 ^ ear of R'Hiie, 818. 
 
 I. TIMOTHY. 
 
 Danger of setting the affections 
 on merely earthly good. 
 
 nothing, but 'doting about "'questions and 
 strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, 
 railings, evil surmisings, 5 ""Perverse dis- 
 jmtings of Praen of corrupt minds, and desti- 
 tute of the truth, i supposing that gain is god- 
 liness: 'from such withdraw thyself. O lint 
 "godliness with contentment is great gain. 
 7 For 'we brought nothing into this world, 
 
 /or, sick. mChap. 1. 4 ; 2 '11m. 2. 23; Tit. 3. 9. n Or, 
 
 Galling* one erf another. «l Cor. 11. 1H: chap. 1. ti. 
 
 pi Tim.:!. 3. tfTit, 1. 11; 2 Pet. 2.3. /■ Koin. Hi. 17; 2 Tim. 
 
 3. 5. S 1'sa. 37. ltf; Prov. 15. lt> ; 16. 8; Hel). 13. 5. 
 
 Doting about questions — He is sick, distempt r, /?, 
 [inert ami incapable, and yet self-confident in re- 
 
 spect to recondite and not well understood politi- 
 cal, social, and religious questions, which uniformly 
 lead to strifes about words, 7jyyo(iaxiac.~\ Strifes 
 of words — \ir,i)ua\;ar, verbal contentions; split- 
 ting hairs. In this sort of sublime nonsense the 
 works of the Jewish rabbins abound. Where- 
 of cometh envy, strife, etc. — How little good 
 have religious [and especially ecclesiastical] dis- 
 putes ever done to mankind or to the cause of 
 truth ! Christian teachers should know that the 
 wrath, of man worketh not the righteousness of the 
 Lord. 
 
 5. Perverse disputings of men of corrupt 
 minds — [Thoroughly perverted, both morally and 
 intellectually.] Disputations that cannot be settled, 
 because their partisans will not listen to the truth ; 
 and they will not listen to the truth because their 
 " minds " are corrupt." Destitute of the truth — ■ 
 Untruthfulness of character; the immediate con- 
 sequence of the foregoing. [The truth was taken 
 away from them, but its first rejection was their 
 own act. See Ellicott,] Supposing that gain is 
 godliness — Professing religion only for the sake of 
 secular profit ; defending their own cause for the 
 emoluments it produced; and having no respect to 
 another world. [The " gain " of which the apostle 
 is here thinking is not the heavenly, eternal bless- 
 ing, but the gain to which we are directed inverses 
 9 and 10. — Hu/hn:] From such withdraw 
 thyself — Have no religious fellowship with such 
 people. [This clause is omitted by nearly all of the 
 best authorities.] 
 
 6. But godliness with contentment is great 
 gain — The word " godliness," EvoepEia, here, and in 
 several other places of this epistle, signifies the 
 true religion, Christianity; and the word "con- 
 tentment," avrapKeia signifies a competency, a suffi- 
 ciency ; that measure or portion of secular things 
 which is necessary for temporal' well-being. It re- 
 quires but little of this world's goods to satisfy a 
 man who feels himself to lie a citizen of another 
 country, and knows that this is not his rest. 
 
 7. We brought nothing into this world — 
 There are some sayings in Seneca which are almost 
 verbatim with this of St. Paul: X, ,ih, nascitur 
 dins ,■ quisquis exit in lucemjussus est lacteetpanno 
 esse contentus. (Epist. xx.) " No man is born rich ; 
 every one that comes into the world is commanded 
 to lie content with food and raiment" — (literally, 
 milk and bread.) Seneca and St. Paul were con- 
 temporary, and possibly they knew something of 
 each other ; but all the Greek and Latin poets, and 
 especially the stoic philosophers, are full of such 
 sentiments. 
 
 8. Having food and raiment, let us be 
 therewith content — 'ApuEodqod/ieda, let us con- 
 sider this a competency. And it is evident that the 
 
 350 
 
 and it is certain we can carry nothing out. 
 § And "having food and raiment, let us be 
 there witli content, 9 But v they that will 
 be rich fall into temptation u and a snare, and 
 into many foolish and hurtful lusts, * which 
 drown men in destruction and perdition. 
 10 J For the love of money is the root of ad 
 evil: which while some coveted after, they 
 
 tJoh 1. 21; Psa. -19. 
 2S 20 J Heb. 13. 5. - 
 
 13 22: James 5. 1. - 
 U Exod. 23. b: Deut. 
 
 17 
 16. 
 
 Prov. 2 
 ■ Prov. 1 
 ie Chap. 
 
 19. 
 
 . 24 : 
 5. 27 
 3. 7. 
 
 Ecc 
 
 ; 20. 
 
 es. 5. 15 
 21 ; 2-. 
 ./■ c hap. 
 
 20 
 1. 
 
 a Gen. 
 : Matt, 
 19. 
 
 apostle considers these things a competency, and 
 by these words explains what he said verse 6. The 
 word oiiETraanaTa, which we translate " raiment," 
 signifies covering in general ; and may here mean 
 houst or lodging, as well as clothing. 
 
 9. But they that will be rich — 01 Se (iov?.6. 
 fXEvoi ttXovteiv. The words are emphatic, and refer 
 to persons who are determined to get riches ; who 
 make this their object and aim in life. By the term 
 •' rich " it is very likely that the apostle refers to 
 what he had said above: "Having food and rai- 
 ment, let us be therewith content." Fall into 
 temptation and a snare — When this temptation 
 is once received, and possesses the soul, others 
 quickly succeed : and when men have swallowed 
 down the temptation to the end, then they drink 
 in a thousand temptations to the means; and all 
 these lead them, tie irayida, into unforeseen and 
 concealed traps. [The form of the temptation as- 
 sumed was that of an entangling power, from 
 which it was not easy for the captive to extricate 
 himself. — Ellicotf] Such a snaie is that into 
 which those "who will be rich" must necessarily 
 fall. But who will believe this? (Seeon verse 10.) 
 And into many foolish and hurtful lusts 
 \_'E-/f)euiac, cupidities, lusts of the eye — these are 
 " foolish," opposed to human reason, and also 
 "hurtful," blinding the conscience and arousing to 
 dangerous activity the natural worldliness of the 
 soul. J These lusts or desires are not only " fool- 
 ish," but they are " hurtful ; " the mind is debased 
 and narrowed by them ; benevolent and generous 
 feelings become extinct; charity perishes; and 
 selfishness, the last and lowest principle in mental 
 degradation, absorbs the soul; for these "fool- 
 ish " and " hurtful lusts " drown men in destruc- 
 tion and perdition ; the scul is destroyed by them 
 here, ami brought through them into a state of 
 " perdition " hereafter. Such is the lot, the well- 
 nigh unavoidable catastrophe, of them " that will 
 l>e rich," even though they should strive to accom- 
 plish their desires by means the most rigidly honest. 
 
 10. The love of money is the root of all 
 evil — 'Vua jap kclvtuv tuv kclkuv tarlv ?'/ oi'/ap- 
 ; vpla. Covetousness is the root of (spring, inciting 
 cause toward) all forms of ethical and spiritual 
 badness.] [The germ of oil evil lies in tin love of 
 money ; not that, on the one hand, all evil must 
 manifest itself in every lover of money, nor, on the 
 other, is it denied that there are other vices which 
 likewise carry in them the beginnings of all evil. 
 Fortunately, man is inconsistent also in evil. 
 Ebrard.~] Which . . . some coveted after — [lie, 
 of which, refers grammatically to fyikapyvpia, and 
 bpsyofievoi, being earnestly desirous, must be under- 
 stood as relating to that passion or lust of the soul, 
 and though the image is not perfectly correct, 
 (Ellicott,) yet the violation of the image is but 
 little felt, while the sense is entirely obvious.
 
 Timothy is exhorted to fight 
 the good tight of faith. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 have z erred from the faith, and pierced them- 
 selves through wit li many sorrows. 11 "But 
 thou, b O man of God, flee these things; and 
 follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, 
 love, patience, meekness. 12 c Fight the good 
 fight of faith, J lay hold on eternal life, where- 
 unto thou art also called, e and has professed a 
 good profession before many witnesses. 13 f I 
 give thee charge in the sight of God, swho 
 quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus. 
 b who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good 
 
 t 
 
 Or 
 
 />,-, a 
 
 Si il in-, il . 
 
 a2Tim 
 
 2. 22. h Deut. 3:! 
 
 1: 2 Tim. 
 
 3 
 
 ;.- 
 
 —c\ 1 
 
 or, 
 
 '.i. 
 
 
 chap. 
 
 . is ; 2 Tim 
 
 •). 
 
 7 — 
 
 d l'l,il..i 
 
 12 
 
 14; 
 
 v. i se 
 
 19 
 
 
 e Hel 
 
 13. 23. 
 
 / Chap. 
 
 n 
 
 21.- 
 
 a Deut. 
 
 B2. 
 
 39: 
 
 1 Sam 
 
 . 2. 
 
 9 
 
 John 
 
 5. 21. — 
 
 h Matt. 2;. 
 
 11 
 
 .lohu 1& 37 ; 
 
 Through this inordinate coveteousness men have 
 erred from the faith, wnrenTuavrfinaav, fallen away 
 from the life and power of the Gospel.] And 
 pierced themselves through with many sor- 
 rows — Rather, many torments. The word 
 Treipav signifies to be transfixed in every part, and 
 is an allusion to one form of those snares (jray/da, 
 verse '.') where a hole is dug in the earth and filled 
 full of sharp stakes, into which whatever falls is 
 pierced through and through with these sharp 
 stakes, the bdvvaig KoTJuaig, the many torments. 
 
 11. But thou, O man of God— Thou, who hast 
 taken God for thy portion, flee these things. 
 Even thou art not out of the reach of the love of 
 money. How many of the ministers of religion 
 have been ruined by this! And how much has 
 religion itself suffered by their love of money ! 
 Follow after righteousness — God's way of sal- 
 vation, adding to it godliness — a thorough con- 
 formity to the will of God and mind of Christ ; 
 faith in Jesus, and in all that he hath spoken, 
 and a faithful use of the talents thou hast received, 
 and the office with which thou art intrusted. 
 Love — To God and all mankind. Patience — In 
 all trials and afflictions. Meekness — Bearing up 
 with an even mind under all adversities and con- 
 tradictious. 
 
 12. Fight the good fight of faith— " Agonize 
 the good agony." 1 Thou hast a contest to sustain in 
 which thy honour, thy life, thy soul, are at stake. 
 Live the Gospel, and defend the cause of God. 
 Unmask hypocrites, reprove the profligate, purge 
 and build up the Church, live in the spirit of thy 
 religion, and give thyself wholly to this work. 
 Lay hold on eternal life — Fight, conquer, and 
 seize upon the prize ; carry off the crown of eternal 
 life! Whereunto thou art also called — Into 
 
 'i conflict (</;m,m) g,m hirer, been called. The 
 "agony" was the immediate objective of the call- 
 ing, and "eternal life" the ultimate, and his prac- 
 tical acceptance of that calling, with its present 
 trials and its glorious hopes, he had becomingly 
 confessed in his words and actions, of which many, 
 both believers and unbelievers, were witnesses. 
 
 13 I give thee charge — This is similar to that 
 in verse 21 of the preceding chapter, where see the 
 note. Who quickeneth all things — God, who is 
 the fountain of life, and who is the resurre 
 and who will raise thee up at the last day to a life 
 of ineffable glory if thou be faithful unto death. 
 And should thy life fall a sacrifice to the perform- 
 ance of thy duty, all will be safe ; for thy life is 
 hid with Christ in God, and when he who is thy 
 life shall appear, th n shall thou also appear with 
 him in glory ! A good confession— The confession 
 made by Christ before Pontius Mate is, that /<< 
 
 'confession; 14 That thou keep this com- 
 mandment, without spot, nnrelmkable, k until 
 the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ: 
 15 Which in his times he shall show, who is 
 'the blessed and only Potentate, '"the King of. 
 kings, and Lord of lords: 10 "Who only 
 
 hath in H'tality, dwelling in the light which 
 
 no man can approach unto; "whom no man 
 hath seen, nor can see: Pto whom "be honour 
 and [lower everlasting. Amen. 17 Charge 
 them that are rich in this world, that they he 
 
 Rev. 1.5; 3. 14. — iOr. profession. I, Phil. 1. 6, 10; 1 Thess. 
 
 .;. 13; 5. 23. — JChap. 1. II, 17. — m Rev. 17. M: 19. 16. 
 
 nChap. I. 17. — f/Exod. 33. 20; John 6. -K — pEph. 3. 21; 
 1'lul. -4. 20; Jude 25; Rev. 1. »>: \. 11; 7. 12. 
 
 was Messiah tin King: but that his "kingdom was 
 not of this world; and that hereafter he should be 
 coming in the clouds of heaven to judgt the 
 quick and dead. (See John xviii, 36, -M ; Mark 
 xiv, 61, 62.) 
 
 14. That thou keep this commandment with- 
 out spot — Two things are mentioned here: l)That 
 the commandment itself — the whole doctrine of 
 Christ — should be kept entire, 2) That Timothy's 
 life should l»e agreeable to that doctrine. Keep it 
 " without spot " — let there be no blot on the sa< red 
 book; add nothing to it, take nothing from it, 
 change nothing in it. Deliver down to thy suc- 
 cessors the truth as thou hart had it from God 
 himself. Unrebukable — Let there be nothing n 
 thy conduct or spirit contrary to this truth. Keep 
 the truth, and the truth will keep thee. Until 
 the appearing of our Lord — Hand it down pure, 
 and let thy conduct be a comment mi it, that it 
 may continue in the world and in the Church till 
 the coming of Christ. 
 
 15. Which in his times he shall show — 
 Jesus will appear in the most proper time: the 
 time which the infinite God in his wisdom ha- ap- 
 pointed for his coming. The blessed and only 
 Potentate — Awdarng, "potentate," is applied to 
 secular governors ; but none of these can be styled 
 it fiaicapioc nat fi6vog, the /mjijn/ and only One; 
 a BaoiAevg ruv (3aotXev6vTov, tin- King of kings, or 
 ///. King over nil kings ; and Kvpwg rotv k.% 
 
 tuv, /In I. mil mir nil lords or rulers. These are 
 titles which could not be given to any mortals. 
 This is made more specific by the verse following. 
 
 16. Who only hath immortality — All b, ings 
 that are not eternal must be mutable ; but there 
 can be only one eternal Being, that is, God ; and he 
 only can have immortality. Dwelling in the 
 light which no man can approach unto — All 
 this i- said by the apostle in three Word- : 
 
 oikuv aupdatrov, inhabiting unapproachabh 
 Such is the excessive glory of God that he is 
 equally unapproachable to all created beings. 
 Whom no man hath seen, nor can see— Moses 
 himself could only see the symbol of the divine 
 presence, but the faa of God no man could ever 
 see. Because he is infinite and eternal, therefore 
 he is ineomprehens bh ; and if incomprehensible to 
 the mind, consequently invisible to the eye. To 
 whom — AS the author of being, and the dispells >r 
 of all good, be ascribed honour and power; the 
 sole authority of all pervading, all-superintending, 
 all-preserving, and everlasting might. 
 
 17. Charge them that are rich — Paul had 
 before (verses 9, 10} given them a very aw fid lesson 
 concerning their obtaining riches; end now he 
 gives them one equally so concerning their use of 
 
 351
 
 A.M. 4069. A. D. 65. 
 Year of Rome, M>. 
 
 I. TIMOTHY. 
 
 Exhortation to the performance 
 i works. 
 
 not highminded, ^ nor trust in "uncertain 
 riches, but in 'the living Cum], "who giveth us 
 richly all tilings to enjoy; 18 That they 
 do good, that ■ they be rich in good works, 
 "ready to distribute, *y willing to communi- 
 cate; 19 z Laying up in store for themselves 
 a good foundation against the time to come, 
 
 </Jol> 31. 24; Psa 52. 7; 62. 10; Mark 10. 24; Luke 12. 21. 
 
 rfir. iini'i-iini ntij <if fiches. sPmv. 23. 5. t\ Tliess. 
 
 1.9; chap. 3. 15; 4. 10. u Acts 14. 17; 17. 25. r Luke 12.21 ; 
 
 chap. ). 10; Titus 3. 8; James 2. 5. u> Horn. 12. 13. 
 
 them. That they be not high-minded — That 
 they do not value themselves on account of their 
 wealth, for this adds nothing to mind or moral 
 win th. Nor trust in uncertain riches — Yllovrov 
 adrfkornri ; which is never at a stay, is ever chang- 
 ing, and seldom continues long with one propri- 
 etor ; therefore, as well as on many other accounts, 
 wealth is not to be trusted in : it cannot give abid- 
 ing happiness, because it is not fixed and perma- 
 nent: neither can it meet, the wishes of an immortal 
 spirit : but in the living God, who, as the unchange- 
 able fountain of perfection may be safely trusted 
 in. Who giveth us richly all things to enjoy 
 — "Who not only has all good, but dispenses it liber- 
 ally for the supply of the wants of all his creatures ; 
 and he does not give merely what is necessary, 
 but he gives what tends to render life enjoyable. 
 The comforts of life come from God, as well as the 
 necessaries. He not only gives us a bare subsist- 
 ence, but he gives us bountifully. God gives liber- 
 ally ; hut man divides it badly. 
 
 18. That they do good— That they relieve the 
 wants of their fellow creatures according to the 
 abundance which God has given them. The high- 
 est luxury a human being can enjoy on this side of 
 the grave is to do good to others. Rich in good 
 works — That their gooil works may be as abun- 
 dant as their riches. [Here, as in many other 
 places, "good works" imply, especially, acts of 
 beneficence.] Ready to distribute — E'rueTaSo- 
 tovq elvai. ' That they give nothing' through parti- 
 ality or favour, but be guided in their distribution 
 by the necessities of the objects presented to them ; 
 and that they confine not their charity at home, 
 but scatter it abroad. Willing to communi- 
 cate — Kolvuvlkovq. Bringing every poor person 
 into ti state of fellowship with themselves. [Com- 
 munistic, in a good sense.] 
 
 19. Laying up in store for themselves a 
 good foundation — [Storing away for themselves a 
 good endowment, dejiekiov, for the future, eif to 
 in'/'/ni\ which is further pointed out as consisting 
 in eternal life, now to be made secure.] A some- 
 what similar form of speech may be seen in 
 Tobit, chapter iv, 8, 9 : If thou hast abundance, 
 give alms accordingly ; if thou hast but a little, 
 be not afraid to give according to that little : for 
 thou treasurest up a good reward for thyself against 
 
 S52 
 
 that they may "lay hold on eternal life. 20 O 
 Timothy, ''keep that which is committed to 
 thy trust, c avoiding profane and vain bab- 
 blings, and oppositions of science falsely so 
 called: 21 Which some professing d have 
 erred concerning the faith. Grace be with 
 thee. Amen. 
 
 x Or, sociable. — j/Gal. 6. 6; Heb. 13. 16. zMatt. 6. 20; 
 
 19. 21; Luke 12. 33; 16. 9. a Verse 12. ft 2 Tim. 1. 14; 
 
 Titus 1. '.<; Rev. 3.3. cChap. 1. 4, 6; 4. 7; 2 Tim. 2. 14, 16, 23; 
 
 Titus 1. 14 ; 3. 9. d Chap. 1. 6, 19 ; 2 Tim. 2. 18. 
 
 the day of necessity. The sentiment is the same 
 in both writers ; the words nearly so ; and the 
 meaning is simply this, as it is judiciously para- 
 phrased by Mr. J. Wesley in his note on this pas- 
 sage : " Treasuring up for themselves a good foun- 
 dation of an abundant reward by the free mercy of 
 God, that they may lay hold on eternal life. This 
 cannot be done by almsdeeds ; yet, they come up 
 for a memorial before God. (Acts x, 4.) And the 
 lack even of this may be the cause why God will 
 withhold grace and salvation from us." Christ has 
 said : Blessed are thi merciful, for thru shall obtain 
 mercy. They who have not been merciful accord- 
 ing to their power shall not obtain mercy ; they 
 that have, shall obtain mercy : and yet the eternal 
 life which they obtain they look for from the mercy 
 of God through Jesus Christ. 
 
 20. O Timothy, keep that -which is com- 
 mitted to thy trust — This is another repetition of 
 the apostolic charge. (See chapters i, 5, 18, 19 ; 
 iv, 6, 7, 14, 15, 16; v, 21 ; vi, 13.) Carefully pre- 
 serve that doctrine which I have delivered to thee. 
 Nothing can be more solemn and affectionate than 
 this charge. Avoiding profane and vain bab- 
 blings — See on chapter i, 4 ; iv. 7. And oppo- 
 sitions of science falsely so called — Kal avn- 
 OeaeiQ ri.e ipsvduvp/wv yvuceug, and oppositions of 
 knowledge falsely so named. As by these interpre- 
 tations they endeavoured to establish the efficacy of 
 the Levitical atonements, the apostle very properly 
 termed these interpretations 'oppositions of 
 knowledge, because they were framed to establish 
 doctrines opposite to and subversive of the Gospel. 
 Some think that the apostle has certain Gnostic 
 heresies in view, some shadowings of which, it is 
 supposed, were even then seen in the Church. 
 
 21. Which some professing — Which knowl- 
 edge some pretending to have, such as Levitical 
 rites in opposition to the great Christian sacri- 
 fice, have erred concerning the faith — have com- 
 pletely mistaken the whole design of the Gospel. 
 (See chapter i, 6, 7.) Grace be with thee— May 
 the favour and influence of God be with thee, and 
 preserve thee from these and all other errors ! 
 Amen — Wanting in all the most ancient MSS. 
 The word should be omitted. 
 
 The subscriptions' as usual are various, and of 
 very little value.
 
 PEEFACE TO THE SECOND EPISTLE 
 
 TO 
 
 TIMOTHY. 
 
 TIME AND PLACE OF WRITING. 
 
 IN the preface to the first epistle mention was made of the parentage, country, 
 and education of Timothy; his call to the evangelic office; and of his appoint- 
 ment to the presidency of the Church at Ephesus. In reference to the present 
 epistle, it is only necessary to inquire into the time in which it was most prob- 
 ably written, which is variously set down from A.D. 61 to A.D. 06 or 67, and 
 the place, which quite certainly was Rome. 
 
 Dr. Paley observes, that it was the uniform tradition of the primitive Church 
 that St. Paul visited Rome twice, and ticice there suffered imprisonment, and that 
 at the conclusion of his second imprisonment he was put to death; and he thinks 
 that the opinion concerning these two journeys of St. Paul is confirmed by many 
 hints and allusions in this epistle, compared with what St. Paul has said in other 
 epistles which are allowed to have been written from Rome. 
 
 " That this epistle was written while Paul was a prisoner, is distinctly marked. 
 (See chapter i, 8.) It was also written while Paul was prisoner at Rome. 
 (See verses 16 and 17.) Since it appears from these that St. Paul wrote this 
 epistle in confinement, there can be no doubt that the word chain refers to that 
 confinement. And if so, the next words determine it to have been written from 
 Home.' 1 '' Dr. Macknight thinks that Paul was now a close prisoner, very different 
 in his circumstances from his fii*st imprisonment, in which he was permitted to 
 dwell alone in his own hired house, and receive all that came to him, and publicly 
 to preach the Gospel, being guarded only by a single soldier. It also appears 
 that crimes were now laid to his charge widely different from those formerly 
 alleged against him, (chapter ii, 9,) and that he was not only abridged of all 
 liberty, but was bound in a close prison. Hence the word malefactor, ttanovpyog, 
 which may mean here that the apostle was treated as the worst of criminals. 
 
 From the whole, (concludes Dr. Paley,) there seems the fullest evidence, 
 
 1) That this epistle was not written during St. Paul's first imprisonment at Rome. 
 
 2) That he was at Home when he wrote this epistle. 3) That he was t here a pris- 
 oner, and in such confinement as, we know from the Acts of the Apostles, he was 
 not in during the time of his first imprisonment there. 4) That this must have 
 been some subsequent imprisonment. 5) That as the general consent of all Christ- 
 ian antiquity states that St. Paul was twice imprisoned at Rome, and that from 
 his second imprisonment he was never liberated, but was at its conclusion mar- 
 tyred; therefore this epistle must have been written while St. Paul was in his 
 
 Vol. II.— 23 353
 
 PREFACE TO THE SECOND EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY. 
 
 second imprisonment at Rome, and but a short time before his martyrdom. And 
 
 as the Christian Church has generally agreed that this apostle's martyrdom took 
 
 place on the 29th of June, A.D. 66, the second epistle to Timothy may have 
 
 been written sometime toward the end of the spring or beginning of summer of 
 
 that year. It is supposed that St. Paul went from Crete to Rome about the end 
 
 of the year 65, on hearing of the persecution which Nero was then carrying on 
 
 against the Christians on pretence that they had set Rome on fire. Like a true 
 
 soldier of Jesus Christ, he was ever at the post of danger; and in this case he had 
 
 led on the forlorn hope. 
 
 GENUINENESS. 
 
 The second epistle to Timothy is found in nearly all the ancient MSS. and 
 Versions, including the Peshito-Syriac, and is included in the Canon of Muratori. 
 It is quoted as Paul's by Irenaeus, and also by Clement of Alexandria, who ex- 
 pressly calls it the second epistle to Timothy. Tertullian also refers to it as St. 
 Paul's. Origen notices an objection to its genuineness, on account of its naming 
 Jannes and Jambres, but thinks the objection of no force. With that exception, 
 its Pauline origin seems never to have been doubted by the ancient Church. Its 
 internal character strongly favours its genuineness. 
 
 CONTEXTS. 
 
 The apostle expresses his ardent affection for Timothy, and his strong desire 
 to see him; and speaks of the faith which dwelt in him and in his mother and 
 grandmother. He exhorts him to stir up the gift that is in him, and not to be 
 ashamed of the testimony of the Lord and his prisoner. He refers to the revela- 
 tion and power of the Gospel, of which he is a minister and apostle to the Gen- 
 tiles, and expresses his confidence in God, exhorts Timothy to fidelity in doc- 
 trine, in faith and love, and complains that all those of Asia have turned away 
 from him with the exception of Onesiphorus, upon whose family he invokes the 
 divine blessing. (Chapter i.) He exhorts Timothy to fidelity in his work by vari- 
 ous considerations, and refers to his own sufferings for the sake of the Gospel, 
 and at the same time urges him to shun youthful lusts, to attend to the practical 
 duties of religion, avoiding foolish and unlearned questions, and to conduct him- 
 self with gentleness toward the enemies of the truth, that they, perchance, may be 
 saved. (Chapter ii.) 
 
 He describes the character of persons who shall appear in the last days, 
 exhorts Timothy to follow the doctrines he has learned from him, commends to 
 lam the inspired Scriptures, reminding him of his own afflictions and persecutions 
 at Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra, and how the Lord had delivered him. (Chap- 
 ter iii.) In view of the fact that the time will come when sound doctrine will not 
 be endured, he gives Timothy a solemn charge respecting preaching; declares that 
 his departure is at hand, and that he is ready to be offered; that he has been faith- 
 ful, and that a glorious reward awaits him; and urges Timothy to come shortly to 
 him, as only Luke is with him. He gives him various directions, speaks of his 
 first defence, (before Nero,) and states that the Lord stood by him though men 
 had forsaken him, and is confident respecting the future. He closes with saluta- 
 tions and greetings, and urges Timothy to come to him before winter. (Chapter iv.) 
 
 354
 
 THE SECOND EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE 
 
 TO 
 
 TIMOTHY. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAUL, "an apostle of Jesus Christ by the 
 will of God. according to ''the promise of 
 life which is in Christ Jesus, 2 e To Timothy, 
 my dearly beloved son: (Trace, mercy, and 
 peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus 
 our Lord. 3 d I thank God, e whom I serve 
 
 nl Cor. I. 1 b Eph. ?.. 11: Titus 1. 2s Heb. 9. 15. — el Tim. 
 
 1.2. rfUom. 1. 8; Eph. 1. 16. 6 Acts 22. 3; 23. 1; 24.14; 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER I. 
 
 1. Paul, an apostle — Showing his office, the au- 
 thority on which he held it, and the end for which 
 it was given. By the will of God — [He ascribes 
 his apostolate to the will and free determination of 
 God, and not to his own merits. (So 1 Cor. i, 1 ; 
 2 Cor: i, 1, 2; Eph. i, 1.)— Estius, quoted by Elli- 
 eott.] According to (in pursuance of) the prom- 
 ise (EirayyeTiiav, that which was promised) of life 
 ... in Christ Jesus — [The object of the promise 
 is the blessed life which exists originally in Christ. 
 The assurance of that life is the apostle's present 
 consolation.] And he was appointed that he might 
 proclaim that eternal life which God had in view 
 for mankind by the incarnation of his Son Jesus 
 Christ, and which was the end of all the promises 
 he had made to men, and the commandments he 
 had delivered to all his prophets since the world 
 began. The mention of this "life" was peculiarly 
 proper in the apostle, who had now the sentence of 
 death in himself, and who knew that he must soon 
 seal the truth with his blood. His life was hidden 
 with Christ in God ; and he knew that as soon as 
 he should be absent from the body he should lie 
 present with the Lord. With these words he both 
 comforted himself and his son Timothy. 
 
 2. To Timothy, my dearly beioved son — 
 See on 1 Tim. i, 2. 
 
 3. I thank God, whom I serve from my 
 forefathers — Being born a Jew, and having been 
 zealous for the Jews' religion, Paul was carefully 
 educated in the knowledge of the true God, and the 
 proper manner of worshipping him. With pure 
 conscience — Ever aiming to please him, even in 
 the time when, through ignorance, I persecuted the 
 Church. [His service of Cod (though al first mis- 
 directed through his unbelief, 1 Tim. i, 13,) had 
 been at all times conscientious and single hearted, 
 and as he had received it (this manner of service) 
 from his forefathers, (a-u irpoydvoov, not of the 
 Jewish people, but the progenitors of the apostle 
 himself.) Though greatly wrong at first, yet even 
 
 from my forefathers with pure conscience, 
 that f without ceasing 1 have remembrance of 
 thee in my prayers night and day; 4 ^Great- 
 ly desiring to see thee, being mindful of thy 
 tears, that 1 may be filled with joy; 5 When 
 I call to remembrance, ''the unfeigned faith 
 that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grand* 
 
 27. 23: Rom. 1. 9; Gal. 1. 14- 
 4.9, 21. h\ Tim. 1. 5; 4. H. 
 
 -/I Thess. 1. 2; 3. 10. pChap. 
 
 then he was sincere according to his convictions, 
 (Acts xxvi, 9,) and since his conversion he had 
 pursued his Christian calling with conscientious 
 fidelity.] Without ceasing I have remem- 
 brance of thee — [As / lwve unceasing remem- 
 brance of thee in my prayers, day and night. This 
 part of verse 3, and all of verse 4, must be read 
 somewhat parenthetically, so making what i- named 
 in verse 5 the subject for whjch the apostle gives 
 thanks.] 
 
 4. Being mindful of thy tears — Probably 
 referring to the affecting parting with the Ephe- 
 sian Church, (Acts xx, 37,) or perhaps to the deep 
 impressions made on Timothy's heart when he 
 (Paul) instructed him in the doctrine of Christ 
 crucified, or to some interview between themselves. 
 The mention of this by the apostle is no small 
 proof of his most affectionate regards for Timothy, 
 whom he appears to have loved as a father loves 
 his only son. 
 
 5. The unfeigned (real, not simulated) faith 
 that is in thee — Timothy had given the fullest 
 proof of the sincerity of his conversion, and of the 
 purity of his faith. Which dwelt first in thy 
 grandmother Lois — In Acts xvi, 1, we are in- 
 formed that Paul "came to Derbe and Lystra; and, 
 behold, a certain disciple was there named Timo- 
 theus, the son of a certain woman who was a .lew- 
 ess, and believed; but his father was a Greek." 
 Luke's saying that Timothy's father was a " Greek," 
 makes it probable that he was then in his heathen 
 state; anil so Paul, in mentioning the grandmother, 
 mother, and son, passes by the fatlier in silence. 
 Lois and Eunice are both Grecian names; hence 
 we are led to conclude that although Timothy's 
 
 mother was a Jewess, yet she was a Grecii r 
 
 Bellenist by birth. Lois appears to have been 
 the first convert of the family to Christianity: 
 she instructed her daughter Eunice, and both 
 brought up Timothy in the Christian faith ; -<> that 
 he had a general knowledge of it before he met 
 with St. Paul at Lystra. There, it appears, the 
 
 355
 
 i. M. 40f.fi. A. p. fi5. 
 Year of Rome, M8. 
 
 IT. TIMOTHY 
 
 mother Lois, and 'thy mother Eunice; and I 
 am persuaded that in thee also. t» Wherefore 
 I put thee in remembrance, k that thou stir up 
 the gift of God, which is in thee by the put- 
 ting on of my hands. 7 For ' God hath not 
 given us the spirit of fear; m but of power, 
 and of love, and of a sound mind. 8 "Be not 
 thou therefore ashamed of "the testimony of 
 
 i Arts IB. 1. Z-l Thess. 5. 19 : 1 Tim. 4. 14. 1 Rnm. 8. 15. 
 
 m Luke -24. 40; Acta 1. 8. — n Rom. 1. 16. — o 1 Tim. 2. 6; 
 
 Rev. 1. 2. — pEph. 3.1; Phil. 1. 7. qC 1. 1. 24; chap. 4.5. 
 
 r\ Tim. 1.1; Titus 3. 4. 
 
 apostle was the instrument of the conversion of his 
 heart, to God. 
 
 6. Stir up the gift of God, which is in thee 
 — The " gift " which Timothy had received was the 
 Holy Spirit; and through him, a particular power 
 to preach and defend the truth. ["The gift," 
 X&piafia, (singular, as combining the whole of the 
 gifts necessary for the ministry in one aggregate,) 
 not the gift of the Spirit which is imparted to all 
 believers. (See 1 Tim. iv, 14.) Of those minis- 
 terial gifts, that of nappTjaia (boldness of utter- 
 ance) would be most required in this case. — Al- 
 ford.] By the putting on of my hands — [In 
 1 Tim. iv, 14 the apostle speaks, evidently refer- 
 ring to the same action, of the laying on of the 
 hauls of the presbytery, respecting which Alford 
 remarks: "Any apparent discrepancy with that 
 passage, from the apostle here speaking of the lay- 
 ing on of his own hands alone, may be removed by 
 regarding the apostle as the chief iti the ordinal inn, 
 and the presbyters as his assistants," (or coadju- 
 tors.) " As to the 3ia rf/g eir/dsaecjg ruv %eipuv fiov, 
 (the imposition of my hands,) we can appeal to the 
 whole spiiit, of St. Paul's teaching, as declaring 
 that by such an expression he does not mean that 
 the inward spiritual grace is operated merely and 
 barely by the outward visible sign." See Al- 
 ford.] 
 
 7. God hath not given us the spirit of fear, 
 i<V '•,</(', cowardice,) but of power — kwafieuc, (as 
 opposed to the n ickedness of cowardice,) giving sup- 
 port in trials, and enabling them to do that which 
 was required in his service. And of love — Which 
 is able to make even the timid bear and endure 
 all things; acting as an incentive to all obedience. 
 Of a sound mind — ?.utypovio~[iov, of self-possession 
 and self-government, according to some. But "a 
 sound mind" implies much more: it means a clear 
 understanding, a sound judgment, a rectified will, 
 holy passions, heavenly tempers ; in a word, the 
 whole soul harmonized in all its powers and facul- 
 ties ; and completely regulated and influenced so as 
 to think-, speak, and act aright in all things. 
 
 8. Be not . . . ashamed of the testimony — 
 [Seeing that God hath given us such a spirit, be 
 not //inn ashamed of the testimony which thou art to 
 give concerning our Lord, (the common Lord of 
 Paul and Timothy;) not the testimony which he 
 (Christ) bore, but the witnessing for Christ in the 
 preaching of the Gospel. See Alford.] The testi- 
 mony of Christ is the Gospel in general, which pro- 
 claims Christ crucified, and redemption through his 
 blood. In the sight of the world there appeared 
 to be reason why a man should be ashamed of this; 
 ashamed of him who was crucified as a malefactor; 
 but, when this Gospel became the power of Cod to 
 the salvation of everyone that believed, it was a 
 subject to exult in. (See Rom. i, 16.) Nor of me 
 his prisoner — [Tov deafiiov avrov, (see Eph. iii, 1,) 
 
 356 
 
 our Lord, nor of me Phis prisoner: i but be 
 thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel 
 according to the power of God; 9 r Who 
 hath saved us, and s called us with a holy call- 
 ing, 'not according to our works, but "accord- 
 ing to his own purpose and grace, which was 
 given us in Christ Jesus "before the world be- 
 gan ; lO But w is now- made manifest by the 
 
 Al Tliess. 4. 7; Heb. 3. 1. Mtom. 3. 20; 9. 11 : Titus 3. 5. 
 
 itRom. 8. 28. ''Rom. 16. 25; Eph. 1.4: 8.11; Titu- 1 2: 
 
 1 Peter 1. 20. ifRom. 10. 26; Eph. 1. 9; Col. 1. 2<i ; Titus 
 
 1.3: 1 Peter 1.20. 
 
 not simply Christ's, as if held by him, but rather as 
 imprisoned by reason of Christ and his Gospel.] 
 When our friends are in power and credit we can 
 readily acknowledge them ; but when they fall into 
 discredit we are often not so ready to acknowledge 
 them. Be thou partaker of the afflictions of 
 the gospel — No parent could love a child bet- 
 ter than Paul loved Timothy ; and, of course, he 
 could wish him nothing but what was great, horn 
 curable, and good ; and yet he wishes him to be a 
 "partaker of •'he afflictions of the Gospel." Be- 
 cause to suffer for Christ, and suffer with Christ, 
 was the highest glory to which any human being in 
 this state could arrive. The royal way to the crown 
 of glory is by the cross of Christ. According to 
 the power of God — [Kara dvva/uiv Qeov, corre- 
 spondingly to that power which God has displayed 
 toward us in our calling and salvation. — Ellicott.] 
 God will take care that if a faithful discharge of 
 thy duty shall expose thee to afflictions, his power 
 manifested in thee shall be in proportion to thy 
 necessities. His load cannot be oppressive who 
 is strengthened to bear it by the "power of God." 
 
 9. Who hath saved us — [All men, by the sacri- 
 fice of Christ, and especially those that believe, by the 
 renewing of the Holy Spirit. (1 'Jim. iv, 1(1; Titus 
 iii, 5.)] And called us with a holy calling— In- 
 vited us t6 holiness and comfort here ; and to eter- 
 nal glory hereafter. [The act of " calling " is usually 
 regularly and solemnly ascribed to God the Father. 
 (Gal. i, 4.) The calling is essentially and intrinsi- 
 cally holy, because it calls us into the fellowship 
 of Christ, (in spirit and in life.) (1 Cor. i, 9.) — E1- 
 licott.] Not according to our works — See Titus 
 iii, 5. We have not deserved any part of the good 
 we have received ; and can never merit one mo- 
 ment of the exceeding great and eternal weight of 
 glory which is promised. See the notes on the 
 parallel passages. Eefore the world began — 
 [Hpo xp&vuv aluviuv,from the eternal times. To 
 understand this as only "before the Jewish dispen- 
 sation," or " before any of God's dispensations for 
 fallen men," is to miss the great truth which so 
 magnifies the love of Cod — his eternal purpose of 
 the redemption of a race foreknown to be rebellious 
 against his will. Grace, here, is that highest ex- 
 pression of God's free and undeserved mercy, his 
 purpose to save us by Jesus Christ. It was given 
 from all eternity, not merely promised ; for what 
 Cod purposes, is. See Alford.] 
 
 10. But is now made manifest — This purpose 
 of God to save our fallen race, and call us to a 
 state of salvation by Jesus Christ, was, previously 
 to the manifestation of Christ, hidden, or only 
 dimly revealed through types and ordinances. [The 
 atonement was not an afterthought brought in on 
 man's apostasy ; it was a provision, so that when 
 man fell he found justice hand in hand with mercy. 
 — Watson.] \^avepu6elaav (made manifest) im-
 
 The apostolic form of sound 
 wor.l> to be held fast. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, x who 
 hath abolished death, and hath brought life 
 and immortality to light through (he gospel: 
 
 11 yWhereunto 1 am appointed a preacher, 
 and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles. 
 
 12 z For the which cause I also suffer these 
 tilings: nevertheless I am not ashamed ; "for 
 I know whom 1 have ''believed, and am per- 
 
 (rl Cor. to. 54, 55; Heb. 2. It. ;/ Acts '.'. 15: Epb. 3. 7, 8; 
 
 1 Tim. i 7 : chap. 4. 17. ? Eph. :! 1 ; chap. 2. '.'. a 1 Peter 
 
 4. l!i. //Or. trusted. el Tim. 6. 20. </ Verso IS; chap. 
 
 plies what is expressed in other passages, (for ex- 
 ample, Rom. xvi, 25, 26, Col. i, 20,) that the eter- 
 nal counsels of mercy were not only formed before 
 all ages, but hidden during their lapse, till the ap- 
 pointed vvv (nuir) arrived. (Eph. iii, '•'. ) — Ellicott. ) 
 Who hath abolished death — Karapyr/oavTog /uev 
 tov Bavarov, who has counterworked death; oper- 
 ated against his operations, destroyed his batteries, 
 undersunk and destroyed his mines, and rendered 
 all his instruments ami principles of attack useless. 
 By "death," here, we are not to understand merely 
 natural death, but that deadness of the soul in sin 
 and spiritual atrophy which take place in conse- 
 quence of it ; and which would he endless hut for 
 the power of Christ's resurrection. By him alone 
 comes the resurrection from the dead ; and through 
 him eternal life and glory are given to the souls of 
 believers. Brought life and immortality to 
 light — The literal translation of the original is, He 
 hath illustrated life and incorruphon by the Gospel. 
 [7a.)/'/ [life) denotes the blessed life of the children of 
 God, which is further described as eternal, ever 
 enduring, by the epigetical (interpretive) nal aepdap- 
 ciav, [incapability to decay.) This life was orig- 
 inally hid in God, but Christ brought it to light out 
 of concealment, through the Gospel. — Hutlier.] 
 [The latter substantive, aptiapaia, {immortality, ) 
 characterizes and explains the former, £«#, (life,) 
 not, however, with any special reference to the res- 
 urrection of the body, (1 Cor. xv, 42,) but with 
 reference to the essential quality of the £w#, (life,) 
 its imperishable and incorruptible nature, and its 
 exemption from death. (Rev. xxi, 4 ; compare 
 Rom. ii, 1.)—Mlicott] 
 
 11. Whereunto — [Elr 8, in respect to which, 
 that is, the Gospel.] I am appointed a preacher 
 — Kqpvt;, a herald. (See the notes at the end of 
 Matt, iii.) And an apostle — Sent immediately 
 from (rod to man. (See 1 Tim. ii, 7.) A teacher 
 — One whose business it is to instruct men, and 
 particularly the Gentiles, to whom he was espec- 
 ially sent; to declare and set forth the doctrines 
 of eternal life, and the salvation of the whole man 
 by Christ Jesus. 
 
 1 -1. For the which cause I also suffer these 
 things — [A/' fjv alriav, that is, because I am ap- 
 pointed an apostle, and am earnestly labouring to 
 perform the duties of my calling.] [I am not 
 ashamed of my sufferings ; imprisonment is not to 
 me a disgrace, (but a glory,) for the reason imme- 
 diately following. — Hut/ier.] I am not ashamed 
 — Though I suffer for the Gospel, 1 am not ashamed 
 of the Gospel; nor am I confounded in my expec- 
 tation; his grace being at till times sufficient for 
 me. For I know whom I have believed — 
 [ Trusted, with complete confidence in his ability to 
 keep and recompense, and in bis fidelity, that he 
 will surely accomplish all that he has promised ; and 
 my faith in all this is based upon ray acquaintance 
 
 suaded thai he is able to c keep that which I 
 have committed unto him d against thai day. 
 13 '"Hold fast f the form of f-' sound words, 
 h which thou hast heard of me, 'in faith and 
 love which is in Christ Jesus. 14 k That good 
 thing which was committed unto thee keep by 
 the Holy Ghost 'which dwelleth in us. 15 
 This thou knowest, that '"all they which are 
 
 4. 8. eChap. 3. H; Titus 1. :•: Heb. in. 23: Rev. 2. 25. ■ 
 
 / Kom. 2. 2U; 6. 17. g I Tim. 1. 1": 6. 3. /< Chap. 2. 2. 
 
 i 1 Tim. 1. 14. k 1 Tim. 0. 20. 1 Rom. 8. 11. /// Acts l'J 10. 
 
 with my covenant-keeping Saviour.] That which I 
 have committed unto him — His life, which he 
 had put into the hands of Christ, in full assurance 
 that he would receive it again. His soul, which he 
 had also given into the hands of his faithful ( Ireator, 
 knowing that although wicked men might be per- 
 mitted to destroy his body, yet they could not desi roy 
 his soul. The work of the Gospel, which he knows 
 will be surely preserved by the great Head of the 
 the Church : for, though his servants might he 
 soon called to seal the truth with their blood, yet 
 God will take care that the same truth shall be 
 proclaimed to the world by others, whom he will 
 raise up for that purpose. Against that day — ■ 
 [Elf zKeivrp) rrp r/fikpav, with referenci to. Eif points 
 to something in the future, in respect to which his 
 7rapad//iit/v (deposit) had been made. ''That day," 
 when "the good and faithful servant" shall hear 
 the Master's approval, Well dont ') 
 
 13. Hold fast the form of sound words — 
 The word vTrorvnuaiv signifies the sketch, plan, or 
 outline of a building, picture, etc. ; and here refers 
 to the plan of salvation (the system of Christian 
 doctrines) which the apostle Pad taught to Timothy. 
 If God had not given a revelation of himself, then 
 indeed the inventions of man in religious things 
 must be an endless maze of uncertainty and error, 
 leading to unlimited confusion. Therefore God, in 
 his great mercy, has given to man a "form of 
 sound words," or doctrines; a perfect plan and 
 sketch of the original building; fair and well de- 
 fined outlines of every thing which concerns the 
 present and eternal welfare of man and his own 
 glory, which contains all things necessary to sal- 
 vation. In faith and love — " Faith " credits the 
 divine doctrines; "love" reduces them all to 
 practice. "Faith" lays hold on Jesus Christ, and 
 obtains that "love" by which every precept is 
 cheerfully and effectuallj obeyed. [The sacred de- 
 posit, divine truth delivered of old by the proph- 
 ets, and later by Christ himself, and hist of w\\ 
 by the apostles, and afterward embodied in the 
 sacred canon, is that by which every religious 
 teacher should fashion the opinions that he is to 
 hold and the lessons that lie shall teach.] 
 
 14. That good thing — The everlasting Gospel. 
 Keep by the Holy Ghost — This indwelling 
 Spirit will make the truth effectual to thy own sal- 
 vation, and enable thee to preach it to the sal- 
 vation of others. 
 
 15. All they which are in Asia — It seem- as 
 if the apostle must refer to the Asiatic Christians 
 
 which were then at Koine, or had been lately there. 
 Finding the apostle in disgrace, and thinking it 
 dangerous to own him or his cause, the) neither 
 visited him nor confessed Christianity. lie can- 
 not be speaking of any general di fection i 
 Asiatic Churches, but id' those Asiatics who had 
 professed a particular friendship for him. He
 
 IT. TIMOTHY. 
 
 in Asia be "turned away from me; of whom 
 are Phygellus and Hermogenes. ltfi The Lord 
 "give mercy unto p the house of Onesiphorus ; 
 
 i for he oft refreshed me, and ' was not ashamed 
 of s my chain: 17 But, when he was in 
 Rome, he sought me out very diligently, and 
 found me. IS The Lord grant unto him 
 'that he may find mercy of the Lord "in that 
 day : and in how many things he v ministered 
 unto me at Ephesus, thou knowest very well. 
 
 »Chn V . 4. 10, lti. oMatt. 5. 7. 7>Chap. 4. 19. 
 
 q Pliilem. 7. r Verse 8. s Acts 28. 2n ; Eph. 6. 20. 1 Matt. 
 
 25. 34-40. u2 Thess. 1. 10; verse 12. v Heb. G. 10. 
 
 turned away — [There had evidently been a 
 marked defection of those who had before pro- 
 fessed attachment to the apostle, but who they 
 were, or why they " turned away " from him, is mat- 
 ter of conjecture. The names of persons and place, 
 here given, shed very little light on the subject.] 
 Phygellus and Hermogenes — These were two 
 of the persons of whom he complains ; but who 
 they were, or what office they held, or whether they 
 were any thing but private Christians who had for 
 a time ministered to St. Paul in prison, and, when 
 they found the State determined to destroy him 
 ceased to acknowledge him, we cannot tell. 
 
 16. The Lord give mercy — Onesiphorus had 
 acknowledged Paul, and continued to do so; he 
 and his house, or family, ministered to him in prison, 
 and were not ashamed of their imprisoned pastor, 
 nor of the cause for which he was in disgrace and 
 suffering. As he showed mercy to the apostle, the 
 apostle prays the Lord to show mercy to him. 
 
 17. When he was in Rome — Onesiphorus was 
 no doubt an Asiatic, (probably an Ephesian, see 
 below,) who had frequent business at Rome; and 
 who, when he came, sought out the apostle, who it 
 is supposed had been confined in some close and 
 private prison, so that it was with great difficulty 
 lie could be found out. This man had entertained 
 the apostle when he was at Ephesus, and now he 
 sought him out at Rome. Pure love feels no loads. 
 Here was a true friend, one who sticketh closer 
 than a brother. 
 
 18. The Lord grant . . . that he may find 
 mercy of the Lord — This is probably only a He- 
 braism for, God grant that he may now be saved by 
 divine grace, and that in the great day he may re- 
 ceive the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eter- 
 nal life. (See a similar form of expression, Gen. 
 ix, 16; xix, 24; Exod. xxiv, 1, 2.) 
 
 It is impossible to read this chapter without feel- 
 ing deeply interested for this most noble and amia- 
 ble of men. To what trials did God expose him! 
 His life was a life of perils and tribulations, his 
 labours w r ere superabundant, and his success all 
 but incredible. Wherever he went he left a track 
 of light and life behind him. To him, as the grand 
 instrument of God, the Gentiles — the whole habit- 
 able world — owe their salvation. Yet see him: in 
 his old age neglected by his friends, apparently 
 forsaken of God, abandoned to the hands of ruth- 
 less men, in prison ami in chains, yet triumphing 
 over sufferings and death; perfectly unshaken, un- 
 stumbled with the evils with which he is obliged 
 to contend, having the fullest persuasion of the 
 truth of the doctrines which he had preached, and 
 the strongest and most encouraging anticipation of 
 the glory that should be revealed. No murmur is 
 358 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THOU therefore, 'my son, h he strong in the 
 grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 c And the 
 things that thou hast heard of me ''among 
 many witnesses, e the same commit thou to 
 faithful men, who shall he f able to teach oth- 
 ers also. 3 e Thou therefore endure hardness, 
 h as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 4 'No 
 man that warreth entangleth himself witli 
 the affairs of this life ; that he may please 
 
 a ! Tim. 1. 2; chap. 1. 2. 1> Eph. 6. 10. c Chap. 1. V?,: X 
 
 10, 14. dOr, hj/. e 1 Tim. 1. Is. f\ Tim. A. ■>: Titus I. 0. 
 
 a Chap. 1. 8; 4. 5. h 1 Tim. 1. IS. i 1 Cor. 0. 25. 
 
 heard from his heart ; he is persuaded that all 
 things work together for good to them that love 
 God; the miserable uncertainty of friendship, the 
 defection of cowardly brethren, and the apostasy 
 of once zealous professors, did not move him. As 
 far as it is law fill, he courts death ; knowing that 
 to be absent from the body is to be present with 
 the Lord. Glorious system of truth by which such 
 an apostle was formed ! and glorious apostle by 
 whom this system was illustrated and confirmed! 
 The character and conduct of St. Paul must make 
 Christianity doubly amiable to believers and highly 
 respectable even to its enemies. 
 
 NOTES OX CHAPTER II. 
 
 1. Be strong in the grace— Though the gen- 
 eral import of the word "grace" is favour, yet it 
 often implies an active principle communicated from 
 God: light, directing how to act, and power, enab- 
 ling to act according to the light. 
 
 2. The things that thou hast heard of me — 
 Those doctrines which I have preached the most 
 publicly, and which many persons can attest. 
 These truths are still continued in the Church, and 
 still there are faithful men who proclaim them. 
 But where is the uninterrupted apostolie succes- 
 sion ? Who can tell ? Probably it does not exist 
 on the face of the world. All the pretensions to it 
 by certain Churches are as stupid as they are idle 
 and futile. [Timothy, by his long continuance with 
 St. Paul, and frequent listening to his public dis- 
 courses, and also receiving his private instructions, 
 had become thoroughly versed in the doctrines of 
 the Gospel, so that he himself was now qualified to 
 be a public teacher and guide.] 
 
 3. Endure hardness — He considers a Christian 
 minister under the notion of a soldier, not so much 
 for his continual conflicts with the world, the devil, 
 and the flesh, for these are in a certain sense com- 
 mon to all Christians, but for the hardships and 
 difficulties to which he must be exposed who faith- 
 fully preaches the Gospel of Christ. 
 
 4. No man that warreth entangleth, etc — 
 It is well remarked by Grotius, on this passage, that 
 the legionary soldiers among the Romans were not 
 permitted to engage in husbandry, merchandise, 
 mechanical employments, or any thing that might 
 be inconsistent with their calling. He who will 
 preach the Gospel thoroughly, and wishes to give 
 full proof of his ministry, has need to have no 
 other work. He should be wholly in this thing, that 
 his profiting may appear unto all. There are many 
 who sin against this direction. But what are they, 
 either in number or guilt, compared to the im- 
 mense herd of men professing to be Christian min- 
 isters, who neither read nor study, and consequent- 
 ly never improve '! These are too conscientious to
 
 The apostle mentions li is own 
 sufferings and consolations. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 l. M. 40H9. A. T>. r>5. 
 Year of Rome, 818. 
 
 him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. 
 
 5 And k if a man also strive for masteries, yet 
 is he not crowned, except lie strive lawfully. 
 
 6 '"'The husbandman that labpureth must be 
 first partaker of the fruits. 7 ('(insider what 1 
 say; and the Lord give thee understanding in 
 all tilings. 8 Remember that Jesus Christ, n of 
 the seed of David, °\vas raised from the dead, 
 p according to my gospel : 9 ' Wherein I suffer 
 trouble, as an evil doer, urea unto bonds; 
 8 but the word of God is not hound. 10 There- 
 fore '1 endure all things for the elect's sake, 
 "that they may also obtain the salvation which 
 
 ^-1 Cor. 9. 25, 26. — '<)<■■ The husbandman, labouring Jirst, 
 
 must he partaker of the fruits. m 1 Cor. 9. 10, /; Acts 2. 
 
 3 i ; 13. Jo; Rom. I. 3, 4. o 1 Cor. 15. 1, 4, 20. — P Rom. 2. 16. 
 
 ff Acts 9.16: <-lia|>. 1.12. r-Eph.3. 1 : Phil. 1. 7 ; Col. 4. 3, 18. 
 
 * Acts 28. 31 : Eph. 6. 19, 20: Phil. 1. 13, 14. 
 
 meddle with secular affairs, and yet have no scruple 
 of conscience to while away time, he among the 
 chief in needless self-indulgence, and, by their bur- 
 densome and monotonous ministry, become an en- 
 cumbrance to the Church ! 
 
 5. If a man also strive for masteries — 'Bav 6e 
 ml ati2Jj tic, if any on'e would be an athlete. See 
 on 1 Cor. ix, 24-26. Yet is he not crowned — 
 Though he may have outdone all his competitors, 
 except he strive lawfully; unless he enter ac- 
 cording to the rules of the athletce, and act as these 
 direct. No man, however zealous he may have 
 been, is to expect the Well done, good and faithful 
 servant, from Jesus Christ, unless he have laboured 
 in the word and doctrine, preached the truth as it 
 is in Jesus, and built up the Church upon him who is 
 its only foundation. [The minister of the Gospel 
 does not arbitrarily exempt himself from this or 
 that portion of his task, or even direct his activity 
 according to his own discretion : not the bias of his 
 own heart, but the will of the Lord alone, must be 
 his standard; so that without this it is impossible 
 for him to hope for his approval and recognition. 
 Lange.~\ 
 
 6. The husbandman that laboureth — That is, 
 the " husbandman " must first till his ground be- 
 fore he can expect a crop ; and he must till it ac- 
 cording to the proper rules of agriculture, else he 
 cannot have a crop. The combatant must tight and 
 conquer, and fight according to the laws of the 
 agones, (the contestants,) before he can he crowned : 
 so the Christian minister must labour in the spiritual 
 vineyard, and labour, too, under the eye and accord- 
 ing to the direction of his Master, before he can 
 expect that crown of righteousness that fadeth not 
 away. 
 
 7. Consider what I say — .Apply my metaphors 
 and similitudes in a proper manner. And the 
 Lord give thee understanding — But instead of 
 6(1))], may he give, most of the best authorities have 
 6<l>oei, he will give, a promise instead of a. prayer. 
 Consider tin ui properly, and Cod will "give thee" a 
 proper understanding of all things that concern thy 
 own peace, and the peace and prosperity of his 
 Church. 
 
 8. Remember that Jesus Christ — The apostle 
 seems to say: "Whatever tribulations or deaths 
 may befall us, let us remember that Jesus Christ, 
 who was slain by the Jews, rose again from the 
 dead, and his resurrection is the proof and pledge oi 
 ours. We also shall rise again to a life of glor\ 
 and blessedness. Of the seed of David— [This 
 points indeed to Christ's human nature, hut it 
 
 is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. 11 T It 
 is a faithful saying: For "if we be dead with 
 him, we shall also live with him: 12 x lf we 
 suffer, we shall also reign with him: > if we 
 deny him, he also will deny us: 13 z lf we 
 believe not, yet he abideth faithful: "he can- 
 not deny himself. 14 Of these things put 
 them in remembrance, 'charging them before 
 the Lord c that they strive no] about words to 
 no profit, out to the subverting of the hearers. 
 15 Study to show thyself approved unto God. 
 a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, 
 rightly dividing the word of truth. 16 But 
 
 1 E|>!i. 3. 13 : Col. 1. 24. u 2 Cor. 1. 6. ?• 1 Tim. 1. 15. 
 
 w Rom. B. :>. s ; 2 Cor. 4. 1". x Rom. 8. 17; 1 Peter 4. 13. 
 
 v.M.tt. lit. ;;:'.: Murk 8. :is ; Luke 12. 9. s Horn. 3. 3; 9. 6. 
 
 — '/Num. 23. 19. 1>\ Tim. a. 21; 6. 13; chap. 4. 1. — 
 
 el Tim. 1. 4 ; 6 4; Titus 3. 9,11. 
 
 points to it as derived through the greatest of 
 Israel's kings, and in the fulfilment of the sure 
 word of prophecy. — Ellicott.'] According to my 
 gospel — Paul preached the resurrection from the 
 dead; and founded his doctrine on the resurrection 
 and promise of Christ. This was his gospel; the 
 other was of a different nature. [This clause 
 seems to be used by the apostle to confirm the 
 truth of what he had before expressed. — Huther.] 
 
 9. Wherein — ['Er <j, that is in, or resulting from, 
 preaching the Gospel.] I suffer trouble, as an 
 evil doer— [In my imprisonment and condemna- 
 tion to suffer death as a malefactor.] But the 
 word of God is not bound — [Though I (to whom 
 the Gospel is intrusted) am bound, the Gospel it- 
 self is not thereby fettered, but goes freely forth 
 into the world, and works unfettered. (2 Thess. 
 iii, l.)—Huther.] 
 
 10. For the elect's sake — [The knowledge that 
 the Gospel is unfettered in its influence enables 
 Paul to endure all for the sake of the tK/.tnToi, the 
 elect . . . believers so-called. — Huther.] 
 
 11. If we be dead with him — That is, if we 
 die with him spiritually (Gal. ii, 20) we shall surely 
 live again with him eternally. (Col. iii, 3, 4.) This, 
 says the apostle, is -toroc o 7t.6yoc, << inn doctrine. 
 
 12. If we suffer, we shall also reign — These 
 are other parts of the "true doctrine," which the 
 apostle mentions above. (Rom. vih, 17.) 
 
 18. If we believe not— [If we are unfaithful.] 
 Should we deny the faith and apostatize he is the 
 same, as true to his threatenings as to his promises. 
 He cannot deny (act contrary to) himself. 
 
 14. That they strive not about words — 
 Words, not things, have often been a most fruitful 
 source of contention in the Christian world; and 
 among religious people the principal cause of 
 animosity lias arisen from the different manner of 
 apprehending the same term, while, in essence, 
 both meant the same thing. All preachers and 
 divines should lie very careful, both in speaking 
 and writing, to explain the terms they use, and 
 never employ them in any sense but that in which 
 they have explained them. The subverting of 
 the hearers— This is the general tendency of all 
 polemical divinity and controversial preaching, 
 when angry passions are called in to support the 
 doctrines of the Gospel. 
 
 15. Study to show thyself approved unto 
 God — Endeavour so to cultivate and improve thy 
 heart and mind that thou mayest be approved 
 to [for the service of] him from whom thou hast 
 received thy commission. Rightly dividing the 
 
 35'J
 
 II. TIMOTHY. 
 
 d slnm profane and vain babblings: for they 
 Mill increase unto more ungodliness. 17 And 
 their word will eat as doth a e canker: of 
 whom is f Hymeneus and Philetus; 18 Who 
 * concerning the truth have erred, ''saying that 
 the resurrection is past already; and over- 
 throw the faith of some. 19 Nevertheless 
 
 <' 1 Tim. 4. 7 : 6. 211 : Titus 1. 14. e Or, gangrene. f\ Tim. 
 
 1. 2(1. a 1 Tim. 6. 21. h 1 Cor. 15. 12. i Matt. 24. 24 ; Rom. 
 
 word of truth — By "rightly dividing the word of 
 truth," we are to understand his continuing in the 
 true doctrine, and teaching that to every person ; 
 and, according to our Lord's simile, giving each his 
 portion of meat in due mason — milk to babes, strong 
 meat to the full grown, rum fort to the disconsolate, 
 reproof to the irregular and careless; in a word, 
 finding out the necessities of his hearers, and 
 preaching so as to meet those necessities. 
 
 16. Shun profane and vain babblings — This 
 is the character Paul gives of the preaching of the 
 false teachers. Whatever was not agreeable to 
 the doctrine of truth was, in the sight of God, 
 empty and profane "babbling:" engendering 
 nothing but ungodliness, and daily increasing in 
 that. [For they (those who utter the nevoipuviac, 
 empty voices) will advance to more fulness (ttXeIov) 
 of 'impiety. The future tense of the verb shows 
 that the error of the false teachers in its most de- 
 veloped state had not yet appeared. — Ellieott.~\ 
 
 17. Their word will eat as doth a canker— 
 'ilc. yayypaiva, as a gangrene; that is, as a mortifi- 
 cation in the flesh, where the circulation is stopped, 
 and putrefaction takes place, which continues to 
 corrupt the flesh, spreading more and more till 
 death takes place, unless stopped by timely reme- 
 dies. Such is the influence of false doctrine ; it 
 fixes its mortal seed in the soul, which continues to 
 corrupt and assimilate every thing to itself, till, if 
 not prevented by the word of life under the direc- 
 tion of the heavenly Physician, it terminates in the 
 bitter pains of an eternal death. To such a gan- 
 grene the apostle compares the corrupt doctrines 
 of Hymeneus and Philetus. [Two false teachers 
 of whom nothing certain is known.] 
 
 1 8. Who concerning the truth have erred — 
 They had the "truth," but "erred" or wandered 
 from it, saying the resurrection was already past, 
 and thus denying a future resurrection, and, by 
 consequence, future rewards and punishments ; anil 
 this necessarily sapped the foundation of all re- 
 ligion ; and thus the gangrene had, in reference to 
 their unhappy votaries, a rapid and unchecked oper- 
 ation. Saying that the resurrection is past al- 
 ready — [Aeyovrec -yv avaaraaiv ijdn yeyovevai. As 
 the persons of these two heretics are unknown, so 
 the character of their heresy is not easy to be de- 
 termined. The hvaoraaic, in respect to which they 
 seem to have erred from the truth, is elsewhere 
 in the New Testament identified with the future 
 life, or life after physical death, (see Matt, xxii, 
 23, 28, 30, 31 ; Mark xii, 18, 23 ; Luke xx, 27, 33, 
 35, 36; Acts xxiii, 6, 8 ; 1 Cor. xv, 12-19; Heb. 
 vi, 2, etc.,) which it would seem, from many intima- 
 tions in St. Paul's epistles was in some cases denied, 
 or so presented as to rob it of its force. The here- 
 tics here referred to are said to have taught that 
 the avdaramr was not an event of the future, an 
 advanced development of thedestined life (existence- 
 state) of believers, but something already accom- 
 plished, or in constant process of accomplishment. 
 
 oGO 
 
 ' the foundation of God standeth k sure, having 
 this seal, The Lord 'knoweth them that are 
 his. And, Let every one that nameth the 
 name of Christ depart from iniquity. 20 '" But 
 in a great house there are not only vessels of 
 gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth ; 
 "and some to honour, and some to dishonour. 
 
 8. 35; 1 John 2. 19. k Or. steady. 1 Nalium 1. 7 : John 10. 
 
 14, 27 ; see Num. lti. 5. m 1 Tim. o. 15. u Rom. 9. 21. 
 
 There are also to be clearly seen indications of an 
 incipient Gnosticism, in the times of the apostles, 
 which may have been the form taken by the 
 errors of Hymeneus and Philetus.] 
 
 19. The foundation of God standeth sure — 
 The word 6efie?.ioc signifies literally a foundation, 
 and especially the foundation of a building; and 
 metaphorically, the building itself, and often a 
 noble mansion or palace. In this place the apostle 
 compares the religion of Christ to a great or noble 
 mansion. See verse 20. And as this religion is 
 founded on the authority and power of the Almighty, 
 it necessarily must stand sure and be permanent. 
 This house has an inscription on it, lor so c<f>pa}!c, 
 seal, is frequently understood ; and this is evidently 
 an allusion to the ancient temples. Above the door 
 of the temple of Delphi there was the Greek word 
 el, than art, on which Plutarch has written an ex- 
 press treatise. And we know that there was an 
 inscription on the mitre of the high priest among 
 the Jews, namely, " Holiness to the Lord." (Exod. 
 xxviii, 36; xxxix, 30. See also Zeeh. xiv, 20.) 
 And this inscription may here be represented as 
 made with the seal of God, for he stamps this on 
 all things belonging to himself and his worship. 
 But some suppose Vt/uAioc, here, to signify a con- 
 tract or covenant by which two parties are bound 
 to fulfil certain conditions and duties, the obligation 
 to whiph each takes on him by sealing the instru- 
 ment with his seal. Among the Asiatics these 
 seals have scarcely ever any image or figure on 
 them, but always some very expressive inscription. 
 The twofold inscription — that is, one on the seal of 
 each party — may lie here alluded to. That on God's 
 seal is, 'Eyvw Kiptoc rove bvrag avrov. The Lord 
 approveth of than that are his: that on the seal 
 of his followers is, ' AttootZ/tu and ad/Kiac nag 6 
 bvo/id^uv to bvofia Kvpiov, Let everyone who nameth 
 the name of the Lord (every Christian) depart from 
 iniquity. Thus each has his peculiar inscription. 
 Kvpiov, Lord, instead of Xptarov, Christ, is the 
 reading of almost all the MSS. of importance and 
 the principal Versions, [and is no doubt the only 
 correct one.] 
 
 20. But in a great house — Here the apostle 
 carries on the allusion introduced in the preceding 
 verse. As the "foundation of God" refers to 
 God's building, that is, the whole system of Chris- 
 tianity, so here the "great house" is to be under- 
 stood of the visible Church, and the different kinds 
 of " vessels " mean the different teachers, as well as 
 the different kinds of members. In this sacred 
 house at Ephesus there were vessels of gold and 
 of silver — eminent, holy, sincere, and useful teach- 
 ers and members ; and also vessels of wood and of 
 earth — inapt and unspiritual persons, perhaps false 
 and heretical teachers. There are also in such 
 houses "vessels" employed, some in a more hon- 
 ourable, others in a less honourable, office. [The 
 thought here is the same as that expressed in the 
 parables of the fishes and of the tares, namely,
 
 Timotliy 
 
 horted to press after right- 
 faith, charity, etc. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 A. M. 4nr,9. A. P. 65. 
 Yr:ir of Roini , 818. 
 
 21 'If a man therefore purge himself from 
 these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanc- 
 tified, and meet for the master's use, and '"pre- 
 pared unto every good work. 22 Flee also 
 youthful lusts: hut "follow righteousness, 
 faith, charity, peace, with them that "call on 
 the Lord Pout of a pure heart. 2!$ Hut 'i fool- 
 ish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing 
 that they do gender strifes. 21 And r the 
 servant of the Lord must not strive; hut be 
 gentle unto all men, "apt to teach, 'patient; 
 25 "In meekness instructing those that op- 
 
 ZSee Isa. 52. 11. »i Chap. 3. 17; Titux 3. 1. n 1 Tim. 
 
 6. 11. oActs 9. 14; 1 Cor. I. 3. — 1> 1 Tim. I. 5; 4. 12. 
 
 tj 1 Tim. 1. 4: 4. 7; 6. 1: vers,- If. ■ Titus 3. !l. r Titus 3. 2. 
 
 Si Tim. 3. 2, 3; Titus 1. it. tOr, fin-bearing. — u Gal. 
 
 0. 1 : 1 Tim. 6. 11 ; 1 Peter 3. 1-5. 8 Acts 8. 22. 
 
 that the visible Church will never be perfect. — 
 Conybeare and Howson. ] 
 
 21. If a man therefore purge himself from 
 these — ['A-ij tovtuv, from these persons, that is, 
 those included in a etc ariftiav, the some to dishon- 
 our. — Ellicolt.~\ He that takes heed to his ways and 
 to his doctrines, and walks with God, will separate 
 himself not only from all false doctrine, but from 
 all wicked men, and be thus sanctified and proper 
 to be employed by the Master in every good word 
 and work. 
 
 '22. Flee also youthful lusts — Not only all 
 irregular and sensual desires, but pride, ambition, 
 and, above all, the lust of power, (the greatest dan- 
 ger of those who are clothed with ecclesiastical 
 authority,) to which most men will sacrifice all 
 other propensities — their ease, pleasure, health, 
 etc. Both in Church and State this passion is 
 ruinous; but particularly so in the former. Tim- 
 othy was now between thirty and forty years of 
 age — the very age in which ambition an 1 the love 
 of power most generally prevail. Carnal pleasures 
 are the sins of youth; ambition and the love of 
 power the sins of middle age; covetousness and cark- 
 ing cares the crimes of old age. Follow right- 
 eousness — Flee from sin, pursue goodness. 
 " Righteousness" — whatever is just, holy, and inno- 
 cent. Faith — Fidelity both to God and man, im- 
 proving that grace by which thy soul may be saved, 
 and faithfully discharging the duties of thy office 
 that thou mayest save the souls of others. Char- 
 ity — Love to God and man. Peace among all the 
 members of the Church, and as far as possible 
 with all men ; but especially among those who in- 
 voke the Lord out of a pure desire to glorify his 
 name. 
 
 23. Foolish and unlearned questions — See 
 the notes on 1 Tim. i, 4 ; iv, 1 ; Tit. iii, 9. 
 
 24. The servant of the Lord must not strive 
 — See on 1 Tim. iii, 2, 3. 
 
 25. Those that oppose — ' ' XvriStaTidefiEVoyg ; 
 this seems to refer to those who opposed the apos- 
 tle's authority. [The allusion is not to positively 
 wilful and heretical teachers. The definite heretic 
 was to be admonished, and, in case of stubborn- 
 ness, was to be left to himself, (Titus iii, 10 ;) Buch 
 opponents as the present were to be dealt with 
 gently, and to be won back to the truth. — Ellicott.] 
 If God peradventure — Timothy was to use ever) 
 means which he had reason to believe God might 
 bless; and the apostle intimates that, bad as the 
 people were, they were not out of the reach of 
 God's mercy. 
 
 26. And that they may recover themselves 
 
 pose themselves; v if God peradventure will 
 give them repentance "to the acknowledging 
 of the truth; 26 And that they may * re- 
 cover themselves y out of the snare of the devil, 
 who tire z taken captive by him tit his will. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THIS know also, that 'in the last days peril- 
 ous times shall come. 2 For men shall 
 be ''lovers of their own selves, ''covetous, 
 a boasters, ?proud, f blasphemers, s disobedient 
 to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 h Without 
 
 ir] Tim. 2. 4: chap. 3. 7; Titus 1. 1. »Gr. aimke. 
 
 1/ 1 Tim. ::. 7. z (Jr. takt n ulive. a 1 Tim. 4. 1 ; chap. I. :; : 
 
 2 Peter 3. 3; 1 John 2. 13: .Imle 18. —6 I'liil 2. 21. c2 Peter 
 
 2.3. (/.ludelti. clTim. (i.4. f\ Tim. 1.20 ; 2Peter2. 12; 
 
 Jude 10. a Kom. 1. 30. h Horn. 1. 31. 
 
 — The construction of this verse in the original 
 is somewhat difficult, though the sense given by 
 our translation is plain enough. [Some who were 
 of the Church had become ensnared in destructive 
 errors, from which the apostle still hoped that they 
 might escape by means of repentance, and thus 
 (through God's great mercy) deliver themselves 
 from the power of the adversary who now held 
 them in captivity.] 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTEK III. 
 In the last days — This often means the days 
 of the Messiah, and is sometimes extended in its 
 signification only to the destruction of Jerusalem, 
 its this was properly the " last days " of the Jewish 
 State. But the phrase may mean any future time, 
 whether near or distant. [Here, probably, simply 
 in the future.] 
 
 2. For men shall be — The description in this 
 and the following verses the Papists apply to the 
 Protestants: the Protestants, in their turn, apply it 
 to the Papists ; Schoettgen to the Jews; and others 
 to heretics in general. There have been both 
 teachers and people in every age of the Church, and 
 in every age of the world, to whom these words 
 may be most legitimately applied. Lovers of 
 their own selves — 'I'l/arnn, selfish, studious of 
 their own interest, and regardless of the welfare 
 of all others. Both Catholics and Protestants have 
 been lovers of their own selves, etc., but it is prob- 
 able that the apostle had some particular age in 
 view, (which was already appearing tit that time,) 
 in which there should appear some very distinctive 
 corruption and spiritual decline of Christianity. 
 Covetous — Qikapyvpot, lovers of money, because 
 of the influence which riches can procure. 
 Boasters — 'A/c/Corfr, vainglorious, self assuming, 
 valuing themselves beyond all others. Proud — 
 'Yireprfyavoi, airy, light, trifling persons; those who 
 love to make a show — who are all outside. Blas- 
 phemers — B?,<iGCj?}fiot., those who speak impiously 
 of God and sacred things, and injuriously of men. 
 [Triflers with sacred things.] Disobedient to 
 parents — rovevatv aireidelg, headstrong children, 
 whom their parents cannot persuade. Unthankful 
 — 'Ax&pioroi, persons without grace or gracefulnes ; 
 who think they have a righl to the services of till 
 men, yet feel no obligation, and consequently no 
 gratitude. Unholy — 'Av6atoi, without piety; 
 having no heart-reverence lor God. 
 
 :;. Without natural affection — "Affro 
 without that affection which parent- bear 1" 
 young, and which the young bear to their pi I 
 An affection which is common to every el 
 
 3G1
 
 . M. 40G9. A. D. 65. 
 Year of Rome, 818. 
 
 IT. TIMOTHY 
 
 natural affection, ' trucebreakers, k false accus- 
 ers, 'incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that 
 are good, 4 '"Traitors, heady, highminded, 
 ■lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; 
 
 5 Saving a form of godliness, but "denying 
 the power thereof: rfrom such turn away. 
 
 6 For * of this sort are they which creep into 
 houses, and lead captive silly women laden 
 with sins, led away with divers lusts, 7 Ever 
 learning, and never able r to come to the 
 knowledge of the truth. 8 'Now as Jannes 
 and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also 
 
 /Rom. 1. 31. /t Or, mahebates: Tit. 2. 3. 12 Pet. 3. 3. 
 
 wi2Pet. 2. 10. — n Phil. 3. 19; 2 Pet. 2. 13, etc : Jude4, 19. 
 
 1 Tim. .">. 8; Tit, I. 16. p2Thess. 3. 6; 1 Tim. 6. 5. 
 
 (/Matt. 23. 14: Tit, 1. 11. r\ Tim. 2. 4. *Exod. 7. 11. 
 
 tl Tim 6. 5. uOr,oJ 'no judgment. v Itom. 1. 28; 2Cor. 
 
 animals ; consequently, men without it are worse 
 than brutes. Truce-breakers — "Aoirovdoi. Who 
 are bound by no promise, held by no engagement, 
 obliged by no oath; persons who readily promise 
 anything because they never intend to perform. 
 False accusers — Am/3o/lo«, devils; but properly 
 enough rendered false accusers. Slanderers ; striv- 
 ing ever to ruin the characters of others. Incon- 
 tinent — 'AicpaTeig, those who, having sinned away 
 their power of self-government, want strength to 
 govern their appetites ; slaves to uncleanness. 
 Fierce — 'Avi/fiepoi, wild, impetuous, whatever is 
 contrary to pliability and gentleness. Despisers 
 of those that are good — 'A<pilaya6o/, not lovers 
 of good men. Those who do not love the good 
 must be radically bad themselves. 
 
 4. Traitors — Upodorai, those who deliver up to 
 an enemy the person who has put his life in their 
 hands. Heady — YlpoTveTeic, headstrong, precipi- 
 tate, rash, inconsiderate. Highminded — Tenxjtu- 
 ii : rni, full of themselves, and empty of all good. 
 Lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God 
 — This is nervously and beautifully expressed in the 
 Greek, tyikijdovoi gaXkov r/ <f>i.A60eot, lovers of pleasure 
 rather than lovers of God ; that is, pleasure, sen- 
 sual gratification, is their god ; and this they love 
 and serve ; God they do not. 
 
 5. Having a form of godliness — The original 
 word, fwpipwGiv, signifies a draught, sketch, or sum- 
 mary, and will apply equally well to those who 
 have all their religion [in outward forms and ser- 
 vices, fasts, prayers, church-goings, sacraments, 
 offerings, and pilgrimages, or those who have it] in 
 their creed, confession of faith, catechism, bodies 
 of divinity, etc., while both may be destitute of the 
 life of God in their souls. From such turn away 
 — Not only do not imitate them, but have no fellow- 
 ship with them ; they are a dangerous people, and 
 but seldom suspected, because their outside is fair. 
 
 6. For of this sort are they — Paul here refers 
 to false teachers and their insinuating manners, 
 practising upon weak women, who, at first, seeing 
 in them such a semblance of piety, entertain them 
 with great eagerness, and at last become partakers 
 with them in their impurities. 
 
 1. Ever learning — From their false teachers, 
 and never able to come to the knowledge of 
 the truth, because that teaching never leads to 
 " the truth ; " for, although there was a form of 
 godliness which seemed to give them a sort of 
 authority to teach, yet, as fhey practically denied 
 the power of godliness, they never could bring their 
 votaries to the knowledge of the saving power of 
 Christianity. 
 302 
 
 resist the truth: 'men of corrupt minds, 
 uv reprobate concerning the faith. 9 But 
 they shall proceed no further : for their folly 
 shall be manifest unto all men-, w as theirs also 
 was. lO "But > thou hast fully known my 
 doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, long- 
 suffering, charity, patience, 11 Persecutions, 
 afflictions, which came unto me z at Antioch, 
 a at Iconium, 'at Lystra; what persecutions I 
 endured : but c out of them all the Lord deliv- 
 ered me. 12 Yea. and d all that will live 
 godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. 
 
 13 5; Tit. 1. 16— ?<> Kxod. 7. 12; 8. 18; 9. 11. a- Phil. 2. 22; 
 
 1 Tim. 4. 6. y Or, Ihou hast I" in <i (>ilig,>it follower of. 
 
 z Acts 13. 45. 50. a Acts 14. 2, a. h Acts 14. lit, etc. 
 
 cPsa. 34. 19; 2 Cor. 1. 10; chap. 4. 17. d Pf=a. 34 19; Matt. 
 
 16. 21 ; John 17. 14 ; Acts 11. 22 ; 1 Cor. la 19 ; 1 Thess. 3. 3. 
 
 8. Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood 
 Moses — This refers to the history of the Egyptian 
 magicians. (Exod. vii.) [See M'Clintock and 
 Strong's Cyclopaedia.] Men of corrupt minds- 
 It appears as if the apostle were referring still to 
 some Judaizing teachers who were perverting the 
 Church with their doctrines, and loudly calling in 
 question the authority and doctrine of the apostle. 
 Reprobate concerning the faith — 'Adontgot, nn- 
 discerning or untried; they are base metal, un- 
 stamped; and should not pass current, because not 
 standard. This metaphor is frequent in the sacred 
 writings. 
 
 9. But they shall proceed no further — Such 
 teaching and teachers shall never be able ultimately 
 to prevail against the truth ; for the foundation of 
 God standeth sure. Their folly shall be mani- 
 fest — False doctrine cannot prevail long where the 
 sacied Scriptures are read and studied. Error pre- 
 vails only where the book of God is withheld from 
 the people. The religion that fears the Bible is 
 not the religion of God. [And they who are afraid 
 to trust the truth of God in any conflict with the 
 wisdom of the world, or against the perverse ego- 
 tism of unbelief, lack faith not only in the power 
 of the truth, but also of its great Author.] 
 
 10. Thou hast fully known my doctrine — 
 [Timothy, by his long-time association with Paul, 
 had not only come to know his doctrines, but had 
 also learned from personal observations his char- 
 acter and spirit of mind, and therefore the apostle 
 now refers him to these for his own guidance.] 
 
 11. Persecutions . . . which came unto me 
 at Antioch — The "Antioch" mentioned here was 
 Antioch in Pisidia, to which place Paul and Bar- 
 nabas came in their first apostolic progress, and 
 where Paul delivered that memorable discourse 
 which is preserved in the 13th chapter of Acts, 
 verses 16-43. (See also Acts xiv, 5, 6, 19-21, and 
 xvi, 1, 2.) As these things happened in his own 
 neighbourhood, Timothy must have known them; 
 for a person who had such a religious education as 
 he had coidd not be unacquainted with these perse- 
 cutions. [He would also naturally have heard of 
 them, both from the apostle himself and from those 
 who were his associates, and to some extent his 
 companions, in suffering.] 
 
 12. All that will live godly — So opposite to 
 the spirit and practice of the world is the whole of 
 Christianity, that he who gives himself entirely up 
 to God, making his word the rule of his life and 
 actions, will be less or more reviled and persecuted. 
 " If religion gives no quarter to vice, the vicious 
 will give no quarter to religion and its professors."
 
 Character find purpose of the 
 Holy Scriptures. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 13 e But evil men and seducers shall wax 
 worse and worse, deceiving, and being de- 
 ceived. 14 But f continue thou in the things 
 
 which thou hast Learned and hast been assured 
 of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them : 
 15 And that from a child thou hast known 
 & the holy Scriptures, which are able to make 
 
 IThess. 2. 11 ; 1 Tim. 4. 1 : chip. 2. lfi.- 
 CJllllll ">. :j'J 
 
 -fCbav. l. 13 j 
 
 1 3. Evil men and seducers shall wax worse 
 — They will yet get on for a season, deceiving 
 themselves and deceiving others; but by and by 
 their folly will become manifest to all. (Verse 9.) 
 The word ydrireg, which we render "seducers," sig- 
 nifies jugglers, pretenders to magical arts ; probably 
 persons dealing va. false miracles, with whom the 
 Church in all ages has been not a little disgraced. 
 [The apostle renews his reference to the here- 
 tics, which was interrupted at verse 10, calling 
 them "evil men and seducers" in contrast with 
 those wishing to live godly, and says of them, that 
 they will make advance toward the worse, which is 
 all the more suitable (germane to the subject) be- 
 cause it was the very reason why persecution was 
 threatened the honest disciples of Christ, and with 
 them Timothy himself. See Huther.] 
 
 It. But continue thou — No man, however well 
 instructed in the things of God, or grounded in 
 divine grace, is out of the reach of temptation, 
 apostasy, and final ruin; hence the necessity of 
 watching unto prayer, depending upon God, con- 
 tinuing in the faith, and persevering unto the end. 
 
 15. Prom a child thou hast known the holy 
 Scriptures — The early religious education of Tim- 
 othy has been already noticed. (See chapter i, 5.) 
 St. Paul introduces this circumstance again here for 
 the confirmation of Timothy's faith. He had 
 learned the doctrines of Christianity from a genu- 
 ine apostle ; and, as Christianity is founded on the 
 law and the prophets, Timothy was able to com- 
 pare its doctrines with all that had been typified 
 and predicted, and consequently was assured that 
 the Christian religion was true. Able to make 
 thee wise unto salvation — The apostle is here 
 evidently speaking of the Jewish Scriptures; and 
 he tells us that they are able to make us wise unto 
 salvation provided we have faith in Jesus Christ. 
 This is the simple use of the Old Testament. No 
 soul of man can be made wise unto salvation by it 
 but as he refers all to Christ Jesus. [Winch he 
 will be able to do only as he shall lie taught by the 
 Holy Spirit. (John xvi, It, and 1 John iv, 15.)] 
 The Jews are unsaved, though they know these 
 Scriptures, because they believe not in Christ ; for 
 Christ is the end of the law for the justification of 
 all that believe. 
 
 16. All Scripture is given by inspiration of 
 God— This sentence is not well translated; the 
 original ~aca ypaipi} Oto-vtvaroc /cat wepi/jyog izpbg 
 SidaaKokiav, k. t. ),., should be rendered: Every 
 
 irr:i'. ::)■':: :.:.■':■ inspired s )n p.:::iil, f : r <hi,; : :-n. 
 
 etc. The particle km, and, though omitted by many of 
 the Versions and. Fathers, is now generally accepted 
 as genuine. The apostle is here, beyond all con- 
 troversy, speaking of the writings of the Old Testa- 
 ment, which, because they came by divine inspira- 
 tion, he terms the Holy Scriptures, (verse 15;) and 
 it is of them alone that this passage is to be 
 understood; and although all the New Testamenl 
 came by as direct an inspiration as the Old, yet as 
 
 thec wise unto salvation through faith which 
 is in Christ Jesus. 16 h All Scripture is given 
 by inspiration of God, 'and is profitable for 
 doctrine, for reproof, for correction. t\)\- in- 
 struction in righteousness: 17 k That the 
 man of God may be perfect, '"thoroughly 
 furnished unto all good works. 
 
 A 2 Peter 1. 20, 21. / Rnm. 15. 4. ZM Tim. 6. 11.- 
 
 perfected. — m Chap. 2. 21. 
 
 -I Or, 
 
 it was not collected at that time, nor indeed com- 
 plete, the apostle could have no reference to it. 
 The doctrine of the inspiration of the sacredwrit- 
 ings has been a subject of much discussion, and 
 even controversy, among Christians. There are two 
 principal opinions on the subject: 1) That every 
 thought and word were inspired by God, and that 
 the writer did nothing but merely write as the 
 Spirit dictated. 2) That Cod gave the whole mat- 
 ter, leaving the inspired writers to their own lan- 
 guage ; and hence the great variety of style and 
 different modes of expression. [The latter rather 
 than the former is now generally accepted.] Is 
 profitable for doctrine — To teach the will of 
 God, and to point out Jesus Christ till he should 
 come. [It is the only and the sufficient rule 
 and standard of religious faith, "so that whatso- 
 ever is not read therein, nor may be proved there- 
 by, is not to be required of any man that it should 
 be believed as an article of faith."] For reproof 
 — To convince men of the truth ; and to confound 
 those who should deny it, particularly the Jews. 
 For correction — IJpoc kiravSpdoxuv, for restoring 
 things to their proper uses and places, correcting 
 false notions and mistaken views. Instruction in 
 righteousness — Hpiic Tratdeiav rr/v kv tiinaioovvn, 
 for communicating all initiatory religious knowl- 
 edge ; for schooling mankind. All this is perfectly 
 true of the Jewish Scriptures; and let faith in 
 Christ Jesus be added, (see verse 15,) and then all 
 that is spoken in the following verse will be liter- 
 ally accomplished. 
 
 17. That the man of God — The preacher of 
 righteousness, the minister of the Gospel, the per- 
 son who derives his commission from God, and 
 always appears as his herald and servant. May 
 be perfect — "Apnog properly signifies an integer, 
 or whole number in arithmetic, to which nothing 
 needs to be added to make it complete. Thor- 
 oughly furnished — 'ES-qpriafievog. Not only 
 complete in himself as to his integrity, religions 
 knowledge, faith in Jesus, and love to God and 
 man ; but that he should have all those qualifica- 
 tions which are necessary to complete the char- 
 acter and insure the success of a preacher of the 
 Gospel. Timothy was to teach, reprove, correct, 
 and instruct others; and was to be to them a pat- 
 tern of good works. From what the apostle says 
 here concerning the qualifications of a Christian 
 minister, we may well exclaim: Who is equal to 
 these things? -V minister of the Gospel should be 
 a man of the soundest sense, the most cultivated 
 mind, the mosl extensive experience; one who is 
 deeply taught of God, and who has deeply studied 
 man; one who has prayed much, read much, and 
 Studied much; one who takes up his work as from 
 God, does it as before God, and refers all to the 
 
 glory of God; one who abides under the inspira- 
 tion of the Almighty, and who has hidden the 
 word of Cod in his heart, that he may not sin 
 against him. No minister formed by nmn can ever 
 
 363
 
 A ^t.^ 65 - IT. TIM OTHY. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 I "CHARGE thee therefore before God, and 
 the Lord Jesus Christ, 'who shall Judge 
 the quick and the dead at his appearing and 
 his kingdom; 2 Preach the word; lie instant 
 in season, out of season; reprove, c rebuke, 
 d exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. 
 3 e For the time will come when they will not 
 
 a 1 Tim. 5. 21 : 6. 13; chap. 2. 14. 5 Acts 10. 42. c 1 Tim. 
 
 5 2ii : Titus 1. 13: 2. 15. d\ Tim. 4. 13. e Chap. 3. 1. ■ 
 
 f\ Tim. 1. li>. (/Chap. 3. 6. 
 
 be such as is required here. The school of Christ, 
 and that alone, can ever form such a preacher. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER IV. 
 
 1. I charge thee therefore before God — 
 Whose herald thou art ; and {before) the Lord Je- 
 sus Christ, whose salvation thou art to proclaim, 
 and who shall judge the quick and the dead — 
 the living and the dead, that is, all men. [Km rf/v 
 eTTMpaveiau abrov ml ryv j3aai?xtav abrov, by his 
 appearing and by his kingdom. These accusatives, 
 without any governing preposition, (Kara has some- 
 times been supplied but without authority,) are used 
 in reference to the solemn adjuration of the apos- 
 tle to Timothy; they are usually understood as lie- 
 longing to Christ's future appearing and king- 
 dom; but they apply equally well to things now- 
 present and transpiring.] 
 
 2. Preach the -word — KqpvS-ov rbv Myov, pro- 
 claim fix 1 word and doctrine of Christ incarnate, 
 revealing Cod to man, crucified for the sins of the 
 whole world ; raised from the dead, enthroned in 
 glory, preached to the Gentiles, and believed on in 
 the world. Be instant in season, out of season 
 — 'Erriarnfti tbnaipur iucaipug; be urgent, whether 
 the times be prosperous or adverse, whenever there 
 is an opportunity ; and when there is none, strive to 
 make one. The Judge is at the door, and to every 
 man eternity is at hand! Do not be contented 
 with stated times and accustomed places merely ; 
 all time and place belong to God, and are proper 
 for his work. Satan will omit neither time nor 
 place where he can destroy. Omit thou none where 
 thou mayest be the instrument of salvation to any. 
 Reprove — 'Eley^ov, confute the false teacher. 
 Rebuke — "ETririfincov, reprove cuttingly and se- 
 verely those who will not abandon their sins. Ex- 
 hort — HapamTieaov ; [incite to Christian activity 
 and godly diligence.] Comfort the feeble minded, 
 the diffident, and the tempted. With all long- 
 suffering — In reference to each and all of these 
 cases. ['Ei> rrdo/j /la/tpodvyxa /cai dida^V, in, not 
 with, as these things are not the accompaniments of 
 the action, but the element and temper in which 
 they are to be performed.— -Alford.~\ And doc- 
 trine — The teaching suited to each. 
 
 3. For the time will come — There is a time 
 coming to the Church when men will not hear the 
 practical truths of the Gospel; when they will pre- 
 fer speculative opinions (which either do no good 
 to the soul or corrupt and destroy it) to that whole- 
 some doctrine of "deny thyself, take up thy cross, 
 and follow me," which Jesus Christ has left in his 
 Church. ["Earn/ yap Kaipbc, tin time will be, to 
 which Bengel adds, and now is, indicating that the 
 defection was not only neat at hand, but already 
 somewhat advanced.] But after their own lusts — 
 For these they will follow, and hate those preachers 
 and that doctrine by which they are opposed. ['E7Ti- 
 
 364 
 
 Timothy is charged to preach 
 faithfully and to be diligent. 
 
 endure f sound doctrine; shut after their own 
 lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, 
 having itching ears ; 4 And they shall turn 
 away their ears from the truth, and h shall he 
 turned unto fables. 5 Put watch thou in all 
 things, 'endure afflictions, do the work of k an 
 evangelist, 'make full proof of thy ministry. 
 6 For '"I am now ready to be offered, and the 
 
 hi Tim. I. 4: 4. 7 : Titus 1. 14. JChap. 1-8: 2. 3. X-Acs 
 
 21. 8; Ki.li. 4. 11. /Or, fulfil ; Rom. 15 19: Col. 1. 23 ; 4. 17. 
 
 m l'hil. 2. 17. 
 
 dvjiiaq, depraved spiritual tastes and desires. Shall 
 they heap to themselves teachers — They will 
 add one teacher to another, run and gad about 
 after all, to find out those who insist not on the 
 necessity of bearing the cross, of being crucified to 
 the world, and of having the mind that was in Je- 
 sus. In this disposition interested men often find 
 their account ; they set up for teachers, " and widen 
 and strew- with flowers the way down to eternal 
 ruin," taking care to soothe the passions and flat- 
 ter the vices of a trifling, superficial people. Hav- 
 ing itching ears — Endless curiosity, an insatiable 
 desire of variety ; and they get their ears tickled 
 with the language and accent of the person, aban- 
 doning the good and faithful preacher for the fine 
 speaker. [The apostle appears to desire to notice 
 not merely the fact that they were having their 
 ears tickled, but to mark the uneasy feeling that 
 was always seeking to be gratified,] 
 
 4. And they shall turn away their ears 
 from, the truth — The "truth" shows them their 
 vices, sacrifices their idols, darts its lightnings 
 against their easily besetting sins, and absolutely 
 requires a conformity to a crucified Christ; there- 
 fore tliey turn their ears away from it. And shall 
 be turned unto fables — Believe any kind of stuff 
 and nonsense; for, as one has justly observed, 
 " Those who reject the truth are abandoned by the 
 just judgment of God to credit the most degrading 
 nonsense." This is remarkably the case with most 
 unbelievers ; their creed often exhibits what is gross- 
 ly absurd. [How strikingly all this agrees with 
 the usual course of spiritual, followed by doctrinal, 
 defections from the simplicity and power of the 
 Gospel, is very obvious.] 
 
 5. But watch thou in all things — [Spiritual 
 declension within the Church itself is highly infec- 
 tious, and must be guarded against with the 
 utmost diligence whenever its symptoms appear.] 
 Endure afflictions — Let no sufferings affright 
 thee; nor let the dread of them either cause thee 
 to abandon the truth, or relax in thy zeal for the 
 salvation of men. Do the work of an evan- 
 gelist — That is, preach Christ crucified for the 
 sins of the whole world ; for this, and this alone, is 
 doing the work of an evangelist, or preacher of the 
 glad tidings of peace and salvation by Christ. 
 [The evangelists did not form a special and sep- 
 arate class, but were, generally, preachers of the 
 Gospel in different countries — subordinates and 
 missionaries. — Ellicott.~\ Make full proof of thy 
 ministry — Perform faithfully all the duties of 
 which it is composed ; and do God's work in his 
 own way and in his own spirit. 
 
 6. For I am now ready to be offered — TI<% 
 mrivSofiai • I am already poured <>ul as a libation.. 
 (See Phil, ii, 17.) [I run made a libation, poured 
 out as a drink offering. Dropping the figure, the 
 meaning is, already my blood is slied, (so certain
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 time of " in y departure is at hand. 7 °I have 
 fought a good tight. 1 have finished my course. 
 I have kept the faith : S Henceforth there is 
 laid up for me Pa crown of righteousness, 
 which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give 
 me 'i at that day: and not to me only, but un- 
 to all them also that love his appealing. 9 Do 
 thy diligence to come shortly unto me : 10 For 
 ' Denias hath forsaken me, 'having loved this 
 present world, and is departed unto Thessa- 
 
 ii Phil. 1. 23 : see 2 Peter 1. 14. o 1 Cor. 9. 24. 2.", ; Phil. 3. 14 : 
 
 1 Tim. 6. 12: lleb. 12. 1. p 1 Cor. 9. 25; James I. 12; 1 Peter 
 
 5. 4: llev. 2. 10. ffChap. 1. 12. r>Col. 4. 14; Philera. ai. 
 
 gl .Irilili 2. 1">. 
 
 and immanent was his execution. — //u/her.)] He 
 considers himself as on the eve of being sacrificed, 
 and looks upon his blood as the libation which was 
 poured on the sacrificial offering. Paul could not 
 have spoken thus positively had not the sentence 
 of death been already passed upon him. 
 
 7. I have fought a good fight — Tbv nalbv 
 a], ura i/}cjviGiiai, I have wrestled that good wrest- 
 ling. I have finished my course — Tov dpofiov 
 TETeAeKa, the race I have completed. I have kept 
 the faith — Ti/v iticmv TET//p//Ka, I have kept (pre- 
 served, persevered in) the faith. [The faith (not 
 fidelity) intrusted to me I have kept as a sacred 
 and inviolable deposit. — Huther.] 
 
 8. Henceforth there is laid up for me a 
 crown — [As the contestants in the games, if suc- 
 cessful, received a crown, so I, having contended 
 well, and completed the course, faithfully abiding 
 by its laws, am now to receive my crown, ~f,c 6i- 
 Kaioabv7/c, of justifying grace.] The Lord, the 
 righteous judge — [There is nothing strange in 
 laying stress on the righteousness of the judge, 
 since that forms the main element in the divine 
 judgment. God's grace (xapic) does not take away 
 his righteousness, (ducaioouvq,) and the Gospel does 
 not deny, but confirms, the truth that for the 
 believer the (divine) judgment will take place ac- 
 cording to his works. — Huther.] At that day — 
 The appointed and certainly coming day of rec- 
 ompense. Unto all them also that love his 
 appearing —All who live in expectation of the 
 coming of Christ, who anticipate it with joy fulness, 
 having buried the world and laid up all their hopes 
 above. And this reward is common to the faith- 
 ful ; it is given not only to apostles, but " to all 
 them that love his appearing." This crown "is 
 laid up " — it is in view, but not in possession. We 
 must die first. 
 
 9. Do thy diligence to come shortly unto 
 me — Paul appears to have wished Timothy to be 
 present at his death, and particularly so as he had 
 scarcely now any companions. 
 
 10. Demas hath forsaken me — Demas was 
 with the apostle in his first imprisonment, and 
 joins in the salutations (see Col. iv, 14) which 
 were written when Paul was a prisoner at Rome 
 the first time. Having love 1 this present 
 world — ' Ayairipag ~bv vbv alova. [Mournful and 
 unmanly as the conduct of Demas is here described 
 to be, there seems no just reason for ascribing to 
 him utter apostasy. He left the apostle in his 
 trials ami sufferings because he loved safety and 
 ease and the fleeting pleasures of this world, (tov 
 vvi> altiva,) and had not the Christian fortitude to 
 share the dangers, or the Christian love to minister 
 to the sufferings, of the nearly desolate apostle — 
 ffllicott.] Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dal- 
 
 lonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dal- 
 matia. 11 'Only "Luke is with me. Take 
 'Mark, and bring him with thee: for he is 
 profitable to me for the ministry. 12 And 
 " Tychicus have I sent to Ephesns. 13 The 
 cloak that I left at Troas with Carpus, when 
 thou comest, bring iritlt thee, and the hooks, 
 but especially the parchments. 14 " Alexan- 
 der the coppersmith did me much evil: *the 
 Lord reward him according to his works: 
 
 <See chap. 1. 1.3. It Col. I. 14; Philem. 21. B Acts 12. \h: 
 
 15. 37; Col. 4. 16 — ioAcrs20. 4; Eph. 6. 21; Col. 4. 7; Titus 
 
 3. 12. .•■ lets 19. 33; 1 Tim. 1. 30. — yl Sam. 3. 39 j Psa. 28. 
 
 4; Kev. 18. i.. 
 
 matia — It is probable that both these persons had 
 gone on sacred missions, and perhaps had been 
 gone some time before the apostle was brought 
 into such imminent danger. 
 
 11. Only Luke is with me — This was Luke 
 the evangelist, the writer of the Acts of the Apos- 
 tles, who was always much attached to St. Paul, 
 and, it is suj posed, continued with him even to his 
 martyrdom. Take Mark, and bring him with 
 thee — This was John Mark, the sister's son of 
 Barnabas, who, after having wavered a little at 
 first, became a steady, zealous, and useful man; 
 his name and conduct have been often before the 
 reader. For he is profitable to me for the 
 ministry — E'tc diaKoviav, for service; that is, he 
 would be very useful to the apostle, to minister to 
 him in his present close confinement. Some think 
 that the apostle means his preaching tin Gospel; 
 but at this time, I should suppose, there was very 
 little, if any, public preaching at Rome. 
 
 12. Tychicus have I sent to Ephesus — See 
 on Acts .x.\, 4; Eph. vi, '21; Col. iv, 7. [Ellicott 
 suggests that perhaps Tychicus had been in attend- 
 ance upon Paul, but now that he had been sent 
 away, the apostle had the greater need for the 
 sen ices of Mark.] 
 
 13. The cloak that I left — Tov Of/ 617,1. 
 [There is no good reason lor departing from the 
 accepted rendering of this word. At Troas — 'Ev 
 Tpyadi ; it thus appears that Paul had been at 
 Troas not very long before that time, of which, 
 however, we have no account.] And the bocks 
 — "What "the books'' were we cannot tell; per- 
 haps they were his own writings; and as to the 
 parchments, they were probably the Jewish 
 Scriptures of the Septuagint. These he must have 
 had at hand at all limes. The hooks and parch- 
 ments now sent for could not he for the apostle's 
 own use, as he was on the eve of his martyrdom. 
 He had probably intended to bequeath them to the 
 faithful, that they might be preserved for the Use 
 of the Church. 
 
 14. Alexander the coppersmith — We are not, 
 probably, to understand this of any tradesman, hut 
 of some rabbin; for it was not unusual for the 
 Jews to apply the name of some trade as an epithet 
 to their rabbins and literary men. He is. perhaps, 
 the same mentioned Acts .xix, :;::, ami il is not un- 
 likely that he may have been the same whom the 
 apostle was obliged to excommunicate. (1 Tim. 
 i, 20.) [It has been conjectured that this Alexan- 
 der, a native of Ephesus, had come from there to 
 Koine to give testimony against the apostle, (at his 
 TzpiliTij airofaryia, first answer, verse hi.) and had 
 returned again to Ephesus.— Huther.] The Lord 
 reward him — ' AizoSixjei avru 6 Kvpcoc. [Not an 
 imprecation, but a calm submission of his case, by 
 
 S65
 
 A. M. 4nfi9. A. D. 65. 
 Year of Rome, 818. 
 
 II. TIMOTHY. 
 
 Greetings to different persons, 
 The apostolical benediction. 
 
 15 Of whom be thou ware also; for he liath 
 greatly withstood z our words. 16 At my 
 first answer no man stood with me, "but 
 all men forsook me: b I pray God that it 
 may not be laid to their charge. 17 c Not- 
 withstanding the Lord stood with me, and 
 strengthened me; d that by me the preaching 
 might be fully known, and that all the Gen- 
 tiles might hear: and I was delivered e out of 
 the mouth of the lion. 18 f And the Lord 
 shall deliver me from every evil work, and 
 
 sOr, our preaching*. " Chap. 1. 15. o Acts 7. 60. 
 
 cMatt. 10. 19; Acts 23. 11; 27. 23. dActs 9. In; 26. 17, 18; 
 
 Epli. 3. 8. e Psa. 22. 21 ; 2 Peter 2. 9. — /Psa. 121. 7. 
 
 one who felt that he was grievously wronged, to 
 the divine righteousness and judgment.] 
 
 15. Of ■whom be thou ware also — It seems 
 that this rabbin travelled about from place to place 
 for the purpose of opposing the Gospel, " the Jews 
 putting him forward." (See Acts xix, 33.) He 
 hath greatly withstood our words — Has been 
 a constant opposer of the Christian doctrines. 
 
 16. At my first answer — 'Ev r;; TrpuTiy fiov 
 ctaro/krj ia, at my first apology; this word properly 
 signifies a defence or vindication. It is generally 
 allowed that when St. Paul had been taken this 
 second time by the Romans he was examined im- 
 mediately, and required to account for his conduct ; 
 and that so odious was Christianity through the 
 tyranny of Nero, he could procure no person to 
 plead for him. I pray God that it may not be 
 laid to their charge— Mi/ avroig WoyiaBe'n), let it 
 I,, not placed to their account. [However much this 
 want of evangelical spirit may have pained the 
 apostle, he says no word in anger. — HutherJ] 
 
 17. The Lord stood with me — When all 
 human help failed, God, in a must remarkable man- 
 ner, interposed, giving him boldness in his own 
 defence, and securing his temporary release. That 
 by me the preaching might be fully known — 
 \£ilT]po<popT)tiy, perform* d, fully carried out.] When 
 called on to make his defence he took occasion to 
 preach the Gospel, and to show that the great God 
 of heaven and earth had designed to illuminate the 
 Gentile world with the rays of his light and glory. 
 [Jlavra ra itdvq, all the nations, of which Rome 
 was the head. — Bengel.'] I was delivered out 
 of the mouth of the lion — I escaped the immi- 
 nent danger at that time. The words ex. aTouaroc 
 Aiovroc, from /he mouth or jaws of the Hem, may 
 mean simply deliverance from the most imminent 
 peril. [Paul escaped from the danger impending 
 over him, unhurt in body and soul, (see chapter 
 iii, 11,) escaped as a conqueror in the eyes of 
 the Lord, and hence he says, epvad^v £K arouaroc 
 teovrog, (I was snalc/ied from tlie mouth of the 
 lion.) — Huthcr.] 
 
 18. And the Lord shall deliver me from 
 every evil work — None of the evil designs 
 formed against me to make me unfaithful or un- 
 steady, to cause me to save my life at the expense 
 of faith and a good conscience, shall succeed; my 
 life may go, but he will preserve me unto his 
 heavenly kingdom. A continuance on earth the 
 apostle expects not ; but he has glory full in view, 
 and therefore he gives God glory for what he had 
 done, and for what he had promised to do. 
 
 366 
 
 will preserve me unto his heavenly king- 
 dom: »to whom be glory for ever and ever. 
 Amen. 19 Salute h Prisca and Aquila, and 
 'the household of Onesiphorus. 2© k Eras- 
 tus abode at Corinth: but 'Trophimus have 
 I left at Miletum sick. 21 '"Do thy dili- 
 gence to come before winter. Eubulus greet- 
 eth thee, and I'udeiis, and Linus, and Claudia, 
 and all the brethren. 22 "The Lord Jesus 
 Christ be with thy spirit. Grace be with you. 
 Amen. 
 
 g Rom. 11. 36; Gal. 1. 5; Ileb. 13. 21. — h Acts is. 2; Rom. 
 
 16. 3. i% Tim. 1. 16. A- Acts ID. 22: Rom. 16. 23. / Arts 
 
 20. \ . 21. 29. in Verse 9. n Gal. 6. 18; Philem. 25. 
 
 19. [With the 18th verse the general epistle is 
 completed ; after, come personal salutations, and the 
 closing benedictions.] Salute Prisca (or Priscilla) 
 and Aquila — See on Acts xviii, 18, 26. The 
 household of Onesiphorus — See on chapter i, 16. 
 
 20. Erastus abode (remained) at Corinth — 
 He was treasurer of that city, as we learn from 
 Rom. xvi, 23. The apostle had sent him and Tim- 
 othy on a mission to Macedonia, (Acts xix, 22,) 
 whence it is probable he returned to Corinth, and 
 there became finally settled. Trophimus have I 
 left at Miletum sick— Even the apostles could not 
 work miracles wlien they pleased; that power was 
 but rarely given, and then for very special pur- 
 poses. " Trophimus " was an Ephesian. (See Acts 
 xx, 4.) li Miletum " was a maritime town of Ionia, 
 not far from Ephesns ; but there was another 
 Miletus, in Crete, which some learned men think to 
 be intended here. It appears likely that St. Paul 
 went from Macedonia to Corinth, where he left 
 Erastus; from Corinth he proceeded to Troas, 
 where he lodged with Carpus ; from Troas he went 
 to Ephesus, where he visited Timothy ; from 
 Ephesus he went to Miletus, where he left Trophi- 
 mus sick ; and having embarked at Miletus, he 
 went by sea to Rome. (See Calmet.) It is most 
 likely, therefore, that the "Miletus" of Ionia is 
 the place intended. 
 
 21. Come before winter — 1) Because the 
 apostle's time was short and uncertain. 2) Be- 
 cause sailing in those seas was very dangerous in 
 winter. Whether Timothy saw the apostle before 
 he was martyred is not known. Eubulus, and 
 Pudens, and Linus — Of these persons we have 
 no trustworthy account. Both of the last two are 
 claimed by Roman Catholics as Bishops of Rome, 
 but there is no sufficient ground for the assump- 
 tion. Claudia — Some think she was a British 
 lady, converted by Paul ; and that she was the first 
 that introduced the Gospel to Britain. [All of 
 which is little better than purely legendary] All 
 the brethren — All the Christians, of whom there 
 were many at Rome ; though of Paul's companions 
 in travel only Luke remained there. 
 
 22. The Lord Jesus Christ be with thy 
 spirit — He prays that Christ may be with his 
 sjiirit. enlightening, strengthening, and confirming 
 it to the end. Grace be with you — [Mitl' v/juv, 
 with you, (plural.)] [This benediction is somewhat 
 singular as being twofold, to Timothy separately, 
 and to Timothy and those with him. (See 1 for. 
 xvi, 23, 24.)—' Ellicott.] Amen— [Added by later 
 transcribers.]
 
 PREFACE TO THE EPISTLE 
 
 TO 
 
 TITUS. 
 
 TO WHOM WRITTEN. 
 
 THAT Titus was a frequent companion of St. Paul in his journeys we have 
 evidence from his epistles; and yet he is not once mentioned in the book of 
 the Acts of the Apostles. He seems to have been a Greek, and brought up in 
 heathenism. (Gal. ii, 3.) As he was uncircumcised, he was neither a Jew nor a 
 proselyte of justice, and probably was a mere heathen till he heard the Gospel 
 preached by St. Paul, by whose ministry he was converted to the Christian faith. 
 (Chapter i, 4.) That he was very highly, and deservedly, esteemed by St. Paul, 
 is evident from the manner in which he mentions him in different places. (2 Cor. 
 ii, 13; vii, 6, 7, 13, 14; viii, 16, 23; xii, 18.) 
 
 Though St. Paul's preaching the Gospel in Crete is not expressly mentioned 
 anywhere, yet it may be plainly inferred. (See chapter i, 5.) It is supposed that 
 he was there some time in the year A. D. 62, after the apostle had been released 
 from his first imprisonment in Rome. But not being able to spend much time in 
 that island, he left the care of the Churches to Titus, and sailed to Judea in the 
 beginning of A. D. 63, taking Timothy with him. Having spent some time in 
 Jerusalem, he proceeded to Antioch, comforting and establishing the Churches 
 whithersoever they went. From Antioch he set out on his fifth and last apostol- 
 ical journey, in which he and Timothy travelled through Syria and Cilicia, and 
 came to Colore, in Phrygia, early in the year 64. On this occasion it is supposed 
 he wrote his epistle to Titus, in which he desires him to meet him in Nicopolis, 
 as he intended to spend the winter there. (Titus iii, 12.) From Colossc he 
 went with Timothy to Ephesus, where he left him to regulate and govern the 
 Church; from thence he passed into Macedonia, and probably visited Philippi, 
 and different Churches in that province, according to his intention, (Phil, ii, 24;) 
 and thence to Nicopolis, where he had desired Titus to meet him. 
 
 Whether Titus ever left Crete we know not; nor how nor where he died. 
 
 Some traditions, on which little dependence can be placed, say he lived till he 
 
 was ninety-four years of age, and died and was buried in Crete. He appears to 
 
 have been a young man when intrusted with the car.e of the Churches in this 
 
 island. In such an extensive district an aged or infirm man would have been of 
 
 little service. 
 
 THE ISLAXD OF CRETE. 
 
 Crete, w T here Titus was resident, is the largest island in the Mediterranean 
 Sea; it lies between 22° and 27° long. E., and between 35° and 36° lat. K; is 
 nearly 200 miles in length; and 30 miles at its greatest breadth. It has the 
 
 367
 
 PREFACE TO THE EPISTLE TO TITUS. 
 
 Archipelago to the north, the African sea to the south, the Carpathian to the 
 east, and the Ionian to the west. Its inhabitants are chiefly Greeks, the govern- 
 ment Turkish. 
 
 Idoraeneus, who assisted Agamemnon in the Trojan war, was the last king of 
 Crete. He left the regency of the island to his adopted son Leucus, who, in the 
 absence of the king, usurped the empire; the usurper was, however, soon expelled, 
 and Crete became one of the most celebrated republics in antiquity. The 
 Romans at last, under Quintus Metellus, after an immense expenditure of blood 
 and treasure, succeeded in subduing the island, on which he abolished the laws 
 of Minos, and introduced the code of ISTuma Pompilius. Crete, with the small 
 kingdom of Cyrene, became a Roman province; at first governed by a proconsul, 
 next by a quaestor and assistant, and lastly by a consul. Constantine the Great, 
 in the new division he made of the provinces of the empire, separated Crete from 
 Cyrene, and left it, with Africa and lllyria, to his third son Constans. In the 
 ninth century, in the reign of Michael II., it was attacked and conquered by the 
 Saracens about 965. The Emperor Nicephorus Phocas, in the following century, 
 defeated and expelled the Saracens, and reunited the island to the empire, after 
 it had been under the power of the infidels upward of 100 years. It remained 
 with the empire until the time of Baldwin, earl of Flanders, who, being raised 
 to the throne, rewarded the services of Boniface, marquis of Montserrat, by 
 making him king of Thessalonica, and adding it to the island of Crete. Baldwin, 
 preferring a sum of gold to the government of the island, sold it to the Venetians, 
 A.D. 1194, under whose government it was called Candia, from the Arabic Jcan- 
 clak, a fortification, the name which the Saracens gave to the metropolis which 
 they had built and strongly fortified. In 1645, in the midst of a profound peace, 
 it was attacked by the Turks with a fleet of 400 sail, which bad on board an army 
 of 60,000 men, under the command of four pachas, to oppose whom the whole 
 island could only muster 3,500 infantry, and a small number of cavalry; yet with 
 these they held out against a numerous and continually recruited army, disputing 
 every inch of ground, so that the whole Ottoman power was employed for nearly 
 thirty years before they got the entire dominion of the island. In this long cam- 
 paign against this brave people the Turks lost about 200,000 men. 
 
 GENUINENESS. 
 This epistle is found in all the ancient MSS. and Versions; is quoted by 
 Clement of Rome, and also by Irenreus, Clement of Alexandria, and by Tertullian. 
 It is also included in the Canon of Muratori. Jerome states that it was received 
 as Paul's by Tatian, who had been a disciple of Justin Martyr. Nowhere in the 
 ancient Church was there any doubt of its genuineness. The objections of 
 modern critics, founded on fancied internal evidence of the later composition of 
 this and the other pastoral epistles, have been thoroughly considered and 
 answered. 
 
 368
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE 
 
 TO 
 
 TITUS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAUL, a servant of God, and an apostle of 
 Jesus Christ, according to the faith of 
 God's elect, and "the acknowledging of the 
 truth ''which is after godliness; 2 cd ln hope 
 of eternal life, which God, e that cannot lie, 
 promised f before the world began; 3 ?But 
 
 (/ 2 Tim. 2. 25. // 1 Tim. 3. lfi : <",. 3. c Or, For. d'i Tim. 
 
 1. 1 : chap. 3. 7. e Num. 23. \'.< : 2 Tim. 2. 13. /Rom. 16. 2.") ; 
 
 2 Tim. 1. 9; 1 Peter 1. 20. gi Tim. 1. 10. h 1 Thess. 2. 4; 
 
 1 Tim. 1. 11. 
 
 NOTES OX CHAPTEB I. 
 
 1. Paul, a servant of God — In several places 
 of his other epistles St. Paul styles himself the 
 servant of Jesus Christ, but this is the only place 
 where he calls himself "the servant of God." In 
 the use of the phrase the apostle probably had no 
 particular design ; for, according to him, he who is 
 the servant of Christ is also the "servant of God." 
 The faith of God's elect — [By the expression, 
 " the faith of God's elect," Kara ttigtiv ek.7iek.tuv Qeov, 
 the apostle evidently intends to designate the Gospel 
 way of salvation, which is by the election of gran 
 on God's part, and the exercise of faith by man.] 
 The acknowledging of the truth — For the 
 propagation of that truth, or system of doctrines, 
 which is calculated to promote godliness, or a holy 
 and useful life. [According to the spiritual knowl- 
 edge of " the truth," relative to godliness ; (the 
 last noun defines the preceding one.)] 
 
 2. In hope of eternal life — In expectation of 
 a state of being and well being which should last 
 to eternity. This "hope" was but ill understood, 
 and not very clearly revealed, under the Mosaic- 
 law ; but is now fully revealed under the Gospel, 
 and the doctrine illustrated by the resurrection 
 and ascension of Christ. [The apostle's calling 
 had for its destination the faith of the elect and 
 the knowledge of the truth, and the basis on which 
 all this rested was the hope of eternal life. — El- 
 licott.~] Which God, that cannot lie, promised 
 — ['0 ai/>ei>nV)c 0e6c, the untying Cm], promised, irpb 
 Xpovuv aluviuv, fro,,, time not reckoned. In the 
 divine purposes the salvation of the Gospel ante- 
 dated all its developments in time.] 
 
 3. But hath in due times — Kaipoig Idioie, in 
 its own times. (See 1 Tim. ii, 6; Gal. iv, 4; Eph. 
 i, 10; ii, 7.) God sent forth his Son, and also 
 caused the Gospel to be published, in that time in 
 which it could be published with the greatest effect. 
 He would neither prematurely hasten nor cause- 
 lessly delay the accomplishment of any of his 
 works. Jesus was manifest precisely at the time 
 
 Vol. II.— 24 
 
 hath in due times manifested his word through 
 preaching, h which is committed unto me' ac- 
 cording to tlie commandment of God our Sav- 
 iour; 4 To k Titus, ' mine own son after the 
 "■common faith: "Grace, mercy, and peace, 
 from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ 
 our Saviour. 5 For this cause left I thee in 
 
 i\ Tim. 1. 1: 2. 3; 4 10. 1~ 2 Cor. 2. 13; 7. 13; 8. H, 
 
 16, 23; 12. 18: Gal. 2. 3. /I Tim. 1. 2. wiRom. 1. 12; 
 
 2 Cor. 4. 13; 2 Peter 1. 1. n Kpli. 1. 2; Col. 1. 2; 1 Tim. 1. 2; 
 
 2 Tim. 1.2. 
 
 in which that manifestation could best promote the 
 glory of God and the salvation of man. Manifested 
 his word — Tuv ?i6yov avroi; his doctrine — the doc- 
 trine of eternal life, by the incarnation, passion, 
 death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Which 
 is committed unto me — That is, to preach it 
 among the Gentiles. ['Ev KqpvyfiaTt o eiriGTEvdrn> 
 b] a, for the proclamation of which I am appointed, 
 according to the ordination of the Saviour, our God 
 
 — a remarkable and unusual application of the 
 name Oeoc to the Saviour.] According to the 
 commandment of God our Saviour — This evi- 
 dently refers to the commission which Paul had re- 
 ceived from Christ. (See Acts ix, 1">.) As the com- 
 mission was given by Jesus Christ alone, the person 
 whom he terms here " God our Saviour" musl lie 
 Jesus Christ. This " eternal life" which God had 
 " promised," in a comparatively obscure way under 
 the Jewish dispensation, now under the Gospel he 
 had made manifest — produced it with all its bright- 
 ness, illustrations, and proofs. 
 
 4. To Titus, mine own son — Him whom I 
 have been the instrument of converting to the 
 Christian faith; and whom I love as a man loves 
 his own begotten son. After the common faith 
 
 — [That in which all believers stand before God, in 
 Christ] Grace, mercy, and peace, from God 
 the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our 
 Saviour — [The word e?lsoc, peace, i> of doubtful 
 authority. It is found in a large number of good 
 MSS. and Versions, but is wanting in still more. 
 The best modern critics omit it.] 
 
 5. For this cause left I thee in Crete — That 
 St. Paul had been in Crete though nowhere else in- 
 timated, is clear from this passage. That he could 
 not have made such an important visit, and evan- 
 gelized an island of the first consequence, without 
 its being mentioned by his historian, Luke, had it 
 happened during the period embraced in the Acts 
 of the Apostles, must lie evident. That the jour- 
 ney, therefore, must have been performed after the 
 time in which St. Luke ends his history — that is, 
 
 369
 
 A.M. 4069. A. T\ 65. 
 Yeai of Rome, 818. 
 
 TITUS. 
 
 i qualifications required in 
 christian elder or bishop. 
 
 Crete, that tliou shouldest °set in order the 
 things that are p wanting, and i ordain elders 
 in every city, as I had appointed thee : 6 r If 
 any be blameless, s the husband of one wife, 
 1 having faithful children not accused of riot or 
 unruly. 7 For a bishop must be blameless, as 
 " the steward of God ; not self-willed, not soon 
 angry, v not given to wine, no striker, w not 
 given to filthy lucre; § * But a lover of hos- 
 pitality, a lover of ygood men, sober, just, holy, 
 
 o 1 Cor. 11. 34. v Or, left undone. q Acts 14. 23: 2 Tim. 
 
 2. 2. /•! Tim. 3. 2, ft.-. si Tim. 3. 12. 1,\ Tim. 3. 4, 12. 
 
 «Matt. 24. 4o; I Cor. 4. I, 2. n Lev. lft. 9; Eph. 5. 18; 
 
 1 Tim. 3 3, 8. • w 1 Tim. 3. 3, 8; 1 Peter 5. 2. srl Tim. 3. 2. 
 
 ;/ Or, good tJtingx. 
 
 after St. Paul's first imprisonment at Rome — seems 
 almost certain. Set in order the things that 
 are wanting — It appears from this that the apos- 
 tle did not spend much time in Crete, and that he 
 was obliged to leave it before he had got the Church 
 properly organized. The supplying of this defect, 
 he tells Titus, he had confided to him as one whose 
 spiritual views coincided entirely with his own. 
 [There seems no sufficient reason for supposing, 
 with Neander, that Christianity was (first) planted 
 in Crete by St. Paul, on this occasion ; reorganized, 
 it might have been. . . . The whole tenor of the 
 epistle leads to the supposition that it had been 
 long established. . . . Cretians were present at the 
 Pentecostal miracle. (Acts ii, 11.) — Ellicott.] Or- 
 dain elders — That thou mightest appoint (icara- 
 gtWVG) elders — persons well instructed in divine 
 things, who should be able to instruct others, and 
 observe and enforce the discipline of the Church. 
 It appears that those who are called "elders," in 
 this place, are the same as those termed "bishops" 
 in verse 7. We have many proofs that bishops 
 and elders were of the same order in the apos- 
 tolic Church, though afterward they became dis- 
 tinct. Lord Peter King, in his View of the Prim- 
 itive Church, has written well on this subject. In 
 every city — Kara koTuv. In each city, or city by 
 city. [As each city had its own church officers, 
 each appears to have been self-governing in all 
 separate or local affairs. See Neander.] 
 
 6. If any be blameless — See 1 Tim. iii, 2, etc. 
 Having faithful children — Whose family is con- 
 verted to God. It would have been absurd to em- 
 ploy a man to govern the Church whose children 
 were not in subjection to himself ; for it is an apos- 
 tolic maxim, that he who cannot rule his own house 
 cannot rule the Church of God. (1 Tim. iii, 5.) 
 
 7. Not self-willed — M^ avdadr/ ; not self-opin- 
 ionated, arrogant, setting up his own judgment above 
 that of all others. Such a governor in the Church 
 of God can do little good, and may do much mis- 
 chief. Not soon angry — M/) hpy'ikov ; not a 
 choleric man; one who is irritable; who is apt to 
 be inflamed on every opposition; one who has not 
 proper command over his own temper. (See 1 Tim. 
 iii. :',.) 
 
 8. A lover of hospitality — <I>//d,fnw; hospit- 
 able; a lover of strangers. (See 1 Tim. iii, '2.) 
 [This hospitality would be especially shown when 
 Christians, (apostles and evangelists,) traveling from 
 one place to another, were received and forwarded 
 on their journey by their brethren. — Ellicott.'] A 
 lover of good men — QtlayaBov ; a lover of good- 
 ness or of good things in general. [Both meanings 
 are admissible.] Sober — Prudent in all his con- 
 duct. Just — In all his dealings. Holy — In his 
 
 370 
 
 temperate ; 9 z Holding fast •' the faithful word 
 as he hath been taught, that he may be able 
 c by sound doctrine both to exhort and to con- 
 vince the gainsayers. 10 For d there are 
 many unruly and vain talkers and e deceivers, 
 f specially they of the circumcision : 11 Whose 
 mouths must be stopped, s who subvert whole 
 houses, teaching things which they ought not, 
 h for filthy lucre's sal<e. 12 'One of them- 
 selves, even a prophet of their own, said, The 
 
 22 Thess. 2. 1">; 2 Tim. 1. 13. a 2 Tim. 1. 15; 4. 9; fi. 3: 
 
 2 Tim. 2. 2. h Or, in teaching. el Tim. 1. 10; B. 3; 
 
 2 Tim. 4. 3: chap. 2. I. — d 1 Tim. 1. 6. «• Horn. 16. 18. 
 
 /Acts 15. 1. y Matt. 23. 14; 2 Tim. 3. 6. A 1 Tim. 6. 5. 
 
 i Acts 17. 28. 
 
 heart. Temperate — Self-denying and abstemious 
 in his food and raiment ; not too nice on points of 
 honour, nor magisterially rigid in the exercise of 
 his ecclesiastical functions. Qualifications quite 
 too rarely found in spiritual governors. 
 
 9. Holding fast the faithful -word — Conscien- 
 tiously retaining, and zealously maintaining, the 
 true Christian doctrine, /card r?/v didaxqv, according 
 to the instructions, or according to the institutions, 
 form of sound doctrine, or confession of fnilh, 
 which I have delivered to thee. [The "faithful" 
 word is so on account of its accordance with apos- 
 tolic teaching. — Ellicott.'] That he may be able by 
 sound doctrine — If the doctrine be not " sound," 
 vain is the profession of it, and vain its influence. 
 It is good to be zealously affected in a good tiling; 
 I nit zeal for what is not of God will do no good to 
 the souls of men, however sincere that zeal may be. 
 To exhort— By appealing to their feelings and 
 motives. And to convince — By appeals to their 
 understandings refute the objections, confound the 
 sophistry, and convince the gainsayers ; and thus 
 defend the truth. 
 
 1 0. There are many unruly — Persons who 
 will not receive the sound doctrine, nor come un- 
 der wholesome discipline. Vain talkers — Empty 
 boasters of knowledge, rights, and particular priv- 
 ileges ; all noise, empty parade, and no work. De- 
 ceivers—Of the souls of men by their specious 
 pretensions. They of the circumcision — The 
 Judaizing teachers, who maintained the necessity 
 of circumcision, and of observing the rites and cere- 
 monies of the Mosaic law, in order to the perfect- 
 ing of the Gospel. 
 
 11. Whose mouths must be stopped — Occ del 
 ETrioTOfii^ecv, who ought to be sil< need. Unmask them 
 at once; exhibit them to the people ; make mani- 
 fest their ignorance and hypocrisy, and let them be 
 confounded before the people whom they are en- 
 deavouring to seduce. Subvert whole houses 
 — Turn whole Christian families from the faith, at- 
 tributing to the strait gate what belongs only to 
 the broad way; ministering to disorderly passions, 
 and promising salvation to their proselytes, though 
 not saved from their sins. For filthy lucre's 
 sake — [For base gain, marking emphatically the 
 utterly corrupt character of these teachers. It was 
 not from fanatical motives, or a morbid pharisaical 
 love of proselytizing, (Matt, xxiii, 15,) but simply 
 for selfish objects and dirty gains. These words 
 may also very probably have had reference to the 
 general Cretian character. — Ellicott.] 
 
 12. One of themselves, even a prophet of 
 their own — This was Epimenides, who was born 
 at Gnossus, in Crete, and was reckoned by many 
 the seventh wise 'man of Greece, instead of Perian-
 
 > all things are pure : 
 me uollnng is pure. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 I. M. 40(59. A. D. K. 
 Year of Koine, 818. 
 
 Cretians are always liars, evil beasts, slow bel- 
 lies. 13 This witness is true. k Wherefore 
 rebuke them sharply, that they maybe 'sound 
 in the faith; 14 '" Not giving heed to Jewish 
 fables, and "commandments of men, that turn 
 from the truth. 15 "Into the pure all tilings 
 
 *3 Cor. R lf>; '2 Tim. 4. 2. /Chap. 2. 2. hi 1 Tim. 
 
 1. 4: 4. 7: 2 Tim. 4. 4. » I<;i. 29. 13; Matt. 15. »; Col 
 
 2. 22. oLuke 11. :!9, 40, 41; Rom. II. 14, 80; 1 Cor. 6. 12; 
 
 (It, to whom that honour was by them denied. lie 
 died about 53S years before the Christian era. 
 When St. Paul calls him a, prophet of their own, he 
 only intimates that he was so reputed by the Ore- 
 tians. And, according to Plutarch, (in So/one,) the 
 Oretians paid him divine honours after his death. 
 It may also be remarked that vafen and poeta, 
 prophet and poet, were synonymous terms among 
 the Romans. The Cretians are always liars — 
 The words quoted here by the apostle are, accord- 
 ing to St. Jerome, Socrates, Nicephorus, and oth- 
 ers, taken from a work of Epimenides, now no 
 longer extant, entitled Tirol ^p^cuuv, Concerning 
 Or, tries. The words form an hexameter verse : — 
 
 Kpijree act ipevorai, nana Oijpia, yaarepeg apya'r 
 
 The Cretians are always liars ; destructive wild 
 beasts; sluggish gluttons. That the Oretians were 
 reputed to be egregious liars, several of the an- 
 cients declare; insomuch that Kp7/Tt£eiv, to act like 
 a Cretian, signifies to lie. Evil beasts— Ferocious 
 and destructive in their manners. Slow bellies 
 — Addicted to voluptuousness, idleness, and glut- 
 tony; sluggish or hoggish men. 
 
 1:5. This witness is true— What Epimenides 
 said of them nearly 600 years before continued still 
 to be true. Their original character had undergone 
 no moral change. Rebuke them sharply — 'Atto- 
 routjr, cuttingly, severely; show no indulgence to 
 persons guilty of such crimes. That they may 
 bs sound in the faith — That they may receive the 
 incorrupt doctrine, and illustrate it by a holy and 
 useful life. [The nature of the people the apos- 
 tle knew to be what Epimenides had declared it ; 
 their tendencies were to evil, and for the sake of 
 truth, holiness, and the Gospel the remedy was to 
 be firmly applied. — Ellicott.~] 
 
 14. Not giving heed to Jewish fables — See 
 1 Tim. i, 4, and iv, 7. Commandments of men 
 — The injunctions of the scribes and Pharisees, 
 which they added to the law of God. That turn 
 from the truth — For such persons made the word 
 of God of none effect by their traditions. Some- 
 times the verb a-oarpapsiv (middle voice) signifies 
 to be averse from, to sli<jltt, or despise. So. here, 
 the persons in question despised the truth, and 
 taught others to do the same. 
 
 15. Unto the pure all things are pure — This 
 appears to have been spoken in reference to th^ 
 Jewish distinctions of clean anil unclean meat-. 
 To the genuine Christian every kind of meat 
 proper for nourishment is pure, is lawful, and may 
 be used without scruple. This our Lord had long 
 I ie fme decided. (See Luke xi, 3°— 11.) But unto 
 them that are defiled — In their consciences, and 
 unbelieving, a-iaro/r, unfaithful, both to offered 
 and received grace, is nothing pure; they have 
 no part in Christ, and the wrath of God aliides up- 
 on them. Their mind is contaminated with im- 
 pure and unholy images and idea-, and their con- 
 science is defiled with the guilt of sins already 
 committed against God. [They sin, even in law- 
 
 an pure: but ninto them that are defiled and 
 unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their 
 mind and conscience is defiled. 10 They pro- 
 fess that they know God ; but « in works they 
 deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, 
 'and unto every good work "reprobate. 
 
 1". 23, 25; 1 Tim. 4. ;:, 4. /> Rom. 14. 23. g2 Tim 3. 5; 
 
 Jude I. /-Rom. 1. 28; 2 Tim. 3. 8. sOr, void of judg- 
 ment. 
 
 ful tilings, because of the spirit that rules in 
 them. | 
 
 16. They profess that they know God — Qebv 
 bfioXoyovaiv eiSkvat ; pro/ essing to know God. They 
 — The unbelieving .lews, the seducing teachers, and 
 those who had been seduced by their had doctrine. 
 Xone were so full of pretensions to the knowledge 
 of the true tied as the .bus. But in works they 
 deny him — Toic de epyocc apvovvrai — They are full 
 of a pretended faith, while utterly destitute of those 
 " works " by which a genuine faith is accredited and 
 proved. Being abominable — BdehvKTol. This 
 word sometimes refers to unnatural lusts. And 
 disobedient — 'Attei8eic, unpt rsuadable, unbt lit ving, 
 and consequently disobedient, characters remark- 
 ably applicable to the Jews through all their gener- 
 ations. Unto (respecting) every good work 
 reprobate — 'Adbnifioi, adulterate; like had coin, 
 deficient both in the weight and goodness of the 
 metal, and without the proper sterling stamp; and 
 consequently not current. If they did a good work, 
 they did it not in the spirit in which it should be 
 performed. They had the name of God's people; 
 but they were counterfeit. Of such the prophet 
 said: Reprobate silver ahull men roll tin m. 
 
 1. Though the principal part of this chapter, and 
 indeed of the whole epistle, may he found in nearly 
 the same words in the first epistle to Timothy, yet 
 there are several circumstances here that are nut so 
 particularly noted in the other; and every minister 
 of Christ will do well to make himself master of 
 both; they should be carefully registered in his 
 memory and engraven on his heart. 
 
 2. The truth which is <teeor<lin<i to godliness in 
 reference to eternal life, should lie carefully re- 
 garded. The substantial knowledge of the truth 
 must have faith for its foundation, godliness for its 
 rule, and eternal life for its object and end. He 
 who does not begin well is never likely to finish 
 well. He who does not refer every thing to eter- 
 nity, is never likely to live either well or happily in 
 time. 
 
 3. There is one subject in this chapter not suffi- 
 ciently attended to by those who have the author- 
 ity t'i appoint men to ecclesiastical offices — none 
 should he thus appointed who is not able, by sound 
 doctrine, both to exhort mid convince the gainsayers. 
 The power- necessary for this are partly natural, 
 partly gracious, and partly acquired. 1) If a man 
 have not good natural abilities, nothing hut a mir- 
 acle from heaven can make him a proper preacher 
 of the Gospel ; and to make a man a Christian min- 
 ister who is unqualified for any function of civil 
 life, is sacrilege before God. 2) If the graa of 
 God do not communicate ministerial qualifications, 
 no natural gifts, however splendid, can he of any 
 avail. To he a successful Christian minister, a 
 man must /erf the worth of immortal souls in such 
 a way as God only can show it, in order to spend 
 and be Spent in the work. He who has never 
 passed through the travail of the soul in the work 
 
 371
 
 TITUS. 
 
 Sundry directions to aged i 
 and aged women. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 BUT speak thou the things which become 
 •* sound doctrine : 2 That the aged men 
 be ''sober, grave, temperate, c sound in faith, in 
 charity, in patience. 3 d The aged women 
 likewise, that they fre'm behaviour as becometh 
 e holiness, not ' false accusers, not given to 
 
 </\ Tim. 1. 10; 6. 3; 2 Tim. 1. 13; chap. 1. 3. —''Or, vigi- 
 lant. — cChap. 1. 13. — d\ Tim. 2. 9. 10; 3. 11 : 1 Peter 3. 3,4. 
 1- Or, hoi ii women. — f Or, makeoates; 2 Tim. 3. 3. 
 
 of regeneration in his own heart can never make 
 plain the way of salvation toothers. 3) He who 
 is employed in the Christian ministry should culti- 
 vate his mind in the most diligent manner; he can 
 neither learn nor know too much. If called of 
 God to be a preacher, (and without such a call he 
 had better be a galley slave,) he will be able to 
 bring all his knowledge to the assistance and suc- 
 cess of his ministry. If he have human learning, 
 so much the better ; if he be accredited, and ap- 
 pointed by those who have authority in the Church, 
 it will be to his advantage; but no human learn- 
 ing, no ecclesiastical appointment, no mode of or- 
 dination, can ever supply the divine unction without 
 which he never can convert and build up the souls 
 of men. The piety of the flock must be faint and 
 languishing when it is not animated by the heaven- 
 ly zeal of the pastor; they must be blind if he be 
 not enlightened ; and their faith must be wavering 
 when lie can neither encourage nor defend it. 
 
 4. As a consequence of the appointment of im- 
 proper persons to the Christian ministry there will 
 be not only a decay of piety, but also a corrup- 
 tion of religion. No man is a true Christian min- 
 ister who has not grace, gifts, andfruit; if lie have 
 the grace of God, it will appear in his holy life and 
 godly conversation. If to this he add genuine abil- 
 ities, he will give full proof of his ministry; and if 
 he give full proof of his ministry he will have 
 fruit ; the souls of sinners will be converted to 
 God through his preaching, and believers will be 
 built up on their most holy faith. How contemp- 
 tible must that man appear in the eyes of common 
 sense, who boasts of his clerical education, his 
 sacerdotal order, his legitimate authority to preach, 
 administer the Christian sacraments, etc., while no 
 soul is benefited by his ministry! Such a person 
 may have legal authority to take tithes, but as to 
 an appointment from God, he has none; else his 
 word would be with power, and his preaching the 
 means of salvation to perishing souls. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTEE II. 
 
 1. But speak thou the things — The Judaizing 
 teachers not only taught a false doctrine, but they 
 led unholy lives; Titus was to act directly the op- 
 posite ; he must teach a sacred doctrine, and the 
 things which become it; he must proclaim the 
 truth and illustrate that truth. The people must 
 nit only be well instructed, but they must he holy 
 in their lives. Principle and practice must go hand 
 in hand. 
 
 2. That the aged men be sober— It refers to 
 advanced years, and not to any office in the Church : 
 the whole context seems to require this sense. 
 [Alford holds the opposite view.] Sobriety of 
 manners especially becomes the aged. Sound 
 (healthy) in faith, in charity, (love,) in patience. 
 
 3. The aged women likewise — I believe . . ' 
 
 ly women are meant, and not deaconesses. That 
 they be in behaviour — 'Ev nara^rijiMri itpoTrpE- 
 
 mucli wine, teachers of good tilings; 4 That 
 they may teaeli the young women to be e sober, 
 11 to love their husbands, to love their children, 
 5 To he discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, 
 'obedient to their own husbands, Mliat the 
 word of (bid be not blasphemed. 6 Young 
 men likewise exhort to be ' soberminded. 7 '" In 
 
 O Or, wise. hi Tim. 5. 14. i 1 Cor. 14.. 34 : Eph. 5. 22; 
 
 Col. 3. 18; 1 Tim. 2. 11 ; 1 Peter 3. 1, 5. k Horn. 2. 24; 1 Tim. 
 
 fi. 1. lOr, discreet. m 1 Tim. 4. 12; 1 Peter 5. 3. 
 
 tteIc, holy beseeming. That they be in their dress, 
 gait, and general deportment such as their holy 
 calling requires. Not false accusers — M/j <W- 
 j36?iovg ; literally, not devils; false accusers, s/<m- 
 derers. (See ] Tim. iii, 11.) Not given to much 
 wine — M$ olvu no/./.u dedov?.u/utvac ; not enslaved 
 by much vine. Both among the Greeks and Ro- 
 mans old women were generally reputed to be fond 
 of " much wine." Teachers of good things — 
 [Xot by public teaching, but, as the context implies 
 by its specifications, in domestic privacy. — Elli- 
 cott.~\ See on 1 Tim. v, 23. 
 
 4. That they may teach the young women 
 to be sober — That it was natural for the young 
 to imitate the old will be readily allowed ; it was 
 therefore necessary that the old should be an 
 example of godly living to the young. [2w0/)ov<- 
 suat rue veac, that they teach (bring to cutypoavvT], 
 wisdom) the young women ; the aim of this teaching 
 is given in the next words, tyikavdpovc, o/'/nrihrair, 
 [husband-loving, children-loving.) These two ideas 
 are placed first, as pointing to the first and most 
 obvious circumstances of the vtai, young (married) 
 women. See Huther.] [The highest and most 
 honourable duties of a married woman are those of 
 her own household. This the Christian religion in- 
 culcates and enforces.] 
 
 5. Keepers at home — Instead of olnovp} ovc, keep- 
 ers of the house, or keepers <it home, a large number 
 of the best authorities have oiKOvpovc, workers at 
 home, which, however, does not change the sense. 
 That the word of God be not blasphemed — 
 The enemies of the Gospel are quickeyed to spy out 
 imperfections in its professors; and, if they find 
 women professing Christianity living irregular lives, 
 they will not fail to decry the Christian doctrine on 
 this account. [The levity of character prevalent 
 among the Greek women, which seems to have been 
 especially characteristic of the Cretians, made these 
 admonitions the more necessary.] ['Aya&ic, good, 
 kind, the olnovpia, housekeeping, was not to lie 
 marred by austerity, (to servants, etc ,) or by im- 
 proper thrift, biroTaaaoykvac. Ruling in their own 
 households, they aie still to be subordinate in 
 authority, roig idioic avfipaciv, to their own husbands 
 severally. See Ellicott.j 
 
 i\. Young men . . . exhort to be sober- 
 minded — Reformation should begin with the old ; 
 they have the authority, and they should give the 
 example. The young of both sexes must also give 
 an account of themselves to God; sober mivdedness 
 in young men is a rare qualification, and they who 
 have it not plunge into excesses and irregularities 
 which in general sap the foundation of their con- 
 stitution, bring on premature old age, and not sel- 
 dom lead to a fatal end. [To be "soberminded," 
 cruxppovtir. In this pregnant word a young man's 
 duty is simply but comprehensively enunciated.... 
 The repeated occurrence of this word in different 
 forms in the last few verses would seem to hint 
 that irregular appetites (affections) were sadly prev-
 
 CHAPTER IT. 
 
 all things showing thyself a pattern of good 
 works: in doctrine showing uncprruptness, 
 gravity, "sincerity, 8 "Sound speech, that 
 cannot he condemned ; Pthat lie thai is of the 
 contrary part i may he ashamed, having no 
 evil thing to say of you. «> Exhort r servants 
 to he obedient unto their own masters, and to 
 please them well 'in all things; not 'answer- 
 ing again; 10 Not purloining, but showing 
 
 71 Eph. 6. 24. n\ Tim. 6. 3. p Neh. 5. 9: 1 Tin. 5. 14; 
 
 1 Pet 2. 12, 15: 3. 16.- -</2 Thess. 3. 1 1. r Eph. 6. 5; I !oi, 3. 
 
 22: t Tim. B. 1,2; 1 Pet. 2. 18.— »Eph. 5. 24. tOr, gainsay. 
 
 ing. it Matt. 5. lrt; Phil. 2. 15. n Rum. o. 15; cb.np. :;. 4, 
 
 5; l Pet. 5. 12. wOr, tliat bringeth salvation to all men. 
 
 alent in Crete, and that the apostle had the best of 
 reasons for what is said in chapter i, 13. — Wlicott.~\ 
 
 7. In all things showing thyself a pattern — 
 As the apostle had given directions relative to the 
 conduct of old men, (verse 2,) of old women, 
 (verse 3,) of young women, (verse •!,) and of young 
 men, (verse 6,) the words ~e/n -avra, which we trans- 
 late "in all things," should he considered in refer 
 ence to the duties required of the above per- 
 sons : "showing thyself a pattern of good works" 
 as to all these things, being in sobriety, gravity, 
 temperance, what thou requirest others to be. In 
 doctrine showing uncorruptness — Mixing 
 nothing with the truth; taking nothing from it; 
 adding nothing to it; and exhibiting it in all its 
 connexion, energy, and fulness. 
 
 S. Sound speech — \6yov byiij • healthy, or heal- 
 ing doctrine. All false doctrines not only leave 
 men under the influence of spiritual disease, but 
 nearly always aggravate it ; the unadulterated doe- 
 trine of the Gospel alone can heal the sin-sick. He 
 that is of the contrary part— Either the Judaiz- 
 ing teachers in general, or any one who might, by 
 his false doctrine, disturb the peace of the Churches. 
 Having no evil thing to say of you — Against a 
 person who is sound in his doctrine and holy in his 
 life no evil can be justly alleged. He who reports 
 evil of such a person must be confounded when 
 brought to the test. Instead of irepi v/xuv, of you, 
 irepl fjuuv, of us, is the reading now generally 
 accepted. This reading makes a better sense, and 
 is undoubtedly genuine. 
 
 9. Exhort servants to be obedient — The 
 apostle refers to those who were slaves, and the 
 property of their masters; even these are exhorted 
 to be obedient, tdioic. (koTrdratc,, to their own despots, 
 though they had no right over them on the ground 
 of natural justice. Please them well in all 
 things — They were to endeavour to do this in all 
 things, though they could not hope to succeed in 
 every thing. Not answering again — M// avrite- 
 yovrac, not contradicting or gainsaying. Tins is no 
 part of a servant's duty ; a servant is to do his mas- 
 ter's work, and this his master has a right to appoint. 
 
 10. Not purloining — M/) voo(j>t£o[/.evovg, neither 
 giving away, privately selling, nor in any way 
 wasting, the master's goods. The word signifies 
 not only stealing, but embezzling, another's property ; 
 keeping back a part of the price of any commodity 
 sold on the master's account. In Acts v, 2 we 
 translate it "kept back part of the price," the 
 crime of which Ananias and Sapphira were guilty. 
 It has been remarked that among the heathens this 
 species of fraud was very frequent, especially 
 among servants. It was necessary, therefore, that 
 the apostle should be so very particular in his 
 directions to servants, as they were in general 
 thieves almost by profession. [On the relations 
 
 all good fidelity; "that they may adorn the 
 doctrine of God our Saviour in all things. 
 II For "the grace of God "that bringeth sal- 
 vation "hath appeared to all men, 12 Teach- 
 ing us ythat, denying ungodliness z and worldly 
 lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and 
 godly, in this present world; I'.l »Looking 
 for that blessed 'hope, and the glorious ■ ap- 
 pearing of the great God and our Saviour 
 
 hath appeared. — a-Luke 3. 6; John 1. 9: ] Tim. 2. 4. 
 
 // Luke I. 75; Rom. 6. 19; Kph. 1. 4; Col. 1. 22: 1 Tins-, i. :. 
 
 i ivt. 4. 2; i John 2 16. a 1 Cor. 1. 7: Phil. 3. 20; 
 
 2 Pet 3. 12. /-Acts 21. 15: Col. 1 5,23: chap. 1. 2; 3.7. 
 
 cCol. :;. 4; 2 Tim. 4. 1,8; Heb. 9. 28; 1 Pi t. 1. 7; 1 John 3. 2. 
 
 and duties of both servants and masters, see the 
 notes on the epistle to Philemon.] 
 
 11. The grace of God that bringeth salva- 
 tion hath appeared to all men — 'Y.-tonvii yap // 
 X,aptg rnv Oeov aorrfipioc naoiv avdp&iroie • literally 
 translated, the words stand thus : For, the graa of 
 God, that which saves, hath shined forth upon all 
 men. Or, as it is expressed in the margin of our 
 Authorized Version : 77w grace of God, thai bring- 
 eth salvation to all nan, hath appeared. [Still more 
 exactly, Th< saving grace of God hath appeared to 
 all mi a.] In this place, and in Col. i, 6, the Gospel, 
 which points out God's infinite mercy to the world, 
 is termed the gract of God; for it is not only a fax our 
 of infinite worth in itself, but it announces that great- 
 est gift of God to man, the incarnation and atoning 
 sacrifice of Jesus Christ. [And this grace brings 
 salvation equally to all men, to .lews and G< ntiles, 
 and to masters and sla\ es ; and this is here assign* d 
 as a reason why the duties indicated (verses 9, 10) 
 should be cheerfully performed. Even the slaves, 
 as they are among "all men," have a share in that 
 abounding grace; let them therefore endure their 
 present estate in the patience of faith and hope.] 
 
 12. Teaching us that, denying, etc. — Uaidev- 
 ovaa, instructing us as children are instructed. 
 Christ is the great teacher ; and men, in order to 
 learn, must become his disciples — must put them- 
 selves under his tuition, and learn of him. Deny- 
 ing ungodliness— 'Aofj3eiav, all things contrary 
 to God ; whatever would lead us to forget his being, 
 or his providence, or his influence on the souls of 
 men. Every thing, also, which is opposed to his 
 true worship; theoretical and practical it religious- 
 ness. Worldly lusts — Such desires, affections, 
 and appetites as men are governed by who have 
 their portion in this life, and live without God in 
 the world. We should live soberly — Having 
 every temper, appetite, and desire under the gov- 
 ernment of reason, and reason itself under the 
 government of the Spirit of God. Righteously 
 — Rendering to every man his due; and filling up 
 the duties of the particular stations in which it has 
 pleased God to fix us. And godly — Etiae/toc, just 
 the reverse of what is implied in ungodliness. (See 
 above ) In this present world — \'¥.r :- 
 aiavi, in thi now age, or epoch. In the t< n povary 
 order of human affairs, in which men's lots aie 
 very widely unlike, but which inequalities shall be 
 righteously adjusted in the coming aluv. For that 
 better order of things we are all to look forward.] 
 
 13. Looking for that blessed hope — Expect- 
 ing the grand object of our hope, i U rnal lift . This 
 
 the Gospel teaches us to expect, and for this the 
 
 grace of God prepares us. This is called a " blessed 
 hope;" because those who have it arc happy in 
 the sure prospect of thai -lory which shall be re- 
 vealed. The glorious appearing— Kal kinQavEwv 
 
 373
 
 TITUS. 
 
 Titns directed to remind tlie peoplo 
 to be obedient and peaceful. 
 
 Jesus Christ; 14 "AVho gave himself for 
 us, that he might redeem us from all iniq- 
 uity, "and purify unto himself Pa peculiar 
 people, 'i zealous of good works. 15 These 
 
 things speak, and r exhort, and rebuke 
 with all authority. s Let no man despise 
 
 thee. 
 
 ttGal. 1. 4: 2. 20; Epli. 5. 2: 1 Tim. 2. 6. oHeb. 0. It. 
 
 pExod. 15. 16; 19. 5; Dsut. 7. 6; 14 2; 26. 18; 1 !>et. 
 
 2. 9. <?Eph. 2 10; chap. 3. S.—r2 Tim. 4. 2. gl Tim. 
 
 4. 12. 
 
 TiJQ 66^?/c rov peyaXov Qeov /cat aurf/pog y/iuv Xp/arov 
 'Inaov; and the appearing of the glory of the great 
 God, even our Sari oar Jesus Christ. The "blessed 
 hope " refers simply to eternal glorification in gen- 
 eral ; the "glorious appearing," to the realization 
 of that hope when Christ appears in judgment. 
 (See Phil, iii, 20, 21.) 
 
 14. Who gave himself for us — Who gave his 
 own life as a ransom price to redeem ours. This is 
 evidently what is meant, as the words "kvrpuanrai 
 and Aabv Trepiovaiov imply. The verb "kvrpdu sig- 
 nifies to redeem or ransom by paying a //rice, as I 
 have often had occasion to observe ; and nepiovaioc 
 signifies such a peculiar property as a man has in 
 what he has purchased with his own money. .Jesus 
 gave his life for the world, and thus has purchased 
 men unto himself; and having purchased the slaves 
 from their thraldom, he is represented as stripping 
 them of their sordid vestments, cleansing and puri- 
 fying them iniio "himself," that they may become 
 his own servants, and bringing them out of their dis- 
 honourable and oppressive servitude, in which they 
 had no proper motive to diligence, and could have 
 no affection for the despot under whose authority 
 they were employed. Thus redeemed, they now be- 
 come his willing servants, and are zealous of good 
 "works ; affectionately attached to that noble em- 
 ployment which is assigned to them by chut Master 
 whom it is an inexpressible honour to serve. This 
 seems to be the allusion in the above verse. 
 
 [This paragraph (verses 11—14) is addressed 
 primarily to the class of persons named in verse 9, 
 servants, (6ov?mvc, slaves,) although, as Alford fitly 
 observes, "the reference is far wider than merely 
 to slaves;" and yet it has a peculiar fitness and 
 adaptation as addressed to such, and well follows the 
 exhortation given them to maintain fidelity to their 
 own masters. During the present order of things, 
 6 vvv a'tuv, the condition of the slaves was painful 
 in the extreme, and they were made the victims of 
 the most cruel injustice ; but this was to remain but 
 a short time. The grace of the Gospel brings sal- 
 vation to all men. This Gospel is now made known, 
 it hath appeared, kiretpavn, (shined forth, like the 
 sun at his rising.) and it not only tells of the day 
 of deliverance to the enslaved, (Isa. lxi, 1, Luke 
 iv, 18,) but also points out their duties, especially 
 in personal well-doing, during their present estate, 
 and seeks to fix their faith and hopes upon the 
 glorious recompense that awaits them at the coin- 
 ing of Christ, that is, in the day of recompense, and, 
 above all else, to fix their faith on Christ as their 
 condescending and once suffering and atoning Re- 
 deemer, whose purpose toward his people is to pu- 
 rify them by the processes of his providence and 
 grace, and so to bring them into the fellowship of 
 his sufferings and into sympathy with his zeal for 
 good works. But while addressed primarily to 
 slaves, its suitableness for all classes of men ren- 
 ders it of universal adaptation.] 
 CV1 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 PUT them in mind a to be subject to princi- 
 palities and powers, to obey magistrates, 
 ''to be ready to every good work, 2 c To speak 
 evil of no man, J to be no brawlers, but e gen- 
 tle, showing all f meekness unto all men. 
 5{ For s\\q ourselves also were sometime fool- 
 
 a Rom. 13. 1 : 1 Pet. 2. 13. h Col 1. 10; 2 Tim, 2. 21 ; Heb. 
 
 13. 21. cEph. 4. 31. </2 Tim. 2. 21,25. e Phil. 4. 5. 
 
 /Epli. 4. 2; Col. 3.12. a 1 Cor. 6. 11; Epli. 2. 1; Col. 1. 21; 
 
 3. 7 ; 1 Pet. 4. 3. 
 
 15. These things speak — That is, teach; for 
 2.d2.ei, speak, has the same meaning here as didaence, 
 teach, which, as being synonymous, is actually the 
 reading of the Codex Alexandrinus. And exhort 
 — TlapaKaXei. Repeat them again and again, and 
 urge them on their attention and consciences. 
 And rebuke — "EAey^e, demonstrate the import- 
 ance, utility, and necessity of them ; and show 
 them that God requires their obedience. With 
 all authority- — Mera iraong kiriTayfjQ, with all that 
 authority with which thy office invests thee, and 
 which thou hast received from God. Let no man 
 despise thee — Act so that no person shall be able 
 to regard you with contempt, either for your work, 
 or the manner and spirit in which you perform it. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER III. 
 
 1. Put them in mind to be subject to prin- 
 cipalities and powers — By " principalities " 
 (apxalc) we are to understand the Roman em- 
 perors or the supreme civil powers in any place. 
 By " powers," i^ovoiaic,, deputies, proconsuls, etc., 
 and all such as are in authority under the supreme 
 powers wherever we dwell. (See on Rom. xiii, 
 1-7.) This doctrine of obedience to the civil 
 powers was highly necessary for the Cretans, who 
 were reputed a people exceedingly jealous of their 
 civil privileges, and ready to run into insurrections 
 when they suspected any attempt on the part of 
 their rulers to infringe their liberties. For such 
 advice as that given here the known character of 
 the Cretans is a sufficient reason. 
 
 2. To speak evil of no man — Mndeva /3/l«cr0;;- 
 pelv, to blaspheme (denounce) no person, to re- 
 proach none, to speak nothing to any man's injury ; 
 but, on the contrary, to bear reproach and con- 
 tumely with patience and meekness. 
 
 3. For we ourselves — All of us, whether 
 Jews or Gentiles, were, before our conversion to 
 Christ, foolish, disobedient, and deceived. Fool- 
 ish — 'Avonroi, without understanding; ignorant of 
 God, his nature, his providence, and his grace. 
 Disobedient — 'Airei8eig, unpersuaded, unbelieving, 
 obstinate, and disrespectful. Deceived — ILTuivu- 
 pevoi, erring, wandering from the right way; and, 
 in consequence of unbelief and obstinacy, not 
 choosing to know it. [Unbelief is much more of 
 the heart than of the understanding] Serving 
 divers lusts and pleasures — AovAebovrsc, en- 
 slaved to manifold lusts and sensuous pleasures; 
 being in a state of continual thraldom ; not served 
 or gratified by our lusts and pleasures, but living, 
 as their slaves, a life of misery and wretchedness. 
 Living in malice and envy — 'Ev nania nal iptiovu 
 diayovreg, spending our life in wickedness and envy. 
 [Terms that indicate the essentially evil condition 
 of the whole moral and spiritual nature.] Hate- 
 ful — 'ETvpjrol, abominable, infernal, execrable. The 
 word comes from 2rrf, tityx, the infernal river by 
 which the gods were wont to swear. Hating one
 
 God's philanthropy 
 the redemption 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 A. M. 4069. A. P. 65. 
 Year of Rome, C18. 
 
 ish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts 
 and pleasures, Living in malice and envy, hate- 
 ful, and hating one another. 4 But after 
 that 'the kindness and 'love of lc God our Sav- 
 iour toward man appeared, 5 ' Not by works 
 of righteousness which we have done, hut ac- 
 cording- to his mercy he saved us, by "the 
 washing of regeneration, and renewing of the 
 Holy Ghost ; O " Which he shed on us °ahun- 
 
 
 h Oh 
 
 IP. 2. 
 
 11. — 
 
 i'n, 
 
 . pity 
 
 — x- n 
 
 im. 2 
 
 :: 
 
 — / Rom. 
 
 R 
 
 30; 
 
 9 
 
 11; 
 
 1. li: 
 
 Gal. 2 
 
 Iti 
 
 Koh. 
 
 2. 1, 8, ! 
 
 : a T 
 
 in 
 
 1. St. mi 
 
 >hn 
 
 •A 
 
 •A, b 
 
 Kpl 
 
 . 5. 2K 
 
 i 
 
 >et. 3. 
 
 21. n 
 
 ■:zek. 
 
 ;;.; 
 
 25; Joel 
 
 •> 
 
 2f ; 
 
 John 1 
 
 16; 
 
 Acts 2. 
 
 oi; 
 
 I". 43 
 
 Rom. 5. 
 
 0. 
 
 
 
 
 
 another — MlGOVVTSg a'/ '////on; The winds which 
 
 t lie apostle uses in this place give a finished picture 
 of the carnal state of man; and they are not true 
 merely of the Cretians and Jews that then were, 
 but of all mankind in every age and country; they 
 express the wretched state of fallen man. 
 
 4. But after that the kindness and love of 
 God our Saviour — By xP 7 ! GT " Tr l c -, we may under- 
 stand the essential goodness of the divine nature; 
 the spring of all kindness, mercy, and beneficence. 
 Towardman — $ikavdpuiria, loveto man. God loves 
 man; he delighted in the idea when formed in his 
 own infinite mind ; he formed man according to that 
 idea, and rejoiced in the work of his hands ; when 
 man fell, the same " love " continued, and induced 
 him to devise his redemption, and God the Saviour 
 (lows from God the Philanthropist. Where " love " 
 is it will he active, and will show itself. So the 
 philanthropy of God appeared, knetbavT}, (if shined 
 out,) in the incarnation of Jesus Christ, and in his 
 giving his life for the world. 
 
 5. Not by works of righteousness — Those 
 who were foolish, disobedient, and deceived, serv- 
 ing divers lusts and pleasures, could not possibly 
 have "works of righteousness" to plead; there- 
 fore, if saved at all, they must be saved by mercy, 
 (See Col. ii, 15; Eph. ii, 8.) \_\tKaioavvr/, here, is 
 not justification, but righteousness, integrity; the 
 " works," which ice hare done, are added emphatically 
 to make the contrast all the stronger. — Huther.~\ 
 By the -washing of regeneration — Aid '/.ovrpov 
 Tra/iivyeveaiar ; through the washing which is of 
 (effected by) regeneration. [It is by no means cer- 
 tain that the apostle makes any reference to out- 
 ward baptism in this place. The renewing of the 
 Holy Ghost is itself a cleans'uig (washing) of the 
 soul, (1 Cor. vi, 11, Eph. v, 26,) and this interpre- 
 tation of the words of the original wholly expresses 
 their evident intent. Ye were cm-rapt and un- 
 clean, (verse 3,) but God, in his great mercy, has 
 renewed you in the spirit of your minds by the 
 regenerating and cleansing power of the Hob 
 Spirit.] By the renewing of the Holy Ghost 
 we are to understand not only the profession of 
 being hound to live a new life, hut the grace that 
 renews the heart and enables us thus to live. 
 They who think baptism to he regeneration, neither 
 know the Scriptures nor the power of God ; there- 
 fore they do greatly err. 
 
 6. Which he shed on us abundantly — Ov 
 ki-£x Eev , which (cleansing of regeneration) ht /mne-d 
 <>"/ on us, not in drops, hut wTuovaiue, richly, ingreat 
 abundance. Through Jesus Christ — There had 
 been no outpouring of the Holy Spirit had there 
 been no saving and atoning Christ. Through him 
 alone all good conies to the souls of men. 
 
 7. That being justified by his grace — 
 Being freed from sin ; fur the term justification is 
 
 dantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; 
 7 r'fhat being justified by his grace, i wc 
 
 >honld he made heirs 'according to the hope 
 of eternal life. 8 s This is a faithful saying, 
 and these things I will that thou affirm con- 
 stantly, that they which have believed in God 
 
 might he careful 'to maintain g 1 works. 
 
 These things are good and profitable unto men. 
 J> Hut "avoid foolish questions, and genealo- 
 
 ofir. richly. p Rom. 3. 24; (oil. 2. 16; chap. 2. II. 
 
 u Rom. 8. 2.;. 21. /•( hap. 1. 2. »] Tim. 1. 15; chap. I. 9. 
 
 /C'liiip. 2. 14; verses 1, 1-1. u 1 Tim. 1. -1; 2 Tim 2. 2^; 
 
 chap. 1. 14. 
 
 to be taken here as implying the whole work of 
 
 the grace of Christ on the heart, in order to its 
 preparation for eternal glory. [" Justified," ducata- 
 devrec, is here used in its usual and more strict 
 theological sense; nut, however, as implying only a 
 mere outward non-imputation of sin, but as involv- 
 ing a change of personal condition, an acceptance 
 (being accepted) into new privileges, and the enjoy- 
 ment of the benefits thereof. — EUicott.] ["Justifi- 
 cation " cannot he conceived (as an accomplished 
 fact) without some (inward) work of the Spirit in con- 
 ferring a title to salvation. — Waterland.] Should 
 be made heirs — The Gospel not only gave them 
 the hape of an endless state of glory, but also of 
 being begotten in Christ, and made " heirs " through 
 the adoption of grace. (See Gal. iv. 6, 7.) 
 
 8. This is a faithful saying — ILcrrdc 6 Myoc, 
 this is the trufi doctrine; the doctrine that cannot. 
 fail. And these things I will — Kal jrepl tovtuv 
 flovlofjai ae diajifrhiiovotla/, concerning thest things 
 we wish you to make asseveration. The things to 
 which the apostle refers are th< se of which he had 
 just been writing, and may be thus summed up : 
 1) The ruined state of man through sin. 2) The 
 infinite goodness of God which devised his sal- 
 vation. 3) The manifestation of this goodness by 
 the incarnation of Jesus Christ. 4) The justifi- 
 cation which they who believed received through his 
 blood. .5) The mission of the Holy Spirit, and the 
 purification of the heart by his influence. 6) The 
 hope of the future life, and the eternal glorification 
 of redeemed souls. 7) The necessity of obedience 
 to the will of God, and of walking worthy of the 
 vocation wherewith they had been called. 8) And 
 all these points he wills him to press continually 
 on the attention of believers, and to keep con- 
 stantly in view that all good comes from God's in- 
 finite kindness, by and through Christ Jesus. 
 They which have believed in God — All be- 
 lievers; for [by that title were all of the ear- 
 liest Christians designated.] \Ko?mv ipyuv, ;,">,„/ 
 works. The recurrence of this expression, in the 
 pastoral epistles, (verse 1-1 : 1 Timothy v, 10, 26 ; 
 vi, 18,) has been often noticed. The nature i f 
 
 the errors condemned in these epistles was exactly 
 such as required the reiteration of such a command. 
 
 It was not to be a hollow, specious, falsely ascetic 
 and sterile Christianity, but one that showed itself 
 in outward actions. — Ellicott.] These things are 
 good and profitable — [ AW tin <i"<nl works, but, 
 the lessons which the apostle had now delivered, 
 (verses -1-7 ;) these were "good," because tbej were 
 according to truth, and their observance would 
 always prove advantageous. See Alford.] They 
 are "good" in themselves, and calculated to pro- 
 mote the well-being of men. 
 
 9. Avoid foolish questions, and genealogies 
 — In these the Jews particularly delighted; they
 
 A. M. 4069. A. D. 65. 
 Year of Rome, 818. 
 
 TITUS. 
 
 Titus directed how to treat hereties. 
 Ordered to meet Paul at Nicopolis. 
 
 gies, and contentions, and strivings about the 
 law; v for they are unprofitable and vain. 
 10 A man that is a heretic, "after the first 
 and second admonition, "reject; 11 Know- 
 ing that lie that is such is subverted, and sin- 
 neth, y being condemned of himself. 12 When 
 I shall send Artemas unto thee, or z Tychicus, 
 be diligent to come unto me to Nicopolis : for 
 
 »2Tira. 2. 14. >d2Cot. 13. 2. a; Matt. is. 17: Rom. 16. 
 
 17; 2 Thess. 3. 'i. 14; 2 Tim. 3. 5 J 2 John 10. V Acts 13. 4rj. 
 
 s Acts 20. 4 ; 2 1'ira. 4. 12. 
 
 abounded in the must frivolous questions; and. as 
 they had little piety themselves, they were solici- 
 tous to show that, they had descended from godly 
 ancestors. Contentions, and strivings about 
 the law — Of legal contentions, and different and 
 conflicting decisions about the meaning of particu- 
 lar rites and ceremonies, the Talmud is full. [The 
 subject of contention would be the justification or not 
 of certain commandments of men, out of the law ; 
 or perhaps the mystical meaning of the various 
 portions of the law as affecting these genealogies. 
 —Afford.] 
 
 10. A man that is a heretic — Alperucbv avOpu- 
 irov, a heretical man; generally defined, one that is 
 obstinately attached to an opinion contrary to the 
 peace and comfort of society, and who will submit 
 to neither Scripture nor reason. Here it means a 
 person who maintains Judaism in opposition to 
 Christianity, or who insists on the necessity of cir- 
 cumcision, etc., in order to be saved. This is 
 obviously the meaning of the word "heretic" in the 
 only place in which it occurs in the sacred writ- 
 ings. [The exact meaning of this word must not 
 be deduced from the usage of later writers, but 
 simply from the apostle's use of the substantive 
 from which it is derived. . . . Thus, then, the 
 heretical man, will here be one who gives rise to 
 divisions by erroneous teaching, not necessarily 
 of a fundamentally heterodox nature, but of the 
 kind just described. (See verse 9, and chapter 
 i, 14.) — Ellicott.'] After the first and second 
 admonition, reject — Labour to convince him of 
 his error; but if he will not receive instruction — 
 if he have shut his heart against conviction, then 
 shun him, irapairov. Do him no harm, but hold no 
 communion with him, and leave him to God. (See 
 the notes on Acts v, 17 ; xxiv, 14.) 
 
 1 1. Is subverted — Is turned out of the way in 
 which he may be saved, and consequently sinneth ; 
 enters into that way that leads to destruction. 
 Being condemned of himself— [Not that the 
 man condemns himself directly ami explicitly, as 
 that might be a step toward recovery, but that he 
 condemns himself indirectly and implicitly, as act- 
 ing against the law of his mind, and doing in his 
 own particular case what in the general he con- 
 demns. — Ellicott.'] Were the Churches in all 
 countries strictly scrutinized, there is reason to fear 
 that multitudes of heretics of this kind would be 
 found. 
 
 12. When I shall send Artemas . . . Tychi- 
 cus — These were either deacons or presbyters, 
 whom the apostle intended to send to Crete, to 
 supply the place of Titus. Artemas is not men- 
 tioned in any other place in the New Testament. 
 Tychicus was a native of Asia. (Acts xx, 4 ) Be 
 diligent to come unto me toNicopolis — Nicop- 
 olis was a city of Epirus, on the gulf of Ambracia, 
 near to Actiurn, which Augustus built in commem- 
 
 376 
 
 1 have determined there to winter. 13 Bring 
 Zciias the lawyer and "Apollos on their jour- 
 ney diligently, that nothing be wanting unto 
 them. 14 And let ours also learn b to main- 
 tain good works for necessary uses, that they 
 be d not unfruitful. 15 All that are with me 
 salute thee. Greet them that love us in the 
 faith. Grace he with you all. Amen. 
 
 a Acts 18. 24. b Verse 8. — <• Or, profess honest trades, 
 
 Kph. 4. 28. c/Kora. 15. 28; Phil. 1. 11; 4. 17; Col. 1. 10; 
 
 2 Peter 1. 8. 
 
 oration of his victory over Mark Antony. There 
 was another Nicopolis in Thrace, at the entrance of 
 Macedonia, on the river Nessus ; but the former 
 is supposed to be the place here intended. For 
 I have determined thereto winter — Hence the 
 apostle was at liberty, seeing his spending the win- 
 ter at this or at any other practicable place de- 
 pended on his own determination. It was probably 
 pretty late in the autumn, and the apostle was now 
 drawing near to Nicopolis; for he certainly was 
 not yet arrived, else he would not have said, " I have 
 determined (ekei) there to winter." 
 
 13. Bring Zenas the lawyer — This person is 
 only mentioned in this place ; whether he was a 
 Jewish, Roman, or Greek lawyer, we cannot tell. 
 And Apollos — Of this person we have some 
 valuable particulars. (See Acts xviii, 24 ; 1 Cor. 
 i, 12; hi, 5, 6; iv, 6.) Either St Paul had left 
 these at Crete when he visited that island, or he 
 had heard that, in their evangelical itinerancy, they 
 were about to pass through it. On their journey 
 diligently — Afford them the means to defray their 
 expenses. The Churches through which these evan- 
 gelists passed bore their expenses from one to the 
 other. (See 3 John 6.) 
 
 14. And let ours also learn to maintain good 
 works — There is something very remarkable in 
 this expression. The words ku/.uv ipyuv rcpcitarac- 
 Qai, which we translate "to maintain good works," 
 occur also in verse 8, and some think they mean, 
 to provide for our own necessities, and those of 
 others, by ivorking at some honest occupation; and 
 that this was necessary to be taught to the Cretians, 
 is evident from the words let ours also learn, etc., 
 who were naturally and practically idle gluttons. 
 [Ours, yiihepoi, our people, those of the Church. 
 The good works here named were evidently contri- 
 butions for the necessary requirements of the poor 
 and those engaged in the services of the Church.] 
 For necessary uses — That they may be able at 
 all times to help the Church of God, and those that 
 are in want. That they be not unfruitful — As 
 they must be if they indulge themselves in their 
 idle, slothful disposition. 
 
 15. All that are with me — He means his com- 
 panions in the ministry. Salute thee — Wish thee 
 well, and desire to be affectionately remembered to 
 thee. Greet them that love us in the faith — 
 All that love us for Christ's sake, and all that are 
 genuine Christians. Grace be with you — May 
 the divine favour be your portion for ever. Some 
 MSS. read, The pace of the Lord be with you all; 
 others, The grace of God be with you all ; and one, 
 Grace be with thy spirit, as if the greeting was sent 
 to Titus only, whereas the others send it to the 
 whole Church at Crete. Amen — This is wanting 
 in the best MSS. The subscriptions are, as usual, 
 various, and of no value. Some of them are absurd 
 and ridiculous.
 
 PREFACE TO THE EPISTLE 
 
 TO 
 
 PHILEMON". 
 
 THE PERSON ADDRESSED. 
 
 PHILEMON", the person to whom this epistle is addressed, was undoubtedly, at 
 the time in which it was sent, an inhabitant of Colosse, and was probably 
 a Colossian by birth, though some suppose that he was of Ephesus. It is evident 
 (from verse 19) that he was converted to the Christian faith by St. Paul; but as 
 some suppose that the apostle had not visited Colosse previously to the writing of 
 this epistle, they think it probable that he might have met with him at Ephesus, 
 or in some other part of Asia Minor, where he formed an acquaintance with him, 
 and became the means of his conversion. But there is no need for this supposi- 
 tion, as it is probable that the apostle had not only visited Colosse prior to this, 
 but that the Gospel was planted in that city, as in all other parts of Phrygia, 
 by himself. (See preface to the epistle to the Colossians, and note on Col. ii, 1.) 
 
 That Philemon was a person of some consideration in his own city, and in the 
 Church in that place, is very evident from this epistle. lie had a church in his 
 house, (verse 2,) and was so opulent as to be renowned for works of charity, and 
 for entertaining those Christians who from different quarters had occasion to 
 visit Colosse. (See verses 5-7.) Whether he had any office in the Church does 
 not appear: some think he was a bishop; others, an elder or deacon; but of this 
 there is no evidence. He was probably a private member, [layman,] whose house, 
 hand, and property were consecrated to God, his Chinch, and the poor. Both the 
 heart and the means to do secular good are possessed by few, whereas multitudes 
 are found willing both to teach in and to govern the Church. 
 
 The occasion of writing this letter was peculiar and highly significant. 
 Onesimus, a slave, (dovXog, bondservant,) had run away from his master Phile- 
 mon, and had fled to Rome, where Paul was at that time in prison, though not 
 in close confinement, for he dwelt in his own hired house, in which he assiduously 
 preached the Gospel, being guarded only by one soldier. (See Acts xxviii, 
 16, 23, 30.) 
 
 It appears that Onesimus sought out Paid, whose public preaching had rendered 
 him famous in the city, and from whom he may have heard the word of life 
 preached by the apostle at his master's house in Colosse, and here Paul became 
 the means of his conversion. Being thus brought to God, he became affec- 
 tionately attached to his spiritual father, and served him zealously as his son in 
 the Gospel. Onesimus, being thus brought to the acknowledgment of the truth 
 which is according to godliness, gave the apostle a full account of his escape from
 
 PREFACE TO THE EPISTLE TO PHILEMON. 
 
 his master, and no doubt intimated his own wish to return and repair the wrong 
 which he had done. Though Onesimus was now both dear and necessary to Paul, 
 yet, as justice required that reparation should be made, he resolved to send him 
 back; and, to remove all suspicion from the mind of Philemon, and to reconcile 
 him to his once unfaithful servant, he wrote the following letter, in which, as Dr. 
 Macknight expresses it, " with the greatest softness of expression, warmth of affec- 
 tion, and delicacy of address, he not only interceded for Onesimus's pardon, but 
 urged Philemon to esteem him and put confidence in him as a sincei'e Christian; 
 and because restitution, by repairing the injury that had been done, restores the 
 person who did it to the character he had lost, the apostle, to enable Onesimus to 
 appear in Philemon's family with some degree of reputation, bound himself in 
 this epistle, by his handwriting, (verses 18, 19,) not only to repay all that Onesi- 
 mus owed to Philemon, but to make full reparation also for whatever injury had 
 been done him. 
 
 It is generally thought that Onesimus had robbed his master; but there is 
 nothing in the epistle which necessarily implies this; the words, "If he hath 
 wronged thee, or oweth thee anght, put that on mine account." (verse 18,) cer- 
 tainly do not prove it ; they only state a possible case, that he might have wronged 
 his master, or have been under some ijecuniary obligation to him ; and the apos- 
 tle, by expressing his willingness to assume this, greatly strengthened his own 
 argument, and met the last objection which Philemon could be supposed to be 
 
 capable of making. 
 
 WHEN AND WHERE WRITTEN. 
 
 That this epistle was written about the same time with those to the Philip- 
 pians and Colossians is proved by several coincidences. " As the letter to Phile- 
 mon and that to the Colossians were written," says Dr. Paley, " at the same time, 
 and sent by the same messenger, the one to a particular inhabitant, the other to 
 the Church of Colosse, it may be expected that the same or nearly the same per- 
 sons would be about St. Paul, and join with him, as was the practice, in the salu- 
 tations of the epistle. Accordingly Ave find the names of Aristarchus, Marcus, 
 Epaphras, Luke, and Demas, in both epistles. Timothy, who is joined with St. 
 Paul in the superscription of the epistle to the Colossians, is joined with him in this. 
 Tychicus did not salute Philemon, because he accompanied the epistle to Colosse, 
 and would undoubtedly there see him." It will not be forgotten that Onesimus, 
 the bearer of this epistle, was one of the bearers of that sent to the Colossians, 
 (Col. iv, 9;) that when the apostle wrote that he was in bonds, (Col. iv, 
 3, 18,) which was his case, also, when he wrote this, (see verses 1, 10, 13, 23,) 
 and from various other circumstances, we may conclude that the two epistles 
 were written about the same time, namely, the ninth year of Nero. 
 
 [But Meyer supposes that this epistle was written from Cesarea during St. 
 Paul's two years' detention by Festus. His remarks are: "The place and time 
 (of the writing of this epistle) are the same as with the epistles written from 
 the captivity in Cesarea (not, as is usually supposed, at Rome) tot he Ephesians 
 and Colossians, and with the lost epistle to the Laodiceans." In all this, how- 
 ever, both the great preponderance of authority and the internal evidence seem 
 
 to be on the other side.] 
 
 378
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE 
 
 TO 
 
 PHILEMON. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAUL, a a prisoner of Jesus Christ, and Tim- 
 othy our brother, unto Philemon our 
 dearly beloved, ''and fellow labourer. 2 And 
 to our beloved Apphia, and c Archippus *our 
 fellow soldier, and to e the church in thy house: 
 3 'Grace to you, and peace, from God our 
 Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 4 «1 thank 
 my God, making mention of thee always in my 
 
 a Eph. 3. 1 ; 4. 1; 2 Tim. 1.8: verse 9. 6 Phil. 2. 25. <■ Pol. 
 
 4. 17. (U'hil. 2. 25. 6 Horn. 16. 5; 1 Cor. 16. 19. -/Ejjh. 
 
 1. 2. 
 
 NOTES ON PHILEMON. 
 
 1. Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ — It has 
 already been noted, in the preface, that Paul was a 
 prisoner at Rome when he wrote this epistle and 
 those to the Colossiaus and Philippians. The orig- 
 inal word deo/icog, which we here render " a pris- 
 oner," literally means bound with a chain. It shows 
 us, in some measure, Paul's circumstances — one 
 arm was bound with a chain to the arm of the sol- 
 dier to whose custody he had been delivered. Un- 
 to Philemon our dearly beloved — There is a 
 peculiarity in the use of proper names in this epis- 
 tle which is not found in any other part of St. Paul's 
 writings. The names to which we refer are Phile- 
 mon, Apphia, and Archippus. 
 
 2. Apphia — 'Ampia rlj adeh/>% and to Apphia 
 the beloved sister. Though aiSt'/oij, sister, be not in 
 our common text, it is found in most of the best 
 MSS. and Versions, and is generally accepted, and 
 is undoubtedly genuine. Archippus — 'Apxiinru, 
 the ruler or master of the horse. The import of 
 the name may have led Paul to say : Archippus our 
 fellow soldier. To the church in thy house— 
 The congregation of Christians frequently assem- 
 bling in Philemon's house, for at this time the Christ- 
 ians had neither temples, churches, nor chapels. 
 (Sec Rom. xvi, 5.) It has been conjectured that 
 "Apphia" was the wife of Philemon, and Archip- 
 pus their son, the pastor of the Church at Phile- 
 mon's house. [But this is only conjecture.] 
 
 4. I thank my God — For all the good he has 
 bestowed upon you, making mention of thee al- 
 ways in my prayers. [A touching proof of deep 
 and tender personal regard, extending to both tem- 
 poral and spiritual things.] 
 
 5. Hearing of thy love and faith — Philemon's 
 "faith" in Christ Jesus, his "love" to the saints. 
 " Faith " must refer to Jesus Christ, and " love " 
 to the saints. 
 
 6. That the communication of thy faith — 
 
 prayers, 5 h Hearing of thy love and faith, 
 which thou hast toward the Lord Jesus, and 
 toward all saints; O That the communica- 
 tion of thy faith may become effectual 'by the 
 acknowledging of every good thing which is 
 in you in Christ Jesus. 7 For we have great 
 joy and consolation in thy love, because the 
 bowels of the saints ''arc refreshed by thee, 
 brother. 8 Wherefore, 'though I might he 
 
 (7Eph. 1. 1ii; 1 Thess. 1.2; 2Thess. 1.3. /tEph. 1. 15; Col. 
 
 1. 4. i Phil. 1. H, 11. , 2 Cur. 7. lo, 2 Tim. 1. 16; verse 20. 
 
 /I Thtss. 2. 6 
 
 The words // Koivuvia rijc Tricreuc cov, the fellow- 
 ship or " communication of thy faith," may be un- 
 derstood as referring to the work of love toward 
 the saints — the poor Christians, which his "faith " 
 in Christ enabled him to perform, "faith" being 
 taken here for its effects; and indeed the word 
 Koivuvia itself is not unfrequently used to denote 
 liberality, almsgiving. May become effectual 
 — Dr. Maeknight understands these words thus : 
 "That the many good offices which thou dost to 
 the saints may become effectual in bringing others to 
 the acknowledgment of every good disposition which 
 is in you toward Christ Jesus, or toward his mem- 
 bers." 
 
 V. For we have great joy — The Greek author- 
 izes the following arrangement: For we /tori' great 
 joy and consolation in thy love. O brother, because 
 the bowels of the saints are refreshed by thee. (So 
 the Revised Version.) The apostle speaks here of 
 the works of charity in which Philemon abounded 
 toward poor Christians. 
 
 8. Wherefore, though I might be much 
 bold — It, would be better to read : Wherefore, al- 
 though I have lunch authority, through Christ, to 
 command thee to do what is proper; yet, on arc,, mil 
 of my love to thee, I entreat thee. (See Revised Ver- 
 sion.) The tenderness and delicacy of this epistle, 
 says Dr. Palev, have long been admired: "Though 
 I might be much bold in Christ to enjoin thee that 
 which is convenient; yet, for love's sake, I rather 
 beseech thee, being such a one as Paul the aged, anil 
 now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ — I beseech thee 
 for my sun Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my 
 bonds." There is something certainly very gentle 
 and persuasive in this and every part of the epis- 
 tle, and yet the character of St. Paul prevails in it 
 throughout. The warm, affectionate, authoritative 
 teacher is interceding with an absent friend for a 
 beloved convert. He urges his suit with an ear- 
 nestness befitting, perhaps, not so much the occa- 
 
 379
 
 A. M. 4066. 
 Ye:.r of Ron 
 
 .. D. 62. 
 e, 815. 
 
 PHILEMON. 
 
 much bold in Christ to enjoin thee that which 
 is convenient, 9 Yet for love's sake I rather 
 beseech thee, being such a one as Paul the 
 aged, '"and now also a prisoner of Jesus 
 Christ. 10 I beseech thee for my son "Ones- 
 iinus, ° whom I have begotten in my bonds: 
 ] 1 Which in time past was to thee unprofit- 
 able, but now profitable to thee and to me : 
 12 Whom I have sent again: thou there- 
 fore receive him, that is, mine own bowels: 
 
 m Verse 1. n Col. 4. 9. o 1 Cor. 4. 15 ; Gal. 4. 19. v 1 Cor. 
 
 16. 17; Phil. 2. 30. 
 
 sion ;is the ardour and sensibility of his own mind. 
 Here, also, as everywhere, he shows himself con- 
 scious of the weight and dignity of his mission : 
 nor does he suffer Philemon, for a moment, to for- 
 get it. St. Paul's discourse at Miletus; his speech 
 before Agrippa; his epistle to the Romans; that to 
 the Galatians, (chapter iv, 11-20;) to the Philip- 
 pians, (i, 29; ii, 2;) the second to the Corinthians, 
 (vi, 1-13 ;) and indeed one part or another of almost 
 every epistle, exhibit examples of a similar appli- 
 cation to the feelings and affections of the persons 
 whom lie addresses. And it is observable that 
 these pathetic effusions, drawn for the most part 
 from his own sufferings and situation, usually pre- 
 cede a command, soften a rebuke, or mitigate the 
 harshness of some disagreeable truth. 
 
 9. Paul the aged — If we allow St. Paul to have 
 been about twenty-five years of age at the utmost, 
 in the year 31, when he was assisting at the mar- 
 tyrdom of Stephen, (Acts vii, 58 ;) as this epistle 
 was written about A.D. 62, he could not have been 
 at this time more than about fifty-six years old. 
 This could not constitute him an " aged " man in 
 our sense of the term ; yet, when the whole length 
 of his life is taken in. being martyred about 
 four years after this, he may not improperly lie 
 considered an " aged' 1 '' or elderly man, though it is 
 generally allowed that his martyrdom took place in 
 the 66th year of our Lord. But the word -npiajlvc. 
 signifies, not only an old man, but also an ambas- 
 sador; because old or elderly men were chosen to 
 fulfil such an office, because of their experience and 
 solidity ; and npeafivTrjc, for nptafvTi/c, is used in 
 the same sense, and for the same reason, by the 
 Septuagint; hence some have thought that we 
 should translate here: Paul the ambassador. This 
 would agree very well with the scope and even 
 the design of the place. [Meyer dissents from 
 Calvin's view, that not age but office is intended 
 by the term TTpso/Sbrt/c, and adds, "He sets himself 
 down as a veteran in contradistinction to the younger 
 friend, who was once his disciple.] 
 
 10. I beseech thee for my son Onesimus — 
 [nr/^nnir, {useful, or prof table.)] It is evident 
 from this that Onesimus was converted by St. Paul 
 while he was prisoner at Rome, and perhaps not 
 long before he wrote this epistle. 
 
 11. Was to thee unprofitable — "A xp>?crov, al- 
 luding to the meaning of Onesimus's name, though 
 the apostle uses a different Greek word to express 
 the same idea. 
 
 12. Whom I have sent again — The Christian 
 religion never cancels any civil relations ; a slave, 
 on being converted, and becoming a freeman of 
 Christ, has no right to claim, on that ground, 
 emancipation from the service of his master. Jus- 
 tirr, therefore, required St. Paul to send back Ones- 
 imus to his master, and co?iscience obliged Onesi- 
 
 SS0 
 
 13 Whom I would have retained with me, 
 p that in thy stead he might have ministered 
 unto me in the bonds of the gospel: 14 But 
 without thy mind would I do nothing; "J that 
 thy benefit should not be as it were of neces- 
 sity, but willingly. 15 r For perhaps he there- 
 fore departed for a season, that thou sho'uldest 
 receive him for ever ; 16 Not now as a ser- 
 vant, but above a servant, s a brother beloved, 
 specially to me, but how much more unto thee, 
 
 q 2 Cor. 9. 7. 
 
 •rSo Gen. 45. 5, 8. 8 Matt. 23. 8; 1 Tim. 
 
 mus to agree in the propriety of the measure ; but 
 love to the servant induced the apostle to write this 
 conciliating letter to the master. (See at the end.) 
 
 13. That in thy stead he might have min- 
 istered unto me — Philemon being one of Paul's 
 converts, the latter became thereby his spiritual 
 father, and had a right to his services when in need. 
 This was a strong argument, not only to induce 
 Philemon to forgive his servant, but to send him 
 back to the apostle, that he might minister to him 
 in his master's stead. 
 
 14. That thy benefit should not be as it 
 were of necessity — If the apostle had kept Ones- 
 imus in his service, and written to Philemon to 
 forgive him and permit him to stay, to this it is 
 probable lie would have agreed; but the benefit 
 thus conceded might have lost much of its real 
 worth by the consideration that, had he been at 
 Colosse, Philemon would not have sent him to 
 Rome ; but, being there and in the apostle's ser- 
 vice, he could not with propriety order him home ; 
 thus the benefit to the apostle would have ap- 
 peared to have been of necessity. The apostle, 
 therefore, by sending him back again, gave Phile- 
 mon the opportunity to do all as if self-moved to 
 it. This is a very delicate touch. 
 
 15. He . . . departed for a season — This is 
 another most delicate stroke. He departed thy 
 slave, thy unfaithful slave; he departed for a short 
 time; but so has the mercy of God operated iu his 
 behalf, and the providence of God in thine, that he 
 now returns, not an unfaithful slave, in whom thou 
 couldst repose no confidence, but as a brother, a 
 beloved brother in tin Lard, to be in the same 
 heavenly family with thee for ever. Thou hast, 
 therefore, reason to be thankful to God that he 
 did depart, that he might be restored to thee again 
 infinitely better than he was when he left thee. 
 God has permitted his unfaithfulness, and overruled 
 the whole both to his advantage and thine. The 
 apology for Onesimus is very similar to that made 
 by Joseph for his brethren, (See Gen. xlv, 5.) 
 
 16. Not now as a servant — Do not receive 
 him merely as thy slave, nor treat him according to 
 that condition ; but as a brother, as a genuine 
 Christian, and particularly dear to me. Both in 
 the flesh, and in the Lord — There is no reason 
 to believe that Onesimus was of the kindred of 
 Philemon; and we must take the term "flesh," 
 here, as referring to the legal relation in which 
 Philemon stood to him. He was a part of his 
 property and of his family ; as a slave, this was 
 his condition ; but he now stood in a twofold re- 
 lation to Philemon: 1) According to the "flesh," 
 as above explained, he was one of his family. 2) 
 " In the Lord ; " he was now also a member of 
 the heaveidy family, and of the Church in Phile- 
 mon's house. Philemon's interest in him was now
 
 PHILEMON 
 
 'l.uth in the flesh, and in the Lord? 17 If 
 thou count me therefore "a partner, receive 
 him as myself. 18 If lie hath wronged thee, 
 or oweth thee aught, put that on mine account; 
 19 I Paul have written it with mine own 
 hand, I will repay it: albeit I do not say to 
 thee how thou owest unto me even thine own 
 self besides. 20 Yea, brother, let me have 
 joy of thee in the Lord: 'refresh my how- 
 els in the Lord. 21 w Having confidence 
 
 t Col. R. 22. n 2 Cor. 8. 23. » Verse 7. >'• 2 Cor. 7. 16.- 
 
 .-• Phil. 1. 25: 2. 24. </2 Cor. 1. 11. z Col. 1. 7; 4. 12. 
 
 doubled, in consequence of his conversion to Chris- 
 tianity. 
 
 17. If thou count me therefore a partner — 
 [Ko/rwroc, one having an interest in common.] If 
 thou dost consider me as a friend, if I have still 
 the place of a friend in thy affection, receive him 
 as myself. 
 
 IS. If he hath wronged thee, or oweth thee 
 aught — Had the apostle been assured that (Mini- 
 mus had robbed his master, he certainly would not 
 have spoken in this hypothetical way: If he have 
 wronged thee, or owe thee aught, (through lack 
 of service while with me,) place all to my ac- 
 count, 
 
 19. I Paul have written it with mine own 
 hand — It is likely that the whole of the letter 
 was written by St. Paul himself, which was not his 
 usual custom. (See on 2 Thess. iii, 17.) But by 
 thus speaking he bound Philemon to do what he 
 requested, as an act of common civility, if he could 
 not feel a higher motive from what lie had already 
 urged. Albeit I do not say to thee how thou 
 owest unto me — I ask thee to do this thing 
 to oblige me, though I will not say how much thou 
 owest unto me. Even thine own self— As I have 
 been the means of thy conversion. 
 
 20. Yea, brother — It is even so, that thou art 
 thus indebted to me. Let me have joy of thee 
 — In forgiving Onesimus, and receiving him into 
 thy favour. In the words ey6 gov bvaifijjv, which 
 we should translate, let me have frokit of line, 
 there is an evident play on the name of Onesimus. 
 Refresh my bowels — Gratify the earnest longing 
 of my soul in this. I ask neither thy money nor 
 thy goods ; I ask what will enrich, not impoverish, 
 thee to give. 
 
 21. Having confidence in thy obedience — 
 I know that it will please thee thus to oblige thy 
 friend, and I know that thou wilt do more than I 
 request, because thou hast the affection of a son 
 to thy spiritual father. 
 
 22. But withal prepare me also a lodging — 
 Does not the apostle mention this as conferring an 
 obligation on Philemon? I will begin to repay 
 thee by taking up my abode at thy house, as soon 
 as I shall be enlarged from prison. For I trust 
 that through your prayers — It is very likely 
 that this epistle was written a short time before 
 the liberation of the apostle from his first impris- 
 onment at Rome, (see Acts xxviii, 30, Phil, ii, 24,) 
 and that he had that liberation now in full pros- 
 pect. 
 
 23. Epaphras, my fellow prisoner — Epa- 
 phras was a Colbssian. (See Col. iv, 12.) But there 
 is no account there of his being in prison, though 
 the not mentioning of it docs not necessarily imply 
 that he was not. Some time or other he had suf- 
 fered imprisonment for the truth of the Gospel ; 
 
 in thy obedience I wrote unto thee, know- 
 ing that thou wilt also do more than I say. 
 22 But withal prepare me also a lodging: for 
 * I trust that y through your prayers I shall 
 be given unto you. 23 There salute thee 
 1 Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus; 
 24 "Marcus, b Aristarchus, c Demas, 'Lucas, 
 my fellow labourers. 25 e The grace of 
 our Lord Jesus Christ lie with your spirit. 
 Amen. 
 
 a Acts 12. 12, 25.- 
 •4. 14.- 
 
 -h Acts 19. 20 
 -d2Tim. 4.11. 
 
 27. 2; Col. 4. 10.- 
 — e2Tim. 4. 22. 
 
 -cCol. 
 
 and on that account St. Paul might, in a general 
 way. call him " fellow prisoner." 
 
 24. Marcus, Aristarchus, etc. — These were 
 all acquaintances of Philemon, and probably Colos- 
 sians ; and may be all considered as joining here 
 with St. Paul in his request for Onesimus. Some 
 think that "Marcus" was the evangelist. "Aris- 
 tarchus " was probably the same with him men- 
 tioned Acts xix, 29; xx, 4; xxvii, 2. (See Col. 
 iv, 10.) Demas- Is supposed to be the same who 
 continued in his attachment to Paul till his last 
 imprisonment at Rome ; after which he left him 
 for what is supposed to have been the lore of the 
 world. (2 Tim. iv, 10.) Lucas — Is supposed to be 
 Luke the evangelist, and author of the Acts of the 
 Apostles. On these suppositions little confidence 
 can lie placed : they may be correct; they may be 
 otherwise. 
 
 25. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be 
 with your spirit — By using the plural, v/noyv, 
 ?/"/'/-, the apostle in effect directs or addresses the 
 epistle, not only to Philemon, but to all tin Church 
 at liix house. Amen — Is wanting, as usual, in the 
 best MSS. 
 
 The subscriptions are also various, and of no 
 value, as in the preceding cases. 
 
 ADDITIONAL NOTE ON VEESE 12. 
 [" Christianity," said Mr. Canning, in one of the 
 debates upon the emancipation of the West India 
 slaves, "grew up amid the scenes of tyranny which 
 are described in the sixth Satire of Juvenal. It 
 recognised the institution of slavery. How can it 
 lie said to be essentially adverse to that institu- 
 tion ? " This question ought to be fairly met. 
 What is the answer? The epistle to Philemon, I 
 think, supplies it. St. Paul, in his letters to the 
 Churches, had not proclaimed that slaves were free 
 from their masters; had not insisted on masters 
 dismissing their slaves; he had simply said that 
 they were brothers. Here he explains that posi- 
 tion. He calls upon a master to receive back a 
 runaway slave as both a servant and a brother. 
 He might, he says, admonish him to do this as an 
 apostle ; but he begs it for the love of Christ, and 
 for the love which Philemon bears to him, the 
 bondman of Christ, because such entreaties are 
 mightier than commands. Here is the method of 
 the apostle and the Church for destroying slavery. 
 They strike at the mot of it, by proclaiming that 
 a man can never lie a thing nor a chattel. But they 
 strike, not merely at a particular arrangement 
 which has introduced that cursed notion and 
 canonized it. but at every oilier that interferes with 
 the recognition of God's fatherhood and Christ's 
 brotherhood, and with the indwelling Spirit of 
 Christ in men, to the end that their true manhood 
 may be called forth in them. — Rev. F. 1>. Maurice.] 
 
 381
 
 PHILEMON. 
 
 the Epistle 
 
 Additional Notes. 
 
 [It is difficult to resist the impression that Paul 
 meant that Philemon should liberate Onesimus, and 
 allow him as his own master to return to Paul at 
 Rome, or to use his liberty in any other way. as he 
 pleased. Having asked every thing short of that 
 already, nothing but that seemed to remain as the 
 something (errtyj 5) which he had not asked. Ac- 
 cording to De Wette, the sense is : "Thou wilt not 
 only pardon him and give him his freedom, (as re- 
 quested before, in verse 16,) but also confer (other) 
 favours." So also Schrader : "Paul, instead of con- 
 tenting himself with having Onesimus set free, 
 (which is presupposed after what is said in verse 
 16,) desires now that he should be dismissed with 
 such other manifest tokens of goodwill as was 
 right to expect from a man of Philemon's noble 
 spirit." Rosenmiiller : " Haec verba ad libertalem 
 servo reduci concede) idam alludere non absimile est 
 vero." " This verse serves," says Alford, " to put 
 Philemon in mind of Paul's apostolical authority, 
 and hints delicately at the manumission of Onesi- 
 mus, which he had not yet requested." Webster 
 and Wilkinson: "Perhaps the apostle refers (in 
 verse 21) to the possibility of Philemon giving 
 Onesimus his freedom." " In the words «AL>c on, 
 k. r. A.," says Koch, (p. 124,) "the apostle ex 
 presses his assurance that Philemon will not only 
 cheerfully forgive the convicted Onesimus his of- 
 fence, and grant him his freedom, but will go fur- 
 ther than this, (bnkp o,) that is, anticipate any 
 other wants, and supply them." Dr. Bleek says: 
 " Without doubt what the apostle principally means 
 is, that Philemon should grant to Onesimus his lib- 
 erty, which he has nowhere definitely expressed 
 as his desire in what precedes, (not even in verse 
 16.) But as a freedman, also, Onesimus might after 
 that stand in a still closer personal relation to him, 
 and remain in his service, as was very often the 
 case with freedmen, the liberti" 
 
 [On the contrary, some others find the meaning 
 to be no more than that Paul had the fullest confi- 
 dence in Philemon as a Christian brother, who would 
 do for Onesimus, who was also their brother, not 
 only what the apostle had asked for him, but more 
 too, if he had asked it. The request is not spe- 
 cific in this case, and no one favour expected of him 
 more than another. So Rothe, (p. 57 :) Mihi Paulus, 
 (■'/in haec seribebat, non certam aliquam reminmen- 
 te habuisse, sed eo modo looctus videtur esse, quo in 
 vita communi solemn* loqui, cum alicui mm dubi- 
 tare non, quia sit in nos qfficiosissimus affirmare 
 vohimusy Meyer holds that there is no reference 
 to the emancipation, either in this verse (16) or in 
 verse 13. " It is doubtful," says Ellicott, " whether 
 this alludes to the manumission of Onesimus. The 
 tenor of the epistle would seem to imply some- 
 thing more than confidence on the part of the 
 apostle that Philemon would show to the fugitive 
 some greater kindness and a more affectionate 
 reception than he had pleaded for." We may say, 
 in conclusion, at all events, that whatever Philemon 
 understood the apostle to say or intimate, he was 
 not slow to perform. The fact of our having this 
 epistle in our hands at the present moment is good 
 proof that he was not remiss in acting upon every 
 intimation of what was to be expected from his 
 friendship or his love of justice ; for our own feel- 
 ings assure us, that he would never have allowed 
 such a letter to see the light, if it was to exist only 
 as a perpetual witness of his ingratitude and his 
 severity. — U. B. Hackett, £>.£>., in Lange.\ 
 382 
 
 [The epistle to Philemon has been deservedly 
 admired as a model of delicacy and skill in the de- 
 partment of composition to which it belongs. The 
 writer has peculiar difficulties to overcome. He 
 was the common friend of the. parties at variance. 
 He must conciliate a man who supposed that he 
 had good reason to be offended. He must com- 
 mend the offender, and yet neither deny nor aggra- 
 vate the imputed fault. He must assert the new 
 ideas of Christian equality in the face of a system 
 which hardly recognised the humanity of the en- 
 slaved. He could have placed the question on the 
 ground of his own (the slave's) personal rights, and 
 yet must waive them in order to procure an act of 
 spontaneous kindness. His success must be a 
 triumph of love, and nothing be demanded for the 
 sake of the justice that could have demanded 
 every thing. He limits his request to the forgive- 
 ness of the alleged wrong, and a restoration to 
 favour and the enjoyment of future sympathy and 
 affection, and yet would so guard his words as to 
 leave scope for all the generosity which benevo- 
 lence might prompt toward one whose condition 
 admitted of so much alleviation. These are con- 
 trarieties not easy to harmonize ; but Paul, it is 
 confessed, has shown a degree of self-denial and a 
 tact in dealing with them which, in being equal to 
 the occasion, could hardly be greater. 
 
 [" The letter," says Eichhorn, " is a voucher for 
 the apostle's urbanity, politeness, and knowledge 
 of the world. His advocacy of Onesimus i- of the 
 most insinuating and persuasive character, and yet 
 without the slightest perversion or concealment of 
 any fact. The errors of Onesimus are admitted, 
 as was necessary, lest the just indignation of h>s 
 master against him should be roused anew ; but 
 they are alluded to in the most admirable manner; 
 the good side of Onesimus is brought into view. 
 but in such a way as to facilitate the friendly re- 
 ception of him by his master, as a consequence of 
 Christianity, to which he had, during his absence, 
 been converted ; ami Ins future fidelity is vouched 
 for by the noble principles of Christianity to which 
 he had been converted. The apostle addresses 
 Philemon on the softest side : Who would wilfully 
 refuse to an aged, a suffering, and an unjustly im- 
 prisoned friend a request? And such was he who 
 thus pleaded for Onesimus. The person recom- 
 mended is a Christian, a dear friend of the apos- 
 tle's, and one who had personally served him ; if 
 Philemon will receive him kindly, it will afford the 
 apostle a proof of his love, and yield him joy. 
 What need, then, for long urgency? The apostle 
 is certain that Philemon will, of his own accord, 
 do even more than he is asked. More cogently 
 and more courteously no man could plead." 
 
 [There is a letter extant of the younger Pliny, 
 (Epis. ix, '-'!,) which he wrote to a friend whose 
 servant had deserted him, in which he intercedes 
 for the fugitive, who was anxious to return to his 
 master, but dreaded the effects of his anger. 
 Thus the occasion of the correspondence was simi- 
 lar to that between the apostle and Philemon. It 
 has occurred to scholars to compare this cele- 
 brated letter with that of Paul in behalf of Onesi- 
 mus ; and as a result they hesitate not to say, that 
 not only in the spirit of Christian love, of which 
 Pliny was ignorant, but in dignity of thought, ar- 
 gument, pathos, beauty of style, eloquence, the 
 communication of the apostle is vastly superior to 
 that of the polished Roman writer. — M'Clintock 
 and Strong's Cyclopaedia.]
 
 PllEFACE TO THE EPISTLE 
 
 TO 
 
 THE HEBKEWS. 
 
 I. GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS. 
 
 THE epistle to the Hebrews is among the most important and valuable of all 
 the apostolic writings. All the doctrines of the Gospel are in it embodied, 
 illustrated, and enforced in a most lucid manner, and by references and examples 
 the most striking and illustrious, and also by arguments the most cogent and con- 
 vincing. It is an epitome of the dispensations of God to man, from the founda- 
 tion of the world to the advent of Christ. It is not only the sum of the Gospel, 
 but the sum and completion of the Law, on which it is also a most beautiful and 
 luminous comment. The writer appears to have taken a portion of another 
 epistle for his text, Christ is the end of the \,wx for righteousness to them that 
 believe, and has most amply and impressively demonstrated this proposition. 
 It is shown that all the rites, ceremonies, and sacrifices of the Mosaic institution 
 had Christ for their object and end,' that they had neither intention nor meaning 
 but in reference to him ; that as a system they were without substance, as a law 
 without reason, and its enactments both impossible and absurd if taken out of 
 this reference and connexion. Never were premises more clearly stated ; never 
 was an argument handled in a more masterly manner; and never was a conclusion 
 more legitimately and satisfactorily brought forth. The matter is everywhere 
 interesting; the manner is engaging; and the language, beautifully adapted 
 to the whole, is everywhere appropriate, always nervous and energetic, dignified 
 as is the subject, pure and elegant, harmonious and diversified. 
 
 II. CANOXICITY. 
 
 More than the usual amount of doubts and controversies have been raised 
 about the right of this epistle to a place among the sacred writings, though at 
 length it was accepted as canonical by the whole Church. Clement of Home, 
 (A. D. 70-95,) who was probably personally conversant with St. Paul, refers to 
 this epistle in the same way as to the other canonical books, and, indeed, more 
 frequently than to any other. After his time it seems to have come under some 
 doubt in the Western Church, and it is seldom cited by any of the early Latin 
 Fathers except Tertullian, who ascribed it to Barnabas. Irenseus knew of its 
 existence, and praised it for its excellence, but seems to have doubted its Pauline 
 origin, and was therefore unwilling to allow it a place among the genuine apos- 
 tolical writings. It is omitted by Caius, (A. I). 210,) who enumerated only 
 
 thirteen Pauline epistles. Hippolytus expressly declares that it is not Paul's; 
 
 383
 
 PREFACE TO THE EPISTLE TO THE. HEBREWS. 
 
 it is not found in Muratori's fragment; and in the Roman Church it seems to 
 have been suspected during the second and third centuries; hut in the fourth 
 century it began to be generally received. Its Pauline authorship seems to have 
 been considered a prerequisite to its canonicity. 
 
 In the Eastern Church it seems to have been received from the first with much 
 more favour than in the West. Justin Martyr is supposed to refer to it, and 
 Clement of Alexandria ascribes it to Paul and Luke. Origen seems to have received 
 it as undoubtedly canonical, and he wrote homilies upon it, as did also most of 
 the Fathers of the Eastern Church. It is found in the Peshito Version, is 
 quoted by Ephrem as St. Paul's, and is included in the catalogue of Ebed-Jesu. 
 St. Jerome, (near the end of the fourth century,) undoubtedly the best biblical 
 scholar of his times, inclined to the same views with the Fathers of the Eastern 
 Church, and his contemporary, Augustine, in North Africa, held a similar opinion. 
 The third Council of Carthage (A. D. 397) declared in its favour, and Pope 
 Innocent (A. D. 416) confirmed it as a part of the sacred canon. The internal 
 evidence in its favour is scarcely less than a demonstration. 
 
 III. AUTHORSHIP. 
 
 Contrary to the opinion that prevailed in the ancient Church, that the canon- 
 icity of the epistle depends on its Pauline authorship, modern critics and scholars 
 have considered the questions of canonicity and authorship as independent of each 
 other. It is generally conceded that the name of the apostle as found in the 
 title to the epistle in our modern Scriptures is without any good authority, not 
 being found in the older manuscripts. Neither in the epistle itself, nor in the 
 superscriptions of the most ancient Greek copies, is the name of the author found. 
 It is quoted as Paul's by Clement of Alexandria. He also says that "the epistle 
 to the Hebrews is Paul's, written to the Hebrews in the Hebrew language, and 
 that Luke easily translated it, and gave it to the Greeks; on which account the 
 translation of this epistle and the Acts shows the same style." That the name 
 of the Apostle Paul is not written at the head of it is natural; for he says that 
 " in writing to the Hebrews, who had a prejudice against him and suspected 
 him, he very prudently did not turn them away from it by putting his name 
 to it," 
 
 Pantsenus, a predecessor of Clement, explains the omission of Paul's name, with 
 an assertion of his apostleship, " because he would not write to the Jews as an 
 apostle, because he regarded the Lord himself as their only apostle." The 
 African Fathers were the first to detect the difference of the style of this epistle 
 from that of most of Paul's writings, and that circumstance, with the confessed 
 Pauline character of its arguments, perhaps suggested the theory that it was 
 originally written by the apostle in Hebrew, and translated into Greek by Luke. 
 To this effect is the remark of Origen: "The style of the epistle to the Hebrews 
 has not the rustic language of the apostle, who acknowledged that he was 'rude in 
 speech,' that is, in style; but that this epistle, in the arrangement of its expressions, 
 is purer Greek every one capable of judging of differences of style would acknowl- 
 edge. But, on the other hand, that the thoughts of the epistle are admirable, 
 and not inferior to the acknowledged apostolic writings — this also every one 
 would concede to be true who carefully reads the apostolic writings." After 
 this he adds: "In giving my opinion, I would say that the thoughts are the 
 apostle's, but the style and conrposition are those of some one who has related 
 
 what the apostle said, and has written down, as scholia, the things said by his 
 
 384
 
 PREFACE TO THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 
 
 instructor. If, then, any Church holds this epistle as Paul's, let it he honoured 
 for this. For not thoughtlessly have the ancients handed it down as Paul's. But 
 ■who wrote the epistle, the truth God (only) knows. The account that has come 
 down to us is that, according to some, Clement, bishop of Rome, wrote the 
 epistle; according to others, Luke, who wrote the gospel and the Acts." Beyond 
 this the scholarship of sixteen centuries has not gone. 
 
 St. Jerome's conclusion is, that as a Hebrew Paul had written in Hebrew, that 
 is, in his own language, most eloquently, so that those things which had been 
 eloquent ly written in Hebrew were more eloquently translated into Greek, and 
 this appears to be the cause why it differs from the other epistles of Paul. 
 
 Augustine and Chrysostom agree in ascribing the epistle to Paul, and while 
 its canonicity was uniformly made secondary to its Pauline authorship, it never- 
 theless is found in most of the oldest and best Versions, including the Memphitic, 
 Thebaic, ^Ethiopic, and Armenian. It seems quite safe, therefore, to accept the 
 conclusion that its authorship and its canonicity are independent questions. 
 
 From the history of the epistle in the first four centuries it appears that the 
 weight of evidence is in favour of its having originated, either directly or 
 indirectly, from the Apostle Paul, though most probably it was not composed by 
 the apostle himself; and against this conclusion modern criticism has failed to 
 produce any overpowering objections. 
 
 IV. TO WHOM ADDRESSED. 
 
 The title of the epistle, which it has always borne, and also the character of 
 its matter, clearly indicate that it was originally addressed to Hebrew Christians, 
 and with this the unanimous testimony of the ancient Church agrees. Whether 
 it was addressed to some particular class or body of these is a question that cannot 
 be positively answered either way. The general contents being an exposition of 
 the Levitical system, with special reference to its Christological properties, seem 
 to indicate that its design is for the instruction of all Jewish Christians. On the 
 other hand, there are some special remarks and references which seem to imply 
 that it was written to the Jewish Christians of some locality, and that not 
 Jerusalem, though similar references may be found in the confessedly catholic 
 epistles. But if Jerusalem is excluded from the list of places to whose Christian 
 inhabitants the epistle might have been addressed, what other place or places may 
 be fixed upon as its probable destination ? In answer to this question nearly 
 every city or country named in the apostolic writings has been designated, which 
 diversity sufficiently indicates the worthlessness of all such conjectures. A pretty 
 strong case has been made out in favour of Alexandria, where there was a large 
 body of Jewish Christians, and also a Judai/.ing influence scarcely less powerful 
 and persistent than at Jerusalem. The language and style of argumentation 
 seem also to point to that place; but the entire absence of any recognition of 
 this among the early Alexandrian Fathers makes this supposition very doubtful. 
 Alford, after Wetstein and Holzmann, inclines to decide in favour of Rome, 
 where the Judaizing influence was especially strong in the early Church; and with 
 this theory, it is pleaded, the particular references in the epistle very well agree. 
 
 As the drift of modern opinion has been toward a Pauline authorship of the 
 
 epistle, (though not in favour of its being the autograph of that apostle,) so has 
 
 it inclined to favour the Palestinian Jews in particular, and the whole Hebrew 
 
 nation more generally, as those to whom the epistle was originally written. In 
 
 the intense and bitter controversy then proceeding between the Judaizing party 
 Vol. II.— 25 385
 
 PREFACE TO THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 
 
 in the Church and those who (with Paul at their head) were contending for the 
 equal rights of Gentile believers without their becoming subject to the ceremonial 
 law, there was a strong tendency in the Hebrew mind to wholly reject the 
 Christian system in favour of its national faith and practice. Against this 
 tendency to apostasy from Christ this epistle is specifically a dissuasive, and as 
 such it was needed by all Jewish Christians everywhere, and it was alike perti- 
 nent to the case of all. It Avas, therefore, pretty certainly intended, ulteriorly, 
 for all Hebrew Christians. 
 
 V. TIME AND PLACE OF WRITING. 
 
 Almost all commentators agree in believing that this epistle was written 
 before the destruction of Jerusalem. The uninterrupted continuation of the temple 
 services is all along, either directly or indirectly, implied, and it has been well said 
 that " it would be inconceivable that such an epistle should be addressed to Jews 
 after their city and temple had ceased to exist," and more especially that no 
 reference to that fact should be made. Accordingly, its date must precede 
 A. D. 70. Other facts and references seem to fix its date only a little while 
 previous to that catastrophe, and accordingly A. D. GS-G9 may be accepted as 
 certainly about the tune of its composition. 
 
 The place of its preparation cannot be so readily determined. The phrase bi 
 and 'IraAmc, they <<f (or from) Italy salute you, casts no light on the subject, 
 since the Italians referred to may have been residents or exiles in some foreign 
 city. Jerusalem and all Palestine is excluded by the war then raging in that 
 country. A strong plea of probability may be made in favour of Alexandria, on 
 account of the style and mode of argumentation, which plea is also favourable to 
 the theory that makes Apollos or Barnabas the writer. The subscription to the 
 accepted text, "To the Hebrews from Italy," is sustained by no adequate 
 authority. Alford decides in favour of Ephesus, but adds, "It must be remem- 
 bered that on this head all is in the realm of the vaguest conjecture." 
 
 VI. OCCASION, PURPOSE, CONTENTS. 
 
 The enmity of the Jews to the Gospel had brought a double danger on the 
 Church, and especially on the believing Hebrews; on the one hand of pei'secution, 
 on the other of apostasy. In the absence of the apostles the Jewish converts, in 
 the various Churches, were all the time subject to temptation to fall away from 
 the despised and unhistorical religion of Jesus of Nazareth into the more com- 
 pact, and apparently safer, system of their childhood. To meet this state of the 
 case seems to be the object of this epistle, which is sought to be effected by 
 showing them the superiority of the Gospel to the former covenant, and espec- 
 ially by exhibiting the superiority of Jesus himself to both the messengers and 
 the high priests of that former covenant. The whole Old Testament system is 
 shown to point directly to Christ, Avho had met all the requirements of its proph- 
 ecies, and given significance to its symbolical services; and therefore as Jews, 
 believers in the promises made by God to the fathers, they were most sacredly 
 bound to accept Christ as the prophet and high priest of their profession. To 
 apostatize from Christ would, therefore, be to abandon the faith of God's pecul- 
 iar people, and to come short of the end of all the promises given from Abraham 
 onward. And since in Christ alone was there a way of salvation, to turn away 
 from him would be to incur certain and most fearful perdition. 
 
 The author sets forth the dignity of Christ, the importance of giving heed 
 386
 
 PREFACE TO THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 
 
 to his teachings, his incarnation and priesthood, the danger of unbelief, and the 
 grounds of confidence in God through the priesthood of Christ. He argues the 
 perpetual priesthood of Christ from his being a priest after the order of Melchiz- 
 edek, and affirms the ability of Christ to save forever all who come to God 
 through him. (Chapters i-vii.) lie shows that the old covenant was abolished, 
 ami a new one substituted in its place, and that the institutions, especially the 
 sacrificial rites of the old covenant, were typical of the new, and of the sacrifice of 
 Christ for the sins of men. (Chapters viii-x, 18.) He exhorts his readers to stead- 
 fastness in the faith, and warns them against apostasy, lie sets forth the power 
 of faith from examples in the Old Testament, exhorts believers to fidelity, and 
 contrasts the privileges of the new dispensation with those of the old. (Chapters 
 x, 19-xii.) He closes with an exhortation to the performance of the practical 
 duties of the religion of Christ. (Chapter xiii.) — Harman. 
 
 ANALYSIS OF THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 
 
 I. Proposition — The Majesty and Pre-eminence of Christ, chaps. ,i-iii. 
 It. The Proofs, or Arguments. 
 
 1. Christ is Greater than Angels, chapter i, 4-14; ii, 1-18. 
 
 (1) Because he has a more excellent name than they, chapter i, 4, 5. 
 
 (2) Because the angels of God adore him, verse 6. 
 (:-;) Because the angels were created by him, verse 7. 
 
 (4) Because, in his human nature, he was endowed with greater gifts than they, verses 8, 9. 
 
 (5) Because he is eternal, verses 10, 11, 12. 
 
 (6) Because he is more highly exalted, verse 13. 
 
 (7) Because the angels are only the servants of God ; he, the Son, verse 14. 
 
 In the application of this argument the writer exhorts the Hebrews not to neglect 
 Christ, chapter ii, 1, by arguments drawn — 
 
 (1) From the minor to the major, chapter ii, 2, 3. 
 
 (2) Because the preaching of Christ was confirmed by mrracles, chapter ii, 4. 
 
 (3) Because, in the economy of the New Testament, angels arc not the administrators, but 
 
 the Messiah himself, to whom all things are subject, chapter ii, 5. 
 
 Here the apostle inserts a twofold objection, professedly drawn from divine reve- 
 lation : — 
 
 (1) Christ is man, and therefore less than the angels, chapter ii, 6, 7. 
 Answered : — 
 
 a. Christ, by his death and resurrection, overcame all enemies and subdued all things 
 
 to himself. 
 
 b. Though Christ took on him this mortal state, that he might redeem man, he did 
 
 this without any prejudice to his divinity, chapter ii, 10-18. 
 
 2. Christ is Greater than Moses, chapter iii, 1-6. 
 
 (1) Because Moses was only the servant, Christ the Lord, chapter iii, 1-6. 
 
 (2) Illustrations from Psalm xcv, 7-14, drawn out at length, chapter iii, 7-iv, 13. 
 
 3. Christ is Greater than Aaron and all his Successors. 
 
 (1) Because he has entered, not within the veil of the tabernacle, but into heaven, to make 
 
 an atonement for sin, chapter iv, 14. 
 
 (2) Because he is the Son of God, verse 14. 
 
 (3) Because it is from him we are to implore grace and mercy, chapter iv, 15, Ii5, and chapter 
 
 v, 1, 2, 3 
 
 (4) Because he was consecrated high priest by God himself, chapter v, 4-10. 
 
 (5) Because he was a priest after the order of Melchizedek, chapter v, 6-vii, entire. 
 
 (6) Because his priesthood was not typical but real, chapter viii, 1-ix, 11. 
 
 387
 
 PREFACE TO THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 
 
 4. The Application. 
 
 (1) That they should carefully retain their faith in Christ as the true Messiah, chapter x, 19-23. 
 
 (2) That they should be careful to live a godly life, chapter x, 24, 25. 
 
 (3) That they should take care not to incur the punishment of disobedience, chapter x, 32-37 ; 
 
 xii, 3-12. 
 
 (4) That they should have faith in God, and not turn back to perdition, chapter x, 38 ; xii, 2. 
 
 (5) That they should consider and imitate the faith and obedience of their eminent ancestors, 
 
 chapter xi. 
 
 (6) That they should take courage, and not be remiss in the practice of the true religion, 
 
 chapter xii, 12-24. 
 
 (7) That they should take heed not to despise the Messiah, now speaking to them from 
 
 heaven, chapter xii, 25-29. 
 
 III. Practical and Miscellaneous Exhortations, Suggestions, and Sal- 
 utations, chapter xiii. 
 
 (1) In respect to social relations and duties, chapter xiii, 1-6, and 16. 
 
 (2) In respect to their Christian rulers, chapter xiii, 7, 8, and 17. 
 
 (3) To steadfastness in doctrines, chapter xiii, 9. 
 
 (4) To entire consecration to Christ, and deadness to the woild, chapter xiii, 10-15. 
 
 (5) Prayer solicited, chapter xiii, 18, 19. 
 
 (6) A benediction, chapters xx, xxi. 
 
 (7) Closing salutations, chapter xxii-xxv. 
 
 [P. S. — The conjecture that this epistle may have been written at Cesarea, by 
 St. Luke, under the direction of St. Paul, during his two years' captivity in that 
 city, (about A. D. 58-60,) has many things to be said in its favour. 1) There was 
 ample opportunity, then and there, for writing it ; 2) the Christians at Jeru- 
 salem were at that time subjected to very strong temptations to renounce their 
 faith in Christianity, as it seemed to be becoming arrayed against Judaism; 
 3) in this opposition is seen the pertinency of the principal arguments used, espec- 
 ially, that of Paul's being personally unacceptable to many members of the 
 Church at Jerusalem, in consequence of which it might be thought desirable that 
 the letter should appear to be written by some one else; and, 4) who so likely or 
 so suitable for that work as St. Paul's attached associate and historiographer, to 
 whose style that of the epistle bears so strong a resemblance, and who it has 
 been supposed then and there prepared both his Gospel and the larger part of 
 
 the Acts.] 
 
 388
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE 
 
 TO 
 
 THE HEBREWS. 
 
 G 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 OD, who at sundry times and a in divers 
 manners spake in time past imto the fa- 
 
 ir Num. 12. 6,8. b Deut. 4. 30 ; Gal. 4. 4 ; Eph. I. 10. c John 
 
 1. 17; 15. 15; chap. 2. 3. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTEK I. 
 1. God, who at sundry times and in divers 
 manners — We can scarcely conceive any thing 
 more dignified than the opening of this epistle ; 
 the sentiments are exceedingly elevated, and the 
 language harmony itself. The infinite God is at 
 once produced to view, not indeed in his natural 
 attributes of power and wisdom and eternity, but 
 in the manifestation of his love to the world, as 
 demonstrated by giving a revelation of his will re- 
 specting the salvation of mankind, and thus pro- 
 paring the way through a long train of purposes 
 and processes for the introduction of his own Son. 
 This Son, in the fulness of time, was manifested in 
 the flesh that he might complete all vision and 
 prophecy, supply all that was wanting to perfect the 
 great scheme of revelation for the instruction of the 
 world, and then die to put away sin by the sacri- 
 fice of himself. The description here given of this 
 glorious personage is exceedingly elevated and sub- 
 lime. Even in his humiliation, lie is r-t ill infinitely 
 exalted above all the angelic host, is the object 
 of their unceasing adoration, is permanent on his 
 eternal throne at the right hand of the Father, 
 and from him even the angels receive their com- 
 mands to minister to those whom he has redeemed 
 by his blood. This first chapter, which may be 
 considered the introduction to the whole epistle, 1 is, 
 for importance of subject, dignity of expression, 
 harmony and energy of language, compression and 
 yet distinctness of ideas, equal, if not superior, to 
 any other part of the New Testament. "At sun- 
 dry times ; " ILoTivfiepuc, manifoldly. "In divers 
 manners." Ho7M-p6~ug, variously as to forms. 
 These words seem to be intended to point out the 
 imperfect state of divine revelation under the Old 
 Testament ; it was not complete, nor could it with- 
 out the New be considered a sufficiently ample dis- 
 covery of the divine will. Under the Old Testa- 
 ment, revelations were made ftoTivpepuc nai -<>'/ v- 
 rpdnuc, various as to times and persons and laws 
 and forms of teaching, with various degrees of 
 clearness, under various sftadows, types, and fig- 
 ures, and with various modes of revelation, by vis- 
 ions, dreams, mental impressions, etc. (See Num. 
 xii, 6, S.) lint under the New Testament all is done 
 (i-/i.n\ simply, by oik.' person, that is Jesus, who has 
 fulfilled the prophets and completed prophecy; who 
 
 thers by the prophets, 2 ITath 'in these last 
 days spoken unto us by his Son, <l whom he 
 hath appointed heir of all things, e by whom 
 
 dPsa,. 2. 8; Matt. 21. 38; 28. 18: John 3. 35; Rom. 8. 17. 
 
 . John 1. 3; 1 Cor. 8. ti; Col. 1. Hi. 
 
 is the way. the truth, and the life ; and the founder, 
 mediator, and governor of his own kingdom. One 
 great object of the writer seems to be to put the 
 simplicity and completeness of the Christian system 
 in opposition to the complexity and incompleteness 
 of the Mosaic economy. The excellence of the 
 Gospel above the Law is here set down in three 
 points: 1) God spake unto the faithful under tin- 
 Old Testament by Moses and the prophets ; worthy 
 servants, yet servants : now the Son is much better 
 than a servant. (Verse 4.) 2) Whereas the body 
 of the Old Testament was long in compiling, being 
 about a thousand years from Moses to Malaehi ; 
 [ami from the beginning God was all along reveal- 
 ing himself and his will and purposes to mankind, | 
 God also spake unto the fathers by piecemeal, one 
 while raising up one prophet, another while an- 
 other; now sending them one parcel of prophecy 1 
 or history, than another; but when Christ came, all 
 was brought to perfection in one age ; the apostli s 
 and evangelists were alive; some of them when 
 every part of the New Testament was completely 
 finished. •"•) The Old Testament was delivered by 
 God "in divers manners," both in utterance and 
 manifestation ; but the delivery of the Gospel was 
 in a more simple manner ; for, although there are 
 various penmen, yet the subject and the treatment 
 are substantially the same. By the prophets — 
 ['Ev to'iq TcpoQTJTacg, in tin prophets, personally, (not 
 the prophecies,) as iv viu is in the Sort, indicating 
 the nature of their inspiration. See Turner.] 
 
 2. Last days — The gospel dispensation, called 
 the "last days" and "last time," because not to be 
 followed by any other dispensation; or the conclu- 
 sion of the Jewish Church and State, now at their 
 termination. [The present time, age, or dispensa- 
 tion may always be spoken of as the last until 
 superseded by a later.] By his Son — 'Er vifi, 
 (without the article, and having nothing corre- 
 sponding to "his," as in the English Version.) 
 [We may say that Jesus is the Son of God: 
 by this (form of expression) is definitely enough 
 expressed the fact, and the distinction from other 
 sons implied; but we may also say that he is "Son 
 of God;" and we thus give the predicate all fulness 
 of meaning and prominence, and even more emphat- 
 ically and definitely express the exclusive character 
 of his Sonship.—Alford] Whom he hath ap- 
 
 SS'J
 
 HEBREWS. 
 
 sus Christ enthroned on the rig;ht 
 hand of the Majesty on high. 
 
 also lie made the worlds; 3 f Who being the 
 brightness of his glory, and the express image 
 of his person, and ^upholding all things by the 
 word of his power, h when he had by himself 
 
 /John 1. 14; 14. 9; 2 Cor. 4. 4; Col. 1. 15. (/John 1.4; Col. 
 
 1. 17; Rev. 4. 11. h Chap. 7. 27; 9. 12, 14, 26. 
 
 pointed — ["Oi> edquev. The date of this transaction 
 asadivine purpose is of old, even from everlasting. 
 (Prov. viii. 23, see Psalm ii, 6, 7.) Its historical man- 
 ifestation is seen in the incarnation, and especially 
 i:i the final exaltation of the risen and ascended 
 Christ to the right hand of the Father. (Mark xvi, 
 19; Luke x.xii, 69; Eph. i, 20, etc.)] The apostle 
 begins with the lowest state in which Christ has 
 ire 1 : 1) His being a Son, born of a woman, 
 an 1 made under the law. He then ascends, 2) To 
 his being an Heir, and Heir of all things. 3) He 
 then describes him as the Creator of all worlds. 
 4) As the brightness of the divine glory. 5) As the 
 express image of His person, or character of the 
 divini substance. 6) As sustaining the universe by 
 the word of his power. 7) As having made an 
 atonement for the sin of the world. 8) As being 
 on the right hand of God, infinitely exalted above 
 all created beings ; and the object of adoration to 
 all the angelic host. 9) As having an eternal 
 throne, neither his person nor his dignity ever 
 changing or decaying. 10) As continuing to exer- 
 cise dominion, when the earth and the heavens are 
 no more ! It is only in God manifested in the flesh 
 that all these excellences can possibly appear, 
 therefore the apostle begins this astonishing climax 
 with the simple Sonship of Christ, or his incarna- 
 tion ; for on this all that he is to man, ami all 
 that he has done for man, is built. 
 
 3. Tie brightness of his glory — 'Airavyaa/ia 
 tt/c <Vi:i/r ; the resplendent outbeaining of the 
 essential glory of God. The same form of expres- 
 sion i< used by an apocryphal writer, ( Wisdom, 
 chapter vii, 26,) speaking of the uncreated wisdom 
 of God : " For she is the splendour of eternal light, 
 airavyaa/ia yap karl (purijc aidiov, and the unsullied 
 mirror of the energy of God, and the image of his 
 goodness." The word avyaa/ia indicates that which 
 has splendour in itself, a~a'vyaaiia is the splendour 
 emitted from it ; but the inherent splendour and 
 the exhibited splendour are radically and essen- 
 tially the same. The express image of his per- 
 son — ~K.apaK.TTjp ri/r vKooraGeuc. avrov ; the char- 
 acter or impression of his hypostasis or substance. 
 It is supposed that these words expound the for- 
 mer; "image" expounding brigMness, and "per- 
 son," or substance, glory. The hypostasis of God 
 is, that which is essential to "him as God ; and the 
 character or image is that by which the likeness of 
 the original becomes manifest. From these words 
 it is evident, 1) That the .apostle states Jesus 
 Christ to "be of the same essence with the Father, 
 as the airavyaofia, or proceeding splendour, must be 
 the same with the avyaa/ia, or inherent splendour. 
 2) That Christ, though proceeding from the Father, 
 is of the same essence; for if one avyr), or splen- 
 dour, produces another avyr), or splendour, the pro- 
 duced splendour must be of the same essence with 
 that which produces it. 3) That although Christ 
 is thus of the same essence with the Father, yet 
 he is a distinct person from the Father; as the 
 splendour of the sun, though of the same essence, 
 is distinct from the sun itself, though each is essen- 
 tial to the other. 4) That Christ is eternal witli 
 the Father, as the proceeding splendour must neces- 
 390 
 
 purged our sins, 'sat down on the right hand 
 of the Majesty on high; 4 Being made so 
 much better than the angels, as k he hath by 
 inheritance obtained a more excellent name 
 
 i Psa. 110. 1; Eph. 1. 20; chap. 8. 1 ; 10. 12; 12. 2: 1 Peter 3. 22. 
 A Eph. 1. 21; Phil. 2. 0, 10. 
 
 sarily be coexistent with the inherent splendour. 
 If the one, therefore, be uncreated ami eternal, so 
 must the other be. Upholding all things by 
 the word of his power — -[Implying both preser- 
 vation and government. . . The whole universe 
 hangs on his arm. ... He speaks and it is done ; 
 he commands and it stands fast. — Brown^\ Purged 
 our sins— There may lie here some reference to 
 the great transactions in the wilderness. The Is- 
 raelites murmured against Moses and against God*, 
 and provoked the heavy displeasure of the Most 
 High : and would have been consumed had not 
 Aaron made an atonement for them by offering 
 victims and incense. But Jesus not only makes 
 an atonement for Israel, but for the whole world ; 
 not with the blood of bulls and goats, but with his 
 own blood : hence it is said that he '" purged our 
 sins," oV avrov, by himself, his own body and life 
 being the victim. [The act of purification is des- 
 ignated as the special and peculiar work of the 
 Son. The reading dV eavrov designates at the 
 same time directly the person of Jesus Christ as 
 the means of purification, and we must refer in our 
 minds specially to the identity of the priest and 
 the expiatory sacrifice, (chapter vii, 27, x, 10,) as 
 the ideas of purification and expiation stand in 
 close relation. (See Exod. xxix, 36.) — Laugc.~\ Ka- 
 daptauur usually means purification ; but in Helle- 
 nistic Greek it is also employed for expiation. (See 
 Septuagint, Exod. xxix, 36; xxx, 10.) That it can- 
 not be used here in the simple sense of purifica- 
 tion by moral means, — such as doctrine, etc., is 
 evident from its being' joined with 6C eavrov, ("by 
 himself,") which is explained in chapter ii, 14 by 
 Aiii riii' Ihirdrov, (through death,) and in chapter ix, 
 26 by 6ia rr)c Bvciae avrov, {through the sacrifice 
 ofi himself.) This last expression I understand as 
 the full form, expressing what is elliptically ex- 
 pressed in our text by 6 c' eavrov. — Stuart.~\ The 
 right hand of the Majesty on high — As it were, 
 associated with the supreme Majesty in glory ever- 
 lasting, and in the government of all tilings in time 
 and in eternity ; for the " right hand " is the place 
 of the greatest eminence. (1 Kings ii, 19.) The 
 king himself, in Eastern countries, sits on the 
 throne ; the next to him in the kingdom, and the 
 highest favourite, sits on his " right hand ; " and 
 the next greatest personage, on his left. [The 
 great high priest of our profession, when he ap- 
 peared in the presence of God, having finished the 
 work given him to do, (John xvii, 4,) presenting 
 the lilood of the sacrifice, instead of retiring, sat 
 down as an abiding priest there ; and he sat down, 
 not only in the divine presence but on the divine 
 throne, — on the divine right hand, — to sway the 
 sceptre of the universe, and to be head over all 
 things to his body, the Church. — Brown.] 
 
 4. So much better than the angels — The Jews 
 had the highest opinion of the transcendent excel- 
 lence of angels ; they even associated them with 
 God in the creation of the world, and supposed them 
 to be of the privy council of the Most High ; and 
 thus they understand Gen. i, 2li : Let us make 'mini 
 in our image, after oar likeness. (See the Targum 
 of Jonathan ben Uzziel.) As, therefore, the Jews
 
 Tlie angels nf r:,„l ci mmaiided to 
 worship Jesus tin- Christ. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 A. M. 4067. A. D. 63. 
 Year of Rome, 316. 
 
 than the}*. 5 For unto which of the angels 
 said lie at any time, 'Thou art my Son, this 
 day have I begotten thee? And again, '"I 
 will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me 
 
 ?Psa. 2. 7; Acts 13. 33; chap. 5.5. — >n2Sam. 7. 14: I Chron. 
 22. 10; 28.6; Psa. 89. 20,27. >i Or, Wht >i fit bringeth again. 
 
 considered them next to God, and none entitled to 
 their adoration but God; on their own ground the 
 apostle proves Jesus Christ to be God, because 
 (rod commanded all the angels of heaven to wor- 
 ship him. \^ilv (verse 3) signifies simply being, 
 (static;) yevdpeyoc implies a becoming, (in the aorist, 
 having become,) for the exaltation of the Son in his 
 incarnation is a supt rinduced estate. Having, as 
 man, become "a little lower than the angels," 
 (chapter ii, 7,) he is now. having accomplished the 
 work assigned and gone up on high, inducted into 
 the place of highest power, being Kpeirrav ruv 
 «;;., L /<.jr, essentially more excellent than the angels.] 
 By inheritance obtained — KEK2,npov6/xnKi vbvofia. 
 The verb KAqpovo/ueiv signifies generally to partici- 
 pate, possess, obtain, or acquire ; and is so used 
 by the purest Greek writers. It is not by ''inheri- 
 tance " (as acquiring something not his before) that 
 Christ possesses a more excellent name than an- 
 gels, but as God ; he has it naturally and essentially; 
 and, as God manifested in the flesh, he has it in 
 consequence of his humiliation, sufferings, and 
 meritorious death. (See Phil, ii, 9 ) 
 
 5. Thou art my Son, this day have I begot- 
 ten thee — These words are quoted from Psalm ii, 
 7, a psalm that seems to refer only to the Messiah ; 
 and they are quoted by St. Paul (Acts xiii, 33) as 
 referring to the resurrection of Jesus. And this 
 application of them is confirmed by the same apos- 
 tle, (Rom. i, 4,) as by his resurrection from the 
 dead he wets declared — manifestly proved — to be the 
 Son of God with power. The words, This day 
 have I begotten thee, must, I think, refer either to 
 his incarnation, when he was miraculously con- 
 ceived in the womb of the Virgin by the power of the 
 Holy Spirit ; or to his resurrection from the dead, 
 when God, by this sovereign display of his almighty 
 energy, declared him to be his Son, vindicated his 
 innocence, and also the purity and innocence of 
 the blessed Virgin, who was the mother of this Son, 
 and who declared him to be produced in her womb 
 by the power of God. The resurrection of Christ, 
 therefore, to which the words more properly refer, 
 not only gave the fullest proof that he was an in- 
 nocent and righteous man, but also that he had ac- 
 complished the purpose for which he died, and that 
 his conception was miraculous, and his mother a 
 pure ami unspotted virgin. He shall be to me a 
 Son — As the Jews have ever blasphemed against 
 the sons/lip of Christ, it was necessary to adduce 
 and make strong all his proofs, and show that this 
 was not a new revelation: that it was that which 
 was chiefly intended in several Scriptures of the 
 Old Testament. This place (quoted from "2 Sam. 
 vii, 14) shows us that the Seed which God prom- 
 ised to David, and who was to sit «/«<// his throne, 
 and whose throne should be established forever, wa^ 
 not Solomon, but Jesus Christ. 
 
 6. And again, when he bringeth in the 
 firstbegotten — This is not a correct translation 
 of the Greek, "Orav 6e waTuv eiaayayn rbv wpur6- 
 tokov etc Ttjv olicovfiivjfv, But when lie bringeth again 
 (nakiv, the second time) the firstborn into the habi 
 table world, [etc 7l / r oimvfikvT], into the world of 
 mankind, that is, among men. (John i, 14.)] Upon 
 
 a Son? 6 "And again, when lie bringeth in 
 "the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, 
 i And let all the angels of God worship him. 
 7 And 'i of the angels he saith, r Who maketh 
 
 oRom. 8. 29; Col. 1. is-. Rev. 1. 5. joDcut. 32. 43. LXX; 
 
 I'sa. 97. 7; 1 Peter 3. 22. qGrr. unto. rPsa. H-4. i. 
 
 the cross both the Godhead and the human spirit 
 left his dead body ; and as, on his resurrection, 
 these were reunited to his revivified manhood, 
 therefore, with the strictest propriety, does the 
 apostle say that the resurrection was a sir,,, id 
 bringing <f him into tin- world. 1 have translated 
 n'lhoeut 17/ the habitablt world, and this is its proper 
 meaning; [here used in reference to its inhabi- 
 tants, mankind, rather than the material world;] 
 and thus it is distinguished from udofioq, which sig- 
 nifies the globe, independently of its inhabitants; 
 (hough it often expiesses both the inhabited and 
 uninhabited paits. Our Lord's first coming into 
 the world is expressed by this latter word, (chapter 
 x, 5 :) Wherefore when he cometh into the world, dib 
 i 'm: p i out voc elg rbv k6o~/j.ov, and this simply refers 
 to his being incarnated, that he might be capable 
 of suffering and dying for man. But the word is 
 changed on this second coming, that is, his resur- 
 rection, and oiKOV/iEvnv is used. He was now to 
 dwell with man; to send his Gospel even where to all 
 the inhabitants of the earth, and (himself) to accom- 
 pany that Gospel wherever it might go, and to be 
 present wherever two or three should be gathered 
 together in his name. Wherever the messengers 
 of Jesus Christ go, preaching the kingdom of Cod 
 even to the farthest and most desolate parts of the 
 earth where human beings exist, there they ever 
 find Christ ; he is not only in them, and with tliem, 
 but he is in and among [those to whom they preach, 
 and especially] all who believe on him through 
 their word. Let all the angels of God worship 
 him — The writer recurs here to his former asser- 
 tion, that Jesus is higher than the angels, (verse 1,) 
 that lie is essentially different from those who are 
 ordinarily called angels or messengers, and that he 
 is properly the object of worship to all the angels 
 of God. To worship any creature is idolatry, and 
 therefore Jesus Christ can be no creature, else 
 the angels who worship him would lie guilty of 
 idolatry, and God himself, because he commanded 
 those angels to worship Christ, the author of that 
 idolatry. There has been some difficulty in ascer- 
 taining the place from which the apostle quotes 
 these words; some suppose Psalm xcvii, 7: Wor- 
 ship him, all ye gods; which the Septuagint trans- 
 lates thus: UpoaKvvrjaciTE avr&, iravrec hyyekoi 
 avrov, Worship him, all ye his angels; but it is 
 not clear that the .Messiah is intended in this Psalm, 
 nor are the words precisely those used here by the 
 apostle. Cur marginal references send us with 
 great propriety to the Septuagint version of Deut. 
 xxxii, 43, where the passage is found as here 
 (pioted ; but there is nothing ansv, ering to the words 
 in the present Hebrew text. The apostle undoubt- 
 edly quoted from the Septuagint, which had then 
 been for more than three hundred years a version id' 
 the highest repute among the Jews; and it is very 
 probable that the copy from which the Seventy 
 translated had the corresponding (Hebrew) words. 
 However this may be, they are now sanctioned by 
 divine authority. 
 
 Deut. xxxii, 43, (Septuagint.) accurately translated 
 reads : Rejoice, ye heaven, together with him; and let 
 all the angels of God worship lam; rejoice, ve (ict- 
 
 391
 
 HEBREWS. 
 
 his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of 
 fire. 8 But unto the Son lie saith, 'Thy 
 throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre 
 
 «Psa. 45. 6,7. — tGr. rightness, or, straightness. 
 
 tiles, with his people; and let the children of God 
 be strengthened in him; for lie will avenge the 
 
 blood of his children ; he will avenge, and will re- 
 pay judgment to his adversaries ; and those who 
 hate him will he recompense; and the Lord will 
 purge the land of his people. 
 
 To this very important verse, as it stands in the 
 Septuagint, St. Paul refers in Rom. xv, 10. [A 
 still larger omission in our present Hebrew text, or 
 an addition in the Septuagint, occurs in] Rom. iii, 
 where there is a large quotation from Psalm xiv of 
 six whole verses, which are not found in the pres- 
 ent Hebrew text, but are preserved in the Septu- 
 agint !] 
 
 7. Who maketh his angels spirits— They are 
 so far from being superior to Christ, that they are 
 not called God's sons in any peculiar sense, but his 
 servants, as tempests and lightnings are. In many 
 respects they may have been made inferior even to 
 man as he came out of the hands of his Maker, 
 for he was made in the image and likeness of God ; 
 but of the angels, even the highest order of them, 
 this is never spoken. [Hpbc viov, to the Sim, indi- 
 cating an address, not of, (~epi. concerning.) The 
 address to the Son (verse 8) is direct and personal ; 
 that to the angels somewhat by indirection. So 
 Bengel here, "to the angels (he speaks) by indirect 
 speech ; to the Son by direct." '0 iroiuv, who maketh 
 his angels winds, andhis ministers (servants) a flame 
 of fire. ' As the words stand in the Greek (of the 
 LXX, Psalm civ, 4) the arrangement and tendering 
 of them is unquestionably as above. But the sense 
 of the original Hebrew is not so obvious. After 
 stating (verses 2,3) that God takes light tor his rai- 
 ment, and the heavens for a tent, and the clouds 
 for a chariot, we read (in verse 4 :) V3X79 ni">' 
 Dijb G?X Vnvrp ninn. And it is contended (by 
 
 Calvin and many others) that these words can 
 only mean, from the context, " Who maketh the 
 winds his messengers, and Haines of tire (light- 
 nings?) his servants," and that the sense in which 
 it is here used is entirely " alien." This, in- 
 deed, is probably the primary sense of the words 
 of the Psalmist, while the sense given to them 
 by the Septuagint and the text, though grammati- 
 cally secondary, is its deeper and truer sense. 
 Like the winds and the lightnings, the angels are 
 only God's messengers and servants, in widest con- 
 trast with the essential glory and godhead of the 
 Son. See Alford.] 
 
 8. Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever 
 — The words here quoted are taken from Psalm 
 xlv, 6, 7, which the ancient Chaldee paraphrast and 
 the most intelligent rabbins refer to the Messiah. 
 They are very properly considered a proof, and in- 
 deed a strong one, of the divinity of Christ ; but 
 some late versions of the New Testament have en- 
 deavoured to avoid the evidence of this proof by 
 translating the words thus: God is thy throne for 
 ever and ever. Mr. Wakefield vindicates this trans- 
 lation at large in his "History of Opinions;" and 
 6 Qebg, being the nominative ease, is supposed to 
 be a sufficient justification of this rendering. In 
 answer to this, it may be stated that the nominative 
 case is often used for the vocative, particularly by 
 
 392 
 
 of ' righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. 
 9 Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated 
 iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, "hath 
 
 u Isa. 61. 1 ; Acts 4. 27 : 10. 38. 
 
 the Attics ; and the whole scope of the place re- 
 quires it should be so used here ; the original 
 Hebrew cannot be consistently translated any other 
 way. The throne of Christ is in both worlds, and 
 extends over all time, and will exist to endless 
 duration. To this our Lord seems to refer when 
 he says, (Matt, xxviii, 18.) All power is given unto 
 me, both, in heaven and earth. My ''throne," that 
 is, my dominion, extends from the creation to the 
 consummation of all things. These I have made, and 
 these I uphold ; and from the end of the world, 
 throughout eternity, I shall have the same glory — 
 sovereign, unlimited power and authority — which I 
 had with the Father before the world began. 
 (John xvii, 5.) 1 may add that none of the ancient 
 Versions has understood it in the way contended 
 for by those who deny the Godhead of Christ, 
 either in the Psalm from which it is taken, (xlv, 6.) 
 or in this place where it is quoted. And even al- 
 lowing that 6 Ode here is to be used as the nomi- 
 native case, it will not make the sense contended 
 for, without adding ten to it, a reading which is not 
 countenanced by any Version or MS. vet discovered. 
 Wiclif and Coverdale understood it as the nomina- 
 tive, and translated it so ; and yet it is evident that 
 this nominative has the power of the vocative. 
 Tindal and others follow in the same way. all read- 
 ing it in the nominative case, with the force of the 
 vocative ; for none of them has inserted the word 
 lari, is. because not authorized by the original; a 
 word which the opposers of the divinity of our 
 Lord are obliged to beg, in order to support their 
 interpretations. See seme further criticisms on 
 this at the end of this chapter. A sceptre of 
 righteousness — The sceptre, which was a sort of 
 staff, was the ensign of government, and is here 
 used for government itself. This declaration the 
 ancient Jewish writers always applied to the Mes- 
 siah. 
 
 9. Thou hast loved righteousness — This is 
 the characteristic of a just governor; he abhors 
 and suppresses iniquity ; he countenances and sup- 
 ports righteousness and truth. Therefore God, 
 even thy God — The original, Sta tovto exptoe ce 
 b Gfdc, o Qebg gov, may be thus translated: there- 
 fore, God, thy God hath anointed thee. The 
 form of speech is nearly the same with that in the 
 preceding verse; but the sense is sufficiently clear 
 if we read, thin fore God, thy God, hath anointed 
 thee, etc. With the oil of gladness — We have 
 often had occasion to remark, that anciently 
 kings, priests, and prophets were consecrated to 
 their several offices by anointing; and that this 
 signified the gifts and influences of the divine 
 Spirit. Christ, 6 XpiGroc, signifies the Anointed 
 One, the same as the Hebrew Messiah ; and he is 
 here said to be anointed with the oil of gladness 
 above his fellows. None was ever constituted 
 prophet, pnest, and king, but himself ; some were 
 kings only, prophets only, and priests only; others 
 were kings and priests, or priests and prophets, or 
 kings and prophets; but none had ever the three 
 offices in his own person but Jesus Christ, and none 
 but himself can be a King over the universe, a 
 Prophet to all intelligent beings, and a Priest to 
 the whole human race. Thus he is infinitely ex-
 
 The Son of God the Creator of 
 the heavens and the earth. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 M. 4HK7. A. D. 63. 
 Year of Rome, 816. 
 
 anointed thee with the oil of gladness above 
 thy fellows. 10 And, v Tliou, Lord, in the 
 beginning hast laid the foundation of the 
 earth ; and the heavens are the works of thine 
 hands. II ,v They shall perish, but thou re- 
 mainest: and they all shall wax old as doth a 
 garment; 12 And as a vesture shalt thou 
 
 flPsa. 102. 25, etc. 
 3. 7, 10: Rev. 21. 1.- 
 Luke 20. 42 ; verse 3 
 
 —>r Isa. 34. 4 : 51. o ; Matt. 24. 35 ; 2 Peter 
 -X I'sa. llu. 1 ; Matt. 22. 4 4 ; Mark 12. 36; 
 chap. 10. 12. yiien. 19. 16; 32. 1,2,24; 
 
 alted beyond his fellows — all that had ever borne 
 the regal, prophetic, or sacerdotal offices. Some 
 think that the word uerdxovg, fellows, refers to be- 
 lievers who are made partakers of the same Spirit, 
 but cannot have its infinite plenitude. The first 
 sense seems the best. " Gladness" is used in ref- 
 erence to the festivities which took place on the 
 inauguration of kings, etc. 
 
 in. And, Thou, Lord — This is an address to 
 the Son as the Creator, (sec verse 2 ;) for this is 
 implied in laying the foundation of the earth. 
 The heavens, which are the work of his hands, point 
 out his infinite wisdom and skill. 
 
 11. They shall perish — Permanently fixed 
 as they seem to he, a time shall come when they 
 shall he dissolved, and afterward //'"' heavens and a 
 new earth lie formed in which righteousness alone 
 shall dwell. (See "2 Peter iii, 10-13.) Shall wax 
 old as doth a garment — As a garment, by long 
 using, becomes unfit to be longer used, so shall all 
 visible things; they shall wear old, and wear out; 
 and hence the necessity of their being renewed. 
 Thou remainest — Instead of diafievtic, some good 
 MSS. read dta/xevtic., the first, without the circum- 
 flex, being the present tense of the indicative 
 mood ; the latter, with the circumflex, being the 
 future — thoushalt remain. The difference between 
 these two readings is of little importance. 
 
 12. And they shall be changed — Not destroyed 
 ultimately, or annihilated. They shall be changed 
 and renewed. But thou art the same — These 
 words can be said of no being but God; all others 
 are changeable or perishable, because temporal ; 
 only that which is eternal can continue essentially, 
 and, speaking after the manner of men. formally 
 the same. Thy years shall not fail — There is in 
 the divine duration no circle to be run, no space to 
 be measured, no time to be reckoned. All is etei'- 
 nity — infinite — and onward. 
 
 13. But to which of the angels — We have 
 already seen, from the opinions and concessions of 
 the Jews, that if Jesus Christ could be proved to 
 he greater than tin- angels, it would necessarily 
 follow that he is Cod; and this the apostle does 
 most amply prove by these various quotations 
 from their own Scriptures ; for he shows that 
 while he is the supreme and absolute Sovereign, 
 they are no more than his messengers and servants, 
 and servants even to his servants, that is, to man- 
 kind. 
 
 14. Are they not all ministering spirits — All 
 the angels, even those of the highest order, are em- 
 ployed to serve those who believe in Christ Jesus. 
 What these services are, and how performed, it 
 would he impossible to state. Much has been 
 written on the subject, partly founded on Script- 
 ure, and partly on conjecture. They are, do doubt, 
 constantly employed in averting evil and procuring 
 good. If God help man by man, we tieed not won- 
 der that he helps man by angels. We know that 
 he needs none of those helps, for he can do all 
 
 fold them up, and they shall be changed : but 
 thou .art the same, and thy years shall nol fail. 
 13 lint to which of the angels said he at any 
 time, * Sit on my right hand, until I make thine 
 enemies thy footstool? 14 > Are they not till 
 ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for 
 them who shall be z heirs of salvation \ 
 
 I'sa. 34. 7: 91. 11; 103. 20,21; Dan. 3. 28; 7. 10; 10. II; Matt. 
 
 18. in; Luke 1. 10; 2.0, 13; Acta 12. 7, etc.; 27. 23. z Kom 
 
 8. 17; Titus 3. T; James 2. 5; 1 Peter 3. 7. 
 
 things himself; yet it seems agreeable to his in- 
 finite wisdom and goodness to use them. This is a 
 part of the economy of God in the government of 
 the wotdd and of the Church ; and a part, no doubt, 
 essential to the harmony and perfection of the 
 whole. 
 
 The Godhead of Christ is a subject of such great 
 
 importance, both to the faith and hope of a Christ- 
 ian, that I feel it necessary to bring it fully into 
 view wherever it is referred to in the sacred 
 writings. It is a prominent article in the Apostles' 
 Creed, and should be so in ours. That this doc- 
 trine cannot be established on verse 8 lias been the 
 assertion of many. To what I have already said on 
 this verse I beg leave to subjoin the following 
 criticisms of a learned friend, who has made this 
 subject his particular study. 
 
 BRIEF REMARKS OX HEBREWS i, 8. 
 
 '0 6p6voc aov, 6 Otoe, eic tovq alavac. 
 
 It hath ever been the opinion of the most sound 
 divines that these words, which are extracted from 
 the 45th Psalm, are addressed by God the Father 
 unto God the Son. Our translators have accord- 
 ingly rendered the passage thus: "Thy throne, 
 God, is forevei 1 ." Those who deny the divinity of 
 Christ, being eager to get rid of such a testimony 
 against themselves, contend that 6 Oebc is here the 
 nominative, and that the meaning is: "Coil is thy 
 throne forever." Now, it is somewhat strange 
 that none of them have had critical acumen enough 
 to discover that the words cannot possibly admit 
 of this signification. It is a rule in the Greek lan- 
 guage that when a substantive noun is the subject 
 of a sentence, and something is predicated of it. 
 the article, if used at all, is prefixed to the subject, 
 but omitted before the predicate. The Greek 
 translators of the Old Testament, and the authors 
 of the New, write agreeably to this rule. This is 
 the constant usage of the Septuagint when a sub- 
 stantive noun has something predicated of it in the 
 same sentence. If the meaning which they who 
 deny our Lord's divinity affix to Psa. xlv, 6 had 
 been intended, it would rather have been written 
 Opovoc aov, 6 Qebg, or Bpoveir gov, Qebc. In the very 
 next clause of this sentence we find thai the arti- 
 cle is prefixed to the subject, but omitted before 
 the predicate. [The objection sometimes made, 
 thai ().<»• with the article affixed [s never used 
 in the vocative case is shown by numerous places 
 in the Septuagint, to be not well taken. (See 
 among others the following, Psalms v, 10; x\ii, 1 ; 
 lix. 17 ; cxlv, 1 ; civ. l.)J It remains, then, that the 
 Sou of Mary is here addressed as the Cod whose 
 throne endures for ever. Having spoken of nouns 
 Substantive Only, I ought to state thai the rule ap- 
 plies equally to adjectives and to participles. Near 
 the opening of the fifth of Matthew uc find eight 
 consecutive examples of the ride. In five of these 
 
 393
 
 A. M, 4067. A. D. 63. 
 Year of Rome, 816. 
 
 HEBREWS. 
 
 the subject is an adjective, and in the other three 
 a participle. Indeed one of them has two partici- 
 ples, affording an instance of the rule respecting 
 the prepositive article, as well as of that which 
 we are now considering. Mampcoi oi tteivovtec 
 ml dnpavrec, " Blessed are they who hunger and 
 thirst." In the Apocalypse there are four exam- 
 pies of the rule with participles, ami in all these 
 twelve cases the predicate is placed first. I am 
 aware that an exception now and then occurs in 
 the sacred writings; but I think I may assert that 
 there are no exceptions in the Septuagint Version 
 of the book of Psalms. As the words 6 tipovoc cov, 
 6 Qsbr, occur in the book of Psalms, the most im- 
 portant question is this : Does that book always 
 support the orthodox interpretation ? With regard 
 to the deviations which are elsewhere occasionally 
 found, I think there can be little doubt that they 
 are owing to the ignorance or carelessness of 
 transcribers, for the rule is unquestionably genuine. 
 — //. S. Boyd. 
 
 In respect to the eternal Sonship I have shown 
 my reasons, in the note on Luke i, 35, why I cannot 
 agree with the common view. I am inclined to 
 think that from this tenet Arianism has its origin. 
 I shall here produce my authority for this opin- 
 ion. Arius, the father of what is called Arianism. 
 and who nourished in A.D. 300, was a presbyter 
 of the Church of Alexandria, a man of great learn- 
 ing and eloquence, and of deeply mortified manners ; 
 and he continued to edify the Church by his teach- 
 ing and example till the circumstance took place 
 •which produced that unhappy change in his relig- 
 ions opinions which afterward gave rise to so 
 much distraction and division in the Christian 
 Church. The circumstance to which I refer is re- 
 lated by Socrates Scholasticus, in his supplement to 
 the History of Eusebius, liber i, chapter 5. and is 
 in substance as follows : Alexander, having suc- 
 ceeded Achillas in the bishopric of Alexandria, 
 self-confidently philosophizing one day in the 
 presence of his presbyters and the rest of his clergy 
 concerning the Holy Trinity, among other things 
 asserted that there was a Monad in the Triad. 
 What he said on the derived nature or eternal. Son- 
 ship of Christ is not related. Arius, one of his 
 presbyters, a man of considerable skill in the science 
 of logic, supposing that the bishop designed to in- 
 troduce the dogmas of Sabellius, the Libyan, who 
 denied the personality of the Godhead, and conse- 
 quently the Trinity, sharply opposed the bishop, 
 arguing thus : " If the Father begot the Son, he 
 who was thus begotten had a beginning of his ex- 
 istence; and from this it is manifest that there 
 was a time in which the Son was not. Whence it 
 necessarily follows, that he has his subsistence 
 from what exists not." Now, it does not appear 
 that this had been previously the doctrine of Arius, 
 but that it was the consequence which he logically 
 drew from the doctrine laid down by the bishop; 
 and although Socrates does not tell us what the 
 bishop stated, yet, from the conclusions drawn, we 
 in. iy at once see what the premises were; and these 
 must have been some incautious assertions con- 
 cerning the Sonship of the divine nature of Christ : 
 and I have shown elsewhere that these are fair de- 
 ductions from such premises. "But is not God 
 called Father; and Father of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ?" Most certainly. That God graciously 
 assumes the name of Father, and acts in that char- 
 acter toward mankind, the whole Scripture proves ; 
 and that the title is given to him as signifying 
 394 
 
 Author, Cause, Fountain, and Creator, is also suffi- 
 ciently manifest from the same Scriptures. In this 
 sense Job uses the expression, " Hath the rain a fa- 
 ther ?" (Job xxxviii, 28;) and hence also it is said, 
 He is the Father of spirits, (Heb. xii, 9 ;) and he is 
 the Father of men because he created them ; and 
 Adam, the first man, is particularly called his son. 
 (Luke iii. 38.) But he is the Father of the human 
 nature of our blessed Lord in a peculiar sense, be- 
 cause by his energy this was produced in the womb 
 of the Virgin. Luke i, 35 : The Holy Ghost shall 
 come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall 
 overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing 
 
 WHICH SHALL BE BOKN OF THEE shall be called THE 
 
 Son of God. It is in consequence of this that 
 our blessed Lord is so frequently termed the Son 
 of God, and that God is called his Father. But I 
 know not any scripture, fairly interpreted, that 
 states the divine nature of our Lord to be begotten 
 of God, or to be the Son of God. Nor can I see it 
 possible that he could be begotten of the Father, in 
 this si use, and be eternal; and if not eternal, he is 
 not God. But numberless scriptures give him 
 every attribute of Godhead : his own works dem- 
 onstrate it ; and the whole scheme of salvation re- 
 quires this. 
 
 It may be said: "Is not God called the eternal 
 Father? And if so, there can be no eternal Father 
 if there be no eternal Son." I answer: God is 
 not called in any part of Scripture, as far as I 
 can recollect, either the eternal or everlasting 
 Father in reference to cur blessed Lord, nor in- 
 deed in reference to any thing else ; but this very 
 title, strange to tell, is given to Jesus Christ him- 
 self: His name shall In called the everlasting 
 Father, (Isa. ix, 6 ;) and we may on this account, 
 with more propriety, look for an eternal filiation 
 proceeding from him, than from any other person 
 of the most holy Trinity. 
 
 Should it be asked: "Was there no trinity of 
 persons in the Godhead before the incarnation ? " 
 i answer: That a trinity of persons appears tome 
 to belong essentially to the eternal Godhead, neither 
 of which was before, after, or produced from 
 another; and of this the Old Testament is full: 
 but the distinction was not fully evident till the 
 incarnation ; and particularly till the baptism in 
 Jordan, when on him in whom dwelt all the ful- 
 ness of the Godhead, the Holy Ghost descended in 
 a bodily shape like a dove ; and a voice from 
 lieaven proclaimed that baptized person God's be- 
 loved Son; in which transaction there were three 
 persons occupying distinct places; as the person of 
 Christ in the water, the Holy Spirit in a bodily 
 shape, and the voice from heaven, sufficiently 
 prove; and to each of these persons various scrip- 
 tures give all the essential attributes of God. 
 
 On the doctrine of the eternal Sonship of the 
 divine nature of Christ I once had the privilege of 
 conversing with the late reverend John Wesley, 
 about three years before his death ; he read from a 
 book, in which I had written it, the argument against 
 this doctrine which now stands in the note on 
 Luke i, 35. He did not attempt to reply to it; but 
 allowed that, on the ground on which I had taken 
 it, the argument was conclusive. I observed that 
 the proper, essential divinity of Jesus Christ ap- 
 peared to me to be so absolutely necessary to the 
 whole Christian scheme, and to the faith both of 
 penitent sinners and of saints, that it was of the 
 utmost importance to set it in the clearest and 
 strongest point of view ; and that, with my present
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 A.M. 4067. A.D. 63. 
 Year of Rouir. R16. 
 
 light, I could not credit it if I must receive the 
 common doctrine of the Sonship of the divine natun 
 
 of our Lord. He mentioned two eminent divines who 
 were of the same opinion ; but added, that the 
 eternal Sonship of Christ had been a doctrine very 
 generally received in the Christian Church ; and he 
 believed no one had ever expressed it better than 
 his brother Samuel had done in the following lines: 
 
 "From whom, in one eternal now, 
 The Sum. thy offspring, flowed ; 
 
 An ei: rlnxting Father thou, 
 An eoerlastiny God." 
 
 He added not one word more on the subject, nor 
 ever after mentioned it to me, though after that 
 we had many interviews. But it is necessary to 
 mention his own note on the text that has given 
 rise to these observations; which shows that he 
 held the doctrine as commonly received when he 
 wrote that note; it is as follows : 
 
 "Thou art my Son" — God of God, Light of 
 Light, " This day have I begotten Thee " — I have 
 begotten thee from eternity, which, by its unalter- 
 able permanency of duration, is one continued un- 
 successive day." Leaving the point in dispute out 
 of the question, this is most beautifully expressed ; 
 and I know not that this great man ever altered 
 his views on this subject, though I am certain that 
 he never professed the opinion as many who quote 
 his authority do; nor would he at anytime have 
 defended what he did hold in their way. I beg 
 leave to quote a fact: In 1781 he published in 
 the fourth volume of the Arminian Magazine, 
 page 3S4, an article entitled "An Arian Anti- 
 dote;" in this are the following words: "Greater 
 or lesser in infinity, is not ; inferior Godhead 
 shocks our sense; Jesus was inferior to the Father 
 as touching his manhood, (John xiv, 28,) he was a 
 Son given, and slain intentionally [in the divine 
 purpose] from the foundation of the world, (Rev. 
 xiii, 8,) and the firstborn from the dead of every 
 creature. (Col. i, 15, 18.) But our Redeemer from 
 everlasting (Isa. Ixiii, 16) /on/ not the inferior name 
 of Son; in the beginning was the Word, and the 
 Word was with God from eternity, and the Word, 
 made flesh, was God," etc. This is pointedly 
 against the eternal Sonship of the divim nature. 
 However necessary this view of the subject may 
 appear to me, I do not presume to say that others, 
 in order to be saved, must view it in the same 
 light ; I leave both opinions to the judgment of 
 the leader. Refined Arians, with some of whom I 
 am personally 7 acquainted, are quite willing to re- 
 ceive all that can be said of the dignity and glory 
 of Christ's nature, provided we admit the doctrine 
 of the eternal Sonship, and omit the word unorigi- 
 nated, which I have used in my demonstration of 
 the Godhead of the Saviour of men; but, as far as 
 it respects myself, I can neither admit the one nor 
 omit the other. The proper essential Godhead of 
 Christ lies deep at the foundation of my Christian 
 creed; and I must sacrifice ten thousand forms >>!' 
 sjH,r/i, rather than sacrifice the thing. 
 
 [Neither the miraculous conception of Christ, 
 nor yet his resurrection from the dead, is the foun- 
 dation of his being called the Son of God in this 
 (second) Psalm. Not the first, for there is no al- 
 lusion to it; not the second, for he was declared 
 from heaven to he the " beloved Son " of the Father 
 at his very entrance upon his ministry, and, conse- 
 quently, before the resurrection; ami also, because 
 the very apostle who applies the prediction of the ] 
 
 resurrection of Christ (Acts xiii, 33) explicitly 
 states that even that was a declaration of an ante- 
 cedent sonship. St. Paul's argument (Heb. i, 5) 
 is expressedly designed to prove the superiority of 
 Christ to angels, and the force of the argument 
 lies in the expression "begotten," importing that 
 the person addressed is the Son of God, not by 
 creation, but by generation. Christ's pre-eminence 
 over the angels is there stated to consist in this, 
 that whereas they were created he is begotten; and 
 the apostle's reasoning would appear fallacious, 
 unless this expression intimates a proper and 
 peculiar filiation. — Watson, (Theological Institutes, 
 volume i, pages 532, 533.)] 
 
 [Alford, in his notes on the passage "Thou art 
 my Son, this day have I begotten thee," (verse 5,) 
 after stating the opinions of those who apply these 
 words to David, whose views he seems to accept as 
 the primary sense, proceeds to give what he holds to 
 be the deeper and the more teal meaning of the | as- 
 sage. "The above remarks," (he proceeds to say,) 
 •seem pertinent and unobjectionable as long a.- we 
 regard them as explaining the supposed immediate 
 reference to David and (the then) present circum- 
 stances ; but it is plain that, according to the above 
 view of Psalm ii, and indeed to the usage of the 
 New Testament in applying this passage to our 
 Lord, we want another and a higher sense in 
 which both words, yeyivvqua (I have begotten) 
 and ci'/uefjov (this day,) may be applicable to him: 
 a sense in which I should be disposed to say that 
 the words must in their fulness of meaning 
 be taken, to the neglect and almost the obliteration 
 of that their supposed lower reference. For, grant- 
 ing the applicati' n of such sayings to our Lord, 
 then must the terms of them, suggested by the 
 Holy Spirit of prophecy, which is his testimony, 
 (Rev. xix, 10,) bear adequate interpretations as re- 
 gards his person and office. D has not, therefore, 
 been without reason that the Fathers, and so many 
 modern divines, have found in this word ye-yewr/na 
 the doctrine of the generation of the Son of God, 
 and have endeavoured, in accordance with such 
 reference, to assign a fitting sense to o/'/fiipov. As the 
 subject is exceedingly important, and has been gen- 
 erally passed over slightly by (most of) our English 
 expositors, I shall need no apology for gathering 
 from Bleek and Suicer the opinions and testimo- 
 nies concerning it. 
 
 [" 1. One view refers arjuepovto the eternal gener- 
 ation of the Son, and regards it as an expression of 
 the l nu7ic stans, (eternal now, as they call it,' 
 (Owen,) of eternity. Thus Origen, Athanasius, 
 Basil, Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, and asuccession 
 of the most distinguished names, coming down to 
 our own times. 
 
 [" 2. A second view refers it to the generation, in 
 time, of the incarnate Son of man, when Jesus, on 
 the side of his manhood, assumed the divine nature. 
 So Chrysostom, Eusebius, Cyril of Alexandria, 
 Gregory-Nazianzen, and a like succession, including 
 among moderns no less an authority than Stuart of 
 Andover. 
 
 [".".. A third view refers these words to the 
 period when Jesus was manifested to men as the 
 Son of God, that is, (by most,) to the time of his 
 resurrection, with reference to Acts xiii, :::;, where 
 St. Paul alleges this citation as thus applying. 
 [See Delitzsch.) By some, the ascension is made the 
 point id' time when he was set at the right hand of 
 (hiil, and entered on (the final stage of) his heavenly 
 high priesthood; so Hilary, Calvin, Owen, lleng- 
 
 395
 
 A- M. 4067. A. D. 63. 
 Year of Rome, - [6. 
 
 HEBREWS. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THEREFORE we ought to give the more 
 earnest heed to the things which we have 
 heard, lest at any time we should "let them 
 slip. 2 For if the word b spoken by angels 
 was steadfast, and c every transgression and 
 disobedience received a just recompense of re- 
 
 a(\r. run out as leaking vessels. h Deut. 33. 2; I'sa B8. 
 
 17: Acts 7. 53; Gal. ■'!. 19. cNum. 15. 30, 31; Deut. 4. 3; 17. 
 
 2, 5, 12; 27. 26. -/Chap. 10. 28, 29; 12. 25. c.Matt. 4. 17; 
 
 stenberg, etc. This is the view generally adopted 
 by the better class of Socinians. 
 
 [" Of these interpretations I agree with Bleek, that 
 the first (that of an. eternal filiation) is that which 
 best agrees with the context. The former verses 
 represent to us the Sun of God as standing in this 
 relation to the Father before the worlds ; and 
 verse 6, which plainly forms a contrast to this 
 (verse 5) as to time, treats distinctly of the period 
 of the incarnation. It is natural, then, to suppose 
 that this verse is to be referred to a time prior to 
 that event. And he (Bleek) also remarks that 
 the sense of oq/iepov, thus adopted, is by no means 
 foreign to the Alexandrian theology. 
 
 [" The second clause of the verse, ' I will be to him 
 a Father, and he shall be to me a Son,' occurs in 
 the prophecy of Nathan to David, (2 Samuel vii, 1 4,) 
 respecting David's offspring who should come after 
 him. The direct, primary reference of the words 
 to Solomon (1 Chronicles xxii, 7-10) does not in 
 any way preclude the view which I have taken of 
 their finding their higher and only worthy fulfil- 
 ment in the greater Son of David who should 
 build the only temple in which God would really 
 dwell." (See Bleek, in loco, who fully recognises 
 this further and Messianic reference.)] 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER II. 
 
 1. Therefore — Because God has spoken to us 
 by his Son; and because that Son is so great and 
 glorious a personage; and because the subject 
 which is addressed to us is of such infinite import- 
 ance to ourselves. We ought to give the more 
 earnest heed— ['H/mc, we, the writer including 
 himself with those whom he is addressing.] We 
 should hear the doctrine of Christ with care, can- 
 dour, and deep concern. [TIpoaexEiv, to hold, (rov 
 vovv, (the mind,) being understood) to the things 
 heard.] Lest at any time we should let them 
 slip — .M// wore irapapvu/xev. "Lest at any time 
 we should leak out." This is a metaphor taken 
 from unstanch vessels; the staves not being close 
 together, the fluid put into them leaks through the 
 chinks and crevices. [Ilapnpvijuev is frequently 
 applied to things that glide or pass away from the 
 mind, but usually as applied to things and not to 
 persons, to the ohjvet and .not to the subject, but 
 here it is applied to pi rsons ami not to tilings. See 
 Stuart.] Superficial hearers lose the benefit of the 
 word preached, as the unseasoned vessel does its 
 fluid ; nor can any one hear to the saving of his soul 
 unless he give most earnest heed, which he will not 
 do unless he consider the dignity of the speaker, 
 the importance of the subject, and the absolute 
 necessity of the salvation of his soul. 
 
 2. If the word spoken by angels — The law 
 (according to some) which was delivered by the 
 mediation of angels, God frequently employing 
 the^e to communicate his will to men. (See Acts 
 vii, 53; Gal. iii, 10.) But the apostle probably 
 means those particular messages which Coil sent 
 
 396 
 
 ward; 3 d How shall we escape, if we ne- 
 glect so great salvation; e which at the first 
 began to be spoken by the Lord, and was f con- 
 tinned unto us by them that heard him ; 
 ■I - (rod also bearing them witness, h both with 
 signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, 
 and '-gifts of the Holy Ghost, 'according to 
 
 Mark 1. 14: chap. 1. 2. -/Luke 1. 2. ^Mark 16. 2d; Acts 
 
 14. 3; 19. 1! : Kom. 15. 18, Hi; 1 Lor. 2. 4. h Ads 2. 22, 4:1. 
 
 i Or, distributions. /.l Cor. 12. 4, 7, 11. lEi>h. 1. 5,9. 
 
 by angels, as in the case of Lot, (Gen. xix,) and 
 such like. [The giving of the law is not ascribed to 
 angels by Moses, and, therefore, some have under- 
 stood the word a]}i'/ur in a more generic sense, so 
 as to include all kinds of created mediaries.] Was 
 steadfast — ['E}irtro jitfiaior, was ratified, made 
 firm and stabler] Was so confirmed by the divine 
 authority, and so strict, that it would not tolerate 
 any offence, but inflicted punishment on every act 
 of transgression, every case in which the bounds 
 laid down by the law were passed over; and every 
 act of disobedience in respect to the duties en- 
 joined. Received a just recompense — That 
 kind and degree of punishment which the law pre- 
 scribed for those who broke it. [Mtofia-oSooiav 
 designates the reward of retributive justice, whether 
 good or bad.] 
 
 3. How shall we escape — [That is, the rec- 
 ompense of our own wrong and disobedience.] 
 [T////«/r7v; Gurqpiac, that is, the Christian n ligion, 
 for so the words sometimes signify. (See Rom. xi, 
 11; Heb. vi, 9; Jude 3.) It is, however, the 
 Christian religion with all its promised blessings 
 and tremendous threats which is here designated. 
 — Stuart.'] Those who neglect it, a/jE/j/oavrec, are 
 not only they who opposi orpi rsecutt it, but they who 
 ■pay no regard to it ; who do not concern themselves 
 about it, do not lay it to heart. Now these cannot 
 " escape " the coming judgments of God ; not merely 
 because they oppose his will and commandment, 
 hut because they sin against the. very cause and 
 means of their deliverance. As there is but one 
 remedy by which their diseased souls can be saved, 
 so, by refusing to apply that one remedy they must 
 necessarily perish. Which at the first began to 
 be spoken — Though John the Baptist went before 
 our Lord to prepare his way, yet he could not be 
 properly said to preach the Gospel ; and even 
 Christ's preaching was only a beginning of the 
 great proclamation; it was his own Spirit in the 
 apostles and evangelists, the men who heard him 
 preach, that opened the whole mystery of the king- 
 dom of heaven. And all this testimony had been 
 so confirmed as to render it indubitable; and con- 
 sequently there was no excuse for their unbelief, 
 and no prospect of their escape if they should con- 
 tinue to " neglect " it. 
 
 4. God also bearing them witness — He did 
 not leave the confirmation of these great truths to 
 the testimony of men; he bore his own testimony to 
 them by signs, wonders, divers miracles, and 
 distributions of the Holy Ghost, ILvevfiarog 'A} iov 
 fiepioi-iene. And all these were proved to come from 
 himself ; for no man could do those miracles at his 
 own pleasure, but the power to work them was 
 given accordingto God's own will. [S^eZov, (sign,) 
 as used often in the New Testament and in the 
 Septuagint, means any extraordinary sign or mirac- 
 ulous <t-<,,t, designed to show the certainty that 
 something that had been promised or predicted 
 should take place, or that a prophet was what he
 
 All dominion subjected to 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 A. M. 4067. A. P. 83, 
 Year of Rome, 816. 
 
 his own will? 5 For unto the angels hath he 
 not put in subjection m the world to come, 
 whereof we speak. <> But one in a certain 
 place testified, saying, " What is man, that thou 
 art mindful of him? or the son of man, that 
 thou visitest him? 7 Thou madest him °:i 
 
 m Chap. 6. 5; 2 Peter n. 13. »Job7.17: Psalm 8.4; 144.3. 
 
 oOv, <i UitU while inferior to. 
 
 professed to be. lipac, portentum, miracle, has 
 
 nearly the same meaning, and is very commonly 
 joined with it in the New Testament. — Stuart.] 
 
 5. The ■world to come — That " the world to 
 come" meant the days of the Messiah among the 
 Jews, is evident. [Here it is equivalent to the 
 Christian dispensation, the time and affairs of 
 Christ's kingdom on earth, the militant Church.] 
 The administration of this kingdom has not been 
 intrusted to angels, (who were frequently employed 
 under the law,) for the government is on the 
 shoulder of Jesus Christ ; he alone has the keys 
 of death and hell ; he alone shuts, and no man 
 opens ; opens, and no man shuts; he alone has the 
 residue of the Spirit ; he alone is the Governor of 
 the universe, the Spirit, Soul, Heart, and Head of 
 the Church ; all is in his authority, and under sub- 
 jection to him. [The word ukTJwvoav (future) 
 has by some been supposed to be used in reference 
 to Old Testament views of New Testament things, 
 and not to indicate something still in the future ; 
 as Bengel says, "It is called future, not because it 
 is so now, but because it was before predicted." 
 It seems to be used in this place as a well-known 
 and well- understood designation of the latter (the 
 Christian ) dispensation. All reference to the future 
 need not, however, be excluded, for the chief things 
 of the Gospel are still in the future. We are saved 
 by hope. See Alford.] 
 
 6. But one in a certain place — This " one '' is 
 David; and the "certain place " is Psa. viii, 4, 5, 6. 
 This mode of quotation is sometimes used when 
 speaking of very eminent persons who are well 
 known ; not through ignorance, but reverence. 
 What is man — This quotation is verbatim from the 
 Septuagint ; and the Hebrew is still more emphatic : 
 What is miserable man, (Enosh,) that t7iou remem- 
 berest him? and the son of Adam, that thou visitest 
 him? The variation of the terms in the original 
 is very emphatic. Adam is the name given to 
 man at his creation, and expresses his origin, and 
 generic distinction from all other animals. Enosh, 
 which signifies sick, weak, wretched, was never 
 given to the man till after his fall. The son of 
 Adam [not .ton of man, in any such sense as it is 
 used as a name for our Lord] means here, any one or 
 all of the fallen posterity of the first man. That God 
 should r< member m the way of mercy these wretched 
 beings, is great condescension; that he should 
 visit them, manifest himself to them, yea, even 
 dwell among them, and at last assume their nature, 
 and [in that nature] give up his life to ransom 
 them from the bitter pains of eternal death, is 
 mercy and love indescribable and eternal. 
 
 7. 8. Thou madest him a little lower than 
 the angels — If this be spoken of man as he came 
 out of the hands of his Maker, it places him at the 
 head of all God's works ; for, literally translated, it 
 is, Thou hast made Mm I>*s than God. And this 
 is shown by his being made in the image and like- 
 ness of God, which is spoken of no other creature 
 either in heaven or earth. 
 
 little lower than the angels; thou crownedst 
 him with glory and honour, and didsl set him 
 over the works of thy hands: W > Thou hasl 
 put all things in subjection under Lis feet. For 
 in that he put all in subjection under him, he 
 left nothing that is not put under him. But 
 
 v Matthew 28. 18; 1 Corinthians 15. 27 
 ter 1. 13. 
 
 Ephesians 1. 22; chap- 
 
 [f we take the words as referring to Jesus 
 Christ, then they must be understood as pointing 
 out the time of his humiliation, (verse 9;) and the 
 "little lower" /3pa rti n, in both verses, must mean 
 for a short time, or a little while, as is very properly 
 inserted among our marginal readings. Adam was 
 originally made higher than the angels, |by virtue 
 of the divine image in which he was created,] but 
 by sin he is now brought low, and subjected to 
 death. Thus, taking the words in their common 
 acceptation, man in his present state may be said 
 to be lessened below the angels. Jesus Christ, as the 
 eternal Logos, God with God, could not die, but a 
 body was prepared for him; and thus /V"'A'' "', 
 for a short while, he was made "lower than the 
 angels," that he might be capable of suffering 
 death. And indeed the whole of the passage suits 
 him better than it does any of the children of men, 
 or than even Adam himself in a state of innocence ; 
 for it is only under the feet of Jesus that all things 
 are put in subjection, and it was in consequence of 
 his humiliation that he had a name above every 
 name, that at the name of Jesus every knee sliould 
 bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and 
 things under the earth. (Phil, ii, 9-11.) Therefore 
 he must be infinitely higher than, the angels, for 
 they, as well as all the things in heaven, bow in 
 subjection to him. Thou crownedst him with 
 glory and honour — This was strictly true of 
 Adam in his state of innocence, for he was set over 
 all things in this lower world; all sheep and oxen, 
 the beasts of the field, the fowl of the air, the fish of 
 the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of 
 the seas. (Psa. viii, 7, S.) So far all this perfectly 
 applies to Adam ; but it is evident the apostle takes 
 all things in a higher sense, that of universal 
 dominion; and hence he says, he left nothing that is 
 not put wider him. These verses, and the above 
 passage from the epistle to the Philippians, mutu- 
 ally illustrate each other. And the crowning 
 Christ " with glory and henour " must refer to his 
 exaltation after his resurrection, in which, as the 
 victorious Messiah, he had all power given to him 
 in heaven and earth. And although we see not 
 yet all things put under him, for evil men and 
 evil spirits are only under the subjection of control, 
 yet we look forward to that time when the whole 
 world shall bow to his sway, and when the stone 
 cut out of the mountain without hands shall be- 
 come great, and till the whole earth. [Bpa%i n 
 (a little) may relate to either time or rank, or 
 degree. The object of the writer of the epistle 
 seems to be to show, that although Christ possessed 
 a nature truly human, still in that nature he was 
 exalted above the angels. The making less, ex- 
 pressed by the word qXaTTuaag, designates man's 
 estate as being in itself but little inferior to that 
 of the angels, because he was made in the image 
 of God. (Gen. i, 26, -21; ix, 6.) It is plainly the 
 dignity of man that the Psalmist is intending to 
 designate. As compared with the greatness of the 
 material universe, man in his physical being is a 
 
 397
 
 HEBREWS. 
 
 Because of Jesus Christ's humiliation 
 he is highly exalted. 
 
 now i we see not yet all things put under him. 
 9 But we see Jesus, r who was made a little 
 lower than the angels s for the suffering of 
 death, 'crowned with glory and honour; that 
 he by the grace of (rod should taste death "for 
 every man. 10 v For it became him, w for 
 ■whom are all things, and by whom are all 
 things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to 
 make "the captain of their salvation ^perfect 
 
 Q 1 Cor. 15. 25. >• Phil. 2. 7, 8, 9. ft Or, '*//. 1 Acts 2. 33. 
 
 u J.'lm ■'.. Iti: 12. 32; Horn. 5. 18; 8. 32; 2 Cor. 5. 15; 1 Tim. 
 
 2 6; 1 John 2. 2; Rev. 5. 9. v Luke 21. -It). ioRom. 11. 36. 
 
 x Acts 3. 15; 5. 31 ; chap. 12. 2. 
 
 very insignificant thing, apparently quite unworthy 
 of the divine regard ; but in contrast with this 
 stands forth man's spiritual nature, and the won- 
 derful purposes of God respecting him, as is seen 
 especially and eminently in the incarnation. See 
 Stuart.]" 
 
 9. But we see Jesus, etc. — [Christ effectuates 
 the salvation of our sinful race by himself becom- 
 ing mysteriously of it, man with una in his human 
 nature, as he is God with God in his essential 
 divinity. The place assumed by him in his incar- 
 nation was in the common plane of humanity, \\ hieh 
 was "a little lower than the angels." But even in 
 his humiliation he was not simply a man — one of 
 the race like other individuals — but eminently and 
 superlatively the head of the race, the "second 
 Adam," the ''Son of man." The world into which 
 he thus came was lying in ruin, and called for re- 
 demption, which could be accomplished only by his 
 own subjection to death, which was indeed included 
 in the work designated to him in his incarnation, 
 and through this lay the way to his own eternal 
 glory. (Luke xxiv, 26.) Thus it is seen that the 
 redemption of our race is inseparably implicated 
 with the humiliation (tf/.drTuaaq) of the Son of God ; 
 and also that the way to the eternal glorification of 
 the incarnate Word is through his suffering unto 
 death ; and also, ■that so suffering for us and for his 
 own glorification, he will cause us to be glorified 
 with him. (Rom. viii, 17.)] 
 
 10. For it became him — It was suitable to the 
 divine wisdom, the requisitions of justice, and the 
 economy of grace, to offer Jesus as a sacrifice, in 
 order to bring many sons and daughters [that is, 
 in respect to the divine purposes of grace, "every 
 man." (verse 9)] to glory. For whom . . . 
 and by whom — God is the cause of all things. 
 and he is the object, or end of them. Perfect 
 through sufferings — Without sufft rings he could 
 not have made an atonement for sin. The sacrifice 
 must be consummated in order that he might be 
 qualified to be the Captain or Leader of the salva- 
 tion of men, and lead all those who become chil- 
 dren of God through faith in him into eternal 
 glory. This is the sufficient answer to the grand 
 objection of the Jews : " The Messiah is never to 
 be conquered, or die ; but will he victorious, and 
 endure forever." Now the apostle shows that this 
 is not the counsel of God; on the contrary, that it 
 was entirely congruous to the will and nature of 
 God, "by whom and for whom are all things," to 
 bring men to eternal glory through the suffering 
 and death of the Messiah. This is the decision of 
 the Spirit of God against their prejudices; and or. 
 the divine authority this must be our conclusion : 
 Without the passion and death of Christ the salva- 
 tion of man would have been impossible. [The per- 
 fecting of Christ for his mediatorial work included 
 
 through sufferings. 11 For z hoth lie that 
 sanctifieth ami they who are sanctified "are all 
 (if one: for which cause 'he is not ashamed to 
 call them brethren, 12 Saying, C I will declare 
 thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the 
 church will I sing praise unto thee. 13 And 
 again, a I will put my trust in him. And again, 
 e Behold I and the children f which God hath 
 given me. 14 Forasmuch then as the chil- 
 
 ;/ Luke 
 
 13. 32; 
 
 ■ ■1 
 
 ap. 
 
 5. 9. i 
 
 CI 
 
 a p. 
 
 10 
 
 10, 14. 
 
 a Acts 
 
 17 
 
 26. — 
 
 /-Matt. 
 
 28 
 
 Ill 
 
 : John 20. 
 
 17 
 
 • It 
 
 UN 
 
 S. 29.— 
 
 — c I'sa. 
 
 22 
 
 .... 
 
 25. — 
 
 --/ 1'sa. 
 
 IS. 
 
 2 • 
 
 Isa. 12. 2. 
 
 
 , 1- 
 
 a. 
 
 i. 1-.— 
 
 -/John 
 
 in 
 
 2: i 
 
 17. n. 
 
 9, 11, 12 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 three things — merit, power, and sympathy; and 
 all these were in him the results of his sufferings. 
 The first is secured to him by his sacrificial death, 
 "the merits of his passion;" the second was given 
 to him by the Father, (Matt, xxviii. Is,) hut with 
 the accompanying conditions of sufferings and vic- 
 tory ; the third was wrought in him, subjectively, 
 by the things that he suffered. (Chapter v, 9.)] 
 
 11. For both he that sanctifieth — The word 
 djid^uv does not merely signify one who sancti- 
 fies or makes holy, but one who makes atonement 
 or reconciliation to God. He that sanctifies is he 
 that makes atonement; and they who are sanctified 
 are all they [for whom atonement is made, (chapter 
 x, '29,) and all those] who receive that atonement, 
 and are reconciled unto God — become his children 
 by adoption through grace. In this sense our Lord 
 uses the word, (John xvii, 10 :) "For their sakes I 
 sanctify myself ; " r-f/j avrav c}w djia^u kfiav~6p, 
 on their account I consecrate myself to be a sacri- 
 fice. This is the sense in which this word is used 
 generally through this epistle. Are all of one — 
 'Ef h'bc Travrec, both the Sanctifier and the savxti- 
 fied — both Christ and his followers, are all of the 
 same nature ; for as the children were partakers of 
 flesh and blood, that is, of human nature, he par- 
 took of the same, and thus he was qualified to be- 
 come a sacrifice for man. [Because Christ in the 
 incarnation became " very man," and head of the 
 race in its solidarity. (See verse 14.)] He is 
 not ashamed to call them brethren — Though, 
 as to his Godhead, he is infinitely raised above men 
 and angels ; yet as he has become incarnate, not- 
 withstanding his dignity, he blushes not to acknowl- 
 edge all his true followers as his brethren. [Pleased 
 as man with men to appear. — C. Wesley.] 
 
 12. I will declare thy name — See Psalm 
 xxii, 22. The apostle certainly quotes this psalm 
 as referring to Jesus Christ, and these words as 
 spoken by Christ unto the Father in reference to 
 his incarnation. [That Psalm xxii relates to the 
 Messiah the Jews themselves confess, and the his- 
 tory of his death seems, indeed, to be a kind of 
 practical commentary upon it. . . . The whole ob- 
 ject of the present quotation is merely to show that 
 Christ is exhibited in the Jewish Scriptures as 
 having recognised men (all mankind) as his 
 brethren. (See Luke x, 21, 22; John i, 18.) — 
 Stuart.] 
 
 13. I will put my trust in him — It is not 
 clear to what express place of Scripture the apostle 
 refers; words to this effect frequently occur; but 
 the place most probably is Psalm xviii, 2, several 
 parts of which psalm seem to belong to the Mes- 
 siah. Behold I and the children which God 
 hath given me — This is taken from Isa. viii, 18. 
 The apostle does not intend to say that the por- 
 tions which he has quoted have any particular
 
 The Lord Christ toolc on Tiiu 
 the seed of Abraham. 
 
 CHAPTER IT. 
 
 dren are partakers of flesh and blood, he false | deliver them, who 'through fear of deatli were 
 himself likewise took part of the same; h that all their lifetime subject to bondage. 16 For 
 
 through death he might destroy him that had 
 the power of death, that is, the devil ; 15 And 
 
 pjnhn 1. 14: Rnm. 8. 3: Phil. 2. 7. /(I Cor. 15. 54, 55; Col. 
 
 2. 15; 2 Tim. 1.10. /Luke 1. 71; Rom. 8. 15; -Tim. 1.7. 
 
 reference, taken by themselves, to the subject in 
 question; they are only catchwords of whole para- 
 graphs, which, taken together, are fully to the point ; 
 because they are prophecies of the Messiah, and 
 are fulfilled in him. The principal part of it, (the 
 18th Psalm,) seems to refer to Christ's sufferings ; 
 and the miracles which were wrought at his cruci- 
 fixion, the destruction of the Jewish state and 
 polity, the calling of the Gentiles, and the estab- 
 lishment of the Christian Church, appear also to 
 be intended. A principal design of the apostle is 
 to show that such scriptures are prophecies of the 
 Messiah; that they plainly refer to his appearing 
 in the flesh in Israel; and that they have all been 
 fulfilled in Jesus Christ, and the calling of the Gen- 
 tiles to the privileges of the Gospel. To establish 
 these points was of great importance. [The pro- 
 phetic import of these quoted passages should be 
 noticed as illustrative of a great principle of inter- 
 pretation.] The psalm (xxii) was originally the 
 expression of a suffering saint, in all probability 
 David, communing with his God, laving forth to 
 him his anguish, and finally triumphing in confi- 
 dence of his gracious help and deliverance. But 
 by the month of such servants of God did the pro- 
 phetic Spirit speak forth his intimations respecting 
 the Redeemer to come. No word prompted by the 
 Holy Ghost had reference to the utterer only. All 
 Israel was a type: all spiritual Israel set forth 
 the second Man, the quickening spirit. All the 
 groanings of God's suffering people prefigured, and 
 found their fullest meaning in, llis groans who was 
 the chief in suffering. The maxim cannot be too 
 firmly held, nor too widely applied, that all the 
 Old Testament utterances of the Spirit anticipate 
 Christ, just as all his Xew Testament utterances 
 set forth and expand Christ — that Christ is every- 
 where involved in the Old Testament, as he is 
 everywhere evolved in the Xew Testament. — Al- 
 ford.] 
 
 14. The children are partakers of flesh and 
 blood — Since those children of God who have fallen 
 and are to be redeemed are human beings ; in order 
 to be qualified to redeem them by suffering and 
 dying in their stead, he also himself likewise 
 took part of the same, he became incarnate ; 
 and thus He who was God with God became man 
 with men. By the "children," here, we are to 
 understand not only the disciples and all genuine 
 Christians, (as in verse 13,) but indeed the whole 
 human race; so John xi, 51, 52: "He [Caiaphas] 
 prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation; 
 and not for that nation only, but that also he should 
 gather together in one the children of God that 
 wen- scattered abroad." [''The children "( _ 
 here mentioned are the same that are described in 
 the preceding verse, namely, the disciples, the 
 spiritual children of the Messiah. — Stuart.'} [With 
 this agree Alford, Lange, and most others, either 
 expressly or by implication.] That through 
 death — That by the merit of his own death, mak- 
 ing atonement for sin and procuring the almightj 
 energy of the Holy Spirit, he might counterwork, 
 (sa'a/i; '/'J'),) or render useless and ineffectual, all 
 the operations of him who had the power (nparoc) 
 
 verily k he took not on him the nature Man- 
 gels; but he took on him the seed of Abra- 
 
 fcGr. he taketh not hold afuven l», hut <■/ tin seed ofAbra- 
 
 limn It,- tak, th hold. 
 
 or influence to bring death into the world ; so that 
 death, which was intended by him who was a mur- 
 derer from the beginning to be the final ruin of 
 mankind, becomes the instrument of man's exalta- 
 tion and endless glory; and thus the death brought 
 in by Satan is counterivorked and rendered ineffec- 
 tual by the death of Christ. Him that had the 
 power of death — [I/im having a deadly power. 
 So I understand rbv to tcparoc. roil davarov i 
 and this renders all the Speculations about the 
 power of the devil to inflict the sentence of natural 
 <h,dh upon men unnecessary ; and equally so all 
 the efforts to show what the rabbins have taught 
 about Samael, the angel of death. That deadly 
 power, that is, a power of leading men to sin. and 
 consequently bringing them under sentence of spir- 
 itual death, is ascribed to Satan (in many places) in 
 the New- Testament. To render null tin deadly 
 power of Satan, is to prevent the effects of it as 
 bringing men to incur the sentence of spiritual 
 death. . . . Thus interpreted, we have a plain sense 
 of the passage, and one analogous to numerous 
 other parts of Scripture. — Stuart.} [To destroy a 
 power is the same as rendering it ineffectual ; the 
 power of death is that winch procures if, and if 
 the death here named be spiritual death, then is sin 
 that power, though the devil may be its inciting 
 cause, and its destruction is accomplished bj the 
 spiritual agencies of the Gospel, all of which are 
 provided through the death of Christ.] 
 
 15. And deliver them, who through fear of 
 death — It is very likely that the apostle has the 
 Gentiles here principally in view. As they had no 
 revelation, and no certainty of immortality, they 
 were continually in bondage to the fear of death. 
 They preferred life in any state, with the most 
 grievous evils, to death, because they had no hope 
 beyond the grave. But it is also true that all men 
 naturally fear death; even those that have the 
 fullest persuasion and certainty of a future state 
 dread it ; genuine Christians, who know- that if 
 the earthly house of their tabernacle were dis- 
 solved they have a house not made with hands, 
 a building of God, eternal in the heavens, only 
 they fear it not. In the assurance they have 
 of God's love the fear of death is removed; and by 
 the purification of their hearts through faith the 
 sting of death is taken away. 
 
 16. For verily he took not on him the nature 
 of angels — Ov yap drj rrov ayyeXuv i~\ • 
 
 n'/'/.a a-ipiiarnr 'Af3paap ;'-//<//. idverai, Moreover, 
 lie doth not at all take hold of angels; but of the 
 seed of Abraham ]*< taketh hold. This is the mar- 
 ginal reading, and is greatly to be preferred to 
 that in the text. Jesus Christ, intending not to 
 redeem angels but to redeem man, did not assume 
 the angelic nature, but was made man, coming di- 
 rectly by the seed or posterity of Abraham, with 
 whom the original covenant was made, that in his 
 seed all the nations of the earth should b< blessed; 
 and it is on this account that the apostle men- 
 tioned the seed of Abraham and not the seed of 
 Adam. By assuming the nature of man, Christ 
 prevented the final and irrecoverable fall of man ; 
 and by making an atonement in human nature, he 
 
 S99
 
 HEBREWS. 
 
 hara. 17 Wherefore in all things it behooved 
 
 him ' to be made like unto his brethren, that lie 
 might be m a merciful and faithful high priest 
 in things pertaining to God, to make reconcili- 
 ation for the sins of the people. 18 "For in 
 that lie himself hath suffered being tempted, 
 he is able to succour them that are tempted. 
 
 IVhW. 2. 7. m Chap. 4. 15:5. 1,2. fcCliap. 4. 15,16:5. 2; 
 
 7. 25. " Rom. I. 7; I Or. 1. 2; Ej>h. 4. 1; Phil. 3. 14; 2 Thess. 
 
 1. 11: 2 Tim. I. 'J: 2 Peter 1. 1<>. 
 
 made a provision for its i-estoration to its forfeited 
 blessedness. This is a fine thought and beauti- 
 fully expressed. [The Revised Version (1881) 
 reads, " For verily not to angels doth he give help, 
 but he giveth help to the seed of Abraham," ren- 
 dering ■ '-/'/an (lavsTai, he gives help, but the ordi- 
 nary classical sense of to appropriate to one's own 
 use, which is very nearly that of the common ver- 
 sion, is to be preferred. This preference of the 
 seed of Abraham — that is, human nature — argues 
 nothing in respect to its i - elative excellence, for 
 because man was the object to be affected by 
 the divine manifestation, it was requisite that it 
 should take place in the sphere of humanity. (See 
 next verse.)] 
 
 17. Wherefore in all things — Because he thus 
 laid hold on man in order to redeem him, it was 
 necessary that he should in all things become like 
 to man, that he might suffer in his stead, and 
 make an atonement in his nature. That he 
 might be a merciful and faithful high priest— 
 "Iva l'/: i/uwr yivrfrai Kal iriarbc apx'tfisvc, and a 
 faithful high priest that he might In 1 merciful. 
 ['E/t//.'/(.ir, merciful, sympathizing with those who 
 are in ///stress. As those are best adapted to 
 do this who have themselves been sufferers, so 
 Jesus took on him our nature in order that he 
 might suffer in it. Tliarbr apxiepevc, a faithful 
 high priest, (answering to all the requirements of 
 the assumed office.) Jesus assumed our nature 
 that (so) he might qualify himself in a peculiar 
 manner to exercise compassion toward us, rd Kobe 
 rbv Qeov, as to things pertaining to God, that is, 
 to make atonement for man's sin, which so fatally 
 affected his relations to God, his Maker, and his 
 Judge. Christ, as a high priest, was faithful 
 (adapted in his person) to perform the peculiar 
 duties of that office, which (like that of the Jewish 
 priest on the great day of atonement, Lev. iv, 35) 
 were especially to make atonement for the sins of 
 the people. How he did this is shown in the 
 sequel of this epistle. See Stuart.] 
 
 18. For in that he himself hath suffered — 
 A state of suffering disposes persons to lie com- 
 passionate; and those who endure most afflictions 
 are they who feel most for others. The apostle 
 argues, that, among other causes, it was necessary 
 that Jesus Christ should partake of human nature, 
 and so be exposed to trials, persecutions, and vari- 
 ous sufferings, that he might the better feel for 
 aid lie led to succour those who are afflicted and 
 sorely tried. (See Virgil's jEneid, i, v, 632-684.) 
 
 NOTE*S ON CHAPTER III. 
 [The first two chapters may be regarded as a 
 distinct section, in which the dignity of Christ, both 
 in his original divinity and chiefly in his glorified 
 incarnate condition is represented and proved. . . . 
 The author now proceeds to compare him with 
 Moses, and to point out his superiority as the 
 founder of a divine system of religion. — Turner.] 
 400 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 WHEREFORE, holy brethren, partakers 
 of "the heavenly calling, consider 'the 
 Apostle and High Priest of our profession, 
 Christ Jesus; 2 Who was faithful to him 
 that c appointed him, as also d Moses was 
 faithful in all his house. 3 For this man 
 
 h Rom. 15. 8: chap. 2. 17; 4. 14; 5. 5; 6. 20: 8. 1; 9. 11; 
 
 10. 21. o Greek, made, 1 Sam. 12. 6. rf Num. 12. 7; 
 
 verse 5. 
 
 1. Wherefore — [^'Odev, a note of transition and 
 inference, or deduction from what has been before 
 affirmed respecting Christ.] Holy brethren — 
 Persons consecrated to God, called to be holy in 
 heart .and life, and useful in the world. So the 
 Israelites are often called a holy people, saints, 
 etc., because consecrated to God, and because they 
 were bound by their calling to be holy ; although 
 these appellations are given to them in numberless 
 instances where they were personally unholy. For 
 the sense in which aywt is here used, see chapiter 
 ii, 11 ; x, 29.] Heavenly calling — The Israelites 
 had an earthly calling — they were called out of 
 Egypt to go into the Promised Land: Christians 
 have a heavenly calling — they are called to leave 
 the bondage of sin, ami to enter the kingdom of 
 God ; and those who obey are made partakers of 
 this calling by embracing the Gospel, and are thus 
 brought into a state of salvation. Consider — Kura- 
 voijaeiTE, observe well, and this in order that they 
 might not be tempted to swerve from their fidelity 
 to Christ out of excessive regard to the Mosaic in- 
 stitutes; for Christ, as the writer proceeds to show, 
 was in all respects superior to Moses. — Stuart.] 
 Apostle and High Priest of our profession — 
 Among the Jews the high priest was considered to 
 be also the apostle of God. Here then is a clear 
 intimation that the Mosaic economy was at an end, 
 and the priesthood changed. By rfjc qjioTm) iac %/uav, 
 our profession, the apostle undoubtedly means the 
 Christian religion. Jesus was the Apostle of the 
 Father, and has given to mankind the new cove- 
 nant ; and we are to consider the whole system of 
 Christianity as coming immediately from him. [Two 
 reasons may be given for calling Christ the "High 
 Priest of our profession:" 1) Because he is so 
 named in prophecy, (see Psa. ex, 4 ;) and, 2) Because 
 he is compared (but by way of eminence) with the 
 Jewish high priests, making atonement for all men 
 by the offering of himself a propitiation for the 
 sins of the whole world. (1 John ii, 2.) 
 
 2. Who was faithful to him — In Num. xii, *7, 
 God gives this testimony to Moses : " My servant 
 Moses . . . is faithful in oil my house," The whole 
 congregation of Israel was the house or family of 
 God, and God is represented as dwelling among 
 them ; with Moses as his steward, who was faithful 
 in the discharge of his office. So Jesus Christ has 
 hi< house, the whole great family of mankind, for 
 all of whom he offered his sacrificial blood to God ; 
 and the Christian Church, which is especially his 
 own household, is composed of his own children 
 and servants, among anil in whom he lives and con- 
 stantly resides. As apostle and high priest he has 
 been "faithful "to the trust reposed in him; he 
 has faithfully proclaimed the will of the Most 
 High ; vindicated the divine honour against the 
 corrupters of God's worship ; testified against them 
 at the continual hazard of his life; and, at last, 
 not only died as a victim to cancel sin, but also as 
 a martyr to his faithfulness. [In chapter ii, 17, the
 
 Christ Jesus counted worthy of 
 more honour than Moses. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, 
 inasmuch as e he who hath builded the house 
 hath more honour than the house. 4 For 
 every house is builded by some man ; but ' he 
 that built all things is God. 5 FAnd Mums 
 verily was faithful in all his house as h aser- 
 
 eZech. li. 12; Matt. 16. 1». — ; /Eph. '2. 10; 3. 9: chap. 1. 2. — 
 
 g Verse 2. h Exod. U. 31: Num. 12. 7; Deut. 3. 24: Josh. 1. 2: 
 
 8. 81. /Deut, 15. 15. 18, 19. frChap. I. -J. 1\ Cor. S. IB; 
 
 epithet Kiorog [faithful) is applied to Christ in re- 
 spect to his personal (subjective) adaptation to his 
 priestly office work; here the same word is used to 
 
 indicate his fidelity in the performance of that 
 work. | 
 
 8. For this man was counted, etc. — [11/; tovog 
 yap ovtoc 66^r)c ~apa M.uvGijv qijiuTai, for of greater 
 glory than (in comparison with) Moses was he es- 
 teemed worthy. In the former chapters Christ's 
 personal superiority over angels is demonstrated ; 
 now the superiority of his work over that of Moses 
 is declared.] He who hath builded the house 
 — [The same sense must here be given to oinov 
 {house) as in the preceding verse — a household or a 
 family, rather than an edifice. Christ (as God in- 
 carnate) was the founder of the family of the 
 faithful, of which family Moses was only a member, 
 though an eminent and honoured one.] 
 
 4. For every house is builded by some (one) 
 — The word "house," here, is still taken in a meta- 
 phorical sense, signifying family or Church. Every 
 family has a head and governor. A man may found 
 a family, a civil or religious community, and be the 
 head of it; but God alone is the Head, Author, and 
 Governor of [the one great family that comprises] 
 all the families of the earth ; he is the Governor of 
 the universe. But the apostle has a more restricted 
 meaning in the word iravra, all things; and as he 
 has been treating of the Jewish and Christian 
 Churches, so he appears to have them in view here. 
 But as Jesus is the Founder of the Church, and 
 the Head of it, he is here evidently referred to by the 
 word God, thus incidentally proving the Deity of 
 Christ. " Tins, then, (says Dr. Owen,) is that which 
 the apostle intends to declare; namely, the ground 
 and reason whence it is that the house was or could 
 be, in that glorious manner, built by Christ, even 
 because he is God, and so aide to effect it ; and 
 by this effect of his power he is manifested so to 
 be." [The amount of the reasoning (of verse 4) 
 seems to be : " Consider that Christ as Oeoc, (Cod,) 
 or the former of all things, must be the author also 
 of the Jewish and Christian dispensations ; which 
 (fact) shows that a glory belongs to him, not only 
 in his mediatorial office, and as being at the head 
 of the new dispensation, but also as the founder of 
 both this and the Jewish dispensation in his divine 
 character, while Moses is to lie honoured only as the 
 head of the Jewish dispensation in the quality of 
 a commissioned superintendent, but not as author 
 or founder. — Stuart.] 
 
 5. As a servant — The fidelity of Moses was the 
 fidelity of a "servant ;" he was not the founder of 
 that Church, or house; he was employed, under 
 God, to arrange and order it; he was steward to 
 the great Supreme Householder. For a testimony 
 of those things — Every ordinance under the law 
 ^Vils typical, and bore a testimony to the things 
 which were to be afterward manifested, that is, to 
 Je-us Christ, his suffering, death, and the glory 
 which should follow; and to his Gospel in all its 
 parts. The faithfulness of Mo^es consisted in his 
 
 Vol. II.— 26 
 
 vant, 'fur n testimony of those things which 
 were to be spoken after ; <> But Christ as k a 
 son over his own house; ' whose house are we, 
 
 '"if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoic- 
 ing of the hope firm unto the end. 7 Where- 
 fore as "the Holy Ghost saith, "To day if ye 
 
 ti. l'.i; 2 C..r. li. Hi: Kph. 2. 21, 22: 1 Tim. 3. l."»: 1 Peter 2. 5. 
 
 in Matt. 1". 22; 24. 13; Rom. 5. 2; Col. I 23: verse I I; chap 6. 
 11 : 10. 35. ii 2 Sam. 23. 2: Acts 1. 16. o l's ;l . 95. 7 ; verse 15. 
 
 scrupulous attention to every ordinance of Cod; 
 his framing every thing according to the pattern 
 showed him by the Lord; and his referring all to 
 that Christ of whom he spoke as the prophet who 
 should come after him, and should be raised up 
 from among themselves; whom they should atten- 
 tively hear and obey, on pain of being cut off from 
 being the people of the Cord. Hence our Lord 
 told the Jews, (John v, 46,) "Had ye believed 
 Moses, ye would have believed me, for he wrote of 
 me ; " namely, says Dr. Macknight, " in the figures, 
 but especially in the prophecies, of the law, where 
 the gospel dispensation, the coming of its Author, 
 and his character as Messiah, are all described with 
 a precision which adds the greatest lustre of evi- 
 dence to Jesus and to his Gospel." 
 
 6. But Christ as a son over his own house 
 — Moses was faithful as a servant in the house ; 
 Jesus was faithful as the firstborn Son over the 
 house of which he is the Heir and Governor. 
 Moses did not found the houre or family, Christ 
 did ; Moses was in the house as one of the family, 
 Christ was over the house as its Head; Moses was 
 a servant in the house, Christ was the Son and 
 Heir; Moses was in the house of another, Christ in 
 his own house. Whose house are we — We 
 Christians are his Church and family; he is our 
 Father, Governor, and Head. If we hold fast 
 the confidence — We are now (of) his Church, and 
 shall continue to be such, and be acknowledged by 
 him, if we maintain our Christian profession, r^r 
 wappqoiav, that liberty of access to God which we 
 now have, and the rejoicing of the hope, that is, of 
 eternal life, which we shall receive at the resurrec- 
 tion of the dead. [The confidence and joyful hope 
 here mentioned is that which the Christian religion 
 inspires. This must be held, (3e(3aiav, firm, stead- 
 fast, fie remove, to the end, that is, of life. We 
 must persevere to the last in maintaining our 
 Christian profession; we must never abandon the 
 confidence and joyful hope which it inspires if we 
 mean to he considered as belonging to the family 
 of Christ. — Stuart.] [It should be noticed that 
 the condition of continuance in God's family is a 
 steady maintenance of Christian character and per- 
 severance in Christian confiding hope to the end of 
 life. (See Rom. xi, 20)— Turner] 
 
 7. Wherefore as the Holy Ghost saith, To 
 day — These words are quoted from Psa. xcv, 7; 
 they were written by David, but are attributed 
 here to the Holy Ghost, because David wrote them 
 by his inspiration. They were originally a warning 
 to the Israelites not to provoke God, lest they 
 should be excluded from that rest which he had 
 promised them ; and they are used here to persuade 
 Christians to hold Cast their religious privileges 
 and the grace they had received, lest they should 
 come short of that state of future glory which 
 Christ had prepared for them. The words strongly 
 imply, as indeed does the whole epistle, the possi- 
 bility of falling from the grace of God and perish- 
 ing everlastingly; and without this supposition 
 
 405
 
 A. P. 63 
 me, 316. 
 
 HEBREWS. 
 
 Admonition not to harder 
 heart against (iod. 
 
 will hear his voice, 8 Harden not your hearts, 
 as in the provocation, in the day of tempta- 
 tion in the wilderness: 9 When your fathers 
 tempted me, proved me, and saw my works 
 forty years. lO Wherefore I was grieved 
 with that generation, and said, They do always 
 err in their heart; and they have not known 
 my ways. 11 .So I sware in my wrath, r They 
 shall not enter into my rest. 12 Take heed. 
 
 pGv. If they -shall enter. 
 
 these words, and all such like, would have neither 
 sense aor appositeness. 
 
 8. Harden not your hearts — Which ye will in- 
 fallibly do if ye will not hear his voice. [The 
 hardening of the heart, that is, the making or con- 
 tinuing of the soul in a state of insensibility to 
 things spiritual, is the natural and inevitable result 
 of inattention to the voice of God as uttered in his 
 word, and by his Spirit and providence.] Provo- 
 cation — YlapawLnpaafiu. [This word corresponds 
 here to the Hebrew rendered strife, contention. The 
 meaning of it is. exacerbation, provocation, embitter- 
 ing, from Kinpaivu,- to embitter or be bitter. It is 
 here applied to designate the act of the Israelites 
 who provoked the displeasure of God : in particular 
 as to their unbelief and murmuring at Massah, or 
 Meribah; (Exod. xvii, 7,) and afterward at other 
 places. — Stuart.] Although the Israelites provoked 
 God to wrath in the wilderness from the day they 
 came out of the land of Egypt until their arrival at 
 Canaan, as Moses told them,(Deut. ix, 7,) their great- 
 est "provocation," the "provocation " in which they 
 showed the greatest degree of evil disposition, un 
 doubtcdly was their refusing to go into Canaan from 
 Kadesh. It was therefore very properly termed the 
 bitter provocation and the day of temptation, by way 
 of eminence; ami it justly brought on them the wrath 
 of God, excluding them from his rest in Canaan. To 
 distinguish this from the "provocation" at Rephi- 
 dim, it is called Meribah- Kadesh. (Dent, xxxii, 51.) 
 [This is a reference to what happened at Meribah, 
 or Massah, a place so named from the undutiful 
 conduct of the Israelites toward Jehovah while 
 dwelling there. (Exod. xvii, 2, 7.) This was the 
 beginning of a series of temptations and provoca- 
 tions which extended all through the forty years 
 of their abode in the desert, which with few excep- 
 tions individually ended only in their death before 
 entering into the promised rest. See Brown.] 
 
 9. When ypur fathers tempted me— It would 
 be better to translate ov where than when, as the 
 Vulgate has done in its ubi; and this translation 
 has been followed by Wiclif, Coverdale, Tindal, and 
 our first translators in general. ['Erreipaaav oi 
 naripte vfiuv kv dota/iao'ia, //oar fathers tempted 
 (me) bit way o/tbial, (proof.) These words refer 
 to (these) men as it were (unconsciously) making 
 experiments, whether indeed he were the powerful, 
 holy, just, and faithful God he had declared himself 
 to be. — Brown.~\ 
 
 10. Wherefore I was grieved — God repre- 
 sents himself as the Father of this great Israelitish 
 family, for whose comfort and support he had made 
 every necessary provision, and to whom he had 
 given every proof of tenderness and fatherly affec- 
 tion; and because they disobeyed him, and walked 
 in that way in which they could not but be miser- 
 able, therefore he represents himself as grieved 
 and exceedingly displeased with them. [Atb irpo- 
 cdi^tkaa, for that reason, that is, theL' disobedience, 
 
 4U2 
 
 brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil 
 heart of unbelief, in departing from the living 
 God. 13 But exhort one another daily, while 
 it is called To day ; lest any of you be hard- 
 ened through the deeeitfulness of sin. 14 For 
 we are made partakers of Christ, » if we hold 
 the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto 
 the end; 15 While it is said, 'To day if ye 
 will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as 
 
 g Verse 6. r Verse 7. 
 
 I was indignant, offended at, ~y yevsa tuvtij, the men 
 of that age or race. They do always err — They 
 are continually departing from the right way. Igno- 
 rance of God's ways, and consequent disregard of 
 his commandments, are here given as the certain 
 procuring causes of his displeasure and punitive 
 visitations.] 
 
 11. So I sware in my wrath — God's grief at 
 their continued disobedience became wrath at their 
 final impenitence, and therefore he excluded them 
 from the promised rest. 
 
 [And they, at length, who scorn thy love, 
 Shall find thee a consuming fire. 
 
 Breithaupt, nans ated by J. Wesley."] 
 
 12. Take heed, brethren, lest there be in 
 
 any of you — Take warning by those disobedient 
 Israelites. They were brought out of the house of 
 bondage, and had the fullest promise of a land of 
 prosperity and rest: by their disobedience they 
 came short of it, and fell in the wilderness. Ye 
 have been brought from the bondage of sin, and 
 have a most gracious promise of an everlasting in- 
 heritance among the saints in light ; but as through 
 unbelief and disobedience they lost their rest, so 
 through the same ye may lose yours. An evil heart 
 of unbelief will lead away from the living God. 
 What was possible in their case is possible in 
 yours. 
 
 13. But exhort one another daily — This sup- 
 poses a state of close church fellowship, without 
 which they could not have had access to each other. 
 While it is called To day— [This to day will not 
 last forever. The day of life will end soon, and 
 perhaps the day of grace yet sooner. — WesleyJ] 
 
 14 For we are made partakers of Chiist — 
 Having believed in Chiist, and embraced the whole 
 Christian system, they were already partakers of 
 its benefits in this life, and entitled to the fulfil- 
 ment of all its exceeding great and precious prom- 
 ises relative to the glories of the eternal world. 
 The former they actually possessed ; the latter was 
 promised, but conditioned on their perseverance; 
 therefore the apostle says: If we hold fast the 
 beginning of our confidence steadfast t nto the end, 
 that is, of our life. For our participation of glory 
 depends on our continuing steadfast in the faith to 
 the end of our Christian race. [And this conditioning 
 implies the possibility of failure. (See chapter ii, 1.) 
 Tt/v apxyv, tin beginning, or the origin, (probably 
 meaning the former, or their first faith in Christ.)] 
 The word v—oorao/r, which we here translate confi- 
 dence, signifies properly a basis ov foundation. ]f 
 this were not held fast to the end, Christ, in his 
 saving influences, could not be held fast ; and no 
 Christ, no heaven. He who has Christ in him has 
 the well-founded hope of glory: and he who is 
 found in the great day with Christ in Ins heart will 
 receive an abundant entrance into eternal glory. 
 
 15. While it is said, To day — [This is said to
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 in the provocation. 1<» s For some, when they 
 had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all thai 
 came out of Egypt by Moses. 17 But with 
 whom was he grieved forty years? was it not 
 with them that had sinned, ' whose carcasses 
 
 ^Numbers 14. 2. 4, 11, 24, 30; Deuteronomy 1. 34, 36, 38. 
 
 t Numbers 14. 22, 2:> ; 26. 65 i Psalm 106. 2(i; 1 Corinthians W. '■: 
 
 remind the reader of what has just been cited from 
 the Old Testament, a part only of which is now re- 
 peated, and the rest is left to be supplied by the 
 reader's recollection. — Stuart.] See on verses 7, 
 8, '.i, and 12. 
 
 16. For some, when they had heard, did 
 provoke — There is a various reading here, which 
 consists merely in the different placing of an accent, 
 and yet gives the whole passage a different turn. 
 [The latest and best authorities agree in writing it, 
 rives yap atcovaavTEe TzapFir/Kpavav ; akTC oh Trarrrc 
 <>/' ht-eM&VTEQ ef AlyinrTov did Movoiug, for who hear- 
 ing, tempted ? >eaft it not all that came out of Egypt 
 by (through) Moses ? This makes riveg interroga- 
 tive, and resolves the whole into two questions, of 
 which the latter, though in form a negative, is 
 clearly an affirmative answer to the former. He 
 was grieved with all that came out of Egypt. The 
 few exceptions, that is, Caleb and Joshua, because 
 they were solitary exceptions out of so great a 
 mass, are not taken account of.] Should it be said 
 that all did not provoke, for Joshua and Caleb are 
 expressly excepted, it may be answered that the 
 term " all " may be with great propriety used when 
 out of many hundreds of thousands only two per- 
 sons were found who continued faithful. Should 
 it be still said our version appears to be most 
 proper, because all did not provoke, it may be an- 
 swered, that the common reading, rivec, some, is 
 too contracted in its meaning to comprehend the 
 hundreds of thousands who did rebel. 
 
 17. But with whom was he grieved forty 
 years — [Here (and so in the next verse) the con- 
 struction is the same as in the preceding verse — first 
 a question is asked, and then its answer is given in 
 the form of a negative question, which is clearly 
 equivalent to an affirmative of what is asked. (Sec 
 an example of this form, Luke xvii, 8.)] Whose 
 carcasses fell — 'ilv to, nuka hirEaev, whose mem- 
 bers till ; ~ii nei'/.a properly signifies the members 
 of the body, and here may be an allusion to the 
 scattered, bleached bones of this people, that were 
 a long time apparent in the wilderness, continuing 
 there as a proof of their crimes, and of the judg- 
 ments of God. 
 
 18. To whom sware he — God never acts by 
 any kind of caprice ; whenever he pours out his 
 judgments there are the most positive reasons to 
 vindicate his conduct. Those whose carcasses fell 
 in the wilderness were they who had sinned. And 
 those who did not enter into lus rest were those 
 who believed not. God is represented here as 
 swearing that they should not enter in, in order to 
 show the determinate nature of his purpose, the 
 reason on which it was founded, and the height of 
 the aggravation which occasioned it. 
 
 19. So we see that they could not enter in 
 — It was no arbitrary decree of God that prevented 
 them, it was no want of necessary strength to en- 
 able them, it was through no deficiency of divine 
 counsel to instruct them ; all these they had in 
 abundance: but their unbelief produced disobedi- 
 ence, and disobedience produced hardness of heart 
 
 fell in the wilderness? 18 And u to whom 
 sware lie that they should not enter into his 
 rest, but to them that believed not? 19 ' So 
 we see that they could not enter in because of 
 unbelief. 
 
 Jade 5. 
 34, ro.- 
 
 ii Numbers 14. 
 -V Chapter 4. 6. 
 
 30; 32. 11, 12, 13; Deuteronomy 1. 
 
 and blindness of mind ; and all these drew down 
 the judgments of God, and wrath came upon them 
 to the uttermost. 
 
 1. This whole chapter, as the epistle in general, 
 reads a most awful lesson against backsliders, t li- 
 fters, and loiterers in the way of salvation. Every 
 believer in Christ is in danger of apostasy while 
 any remains of the "evil heart of unbelief" are 
 found in him. [That is, while he is still on proba- 
 tion for heaven, for the promise is that they (and 
 of course only they) who endure to the end shall 
 be saved.] 
 
 2. No man should defer his salvation to any fu- 
 ture time. If God speaks to day, it is to day that 
 he should be heard and obeyed. To defer recon- 
 ciliation to God to any future period is the most 
 reprehensible and destructive presumption. It sup- 
 poses that God will indulge us in our sensual pro- 
 pensities, and cause his mercy to tarry for us till 
 we have consummated our iniquitous purposes. It 
 shows that we prefer, at least for the present, the 
 devil to Christ, sin to holiness, and earth to hea\ en. 
 And can we suppose that God will be thus mocked ? 
 Can we suppose that it can at all consist with Ids 
 righteousness to extend forgiveness to such abom- 
 inable provocation 1 What a man sows that shall 
 he reap. If he sows to the flesh, he shall of the 
 flesh reap corruption. Reader, it is a dreadful 
 thing to fall into the hands of the living God. 
 
 3. Unbelief is rightly considered the most dam- 
 ning of all sins. And what is this unbelief that 
 damns and ruins mankind? Is it not the not ] er- 
 mitting the mind and heart to be persuaded of the 
 truths which God speaks? 'AirioTia signifies faith- 
 less, or being without faith. And this is an effect 
 from another cause. In chapter iv, 11, these very 
 people are cautioned against falling through unbe- 
 lief; but there the word is aireideia, indisposition to 
 be persuaded. They heard the divine instructions; 
 they saw God's stupendous miracles ; but they 
 would not suffer themselves to be persuaded that 
 He who said and did such things would perform 
 those other things which he had either threatened 
 or promised. Hence they had no faith, because 
 they were unpersuaded ; and their unbelief was the 
 effect of their unpersuaded or unpersuadable mind. 
 And their minds were not persuaded of Cod's truth, 
 because they had ears open only to the dictates of 
 the flesh. (See on chapter iv, 2.) Here, then, is the 
 damning sin : the not inferring, from what God has 
 said and done, that he will do those other things 
 which he has either threatened or promised. And 
 how few are there who are not committing this sin 
 daily ! Header, dost lliou in this state dream of 
 heaven? Awake out of sleep! 
 
 4. Where there are so many snares and dangers 
 it is impossible to be too watchful and circumspect. 
 Satan, as a roaring lion, as a subtle serpent, or in 
 the guise of an angel of light, is momentarily going 
 about seeking whom he may deceive, blind, and de- 
 vour; and when it is considered that the human 
 heart, till entirely renewed, is on his side, it is a 
 
 403
 
 HEBREWS. 
 
 God's promise of rest ineffectual 
 unless believed. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 LET a us therefore fear, lest, a promise be- 
 ing left us of entering into his rest, any 
 of you should seem to come short of it. '2 For 
 unto us was the gospel preached, as well as 
 unto them: but ''the word preached did not 
 profit them, c not being mixed with faith in 
 them that heard it. 3 <i For we which have 
 believed do enter into rest, as he said, L 'As I 
 
 a Chap. 12. 15. 6&r. theword of hearing. — cOr, because 
 
 they tvere not united by faith to. 
 
 miracle of mercy that any soul escapes perdition. 
 No man is safe any longer than he maintains the 
 spirit of watchfulness and prayer; and to maintain 
 such a spirit he has need of all the means of grace. 
 He who neglects any of them which the mercy of 
 God has placed in his power tempts the devil to 
 tempt him. 
 
 5. As a preventive of blacksliding and apostasy, 
 the apostle recommends mutual exhortation. No 
 Christian should live for himself alone ; he should 
 consider his fellow Christian as a member of the 
 same body, and feel for him accordingly, and love, 
 succour, and protect him. When this is carefully 
 attended to in religious society, Satan finds it very 
 difficult to make an inroad on the Church ; but when 
 coldness, distance, and a want of brotherly love 
 takes place, Satan can attack each singly, and, by 
 successive victories over individuals, soon make an 
 easy conquest of the whole. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER IV. 
 
 1. Let us therefore fear — Seeing the Israelites 
 lost the rest of Canaan through obstinacy and un- 
 belief, let us be afraid lest we come short of the 
 heavenly rest through the same cause. Should 
 seem to come short of it — Lest any of us should 
 actually come short of it ; that is, miss it. (See 
 Luke viii, 18.) What the apostle had said before 
 relative to the rest might be considered as an alle- 
 gory; here he explains and applies that allegory, 
 showing that Canaan was a type of the blessed 
 privileges of the Gospel of Christ, and of the glo- 
 rious eternity to which they lead. [Ao/cr? (should 
 seem.) is, as so many both of ancients and moderns 
 have taken it, a mild term conveying, indeed, a 
 stronger intimation behind it. — Alfonl.] Come 
 short — The verb varepelv [literally means to come 
 afterward — too lute. In the secondary sense it 
 means to fail, /<< come short; as he must fail of ob- 
 taining a thing who comes too late for it, perhaps 
 with a reference to crjuepov, to day. But I prefer 
 the more simple (and direct) lest ye fail of obtain- 
 ing tlii' promised blessing. — Stuart.] 
 
 2. For unto us was the gospel preached — 
 Km yap eouev evTfYyeTuajievOL, for ve arc " gos- 
 pelted.' 1 '' They had a gracious promise of entering 
 into an earthly rest ; we have a gracious promise 
 of entering into a heavenly rest. God gave them 
 every requisite advantage; he has done the same 
 to us. Moses and the elders spoke the word of 
 God plainly and forcibly to them ; Christ and his 
 apostles have done the same tons. They might 
 have persevered; so may we: they disbelieved. 
 disobeyed, and fell ; and so may we. But the 
 word preached did not profit them — 'AAA' ova 
 G)fiX//<7£v 6 'Aoyog rf/r amrjc kiceivovg, hut the word of 
 hearing did not profit them. Their minds had been 
 debased by their Egyptian bondage, and they 
 scarcely ever arose to a state of mental nobility. 
 
 404 
 
 have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter 
 into my rest : although the works were fin- 
 ished from the foundation of the world. 
 4 For he spake in a certain place of the seventh 
 day on this wise, ' And God did rest the 
 seventh day from all his works. 5 And in 
 this place again, If they shall enter into my 
 rest. 6 Seeing therefore it remaineth that 
 some must enter therein, sand they to whom 
 
 d Chap. 3. 14. 
 
 — e Psa. 95. 11 ; chap. 3. 11. /Gen. 2. 2 ; Exod. 
 
 20. 11 ; 31. 17. a Chap. 3. 19. 
 
 Not being mixed -with faith in them that 
 heard— The word awKEKEpaajikvovg, mixed, is a met- 
 aphor taken from the nutrition of the human body 
 by mixing the aliment taken into the stomach with 
 the saliva and gastric juices, so that it is digested 
 and absorbed into the blood, and so becomes the 
 means of supporting the body. Should the most 
 nutritive aliment be received into the stomach, if 
 not ''mixed'' with these juices it would be rather 
 the means of death than of life ; certainly it would 
 "not profit." So faith in the word preached [a 
 gracious spirit of receptivity] is the grand means 
 of its becoming the power of God to the salvation 
 of the soul. He who does not credit a threatening 
 will not be deterred by it from repeating the sin 
 against which it is levelled ; nor can he derive 
 comfort from a promise who does not believe it as 
 a pledge of God's veracity and goodness. Faith, 
 therefore, must be "mixed" with all that we hear 
 in order to make the word of God effectual to our 
 salvation. 
 
 3. For we which have believed do enter 
 into rest — The great spiritual blessings, the fore- 
 runners of eternal glory, which were all typified by 
 that earthly rest promised to the ancient Israelites, 
 we Christians do, by believing in Christ Jesus, 
 actually possess. We have peace of conscience 
 and joy in the Holy Ghost ; are saved from the 
 guilt and power of sin ; and thus enjoy an inward 
 rest. [But God has said concerning the unbelieving 
 Israelites] in the wilderness, I have sworn in my 
 wrath that they shall not enter into my rest, not- 
 withstanding the works of creation were finished, 
 and the seventh day's rest [which was also a type 
 and a prophecy of the rest of Canaan] was institu- 
 ted from the foundation of the world. [So, in 
 the provisions of the Gospel the work is finished, 
 and a redeemed world is invited to enter into them ; 
 which, however, can be done only through faith.] 
 
 4. For he spake in a certain place — Namely 
 in Gen. ii, 2, which refers to the completion of the 
 work of creation, and the setting apart the seventh 
 day as a day of "rest" for man and a type of 
 everlasting felicity. 
 
 5. And in this place again— See Psalm xcv, 11. 
 This was a second rest which the Lord promised to 
 the believing, obedient seed of Abraham ; and as it 
 was spoken of in the days of David, when the Jews 
 actually possessed this long-promised Canaan, 
 therefore it is evident that that was not the rest 
 which God intended, as the next verse shows. 
 
 6. It remaineth that some must (will) enter 
 therein — 'E~£i oh' a-o/.tl-erai rirac sioE/.fieiv Etc 
 avrrjv, seeing thin it remaineth for sorm to enter into 
 it; or, >rhrr"<i* therefore if remaineth that some 
 cute-" into it, which is Dr. Owen's translation, and 
 they tn whom if was first j>r<<ieh,-<f {<u - t 6 
 EvayyE^iidOevTEg, they to whom ; lt< promist was given; 
 they who first recti a J the good tidings, that is, the
 
 The rest promised to the Hebrews 
 a type <<i the heaveulji rest. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 it h was first preached entered not in because 
 of unbelief: 7 Again, he Iimiteth a certain 
 day, saying in David. Today, after so long a 
 time; as it is said, 'To day if ye will hear his 
 voice, harden not yojir hearts. 8 For if k Je- 
 sus had given them rest, then would he not 
 afterward have spoken of another day. 9 There 
 remaineth therefore a ' rest to the people of 
 
 h Or, the, gospel wan first preached. — iPsa. 95. 7: chap. 
 
 3. 7. — /.-That is, Joshua. — /Or, keeping of a .sabbath. 
 
 mChap. 3. 12, 18, L9. 
 
 Israelites, to whom was given the promise of en- 
 tering into the rest of Canaan) did not enter in be- 
 came of their unbelief, and the promise still con- 
 tinued to be repeated even in the days of David — 
 therefore, some other "rest" must be intended. 
 
 7. He Iimiteth (defines) a certain day — Day, 
 /// Kiv, here seems to have the same meaning as rent 
 in some other parts in this place. The day or time 
 of rest relative to the ancient Jews being over and 
 past, and a long time having elapsed between G-od's 
 displeasure shown to the disobedient Israelites in 
 the wilderness and the days of David, and the true 
 rest not having been enjoyed, God in his mercy has 
 instituted another day — lias given another dispensa- 
 tion of mercy and goodness by Christ Jesus ; and 
 now it may be said, as formerly, To day, if ye will 
 hear his voice, harden not your hearts. God speaks 
 now as he spoke before ; his voice is in the Gospel 
 as it was in the Law. Believe, love, obey, and ye 
 shall enter into this rest. In David (Psa. cxv, 7) — 
 As we say " in Isaiah," meaning the book of Isaiah. 
 After (the lapse of) so long a time — (Namely, the 
 time between Joshua and David.) [The reference is 
 clearly backward to what has been already cited, 
 not forward to the words which follow. — Alford.] 
 
 8. For if Jesus (Joshua) had given them 
 rest — The apostle shows, that although Joshua 
 did bring the children of Israel into the Promised 
 Laud, yet this could not be the intended rest, he- 
 cause long after this time the Holy Spirit, by David, 
 speaks of this rest; the apostle, therefore, con- 
 cludes — 
 
 9. There remaineth therefore a rest to the 
 people of God — [Ea^iSariaybc, a keeping of sab- 
 bath.] The " rest " was not, 1) The rest of the Jew- 
 ish sabbath; nor, 2) The rest of the Promised Land, 
 (for the psalmist wrote long after the days of 
 Joshua ;) therefore there is another rest — a state of 
 blessedness — for the people of God; and this is the 
 Gospel; the blessings it procures and communicates, 
 and the eternal glory which it prepares for, and has 
 promised to, genuine believers. There are two words 
 in this chapter which we indifferently translate 
 "rest," Karkiravasv and aa(3j3ari(7fidg, the first sig- 
 nifying a cessation from labour, so that the weary 
 body is rested and refreshed; the second meaning, 
 not only a rest from labour, but a religioits rest; 
 sabbatismus, a rest of a sacred kind, of which both 
 soul and body partake. This is true, whether we 
 understand the rest as referring' to gospel bless- 
 ings or to eternal felicity, or to both. 
 
 10. For he that is entered into his rest — 
 The man who has believed in Christ Jesus has en- 
 tered into his rest ; the state of happiness which he 
 has provided, and which is the forerunner of eter- 
 nal glory. Hath ceased from his own works — 
 No longer depends on the observance of Mosaic 
 rites and ceremonies for his justification and final 
 happiness. He rests from all these works of the 
 
 God. 10 \ : '<\- he that is entered into his rest, 
 lie also hath ceased from hisown works, as God 
 did f rom his. 11 Let us labour therefore to 
 eiiler into that rest, lest any man fall '"after 
 the same. example of "unbelief. 12 For the 
 word of God is "quick, and powerful, and 
 i' sharper than any itwoedged sword, piercing 
 even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, 
 
 a Or, disobedience. olsa. 49. 2; Jer. 2:'.. •_".'; 2 Cor. 10. 1, 
 
 5; -1 1'eter 1. 23. p Pro v. 5. 4. a Kph. 6. 17; Rev. 1. 1G; 
 
 2. 16. 
 
 law as fully as God has rested from his works of 
 creation. Those who restrain the word "rest" to 
 the signification of eternal glory, say that ceasing 
 from our own works relates to the sufferings, trib- 
 ulations, afflictions, etc., of this life ; as in Rev. 
 xiv, 13. I understand it as including both. In 
 speaking of the sabbath, as typifying a state of 
 blessedness in the other world, the apostle follows 
 the opinions of the Jews of his own and after. times, 
 who think that where the plural number is used, 
 (as in Lev. xix, 30, Ye shall keep my sabbatJis,) that 
 the lower and higher sabbaths are intended, and that 
 the one is prefigured by the other. 
 
 11. Let ns labour therefore — The wool airov- 
 daauyev implies every exertion of body and mind 
 which can be made in reference to the subject. 
 All things else omitted, this one thing let us do. 
 We receive grace, improve grace, retain grace, that 
 we may obtain eternal glory. Lest ar.y man fall — 
 Lest he fall off from the grace of God, from the Gos- 
 pel and its blessings, and perish everlastingly. This 
 is the meaning of the writer, who seems never to sup- 
 pose that a man might not make final shipwreck 
 of faith and of a good conscience as long as he was 
 in a state of probation. 
 
 12. For the word of God is quick, and 
 powerful- — [By the phrase 6 16yoc tov Qeov, we are 
 certainly to understand, not the divine Ao}«c, (John 
 i, 1,) but the truths and doctrines of the Gospel, as 
 they come to us in the Holy Scriptures, are 
 preached among men, and made life-giving by the 
 accompanying energy of the Holy Spirit.] [Zuv 
 yap 6 Aoync Qeov icai kvef yr/c, for God's living uord 
 is powerful ; or, God's word is enduring, andjull of 
 i in ray, thatis, has an ever-during force. The mean- 
 ing, according to the latter interpretation, is, that 
 the commutation uttered in ancient days against 
 unbelievers (and which had been repeated above 
 by the writer) has abated nothing from its force 
 or efficacy down to the present time. It still 
 lives; unbelievers are still subject to its power. 
 This is suitable to the relation of these words to 
 what precedes them. The other interpretation 
 makes %uv mean active, (living.) a sense which is 
 common to this word and its Hebrew equivalent. 
 I understand both terms as conveying the idea <d' 
 active and mighty energy, which is altogether appro- 
 priate to the writer's purpose that God's word, with 
 its fearful threatenings uttered against unbelievers 
 in former days, is still in force, and has a dreadful 
 power at which they ought to shudder. Kai 
 
 repoc birep iraoai> fia.xo.ipav diaropov, and sharper 
 than any two-edged sword. The efficacy <d the 
 divine conuuination is often compared to a sharp 
 sword. (Isa. xlix, 2; xi, 4; Rev. i. 16; ii, 12, 16; 
 xix, 15, 21.) Language of reproof, threats, or con- 
 demnation, is by the sacred writers called the 
 sword, or rod, of his mouth. So in our text t lie 
 divine commination is represented as terribly eflfi- 
 
 405
 
 A. M. 4067. A. D. 63. 
 Sfeurof Rome, si6. 
 
 IIEP.REWS. 
 
 Nature and properties of the 
 word "I God. 
 
 and of the joints and marrow, and is r adis- 
 cerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 
 
 r 1 Cor. 14. 24, 25. 
 
 cacious. Kal duKVOVfiEvoc, axpt [ispta/iov Tpv,\//r Kal 
 TrvEVfiarog, piercing so as to separate life and spirit. 
 $ v XVt "hen used as here, in distinction from 
 nvEv/xa, means the animal soul, or principle of 
 animal life in man, as irvEV/ia, in sucfi a case, means 
 the rational soul. ... In the phrase under consid- 
 eration the terms used plainly mean, inflicting a 
 wound so deep as shall prove deadly. We may 
 paraphrase both expressions thus: a sharp sword 
 that inflicts deadly wounds. 'Apftcbv te ical ^veTiuv, 
 joints and morrow, that is, so as to divide the 
 limbs from the body, a tremendous image of the 
 sharpness of the sword, and of the deadly punitive 
 efficacy of the divine judgments. — Stuart.] 
 
 [Calmet interprets these words with especial 
 reference to the life-giving power of the divine 
 word. He explains and applies the text in this 
 wise : 
 
 [" And this mode of speech is exactly conform- 
 able to that of the Prophet Isaiah, (lv, 10, 11,) 
 where, to the word of God spoken by his prophets, 
 the same kind of powers are attributed as those 
 mentioned here. For as the rain vometh down and 
 the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but 
 watereth the earth, ami maketh it bring forth and 
 bail, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to 
 the eater; so shall my word be that goeth forth 
 our ok my mouth ; it shall not return unto me 
 void; but it shall accomplish that which I please, and 
 it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. The 
 centurion seems to speak a similar language, (Luke 
 vii, 7 :) But say in a word, (a/'/a dire Aoyu, speak 
 thy word,) and my servant shall be healed.' 1 ''] 
 
 In Dr. Dodd's collections we find the following: 
 " Tile word of God, which promises to the faith- 
 ful an entrance into God's rest in David's time, and 
 now to us, is not a thing which died or was for- 
 gotten as soon as it was uttered, but it continues 
 <me and the same to all generations; it is C,wv, 
 quick, or /icing. So Isaiah says : The word of our 
 Q-od shall stand for ever. (Chapter xl, 8; compare 
 chapter li, 6; lv, 11 ; 1 Esdras iv, 38 ; John iii, 34; 
 
 1 Peter i, 23.) And powerful, kvepyfjc, efficacious, 
 active ; sufficient, if it be not actually hindered, 
 to produce its effects; effectual. (Philem. 6; see 
 
 2 Cor. x, 4; 1 Thess. ii, 13;) "and sharper than 
 any two-edged sword;" ropurepoc virep, more cat- 
 ting than. The word of God penetrates deeper into 
 a man than any sword ; it enters into the soul and 
 spirit, into all our sensations, passions, appetites, 
 nay, to our very thoughts; and sits as judge of the 
 most secret intentions, contrivances, anil sentiments 
 of the heart.] 
 
 [Mr. Wesley's note on this verse is expressed 
 with his usual precision and accuracy: "Tor 
 the word of God ' — preached, (verse 2,) and 
 armed with threatenings, (verse 3,) is living and 
 powerful — attended with the power of the living- 
 God, and conveying either life or death to the 
 hearers ; ' sharper than any twoedged sword ' — 
 penetrating the heart more than this does the body ; 
 piercing quite through, and laying open 'the soul 
 and spirit, joints and marrow ' — the inmost re- 
 cesses of the mind, which the apostle beautifully 
 and strongly expresses by this heap of figurative 
 words ; ' and is a discerner, not only of the thoughts,' 
 but also of the intentions."] Is a discerner of 
 406 
 
 13 'Neither is there any creature that is not 
 manifest in his sight : but all things are naked 
 
 * Psa. 33. 13, 14 ; 90. 8; 139. 11, 12. 
 
 the thoughts — Kat KpiriK.br ivtivfiyaeuv Kal ewoiav 
 Kapdiac, ; is a critic of the propensities and sugges- 
 tions of the heart How many have felt this prop- 
 erty of God's word where it has been faithfully 
 preached! How often has it happened that a man 
 lias seen the whole of his character, and some of 
 the most private transactions of his life, held up as 
 it were to public view by the preacher ; and yet the 
 parties absolutely unknown to each other ! But 
 while this effect of the word or true doctrine of 
 God is acknowledged, let it not be supposed that 
 it, of itself, can produce such effects. The word of 
 God is compared to a hammer that breaks the rock 
 in pieces, (Jer. xxiii, 29 ;) but will a hammer break 
 a stone unless it is applied by the skill and strength 
 of some powerful agent? It is here compared to a 
 twoedged sword; but will a sword so cut or pierce 
 unless some hand push and direct it? Neither can 
 the words and doctrine of God produce any effect 
 but as directed by the teacher and applied by the 
 Spirit of God. It is an instrument the most apt for 
 the accomplishing of its work ; but it will do noth- 
 ing but as used by the heavenly Workman. 
 
 13. Neither is there any creature that is 
 not manifest — God, from whom this word comes, 
 and by whom it has all its efficacy, is infinitely 
 wise. He well knew how to construct his word so 
 as to suit it to the state of all hearts ; and he has 
 given it that infinite fulness of meaning so as to 
 suit it to all cases. And so complete is he in his 
 knowledge, and so omnipresent is he, that the 
 whole creation is constantly exposed to his view ; 
 nor is there a creature of the affections, mind, or 
 imagination, that is not constantly under his eye. 
 He marks every rising thought, every budding de- 
 sire ; and such as these are supposed to be the 
 creatures to which the apostle particularly refers, 
 and which are called, in the preceding verse, the 
 propensities and suggestions of the heart. But all 
 things are naked and opened — Uavra 6e yvpva 
 Kal TETpaxr/'/.tofitva. The verb Tpa^r/'Al^w, from 
 which the apostle's rErpaxV^ytva comes, signifies 
 to have the neck bent back so as to expose the face 
 to full view, that every feature might be seen ; and 
 this was often done with criminals, in order that 
 they might be the better recognised and ascertained. 
 To this custom Pliny refers in the very elegant and 
 important panegyric which he delivered on the 
 Emperor Trajan, about A. D. 103, when the em- 
 peror had made him consul ; where, speaking of 
 the great attention which Trajan paid to the public 
 morals, and the care he took to extirpate informers, 
 etc., he says : " There is nothing, however, in tins 
 age which affects us more pleasingly, nothing more 
 deservedly, than to behold from above the supine 
 faces and reverted necks of the informers. We 
 thus knew them, and were gratified when, as ex- 
 piatory victims of the public discpiietude, they were 
 led away to lingering punishments and sufferings 
 more terrible than even the blood of the guilty." 
 [Alford, after considering the various renderings of 
 this figure, accepts as most probable nearly this 
 view of the subject. " I would therefore,"- he says, 
 " accept this metaphorical sense here, and regard 
 the word as signifying entire prostration and sub- 
 jugation under the eye of God; not only naked, 
 stripped of all covering and concealment — but also
 
 sin Christ bav 
 great high prie 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 M. 4067. A. T>. 63. 
 Year of Ronu-, 316. 
 
 and 'opened unto the eyes of him with whom 
 we have to do. 14 Seeing then that we have 
 a "great high priest, "that is passed into the 
 heavens, Jesus the Son of God, "let us hold 
 fast our profession. 15 For x we have not a 
 
 «Job26. 6; 34. 21; Pmv. 15. 11.- 
 36; 9. 12,21. — wChap. 10 23. 
 
 -a chap. 3. 1.— »Chap. 
 —x Isa. 53. :J : cbap. 2. 18. 
 
 laid prostrate in their exposure before him."] 
 With whom -we have to do — ILpdf bv %/j.iv 6 
 Myoc., to whom wt must give an account. He is our 
 judge, and is well qualified to be so, as all our 
 
 hearts and actions are naked ami open to him. 
 This is the true meaning of A6yoc in this place ; and 
 it is used in precisely the same meaning in Matt, 
 xii, 36; xviii, 23; Luke xvi, 2. Rom. xiv, 12: So 
 then every one of us (%.6yov duaei) shall give an ac- 
 count of himself to God. And Heb. xiii, 17: They 
 watch for your souls (<Jf "Aoyov a7voSucoi>rec) as those 
 who must give account. We translate the words, 
 " With whom we have to do;" of which, though 
 the phraseology is obsolete, yet the meaning is nearly 
 the same. To whom a worde to us, is the render- 
 ing of my old MS. Of whom we speake, is the ver- 
 sion of Wielif. 
 
 14. Seeing then that we have a great high 
 priest — It is contended, and very properly, that 
 the particle ovv, which we translate seeing, as if 
 what followed was an immediate inference from 
 what had preceded, should be translated now; for 
 though Christ had before been mentioned as the 
 high prhsf of our profession, (chapter iii, 1.) and 
 as the high priest who made reconciliation for the 
 sins of the people, (chapter ii, 17,) the writer does not 
 attempt to prove this in any of the preceding chap- 
 ters, bat now enters upon that point, and discusses 
 it at great length to the end of chapter x. After 
 all, it is possible that this may be a resumption of 
 the discourse from chapter iii, 6; the rest of that 
 chapter, and the preceding thirteen verses of this, 
 being considered as a parenthesis. These parts 
 left out, the discourse runs on with perfect con- 
 nexion. It is very likely that the words are here 
 spoken to meet an objection of those Jews who 
 wished the Hebrew Christians to apostatize: " You 
 have no tabernacle — no temple — no high priest — 
 no sacrifice for sin. Without these there can be 
 no religion; return therefore to us, who have the 
 perfect temple service appointed by God." To 
 these the writer answers ; We have a high priest 
 who is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Sou of God; 
 therefore let us hold fast our profession. (See on 
 chapter iii, 1.) 
 
 Three things the writer professes to prove in this 
 epistle: 1) That Christ is greater than the angels. 
 2) That he is greater than Moses. 3) That he is 
 greater than Aaron and all high priests. The two 
 former arguments, with their applications and illus- 
 trations, he has already despatched ; and now he 
 enters on the third: 1) That we have a high priest: 
 2) That this high priest is Jesus, the Son of God; 
 not a son or descendant of Aaron, nor coming in 
 that way, but in a more transcendent line : '■'•) Aaron 
 and his successors could pass only into the holy of 
 holies, and that but once a year; but our high priest 
 has passed into the heavens, of which that was only 
 the type. 
 
 15. For we have not a high priest — To the 
 objection, " Your high priest, it entered into the 
 heavens, can have no participation with you, and no 
 sympathy for you, because out of the reach of hu- 
 
 high priest whicli cannot be touched with the 
 feeling of our infirmities; but >' was in all 
 points tempted like as we are, z yet without 
 sin. 16 "Let us therefore come boldly unto 
 the throne of grace, that we may obtain 
 
 V Luke 22. 28. z 2 Cor. 5. 21 : chap. 7. 26 : 1 Pet. 2. 22 ; 1 John 
 
 3. 5. a Kpli. 2. 18; 3. 12; chap. in. Iii, 21, 22. 
 
 man feelings and infirmities," he answers: Wehave 
 imi a high priest nlm run not sympathize with our 
 weakness. Though he be the Son of Cod, and equal 
 in his divine nature with (hid ; yet, having partaken 
 of human nature, and having submitted to all its 
 trials and distresses, and being in all points tempted 
 lifer as we are, without feeling or consenting to sin; 
 he is able to succour them that are tempted. (See 
 chapter ii, 18.) [Kaff oyoiOTr/ra, scil. yyuv, that is, 
 who was tempted like tis; Tra/m-'/j/niox; fiuav, savs 
 Theophylact; 6/toiug q/ulv, Origen. This surely does 
 not imply that temptations had, in all respects, 
 the same influence upon him as upon us; but 
 only that he was exposed to be attacked by them, 
 in like manner as we are. He possessed a na- 
 ture truly human, (chapter ii, 14, 17;) he was 
 therefore susceptible of being excited by the pow- 
 er of temptations, although he never yielded to 
 them. Xcj/ur attup-iac, without sin; that is, al- 
 though assailed by temptations of every kind, he 
 never yielded, in any case, to their influence. He 
 remained sinless. But why is this here asserted? 
 Principally, I apprehend, to guard against any mis- 
 take in respect to what the writer had just said. 
 To show the Hebrews that they might depend on 
 the sympathy and compassion of their high priest 
 (comp. ii, 17, 18) to help them, in all the trials and 
 difficulties to which an unshaken adherence to 
 Christianity would subject them, he declares that 
 Jesus was himself subject, to the like trials in all 
 respects. But when he had so said, as if fearing 
 they might draw the conclusion that in some case's, 
 at least, he was (like others) overcome by them, the 
 author immediately adds, X U P>- C ayapriag. It may 
 be, that the expression implies an exhortation thus, 
 namely, " Jesus when tried did not sin ; Christian 
 brethren, follow his example." I prefer, however, 
 the former explanation. — Stuart.] 
 
 16. Let us therefore come boldly unto 
 the throne of grace — The allusion to the high 
 priest, and his office on the day of atonement, is 
 here kept up. The approach mentioned here is to 
 the VkaaTrjpiov, the propitiatory, of mercy seat. This 
 was the covering of the ark of the testimony or 
 covenant, at each end of which was a cherub, and 
 between them the shechinah, or symbol of the 
 divine Majesty, which appeared to and conversed 
 with the high priest. Here the apostle shows the 
 great superiority of the privileges of the new cove- 
 nant above those of the old; for there the high 
 priest only, and he with fear and trembling, was 
 permitted to approach; ami that not without the 
 blood of the victim ; and if in any thing he traus- 
 gressed he might expect to be struck with death. 
 The throne of grace in heaven answers to this pro- 
 pitiatory, but to this ALL may approach who feel 
 their need of salvation; and they may approach 
 (in to nappnaiag) with freedom, confidence, liberty of 
 speech, in opposition to the fear and trembling of 
 the Jewish high priest. Here nothing is to be 
 feared provided the heart be tight with God, truly 
 sincere, and trusting alone in the sacrificial blood. 
 That we may obtain mercy — Ira '/aU.iucv 
 
 407
 
 HEBREWS. 
 
 Qualifications proper to a Jewish 
 high priest. 
 
 mercy, and find grace to help in time of 
 need. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 FOR every high priest taken from among 
 men "is ordained for men 'in things per- 
 taining to (rod. c that he may offer both gifts 
 and sacrifices for sins: 2 d Who "can have 
 
 a Chap. 8. 3. &Chap. 2. 17. cChap. S. 3, 4: 9. 9; 10. II ; 
 
 n. 4. — </ Chap. 2. 18; 4. 15. eOr, can n asonably b< ur 
 
 with. — /Chap. 7. 28. 
 
 i/t<ic, that we may take mercy ; that we may receive 
 
 the pardon of all our sins: there is mercy for the 
 taking. As Jesus Christ " tasted death for every 
 man," so every mem may go to that propitiatory, 
 and take the mercy that is suited to his offences. 
 And find grace — " Mercy " refers to the pardon 
 of sin, and being brought into the favour of God ; 
 "grace" is that by which the soul is supported 
 after it has received this mercy, and by which it is 
 purified from all unrighteousness, and upheld in all 
 trials and difficulties, and enabled to prove faithful 
 unto death. To help in time of need — Etc < vicai- 
 pov dorfi /a, \ for <t seasonable support; that is, sup- 
 port when necessary, and as necessary, and in due 
 proportion to the necessity. And yet even at the 
 throne of grace, or great propitiatory, no help can 
 be expected where there is no cry, since where there 
 is no cry there is no felt necessity ; for he that feels 
 that he is perishing will cry aloud for help, and to 
 such a cry the compassionate high priest will run; 
 and the "time of need" is the time in which God 
 will show mercy ; nor will he ever delay it when 
 it is necessary. 
 
 v NOTES ON CHAPTER V. 
 
 [That which has before been by anticipation 
 hinted at, (chapter ii, P7; iii, 1 ; iv, 14, 15,) is now 
 taken up and thoroughly discussed, (extending to 
 chapter x, 18.)- A/ford.] 
 
 1. For every high priest taken from among 
 men — This seems to refer to Lev. xxi, 10, where it 
 is intimated that the high priest shall be taken 
 from his brethren; that is, he shall be of the tribe 
 of Levi and of the family of Aaron. ["Taken from 
 among men:" because so taken, they must be or- 
 dained for men with only a human ordination, and 
 this world office and power in contrast with the 
 work indicated in verse 7.] Is ordained for men 
 — 'Yvrf/j avdpunuv Kadiararat. tu ~poQ Tor or; is 
 appointed to preside over the divine worship in 
 those things which relate to the former dispensa- 
 tion. That he may offer both gifts and sacri- 
 fices for sins — God ever appeared to all his fol- 
 lowers in two points of view : 1) As the author and 
 dispenser of all temporal good. 2) As their law- 
 giver and judge. In reference to this twofold view 
 of the divine Being, his worship was composed of 
 two different parts: 1) Offerings, or gifts ; 2) Sacri- 
 
 fees. (1) As the creator and dispenser of all g 1, 
 
 he had offerings by which his bounty and provi- 
 dence were acknowledged. (2) As the lawgiver and 
 judge, against whose injunctions offences had been 
 committed, he had sacrifices offered to him to nuke 
 atonement for sin. The do>pa, or gifts, mentioned 
 here by the apostle, included every kind of eucha- 
 ristical offering. The dvaiai, sacrifices, included vic- 
 tims of every sort, or animals whose lives were to 
 lie offered in sacrifice, and their blood poured out 
 before God, as an atonement for sins. The high 
 priest was the mediator between God and the peo- 
 ple; and it was his office, when the people bad 
 4U8 
 
 compassion on the ignorant, and on them that 
 are out of the way; for that f he himself also 
 is compassed with infirmity. 3 And s by rea- 
 son hereof he ought, as for the people, so also 
 for himself, to offer for sins. 4 h And no man 
 taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is 
 called of God, as l was Aaron. 5 k So also 
 
 a Lev. 4. 3 ; 9. 7 ; 16. 6,15, 16, 17 : chap 7. 27 : 9. 7. — h 2 Chron. 
 
 26. 18; John 3. 27. *Kx. cl. 28. 1 ; Num. 16. 5, 40; 1 Chron. 
 
 23. 13. /.John 8. hi. 
 
 brought these gifts and sacrifices, to offer them to 
 God in their behalf. The people could not legiti- 
 mately offer their own offerings, they must be all 
 brought to the priest, and he alone could present 
 them to God. As we have a high priest over the 
 house of God to offer all our gifts and his own sac- 
 rifice, therefore we may come with boldness to the 
 throne of grace. 
 
 2. Who can have {being 1 able to liave) compas- 
 sion on the ignorant —The word fierptOTratieiv sig- 
 nifies, not merely to "have compassion," but to net 
 with moderation, and to bear with melt in propor- 
 tion to his ignorance, weakness, and untoward cir- 
 cumstances ; to pity, feel for, and excuse, as far as 
 possible ; and, when the provocation is at the high- 
 est, to moderate one's passion toward the culprit, 
 and be ready to pardon ; and, when punishment 
 must be administered, to do it in the gentlest man- 
 ner. The reason given why the high priest >hould 
 be slow to punish and prone to forgive is, that he 
 himself is also compassed with weakness; mepi. 
 KeiraL aadevetav, weakness /its nil around liim, it is 
 his clot/tiny; and as he feels his clothing, so should 
 he feel it ; and as he feels it, so he should deplore 
 it and compassionate others. 
 
 3. And by reason hereof — ['O^e/Aa, he ought.] 
 As he is also a transgressor of the commands of 
 God, and unable to observe the law in its spirit- 
 uality, he must \1ias occasion to] oiler sacrifices for 
 sin, not only for the people, but for himself also: 
 this must teach him to have a fellow feeling for 
 others. 
 
 ■4. This honour — Tijv tc/it/v undoubtedly sig- 
 nifies here the office, honour, authority. It is <m 
 honourabU office, because the man is the high priest 
 of (rod, ami is appointed by God himself to that 
 office. But he that is called of God, as was 
 Aaron — As God alone had the right to appoint his 
 own priest for the Jewish nation, and man had no 
 authority here, so God alone could provide and 
 appoint a high priest for the whole human race. 
 Aaron was thus appointed (in a lower sense) for 
 the Jewish people; Christ (in the highest and most 
 complete) for all mankind. It is great folly to in- 
 fer from this text the uninterrupted succession of 
 popes or bishops, through whom alone any can 
 have power to execute the office of the ministry of 
 the Gospel, it is a silly fable, invented by eccle- 
 siastical tyrants and supported by clerical cox- 
 combs. Put were it even true, it has nothing to do 
 with the text, which speaks only of the appoint- 
 ment of a high priest, the succession to be pie- 
 served in the tribe of Levi and in the family of 
 Aaron. Put even this succession was interrupted 
 and broken off, and the office itself was to cease on 
 the coming of Christ, after whom there could be no 
 high priest; nor can Christ have any successor; 
 and therefore he is said to be a priest for ever. 
 The verse, therefore, has nothing to do with the 
 office of the Christian ministry; [nor tire Christian 
 ministers ever called priests in the New Testament.]
 
 Je?ns Hirist is appointed of Hod 
 Ihe high priest of his people. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 A. M. 4067. A. P. 63. 
 Yenrnf Koine, S16. 
 
 Christ glorijSed not himself to be made a high 
 priest; but he that said unto him, 'Thou 
 art my Sou, to day have I begotten thee. 
 G As hesaith also in another place, m Tho\xart 
 
 ll'sn. 2. 7: Chap. 1. 5. m Psa. 110. 4; chap. 7. 17. 21. 
 
 it Matt. 2tJ. S9, 4'.', 4t; Mark 11. 36, 39; John 17. 1. 
 
 5. Christ glorified not himself — [It was wholly 
 by the power and authority of God that] Jesus 
 Christ was also appointed to this most awful and 
 yet glorious office of being the high priest of the 
 human race. The .Jewish high priest represented 
 this by the sacrifices of beasts which he ottered; 
 the Christian high priest must offer his own life. 
 Jesus Christ did so; and, rising from the dead, he 
 ascended to heaven, and there ever appeareth in 
 the presence of God for us. Thus he holds in per- 
 petuity the sacerdotal office ; and therefore he can 
 never have a successor, lie can have no vicars, 
 either in heaven or upon earth; those who pretend 
 to be such are impostors, and are worthy neither 
 of respect nor credit. Thou art my Son— See on 
 chapter i, 5. And thus it appears that God can 
 have no high priest but his Son; ami to that office 
 none can now pretend without blasphemy, for the 
 Son of God is still the high priest in his temple. 
 
 6. He saithalso in another place, (Psa. ex, 4,) 
 Thou art a priest for ever — Jesus must continue 
 to be high priest to all the successive generations of 
 men, as he was also the lamb slain from the founda- 
 tion of the world. If he be a priest for ever, there 
 can be no succession of priests ; and if he have all 
 power in heaven and in earth, and if he be present 
 wherever two or three are gathered together in his 
 name, he can have no vicars; nor can the Church 
 need one to act In his place, when he, from his essen- 
 tial nature, fills all places, and is everywhere present. 
 This one consideration nullifies all the pretensions 
 of the Romish pontiff, and proves the whole to be 
 a tissue of imposture. After the order of Mel- 
 chisedec — Who this person was must still remain 
 a secret. We know nothing more of him than is 
 written in Gen. xiv, 18, etc. [He is here (as in Psa. 
 ex, 4) shown to have been an illustrious person.] 
 [Eic rov aiuva (forever) must be taken in a qual- 
 ified sense, as doubtless the priesthood of Christ will 
 continue no longer than his mediatorial reign; 
 when his reign as mediator shall cease, his work, 
 both as mediator and priest, will have been accom- 
 plished. Kara t'^v rdgiv, k. r. /.., he in whom all 
 the theocratic promises find their fulfilment, in 
 whom the true kingdom of God comes and is 
 summed up, was to be (Zech. vi, 12) "a priest 
 upon his throne," and such a priest as should be 
 after the order of Melchisedec. — Stuart.] 
 
 7. Who (Christ) in the days of his flesh — 
 The time of his incarnation, during which he took 
 all the infirmities of human nature upon him, and 
 was afflicted in his body and soul just as other 
 men are, irregular and sinful passions excepted. 
 Offered up prayers and supplications — The 
 Redeemer of the world appears here in his proper 
 humanity; but he is the representative of the whole 
 human race. He must, as such, make expiation for 
 sin by suffering. Suffering was as necessary as 
 death; for man, because he has sinned, must snff-r, 
 and because he has broken the law, should die. 
 Jesus took upon himself the nature of man, subject 
 to all the trials and distresses of human nature. 
 He is now making atonement; and he begins with 
 sufferings, as sufferings commence with human 
 
 a priest forever after the order of Melchisedec. 
 7 Who in the days of his flesh, when he had 
 "offered up prayers and supplications "with 
 
 strong crying and tears unto him p that was 
 
 oPsa. 22. 1; Matt. 27. 4H, SI; Mark 15. 34, 37 
 2<j. 53; Mark 14. 30. 
 
 p Matt. 
 
 life; and he terminates with death, as that is the 
 end of human existence in this world; T7iough he 
 was the Son of God, conceived and born without sin, 
 ot any thing that could lender him liable to suffering 
 or death, and only suffered and died through infi- 
 nite condescension; yet, to constitute him a com- 
 plete Saviour, he must submit to whatever the law 
 required ; and therefore he is slated to have 
 learned obedience by tht things which hi suffered, 
 (verse 8,) that is, subjection to all the requisitions 
 of the law; and being mad perfect, that is, haying 
 finished the whole by dying, he, by these means, 
 became the author of eternal salvation to all them 
 who obey him, (verse 9;) that is, who repent and 
 believe the Gospel, and walk in holiness of life. 
 " Bui he appears to be under the most dreadful 
 apprehension of death; for lu offered up prayers 
 a in/ supplications, with strong crying and tears, 
 unto him that was able to savt him from death." 
 (Verse 7.) This fear of death was in Christ a 
 widely different thing from what it is in men ; tin ij 
 fear death because of what lies beyond the grave ; 
 they have sinned, and they are afraid to meet their 
 judge. Jesus could have no fear on these gi ounds ; 
 he was now suffering for man, and he felt as their 
 expiatory victim; and God only can tell, and per- 
 haps neither men nor angels can conceive, how 
 great the sufferings and agony must have been 
 which, in the sight of infinite justice, were requisite 
 to make this atonement. Death, temporal and 
 eternal, was the portion of man; and now Christ is 
 to destroy death by agonizing and dying! The 
 tortures and torments necessary to effect tins de- 
 struction Jesus Christ alone could feel, Jesus 
 Christ alone could sustain, Jesus Christ alone can 
 comprehend. We are referred to them in this 
 most solemn verse; but the apostle himself only 
 drops hints, he does not attempt to explain them; 
 he prayed; he supplicated with strong crying and 
 tears ; and he was heard in reference to that 
 which he feared. His prayers, as our mediator, 
 were answered ; and his sufferings and death were 
 complete and effectual as our sacrifice. This is the 
 glorious sum of what the apostle here states; and 
 it isenough. Wemayhearof it with awful wondei ; 
 and we adore Him with silence whose grief had 
 nothing common in it to that of other men, and is 
 not to be estimated according to the measure of 
 human miseries. It was 
 
 A weight of wop, more than whole worlds could bear. 
 
 Prayers and supplications, etc. — There may be 
 an allusion here to the manner in which the Jews 
 speak of prayer, etc. "Rabbi Yehudah said : All 
 human things depend on repentance and the prayers 
 which men make to the holy blessed God; espec- 
 ially if tears be poured out with the prayers. There 
 is no gate which tears will not pass through." 
 (Sn/i.ir, Exod., lol. 5.) 
 
 The word lueTTipiag (translated supplications) is 
 found in no other part of the New Testament. 
 'Inirng signifies a supplicant, and is so used in this 
 connexion by the purest Greek writers. Nearly 
 the same words are found in Isocrates, De I 
 
 409
 
 M. -I 67. A. D. 63. 
 Year of Rome, k :>'.. 
 
 HEBREWS. 
 
 Jesus Christ the author of eternal 
 salvation to all who obey him. 
 
 able to save him from death, and was heard 
 i r in that lie feared ; 8 * Though lie were a 
 Son, vet learned he ' obedience by the things 
 
 Q Or, fur Ma piety. rMa'thew 2ii. 37; Mark 14. 33; 
 
 Luke 22. 43; John 12. 27. 
 
 iKETqpiac 77i'j/v,ar kcu Se/'/ctsic irotajievoi, making 
 many supplications and prayers. Jesus Christ, the 
 representative of and substitute for the whole 
 human race, which was oppressed and ruined by 
 Satan and sin, with the hiketeria, or ensign of a 
 most distressed suppliant, presents himself before 
 the throne of God with strong crying and tears, 
 and prays against death and his ravages in behalf 
 of those whose representative he was ; and he " was 
 heard in that he feared " — the evils were removed 
 ami the oppressor cast down. Satan was bound, 
 he was spoiled of his dominion, and is reserved in 
 chains of darkness to the judgment of the great 
 day. To save him from death — I have already 
 observed that Jesus Christ was the representative 
 of the human race; and have made some observa- 
 tions on the peculiarity of his sufferings, following 
 the common acceptation of the words in the text, 
 which things are true, howsoever the text may be 
 interpreted. But here we may consider the pro- 
 noun aiirdv, " him," as implying the collective body 
 of mankind ; the children who were partakers of 
 f!-s!i it nd blood, (chapter ii, 14;) the seed of Abra- 
 ham, (verse 1(5,) who through fear of death were all 
 their life subject to bondage. So he made supplica- 
 tion with strong crying mid tears to him vim was 
 able to save them from death; for I consider the 
 tovtovc, them, of chapter ii, 15, the same, or im- 
 plying the same thing, as avrbv, " him," in this 
 verse; and, thus understood, all the difficulty van- 
 ishes away. On this interpretation I shall give a 
 paraphrase of the whole verse: Jesus Christ, in 
 the days of his flesh, (for he was incarnated that he 
 might redeem the seed of Abraham, the fallen race 
 of man,) and in his expiatory sufferings, when rep- 
 resenting the whole human race, offend up prayers 
 and supplications, with strong drying and tears, to 
 him who was able to save them from death; the in- 
 tercession was prevalent, the passion and sacrifice 
 were accepted, the sting of death was extracted, 
 and Satan was dethroned. The words, (verse 8,) 
 Though he were a Son. yet learned he obedience by 
 the things which lie suffered, I consider as belonging, 
 not only to Christ considered in his human nature, 
 but also to him in his collective capacity ; that is, 
 belonging to all the sons and daughters of God, 
 who, by means of suffering and various chastise- 
 ments, learn submission, obedience, and righteous- 
 ness; and this very subject is soon after treated 
 in considerable detail. (See chapter xii, 2-11.) 
 
 !). And being made perfect — Kal reTieiudecg, 
 and h&v'vagfinished all — having died and risen again. 
 Te~A£iu6i]vai signifies to have obtained the gout; to 
 hav( ended one's labour, and enjoyed the fruits of 
 it: (chapter xii, 23:) the spirits of just nun madt 
 perfect. Hvev/mloi ritKaiuv TereKeLUfiEvuev means the 
 souls of those who have gained the goal and ob- 
 tained the prize. So, when Christ had finished his 
 course of tremendous sufferings, and consummated 
 the whole by his death and resurrection, he became 
 in -me aurnpiac aluviov. the cause of eternal salva- 
 tion unto all them who obey him. He was conse- 
 crated both high priest and sacrifice by his offering 
 upon the cross. 
 
 "In this verse," says Dr. Macknight, " three 
 things are clearly stated: 1) That obedience to 
 410 
 
 which he suffered; 9 And "being made per- 
 fect, he became the author of eternal salvation 
 unto all them that obey him ; 1© Called of 
 
 s Chapter 3. 6. - 
 
 -tfPhilipptans : 
 
 11. 40. 
 
 8. u Chapter 2. 10 ; 
 
 Christ is equally necessary to salvation with be- 
 lieving on him. 2) That he was made perfect ;is 
 a high priest by offering himself a sacrifice for sin. 
 (Chapter viii, 3.) 3) That, by the merit of that 
 sacrifice, he hath obtained pardon and eternal life 
 for them who obey him." He tasted death for 
 i very man; but he is the author and cause of eter- 
 nal salvation only to them who obey him. Christ 
 has bought all men by his blood ; and by the infinite 
 merit of his death he has purchased for them an 
 endless glory ; but, in order to secure it, the sinner 
 must, through that grace which God withholds from 
 no man, repent, turn from sin. believe on Jesus as 
 being a sufficient ransom and sacrifice for his soul, 
 receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, and himself be- 
 come a worker together with him. walk in conform- 
 ity to the divine will through this divine aid, and 
 continue faithful unto death through him out of 
 whose fulness he may receive grace upon grace. 
 [There is here an intimation that Christ's very suf- 
 ferings stand in intimate and necessary connexion 
 with his exaltation to the kingly office. (See Luke 
 XXIV, 26.) — Stuart.} 
 
 10. Called of God a high priest — Jlpoaa- 
 yopevdelg, being constituted, aeknowledg/d, a high 
 priest. On this verse Dr. Macknight has the fol- 
 lowing note: "As our Lord, in his conversation 
 with the Pharisees, (Matt, xxii, 43,) spake of it as 
 a thing certain of itself, and universally known and 
 acknowledged by the Jews, that David wrote the 
 110th Psalm by inspiration, concerning the Christ 
 or Messiah ; the apostle was warranted in apply- 
 ing the whole of that psalm to Jesus. Where- 
 fore, having quoted the fourth verse, Thou art a 
 priest for ever after the. order of Melchisedec, as 
 directed to Messiah, David's Lord, he justly teimed 
 that speech of the Father a salutation to Jesus. 
 Now, that the deep meaning of this salutation may 
 be understood, I observe, First, that, by the testi- 
 mony of the inspired writers, Jesus sat down at the 
 right hand of God when he returned to heaven, 
 after having finished his ministry upon earth. 
 (Mark xvi, 19; Acts vii, 56; Heb. i, 3; viii, 1 ; 
 1 Pet. iii, 22.) Not, however, immediately, but 
 after he had offered the sacrifice of himself in 
 heaven by presenting his crucified body before the 
 presence of God. (Heb. i, 3 ; x, If).) Secondly, 
 I observe, that God's saluting Messiah a priest 
 after the order of Melchisedec, being mentioned 
 in the psalm after God is said to have invited him 
 to sit at his right hand, it is reasonable to think the 
 salutation was given him after he had offered the 
 sacrifice of himself, and had taken his seat at God's 
 right hand. [Or in anticipation of that accom- 
 plished sacrifice.] Considered in this order, the 
 salutation of Jesus as a priest after the order of 
 Melchisedec was a public declaration on the part 
 of God that he accepted the sacrifice of himself 
 which Jesus then offered, as a sufficient atonement 
 for the sin of the world, and approved of the whole 
 of his ministrations on earth, and confirmed all the 
 effects of that meritorious sacrifice. And whereas 
 we are informed, in the psalm, that after God had 
 invited his Son, in the human nature, to sit at his 
 right hand as governor of the world, and foretold 
 the blessed fruits of his government, he published
 
 ! should he fed 
 imple truths. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 A. M.40CT. A. D. 63. 
 Year of Rome, 816. 
 
 God a high priest 'after the order of Melchis- 
 edee. 11 Of whom w we have many things 
 to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are 
 "dull of hearing. 12 Fur when for the time 
 ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one 
 
 rVei'seij; chap. 6. 20. — ic John lii. 12; 2 Peter 3. lb'. — x Matt. 
 13. 15. i/Clinp. ii. 1. 
 
 the oath by which he made him a priest for ever, 
 before he sent him into the world to accomplish 
 the salvation of mankind ; and declared that he 
 would never repent of that oath. It was, in effect, 
 a solemn publication of the method in which God 
 would pardon sinners ; and a promise that the 
 effects of his Son's government as a king, and of 
 his ministrations as a priest, should be eternal. 
 (See chapter vi, 20.) M treover, as this solemn dec- 
 laration of the dignity of the Son of God, as a king 
 and a priest for ever in the human nature, was 
 made in the hearing of the angelic hosts, it was de- 
 signed for their instruction, that they might under- 
 stand their subordination to God's Son, and pay 
 him that homage that is due to him as Governor of 
 the world and as Saviour of the human race. 
 (Phil, ii, 9, 10; Heb. i, 6.) The above explanation 
 of the import of God's saluting Jesus a priest for 
 ever is founded on the apostle's reasonings in the 
 seventh and following chapters, where he enters 
 into the deep meaning of the oath by which that 
 salutation was conferred. [Rather far fetched!] 
 
 11. Of whom — [Ilf/jf ov, concerning whom, that 
 is, Melchisedec] We have many things to say 
 — [Having introduced the subject of Christ's exal- 
 tation as priest, the nature of the comparison intro- 
 duced — namely, the comparison of Christ's priest- 
 hood with that of Melchisedec — occasions the 
 writer (of the epistle) to stop short, in order to 
 comment on this, and also to give utterance, in the 
 first place, to his emotions of concern for those 
 whom he addressed. The difficulty and obscurity 
 of the subject which he is about to discuss are, in 
 his view, occasioned principally by the low state of 
 religious knowledge in those whom he addresses. 
 This he tells them very plainly, in order to re- 
 prove them for the little progress they had made 
 in Christian knowledge, as well as to guard them 
 against objecting to what he is about to adv. nice. 
 — Stuart.] [It is of no consequence, as regards the 
 general sense, whether this be rendered " concern- 
 ing which " — that is, the analogy of the priesthood 
 of Christ to that of Melchisedec — or, "concern- 
 ing whom" — meaning either of these personages. 
 I should prefer the latter, understanding of Christ 
 as the prominent and most important subject of 
 discourse. The particular characteristic of Christ 
 is, of course, his priesthood as analogous to that of 
 Melchisedec. — ■Turner.'] Hard to be uttered — 
 \vn j)!Ujvevror, difficult to be interpreted, because 
 Melchisedec was a typical person. Or, if it refer to 
 the priesthood of Christ, that is still more difficult 
 to in- explained, as it implies his being constituted 
 a priest after this typical order, and his paying 
 down the ransom for the sins of the whole world, 
 and also his satisfying the divine justice by this 
 sacrifice, thereby opening the kingdom of heaven 
 to all believers, and giving the whole world an 
 entrance to the holy of holies by his blood. Dull 
 of hearing— Nwftpoi ra'ic amebic; your souls do not 
 keep pace with the doctrines and exhortations de- 
 livered to you. As vu8p6c signifies little speed, it is 
 here elegantly applied to those who are called to 
 the Christian race, have the road laid down plain 
 
 teach you again which be •''the first principles 
 of the oracles of God; and are become such as 
 have need of z inilk, and not of strung meat. 
 13 For every one that useth milk "is unskilful 
 in the word of righteousness: fur lie is 1, a babe. 
 
 a 1 Cor. 3. 1, 2, 3. — a <:r. hath no experience. b\ Cor. 13. 
 
 11; 14. 20; Eph. 4. 14; 1 Peter 2. 2. 
 
 before them, and the blessings to be obtained 
 enumerated, and yet who make no exertions to get 
 on. but are always lagging by the way. 
 
 12. For when for the time — They had heard 
 the Gospel for many years, and had professed to be 
 Christians for a long tin<< ; on these accounts they 
 ought to have been well instructed in divine tilings, 
 and able to instruct others. Which be the first 
 principles — Tiva ra croixeia, certain first princi- 
 ples or elements. The word nru is not the nomina- 
 tive plural, as our translators have supposed, but 
 the accusative ease, governed by 6i6ugkelv, and there- 
 fore the literal translation of the passage is this: 
 Ye have need that one teach you a second time 
 (ira'Aw) certain elt on ids of the doctrines of Christ, 
 or oracles of Cod; that is, the notices which the 
 prophets gave concerning the priesthood of Jesus 
 Christ. (Psalm ex, and Isaiah liii.) By tlie oiacles 
 of God, tuv /.uyiuv tov Gcor, the writings of the 
 Old Testament are undoubtedly meant. And are 
 become such — The words seem to intimate that 
 they had once been better instructed, and had now 
 forgotten that teaching; and this was occasioned 
 by their being "dull of hearing:" either they had 
 not continued to hear, or they had heard so care- 
 lessly that they were not profited by what they 
 heard. They had probably totally omitted the 
 preaching of the Gospel, and consequently for- 
 gotten all they had learned. Indeed, it seems to 
 have been to reclaim those Hebrews from backslid- 
 ing, and preserve them from total apostasy, that this 
 epistle was written. Such as have need of milk — • 
 " Milk " is a metaphor by which many authors, both 
 sacred and profane, express the first principles of 
 religion and science; and they apply sucking to 
 learning ; and every student in his novitiate, or 
 commencement of his studies, was likened to an 
 infant that derives all its nourishment from the 
 breast of its mother, not being able to digest any 
 other kind of food. On the contrary, those who 
 had well learned all the first principles of religion 
 and science, and knew how to apply them, were 
 considered as adults who were capable of receiving 
 solid food; that is, the more difficult and sublime 
 doctrines. But all these are to derive their nour- 
 ishment, or spiritual instruction, en tov Aoyiuv tov 
 Qeov, from the oracles of God. The word " oracle," 
 by which we translate the Aoyiuv of the apostle, is 
 used by the best Greek writers to signify a divine 
 speech, or answer of a deity to a question pro- 
 posed. It always implied a speech or declaration 
 purely celestial, in which man had no part ; and it 
 is thus used wherever it occurs in the New Testa- 
 ment. 1) It signifies the law received from God 
 by Moses. (Acts vii, 88.) 2) The Old Testament 
 in general ; the holy men of old having spoken by 
 the inspiration of the divine Spirit. (Rom. hi, 2.) 
 :;) Divine revelation in general, because delivered 
 immediately from God. ( 1 Thess. ii, 13; 1 Pet. iv, 11.) 
 When we consider what, respect was paid by the 
 heathens to their " oiacles," we may learn what re- 
 spect is due to tin' //■'/,- oracles of God. 
 
 13. For every one that useth milk — It is very 
 likely that the apostle, by using this term, refers to 
 
 411
 
 HEBREWS. 
 
 Believers exhorted to go on 
 unto perfection. 
 
 14 But strong meat belongeth to them that 
 are* of full age, even those who by reason > of use 
 have their senses exercised z to discern both good 
 and evil. 
 
 T CHAPTER VI. 
 
 IIEREFOPvE "leaving l the principles of 
 
 a- Or. perfect; 1 Cor. >. 6: Eph. 4. lb'; Phil. 3. 15. u Or, of 
 
 ahaliit, or, perfection. slsa. 7. 15; 1 Cor. 2. 14, 15. 
 
 it Phil. 3. 12, 13, 14: chap. 5. 12. 
 
 the doctrines of the law, which were only the rudi- 
 ments of religion, and were intended to lead us to 
 Christ, that we might be justified by faith. The 
 word of righteousness — Adyov dinaioovvng, the 
 doctrine of justification. I believe this to be the 
 apostle's meaning. He that uses "milk," rests in 
 the ceremonies and observances of the law, is un- 
 skilful in the doctrine of justification; for this re- 
 quires faith in the sacrificial death of the promised 
 Messiah. 
 
 14. But strong meat — The high and sublime 
 doctrines of Christianity; the atonement, justifica- 
 tion by faith, the gift of the Holy Ghost, the ful- 
 ness of Christ dwelling in the souls of men, 
 triumph in and over death, and eternal glory in the 
 realms of the blessed and endless union with Christ 
 in the throne of his glory. This is the "strong- 
 meat " which the genuine Christian understands, 
 receives, digests, and by which he grows. By 
 reason of use — Who, by constant hearing, believ- 
 ing, praying, and obedience, use all the graces of 
 God's Spirit ; and, in the faithful use of them, find 
 every one improved, so that they daily grow in grace, 
 and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ our Lord. 
 Have their senses exercised — The word alodn- 
 Trjjita signifies the different organs of sense, as the 
 eyes, ears, tongue, palate, etc., and the nervous sur- 
 face in general, through which we gain our sensa- 
 tions. These organs of sense, being frequently 
 " exercised " or employed on a variety of subjects, 
 acquire the power to discern the various objects of 
 sense; namely, colours, sounds, tastes or savours, 
 odours or smelling, hardness, softness, and all 
 other tangible qualit es. There is something in the 
 soul that answers to all these senses in the body. 
 And as universal nature presents to the other 
 senses their different and appropriate objects, so 
 religion presents to these interior senses the ob- 
 jects which are suited to them. Hence in Scripture 
 we are said, even in spiritual things, to see, hear, 
 taste, and feel. These are the means by winch the 
 soul is rendered comfortable, and through which it 
 derives its happiness and perfection. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER VI. 
 1. Therefore — [Aid. Since you have for so long 
 a time enjoyed so many advantages and opportuni- 
 ties to become adepts in the truth, and yet have so 
 signally failed, and are still babes and not adults in 
 Christian knowledge and experience, it is high time 
 to leave these merely elementary things, and pro- 
 ceed toward higher truths and to a more matured 
 Christian state. J The words tov ttjc apxvi "'"' 
 Xpio-rov 16yov might be translated the discourse of 
 the beginning of Christ, as in the margin; that is, 
 the account of his incarnation, and the different 
 types and ceremonies in the law by which his ad- 
 vent, nature, office, and miracles were pointed out. 
 The whole law of Moses pointed out Christ, and 
 therefore the words of the apostle may be under- 
 stood thus: Leave the Law, and come to the Gos- 
 pel ; cease from Moses, and come to the Messiah. 
 412 
 
 the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto per- 
 fection; not laying again the foundation of 
 repentance c from dead works, and of faith 
 toward God, "2 d Of the doctrine of baptisms, 
 L 'and of laying on of hands, f and of resurrec- 
 tion of the dead, eand of eternal judgment. 
 
 b Or, the word of the beginning of ( 'hrist. — cChap. 9. 14. 
 
 '/Acts 19. 4.5. eActs8. 14, 15, Hi, 17; 19. 6. — J Acts 17. 
 
 31, 32. g Acts 24. 25 ; Kom. 2. 16. 
 
 Let us go on unto perfection — The original 
 words, eirl r//v Ttku6rriTa (pepuptOa, [are capable of 
 either of the two senses — 1) "Quitting the mere 
 initial stage of pupilage (do ye) advance forward 
 to a more mature state of instruction and knowl- 
 edge;" or, 2) "Omitting not to insist on the first 
 elements of Christian doctrines, let us proceed 
 ((j)fpo)fj.s6a, bear ourselves) toward the more difficult 
 principles (elements) of religion," the writer thus 
 intimating his further purpose in addressing Ins 
 readers. Both senses are worthy of the occasion, 
 and each lias been accepted and sustained by the 
 very best authorities. See Stuart.] Laying 
 again the foundation of repentance— Ne/cpwv 
 ip}uv, dead works, are the works of those who were 
 dead in trespasses and dead in sins; and who were 
 dead by sentence of the law. Repentance may be 
 properly called the foundation of the work of God 
 in the soul, because by it we forsake sin and turn 
 to God to find mercy. Faith toward God — Is 
 also a primary and fundamental principle, without 
 which it is impossible to please God, and without 
 which we cannot be saved. In " repentance " we 
 feel the need of God's mercy ; by " faith " we find 
 that mercy. 
 
 2. Of the doctrine of baptisms — ["Baptism," 
 as agreeable to the Lord's appointment, became 
 the rite of initiation into the Christian Church, and 
 its administration was usually followed with the 
 imposition of hands; and accordingly, because these 
 were initiator}/ services, they were now to be left 
 behind.] "Baptisms," or immersions of the body 
 in water, sprinklings, and washings, were frequent 
 as religious riles among the Hebrews, and were all 
 emblematical of that purity which a holy God re- 
 quires in his worshippers, and without which they 
 cannot be happy here, nor glorified in heaven. 
 Laying on of hands — Was also frequent, espec- 
 ially in sacrifices; the person bringing the victim 
 laid his hand on its head, confessed his sins over it, 
 and then gave it to the priest to be offered to God, 
 that it might make atonement for his transgressions. 
 This also had respect to Jesus Christ, that Land/ of 
 Cod which t'aketh away the sin of the world. The 
 doctrine also of the resurrection of the dead 
 [that is, of the future life] and of eternal judg- 
 ment, were also fundamental Christian doctrines 
 only partially revealed in the Old Testament, and 
 then referred to the Gospel. (See Isa. xxvi, 19; 
 xii, 2.) Now the foundation of all these doctrines 
 was laid in the Old Testament, and they were vari- 
 ously represented under the Law, but they were all 
 referred to the Gospel for their proof and illustra- 
 tion. The apostle, therefore, wishes them to consider 
 the < rospel as holding forth these in their full spirit 
 and power. It preaches, 1) Repentance unto life. 
 2) Faith in God through Christ, by whom we re- 
 ceive the atonement. 3) The baptism by water, in 
 the name of the Holy Trinity, and the baptism of 
 the Holy Ghost. 4) The imposition of hands, the 
 true sacrificial system ; and, by and through it, the 
 communication of the various gifts of the Holy
 
 Fearful warnings against 
 apostasy. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 A. M. 4067. A. D. 63 
 Year of Home, 816. 
 
 3 And this will we do, h if God permit. 4 For 
 'it is impossible for those '■ who were once en- 
 lightened, and have tasted of 'the heavenly 
 gift, and "'were made partakers of the Holy 
 
 h Acta 18. 21 ; 1 Cor. 4. 19. i Matt. 12. 81, 32; chap. 10. 26; 
 
 2 l'et. 2. 21), 21 ; 1 John 5. lti. /• Chap. 10. 32. 
 
 Spirit for the instruction of mankind and the edi- 
 fication of the Church. 5) The resurrection of the 
 dead, which is both proved and illustrated by the 
 resurrection of Christ. 6) The doctrine of the 
 eternal or future judgment, which Is to take place 
 at the hand' Christ himself, God having committed 
 all judgment to Ins Son, called here tcpi/ia aluviov, 
 eternal or ever-during judgment, because the sen- 
 tences then pronounced shall be irreversible. The 
 Hebrew Christians had already received these; but 
 should they now mingle the Gospel with the Law 
 they would thereby cut themselves off from Christ; 
 and should they be ever again admitted, they must 
 come through the same gate, or lay a second time 
 (-<i'/ir) this foundation. But should they persist- 
 ently apostatize from Christ, and finally reject him, 
 then it would be impossible to renew them again to 
 rejx utance — they could no more be received into 
 the Christian Church, nor have any right to any 
 blessing of the Gospel ; and, finally rejecting the 
 Lord who had bought them, would bring on them- 
 selves and their land swift destruction. (See the 
 4th and following verses, and particularly the notes 
 on verses 8 and 9.) 
 
 3. And this v/ill we do — God being my 
 helper, I will teach you all the sublime truths of 
 the Gospel ; and show you how all its excellences 
 were typified by the law, and particularly by its 
 sacrificial system. [''If God spare my life and 
 give me an opportunity, and if your apostasy, of 
 which I am fearful, does not unhappily make it un- 
 n ssary, I shall be glad to give you such expli- 
 cations; but I am afraid that in reference to some 
 of you, they may come too late." — Brown.] 
 
 4. For it is impossible for those who were 
 once enlightened — [Tap {for) refers to the lead- 
 ing exhortation of verse 3, roiiro noifjaopev, which 
 looks back to the exhortation (verse 1) to strive 
 after perfection. To weaken down advvarov, (impos- 
 sible^) into perdifficile (very difficult) under the plea 
 of an oratorical exaggeration, is purely arbitrary. 
 Neither are we to supply rrap' art1p<l)-oic, (with men,) 
 according to Matt, xix, '2(5. The author evidently 
 designs to set before the eyes of the readers the 
 magnitude of the danger, and the fearful gravity of 
 the crisis to which they have come. — Moll in Lange. ] 
 [The author of. the epistle considered the persons 
 whom he was addressing, although true Christians, 
 as in imminent danger of falling away, and there- 
 fore employs every effort to prevent such an issue. 
 — Turner.] Xo man believing in the Lord Jesus 
 as the great sacrifice for sin, and acknowledging 
 Christianity as a divine revelation, is hereintended, 
 though he may have unfortunately backslidden 
 from any degree of the salvation of God. The design 
 of these solemn words is evidently, first, to show 
 the Hebrews [and through them to Christians 
 in all after times] that apostasy from the highest 
 degrees of grace was possible ; and that those who 
 ■were highest in the favour of Cod might sin against 
 him, lose it, and perish everlastingly. Secondly, 
 to warn them against such an awful state of per- 
 dition, that they might not be led away by either 
 the persuasions or persecutions of their countrymen 
 from the truth of the heavenly doctrine which had 
 
 Cliost, 5 And have tasted the good word of 
 God, and the powers of "the world to come, 
 6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again 
 unto repentance; "seeing they crucify to thein- 
 
 Uohn 4. Ill; 6. 32; Kph. 2. 8. mGal. 3. 2. 5; chap. 2. 4. 
 
 n Chap. 2. '> — oOhap. in. 29. 
 
 been delivered to them. And, thirdly, to point 
 out the destruction which was shortly to come upon 
 the Jewish nation. Once enlightened — Thor- 
 oughly instructed in the nature and design of the 
 Christian religion, having received the knowledge 
 of the truth, (chapter x, li'J ;) and being convinced 
 of sin, righteousness, and judgment ; and led to 
 Jesus the Saviour of sinners. Tasted of the 
 heavenly gift — Having received the knowledge of 
 salvation by the remission of sins, through the Day- 
 spring which from on high had visited them ; such 
 having received Christ, the heavenly gift of Cod's 
 infinite love, (John iii, lti;) the living bread that 
 came down from heaven, (John vi, 51 ;) and thus 
 tasting that the Lord is gracious, (1 Pet. ii, 3,) and 
 witnessing the full effects of the Christian religion. 
 Partakers of the Holy Ghost — The Spirit him- 
 self witnessing with their spirits that they were the 
 children of God, and thus assuring them of God's 
 mercy toward them, and of the efficacy of the atone- 
 ment through which they had received such blessings. 
 
 5. And have tasted the good word of God — 
 Have had this proof of the excellence of the promise 
 of God in sending the Gospel, the Gospel being it- 
 self the good word of a good God, the reading and 
 preaching of which they find sweet to the taste id' 
 their souls. Genuine believers have an appetite 
 for the word of God ; they taste it, and then their 
 relish for it is the more abundantly increased. 
 The powers of the world to come — kwapeic re 
 ut'/'/nrror a.'/iovoc. These words are understood two 
 ways : 1) "The powers of the world to come "may 
 refer to the stupendous miracles wrought in confir- 
 mation of the Gospel, the Gospel dispensation being 
 "the world to come " in the Jewish phraseology, as 
 we have often seen. All these miracles Jesus 
 Christ did in the sight of this very people ; and 
 thus they had the highest evidence they could have 
 that Jesus was this promised Messiah, and could 
 have no pretence to doubt his mission, or aposta- 
 tize from the Christian faith which they had re- 
 ceived ; and hence it is no wonder that the apostle 
 denounces the most awful judgments of God against 
 those who had apostatized from the faith which 
 they had seen thus confirmed. 2) The words have 
 been supposed to apply to those communications 
 and foretastes of eternal blessedness, or of the joys 
 "of the world to come," which they who are justi- 
 fied through the blood of the covenant, and walk 
 faithfully with their God, experience ; and to this 
 sense the word yevaaptvovg, have tasted, is thought 
 more properly to apply. But yevo/xai, to taste, 
 signifies to experience or have full proof of a thing. 
 To taste that the Lord is gracious, (1 Let. ii, 3,) is 
 to experience God's graciousness thoroughly, in 
 being made living stones, built up into a spiritual 
 house, constituted holy priests to offer spiritual 
 sacrifices acceptable to God. 
 
 6. If they shall fall away — Kal irapairec6vTac, 
 mnl having fallen away. I can express my own 
 mind on this translation nearly in the words of Dr. 
 Macknight: "The participles (puTiadevrae, who were 
 enlightened, yevaapevovg, have tasted, and 
 
 were made partakers, being aorists, are properly 
 rendered bv our translators in the past time; 
 
 413
 
 A. M. 4"(ST. A. I). (S3. 
 Year of Rome, 816. 
 
 HEBREWS. 
 
 The apostle warns the Hebrews 
 against final apostasy. 
 
 selves the Son of God afresh, and put Mm to 
 an open shame. 7 For the earth which drink- 
 etli in the rain that cometh oft upon it. and 
 bringeth forth herbs meet for them pby whom 
 it is dressed, i receiveth blessing from God: 
 
 p Or, for. a Psa. 65. 10. 
 
 wherefore Trapatreadvrac, being an aorist, ought 
 likewise to have been translated in the past time, 
 have fallen away." [There is nothing at all in the 
 original answering to the conditional "if" of the 
 text; literally rendered it would read, having fallen 
 away, and it is absurd to assume that an impossible 
 condition is here supposed.] It appears, then, that 
 there is a fearful possibility of falling away from 
 tin grace of God; and if this scripture did not say 
 so, there are many others that do. And were 
 there no scripture express on this subject, the 
 nature of the present state of man, which is a state 
 of probation or trial, must necessarily imply it. 
 Let him who most assuredly standeth take heed 
 lest he fall. To renew them again unto re- 
 pentance — As "repentance " is the first step that 
 a sinner must take in order to return to God, and 
 as sorrow for sin must be useless in itself unless 
 there be a proper sacrificial offering, these having 
 rejected [and continuing to reject] the only avail- 
 able sacrifice, their repentance for sin, had they 
 any, would be nugatory, and their salvation impos- 
 sible on this simple account, and tins is the very 
 reason which the apostle immediately subjoins. 
 Seeing they crucify \avaaTavpnvvTag, they are 
 recrucifying] to themselves the Son of God — 
 They reject him as the ground of their hope and 
 salvation, and thus they are said to crucify him 
 unto themselves; they do that in their present apos- 
 tasy which the Jews did ; and they show thereby 
 that they are in spirit joined with his murderers. 
 And put him to an open shame — TLapadei-y/iaTi- 
 £nrTa<\ and have made him a public example; or 
 crucifying unto themselves and making the Son of 
 God a public example. That is, they show openly 
 that they judge Jesus Christ to have been worthy 
 of the death which he suffered, and was justly 
 made a public example by being crucified. This 
 shows that it is final apostasy, by the total rejec- 
 tion of the Gospel, and blasphemy of the Saviour 
 of men, that the apostle has in view. [The liav- 
 ing been enlightened, having tasted, been made par- 
 takers, and the having fallen away, are all in past 
 time; the recrucifying, and the putting to shame, 
 are present. The former show what the persons 
 referred to had been before their apostasy, the lat- 
 ter what they are now doing, on account of which 
 they cannot be restored while so continuing in sin.] 
 [Every apostate from a good cause gives new occa- 
 sion, by the act of apostasy, for the enemies of that 
 cause to utter all the malignity of their hearts 
 against it. In this sense apostates expose the 
 Saviour to public infamy when they renounce all 
 regard for him, and join with those who view him 
 as an impostor and malefactor. — Stuart.] See the 
 note on verse 4. 
 
 7. For the earth which drinketh in the rain — 
 As much as if he had said : In giving up such apos- 
 tates as utterly incurable we act as men do in dealing 
 with their iields ; for as the ground which drinketh 
 in the rain by which the providence of God waters 
 it, brings forth fruit to compensate the toil of the 
 tiller, and continues to be cultivated, God granting 
 his blessing to the labours of the husbandman, so — 
 414 
 
 8 r But that which beareth thorns and briers 
 is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whoso 
 end is to be burned. 9 But, beloved, we are 
 persuaded better things of you, and things that 
 accompany salvation, though we. thus speak. 
 
 r Isaiah 5. 6. 
 
 8. That which beareth thorns and briers 
 
 (thistles) is rejected — That is : The land which, 
 notwithstanding the most careful cultivation, re- 
 ceiving also in due times the early and latter rain, 
 produces nothing but thorns and briers, or noxious 
 weeds of different kinds, is rejected, ado/ci/nog, 
 (reprobate,} is given up as unimprovable; its briers, 
 thorns, and brushwood burnt down; and itself left 
 to be trodden down by the beasts of the field. The na- 
 ture of the ease prevents us from supposing that he 
 alludes to the custom of pushing and burning, in 
 order to further fertilization. Is nigh unto curs- 
 ing — [This is probably a prophetic reference to the 
 then impending destruction of Jerusalem, though 
 the writer may not have clearly understood the 
 manner in which the "cursing" was to be executed.] 
 There is a good sense in which all these things may 
 be applied to the Jewish people, who were favoured 
 by our Lord's ministry and miracles. They were 
 enlightened by his preaching; tasted of the benefits 
 of the heavenly gift — the Christian religion estab- 
 lished among them ; saw many of their children 
 and relatives made partakers of the Holy Ghost; 
 tasted the good word, of God, by the fulfilment of 
 the promise made to Abraham ; and saw the 
 almighty power of God exerted in working a great 
 variety of miracles. [It is also evident, that for a 
 considerable time after the day of pentecost the 
 Gospel was well received at Jerusalem, even among 
 the priests and scribes, and that the subsequent 
 defection took place when it was found that the 
 Levitical system was to be superseded, and the 
 Gentiles admitted to the Church on the same terms 
 as the Jews. (Acts vi, 1 ; ix, 31 ; xxi, 20.)] Then 
 they fell away from all this, crucified Bim who, 
 even in his sufferings, as well as his resurrection, 
 was demonstrated by miracles to be the Son of 
 God ; and, to vindicate their unparalleled wickedness, 
 endeavoured to make him a public example by re- 
 proaches and blasphemies. Therefore their state, 
 which had received much moral cultivation from 
 Moses, the prophets, Christ and his apostles, and 
 now bore nothing but the most vicious fruits, 
 pride, unbelief, hardness of heart, contempt of 
 God's word and ordinances, blasphemy, and rebel- 
 lion; was rejected — reprobated — of God; was 
 "nigh unto cursing," about to be cast off from the 
 divine protection ; and their city and temple were 
 shortly to be burnt up by the Roman armies. Thus 
 the apostle, under the case of individuals, points out 
 the destruction that was to come upon this people 
 in general, and which actually took place soon after 
 the writing of this epistle! And this appears to be 
 the very subject which the apostle has in view in 
 the parallel solemn passages, (chapter x, 26-31,) 
 and, viewed in this light, much of their obscurity 
 and difficulty vanishes away. 
 
 9. But, beloved — Here the writer softens what 
 he had before said ; having given them the most 
 solemn warning against apostasy, he now encour- 
 ages them to persevere, commends the good that is 
 in them, and excites them to watchfulness and 
 activity. Better things of you — Than that you 
 shall resemble that unfruitful ground that can be
 
 Those who persevere in faith and 
 love shall be saved. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 10 s For 'God is not unrighteous to forget 
 "your work and labour of love, which ye have 
 showed toward his name, in that ye have 'min- 
 istered to the saints, and do minister. 11 And 
 we desire that " every one of you do show the 
 same diligence "to the full assurance of hope 
 
 a l'rov. 14. 31 : Matt 1". t2 : 25. 40: John 13. 20. 1 Rom. 3. 
 
 4: 2 Tliess. I. 6, 7. U 1 Tliess. 1. 3. r Rom. 15. 2.3 : 2 Cor 8. 
 
 improved by no tillage, and is thrown into waste, 
 and is fit only for the beasts of the forests to roam 
 in. [Ilf/Jt v/iuv, concerning yon. Those immedi- 
 ately addressed are separated in thought from those 
 before described, for in the greatest apostasy of 
 Israel there was still a faithful "remnant." (See 
 Rom. xi.)J Things that accompany salvation 
 — Kat exoiieva aurnpiag, things that are suitable to 
 a state of salvation; you give proofs still that you 
 have not, whatever others have done, departed 
 .from the living God. Many of your brethren have 
 already apostatized, and the whole nation is in a 
 state of rebellion against God ; and, in consequence 
 of their final rejection of Christ and his Gospel are 
 about to be finally rejected by God. TJiey must 
 meet with destruction; they have the things that are 
 suitable to and indicative of a state of reprobation; 
 the wrath of God has come upon them to the utter- 
 most; but, while they meet with destruction, you 
 shall meet with salvation. According to their own 
 imprecation, His blood be on us and on. our 
 children, God visited and avenged the innocent 
 blood of Christ upon them and upon their posterity ; 
 and they continue to be monuments of his dis- 
 pleasure to the present day. 
 
 10. God is not unrighteous — [God's faithful- 
 ness in respect to rendering compensation for any 
 possible sacrifice or devotion of his people is 
 brought into view to support them in holy confi- 
 dence in any and all their trials.] [The Revised 
 Version renders this verse, God is not unrighteous 
 to forget your work, and the love ye showed toward 
 his name,etc.~\ Every good work must spring from 
 faith in the name, being, and goodness of God ; and 
 every work that is truly good must have love for 
 its motive, as it has God for its end. The words 
 tov k6tcov, labour, prefixed to love, are wanting in al- 
 most every MS. and Version of importance. Minis- 
 tered to the saints — As they had thus ministered, 
 and were still ministering, they gave full proof that 
 they made common cause with the " saints ; " and 
 this was one of the tilings that proved them to be in 
 a state of salvation. [AiaiiovqaaVTEg, having per- 
 formed, kind offices, not merely supplying the want 
 of others, (rote dyiocc, Christians,) by pecuniary 
 aid, but also to assist them in any way by offices of 
 humanity and kindness. — Stuart.] 
 
 11. We desire — 'H7ridvy.ovy.ev, we earnestly wish 
 that each person among you may continue evdeiic- 
 vvoOai, to manifest, exercise, the same diligence. 
 [Continuance in Christian work is the best safe- 
 guard against temptations to apostasy.] The 
 same diligence — They had an active faith and a 
 labouring love, and the apostle wishes them to per- 
 severe in both. They were diligent, and he desires 
 them to continue so. To the full assurance of 
 hope — Tlpbc ri t r irkqpotyopiav ttjc eXit'iSoc. " The full 
 assurance of faith" says Mr. Wesley, "relates to 
 present pardon ; the fullassuranct of hope, t<> future 
 glory ; the former is the highest degree of divine 
 evidence that God is reconciled to me in the Son of 
 his love; the latter is the same degree of divine 
 evidence, wrought in the soul by the same imme- 
 
 unto the end: 12 That ye be not slothful, 
 hut followers of them who through faith and 
 patience > inherit the promises. i:{ For when 
 God made promise to Abraham, because he 
 could swear by no greater, z he sware by him- 
 self, 1-1 Saying, Surely blessing I will bless 
 
 4; it. 1, 12: 2 Tim. I. 18.— -w Chap. 3. 6, 14. o-Col.2. 2. 
 
 1/Chap. 1(1. 36.- — -H.cn. 22. 16, 17 ; Psa. 105. 9; Luke I. 7:;. 
 
 diate inspiration of the Holy Ghost, of persevering 
 grace and of eternal glory. So much as faith 
 every moment beholds with open face, so much, and 
 no more, does hope see to all eternity. But this 
 assurance of faith and hope is not an opinion, not 
 a bare construction of Scripture, but is given 
 immediately by the power of the Holy Ghost, and 
 what no one can have for another, but for himself 
 only." All this, however, must lie understood as 
 still implying the absolute necessity of continuing 
 in the same degree of grace from which this full 
 assurance of hope is derived. This full assurance, 
 therefore, does not imply that the man will abso- 
 lutely persevere to the end ; but that, if he do per- 
 severe in this same grace, he shall infallibly have 
 an eternal glory. There is no unconditional perse- 
 verance in the Scripture, nor [from the very nature 
 of the case] can there be such in a state of probation. 
 
 12. That ye be not slothful — This shows how 
 the full assurance of hope is to be regulated and 
 maintained. They must be diligent ; slothfulness 
 will deprive them both of faith and hope. Only the 
 faith which works by love will maintain hope in 
 its full and due exercise. Followers of them — 
 Mi/n/ra't de . . . tcX^povoyovvTuv rac t-r/; ;.'//</< , that 
 ye he mimics, or imitators, of them who are inheri- 
 ting tin promises. And they inherited these prom- 
 ises by faith in Him who is invisible, and who, 
 they knew, could not lie ; and they patiently endured, 
 through difficulties and adversities of every kind, 
 and persevered unto death. The persons here 
 alluded to were the saints of the older dispensation, 
 of whom Abraham, immediately referred to, was an 
 illustrious example. [The promises — (!..-«;; ;- 
 '/me, the //lings promised,) spoken of in tin' plural 
 in order to indicate promises of various kind.-, in 
 respect to both temporal and spiritual blessings.] 
 These " promises" may be considered as referring 
 to the rest of faith here, and the rest of glory here- 
 after. 
 
 13. When God made promise to Abraham 
 — The promise referred to is that made to Abraham 
 when he had offered his son Isaac on the altar, 
 (Gen. xxii, 16-18:) " By myself have I sworn, saith 
 the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, 
 and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, that 
 in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I 
 will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, 
 and as the sand which is upon the seashore; and 
 thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies ; and 
 in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be 
 blessed." of this "promise" the apostle only 
 quotes a part, as is generally the ease, because he 
 knew that his leaders were well acquainted with the 
 Scriptures of the Old Testament, and particularly 
 with the law. He sware by himself — lie 
 pledged his own faithfulness and his eternal power 
 ami Godhead for the fulfilment of the promise ; 
 
 there was no being superior to himself to win. in he 
 could make appeal, or by whom he could lie bound; 
 therefore he appeals to and pledges his immutable 
 truth and Godhead. 
 
 14. Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee 
 
 415
 
 HEBREWS. 
 
 nfirm Ms promise 
 ilselt' by an oath, 
 
 thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee. 
 15 And so, after he had patiently endured, he 
 obtained the promise. 16 Fur men verily 
 swear by the greater: and "an oath for con- 
 firmation is to them an end of all strife. 
 17 Wherein God, willing more abundantly to 
 show unto ''the heirs of promise c the imniuta- 
 
 « Exodus 22. 11. & Chapter 11. 9. c Romans 11. 29. 
 
 — I will continue to bless thee. [I will greatly 
 bless thee.] Multiplying I will multiply thee 
 
 — I will continue to increase thy posterity. In the 
 most literal manner God continues to fulfil this 
 promise ; genuine Christians are Abraham's seed, 
 and God is increasing their number daily. 
 
 15. He obtained the promise — Isaac was 
 supernaturally horn; and in his birth God began to 
 fulfil the promise; while he lived, he saw a pro- 
 vision made for the multiplication of his seed ; and, 
 having continued steadfast in the faith, he received 
 the cud of all the promises in the enjoyment of an 
 eternal glory. [These blessings Abraham did nut 
 obtain, indeed, by "dual possession; but by antici- 
 pation, confident hope, ami unswerving faith in the 
 promises of God. (See John viii, 56.'] The infer- 
 ence from all this is : If we believe, and prove faith- 
 ful unto death, we shall also inherit the promises. 
 
 16. Men verily swear by the greater — One 
 who has greater authority; who can take cogni- 
 zance of the obligation, and punish the breach of 
 it. An oath for confirmation — " This observa- 
 tion teaches us," says Dr. Macknight, "that both 
 promissory oaths concerning things lawful and in 
 our power, and o;iths for the confirmation of things 
 doubtful, when required by proper authority and 
 taken religiously, arc allowable under the Gospel." 
 
 17. The heirs of promise — All the believing 
 posterity of Abraham, and the nations of the earth, 
 or Gentiles, in general. The immutability of 
 his counsel — His unchangeable purpose to call the 
 Gentiles to salvation by Jesus Christ; to justify 
 every penitent by faith ; to accept faith in Christ 
 for justification in place of personal righteousness ; 
 and finally to bring every persevering believer, 
 whether Jew or Gentile, to eternal glory. Con- 
 firmed it by an oath — ['E^eairevaev bpK(f>, inter- 
 posed by an oath. He made a /lemr^g, (mediator,) 
 by an oath, interposed between himself and the heirs 
 of promise, the means of removing all doubt or 
 question, on their part, whether he would faith- 
 fully perform what he had promised. — Stum-/.] 
 
 18. That by two immutable things — The 
 promise and oath of God; the promise pledged his 
 faithfulness and justice; the oath, all the infinite 
 perfections of Ids Godhead, for he sware by him- 
 self. [Commentators, both, ancient and modern, 
 have been greatly perplexed to determine what 
 these I'd -/»/; uaruu afieradsTuv (tiro immutable 
 things) may have been. The interpretation given 
 above, namely, that the promise was one and the 
 oath the other, is the one commonly given ; and 
 is evidently accepted only for want of a better. 
 Stuart finds the two things in the two oaths, one to 
 Abraham (Gen. xxii, 15-18) and one to the Mes- 
 siah, (Psa. ex, 4,) which oaths had been adverted to 
 by the writer in the preceding part of his epistle, 
 (v, 6, 10,) and seem to be referred to again vi, 20, 
 where the order of Christ's high priesthood is again 
 spoken of. To this Alford objects as not in ac- 
 cord with the tenor of the context. The " two im- 
 
 416 
 
 bility of his counsel, d confirmed it by an oath : 
 
 18 That by two immutable things, in which 
 it was impossible for God to lie, we might have 
 a strong consolation, who have lied for refuge 
 to lay hold upon the hope e set before us: 
 
 19 Which hope we have as an anchor of the 
 soul, both sure and steadfast, f and which en- 
 
 dQv. interposed Mmself by an oath. eChap. 12. 1. 
 
 f Lev. lli. 15; chap. 9. 7. 
 
 mutable things," says Cowles. "can be none other 
 than his immutable counsel (,3ov'/j'/) and his super- 
 added oath." Whedon makes the two things God's 
 partyship and his medialorship, his positions as 
 promiser and juror, in respect to which view of the 
 case Stuart remarks, on the preceding verse, that 
 while, by classical usage, fiea/Tei'u means to act the 
 part of a mediator, (so making God the mediator 
 in a transaction in which he was a chief party,) 
 " here this sense is impossible, for God is not (can- 
 not be) a mediator between himself and the heirs 
 of the promise." The traditional interpretation 
 must stand, at least for the present; not so much 
 because it is satisfactory as because no other can 
 be substituted.] We might have a strong con- 
 solation — There appears to be an allusion here to 
 the cities of refuge, and to the persons who tied to 
 them for safety. As the person who killed his 
 neighbour unawares was sure, if he gained the city 
 of refuge, he should be safe, and had strong conso- 
 lation in the hope that he should reach it, this hope 
 animated him in his race to the city; he ran, lie 
 fled, knowing that, though in danger the most im- 
 minent of losing his life, yet, as he was now acting 
 according to an ordinance of God, he was certain of 
 safety provided he got to the place. It is easy to 
 apply this to the case of a truly penitent sinner 
 [who has fled (not simply is fleeing) from the curse 
 of the law, and who finds in Christ (icxvpav irapd- 
 h'/i,r:n') strong consolation, because he (Christ) is a 
 sufficient refuge — the hope set before us in the 
 Gospel. | 
 
 1'.). Which hope we have as an anchor — The 
 apostle here changes the figure, and represents the 
 state of the followers of God as that of a vessel 
 striving to perform her voyage through a trouble- 
 some, tempestuous, dangerous sea. At last she gets 
 near the port ; but the tempest continues, the water 
 is shallow, broken, and dangerous, and she cannot 
 get in. In older to prevent her being driven to sea 
 again she heaves out her sheet anchor, which she 
 has been aide to get within the pier head by means 
 of her boat, though she could not herself get in; 
 then, swinging at the length of her cable, she rides 
 out the storm in confidence, knowing that her 
 anchor is sound, the ground good in which it is 
 fastened, and the cable strong. Though agitated, 
 she is safe ; though buffeted by wind and tide, she 
 does not drive. By and by the storm ceases, the 
 tide flows in, her sailors take to the capstan, wear 
 the ship against the anchor, which still keeps its 
 bite or hold, and she gets safely into port. (See on 
 verse 20.) Which entereth into that within the 
 veil — [That is, heaven, corresponding with the holy 
 of holies. — Turner.'] The hope of eternal life is here 
 represented as the soul's anchor; the world is the 
 boisterous, dangerous sea ; the Christian course, the 
 voyage ; the port, the everlasting felicity ; and the 
 veil or inner road, the royal dock where the anchor 
 was cast. The storms of life continue but a short 
 time ; the anchor, hope, if fixed by faith ill the eter-
 
 Abraham paid tithes to Melchisedec, 
 priest of the st high Goii. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 A. M. 4067. A. D. 63. 
 Year of Rome, 816. 
 
 tereth into that within the veil ; 20 s Whither 
 the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, 
 h made a high priest for ever after the order of 
 Melchisedec. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 FOR this » Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest 
 of the must high Cod, who met Abra- 
 
 p Chap. 4. 14; 8. 1: 9. 24. h Chap. 3. 1 ; 5. 6, 10: 7. 17 
 
 nal world, will infallibly prevent all shipwreck ; the 
 soul may be strongly tossed by various temptations, 
 but will not drive, because the anchor is in sure 
 ground, and itself is steadfast ; it does not drag 
 and it does not break ; faith, like the cable, is the 
 connecting medium between the ship and the an- 
 chor, or the soul and its hope of heaven ; faith sees 
 the haven, hope desires and anticipates the rest; 
 faith works, and hope holds fast; and, at length, 
 the soul enters into the haven of eternal safety. 
 
 20. Whither the forerunner — The word irpo- 
 dpofiog ("forerunner") does not merely signify 
 one that goes or runs before another, but also one 
 who shows the way, he who first does a particular 
 thing to show another how to copy the action 
 From this we may at once perceive the meaning of 
 the phrase; Jesus is the first that in human nature 
 has entered into the heavenly kingdom. And he is 
 entered for us, as the firstfruits of all who have 
 found redemption in his blood. (Compare John 
 xiv, 2; 1 Cor. xv, 20,23.) The metaphorical al- 
 lusion is to the person who carries the anchor within 
 the pier head, because there is not yet water suf 
 fieient to carry the ship in ; [so making the ship 
 itself and all on board secure from destruction.] 
 After the order of Melchisedec — After a long 
 digression the apostle resumes his explanation of 
 Psa. ex, 4, which he had produced (chap, v, 6, 10) 
 in order to prove the permanency of the high 
 priesthood of Christ. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER VII. 
 
 1. For this Melchisedec, king of Salem — 
 
 See the whole of this history largely explained in 
 the notes on Gen. xiv, 18, etc., and the concluding 
 observations at the end of that chapter. The name 
 Melchisedec is expounded " the Justifier of those 
 who dwell in him;" and this is sufficiently true of 
 Christ, but not so of Jerusalem, to which the rab- 
 bins apply it. Salem is generally understood to be 
 Jerusalem ; but some (among them St. Jerome) think 
 that it was that city of Shechem, mentioned Josh. 
 xx, 7. 
 
 2. Gave a tenth part of all— It was an ancient 
 custom among all the nations of the earth to con- 
 secrate a tithe or tenth of the spoils taken in war 
 to the objects of their worship. Many examples of 
 this kind occur. Tins, however, was not according 
 to any provision in law, but merely a free gift, and 
 as a eucharistic offering to those to whom they 
 imagined they owed the victory. But neither Abra- 
 ham's decimation nor theirs had any thing to do 
 either with tithes as prescribed under the Mosaic 
 dispensation or as claimed under the Christian. 
 
 :.. Without father, without mother — The ob- 
 ject of the apostle in thus producing the example 
 of Melchisedec was to show, 1) That Jesus was the 
 person prophesied of in the 110th Psalm; which 
 psalm the Jews uniformly understood as predicting 
 the Messiah. 2) To answer the objections of the 
 Jews against the legitimacy of the priesthood of 
 Christ, taken from the stock from which he pro- 
 
 Vol. II.— 27 
 
 ham returning from the slaughter of the 
 kings, and blessed him ; 2 To whom also 
 Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first be- 
 ing by interpretation King of righteousness, 
 and .after that also King of Salem, which is, 
 King of peace; it Without father, without 
 mother, 'without descent, having neither be- 
 et Gen, 14. IS, etc. — b Gr. without p< digree. 
 
 ceeded. It is assumed that it was not necessary 
 for the priest to come from a particular stock, 
 since Melchisedec was a priest of the most high 
 God, and yet was not of the stock either of Aaron 
 or Abraham, but a Canaanite. It is well known 
 that the ancient Hebrews were exceedingly scrupu- 
 lous in choosing their high priest ; partly by divine 
 command, and partly from the traditition of their 
 ancestors, who always considered this office to be 
 of the highest dignity. 1) God had commanded 
 (Lev. xxi, 10) that the high priest should be chosen 
 from among his brethren, that is, from the family 
 of Aaron ; and that he should marry a virgin not of 
 another nation. He who was found to have acted 
 contrary to these requisitions was excluded from the 
 high priesthood. On the contrary, it was necessary 
 that he who might be called to this honour should 
 be able to prove his descent from the family of 
 Aaron ; and if he could not, though even in the 
 priesthood, he was cast out. (See Ezra ii, 62 ; 
 Neh. vii, G'S.) He who could not support his pre- 
 tentions by just genealogical evidences was said by 
 the Jews to be without father. In this way both 
 Christ and Melchisedec were without father and 
 without mother; that is, were not descended from 
 the original Jewish sacerdotal stock. Yet Melchis- 
 edec, who was a Canaanite, was a priest of the 
 most high God. This sense Suidas confirms under 
 the word Melchisedec, where, after having stated 
 that having reigned in Salem 113 years he died a 
 righteous man and a bachelor, he adds, " He is, 
 therefore, said to be without descent or genealogy, 
 because he was not of the seed of Abraham but of 
 Cannanitish origin, and sprung from an accursed 
 seed ; therefore he is without the honour of a 
 genealogy." And he further adds, "That because 
 it would have been highly improper for him who 
 was the most righteous of men to be joined in 
 affinity to the most unrighteous of nations, he is 
 said to be enrdrup nal a/iijrop, without foliar and 
 n'ifho/it mother." This sort of phraseology was not 
 uncommon when the genealogy of a person was un- 
 known or obscure; and it only signifies that the 
 parents were either unknown or obscure. 1 will, 
 in order to give the reader full information on the 
 subject, add a few observations from Dr. Owen. 
 "It is said of Melchisedec, in the first place, that 
 he was airdrop, o/i/'/rup, without father ami without 
 mother, whereon part of the latter clause, namely, 
 1 without beginning if days,' doth depend. The 
 next wool declares he was ayeveaMyr/Toe, l without 
 ilisi-int^ say we. But yevealwyia is a generation, a 
 descent, a pedigree, not absolutely, but rehearsed, 
 described, recorded. reveaTidyqroc is he whose stock 
 ami descent is entered on record. And so, on the 
 contrary, ayeveaAoyriTOQ is not he who has no de- 
 scent, (ancestry,) no genealogy, but he whose de- 
 scent and pedigree is nowhere entered or reckoned 
 up. '! has the apostle himself plainly expresses 
 this word, verse 6 : 6 cie uy yeveahoyoiifiEvog ■■ ; avruv, 
 'whose descent is not counted;' that is, reckoned 
 up in record. Thus was Melchisedec without fa- 
 
 *17
 
 A. M.4n67. A. D. 63. 
 
 Tear of Rome, E I 6, 
 
 HEBREWS. 
 
 No cessation of Melchisedec's 
 priesthood made known. 
 
 ginning of days, nor end of life ; but made like 
 
 ther or mother in that the Spirit of God, who so 
 strictly and exactly recorded the genealogies of 
 other patriarchs and types of Christ, and thai for 
 no less an end than to manifest the truth and faith- 
 fulness of God in his promises, speaks nothing to 
 this purpose concerning him. He is introduced as 
 it were one falling from heaven, appearing on a 
 sudden, reigning in Salem, and officiating in the 
 office of priesthood to the higli God. On the 
 same account is he said to be pr/re apxyv qpepav 
 fii/ri- t^uifjc rt/.nr t ; \-w!', not having beginning of days 
 or end of life. And yet he was assuredly born, 
 and did no less certainly die than other men. But 
 we have no more to do with him to learn from 
 him, nor are concerned in him but only as he is 
 described in the Scripture ; and there is no mention 
 therein of the beginning of his days or the end of 
 his life. Whatever therefore he might have in 
 himself, he had none to us. Consider all the other 
 patriarchs mentioned in the writings of Moses, and 
 you shall find their descent recorded, who was 
 their father, and so up to the first man ; and not 
 only so, but the time of their birth, the beginning 
 of their days, and the end of their life, are exactly 
 recorded. But concerning Melchisedec none of 
 these things are spoken. No mention is made of 
 father or mother ; no genealogy is recorded of what 
 stock or progeny he was ; nor is there any account 
 of his birth or death. So that all these things are 
 wanting to him in his historical narration, wherein 
 our faith and knowledge are alone concerned." 
 [Here, too, may be added Professor Stuart's remarks 
 on the subject in hand, which are both learned and 
 judicious: "'Awarup, apr/rup, having neither father 
 nor mother, that is, none recorded in the sacred 
 genealogies; or, perhaps, whose father and mother 
 were not of kingly rank. These words were ap- 
 plied literally, by the Greeks, to some of their 
 gods; then. figuratively, to those who were orphans, 
 and to those whose parents were obscure and of 
 low origin. In such a sense the apostle nppears 
 to call Melchisedec aitarup and apJjTup. The ex- 
 planation of these terms is to be found, (as one will 
 easily believe,) in the word ayevsaTio-ynrog, without 
 genealogy, namely, of whose genealogy no mention 
 is made in Scripture Mr/n apxyv .... £,x°"\ hav- 
 ing neither beginning of day a ii'ir tin} of life, that 
 is, either, 'whose time of birth or death is not re- 
 ined ;' or, ' who, as high priest, has no limited time 
 assigned for the commencement and expiration of 
 his office;' for so the following clause leads us to 
 interpret this expression. The meaning of the 
 writer, then, is, that Mejehisedec's priesthood was 
 limited to no definite time, that is, he was sacerdos 
 •perpetuus, a priest without limitation of office. So 
 the Latins say Dictator perpetuus, etc. 'A<j>upoiu- 
 pivoc tie ... . SujvEnkc, being like t<> the Xou •>/ God, 
 remaineth a priest perpetually. The sacred writer 
 (Psa. ex, 4) says of the Messiah, that he is 'after 
 the order of Melchisedec' First, then, Christ is 
 asserted by the psalmist to be a perpetual priest ; 
 and next, to confirm or explain this assertion, it is 
 added, that he is so according to the order of Mel- 
 chisedec. The implication is, of course, that Mel- 
 chisedec is perpetual priest; for this is a special 
 point of the comparison. In respect to the object 
 of this assertion, I apprehend nothing more is 
 intended than that the priesthood of Christ and 
 of Melchisedec was not, like that of the sons of 
 418 
 
 unto the Son of God ; abideth a priest eontin- 
 
 Aaron, limited to any definite period. In the abso- 
 lute sense, etc to diT/veiceg (forever) clearly is not to 
 be understood. Melchisedec's priesthood termi- 
 nated with his life ; so Christ's priestly and kingly 
 offices both will cease wdien the work of redemp- 
 tion is fully accomplished. (1 Cor. xv, 24-28.) 
 But in neither case is there any statute which 
 limits the specific time of accession to office, and 
 of egress from it. Of course, the order of Christ's 
 priesthood, and that of Melchisedec, differed great- 
 ly in this respect from that of the sons of Aaron, 
 and was, as the writer goes on to declare, greatly 
 superior to it. Dictator perpetuus among the Ro- 
 mans, for example, was surely a higher, or at least 
 a more honourable, office, than that of ordinary 
 dictator. Our English version of CKpupouoptvog, 
 made like to, does not seem to give the true sense 
 of the passage. The apostle is not labouring to 
 show that Melchisedec, in respect to his priesthood, 
 was made like to Christ ; but vice versa. He is 
 seeking to illustrate and establish the perpetuity of 
 Christ's priesthood, by comparing it with the well- 
 known priesthood of Melchisedec. 'A&apoiopivoc 
 means, then, not made like /<>, but like to, possibly 
 likened to, that is, being compared to. 
 
 [" The whole passage, from 6 ni-ruvri^ar (vim nut) 
 in verse 1, to rw "Yiti rov Qsov (the Son of God) in 
 verse .'3, is plainly a parentlietic explanation, (a very 
 common occurrence in the writings of Paul,) thrown 
 in for the sake of suggesting to the reader's mind 
 some considerations respecting the character and 
 dignity of Melchisedec, which would be very useful, 
 in regard to a right understanding of the compari- 
 son that was to be mnde out in the sequel. Ovroc 
 ; a p 6 Mf/^y'Cf AV, (for this Melchisedec,) etc., in 
 verse 1, is the immediate nominative to pkvu leptvc 
 etc to ih>/r£K£c in verse 3, the whole sense being : 
 This. Melchisedec .... remains a priest forever."] 
 [Our opinion is, that Melchisedec was nobody but 
 himself; himself as simply narrated in Genesis 
 xiv, 18-20; in which narrative both David, (in 
 Psa. ex,) and our author after him, find every 
 point they specify in making him a king-priest, 
 typical of the king-priesthood of Christ. Yet it is 
 not in the person of Melchisedec alone, but in the 
 grouping, also, of circumstances in and around his 
 person, that the inspired imagination of the psalm- 
 ist finds the shadowing points. Melchisedec, in 
 Genesis, suddenly appears upon the historic stage, 
 without antecedents or consequents. He is a king- 
 priest, not of Judaism, but of Gentilism, univer- 
 sally, lie appears an unlineal priest, without fa- 
 ther or mother or pedigree. He is preceded and 
 succeeded by an everlasting silence, so as to pre- 
 sent neither beginning nor end of life. And he is, 
 as an historic picture, forever there - divinely sus- 
 pended, the very image of a perpetual king-priest. 
 It is thus, not in his actual unknown reality, but 
 in the Scripture presentation, that the group of 
 shadowings appears. It is by optical truth only, 
 not by corporeal facts, that he becomes a picture, 
 and, with his surroundings, a visible tableau, into 
 which the psalmist first reads the conception of an 
 adumbration of the eternal priesthood of the Mes- 
 siah ; and all our author does is to develop the 
 particulars which are, in the mass, presupposed by 
 the psalmist. — WAedon.] Made like unto the 
 Son of God — Melchisedec was without father and 
 mother, having neither beginning of days nor end
 
 Melchisedec declared to have been 
 greater than Abraham. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 A. M. 4.167. A. r> 
 Yenr jl Rome, 816 
 
 ually. 4 Now consider how great this man 
 was, ''unto whom even the patriarch Abraham 
 gave the tenth of the spoils. 5 And verily 
 d they that are of the sons of Levi, who re- 
 ceive the office of the priesthood, have a com- 
 mandment to take tithes of the people accord- 
 ing to the law, that is, of their brethren, 
 though they come out of the loins of Abra- 
 ham: 6 But he whose e descent is not counted 
 from them received tithes of Abraham, f and 
 
 cGen. 14. 20.- 
 
 -dNum. 13. 21, 26.- 
 
 14. 19. 
 
 -e Or, pedigree. — /Gen. 
 
 of life. His genealogy is not recorded : when he 
 was born and when he died is unknown. His 
 priesthood, therefore, may be considered as per- 
 petual. In these respects he was like to Jesus 
 Christ, who, as to his priesthood, had neither fa- 
 ther nor mother, beginning of time nor end of 
 days. The priesthood of Melchisedec is to abide 
 continually on the same ground that he is said to be 
 without father and mother ; that is, there is no 
 record of the end of his priesthood or life, no more 
 than there is any account of his ancestry. 
 
 4. Consider how great this man was — This 
 unheralded king of Salem seems to have been a 
 sort of universal priest, having none superior to 
 him in all that region ; and confessedly superior 
 even to Abraham himself, [who was then only a 
 sti anger in the land, while the other was king of 
 one of its chief cities, though he was by promise] 
 the father of the faithful, and the source of the 
 Jewish race. (See verse 7.) The patriarch 
 Abraham — '0 irarpiapxqg, a fatlier, a chief, or, 
 head of a family. But the title is here applied, by 
 way of eminence, to him who was the head or 
 chief of all the fathers — or patriarch of the patri- 
 archs, and father of the faithful. The character 
 and conduct of Abraham place him, as a man, de- 
 servedly at the head of the human race. [But his 
 eminence was, that he was the "Friend" of God.] 
 
 5. They that are of the sons of Levi — The 
 priests, who are of the posterity of the Levites, and 
 receive the priesthood in virtue of their descent 
 from Aaron, [in whom was centred the whole 
 priestly dignity of Israel, derived by inheritance 
 from Abraham,] have authority from the law of 
 God to receive tithes from the people. Accord- 
 ing to the law — That is, the Levites received a 
 tenth from the people. The priests received a 
 tenth of this tenth from the Levites, who are here 
 called their brethren, because they were of the 
 same tribe, and were also employed in sacred work 
 The apostle is proceeding to show that Melchisedec 
 was greater even than Abraham, the head of the 
 fathers, for to him Abraham gave tithes ; and as 
 the Levites were the posterity of Abraham, [and 
 derived all their dignity from him,] they are repre- 
 sented here as paying tithes to Melchisedec through 
 him. Yet Melchisedec was not of this family, and 
 therefore must be considered as having a more 
 honourable priesthood than even Aaron himself; 
 for he took the tenth from Abraham, not for his 
 maintenance, for he was a king, but in virtue of his 
 office, [as a kind of priestly suzerain of all that 
 region, to whom even Abraham paid tithes.] 
 
 6. Blessed him that had the promises — This 
 is a continuation of the same argument, namely, to 
 show the superiority of Melchisedec; and, in conse- 
 quence, to prove the superiority of the priesthood of 
 Christ over that of Aaron. As in the seed of Abra- 
 
 blessed shim that had the promises. 7 And 
 without all contradiction the less is blessed of 
 the better, w And here men that die receive 
 tithes; bul there* he receiveth them, h of whom 
 it is witnessed that he liveth. !> And as 1 may 
 
 so say, Levi also, who reoeivclh tithes, paid 
 tithes in Abraham. 10 For he was yet in the 
 loins of his father, when Melchisedec met him. 
 II 'If therefore perfection were by the Le- 
 vitical priesthood, (for under it the people re- 
 
 g Horn. 4 13; Gal. 3. lfi. hChap. 5. 6; 6. 20. iGal. 2. 21 ; 
 
 verses 18, IS ; chap. 8. 7. 
 
 ham all the nations of the earth were to be blessed, 
 Abraham received a sacerdotal blessing from Mel- 
 chisedec, who was the representative of the Mes- 
 siah, the promised seed, to show that it was through 
 him as the high priest of the human race that this 
 blessing was to be conferred on all mankind. 
 
 7. The less is blessed of the better — That the 
 superior blesses the inferior is a general proposi- 
 tion ; but Abraham was blessed of Melchisedec, 
 therefore Melchisedec was greater than Abraham. 
 " The blessing here spoken of," says Dr. Macknight, 
 " is not the simple wishing of good to others, which 
 may be done by inferiors to superiors ; but it is 
 the action of a person authorized to declare God's 
 intention to bestow good things on another. In this 
 manner Isaac and Jacob blessed their children 
 under a prophetic impulse ; in this manner the 
 priests under the law blessed the people; in this 
 manner, likewise, Melchisedec, the priest of the 
 most high God, blessed Abraham." 
 
 S. Kere men that die receive tithes — The 
 apostle is speaking of the ecclesiastical constitu- 
 tion of the Jews, which was standing at the time 
 this epistle was written. Under the Jewish dis- 
 pensation, though the priests were successively re- 
 moved by death, yet they were as duly replaced by 
 others appointed from the same family, and the 
 payment of tithes was never interrupted. Bul as 
 there is fco account of Melchisedec ceasing to b< a 
 priest, or of his dying, he is represented as still 
 living, the better to point him out as a type of 
 Christ, and to show his priesthood to be more ex- 
 cellent than that which was according to the law, 
 as an unchanging priesthood must be more excel- 
 lent than that which was continually changing. 
 But there he receiveth them — The u6e, here, in 
 the first clause of this verse, refers to Mosaical in- 
 stitutions as then existing; the enel, there, in this 
 clause refers, to the place in Genesis (chap, xiv, 20) 
 
 where it is related that Abraham gave tithes to Mel- 
 chisedec, who is still considered as being alive, or 
 
 without a successor, because there is no accounl of 
 his death, nor of any termination of his priesthood. 
 !». And as I may so say — Kal wc siroe sliretv, 
 and so to speak a word. This form of speech, 
 which i> very frequent among the purest Greek 
 writers, i- generally used to soften some harsh ex- 
 pression, or to limit the meaning when the proposi- 
 tion mighl otherwise appear to be too general. It. 
 answers fully to our so to speak — as one would sag 
 — in a certain sense. Paid tithes in Abraham 
 — The Levites, who were descendants of Abraham, 
 paid tithes to Melchisedec 6ca, through, Abraham, 
 their progenitor and representative. 
 
 10. For he was yet in the loins of his 
 father — That, is, Levi was seminally included in 
 Abraham, his forefather. 
 
 11. If therefore perfection were by the Le- 
 
 41 'J
 
 M. 4087. A. P. 63. 
 Yenr of Rome, B16. 
 
 HEBREWS. 
 
 Jesus of a more an 
 priesthood than 
 
 ceived the law,) what further need teas there 
 that another priest should rise after the order of 
 Melchisedec, and no1 be called after the order of 
 Aaron? 12 For the priesthood being changed, 
 there is made of necessity a change also of the 
 law. 13 For he of whom these tilings are 
 spoken pertaineth to another tribe, of which 
 no man gave attendance at the altar. 14 For 
 
 ifclsa. 11. 1; Matt. 1.3; Luke 3. 33; Rom. 1.3; Rev. 5. 5. 
 
 vitical priesthood — The word -rel.eiuaie, as we 
 have before seen, signifies the completing or finish- 
 ing of any thing, so as to leave nothing imperfect 
 and nothing wanting. Applied here to the Levit- 
 ical priesthood, it signifies the accomplishment of 
 that for which a priesthood is established, namely, 
 giving to God an acceptable service, enlightening 
 an 1 instructing the people, pardoning all offences, 
 purging the conscience from guilt, purifying the 
 soul and preparing it for heaven, and regulating the 
 conduct of the people according to the precepts of 
 the moral law. This perfection never came, and 
 never could come, by the Levitical law ; it was the 
 shadow of good things to come, but not the sub- 
 stance. It represented a perfect system, but was 
 imperfect in itself. It showed that there was guilt, 
 and that there was an absolute need for a sacrificial 
 offering to atone for sin, and it typified that sacri- 
 fice; but every sacrificial act under that law most 
 forcibly proved that it was impossible for the blood 
 of bulls and goats to take away sin. For under 
 it the people received the law — That is, as most 
 interpret this place, under the priesthood, hpucvvT/c, 
 being understood; because on the priesthood the 
 whole Mosaical law ami the Jewish economy de- 
 pended : hut it is much better to render ett' avry, 
 on account of if, rather than " under it ; " for the law 
 was given before any priesthood was established, 
 for Aaron and his sons were not called nor sepa- 
 rated to this office till Moses came down the second 
 time from the mount with the tables renewed after 
 he had broken the former. (Exod. xl, 12-14.) But 
 it was in reference to the great sacrificial system 
 that the law was given, and on that law the priest- 
 hood was established; for why was a priesthood 
 necessary, but because that law was broken and 
 mast be fulfilled ? That another priest should 
 rise — The law was given that the offence might 
 abound, and sin appear exceeding sinful ; and to 
 show the absolute necessity of the sacrifice and 
 mediation of the great Messiah : but it was neither 
 perfect in itself, nor could it confer perfection, nor 
 did it contain the original priesthood. Melchisedec 
 had a priesthood more than four hundred years 
 (four hundred and twenty-two) before the law was 
 given; and David prophesied (Psa. ex, 4) that 
 another priest should arise after the order of Mel- 
 chisedec, nearly five hundred years (four hundred 
 an 1 seventy-six) after the law was given. The law, 
 therefore, did not contain the original priesthood; 
 that existed typically in Melchisedec, and really in 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 1 -1. The priesthood being changed — That is, 
 the order of Aaron being now abrogated, to make 
 way for that which had preceded it, the order of 
 Melchisedec. There is made of necessity a 
 change also of the law — The very essence of the 
 Levicical law consisting in its sacrificial offerings ; 
 and as these could not confer perfection — could n<>t 
 reconcile God to man, purify the unholy heart, nor 
 open the kingdom of heaven to the souls of men — 
 420 
 
 it is evident that k our Lord sprang out of 
 Judea; of which tribe Moses spake nothing 
 concerning priesthood. 15 And it is yet far 
 more evident : for that after the similitude 
 of Melchisedec there ariseth another priest, 
 16 Who is made, not after the law of a car- 
 nal commandment, but after the power of an 
 endless life. 17 For lie testifieth, 'Thou art 
 
 J Psa. 110. 4; chap. 5. 13, 10; 6. 20. 
 
 consequently it must be abolished, according to the 
 onler of God himself; for he said, Sacrifice and 
 <>tf' ring, and burnt offering and .sacrifice for sin, he 
 would not. (See Psa. xl, 6, 1 ; Heb. x, 5-10.) The 
 priesthood, therefore, being changed, Jesus coming 
 in the place of Aaron, the law of ordinances and 
 ceremonies, which served only to point out the 
 Messiah, must of necessity be changed also. 
 
 13. For he of whom these things are 
 spoken — That is, Jesus the Messiah, spoken of in 
 Psa. ex, 4. who came, not from the tribe of Levi 
 but from the tribe of Judah, of which tribe no 
 priest ever ministered at a Jewish altar, nor could, 
 according to the law, so minister. 
 
 14. For it is evident — As the apostle speaks 
 here with so much confidence, it follows that our 
 Lord's descent from the tribe of Judah was incon- 
 trovertible. The genealogical tables, both in Mat- 
 thew and Luke, establish this point ; and whatever 
 difficulties we may find in them now, there were 
 none apprehended in those days, else the enemies 
 of the Gospel would have urged these as a chief 
 and unanswerable argument against Christ and his 
 Gospel. 
 
 15. And it is yet far more evident — Kal 
 TiepiaaoTEpov in Kardd?}2.6v eoriv, anil besides, it is 
 more abundantly manifest. It is very difficult to 
 translate these words, but the apostle's meaning is 
 plain, namely, that God designed the Levitical 
 priesthood to be changed, because of the oath in 
 Psa. ex, where, addressing the Messiah, he savs : 
 "Thou art a priest fur i icr after the order, ov 
 o/uoioTr/ra , similitude, of Melchisedec, who was not 
 only a priest, but also a king. None of the Levit- 
 ical priests sustained this double office ; but they 
 both, with that of pr<'j>h<t, appeared and were exer- 
 cised in the person of our Lord, who is the priest 
 to which the apostle alludes. 
 
 16. Who is made — Appointed to this high office 
 by God himself, not succeeding one that was dis- 
 abled or dead, according to that law or ordinance 
 directed to weak and perishing men, who could not 
 continue by reason of death. This is probably all 
 that the apostle intends by the words carnal com- 
 mandment, irrn'/!,c aapKiKrjg, for "carnal" does 
 not always mean sinful or corrupt, but feeble, frail, or 
 what may be said of or concerning man in his present 
 dying condition. But after the power of an 
 endless life — Not dying, or ceasing, through weak- 
 ness, to be a priest : but properly immortal himself, 
 and having the power to confer life and immortal- 
 ity on others. He ever lives, as priest, to make in- 
 tercession for men ; and they who believe on him 
 shall never perish, but have everlasting life. 
 
 17. For he testifieth — That is, either the 
 scripture, in the place so often quoted, or God oy 
 that scripture. Thou art a priest forever — This 
 is tiie proof that he was not appointed according 
 to the carnal commandment, but according to the 
 power of an endless life, because he is a priest 
 " forever ; " that is, one that never dies, and is
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 a priest for ever after the order of Melchise- 
 dec. IX For there is verily a disannulling of 
 the commandment going before for'" the weak- 
 ness uiiil unprofitableness thereof. 19 For 
 the "law made nothing perfect, "but the bring- 
 ing in of i'a better hope'//'// by the which 
 'i we draw nigh unto God. 2<> And inasmuch 
 as not without an oath he was made priest: 
 21 (For those priests were made ' without an 
 
 m Rom. B. 3; Gal. 4. 9. — n Acts 13. 39: Rom. :!. 20, 21, 'J- : 
 
 8. '■>; Gal. 2. 16; chap. 9. 9. oOi;//nt it was the bringing 
 
 in, Gal. 3. U. — i> Chap. 6. 18; 8. (j. 
 
 never disabled from performing the important 
 functions of his oftiee ; for if he he a priest for- 
 ever, lie ever lives. 
 
 1 s. For there is verily a disannulling — 
 There is a total abrogation, npoayo'va^q evtoTl^q, of 
 the former law, relative to the Levitical priesthood. 
 (See verse 19.) For the weakness and unprof- 
 itableness — ['A<tM r. i; Kal iin,iu:'/:i\ {maiff.clen.cy 
 and useless-liens. It represented a sin-offering, and 
 in so doing it confessed the need of an atonement, 
 which, however, it could not make.] 
 
 19. For the law made nothing perfect — 
 [The "commandment" (verse 18) and "the law," 
 here named, are the same thing, that is, the Levit- 
 ical or ceremonial law, which, because it was only 
 typical and prophetical, perfected nothing.] See 
 on verse 1 1 . But the bringing in of a better 
 hope — The original is very emphatic, erretaayujy, 
 the superintrodaction or the after introduction; and 
 this seems to be put in opposition to the rrpoayobaa 
 ivroTJj, th( preceding commandment, or former Levit- 
 ical law. (Verse 18.) This went before to prepare the 
 way of the Lord — to show the sinfulness of sin and 
 the strict justice of God. Tlie " better hope," which 
 referred not to earthly but to spiritual good — not to 
 temporal but eternal felicity, founded on the priest- 
 hood and atonement of Christ — was afterward in- 
 troduced for the purpose of doing what " the law " 
 could not do, and giving privileges and advantages 
 which "the law" would not afford. One of these 
 privileges immediately follows : By the which 
 we draw nigh unto God — This is a sacerdotal 
 phrase ; the high priest alone could approach to 
 the divine presence in the holy of holies ; but not 
 without the blood of the sacrifice, and that only 
 once in the year. But through Christ, as our high 
 priest, all believers have an entrance to the holiest 
 by his blood; and through him perform acceptable 
 service to Cod. The "better hope" means, in this 
 place, Jesus Christ, who is the author and object 
 of the hope of eternal life, which all his genuine 
 followers possess. (1 Tim. i, 1 ; Col. i, 27.) 
 [Kpe'iTTOvoc t/.T'A;c, " better hope, brought in by 
 the revelation of the better and all-sufficient sacri- 
 fice of Christ. What before stood forth in the 
 incompleteness of symbols and prophecies was 
 now completed in the reality of the atonement by 
 Christ.] 
 
 •2o. Not without an oath — "The apostle's 
 reasoning here is founded on this, that God never 
 interposed his 'oath,' except to show the certainty 
 and immutability of the thing sworn. Thus he 
 sware to Abraham, (lien, xxii, 16-18,) that in his 
 stul all tin- nations of the earth should tie blessed; 
 and to the rebellious Israelites, ( Deiit. i, :; 1, 35,) that 
 they should nut enter into his rest; and to .Moses. 
 (Dent. iv, 21,) that /"• \Innil<l not go intu ( 'anaan : 
 and to David, (Psa. lxxxix, 4.) that his seed should 
 end a re f a- ever, and his throne unto all generations. 
 
 oath; but this with an oath by him thai said 
 unto him, 'The Lord sware and will not re- 
 pent, Thou art a priest forever after the order 
 of Melchisedec:) 2*2 By so much 'was Jesus 
 made a surety of a better testament. 2:j And 
 they truly were many priests, because they 
 were not suffered to continue by reason of 
 death: 21 But this ///"//. because he con- 
 tinued! ever, hath "an unchangeable priest- 
 
 // Rom. .">. e-. Eph.2. 1*; ". 12: chap. 4. 16; 10. 19. — rOr, with- 
 out moearing<ifan oath. — 8 Psa. ltd. 4. — / Chap. 3. ti;9. 15; 
 12. 24. — a or, which passt th not ./runt one to anotht / . 
 
 Wherefore, since Christ was made a priest, ' not 
 without an oath 1 that he should be c priest for 
 ever after tin similitude if Melchisedec, that cir- 
 cumstance showed (bid's immutable purpose never 
 to change or abolish his priesthood, nor to change 
 oi abolish the covenant which was established on 
 his priesthood; whereas the Levitical priesthood 
 and the law of Moses, being established without an 
 oath, were thereby declared to lie changeable at 
 God's pleasure." — Macknight. 
 
 21. Those priests — The Levitical. Were 
 made without an oath — To show that the whole 
 system was temporary, and soon to be abolished. 
 But this — ['0 6e, but this one, (that is, this priest,) 
 Jesus Chri.-t, was constituted a priest.] With an 
 oath — To show that the gospel dispensation should 
 never change and never be abolished. By him — 
 Cod the Father. That said unto him — Thai is, 
 to the promised Messiah. (Psa. ex, 4.) The Lord 
 sware — To show the immutability of his counsel. 
 And will not repent — Never change his mind nor 
 purpose. Thou art a priest forever — [Etc 
 ruv alava, throughout the gospel age or dispen- 
 sation.] Till the necessity of the mediatorial king- 
 dom be superseded by the fixed state of eternity — 
 till this kingdom be delivered up unto the Father 
 and God shall be all in till — shall this priesthood 
 of Christ endure. (1 Cor. xv, 28.) 
 
 2.2. By so much — By this solemn, unchange- 
 able oath of (bid. Was Jesus made a surety — 
 "T&yyvog, a mediator, (sponsor,) one who brings the 
 two parties together, witnesses the contract, and 
 oilers the covenant sacrifice on the occasion. See 
 at the end of the chapter. Abetter testament 
 — Kpeirrovog diadqicr/g, a better covenant; called, in 
 the title to the sacred books, which contain the 
 whole Christian code, '11 Kan// tyadf/nn, THE NEW 
 covenant, thus contradistinguished from the Mo- 
 saic, which was 'II \la'/.uiu Aia&ijKT, , the Old Covenant. 
 The new covenant is tntttr than the old, for [the 
 t,Itl referred to earthly and temporal blessings, "a 
 land flowing with milk and honey," (see Dent, 
 xxviii. 1-18,) the utir, to things spiritual in their 
 nature, and eternal in duration. (Jeremiah xxxi, 
 31-84.)] 
 
 23. And they truly were many priests— 
 Under the Mosaic law it was necessary there 
 should be a succession of priests, because, being 
 mortal, they were not suffered to continue always 
 by reason of death. [The perpetual changes in the 
 personnel of the Levitical priesthood were signifi- 
 eant of its weakness and insufficiency.] 
 
 24. But this— '0 6e, [this priest, that is, Christ. 
 See verse 21.] Because he continueth ever — 
 Is eternal. Hath an unchangeable priesthood 
 — ' AirapdplaTov lepuavvijv, & priesthood that posset h 
 
 not tin;,,/; lie lives forever, [ami his priesthood is 
 
 as enduring {airapd^arov) as himself, unchanging 
 since he does not change.] 
 
 42 i
 
 . M. 4067. A. D. 63. 
 Year ot' Rome, 816. 
 
 HEBREWS. 
 
 hood. 25 Wherefore lie is ahle also to save 
 them v to the uttermost that come unto God by 
 him, seeing he ever liveth K to make interces- 
 sion for then* 26 For such a high priest be- 
 came us, *ioho is holy, harmless, undefiled, 
 
 v Or, evermore. w Rom. 8. 34 ; 1 Tim. 2. 5: chap. 9. 24; 
 
 1 John 2. 1. a; Chap. 4. 15. u Epli. 1.20; 4. 10; chap. 8. 1. 
 
 25. Wherefore — Because he is an everlasting 
 priest, with an unchanging tenure of office. He 
 is able to save to the uttermost — lvc to wavTE? 1 c, 
 to all intents, degrees, and purposes ; and in and 
 through atttimes, because he ever liveth to make 
 intercession for them. As Jesus was the Lamb 
 of God slain from the foundation of the world — has 
 an everlasting priesthood — and is a continual inter- 
 >;. it is in virtue of this that all who were 
 saved from the beginning of the world's history 
 were saved through him, and all that shall be saved 
 to the end of time will be saved through him. He 
 ever was and ever will be the High Priest, Sacri- 
 fice, Intercessor, and Mediator for the human race. 
 All successive generations of men are equally in- 
 terested in him, and may claim the same privi- 
 leges. But none can be saved by his grace that 
 do not come unto God through him. (Verse 19.) 
 
 "The nature of the apostle's arguments," says 
 Dr. Macknight, " requires that, by Christ's always 
 living, we understand his always living in the body, 
 (in his dual nature;) for it is thus that he is a 
 sympathizing high priest, who, in his intercession, 
 pleads the merit of his death to procure the salva- 
 tion of all who come unto God through him. 
 Agreeably to this account of Christ's intercession, 
 the apostle (in verse 27) mentions the sacrifice of 
 himself which Christ offered for the sins of the 
 people as the foundation of his intercession. 
 Now, as he offers that sacrifice in heaven (chap- 
 ter viii, 2, 8) by presenting his crucified body 
 there, (see chapter viii, 5, note,) and as he contin- 
 ually resides there in the body, some of the ancients 
 were of opinion that his continual intercession 
 consists in the continual prest ntation of his humanity 
 before his Fat7ier, because it is a continual declara- 
 tion of his earnest desire for the salvation of men, 
 and of his having, in obedience to his Father's will, 
 made himself flesh, and suffered death to accom- 
 plish it. (See Romans viii, 34.) This opinion is 
 confirmed by the manner in which the Jewish high 
 priest made intercession for the people on the day 
 of atonement, and which was a type of Christ's 
 intercession in heaven. He made it, not by offer- 
 ing of prayers for them in the most holy place, but 
 by sprinkling the bland of the sacrifices on, (lie 
 mercy seat, in token of their death. And as, by 
 that action, he opened the earthly holy places to 
 the prayers and worship of the Israelites during the 
 ensuing year ; so Jesus, by presenting his humanity 
 continually before the presence of his Father, 
 opens heaven to the prayers of his people in the 
 present life, and to their persons after the resur- 
 rection." [The proper meaning of Ivtv) y&vsiv, 
 "/<< intercede" is, to go to any one, to approach, /<> 
 meet him, for the sake of accusing or defending, 
 convicting or delivering, any person, or for trans- 
 acting any business which has respect to him. 
 Here, it is plainly in the sense of aiding, defend- 
 ing, or delivering. . . . But to intercede, in the 
 sense of making supplication, is not appropriate to 
 any part of the priest's office under the Levitical 
 law. . . . We must, therefore, understand it, as 
 422 
 
 separate from sinners, rand made higher than 
 the heavens ; 27 Who needeth not daily, as 
 those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, z first 
 for his own sins, 'and then for the people's : 
 for 'this he did once, when he offered up 
 
 z Lev. 9. 7; 16. »'., 11; chap. 5. 3; 9. 7. a Lev. 16. 15. 
 
 b Horn. 6. ID ; chap. 9. 12, 2* ; 10. 12. 
 
 here used, in a more general sense, and refer it to 
 any aid which Christ, as high priest, extends to 
 those who approach God in him. (Chapter iv, 16.) 
 He is able to save them, because he is a perpetual 
 priest to interpose in their behalf to procure for 
 them such aid as they may need. — Stuart.] 
 
 26. Such a high priest became us — ['EwpEnev, 
 u<as suitable for us, we must have, implying necessity 
 on our part.] Such a high priest was in every re- 
 spect suitable to us, every way qualified to accom- 
 plish the end for which he came into the world. 
 All these things suit our Lord in a sense in which 
 they cannot be applied to the high priest of the 
 Jews: 1) He was holy— Infinitely so; and mer- 
 ciful, witness his shedding his blood for the sins of 
 mankind. 2) Harmless — Perfectly without sin 
 in his humanity, as well as his divinity. 3) Un- 
 defiled — Contracted no sinful infirmity in conse- 
 quence of his dwelling among men. 4) Separate 
 from sinners — Absolutely unblamable in the whole 
 of his conduct, so that he could challenge the most 
 inveterate of his enemies with, Which of you con- 
 victcth me of sin? AYho of you can show in my 
 conduct the slightest deviation from truth and 
 righteousness? 5) Higher than the heavens — 
 .More exalted than all the angels of God, than all 
 created beings. All these were created by him and 
 for him, anil derive their continued subsistence 
 from his infinite energy. But how was a person of 
 such infinite dignity suitable to us? His greatness is 
 put in opposition to our meanness. He was " holy ; " 
 we, unholy. He was "harmless;" we, harmful, 
 injuring both ourselves and others. He was "un- 
 defiled ; " we, defied, most sinfully spotted and im- 
 pure. He was "separate from sinners;" we were 
 joined to sinnt rs, companions of the vile, the worth- 
 less, the profane, and the wicked. He was 
 "higher than the heavens;" we, baser, and lower 
 than the earth, totally unworthy to be called the crea- 
 tures of God. And had we not had such a Saviour, 
 and had we not been redeemed at an infinite juice, 
 we should, to use the nervous language of Milton 
 on another occasion, " after a shameful life and end 
 in this world, have been thrown down eternally 
 into the datkest and deepest gulf of hell, where, 
 under the despiteful control, the trample and spurn, 
 of all the other damned," who "in the anguish 
 of their torture should have no other ease than to 
 exercise a raving and bestial tyranny over us as 
 their slaves, we must have remained in that plight 
 for ever, the basest, the lowermost, the most de- 
 jected, most underfoot and downtrodden vassals 
 of perdition." — Milton on Reformation, in /me. 
 
 27. Who needeth not daily — Though the high 
 priest offered the great atonement only once in the 
 year, yet in the Jewish services there was a daily 
 acknowledgment of sin, and a daily sacrifice offered 
 by the priests, at whose head was the high priest, 
 for their own sins as well as for the sins of the 
 people. For this he did once — For himself Je- 
 sus offered no sacrifice; and the apostle gives the 
 reason — he needed none; and for the people he 
 offered himself once for all, when he expired upon
 
 Jesus Clirist made high priest 
 by the ciatU of Jehovah. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 A. M. 4067. A. r>. 6: 
 Sfear of Rome, 816. 
 
 himself. 2$ For i lie law niaketh °men high 
 priests which have infirmity ; but the word of 
 
 oChap. 5. 1, 2. d Chap. 2. 10; 5. 9. 
 
 the cross. It ha- been very properly remarked, 
 that the sacrifice offered by Christ differed in four 
 essential respects from those offered by the Jewish 
 priests : 1 1 lie offered no sacrifice for himself, but 
 only for the people. 2) He did not offer that sac- 
 rifice frequently, ("continually," chapter x, 1,) but 
 For all. 3) The sacrifice which he offered was 
 not of calves and goats, but of himself. 4) This 
 sacrifice he offered, not lor one people, but for the 
 whole human race; for "he tasted death for every 
 man." 
 
 28. For the (Levitical) law niaketh men high 
 priests — The Jewish priests have need of these 
 repeated offerings and sacrifices, because they are 
 fallible, sinful men; but the iron/ of tJw. ooih 
 (still referring to Psa. ex, 4) which was (given) since 
 the loir; for David, who mentions this, lived nearly 
 live hundred years alter the giving of the law, and 
 consequently that oath, constituting another priest- 
 hood, abrogates the law ; and by this the Son is 
 consecrated, rereXeiafiivov, is p< rfected for > vermore. 
 Being a high priest without blemish, immaculately 
 holy, every way perfect, immortal, and eternal, He 
 ?'.s- u priest, tic rbv a'tuva, to ETERNITY. 
 
 As the word surety, tyyvog, in verse 22, has been 
 often abused, or used in an unseriptural and dan- 
 gerous sense, it may not be amiss to inquire a little 
 further into [the whole subject that it involves. 
 The suretiship of Christ is not in all its details 
 analogous to that which is sometimes seen in mer- 
 cantile transactions.] Were it once to be supposed 
 that the surely undertook absolutely to pay the debt, 
 he would become himself the debtor; and the real 
 i!t btor be no longer bound. Thus the nature of the 
 transaction would become entirely changed, and we 
 should find nothing but debtor and creditor in the 
 case. In this sense, therefore, the word 'iyyvoq, which 
 we translate surety, cannot be applied in the above 
 case, for Christ never became surety that, if men 
 did not fulfil the conditions of this better covenant, 
 that is, repent of sin, turn from it, believe on the 
 Son of God, and, having received grace, walk as 
 children of the light, ami be faithful unto death, 
 he would do all these things for them himself ! 
 This would be to make Christ "the minister id' 
 sin;" and hence the gloss of some here is both 
 absurd and dangerous, namely, "That Christ was 
 the surety of the first covenant to pay the debt; of 
 the second, to perform the duty." That it cannot 
 have this meaning in the passage in question is 
 sufficiently proved by tin; following note of Dr. 
 Macknight. "The Greek commentators explain this 
 word kyyvoc (verse 22) very properly by fieairnc, a 
 mediator, which is its etymological meaning; for it 
 comes from .'; ; be, near, and signifies one who draws 
 near, or who causes another to draw near. Now, 
 as in this passage a comparison is stated between 
 Jesus as a high priest and the Levitical high 
 priests; and as these were justly considered by the 
 apostle as tlu! mediators of the Sinaitic covenant, 
 because through their mediation the Israelites wor- 
 shipped (hid with sacrifices, and received from him, 
 as their king, a political pardon, in consequence 
 of the sacrifices offered by the high priest on the 
 day of atonement ; it is evident that the apostle in 
 this passage calls Jesus the high priest, or medi- 
 
 the oath, which was since the law, maketh the 
 Son, d who is e consecrated lor evermore. 
 
 e Gr. perfected. 
 
 ator of the better covenant, because Jhrough his 
 
 mediation, that is, through the sacrifice of himself 
 which he offered to God, believers receive all the 
 blessings of the better covenant. And as the apos- 
 tle has said, (verse 19,) that./;// tin- introduction of a 
 In ttir hope, /}}/s'o//tv, we draw near to Cod; he in 
 this verse very properly calls Jesus kyyvoc, rather 
 than uealnjc, to denote the effect of his mediation. 
 (Sec verse 25.) Our translators, indeed, following 
 
 the Vulgate and Beza, have rendered lyyvoc by the 
 word surety, a scum.' which it has Ecclus. xxix, 16, 
 
 and which naturally enough follows from its ety- 
 mological meaning; for the person who becomes 
 surety for the good behaviour of another, or for 
 his performing something stipulated, brings that 
 other near to (he. party to whom he gives the se- 
 curity by which he reconciles the two. But in this 
 sense the word Iyyvoq is not applicable to the Jew- 
 ish high priests; for, to be a proper surety, one 
 must either have power to compel the party to per- 
 form that for which he has become his surety; or, 
 in case of his not performing it, he must be able to 
 perforin it himself. This being the ease, will any- 
 one say that the Jewish high priests were sureties 
 to God for the Israelites performing their part of 
 the covenant of the law? Or to the people for 
 God's performing his part of the covenant? As 
 little is the appellation, surety of flic m w covenant, 
 applicable to Jesus. For since the new covenant 
 does not require perfect obedience, but only the 
 obedience of faith, if the obedience of faith be not 
 given by men themselves it cannot be given by an- 
 other in their room, unless we suppose that men 
 can be saved without personal faith. I must there- 
 fore infer that those who speak of Jesus as the 
 surety of the new covenant must hold that it re- 
 quires perfect obedience; which, not being in the 
 powder of believers to give, Jesus has performed 
 for them. But is not this to make the covenant of 
 grace a covenant of works, contrary to the whole 
 tenor of Scripture? For these reasons I think the 
 Greek commentators have given the true meaning 
 of the word eyyvoc in this passage when they ex- 
 plain it by fieolrr/g, mediator." [The justification 
 of sinful men through the mediation of Christ is 
 not the same, as to its conditions, with the ap- 
 proval of guiltless persons; nor is any Christian 
 justified before Cod by the terms of the Sinaitic 
 covenant, for by the deeds of that law shall no 
 flesh be justified. It is not a vicarious ethical 
 righteousness that Christ has purchased for men, 
 but free pardon and gracious acceptance through 
 the merits of his sacrifice. It is thus that he is 
 the mediator of " a better covenant." The first was 
 faulty onl\ because of its want of adaptation to tic 
 demands of the case ; the second was better, (not in- 
 trinsically, for " the law was holy, and the com- 
 mandment holy;" but,) because it answered to 
 those demands.] 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 [The writer of the epistle comes now (in chap- 
 ters \iii-x) to the consideration of the duties them- 
 selves, namely, the nature of the sacrifice which 
 Jesus offers; the place where it is offered; the 
 efficacy which it alone has for sin ; the diffen nee 
 in regard to all these points between the sacrifice 
 
 423
 
 A. M. 4067. A. D. 63. 
 Year of Rome, 1 16. 
 
 HEBREWS. 
 
 in the right 
 i throne. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 NOW of the things which we have spoken 
 this is the sum : We have such a high 
 priest, a who is set on the right hand of the 
 throne of the Majesty in the heavens; 2 A 
 minister b of c the sanctuary, and of d the true 
 tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not 
 man. 3 For e every high priest is ordained to 
 offer gifts and sacrifices: wherefore ( it is of 
 necessity that this man have somewhat also to 
 
 r/Eph. 1. 20; CI. 3. 1; chap. 1. 3: 10. 12: 12. 2. b Or, oj 
 
 holy thing*. — c'Chap. 9. ?, 12,24. a! Chap. 9. 11. eOhap. 
 
 5. 1. fV-vh. b. 2; chap. 9. 14. 
 
 offered by Christ and that which was presented by 
 the Jewish priests. Ke^ahuov, therefore, does not 
 mean a recapitulation, (but the principal thing.) — 
 Stuart.] 
 
 1 . Of the things which we have spoken this 
 is the sum — The word Kt<jn/,aim\ which we trans- 
 late sum, signifies the chief, the principal, or head; 
 or, as St. Chrysostom explains it, neipaAaiov ael to 
 ueyiorov Myerai, "that which is greatest is always 
 called kephalaion," that is, the headov chief. Who 
 is set on the right hand of the throne — This 
 is what the apostle states to be the chief or most 
 important point of all that he had yet discussed — 
 his sitting down at the right hand of the throne of 
 God. lie did not, like the Jewish high priest, de- 
 part out of the holy of holies, after having offered 
 the atonement ; but abides there at the throne of 
 God, as a continual priest, in the permanent act of 
 offering his crucified body unto God in behalf of all 
 the succeeding generations of mankind. It is no 
 wonder the apostle should call this sitting down 
 at the right hand of the throne of the divine .Maj- 
 esty the chief or head of all that he had before 
 spoken. 
 
 '2. A minister of the sanctuary — Tw ayluv 
 "KeiTovpybg, a public minister of the holy thinas or 
 places. The word TuziTOvpybc, means a person who 
 officiated for the public, a public officer; in whom 
 and his work all the people had a common right : 
 hence our word liturgy, the public work of prayer 
 and praise, designed for the people at large; all 
 having a right to attend it, and each having an 
 equal interest in it. The Jewish priest was the 
 servant of the public, who transacted the business 
 of the people with God. Jesus Christ is also the 
 same kind of public officer; both as priest and 
 mediator he transacts the business of the whole 
 human race. He performs the holy things or acts 
 in the true tabernacle, heaven, of which the Jewish 
 tabernacle was the type. The tabernacle was the 
 place among the Jews where God dwelt by the 
 symbol of his presence. This could only typify 
 heaven, where God, in his essential glory, dwells, 
 and hence heaven is here called the true (or real) 
 tabernacle, to distinguish it from the type. Which 
 the Lord pitched — The Jewish tabernacle was 
 /nun's work, though made by God's direction: the 
 heavens, this true tabernacle, the work of God alone, 
 and infinitely more glorious than that of the Jews. 
 The tabernacle was also a type of the human na- 
 ture of Christ, (John i, 14:) And the word was 
 made flesh, and dwelt among us, Kal kcK?/vuo~ev kv 
 Tjjiiv, and tabernacled among us; for as the divine 
 presence dwelt in the tabernacle, so the fulness of 
 the Godhead, bodily, dwelt in the man Christ Je- 
 sus. And this human body was the peculiar work of 
 God, as it came not in the way of natural generation. 
 4-M 
 
 offer. 4 For if he were on earth, he should 
 not be a priest, seeing that e there are priests 
 that offer gifts according to the law: 5 Who 
 
 serve unto the example and u shadow of heav- 
 enly things, as Moses was admonished of God 
 when he was about to make the tabernacle : 
 'for, See, saith he, that thou make all things 
 according to the pattern showed to thee in the 
 mount. 6 But now k hath he obtained a more 
 excellent ministry, by how much also he is the 
 
 a Or, they are priests. h Cnl. 2. 17: chap. 9. 23 ; 10. 1. 
 
 i Exoil. 2.5. 40; 26. 30; 27. 8; Num. 8. 4; Acts 7. 44. kl Cor. 
 
 3. 6, 8, 9 ; chap. 7. 22. 
 
 3. Every high priest is ordained — Kadiord- 
 rai, is set apart, for this especial work. Gifts and 
 sacrifices — Aupa re Kal dvoiag, eucharistic offer- 
 ings and sacrifices for sin. By the former, God's 
 government of the universe, and his benevolence to 
 his creatures in providing for their support, were 
 acknowledged. By the latter, the destructive and 
 ruinous nature of sin, and the necessity of an 
 atonement, were confessed (and guarded against.) 
 Wherefore ... of necessity — If Christ be a high 
 priest, and it be essential to the office of a high 
 priest to offer atoning sacrifices to God, Jesus must 
 offer such. Mow it is manifest that as he is the 
 public minister, officiating in the true tabernacle as 
 high priest, he must make an atonement ; and his 
 being at the right hand of the throne shows that he 
 has offered, and continues to offer, such atonement. 
 
 4. For if he 'were on earth — As the Jewish 
 temple was standing when this epistle was written, 
 the whole temple service continued to be performed 
 by the legal priests; therefore if Christ had been 
 then on earth he could not have performed the office 
 of a Driest, being of the tribe of Judah, to which 
 tribe the office of the priesthood did not appertain. 
 There are priests that offer gifts — This is an 
 additional proof that this epistle was written before 
 the destruction of Jerusalem. That the word 
 limine, sacrifices, is not added here, as in verse 3, is 
 no evidence that bloody sacrifices had then ceased 
 to be offered. Perhaps both kinds are included in 
 the word ()o>i>a, gifts. 
 
 5. Who serve — O'tnrec. larpevovaiv; who per- 
 form divine worship. Unto the example and 
 shadow — 'YirodtiypeiTi Kal gkiu, with the represen- 
 tation ami shadow. The whole Levitical service 
 was a representation and shadow of heavenly 
 tilings ; the priests did not, therefore, serve unto 
 an example or representation of heavenly things; 
 they served rather unto the substance of those 
 things, with appropriate representations and shad- 
 ows. As Moses was admonished — Kaduc. ke- 
 }i)>iin'iriara/ Mowaqg, as Moses was divinely warned 
 or admonished of God. According to the pat- 
 tern—Kara rbv rcrror, according to the type, plan, 
 or form. (See Exod. xxv, 40.) [We need not 
 assume an actual temple as archetype of the taber- 
 nacle which Moses, from Sinai, may he supposed to 
 have beheld standing in heaven, nor an original 
 structure which Cod himself had reared as a model 
 upon Sinai, where, according to the later rabbins, 
 it «as to stand forever, hut a pattern structure, 
 which was shown to Moses in prophetic vision, 
 (subjectively;) and is described in the words of 
 Cod. (Exo'd. xxvi, 26-30.)— Moll in Lange.] 
 
 6. Now hath he obtained a more excellent 
 ministry — Christ's office of priesthood is more ex- 
 cellent than the Levitical, because the covenant is
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 mediator of a better 'covenant, which was es- 
 tablished upon better promises. 7 m For if 
 that first covenant had been faultless, then 
 should no place have been sought for the 
 second. * For finding fault with them, he 
 sait h, "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, 
 
 10\; testament, m Chap. 7. II, IS. 
 
 better, and established mi better promises ; the old 
 covenant referred primarily to earthly things ; the 
 new covenant to heavenly. The old covenant had 
 promises of secular good, the new covenant of 
 spiritual and eternal blessings. As far as Chris- 
 tianity is preferable to Judaism, as far as Christ is 
 preferable to Moses, as far as spiritual blessings 
 are preferable to earthly blessings, [as far as holi- 
 ness is preferable to convenience,] and as far as 
 the enjoyment of God to eternity is preferable to 
 the communication of earthly good during: time, 
 so far docs the new coven ant exceed the old. [The 
 office with which Christ is invested as a priest, or 
 his priestly function, is as much superior to that 
 of the Levitical priests as the covenant under which 
 he holds his office excels, in the blessings which 
 it promises, the covenant introduced by Moses. — 
 Stuart.] 
 
 7. If that first . . . had been faultless — If the 
 first covenant had made a provision for, and actu- 
 ally conferred, pardon and purity, and given a title 
 to eternal life, then there could have been no need 
 for a second; hut the first covenant did not give 
 these things, therefore a second was necessary; 
 ami the covenant that gives these things is the 
 Christian covenant. 
 
 8. For finding fault with (to) them (that is, 
 the Israelites) — God, in order to show that the first 
 covenant was inefficient, saith to the Israelites, Be- 
 hold, the days ccme . . . when I will make a 
 new covenant, etc. He found " fault " with the 
 '• covenant," and addressed the people concerning 
 his purpose of giving another covenant, that should 
 he such as the necessities of mankind required. 
 [The faultiness of the first covenant was negative 
 rather than positive in what it did not possess, and 
 not in any thing really contained in it] With the 
 house of Israel and with the house of Judah 
 — That is, with all the descendants of the twelve 
 sons of Jacob. [Israel was made the custodian of 
 the divine oracles, or covenant, (see Rom. iii, 2,) 
 not, however, for the exclusive benefit of that one 
 people, but for all mankind.] 
 
 9. Not according to the covenant — [Ob Kara 
 ri/v diadqKnv. This clause is explanatory of the word 
 naivijv (neio) in the preceding verse. The meaning 
 is : " The covenant which I will make at a future 
 period with the Jewish nation (that is, the dis- 
 pensation under which I will place them) shall lie 
 different from that which I made when I brought 
 them out of Egypt." — Stuart.] [This is quoted from 
 the Septuagint of Jer. xxxi, 32. which, however, 
 differs somewhat from the reading of the Hebrew. 
 The former, says Stuart, "appears to have pre- 
 served an ancient meaning of the word used, the cor- 
 rectness of which (later use) the Arabic is a pledge 
 for at the present time. . . . The disregarding or 
 treating with neglect (i//ii2.r/aa) here spoken of, has 
 reference to tin' various punishments inflicted on 
 Israel for their wickedness."] They continued 
 not in my covenant — It should be observed that 
 the word dia&fyicn, which we translate covenant, often 
 means religion itself, and its various precepts. The 
 
 when I will make a new covenant with the 
 house of Israel and with the house of Judah: 
 9 Not according to the covenant that I made 
 with their fathers, in the day when I took 
 them by the hand to lead them out of the land 
 of Egypt; because they continued not in my 
 
 raJer. 31. 31,32,33,34. 
 
 old covenant in general stated, on God's side, / 
 will be your God; on the Israelites' side, We will 
 be thy people. This covenant they brake; they 
 served other gods, and neglected the precepts of 
 that holy religion which God had delivered to them. 
 And I regarded them not — Kayu Tj/dTuiaa 
 avrav, and I neglected them or despised them. 
 
 \±.iath)hiiv is commonly employed by the Seventy in 
 order to translate rp"l3- The general idea of Sia- 
 
 dr/M) is, disposition or arrangement of any kind, or in 
 regard to any matter ; from the verb diarWnut, to dis- 
 poseof, to arrange. Hence, it is sometimes employed 
 by classic writers in the sense of foedus, compact 
 
 or covenant between two parties; but not so in the 
 New Testament. Like the Hebrew n*~Q, (to which, 
 
 according; to the usus loquendi of the New Testa- 
 ment, it generally corresponds,) it often mean- law, 
 precept; even particular precept, as in Acts vii, 8, 
 the precept of circumcision; in Rom. ix, 4, al 
 SiadiJKai, the tables of the lnn\ that is, the ten com- 
 mandments; compare Deut. iv, 13. where ]V"Q is 
 
 explained by D'HITin TCt^.'V, theten commandments; 
 
 compare also Deut. ix, 9, 11. So Heb. ix, I. 
 rbi> rf/r dia6qK/]c, the ark which contained the i>iadrj- 
 kt]v, that is, the two tables of the ten command, 
 ments, (i. q. niiTTVQ p~lX, Num. x, 33,) and 
 
 afterward, in the same verse, al -/oi<rc ttjc diadf/Kqg, 
 the [stone] tablets containing the ten commandments. 
 The general idea of law, precept, statute, is very 
 commonly annexed to JV~Q in Hebrew, where the 
 
 Septuagint render it by 6ia6r/t<r] ; for example, Exod. 
 xix, 5, et al. saepe. Both in classic authors and in 
 the New Testament it has also the meaning; of last 
 will, testament; for example, Gal. iii, 15; Heb. ix, 
 16, 17. 
 
 Most frequently of all is rp"0 in the Old Testa- 
 ment, and dtadijKri in the New, employed to desig- 
 nate a promise, compact, or agreement on the part 
 of God with his people, that on condition of doing; 
 thus and so, blessings of such and such a nature 
 shall be bestowed upon them. It comes, in this 
 way, very commonly to designate tin whol< Jewish 
 economy, (as we call if,) with its conditions and 
 promises: and by the writers of the New Testa- 
 ment it is employed, in a similar way, to designate 
 tin' mir economy or dispensation of Christ, with all 
 its conditions anil promised blessings. Thus, >'/ 
 iralaia or irparn diadf/KT/ means the Jewfeh dispen- 
 sation; and // Katvtj Siadf/ia] means the Christian 
 dispensation. The idea often annexed by readers 
 to the word covenant, namely, mutual compact, ami 
 a quidpro quo in respect to each of tin' parties, is 
 
 not tin' scriptural one. The meaning altogether 
 predominant is, an arrangement on the part of God 
 
 in respect to men, in consequence of which certain 
 blessings are secured to them by his promise on 
 condition that they comply with the demands which 
 he makes, that is, obey his precepts. ^laBrjKTj, then, 
 embraces both precept and promise; and may be
 
 HEBREWS. 
 
 The nature and perfection of 
 
 eovenant, and I regarded them not, saith the 
 Lord. 10 For "this is the covenant that 1 
 will make with the house of Israel after those 
 day-,, saith the Lord; I will [put my laws into 
 their mind, and write them i in their hearts: 
 and ' 1 will he to them a God, and they shall 
 be to me a people: 11 And B they shall not 
 teach every man his neighbour, and every man 
 his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all 
 shall know me, from the least to the greatest. 
 
 oCh;ip. 10. 16. — joGr. give. ffOr, <i/>on. rZech. 8. 8. 
 
 Slsa. .31. la; Juhn H. -1.3; 1 John 2. 27. 
 
 used for either or for both at the same time, /-/•-. 
 re nata; and it is often so used in the Old Testa- 
 ment and also in the New. In our text 6ia0i/nrjv 
 Kaivf/v means a new arrangement or disposition made 
 by Christ, that is, one which has, in some respects, 
 new conditions and new promises. — Stuart.] 
 
 lo. This is the covenant — This is the nature 
 of that, glorious system of religion which I shall 
 publish among them after those days, that is, in 
 the times of the Gospel. I will put my laws 
 into their mind — I will possess their hearts with 
 the principles of truth and holiness, and their un- 
 derstandings .-hall lie fully enlightened to apprehend 
 them. And write them in their hearts— All 
 their affections, passions, and appetites shall be 
 purified and tilled with holiness and love to God and 
 man ; so that they shall willingly obey, and feel 
 that love is the fulfilling of tin law : instead of being- 
 written nn tables of stone, they shall be written on 
 the fleshly tables of their hearts. [The superiority 
 of these promises consists in the fact that the diviru 
 will is no longer as a bare command to come into 
 mere outward contact with the people, but is t<> live 
 (hill work in its heart ; that in consequence of tin- n 
 living knowledge of Hud is to be the common bless- 
 ing "f all the members of the covenant, and that 
 the distinction between prophets and non prophets, 
 priests and non-priests, (is to) fall away. — Langei] 
 I will be to them a God — As the object of every 
 man's religious adoration is that Being from whom 
 he expects light, direction, defence, support, and 
 happiness ; so God, promising to be their God, prom- 
 ises in effect to give them all these great and good 
 things. To be God's people implies that they 
 should give God their whole hearts, serve him with 
 all their light and strength, and have no other 
 object of worship or dependence but himself. 
 
 11 They shall not teach every man his 
 neighbour — Tot woXirnv avrov, his fellow citizen. 
 [The universal spread of the knowledge of Cod (fol- 
 lowing after that before promised) constitutes the 
 better covenant there promised. Under the old 
 covenant, the priests' lips were to keep knowledge, 
 and they were to teach the people God's ways: 
 under the new, there is no more need for the be- 
 liever to have recourse to man for teaching in the 
 knowledge of God, for the Holy Spirit, which is 
 given to all that ask, reveals the things of Christ to 
 each, according to the measure of his spiritual at- 
 tainment and strength of faith. — Al/ord.] [The 
 right, duty, and responsibility of the exercise <>1 
 private judgment are by these words secured to 
 every one; and, as a consequence, the bringing of 
 the means of religious knowledge within the reach 
 of all is clearly devolved upon the Church — the 
 associate body of believers.] 
 
 1:2. I will be merciful to their unrighteous- 
 ness — In order that they should become his people, 
 426 
 
 1*2 For I will be merciful to their unrighteous- 
 ness, 'and their sins and their iniquities will I 
 remember no more. 13 u ln that lie saith, A 
 new covenant, he hath made the first old. 
 Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is 
 ready to vanish away. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THEN" verily the first covenant had also a or- 
 dinances of divine service, and 'a worldly 
 
 chap, in. 17 
 uies.- 
 
 — u 2 Cor. 
 -b Exod. 2 
 
 17. a Or, ctremo- 
 
 as mentioned under the preceding verse, it is req- 
 uisite that their iniquity should be pardoned ; this is 
 provided for in Christ as the covenant sacrifice. By 
 his blood, redemption has been purchased, and all 
 who with penitent hearts believe on the Lord Jesus 
 receive remission of sins, and Cod remembers their 
 iniquities no more against them so as to punish 
 them on that account. All spiritual evil against 
 the nature and law of Cod is represented here 
 under the following terms: 1) "Unrighteousness," 
 adiida, injustice or wrong : against Cod, his 
 neighbour, and himself. 2) "Sin," d/uaprla, devi- 
 ation, all wrong-doing. S) "Iniquity," avo/iia, 
 lawlessness. [This word is rejected by the best 
 critics. It adds nothing to the sense.] All these 
 are to be removed by God's mercy; and this is to 
 be understood of his mercy in Christ Jesus. 
 
 13. He hath made the first old — That is, he 
 lias considered it as antiquated, and as being no 
 longer of any force. That which decayeth and 
 waxeth old — Here is an allusion to the ancient 
 laws, which either had perished through old age, 
 from the tables on which they were written, or were 
 fallen into disuse, or were abrogated. Is ready to 
 vanish away — 'K; ; vc afavicfiov, is about to dis- 
 appear. The apostle intimates that the old cove- 
 nant was just about to be abolished ; but he ex- 
 presses himself cautiously and tenderly, that he 
 might not give unnecessary offence [The circum- 
 stance is of special importance, that vot without, 
 but within, the old covenant itself, and indeed only 
 by undoubted words of God, was declared that cap- 
 ital defect of the covenant mediated by Moses, 
 which consisted in its want of provision for effect- 
 ing a real forgiveness of sin and genuine commit 
 with God, and that by the promise of a new cove- 
 nant, the existing covenant was already, in the time 
 of Jeremiah, stamped as an institution no longer 
 satisfactory, and destined to pass away. To Christ- 
 ians, then, the mere continued outward existence of 
 Judaism can have no such import as to engender 
 doubts of that abrogation of the old covenant which 
 has historically token plac< . Decay and superannua- 
 tion, clear to utter extinction, are the inevitable 
 destiny of that covenant, allotted to it by the de- 
 cision of God on the gr.ouud of its intrinsic nature. 
 — Lange.] 
 
 NOTES OX CI1APTEE IX. 
 1. The first covenant had also ordinances 
 — Our translators have introduced the word " cove- 
 nant," as if diadynn had been, if not originally in 
 the text, yet in the apostle's mind. Several MSS., 
 but not of good note, have UKnvf], tabernacle; but 
 the whole context shows that "covenant" is that 
 to which the apostle refers, as that was the subject 
 in the preceding chapter, and this is a continu- 
 ation of the same discourse. Ordinances —
 
 The appurtenances of the holy 
 place in the tabernacle. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 A. M. 4 167. A. TV 63. 
 Year of Rome, 816. 
 
 sanctuary. 2 c For there was a tabernacle 
 made; the first, d wherein was e the candle- 
 stick, and f the table, and the sliowhread; 
 which is called ethe sanctuary. :{ h And after 
 the second vail, the tabernacle which is called 
 the holiest of all; 4 Which had the golden 
 censer, and 'the ark of the covenant overlaid 
 round about with gold, wherein was k the gold- 
 en pot that had manna, and ] Aaron's rod that 
 
 eExod. 26. i. fExod -jr.. 35; in. 4. — *Exod. 25.31. — 
 
 /'Kvhl 23 23, 3»: Lev. 24. 5, ii. (7 Or. hohl- /* Exod. 26. 
 
 31, 33 : 40. 3, 21 : chap. 6. 19. — i Exod. 23. Hi ; 26. 33 ; 4U. 3, 21. 
 k Exod. 16. 33, 34. 2 Num. 17. 10. 
 
 A . -/, rites and ceremonies; [arranged ser- 
 
 vices.] A worldly sanctuary — "Ayuxv kug/jucov. 
 It is supposed that the term " worldly," here, is op- 
 posed to the term heavenly, chapter viii, 5; and that 
 
 the whole should be referred to the secular [this 
 world] nature of the tabernacle service. ["The 
 sanctuary " is most probably a general term, com- 
 prehending the holy place and the most holy, the 
 temple, or rather, in this connexion, the tabernacle, 
 properly so called, exclusive of the outer courts. — 
 Turner.] 
 
 2. For there was a tabernacle made ; the 
 first, wherein- — To have a proper understanding 
 of what the apostle relates here, we should en- 
 deavour to take a concise view of the tabernacle 
 erected by Moses in the wilderness. It comprised, 
 1 ) The court, which the people might enter. 2) In 
 this was contained the altar of burnt-offerings, on 
 which were offered the sacrifices in general, besides 
 offerings of bread, wine, and other things. 3) At 
 the bottom or lower end of this court was the tent 
 of the covenant. The two principal parts of the 
 tabernacle were, the holy place and the holy of 
 holies. In the temple built by Solomon there was 
 a court for the Levites different from that of the 
 people ; and at the entrance of the holy place, a 
 vestibule: but in the tabernacle built by Moses 
 these parts were not found, nor does the apostle 
 mention them here. In the holy place were the 
 golden candlestick of seven branches, the golden 
 altar, or altar of incense, and the altar or table of 
 the showbread, where the twelve loaves, represent- 
 ing the twelve tribes, were laid before the Lord. 
 The whole of this may be seen in all its details in 
 the book of Exodus, from chapter xxxv to xl. 
 Which is called the sanctuary — "Htyc /.tyercu 
 a] ". this is called holy place. [This first taber- 
 nacle. aKTjVTj was the holy place, in contradistinction 
 to the second, which was the most holy, ayia 
 <r iuv. ] 
 
 3. And after the second veil — The first veil, 
 of which the apostle has not yet spoken, was at the 
 entrance of the holy place, and separated the tab- 
 ernacle from the court, and prevented the people, 
 and even the Levites, from seeing what was in the 
 holy place. The second veil, of which the apostle 
 speaks here, separated the holy place from the 
 holy of holies. The tabernacle which is 
 called the holiest of all— That is, that part of 
 the tabernacle which is called the holy of holies. 
 
 1. Which had the golden censer — It is evident 
 that the apostle speaks here of the tabernacle 
 built by Moses, and of the state and contents of 
 that tabernacle as they were during the lifetime of 
 Moses. The apostle says that the golden censer 
 was in the holy of holies ; but this is nowhere men- 
 tioned by Moses. But he tells us that the high priest 
 went in once every year, with the golden censer, 
 
 budded, and "the tables of the covenant ; 
 5 And "over it the cherubim of glory shadow- 
 ing the mercy seat; of which we cannot now 
 speak particularly. (» Now when these things 
 were thus ordained, " the priests went always 
 into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the 
 service of God. 7 Hut into the second ir, nt 
 the high priest alone ''once every year, not 
 without blood, i which he offered for himself, 
 
 m Ex.ul. 25. lti, 21; 34 29: 40. 20: Deut, 1". 2.:,: 1 Kings 8. 9, 
 
 21 ; 2 Chron. 5. 10. n Exod. 25. 18, 22; [,ev. 16. 2: 1 Kings 8. 
 
 6, 7. a Num. 28. :'.: Dan 8. 11. // Exod. 30. 1U; Lev. 16. 2, 
 
 11, 12, 15, 34 : verse 25. q Chap. o. 3; 7, 27. 
 
 to bum incense; and it lias been conjectured that 
 this censer was left there all the year, and that its 
 place was supplied by a new one, brought in by the 
 priest the year following. The ark of the cove- 
 nant — This was a sort of chest overlaid with plates 
 of gold, in which the two tables of the law. Aaron's 
 rod, the pot of manna, etc., were deposited. Its 
 top, or lid, was the propitiatory or mercy seat. 
 
 5. And over it the cherubim of glory — 
 Cherubim is the plural of cherub, and it is absurd 
 to add our plural termination (*) to the plural ter- 
 mination of the Hebrew. The " glory " here sig- 
 nifies the shechinah, or symbol of the divine 
 presence. Shadowing the mercy seat — One at 
 each end of the ark, with their faces tinned 
 toward each other, but looking down on the cover 
 or propitiatory, IXaorqpiov, here called " the mercy 
 seat." Of which we cannot now speak par- 
 ticularly — The apostle did hot judge any further 
 account of these to be necessary; and I may be 
 excused from considering them particularly here, 
 having said so much on each in the places where 
 they occur in the Pentateuch. [Respecting the 
 significance of these several objects St. Cyril has 
 said, briefly, but aptly, "Although Christ be but 
 one, yet he is understood by us under a variety of 
 forms. He is the tabernacle, on account of the 
 human body in which he dwelt. He is the table, 
 because he is our bread of life. He is the ark 
 which has the law of God enclosed within, because 
 he is the Word of the Father. He is the candle- 
 stick, because he is our spiritual light. He is the 
 altar of incense, because he is the sweetsmelling 
 odour of sanctification. He is the altar of burnt- 
 offering, because he is the victim, by death on the 
 cross, for the sin of the whole world." 
 
 6. When these things were thus ordained 
 — When the tabernacle was made, and its furni- 
 ture placed in it, according to the divine direction. 
 The priests went always into the first taber- 
 nacle — That is, into the first part of the taber- 
 nacle, or holy place, into which they vent everyday 
 twice, accomplishing the services, rag /.arpeiac etcite- 
 %tnn>-£c, which included his burning the incense at 
 the morning and evening sacrifice, dressing the 
 lamps, sprinkling the blood of the sin offerings 
 before the veil, (Lev. iv, 6,) and removing the old 
 showbread and laying on the new each sabbath, 
 (Lev. xxiv. 8,) and for these works they must have 
 constant access /<< the place. 
 
 7. But into the second — That is, the holy of 
 holies, or second part of the tabernacle, the high 
 priest alone, once every year, that is, on one 
 day in the year only, which was the day on which 
 the general atonement "as made. The high priest 
 could enter into this place only on one day in the 
 year, but on that day he might enter several 
 times. (See Lev. xvi.) Not without blood — 
 
 427
 
 A. M. 4'167. A. D. 6 
 
 Year of Rome, 816. 
 
 HEBREWS. 
 
 The wny into the holiest not made 
 manifest under the law. 
 
 'and for the errors of the people: 8 r The 
 Holy Ghost this signifying, that "the way into 
 the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, 
 while as the first tabernacle was yet stand- 
 ing: 9 Which was a figure for the time 
 then present, in which were offered both 
 
 r Chap. 10. 19, 20. 8 John 14. 6. 1 Hal. 3. 21 ; chap. 7. 18, 19; 
 
 10. 1, 11. U Lev. 11. 2; Col. 2. 16. 
 
 The day prescribed by the law for this great 
 solemnity was the tenth of the month Tisri, in 
 which the high priest brought in the incense or 
 perfumes which he placed on the golden censer; 
 he brought also the blood of the bullock, and 
 sprinkled some portion of it seven times before the 
 ark and the veil which separated the holy place 
 from the holy of holies. (See Lev. xvi, 14.) He 
 then came out, and, taking some of the blood of 
 the goat which had been sacrificed, he sprinkled it 
 between the veil and the ark of the covenant. 
 (Verse 15.) Which he offered for himself, and 
 for the errors of the people — "Yirsp tup tov 
 /.am) ayvoij/mruv; for transgressions of which 
 they were not conscious. There were so many 
 niceties in the ritual worship of the Jews, and so 
 many ways in which they might offend against the 
 law ami incur guilt, that it was found necessary to 
 institute sacrifices to atone for these sins of igno- 
 rance. And as the high priest was also clothed 
 with infirmity, he required to have an interest in 
 the same sacrifice, on the same account. This was 
 a national sacrifice ; and by it the people under- 
 stood that they were absolved from all the errors of 
 the past year, and that they now had a renewed 
 right of access to the mercy scat. 
 
 8. The Holy Ghost this signifying— These 
 services were divinely appointed, and by each of 
 them the Holy Spirit of God is supposed to speak. 
 The way into the holiest — That full access to 
 God was not the common privilege of the people, 
 while the Mosaic economy subsisted. That the 
 apostle means that it is only by Christ that any 
 man and every man can approach God is evident 
 from chapter x, 19—22; and it is about this, and 
 not about the tabernacle of this world, that he is 
 here discoursing. I have already observed that the 
 apostle appears to use the word gktjvt], or taber- 
 nacle, in the general sense of a dwelling plar ; ami 
 therefore applies it to the temple, which was re- 
 puted the house or dwelling place of God, as well 
 as the ancient tabernacle. Therefore, what he 
 speaks here concerning the first tabernacle may be 
 understood as applying with propriety to the then 
 Jewish temple as well as to the ancient tabernacle, 
 which, even with all their sacrifices and ceremonies, 
 could not make the way of holiness plain, nor the 
 way to God's favour possible. 
 
 y. Which — [°Hrtc, the which, namely, the first 
 or anterior tabernacle, (as representing the former 
 dispensation,) and that especially considered as 
 obstructing, by its yet remaining, the way into the 
 holiest. — Alford.] The tabernacle and its ser- 
 vices were a figure, napajioTJ], a dark enigmatical 
 representation, for the time then present; for 
 that age and dispensation, and for all those who 
 lived under it. In which (ita(? bv, during which 
 time or dispensation) were offered both gifts 
 and sacrifices — Eucharistie offerings and victims 
 for sin, that could not make him that did the 
 service, whether the priest who made the offering 
 or the person who brought it in the behalf of his 
 428 
 
 gifts and sacrifices, 'that could not make him 
 that did the service perfect, as pertaining to 
 the conscience; lO Which stood only in 
 u meats and drinks, and v divers washings, w and 
 carnal " ordinances, imposed on them until the 
 time of reformation. 11 But Christ being 
 
 v Num. 19. 7, etc. 10 Eph. 2. 15; Col. 2. 20; chap. 7. IS. ■ 
 
 ojOr, rites, or, ceremonies. 
 
 soul, perfect, as pertaining to the conscience : 
 
 could not take away guilt from the mind, nor 
 purify the conscience from dead works. The whole 
 was a " figure," or dark representation, of a spirit- 
 ual and more glorious system ; and although a sin- 
 ner who made these offering's and sacrifices ac- 
 cording to the law might be considered as having 
 done his duty, and thus he would be exempted 
 from many ecclesiastical and legal disabilities and 
 punishments, yet his "conscience" would ever tell 
 him that the guilt of sin was still remaining, and 
 that it was impossible for the blood of bull* and 
 goats to take if away. That even he that did the 
 service best continued to be imperfect — had a 
 guilty conscience and an unholy heart. [The ma- 
 terial offerings of animals are only parables refer- 
 ring to the time when that which is parabolically 
 set forth becomes actual and passes into reality. 
 They are considered of themselves incapable of 
 any action on the conscience, or the inner part 
 of man. — Delilzsch.] The words Kati' bv, in which, 
 referred in the above paraphrase to tov icaipbv, the 
 time, are read Kad' i,v by ALT), and several others, 
 one copy of the Slavonic, the Vulgate, and some of 
 the Fathers, and thus refer to tt/v Gur/vi/v, the taber- 
 nacle; and this is the reading which our translators 
 appear to have followed. Griesbach places it in 
 his margin, as a very probable reading; but 1 pre- 
 fer the other. [Modern critics have very generally 
 adopted the reading Kad' i,v ; making not gki/p//, but 
 wapafioTtfi, the antecedent, or thing referred to.] 
 
 lo. In meats and drinks, and divers wash- 
 ings—He had already mentioned eucharistie and 
 sacrificial offerings, and nothing properly remained 
 but the different kinds of clean and unclean animals 
 which were used, or forbidden to lie used, as arti- 
 cles of food ; together with the different kinds of 
 drinks, washings, ^anTtofwiQ, baptisms, immersions, 
 sprinklings and washings of the body and the 
 clothes, and carnal ordinances, or things which had 
 respect merely to the body, and could have no 
 moral influence upon the soul, unless considered in 
 reference to that of which they were the similitudes 
 or figures. [A form of object-teaching, in the use 
 of which the law was our schoolmaster, to bring us 
 to Christ.] Carnal ordinances — AiKaiufiara cap- 
 koc, rites and ceremonies pertaining merely to the 
 body. The word " carnal " is not here used [in any 
 ethical sense, but simply to express the negatively 
 opposite of spiritual.] Imposed on them until 
 the time of reformation— liai/iol diopdcoaeuc, the 
 time of rectifying, signifies the gospel dispensa- 
 tion, under which every thing is set straight ; every 
 thing referred to its proper purpose and end ; the 
 ceremonial law, having been fulfilled, was to be ab- 
 rogated ; the moral law exhibited and more strictly 
 enjoined; (see our Lord's sermon upon the mount;) 
 and the spiritual nature of God's worship taught, 
 and grace promised to purify the heart ; so that, 
 through the power of the eternal Spirit, all that 
 was wrong in the soul is rectified ; the affections, 
 passions, and appetites purified ; the understanding
 
 Christ declared to be a hi^h priest 
 of good things to 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 A. M. 4061. A. P. 83, 
 
 Year ..I Rome, Ms. 
 
 come - v a high priest 2 <>f good tilings to come, 
 »by a greater and more perfecl tabernacle, no1 
 made with hands, that is to say, not of this 
 building; 12 Neither ''by the Mood of goats 
 and calves, but c by his own blood he entered 
 in 4 once into the holy place, B having obtained 
 
 //Chap. 3. 1. 3 Chap. 10. 1. «■ Chap. 8. 2. 6 Chap. 
 
 10.4. a ActsOO. 28: Eph. 1. 7: Col 1. 14; 1 Pet. 1. 19; Rev. 1. 
 
 5; 5. 9, ,/ Zech. 3. 9 ; verses 26, 28; cha p. 10. 10. 
 
 enlightened; the judgment corrected; the will re- 
 newed ; in a word, all things made new. [Until the 
 
 . of rectification; when all these things would 
 be better arranged, the substance put where the 
 ahadov, was before, the sufficient grace where (was) 
 the insufficient type. — A/ford.] 
 
 11. But Christ being come a high priest of 
 good things — I think this and the succeeding 
 \ srses not happily translated; indeed, the division 
 of them has led to a wrong translation ; therefore 
 they must be taken together, thus : But the Christ, 
 the high priest of those good things (or services) 
 which were to come, through a greater and more 
 perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is, not 
 of the same workmanship, entered once for all into 
 the sanctuary; having obtained eternal redemption 
 for us, not by the blood of goats and. calves, but by 
 his own blood. (Verse 13.) For if the blood of 
 goats, and bulls, and calves, and a heifer's ashes, 
 sprinkled on tht unclean, sanctifieth to the cleansing 
 of the flesh, (verse 14,) how mu-h more shad the 
 
 of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit 
 offered himself without spot to God, cleanse your con- 
 sciences from dead /"oris, in order to worship (or 
 that ye may worship) the living God? In the fore- 
 g ling translation, I have added, (inverse 13,) rpayuv, 
 ,,f ooats, on the authority of ABDE, three others, 
 the Syriac, the Arabic of Erpen, Coptic, Vulgate, 
 two copies of the Itala, and Theodoret. [Now gen- 
 e-ally accepted.] And I have rendered etc to ?.a- 
 se 14,) in order to worship, or that ye 
 may worship; for this is the meaning of these 
 particles eic to in many parts of the Xew Testa- 
 ment. [The rendering of this passage (verses 11, 
 12) in the Revised Version, (1881,) which is also 
 literally correct, forms a very satisfactory exposi- 
 tion of its sense: "But Christ having come a 
 high priest of the good tilings to come, (the good 
 things that are come — margin,) through the greater 
 and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, 
 that is to say, not of this creation, nor yet through 
 the blood of goats and calves, but through his 
 own blood, entered in once for all into the holy 
 
 having obtaine 1 eternal redemption."] High 
 priest of good things — Or services. To come 
 — T<ji> uz/j.ovtuv ayadav. [This is the (formerly) 
 : reading, to which Alford gives the pref- 
 ; but Westcott and Hort have inserted the 
 alternative reading, ysvouevuv, which the New Re- 
 visionists have placed in the margin. The sense 
 is not essentially changed by it, as to any doc- 
 trinal matter.] He is the high priest of Chris- 
 tianity; he officiates in the behalf of all mankind ; 
 for by him are all the prayers, praises, and services 
 of' mankind offered to God; and he ever appear- 
 in the presence of God for us. A greater and 
 more perfect tabernacle — This appears to mean 
 our Lord's human nature. That in which dwell all 
 the fulness of the Godhead bodily, was fitly typified 
 by the tabernacle and temple, in both of which the 
 
 tv of God dwell. Not made with hands — 
 i _'i our Lord's body was a perfect human body. 
 
 eternal redemption for us. 1;$ For if r the 
 
 blood of bulls and of goats, and -the aslies of 
 
 a heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to 
 the purifying of the flesh; 11 How much 
 
 more ''shall the blood of Christ, 'who through 
 thoeternal Spirit, 1 ' offered himself without ' spot 
 
 «D;in. 9. 24. /Lev. 16. 14, 16. a Num. 10. 2, 17, elc. 
 
 Al l'et. 1. 19; 1 John 1. 7; Rev. 1. 5. iRom. I. 4; 1 J'et. 
 
 3. 18. k Eph. 5. 2; Tit. 2. 14; chap. 7. 27. 1 Or, fault. 
 
 yet it did not come in the way of natural genera- 
 tion; his miraculous conception will sufficiently 
 justify the expressions used here by the apostle. 
 [The possession of infinite dignity, glory, and bliss 
 is the idea (intended to be) conveyed by all these 
 expressions, not merely elevation to some special 
 locality. Still, as the word "tabernacle" is just 
 before used for the Mosaic holy place, the outer 
 room alone, (verses 2, 6, 8,) with which "the more 
 perfect" one here mentioned is contrasted — and 
 since in connexion with the train of thought Christ 
 is soon afterward said to "appear for us in heaven " 
 — the analogy as before represented [making the 
 "greater and more perfect tabernacle" the same 
 with heaven, verse 24,] is preferable. — Turner.] 
 
 12. But by his own tlcoc 1 — Here the redemp- 
 tion of man is attributed to the blood of Christ; 
 and this blood is stated to be shed in a sacrificial 
 way, precisely as the blood of bulls, goats, and 
 calves was shed under the law. [We have redemp- 
 tion through bis blood, Eph. i, 7 ; Col. i, Id.] Once 
 — Once for all, h <.~cf, in <<\\ osition to the annual 
 entering of the high priest into the holiest with the 
 blood of the annual victim. The holy place — ■ 
 Or sanctuary, ra aryta, signifies heaven, into which 
 Jesus entered with his own blood, as the high 
 priest entered into the holy of holies with the 
 blood of the victims which he had sacrificed. 
 Eternal redemption — Aiuviav '/vrpuaiv, a re- 
 demption price which should stand good for </<r, 
 when once offered; and an endless redemption 
 from sin, in reference to the pardon of which, and 
 reconciliation to God, there needs no other sacrifice ; 
 it is eternal in its merit and efficacy. 
 
 13. Sanctifieth to the ptuifying of the flesh 
 — Answers the end proposed by the law; namely, 
 to remove legal uncleanness and disabilities. [As 
 this epistle was evidently written while the temple 
 services were still continued, the writer speaks of 
 these services, using the present tense. The legal 
 purification is alone here spoken of.] 
 
 14. Who through the eterral Spirit — This 
 expression is understood two ways: 1) Of the Holy 
 Ghost himself. A^ Christ's miraculous conception 
 was by the Holy Spirit, and lie wrought all his mir- 
 acles by the Spirit of (hid, so his death or final 
 offering was made through or by the eternal 
 Spirit; and by that Spirit he was raised from the 
 dead. (1 Pet. iii, 18.) Indeed, through the whole 
 of his life he was justified by the Spirit; and we 
 find that in this great work of human redemption 
 the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit were con- 
 tinually employed ; therefore the words maj be 
 understood of the Holy Spirit. 2) Of the eternal 
 Logos, or deity which dwelt in the man Christ 
 Jesus, through the energy of which the offer- 
 ing of his humanity became an infinitely merito- 
 rious victim ; therefore the deity of Christ is here 
 intended. Hut we cannot well consider one of 
 these distinct from the other. We must still say, 
 that the Holy Spirit, with the eternal logo-, and 
 the almighty Father, equally concurred in offering 
 
 429
 
 A. M. 4067. A. T\ C3. 
 Year t i Rome, I . 
 
 HEBREWS. 
 
 to God, '"purge your conscience from "dead 
 
 works "to serve the living God? 15 v And for 
 this cause *i he is the mediator of the new test- 
 ament, r that by means of death, for the re- 
 demption of the transgressions that were under 
 the first testament, "they which are called 
 
 r,i Chap. 1. 3; 10. 22. n Chap. 6. 1.- 
 
 6. 13, 22; 1 Pet. 4. 2. p 1 Tim. 2. 5.- 
 
 -oLuke 1. 74; Rom. 
 - q Chap. 7. 22; 8. t> ; 
 
 up the sacrifice of the incarnated Christ, in or- 
 der to make atonement for the sin of the world. 
 [Christ offered himself, with his own consent assist- 
 ing anil empowering the sacrifice — the consenting 
 act of his divine personality, his ■jrvev/ua aluviov, his 
 Godhead, which from before time acquiesced in and 
 wrought with the redemption-purpose of the 
 Father. — -A/ford.] Purge your conscience — 
 YLaBapiel r>/i> avveidr/aiv, purify your conscience. 
 The term purify should be everywhere, both in the 
 translation of the Scriptures and in preaching the 
 Gospel, preferred to the word "purge," which at 
 present is scarcely ever used in the sense in which 
 our translators have employed it. Dead works 
 — Sin in general, or acts to which the penalty of 
 death is annexed by the law. (See on chap, vi, 1.) 
 To serve the living God— [Eic to ?.arpevsiv QeQ 
 I^uvti, so that they may serve, etc. Before persons, 
 under the ancient dispensation, could present them- 
 selves in the presence of the Lord acceptably, they 
 must have been subjected to ceremonial purifica- 
 tion. What this prefigured, the blood of Christ 
 effects. — Stuart.] 
 
 15. And for this causa — Aia tovto, on account 
 of this. [As Jewish sacrifices rendered the offerer 
 externally clean, so the bloo 1 of Christ purifies 
 the moral or internal man, and removes the conse- 
 q lences of sin. On this account, (Sea tovto,) that 
 is, because the sacrifice of Christ produces an 
 effect such as the Jewish sacrifices did not, he may 
 be justly called the Mediator of a arm covenant, dif- 
 fering greatly frorn the old. (Comp. Heb. viii, 6-8, 
 13 ; vii, 15-19.)— Sin <>•!.] Ha is tha mediator of 
 the new testamant — There is no proper reason 
 why our translators should render &iadrjKn by "test- 
 ament " here, when in almost every other case they 
 render it covenant, which is its proper ecclesiastical 
 m sanhig, as answering to the Hebrew berith, which 
 see largely explained (Jen. xv, 10, and in other places 
 of the Pentateuch. (See on chapter vii, °.) Very 
 few persons are satisfied with the translation of the 
 following verses to the 20th, particularly the 16th 
 and 17th; at all events the word covenant must be 
 retained. " He," Jesus Christ, is Mediator. The 
 UEairr/c, or umpire, was the person who witnessed the 
 contract made between the two contracting parties, 
 slew the victim, and sprinkled each with its blood. 
 "The new testament" — The neto dispensation Or- 
 el dne 1 by God for the whole human race, through 
 Christ -A.s-/(.s- the Mediator, distinguished here from 
 the old covenant between God and the Israelites, in 
 which Moses was the mediator. That by means 
 of death — His own death upon the cross. For the 
 redemption of the transgressions — To make 
 atonement for the transgressions which were com- 
 mitted under the old covenant. Which the blood of 
 bulls and calves could not do ; so the death of 
 Jesus had respect to all the time antecedent to it, 
 as well as to all the time afterward tdl the conclu- 
 sion <>f the world. They which are called — 
 The Gentiles. Might receive the promise — 
 Might, by being brought into covenant with God, 
 430 
 
 might receive the promise of eternal inheri- 
 tance. 16 For where a testament is, there 
 must also of necessity 'be the death of the tes- 
 tator. 17 For "a testament is of force after 
 
 men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength 
 at all while the testator liveth. 1§ < Where- 
 
 12. 21. rRom. 3. 25: 5. 6:1 Pet. 3. 18. 8 Chap. 3.1. ■ 
 
 t Or, lie brought in. uGul. 3. 1.3. » Exod. 24. ti, etc. 
 
 have an equal right with the Jews not merely to 
 an inheritance such as the Promised Land, but to 
 an eternal inheritance infinitely superior to that of 
 the Jews; and therefore the new covenant is supe- 
 rior in every point of view to the old. How fre- 
 quently the Gentiles are termed ol K?.nroi and ol 
 khy'/ i/iiivoi, the called, all St. Paul's writings show. 
 And they were thus termed because they were called 
 and elected to equal rights with the Jews, the an- 
 cient called and elect, who were now divorced as a 
 nation and reprobated I < cause ol their disobedience. 
 
 16. For where a testament is — A learned and 
 judicious friend furnishes me with the following 
 translation of this and the 17th verse: — 
 
 "For where there is a covenant, it is necessary 
 that the death of the appointed victim should be 
 exhibited, because a covenant is confirmed over 
 dead victims, since it is not at all valid while the 
 appointed victim is alive." [Later commentators 
 have pretty generally preferred the rendering of the 
 text as in the English Version to that which gives 
 to the word 6ia6r]KTj the strictest sense of federal 
 compact, and to the things here named the nature 
 of contracting ceremonies. Dr. Cowles paraphi ases 
 verses 16, 17, in this way: " Now that the death 
 of one party to a covenant sometimes brings it into 
 force you may see in that special form of covenant 
 which men call a 'last will or testament ;' a ease 
 which bears an analogy to the death of Christ so 
 striking that you will allow me to allude to it. In 
 the case of a last will and testament, (verse 16,) the 
 death of the testator must necessarily be involved, 
 for (verse 17) this last will goes into effect, assumes 
 its vital force, in the case of the dead, inasmuch as 
 it cannot take effect, (has no force,) so long as the 
 testator lives. In the light of this analogy, you will 
 see how the called people of God come by Christ's 
 death into the possession of the promised eternal 
 inheritance." With these views, which may ap- 
 pear to some to be rather forced, or not fully sus- 
 tained, many (not all) of our best critics and ex- 
 positors agree substantially, such as Stuart, Alford, 
 Moll, (in Lange,) Ripley, Whedon. The rendering of 
 the Revised Version, which may be assumed to 
 largely embody the consensus of modern critics, is 
 to the same effect: "For where a testament is, 
 there must of necessity be the death of him that 
 made it. For a testament is of force where there 
 has been death, (over the dead — margin,) for it 
 doth not avail while he that made it liveth."] 
 
 Mr. "Wakefield has thus translated the passage, 
 (verses 16-17:) "For where a covenant is, there 
 must lie necessarily introduced the death of that 
 which establisheth the covenant ; because a cove- 
 nant is confirmed over dead things, and is of no force 
 at all whilst that which establisheth the covenant is 
 alive." This is undoubtedly the meaning of this 
 passage ; and we should endeavour to forget that 
 " testament " and " testator " were ever introduced, 
 as they totally change the apostle's meaning. (See 
 the observations at the end of this chapter.) 
 
 IS. Whereupon — "06a; wherefore ) as a victim
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 upon neither the first testament was w dedi- 
 cated without blood. B9 For when Moses 
 had spoken every precept to all the people 
 according to the law, x he took the blood 
 of calves and of --oats, y with water, and * scar- 
 let wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the 
 book and all the people, 20 Saying, "This is 
 the blood of the testament which God hath 
 
 jfOr, purified. »Exod. ;4. 5, 6, 8; Lev. 16. 14. 15, 18. 
 
 [/Lev. 14. 4. 6, 7,41', 51, 52. .J Or, purple. (/Exod. 
 
 was required for the ratification of every covenant, 
 the iirst covenant made between God and the He- 
 brews, by the mediation of Moses, was not dedi- 
 cated (kvn£KaivioTai, renewed or solemnised) with- 
 out blood, without the death of a victim, #nd the 
 aspersion of its blood. ["O0ei>, whence, that is, see- 
 ing that a SiaQi]K.rj (covenant or testament) per con- 
 tra must be ratified by the death of the testator, 
 and that the new Siad/'/nn has been ratified by the 
 death of Christ, so as to make sure the inheritance 
 to believers, (verse 15,) therefore // rr^wr//, (the 
 first,) was dedicated with (Christ's) blood.] 
 
 19. When Moses had spoken every precept 
 — (See Exod. xxiv, 4-8.) And sprinkled both 
 the book — The sprinkling of the "book" is not 
 mentioned in the place to which the apostle refers, 
 (see above,) nor did it in fact take place. The 
 words abro re to fiij3Mov,and the book itself, should 
 be referred to "kajiuv, having taken, and not to ipav- 
 nasv, he sprinkled. [This construction avoids a 
 bliglic difficulty; but it is forced, and grammatically 
 impossible. See Alford.] The verse should there- 
 fore be read thus : For after every commandment 
 of the law had been recited by Moses to all the 
 people, he took the blood of the calves, and of the 
 goats, with water and scarlet wool, and the book it- 
 self, and sprinkled all the pe >ple. The rite was 
 performed thus: Having received the blood of the 
 calves and goats into basins, and mingled it with 
 water to prevent it from coagulating, he then took 
 a bunch of hyssop, an 1 having bound it together with 
 thread ma le of scarlet wool he dipped this in the 
 basin, and sprinkled the blood and water upon the 
 people who were nearest to him, and who might be 
 considered on this occasion the representatives of 
 all the rest; for it is impossible that he should 
 have had blood enough to have sprinkled the whole 
 of the congregition. 
 
 20. This is th3 blood of the testament — 
 Covenant. Our Lord refers to the conduct of 
 Moses here, and partly quotes his words, in the in- 
 stitution of the eucharist : This is my blood of tin- 
 new testament, which is shed for many for the n mis- 
 sion of sins. (Matt, xxvi, 28.) And by thus using 
 the woi'ds and applying them, he shows that his 
 sacrificial Mood was intended by the blood shed and 
 sprinkled on this occasion, and that by it alone the 
 remission of sins is obtained. 
 
 2J. He sprinkled . . . with blood ... all 
 the vessels of the ministry — T//c "keiTovpyiag, 
 service: to intimate that every thing used by sinful 
 man is polluted, and that nothing can be acceptable 
 in the sight of a holy God that has not, in effect, 
 the sprinkling of the atoning blood. 
 
 "22. And almost all things are . . . purged 
 with blood — The apostle says "almost." because 
 in some cases certain vessels were purified by water, 
 some by fire, (Num. xxxi, 23,) and some with the 
 ashes of the red heifer, (Num. xix, 2-10,) but it was 
 always understood that every tiling was at first 
 
 enjoined unto you. 21 Moreover b he sprinkled 
 likewise with blood both the tabernacle, and 
 all the vessels of the ministry. 22 And almost 
 all things arc by the law purged with blood; 
 and 1 ' without shedding of blood is no remission. 
 23 It was therefore necessary that d the pat- 
 terns of things in the heavens should be puri- 
 fied with these; but the heavenly things them- 
 
 34. 8; Matt, 26. 28. h Exod. 29. 12, 36; Lev. S. 15, 10; 16. 14, 
 
 15, Ui, 18, 19. c Lev. 17. 11. d Chap. 8. 5. 
 
 consecrated by the blood of the victim. And 
 without shedding of blood is no remission — 
 The apostle shows fully here what is one of his 
 great objects in the whole of this epistle, namely, 
 that there is no salvation but through the sacrificial 
 death of Christ, and to prefigure this the law itself 
 would not grant any remission of sin without the 
 blood of a victim. It was a maxim, even among 
 the Jews themselves, that there is no expiation but 
 by blood. Every sinner having forfeited his life 
 by transgression, the law of God requires his 
 death; the blood of the victim, winch is its life, is 
 shed as a substitute for the life of the sinner By 
 these victims the sacrifice of Christ was typified. 
 He gave his life for the life of the world; human 
 life for human life, but a life infinitely dignified by 
 its union with God. [The life of the God-man, (not 
 simply a man,) for the sin and the redemption of ag- 
 gregate humanity, as well as every individual man. 
 
 [How guiltless blood for guilty men was shed. — Burns."] 
 
 Ti. The patterns of things in the heavens — 
 That is, the tabernacle and all its utensils, services, 
 etc., [because they were " patterns," irapafioTiai, 
 symbols, of the one great mid only real sacrifice,] must 
 he purified by t/tt.si. They are called "patterns," 
 VKodeiy/iara, exemplars, earthly things which were 
 the representatives of heavenly things. Perhaps 
 every thing in the tabernacle — its parts, divisions, 
 utensils, ministry, as appointed by God — were rep- 
 resentations of celestial matters. Purification im- 
 plies, not only cleansing from defilement, but also 
 d( dication or consecration. All the utensils empl< yed 
 in the tabernacle service were thus "purified," 
 though incapable of any moral pollution. Ev.t the 
 heavenly things themselves — As entrance to 
 the holy of holies must be obtained by the spi ink- 
 ling of the blood of the sacrifice, and as that holy 
 of holies represented heaven, the apostle's meaning 
 seems to be, that there was and could be no en- 
 trance to the holiest but through that blood ; and 
 therefore when, by a more perfect tabernacle, 
 (verses 11, 12,) Jesus passed into the heavens, not 
 with blood of bulls and goats, but by his own blood, 
 he thus purified or laid open the entrance to the 
 holiest by a more valuable sacrifice than those re- 
 quired to open the entrance of the (earthly) holy 
 of holies. It was therefore necessary, for God 
 had appointed it so, that the tabernacle and its 
 parts, etc., which were " patterns of things in the 
 heavens," should be consecrated and entered with 
 such sacrifices as have already been mentioned; 
 but the heaven of heavens, into winch Jesus 
 entered, and whither he will bring all his faithful 
 followers, must be propitiated, consecrated, and 
 entered, by the infinitely better sacrifice of his own 
 body and blood. That this is the meaning appears 
 from the following verse. [Cod permits sinners to 
 hope for pardon, and (to) approach to him, only 
 when they are sprinkled with the atoning blood of 
 
 " 431
 
 A. M. 4067. A. T\G3. 
 Year of Rome, S16. 
 
 HEBREWS. 
 
 I* is appointed to men to die, 
 and alterwurd to be judged; 
 
 selves with better sacrifices than these. 2-1 For 
 e Christ is not entered into the holy places 
 made with hands, which are the figures of f the 
 true; but into heaven itself, now s to appear 
 in the presence of God for us : 25 Nor yet 
 that lie should offer himself often, as b the high 
 priest entereth into the holy place every year 
 with blood of others; 26 For then must he 
 often have suffered since the foundation of 
 
 eChap. 6. 20. /Chap. 8. 2. jzRom. 8. 34; chap. 7. 25; 
 
 1 John 2. 1. AVerse 7. i Verse 12; chap. 7. 27; 10. 10; 
 
 IPet. 3. 18. I'ICor. 10. 11; Gal. 4. 4; Euh. 1. 10. 
 
 Jesus ; and what was done on earth as a symbol 
 must be clone in the heavenly world as a reality, 
 that is, so as actually to procure spiritual pardon 
 and restoration to the divine favour. — Stuart. ] 
 
 24. Christ is not entered into the holy- 
 places made with hands — [Christ's priesthood 
 was altogether another than that of Aaron and his 
 sons, and so in the performance of his priestly 
 work he entirely avoided the place and the con- 
 ditions of their ministrations. Their services con- 
 sisted of types and symbols; his was real., in respect 
 to both the place and the work's done. The high 
 priest, on the great day of expiation, entered the 
 holy of holies, which was the type of heaven, and 
 where was (originally) the shekinah, which symbol- 
 ized the divine presence, to sprinkle the blood of 
 the covenant before the mercyseat. All these 
 things were symbolical and prophetic of the work 
 of Christ, as an eternal priest, ever living to make 
 intercession for us.] 
 
 25. Nor yet that he should offer himself 
 often — The sacrifice of Christ is not like that of 
 the Jewish high priest ; his must be offered every 
 year, Christ has offered himself once for all: and 
 this sacrificial act has ever the same efficacy, being 
 still an efficacious and infinitely meritorious sacri- 
 fice before the throne. 
 
 26. For then must he often have suffered— 
 In the counsel of God Christ was considered the 
 Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, (Rev. 
 xiii, 8,) so that all believers before his advent hud 
 an equal interest in his sacrificial death with those 
 who have lived since his coming. The atonement 
 under the law had to be repeated every year ; Christ's 
 sacrifice is ever the same ; his life's blood is still 
 considered as in the act of being continually poured 
 out. (See Rev. v, 6.) The end of the world — 
 The conclusion of the Jewish dispensation, the 
 Christian dispensation being that which shall con- 
 tinue till the end of time. [In these last days.] 
 To put away sin — Elc adirnmv duapriac, to 
 abolish the sin offerings; that is, to put an end to the 
 Mosaic economy by his one offering of himself. 
 It is certain that after Christ had offered himself 
 the value of the typical sin offerings of the law 
 ceased ; and this was expressly foretold by the 
 prophet Daniel. (Chapter ix, 24.) Some think 
 that the expression should be applied to the putting 
 away fin guilt, power, and being of sin from the 
 souls of believers. [The KE^avepurat (hath he 
 appeared) refers, not to his appearance in heaven 
 before God, but to his manifestation in the flesh. 
 (1 Tim. iii. 16; 1 Ret. i, 20; v, 4 ; 1 John ii, 28; 
 iii, •"), 8.) Aid r/'/r ffrm'ur expresses the end for 
 which Christ was manifested, namely, to take away 
 sin, which gives the object of Christ's appearance' 
 on the world's theatre of action, the doing away, 
 absolutely and beyond the need of being supple- 
 
 432' 
 
 the world : but now 'once k in the end of the 
 world hath he appeared to put away sin by 
 
 the sacrifice of himself. 27 'And as it is 
 appointed unto men once to die, m but after 
 this the judgment: 2S So "Christ was once 
 "offered to bear the sins fof many; and unto 
 them that i look for him shall he appear 
 the second time without sin unto salva- 
 tion. 
 
 I Gen. 3. 10; Eccles. 3. 'JO. m 2 Cor. 5. 10; Rev. 20. 12, 13. 
 
 n Rom. ti. 10 ; 1 Pet. 3. 18. — o 1 l'et. 2. 24 : 1 John 3. 5. 
 
 V Matt. i& 28 ; Rom. 5. 15. q Tit. 2. 13 ; 2 Pet. 3. 12. 
 
 mented with any second similar manifestation, of 
 all that is sinful. — Moll, in Range.] 
 
 27. As it is appointed — 'AiroaeiTai, it is laid 
 before them by the divine decree: "Dust thou art. 
 and unto dust tlnm shalt return." Unto men — 
 [To pass from the present state, and to appear 
 before God after death, is the destiny of all of 
 the race of Adam.] But after this the judg- 
 ment — They shall die but once, and be judged but 
 once; judgment succeeds to dying ; [which assumes 
 that there is to be a life after death.] 
 
 28. So Christ was cnce offered — lie shall die 
 no more ; he has borne away the sins of many, and 
 what he has done "once" shall stand good for 
 ever. Vet he will appear a second linn withoutsin, 
 XUft'ir afiapriac, without a sin offering ; that he has 
 already made. Unto salvation— To deliver those 
 who sleep in him from the empire of death, and 
 bring them into his eternal glory. This is sal- 
 vation, and the very highest of which the human 
 being is capable. [Christ's first coming was in 
 order to redeem men by his death ; his second com- 
 ing is to practically redeem "those that believe," 
 by the power of the Holy Spirit, effectuating in 
 them a real, personal, and eternal salvation. This 
 spiritual redemption, wrought in those that believe, 
 is evidently the only proper meaning of the assur- 
 ance here given.] 
 
 1. In the preceding notes I have given my reasons 
 for dissenting from our translation of the loth, 16th, 
 and 1 7 tli verses of this chapter. Many learned 
 men are of the same opinion; but I have not met 
 with one who appears to have treated the whole in 
 a more satisfactory manner than Dr. Macknight, 
 and for the edification of my readers, I shall here 
 subjoin the substance of what lie has written on 
 this point. 
 
 "15. Mediator of the veil' covenant — (See Heb. 
 viii, 7.) The word dictd'hun, here translated cove- 
 nant, answers to the Hebrew word birith, which 
 all the translators of the Jewish Scriptures have 
 understood to signify a covenant. The same signi- 
 fication our translators have affixed to the word 
 diadljar], as often as it occurs in the writings of the 
 evangelists and apostles, except in Heb. vii, 22, the 
 history of the institution of the supper, in 2 Cor. 
 iii, 6, and in the passage under consideration; in 
 which places, copying the Vulgate Version, they 
 have rendered diaOfjUTj by the word testament. Reza, 
 following the Syriac Version, translates SiaBr/M) 
 everywhere by the words foedus, pactum, except in 
 the 16th, 17th, and 20th 'verses of this chapter, 
 where, likewise following the Syriac Version, he has 
 testamentum. Now, if naiv?) diadnicn, the new testa- 
 ment, in the passages above mentioned, means the 
 gospel covenant, as all interpreters acknowledge, 
 -a'/xua 6tadr/Kij, the old testament, (2 Cor. iii, 14,)
 
 Additional observations on matters 
 embrace I in tbe ninth chapter. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 and ~ni'.)Tj] diadf/icn, the firs/ testament. (Heb.ix, 15,) 
 must certainly be the Slnailie covenant or law of 
 Muses, as is evident also from Heb. ix, 20. Since, 
 then, in the verses under consideration diadf/Kr) may 
 be translated a covenant; and since, when so trans- 
 lated, these verses make a better sense, and agree 
 better with the scope of the apostle's reasoning 
 than if it were translated a testament, we can be at 
 no loss to know which translation of (HaO/'/n// in these 
 verses ought to be preferred. Nevertheless, the 
 absurdity of a phraseology to which readers have 
 been long accustomed without attending distinctly 
 • to its meaning, does not soon appear. 
 
 " He is the mediator. — Here it is remarkable that 
 Jesus is not called StaQkyEvoq, the testator, but 
 yeairnc, the mediator, of the new covenant; first, 
 because he procured the new covenant for mankind, 
 in which the pardon of sin is promised; for, as the 
 apostle tells us, his death as a sacrifice for sin is 
 the consideration on account of which the pardon 
 of the transgressions of the first covenant is 
 granted. Secondly, because the new covenant 
 having been ratified as well as procured by the death 
 of Christ, he is fitly called the mediator of that 
 covenant in the same sense that God's oath is called 
 (Heb. vi, 17) the mediator, or confirmer, of his 
 promise. Thirdly, Jesus, who died to procure the 
 covenant, being appointed by God the high priest 
 thereof, to dispense his blessings, he is on that ac- 
 count also called (Heb. viii, 6) the mediator of that 
 better covenant. 
 
 " 16. For where a covenant [is made by Sacri- 
 fice,] there is a necessity that the death of the ap- 
 pointed sacrifice be produced. This elliptical ex- 
 pression must be completed, if, as is probable, the 
 apostle had now in mind the covenant which 
 God made with Noah an 1 Abraham. This covenant 
 is recorded Gen. viii, 20, where we are told that on 
 coining out of the ark Noth offered a burnt offer- 
 ing of every clean beast and fowl. And the Lord 
 smelled a sweet savour. And the Lord said in his 
 heart, I will not again curse the ground, neither will 
 I again smite ana mire ever:/ living thing as I have 
 done. This promise or declaration God called his 
 covenant with men, and with every living creature. 
 (Gen. ix, 9, 10.) In like manner God made a cove- 
 nant with Abraham by sacrifice, (Gen. xv, 9, IS,) 
 and with the Israelites at Sinai. (Exod. xxiv, 8.) 
 By m iking his covenants with men in this manner, 
 Gol taught them that his intercourses with them 
 were all founded on an expiation afterward to be 
 made for their sins by the sacrifice of the Seed of 
 the Woman, the bruising of whose heel, that is, his 
 death, was foretold at the fall. On the authority of 
 these examples, the practice of making covenants 
 by sacrifice prevailed among the Jews, (Jer. xxxiv, 
 18, Zech. ix, 11,) and also among the heathens. 
 Hence the phrases, fiedus ferire and percutere, to 
 strike or kill the covenant. 
 
 " There is a necessity for the death (mi: ciaOeuevov) 
 of the appointed. — Here we may supply either the 
 word OvyaToc, sacrifice, or ^(ftov, animal, which 
 might be either a calf, a goat, a bull, or any other 
 animal which the parties making the covenant 
 chose. A/adsyevov is the participle of the second 
 aorist of the middle voice of the verb diartdiyu, 
 constituo, I appoint. Wherefore its primary and 
 literal signification is, of the appointed. Our trans- 
 lators have given the word this sense Luke xxii,29: 
 Kayo) SiarWeuai vulv, KaOuc findero \lql 6 n.ar//i> fiov 
 fiaaiTiEiav, and I appoint to you a kingdom, as my 
 Father hath appointed to me a kingdom. 
 
 Vol. II. — 2^ 
 
 "Be brought in ; Qavarov avaynn Qipecdai tov 
 
 i mil: hi ror. The word tpfpeoBat is sometimes used 
 in a forensic sense for what is produced, or proved, 
 or made apparent in a court of judicature. Where- 
 fore the apostle's meaning is, that it is necessary the 
 death of the appointed sacrifice be brought in, or 
 produced, at the making of the covenant. In the 
 margin of our Bibles this clause i- rightly trans- 
 lated, be brought in. (See Acts XXV, 7.) 
 
 "17. A covenant is Jinn over dead sacrifices — 
 'Em vetcpoie. NfK/io/r being an adjective, it must 
 have a substantive agreeing v ith it. either expressed 
 or understood. The substantive understood in this 
 place, 1 think, is (Iri/uai, sacrifices ; for which reason 
 1 have supplied it in the translation. Perhaps the 
 word U-Jf«c, animals, may be equally proper; espec- 
 ially as, in the following clause, SiaOiysvoc is in the 
 gender of the animals appointed for the sacrifice. 
 Our translators have supplied the word avOpunotq, 
 men, and have translated em vespoig, after men ore 
 dead, contrary to the propriety of the phrase. 
 
 " It never hath force whilst the appointed liveih ; 
 "Ore £y 6 Ciade/ievoc. Supply y6ox»c, or T/>a}oc, or 
 ravpoc, whilst the calf, or goal, or bull, appointed for 
 (lie sacrifice of ratification, liveth. The apostle 
 having, in verse 15, showed that Christ's death 
 was necessary as 6 ptoi-7/c, the mediator, that is, 
 the procurer and ratifier of the new covenant, he 
 in the 16th and 17th verses observes that, since 
 God's covenants with men were all ratified by sac- 
 rifice to show that his intercourses with men are 
 founded on the sacrifice of his Son, it was necessaiy 
 that the new covenant itself should be ratified by 
 his Son's actually dying as a sacrifice. 
 
 " The faultiness of the common translation of 
 the 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th, and 20th verses of this 
 chapter having been already shown in the notes, 
 nothing needs be added here, except to call the 
 reader's attention to the propriety and strength of 
 the apostle's reasoning, as it appears in the trans- 
 lation of these verses which I have given, com- 
 pared with his reasoning as represented in the 
 common version." 
 
 2. It is supposed that in verse 2S the apostle, in 
 speaking about Christ's bearing the sins of many, 
 alludes to the ceremony of the scapegoat. Thin 
 mysterious sacrifice was to be presented to God, 
 (Lev. xvi, 7,) and the sins of the people were to be 
 confessed over the head of it, (verse 21,) and after 
 this the goat was dismissed into a land uninhabited, 
 laden, as the institution implied, with the sins of 
 the people; and this the word aveveyKeiv, to bear or 
 carry away, seems to imply. So truly as the goat 
 did metaphorically bear away the sins of die many, 
 so truly did Christ really bear the punishment due 
 to our sins ; and in reference to every believer, has 
 so borne them away thai they shall never more rise 
 in judgment against him. 
 
 3. In Christ's coming, or appearing the second 
 time, it is very probable, as Dr. Doddridge and 
 others have conjectured, that there is an allusion to 
 the return of the high priest from the inner taber- 
 nacle ; for, after appearing there in the presence of 
 God, and making atonement for the people in the 
 plain dress of an ordinary priest, (Lev. xvi, 28, 24,) 
 he came out arrayed in his magnificent i*obes, to 
 bless the people, who waited for him in the court 
 of the tabernacle of the congregation. " But there 
 will be this difference,'' says Dr. Macknight, '* be- 
 tween the return of Christ to bless his people, and 
 the return of the high priest to bless the congrega- 
 tion. The latter, after coming out of the most 
 
 433
 
 HEBREWS. 
 
 The law was only the shadow 
 of future good things. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 JIOR the law having a a shadow 'of good 
 things to come, and not the very image of 
 the things, c can never with those sacrifices, 
 which they offered year by year continually, 
 make the comers thereunto "perfect. 2 For 
 then e would they not have ceased to he of- 
 
 rtCol. 2. 17; chap. 8. 5; 9. 23. 7> Chap. 9. 11. cChap. 
 
 9. 9. — -d Verse 14. e Or, they would have cease'/ to l>, 
 
 holy place, made a new atonement in his pontifical 
 robes for himself and for the people, (Lev. xvi,24,) 
 which showed that the former atonement was not 
 real, but typical. Whereas .Jesus, after having 
 made atonement, [and presented himself in heaven, 
 before God,] will not return to the earth for the 
 purpose of making himself a sacrifice the second 
 time ; but having procured an eternal redemption 
 for us, by the sacrifice of himself once offered, he 
 will return for the purpose of declaring to them 
 who wait for him that they are accepted, and of 
 bestowing on them the great blessing of eternal 
 life. This reward he, being surrounded with the 
 glory of the Father, (Matt, xvi, 27,) will give them 
 in the presence of an assembled universe, both as 
 their King and their Priest. This is the great sal- 
 vation which Christ came to preach, and which was 
 confirmed to the world by those who heard him. 
 (Heb. ii, 3.)" 
 
 4. The form in which the high priest and the 
 ordinary priests were to bless the people, after 
 burning the incense in the tabernacle, is prescribed, 
 Num. vi, 23-26. Literally translated from the 
 Hebrew it is as follows, and consists of three parts 
 or benedictions : 1) May Jehovah bless thee, and 
 preserve thee ! 2) May Jehovah cause his face 
 to shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee ! 
 3) May Jehovah lift up his face upon thee, and 
 may he put prosperity unto thee ! 
 
 We may therefore say that Christ, our high 
 priest, came to bless each of us, by turning us away 
 from our iniquity. And let no one ever expect to 
 see him at his second coming with joy, unless he 
 have, in this life, been turned away from his iniq- 
 uity, and obtained remission of all his sins, and that 
 holiness without which none can see God. Reader, 
 the time of his reappearing is, to thee, at hand ! 
 Prepare to meet thy God ! 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER X. 
 1. The law [6 voy.oc, the tarn, that is, the sacri- 
 ficial or ritual law, which was before spoken of] 
 having a shadow of good things to come — 
 A shadow, gkiolv, signifies, metaphorically, any faint 
 adumbration, symbolical expression, imperfect or 
 obscure image of a thing; and is opposed to auua, 
 body, or the thing intended to be thereby defined. 
 [2/adv, ehiova. The former is an imperfect sketch, 
 the latter is a picture or image filled out and com- 
 pleted. — Stuart.] ["Good things to come," ruv 
 in/'/oi'Tuv ayaOuv. (See chapter ix, 11.)] And 
 not the very image — "Ejow, image, signifies the 
 perfect image of a thing as opposed to a faint rep- 
 resentation ; metaphorically, a similitude, agreement, 
 or conformity. The (Levitical) law, with all its 
 ceremonies and sacrifices, was only a " shadow " of 
 spiritual and eternal good. The Gospel is the 
 " image," or true presentation, as including every 
 spi ritual and eternal good. Such is the Gospel, 
 when compared with the Law ; such is Christ, when 
 compared with Aaron ; such is his sacrifice, when 
 434 
 
 fered? because that the worshippers once 
 purged should have had no mure conscience of 
 sins. 3 f But in those sacrifices (Jure is a re- 
 membrance again made of sins every year. 
 
 4 For sit is not possible that the blood of 
 bulls and of goats should take away sins. 
 
 5 Wherefore, when he cometh into the world, 
 
 offered, because, etc. — /Lev. 1G. 21; chap. 9. 7. g Micah 
 
 6. 6, 7; chap. 9. 13; verse 11. 
 
 compared with the Levitical offerings ; such is the 
 gospel remission of sins and purification, when 
 compared with those afforded by the law ; such is 
 the Holy Ghost, ministered by the Gospel, when 
 compared with the types and shadows of the Le- 
 vitical service ; such the heavenly rest, when com- 
 pared with the earthly Canaan. Well, therefore, 
 might the apostle say, The law was only the shadow 
 of good things to come. Can never . . . make the 
 comers thereunto peifect — Cannot remove guilt 
 from the conscience nor impurity from the heart. 
 [Toi>c irpoGipxoy.kvovq, the worshippers who approach 
 the altar. (See chapter ix, 9, 10.) Tefaiuaai, make 
 complete. (See chapter vii, 11 ; ix, 9.) — Stuart.] 
 
 2. Would they not have ceased to be of- 
 fered — No Jew pietended to believe that even the 
 annual atonement cancelled his sin before God ; he 
 therefore continued to make his offerings, the law 
 of God having so enjoined, because these sacrifices 
 pointed out that which was to come. They were 
 offered, therefore, not in consideration of their own 
 efficacy, but as refei'ring to Christ, (^'ee on chap- 
 ter ix," 9.) 
 
 3. But in those ... is a remembrance — [A/ a' 
 tv avracg avdfjv2/cic. On the day of annual atone- 
 ment, the sacrifices that were offered being of an 
 expiatory nature, and being designed as propitia- 
 tory offerings, they were of course adapted to re- 
 mind the Hebrews of the ill desert of sin. As they 
 continued to be offered yearly, so those who brought 
 them must be reminded, through their whole lives, 
 of new desert of punishment. Tlie writer means, 
 however, that a yearly remembrance of sin in a 
 spiritual respect, not merely in a civil or ecclesias- 
 tical one, was made; for in this latter sense the 
 yearly atonement procured pardon. In the other 
 it did not ; as he now proceeds to assert. Adv- 
 veirov )ap . . . apupriac, it is, indeed, impossible 
 that the blood of bulls and goats should remove the 
 penalty due to sin. 'A(j>atpelv duapriag means, to 
 take away sin, in the sense of removing the penalty 
 or consequences of sin; for this is the subject of 
 which the writer is now treating. That the author 
 has reference to the consequences of sin in a future 
 world, or to the punishment of it which God 
 inflicts as the spiritual judge of men, is evident 
 from the whole tenor of his discussion. One so 
 profoundly versed as he was in all the Jewish ritual 
 law surely was not ignorant of the fact that civil 
 and ecclesiastical pardon for offences of various 
 kinds was every day procured by the blood of bulls 
 and goats, and this, too, agreeably to divine ap- 
 pointment. — Stuart.] 
 
 4. For it is not possible — Common sense must 
 have taught them that shedding the blood of bulls 
 and goats could never satisfy divine justice nor 
 take away guilt from the conscience ; and God in- 
 tended that they should understand the matter so ; 
 and this the following quotation from the psalmist 
 sufficiently proves. 
 
 5. When he (the Messiah) cometh into the
 
 The purpose of God relative to 
 the redemption of man. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 ho saith, h Sacrifice and offering thou wouldesl 
 not, but a body 'hast thou prepared riie: 6 In 
 
 burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou bast 
 had no pleasure. 7 Then said I, Lo, I come 
 (in the volume of the bonk it is written of me) 
 to do thy will, God. 8 Above when he 
 said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings 
 
 /tPsa. 40. 6, etc.; 50. 8, etc.: Isa. 1. 11; Jer. 0. 20; Amos 5. 
 21, 22. 
 
 world — Was about to be incarnated. He saith, 
 (to God the Father,) Sacrifice and offering thou 
 wouldest not — It was never thy will and design 
 that the sacrifices under thy own law should be 
 considered as making atonement for sin, (in its 
 spiritual nature;) they were only designed to point 
 out my incarnation and consequent sacrificial death, 
 and therefore a bod;/ hast thou prepared me, by 
 a miraculous conception in the womb of a virgin, 
 according to thy word, The seed of the woman shall 
 bruise the head of the serpent. A body hast thou 
 prepared me — The quotation in this and the 
 two following verses is from Psalm xl, 6th, 7th, 
 and 8th verses, as they stand now in the Septua- 
 giftt, with scarcely any variety of reading ; but, 
 although the general meaning is the same, they 
 widely differ in verbal expression from the Hebrew, 
 My cars hast thou opened; they might be more 
 properly rendered, My ears hast thou bored, that is, 
 thou hast made me thy servant for ever, to dwell 
 in thine own house ; for the allusion is evidently to 
 the custom mentioned Exod. xxi, 2, etc. [But the 
 Hebrew word here used is not the same as that of 
 the command referred to. It means to dig out, and 
 thus remove any obstruction which might impede a 
 ready perception of and obedience to precept. . . . 
 And further, the law limited the operation to one 
 ear, but the psalmist speaks of both. — Turner.] 
 [The reference to Exod. xxi, 2, etc., is evidently 
 harsh and farfetched, while the notion of opening 
 the ears of one who is to be instructed is direct and 
 natural ; and this is clearly the view of the sense 
 of the passage (Psa. xl, 6) held by our translators.] 
 But how is it possible that the Septuagint and the 
 apostle should take a meaning so totally different 
 from the sense of the Hebrew ? Dr. Kennicott 
 has a very ingenious conjecture here ; he supposes 
 that the Septuagint ami apostle express the mean- 
 ing of the words as they stood in the copy from 
 which the Greek translation was made ; and that 
 the present Hebrew text is corrupted in the word 
 oznayim, "ears," which has been written through 
 carelessness for az gevah, then a body. On this 
 supposition the ancient copy, translated by the 
 Septuagint, and followed by the apostle, must 
 have read the text thus : az gevah caritha li, 
 curia As Kartwriau fioi, then a body thou hast pre- 
 pared me; thus the Hebrew text, the version of 
 tin' Septuagint, and the apostle, will agree in what 
 is known to be an indisputable fact in Christianity, 
 namely, that Christ was incarnated for the sin of 
 the world. [Every explanation hitherto attempted 
 of the difficulties presented by this passage must 
 fail to satisfy all who depend on their own con- 
 victions rather than the opinions of others. The 
 decision of Alford may therefore be accepted as 
 the best possible in the present state of the case : 
 " I would leave the difficulty an unsolved one, not 
 being satisfied with any of the explanations offered, 
 and having no other to propound. As Christian 
 believers our course is plain. How the word cu/m 
 
 and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither 
 hadst pleasure therein ; which arc offered by 
 the law; 5> Then said be, Lo, I come to do 
 thy will, O Cod. He taketli away the first, 
 that be may establish the second. IO k By 
 the which will we are sanctified 'through the 
 offering of the body of Jesus Christ oncejbr 
 
 (Or. thou hast fitted me. / John 17. 10; chap. 13. 12. 
 
 /Chap. 0. 12. 
 
 came into the LXX we cannot say; but being 
 there, it is now sanctioned lor us by the citation 
 here, not as the (or even a) proper rendering of the 
 Hebrew, but as a prophetic utterance equivah n1 
 to and representing that other.] It is remarkable 
 that all the offerings and sacrifices which were con- 
 sidered to be of an atoning or cleansing nature, 
 offered under the law, [namely, sacrifices, dvaia, 
 offering, npoatyopa, burn! offering, oXoKavrco/ia, and 
 Trepl duapTiac, that is, sacrifices for sin,] are here 
 enumerated by the psalmist and the apostle to show 
 that none of them, nor all of them, could take 
 away sin, and that the grand sacrifice of Christ v. as 
 that alone which could do it. 
 
 6. Thou hast had no pleasure — [God's pleas- 
 ure in any of the sacrifices of the patriarchs, or of 
 the Jewish priests, was not for the sake of such 
 offerings in themselves, but only for their symbol- 
 ical and prophetical character. They were accept- 
 able only as " shadows of good things to come. ''J 
 
 1. In the volume (roll) of the book — The 
 "book" mentioned here must be the pentateueh, 
 or five books of Moses. This whole book speaks 
 about Christ, and his accomplishing the will of 
 God : not only in " the seed of the woman ahall 
 bruise the head of the serpent" and u In thy seed 
 shall all the nations oftJu earth be blessed, 11 but in all 
 the sacrifices and sacrificial rites mentioned in the 
 law. To do thy will — God willedziot the sacrifices 
 under the law, but he willed that a divine-human 
 victim of infinite merit should be offered for the 
 redemption of mankind. That there might be such 
 a victim a body was prepared for the eternal Lo- 
 gos; and in that body he came to do the will of 
 God, that is, to suffer and die for the sins of the 
 world. [It is very certainly the passive rather than 
 active obedience of Christ that is here spoken of: 
 That he should suffer, and thereby redeem men 
 from sin, was preeminently the will of tlu 'Father, 
 which Christ came to do.] 
 
 9. He taketh away the first — The offerings, 
 sacrifices, burnt offerings, and sacrifices for sin, 
 which were prescribed by the law. That he may 
 establish the second — The offering of the body 
 of Jesus once for all. It will make little odds in 
 the meaning if we say, he taketh away the first 
 ran i, ant. that lie may establish the second covenant; 
 he takes away the first dispensation, that he may 
 establish tin. 1 second ; he takes away the law, that 
 he may establish the Gospel. In all these cases 
 the sense is nearly the same. 
 
 1 0. By the which will we are sanctified — 
 Closing in with this so solemnly declared will <f 
 God, that there is no name given under heaven 
 among men by which we can be saved but Jesus 
 the Christ, we believe in him, find redemption in 
 his blood, and are sanctified unto God through the 
 sacrificial offering of his body. ['Ec u QeMjpaTi 
 ;}; mniii-roi tff/iev, in which will (of God, realized in 
 the offering of Christ) we are expiated for, re- 
 deemed, set apart for God's service, and purposed 
 
 435
 
 HEBREWS. 
 
 all. 11 And every priest standetli m daily 
 ministering and offering oftentimes the same 
 sacrifices, "which can never take away sins: 
 12 "But this man, after he had offered one 
 sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the 
 right hand of God ; 13 From henceforth ex- 
 pecting f'till his enemies be made his footstool. 
 14 For by one offering ihe hath perfected 
 forever them that are sanctified. 15 Whereof 
 
 in Num. 28. 3: chap. 7. 27. n Verse 4. o Col 3. 1; chap. 
 
 1. 3. u Psa. 110.1; Acts 2. 35; 1 Cor. 15. 25; chap. 1. 13. 
 
 to be eternally saved. By Christ's death, all they 
 for whom he died (that is, all men, chapter ii, 9) 
 are, ipso facto, sanctified, (chapter x, 2'.',) that is, 
 designed by God's grace for eternal life. The will 
 of God, here spoken of, is the objective thing willed, 
 rather than, the subjective action of the divine 
 mind.] 
 
 11, 12. Every priest standeth — The office of 
 the Jewish priest is here contrasted with the office 
 of our high priest. The Jewish priest " standeth " 
 daily at the altar, like a servant ministering, 
 rep \ating the same sacrifices ; our high priest of- 
 fered himself once for all, and sat down at the 
 right hand of God, as the only begotten Son and 
 Heir of all things. (Verse 12.) Their continual 
 offering argued the imperfection of their sacrifices. 
 Our Lord's once offering, proves his was complete. 
 
 13. Till his enemies be made his footstool — 
 Till all that oppose his high priesthood and sacri- 
 ficial offering shall be defeated, routed, and con- 
 founded: and acknowledge, in their punishment, 
 the supremacy of his power as universal and eternal 
 king, wdio refused to receive him as their atoning 
 and sanctifying priest. [There is here a manifest 
 reference to Psa. ex, 1, where the Messiah is called 
 to sit down at the right hand of the Father till he 
 (the Father) shall make his (Christ's) enemies his 
 footstool. What is there announced as a proph- 
 ecy is here spoken of as a realized fact.] [The 
 idea is, the Messiah is seated on his throne, quietly 
 (but not inactively) expecting that his enemies will, 
 in due time, be all subdued. (See 1 Cor. xv, 25.) 
 — Stuart.] 
 
 If. For by one offering — His death upon the 
 cross. He hath perfected forever — Jesus has 
 procured remission of sins and holiness ; for it is 
 well observed here, and in several parts of this epis- 
 tle, that tsteIbIukev, to make perfect, is the same as 
 v auapriLiv ~oi£u, to procure remission of sins. 
 Them that are sanctified — Tovc ayia r ojuevovg, 
 them that have received the sprinkling of the blood 
 of this offering. These, therefore, receiving re- 
 demption through that blood, have no need of any 
 other offering ; as this was a complete atonement, 
 purification, and title to eternal glory. [This com- 
 pletion (perfecting) here refers to what Christ has 
 done fir us, rather than in us; and so, also, rove 
 dyia^ofievovc (tliem that are sanctified) is to be 
 understood, not of persons made subjectively holy, 
 but as objectively redeemed, and so devoted, in 
 the purposes of the divine grace, to be personally 
 redeemed, "through sanctification of the Spirit, and 
 the renewing of the Holy Ghost."] 
 
 15. The Holy Ghost ... is a witness to us 
 — The words are quoted from Jer. xxxi, 33, 34, 
 and here we are assured that Jeremiah spoke by 
 the inspiration of the Spirit of Cod. Had said 
 before — See chapter viii, 10, 12, and the notes 
 there. 
 436 
 
 the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for 
 after that he had said before, 16 r This is the 
 covenant that I will make with them after 
 those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws 
 into their hearts, and in their minds will I 
 write them ; 17 "And their sins and iniqui- 
 ties will I remember no more. 18 Now where 
 remission of these is, tin re is no more offer- 
 ing for sin. 19 Having therefore, brethren, 
 
 g Verse 1.- 
 
 -r Jer. 81. 33, 34: chap. 8. in, 12. sSome copies 
 
 have, Tlien lit said. And their. 
 
 18. Now where remission of these is — In 
 any case, where sin is once pardoned, there is no 
 further need of a sin offering; but every believer 
 on Christ has his sin blotted out, and therefore 
 needs no other offering for that sin. "If," says 
 Dr. Macknight, " after remission is granted to the 
 sinner, there is no need of any more sacrifice for 
 sin; and if Christ, by offering himself once, has 
 perfected forever the sanctified, (verse 14,) the sac- 
 rifice of the mass, as it is called, about which the 
 Romish clergy employ themselves so incessantly, and 
 to which the papists trust for the pardon of their 
 sins, has no foundation in Scripture. Nay, it is an 
 evident impiety, as it proceeds upon the supposi- 
 tion that the offering of the body of Christ once is 
 not sufficient to procure the pardon of sin, but 
 must be frequently repeated. If they reply that 
 their mass is only the representation and com- 
 memoration of the sacrifice of Christ, they give up 
 the cause, and renounce an article of their faith, 
 established by the Council of Trent. The repre- 
 sentation and commemoration of a sacrifice is not a 
 sacrifice. Further, it cannot be affirmed that the 
 body of Christ is offered in the mass, unless it can 
 be said that, as often as it is offered, Chris/ suffers 
 death; for the apostle says expressly, (Heb. ix, 
 •J."., 26,) that if Christ offered himself often, he 
 must often have suffered since the foundation of the 
 world." 
 
 1 9. Having therefore, brethren, boldness — 
 The apostle, having now finished the doctrinal part 
 of his epistle, and fully shown the superiority of 
 Christ to all men and angels, and the superiority 
 of his priesth 1 to that of Aaron and his succes- 
 sors, the absolute inefficacy of the Jewish sacrifices 
 to make atonement for sin, and the absolute effi- 
 cacy of that of Christ to ntaue reconciliation of 
 man to God, proceeds now to show what influence 
 these doctrines should have on the hearts and lives 
 of tho?e who believe in his merits and death. [The 
 practical application which follows is designed to 
 excite those addressed to constancy and persever- 
 ance in their Christian profession, to dehort them 
 from apostasy, and to warn them against its tremen- 
 dous consequences. With his warnings are also in- 
 termingled a great deal of encouragement and 
 promise, in order to excite in them an earnest de- 
 sire to obtain the rewards which would be bestowed 
 on all who remained faithful to the end of their 
 course. — Stuart ] Boldness to enter — U.appj]aiav 
 t'ic ttjv sioodov, liberty, full urns* to the entrance of 
 the holy place, ruv ayiuv. This is an allusion to 
 the case of the high priest .going into the holy of 
 holies. He went with fear and trembling, because, 
 if he had neglected the smallest item prescribed by 
 the law, he could expect nothing but death. Gen- 
 uine believers can come even to the throne of God 
 with confidence, as they carry into the divine pres- 
 ence the infinitely meritorious blood of the great
 
 [ been provided, 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 A.M. 4067. A 
 Year of Rome 
 
 'boldness "to enter v into the holiest by the 
 blood of Jesus, 20 By "a new and living 
 way, which he hath "consecrated for us, 
 y through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; 
 21 And having z a high priest over K the house 
 
 t Or, liberty. u Horn. 5. 2 ; Eph. 2. 18 ; 3. 12. a Chap. 9. 
 
 8, 12. /cJolin 10. 3; 11. ti; chap. 9. 8. a' Or, new made. 
 
 y Chap. 9. 3. 
 
 atonement ; and, being justified through that blood, 
 they have a right to all the blessings of the eternal 
 kingdom. 
 
 20. By a new and living -way — It is a " new " 
 way ; no human being had ever before entered in- 
 to the heaven of heavens ; Jesus in human nature 
 was the first, and thus he has opened the way to 
 heaven to mankind, his own resurrection and ascen- 
 sion to glory being the proof and pledge of ours. 
 The way is called ufiuv Tzpoatparov nal C,uaav, new, or 
 fresh and living. This is evidently an allusion to 
 the blood of the victim newly shed, uncoagulated, 
 and consequently proper to be used for sprinkling. 
 The blood of the Jewish victims was fit for sacri- 
 ficial purposes only so long as it was warm and fluid, 
 and might be considered as yet possessing its vi- 
 tality; but when it grew cold it coagulated, lost its 
 vitality, and was no longer proper to be used sacri- 
 ficially. Christ is here, in the allusion, represented 
 as newly slain, and yet {'wing; the blood ever con- 
 sidered as flowing and giving life to the world. 
 POddv ~p6<j(j>a.Tov, a new way. None before him 
 (Christ) trod this way; no believer under the Old 
 Testament dared or could, though under a dispen- 
 sation of preparatory grace, approach God so freely 
 and openly, so fearlessly and joyfully, so closely 
 and intimately, as we now, who come to the Father 
 by the blood of Jesus, his Son. — Stier.~\ [Km £t>. 
 cav, and living, as contrasted with the mere dead 
 ceremony of entrance into the earthly holy place. 
 This entrance is a real, living and working, en- 
 trance; the animated substance of what is im- 
 ported, not the dead shadow. — A/ford.] [Many 
 commentators understand *,ij<jav as equivalent to 
 C,ti>OK.oiovaov, life producing, which though a good 
 sense, is scarcely that here intended.] Through 
 the veil — As the high priest lifted up or drew aside 
 the veil that separated the holy from the most holy 
 place in order that he might have access to the 
 divine presence; and as the veil of the temple was 
 rent from the top to the bottom at the crucitixion 
 of Christ, to show that the way to the holiest was 
 then laid open; so we must approach the throne 
 through the mediation of Christ, and through his 
 sacrificial death. [We enter through the veil, 
 locally, and through the flesh, that is, Christ's cru- 
 cified body, instrumentally. — Kendrich, in Lange.] 
 
 21. A high priest over the house of God — 
 The " house " or family of God is the Christian 
 Church, made up of all true believers in the Lord 
 Jesus. Over this Church, house, or family, Christ 
 is the high priest — in their behalf he offers his 
 own blood, and their prayers and praises; and as 
 the high priest hail the ordering of all things that 
 pertained to the house and worship of God, so has 
 Christ in the governmdht of his Church. This 
 government he never gave into other hands. As 
 none can govern and preserve the world but God, 
 so none can govern and save the Church but the 
 Lord Jesus: he i- over the Imnsi'; he is its presi- 
 dent; he instructs, protects, guides, feeds, defends, 
 and saves the flock. Those who have such a presi- 
 dent may well have confidence ; for with him is 
 
 of God ; 22 'Let us draw near with a true 
 heart c in full assurance of faith, having our 
 hearts sprinkled ''from an evil conscience, and 
 "our bodies washed with pure water. 2!i f Let 
 us hold fast the profession of our faith with- 
 
 e Chap. 4. 11. a 1 Tim. 3. 15. 6 Chap. 4. 16. — c Eph. 3. 
 
 12; .lames 1. ti; 1 John 3.21. c/C'hap. 9. 14. e Ezuk. 30.25; 
 
 2 Cor. 7. 1. /Chap. 4. 14. 
 
 the fountain of life, and lie has all power in the 
 heavens and in the earth. 
 
 22. Let us draw near — Let us come with the 
 blood of our sacrifice to the throne of God ; the 
 expression is sacrificial. With a true heart — 
 Deeply convinced of our need of help, and truly in 
 earnest to obtain it. In full assurance of faith 
 — Being fully persuaded that Cod will accept us 
 for the sake of his Son, and that the sacrificial 
 death of Christ gives us full authority to expect 
 every blessing we need. Having our hearts 
 sprinkled — Not our bodies, as was the case 
 among the Hebrews, when they had contracted any 
 pollution, for they were to be sprinkled with the 
 water of separation, (see Num. xix, 2-10,) but our 
 hearts, sprinkled by the cleansing efficacy of the 
 blood of Christ, without which we cannot draw 
 nigh to God. Prom an evil conscience — Hav- 
 ing that deep sense of guilt which our conscience 
 felt taken all away, and the peace and love of Cod 
 shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost given 
 unto us. Our bodies washed with pure water 
 — The high priest, before he entered into the in- 
 ner tabernacle, or put on his holy garments, was 
 to wash his flesh in water, (Lev. xvi, 4,) and the 
 Levites were to be cleansed the same way. (Num. 
 viii, 7.) The apostle probably alludes to this in 
 what he says here. [The Jews were sprinkled 
 with blood in order that they might be purified, so 
 as to have access to God ; Christians are internally 
 sprinkled, that is, purified, by the blood of Jesus. 
 The Jews were washed with water in order to be 
 ceremonially purified, so as to come before God ; 
 Christians have been washed by the purifying water 
 of baptism. (See Acts xxii, 16.) — Stuart.] 
 
 23. Let us hold fast the profession of our 
 faith — The word bfioTjoyia implies that general 
 consent that was among Christians on all the im- 
 portant articles of their faith and practice ; par- 
 ticularly their acknowledgment of the truth of the 
 Gospel, and of Jesus Christ as the only sacrifice 
 for sin, and the only Saviour from it. If the above 
 word washed refer to Christian baptism in the ca>e 
 of adults, then the profession is that which the 
 baptized then made of their faith in the Gospel, 
 and of their determination to live and die in that 
 faith. The various readings on this clause are 
 many in the MSS., etc. 'Ofiohryiav -f/c. Tziareuc, tlte 
 confession of faith, is the reading which our trans- 
 lators have followed ; but it is of very little author- 
 ity. Tyv i'/-n\a TtJQ on o'/o} lag, the HorE of our 
 PROFESSION |i> the reading now generally received.] 
 Now as among the primitive Christians the hope 
 which they professed was thai of the resurrection, 
 including unending life ; so every thing among these 
 Christians was done and believed in reference to a 
 future state; and for the joy that this set before 
 them, they, like their Master, endured ever) cross 
 and despised all shame; they expected to lie with 
 God, through Christ; this hope they professed to 
 have; and they confessed boldly and publicly the 
 faith on which this hope was built. The apostle 
 exhorts them to "hold fast '"this confession with- 
 
 43V
 
 \. M. 4o67. A. D. B3. 
 Year of Rome, 816. 
 
 HEBREWS. 
 
 Believers should incite each other 
 to love and irouil works. 
 
 out wavering; for she is faithful that prom- 
 ised : 2-1 And let us consider one another 
 to provoke unto love and to good works: 
 2-5 h Not forsaking the assembling of our- 
 selves together, as the manner of some is; but 
 exhorting one (mother: and 'so much the 
 more, as ye see k the day approaching. 26 For 
 ■if we sin wilfully m after that, we have re- 
 
 ■,\ Cor. 1.9: 10. 13: 1 Thess. 5. 24: 2 Thess. 3. 3; chap. 11. 11. 
 
 h A.ts 2. 42: Jiule 19. / Kom. 13. 11. /fcPhil. 4. 5; 
 
 2 Pet. 3. 9, 11, 14. I Num. 15. 30; chap. ti. 4. m 2 Pet. i. 
 
 out wavering; never to doubt the declarations 
 made to them by their Redeemer, but having the 
 full assurance of faith that their hearts were 
 sprinkled from an evil conscience, that they had 
 found redemption in the blood of the Lamb, they 
 might expect to be glorified with their living Head 
 in the kingdom of their Father. He is faithful 
 that promised — The eternal life which is the ob- 
 ject of your hope, is promised to you by Him who 
 cannot lie; as he then is "faithful " who has given 
 you this "promise," hold fad the profession of your 
 hopt ." 
 
 24. And let us consider one another — Kara- 
 vou/iev, let us consider each other's trials, difficul- 
 ties, and weaknesses; feel for each other, and 
 excite each other to an increase of love to God and 
 man ; and, as the proof of it, to be fruitful in good 
 works. The words r/c Kapo^vap.bv, to the provoca- 
 tion, are often taken in a good sense, and signify 
 excitement — stirring up to do any thing laudable, 
 useful, honourable, or necessary. (See on Acts 
 xv, 39.) 
 
 25. Not forsaking the assembling of our- 
 selves — 'JZTn&wayaryijv. eavrav. Whether this 
 means public or private worship is hard to say; but 
 as the word is but once more used in the New Test- 
 ament, (2 Thess. ii, 1,) and there means the gather- 
 ing together of the redeemed of the Lord at the 
 day of judgment, it is as likely that it means here 
 private religious meetings for the purpose of mu- 
 tual exhortation ; and this sense appears the more 
 natural here, because it is evident that the Church 
 was now in a state of persecution, and therefore 
 their meetings were most probably held in private. 
 For fear of persecution, it seems as if some had 
 deserted these meetings, undue tdoc Tiaiv, as the 
 custom of certain persons is. They had given up 
 these strengthening and instructive means, and the 
 others were in danger of following their example. 
 The day approaching— Tij r fjuepav, that "day," 
 the time in which God would come and pour out 
 his judgments on the Jewish nation. We may also 
 apply it to the day of death and the day of judg- 
 ment, [though it does not. seem probable that there 
 i- any such allusion in the text.] Loth of these are 
 approaching to every human being. He who wishes 
 to be found ready will carefully use every means of 
 grace, and particularly the communion of saints, if 
 there be even but two or three in the place where 
 he lives, who may meet together in the name of 
 Christ. Those who willingly relinquish Christian 
 communion are in a backsliding state; those who 
 backslide are in danger of apostasy. To prevent 
 this hitter, the apostle speaks the awful words fol- 
 lowing 
 
 26. For if we sin wilfully — ['E/cowtwc, delib- 
 erately, with forethought, with settled intention, and 
 not by merely sudden and violent impulse or by 
 oversight. — Stuart.] If we deliberatelv, or from 
 
 438 
 
 ceived the knowledge of the truth, there re- 
 maineth no more sacrifice for sins, 27 But a 
 certain fearful looking for of judgment and 
 "fiery indignation, which shall devour the ad- 
 versaries. 2§ " He that despised Moses's law 
 died without mercy r under two or three wit- 
 nesses: 29 « Of how much sorer punishment, 
 suppose ye, shall lie be thought worthy, who 
 
 20, 21. n Ezek. 36. 5: Zeph. 1. IS; 3. *; 2 Thess. 1. 8; chap. 
 
 12. 29. oChap. 2. 2. /. Dent. 17. 2, B; 19. 15; Matt. IS. lrj; 
 
 John 8. 17; 2 Cur. 13. 1. g Chap. 2. 3; 12. 25. 
 
 tiny motive, renounce the profession of the Gospel 
 and the Author of that Gospel, after having received 
 the knowledge of the truth so as to be convinced 
 that Jesus is the promised Messiah, and that he had 
 sprinkled our hearts from an evil conscience, — for 
 such there remaineth no sacrifice for sins ; for as 
 the Jewish sacrifices are abolished, and Jesus being 
 now the only sacrifice which God will accept, those 
 who reject him have none other ; therefore their 
 case ti i iir-t he utterly without remedy. This is the 
 meaning of the apostle, and the case is that of a 
 deliberate apostate — one who has utterly rejected 
 Jesus Christ and his atonement, ami renounced the 
 whole gospel system. It has nothing to do with 
 backsliders in our common use of that term. A man 
 may be overtaken in a fault, and yet neither re- 
 nounce the Gospel nor deny the Lord that bought 
 him. His case is dreary ami dangerous, but it is not 
 hopeless, [if he shall make haste to repent, and 
 seek the renewal of his acceptance ;] no case is hope- 
 less hut that of the persistent apostate; who rejects 
 the Gospel after having been saved by grace, or 
 convinced of the truth. To him there remaineth 
 no more sacrifice for sin ; for there was hut theoNE, 
 Jesus, and this he litis utterly rejected, [Tap 
 dfiapravdvTuv qjiuv, if we be found wilfully sinning, 
 that is, at that day. It is not of an act, nor any 
 number of acts of sin, of which the writer is 
 speaking, which might "be repented of and blotted 
 out, but of a state of sin, in which a man is found 
 when that day shall come; (which day to each one 
 is the end of his probation, and is probably in most 
 cases, at least, the end of his life.) — Alford.] 
 
 •i~,. A certain fearful looking for of judg- 
 ment — [fyoitpa Si rig kudoxy K-jiiceuc, a kind of 
 fearful awaiting of judgment : Tig, » certain, a kind 
 of, is used both to intensify the force of o< 
 ( fearful,) and to render indefinite the form of the 
 anticipated npioeug, [judgment.) In the apostate 
 state the guilty conscience awaits, with painful but 
 undefined forebodings, a fearful doom of destruc- 
 tion, the revelation of the intense and righteous in- 
 dignation of insulted majesty and outraged love. 
 The certainty of that doom, so often declared, is 
 here again affirmed.] And fiery indignation— 
 Km irvpbg ^f/A0Q, a zeal or fervour of fire. [The 
 fire of God's presence identified with himself, . . . 
 the zeal, the fervour, the excandescence of this 
 consuming fire, which awaits the apostate from 
 Christ. — Alford.] 
 
 28. He that despised Moses's law — ' Adsryaag. 
 He that rejected it, threw it aside, and denied its 
 divine authority by presumptuous sinning, died 
 without mercy — without any extenuation or mit- 
 igation of punishment. (Num. xv, 30.) Under 
 two or three witnesses — That is. when convicted 
 by the testimony of two or three respectable wit- 
 nesses. (See Dent, xvii, 6.) 
 
 29. Of how much sorer punishment — Such
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 A. M. 40M. A. D. 63. 
 Year of Rome, Slli. 
 
 hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and 
 r hath counted the blood of the covenant, 
 wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, 
 ■and hath done despite unto the Spirit of 
 grace? 30 For we know him that hath said. 
 'Vengeance belongeth unto me, 1 will recom- 
 pense, saith the Lord. And again, "The Lord 
 
 r\ Cor. II. 29; chap. 13. 20.— 
 — iDeut. 32. 35; Rom. 12. 19. 
 
 -.-.Matt. 12. 31,32: Eph. 4. 30. 
 — ii Deut. 32. 3ti; Psa. 50. 4; 
 
 offences were trifling in comparison of this, ami in 
 justice the punishment should be proportioned to 
 the offence. Trodden under foot the Son of 
 God — Treated him with the utmost contempt and 
 blasphemy. ["Son of God." The higher title of 
 the Mediator of the new covenant is used, to 
 heighten the enormity of the crime. — Alford. The 
 blood of the covenant ... an unholy thing — 
 "The blood of the covenant''' means here the sacri- 
 ficial death of Christ, by which the new covenant 
 between God and man was ratified, sealed, and eon 
 firmed. Ami counting this "unholy," or common, 
 (koivov,) intimates that they expected nothing from 
 it. How near to these persons, and how near to their 
 destruction, do they come in the present day who 
 reject the atoning blood, and say, " that they expect 
 no more benefit from the blood of Christ than they 
 do from that of a cow or a sheep ! " Is not this 
 precisely the crime of which the apostle speaks 
 here, and to which he tells us God would show no 
 mercy? And accounted common (kolvov) the blood 
 of the covenant, alfia rf/r diadqnng, the rluiov alua (the 
 precious blood) of Christ himself, far above all blood 
 of sprinkling under the old covenant. Even that 
 hail hallowing power; how much more this! — Al- 
 f ir</.] Wherewith he was sanctified — ['Ei> <J 
 ijyiaodn. 1) Every soul, purchased by Christ's 
 blood, is thereby devoted to a holy life and to sal- 
 vation. 2) The callings of the word and of the 
 Spirit operate as practical designations of those so 
 called for salvation. 3) In the case of apostates, a 
 real spiritual sanctification had taken place in their 
 inward conversion by regenerating grace.] De- 
 spite unto the Spirit of grace — [Kal to irvEvua 
 rfjg XQ-P IT0 S iwfipiaae. 'Evvftpioac designates the 
 idea of treating with spite, or malignity, or con- 
 tempt ; and is nearly equivalent to KaraTrarijaag, 
 trodden under foot, above. Tli>evua ttjq xapiroc. 
 means, either the gracimis Spirit, or the Spirit who 
 bestows grace, that is, religious, spiritual favours 
 ami gifts. (Comp. 1 Cor. xii, 4-11.) But many 
 commentators interpret nvsvpa ttjc x<*f >IT0C , as 
 meaning simply grace or gospel blessings. But this 
 does not accord with the idiom of our epistle, 
 (comp. vi, 4,) where apostates are described as 
 having been pero]oir -niuarog ayiov, (partakers 
 of the Holy Ghost.) The question, however, 
 whether Trvevfia here means -agent or influence, is 
 not so easily settled; for the sense is good and ap- 
 posite interpreted in either way. I incline to 
 adopt the former meaning. — Stuart.] 
 
 30. Vengeance belongeth unto me — This is 
 the saying of God (Dent, xxxii, 85) in reference to 
 the idolatrous Gentiles, who were the enemies of 
 his people; and is here with propriety applied to 
 apostates, enemies to (or neglecters of) God's ordi- 
 nances, and Christ's ministry and merits, and who 
 must also lie enemies to Christ's people ; and labour 
 for the destruction of them, and the cause in which 
 they are engaged. The Lord shall judge his 
 people — That is, lie shall execute judgment for 
 
 shall judge his people. 31 v It is a fearful 
 thing to fall into the hands of the living God. 
 32 But w call to remembrance the funnel- days, 
 in which, "after ye were illuminated, ye en- 
 dured y a great fight of afflictions ; 33 Partly, 
 whilst ye were made z a gazingstock both by 
 reproaches and afflictions; and partly, whilst 
 
 135. 14. r Luke 12. 5. wGal. 3. 4; 2 John 8. a- Chap. 
 
 6.4. i/Pliil. 1. 29*30; Col. 2. 1. z\ Cor. 4. 9. 
 
 them; for this is evidently the sense in which the 
 word is used in the place from which the apostle 
 ipiotes, (Deut xxxii, 36,) For tin- Lord shall judge 
 his people, and repent himself for hi* servants, when 
 Iveseeth tliat tin ir power is pi me. So God will avenge 
 and vindicate the cause of Christianity by destroy- 
 ing its enemies, as he did in the case of the Jewish 
 people, whom he destroyed from being a nation, 
 and made them a proverb of reproach and monu- 
 ments of his wrathful indignation to the present day. 
 [The word icpivel, here used, may indicate cither the 
 judgment of vindication or id' condemnation, and 
 the general sense of the passage would seem in 
 this case to require the latter sense. The apostates 
 here referred to maybe styled the Lord's people, on 
 account of their peculiar relations to him and his 
 cause. See Alford.] 
 
 31. A fearful thing to fall into the hands of 
 the living God — To "fall into the hands of God" 
 is to fall under his displeasure; and he who lives 
 forever can punish forever. How dreadful to have 
 the displeasure of tin it' nod. almighty Being to rest 
 on the soul forever ! Apostates, and all the perse- 
 cutors and enemies of God's cause and people, may 
 expect the heaviest judgments of an incensed 
 deity; and these not for a time, but through it<r- 
 nity. [Vengeance is a prerogative of the divine- 
 Majesty, which he reserves sacredly to himself. 
 No man, therefore, may presume to execute it upon 
 any offender. But he is careful to assure us that 
 he possesses that prerogative and will certainly ex- 
 ercise it, in righteousness, in his own good time. 
 (See 2 Thess. i, 8.)] 
 
 32. But call to remembrance — It appears 
 from this, and indeed from some part.- of the gos- 
 pel history, that the first believers in Judea were 
 greatly persecuted ; our Lord's crucifixion, Ste- 
 phen's martyrdom, the persecution that arose after 
 the death of Stephen, (Acts viii, 1,) Herod's perse- 
 cution, (Acts xii, 1,) in which James was killed, and 
 the various persecutions of St. Paul, sufficiently 
 show that this disposition was predominant among 
 that bad people. After ye -were illuminated 
 — [4>wr/o:ft'tT(f, having been enlightened^ denotes 
 conversion to Christianity as a translation from the 
 power of darkness into the realm of light; (after 
 ye were converted, or became Christians.) — .)/><// in 
 Lange.] A great fight of afflictions — Roaat/v 
 iiii'/ ijmv TvaOy/pavuv, a great combat or contention of 
 sufferings. Possibly an allusion to the combats 
 of the gladiators at the public spectacles; and 
 certainly an intimation how honourable it was to 
 contend for the faith once delivered to the saints, 
 and to overcome through the blood of the Lamb. 
 
 33. Ye were made a gazingstock — Qearpi- 
 %6uevoi; ye were exhibited as wild beasts and 
 other shows at the theatres. (See on 1 Cor. iv, 9.) 
 Companions of them that -were so used — It 
 appears from 1 Thess. ii, 14, 15, that the Churches 
 of God in Judea were greatly persecuted, and that 
 they behaved with courage and constancy in their 
 
 439
 
 HEBREWS. 
 
 Paul commends tlieir benevolence, 
 exhorts to patience and stability. 
 
 "ye became companions of them that were so 
 used. 34 For ye had compassion of me 'in my 
 bonds, and c took joyfully the spoiling of your 
 goods, knowing d in yourselves that e ye have 
 in heaven a better and an enduring substance. 
 35 Cast not away therefore your confidence, 
 'which hath great recompense of reward. 
 3(i -For ye have need of patience, that, after 
 
 a Phil. 1. 7; 4. 14: 1 Thess. 2. 14. frPhil. 1. 7: 2 Tim. 1. IB. 
 
 cMatt. 5. 12; Actso. 11: James 1. 2. — (I Or, that ye luive 
 
 hi l/oumelvex, in - , for i/iui /■*, / r.'s. cMatt. tj. 20; 19. 21; 
 
 Luke 12. 3:1; 1 Tim. 6. 19. /Matt. 5. 12; 10. 32. 
 
 persecutions. When any victim of persecuting 
 rage was marked out, the rest were prompt to take 
 his part, and acknowledge themselves believers in 
 the same doctrine for which he suffered. 
 
 34. Ye had compassion of me in my bonds 
 — "ZvvEKoBfjaaTe, ye sympathized with me, when 
 bound for the testimony of Jesus. This may refer 
 to the sympathy they showed toward him, and the 
 help they afforded him during his long imprison- 
 ment in Cesarea and Jerusalem. But instead of 
 Tolg SesuoIq fiov, my bond*, role dso/iioig, the prison- 
 ers, is the reading now generally received, which 
 shows that there had been, and perhaps were then, 
 several bound for the testimony of Jesus, and that 
 the Church in Judea had shown its attachment to 
 Christ by openly acknowledging these prisoners, 
 and ministering to them. [This reading takes 
 away one of the supposed evidences of the Pauline 
 authorship of this epistle.] Took joyfully the 
 spoiling of your goods — They were deprived 
 of their inheritances, turned out of their houses, 
 and plundered of their goods; they wandered about 
 in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, af- 
 flicted, tormented. (Chapter xi, 37.) To suffer 
 such persecution patiently was great ; to endure it 
 without a murmur was greater; to rejoice in it was 
 greatest of all. But how could they do all this ? 
 The next clause informs us. Knowing in your- 
 selves — They had the fullest evidence that 
 they were the children of God, the Spirit itself 
 bearing this witness to their spirits ; and if chil- 
 drt a then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with 
 Christ. They knew that heaven was their portion, 
 and that to it they had a sure right and indefeas- 
 ible title by Jesus Christ. This accounts, and this 
 alone can account, for their inking joyfully the 
 spoiling of their goods; they had Christ in their 
 hearts; they knew that they were his children, and 
 that they had a kingdom, but that kingdom was 
 not of this world. 
 
 35. Cast not away therefore your confi- 
 dence — T;)y irappyaiav v/jcjv, your liberty of access 
 to God ; your title and right to approach his throne. 
 Do not then throw away, /'/} cnrojia'kriTE, so great a 
 privilege; neither men nor devils can take it from 
 you, and God will never deprive you of it if you 
 continue faithful. There may be a reference here 
 to cowardly soldiers, who throw away their shields, 
 and run away from the battle. Which hath (both 
 present and in reversion) great recompense of 
 reward — Now God's continual approbation and the 
 peace that passeth all understanding ruling the 
 heart here; and in the future, the glories of heaven 
 as an eternal portion. Conscientiously keep the 
 shield, and all these shall be thine. This will be 
 thy reward; but remember that it is the mercy of 
 God that gives it, and your faith that keeps it. 
 
 36. Ye have need of patience — ^Yirouovijg, 
 a spirit of steadfast endurance."\ Having so great 
 
 440 
 
 ye have done the will of God, h ye might receive 
 the promise. 37 For 'yet a little while, and 
 -lie that shall come will come, and will not 
 tarry. 38 Now 'the just shall live by faith: 
 but if any man draw back, my soul shall have 
 no pleasure in him. 39 But we are not of 
 them '"who draw back unto perdition ; but of 
 them that "believe to the saving of the soul. 
 
 g Luke 21 
 
 19; 
 
 Gal. 
 
 fi. 9 
 
 ; chai> 
 
 . 12. 
 
 1 
 
 
 h Co] 
 
 3. 24 
 
 
 
 ia| 
 
 . 9 
 
 15; 1 I'.-t. 1. 
 
 9.— 
 
 —i Li 
 
 ,ke 
 
 s 8; '. 
 
 Pel 
 
 8 
 
 '.< 
 
 k- 
 
 llab. L 
 
 .8 
 
 4 - 
 
 - 
 
 /Rom. 1. 17 
 
 ; (1: 
 
 1. ■■'■ 
 
 11 - 
 
 — m 2 
 
 Pet, 
 
 i. 
 
 2(1 
 
 21 - 
 
 — n Acts 
 
 16. 
 
 30, 
 
 ;;i ; 1 Thess. 
 
 :,. y 
 
 2T 
 
 iess 
 
 2. 14. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 a fight of sufferings to pass through, and they of so 
 long continuance. Have done the will of God 
 — By keeping the faith, and patiently suffering for 
 it. 
 
 37. For yet a little while — *Eti yap u/Kpbv 
 boov,for yet a very little time. In a very short 
 space of time the Messiah will come and execute 
 judgment upon your rebellious country. This is 
 determined, because they have filled up the measure 
 of their iniquity, and their destruction slumbereth 
 not. The apostle seems to refer to Hab. ii, 3, 4, 
 and accommodates the words to his own purpose. 
 [The immediate reference is clearly to the then 
 nearly approaching destruction of Jerusalem, and 
 the complete subversion of the Jewish State and 
 Church; in a more general sense it is universally 
 applicable in human affairs. God will avenge 
 " his own elect," speedily. Here is certainly no 
 reference to what is called the Second Advent.] 
 
 38. Now the just (my just one) shall live by 
 faith — '0 fV fiiKdior [//or] ek k'loteuc 0/i7fT«/, but the 
 just liy faith, that is, he who is justified by faith, 
 shall lire — shall be preserved when this overflow- 
 ing scourge shall come. [ILor/r, {faith.) like its 
 English equivalent, has two distinct though closely 
 related meanings : first, its usual evangelical sense, 
 lnVuf. (in the special New Testament sense ;) and, 
 second, a moral or ethical sense, equivalent to 
 faithfulness or fidelity. Here the latter sense 
 seems to be the ruling one, (not, however, entirely 
 excluding the former one,) since fidelity to their 
 Christian calling is the thing specially insisted 
 upon, and is placed in contrast with drawing 
 back.] But if any man drawback — Kal lav 
 vTToaTEihfrai, but if he draw back; he, the man who 
 is justified by faith, (or lias hitherto been faith- 
 ful ;) for it is of him, and none other, that the text 
 speaks. The insertion of the words "any man " is 
 a perversion of the plain sense of the original. My 
 soul shall have no pleasure in him — My very 
 heart shall be opposed to him who makes ship- 
 wreck of faith ami a good conscience. The word 
 vrcoGTE-TikEiv signifies, not only to "draw back," but 
 to slink away and hide through fear. As dastards 
 and cowards are hated by all men, so those that 
 slink away from Christ and his cause for fear of 
 persecution or secular loss, God must despise ; in 
 them he cannot delight ; and his Spirit, grieved 
 with their conduct, must desert tlieir hearts, and 
 leave them to darkness and hardness. 
 
 39. But we are not of them -who draw back 
 O'vk inuiv viroaro7\Jjr . . . a/ja wiarsag. "We are 
 not the cowards, but the courageous." I have no 
 doubt of this being the meaning of the apostle, 
 and the form of speech requires such a translation ; 
 it occurs more than once in the New Testament. 
 So, Gal. iii, 7, Ol ek k'igteuq, they who are of the 
 faith, rather, the faithful, the believers ; Rom. iii, 
 26, '0 ek ttigteuc, the believer ; Rom. ii, 8, 01 e£
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 A. M. 40R7. A. l\ 63. 
 Year of Rome, 816. 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 NOW faith is the a substance of things hoped 
 for, the evidence b of things not seen. 
 ii For c by it the elders obtained a good re- 
 port. 3 Through faith we understand that 
 
 a Or, gronntl, or, confidence. 6 Rom. 8.2-1,25; 2 Cor. 4. 18; 
 
 5. 7. c Verse 39. 
 
 iptdiac, the contentious; in all which places the 
 learned reader will find that the form of speech is 
 the same. We are not cowards who slink away, 
 and, notwithstanding, meet destruction ; but we are 
 faithful, and have our souls saved alive. The words 
 TTtiii-oiiiaiv ipvxVS signify the preservation of the 
 life. (See Eph. i, 14.) He intimates that, not- 
 withstanding the persecution was hot, yet they 
 should escape with their lives. [The soul ('/''M'/) 
 is the subject of life and salvation. Faith saves 
 the soul by linking it to God, the living One. The 
 unbelieving man loses his soul; for, not being 
 God's, neither is he his own ; all that his person- 
 ality has in itself and around itself is fallen under 
 wrath and the power of wrath. — Deiitzschf] 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER XI. 
 1. Faith is the substance of things hoped 
 for — [The faith here brought into view, and ad- 
 verted to throughout chapter xi, is not specifically 
 that which theologians call saving fait]),, as is seen 
 by the examples subjoined. It is belief or confi- 
 dence generally in divine declarations of whatever 
 nature, either of the past or the future. ... It- 
 is confidence in God, and therefore the writer ex- 
 cites the Hebrews to persevere in their Christian 
 faith by the examples of the ancient worthies. 
 See Stuart.] "Ecrrw 6s Triorig kAnt^ofievuv virooTa- 
 cig, faith is the subsistence of things hoped for ; 
 irpaygaruv kAsyxoc ov jiAeirofiivuv, the demonstra- 
 tion of things not seen. The word v~6aTaaiQ, which 
 we translate "substance," signifies subsistence, (sub- 
 structure,) that which becomes a foundation for 
 another thing to stand on. And eAeyxog signifies 
 such a conviction as is produced in the mind 
 by the demonstration of a problem, after which 
 demonstration no doubt can remain, because we 
 see from it that the thing is; that it cannot 
 but be ; and that it cannot be otherwise than 
 as it is and is proved to be. Such is the 
 faith by which the soul is justified ; or, rather, 
 such are the effects of justifying faith ; on it sub- 
 sists the peace of God which passeth all under- 
 standing; and the love of God is shed abroad in 
 the heart where it lives by the Holy Ghost. [The 
 faith here described by its direct results is essen- 
 tially the subjective state of the spiritual man when 
 truly quickened and illuminated by the Holy Spirit. 
 Then the objects of the soul's hopes, which to natural 
 reason rest on a shadowy basis, are seen to be 
 built upon a sure foundation ; the unseen things of 
 the spirit world are made known, beyond the pos- 
 sibility of doubt, to the interior consciousness.] 
 Things hoped for— [The things future which are 
 the objects of " hope," (of which are the rewards be- 
 fore spoken of.)] Things not seen — [The whole 
 spiritual world, the supernatural, which is unseen 
 alike by sense and reason.] [As far as the sense is 
 concerned both (these clauses) come to the same in 
 the end. It is faith — an act of the mind — which is 
 this demonstration; it is therefore subjective in its 
 effect — is the demonstration to him that believes of 
 matters not seen. — A/ford] 
 
 d the worlds were framed by the word of God, 
 so that things which are seen were not made 
 of things which do appear. 4 By faith ''Abel 
 offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice 
 than Cain, by which be obtained witness that 
 
 <<Gen. I. 1; Psa. 33. «: John 1. 3; chap. 1. 2; 2 Pet. 3. 5.- 
 «Gen. 4. 4; 1 John 3. 12. 
 
 [Faith lends its realizing light, 
 
 . . . Ihe invisible appears in sight.] 
 
 2. For by it the elders obtained a good 
 report — By the "elders" are meant ancestors, 
 forefathers, such as the patriarchs and prophets, 
 several of whom are afterward particularly named, 
 and some facts produced from the history of 
 their lives. [Because of their faith the elders be- 
 canii renowned] The word hiap-vpi'/drjoav, which 
 we translate "obtained a good report," literally 
 signifies, were witnessed of; and thus leads us nat- 
 urally to God, who by his word, as the succeeding 
 parts of the chapter show, bore testimony to the 
 faith and holiness of his servants. The apostle 
 does not mention one of whom an account is not 
 given in the Old Testament. This, therefore, is 
 God's witness or testimony concerning them. 
 
 3. Through faith we understand . . . the 
 worlds were framed— [Our minds accept the 
 fact as true. — Cowles.~\ By "worlds," tovq aluvag, 
 we are to understand the material fabric of the 
 universe; for a\uv can have no reference hereto 
 age, or any measurement of time, for the writer 
 speaks of the things which are seen not being mode 
 out of the tilings which do appear ; this, therefore, 
 must refer to the material creation ; and as the 
 word is used in the plural number, it may compre- 
 hend not only the earth and visible heavens, but 
 the whole planetary system ; the different worlds 
 winch, in our system at least, revolve around the 
 sun. " Were framed." — Karripriadai. This Greek 
 word signifies set in order, rather than brought 
 into being from no preexisting matter. — Cowles.] 
 [Nothing can be legitimately decided from this pas- 
 sage on either side of the question of the creation 
 of the material universe, whether from preexisting 
 materials or by an original act of creation at this 
 point of time. It simply asserts that the existing 
 ii/i.inr, universe, came into being from the "un- 
 seen " chaos, or nonexistence] 
 
 4. By faith Abel offered ... a more ex- 
 cellent sacrifice — Il/.eiora dvaiav; more sacri- 
 fice; as if he had said : Abel, by faith, made more 
 than one offering ; and hence it is said, God testi- 
 fied of his GIFTS, voir dupotc. The plain state of 
 the case seems to have been this : Cain and Abel 
 both brought offerings to the altar of God, prob- 
 ably tin.' altar erected for ihe family worship. As 
 Cain was a husbandman, he brought a mincha, or 
 eucharistic offering, of the fruits of the ground, by 
 which he acknowledged the being and providence 
 of God. Abel, being a slicpherd, or a feeder of 
 cattle, brought not only the eucharistic offering, but 
 also of the produce of his flock as a sin offering to 
 God, by which he acknowledged his own sinfulness, 
 God's justice and mercy, us well as his being and 
 providence. Cain, not at all apprehensive of the 
 demerit of sin, or God's holiness, contented him- 
 self with the mincha, ov thank offering : this God 
 could not, consistently with his holiness and jus- 
 tice, receive with complacency; the other, as re- 
 ferring to Him who was the Lamb slain from the 
 foundation of the world, God could receive, and of 
 
 441
 
 A. M. 4067. A. D. 63. 
 Year of Rome, 816. 
 
 HEBREWS. 
 
 The faith of Abel, of Enoch, and 
 of i\oah illustrated. 
 
 he was righteous, God testifying of his- gifts: 
 and by it he being dead ' '&yet speaketh. 5 By 
 faith b Enoch was translated that he should not 
 see death; and was not found, because God 
 had translated him : for before Ids translation 
 he had this testimony, that he pleased God. 
 6 But without faith it is impossible to please 
 Mm : for he that cometh to God must believe 
 that he is, and that he is a re warder of them 
 
 /Gen. 4. 10; Matt. 23. 35; chap. 12. 24. ^Or. is vet&poken 
 
 of. A Gen. 5. 22, 24. i Gen. t>. 13, 22. 
 
 it did particularly testify his approbation. [The 
 greater excellence of Abel's offering was not in his 
 " faith," but in the kind of offering (dvaia) which his 
 " faith " taught him to make, which faith was dis- 
 tinctively obedient to God's revealed will. The in- 
 stitution of sacrifice was already an established ordi- 
 nance in the family of Adam, which affords a strong 
 presumption that it had been appointed by God 
 himself very soon after the first transgression, and 
 in connexion with the earliest promise of a Sav- 
 iour who should redeem by suffering, of which the 
 bloody sacrifice was the divinely appointed type and 
 prophecy. Hence the superiority of Abel's offer- 
 ing of " the firstling of his flock " over Cain's 
 " fruit of the ground " (Gen. iv, 3, 4) consisted, 
 1) in its conformity to God's appointment; 2) its 
 confession of sin; and, 3) its apprehension (dis- 
 tant and dimly, indeed, but still really) of a suffer- 
 ing and atoning Lamb of God.] [By which he 
 obtained witness that he was righteous — W //<; 
 tiiapTvprjOn elvat SinaLog ; through (not />//) which, that 
 is, through Ins faith as an intermediary. " Obtained 
 witness " — was witnessed — (declared) to be, that is, 
 by <i"'l himself, as shown in the next clause. Most 
 probably it was by fire sent from heaven, which 
 consumed the sacrifice. (See Gen. xv, 17 ; Lev. 
 ix, '24, etc.) — Stuart.~] " Righteous," Sinaioc, not in 
 himself, for he confessed himself a sinner by mak- 
 ing a sin offering, but justified hg God through 
 Christ, of whose offering of himself for the sin of 
 the world Abel's offering was a type, and his faith 
 the ordained condition of its effective action. [Kai 
 rty aVTfjr OKodavbv etc ?M%£~i, mid through this he, be- 
 ing dead, //< / spi aks. The form of expression seems 
 to be borrowed from the thought in Gen. iv, 10, 
 (where Abel's blood is said to speak from the 
 ground,) for here the faith of Abel makes him 
 speak after death to those that should come after 
 him. . . . Iiis example of faith (with its results) 
 affords admonition and instruction to succeeding 
 ages, (pointing out the way of salvation by faith.) 
 
 Stuart.] 
 
 5. By faith Enoch was translated — It is 
 said, in Gen. v, 24, that Enoch walked with God, 
 and "he was not, for God took him." Here the 
 apostle explains what God's taking him means, by 
 saying that he "was translated " that he should 
 not see death; from which we learn that he did 
 not die, and that God took him to a state of blessed- 
 ness without obliging him to pass through death. 
 [The original, (iien. v, 21,) says nothing respecting 
 the point whether Enoch was translated alive or 
 after death. Kal ovx r/bpianeTO (he was not found) 
 is the Septuagint Version. The idea of both is 
 simply that he was no more extant among men. 
 But all the Targumists understand Enoch to have 
 
 1 U translated without dying. So probably the 
 
 son of Sirach. (Chapter xlix, 14.) Rosenmiiller 
 supposes that the apostle, in his account of Enoch's 
 442 
 
 that diligently seek him. 7 By faith 'Noah, 
 being warned of God of things not seen as 
 yet, k moved with fear, ' prepared an ark to 
 the saving of his house; by the whioh lie 
 condemned the world, and became heir of 
 '"the righteousness which is by faith. 8 By 
 faith "Abraham, when he was called to go 
 out into a place which he should after re- 
 ceive for an inheritance, obeyed ; and lie went 
 
 A' Or, leino wary. 11 Pet. 3. 20. n, Rom. 3. 22; 4. 13; 
 
 1'liil. o. y. u Gen. 12. 1, 4; Acts 7. 2, 3, 4. 
 
 removal, has accommodated himself to the Jewish 
 traditionary opinions, but the opinion that he did 
 not die is not contrary to the original account. 
 See Stuart.] 
 
 6. He that cometh to God — To worship God 
 implies the conviction that there is such a Being, 
 by whose energy, bounty, and providence all other 
 beings exist, and that he rewards them that dili- 
 gently seek him ; that he is not indifferent about his 
 own worship ; and that he especially protects and 
 saves those who in simplicity and uprightness of 
 heart seek and serve him. This requires faith, 
 — such a faith as is mentioned above; a faith by 
 which we can please God ; and now that we have 
 an abundant revelation, a faith according to that 
 revelation ; a faith in God through Christ the great 
 sin offering, without which a man can no more 
 please him, or be accepted of him, than Cain was. 
 [In this statement the essential points of an ac- 
 ceptable creed are reduced to a minimum. They 
 cannot be made less. This creed has nothing su- 
 perfluous ; not a doctrine, however minute, can be 
 spared. Many creeds embrace more than this. In 
 the nature of the ease none can possibly have less, 
 and yet lay any foundation for a faith that pleases 
 God and that can save men's souls. — CowlesJ] 
 [" Enoch walked with. God " — which implies that 
 he both came to God and received intimation of 
 God's favour — and since this could not be unless he 
 believed in both the being of God and his placa- 
 bility and benevolence, it is plain that Enoch had 
 faith in God, and that through its influence in his 
 life and actions he was able to serve Cod accept- 
 ably.] 
 
 *7. By faith Noah— See the whole of this his- 
 tory, Gen. vi, 13. Warned of God — Xpngartcr- 
 Otir. In this sense the word is used in various 
 parts of the New Testament; it signifies to ntter 
 oracles, to give divine warning. Moved with 
 fear — T.'v'/a.-jiiVtic; influenced by religious fear, or 
 reverence toward God. This is mentioned to show 
 that he acted not froni a fear of losing his life, but 
 from the fear of God ; and hence that fear is here 
 properly attributed to faith. He condemned the 
 world — He credited God, they did not ; he walked 
 in the way God had commanded, they did not ; he 
 repeatedly admonished them, (1 Pet. iii, 20,) they 
 regarded it not; this aggravated their crimes, while 
 it exalted his faith and righteousness. "His faith 
 and obedience condemned the world, that is, the 
 unbelievers, in the same sense in which every good 
 man's virtues and exhortations condemn such as 
 will not attend to and imitate them." — Dodd. Be- 
 came heir of the righteousness — [Noah was de- 
 clared to be a. just man, (Gen. vi, 9, and vii, I,) and 
 his whole history shows that he had abiding faith 
 in God's word, from which it is inferred that he 
 presents an example of the righteousness of faith.] 
 
 8. Abraham, when he was called — See Gen.
 
 CHAPTER XT. 
 
 A. M. «06T. A. D. 63. 
 Ve:ir of Rome, 816. 
 
 out, not knowing whither he went. By 
 faith he sojourned in the land of promise, 
 as in a strange country, "dwelling in taber- 
 nacles with [saac and Jacob, ''the heirs with 
 him of the same promise: 10 For lie looked 
 for 'i a city which hath foundations, r whose 
 builder and maker is God. II Through faith 
 also ' Sarah herself received strength to con- 
 ceive seed, and 'was delivered of a child when 
 she was past age, because she judged him "faith- 
 ful who had promised. 12 Therefore sprang 
 there even of one, ami > him as good as dead. " so 
 ninny as the stars of the sky in multitude, and 
 
 oiieu 12. 8; 13. 3, 1^; 18. 1, 9. p Chap. ti. 17- r/Chap. 
 
 12.22; 13. 14. >'C .3. 4: Rev. 21. 2, in. — gfien. 17. 19; 
 
 IS 11, 14: 21. 2. /See Luke 1. :n;. fRoin. 4. 21; cbiip. 
 
 10. 23. — r K"tn. 4. 19. — MiGeu. 22. 17: Rom. 4. 18. 
 
 xii, 1-4. Abraham's obedience afforded proof of 
 the completeness of his faith. Not knowing 
 ■whither he went — He obeyed, and went out from 
 his own country, having no other assurance of suc- 
 cess hut what his implicit faith led him to expect 
 from God, as tltc rewarder of them that diligently. 
 seek him. In all the preceding cases, ami in all 
 that follow, the apostle keeps this maxim fully in 
 view. 
 
 9. By faith he sojourned in the land of 
 promise — It is remarkable that Abraham did not 
 acquire any right in Canaan, except that of a bury- 
 ing place; nor did he build any house in it; his 
 faith showed him that it was only a type and 
 pledge of a better country, and he kept that better 
 country continually in view; he, with Isaac and 
 Jacob, who were heirs of the same promise, were 
 contented to dwell in tents, without any fixed habi- 
 tation. 
 
 10. For he looked for a city which hath 
 foundations — He knew that earth could afford no 
 permanent residence for an immortal soul, and he 
 looked for that heavenly building of which God is 
 the architect and owner; in a word, he lost sight 
 of earth that he might keep heaven in view. And 
 all who are partakers of his faith possess the same 
 spirit, walk by the same rule, and mind the same 
 thing. Whose builder and maker is God — The 
 word TEXViTqg signifies an architect, one who plans, 
 calculates, and constructs a building. The word 
 Sq/itovpybc signifies the governor of a people; one 
 who forms them by institutions and laws; the 
 framer of a political constitution. God is here rep- 
 resented to be the Maker or Father of all the 
 heavenly inhabitants, and the planner of their 
 citizenship in that heavenly country. See Mac- 
 knight. 
 
 11. Through faith also Sarah — Her history, as 
 far as the event here is concerned, may be seen 
 Gen. xvii, 19, and xxi, 2. Sarah at Hist treated the 
 divine message with ridicule, judging it to be abso- 
 lutely impossible, not knowing then that it was 
 from God; and this her age and circumstances 
 justified, for, humanly speaking, such an event was 
 impossible; but, when she knew that it was God 
 who said this, it does not appear that she doubted 
 any more, but. implicitly believed that what God 
 had promised he was able to perforin. 
 
 12. Him as good as dead — According to na- 
 ture, long past the time of the procreation of chil- 
 dren. The birth of Isaac, the circumstances of the 
 father and mother considered, was entirely super- 
 natural; anil the people who proceeded from this 
 birth were a supernatural people ; and were and 
 
 as the sand which is by the seashore innumer- 
 able. I '. These all died "in faith, y not having 
 received the promises, but 'having seen them 
 afar off, and were persuaded of them, and 
 embraced them, and "confessed that they were 
 strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 1-1 For 
 they thai say such things ''declare plainly that 
 they seek a country. 15 And truly, if they 
 had been mindful (f that country from whence 
 they came out. they might have had oppor- 
 tunity to have returned. 16 Hut now they 
 desire a better country, that is. a heavenly: 
 wherefore God is not ashamed c to he called 
 
 x Ri. according to faith. 
 
 John s. 56, <i (Jen. 23. 4 ; 47 
 
 119. 19; 1 1'et. 1. 17: 2. 11.- 
 6, 15; .Mutt. 22. :12; Acts 7. 32. 
 
 — a Verse 39. e Verse 27 : 
 
 9; i i in-.. ii. 29 15; Psa. 39. 12; 
 -//Chap. 13. 14. cKxod. o. 
 
 are most strikingly singular through every period 
 of their history to the present day. 
 
 13. These all died in faith— That is, Abraham, 
 Sarah, Isaac, and Jacob continued to believe, to 
 the end of their lives, that (Sod would fulfil this prom- 
 ise ; but they neither saw the numerous seed nor did 
 the\ get the promised rest in Canaan. Strangers 
 and pilgrims — Strangers, tjevoi, persons who are 
 out of their own country, who are in a foreign land : 
 pilgrims, jrapeiridn/xoi, {alien residents.) sojourners 
 only for a time; not intending to take up their 
 abode in that place, nor to get naturalized in that 
 country. [The religions idea commonly attached 
 to the word " pilgrim " is not found in the original.] 
 
 14. Declare plainly that they seek a coun- 
 try — A man's "country" is that in which he has 
 constitutional rights and privileges; no stranger or 
 sojourner has any such rights in the country where 
 he sojourns. These, by declaring that they felt 
 themselves strangers and sojourners, professed 
 their faith in a heavenly country ami state, and 
 looked beyond the grave for a place of happiness. 
 No (spiritually) intelligent Jew could suppose that 
 Canaan was all the rest which God had promised to 
 his people. 
 
 15. If they had been mindful of that coun- 
 try — They considered their right to the promises 
 of God as dependent on their utter renunciation of 
 Chaldea; and it was this that induced Abraham to 
 cause his steward Eliezer to swear that he would 
 not carry his son Isaac to Chaldea. (Sic Gen. 
 xxiv, 5-8.) There idolatry reigned; and God had 
 called them to be the patriarchs and progenitors of 
 a people among whom the knowledge of the true God, 
 and the worship required by him, should be estab- 
 lished and preserved. 
 
 Ii'.. But now they desire a better — They all 
 expected spiritual blessings, and a lieavenly in/terit- 
 ance : they sought God as their portion, and in such 
 a way and on such principles that he is not ashamed 
 to be called their '>'<»/ ,• and he shows his affection 
 for them by preparing for them a city, to wit, 
 heaven, as themselves [because of their faith in 
 him] would seek no city on earth. And from this 
 it is evident that the patriarchs had a prober notion 
 of tin- immortality of the soul, ami expected a place 
 of residence widely different from Canaan. Though 
 to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob the promises were 
 made in which Canaan was so particularly included, 
 yet God did not give them any inheritance in that 
 country, no, not s<> much as to set a foot on. (Acts 
 vii, 5.) Therefore, if they had not understood the 
 promises to belong to spiritual tilings, far from 
 enduring as seeing Him who is invisible, they 
 
 443
 
 1. M. 4061. A. D. 63. 
 Year of Rome, 816. 
 
 HEBREWS. 
 
 The faith of Ahraham, Isaac, Jacob, 
 Mi bet, in God's promises. 
 
 their God: for d he hath prepared for them a 
 city. 17 By faith e Abraham, when lie was 
 tried, offered up Isaac: and lie that had re- 
 ceived the promises ' offered up his only be- 
 gotten son, 18 e Of whom it was said, h That 
 in Isaac shall thy seed be called : 19 Ac- 
 counting that God ' was able to raise him up, 
 even from the dead; from whence also he re- 
 ceived him in a figure. 20 By faith k Isaac 
 blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to 
 come. 21 By faith Jacob, when he was a 
 
 <1 Phi!. 3. 20: chap. 13. 14. e Gen. 22. 1, 9. J James 2. 21. 
 
 <7<Dr, To. /(.(ien. 21. 12; Horn. 9. 7. i Horn. 4. 17, 
 
 19, 21. A: Gen. 27. 27, 39. 1 Gen. 48. 5, lti, 20. 
 
 must have considered themselves deceived and 
 mocked. The apostle therefore, with the highest 
 propriety, attributes their whole conduct and ex- 
 pectation to faith. 
 
 17. Abraham, when he was tried — See on 
 Gen. xxii, 1-9. Offered up his only begotten — 
 Abraham did, in effect, offer up Isaac ; he built an 
 altar, bound his son, laid him upon the altar, had 
 ready the incense, took the kuife, and would im- 
 mediately have slain him had he not been prevented 
 by the same authority by which the sacrifice was 
 enjoined. Isaac is here called his "only begotten," 
 as he was the only son he had by his legitimate 
 wife, who was heir to his property, and heir of the 
 promises of God. The man who proved faithful in 
 such a trial deserved to have his faith and obe- 
 dience recorded throughout the world. 
 
 18. In (after) Isaac shall thy seed be called 
 — [Neither Ishmael nor the sons of Abraham by 
 Keturah could be progenitors of the promised off- 
 spring, and give name to them. — Stuart.] 
 
 19. To raise him up, even from the dead — 
 Abraham staggered not at the promise through un- 
 belief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God. 
 The resurrection of the dead (that is, life after 
 death) must have been a doctrine of the patriarchs ; 
 they expected a heavenly inheritance, they saw they 
 died as did other men, and they must have known 
 that they could not enjoy it but in consequence of 
 a resurrection from the dead. He received him 
 in a figure — 'Ey TrapaSo'Aij. [Comparatively, (in a 
 figure, as it were.) It may be made a question 
 whether inou'icaro (" he received ") refers here to 
 Abraham's having obtained Isaac from the altar oi 
 burnt offering, where lie was, as it were, dead ; or 
 whether the word referred to Abraham's having 
 originally obtained him, namely, at his birth. (See 
 verse 12.) It may be applied to either, but the 
 latter is far more significant, and accords alto- 
 gether with the context. — Stuart] This clause 
 may be thus translated: "Accounting that God 
 was able to raise him up from the dead, from 
 whence he had received him, after he had been de- 
 voted to death." It is not, therefore, the natural 
 deadncss of Abraham and Sarah to which the 
 apostle alludes, but the death to which Isaac on 
 this occasion was devoted, and which he escaped 
 by the immediate interference of God. 
 
 20. By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau 
 — He believed that God would fulfil his promise to 
 his posterity ; and God gave him to see what would 
 befall them in their future generations. The 
 apostle does not seem to intimate that one should 
 be an object of the divine hatred and the other of 
 divine love, in reference to their eternal states. 
 [Jacob is named before Esau as the worthier and 
 
 444 
 
 dying, ' blessed both the sons of Joseph ; and 
 m worshipped, leaning upon the top of ids staff. 
 22 By faith "Joseph, when he died, "made 
 mention of the departing of the children of 
 Israel; and gave commandment concerning his 
 bones. 23 By faith r Muses, when he was 
 born, was bid three months of bis parents, be- 
 cause they saw he was a proper child; and 
 they were not afraid of the king's *• command- 
 ment. 24 By faith ' Moses, when he was 
 come to years, refused to be called the son of 
 
 m Gen. 47. 31. n Gen. 50. 21, 25; 
 
 remembered. — p Exod. 2. 2; Acts 7 
 rExod. 2. 10, 11. 
 
 Exod. 13. 19. oOr, 
 
 20. ffExod. 1. Hi. 22. 
 
 more important in the theocratic sense ; perhaps, 
 also, as having gained the greater portion of the 
 blessing. — Alford.] (See Gen. xxvii.) 
 
 21. Blessed both the sons of Joseph — That 
 is, Ephraim and Manasseh. (See Gen. xlviii, 5, 
 etc.) [The blessing of the two sons of Joseph 
 (and also their adoption by their grandfather as his 
 own sons) was prophetic, but those prophetic vis- 
 ions rested on his faith in God. — Cowles.] Wor- 
 shipped, leaning upon the top of his staff — 
 (Sir (ien. xlvii, 3l.) It appears that at the time 
 Joseph visited his father Jacob was very weak, 
 and generally confined to his couch, having at hand 
 his "staff;" either that with which he. usually 
 supported his feeble bod}', or that which was the 
 ensign of his office, as patriarch or chief ol a very 
 numerous family. It is said (Gen. xlviii, 2) that 
 when Joseph came to see his father Jacob, who 
 was then in his last sickness, Israel strengthened 
 himself and sat upon tlu bed. Still, I conceive, he 
 had his staff or sceptre at hand; and while sitting 
 upon the bed, [or couch,] with Ids feet upon the 
 floor, he supported himself with his staff. When 
 Joseph sware to him that he should be carried up 
 from Egypt, he bowed himself on his bed's head, 
 still supporting himself with his staff, which prob- 
 ably with this last act he laid aside, gathered up his 
 Jut. and reclined wholly on his couch. It was 
 therefore indifferent to say that he worshipped, or 
 bowed himself, on his staff or on his bed's head. 
 [Jlpoai KvvrjCE designates, as it would seem, the act 
 of worship or reverence paid to God, and occa- 
 sioned by the grateful emotions of the dying pa- 
 triarch on account of the promise which his son 
 Joseph had just made, to bury him with his fathers. 
 — Stuart.] 
 
 22. Joseph, when he died — TeTLewrav, [dying, ] 
 when he was dying, gave commandment concerning 
 his bones. (See Gen. 1, 23.) [Even Joseph, who 
 had attained such eminence and power in Egypt, 
 did not account it his country, but in faith spoke of 
 the promise of God as certain, (Gen. 1, 24,) and 
 realized it so as to enjoin the removal of his own 
 remains when it should come to pass. — Alford.] 
 
 23. By faith Moses . . . was hid ... of his 
 parents — See Exodus ii, 2 ; Acts vii, 20. [Their 
 faith was loving trust in God, who had given them 
 so fair a child, which led them to perform as far as 
 in them lay the duties of parents to it, and not the 
 cruel part which the tyrant prescribed. — Alford.] 
 
 24. Moses . . . refused — Moses was bred up at 
 the Egyptian court, and there was considered to be 
 the son of Pharaoh's daughter; and probably might 
 have succeeded to the throne of Egypt; but, find- 
 ing that God had visited his people, and given 
 them a promise of spiritual and eternal blessings,
 
 Faith of Moses shown in lii« preferring 
 spiritual good to temporal. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 A. :.i. 4067. A.D. 63. 
 Year of Rome, 816. 
 
 Pharaoh's daughter ; 25 5 Choosing rather to 
 suffer affliction with the people of God, than 
 to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season : 
 2o Esteeming ' the reproach u of Christ greater 
 riches than the treasures in Egypt : for he had 
 respect unto v the recompense of the reward. 
 27 By faith w he forsook Egypt, not fearing 
 the wrath of the king: for he endured, as 
 "seeing him who is invisihle. 2S Through 
 
 »Psa. 81. 10. <Chap. 13. 13. u Or, for Christ. 
 
 rChap. 10. 35. toExod. 10. 28,29; 12. 37; 13. 17, 18. 
 
 .i- \ erse 13. 
 
 he chose rather to take the lot of his people, that 
 is, God as his portion forever, than to enjoy the 
 pleasures of sin, which, however gratifying to the 
 natural desires, could only be ~poo-Kaipor, temporary. 
 
 26. The reproach of Christ— The Christ or 
 Messiah had been revealed to Moses ; of him he 
 prophesied, (Dent, xviii, 15 ;) and the reproach 
 which God's people had, in consequence of their 
 decided opposition to idolatry, may be termed the 
 " reproach of Christ," for they refused to become 
 one people with the Egyptians, because the promise 
 of (he rest was made to them, and in this rest Christ 
 and his salvation were included ; but, although it 
 does not appear these things were known to the 
 Hebrews at large, yet it is evident that there were 
 sufficient intimations given to Moses concerning the 
 Great Deliverer, (of whom himself was a type,) that 
 determined his conduct in the above respect ; as 
 he fully understood that he must renounce his 
 interest in the promises, and in the life eternal to 
 which they led, if he did not obey the divine call 
 in the present instance. There is much reason to 
 believe that by tov Xpiarov, here, "of Christ" or 
 the Anointed, the apostle means the whole body of 
 the Israelitish or Hebrew people ; for, as the word 
 signifies the anointed, and anointing was a consecra- 
 tion to God to serve him in some particular office — 
 as prophet, priest, king, or the like — all the Hebrew 
 people were considered thus anointed or consecrated; 
 and it is worthy of remark that Xptaroc is used in 
 this very sense by the Septuagint, (1 Sam. ii, 35 ; 
 Psa. cv, 15 ; Hab. iii, 13;) where the word is nec- 
 essarily restrained to this meaning. [Moses re- 
 nounced pleasure and wealth, and endured suffering 
 ami reproach, because he believed in the promises 
 which (rod had made of future good, and that he 
 would deliver his people from the bondage of 
 Egypt. So Christ, though rich, for our sakes be- 
 came poor, in order to redeem us from a bond- 
 age worse than that of Egypt. That Moses, then, 
 counted reproach like that which Christ suffered 
 as preferable to the pleasure and wealth which 
 he might have enjoyed at the Egyptian court, is 
 plainly the meaning of the writer. Compare -adi/- 
 fiara Xpiarov, sufferings like those of Christ, in 
 2 Cor. i, 5. — Stuart^] He had respect unto the 
 recompense — 'ATrefaeTrev, he looked attentively to 
 it ; his eyes were constantly directed to it. This is 
 the import of the original word ; and the whole 
 conduct of Moses was an illustration of it. 
 
 27. He forsook Egypt — He believed that God 
 would fulfil the promise he had made ; and he 
 cheerfully changed an earthly for a heavenly por- 
 tion. Not fearing the wrath of the king — The 
 apostle speaks here of the departure of Moses with 
 the Israelites, not of his/? ight to Midian, lExod. ii, 
 14, 15;) for he was then in great fear; but when 
 he went to Pharaoh with God's authority, to demand 
 
 faith 5 he kept the passover, and the sprinkling 
 of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn 
 should touch then). 29 By faith z they passed 
 through the Red Sea as by dry land: which 
 the Egyptians essaying to do were drowned. 
 
 30 By faith 'the walls of Jericho fell down, 
 after they were compassed about seven days. 
 
 31 By faith 'the harlot Rahab perished not 
 with them c that believed not, when d she had 
 
 ?/Exod. 12. 21, etc. sExod. 14. 22,29. ffjosh. I>. 20. 
 
 /> Josh. 6. 23; James 2. 2.3. cOr, that were disobedient. 
 
 (/Josh. 2. ]. 
 
 the dismission of the Hebrews, he was without fear, 
 ami acted in the most noble and dignifiefl manner; 
 he then feared nothing but God. [It has been dis- 
 puted whether it was the tirst or second time that 
 Moses left Egypt to which the writer here adverts. 
 The first is related Exodus ii, when he fled to Midian, 
 and became servant to Jetnro. But as lie tied, in 
 this case, to save his life, which Pharaoh soughl to 
 destroy, (Exod. ii, 14, 15,) this cannot be the leaving 
 Egypt to which the apostle refers; although some 
 both ancient and modern critics have understood 
 it to be so. It must be the occurrences related in 
 Exodus x-xiv to which our author refers. (See 
 Exod. x, 28, 29.) — Stuart.] As seeing him who 
 is invisible — He continued to act as one who had 
 the judge of his heart and conduct always before 
 his eyes. [This was the criterion of his faith ; he 
 trusted the word of God with the same persever- 
 ing steadiness that he would rely upon a matter of 
 sensible knowledge. The idea is, that of continu- 
 ance rather than of suffering.] 
 
 28. He kept the passover— God told him that 
 he would destroy the firstborn of the Egyptians, 
 but would spare all those of the Hebrews whose 
 doors were sprinkled with the blood of the paschal 
 lamb. Moses believed this, kept the passover, and 
 sprinkled the blood. (See Exod. xii.) 
 
 29. By faith they passed through the Red 
 Sea— See Exod. xiv, 22. The Egyptians thought 
 they could walk through the sea as well as the 
 Israelites ; they tried, and were drowned ; while 
 the former passed in perfect safety. The one 
 walked by faith, the other by sight : one perished, 
 the other was saved. [It was on account of confi- 
 dence in the promise of God, to bring the Israelites 
 safely through the Red Sea, that they ventured to 
 cross an arm of it, looking to him for protection 
 from its waters. It is not to be supposed that 
 every individual of the Israelites possessed such 
 a confidence as is here described; but their 
 leaders had it, and (as in other cases of a similar 
 nature) it is predicated of the nation. — Stuart.] 
 
 30. The -walls of Jericho fell down — See 
 Josh, vi, 1, etc. God had promised that the walls of 
 Jericho should fall down, if they compassed them 
 about seven days. They believed, did as they were 
 commanded, and the promise was fulfilled. 
 
 31. The harlot Rahab perished not — See 
 Josh, ii, 1, 9, 11, vi, 23, where it is rendered ex- 
 ceedingly probable that the word Ttopvij in the Sep- 
 tuagint, which we translate "harlot," should be 
 rendered innkeeper or tavernkeeper, as there is no 
 proper evidence that the person in question was 
 such a woman as our translation represents her. 
 She was afterward married to Salmon, a Jewish 
 prince, (see Matt, i, 5 ;) and it is extremely in- 
 credible that, had she been what we represent her, 
 he would have sought for such an alliance. Re- 
 
 445
 
 A. M 4W7. A. D. 63. 
 
 Ye:ir n! Rome, SI 6. 
 
 Hebrews. 
 
 Remarkable 
 
 mplifications of the 
 r of faith. 
 
 received the spies with peace. 32 And what 
 shall I more say? for the time would fail me 
 to tell of e Gideon, and of r Barak, and of 
 z Samson, and of h Jephthah ; of' David also, 
 and k Samuel, and of the prophets: 33 Who 
 through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought 
 righteousness, 'obtained promises, ""stopped 
 the mouths of lions, 31 "Quenched the vio- 
 lence of fire, "escaped the edge of the sword. 
 Pout of weakness were made strong, waxed 
 
 «.Tuds. d. 11. /"Juris. 4. 8. (7 Juris. 13. 24. /(.Juris. 11. 
 
 1; 14 7. i\ Sam. IB. 1, 13: 17. 45. X 1 Sam. 1. 20; 12. 20. 
 
 11 Sam. 7. 11, etc. mjudg. 14. 5, (>: 1 Sam. 17. 34, 35; 
 
 Dan. 6. 22. n Dan. 3. 25. o 1 Sain. 20. 1; 1 Kings 19. 3; 
 
 2 Kings 6. 16. 
 
 ceived the spies with peace — M.ef Elptjvrjg, giv- 
 ing them a hind welcome, good fare, and protection. 
 After these words the Slavonic adds : Kal irepa 
 odu eh "!"'/ oi'Ga, and sent them out another way. 
 
 32. Time would fail me — Me dinyov/ievov 6 
 Xpovor. A very usual mode of expression with the 
 besl Greek writers when they wish to intimate that 
 much important intelligence remains to be com- 
 municated on the subject already in hand, which 
 must be omitted because of other [joints which 
 lane not yet been handled. Gideon — See Judges 
 vi-viii. Barak — See Judges iv. Samson — See 
 Judges xiii-xvi. Jephthah — See Judges xi, xii. 
 David — Probably he is referred to here for that 
 act of faith and courage which he showed in hi< 
 combat with Goliath. (See 1 Sam. xvii.) Samuel 
 — The last of the Israelitish judges. See his his- 
 tory in the first book of Samuel. It may be ob- 
 served, here, that these are not produced in chron- 
 ological order; for Barak lived before Gideon, and 
 Jephthah before Samson, and Samuel before David. 
 They are produced as instances of the power of 
 God excited in the behalf of men who had strong 
 confidence in him. 
 
 33. Who through faith subdued kingdoms — 
 As Joshua and David. (2 Sam. viii, etc.i Wrought 
 righteousness— Diil a great variety of works in- 
 dicative of that faith in God without which it is 
 impossible to do any thing that is good. Obtained 
 promises — As Joshua and Caleb, who, through 
 their faith in God, obtained the promised land ; 
 Phineas also, who received the promise of an ever- 
 lasting priesthood; and David, who for his faith 
 and obedience obtained the kingdom of Israel, and 
 had the promise that from his seed the Messiah 
 should spring. Stopped the mouths of lions — 
 As Daniel. (See Daniel, chapter vi.) 
 
 34. Quenched the violence of fire — The three 
 faithful Hebrews, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed- 
 nego. (Dan. iii.) Escaped the edge of the 
 sword — Moses, who escaped the sword of Pha- 
 raoh, (Exod. xviii, 4;) Elijah, that of Jezebel; and 
 David, that of Saul ; and many others. Out of 
 weakness were made strong — Were miracu- 
 lously restored from sickness; as Hezekiah. (Isa. 
 xxxviii, 21.) Waxed valiant in fight — Like 
 Gide hi, who overthrew the camp of the Midianites, 
 and Jonathan, that of the Philistines. [Turned 
 to flight the armies of the aliens — Pape/ifioXag, 
 encampment; aKkorpiurv, strangers, heathenA 
 
 35. Women received their dead — PE£ avao- 
 Taoeuc, by resurrections.] As did the widow of 
 Zarephath, (1 Kings xvii, 21,) and the Shunam- 
 mite, (2 Kings iv, 34.) Others were tortured — 
 'Kn -. , adijaav. [Were bastinadoed.?] Tvu-a- 
 vifa signifies to beat violently. That this was a 
 
 440 
 
 valiant in fight, i turned to flight the armies 
 of the aliens. 35 ""Women received their 
 dead raised to life again : and others were s tor- 
 tured, not accepting deliverance; that they 
 might obtain a better resurrection: 36 And 
 others had trial of cruel mockings and scourg- 
 ings, yea. moreover ' of bonds and imprison- 
 ment : 37 "They were stoned, they were 
 sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with 
 the sword : "they wandered about w in sheep- 
 
 ;/ 2 Kings 20. 7, etc. ; Job 42. 10: Psa. 6. 8. q Juris. 15. 8, 15 ; 
 
 1 Sam. 14. 13, etc. ; 17. 51. 52: 2 Sam. 8. 1. etc. r\ Kinps 17. 
 
 22: 2 Kings 4. 35. * Acts 22. 25. Mien. 30. 20: Jer. 20. 2; 
 
 37. 15. a 1 Kinss 21. 13 ; 2 Chron. 24. 21 ; Acts 7. 58; 14. 19. 
 
 c 2 Kinj;s 1. 8; Matt. 3. 4. ir Zecli. 13. 4. 
 
 most torturing and dangerous punishment we learn 
 from the most authentic accounts. It is prac- 
 tised among the Turks and other Mohammedans to 
 the present day. Not accepting deliverance — 
 This looks very like a reference to the case of the 
 motherland her seven sons, mentioned 2 Mac. vii, 
 1, etc. 
 
 36. Had trial of cruel mockings and scourg- 
 ings — We do not know the cases to which the 
 apostle refers. It is probable that this refers to 
 public exhibitions of the people of God at idol 
 feasts and the like; and Samson's case before 
 Dagon, when the Philistines had put out his eyes, 
 is quite in point. As to " scourgings," this was a 
 common way of punishing minor culprits ; and even 
 those who were to be punished capitally were first 
 scourged. See the case of our Loid. Bonds and 
 imprisonment — Joseph was cast into prison; 
 Jeremiah was cast into a dungeon full of mire, 
 (chapter xxxvii, 16, and xxxviii, b' ;) and the proph- 
 et Micaiah was imprisoned by Ahab. (1 Kings 
 xxii, 27.) 
 
 37. They were stoned — As Zechariah, the son 
 of Barachiah or Jeboiada was, between the altar 
 and the temple; (see 2 Chron. xxiv, 21; and on 
 Matt, xxiii. 35;) and as Naboth the Jezreelite, 
 who, on refusing to give up his father's inheritance 
 to a covetous king, because it had respect to the 
 promise of God, was falsely accused and stoned to 
 death. (1 Kings xxi, 1-14.) They were sawn 
 asunder — There is a tradition that the prophet 
 Isaiah was thus martyred. Were tempted — 
 'Eirsipdodijoav. This word has greatly vexed the 
 critics. How being " tempted " can be ranked among 
 tlie heavy sufferings of the primitive martyrs and 
 confessors is not easy to discern, because to be 
 "tempted" is the common lot of godly men. This 
 difficulty has induced learned men to try to mend 
 the text by conjecture. Of all these, that which 
 renders it that they were transfixed or impaled ap- 
 pears to me to be the most probable ; and even the 
 present reading might be construed in this sense. 
 [It has been suggested that the temptations here 
 referred to me those presented by persecutors to 
 the victims of their tortures — offering not only life, 
 but wealth and honours, to induce them to '• blas- 
 pheme" — that is, to renounce Christ and the Gos- 
 pel — which some accepted, but many others re- 
 jected — " not accepting deliverance "] Were slain 
 with the sword — See the case of the eighty- 
 five priests slain by Doeg, (1 Samuel xxii, 18;) 
 and tlie prophets, of whose slaughter by the sword 
 Elijah complains. (1 Kings xix, 10.) They wan- 
 dered about in sheepskins — M?//wr«/c, sheep- 
 skins dressed with lite wool on. This was prob- 
 ably the sort of mantle that Elijah wore, and
 
 Exhortation to steadfastness in 
 view of preceding illustrations. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 skins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, 
 tormented; 3§ Of whom the world was not 
 worthy: they wandered in deserts, and in 
 mountains, and v in dens and caves of the 
 earth. i$9 And these all, "having obtained a 
 good report through faith, received not the 
 promise: 40 God having "provided >soine 
 
 <c\ Kings 18. 4; 19. 
 
 9. w Verses 2, 13. x Or, fore- 
 st en. 
 
 which was afterward used by Elisha. (2 Kings ii, 
 8, 13.) It was most probably on this account, as 
 Dr. Macknight conjectures, that Elijah was called 
 a " hairy man." (2 Kings i, 8.) And it is likely 
 that the prophets themselves wore such garments, 
 and that the false prophets imitated them in this, 
 in order that they might gain the greater credit. 
 (Zech. xiii, 4.) In general, this was an upper gar- 
 ment; but, in the cases to which the apostle 
 alludes, the sheepskins and goatskins seem to have 
 been the only covering. Being destitute — 'Ycre- 
 pov/ievoi, in want of all the comforts and conve- 
 vi * n ccs of life, and often of its necessaries. Af- 
 flicted — In consequence of enduring such priva- 
 tions. Tormented — Kanovxav/uevoi, maltreated, 
 harassed, variously persecuted by those to whom 
 they brought the message of salvation. 
 
 38. Of whom the world was not worthy — 
 [The wicked cast out from their society the right- 
 eous, of whom they are not worthy, by persecutions 
 or slaughters, and sometimes God himself takes 
 them away, as from the greater evils about to be in- 
 flicted.] This may refer to the cases of Elijah and 
 of the hundred prophets hidden in caves by Oba- 
 diah, and fed with bread and water. (See 1 Kings 
 xviii, 4.) David was often obliged thus to hide 
 himself from Saul. (1 Sam. xxiv, 3, etc.) 
 
 39. Having obtained a good report (having 
 been witnessed to ; see verse 2) through faith — 
 It was faith in God which supported all those emi- 
 nent men who, in different parts of the world and 
 in different ages, were persecuted for righteous- 
 ness' sake. Received not the promise — They 
 all heard of the promises made to Abraham of a 
 heavenly rest, and of the promise of the Messiah, 
 for this was a constant tradition ; but they died 
 without having seen this Anointed of the Lord. 
 Christ was not in any of their times manifested in 
 the flesh; and of Him wdio was the expectation of 
 all nations, they heard only by the hearing of the 
 ear. [For them final salvation was a thing purely 
 future; for us it is a thing present as well as 
 future : present, in that it is once for all brought 
 about by Christ's offering himself ; future, inasmuch 
 as the unfolding of all the fulness of that which 
 we possess, and the taking possession of it when 
 unfolded in its fulness, is for us vet to come. 
 —Alford. (Chapter ix, 28; x, 14.)]" 
 
 40. God having provided some better thing 
 for us — This is the dispensation of the Gospel, with 
 all the privileges and advantages it confers. That 
 they 'without us should not be made perfect 
 — Believers of all ages and dispensations make but 
 one Church. The gospel dispensation is the last. 
 and the Church cannot be considered as complete 
 till the believers under all dispensations are gath- 
 ered together. As that of the Gospel is the last 
 dispensation, the preceding believers could not be 
 consummated till the gospel dispensation had ar- 
 rived. 
 
 [1) The whole of this eleventh chapter appears 
 
 better thing for us, that they without us should 
 not be z made perfect. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 WHEREFORE, seeing we also are com- 
 passed about with so great a cloud of 
 witnesses, a let us lay aside every weight, and 
 
 i/Chap. 7. 22; 8- 6. sCbap. 5. 9; 12. 23; Rev. ti. 11. a Col. 
 
 3.8; IPet. 2. 1. 
 
 to be designed to enforce the exhortation with 
 which the tenth chapter closes, against drawing 
 back, which would certainly result in "perdition." 
 And as it was shown (chapter x, 38) that their 
 standing could be only by faith, it is first shown 
 (chapter xi, 1) that faith in the soul gives stability 
 to the objects of faith, and brings in a sure con- 
 viction of their reality. After this, the whole chap- 
 ter is devoted to a record of the practical demon- 
 stration of the power of that faith to encourage and 
 sustain its subjects among the most painful and 
 trying conditions. 2) The faith here considered is 
 indeed identical in kind with Christian faith, name- 
 ly, belief of God's word and promises, and a prac- 
 tical trusting in them, which is the common char- 
 acteristic of each and all of the cases introduced, 
 though in degree of clearness of vision, and conse- 
 quently of personal conformity to its spirit, it often 
 came very far short of the saving faith of the Gospel. 
 The element of expectation, which is essential to 
 faith, is especially manifest in all these cases, but 
 more especially in those who were peculiarly emi- 
 nent for their personal righteousness — Abel, Enoch, 
 Abraham, Moses. They all by faith anticipated 
 the "recompense of reward;" and, being assured 
 that there would be an abundant compensation for 
 all that they might suffer, they were ready to " en- 
 dure hardness as good soldiers ; " and after the same 
 example the Hebrew Christians are now exhorted 
 to be steadfast.] 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER XII. 
 1. Wherefore — Toqapoiw, an inference drawn 
 from the examples produced in the preceding chap- 
 ter. Compassed about with so great a cloud 
 of witnesses — [ We have such (or so great, tooov- 
 tov) a cloud (vt<por) of witness bearers, fiaprvpuv. 
 This is the proper meaning of the term instead of 
 " witnesses," that is, spectators, and this best 
 agrees with the subject in hand ; for all those whose 
 cases are cited in chapter xi bear their testimonies 
 in favour of both the power of faith and of God's 
 faithfulness to his own promises, to all those who 
 serve him with abiding trust. The supposed ref- 
 erence to the Olympic games must be ver\ remote, 
 if at all. The epistle is not to Greeks, but to He- 
 brews, who may be supposed to have known but 
 very little of those games.] Let us lay aside 
 every weight — [*Oy/cov, incumbrance. The sim- 
 ple word " weight " docs not convey all that the orig- 
 inal word expresses. Every impediment or hinder- 
 ance is to be laid aside or avoided. The Christian 
 conflict requires the soul's entire devotion ; which 
 has no strength to spare for carrying unnecessary 
 weights.] The sin which doth so easily beset 
 — 'EvTcepioraTOV djiapTiav, the well circumstanced 
 sin; that which has every thing in its favour, time 
 and phu-c and opportunity, the heart, and the ob- 
 ject ; and a sin in which all these frequently occur, 
 and consequently the transgression is frequently 
 committed. What we term the easily besetting sin 
 
 447
 
 HEBREWS. 
 
 Conspiration of Jesus a means 
 of strengthening faith. 
 
 the sin which doth so easily beset us, and 'let 
 us run c \vith patience the race that is set be- 
 fore us, 2 Looking unto Jesus the d author 
 and finisher of our faith; e \vho for the joy 
 that was set before him endured the cross, de- 
 spising' the shame, and 'is set down at the 
 right "hand of the throne of God. 3 ^For 
 consider him that endured such contradiction 
 
 b\ Cnr. 9. 24: Phil. 3. 13, 14. cRoin. 12. 12: clinp. 10. 3H. 
 
 dOr, he'ffinner. e I.uke 24. 26; Phil. 2. 8. etc.; 1 Pet. 
 
 1. 11. / Psa. 110. i; chap 1. 3, 13; 8. 1; 1 Pet. 3. 22. 
 
 is the -in of our constitution, the sin of our trade, 
 that in which our worldly honour, secular profit, 
 and sensual gratification are most frequently felt 
 anil consulted. Whatever it may be, the word 
 gives us to understand that it is what meets us at 
 every turn; that it is always presenting itself to us. 
 The easily besetting sin of the Hebrews was an apt- 
 ness to be drawn aside from their attachment to the 
 Gospel by fear of persecution. [The sin of unbt lief 
 which so directly leads to apostasy, (see chapter 
 iii, 10, iv, 11,) and against which this epistle so 
 earnestly cautions its readers. — Cowles.~\ Let us 
 run with patience the race — [Aj' vKOfiovfjq rpt \;o- 
 fiev top wpoKEifievorv r'/uiv ayuva ; through patience 
 (heroic endurance) let us run (persistently hold out) 
 through the lying-before race, (agony — any kind of 
 conflict with rivalry, or liability to failure.)] This 
 is ;i race which is of infinite moment to us : the 
 prize is ineffably great ; and if we lose it, it is not 
 a simple loss, for the whole soul perishes. 
 
 2. Looking unto Jesus — ' ' Atyopavree • looking 
 of :uv\ on, or from and to; looking off or from the 
 world and all secular concerns to Jesus and till the 
 spiritual and heavenly thing- connected with him. 
 The exhortation implies, 1) That they should place 
 all their hope and confidence in Uhrist, as their sole 
 helper in this race of faith. 2) That they should 
 consider him their leader in this contest, and imitate 
 his example. The author and finisher of . . . faith 
 — 'A-PXVY°Gi translated here "author," signifies, in 
 general, captain or leader, or the first inventor of a 
 thing. (See chapter ii, 10.) The heavenly course is 
 begun under Jesus; and under him it is completed. 
 He is the " finisher." by awarding the prize to them 
 that are faithful unto death. Thus he is the 
 "author" (apxyydc, beginner) under whom, and by 
 whose direction, they are permitted to enter the 
 lists, and commence the race; and he is the "fin- 
 isher," te?leiut7/c, the perfecter, by sustaining them 
 in the race an 1 by awarding the prize at the end of 
 the race. Who, for (avrl, instead of) the joy 
 that was set before him — ['Air; may be rendered 
 either instead of, which would make this a reference 
 to our Lord's "joy" (%apag, bliss) which he had in 
 his preexistent state of glory with the Father, (John 
 xvii, 5,) and which he laid aside, and took instead 
 the condition of a servant, (Phil, v, 6-8,) so pre- 
 senting himself as an example of self-abnegation 
 and of sufferings voluntarily submitted to for a 
 season, but not without respect to a future recom- 
 pense, (Phil, v, 9,) or it may be rendered on account 
 of, so referring directly to those compensations as 
 acting on the mind of Christ to sustain him in his 
 wonderful humiliation and sufferings. Both ren- 
 derings are good, and entirely agreeable with other 
 scriptural teachings, but the latter is usually pre- 
 ferred ] 
 
 3. For consider him — 'Ava'Aoyiaaods . . . Iva uf t 
 ttaurjTE rale ipv%air . . . ekA.v6/ievoc. Attentively ob- 
 serve his meekness and long suffering under the 
 
 448 
 
 of sinners against himself, ''lest ye be wearied 
 and faint in your minds. 4 ' Ye have not 
 yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. 
 5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which 
 speaketh unto you as unto children, k My son, 
 despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor 
 faint when thou art rebuked of him: 6 For 
 1 whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and 
 
 fir Matt. II). 24. 2."> ; Jolm 15. 20. fcOal. t>. 9. i 1 Cor. in. 
 
 13; chap. In. 32, 33, 34. X- Job 5. 17; Piov. 3. 11. 2 Psa. 94. 
 
 12; 119. 75: Prov. 3. 12; James I. 12; Rev. 3. LP. 
 
 most severe provocations, and consider his motives 
 and object, and remember that as he acted ye are 
 called to act ; and that he will furnish you with 
 the same spirit, and will support you with the same 
 strength. He bore a continual opposition of sin- 
 ners against himself; but he conquered by meek- 
 ness, patience, and perseverance : he has left you an 
 example that ye should follow his steps. If ye 
 confide in and attentively look to him, ye shall have 
 continual courage to go on, and never faint in your 
 minds. 
 
 4. Ye have not yet resisted unto blood — 
 .Many of those before mentioned were martyrs forthe 
 truth ; they persevered unto death, and lost their 
 lives in bearing testimony to the truth. Though 
 you have had opposition and persecution, yet you 
 have not been called, in bearing your testimony 
 against sin and sinners, to seal the truth with your 
 blood. Striving against sin — TLpbc rf/v &fn 
 avrayuvi^dfievoi. [Sin petsonified as an adversary, 
 'or the outbreaking of sin,) not to be limited to sin 
 in themselves, or to si?/ in their persecutors, but 
 understood of both. — Alford.~] 
 
 5. And ye have forgotten — Or, have ye for- 
 gotten the exhortation ? Tins quotation is made 
 from Prov. iii, 11, 12, and shows that the address 
 there, which at first sight appears to lie from Solo- 
 mon to his son, or from some fatherly man to a 
 person in affliction, is properly from God himself 
 to any person in persecution, affliction, or distress. 
 [This sentence was generally read by tlie older com- 
 mentators (as it still is by some) as an interroga- 
 tion, by which its apparent severity is mitigated. 
 But the best modern critics retain the form of an 
 affirmation, which Alford justifies as best agreeing 
 with the context, especially verses 7-1 f and 16, 17.] 
 Despise not thou the chastening — Mi) bfayupet 
 -mi): Kir Kvpiov ; do not neglect tin correction of 
 the Lord. That man neglects correction, and profits 
 not by it, who does not see the hand of God in it, 
 and, consequently, does not humble himself under 
 the mighty hand of God, deplore his sin, deprecate 
 divine judgment, and pray for mercy. Nor faint 
 — Do not lie discouraged nor despair, for the rea- 
 sons immediately alleged. 
 
 6. For whom the Lord loveth he chasten- 
 eth — Here is the reason why we should neither 
 neglect correction nor faint under it : it is a proof 
 of the fatherly love of God, and shows his most 
 gracious designs toward us; from which we may lie 
 convinced that the affliction will prove the means 
 of good to our souls, if we make a proper use of it. 
 And scourgeth every son whom he receiv- 
 eth — Maorcyoi 61 wavra vlbv, bv Tra/metxeTat. This 
 is a literal quotation from the Septuagint of Prov. 
 iii, 12, of which place our version is, Even as a 
 
 father the son in whom he delighteth. But, howso- 
 ever near this may appear to lie to the Hebrew, it 
 beats scarcely any affinity to the apostle's words. 
 [_h\ whatever way they (the LXX) read the Hebrew,
 
 in the present, 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 M. 40BT. A. D. 83. 
 
 Year of Koine, 816. 
 
 scourgeth every son whom he receive! Ii. 
 7 '"If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with 
 you as with sons; for what son is he whom 
 the father chasteneth not? 8 But if ye he 
 without chastisement, "whereof all are par- 
 takers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. 
 9 Furthermore, we have had fathers of our 
 flesh which corrected us, and we gave them 
 reverence: shall we not much rather be in 
 subjection unto °the Father of spirits, and 
 live? 10 For they verily for a few days 
 chastened its p after their own pleasure; hut 
 
 m . Deut. f>. 5: 2 Sara. 7. 14: Prov. 13. 24; 19. 18; 23. 13. 
 
 n Psa. 73. 15; 1 Pet. 5.9. — o Num. 16. 22 : 27. 16; Job 12. 10; 
 
 Eccles. 12, 7 ; Isa 42. 5 ; 57. lt> ; Zech. 12. 1. p Or, as Seemed 
 
 good, or, meet to them. 
 
 in order to make their version, as the version now 
 is and as the apostle has quoted it, it preserves 
 the spirit, though not the letter, of the original He- 
 brew. That quotations are often made by the New 
 Testament writers from the Old Testament in a 
 general way, ad sensurn and not ad literam, I have 
 had frequent occasion to remark before, in com- 
 menting on our epistle. No one, who attentively 
 studies the New Testament, can doubt this. — 
 Stuart.] 
 
 7. If ye endure chastening — If ye submit to 
 God's authority, humble yourselves under his hand, 
 and pray for his blessing, you will find that he 
 deals with you as beloved children, correcting you 
 that he may make you partakers of his holiness. 
 [The reading from which our Authorized Version 
 was made was el iratdeiav vTiofikvere, (see Gries 
 bach,) and therefore it is rendered as a conditional 
 statement ; but nearly all modern authorities now 
 make the reading elg, and not el, when the sense 
 becomes positive, ye suffer (endure) for chastise- 
 ment, (discipline, cultus;) as sons God deals with 
 you. See Revised Version.] God dealeth with 
 you as with sons — He acknowledges by this that 
 you belong to the family, and that he, as your Fa- 
 ther, has you under proper discipline. It is a maxim 
 among the Jewish rabbins that "the love which is 
 not conjoined with reproof is not genuine." 
 
 8. Then are ye bastards — This proceeds on 
 the general fact, that " bastards " are neglected in 
 their manners and education ; the fathers of such 
 feeling little affection for or obligation to regard 
 their spurious issue. But all that are legitimate 
 children are partakers of chastisement or discipline ; 
 for the original word -aiSeia does not imply stripes 
 and punishment, (especially,) but the whole disci- 
 pline of a child, both at home and at school. 
 
 9. We have had (imp., once had) fathers of 
 our flesh — Our natural parents were our cor- 
 rectors, and we reverenced them. Shall we not 
 much rather be in subjection unto the Father 
 of spirits — Our Creator, Preserver, and Supporter, 
 who corrects us only for our profit; that we may 
 live and be partakers of his holiness? If we be 
 subject to our heavenly Father, we shall live, and 
 be partakers of his holiness; if not, we shall die. 
 and be treated as bastards, and not sons. 
 
 10. For ... a few days — The chastisement 
 of our earthly parents lasted only a short time; 
 that of our heavenly Father will also he hut for a 
 short time if we submit: and as our parents ceased 
 to correct when we learned obedience ; so will our 
 heavenly Father when the end for which he sent 
 the chastisement is accomplished. God delights 
 not in the rod ; judgment is his strange work. 
 
 Vox.. II.— 2'J 
 
 he for our profit, <*that we mighl he partakers 
 of his holiness. 11 Now no chastening for 
 the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: 
 nevertheless, afterward it yieldeth r the peace- 
 able fruit of righteousness unto them which 
 are exercised thereby. \'i Wherefore 'lift up 
 the hands which hang down, ami the feeble 
 knees; 13 'And make "straight paths for 
 your feet, lest that which is lame be turned 
 out of the way; v but let it rather be healed. 
 14 w Follow peace with all men. and holiness, 
 "without which no man shall see the Lord : 
 
 g Lev. 11. 44: 19. 2; 1 Pet. 1. 15,16. — rJames3. is. — 8Job 
 
 4. 3, 4: Isa. 35. 3. M'n.v. 4. 26, 27. it Or, even. »Gal. 
 
 ti. I. »'Psh. 34. 14: Rom. 12. 18; 14. 19; 2 Tim. 2. 22. 
 
 ./■ Matt. 5. 8 ; 2 Cor. 7. 1 ; Eph. 5. 5. 
 
 After their own pleasure — [Kara to donovr av- 
 role, according to what seemed good to themselves, 
 not in caprice or passion, but in their best judg- 
 ment and parental discretion.] 
 
 11. No (all) chastening for the present 
 seemeth (not) to be joyous — Neither correction, 
 wholesome restraint, domestic regulations, nor gym- 
 nastic discipline are pleasant to them that are thus 
 exercised ; but it is by these means that obedient 
 children, scholars, and great men are made. And 
 it is by God's discipline that Christians are made. 
 He who does not bear the yoke of Christ is good 
 for nothing to others, and never gains rest to his 
 own soul. The peaceable fruit of righteous- 
 ness — That is, the joyous, prosperous fruits; those 
 fruits by which we gain much and through which 
 we are made happy. Exercised thereby — Yt ; vji- 
 vaofiivoic ; to the trained, [the gymnasiicised. In 
 the Greek language all kinds of earnest and active 
 exercises came to be expressed under the figure of 
 gymnastics, on account of the national customs of 
 the gymnasts. They who were to enter the lists as 
 gymnasts were subjected to a severe and protracted 
 course of disciplinary training, including both vig- 
 orous action and severe abstinence from whatever 
 might tend to effeminacy.] 
 
 \'l. Wherefore lift up the hands — The apos- 
 tle refers to Isaiah xxxv, 3. They who are almost 
 worn out with sickness and fatigue, whose hands 
 hang down, whose knees shake, and who are totally 
 discouraged, are exhorted to exert themselves and 
 take courage, with the assurance that they shall in- 
 fallibly conquer if they persevere. [Having reached 
 the point of special exhortation, the author does not 
 say, Let every man take care of himself, but rather, 
 Let every man take care of the weak, the falter- 
 ing — those who are in special danger of falling. — 
 Cow'es.'] 
 
 13. Make straight paths for your feet — Take 
 the straight path (of fidelity and duty) that is be- 
 fore you. If you go in the even, proper path, 
 though you have been wounded by getting into a 
 wrong way, that which was wounded will be healed 
 by proper exercise. The application of all this to 
 a correct religious life is both natural and easy. 
 [The path of duty is also the path of safety. — Old 
 proverb. | 
 
 11. Follow peace with all men — Cultivate, as 
 
 far as you possibly can, a g 1 understanding both 
 
 with dews and Gentiles. Iv/v 7 /'' oiukete, pursue 
 peace, (make it an object of earnest and diligent 
 pursuit;) follow it through all places; trace it 
 through all winding circumstances; and have it 
 with all men, wherever you can with a safe con- 
 science. And holiness — Tbv ayiacfiov. A state 
 
 ii'J
 
 HEBREWS. 
 
 The fearful manner in which the 
 law was introduced. 
 
 £5 > Looking diligently 2 lest any man "fail of 
 the grace of God; 'lest any root of bitterness 
 springing up trouble you, and thereby many 
 be detiled ; 16 c Lest there be any fornicator, 
 or profane person, as Esau, d who for one 
 morsel of meat sold bis birthright. 17 For ye 
 
 Vl Cor. 6. 1. sGnl. 5.4. a Or, fall from. '< heut. 
 
 29. 18; chap. 3. 12. cEph. 5. 3; Col. 3. 5; 1 Tuess. 4. 3. 
 
 d Gen. 25. 33. 
 
 of continual sanctification, a life of purity and 
 separation from the world and all its lusts. To see 
 Go//, in the ll( new phrase, is to enjoy him; and 
 without holiness of heart and life this 'is impossible. 
 [Though no one is saved by the merits of his own 
 fioliness, yet all who are saved by free and un- 
 merited grace are also constituted "saints," aywi, 
 holy persons, by the renewing of the Holy Ghost. 
 And this spiritual sanctification is a condition re- 
 quisite for the beatific vision. (See Matt, v, 8.)] 
 
 1.5. Looking diligently — 'E-iGKonovvTeg, look- 
 ing about, over, and upon ; being constantly on your 
 guard. Lest any man fail of the grace of God 
 — M.7j Tir varepuv a~b r/~/c %dpiTog tov Qeov. Lest 
 any person should come behind, or fall off from, 
 this grace or gift of God — this state of salvation, 
 the system of the gosjn/ or Christianity; for this 
 is most evidently the meaning of the apostle. It is 
 not the falling from a work of grace in their own 
 souls, but from the Gospel, to apostatize from 
 which they had now many temptations; and to 
 guard them against this is the design of this whole 
 epistle. Lest any root of bitterness springing 
 up — Some poisonous plant. The Hebrews call every 
 species of poison a bitter. The " root of bitter- 
 ness " is here used metaphorically for a bad man, 
 or a man holding unsound doctrines, and endeavour- 
 ing to spread them in the Church. Trouble you 
 — By poison taken into the body the whole ani- 
 mal system is disturbed. Had example ami false 
 teaching have corrupted thousands, and are still 
 making desolation in the world and in the Church. 
 [If the theory is accepted that this epistle was writ- 
 ten by St. Luke, (under St. Paul's oversight,) this 
 clause may seem to reflect his acquaintance with 
 the physiological effect of poisonous roots.] 
 
 10. Lest there be any fornicator — Any licen- 
 tious person who would turn the Gospel of the 
 grace of God into lasciviousness. Or profane 
 person, as Esau — Esau is here termed " profane " 
 because he so far disregarded the spiritual advan- 
 tages connected with his rights of primogeniture 
 that he alienated the whole for a single mess of 
 pottage. (See Cen. xxv, 34.) The word i3i/3nXog, 
 which we translate " profane," was applied to those 
 who were not initiated into the sacred mysteries, or 
 who were despisers of sacred things, and conse- 
 quently were to be denied admittance to the tem- 
 ple, and were not permitted to assist at holy rites. 
 Indeed, among the Greeks (3e[3nXog signified any 
 thing or person which was not consecrated to the 
 gods. [The character of Esau, from Scripture as 
 well as tradition, will very well bear the designation 
 Tidpvor, (a sensualist, that is, simply an animal 
 man,) and the sense of the sentence is better pre- 
 served by applying both 7r6pvoc and ; iV hjl.og to him. 
 —A/ford.] Sold his birthright — [Td rrpuroroKia 
 eavrov, his own privileges of primogeniture. The re- 
 flective eavrov (his own) seems to intensify the un- 
 worthiness of the act.— Afford.] The firstborn, in 
 patriarchal times, 1) Had a right to the priesthood. 
 (Exod. x\ii, 29.) 2) And a double portion of .all 
 *oO 
 
 know how that afterward, e when he would 
 have inherited the blessing, be was rejected: 
 1 for he found no % place of repentance, though 
 be sought it carefully with tears. 1§ For ye 
 are not come unto h the mount that might 
 be touched, and that burned with fire, nor 
 
 e Gen. 27. 34, 3b\ 3s. /Chap. ti. li. g Or, icay to cliang 
 
 his miiiil. h Kxml. 19. 12, IS, W; 20. 18; Deut. 4. 11; 5. 22 
 
 Rom. 6. 14; 8. 15; 2 Tim. 1. 7. 
 
 the father's possessions. (Deut. xxi, 17.) 3) And 
 was lord over his brethren. (Gen. xxvii, 29, 37 ; 
 xlix, 3.) 4) And in the family of Abraham the 
 firstborn was the very source whence the Messiah 
 as the Redeemer of the world, and the Church of 
 God, was to spring. Further, 5) The firstborn had 
 the right of conveying especial blessings and priv- 
 ileges when he came to die. Sec the case of Isaac 
 and his two sons, Jacob and Esau, in the history to 
 which the apostle alludes, (Gen. xxvii ;) and that of 
 Jacob and his twelve sons. (Gen. xlix.) In short, 
 the rights of primogeniture were among the most 
 noble, honourable, and spiritual in the ancient 
 world. 
 
 17. When he -would have inherited the 
 blessing — When he wished to have the lordship 
 over the whole family conveyed to him, and sought 
 it earnestly with tears, he found no place for a 
 change in his father's mind and counsel, who now 
 perceived that it was the will of God that Jacob 
 should be made lord of all. [Esau first sold his 
 birthright to Jacob for a mess of pottage, (Gen. 
 xxv, 29-34,) and it does not appear that lie at any 
 time sought to recover it; but the loss of the bless- 
 ing, as to which he was not in the wrong, afflicted 
 him very severely. See Gen. xxvii. 34-38.] Re- 
 pentance — Here geravoia is not to be taken in 
 a theological sense, as implying contrition for sin, 
 but merely change of mind or purpose; nor does 
 the word refer here to -Esaw at all, but to his father, 
 whom Esau could not, with all his tears and en- 
 treaties, persuade to reverse what he had done. / 
 Imcr blessed Mm, said Jacob, yea, and lie must be 
 blessed; 1 cannot reverse it now. (See Gen. xxv, 
 29, etc., and xxvii, 1, etc.) Nothing spoken here 
 by the apostle, nor in the history in Genesis to 
 which he refers, concerns the eternal state of either 
 of the two brothers. The use made of the trans- 
 action by the apostle is of great importance: Take 
 heed lest, by apostatizing from the Gospel, ye for- 
 feit all right and title to the heavenly birthright, 
 and never again be able to retrieve it ; because they 
 who reject the Gospel reject the only means of sal- 
 vation. 
 
 18-21. For ye are not come unto the mount 
 that might be touched — I believe the words 
 ipr/Aatyuytvu bpei should be translated, to a palpable 
 or material mountain; for that it was not a moun- 
 tain that on this occasion might be touclied, the his- 
 tory (Exod. xix, 12, 13) shows; and the apostle 
 himself, in verse 20, confirms. It is called here a 
 palpable or material mount, to distinguish it from 
 that spiritual mount Sion of which the apostle is 
 speaking. The apostle's design is to show that the 
 dispensation of the law engendered terror; that it 
 was most awful and exclusive; that it belonged 
 only to the Jewish people; and that, even to them, 
 it was so terrible that they could not endure that 
 which was commanded, and entreated that God 
 would not communicate with them in his own per- 
 son, but by the ministry of Moses: and even to 
 Moses, who held the highest intimacy with Jeho-
 
 Terrorism of the la 
 of the Gospel 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 1*!. 4007. . 
 Year of Ron 
 
 unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, 
 19 And the sound of a trumpet, and the voice 
 of words; which voice they that heard 'en- 
 treated that the word should not be spoken to 
 them any more : 20 (For they could not en- 
 dure that which was commanded, k And if so 
 much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall 
 be stoned, or thrust through with a dart : 
 21 ' And so terrible was the sight, that Moses 
 
 / Kxml. 20. 19; Deut. 5. ">, 25: 18. Ifi. h Exod. 19. 13. — 
 
 I Exod. 19 16. mi.al. 4. 26: Rev. a. 12: 21. 2, 10. n Phil. 
 
 3. 20. oDeut. 33. 2; 1'sa. 68. 17; Jude 14. pKxod. 4. 22; 
 
 vali, the revealed glories, the burning fire, the 
 blackness, the darkness, the tempest, the loud- 
 sounding trumpet, and the voice of words, were so 
 terrible that he said, I exceedingly fear and tremble. 
 These were the things which were exhibited on 
 the material mountain ; but the gospel dispensa- 
 tion is one grand, copious, and interesting display 
 of the infinite love of God. It is all encourage- 
 ment ; breathes nothing but mercy ; is not an ex- 
 clusive system; embraces the whole human race; 
 has Jesus, the sinner's friend, for its mediator ; is 
 ratified by his blood ; and is suited, most glorious- 
 ly suited, to all the wants and wishes of every soul 
 of man: 
 
 22. But ye are come unto mount Sion — In 
 order to cuter fully into the apostle's meaning, we 
 must observe, 1) That the Church, which is called 
 here the city of the living God, the heavenly 
 Jerusalem, and "mount Sion,'' is represented under 
 the notion of a city. 2) That the great assembly 
 of believers in Christ is here opposed to the con- 
 tinuation of the Israelites assembled at mount 
 Sinai. 3) That the innumerable company of avyeh 
 is here opposed to those angels bv whom the law 
 was ushered in. (Acts vii. '>'■! ; Gal. iii, 19.) 4) That 
 the gospel firstborn, whose names are written in 
 heaven, are here opposed to the enrolled firstborn 
 among the Israelites. (Exod. xxiv, 5 ; xix, 'l'i.) 
 5) That the mediator of the new covenant, the Lord 
 Jesus, is here opposed to Moses, the mediator of 
 the old. (i) And that the blood of sprinkling of 
 Christ our high priest, refers to t^e act of Moses : 
 (Exod. xxiv. 8:) "And Moses took the blood, and 
 sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the 
 blood of the covenant which the Lord hath made 
 with you concerning all th^se words." 1) The de- 
 scription in these verses does not refer to a 
 heavenly state ; for the terrible nature of the Mo- 
 saic dispensation is not. opposed to heaven or life 
 eternal, but to the economy of the New Testament. 
 2) In heaven there is no need of a mediator, or 
 sprinkling of blood; but these are mentioned in the 
 state which the apostle describes. The heavenly 
 Jerusalem — That is, the Church of the New Test- 
 ament. To an innumerable company of angels 
 — Mvpidccv ayytkuv, to myriads of angels. [The 
 sense of this clause and of the next following 
 is probably not correctly given in our translation, 
 and its rendering depends largely on its pointing. 
 Tiie best modern critics place a comma after gvpid- 
 aiv, myriad, (" an innumerable company,") and 
 a , ; ■ '/ i.u\ of angels, so that it reads, to innumerable 
 hosts, to the general assembly of the angels, and to 
 the Church, nf the firstborn, written in the heavens, 
 etc. This ordering of the words of the original 
 makes gvpiaaiv include the two classes named next 
 in order, namely, the general assembly of angels 
 and the church of the firstborn.] Though angels 
 
 said, I exceedingly fear and quake:) 22 Bat 
 ye are come '"unto mount Sion, "and unto the 
 city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, 
 "and to an innumerable company of angels, 
 23 To the general assembly and church of 
 rthe firstborn, 'i which are r written in heaven, 
 and to God s the Judge of all, and to the spirits 
 of just men 'made perfect, 24 And to Jesus 
 "the mediator of the new 'covenant, and to 
 
 James 1. 18 ; Rev. 14. 4. q Luke 10. 20 ; Phil. 4. 3 : Rev. 13. 8. 
 
 — r Or, enrolled. sfien. 18. 25; Psn. 94. 2. i Phil. 3. 12; 
 
 chap. 11. 40. wChap. 8. 6; 9. 15. »Or, testamt nt 
 
 make a part of the inhabitants of the New Jeru- 
 salem, yet they belong also to the Church below. 
 Christ has in some sort incorporated them with his 
 followers, for they are " all ministering spirits, sent 
 forth to minister to them that shall be heirs of sal- 
 vation," and they are all ever considered as making 
 a part of God's subjects. 
 
 23. The firstborn — This is spoken in allusion 
 to the firstborn among the Israelites, who were all 
 considered as the Lord's property, and were dedi- 
 cated to him. "The church of the firstborn" is 
 the assembly of the most excellent. Which are 
 ■written in heaven — Who are enrolled as citizens 
 of the New Jerusalem, and are entitled to all the 
 rights, privileges, and immunities of the Church 
 here, and of heaven above. This is spoken in al- 
 lusion to the custom of enrolling the names of all 
 the citizens of a particular city ; indicating that 
 all those thus registered were considered as having 
 a right to live there, and to enjoy all its privileges. 
 All genuine believers are denizens of heaven. That 
 is their country, and there they have their rights, 
 etc. And every member of Christ has a right to 
 every ordinance in the Church of his Redeemer ; 
 and woe to him who attempts to prevent them ! 
 God the Judge of all — The supreme God is ever 
 present in this general assembly ; to him they are 
 all gathered ; by him they are admitted to all those 
 rights, etc.; under his inspection they continue to 
 act ; and it is he alone who erases from the register 
 those who act unworthily of their citizenship. 
 ■'Judge," here, is to be taken in the Jewish use of 
 the term, that is, one who exercises sovereign rule 
 and authority. The spirits of just men made 
 perfect — The reTeMiuyevot are the adult Christians, 
 who are opposed to the vrprtot, or babes in knowledge 
 and grace. (See chapter v, 12-14; viii, 11 ; Gal. iv, 
 l-:i. ) " The spirits of the just men made perfect," or 
 the righteous perfect, are the fullgrown Christians ; 
 those who are justified by the blood and sanctified 
 by the Spirit of Christ. Being " come " to such, im- 
 plies that spiritual union which the disciples of 
 Chrisl have with each other, and which they possess 
 how far soever separated from each other in body ; 
 for they are all joined in one Spirit, (Eph. ii, 18 ;) 
 they are in the unity <fi the Spirit, (Eph. iv, o, 4 ;) 
 and of one soul. (Acts iv, 32.) This is a unity 
 which was never possessed even by the Jews them- 
 selves in their best state; it is peculiar to real 
 < 'In istianity. 
 
 24. And to Jesus the mediator of the new 
 covenant — The old covenant and its mediator, 
 .Moses, are passed away. (See chapter viii, 13 ) 
 The new covenant, that is, the Gospel, is now in 
 force, and will be to the end of the world ; and 
 Jesus, the Son of God, the brightness of the 
 Father's glory, the maker and preserver of all 
 things, the saviour and the judge of all men, is its 
 
 451
 
 A. M. 4067. A. D. fi3. 
 
 Year of Rome, S16. 
 
 HEBREWS. 
 
 Exhortation against apostatizing 
 from Christ Jesus. 
 
 w the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better 
 things "than that of Abel. 25 See that ye 
 refuse not him that speaketh : for y if tliey 
 escaped not who refused him that spake on 
 earth, much more shall not we escape, if we 
 turn away from him that speaketh from heav- 
 en : 26 z Whose voice then shook the earth : 
 but now he hath promised, saying, H Yet once 
 
 wExod. 24. 8; chap. 10. 22: 1 Pet. I. 2. a; Gen. 4. 10; chap. 
 
 11. 4. u Chap. 2. 2, 3; 3. 17 ; 10. 28, 29. z Exod. 19. 18. 
 
 mediator. Both the covenant and its mediator are 
 infinitely superior to those of the Jews, and they 
 are very properly set down here among the superior 
 benefits and glories of Christianity. To the blood 
 of sprinkling — This is an allusion, as was before 
 observed, to the sprinkling of the blood of the 
 covenant sacrifice upon the people when that cov- 
 enant was made upon mount Sinai ; to the sprink- 
 ling of the blood of the sin offerings before the 
 mercyseat ; and probably to the sprinkling of the 
 blood of the paschal lamb on their houses to pre- 
 vent their destruction by the destroying angel. But 
 all these sprinklings were without meaning except 
 as they referred to this : the blood of spr inkling 
 under the new covenant is ever ready ; it is for all : 
 it continues through ages ; and is the highest 
 glory of Christianity, because by it we draw nigh to 
 God, a"d through it have our hearts sprinkled from 
 an evil conscience, and have an entrance unto the 
 holiest by the blood of Jesus. Better things 
 than that of Abel — God accepted Abel's sacrifice. 
 and was well pleased with it ; for Abel offered his 
 sacrifice by faith in the great promise. But the 
 bloo 1 of Christ's sacrifice was infinitely more 
 precious than the blood of Abel's sacrifice, as Jesus 
 is infinitely greater than Abel ; and the blood of 
 Christ avails for the sins of the whole world, 
 whereas the blood of Abel's sacrifice could avail 
 only for himself, [and even that only in a figure, 
 deriving all its virtue from that which it prefigured,] 
 Many have misinterpreted these words, and suppose 
 that the " blood of Abel " means here the blood 
 that was shed by Cain in the murder of this holy 
 man, and that the blood of Jesus "speaks better 
 things than it does," because the blood of Abel 
 called for vengeance, but the blood of Christ for 
 pardon. It might speak very little good to any 
 soul of man, and yet speak '-better things" than 
 that blood of Abel which spoke no kind of good to 
 any human creature, and only called for vengeance 
 against him that shed it. The sacrifice offered by 
 Abel is here intended; that, as we have already 
 seen, was pleasing in the sight of God, and was 
 accepted in behalf of him who offered it ; but the 
 blood of Christ is infinitely more acceptable with 
 God ; it only is a real atonement for sin, and it was 
 shed for the whole human race, and cleanses all 
 who believe from all unrighteousness. 
 
 '25. See — BAIkkte, take heed. That ye refuse 
 not him — The Lord Jesus, the mediator of the new 
 covenant, who now speaketh from heaven, by the 
 Gospel, to the Jews and to the Gentiles, having in 
 his incarnation come down from God. Him that 
 spake on earth — Moses, who spoke on the pan 
 of God to the Hebrews, every transgression of 
 whose word received a just recompense of reward ; 
 if then ye turn away from Christ, who speaks to you 
 from heaven, you may expect a much sorer punish- 
 ment, the offence against God being the more hein- 
 ous as the privileges slighted are more glorious. 
 452 
 
 more I shake not the earth only, but also 
 heaven. 27 And this word, Yet once more, 
 signifieth 'the removing of those things that 
 c are shaken, as of things that are made, that 
 those things which cannot be shaken may re- 
 main. 28 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom 
 which cannot be moved, d let us have grace, 
 whereby we may serve God acceptably with 
 
 a Has. 2. 6. b Psa. 102. 26: Matt. 24. 35: 2 Pet. 3. 10; Hev. 
 
 21. 1. c Or, may be shaken. d Or, let us hold fast. 
 
 26. Whose voice then shook the earth — At 
 
 the giving of the law on mount Sinai ; and from 
 this it seems that it was the voice of Jesus that 
 then shook the earth, and that it was He who came 
 down on the mount. Not the earth only, but 
 also heaven — Probably referring to the approach- 
 ing destruction of Jerusalem, and the total abolition 
 of the political and ecclesiastical constitution of the 
 Jews ; the one being signified by " the earth," the 
 other by "heaven." And this seems to be the 
 apostle's meaning, as he evidently refers to Ilaggai 
 ii, (>, where this event is predicted. 
 
 27. The removing of those things that are 
 shaken — The whole of the Jewish polity, which 
 had been in a " shaken " state from the time that 
 Judea had fallen under the power of the Romans. 
 As of things that aie made — That is, subjects 
 intended to last only for a time. God never de- 
 signed that the Jewish religion should become 
 general, nor be permanent. Those things which 
 cannot be shaken — The whole gospel system, 
 which cannot be removed by the power of man. 
 May remain — Be permanent ; God designing that 
 this shall be the last dispensation of his grace and 
 mercy, and that it shall continue till the earth and 
 the heavens are no more. [The shaking of the 
 heavens and the earth denotes a great change, a 
 usradeatc, removal, or abolition, of the things 
 changed, that is, of the Jewish dispensation. The 
 language which had been literally applied to the 
 quaking of Sinai, when the law was given, is now 
 figuratively applied, in the usual scriptural way, in 
 order to denote a great change of a moral nature. 
 — Stuart.] 
 
 28. We receiving a kingdom — The gospel 
 dispensation is frequently termed the kingdom of 
 God, or the kingdom of heaven, [and it is here 
 contrasted with the Jewish theocracy, which the 
 fathers had received, but which was designed to 
 serve only for a season, and was now passing 
 away.] Which cannot be moved — Which 
 never can fail, because it is the last dispensation. 
 Let us have grace — ~'Ex u ! JEV X"l'"\ ? lf ns have, 
 keep, or holdfast, the benefit or gift, that is, the 
 heavenly kingdom which God has given us. This 
 is the meaning of the word in 2 Cor. viii, 4, and it 
 is only by this heavenly gift of the Gospel that we 
 can serve God acceptably, for he can be pleased 
 with no service that is not performed according to 
 the Gospel of his Son. If we prefer the common 
 meaning of the word " grace " it comes to the 
 same thing; without the "grace" — the especial 
 succour and influence of Christ — we cannot serve, 
 Xarpevafiev, pay religious worship to, God; lor he 
 receives no burnt offering that is not kindled by 
 fire from his own altar. Acceptably— EiV/i.^ri,-, 
 in such a way as to please him well. And the 
 offering with which he is well pleased he will 
 graciozisly accept ; and if he accept our service, his 
 
 I Spirit will testify in our conscience that our ways
 
 Commendation of hospitality. Marriage 
 declared honourable. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 A. M. 40B7. A. D. 63. 
 Year of Rome. 816. 
 
 reverence and godly fear: 559 For 'our God 
 is a consuming tire. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 IET "brotherly love continue. 2 b Be not 
 J forgetful to entertain strangers: for there- 
 by c some have entertained angels unawares. 
 3 d Remember them that are in bonds, as 
 bound with them; and them which suffer ad- 
 
 a- Exod. 24. 17 ; Petit. 4. 21 ; 9. 3 : Psa. 50. 3 ; 97. 3 ; Isa. 68. 15 ; 
 
 2 Thess. 1. 8; chap. 10. 27. a lioni 12. 10: | The-s. 4 9; 1 I'et. 
 
 1. 22; 2. 17; 3. 8; 4. 8; 2 Pet. 1. 7; 1 John 3. 11, etc.; 4. 7, 
 
 20, 21. b Matt. 25. 35; Rom. 12. 13; 1 Tim. 3. 2 ; 1 Pet. 4. 9. 
 
 c Gen. 18. 3 ; 19. 2. 
 
 please him. Reverence — A.l6ovc, with pious rev- 
 erence. Godly fear — EvXafleiag, religious fear. 
 We have boldness to enter into the holiest by the 
 blood of Jesus ; but let that boldness be ever tem- 
 pered with modesty and religious fear ; for we should 
 never forget that we have sinned, and that God is 
 a consuming fire. Instead of aldovc mi ev?t.aj3eiac, 
 modest// and religious fear, ACD*, several others, 
 with the Slavonic and Chrysostom, have evAafieiac 
 aai diovc, and others have <p6 ; iov kcu rpogov, fear 
 and trembling ; but the sense is nearly the same. 
 
 29. For our God is a consuming fire — The 
 apostle quotes Deut. iv, 24, and by doing so he 
 teaches us this great truth, that sin under the Gos- 
 pel is as abominable in God's sight as it was under 
 the law ; and that the man who does not labour to 
 serve God with the principle and in the way already 
 prescribed will find that fire to consume him which 
 would otherwise have consumed his sin. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 1. Let brotherly love continue — As God is 
 
 remarkable for his cj>tlav6punria, philanthropy, or 
 love to men, so should they be for <pika6e7i<f>ia, 
 or love to each other. (See the note on Titus 
 hi, 4.) 
 
 2. To entertain strangers — In those early 
 times, when there were scarcely any public inns or 
 houses of entertainment, it was an office of charity 
 and mercy to receive, lodge, and entertain travel- 
 lers ; and this is what the apostle particularly 
 recommends. [This was peculiarly a duty in those 
 times of persecution and distress, when many were 
 suffering the loss of their means of subsistence, and 
 were obliged to cast themselves on the charity of 
 their brethren. — Stuart.'] Entertained angels — 
 Abraham and Lot are the persons particularly re- 
 ferred to. Their history, the angels whom they 
 entertained, not knowing them to be such, and the 
 good they derived from exercising their hospitality 
 on these occasions, are well known. (See Gen. 
 xviii, 3 ; xix, 2.) 
 
 3. Remember them that are in bonds — This 
 appears to refer to those Christians who were suf- 
 fering imprisonment for the testimony of Jesus. 
 As bound with them — Feel for them as you 
 would wish others to feel for you were you in their 
 circumstances, knowing that, being in the body, 
 you are liable to the same evils, and may be called 
 to suffer in the same way for the same cause. 
 
 4. Marriage is honourable in all — Let this 
 state be highly esteemed as one of (rod's own insti- 
 tuting, and as highly calculated to foster the best 
 interests of mankind. This shows the absurdity of 
 the popish tenet, that marriage in the clergy is both 
 dishonourable and sinful; which statement is in 
 opposition both to the teaching of the apostle, who 
 
 versity, as being yourselves also in the body. 
 4 Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed 
 undeliled : e but whoremongers and adulterers 
 God will judge. 5 Let your conversation he. 
 without covctousness; and f be content with 
 such things as ye have: for lie hath said, el 
 will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. 6 So 
 that we may boldly say, h The Lord is my 
 helper, and I will not fear what man shall do 
 
 //Matt. 25. 38; Rom. 12. 15; 1 Cor. 12. 28; Col. 4. 18; 1 Pet. 
 
 3. 8. e 1 Cor. 6. 9; Gal. 5 19,21 ; Eph. 5. 5: Col. 3. 5, 6; Rev. 
 
 22. 15. /Matt. 8.25,34; Phil. 4. II, 12; 1 Tim. 6. B. 8. //Gen. 
 
 28, 15; Deul. 31. 6,8: Josh. I. 5; 1 Cliron. 28. 21); Psa. 37. 25. 
 
 // Psa. 27. 1; 58. 4,11,12; 118. 6. 
 
 says, " marriage is honourable in all," and to the 
 institution of God, which evidently designed that 
 every one should be united [by pairs] in this holy 
 bond; and to nature, which in every part of the 
 habitable world has produced men and women in 
 due proportion to each other. The bed unde- 
 filed — Every man cleaving to his own wife, and 
 every wife cleaving to her own husband, because 
 God will judge — that is, punish — all fornicators 
 and adulterers. Instead of tie, but, yap, for, [and 
 an undefiled bed is honourable,] is the reading of 
 [many good authorities, and it more forcibly ex- 
 presses the reason of the prohibition : Let " the bed 
 be undefiled," for " whoremongers and adulterers 
 God will judge."] 
 
 5. Let your conversation — That is, the whole 
 tenor of your conduct, rpdrroc, the maimer of your 
 life, or rather the disposition of your hearts in ref- 
 erence to all your secular transactions ; for in this 
 sense the original is used by the best Greek 
 writers. Be •without covetousness — Desire 
 nothing more than what God has given you ; and 
 especially covet nothing which the divine Provi- 
 dence has given to another man, for this is the very 
 spirit of robbery. Content with such things as 
 ye have — ' ApKov/ievot role napovaw, being satisfied 
 with prist at tilings. The covetous man is ever 
 running out into futurity with insatiable desires 
 after secular good ; and, if this disposition is not 
 checked, it increases as the subject of it increases 
 in years. Covetousness is the vice of old age. I 
 will never leave thee, nor forsake thee — These 
 words were, in sum, spoken to Joshua: (chapter 
 i, 5 :) "As I was with Moses, so will I be with thee; 
 / will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.'''' They were 
 spoken also of God by David to Solomon. (1 Chron. 
 xxviii, 20.) The apostle, in referring to these 
 promises, feels authorized to strengthen the ex- 
 pressions, as the Christian dispensation affords 
 more consolation and confidence in matters of this 
 kind than the old covenant did. This promise is 
 made to those who are patiently bearing affliction 
 or persecution for Christ's sake; and may be ap- 
 plied to any faithful soul in affliction, temptation, or 
 adversity of any kind. Trust in the Lord with thy 
 whole heart, and never lean to thy own under- 
 standing ; for he hath said, " No, I will never 
 leave thee; not I; I will never, never cast thee 
 off." 
 
 6. So that we may boldly say — We, in such 
 circumstances, while cleaving to the Lord, may con- 
 fidently apply to ourselves what God spake to 
 Joshua and to Solomon; and what he spake to 
 David, "The Lord is my helper, I will not fear: 
 what can man do unto me?" God is omnipotent, 
 man's power is limited; howsoever strong he may 
 be, he can do nothing against the Almightv. 
 
 453
 
 A. M. 40C7. a. P. 6:s. 
 Year of Rome, 816. 
 
 HEBREWS. 
 
 Exhortation to imitate their rulers, 
 mid to avoid strange doctrines. 
 
 unto me. 7 ' Remember them which k have the 
 rule over you, who have spoken unto you the 
 word of God: 'whose faith follow, consider- 
 ing the end of their conversation. § Jesus 
 Christ m the same yesterday, and to day, and 
 forever. 9 "Be not carried about with di- 
 vers and strange doctrines: for it is a good 
 thing that the heart be established with grace : 
 
 i Verse 17. ifcOr, are the guides. ZChnp. f>. 12. 
 
 m Jol.n 8. 58; chap. 1. 12; Rev. 1. 1. n Epb. 4. 14; 5. 6; Col. 
 
 2. 4, 8; Uohn4. 1. 
 
 7. Remember them which have the rule 
 over you — This clause should be translated, Re- 
 number your guides, ruv qyovuevuv, who /aire sjmki n 
 imto you the doctrine of God. Theodoret's note on 
 this verse is very judicious: "He intends the 
 saints who were dead — Stephen the first martyr, 
 James the brother of John, and James called the 
 Just. And there were many others who were taken 
 off by the Jewish rage. ' Consider these, (said he,) 
 and, observing their example, imitate their faith.' " 
 This remembrance of the dead saints, with admira- 
 tion of their virtues and a desire to imitate them, 
 is. -ays Dr. Macknight, the only worship which is 
 due to them from the living. Considering the 
 end of their conversation — r Qv avadsupovvrec ~?/v 
 EKfiacnv rijc avaarpoipf/c, the issue of whose course of 
 life most carefully consider. They lived to get good 
 and do good; they were faithful to their God and 
 his cause ; they suffered persecution; and for the 
 testimony of Jesus died a violent death. God 
 never left them; no, he never forsook them; so 
 that they were happy in their afflictions, ami glo- 
 rious in their death. Carefully consider this ; act 
 as they did ; keep the faith, and God will keep 
 you. 
 
 8. Jesus Christ the same yesterday — In all 
 past times there was no way into the holiest but 
 through the blood of Jesus, either actually shed or 
 significantly typified. To day — He is the lamb 
 newly slain, and continues to appear in the presence 
 of God for us. Forever — To the conclusion of 
 time he will be the way, the truth, and the life, 
 none coming to the Father but through him ; and 
 throughout eternity, etc tovc aluvac, it will appear 
 that all glorified human spirits owe their salvation 
 to his infinite merit. This Jesus was thus wit- 
 nessed of by your guides, who are already departed 
 to glory. Remember Him ; remember them ; and 
 take heed to yourselves. [The simple object is to 
 show that Jesus Christ " ever liveth to aid his dis- 
 ciples." — Stuart.'] 
 
 9. Be not carried about — M?) TTEpupepeode, be 
 im! whirled about. But almost every MS. of im- 
 portance has ///) Trapacpspso-de, be not carried away, 
 which is undoubtedly the true reading, and signifies 
 here, do not apostatize ; permit not yourselves to be 
 carried off from Christ and his doctrine. Divers 
 and strange doctrines — Aidaxaig ■Kouii'katc, varie- 
 yatrd duct rims ; those that blended the Law and the 
 Gospel, and brought in the Levitical sacrifices and 
 institutions in order to perfect the Christian sys- 
 tem. Remember the old covenant is abolished; 
 the new alone is in force. \Tiotni7jiic ml ijtvatc, 
 designates doctrines different, diverse, from true 
 Christian doctrine, and foreign (strangers) to it. 
 Such were the doctrines of the Judaizing teachers, 
 respecting many of their ceremonial observances 
 and traditionary rites ; and to these the writer 
 h^re adverts, as appears by the sequel. — Stuart.'] 
 T lat the heart be established ■with grace — It 
 
 454 
 
 °not with meats, which have not profited them 
 that have been occupied therein. 1© p We 
 have an altar, whereof they have no right to 
 eat which serve the tabernacle. 1 1 For i the 
 bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought 
 into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, 
 are burned without the camp. 12 Wherefore 
 Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people 
 
 oRom, 14. 17; Col. 2. 16; 1 Tim. 4. 8. pi Cor. 9. 13; 
 
 'II. 18. <? Exod. 29. 14; Lev. 4. 11, 12, 21 ; 6. £1); '.'. 11; Iti. 27; 
 
 Num. 19. 3. 
 
 is well to have the heart, the mind, and conscience 
 fully satisfied with the truth and efficacy of the 
 Gospel ; for so the word x a P' 7L should be under- 
 stood here, which is put in opposition to fipuuaatv, 
 meats, signifying here the Levitical institutions, 
 and especially its sacrifices, these being emphati- 
 cally termed meats, because the offerers were per- 
 mitted to feast upon them after the blood had been 
 poured out before the Lord. (See Lev. vii, 15 ; Deut. 
 xii, 6, 1.) [Including also the distinctions of clean 
 and unclean.] Which have not profited them 
 — Because they neither took away guilt, cleansed 
 the heart, nor gave power over sin. [See the ref- 
 erences in the margin.] 
 
 10. We have an altar — The " altar " is here put 
 for the sacrifice on the altar; the Christian altar is 
 the Christian sacrifice, which is Christ Jesus, with 
 all the benefits of his passion and death. To these 
 privileges they had no right who continued to offer 
 the Levitical sacrifices, and to trust in them for 
 remission of sins. [This "altar" is (figuratively) 
 the cross on which our Lord suffered, . . . severed 
 from which we know not Christ ; laid upon which 
 he is the power of God and the wisdom of God. 
 Of which they (the priests of the old covenant) 
 have no right to eat, [the right to eat of the sacri- 
 fice inhered in the priesthood.] The Jewish priests 
 have no right to eat of our altar; let us not then 
 tarry in the Jewish tabernacle, serving their rites, 
 offering their sacrifices, but offer our now only pos- 
 sible sacrifice, that of praise, the fruit of a good 
 confession, acceptable to God through Christ. See 
 Alford.] 
 
 1 1 . For the bodies of those beasts — The flesh 
 of the sin offering might not be eaten. When the 
 blood was sprinkled before the holy place to make 
 an atonement for their souls, the skins, flesh, en- 
 trails, etc., were carried without the camp, and 
 entirely consumed by fire. For, as eating the other 
 sacrifices intimated they were made partakers of 
 the benefits procured by them, so, not being per- 
 mitted to eat of the sin offering proved that they 
 must look to the Christ, whose sacrifice is pointed 
 out, that they might receive that real pardon of 
 sin which the shedding of his blood could alone 
 procure. While, therefore, they continued offering 
 those sacrifices, and refused to acknowledge the 
 Christ, they had no right to any of the blessings 
 procured by him. 
 
 12. That he might sanctify the people — 
 That he might consecrate them to God, and make an 
 atonement for their sins, he suffered without the 
 gate at Jerusalem, as the sin offering was consumed 
 without the camp when the tabernacle abode in the 
 wilderness. Perhaps all this was typical of the 
 abolition of the Jewish sacrifices, and the termina- 
 tion of the whole Levitical system of worship. Jesus 
 left the city, denounced its final destruction, and 
 abandoned it to its fate; and suffered without the 
 gate to briu": the Gentiles to God.
 
 Exhortation to attend to the truths 
 taught, and to be obedient. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 with his own blood, 'suffered without the gate. 
 13 Let us go forth therefore unto him with- 
 out the camp, bearing s his reproach. 14 'For 
 here have we no continuing city, but we seek 
 one to come. 15 "By him therefore let us 
 offer » the sacrifice of praise to God continually, 
 that is, "the fruit of our lips, "giving thanks 
 to his name. 16 * But to do good and to com- 
 municate forget not: for 2 with such sacrifices 
 God is well pleased. 17 "Obey them that 
 
 rJohn 19.17, 18; Arts 7. 58. - sChap. U.-26: 1 Pet. 4. 14. 
 
 . — £Mieah2. 10; Phil. 3. 20 ; chap, 11.10,16: 12.22. uKph. 
 
 5.2D: 1 Pet. 2.5. v Lev. 7. 12; Psa. 50. 14,23: 69. 30.31; 107. 
 
 2.'; llii. 17. — wlfos. 14. 2. — r-» Gr. confessing to. u Horn. 
 
 12 1.1. «2Cor. 9. 12; Phil. 4. 18: chap. 6. 10. ttPhil. 2. 29; 
 
 1 Thess. a. 12; 1 Tim. 5. 17; verse 7. 
 
 13. Let us go forth therefore unto him — 
 
 Let us leave this city and system, devoted to de- 
 struction, and take refuge in Jesus alone, bearing 
 his reproach. 
 
 14. For here have we no continuing city — 
 Here is an elegant and forcible allusion to the ap- 
 proaching destruction of Jerusalem. The Jerusalem 
 that was below was about to be destroyed ; the 
 Jerusalem that was from above was that alone 
 which could be considered to be fievovaav, perma- 
 nent. The words seem to say : " Arise, and de- 
 part ; for this is not your rest ; it is polluted." 
 
 15. By him therefore let us offer the sacri- 
 fice of praise — He has now fulfilled all vision and 
 prophecy, has offered the last bloody sacrifice which 
 God will ever accept ; and as he is the gift of 
 God's love to the world, let us through him offer 
 the sacrifice of praise to God continually, this being 
 the substitute for all the Levitical sacrifices. The 
 Jews allowed that in the time of the Messiah all 
 sacrifices, except the sacrifice of praise, should 
 cease. To this maxim the apostle appears to allude ; 
 and, understood in this way, his words are much 
 more forcible. This was, in effect, quoting the 
 authority of one of their own maxims, that now was 
 the time of the Messiah ; that Jesus was that Mes- 
 siah ; that the Jewish sacrificial system was now 
 abolished ; and that no sacrifice would now be 
 accepted of God, except the sacrifice of praise for 
 the gift of his Son. That is, the fruit of our 
 lips — This expression is probably borrowed from 
 Hos. xiv, 2, in the Version of the Septuagint, Kaprrbv 
 ,Tf(/.twi', which in the Hebrew is " the heifers of our 
 lips." This may refer primarily to the sacrifices, 
 heifers, calves, etc , which they had vowed to God ; 
 so that the " calves of their lips " were the sacri- 
 fices which they had promised. Giving thanks 
 (ouoXoyoijvTuv, confessing) to his name — [That is, 
 the name of God, as the ultimate object to which the 
 confession Si' avrov, concerning him, Jesus, is re- 
 ferred. — A [ford. ] 
 
 1(5. But to do good and to communicate — 
 [But do not be unmindful of beneficence and giving, 
 (that is, in things temporal.)] These are continual 
 sacrifices which God requires, and which will spring 
 from a sense of God's love in Christ Jesus. Praise 
 to God for his unspeakable gift, and acts of kind- 
 ness to men for God's sake. Praise, prayer, and 
 thanksgiving to God, with works of charity and 
 mercy to man, are the sacrifices which every gen- 
 uine follower of Christ rrrust offer. [The fruit of 
 our lips, offering praise and thanksgiving, is beau- 
 tiful and seemly; but beyond this is sacrifice of 
 "good works" — that is, works of beneficence.] 
 
 17. Obey them that have the rule over you 
 — Trust your leaders, roic qyovfiivoig. (See on 
 
 have the rule over you, and submit your- 
 selves: for c they watch for your souls, as they 
 that must give account, that they may do it 
 with joy, and not with grief: for that is un- 
 profitable for you. 1§ d Pray for us : for we 
 trust we have e a good conscience, in all things 
 willing to live honestly. 19 lint 1 beseech 
 you 'the rather to do this, that 1 may be re- 
 stored to you the sooner. 20 Now s the God 
 of peace, ''that brought again from the dead 
 
 /-Or, guide. — oEzek. 3. 17; :;:',. 2. 7: Acts 20. 26, 2«. 
 
 tfRom. I.".. 30: Kph. H. 19; Col. 4. :: ; 1 Tliess. 5. 25; 2 Thess. 
 
 3. 1. ,A.ts 2:). I; 21. Hi; 2 Cor. 1. 12. / I'liili-m. 22. 
 
 pRom. 15. 33: 1 Thess. 5. 23 A Acts 2. 24, 32; Rom. 4. 24; 
 
 8. 11 ; 1 Cor. 6. 11: 15. 15; 2 Cor. 4. 14; Gal. 1. 1 ; Col. 2. 12; 
 1 Thess. 1. in; l Pet. 1. 21. 
 
 verse 7.) In the former verse the apostle exhorts 
 them to remember those who had been their lead- 
 ers, and to imitate their faith ; in this he exhorts 
 them to obey the leaders they now have, and to 
 submit to their authority in all matters of doctrine 
 and discipline, on the ground that they watched for 
 their souls, and should have to give an account of 
 their [of those over whom they watched] conduct 
 to God. If this conduct were improper, they must 
 give their report before the great tribunal with 
 grief, but it must lie given; if holy and pure, they 
 would give it in with joy. It is an awful consid- 
 eration that many pastors, who had loved their 
 flocks as their own souls, shall be obliged to accuse 
 them before God for either having rejected or 
 neglected the great salvation. 
 
 18. Pray for us — [Here, as elsewhere, it is not 
 to be supposed that the first person plural indicates 
 the writer alone.— Alford.] Even the success of 
 apostles depended, in a certain way, on the prayers 
 of the Church. Few Christian congregations feel, 
 as they ought, that it is their bounden duty to pray 
 for the success of the Gospel, both among them- 
 selves and in the world. The Church is weak, dark, 
 poor, and imperfect, because it prays little. We 
 trust we have a good conscience — We are per- 
 suaded that we have a conscience that not only ac- 
 quits us of all fraud and sinister design, but assures 
 us that in simplicity and godly sincerity we have 
 laboured to promote the welfare of you and of all 
 mankind. [This appears to point at some offence 
 of the same kind as we know to have been taken at 
 the life and teachings of St. Paul with reference to 
 the law and Jewish customs. — Alford.] To live 
 honestly — 'Ev -kciolv m?Mg deXovrec avaarfit^tcBai, 
 milling in all things to conduct ourselves well — to 
 behave with decency and propriety. 
 
 19. The rather to do this — That is, pray for 
 us, that, being enabled to complete the work which 
 God has given us here to do, we may be the sooner 
 enabled to visit you. It is evident from this, that 
 the people to whom this epistle was written knew 
 well who was the author of it ; nor does there ap- 
 pear, in any place, any design in the writer to con- 
 ceal his name ; and how the epistle came to lack a 
 name it is impossible to say. A part of the begin- 
 ning may have been lost, as it not only begins 
 without a name, but begins very abruptly. 
 
 20. Now the God of peace — We have often 
 seen that "peace" among the Hebrews signifies 
 prosperity of every kind. "The God of peace" is 
 the same as the God of all blessedness, who has at 
 his disposal all temporal and eternal good; who 
 loves mankind, and lias provided them a complete 
 salvation. Brought again from the dead our 
 Lord — As our Lord's sacrificial death is considered 
 
 455
 
 HEBREWS. 
 
 Paul's fin^l prnvers and 
 injunctions. 
 
 our Lord Jesus, 'that great Shepherd of the 
 sheep, k through the blood of the everlasting 
 ■covenant, 21 m Make you perfect in every 
 good work to do his will, n0 working in you 
 that which is well pleasing in his sight, through 
 Jesus Christ; rto whom be glory forever and 
 ever. Amen. 22 And 1 beseech you, breth- 
 
 ren, suffer the word of exhortation : for 1 1 
 have written a letter unto you in few words. 
 23 Know ye that r our brother Timothy s is set 
 at liberty ; with whom, if he come shortly, I will 
 see you. 24 Salute all them 'that have the 
 rule over you, and all the saints. They of Italy 
 salute you. 25 u Grace be with you all. Amen. 
 
 ilsa. 40. 11: Ezek. 34. 23; 37. 24; John 11). 11, 14; 1 Pet, 2. 
 
 25; 5. 4. K Zech. 9. 11 ; chap. 10. 29. ^Or, testament. 
 
 tn 2 Thess. 2. 1 7 ; 1 Pet. 5. 10. 
 
 as an atonement offered to the divine justice, God's 
 acceptance of it as an atonement is signified by his 
 raising the human nature of Christ from the dead ; 
 and hence this raising of Christ is, with the utmost 
 propriety, attributed to God (he Father, as this 
 proves ins acceptance of the sacrificial offering. 
 That great Shepherd of the sheep — This is a title 
 of our blessed Lord, given to him by the prophets. 
 (Isa. xl, 11 ; Ezek. xxxiv, 23 ; Zeeh. xiii, 7.) In all 
 these places the term "shepherd" is supposed to 
 belong to our blessed Lord ; and he appropriates it 
 to himself, (John x, 11,) by calling himself the good 
 Shepherd, who lays down his life for the sheep. 
 Through the blood of the everlasting cove- 
 nant—Some understand this in the following way: 
 that "God lirought back our Lord from the dead 
 on account of his having shed his blood to procure 
 the everlasting covenant." Others, (and better,! 
 that "the Lord Jesus became the great Shepherd 
 and Saviour of the sheep by shedding his blood to 
 procure and ratify the everlasting covenant." [Or 
 the whole verse may be translated :] " Now the God 
 of peace, who brought again from the dead our 
 Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, 
 make you, through the blood of the everlasting 
 covenant, perfect in every good work to do his 
 will." The Christian system is termed the " ever- 
 lasting covenant," to distinguish it from the tempo. 
 rary covenant made with the Israelites at Mount 
 Sinai ; and to show that it is the last dispensation 
 of grace to the world, and shall endure to the end 
 of time. 
 
 21. Make you perfect — KarapTtaaivfiag, put 
 you completely in joint. (See on 2 Cor. xiii, 9.) 
 They were to do the will of God in every good 
 work, from God working in them that which is well 
 pleasing in his sight, 1) This necessarily implies 
 a complete change in the whole soul, that God 
 may be well pleased with whatsoever he sees in it; 
 and this supposes its being cleansed from all sin. 
 2) This complete inward parity is to produce an 
 outward conformity to God's will, so they were to 
 be made perfect in every good -work. 3) The 
 perfection within and the /<- rfection without were to 
 be produced by the blood of the everlasting covenant; 
 for although God is love, yet it is not according to 
 the economy, of his grace to communicate any good 
 to mankind but through his Son, and through him 
 as having died for our offences. To whom be 
 glory forever — As God does all in, by, and through 
 Christ Jesus, to him be the honour of his own work 
 ascribed through time and eternity. Amen. 
 
 22. Suffer the word of exhortation — Bear 
 the word or doctrine of this "exhortation." This 
 seems to include this whole epistle ; and as the 
 apostle had in it shown the insufficiency of the 
 Levitical system to atone for sin and save the soul ; 
 and had proved that it was the design of God that 
 it should be abolished; and had proved also that it 
 was now abolished by the coming of Christ, whom 
 456 
 
 uOr, lining. o Phil. 2. 13. p Gal. 1. 5; 2 Tim. 4. 13; 
 
 Rev. 1. fi. q 1 Pet, 5. 12. r\ Thess. 3. 2. si Tim. 0. 12. 
 
 1 Verses 7, 17. a Tit, 3. 15. 
 
 he had shown to be a greater priest than Aaron, 
 higher than all the angels, the only Son of God, and 
 the Creator, Governor, and Judge of all ; and that 
 their city was shortly to be destroyed ; he might 
 suppose that they would feel prejudiced against 
 him, and thus lose the benefit of his kind inten- 
 tions toward them ; therefore he entreats them to 
 bear the exhortation which, notwithstanding the 
 great extent of the subject, he had included in a 
 short compass. I have written a letter unto 
 you in few words — Perhaps it would he better to 
 translate fita jipaxeuv ETTtoreiAa vfiiv, 1 have written 
 to you briefly, as k-tareAAeiv often signifies simply 
 to write, and this appears to be its meaning here. 
 
 23. Know ye that our brother Timothy — 
 The word ijyuv, our, which is supplied by our 
 translators, is very probably genuine ; [and it is 
 now generally accepted.] Is set at liberty — 
 'A-ii'/t'/ v/iivov, is sent away ; for there is no evi- 
 dence that Timothy had been imprisoned. It is 
 probable that the apostle refers here to his being 
 .-cut into Macedonia, (Phil, ii, 19-24,) in order that 
 he might bring the apostle an account of the 
 affairs of the Church in that country. In none of 
 St. Caul's epistles, written during bis confinement 
 in Rome, does he give any intimation of Timothy's 
 imprisonment, although it is probable (Phil, i, 1, 
 Col. i, 1, Philern. 1) that he was with Paul during 
 the greater part of the time. With whom, if 
 he come shortly, I will see you — Therefore 
 Paul himself, or the writer of this epistle, was now 
 at HI »erty, as he had the disposal of his person and 
 time in his own power. 
 
 24. Salute all them that have the rule over . 
 you — Salute all your leaders or guides, rove /)] ov- 
 fievove eyuv. See on verses 7 and 1 7. And all the 
 saints — All the Christians ; for this is the general 
 meaning of the term. But a Christian was then a 
 saint, that is, by profession a holy person; and most 
 of the primitive Christians were actually such. But 
 in process of time the term was applied to all that 
 bore the Christian name; as elect, holy people, 
 sanctified-, etc., were to the nation of the Jens, 
 when both their piety and morality were at a very 
 low ebb. They of Italy salute you — Therefore 
 it is most likely that the writer of this epistle was 
 then in some part of Italy, from which he had not 
 as yet removed after his being released from 
 prison. These salutations show what a brotherly 
 feeling existed in every part of the Christian 
 Church : even those who had not seen each other 
 yet loved one another, and felt deeply interested 
 for each other's welfare. 
 
 25. Grace be with you all — May the divine 
 favour ever rest upon you and among you ; and 
 may you receive, from* that source of all good, 
 whatsoever is calculated to make you wise, holy, 
 useful, and happy ! And may you be enabled to 
 persevere in the truth to the end of your lives! 
 Amen.
 
 PREFACE TO THE GENERAL EPISTLE 
 
 OF 
 
 JAMES. 
 
 THE PERSON OF THE WRITER. 
 
 THE author styles himself " James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus 
 Christ." (Chapter i, 1.) There were among the apostles two persons of 
 the name of James: one the son of Zebedee, and brother of John, (Matt, x, 2, 
 Mark iii, 17, Luke vi, 14, Acts xii, 2;) the other the son of Alpheus, (Matt, x, 3, 
 Mark iii, 18, Luke vi, 15,) called also " James the Less," in Mark xv, 40. The first 
 of these (the son of Zebedee) was put to death by Herod about twelve years after 
 the crucifixion of Christ. (Acts xii, 1, 2.) It is by no means likely that he was 
 the author of the epistle. After his death we find, in the history in the Acts, 
 and also in Galatians ii, 9, and 1 Cor. xv, 7, a very prominent man among the 
 apostles by the name of James, and it has been greatly disputed whether he is one 
 of the twelve apostles, the son of Alpheus, called also James the Less, or one of 
 the brothers of Christ, called James, mentioned in Matt, xiii, 55, and Mark vi, 3, 
 In Galatians i, 19, Paul mentions having seen at Jerusalem James, the Lord's 
 brother. 
 
 Luke mentions only two persons by the name of James, one of whom he puts 
 among the twelve apostles, and associates him with John, (chapter vi, 14, ix, 
 28, 54,) and whom he calls the son of Zebedee, (chapter v, 10;) the other, James 
 the son of Alpheus, whom he also mentions as one of the twelve apostles. (Chap- 
 ter vi, 15.) He names among the apostles Judas the brother of James, (chapter 
 vi, 16;) and mentions Mary the mother of James in chapter xxiv, 10. This 
 James is, doubtless, [perhaps,] the apostle who was the son of Alpheus. 
 
 In the Acts of the Apostles we find, in the list of the apostles who assembled 
 in the upper room in Jerusalem after the ascension of Christ, James associated 
 with Peter and John, and James the son of Alpheus. (Chapter i, 13.) We next 
 find mention of both in Acts xii, where it is stated that Herod killed James the 
 brother of John with the sword; and when, a little while after, Peter was released 
 from prison, he said, " Go show these things unto James and to the brethren." 
 This, it has been supposed, was the surviving apostle of that name. 
 
 In the assembly of apostles and elders at Jerusalem, a few years later, James, 
 after Peter, addressed the assembly and gave the decision, which seems to imply, 
 [but does not prove,] that he was certainly an apostle, and perhaps the recognised 
 head of the assembly. When Paul visited Jerusalem, (about A.D. 38,) he tells us: 
 " Other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord's brother," (Gal. i, 19,) 
 
 which includes the James who was known as "the Lord's brother" among the 
 
 457
 
 PREFACE TO THE GENERAL EPISTLE OF JAMES. 
 
 apostles, and by that title he was distinguished from James the son of Zebedee, 
 who was then living. After the death of the latter, Paul mentions James without 
 any other designation. (1 Cor. xv, 7, Gal. ii, 9.) According to Hegesippus, Clopas 
 was the brother of Joseph, (husband of the mother of our Lord.) In John xix, 25, 
 Mary, the sister of the mother of Jesus, is called the wife of Clopas; but Clopas 
 and Alpheus are regarded as two different ways of writing in Greek the Hebrew 
 Chalephay, so that James the son of Alpheus is the son of Clopas, and accordingly 
 a cousin of Christ. That an apostle thus nearly related to Christ should be called 
 his brother is not contrary to the confessed use of the language of Scripture. 
 
 Hegesippus, in the last half of the second century, speaks of James the brother 
 of the Lord, called " the Just," who received with the apostles the government of 
 the Church in Jerusalem, and suffered martyrdom before the destruction of the 
 city. He does not state whether this James, was an apostle. Also Josephus 
 mentions James the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ, and his martyrdom. 
 
 In the " Gospel according to the Hebrews " James the Just appears as one of 
 those who sat at the table with the Lord before his crucifixion, and to whom he 
 appeared after his resurrection. In a fragment of Papias, Mary, the wife of 
 Clopas or Alpheus, appears as the mother of James, bishop and apostle. Clement 
 of Alexandria regarded James the Just, bishop of Jerusalem, as an apostle. This 
 also appears to have been the view of Jerome, and of Chrysostom. On the other 
 hand, Origen distinguishes James the brother of the Lord, (Matt, xiii, 55,) 
 afterward bishop of Jerusalem, from James the Less, an apostle. 
 
 Among the moderns, Bleek regards James the brother of the Lord as no 
 apostle, (which view is favoured by Neander, De Wette, and Hilgenfeld,) while, 
 on the other hand, Hug regards James the brother of the Lord and James the son 
 of Alpheus as the same person who is placed among the brothers of Jesus in Matt, 
 xiii, 55. Michaelis, on the other hand, remarks: "All things considered, I see 
 no ground for the assertion that James the son of Zebedee was not the author of 
 this epistle. One circumstance affords, at least, a presumptive argument in favour 
 of the opinion that it was really written by the elder James, and at a time when 
 the Gospel had not been propagated among the Gentiles; namely, that it con- 
 tains no exhortations to harmony between the Jewish and Gentile converts, which, 
 after the time that the Gentiles were admitted into the Church, became absolutely 
 necessary. Had it been written after the apostolic council at Jerusalem, mentioned 
 Acts xv, and by the younger James, we might have expected that at least some 
 allusion would be made in it to the decree of that council, which was propounded 
 by the younger James in favour of the Gentile converts; and that the epistle 
 would contain an admonition to the Jewish converts to consider the Gentile 
 converts as their brethren." — Introduction to the New Testament. 
 
 [Modern critics are agreed, with almost entire unanimity, that "James the 
 brother of our Loird," who seems to have been recognised as the chief minister of 
 the Church at Jerusalem, was the author of this epistle, but they are not so agreed 
 in respect to who that person was; whether he were the son of Alpheus, one of the 
 twelve commonly known as James the Less, or whether he were really the uterine 
 brother of our Lord. Canon Farrar, in his recent work on the " Early Days of 
 Christianity," decidedly favours the latter view, and fortifies his position by both 
 strong and plausible arguments. The notion of the perpetual virginity of Mary 
 he dismisses as a suggestion of the asceticism that grew up in the Church during 
 the first centuries, which has been perpetuated through the joint influences of the 
 superstition and the ecclesiasticism of the Church of Rome. The plea that the 
 
 458
 
 PREFACE TO THE GENERAL EPISTLE OF JAMES. 
 
 term " brother " is used in the Bible for other than the children of a common 
 parentage is not denied, but such a use of the term is declared to have been not 
 frequent, and only when that more remote relation was clearly indicated. As 
 applied to -lames, it is insisted that it can be legitimately interpreted in no other 
 than the proper and stronger sense. The testimony of the Church Fathers, before 
 the time of Jerome, in the fourth century, is claimed to be decidedly in favour of 
 this view of the subject, while Jerome's theory of the more remote relationship 
 of the James of Jerusalem to our Lord is shown to have been invented by that 
 Father to serve dogmatical rather than historical purposes.] 
 
 GENUINENESS AND CANONICITY. 
 
 Though it has not the same uniform authority of antiquity that is possessed by 
 most other portions of the New Testament, this epistle, is nevertheless, sustained 
 by some of the earliest Fathers and other authorities. It is found in the Peshito- 
 Syriac Version, where it bears the inscription, "The Epistle of James the 
 Apostle." It is also found in the Memphitic, Thebaic, iEthiopic, and Armenian 
 Versions, but is wanting in the Canon of Muratori. There seems to be some 
 reference to it in the Epistle of Clement of Rome to the Corinthians, and clearly 
 so in the "Pastor" of Hennas. Irenoeus quotes a passage from the second chap- 
 ter, but Clement of Alexandria does not refer to it, nor Tertullian, nor Cyprian. 
 Origen quotes from it as " the epistle that bears the name of James," but in his 
 commentary on the epistle to the Romans, (which, however, exists only in the 
 Latin version of Rufinus, which is confessedly freely interpolated,) the epistle of 
 James is twice quoted. 
 
 Eusebius, speaking of James, remarks: " The first of the epistles called Catholic 
 is said to be his. But it must be known that it is spurious, (vodeverai,) since not 
 many of the ancients have mentioned it; nor that called the epistle of Jude, which 
 is also one of the seven called Catholic. Nevertheless, we know that these also, 
 with the rest, are received as canonical in most Churches." In another place he 
 puts it among the disputed writings. 
 
 Jerome, speaking of James, bishop of Jerusalem, whom he considers to be the 
 cousin of Christ, says: "He wrote only one epistle, which belongs to the seven 
 Catholic epistles, and which is asserted to have been put forth by some one else 
 under his name, but has gradually obtained authority in the course of time." 
 
 Didymus, who was head of the Catechetical School of Alexandria in the last 
 part of the fourth century, wrote an exposition of this epistle, which he attributed 
 to the apostle James. It was received by Athanasius, Gregory Nazianzen, 
 Cyril of Jerusalem, Chrysostom, Augustine, and Epiphanius, but was rejected by 
 Theodore of Mopsuestia. 
 
 At the time of the Reformation Erasmus spoke of it doubtfully, and Luther 
 
 is known to have treated it as of but little value, not, however, for any lack of 
 
 authorization, but for dogmatic reasons. The internal evidence is decidedly 
 
 favourable to its genuineness. Its canonicity was not universally accepted by the 
 
 early Church, though the later Fathers pretty generally accepted it, and it 
 
 appears in most Versions made after the second century. At length it was 
 
 received into the canon by ecclesiastical authority, and it is now generally 
 
 accepted by both Catholics and Protestants, though some scholars still account 
 
 it of uncertain authority. The excellence of its practical teachings is universally 
 
 conceded. 
 
 459
 
 PREFACE TO THE GENERAL EPISTLE OF JAMES. 
 
 TIME. 
 
 Many expressions and references in the epistle make it pretty certain that it 
 was written before the destruction of Jerusalem. It also seems to indicate that 
 Christianity had already been in existence for a considerable number of years, and 
 was calling for instruction in practical duties, and for reproofs for remissness. 
 The fact that the Christians' place of worship is called a synagogue (chap ii, 2) 
 proves nothing as to the non-separation of the Jewish believers from the unbe- 
 lievers, for among the Greeks the assembly of Christians for worship was called 
 by the name of the political assemblies at Athens, ecclesla. It would seem from 
 a comparison of all the evidence that can be made to bear upon the case, that 
 the epistle could not have been written earlier than A. D. 50, nor later than 
 A. D. 62. See Harman's Introduction. 
 
 If written by James the son of Zebedee, its date, of course, must precede that 
 of his martyrdom, about A. D. 44. If, on the other hand, it be ascribed to James 
 the Less, who was martyred about A. D. 62, its date may be brought down to 
 nearly that time. The year 61 is accepted in this work as its date, though the 
 probabilities of a much earlier, as well as that it is the work of an unknown author, 
 are not to be summarily rejected. 
 
 CHARACTER AND CONTENTS. 
 
 The epistle itself is quite different in its complexion from all others in the 
 sacred canon: the style and manner are more that of a Jewish prophet than a 
 Christian apostle. It scarcely touches on any subject purely Christian. Our 
 blessed Lord is only mentioned twice in it, (chapter i, 1, ii, 1;) but it has nothing 
 of his miracles or teaching, of his death or resurrection, nor of any redemption 
 by him. It begins without any apostolical salutation, and ends without any 
 apostolical benediction. In short, had it not been for the two slight notices of 
 our blessed Lord, we had not known it was the work of any Christian writer. It 
 mny be considered a sort of connecting link between Judaism and Christianity, 
 as the ministry of John Baptist was between the old covenant and the new. 
 There is neither plan nor arrangement in it; but it contains many invaluable 
 lessons which no serious person can read without profit. 
 
 460
 
 THE GENEKAL EPISTLE 
 
 OF 
 
 JAMES. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 JAMES, "a ''servant of God and of the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, c to the twelve tribes d which 
 are scattered abroad, greeting. 2 My brethren, 
 
 a Acts 12. 17; 15. 13; Hal. 1. 19; 2 9; Jude 1. & Tit. 1. 1. 
 
 c Acts 26. 7. d Deut. 32. 26 ; John 7. 3.3 ; Acts 2. 5 ; 8. 1 ; 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER I. 
 1. Tames, a servant of God — Seethe pref- 
 ace. He neither calls himself an apostle, nor does 
 he say that he was the brother of Christ, or bishop 
 of Jerusalem ; whether he was James the elder, 
 son of Zebedee, or James the less, or he who was 
 called our Lord's brother, or some other person, 
 we know not. The Church has always received 
 him as an apostle of Christ. To the twelve tribes 
 . . . scattered abroad— To the Jews converted 
 to Christianity who lived out of Judea, and so- 
 journed among the Gentiles. At this time there 
 were Jews partly travelling, partly sojourning, and 
 partly resident in most parts of the civilized world ; 
 particularly in Asia. Greece, Egypt, and Italy. I 
 see no reason for restricting it to those Jewish be- 
 lievers who were scattered abroad at the persecu- 
 tion raised concerning Stephen. (Acts viii, 1, etc. ; 
 xi, 19, etc.) That the twelve tribes were in actual 
 existence when James wrote tins epistle, Dr. Mac- 
 knight thinks is evident from [various references in 
 the New Testament. (See Acts x.xvi, 7.)] Though 
 Cyrus allowed all the Jews in his dominions to re- 
 turn to their own land, yet many of them did not 
 return. This happened agreeably to God's purpose 
 in permitting them to be carried captive into As- 
 syria and Babylonia; for he intended to make him- 
 self known among the heathen by means of the 
 knowledge of his being and perfections which the 
 Jews, in their dispersion, would communicate to 
 them. This also was the reason that God determined 
 that the ten tribes should never return to their own 
 land. (Hos. i, 6; viii, 8; ix, 3, 15-17.) Compara- 
 tively few of the twelve tribes returned in conse- 
 quence of Cyrus's decree, but continued to live 
 among the Gentiles, as appears from the fact that 
 in the days of Ahasuerus, one of the successors of 
 Cyrus, it was said, "There is a certain people scat- 
 tered abroad and dispersed among ttie people in all 
 the provinces of thy kingdom ; and their laws ate 
 diverse from all people; neither keep they the 
 king's laws." (Esther iii, S.) By thus adhering to 
 their own usages they kept themselves distinct from 
 all the nations among whom they lived, j So, also, 
 in connexion with the transactions of the day of 
 pentecost it is said : " There were dwelling at Jeru- 
 
 e count it all joy f when ye fall into divers 
 temptations; 3 'Knowing this, that the try- 
 ing of your faith worketh patience. 4 But 
 let patience have her perfect work, thati ye 
 
 1 Pet, 1. 1. 8 Matt. 
 
 13, IB. — /I Pet. 1. 6.- 
 
 12: Acts 5. 41; Heb. 10. 34; 1 Pet. 4. 
 -g It mil. 5. 3. 
 
 salem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under 
 heaven; . . . Parthians, and Medes, and Klamites," 
 etc. ; (Acts ii, 5—9,) so that the Jews were then widely 
 dispersed through all the countries of the world.] 
 When Paul travelled through Asia and Europe, he 
 found the Jews so numerous that in all the noted 
 cities of the Gentiles they had synagogues in which 
 they assembled for the worship of Cod, and were 
 joined by multitudes of proselytes from among the 
 heathens, to whom likewise he preached the Gos- 
 pel. The same apostle, in his speech to King 
 Agrippa, affirmed that the twelve tribes were then 
 existing, and that they served God day and night, 
 in expectation of the promise made to the fathers. 
 (Acts xxvi, f>.) Joscphus {Ant. i, 14, cap. 12) 
 tells us that one region could not contain the Jews, 
 but they dwelt in most of the flourishing cities of 
 Asia and Europe, in the islands and continent, 
 not much less in number than the heathen inhabi- 
 tants. Prom all this it is evident that the Jews of 
 the dispersion were more numerous than even the 
 Jews in Judea, and that James very properly in- 
 scribed this letter to the twelve tribes that were in 
 dispersion, seeing the twelve tribes really existed 
 then, and do still exist, although not distinguished 
 by separate habitations, as they were anciently in 
 their own land. Greeting — Xaipm; fiealth; a 
 mere expression of benevolence, a wish for their 
 prosperity ; a common form of salutation. (See 
 Acts xv, 23; xxiii, 2(5; 2 John 11.) 
 
 2. Divers temptations — The word ireipaofwTc, 
 which we.translatc "temptation," signifies affliction, 
 persecution, or trial of any kind; and in this sense 
 it is used here, not intending diabolic suggestion 
 only, or what is generally understood by the word 
 temptation. 
 
 3. The trying of your faith — [To doicifiiov, the 
 proi ling.] Trials put religion, and all the graces of 
 which it is composed, to proof ; the man that stands 
 in such trials gives proof that his religion is sound, 
 and the evidence afforded to his own mind induces 
 him to take courage, bear patiently, and persevere. 
 [AoKifitov must be taken here as abstract, " the 
 proving," not as concrete, the "medium of proof " 
 namely, the temptations. — Afford.] 
 
 4. Let patience have her perfect work— 
 
 461
 
 <P65. A. D. 61. 
 ar of Rome, 814. 
 
 JAMES. 
 
 Stability of religious character 
 enjoined. 
 
 may lie perfect and entire, wanting nothing. 
 
 5 h If any of you lack wisdom, 'let him ask of 
 God, that giveth to all men liberally, and up- 
 braideth not; and k it shall he given him. 
 
 6 ' But let him ask in faith, nothing waver- 
 ing: for he that wavereth is like a wave of 
 the sea driven with the wind and tossed. 
 
 7 For let not that man think that he shall 
 receive any thing of the Lord. 8 '"A doub- 
 leminded man is unstable in all his ways. 
 
 h\ Kin?s3. 3, 11, 12: Pro v. 2. 3 iMatt. 7. 7; 21.22; Mark 
 
 11. 24: Luke 11. 9: John 14. 13; 15 7: K 23. XJer. 29. 12; 
 
 1 John 5. 14, 15. 1 Mark 11. 21 ; 1 Tim. 2. 8. m Chap. 4. H. 
 
 That is, Continue faithful, and your patience will 
 he crowned with its full reward; for in this sense 
 is Ipyov, which we translate "work," to be under- 
 stood. It is any effect, produced by a cause, as in- 
 terest from money, fruit from tillage, gain from 
 labour, a reward for services performed ; the 
 " perfect work " secures the full reward. [The words 
 are to be taken simply and literally: vkojiovt), {/>«- 
 tie?iee,) as the abstract endurance; and spyov, the 
 work wrought out by patience in its continuance. — 
 A! ford.] That ye may be perfect and entire — 
 TeXeioi, fully instructed in every part of the doc- 
 trine of God, and in his whole will concerning you. 
 'Olon'kripoL, having all your parts, members, and 
 portions ; that ye may have every grace which con- 
 stitutes the mind that was in Christ, so that your 
 knowledge and holiness may be complete, and bear a 
 proper proportion to each other. These expressions 
 seem to be borrowed from the sacrifices under the 
 law. A victim was teIeioc, perfect, that was perfectly 
 sound, having no disease; it was okdiikripoe, entire, 
 if it had all its members, having nothing redundant, 
 nothing deficient. Be ye to the Lord what he re- 
 quired his sacrifices to be; let your whole heart, 
 your body, soul, and spirit, be sanctified to the Lord 
 of hosts, that he may till you with all his fulness. 
 
 5. If any of you lack wisdom — Wisdom sig- 
 nifies in general knowledge of the lust end, and the 
 //■ st means of attaining it; but in Scripture it sig- 
 nifies the same as true religion, the thorough, prac- 
 tical knowledge of God, of one's self, and of a Sav- 
 iour. Let him ask of God — Because God is the 
 only teacher of this, wisdom. That giveth to all 
 men liberally — Who has all good, and gives all 
 necessary good to every one that asks fervently. 
 He who does not ask thus does not feel his need of 
 divine teaching. [It is one of the privileges of 
 Christians that they may not only go to God and 
 ask him for that general wisdom which is needful 
 for them in life, but that whenever a particular 
 emergency arises — a case of perplexity and difficulty 
 in regard to duty — they may bring that particular 
 thing before the throne with the assurance that he 
 will guide them. (See Psa. xxv, 9; Isa. xxxvii, 14 ; 
 Joel ii, 17.)— Barnes.'] 
 
 6. Let him ask in faith — Believing that God 
 is ; that he has all good; and that he is ever ready 
 to impart to his creatures whatever they need. 
 Nothing wavering — MqdEv dianpivouEvog, not 
 judging; having no doubt, and never supposing 
 that God will permit him to ask in vain when he 
 asks sincerely and fervently. [To waver is not the 
 same as to disbelieve, but it includes the essential 
 character of unbelief. While faith says yes, and 
 unbelief no, to waver is the mixture of " ves " and 
 '•no," but so that no is the weightier. It is that 
 inward giving way which leans not to faith, but to 
 
 462 
 
 9 Let the brother of low degree "rejoice in 
 that he is exalted: 10 But the rich, in that 
 he is made low : because "as the flower of the 
 grass lie shall pass away. 11 For the sun is 
 no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it 
 withereth the grass, and the flower thereof 
 falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it per- 
 isheth : so also shall the rich man fade away 
 in his ways. 12 r Blessed is the man that 
 endureth temptation : for when he is tried, he 
 
 n Or, glnrv. oJori 14. 2; Psa. 37.2; 90. 5,6: 102. 11; l'«. 
 
 15; Isa. 40. 6; 1 Cor. 7. 31: chap. 4. 14; 1 Pet. 1. 24 ; 1 John 
 2. 17. v Job 5. 17 ; Prov. 3. 11, 12 : Hen. 12. 5; Rev. 3. 19. 
 
 unfaith. — HutherJ] Is like a wave of the sea 
 
 — He is in a state of continual agitation, as a thing 
 driven by the wind, and tossed ; now rising by 
 hope, now sinking by despair. 
 
 7. Let not that man think — The man whose 
 mind is divided, who is not properly persuaded 
 either of his own wants or God's sufficiency. Such 
 persons may pray, but, having no faith, they can get 
 no answer. 
 
 8. A doubleminded man — 'Avijp (hfv\or. The 
 man of two souls, who has one for earth and an- 
 other for heaven; who wishes to secure both 
 worlds; he will not give up earth, and he is loth to 
 iet go heaven. This was a usual term among the 
 Jews, to express the man who attempted to wor- 
 ship (iod, and yet retained the love of the creature." 
 A man of this character is continually distracted; 
 he will neither let earth nor heaven go, and yet he 
 can have but one. [This dottblemindedness, diij/i \ki, 
 is the result of using human reason as a governiiur 
 element in the practical exercise of faith. Faith 
 sees God ; reason, only nature, or, at best, only 
 God within nature.] 
 
 9. Let the brother of low degree — The poor, 
 destitute Christian maygloiyra the cross of Christ, 
 and the blessed hope laid up for him in heaven ; 
 for, being a child of God, he is an heir of God, and 
 a joint heir with Christ ; he is kv -£> inpei, among 
 the highest. 
 
 10. But the rich, in that he is made low— 
 "Er t/j TcnTEivcjoe/, in his humiliation; in his being 
 brought to the foot of the cross to receive, as a poor 
 and miserable sinner, redemption through the blood 
 of the cross: and especially let him rejoice in this, 
 because all outward glory is only as the flower of 
 the field, and, like that, will wither and perish. 
 (Jer. ix, 24.) 
 
 11. For the sun is no sooner risen — This is 
 unavoidable, for in many cases the very cause of 
 their growth becomes the cause of their decay and 
 destruction. Earthly possessions are subject to 
 mutations. God gives and resumes them at his 
 pleasure, and for reasons which he seldom explains. 
 He shows them to be uncertain, that they may 
 never become an object of confidence to his fol- 
 lowers, and that they may put their whole trust in 
 him. If for righteousness' sake any of those who 
 were in affluence suffer loss, or spoiling of their 
 goods, they should consider that, while they have 
 gained that of infinite worth, they have lost what is 
 of but little value, and with which, in the nature of 
 things, they must soon part. 
 
 1 2. Blessed is the man that endureth temp- 
 tation — This is a Jewish sentiment, and on it they 
 speak some excellent things : " Blessed is the man 
 who stands in his temptation: for there is no man 
 whom God does not try. He tries the rich, to see
 
 Source and work of successful 
 temptation. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 A. M. 4(165. A. P. 61. 
 Year .i Rome, B14. 
 
 shall receive i the crown of life, r which the 
 Lord hath promised to them that love him. 
 
 13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am 
 tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted 
 with "evil, neither tempteth he any man: 
 
 14 But every man is tempted, when he is 
 
 qlCov. 0. 2o; 2 Tim. 4. 8 ; chap. 2. 5 ; 1 Pet. 5. 4 ; Rev. 2. 10. 
 
 /• Matt. 10. 22; l'.i. 28, 29; chap. 2. 5. 
 
 if they will open their hands to the poor. He tries 
 the poor, to see if they will receive affliction and 
 not murmur. If, therefore, the rich stand in his 
 temptation, and give alms to the poor, he shall en- 
 joy his riches in this world, and his horn shall be 
 exalted in the world to come, and the holy, blessed 
 (rod shall deliver him from the punishment of hell. 
 If the poor stand in his temptation, and do not re- 
 pine, (kick hack,) he shall have double in the world 
 to come." This is exactly the sentiment of James. 
 Every man is in this life in a state of temptation or 
 trial, and in this state he is a candidate for another 
 and a better world ; he that stands in his trial shall 
 receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath prom- 
 ised to them that love him. It is only faith in God 
 (tempered with love) that can enable a man to en- 
 dure the trials of life. [No image derived from 
 athletes must be thought of in this verse, as is done 
 by many. Such an image would be foreign to the 
 ideas of the Jews, with whom the receiving a crown 
 from God was a familiar image, irrespective of any 
 previous contest for a prize. (See Psa. xxi, 3 ; 
 Wisd. v, 16.)— Afford.] 
 
 13. Let no man say — Lest the former senti- 
 ment should be misapplied, as the word temptation 
 has two meanings, solicitation to sin and trial from 
 providential situation or circumstances, James, tak- 
 ing up the word in the former sense after having 
 used it in the latter, says : " Let no man say, when 
 he is tempted," (solicited to sin,) "I am tempted 
 of God;" for God cannot be tempted with evil, 
 "neither tempteth he (thus) any man." Thus the 
 author has explained and guarded his meaning. 
 
 14. But every man is tempted — Successfully 
 solicited to sin. When he is drawn away of his 
 own lust — When, giving way to the evil propensity 
 of his own heart, he does that to which he is so- 
 licited by the enemy of his soul. Among the rab- 
 bins we find some tine sayings on this subject. In 
 Midrash hanaalam, fol. 20, and Yalcut Rubeni, 
 fol. 17, it is said: "This is the custom of evil con- 
 cupiscence. Today it saith, Do this; to-morrow, 
 Worship an idol. The man goes and worships. 
 Again it saith, Be angry." '• Evil concupiscence 
 is. at the beginning, like the thread of a spider's 
 web; afterward it is like a cartrope." — §arthe- 
 drim, fol. 9!). In the words, "drawn away of his 
 own lust and enticed," bird r/]r idiac kirtdvuiac ;';"./- 
 k6{J£voq tan i\~ /.a.'. I/, roc, there is a double meta- 
 phor; the first referring to the dragging a fish out 
 of the water by a hook which it had swallowed, be- 
 cause concealed by a bait; the second, to the entice- 
 ments of impure women, who draw away the un- 
 wary into their snares, and involve them in their 
 ruin. Illicit connexions of this kind the writer has 
 clearly in view ; and every word that he uses re- 
 fers to something of this nature, as the following 
 verse shows. [In each case, and in every form, the 
 power of the temptation is laid in some propensity 
 of our nature. . . . The word rendered "lust" (e~c- 
 dviiia) is not employed here in the narrow sense.in 
 which it is now commonly used, as denoting libid- 
 
 drawn away of his own hist, and enticed. 
 15 Then ' when lust hath conceived, it bring- 
 eth forth sin; and sin, when it is finished, 
 "bringeth forth death. 16 l.)o not err, my 
 beloved brethren. 17 v Every good gift and 
 every perfect gift is from above, and cometh 
 
 8 Or, evils. 1 Job 15. 33; P?a. 7. 14. wRom. 6. 21.23.- 
 
 v John 3. 27; 1 Cor. 4. 7. 
 
 inousness. It means desire in general, and ear- 
 nest wish for any thing, (but usually within the 
 range of the appetites.) It seems here to be used 
 with reference to the original (innate) propensities 
 of our nature, the desires implanted in us, which 
 are a stimulus to employment. — Barnes.] 
 
 1 5. When lust hath conceived — When the 
 evil propensity works unchecked. It bringeth 
 forth sin — the evil act is perpetrated. And sin, 
 ■when it is finished — AY hen this breach of the 
 law of God and of innocence has been completed. 
 Bringeth forth death — The deformed offspring 
 of the criminal connexion, and the evidence of that 
 death or punishment due to the transgressors. Any 
 person acquainted with the import of the verbs ffivU 
 /(/// inn n\ t'octelv, and aroicveiv, will see that this is 
 the metaphor, and that I have not exhausted it. 
 ~v/'/<i/i,'3avu signifies concipio sobolem, qua? com- 
 prehenditur utero; concipio fcetum : tcktu, pario, 
 genero, efficio; cittokvIu, ex ott6 et kvu, prmgnans 
 sum, in utero gero. Verbum proprium prsegnan- 
 tium, qnce jotnm maturum emittunt. Interdum 
 etiam gignendi notionem halet. — Maius, Obser. 
 Sacr., vol. ii, page 184. Sin is a small matter in 
 its commencement ; but by indulgence it grows 
 great, and multiplies itself beyond all calculation. 
 To use the rabbinical metaphor, it is; in the com- 
 mencement, like the thread of a spider's web — almost 
 imperceptible through its extreme tenuity or fine- 
 ness, and as easily broken, for it is as yet but a sim- 
 ple irregular imagination ; afterward it becomes 
 like a cartrope — it has, by 'being indulged, pro- 
 duced strong desire and delight; next, consent; then, 
 time, place, and opportunity serving, that which 
 was conceived in the mind and finished in the pur- 
 pose, is consummated by act. [The inner act (by 
 which sin is conceived) is the union of the will with 
 the ETri6v/j.ia, the natural impulse;) the tikvei (the 
 bringing forth) denoting the extension into outward 
 act. Then the second or completed a/iaprta, (sin,) 
 the sinful purpose completed in overt action, with- 
 its resultant influences, bringing the man under 
 bondage to sin — this brings forth spiritual and eter- 
 nal death.— Alford.] 
 
 16. Do not err — By supposing that God is the 
 author of sin, or that he impels any man to com- 
 mit it. 
 
 1 7. Every good gift and every perfect gift 
 is from above — Whatever is good is from God; 
 whatever is evil is from man himself. As from 
 the sun, which is the father or fountain of light, 
 all light comes ; so from (ion, who is the infinite 
 Fountain, Father, and Source of good, all good 
 comes. And whatever can be called "good," or 
 pure, or light, or excellence of any kind, must 
 necessarily spring from him, as he is the only 
 source of nil goodness and perfection. With 
 whom is no variableness — The sun, the fountain 
 of light to the whole of our system, may lie ob- 
 scured by clouds; or the different bodies which re- 
 volve round him, ami particularly the earth, may 
 from time to time suffer a diminution of his light 
 
 463
 
 A.M. 4nr,5. A.D. 61. 
 Vear ol Rome, M4. 
 
 down from the Father of lights, w with whom 
 is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. 
 1§ x Of his own will begat he us with the 
 word of truth, y that we should be a kind of 
 'firstfruits of his creatures. 19 Wherefore, 
 my beloved brethren, a let every man be swift 
 to hear, b slow to speak, c slow to wrath: 
 
 wNara. 23. 10: 1 Sam. 15. 29; Mai. 3. 6; Rom. 11. 29. 
 
 O'.lohn I. 13: 3. 3: 1 Cor. 4. 15; 1 Pet. 1. 23. // Eph. 1. 12. 
 
 sJev. 2. 3; Rev. 14. 4. a Eecles. 5. 1. b Pro v. 10. 19; 17. 
 
 27 : Eecles. 5. 2. 
 
 by tln> intervention of other bodies eclipsing his 
 splendour. But there is nothing of this kind with 
 God ; he is never affected by the changes and 
 chances to which natural things are exposed. By 
 reason of the sun's revolution through the ecliptic, 
 its light and heat are, to the inhabitants of the 
 earth, either constantly increasing or decreasing : 
 but God, the Creator and Preserver of all things, is 
 eternally the same, dispensing his good and perfect 
 gifts, his earthly and heavenly blessings, to all his 
 creatures. Men may hide themselves from his 
 light by the works of darkness, but his goodwill 
 to his creatures is permanent: he wills not the 
 death of a sinner, but rather that he may come un- 
 to him and live; and no man walks in wretched- 
 ness or misery but he who will not come unto God 
 that he mag have life. Neither shadow of turn- 
 ing— [The sun lias not only its annual but its diur- 
 nal solstice. The moon and the stars rise and set 
 and leave us in absolute night. But God is in a 
 very different sense the Light of the world, a Sun 
 that never sets. (Psa. exxxix, 9-12; Job xxxiv, 22.) 
 . . . Now if the heavenly bodies, as the created sym- 
 bols of the divine Being of light, are not without 
 shadow and night, we get the antithesis that God, 
 the Father of the lights, is eternally the same, not 
 only per se, (in his own person,) but also in the 
 phenomena of these lights ; that is to say. He 
 makes no revelation with the Old Testament which 
 could cast a night-shadow on the New, nor does he 
 suffer the New Testament to cast a night-shadow 
 on the Oil. The Father of lights remains un- 
 changed, even in this antithesis. — Lange.] 
 
 18. Of his own will begat he us — God's 
 "will," here, is opposed to the last of man, (verse 
 15 ;) his truth, the means of human salvation, to 
 the sinful means referred to in the above verse ; 
 and the new creatures, to the sin conceived and 
 brought forth, as above. As the will of God is es- 
 sentially good, all its productions must be good 
 also; as it is infinitely pure, all its productions 
 must be holy. The word or doctrine of truth, what 
 St. Paul calls the wordofthe truthofthe Gospel, (Col. 
 i, 5,) is the means which God uses to convert souls. 
 A kind of firstfruits of his creatures — By " crea- 
 tures," we are here to understand the Gentiles, and 
 by "firstfruits," the Jews to whom the Gospel was 
 first sent ; and those of them that believed were 
 the " firstfruits " of that astonishing harvest which 
 God has since reaped over the whole Gentile world. 
 (See on Rom. viii, 19, etc.) [The spiritual birth, 
 not the natural, is meant. . . . His gracious purpose 
 with regard to us (the writer and those particular- 
 ly addressed) was, that we should be, etc. . . . The 
 first Christians, to whom St. James is writing, were 
 as the firstborn of the great family, dedicated as 
 firstfruits to God. — Alford.] 
 
 19. Swift to hear — "Talk little and work 
 much," is a rabbinical adage. The son of Sirach 
 Bavs, (cap. v, 11,) Tivov Ta%vg kv ry anpoaoei cov, 
 464 
 
 JAMES. 
 
 On the avoid* 
 perform 
 
 of evil and the 
 ! of good. 
 
 20 For the wrath of man worketh not the 
 righteousness of God. 21 Wherefore d lay 
 apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughti- 
 ness, and receive with meekness the ingrafted 
 word, e which is able to save your souls. 
 22 But f be ye doers of the word, and not 
 hearers only, deceiving your own selves. 
 
 cProv. 14. 17; 16. 32; Eecles. 7. 9. d Col. 3. 8; 1 Pet. 2. 1. 
 
 e Acts 13. 2fi ; Rem. 1. lrt; 1 Cor. 15. 2; Eph. 1. 13; Tit. 2. 11 ; 
 
 Heb. 2. 3 ; 1 Pet. 1. 9. -/Matt. 7. 21 ; Luke ti. 40 : 11. 28 ; Rom. 
 
 2. 13 ; 1 John 3. 7. 
 
 nal iv gaKpodv/xia (jideyyov cnroKpicnv; "'Be swift to 
 hear, and with deep consideration give answer." 
 Slow to wrath — Those who are hasty in speech 
 are generally of a peevish or angry disposition. A 
 person who is careful to consider what he says is 
 not likely to be soon angry. [The reading, as to the 
 first particle, is much disputed. The text from 
 which our Authorized Version was made had wore, 
 (ichereforc,) which is sustained by some good au- 
 thorities, including Tischendorf, Lachmann, and the 
 Codex Sinaiticus. But the preponderance of author- 
 ities is in favour of lore, (know ye, or ye know,) which 
 is the reading of Alford, Westcott and Hort, and 
 of the other uncial MSS. The sense is substantially 
 the same in either case.] 
 
 20. The wrath of man — A furious zeal in 
 matters of religion is detestable in the sight of 
 God; he will have no sacrifice that is not consumed 
 by fire from his own altar. The zeal that made the 
 Papists persecute and burn the Protestants was 
 kindled in hell. This was " the wrath of man," 
 and did not work any righteous act for God ; nor 
 was it the means of working righteousness in 
 others ; the bad fruit of a bad tree. Worketh 
 not — [O'vk i[>} antral, (doth not work out, make 
 effectual,) the righteousness of God, the pur- 
 poses of the divine goodness. Intemperate zeal 
 serves no good purpose in the kingdom of God. 
 (Luke ix, 54-56.)] 
 
 21. All filthiness — Uairav pv-apiav. This 
 word, applied to the mind, implies all impure and 
 unholy affections, such as those spoken of verse 15, 
 which pollute the soul ; it is so used by the best Greek 
 writers. Superfluity of naughtiness — Ylepia- 
 geUiv naniac., the overf owing of wickedness. Put all 
 these evil dispositions aside, for they blind the soul, 
 and render it incapable of receiving any good, even 
 from that ingrafted word of God which otherwise 
 would have saved their souls. The ingrafted 
 word — That doctrine which has already been 
 ■planted among you, which has brought forth fruit 
 in all them that have meekly and humbly received 
 it, and is as powerful to save your souls as the souls 
 of those who have already believed. I think this 
 to be the meaning of tgovrov "koyov, the ingrafted 
 word or doctrine. The seed of life had been sown 
 in the land; many hail received it to their salva- 
 tion ; others had partially credited it, but not so as 
 to produce in them any saving effects. He there- 
 fore exhorts them to receive the doctrine of Christ, 
 which would he the means of saving them unto 
 eternal life. And when those who were Jews, and 
 who had been originally planted by God as alto- 
 gether a right vine, received the faith of the Gos- 
 pel, it is represented as being ingrafted on that 
 right stock, the pure knowledge of the true God and 
 his holy moral law. This indeed was a good stock 
 on which to implant Christianity. 
 
 22. But be ye doers of the word— [Even the 
 word of God, heard and believed, (assented to as
 
 Nature and fruits of genuine 
 religici. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 23 For k if any be a hearer of the word, and 
 not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding 
 his natural face in a glass: 21 For he be- 
 holdeth himself, and goeth his way, ami 
 straightway forgetteth what manner of man 
 he was. 25 But h whoso looketh into the per- 
 fect 'law of liberty, and continueth therein, he 
 being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the 
 
 Luke (!. 47, etc. See chap. 2 14. etc. ft 3 Cor. 3. 18. 
 
 tChap. 2. 12. X'.Iolui 13. 17. /Or, doing. 
 
 true,) cannot save the soul without the helpful 
 cooperation of the soul that is to be saved.] They 
 had heard this doctrine ; they had believed it ; but 
 they had put it to no practical use. They were 
 downright Antinomians, who put a sort of stupid, 
 inactive faith in the place of all moral righteous- 
 ness. This is sufficiently evident from the second 
 chapter. Deceiving your own selves — Ylapa- 
 %.oyi£6y.n>oi eavrovc, imposing on your own selves by 
 sophistical arguments ; this is the meaning of the 
 words. [The "hearer only " does this when he infers 
 that the mere sound of the word received in his 
 outward ear will suffice for him. — Afford.'] 
 
 23. Beholding his natural face in a glass — 
 This metaphor is at once very simple and very ex- 
 pressive, [and its application is very easy.] The 
 doctrines of God, faithfully preached, are such a 
 mirror; he who hears cannot help discovering his 
 own character, and being convinced of his own de- 
 formity ; he sorrows, and purposes amendment ; 
 but when the preaching is over, the mirror is re- 
 moved, and not being careful to examine the 
 records of his salvation, the perfect law of liberty, 
 (verse 25,) or not continuing to look therein, he soon 
 forgets what manner of man he was ; or, reposing 
 some unscriptural trust in God's mercy, he reasons 
 himself out of the sense of the necessity of repent- 
 ance and amendment of life, and thus deceives his 
 soul. 
 
 25. But whoso looketh into the perfect law 
 — The word TapaKVTpag, which we translate " looketh 
 into," is very emphatic, and signifies that deep and 
 attentive consideration given to a thing or subject 
 which a man cannot bring up to his eyes, and 
 therefore must bend forward, stooping down, that 
 he may see it to the greater advantage The " law " 
 of liberty must mean the Gospel ; it is a law, for it 
 imposes obligations from God, and prescribes a rule 
 of life; and it punishes transgressors and rewards 
 the obedient. It is, nevertheless, a law that gives 
 "liberty" from the guilt, power, dominion, and in- 
 fluence of sin ; and it is " perfect," providing a ful- 
 ness of salvation for the soul ; and it may be called 
 "perfect," here, in opposition to the law which was 
 a system of types and representations, of which 
 the Gospel is the sum and substance. Some think 
 that the word -.'/eiov, perfect, is added here to sig- 
 nify that the whole of the Gospel must be consid- 
 ered and received, not a pari ; all its threatenings 
 with its promises, all its precepts with its privi- 
 leges. \_27ie perfect law, which is of liberty— not the 
 Gospel as contrasted with the law, nor the cove- 
 nant of faith as more perfect than that of legal 
 obedience; but the rule of life as revealed in the 
 Gospel, which is (both) perfect and perfecting, but 
 not in contrast with the former law, as being not 
 perfect and not able to make perfect. . . . This 
 whole epistle is founded on this perfect law of 
 Christ, more especially on that declaration of it 
 contained in the Sermon on the Mount. — Afford.] 
 
 Vol. II.— 30. 
 
 work, Mhis man shall be blessed in his 'deed. 
 20 If any man among you seem to be relig- 
 ious, and '"hridlelh not his tongue, but de- 
 ccivcth his own heart, this man's religion is 
 vain. 27 Pure religion and undcliled before 
 God and the Father is this, "To visil the fa- 
 therless and widows in their affliction, "and to 
 keep himself unspotted from the world. 
 
 in I»s:i. 34. 13: 39. 1: 1 Pet. 3. in. relsa. 1. 16. 17: 5*. 6, 7; 
 
 Matt. 25. iti. oltora. 12. 2: chap. 4. 4 ; 1 John 5, 18. 
 
 And continueth — Flapafieivac. Takes time to 
 see and examine the state of his soul, the grace of 
 God, the extent of his duty, and the height of the 
 promised glory. He being not a forgetful 
 hearer — This seems to be a reference to Dent. 
 iv. !i : "Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy 
 soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which 
 thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy 
 heart all the days of thy life." [But a doer of the 
 work. — "E/iyov, an abstract noun, something that 
 brings a result with it. — Afford.] [A worker, one 
 who not only hears and believes, but also obeys, 
 with active service.] Shall be blessed in his 
 deed — [Xot bg the deed, but in it; the life of (ac- 
 tive) obedience is the element (condition) w herein the 
 blessedness is found and consists. — Afford.] As 
 the path of duty is the way of safety, so it is the way 
 of happiness; he who obeys God from a loving 
 heart and pure conscience will infallibly find con- 
 tinual blessedness. 
 
 26. Seem to be religious — [Imagines that he is 
 religious, dpncKbr; one who plumes himself on his 
 pretended serving of God. . . . There is no one word 
 in English which gives the exact meaning of dpjjaKJbc 
 and dpi/oneia. The words religious and religion were 
 formerly used in the sense of outward ceremonial 
 worship. — Lange.] Whatever its derivation may 
 be, the word is used both to signify true religion 
 and superstition, or heterodoxy. See Hesychius, and 
 see on verse 27. Bridleth not his tongue — He 
 who speaks not according to the oracles of God, 
 whatever pretences he makes to religion, only 
 shows, by his want of scriptural knowledge, that 
 his religion is false, gdraioc, or empty of solid truth, 
 profit to others, and of good to himself. Such a 
 person should bridle his tongue, put the bit in his 
 mouth; and particularly if he be a professed 
 teacher of religion. It matters not where lie has 
 studied, or what else he has learned, if he have not 
 learned religion he can never teach it. And re- 
 ligion is of such a nature that no man can learn it 
 hut by experience; he who does not feel the doctrine 
 of God to be the power of God to the salvation of 
 his soul can neither teach religion nor act accord- 
 ing to its dictates. 
 
 27. Pure religion and undefiled — [The two 
 adjectives, nadapd . . . afiiavroc, pure and undefiled, 
 seem to be used merely to bring out the positive 
 and negative sides of purity in the two sides of the 
 apodosis, (the result of comparison.) — A/ford.] 
 St. James's definition rather refers to the effects of 
 pure religion than to its nature. The life of God 
 in the mml of man, producing love to God and man, 
 will show itself in the acts which St. James men- 
 tions here. It is "pure" in the prim ipl< . for it is 
 divine truth and divine love. It is "undefiled" in 
 all its operations; it can produce nothing unholy, 
 because it ever acts in the sight of God ; and it can 
 produce no ungentle word nor unkind act. because 
 it comes from the Father. To visit the father- 
 
 465
 
 JAMES. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 MY brethren, have not the faith of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ, *the Lord of glory, with 
 '•respect of persons. 2 For if there come unto 
 your c assembly a man with a gold ring, in 
 goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor 
 man in vile raiment; 3 And ye have respect 
 to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say 
 unto him, Sit thou here d in a good place; and 
 
 a\ C»r. 2. 8. ''Lev. 10. 15; Deut. 1. 17; 16. IS: Prov. 24. 
 
 23; 28 21 : Matt. 22. Iii; verse St; .lude 16. (Mir. Synagogue. 
 
 tf Or, well, or, neemly. — eJohn 7. 48; 1 Cor. 1. 20, 28. 
 
 /Luke 12. 21 ; 1 Tim. ti. 18 ; Rev. 2. 0. 
 
 less and widows in their affliction — Works of 
 charity and mercy are the proper fruits of religion ; 
 and none are more especially the objects of charity 
 ami mercy than tlie orphans and widows. False 
 religion may perform acts of mercy and charity ; 
 but its motives nut being pure, and its principle 
 being defiled, tin- flesh, self, and hypocrisy spot the 
 man, and spot his acts. True religion does not 
 merely give something for the relief of the dis- 
 tressed, but it visits them, it takes Ike oversight of 
 t7iem,it takes them under its care; so hziaKZizTecQai 
 means. It goes to their houses and speaks to their 
 hearts; it relieves their wants, sympathizes with 
 them in their distresses, instructs them in divine 
 things, and commends them to God. And all this 
 it does for the Lord's sake. This is the religion of 
 Christ. The religion that does not prove itself by 
 works of charity and mercy is not of God. Reader, 
 what religion hast thou? Has thine ever led thee 
 to cellars, garrets, cottages, and houses, to find out 
 the distressed ? Hast thou ever fed, clothed, and 
 visited a destitute representative of Christ? 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER II. 
 
 1. My brethren, have not — This verse is by 
 some read interrogatively: My brethren, do ye not 
 make profession <>/ the faith or religion of our 
 glorious Lord Jesus Christ with acceptance of per 
 sons? [but the imperative sense is usually pre- 
 ferred.] The fault named (though probably the case 
 is supposititious) is, preferring the rich to the poor 
 merely because of their riches, and not on account of 
 any moral excellence, personal piety, or public use- 
 fulness. IHaric, faith, is put here for religion ; and 
 rf/c dol-rje, of glory, should, according to some 
 critics, be construed with it, as the Syriac and Cop- 
 tic have done. Some connect it with our Lord 
 Jesus Christ — the religion of our glorious /.<</■<.' 
 Jesus Christ. Others translate thus: the faith of 
 the glory of our Lord Jeans. There are many 
 various readings in the MSS. and Versions on this 
 verse ; the meaning is clear enough, though the 
 construction may be rather obscure. 
 
 2. If there come unto your assembly — E/c 
 rijv (jwayuyrjv, into the synagogue. It appears 
 from this that the apostle is addressing Jews who 
 frequented their synagogues. Our word " assem- 
 bly " does not express the original ; and we cannot 
 suppose that these synagogues were at this time 
 occupied with Christian worship, but that the 
 Christian Jews continued to frequent them for the 
 purpose of hearing the law and the prophets read, 
 as they had formerly done, previously to their con- 
 version to the Christian faith. Rut St. James may 
 refer here to proceedings in a court of justice. 
 [The word may well lie understood of a Christian as- 
 sembly, or as merely of an assembly in general. . . . 
 But it is mest likely here, from the allusions to sit- 
 
 466 
 
 say to the poor. Stand thou there, or sit here 
 under my footstool : 4 Are ye not then 
 partial in yourselves, and are become judges 
 of evil thoughts? 5 Hearken, my beloved 
 brethren, e Hath not God chosen the poor of 
 this world ' "rich in faith, and heirs of ethe 
 kingdom ''which lie hath promised to them 
 that love him? 6 But 'ye have despised the 
 poor. Do not rich men oppress you, k and 
 
 !7 0l 
 
 . that. — 
 
 - h Exod 
 
 20. 
 
 8: 1 S 
 
 an 
 
 2. 
 
 30; 
 
 Prov. 
 
 8. 17: 
 
 Matt, 
 
 5. 3: Luke H. 
 
 2'i ; 12 
 
 32 
 
 . 1 Coi- 
 
 2 
 
 0; 
 
 2 Tim. 4. 8 
 
 eluiii. 
 
 1. 12.- 
 
 — i\ Cor. 
 
 11. 
 
 22. — 
 
 -k Acts 13. 
 
 SO 
 
 1 
 
 '. f>; 
 
 18. 12 
 
 chap. 
 
 5. 6. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ting or standing below, a place of Christian wor- 
 ship, the name being a natural one, considering by 
 whom the epistle was written and to whom it is 
 addressed. — A/ford.] [If the article (r?,r) is used 
 with Gwaju}?/v, (the synagogue.) which some claim 
 and others disallow, then, as is claimed by Van 
 Oosterzee, the reference may be "to the one syna- 
 gogue of the entire Jewish-Christian dispersion 
 . . . symbolically described by the name of the 
 Jewish place of worship." The word church has 
 a similar application.] With a gold ling, in 
 goodly apparel — The ring on the linger and the 
 rich garb would be proofs of the man's opulence; 
 and his ring and his coat, not his worth, moral 
 good qualities, or the righteousness of Ids cause, 
 woulcL procure him the respect of which St. James 
 speaks. There come in also a poor man in 
 vile raiment — [In sordid, shabby clothes. The 
 reference here seems to be, not to those who com- 
 monly attended on public worship, or who were 
 members of the Church, but to those who might 
 accidentally drop in to witness the services of 
 Christians. (See 1 Cor. xiv, 24.) — Barnes.] 
 
 3. Sit thou here . . . stand thou there — [A 
 simple but forcible putting of a very plain case, 
 and one not unlikely to occur.] 
 
 4. Are ye not then partial — Ov S/FKpiOt/TE ; do 
 ye not make a distinction, [not according to merit, 
 but only on account of wealth and poverty. | 
 Judges of evil thoughts — Kpiral 8iaA.oyicy.uv 
 Tzovripuv, judges of evil reasonings ; that is, judges 
 who reason wickedly; who say, "We will honour 
 the rich, because they can befriend us ; we will 
 neglect and despise the poor, because they cannot 
 help us, nor have they power to hurt us. In your- 
 selves ■ — ['Ei' eavToie. Tiie evil thoughts were 
 among themselves, in their own hearts, their minds 
 and actions being at issue with their faith.] 
 
 5. Hath not God chosen (did not God choose) 
 the poor of this "world — [T<J Koayu, as regards 
 the world.] This seems to refer to Matt, xi, .j : 
 and the poor have the Gospel prt aefa d to titan. 
 These believed on the Lord Jesus, and found his sal- 
 vation; while the rich despised, neglected, and per- 
 secuted him. These had that faith in Christ which 
 put them in possession of the choicest spiritual 
 blessings, and gave them a right to the kingdom of 
 heaven. While, therefore, they were despised of 
 men, they were highly prized of God. [Poverty is 
 not a virtue — often it is the fruit of vice ; nor is 
 wealth a vice, but it is nevertheless true that as a 
 rule the moderately poor rather than the rich have 
 honoured the Gospel of Christ and been honoured 
 by God.] 
 
 6. Do not rich men oppress you — The ad- 
 ministration of justice was at this time in a miser- 
 able state of corruption among the Jews; but a 
 Christian was one who might expect no justice
 
 He shall have judgment ' 
 mercy, who slmw B no U 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 draw you before the judgment seats? 7 Do 
 not they blaspheme thai worthy name by the 
 which ye are called ? 8 If ye fulfil the nival 
 law according to the Scripture, 'Thou shalt 
 love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: 
 9 But '"if ye have respect to persons, ye com- 
 mit sin, and are convinced of the law as trans- 
 gressors. BO For whosoever shall keep the 
 whole law, and yet offend in one point, "he 
 
 /Lev. 19. 18; Matt. 22. 39; Horn. 13. 8, 9; Gal. 5. 14; 6.2. 
 
 in Verse 1. n Dent. 27. 26; Malt. 5. 19; Gal. 3. 1U. e>Or, 
 
 thtit law which said. 
 
 anywhere but from his God. The words KaraSv- 
 vaarevovatv, exceedingly oppress, and eAkovoiv tic; 
 KpiTqpia, drag you to courts of justice, show how 
 grievously oppressed and maltreated the Christians 
 were by their countrymen the Jews, who made law 
 a pretext to afflict their bodies and spoil them of 
 their property. 
 
 7. Blaspheme that worthy name — They took 
 every occasion to, asperse the Christian name and 
 the Christian faith. It is evident that these were 
 Jews of whom St. James speaks ; no Christians in 
 these early times could have acted the part here 
 mentioned. 
 
 8. The royal law — T$6yov fia.GikiK.6v. This 
 epithet is, among all the New Testament writers, 
 peculiar to James; but it is frequent among the 
 Creek writers in the sense in which it is here used. 
 Ymigi/ikov, royal, is used to signify any thing that is 
 of general concern, is suitable to all, and necessary 
 for all, as brotherly love is. This commandment. 
 Thou shalt tore thy neighbour as thyself, is a " royal " 
 law, not only because it is ordained of God and 
 proceeds from his kingly authority, but because it 
 is so useful, suitable, and necessary to the present 
 state of man; and as it was given us particularly 
 by Christ himself, (John xiii, 34, xv, 12,) who is 
 our king as well as prophet and priest, it should 
 ever put us in mind of his authority over us, 
 and our subjection to him. As the regal state 
 is the most excellent for secular dignity and civil 
 utility, so we give the epithet "royal" to what- 
 ever is pre-eminently excellent, noble, grand, or 
 useful. 
 
 9. But if ye have respect to persons — If in 
 judgment, or in any other way ye discriminate 
 against the poor, ye commit sin against God, and 
 are convinced, iXzyxbu-tvot, adjudged guilty of 
 the law, by this royal law, Thou shalt love thy 
 neighbour as thyself. 
 
 10. For whosoever shall keep the whole 
 law, etc. — Every .-in is against the divine authority ; 
 and he who has committed one transgression is 
 guilty; and by his one act dissolves, as far as he 
 can. the sacred connexion that subsists between all 
 the divine precepts and the obligation which he is 
 under to obey, and thus casts off, in effect, his 
 allegiance to Cod. For if God should be obeyed 
 in anyone instance he should be obeyed in all, as 
 the authority and reason of obedience are the same 
 in every case ; he, therefore, who breaks one of 
 these laws is in effect, if not in form, guilty of the 
 whole. [The law {editor) i< one, a non-composite 
 and indivisible unity, of which the various com- 
 mandments lirra'/ai) are specific applications. The 
 ir' [one) named in the text must mean ivt irra'/ intrt, 
 one precept, or specific commandment of the law ; 
 the all, iravTuv, of which the offender is in part 
 guilty, is not each and all of the precepts, i mi'/ intra, 
 
 is guilty of all. 11 For "he that said, pDonot 
 commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now 
 if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, 
 thou art become a transgressor of the law. 
 12 So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall 
 be judged by Ithe law of liberty. 1J{ For ' he 
 shall have judgment without mercy, that hath 
 showed no mercy; and "mercy 'rejoiceth 
 against judgment. 14 "What doth it profit, 
 
 // Exod. 20. 13, It. yChap. 1.25. r Jon 22 6, etc.: 1'rov. 
 
 21. 13 : Matt. 6. 15; 18. 35; 25. 41. 42. si John 4. 17, 18. — 
 
 t Or, glorieth. u Matt. 7. 26 ; chap. 1 23. 
 
 but the one law {voyoc) viewed in its many forms 
 and applications. See the next verse.] 
 
 11. For he that said — That is, the authority 
 thatgave one commandment gave also the rest; and 
 he who breaks one resists this authority; so that 
 the breach of any one commandment may be justly 
 considered a breach of the whole law. [The reason 
 for this assertion is the unity of the divine Author 
 of the whole law, and of that law as the exponent 
 of his will.— JUforeL] 
 
 12. So speak ye, and so do — Have respect to 
 every commandment of God, for this the law of 
 liberty — the Gospel of Jesus Christ — particularly 
 requires ; and this is the law by which all mankind 
 must be judged. But all along St. James particu- 
 larly refers to the precept, Thou shalt love thy 
 neighbour as thyself. 
 
 13. For he shall have judgment — He who 
 shows no mercy to man, or, in other words, he who 
 does not exercise himself in works of charity and 
 mercy to his needy fellow creatures, shall receive 
 no mercy at the hand of God ; for he hath said, 
 Blessed are. the merciful, for they shall obtain 
 mercy. The unmerciful, therefore, are cursed, and 
 they shall obtain no mercy. Mercy rejoiceth 
 against judgment — In the great day, though jus- 
 tice might condemn every man according to the 
 rigour of the law, yet God will cause mercy to 
 triumph over justice in bringing those into his 
 glory who, for his sake, had fed the hungry, clothed 
 the naked, ministered to the sick, and visited the 
 prisoners. (See .Matt, xxv, 31-46.) ["Judgment," 
 which would condemn any and all of us, is, in the 
 case of the merciful, overpowered by the blessed 
 effects of mercy; and (so) mercy prevails over it. 
 — Alford.] The spirit of the saying may lie found 
 in another scripture, / will hare merry and not 
 sacrifice — I prefer works of charity and mercy to 
 every thing else, and especially to all acts of wor- 
 ship The royal law, Thou shalt love thy neigli- 
 bour 'is thyself, should particularly prevail among 
 men, because of the miserable state to which all 
 arc reduced by sin, so that each particularly needs 
 the help of his brother. 
 
 14. What doth it profit . . . though a man 
 say he hath faith — We now come to a part of 
 this epistle which has appeared to some eminent 
 men to contradict other portions of the divine rec- 
 ords. It has been thought by some that James 
 teaches the doctrine of justification by the merit of 
 good works, while Paul asserts that to be insuffi- 
 cient, and that man can be justified only by faith. 
 Luther, supposing that James did actually teach the 
 doctrine of justification by works, which his good 
 sense showed him to be absolutely insufficient for 
 salvation, was led to condemn the epistle in tutu, as 
 a production unauthenticated by the Holy Spirit, 
 and consequently worthy of no regard; he there- 
 
 4 07
 
 A. M. 4065. A. D. 61. 
 Ifenr of Rome, 814. 
 
 JAMES. 
 
 Faith, if it hath not works, is 
 dead, bein^ alone. 
 
 my brethren, though a man say he hath faith. 
 and have not works? can faith save him? 
 15 "If a brother or sister he naked, and des- 
 titute of daily food, 16 And w one of you say 
 unto them, Depart in peace, be ye wanned and 
 tilled ; notwithstanding ye give them not those 
 things which are needful to the body; what 
 
 v See Job 31. 19, 20 : Luke 3. 11. w 1 John 3. 18. x Gr. by 
 
 Itself. y Some copies read, by thy marks. 
 
 fore termed it epistola straniinea, a chaffy epistle, 
 an ejnstle of straw, fit only to be burnt. Learned 
 men have spent much time in striving to reconcile 
 these two writers, and to show that St. Paul and St. 
 James perfectly accord ; one teaching the pure doc- 
 trine, the other guarding men against the abuse of 
 it. From chapter i, 22, the apostle has been en- 
 forcing Christian practice. He now applies it to 
 those who neglect this under the pretence of faith. 
 St. Paul had taught that a man is justified by faith 
 without the works of the law. This some already 
 began to wrest to their own destruction. Where- 
 fore St. James, purposely repeating (verses 21, 
 2.!, 25) the same phrases, testimonies, and examples 
 which St. Paul had used, (Rom. iv, 3 ; Heb. xi, 
 17, 31,) refutes, not the doctrine of St. Paul, but the 
 error of those who abused it. [There is certainly 
 no contradiction between the apostles : they both 
 delivered the truth of God, but in a different man- 
 ner, as having to do with different kinds of men. 
 This verse is a summary of what follows : What 
 profiteth it, is enlarged on in verses 15-17; though 
 a in in say, in verses 18, 19; can that faith save 
 him, verse 20. It is not tlwugh lie have faith, but 
 though he say, [have faith. Here, therefore, true 
 living faith is meant. But in other parts of the 
 argument the apostle speaks of a dead, speculative 
 faith. He does not therefore teach that true faith 
 can, but that it cannot, subsist without works. 
 Nor does lie oppose faith to works, but that empty 
 name of faith to real faith working by love. Can 
 that faith, which is witlwut works sure him? No 
 more than it can profit his neighbour. — Wesley/] 
 [ With .James k'ujtic (faith) is the necessary ground 
 of Gujr/jpia, (salvation?) (see chapter i, 18-21,) but 
 of course that iriortg which is not without works. 
 In disputing the former delusion, James adopts his 
 characteristic mode of first stating in clear and 
 well-defined language the fundamental thought on 
 which all the rest depends, and he does it by the 
 introduction of brief interrogative sentences which 
 reject that false opinion-. — Hut her.'] That St. 
 James quotes the same scriptures, and uses the 
 same phrases, testimonies, and examples which St. 
 Paul lias done, is fully evident; but it does not 
 follow that he wrote after St. Paul. It is scarcely 
 possible that one had seen the epistle of the other, 
 since neither of them quotes the other. I am in- 
 clined to think that James is evidently the elder 
 writer, but probably Paul had never seen his epis- 
 tle. Allowing them both to be inspired, God could 
 teach each what was necessary for the benefit of 
 the Church, without their having any knowledge of 
 each other. As the Jews in general were very 
 strenuous in maintaining the necessity of good works, 
 or righteousness, in order to justification, wholly 
 i sglecting the doctrine of faith, it is not to be 
 wondered at that those who were converted, and 
 saw the absolute necessity of faith in order to 
 their justification, should have gone into the con- 
 trary extreme. Can faith save him — [The writer 
 408 
 
 doth it profit? 17 Even so faith, if it hath 
 nut works, is dead, being "alone. 18 Yea, a 
 man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have 
 works: show me thy faith y without thy 
 works, z and I will show thee my faith by my 
 works. 19 Thou believest that there is one 
 God; thou doest well: a the devils also be- 
 
 .s Chap. 3. 13. a Matt. 8. 29: Mark 1. 21; 5. 
 
 Acts 16. 17 ; 10. 15. 
 
 ' ; Luke 4. 31 ; 
 
 had just designated a defective form of faith, 
 shown to be such by its unfruitfulness, and now he 
 asks, " Can (this) faith save him?" so denying that 
 it can.] See on verses 19, 24, 25. 
 
 15. If a brother or sister be naked — That is, 
 ill-clothed ; for yvfivot, naked, has this meaning in 
 several parts of the New Testament, signifying bad 
 clothing, or the want of some particular article of 
 dress. (See Matt, xxv, 36, 38, 43, 44, and John 
 xxi, 7.) It has the same comparative signification 
 in most languages. 
 
 16. Be ye warmed and filled — Your saying 
 so to them, while you give them nothing, will just 
 profit them as much as your professed faith, with- 
 out those works which are the genuine fruits of 
 true faith, will profit you in the day when God 
 comes to sit in judgment upon your soul. 
 
 17. If it hath not works, is dead— The faith 
 that does not produce works of charity and mercy 
 is without the living principle which animates all 
 true faith, that is, love to God and love to man. 
 They had faith, such as a man has who credits a 
 well-circumstanced relation because it has all the 
 appearance of truth; but they had nothing of that 
 faith that a sinner, convinced of his sinfulness, 
 (iod's purity, and the strictness of the divine laws, 
 must have in the Lord Jesus, in order to be saved 
 from his sins. 
 
 18. Show me thy faith without thy works 
 — Your pretending to have faith while you have 
 no works of charity or mercy, is utterly vain ; for 
 as " faith," which is a principle in the mind, can- 
 not lie discerned but by the effects, that is, good 
 works, he who has no good works has, presump- 
 tively, no faith. I will show thee my faith by 
 my woiks — My works of charity and mercy will 
 show that I have faith ; and that it is the living- 
 tree whose root is love to God and man, and whose 
 fruit is the good works here contended for. 
 
 19. Thou believest that there is one God 
 — Believing in the being and unity of (bid dis- 
 tinguished the Jews from all the nations of the 
 world ; and having been brought into the covenant, 
 they reckoned themselves secure of salvation. The 
 insufficiency of this St. James immediately shows. 
 Thou doest well — [So to have learned of God, 
 and to believe in his being and character, is good 
 as far as it goes, but all this is entirely short of 
 believing unto life.] The devils also believe, 
 and tremble — Even the " devils " believe this, and 
 yet so^r from justifying or saving them, it leaves 
 them in their lost state. [Both the nature of the 
 faith in question and its insufficiency are shown by 
 this identifying it with the merely intellectual faith 
 of "the devils," (demons.) They shudder — 4>/jia- 
 uovoi, their hair stands ,1)1 end. Their belief (because 
 it is only of the head, and not of the heart) does 
 nothing for them but certify to them their own 
 misery. — Alford.] | The demons, by their knowl- 
 edge of spiritual things, clearly apprehend the be- 
 ing and nature of God ; and they also see that all
 
 Abraham and Rahab snowed their 
 faith by their works. 
 
 CHAPTER TT. 
 
 lieve, and tremble. 20 Bnt wilt thou know, 
 <) vain man, that faith without works is dead? 
 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by 
 works, ''when lie bad offered Isaac his sou 
 upon the altar? 2*2 c Seest thou J ho\v faitli 
 wrought with his works, and by works was 
 faitli made perfect? 2"8 And the Scripture 
 was fulfilled which saith, e Abraham believed 
 God, and it was imputed unto him for riglit- 
 
 7<Gen. 22.9,12. fiOr, Thtmsee.it. <l Ileb. 11. 17. eGen. 
 
 10. Ii: Rom. 4.3; Gal. 3. 6. 
 
 this glorious majesty and power is engaged against 
 tliein ; therefore they are horrified at what they 
 see. But that fear does not tend to salvation.] 
 
 'JO. But wilt thou know — Be instructed in the 
 nature of true saving faith, and to that end attend 
 to the following examples ? 
 
 21. Was not Abraham . . . justified by works 
 — That is, did not the conduct of Abraham, in offer- 
 ing up his son Isaac on the altar, sufficiently prove 
 that he believed in God, and that it was his faith 
 in him that led him to this extraordinary act of 
 obedience ? 
 
 22. Seest thou how faith wr ought — Here is 
 a proof that faith cannot exist without being active 
 in works of righteousness, [and that only the faith 
 that works is genuine.] His faith in God would 
 have been of no avail to him had it not wrought 
 in him obedience to the commands of God. It dic- 
 tated obedience, he obeyed ; and thus faith, eteIei- 
 uftr/, had its consummation. Even true " faith " 
 will soon die if it does not develop the spirit of 
 obedience. [Even among the ancestors of Jesus 
 the blessing and the promised salvation was trans- 
 mitted through the righteousness which is by faith, 
 as distinguished from legal righteousness. This 
 appears not only from the lives of Abraham and 
 David, the fathers of the faithful, and from the 
 pious sovereigns among their descendants, but also 
 from the ancestresses of Jesus, Thamar. Rahab, 
 Ruth, and Bathsheba, specially mentioned by the 
 evangelist. — Lange, (on Matt, i.)] 
 
 23. The Scripture was fulfilled — He believed 
 God ; and this faith was accounted to him for 
 righteousness ; and being justified by (through) 
 thus believing, his life of obedience showed that he 
 had not received the grace of. God in vain. (See 
 on Rom. iv, 3 ; Gal. iii, 6.) The Friend of God— 
 The highest character ever given to man. God 
 took Abraham into immediate communion with 
 himself, and poured out upon him the choicest of 
 his blessings ; for as God can never be in want, 
 because he possesses all things, so Abraham his 
 •' friend " could never be destitute, because God was 
 his friend. [The fulfilling denotes throughout the 
 completed, decided, and manifested development of 
 a seed of faith which until then was. germ-like, con- 
 cealed, whether it lie a prophecy or a type. (See 
 1 Kings ii, 27; Matt, ii, 15.) The righteousness 
 of faith of Abraham reached its fulfilment^ {-'Aripu- 
 cic,) or completion, (-eAe/cjovf,) in its proof and 
 verification, as it was sealed by the now openly 
 stated divine testimony. The act of faith itself, 
 and the subsequent sealing in the life of individual 
 believers, answer to the Old Testament A lira- 
 hamic foundation and the New Te>tament comple- 
 tion . . . And this fulfilment was manifested in his 
 being called " the friend of God." — Van Ootitcrzee.'] 
 [So in substance in the Old Testament, but here 
 first put into a form of words.] 
 
 eousness: and he was called f the Friend of 
 God. 24 Ye see then how that by works 
 a man is justified, and not by faith only. 
 25 Likewise also ewas not Rahab the harlot 
 justified by works, when she had received the 
 messengers, and had sent them out another 
 way? 26 For as the body without the '' spir- 
 it is dead, so faith without works is dead 
 also. 
 
 f-2 Chron. 20. 7; Isa. 41. S ff.Tnsh. 
 
 // Or, braith. 
 
 1; lleb. 11. 31. 
 
 24. Ye see then how — It is evident from this 
 example that Abraham's faith was not merely in- 
 tellectual and speculative believing, but a principle 
 that led him to credit God's promises relative to 
 the future Redeemer, and to implore God's mercy ; 
 this he received, and was justified by faith. His 
 faith now began to work by love, and therefore he 
 was found ever obedient to the will of his Maker. 
 He brought forth the fruits of righteousness ; and 
 his works justified — proved the genuineness of — 
 his faith ; and he continued to enjoy the divine ap- 
 probation, which he could not have done had he 
 not been thus obedient ; for the Spirit of God would 
 have been grieved, and his principle of faith would 
 have perished. Obedience to God is essentially 
 requisite to the maintenance of faith. Faith lives 
 only as it works ; and good works have their being 
 and excellence from faith. Neither can subsist 
 without the other, and this is the point which St. 
 James labours to prove, in order to convince the 
 Antinomians of his time that their faith was a de- 
 lusion, and that the hopes built on it must needs 
 perish. 
 
 25. Rahab the harlot — See Joshua ii, 1, and 
 Heb. xi, 31. "Rahab" had the approbation due to 
 genuine faith, which she actually possessed, and 
 gave the fullest proof that she did so by her con- 
 duct. As justification signifies not only the pardon 
 of sin, but the receiving God's approbation, James 
 seems to use the word in this latter sense. God 
 approved of them because of their obedience to his 
 will; and he approves of no man who is not obe- 
 (livid. [Rahab's belief, and her practice based upon 
 it, not her moral character, are here considered ] 
 [To the example of Abraham, who was the proto- 
 type of all true faith, is now added another as re- 
 mote from it as possible, that of a woman, a Ca- 
 naanite, a harlot (the article (?) iropv?/,) denotes 
 that >he was the historically known personage with- 
 out intensifying the idea (expressed by the word,) 
 which, however, must not be weakened by the 
 exposition ho&pita, (inn keeper,) or idolatra, (hea- 
 then,) although she was both in reality.) The 
 apostle's motive, however, must be taken even 
 more concretely. Doubtless Rahab stands here as 
 the representative of Gentile Christians in their 
 work of faith. . . . She was justified not only in 
 that her life was spared, (Josh, ii, 6, 22,) but that 
 she became a highly honoured mother in Israel. 
 (See Matt, i, 5.)— Zavge.] 
 
 20. For as the body without the spirit . . . 
 so faith without works — There can be no more 
 a genuine faith without good works than there can 
 be a living human body without a soul. 
 
 Some persons, known to St. James, must have 
 taught that men are justified by merely believiDg 
 in the one true God; or he would not have taken 
 such pains to confute it. Crediting the unity of 
 
 409 '
 
 \. M. 4065. A. D. 61. 
 Year of Rome, 814. 
 
 JAMES. 
 
 Duty and difficulty of bridling 
 the tongue. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 MY brethren, "be not many masters, 'know- 
 ing- that we shall receive the greater ■' con- 
 demnation. 2 For d in many things we offend 
 all. e If any man offend not in word, f the 
 same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle 
 the whole body. 3 Behold, ewe put bits in 
 the horses' mouths, that they may obey us; 
 and we turn about their whole bod v. 4 Be- 
 
 rt Matt. 23. 8, 14 ; Rom. 2. 21), 21 ; 1 Pet. 5. 3. h Luke li. 37. 
 
 cOr, judgment. — it l Kings 8. 46: 2 Chron. t>. 36; Prov. 
 
 20. 9; Kccles. 7. 20; 1 John 1. 8. e Psa. 34. li; chap. 1. 26; 
 
 the Godhead, and the doctrine of a future state, 
 was that faith through which both the Jews in St. 
 James's time and the Mohammedans of the present 
 day expect justification; [and this is about the 
 whole of the faith of not a few in these times 
 who pretend to be Christians.] St. James, in deny- 
 ing such a faith to be of avail, because unaccom- 
 panied with good works, lias said nothing more 
 than what St. Paul has said in other words, (Ro- 
 mans ii,) where he combats the same Jewish error, 
 and asserts that not the hearers but the doers of 
 the law will be justified, and that a knowledge of 
 God's will, without the performance of it, serves 
 only to increase men's condemnation. — Michaelis. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER III. 
 
 1. Be not many masters — Do not affect the 
 teacher's office, for many wish to be teachers who 
 have more need to learn. [Evidently designed to 
 censure the false mania for teaching — the dogmatiz- 
 ing contentiousness which is thoroughly character- 
 istic of the Judaizing Christian. — Lange.] [Great- 
 er condemnation — Mei^ov Kpifia, a heavier respon- 
 sibility, not necessarily condemnatory, though de- 
 volving a responsibility which, in case of failure, 
 must be followed by greater condemnation. (See 
 Matt, xxiii, Vi.j] 
 
 2. In many things we offend all — Tlraiofiev 
 awavregx /it all stumble. "As the general course 
 of life is called a way, and particular actions steps, 
 so going on in a regular course of right action is 
 styled walking uprightly; anil acting amiss, tripping 
 or stumbling." — Barrows. There are very few who 
 walk so closely with God, and inoffensively with 
 men, as never to stumble ; and yet it is the privi- 
 lege of every follower of God to be sincere and 
 without offence to the day of Christ. Were failure 
 unavoidable, it would be useless to make it a sub- 
 ject of blame ; but as every man may receive grace 
 from his God to enable him to walk uprightly, it is 
 to be deplored that so few live up to their privi- 
 leges. [The apostle, indeed, says that "we all 
 stumble in many things;" but to stumble is not 
 necessarily to sin, and from this, if faithful, we 
 shall be kept by the power of grace. (See Psa. 
 xxvii, -J."., 24.)] If any man offend (stumble) 
 not in word, (doctrine,) the same is a perfect 
 man — If any man offend not, (ov TTTeiiet, trip not,) 
 kv A6}Lj,in doctrine, teaching the truth, the same is, 
 teIuloc avrjp, a man fully instructed in divine things. 
 The man who advanced no false doctrine, and gave 
 no imperfect view of any of the great truths of 
 Christianity, proved himself thereby to be thor- 
 oughly instructed in divine things ; to be no novice, 
 and consequently among the "many teachers" to 
 be a perfect master, and worthy of the sacred voca- 
 tion. Able also to bridle the whole body — 
 Grotius, by "body," believed that the Church of 
 Christ was intended; and this the above view ren- 
 
 ■170 
 
 hold also the ships, which though they he so 
 great, and are driven of tierce winds, yet are 
 they turned about with a very small helm, 
 whithersoever the governor listeth. 5 Even 
 so ''the tongue is a little member, and 'bonst- 
 eth great things. Behold, how great k a mat- 
 ter a little fire kindleth ! 6 And ' the tongue 
 is a fire, a world of iniquity : so is the tongue 
 among our members, that "'it delileth the 
 
 1 Pet. 3. 10. /Matt. 12. 37. g Psa. 32. 9. A Prov. 12. 18; 
 
 15. 2. i Psa. 12. :: ; ?::. 8, 9. — k Or, wood. H'ruv. 1(5. 27. 
 
 mMatt. 15. II, IS 19. 2m; Mark 7. 15, 20,23. 
 
 ders very probable. [He is thus qualified to guide 
 (as a horse is governed by the bridle) the whole 
 Church, the associated body of believers.] If it be 
 objected "that x af lva: ) u ')h aai is not elsewhere ap- 
 plied to the government of the Church of Christ," 
 it may be answered that St. James is a very pe- 
 culiar writer; and that his phraseology, metaphors, 
 and diction in general are different from all the 
 rest of the New Testament writers, so as to have 
 scarcely any thing in common with them. 
 
 3. Behold, we put bits in the horses' mouths 
 — In order to show the necessity of regulating the 
 tongue, to which St. James was led by his exhorta- 
 tion to them who w ished to thrust themselves into 
 the teacher's office, supposing, because they had 
 the gift of a ready flow of speech that therefore 
 they might commence teachers of divine things ; he 
 proceeds to show that the tongue must be bridled 
 as the horse, and governed as the ships ; because, 
 though it is small, it is capable of ruling the whole 
 man, and of irritating and offending others. [Just 
 as the reference here is not to the physical tongue 
 as such, but only as the organ and symbol of readi- 
 ness of speech, so St. James does not set " body " as 
 such in opposition to man, as a relative dependent 
 power which offers moral resistance to the will 
 of the ego (the self;) but the body denotes here 
 the organ and symbol of all human action, with the 
 exception of speech. ... He who truly masters his 
 words will master his works. — Lemge.] 
 
 4. Behold also the ships — [The organ of guid- 
 ing, (bits, x a/,, '°'X,S probably connected with the 
 natural unruliness of the horse, was the principal 
 idea of the first figure, the mouth, the tongue ; in 
 the second figure it is the contrast between the 
 smallness of the organ — the fine touch required to 
 influence it — and the greatness as well as the storm- 
 tossed condition of the ship to be turned. . . . The 
 little rudder is here obviously the antitype of the 
 little tongue. — Laiige.\ 
 
 5. Boasteth great things — That is, can do 
 great things, whether of a good or evil kind. James 
 seems to refer here to the powerful and all com- 
 manding eloquence of the Greek orators : they 
 could carry the great mob whithersoever they 
 wished ; calm them to peaceableness and submis- 
 sion, or excite them to furious sedition. [Mejd/la 
 ai>xti, has a bad rather than a good sense.] Be- 
 hold, how great a matter — See what a flame of 
 discord and insubordination one man, merely by his 
 persuasive tongue, may kindle among the common 
 people. 
 
 6. The tongue is a fire — [The figure is a spark, 
 or very small "fire," producing a widespread con- 
 flagration, here applied to illustrate the incendiary 
 action of unruly speech.] A world of iniquity 
 — This is an unusual form of speech, but the mean- 
 ing is plain enough ; " world " signifies here a mass, 
 a great collection, an abundance. The Syriac gives
 
 The tongue U fti 
 dangerous i 
 
 nnily nnd 
 nber. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 A. M. 401',',. A.D. 81. 
 Yeur "i Rome, S14. 
 
 whole body, and setteth on fire the "course of 
 nature ; and it is set on fire of hell. 7 For 
 every °kind of beasts, and of birds, and of 
 serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and 
 hath been tamed of i 1 mankind: 8 But the 
 tongue can no man tame ; it is an unruly evil, 
 full i of deadly poison. 9 Therewith bless we 
 God, even the Father; and therewith curse we 
 
 ii Gr. wheel. o Gr. nature. p Gr. nature of man. 
 
 a curious turn to the expression: And the tongue is 
 a fire; and the world of iniquity is like n wood. 
 Above, the same version lias: A little fire /tarns 
 great woods. So the world of iniquity is repre- 
 sented as inflamed by the wicked tongues of men ; 
 the world being fuel, and the tongue a fire. So is 
 the tongue among our members — [II y/.uaoa 
 KaOiamrai ev rolg fieXeinv yuuv. ?) arrthivrra b'/itr 
 to aiJua, literally, the tongue is seated among our 
 members, thai (one) defiling the whole bod//. (There 
 is nothing in the original to which the particle 
 of comparison " so " answers.) The tongue, when 
 made the organ of unregulated passion, circulates 
 and magnifies the evil qualities of the whole man; 
 not chiefly the physical, but especially the moral 
 and spiritual. (See Rom. xii, 1 )J I think St. 
 James refers here to those well known speeches of 
 the rabbins, Vayikra Rabba, sec. 16, fol. 159, 
 "Rabbi Eleazar said, Man has one hundred and 
 forty-eight members, some confined, others free. 
 The tongue is placed between the jaws ; and from 
 uniler it proceeds a fountain of water, (the great 
 sublingual salivary gland,) and it is folded with 
 various foldings. Come and see what aflame the 
 tongue kindles! Were it one of the unconfined 
 members, what would it not do ? " Setteth on fire 
 the course of nature — $?uoyi$ovo~a top Tpoxbv t?/c 
 ] ■ vi aeug, and setteth on fire the wheel of life. [In- 
 flames the whole round {rpoxbv) of developing life, 
 \yeveaeuQ,) an expression evidently intended to in- 
 dicate the radical and complete possession and per- 
 version of the soul by the reflex influence of the 
 unbridled tongue. (See Matt, xii, 37.)] [It is the 
 tongue (the outgivings of the corrupt heart in man, 
 Matthew xii, o4, Luke vi, 45) which changes the 
 wheel (course) of the human development of life 
 into a burning firewheel. . . . Alford renders "the 
 orb of creation," and Wordsworth " the wheel of 
 nature." The idea in both is really the same. — 
 Langc] [And it is set on fire of hell — 'Ttto t?}c 
 ) eewnc, by or from gehenna — not hades.~\ [The fire 
 of gehenna is brought about by the immanent 
 heat of devilish passion which proceeds (goes 
 out) from the devil through his kingdom. This 
 devilish heat is here described as the casuality of 
 that fanatical heat of men. (See verse 15.) — 
 Lange.^ 
 
 7. Every kind of beasts— That is, every spe- 
 cies of wild beasts, nana tyvoic dr/piuv, is tamed; that 
 is, brought under man's power and dominion. [A 
 general truth in natural history, to which, however, 
 there may be exceptions, without at all changing 
 the truthfulness and aptitude of the fact as cited.) 
 
 8. But the tongue can no man tamo — No 
 cunning, persuasion, or influence has ever been able 
 to silence it. Nothing but the grace of God can 
 bring it under subjection. [The untamableness of 
 the tongue shows that there is something devilish 
 in its excitement, over which human nature, left to 
 itself, has no power. — Lange.~\ It is an unruly 
 evil — ' AKaraaxerov kokov, an evil that cannot be 
 
 men, r which are made after the similitude of 
 God. 10 Out of the same mouth proceed- 
 eth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these 
 things ought not so to be. 1 1 Doth a foun- 
 tain send forth at the same 'place sweet water 
 and bitter? 12 Can the fig tree, my breth- 
 ren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so 
 can no fountain both yield salt water and 
 
 gPsn. 140. 3.- 
 
 •Gen. 1. 26: 5. 1; 9. 6.- 
 
 .- Or, hole. 
 
 restrained; it breaks all bounds. Full of deadly 
 poison — A reference to the tongues of serpents, 
 supposed to be the means of conveying their poison 
 into wounds made by their teeth. Throughout the 
 whole of this poetic and highly declamatory de- 
 scription, St. James must have the tongue of the 
 slanderer, calumniator, backbiter, whisperer, and 
 tale-bearer particularly in view. Vipers, basilisks, 
 and rattlesnakes are not more dangerous to life 
 than these are to the peace and reputation of men. 
 
 9. Therewith bless we God — And yet the 
 tongue is capable of being used for the highest and 
 holiest purposes. And therewith curse we men 
 —These are the common sweart rs, whose mouths are 
 generally full of direful imprecations against those 
 with whom they are offended. The consideration 
 that man is made after the image of God should 
 restrain the tongue of the piofahe; but there aie 
 many who, while they pretend to sing the high 
 praises of God, are ready to wish the direst impre- 
 cations either on those who offend them, or with 
 whom they choose to be offended. [This likeness 
 we ought to revere in ourselves and in others, and 
 he who curses, despises it. — Alford ] [James makes 
 these declarations in the firs t person, (we,) so in- 
 cluding himself and his among the offenders, (see 
 verse 2,) either as a confession which becomes all 
 to make, or else, speaking as a Jew to Jews, he 
 makes this confession and complaint for the whole 
 nation, possibly not without reference to tlr» spirit 
 and practice of persecution then prevalent.] 
 
 10. Out of the same mouth — This saying is 
 something like that in Prov. xviii, 21 : " Death and 
 life are in the power of the tongue." A saying 
 very like that of St. James is found in Rabbi Tan- 
 chum, fol. 10, 4: "The mouth desires to study in 
 the law, and to speak good words ; to praise God, 
 to glorify him, and to celebrate him with hymns ; 
 but it can also slander, blaspheme, reproach, ami 
 swear falsely." My brethren, these things 
 ought not so to be — [Ob xpi/, it is not filing (it 
 is nionstious) that these things should be so.~\ 
 
 11. Doth a fountain send forth . . . sweet 
 water and bitter — No such inconsistency is found 
 in the natural world as this blessing and cursing in 
 man. No fountain, at the same opening, sends 
 forth sweet water and bitter; no fig tree can bear 
 olive berries ; no vine can bear tigs: nor can the 
 sea produce salt water and fresh from the same 
 place. Such things would be contradictions, and 
 indeed impossibilities, in nature. It is depraved 
 man alone that can act such a monstrous part. 
 
 12. So can no fountain both yield salt water 
 and fresh — Here are four distinct comparisons: 
 1) A fountain cannot produce sweet water and hit- 
 ter: 2) A fig tree cannot produce olive berries: 
 3) A vine cannot produce figs: 4) Salt water (the 
 sen) cannot lie made sweet. That is, according to 
 the ordinary operations of nature, these things are 
 impossible. Chemical action is out of the ques- 
 tion. [The incongruity of goodness and badness 
 
 471
 
 JAMES. 
 
 The wisdom from beneath and from 
 above contrasted. 
 
 fresh. 13 "Who is a wise man and endued 
 with knowledge among you? let him show out 
 of a good conversation "his works i' with meek- 
 ness of wisdom. 1^ But if ye have « bitter 
 envying and strife in your hearts, ' glory not, 
 and lie not against the truth. 15 s This wis- 
 dom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, 
 ' sensual, devilish. 16 For "where envying 
 and strife is, there is 'confusion and every evil 
 
 ttftal. 6. 4. oChap. 2. 18. pChap. 1. 21. ? Rom. 
 
 13. 13. — r Horn. 2. 17.23. s Phil. 3. 19; chap. 1. 17. — tOv, 
 
 natural, Jude lit. ul Cor. 3. 3; Ual. 5. 2U. »Gr. tumult, 
 
 or, tinguietitenH. 
 
 proceeding out of the same heart, and being pro- 
 duced in the same life, is the lesson taught. Tne 
 depraved soul can only exercise itself within the 
 bounds of its depravity, the fountain must be 
 cleansed, the tree made good, in order that the re- 
 sults shall be good. (Luke vi, 43-45.)] 
 
 13. Who is a wise man and endued with 
 knowledge — Kal ijriarr/uuv, [who among you 
 claims to be able to teach.] Let him show — Let 
 him by a holy life and chaste conversation show, 
 through meekness and gentleness, that he is a 
 Christian indeed ; his works and his spirit proving 
 that God is in him of a truth; and that from the 
 fulness of a holy heart his feet walk, his hands 
 work, and his tongue speaks. We may learn from 
 this that genuine wisdom is ever accompanied with 
 meekness and gentleness. Those proud, overhear- 
 ing, and disdainful men, who pass for great 
 scholars and eminent critics, may have learning, but 
 they have not wisdom. Their learning implies their 
 correct knowledge of the structure of language, and 
 of composition in general; but wisdom they have 
 none, nor any self-government. That learning is 
 not only little worth, but despicable, that does not 
 teach a man to govern his own spirit, and to be 
 humble in his conduct toward others. [Let him by 
 his ''walk" an 1 "conversation" justify his claim 
 to be heard as a teacher and guide by "good 
 works," and not a "dead faith."] 
 
 14. If ye have bitter envying and strife — 
 If ye be under the influence of an unkind, fierce, 
 and contemptuous spirit, even while attempting or 
 pretending to defend true religion, do not boast 
 cither of your exertions or success in silencing an 
 adversary; ye have no religion, and no true wis- 
 dom ; and to profess either is to lie against the 
 truth. Let all writers on what is called polemic 
 divinity lay this to heart. 
 
 15. This wisdom descendeth not from above 
 — God is not the author of it, because it is bitter, 
 not meek. Is earthly — Having this life only in 
 view. Sensual — ^r/w), animal; having for its 
 object the gratification of the passions and animal 
 propensities. Devilish — Aauiovitjdt/c, demoniacal. 
 [After the characteristics of demon?, rather than 
 inspired by them. The tempting power of demons 
 is not taught in the New Testament.] 
 
 lfi. For where envying and strife is — Zqtoe 
 Kal kpidia, [emulation (in the bad sense) and 
 strife, where these are, and become stimulating in- 
 fluences, (especially in the Church of God,) con- 
 fusion and every evil work is the inevitable result.] 
 The Jews were the most intolerant of all mankind ; 
 it was a maxim with them to kill those who would 
 ijot conform to their law; and their salvation they 
 believed to be impossible. This has been the spirit 
 of popery, and of the Roman Church at large; in 
 vain do they attempt to deny it; they have written 
 472 
 
 work. 17 But "the wisdom that is from 
 above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and 
 easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good 
 fruits, "without partiality, ?and without hy- 
 pocrisy. 18 z And the fruit of righteousness 
 is sown in peace of them that make peace. 
 
 F 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 ROM whence come wars and 
 
 'fightings 
 
 wl Cor. 2. K, 7. fl'Or, zoithout wrangling. y Knm. 
 
 12. 9: 1 Peter 1. 22: 2. 1 : 1 John 3. 18. s Pro v. 11. 18; llos. 
 
 10. 12; Matt. a. 9; Phil. 1. 11; Heb. 12. 11. a Or, brawl- 
 
 inge. 
 
 it in characters of blood and fire even in this 
 country, (England,) when they were possessed of 
 political power. [And even Protestant Christen- 
 dom has not always been faultless in this matter.] 
 
 17. The wisdom that is from above — The 
 pure religion of the Lord Jesus, bought by his 
 blood, and infused by his Spirit. Is first pure — 
 'Ayvij, chaste, holy, and clean. Peaceable — E'tpn- 
 vlkji, peaceful itself and promoting peace among 
 men. Gentle — 'ETTtemijC, meek, modest, of an 
 equal mind, taking every thing in good part, and 
 putting the best construction upon all the actions 
 of others. Easy to be entreated — Evireidqg, 
 not stubborn nor obstinate; of a yielding disposi- 
 tion in all indifferent things, docile, ready to for- 
 give. Full of mercy — Disposed to grant favours 
 and to perform every possible act of kindness. 
 Good fruits — [Habitually bringing about benefi- 
 cent results] Without partiality — ' ' ASianpirog, 
 without making a difference — rendering to every 
 man his due ; and being never swayed by self- 
 interest, worldly honour, or the fear of man; 
 knowing no man after the flesh. Without hy- 
 pocrisy — 'Arv-uK/jtror, without dissimulation : 
 without pretending to be what it is not ; acting 
 always in its own character. 
 
 18. And the fruit of righteousness is sown — 
 The whole is the principle of righteousness in the 
 soul, and all the virtues are the fruits of that 
 righteousness. Is sown in peace — When the 
 peace of God rules the heart, all these virtues and 
 graces grow and flourish abundantly. Of them 
 that make peace — The peacemakers are continu- 
 ally recommending this wisdom to others, and their 
 own conduct is represented as a sowing of heavenly 
 need, which brings forth divine fruit. This is not 
 only the proper disposition for every teacher of the 
 Gospel, but for every follower of the Lord Jesus. 
 To enjoy the peace of God in the conscience, and 
 to live to promote peace among men, is to answer 
 the end of our creation, and to enjoy as much hap- 
 piness ourselves as the present state of things can 
 afford. They who are in continual broils live a 
 wretched life, and they who love the life of the 
 salamander must share no small portion of the 
 demoniacal nature. In domestic society such per- 
 sons are an evil disease ; they are a canker in the 
 Church and a pest in the State. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER IV. 
 1 . From whence come wars and fightings — 
 
 [A painful transition from the ideal to the actual. 
 Hitherto the language has been general, but now it 
 is " among you? . . . Whether these were strifes of 
 (so-called) religious parties, or individual rivalries 
 for selfish ends, as the following words may sug- 
 gest, they were the works of the flesh. (See Gal. 
 v, 19-21.) Coming of their lusts, qdovav, pleasant,
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 A. M. 4065. A. r>. 61. 
 Year of Ron.e, 814, 
 
 among you? come they not hence, even of your 
 'lusts c that war in your members? *2 Ye 
 lust, and have not: ye ''kill, and desire to 
 have, and cannot obtain : ye fight and war, ye1 
 ye have uot, because ye ask not. it e Ye ask, 
 and receive not, f because ye ask amiss, that ye 
 
 h Or, pleasures. So verse 3. cRom. 7. 23; Oal. 5. 17; 
 
 1 IVt. 2. 11 </Or, enry. eJoh 27. 9 ; 35. 12: I'sa. 18. 41; 
 
 l'n.v. 1. 23; Isa. 1. 15; Jer. 11. 11 ; Micah 3. 4; Zecli. 7. 13. 
 
 not unlike kiridv/iiov, appetites, and yet something 
 more, namely, desire gratified in luxurious indul- 
 gences. Sec Speaker's Com.] [TIo'A^goi nal ga%at, 
 wars and strifes. Not public or national wars, nor 
 yet conflicts in the courts, but rather quarrels grow- 
 ing out of their selfishness and uncharitableness | 
 Come they not hence ... of your lusts that 
 ■war in ycur members — [Pleasures that make 
 war in your members.~\ [The word member, uiXog, 
 denotes properly a limb, or member of the body; 
 but it is used in the New Testament to denote the 
 members of the body collectively, that is, the body 
 itself as the seat of the desires and passions, (Rom. 
 vi, 13, 19 ; vii, 5, 23 ; Col. iii, 5 :) the warring refers 
 to conflicts between those passions which have 
 their seat in the flesh, and (among themselves) 
 with the better principles of the mind and con- 
 science, producing a state of agitation and conflict. 
 — Barnes.] 
 
 2. Ye lust, and have not — Ye are ever covet- 
 ous, and ever poor, [longing for what ye have not.] 
 Ye kill, and desire to have — [Apparently the 
 only defensible rendering of the word tporvevere ("ye 
 kill") is that given in our common translation, and 
 then, according to Alford, we are to " understand 
 it to allude to such cases as David and Ahab, who 
 in their desire to possess committed murder. . . . 
 In the state of Jewish society during the apostolic 
 age, it is to be feared that examples of [such 
 atrocities] were but too plentiful, and there is no 
 telling how far the Christian portion of Jewish 
 communities may have suffered themselves to be- 
 come entangled in such quarrels and their murder- 
 ous consequences." (See the case of St. Paul, Acts 
 xxiii .)] Ye have not, because ye ask not — Ye 
 get no especial blessing from God, as your fathers 
 did, because ye do not pray. Worldly good is your 
 god ; ye leave no stone unturned in order to get 
 it ; and as ye ask nothing from God but to consumt 
 it upon your evil desires and propensities, your 
 prayers are not heard. 
 
 3. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask 
 amiss — [The general sense is: if you really prayed 
 aright, this feeling of continual craving after more 
 of worldly things would not exist. All your proper 
 wants would be supplied ; and these improper 
 ones, which beget wars and fightings among you, 
 would not exist. — Alford] Kanuc alrtiGde, ye ask 
 evilly, wickedly. Ye have not the proper disposi- 
 tions of prayer, and ye have an improper object. 
 Ye ask for worldly prosperity, that ye may employ 
 it in riotous living. This is properly the meaning 
 of the original, Iva kv raic f/Sovaic. bfiuv dairavTjoijTE, 
 that ye may expendit upon your pleasures. 
 
 4. Ye adulterers and adulteresses — The Jews, 
 because of their covenant with God, are repre- 
 sented as being espoused to him ; and hence their 
 idolatry, and their iniquity in general, are repre- 
 sented under the notion of adultery. And although 
 they had not, since the Babylonish captivity, been 
 guilty of idolatry, according to the letter ; yet what 
 is intended by idolatry — having their hearts 
 
 may consume it upon your elusts. 4 h Ye 
 adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that 
 'tlie friendship of the world is enmity with 
 God? k whosoever therefore will be a friend 
 of the world is the enemy of God. 5 Do ye 
 think that the Scripture saith in vain, 'The 
 
 /"Psa. liii. 18; 1 John :!. 22; 5. 14. gO\; pleasures. 
 
 // Psa. 7:i. 27.- H John 2. 1">. — fcJohn 1". 19: 17. 14; Gal. 
 1. 10. l&ee Gen. 6. ■"> : 8. 21 ; Num. II. 29; l'n.v. 21. Hi. 
 
 estranged from God, and seeking their portion in 
 
 this life and out of God — is that of which the .lews 
 were then notoriously guilty. [An overwhelming 
 balance of the best modern authorities reject the 
 words iini\in nal, (adulterers and,) and retain only 
 fioixa'/.i(\:i, (adulteresses.) The (spiritual) adultery 
 here designated is that of a wife against her hus- 
 band, in which relation the Church stands to 
 Christ ; and as each believer is personally espoused 
 to him, of which espousal their baptism is the " sign 
 and seal." so their infidelity to him partakes of the 
 nature of the criminality of the unfaithful wife. 
 The use of the masculine form (jioixoi) is therefore 
 out of harmony with the spirit of the text, as well 
 as wanting in critical authority. Of this correction 
 of the accepted reading, Alford very justly re- 
 marks, "This is one of those cases where the testi- 
 mony of our ancient MSS. is so valuable, in re- 
 storing to us the nervous and pregnant rebuke of 
 the original."] The friendship of the world — 
 "The world" was their god; here they committed 
 their spiritual adultery, and they cultivated this 
 friendship in order that they might gain this end. 
 Whosoever . . . will be a friend of the world 
 — How- strange it is that people professing Chris- 
 tianity can suppose that with a worldly spirit, 
 worldly companions, and their lives governed by 
 worldly maxims, they can be in the favour of God, 
 or have a place in the kingdom of heaven! When 
 "the world" gets into the Church, the Chinch be- 
 comes a painted sepulchre ; its spiritual vitality 
 being extinct. 
 
 5. Do ye think that the Scripture saith in 
 vain, etc. — It is impossible to tell what scripture 
 St. James refers to; many have been produced by 
 learned men as that which he had particularly in 
 view. Some think Gen. vi, 5: "Every imagi- 
 nation of the thoughts of his heart was only evil 
 continually." Gen. viii, 21 : "The imagination of 
 man's heart is evil from his youth." Num. xi, 29: 
 " Moses said unto him, Euviest thou for my sake ? " 
 and Prov. xxi, 10: "The soul of the wicked de- 
 sireih evil.''' 1 None of these scriptures, nor any 
 other, contain the precise words of this verse; and 
 therefore St. James may probably refer not to any 
 particular portion, but to the spirit and design of 
 the Scripture in those various places where it speaks 
 against envying, covetousness, worldly associations, 
 etc. [This verse has been variously interpreted, 
 each one having his own scheme, with which, how- 
 ever, even the interpreter himself is often not sat- 
 isfied. Its interrogation and quasi negative form is 
 evidently designed to be equivalent to a strong 
 affirmation: "The Scripture says so, emphatically." 
 This appeal to the Scripture is in the form com- 
 monly used in making verbal quotations, but the 
 words here given — the latter clause of the verse — are 
 nut found, in that precise shape, in either the Old 
 or the New Testament. They must, therefore, be 
 taken as an expression of the general teaching of 
 God's word on thesubject. But the chief difficulty 
 is found in fixing the meaning of the two words, 
 
 4T3
 
 JAMES. 
 
 Exportation to resist the devil, 
 and lo draw to GoJ. 
 
 spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth ,n to envy? 
 6 But lie giveth more grace. Wherefore he 
 saith, "God resisteth the proud, but giveth 
 piace unto the humble. 7 Submit yourselves 
 therefore to God. "Resist the devil, and he 
 will flee from you. 8 ("Draw nigh to God, 
 and lie will draw nigh to you. i Cleanse your 
 
 mOr, enviously t — a Job 22. 29; IVa. 138. 6: Piov. 3. 34: 
 
 29. 33: Matt. '2:;. 12; Luke 1. 52; 14. 11 ; 18. 14; 1 Pet. 5. 5. 
 
 o Eph. 4. 27 ; 6. 11 : 1 Pet. 5. 9. p 2 Cor. 15. 2. 
 
 <p06vov, envy, and irvevya, spirit, the sense of the 
 former of which depends largely on that of the 
 latter. If, as evidently intended in the English Ver- 
 sion, the latter is the spirit of fallen and worldly 
 men, then its rendering of the former " envy " is a 
 near approach to the true sense, and the whole 
 verse constitutes simply a reminder and a warning; 
 as if it had said, you are warned in Scripture that 
 your hearts are instinctively inclined to evil ; there- 
 fore, (implied, but not immediately expressed,) 
 seek God's grace, draw near and submit to God, 
 resist the devil, mourn for your carnality, and hum- 
 ble yourselves before God. (Verses 6-10.) But the 
 form of words used (rrvevua b kcitukioev ev ij/iiv) is 
 precisely that usually employed to indicate the in- 
 dwelling of the Holy Spirit, and therefore it is 
 claimed that it should be rendered, "The Spirit 
 that he God) placed in you ; " aud then the words 
 rrpbg 06vov eirnrodei must be interpreted so as to 
 express an action of the Holy Spirit. This has 
 been attempted by making irpog equivalent to 
 against, or in opposition, to, which would lie a very 
 unusual application of that preposition. By this 
 construction the sentence becomes indirectly an 
 assuring promise of the indwelling Spirit's assist- 
 ance in resisting envy, (fydovovj) which is also di- 
 rectly and largely affirmed in what immediately 
 follows. Either sense is good enough in itself, and 
 altogether in harmony with the teachings of the 
 Scriptures; but to reach either of them, very con- 
 siderable liberties must be used in construing the 
 words of the original.] 
 
 6. But he giveth more grace — Mei^ova %&piv, 
 a greater benefit, [enlarged measures of the power of 
 the Holy Spirit, by which to effectually resi>t the 
 evil tendency (kirnrodnaic) of the depraved heart, 
 (verse 5,) and so to effectually antagonize the 
 "evil heart of unbelief." (Heb. iii, 12. ] God 
 resisteth the proud — 'A vti rdaaerat, sets himself 
 in battle array against him. Giveth grace unto 
 the humble — The sure way to please God is to 
 submit to the dispensations of his grace ami provi- 
 dence; and when a man acknowledges him in all 
 his ways, he will direct all his steps. The covetous 
 man grasps at the similar and lo,-es the substance. 
 
 7. Submit ... to God^Continue to bow to all 
 his decisions, and to all his dispensations. Resist 
 the devil— He cannot conquer you if you continue 
 to resist. Strong as he is, God never permits him 
 to conquer the man who continues to resist him. 
 He who, in the terrible name of Jesus, opposes 
 even the devil himself, is sure to have a speedy and 
 glorious conquest. [There is here an evident ref- 
 erence to Christ's temptation. (Matt, iv, 10, 11.) 
 These scriptures (see 1 Peter 5-7) testify to the 
 personality of the tempter, (see also Luke xxii, 31,) 
 who appears (as elsewhere) as the prince of this 
 world ; whose thralls the friends of the world nec- 
 essarily become. (John xii, 30; xiv, 30.) — Speak- 
 er's Commentary.] 
 
 8. Draw nigh to God— Approach Him, in the 
 474 
 
 bands, ye sinners; and 'purify your hearts, ye 
 s doubleminded. 9 ' Be afflicted, and mourn, 
 and weep: let your laughter be turned to 
 mourning, and your joy to heaviness. 
 10 "Humble yourselves in the sight of the 
 Lord, and lie shall lift you up. 11 v Speak 
 not evil one of another, brethren. He that 
 
 tflsa. 1. 16. >■] Pet. 1. 22; Uohn 3. S. sOhap. 1. 8. 
 
 /Malt. .5. 4. u Job 22. 20; Matt. 23. 12; Luke 14. 11 ; 18. 14 ; 
 
 1 Pet. 5. ti. v Eph. 4. 31 ; 1 Pet. 2. 1. 
 
 name of Jesus, by faith and prayer, and he wiU 
 draw nigh to you; he will meet you at your 
 coming. When a soul sets out to seek God, God 
 sets out to meet that soul ; so that while we are 
 drawing near to him, he is drawing near to us. 
 The delicacy and beauty of these expressions are, 
 1 think, hut seldom noted. Cleanse your hands, 
 ye sinners — Washing or cleansing the hands was a 
 token of innocence and purity. [See the case of 
 Pilate, Matt, xxvii, 24, also Psa. xxvi, 6.] Purify 
 your hearts — [Since only the " pure in heart " (the 
 really and earnestly sincere) can truly and effec- 
 tually "draw near to God." (See Psa. ix, 12, Isa. 
 vii, 15.)] Ye doubleminded — [See chapter i, 8. 
 Doublemindedness is incompatible with real sin- 
 cerity; it is theiefore an uncleanness and must be 
 removed ] As a man is a sinner, he must have his 
 Jim, i/s cleansed from wicked works; as he is double- 
 minded, he must have his heart sanctified. Sandi- 
 fication belongs to the heart, because of pollution if 
 mind; cleansing belongs to the hands, because of 
 
 sinful acts. 
 
 it. Be afflicted, and mourn — Without true and 
 deep repentance ye cannot expect the mercy of 
 God. Let your laughter be turned to mourn- 
 ing — It appears most evidently that many of those 
 to whom St. James addressed this epistle had lived a 
 very irregular and dissolute life. He had already 
 spoken of their lust and pleasures : and he had 
 called them adulteresses, lie speaks here of their 
 laughter and their joy ; and all the terms taken 
 together show that a dissolute life is intended. 
 What a strange view is thus given of the char- 
 acter of primitive Christianity ! [which is often 
 spoken of as worthy of all imitation ; but it is not 
 so presented in the apostolic writings, nor in those 
 of the primitive fathers.] 
 
 10. Humble yourselves in the sight of the 
 Lord — In verse 7 they were exhorted to submit to 
 God; here they are exhorted to "humble" them- 
 selves in his sight. Submission to God's authority 
 will precede humiliation of soul, and genuine re- 
 pentance is performed as in the "sight " of God ; 
 for when a sinner is truly awakened to a sense of 
 his guilt and danger he seems to see, whitherso- 
 ever he turns, the face of a justly incensed God 
 turned against him. He shall lift you up — 
 Mourners and penitents lay on the ground, and 
 rolled themselves in the dust. When comforted 
 and pardoned, they arose from the earth, shook 
 themselves from the dust, and clothed themselves 
 in their better garments. God promises to raise 
 men from the dust, when they are truly humbled. 
 
 11. Speak not evil one of another — Perhaps 
 this exhortation refers to evil speaking, slandering 
 and backbiting in general, the writer having no 
 particular persons in view. It may, however, refer 
 to the contentions among the Zealots and different 
 factions then prevailing among this wretched peo- 
 ple, or to their calumnies against those of their 
 brethren who had embraced the Christian faith.
 
 Admonitions 
 Rod pre 
 
 ljrainit rash judgings, 
 umptions of life. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 i. D. 61. 
 e, S14. 
 
 speaketh evil of his brother, "and judgeth his 
 brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth 
 the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art 
 not a doer of the law, but a judge. 12 There 
 is one lawgiver, x who is able to save and to de- 
 stroy: 'who art thou that judgest another? 
 i:$ z Go to now, ye that say, To day or to 
 morrow we will go into such a city, and con- 
 tinue there a year, and buy and sell, and get 
 
 wMatt. 7. 1: Luke 6. :"!7 : Rom. 2. 1; 1 Cor. 4. .i scMatt. 
 
 HI 28.- — U Rom. 14. 4, 13. .? I'rov. 27. 1 : Luke 12. 18, etc. ■ 
 
 </ or. /•*../■ it is. 6 Job 7. 7; Psa. 102. 3; chapter 1. 1(1 ;1 Pet. 
 
 [Evil speaking, as the outflow of an uncharitable 
 ami depraved spirit, is the sure indication of the 
 absence of that genuine charity which is the mosl 
 eminent of the Christian graces.] He that speak- 
 eth evil — [That judges harshly and censoriously, 
 condemning without the authority to condemn. His 
 brother — Rather, a "brother," using the term in- 
 definitely.] Speaketh evil of the law — [Not 
 merely the specific precept "judge not," (Matt. 
 vii, 1.) but identical with "the royal law," (ii, 8,) 
 which embraces all. Such a violation of the spirit 
 of the "great commandment" is, in fact, a cen- 
 sure of the law itself, which is summed up in these 
 words. (See Rom. ii, 1, 13.) . . . To judge or criti- 
 cise the law one must be outside of and above it. 
 ... It is by " doing " it that a man comes to un- 
 derstand it, (John vii, 1*7;) and the doer is not 
 likely to criticise. — Speaker's Com.] 
 
 12. There is one lawgiver — Kal i<pir//c, and 
 judge, is added here by [the common verdict of 
 tin' best modern scholarship.] The man who breaks 
 the law. and teaches others so to do, in effect 
 sets himself up as a "lawgiver" arid judge. But 
 there is only one such lawgiver and judge — God 
 Almighty, who is able to save all those who obey 
 him, ami to destroy all those who trample under 
 feet his testimonies. Who art thou that judgest 
 another — Who art thou who darest to usurp 
 the office and prerogative of the supreme Judge ? 
 But what is that law of which St. James speaks ? 
 and who is this lawgiver and judge? Most 
 critics think that the law mentioned here is the 
 same as that which he elsewhere calls the royal 
 law, and the law of liberty, thereby meaning the 
 Gospel, and that Christ is the person who is called 
 the lawgiver and judge. This, however, is not 
 clear to me. I believe James means the Jewish 
 law ; and by the lawgiver and judge, God Almighty, 
 as acknowledged by the Jewish people. I find, or 
 think I find, from the closest examination of this 
 epistle, but few references to Jesus Christ or his 
 Gospel. His Jewish creed, forms, and maxim- 
 this writer keeps constantly in view; and it is 
 proper he should, considering the persons to whom 
 In.' wrote. Some of them were, doubtless, Christ- 
 ians; some of them probably no Christians; and 
 some of them half Christians and half Jews. 
 [There is nothing more decidedly condemned in the 
 Scriptures than the habit of pronouncing a judg- 
 ment on the motives and conduct of others. There 
 is nothing in which we are more liable to err, or to 
 indulge in wrong feelings; and there is nothing 
 which God claims mure for himself as his peculiar 
 prerogative. — Bonus. | 
 
 13. Go to now — 'Aye vvv, come now, the same 
 in meaning as the "come" of (Jen. xi, 3, 4, 7. To 
 day or to morrow we will go — [As James 
 looks upon Judaism as a solidarity, in guilt and 
 perverseness attaching to the whole people, al- 
 
 gain : 14 Whereas ye know not what shall 
 be on the morrow. For what is your life? 
 al Tt is even a vapour, that appeareth for a lit- 
 tle time, and then vanisheth away. 15 For 
 that ye ought to say, c lf the Lord will, we 
 -hall live, and do this, or that. 16 Bu1 now 
 ye rejoice in your boastings: d all such rejoic- 
 ingis evil. 17 Therefore " to him that know - 
 eth to do good, anddoetli it not, to him it is sin. 
 
 1. 24: 1 John 2. 17. c Acts 18. 21: 1 Cor. 4. 19: 16. 7; lleb. 
 
 6. 3. (1 1 Cor. 5. n. e Luke 12. 47 ; John 9. 41 ; 15. 22 ; Rom. 
 
 1. 2(1,21,32; 2. 17, IS 2!. 
 
 though mostly to the unbelieving Jews, so all his 
 exhortations and warnings are addressed through 
 the Jewish Christians to all Jews. — Lange!\ This 
 wotldliness and presumption on a piecarious life 
 is well expressed by an English poet: 
 
 Who, coui\in<r on Ion? years of pleasure here, 
 
 Aie quite unfurnished for the world to come.— B'air. 
 
 And continue there a year, and buy and sell 
 
 — This was the custom of those ancient times; they 
 traded from city to city, carrying their goods on 
 the backs of camels. It is to this kind of itiner- 
 ant mercantile life that St. James alludes. 
 
 14. Whereas ye know not — It is not only 
 impious, but grossly absurd, to speak thus concern- 
 ing futurity, when ye know not what a day may 
 bring forth. Life is utterly precarious, ami God 
 has not put it within the power of any creature to 
 command one moment of what is future. It is 
 even a vapour — 'Ar/iic yap icriv, it is a smoke, 
 always fleeting, uncertain, evanescent, and ob- 
 scured with various trials and afflictions. (See 
 Psa. cii, 11; Job viii, 9; 1 Chron xxix, 15.) "All 
 flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is 
 as the flower of the field. The grass withereth, 
 the flower fadeth, because the spirit of the Lord 
 bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass." St. 
 James had produced the same figure, chapter i, 
 10, 11. But there is a very remarkable saying in 
 the book of Ecclesiasticus, which should be quoted : 
 "As of the green leaves of a thick tree some fall 
 and some grow, so is the generation of flesh and 
 blood : one Cometh to an end, and another is born." 
 (Ecclus. xiv, 18.) 
 
 15. For that ye ought to say — 'Air} rah 
 teyeiv i'ftac, instead <>f which ye should sua. If the 
 Lord will, we shall live — [Not only our doing 
 depends on the will of the Lord, but also, first of 
 all, life itself.— Lange.] 
 
 1 6. But now ye rejoice in your boastings — 
 Ye glory in your proud and self-sufficient conduct, 
 exulting that ye are free from the trammels of su- 
 perstition, and that ye can live independently of 
 God Almighty. All such rejoicing is evil — 
 Rather, such boasting is wicked, novnpa egtiv, is im- 
 pious. 
 
 17. To him that knoweth to do good — As if 
 the writer had said: After this warning none of 
 you can plead ignorance; if, therefore, any of you 
 shall be found to act their ungodly part, not ac- 
 knowledging the divine providence, the uncertainty 
 of life, and the necessity of standing every moment 
 prepared to meet God — as you will have the 
 greater sin. you will infallibly get the greater pun- 
 ishment. This may be applied to all who know 
 better than they act. He who does not the Mas- 
 ter's will because he doe- ,/.,/ know it will be 
 beaten with few stripes; hut he who knows it and 
 does uot do it, shall be beaten with many. (Luke 
 
 475
 
 JAMES. 
 
 The miseries which shall come on the 
 profligate rich announced. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 /~^O a to now, ye rich men, weep and howl 
 \Jf for your miseries that shall come upon 
 you. 2 Your riehes are corrupted, and 'your 
 garments are motheaten. 3 Your gold and 
 silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall 
 he a witness against you, and shall eat your 
 flesh as it were tire. c Ye have heaped treasure 
 together for the last days. 4 Behold, d the 
 
 a Prov 11 28; Luke •;. 21; 1 Tim. ti. 9. b Job 13. 28; Matt. 
 
 fi 20 ; chap. 2. 2. c Horn. 2. 5. d Lev. 19. 13 ; Job 21. 10, 11 ; 
 
 Jer. 22. 13; Mai. 3.5. 
 
 xii, 47, 48.) St. James may have the Christians in 
 view wlio were converted from Judaism to Chris- 
 tianity. They hail more light and religious knowl- 
 edge than the Jews had; and God would require a 
 proportionable improvement from them. [This 
 conclusion of St. James is added as the summing 
 up of the argument, in the same manner as the aph- 
 orism with which St. Paul closes his reasonings 
 concerning a doubting conscience, when he says, 
 " Whatsoever is not of faith is sin;" that is, when- 
 ever a man does any thin"; without being persuaded 
 in his mind that he may lawfully do it. he is guilty 
 of sin. (Rom. xiv, 23.) — Wordsworth.] 
 
 NOTES <)X CHAPTER V. 
 
 1. Go to now — See on chapter iv, 13. Ye 
 rich men — [0;' jt2x>vgcoi, you that (ire rich.] [The 
 reference is not at all to individuals as such ; the 
 persons addressed are those who, according to the 
 last warning, harden themselves by the self delu- 
 sion of their being theocratically rich. The entire 
 prophetical lamentation must lie judged according 
 to its analogies in the oil Testament an 1 in the 
 New Testament. (Isa. ii. 22; iii, 19; Matt, xxiii ; 
 I! v. xviii.) — Langc] Weep and howl — Refer- 
 ring to the near approach of the divine judgment. 
 (See Isa. xiii, ti.) For your miseries that shall 
 come — [These miseries are not to he thought 
 of (primarily) as the natural and determined end 
 of all worldly riehes, but are the judgment con- 
 nected with the coming of the Lord, // -apovaia rov 
 Kv uov, (verse 8, ) evi lently referring to the destruc- 
 tion of Jerusalem. — Alford.] 
 
 2. Your riches are corrupted — Sfo-yxr, are 
 putrefied. The term tt/mvtoc, riches, is to be taken 
 here, not for gold, silver, or precious stones, (these 
 could not putrefy,) nor for the produce of the 
 fiel Is and flocks, the different stores of grain, wine, 
 an 1 oil, etc., [but generically for all kinds of property 
 having a money value which is proverbially liable 
 to loss or perishing. (See Matt, vi, 19.)] 
 
 3. Your gold and silver is cankered — In 
 stea 1 of helping the poor, and thus honouring God 
 with your substance, ye have, through covetous- 
 ness, kept all to yourselves. [Gold and silver do 
 not contract rust, but as these things are named as 
 figures for wealth, so the corruption and wasting of 
 wealth are expressed by terms that apply to me- 
 tallic substances. Some have interpreted the ex- 
 pression as of the dimness of their burnish. (See 
 Isa. i, 22; Lam. iv, 1 ) Or the figure may have 
 Ii sen chosen for its contrariety to nature, to illus- 
 trate the unnaturalness of the dimming of the glory 
 of the covenant people by their worldliness ami 
 blackslidings.] The rust of them shall be a 
 witness against you — Your putrefied stores, your 
 motheaten garments, and your tarnished coin, are 
 so many proofs that it was not for want of property 
 that you assisted not the poor, but through avarice, 
 
 476 
 
 hire of the labourers who have reaped down 
 your fields, which is of you kept back by 
 fraud, crieth: and e the cries of them which 
 have reaped are entered into the ears of the 
 Lord of Sabaoth. 5 f Ye have lived in pleas- 
 ure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have 
 nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaugh- 
 ter. 6 ? Ye have condemned and killed the 
 just; and he doth not resist you. 7 h Be 
 
 <>Deut. 24. 15. /Job 21. 13; Amos 6. 1, 4; Luke lt». I'.i. 25; 
 
 1 Tim. 5. H. g Chap. 2. tj. It Or, Be long patient, or, Suffer 
 
 with long patience. 
 
 loving money for its own sake. This was the very 
 character given to this people by our Lord himself; 
 he called them QiXapyvpoi, lovers of money. Shall 
 eat your flesh as it were fire — This is a very 
 bold and striking figure. The writer represents 
 the rust of their coin as becoming a canker that 
 should produce gangrenes and ulcers in their flesh, 
 till it should be eaten away from their hones. Ye 
 have heaped treasure together — [You have 
 treasured vp, idijcavpiaaTe, accumulated and laid 
 up in store, (no object is named, nor needed,) ye 
 have gotten, and kept.] For the last cays- Not 
 the day of judgment, nor specifically the last days of 
 tin' Jewish commonwealth, [but, in a general way, 
 for tin time to come, or, more comprehensively, for 
 all after lifetime. (Luke xii, 19.)] 
 
 4. The hire of the labourers— (See Lev. xix, 13; 
 Deut. xxiv, 15; Mai. iii, 5.) To such things James 
 seems particularly to allude when he says, Hie 
 cries of them which hare reaped are entered info the 
 ears of the Lord of hosts; and the rabbins say, 
 " The vapour arising from the sweat of the hard- 
 worked labourer ascends ap before God." [How 
 terribly direct was this denunciation against the 
 whole system of slavery, as it formerly existed in 
 this country, but is now happily removed, though 
 at a great price of blood and treasure. The spirit 
 of the admonition may still be applied to all the 
 relations of capital and labour, employers and em- 
 ployes.] The Lord of Sabaoth — Lord oj hosts, 
 or Lord of armies, is a frequent appellation of God 
 in the Old Testament ; and signifies his uncon- 
 trollable power, and the infinity of means he has 
 for governing the world and defending his follow- 
 ers, and of punishing the wicked. 
 
 r>. Ye have lived in pleasure — 'Erprfrf/oaTe, 
 ue /rare lived luxuriously ; feeding yourselves with- 
 out fear, pampering the flesh. And been wanton 
 — 'EflTrara? rjaare, ye have lived lasciviously; ye 
 have indulged all your sinful and sensual appetities 
 to the uttermost; and your lives have been scan- 
 dalous. Ye have nourished your hearts — 'E0- 
 ptijiaTi?, iie have fattened your la arts, and have ren- 
 dered them ineapable of feeling, as in a day of 
 slaughter, qyepg c^ayrjg, a day of sacrifice, where 
 many victims are offered at once, and where the 
 people feast upon the sacrifices; many, no doubt, 
 turning, on that occasion, a holy ordinance into a 
 riotous festival. [By "day of slaughter" some un- 
 derstand the day of judgment, a rendering that the 
 text will not bear. The transaction named and 
 censured is past, and nothing is said in this con- 
 nexion about any thing future.] 
 
 6. Ye have condemned and killed the just — 
 Several, by rbv dcKaiov, the just one, understand 
 Jesus Christ, (Acts iii, 14; vii, 52; xxii, 14;) hut 
 the structure of the sentence, and the connexion in 
 which it stands, seems to require that we should 
 consider this as applying to the " just " or righteous
 
 nder affliction 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 A. M. 4065. A. D. 61. 
 Year of Rome, *41. 
 
 patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of 
 the Lufd. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for 
 the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long 
 patience for it, until he receive 'the early ami 
 latter rain. 8 Be ye also patient ; stablish 
 your hearts: k for the coming of the Lord 
 draweth nigh. 9 lm Grudge not one against 
 another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: be- 
 hold, the judge " standeth before the door. 
 
 i Deut. 11. 14; .ler. 5. 24: Hos. 6. 3; Joel 2. 23; Zech. 10. 1. 
 
 I- Phil. 4. 5: Heb. 10. 25, 37; 1 Pet 4. 7. /Or. Groan, or, 
 
 Grieoe not. m Chap. 4. 11. n Matt. 24. 33 ; 1 Cor. 4. 5. 
 
 in general, who were persecuted and murdered by 
 those oppressive rich men; and their death was the 
 consequence of their dragging them before the judg- 
 ment seats, (chapter ii, ti,) where, having no innu- 
 endo, and none to plead their cause, they were 
 unjustly condemned and executed. And he doth 
 not resist you — In this, as in rbv dina/ov, tin: just, 
 there is an enallage of the singular for the plural 
 number. And in the word ova avTi-daasra', " lie 
 doth not resist," the idea is included of defence in a 
 court of justice. These poor righteous people had 
 none to plead their cause; and if they had had, it 
 would have been useless, as their oppressors had all 
 power ami all influence, and those who sat on these 
 ju Igment seats were lost to all sense of justice and 
 i ■ i _C ' i r . Some think that "he doth not resist you" 
 shoul 1 be referred to God; as if he had said, God 
 permits you to go on in this way at present, but he 
 will shortly awake to judgment, and destroy you as 
 enemies of truth and righteousness. 
 
 7. Ba patient therefore — [Ami thus we have, 
 as it were standing before us, the slain and unre- 
 sisting righteous man, when, lo! the curtain falls: 
 " Be patient, -brethren ; " wait ! (See Amos ii, 6, 7.)] 
 B scause God is coming to execute judgment on this 
 wicked people, therefore be patient till he comes. 
 The writer here refers to the coming of the Lord 
 to execute judgment on the Jewish nation, which 
 shortly afterward took place. The husbandman 
 waiteth — The seed of your deliverance is already 
 sown, and by and by the harvest of your salvation 
 will take place. God's counsels will ripen in due 
 time. The early and latter rain — The rain of 
 seedtime, and the rain of ripening before harvest : 
 th' first fell in Judea about the beginning of No- 
 ve iiber, after the seed was sown; and the second 
 toward the end of April, when the ears were rilling, 
 an 1 this prepared for a full harvest. Without 
 these two rains the earth would have been un- 
 fruitful. These God had promised. (Deut. xi, 14.) 
 An 1 for these they were not only to wait patiently, 
 lilt also to pray. (Zech. x, 1.) [And after this 
 example the Jewish Christians of that time were 
 exhorted to await patiently their approaching de- 
 liverance in the overthrow of the Jewish state, 
 which had become their chief persecutor. The les- 
 son has also a broader and a perpetual applica- 
 tion.] 
 
 8. B3 ya also patient — Wait for God's deliver- 
 ance, as ye wait for his bounty in providence. 
 Stablish your hearts — Take courage; do nut 
 sink under your trials. The coming of the Lord 
 draweth nigh — "TLyyiKe, is at hand; [lends on, ap- 
 proaches.] He is already on his way to destroy this 
 wicked people, to raze their city and temple, and 
 to destroy their polity forever; and this judgment 
 will soon take place. 
 
 9. G-'udge not — M// crreyd^ere, groan not; 
 
 10 "Take, my brethren, the prophets, who 
 
 have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an 
 example of suffering affliction, and of patience. 
 
 11 Behold, p we count them happy which en- 
 dure. Ye have heard of i the patience of Job, 
 and have seen ' the end of the Lord; that * t lie 
 Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy. 
 1*2 But above all things, my brethren, 'swear 
 not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, 
 
 oMatt, 5. 12; Heb. 11. 35, etc. p Psa. !». 1-2: Matt. 5. 10, 
 
 11: m. 22. <i Joli 1. 21, 22; 2. in. rJob 42. 10, etc. 
 
 sNum. 14. is; 1'sa. 1U3. 8. * Matt. 5. 34, etc. 
 
 grumbie not; do not murmur through impatience; 
 and let not any ill treatment which you receive in- 
 duce you to vent your feelings in imprecations 
 against your oppressors. Leave all this in the 
 hands of God. Lest ye be condemned — By 
 giving way to a spirit of this kind you will come 
 under the condemnation of the waked. The judge 
 standeth before the door — His eye is upon every 
 tiling that is wrong in you, and every wrong that is 
 dune to you ; and he is now entering into judgment 
 with your oppressors. [You will have to wait only 
 a little while.] 
 
 K). Take . . . the prophets — The pro] diets who 
 had spoken to their forefathers by the authority of 
 God were persecuted by the very people to whom 
 they delivered the divine message ; but they suffered 
 affliction and persecution with patience, commend- 
 ing their cause to Him who judgeth righteously; 
 therefore, imitate their example. 
 
 11. We count them happy which endure — 
 According to that saying of our blessed Lord, 
 Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and perse- 
 cute yon, for so persecuted they the prophets which 
 were before you. (Matt, v, 11, etc.) Ye have 
 heard of the patience of Job — \^Yiroyovf/v, stead- 
 fast endurance.] Stripped of all his worldly pos- 
 sessions, deprived at a stroke of all his children, 
 tortured in body with sore disease, tempted by the 
 devil, harassed by his wife, ami calumniated by his 
 friends, he nevertheless held fast his integrity, 
 resigned himself to the divine dispensations, and 
 charged not God foolishly. And have seen the 
 end cf the Lord — The issue, -i'/.oc, to which God 
 brought all his afflictions and trials, giving him 
 children, increasing his property, lengthening out 
 his life, and multiplying to him every kind of 
 spiritual and secular good. This was God's end 
 with respect to him ; but the devil's end was to 
 drive him to despair, and to cause him to blas- 
 pheme his Maker. [ In like manner do ye endure, 
 in the patience of faith ; God's issue will assuredly 
 be a happy one.] "The end of the Lord " is a He- 
 braism for the issue to which God brings any thing 
 or business. The Lord is very pitiful, and of 
 tender mercy — Ilo'/ i n-'/o] \ti^\ of much sym- 
 pathy, his commiseration is easily excited, and is 
 great or abundant. [Our Lord, because he is 
 "touched with the feeling of our infirmities," (Heb. 
 iv, 15,) is not only merciful as our God, but also, 
 and eminently, sympathizing, ''bearing our sor- 
 rows."] 
 
 12. Above all things . . . swear not — What 
 relation this exhortation can have to the subject in 
 question, I confess I cannot see. It may not have 
 been designed to stand in any connexion, but to he 
 
 a separate piece of advice, as in the several cases ' 
 which immediately follow. That the Jews were 
 notoriously guilty of common swearing is allowed 
 
 477
 
 JAMES. 
 
 Duty and efficacy of prayer 
 for the sick. 
 
 neither by any other oath : hut let your yea be 
 yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into con- 
 demnation. 13 Is any among you afflicted? 
 let him pray. Is any merry? "let him sing 
 
 !<Eph. 5. 19; Col. 3. 16. 
 
 on all hands; and that swearing by heaven, earth, 
 Jerusalem, the temple, the altar, different parts of 
 the body, was not considered by them as binding 
 oaths, has been sufficiently proved. (See on Matt, v, 
 2o, etc.) [The parallelism of this passage with the 
 words of our Lord (Matt, v, 33— 37) is substantially 
 complete, making it probable that the apostle had 
 t I- - ■ in his mind. It does not appear, however, 
 why the subject is projected with so much em- 
 phasis, Kob ~avruv, above all things, (if indeed that 
 is its meaning,) into the thread of his exhortations 
 to patience an 1 faith ; nor are the commentators 
 agreed as to the import of the dehortation. Most 
 of them, noticing that swearing by the name of God 
 is not specifically forbidden, (as also by our Lord's 
 words,) conclude that judicial oaths are not inten led. 
 If, as intimate 1 by Dr. Clarke, the reference is 
 to the prevalent gross and offensive profanity of 
 the dews at that time, against which the apostle 
 fo m 1 it necessary so earnestly and tenderly to warn 
 hi- brethren, then it also affords us a painful il 
 ion of the bad moral and religious condition 
 of the people at that time, of which, indeed, other 
 evidence is not wanting. But Van Oosterzee gives 
 entirely another turn to this whole passage. "The 
 fundamental idea," he remarks, " which connects 
 this verse with verses 11 and 13, is the allaying of 
 the fanatical excitement which was constantly 
 growing up among the Jews, an 1 was threatening 
 ... to deprive the Jewish Christian Churches of 
 their composure. The history of the banding to- 
 gether of mure than forty men against the life of 
 St. Paul (Acts xxiii, 12-22) (evidently with the 
 concurrence of the priests, and possibly winked at 
 by some who professed to be Christians) proves 
 the bias of the Judaistic zealot- (Acts xxi 20, 2l) 
 to enter into conspiracies." He accordingly ren- 
 ders «// b/ivvere, join no conspiracies, of which the 
 oath was the distinctive feature] Lest ye fall 
 into condemnation — ' Iva //// bizb Kpiaiv rrto/re, 
 ider judgment, [for profaning the name 
 of the Lord. (Exod. xx, 7.) — Barnes.] .lews taught 
 that there might be mental reservation that woidd 
 annul the oath, how solemnly soever it was taken ; 
 and the object of St. James may have been to 
 guard against that hypocritical method of taking 
 an oath, which is subversive of all moral feeling, 
 an 1 must make conscience itself callous. 
 
 13. Is any among you afflicted? let him 
 pray — [The word nana* add, usually indicates out- 
 war 1 suffering, (see - Tim. ii, 3, 9, iv, 5,) but 
 here, in contrast with ei ' . merry, joyful, it im- 
 plies the inward sense of suffering, (the result of 
 li i ■ Iships.) The remedy is prayer: not necessarily 
 toobtain the removal of the trial, but at any rate for 
 the increase of faith, to raise the spirits, so that 
 we be comforted and of good cheer. — Speaker's 
 Com.] Is any merry? let him sing psalms— 
 Th -e are all general but very useful directions. 
 It is natural for a man to sing when he is cheerful 
 and happy. And as God alone is the author of 
 all that good which makes a man happy, then his 
 praise should be the subject of the song of him 
 who is glad. (Psa. xxxiii, 1 ; xxxii, 1 1.) 
 
 14. Is any sick among you? let him call for 
 478 
 
 psalms. 14 Is any sick among you? let him 
 call for the elder- of the church ; and let them 
 pray over him, "anointing him with oil in the 
 name of the Lord : 15 And the prayer of 
 
 rMark 6. 13: 16. 18. 
 
 the elders — St. James very properly sends all 
 such to the elders of the Church, who especially 
 had power with God through the great Mediator, 
 that they might pray for them. Anointing him 
 ■with oil — That St. James certainly means neither 
 any kind of incantation nor of miracle, nor such 
 extreme unction as the Romish Church prescribes, 
 [not- the "faith cures " of modern fanatics.] will 
 be sufficiently evident from these considerations. 
 What is here recommended was to be done as a 
 natural means of restoring health, which, while 
 they used prayer and supplication to God, they 
 were not to neglect. " Oil " was, in Judea, cele- 
 brated for its sanative qualities ; so that the peo- 
 ple rarely took a journey without carrying ( il with 
 them, (see in the case of the e.<,<, ( l Samaiitan,) with 
 which they anointed their bodies, healed their 
 wounds, bruises, etc. It was tie custom of the 
 Jews to apply it as a moans of healing, and to that 
 St. James evidently refers. They had, therefoie, 
 recourse to this as a natural remedy ; and we lid 
 that the disciples used it also in this way to heal 
 the sick, not exerting the miraculous power but in 
 cases where natural hum- were ineffectual. Aiid 
 thiii cost out many devils, and anointed with oil 
 inn iti/ that in rt sick, anil healed them. (Maik 
 vi, 13.) In short, "anointing the sick with oil," in 
 order to their recovery, was a constant practice 
 among the Jews. And here I am satisfied that it 
 has no other meaning than as a natural means of 
 restoring health ; and that St. James-desires them 
 to use natural means while looking to God lor an 
 especial blessing. 
 
 That the "anointing" recommended here by St. 
 James cannol be such as the Romish Church pre- 
 scribes, (and it is on this passage principally that 
 they found their sacrament of extreme unction,) is 
 evident from these considerations: That he orders 
 the sick person to be anointed in reference to his 
 cure, but they anoint the sick in the agonies of 
 when there is no prospect of his recovery; 
 and never administer that sacrament, as it is called, 
 while there is any hope of life. St. James orders 
 this " anointing " for the cure of the body, but they 
 apply it for the cure of the soul ; in reference to 
 which use of it no directions aie here given: and 
 what is said of the forgiveness of sins (verse 15) 
 is rather to be referred to faith- and pro yer, which 
 may also become the means of restoring lost health, 
 and preventing premature death, when natural 
 means, the most skilfully used, have been useless. 
 The " anointing with oil," if ever used as a means or 
 symbol in working miraculous cures, was only ap- 
 plied in a very f> w cases, but the Romish Church 
 uses it in every case ; and makes it necessary to 
 the salvation of every departing soul. St. Jan es's 
 unction, ami the extreme unction of the Romish 
 Church, are therefore essentially different things. 
 
 15. And the prayer of faith shall save the 
 sick — That is, God will often make these the 
 means of a sick man's recovery; but there often 
 are cases where "faith" and "prayer" are loth 
 ineffectual, because God sees it best that the pa- 
 tient should not be restored; and therefore all 
 faith and prayer on such occasions should be put
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall 
 raise him up; "and if he have committed sins, 
 they shall be forgiven him. 16 Confess your 
 faults one to another, and pray one for an- 
 other, that ye may be healed. x The effectual 
 fervent, prayer of a righteous man availeth 
 much. 17 Elias was a man >' subject to like 
 passions as we are, and z he prayed "earnestly 
 that it might not rain : 'and it rained not on 
 
 wlsa. 33. 21: Matt. 9. 2. .r(!en. 20. 17; Num. II. 2: Unit. 
 
 P. 18, l:i,2ii: Josh. in. 12: 1 8am. 12. 18; 1 Kines 1 .:. 6: 2 Kings 
 4. 3:i: 19. 13, 2': 2ft. 2, 4, etc : Psa. HI 17: 34. 13; 143. 18; Prov. 
 15. 29: 2<. 9; John 9. :il : 1 John i 22, 
 
 forthwith this qualification: "If it he most for 
 thy glory, and the eternal pood of this man's soul, 
 let him be restored; if otherwise, Lord, pardon 
 him, purify him, and take him to thy glory." The 
 Lord shall raise him up — Not the elders, how 
 faithfully and fervently soever they have prayed. 
 And if he have committed sins — We find that 
 in the miraculous restorations to health under the 
 powerful hands of Christ, the sin of the party is 
 generally said to he forgiven, and this, also, before 
 the miracle was wrought on the body. Here then 
 it is God that remits the sin, not in reference to the 
 unction, but in reference to the cure of the body, 
 which he is miraculously to effect. [The practice 
 of anointing with oil with a view to recovery from 
 sickness was continued in the Eastern and West- 
 ern Churches even after the Church had lost the 
 miraculous gift of healing. It is continued in the 
 Eastern Church for this purpose to this day, but the 
 Reformed communions have abandoned the prac- 
 tice. — Lange.] 
 
 16. Confess your faults one to another — This 
 i- a good general direction to Christians who en- 
 deavour to maintain among themselves the com- 
 munion of saints. This social confession tends 
 much to humble the soul, and to make it watchful. 
 [Confession must always be voluntary on the part 
 of those who make it ; no man has the right to re- 
 quire it of another. It is possible only where 
 Christian communion is very intimate, and is safe 
 only when most sacredly guarded. Tiie promis- 
 cuous proclamation of particular sins is insuffer- 
 ably nor should the Christian pastor permit his 
 ear and heart to be polluted with the images of 
 secret sins which he can neither undo nor pardon. 
 In not a few cases a man's particular sins had bet- 
 ter remain undivulged secrets in his own heart, 
 told only to God, who alone can pardon and cleanse 
 the soul.] And pray one for another — There is 
 no instance in auricular confession where the peni- 
 tent and the priest pray together for pardon; but 
 here the people are commanded to pray for each 
 other that they may lie healed. [The common con- 
 fession of transgressions, -apa-rcjuara, fallings 
 .• way, which should lie made generally by all, and 
 ;aore specifically accor ling to the conditions in each 
 Base, SHOULD, and naturally would, prompt to mu- 
 tual prayer for spiritual healing, that is, restora- 
 tion and strengthening.] The effectual fervent 
 prayer of a righteous man availeth much — 
 The words Str/atc kvEpyovukvi] signify energetic sup- 
 plication, or such a prayer as is suggested to the 
 ftO'dand wrovght in it by a divine energy. When God 
 designs to do some particular work in his Church 
 he pouri out on his followers the spirit of grace 
 and supplication; and this he does sometimes when 
 he is about to do some especial work for an in- 
 dividual. When such a power of prayer is granted, 
 
 the earth by the space of three years and six 
 months. 18 And c be prayed again, and the 
 heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth 
 her fruit. 19 Brethren, d if any of you do err 
 from the truth, and one convert him ; 20 Let 
 him know, that he which converteth the sin- 
 ner from the error of his way '- shall save a 
 soul from death, and f shall hide a multitude 
 
 of H11S. 
 
 (/Acts 14. 15. z\ Kines 17. 1. a Or, in liis prayer. 
 
 ■ //Luke 4. 25. c\ Kines is. 42, 45. tfMalt. 18. 15. — 
 
 < Rom. II. 14; 1 Cor. 9. 22; 1 Tim. 4. Hi. /Prov. in. 12; 
 
 1 Peter 4. 8. 
 
 faith should be immediately called into exercise, 
 that the blessing may be given : the spirit of prayer 
 is the proof that the power of God is present to 
 heal. 
 
 17. Elias (Elijah) was a man subject to like 
 passions — The word 6/uoio~afl?/r signifies of the 
 siiim co?istitution, a human being just as ourselves 
 are. (See on Acts xiv, 15.) There was some rea- 
 son to apprehend that because Elijah was [believed 
 to have been] translated, that therefore he was 
 more than human, and if so, his example could be 
 no pattern for us; and as the design of St. James 
 was to excite men to pray, expecting the divine 
 interference whenever that should be necessary, 
 therefore he tells them that Elijah was a man like 
 themselves, of the same constitution, liable to the 
 same accidents, and needing the same supports. 
 And he prayed earnestly — Upoaev^ri wpoarjv- 
 ^aro, he prayed with prayer ; a Hebraism for, he 
 prayed fervently. That it might noL rain — See 
 this history in 1 Kings xvii, 1, etc. And it rained 
 not on the earth — 'E~i r/~c y/~r, on that laud, 
 namely, the land of Israel ; for this drought did not, 
 extend elsewhere. Three years and six menths 
 — This is the term mentioned by our Lord, (Luke 
 iv, 25 ;) but this is not specified in the original his- 
 tory. In 1 Kings xviii, 1, it is said, J,< the third 
 year tic word of the Lord came to Elijah, that is, 
 concerning the rain; but this third year is to lie 
 computed from the time of his going to live at 
 Zarephath, which happened many days after the 
 drought began, as is plain from this, that he re- 
 mained at the brook Cherith till it was dried up, 
 and then went to Zarephath, in the country of 
 Zidon. (1 Kings xvii, 7-9.) Therefore the three 
 years ami six montfis must be computed from his 
 announcing the drought, at which time that judg- 
 ment commenced. — Macknight. 
 
 18. And he prayed again — This second prayer 
 is not mentioned in the history in express words, 
 but it is said, (1 Kings xvii, 42,) lie cast himself 
 down upon the earth, and put his fact between his 
 knees; that was probably the time of this second 
 prayer, namely, that rain might come, as this was 
 the proper posture of prayer. 
 
 19. Err from the truth — Stray away from the 
 Co-pel of Christ. And one convert him- — Re- 
 claim him from his error, and bring him back to 
 the fold of Christ. [This is the climax of love; 
 more than brotherly, Christ-like! In connexion 
 with the exhortation to prayer for one another, 
 (verse 16,) this may lie looked on as praying witli 
 tin hands, working as God's ministers, (servitors,) 
 Inward the fulfilment of that which has been ut- 
 tered by the lips. — Speaker's ( 'om. \ 
 
 20. Let him know — \Tivuo~kete, be ye assured.] 
 Let it be duly considered, that he who is the instru- 
 ment of converting a sinner shall t-ave a soul from 
 
 479
 
 . M. 4«65. A. P. 61. 
 Year of Rome, 814. 
 
 JAMES. 
 
 Excellenre of cnnverlin 
 from the error of hi; 
 
 eternal death, and shall hide a multitude of 
 sins 5 for in being the means of his conversion we 
 bring him back to God, who, in his infinite mercy, 
 hides or blots out the numerous sins which he had 
 committed during the time of his backsliding. It 
 is not the man's sins who is the means of his con- 
 version, but the sins of the backslider, winch are 
 here said to be hidden. Some have supposed that 
 the hiding a multitude of sins is here to be 
 understood of the person who converts the back- 
 slider; but this is a dangerous doctrine, and such 
 as the Holy Spirit never taught to man. As one 
 immortal soul is of more worth in the sight of 
 God than all the material creation, every man who 
 knows its worth should labour for its salvation. 
 To be the means of depriving hell of its expecta- 
 tion, and adding even one soul to the Church tri- 
 umphant, is a matter of infinite moment ; and he who 
 is such an instrument has much for which to thank 
 God. He who lays out his accounts to do good to 
 the souls of men will ever have the blessing of 
 Cod in his own. Besides, God will not suffer him 
 to labour in vain, or spend his strength for naught. 
 At first he may see little fruit; but the bread cast 
 upon the waters shall be found after many days ; 
 and if he should never see it in this life, he may be 
 assured that whatsoever he has done for God, in 
 simplicity and godly sincerity, has been less or 
 more effectual. 
 
 CONCLUDING OBSEEVATIONS. 
 I have said but little relative to the controversy 
 cone. Tning the apostleship of James, our Lord's 
 brother ; for, as I am still in doubt whether he was 
 the author of this epistle, 1 do not judge it necessary 
 to enter into the question. I will, however, add 
 some general observations on the epistle itself, and 
 the evidence it affords of the learning and science 
 of its author. 
 
 1. I have already conjectured that this epistle 
 rank- among the most ancient of the Christian 
 writings; its total want of reference to the great 
 facts which distinguish the early history of the 
 Church, namely, the calling of the Gentiles, the dis- 
 putes between them and the Jews, the questions 
 concerning circumcision, and the obligation of the 
 law in connexion with the Gospel, etc., shows that 
 it must have been written before those things took 
 place, or that they must have been wholly unknown 
 to the author; which is incredible, allowing him to 
 have been a Christian writer. 
 
 2. The style of this epistle is much more elevated 
 than most other parts of the New Testament. It 
 abounds with figures and metaphors at once bold, 
 dignified, just, and impressive. Many parts of it 
 are in the genuine prophetic style, and much after 
 the manner of the prophet Zephaniah, to whom 
 there is a near resemblance in several passages. 
 
 3. An attentive reader of this epistle will per- 
 ceive the author to be a man of dee]) thought and 
 considerable learning. He had studied the Jewish 
 prophets closely, and imitated their style; but he 
 appears also to have read the Greek poets; his 
 language is such as we might expect from one who 
 had made them his study, but who avoided to quote 
 them. We find a perfect Greek hexameter in 
 chapter i, 17, and another may be perceived in 
 
 480 
 
 chapter iv, 4; but these are probably not bor- 
 rowed, but are the spontaneous, undesigned 
 effort of his own well-cultivated mind. Images from 
 natural history are not unfrequent. 
 
 4. His constant attention and reference to the 
 writings and maxims of his own countrymen is 
 peculiarly observable. Several of his remarks tend 
 to confirm the antiquity of the Talmud ; and the 
 parallel passages in the different tracts of that 
 work cast much light on the allusions of St. James. 
 Without constant reference to the ancient Jewish 
 rabbins, we should have sought for the meaning of 
 several passages in vain. 
 
 5. St. James is in many places obscure ; this 
 may arise partly from his own deep and strong 
 conceptions, and partly from allusions to arts or 
 maxims which have not come down to us, or which 
 lie yet undiscovered in the Mishna or Talmud. To 
 elucidate this writer I have taken more than com- 
 mon pains, but dare not say that I have been al- 
 ways successful, though I have availed myself of 
 all the helps within my reach. To Schoettgen's 
 Horse Hebraicte I am considerably indebted, as also 
 to Dr. Maeknight, Kypke, RosenmuTler, etc., but in 
 many cases I have departed from all these and 
 others of the same class, and followed my own light. 
 
 6. On the controversy relative to the doctrine of 
 justification, as taught by Paul and James, 1 have 
 not entered deeply ; I have produced in the proper 
 places what appeared to me to be the most natural 
 method of reconciling these writers. I believe St. 
 James not to be in opposition to St. Paul, but to a 
 corrupt doctrine taught among his own country- 
 men relative to this important subject. The doc- 
 trine of justification by faith in Christ Jesus, as 
 taught by St. Paul, is both rational and true. St. 
 James shows that a bare belief in the Cod of 
 Israel justifies no man ; and that the genuine faith 
 that justifies, works by love, and produces obedience 
 to all the { recepts contained in the moral law ; and 
 that this obedience is the evidence of the sincerity 
 df that faith which professes to have put its 
 possessor in the enjoyment of the peace and favour 
 of God. 
 
 7. This epistle ends ahruptly, and scarcely ap- 
 pears to be a finished work. The author probably 
 intended to add still more, but was prevented, 
 perhaps, by death. James, our Lord's brother, 
 was murdered by the Jews, as we have already 
 seen. James, the son of Zebedee, had probably a 
 short race; but whether either of these were its 
 author we know not. The work was probably 
 posthumous, not appearing till after the author's 
 death ; and this may have been one reason why it 
 was so little known in the earliest ages of the 
 primitive Church. 
 
 S. The spirit of Antinomianism is as dangerous 
 in the Church as the spirit of Pharisaism : to the 
 former the epistle of James is a most powerful an- 
 tidote ; and the Christian minister who wishes to 
 improve and guard the morals of his Hock will 
 bring its important doctrines, in due proportion, 
 into his public ministry. It is no proof of the im- 
 proved state of public morals that many who call 
 themselves evangelical teachers scarcely ever at- 
 tempt to instruct the public by texts selected from 
 this epistle.
 
 PREFACE TO THE FIRST EPISTLE 
 
 OF 
 
 PETEK. 
 
 ITS AUTHOR. 
 
 rpiIERE is no reason to doubt that this epistle was written by the apostle Peter, 
 J- properly called Simon, [Simeon, Acts xv, 14,) 2 Peter i, 1, whose name 
 appears so frequently and prominently in the Gospels and the Acts. lie was 
 originally of Bethsaida, (John i, 44,) and his father's name was Jonas, (or John, 
 'loxivov, John i, 43 ; xxi, 15,) with whom and with his (supposed elder) brother 
 Andrew he carried on the trade of a fisherman at Capernaum, where he resided, 
 being a married man, and having his wife's mother residing in his house. He 
 was among those first called to the apostleship, and he received at the time of his 
 calling the name ITephas, Aramaic, Petros, Greek, both signifying a stone or rock. 
 In the company of the apostles, while with Christ, Peter usually takes the lead 
 in answering the Master's questions, and in asking questions arising from our 
 Lord's remarks; but apparently chiefly from his impetuosity of spirit and his 
 readiness of utterance. His name usually stands first in the list of the apostles, 
 and he is also first named of the three (with James and John) selected by Christ to 
 accompany him on occasions of peculiar interest. His characteristics, tempered 
 by his earnest devotion to his Master, are seen in his frequent professions of 
 undying devotion; but they also became the occasion of his sad defection when 
 he found himself assailed by severe temptation, at the time of his Master's 
 arraignment. 
 
 After the ascension, and the gift of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, 
 Peter, as had been his custom, became the chief speaker for the whole body of 
 the npostles, and by him the Gospel of the risen and ascended Christ was first 
 openly proclaimed. He was also the divinely designated agent for the introduc- 
 tion of the first Gentile converts to the privileges of the Gospel, in the case of 
 Cornelius and his friends. After this, Paul becomes the leading character in the 
 apostolical history, and Peter gradually passes out of sight. He appeared at the 
 apostolic council at Jerusalem, (Acts xv,) where he pleaded for the liberty of the 
 Gentile converts, supporting his plea by citing his experience and action in the 
 ease of Cornelius and his family. St. Paul refers to him in several places in his 
 epistles, but without casting any appreciable light upon his personal history. 
 
 Peter's later life is given with considerable fulness by St. Jerome ; but on 
 
 account of his remoteness in time, (three hundred years,) with little more than 
 
 oral traditions or written legends for authorities, his accounts can be trusted only 
 
 when they are subjectively probable. He is spoken of as bishop of Antioch, of 
 
 which Church Eusebius makes him the founder, in opposition to Acts xi, 10-22. 
 Vol. II.— 31 481
 
 PREFACE TO THE FIRST EPISTLE TO PETER. 
 
 He is also said to have laboured extensively among the Churches of Asia Minor, 
 which is very briefly and rather indefinitely noted by Origen, but it seems to be 
 corroborated by the local references at the beginning of this epistle. His journey 
 to Rome to oppose Simon Magus is also related — a story founded on some refer- 
 ences by Justin Martyr, which have since been proved to be not well founded. It 
 is also claimed that during the last twenty-five years of his life he was bishop of 
 Home, for which there is really no authority, and as to most of that term, there 
 is a chronological impossibility, unless his death is placed at a much later period 
 than is generally accepted. There is, indeed, no trustworthy record of his ever 
 having been in Rome, except the account of his martyrdom. That event is said 
 to have occurred during the Neroan persecution, (about A.D. GS,) but for the 
 legend of his having been crucified head downward there is no authority worthy 
 of serious consideration. 
 
 ITS GENUINENESS. 
 
 No other of the apostolical epistles has a better record in respect to its gen- 
 uineness than the first epistle of Peter. It seems to have been universally 
 acknowledged by the ancient Church as a part of the Christian Scriptures. It is 
 referred to in the Second Epistle, (chapter iii, 1,) and aside from the question of the 
 proper canonicity of that epistle its antiquity, reaching back to the later age of 
 the apostle, is unquestionable. It was recognised as Peter's by Polycarp and 
 Irena?us, Clement of Alexandria, (in frequent quotations, all credited to the 
 apostle as their author,) by the (so-called) heretic Theodotus, by Origen and Ter- 
 tullian. It is found in the Peshito Version, with only two others of the catholic 
 epistles, and though it is wanting in the imperfect Canon of Muratori, its absence 
 is scarcely any proof against it. It has been suspected that Theodore of Mopsuestia, 
 and also some of the Paulicians, rejected it, but the evidence of this is not satis- 
 factory ; and with the exception of these two uncertain instances we have the 
 united testimony of antiquity in its favour. The objections brought against it 
 by the modern sceptical schools of Germany, based upon its style and matter, its 
 want of relevancy to the supposed conditions of times and persons, are of very 
 little weight; so that, in the words of Alford, from whom the foregoing has been 
 abridged, " whether we consider external evidence, or the futility of internal 
 objections, we can have no hesitation in accepting the epistle as the undoubted 
 work of the apostle whose name it bears." Even Renan admits it to be "one of 
 the writings of the New Testament which is the most anciently and the most 
 unanimously cited as authentic." 
 
 TO WITOM ADDRESSED. 
 This seems to be satisfactorily answered in the opening sentence of the 
 epistle: "To the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, 
 Asia, and Bithynia." It has been thought by some of the most respectable 
 authorities, both ancient and modern, that only Jewish Christians were included 
 in this reference, which indeed may have been the case, though there is nothing 
 in the language used to require such a limitation, since the dispersion (napE-md}']- 
 fioig) spoken of, may be understood in a spiritual sense, recognising them, with 
 all Christians, as strangers and pilgrims on earth. The Church in the places 
 named were certainly largely composed of converted Gentiles, as well as Jews, 
 and it is not to be supposed that Peter would have written to the latter to the exclu- 
 sion of the former. Many passages in the epistle appear also to be especially adapted 
 to the conditions of the former. (See chapter i, 14; ii, 10, etc.) The state of the 
 
 482
 
 PREFACE TO THE FIRST EPISTLE TO PETER, 
 
 disciples and Churches addressed appear to very well agree with what Paul lias 
 said of them in his epistles, and in his exhortation to the elders of the Church of 
 Ephesus, in Acts xx. There are also frequent allusions to the persecutions to 
 .which those addressed were exposed, which indicate that they arose on account 
 of the disciples having separated themselves from the licentious shows and amuse- 
 ments of the heat Inn. (See chapter iii, 17; iv, 4, 5.) The internal state of the 
 Churches, and the lives of the individuals, as implied in the apostle's admoni- 
 tions and exhortations, correspond with all reasonable exactness with those of 
 St. Paul, whose epistles were certainly addressed to Gentile as well as Jewish 
 converts. It seems better, therefore, to understand this epistle as addressed to all 
 classes of believers in the places named. 
 
 TIME AND PLACE OF WRITING. 
 
 Respecting the place of writing, which may also have some influence on the 
 question of its time, a clause translated in our English Version, "The Church 
 that is in Babylon," etc., has naturally given rise to the opinion that the epistle 
 •was written in the Assyrian capital. See this subject examined at length at the 
 close of the epistle, where it is shown that most probably the epistle was written 
 in Rome, which even then had begun to be known by the symbolical name of 
 Babylon, a name that was certainly given to that city before the end of the age 
 of the apostles. (See the note at the end of this epistle.) 
 
 It has been claimed,, but "without sufficient authority, that the epistle must 
 have been written in view of one of the great persecutions, either that under 
 Nero or that under Trajan. With more probability its date has been fixed at a 
 short time before the outbreaking of the former of these, for certainly Peter was 
 acquainted with Paul's epistles, written during his first captivity at Rome, and if 
 the tradition that both these apostles suffered martyrdom during that persecution 
 be true, then the date of this epistle would fall very near to the death of its author; 
 while if the genuineness of the second epistle is accepted, he must have written 
 that one sometime, though not necessarily long, after the first. The personal 
 references agree very well with this theory, especially those respecting Silvanus 
 and Marcus, both of whom had before been with Paid in Pome. While, there- 
 fore, nothing can be positively asserted in respect to the place from which this 
 epistle was sent, the probabilities seem to be in favour of Rome, and the time not 
 far from that generally accepted, namely, about A.D. 67 or 68. 
 
 ITS CHARACTER AND STYLE. 
 
 Here we cannot do better than adopt the words of Canon Farrar: "It is not 
 so much a letter as a treatise addressed to Christians in general. It is mainly 
 hortative, and its exhortations are founded on Christian hope, and on the effects 
 of the death of Christ. It is not, however, a scholastic treatise, but rather a 
 practical address, at once conciliatory in tone and independent in character. It 
 may with equal truth be called Pauline and Judeaco-Christian. It is Judeaco- 
 Christian in its sympathies, yet without any Judaic bitterness. It is Pauline in 
 its expressions, yet with no polemic purpose. In both respects it accords with 
 the character and circumstances of the great apostle. It is completely silent 
 about the law, and enters into none of the once vehement controversies about the 
 relations of the law to the gospel, or of faith to works. There is no premedi- 
 tated attempt to reconcile opposing parties; but all party watchwords are either 
 
 impartially omitted or stripped of their sterner antitheses. 
 
 4S3
 
 PREFACE TO THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PETER. 
 
 " It Avas worthy of St. Peter's high position and authority to express the 
 common practical consciousness of the Christian Church in a form which avoided 
 party disagreements. The views of St. Paul are presented by St. Peter in their 
 everyday hearing rather than in their spiritual depths, and in their moral rather 
 than their mystical significance. St. Peter adopts the views of his great brother 
 apostle, but he clothes them in simpler and in conciliatory terms." 
 
 [In respect to the characteristics of this epistle, we first remark the extreme 
 simplicity of the general structure. It is divided broadly, at the eleventh verse 
 of the second chapter, into two sections. The first presents us with a portraiture 
 of the Christian in his high privileges, elect by the divine will, in full possession 
 of the means of salvation, animated by a new life in virtue of his regeneration, 
 overflowing with spiritual emotions, rooted in faith, abounding in hope, full of 
 unfeigned and fervent love, especially developed in the relationships of the new 
 family ; we have the dogmatic truths of the preexistence, the divinity, the 
 majesty, of the Head of the Church set before us with a vividness and complete- 
 ness unsurpassed in the sacred writings; while the Church stands out as a temple 
 of which every stone is instinct with spiritual life, the home and realization of 
 the ideal Israel, ever present to the minds of God's heralds ami interpreters, in 
 which the old people become a true spiritual people, and those who had been for 
 ages wholly alien were made full partakers of all blessings, brought out of the 
 darkness of heathendom into marvellous light, showing forth the praises and 
 thanksgiving which attest their union with each other in Christ. 
 
 [In the following section, to the close of the epistle, the apostle dwells in de- 
 tail upon the duties which spring from that new relationship, with special refer- 
 ence to the temptations to which, at that time, all classes of his converts were 
 exposed. In the foremost and central place Ave find the inculcation of purity as 
 the condition of victory, both in the desperate struggle between the flesh and the 
 spirit, (ii, 11,) and in the great work assigned to Christians of evangelizing the 
 Gentile world, (ii, 12.) Then come in order the duties of Christians as subjects 
 and citizens, (ii, 13-17,) recalling the exhortation of St. Paul, but dwelling with 
 peculiar force upon the possible abuse of Christian liberty — a point urged else- 
 where by the younger apostle, but here introduced with singular aptness in 
 reference to civil and political subordination. 
 
 [Next come exhortations to Christians in a state of servitude, again reminding 
 us, and doubtless recalling to the readers' minds, the exhortation of St. Paul in 
 the Epistle to the Ephesians, but having one most impressive peculiarity. In 
 that epistle St. Paul dwells on the relation of all classes to Christ, and on the 
 future reward ; St. Peter, in his special capacity as " witness of the sufferings 
 of Christ," fixes his attention upon Christ as the one example of all Christians, 
 especially of those who are called upon to suffer in his name and for his sake. 
 
 [Then follows a singularly complete and condensed summary of the duties of 
 men called to inherit a common blessing, and warnings against undue terror and 
 despondency, remarkable not only for force and persuasiveness, but for their 
 combination with a survey of the deepest mysteries of grace, with a presentation 
 of the Saviour's work on earth and in the unknown region of spirits, and of his 
 present exaltation to dominion over all the powers of the universe. The whole 
 is wound up with exhortations and warnings which present in the most con- 
 densed and completest form the claims of the Father as the source, and the Son 
 as the channel, of all spiritual strength and life. — Speaker's Commentary.] 
 
 484
 
 THE FIRST GENERAL EPISTLE 
 
 OF 
 
 PETER 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PETER, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the 
 strangers "scattered throughout Pontus, 
 Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 
 
 il John 7. 35; Acts 2. 5, 9, 10: James 1. 1. b Eph. 1.4: chap. 
 
 2. 9. eRom. 8. 29: 11. 2. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTEK I. 
 1. Peter, an apostle — Simon Peter, called also 
 Kephas; he was a fisherman, son of Jonah, brother 
 of Andrew, and born at Bethsaida ; and one of the 
 first disciples of our Lord. See the preface. To 
 the strangers scattered throughout — Jews first, 
 who had believed the Gospel in the different coun- 
 tries here specified; and converted Gentiles also. 
 Though the word "strangers" may refer to all 
 truly religious people, (see Gen. xlvii, 9, Psa. xxxix, 
 12, in the Septuagint, and Heb. xi, 13,) yet the in- 
 scription may have a special reference to those who 
 were driven by persecution to seek refuge in those 
 heathen provinces, to which the influence of their 
 persecuting brethren did not extend. Pontus — 
 An ancient kingdom of Asia Minor, originally 
 a part of Cappadocia, bounded on the east by 
 Colchis, on the west by the river Halys, on the 
 north by the Euxine Sea, and on the south by Ar- 
 menia Minor. Galatia — The ancient name of a 
 province of Asia Minor, now called Amasia. It was 
 bounded on the east by Cappadocia, on the south 
 by Pamphylia, on the north by the Euxine Sea, and 
 on the west by Bithynia. Cappadocia — An 
 ancient kingdom of Asia, comprehending all the 
 country lying between mount Taurus and the Eux- 
 ine Sea. Asia — That province of Asia Minor of 
 which Ephesus was the capital. [It comprised the 
 maritime districts of Mysia, Lydia, and Caria, with 
 the interior of Phrygia.] Bithynia — An ancient 
 kingdom of Asia. It was bounded on the west by 
 the Bosphorus Thracius and part of the Propontis, 
 on the south by the river Rhyndacus and mount 
 Olympus, on the north by the Euxine Sea, and on 
 the east by the river Parthenius. 
 
 2. Elect — The persons to whom the apostle 
 wrote were all, with propriety, said to be elect ac- 
 cording to the foreknowledge of God ; he- 
 cause, agreeably to the original purpose of God, 
 discovered in the prophetical writings, .lews and 
 Gentiles, indiscriminately, were called to he the 
 visible Church, and entitled to all the privileges of 
 the people of God, on their believing the Gospel. 
 [Four several, but related, meanings are expressed 
 by tin.' word elect, (e/cta/eroZc :) 1) chosen; '^sepa- 
 rated; 3) excellent ; 4) beloved; in all of which senses 
 
 2 li Elect c according to the foreknowledge of 
 God the Father, d through sanctification of the 
 Spirit, unto obedience and e sprinkling of the 
 blood of Jesus Christ : f Grace unto you, and 
 
 d2Thess. 2. 13. elleb. 10. 22: 12.24. — /Rom. 1. 7; 2 Peter 
 
 1. 2; Jude2. 
 
 it applied to those here addressed.] (See 1 Thess. 
 i, 4.) [Updyvuutv, foreknowledge, is more than sim- 
 ply faith foreseen in the " elect," it also indicates the 
 divine will and purpose of grace toward them, and 
 going before to effectuate its own saving designs. | 
 Strictly speaking, there is no "foreknowledge," no 
 more than after knowledge, with God; hut all 
 things are known to him as present, from eternity 
 to eternity. Election, in the scriptural sense, is 
 God's doing any thing that our merit or power has 
 no part in. [The true predestination or fore- 
 appointment of God is, 1) He that believeth shall 
 be saved from the guilt and power of sin. 2) He 
 that endureth to the end shall be saved eternally. 
 3) They who receive the precious gift of faith 
 thereby become the sons of God ; and, being sons, 
 they shall receive the Spirit of holiness, to walk 
 as Christ also walked. Throughout every part of 
 this appointment of God, promise and duty go hand 
 in hand. All is free gift ; and yet such is the 
 gift, that the final issue depends on our future 
 obedience to the heavenly call. But other predes- 
 tination than this, either to life or death eternal, 
 the Scripture knows not of.- — Wesley.'] Through 
 sanctification of the Spirit— Through the renew- 
 ing and purifying influence of the Spirit on their 
 souls. Unto obedience — To engage and enable 
 them to yield themselves up to all holy obedience, 
 the foundation of all which is, the sprinkling of 
 the blood of Jesus Christ; the atoning blood of 
 Jesus Christ, which was typified by the sprinkling 
 of the blood of sacrifices under the law, in allusion 
 to which it is called the ''blood of sprinkling.'' 
 [The Tzpoyruaic is the primary movement in the 
 work here considered, and it originates in God, 
 without regard to any worthiness in the object. 
 It next proceeds, ev dyiaa/iu Kvev/iaroc, in, (not 
 through or by,) as if the election were by virtue of 
 the sanctification, but contrariwise. And yet in all 
 eases the practical effectuation of the election im- 
 plies the actually accomplished " sanctification of the 
 Spirit ; " and wherever the work of sanctification is so 
 wrought, there follows a controlling impulse toward 
 (elf) obedience in life, and deeper experience of the 
 cleansing power of grace, of which " the blood of . . . 
 Christ " is the great and effectual cause. It is man's 
 
 485
 
 I. PETER. 
 
 The believers inhei 
 incorruptible 
 
 peace, be multiplied. 3 e Blessed be the God 
 and Father of onr Lord Jesus Christ, which 
 '• according to his 'abundant mercy ''hath be- 
 gotten us again unto a lively hope ' by the res- 
 urrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 To 
 an inheritance incorruptible, and undeiilcd. 
 
 <72Cor. 1. 3; Eph. 1. 3. A Titus 3. 5. ! (iv. much. 
 
 /John 3. 3, 5; James 1. 18. 1\ Cor. 15. 20: 1 Thess. -1. 14; 
 
 chap. 3. 21. //( Chap. 5. 4. n Col. 1. 5: 2 Tim. 4. 8. 
 
 part to take hold of the grace thus freely given, and 
 to walk in the obedience of faith. It is noticeable 
 that all the persons of the Godhead appear in this sin- 
 gle sentence as actively cooperating in our salvation.] 
 
 :;. Blessed be the God and Father — Ei>'/o- 
 yr/Toc; 6 Qebc aai liar///), blessed be God, even, (lie 
 b'nihi ■■>• : or, blessed be God, tin 1 Father of oar Lord 
 Jesus Christ. We translate /.'//, even, a meaning 
 which it frequently has in the New Testament, and 
 so we have a very good sense: Let that God have 
 praise who is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 and who deserves the praise of every human being 
 for his infinite mercy to the world, in its redemption 
 by Christ Jesus. Begotten us again unto a 
 lively hope — 1 think the apostle lias a reference 
 here to his own case, and that of his fellow apostles, 
 at t'ue time that Christ was taken by the Jews and 
 put to death. Previously to this time they had 
 strong confidence that he was the Messiah, and that 
 if was In- who should redeem Israel; but when they 
 found that he actually expired upon the cross, and 
 was buried, they appear to have lost all hope of the 
 great things which before they had in prospect. 
 This is feelingly expressed by the two disciples 
 whom our Lord, after his resurrection, overtook on 
 the road going to Emmaus. (Luke xxiv, 13-24.) 
 And the " hope " that with them died with their 
 Master, and seemed to be buried in his grave, was re- 
 stored by the certainty of his resurrection. From 
 Christ's preaching, miracles, etc., they had a " hope " 
 of eternal life, and all other blessings promised by 
 him; by his death and burial this "hope" became 
 nearly, if not altogether, extinct; but by his res- 
 urrection the "hope" was revived. This is very 
 properly expressed here by being begotten again to 
 a living hope, «c skit'ifta C,uaav. As none can in- 
 herit eternal life except those who are children 
 in the heavenly family, and none are children 
 but those who are born again, St. Peter may be 
 considered as laving here the foundation of the hope 
 of eternal life in the regeneration of the soul ; for 
 none can legally inherit but the children, and none are 
 children of (rod till they are spiritually begotten and 
 born again. The Gospel alone gives a well grounded 
 hope of eternal life ; and the ground on which this 
 hope rests is the resurrection of Christ himself. 
 Our Lord's resurrection is the great seal of the Gos- 
 pel. But the resurrection of the human nature of 
 Christ, so incontestably assured, and his ascension 
 in our nature to heaven, are such evidences of the 
 possibility and certainty of the thing, [eternal life,] 
 as forever to preclude all doubt from the hearts of 
 those who believe in him. [The resurrection of 
 Christ— his triumph over death in the spirit-world 
 in human nature, and as the head of the race — con- 
 stitutes every subject of Ids redemption an heir of 
 eternal life. Into this inheritance he has brought 
 us, first by the adoption of grace, and next by the 
 renewing of regeneration.] 
 
 4. To an inheritance — Called " an inheritance " 
 because it belongs to the children of God. Eternal 
 life cannot be a gift to anv but these ; if children, 
 486 
 
 '"and that fadeth not away, "reserved in heav- 
 en "for you, 5 p Who are kept by the power 
 of Cod through faith unto salvation ready to 
 be revealed in the last time. 6 i Wherein ye 
 greatly rejoice, though now r for a season, if 
 need be, s ye are in heaviness through mani- 
 
 oOr,forus. — p.lnlin 10. 'X 29: 17. 11, 12, 15; Jude 1. 
 
 q Matt. 5. 1-2: Rom. 12. 12; 2 Cor. li. 10; chap. 4. 13. ri cor. 
 
 4. 17: chap. 5. 10. * James 1. 2. 
 
 "then heirs." Incorruptible — " AtpOaprov. It has 
 no principle of dissolution or decay in it; and, 
 therefore, must be totally different from this earth. 
 Undefiled — 'Afiiavrov. Nothing impure can enter 
 it ; it not only has no principle or seed of disso- 
 lution in itself, but it can never admit any ; there- 
 fore its deterioration is impossible. Fadeth not 
 away — 'Aya/xivrov, it cannot wither, it is always in 
 bloom ; a metaphor taken from those flowers that 
 never lose their hue nor their fragrance. Re- 
 served in heaven — Such a place as that described 
 above is not to be expected on earth; it is that 
 which was typified by the earthly Canaan, and in 
 reference to which the patriarchs endured all trials 
 and difficulties in this life, as seeing Him who is 
 invisible. 
 
 5. Who are kept — $povpov/x£vovg, who are de- 
 fended as in a fortress or castle. (See on Gal. iii, 
 22, 23.) The true disciples of Christ are under the 
 continual watchcare of God, and the inheritance 
 is guarded for them. By the power of God — 
 'Ev Svvayet Qeoii, by the mighty and miracle-working 
 power of God; for nothing less is sufficient to keep 
 ami preserve, in this state of continual trial, a soul 
 from the contagion that is in the world. But this 
 " power of Goa " is made effectual in behalf of the 
 soul by faith; to believe is our work, the exertion 
 of the power is of God. There is no persevering 
 without "the power," and no "power" without 
 "faith." Ready to be revealed — Rather, pre- 
 pared to tic revealed. The inheritance is prepared 
 for you ; but its glories will not be "revealed " till 
 the last time; till ye have done with life, and 
 passed through your probation, having held last 
 faith and a good conscience. 
 
 6. Wherein ye greatly rejoice — Some refer 
 " "herein," iv ci, to the salvation mentioned above ; 
 others, to the last time, Kaipu io^dru, (in verse 5 ;) 
 others think that it applies to the being kept by the 
 power of God through faith ; and others, that it 
 refers to all the preceding advantages and priv- 
 ileges. It was in the present salvation of God 
 [expressed by ev o>] that they rejoiced or gloried, 
 though not without having an eye to the great 
 recompense of reward. Though now for a sea- 
 son — 'O'Aiyov apn, a little while yet, during your 
 pilgrimage here below, which is but a point when 
 compared with eternity. If need be— Ei Mov sari, 
 if it be necessary. Sometimes there is a kind of 
 necessity that Christians should be afflicted. " God," 
 said a good man, "can trust me with neither health 
 nor money; therefore I am both poor and afflicted." 
 But the disciples of Christ may be very happy in 
 their souls, though grievously afflicted in their 
 oodies and in their estates. Those to whom St. 
 Peter wrote rejoiced greatly, danced for joy, ayaTi- 
 ?,idaf)e, while they were grieved (/.vnrfiivTeg) with 
 various trials. To be sorrowful on account of 
 something external to ourselves, and yet exulting 
 in God from a sense of his goodness to us, is 
 quite compatible; so that we may say with St. Paul, 
 always sorrowing, yet still rejoicing.
 
 faith, i 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 M. 4064. A. D. 60. 
 Year ..l Rome, 813. 
 
 fold temptations: 7 That 'the trial (if your 
 faith, being much more precious than of gold 
 that perisheth, though "it be tried with tire, 
 v might be found unto praise and honour and 
 glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: 
 8 w Whom having not seen, ye love; "in 
 whom, though now ye see him not, yet believ- 
 ing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full 
 
 £ James 1. 3, 12; eh p. 4. 12. wjnh 2:'.. 1": Pan. B6. "'; 
 
 P)Ov. 17. :?; [sa. 18. Hi; Zech 13. '.': I Cor. 3. 13. — BRom. 2. 
 
 7. in: 1 Cor. 4.5: 2 Thess. 1. 7 12. w 1 John 4. 20. eJohn 
 
 2H. 29; 2 1 r. 5. 7; Heb. 11. 1, 27. 
 
 7. That the trial of your faith, being much 
 more precious than of gold — As by the action of 
 fire gold is separated from all alloy and heteroge- 
 neous mixtures, and is proved to be gold by its en- 
 during the action of the fire, so genuine faith is 
 proved by adversities, especially such as the primi- 
 tive Christians were obliged to pass through. [To 
 tioicifiiov, the proof or testing of your faith ; = the 
 fact of your faith being proved, and so, by an easy 
 transition (of thought) the result of that proof, 
 the purified and proved faith itself. — Alford.~] 
 [ll<i'/ vrifiorepov xpvoiov rov anoXhvfiEvov, mure val- 
 uable (better) than perishable gold — not the proof, 
 but the faith.'] Though it be tried with fire— 
 [Though gold is the least perishable of all metals, 
 so that only fire can try it, implying (tacitly) how 
 much more doe? your faith, which is being proved 
 for eternity, need a fiery trial ! See Alford.] The 
 earth and universal nature shall he dissolved ; but 
 he who doeth the will of God shall abide for ever, 
 and his faith shall then be found to the praise of 
 God's grace, the honour of Christ, and the glory or 
 glorification of his own soul to eternity. God him- 
 self will praise such faith, angels and men will hold 
 it in honour, and Christ will crown it with glory. 
 
 8. Whom having not seen, ye love — Faith 
 in the Lord Jesus brings him into the heart ; and 
 by his indwelling all his virtues are proved, and an 
 excellence discovered beyond even that which his 
 disciples beheld when conversant with him upon 
 earth. Thus there is more than an equality be- 
 tween believers in the present time and those who 
 lived in the time of the incarnation; for Christ, to 
 a believing soul, is the same to day that he was 
 yesterday, and will be forever. Ye rejoice with 
 joy unspeakable — Though they did not see him 
 on earth, and men could not see him in glory, yet 
 by that faith which is the evidence of things not 
 seen, and the subsistence of things hoped for, they 
 had the very highest persuasion of their acceptance 
 with God, their relation to him as their Father, and 
 their sonship with Christ Jesus. 
 
 [That uncreated glory which hath pained 
 
 My ravished heart, hath all thy (earth's) glory stained ; 
 
 Its loveliness my soul hath preposa 'ssed, 
 
 And Lett no room for any other attest. 
 
 — Lad:/ Huntingdon.] 
 
 9. Receiving the end of your faith — The 
 word ri/.oc, "end," is used to imply the issue or re- 
 ward of any labour or action. [The word no/ii r 6fii vol 
 quite forbids the sense of present realizing; it be- 
 tokens (rather) the ultimate reception of glory or 
 eon lemnation from the Lord. — Alford.] \ Provid- 
 ing fir yourself (middle voice) the mil of your 
 faith. Living by faith, they were making sure 
 their (present) salvation.] 
 
 10. Of which salvation the prophets have 
 inquired — The incarnation and suffering of Jesus 
 Christ for the redemption of our race were made 
 
 of glory : 9 Receiving > the end of your faith, 
 even the salvation of your souls. 10 z Of 
 which salvation the prophets have inquired 
 and searched diligently, who prophesied of the 
 grace tlmt should come unto you: n Search- 
 ing what, or what manner of time 'the Spirit 
 of Christ which was in them did signify, when 
 it testified beforehand ' the sufferings of Christ, 
 
 II Rom. I!. 22. Jt;™. 4!i. 10: Dan 2. 41: II;.-. 2. 7: /cell. 
 
 6. 1-': M .ilt, 13. 17: Luke 10. 24: 2 Peter 1. 19, 21), 21. a Chap. 
 
 3 lit; 2 Peter I. 21. 1, Psa. 22. 6; Ism. 53. 3, etc. ; Dan. 9. 26; 
 
 Luke 24. 25, 26, 44, ■16: John 12. 41 ; Acts 26. 22, 23. 
 
 known, in a general way, by the prophets; but they 
 themselves did nol know the time when these 
 things were to take place, nor the people among 
 and by whom he was to suffer, etc. ; they there- 
 lore inquired accurately or earnestly, i i;: Jji.aav, and 
 searched diligently, k^pavvrjeav, inquiring of 
 others who were then under the same inspiration, 
 and carefully searching the writings of those who 
 had, before their time, spoken of these things. 
 The prophets plainly saw that the grace which was 
 to come under tie .Messiah's kingdom was vastly 
 superior to any thing that had ever Ik en exhibited 
 under the law; and therefore they made all pos- 
 sible inquiry, and searched as after grains of gold 
 hidden among sand or compacted with ore, (for 
 such is the meaning of the original word,) in order 
 to ascertain the time, and the sie.ns of that time, 
 in which this wondrous display of God's love and 
 mercy to man was to take place. 
 
 11. The glory that should follow — Not only 
 the glory of his renin ection, ascension, exaltation, 
 and the effusion of his Spirit ; hut that grand man- 
 ifestation of Cod's infinite love to the world in 
 causing the Gospel of his Hon 1o be everywhere 
 preached, and the glorious moral changes which 
 should take place in the world under that pr< ach- 
 ing, and the final glorification of all them who had 
 here received the report, and continued faithful unto 
 death. And we may add to this the ineffable gloi id- 
 eation of the human nature of Jesus Christ, which 
 to all eternity will be the glorious Head of his glori- 
 fied body, the Church. The Spirit of Christ— [The 
 Spirit proceeding from the Father and the Son, 
 (that is, the Holy Ghost,) so implying not only the 
 Godhead of Christ, but also the procession of the 
 third divine person equally from the Father and 
 the Son.] (Tii in; Xpiorbv -a(h',iiaTa, the sufferings 
 for (eif) Christ, those which were appointed to him, 
 (as the suffering and redeeming Messiah.) St. Peter 
 was especially concerned to show that the suffer- 
 ings were foretold, because one of the very chief- 
 est points of controversy with the Jews referred to 
 the question whether Christ was to suffer. (See 
 Acts iii, 18; xxvi, 23; Justin Martyr, cum Trypho, 
 cc. 22, 68.) Our Saviour hail declared repeatedly, 
 before and after his crucifixion, that the sufferings 
 had been represented by all the prophets as neces- 
 sary conditions of his tiiumph. (Luke x.\iv, 25. '.('>.) 
 The veil which slid hangs over the .lens, (see 2 Cor. 
 iii, 13-16.) and prevents them from recognising 
 their own Messiah, is their invincible prejudice 
 touching his humiliation and suffering.- Speaker's 
 Com.] We learn from the above that it was the 
 Spirit of Christ in the Jewish prophets that proph- 
 esied of Christ; it was that Spirit which revealed 
 him; and it is the same Spirit which takes of the 
 things of Christ and shows them unto us. Christ 
 was never known by prophecy but through his own 
 Spirit : and he never was known, nor can be known, 
 
 487
 
 A. M. 4064. A. P. 60. 
 
 Year of Rome, 81 o. 
 
 I. PETER. 
 
 in Christ 
 profit. 
 
 and the glory that should follow. 12 c Unto 
 whom it was revealed, that d not unto them- 
 selves, but unto us they did minister the things, 
 which arc now reported unto you by them 
 that have preached the gospel unto you with 
 e the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; 
 1 which things the angels desire to look into. 
 13 Wherefore e gird up the loins of your mind, 
 h be sober, and hope 'to the end for the grace 
 that is to be brought unto you k at the revela- 
 tion of Jesus Christ; 14 As obedient chil- 
 
 dren, ' not fashioning yourselves according to 
 the former lusts m in your ignorance : 15 "But 
 as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye 
 holy in all manner of conversation ; 16 Be- 
 cause it is written, ° Be ye holy ; for I am holy. 
 17 And if ye call on the Father, Pwho with- 
 out respect of persons judgeth according to 
 every man's work, i pass the time of your r so- 
 journing here in fear: IS Forasmuch as ye 
 know "that ye were not redeemed with cor- 
 ruptible things, as silver and gold, from your 
 
 cDan. 0. 24; 12. 0, 13. <1 Ileb. 11. 13, 39, 40. e Acts 2. 4. 
 
 ■ /Excel. 25. 20; Dan. 8. 13; 12. 5, 6: Eph. 3. 10. pl.uke 
 
 12. 3->; Bph. 15. 14 k Luke 21. 34, Rom. 13. 13; 1 Thess. 5. 
 
 K, 8; chap. 4. 7: 5. 8. i(lv. inrt-rthi. I- Luke 17.30; 
 
 1 Cor. ). 7; 2 Thess. 1. 7. 2Rom. 12. 2; chap. 4. 2. 
 
 to the salvation of ;tny soul, but by a revelation of 
 the same Spirit. It is he alone that bears witness 
 witli our spirit- that we are the children of God. 
 
 12. Unto whom it was revealed — We may 
 presume that, in a great variety of eases, the 
 prophets did not understand the meaning of their 
 own predictions. When they wished to find out 
 the times, the seasons, and the circumstances, God 
 gave them to understand that it was not for tlwrn- 
 selves, but for us, that they did minister the things 
 which are now reported unto us by the preaching of 
 the Gospel. If all succeeding interpreters of the 
 prophecies had been contented with the same in- 
 formation relative to the predictions still unac- 
 complished, (or supposed to be so,) we should have 
 had fewer books and more wisdom. Angels de- 
 sire to look into — \lapanv\pai, to sloop down to; 
 the posture of those who are earnestly intent on 
 finding out a thing, especially a writing difficult to 
 be read : they bring it to the light, place it so that 
 the rays may fall on it as collectively as possible, 
 and then stoop down in order to examine all the 
 parts, that they may be able to make out the 
 whole. There is possibly an allusion here to the 
 attitude of the cherubim that stood at the ends of 
 the ark of the covenant, in the inner tabernacle, 
 with their faces turned toward the mercyseat or 
 propitiatory in a bending posture, as if looking at- 
 tentively upon it. Even the holy angels are struck 
 with astonishment at the plan of human redemp- 
 tion, and justly wonder at the incarnation of that 
 infinite object of their adoration. If, then, these 
 things be objects of deep consideration to the 
 angels of God, how much more so should they be 
 to us ! In them angels can have no such interest as 
 human beings have. 
 
 13. Gird up the loins of your mind — Take 
 courage from this display of God's love now made 
 known to you ; and though you must expect trials, 
 yet fortify your minds with the consideration that 
 he who has given you his Son will withhold from 
 you no manner of good thing. The allusion here 
 is to the long robes of the Asiatics, which, when 
 they were about to perform any active service, they 
 tucked in their girdles: this they did also when 
 they waited on their superiors at meals. [Tar 
 on /ear rffQ, (havoiag, the loins, j(literally, the lower 
 part of the body, or just above the hips, where the 
 girdle is placed.) Aidvota is that aspect of the 
 spiritual being of man in which it is turned toward 
 the outer world ; his mind for business and outer 
 interests guiding him in action. (Alford.) This is 
 here personified as a man preparing himself for 
 active duties and service.] Hope to the end for 
 the grace — Continue to expect all that God has 
 488 
 
 in Acts 17. 3D; 1 Thess. 4. 5. v Luke 1 74, 7">; 2 Cor. 7. 1 ; 
 
 1 Thess. 4.3, 4. 7; Heb. 12. 14: 2I'eter3. 11. <> Ltv. 11. 44; 
 
 19. 2; 20. 7. // Deut. in. 17; Acts in. 34; Rom. 2. 11. 
 
 v2 Cor. 7.1: Phil. 2. 12; Heb. 12. 2« — r 2 Cor. e. 6; Heb. 11. 
 13; chap. 2. 11. * 1 Cor. (i. 20 ; 7. 23. 
 
 promised, and particularly that utmost salvation, 
 that glorification of our whole persons, which ye 
 shall obtain at the revelation of Christ. But if the 
 apostle alludes here to the approaching revelation 
 of Christ to inflict judgment on the .lews lor their 
 final rebellion and obstinacy, then the "grace," 
 %apiv, benefit, may intend their preservation from 
 the evils that were coming upon that people, and 
 their wonderful escape from Jerusah m at the time 
 that the Roman armies came against it. 
 
 14. Not fashioning yourselves — [M;/ om>oxv- 
 /uaTiCo/Ltivoi, not putting on the manners that belong 
 (or are germane) to your former carnality.] As the 
 offices of certain persons are known by the garb or 
 livery they wear, so are transgressors: where we 
 see the world's livery we see the world's servants; 
 they fashion or habit themselves according to their 
 lusts, and we may guess that they have a worldly 
 mind by their conformity to worldly fashions. 
 [Men of the world are usually worldly men.] 
 
 15. But as he which hath called you — Hea- 
 thenism scarcely produced a god whose example 
 was not the most abominable ; their greatest gods, 
 especially, were paragons of impurity; none of 
 their philosophers could propose the objects of 
 their adoration as objects of imitation. Here 
 Christianity has an infinite advantage over heathen- 
 ism. God is holy, and he calls upon all who be- 
 lieve in him to imitate his holiness; and the reason 
 why they should he holy is, that God,whohas called 
 ilu in, is holy. [As Christ was "holy, harmless, un- 
 defiled, and separate from sinners,'' (Heb. vii, 2(3,) 
 so does he call on his disciples to "come out from 
 the world, and be separate." (2 Cor. vi, 17.)] 
 
 17. And if ye call on the Father— [The i'l 
 (if) introduces an hypothesis, with an understood 
 background of fact*— If, (as is the case.) — Al- 
 ford ] Seeing ye invoke the Father of our 
 
 Lord Jesus Christ, and your Father through Christ, 
 and recognise him as righteous Judge, see that 
 ye maintain a godly reverence for this Father, 
 walking in all his testimonies blameless. Who 
 without respect of persons — Every man's work 
 is the evidence of his conformity or nonconformity 
 to God ; and according to this evidence will God 
 judge him. Here, then, is no respect of persons; 
 God's judgment will be according to a man's work, 
 and a man's work or conduct will be according to 
 the moral state of his mind. No favouritism can 
 prevail in t lie day of judgment; nothing will pass 
 there but holinass of heart and life. 
 
 1 8. Ye were not redeemed with corruptible 
 things — To redeem, '/ vrpSco, signifies to procure life 
 for a captive or liberty for a slave by paying a 
 price, and the precious blood of Christ is here
 
 Redemption by the blood of Christ. 
 Exhortation to brotherly love. 
 
 CHAPTER T. 
 
 . M. 4064. A. D. 60. 
 
 If ear ol Rome, 813. 
 
 vain conversation ^received by tradition from 
 your fathers; 1!) But "with the precious 
 blood of Christ, v as of a lamb without blemish 
 and without spot: 20 w Who verily was fore- 
 ordained before the foundation of t lie world, 
 but was manifest "in these last times for yon, 
 21 Who by him do believe in God, > that 
 raised him up from the dead, and *gave him 
 glory; that your faith and hope might be in 
 God. 22 Seeing ye "have purified your souls 
 
 fEzeldel 2". 18: chap. 4. 3. « Acts 20 '2*; Ephesians 1. 7; 
 
 Hebrews* '.'■ 12, 14; Revelation 5. 9. — o Exodus 12. 5: Isaiah 
 
 stated to be the price at which the souls of both 
 Jews and Gentiles were redeemed; it was a price 
 paid down, and a price which God's righteousness 
 required. " Corruptible things " mean here any thing 
 that man usually gives in exchange for another; 
 but the term necessarily includes all created things, 
 as all these are corruptible and perishing. The 
 meaning of the apostle is, evidently, that created 
 things could not purchase the souls of men, else 
 the sacrifice of Christ had not beeu offered ; could 
 anything less have done, God would not have given 
 up his only begotten Son. [The justiee of God, 
 outraged by sin, was satisfied, the satisfaction it- 
 self, however, being appointed by the love of God 
 himself ; allusions to which are found in the sacri- 
 fices of the Old Testament. (Lev. xvii, 11.) — 
 Lange.~\ Vain conversation — Empty, foolish, 
 and unprofitable conduct, full of vain hopes, vain 
 fears, and vain wishes. Received by tradition 
 from your fathers — The Jews had innumerable 
 burdens of empty ceremonies and useless ordi- 
 nances, which they received "by tradition" from 
 their fathers, rabbins, or doctors. The Gentiles 
 were no less encumbered. All were wedded to 
 their vanities, because they received them from 
 their forefathers, as they had done from theirs. And 
 this antiquity and tradition have been the ground- 
 work of many a vain ceremony and idle pilgrimage, 
 and of numerous doctrines which have nothing to 
 plead in their behalf but this mere antiquity. 
 
 19. The precious blood of Christ — T////w 
 ai/xan, the valuable \ vi nerable] blood; how valuable 
 neither is nor could lie stated. As of a lamb — 
 Such as was required for a sin offering to God ; 
 and the Lamb of God that taken away the sin of 
 the world. Without blemish — In himself, and 
 without spot from the world ; being perfectly 
 pure in his soul, and righteous in his life. 
 
 20. Who verily was foreordained — Hpo- 
 eyvuayh'ov, foreknown; appointed in the divine pur- 
 pose to be sent into the world, because infinitely 
 approved by the divine justice. Before the foun- 
 dation of the world — [Kara/?oA^c, the founding of 
 the world. The gift of Christ to redeem man was 
 a purpose of the divine wisdom and goodness of an 
 older date than the accomplished work of creation, 
 but its manifestation was in the days of Christ's 
 life and death among men.] The sacrificial system 
 was appointed in reference to this Preappointed 
 Land), and consequently from him derived all its 
 significance and virtue. If we take the phrase 
 Karah'//) kug/wv in its common signification, the 
 creation of universal nature, it shows that God, 
 foreseeing the fall and ruin of man, appointed the 
 remedy that was to cure the disease. 
 
 in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto 
 unfeigned 'love of the brethren, see that ye 
 love one another with a pure heart fervently: 
 2*1 c Being born again, not of corruptible seed, 
 but of incorruptible, d by the word of God, 
 which liveth and abideth for ever. 2-1 e For 
 f all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man 
 as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, 
 and the flower thereof falleth away: 25 6 But 
 the word of the Lord cndureth for ever. 
 
 Acts 2. 33; 3. 13; Eph. 1.20: Phil. 2.9; Reb. 2. 9; chap. 3. 22. 
 
 a Acts 15. 9. — I, Rom. 12. !', 10; 1 Thesss. 4 !>; 1 Tim. 1. 5; 
 
 Heb. 13. 1 ; chap. 2. 17; 3. 8; 4. 8; 2 Peter I. 7: 1 John X 18; 
 
 4. 7,21. e.Iolml. 13; 3.5. '/.la si. 18: IJohn3.il. — 
 
 cOr, For that. - / Psalm 103. IS; Isaiah In. 6; 51. 13; James 
 1. 1U. g Psalm 102. 12,26; Isaiah 40. 8; Luke 1(5. 17. 
 
 21. Who by him do believe in God— This 
 is supposed to refer to the Gentiles, who never 
 knew the true God till they heard the preaching of 
 the Gospel. The Jews hat! known him long before, 
 but the Gentiles had every thing to learn when 
 the first preachers of the Gospel arrived among 
 them. [H7<!0 are through him believers: not only 
 through his manifestation, but through him per- 
 sonally. (1 Cor. i, Sti.) That we are redeemed 
 from our vain conversation is owing to the blood 
 of Christ; but that we have faith and hope in God 
 is brought about by God having raised Christ from 
 the dead and given him glory, and therefore bo'h 
 our faith and hope is in God. See Alford.] 
 
 22. Seeing ye have purified your souls — 
 Having purified your souls in obeying the truth 
 — by believing in Christ Jesus, through the in- 
 fluence and teaching of the Spirit — ami giving 
 full proof of it by unfeigned love to the breth- 
 ren; ye love one another, or, ye will love each 
 other, ■with a pure heart fervently. These per- 
 sons, first, heard the truth, that is, the Gospel : 
 secondly, they obeyed that truth, by believing on 
 Him who came into the world to save sinners: 
 thirdly, through this believing on the Son of God, 
 their hearts were purified by the word of truth ap- 
 plied to them by the Holy Spirit: fourthly, the 
 love of God being shed abroad in their hearts by 
 the Holy Ghost, they loved the brethren with pure 
 hearts fervently, kicTEvug, intensely; the full proof 
 that their brotherly love was unfeigned, ui/ adi Tapiav 
 qvvndicpiTov, & fraternal affection without hypocrisy. 
 
 2:5. Being born again — For being born of 
 Abraham's seed will not avail to the entering of the 
 kingdom of heaven. Not of corruptible seed — 
 Not by human generation, or earthly means. But 
 of incorruptible — A divine and heavenly principle 
 which is not liable to decay, nor to be affected by 
 the changes and chances to which all sublunary 
 things are exposed. By the word of God — A/a 
 "koyov ^uvroc (-)io'f, by the doctrine of the living (tod, 
 which remaineth forever; which doctrine shall 
 no more change, than the Source shall whence it 
 proceeds. [In our regeneration Christ himself is 
 communicated to us, so that the deity thenceforth 
 dwells in us as in a temple, and we are thus made 
 pai takers of the divine nature. (2 Pet. i, 4 ; James 
 i, 18, 21.) See Lange.] 
 
 24. For all flesh is as grass — Earthly seeds, 
 earthly productions, and earthly generations, shall 
 fail and perish like as the grass and flowers of the 
 field. 
 
 25. But the word of the Lord — The doctrine 
 delivered by Cod concerning Christ endureth for- 
 ever, having, at all times and in all seasons, the 
 
 489
 
 A. M. 4064. . 
 Year ol Rom 
 
 I. PETER. 
 
 Remarkable exemplifications of the 
 power or faith. 
 
 h And this is the word which by the gospel is 
 preached unto you. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 WHEREFORE -laying aside all malice, 
 and all guile, and hypocrisies, and en- 
 vies, and all evil speakings, 2 ''As newborn 
 
 h John 1. 1, 14: 1 John 1. 1, o. a Epli. 4. 22. 25, 31 : Col. 
 
 3. 8; lleh. 12. 1 : James 1. 21 : 5. 9 ; chap. 4. 2. // Matt, I*. ?, ■ 
 
 Mark K>. 15; Rom. 6. 4; 1 Cor. 14. 20; chap. 1. 23. cl Cor. 
 
 same excellence and the same efficacy. And this 
 is the word — To pqua, what is spokm, by the 
 Gospel preached unto you. "This is a quotation 
 from Isa. xl, 6-8, where the preaching of the 
 Gospel is foretold ; and recommended from the con- 
 sideration that every thing which is merely human, 
 and, among the rest, the noblest races of mankind, 
 with all their glory and grandeur, their honour, 
 riches, beauty, strength, and eloquence, as also the 
 arts which men have invented and the works they 
 have executed, shall decay as the flowers of the 
 field. But the Gospel, called by the prophet 'the 
 word of the Lord,' shall be preached while the 
 world standeth." — Mack/tight. All human schemes 
 of salvation, and plans for the melioration of the 
 moral state of man, shall come to naught, and the 
 doctrine of Christ crucified, though a stumbling 
 block to the Jews, and foolishness to the Gentiles, 
 shall be alone the power of God for salvation to 
 every soul that believeth. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER II. 
 
 1. Wherefore laying aside — This is in close 
 connexion with the preceding chapter, and the sub- 
 ject is continued to the end of the 10th verse. All 
 malice — See the notes on Eph. iv, 22-31. These 
 tempers and dispositions must have been common 
 among the Jews, as they are so frequently spoken 
 against; Christianity can never admit of such; 
 they show the mind, not of Christ, but of the old 
 murderer. 
 
 2. As newborn babes — In the preceding chap- 
 ter (verse 23) the apostle states that they had been 
 born again; and as the newborn infant desires that 
 aliment which nature has provided for it, so they, 
 being born again — born from above — should as 
 earnestly require that heavenly nourishment which 
 is suited to their new nature ; and this the apostle 
 calls the sincere milk of the -word, rb TjyyusJbv 
 ado?MV yaka, that is, the pure doctrines of the Gos- 
 pel as delivered in the epistles and gospels, and as 
 preached by the apostles and their successors. The 
 figure is very expressive ; as a child newly born 
 shows an instinctive desire for that nourishment, 
 and that only, which is its most proper food ; so 
 they, being born of God, should show that the 
 incorruptible seed abides in them, and that they 
 crave that which is suited to that new nature. 
 Their spiritual growth must lie by the pure doctrines 
 of the Gospel. That ye may grow thereby — 
 E/c aurrnpiav, unto salvation, is added here by 
 nearly all the best authorities, and the reading is 
 undoubtedly genuine, and also very important. It 
 shows that the ultimate design of all the processes 
 and intermediate stages of the Christian life and 
 experience was that they might grow up unto sal- 
 vation. 
 
 3. If so be ye have tasted — Ewrep iyevoaode, 
 set ing ye have tasted. There could be no doubt that 
 they had tasted the goodness of Christ who were 
 born again of incorruptible seed, and whose hearts 
 
 4'JO 
 
 babes, desire the sincere c milk of the word, 
 that ye may grow thereby : 3 If so be ye 
 have d tasted that the Lord is gracious. 4 To 
 whom coming, as unto a living stone, e dis- 
 allowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, 
 raid precious, 5 f Ye also, as lively stones, 
 fare built up h a spiritual house, 'a holy priest- 
 
 3. 2: Ileb. 5. 12, 13. d Psa. 34. 8; Hen. 6. 5. #Psa. 118. 22; 
 
 Matt. 21. 42 ; Acts 4. 11. -/Eph. 2. 21, 22. g Or, be ye built. 
 
 h Heb. 3. 6. i Isa. 61. 6 ; 66. 21 ; verse 9. 
 
 were purified by the truth, and who had like precious 
 faith with the apostles themselves. That the 
 Lord is gracious — "On xpr/orbr 6 Kvpioc, [that the 
 Lord (Jehovah) is kind.] [In the New Testament, 
 as a rule, Kvptog, "the Lord," means Christ. Here, 
 however, the word represents the Hebrew Jehovah. 
 ^Speaker's Com.'] (See Psa. xxxiv, 8.) 
 
 4. To whom (Christ) coming, as unto a living 
 stone — This refers to Isaiah xxviii, 16: Behold, I 
 lay in Z ion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, 
 a precious corner stone, a sure foundation. Jesus 
 Christ is, by both the prophet and apostle, repre- 
 sented as the "foundation " on which the Christian 
 Church is built, and on which it must continue to 
 rest ; and the " stone," or " foundation," is called 
 here "living," to intimate that He is the source of 
 life to all his followers, and that it is in union with 
 him that they live, and answer the end of their re- 
 generation ; as the stones of a building are of no 
 use but as they occupy their proper places in a 
 building, and rest on the foundation. DisaHowed 
 indeed of men — That is, injected by the Jews. 
 This is a plain reference to the prophecy, Psa. cxviii, 
 22: The stone which the builders refused is become 
 tin head stone of the corner. Chosen of God — To 
 be the Saviour of the world and the Founder of 
 the Church, and the Foundation on which it rests. 
 As Christ is the choice of the Father, we need have 
 no doubt of the efficacy and sufficiency of all that 
 he has suffered and done for the salvation of a lost 
 world. God can never be mistaken in his choice; 
 therefore he that chooses Christ for his portion 
 shall never be confounded. Precious — 'Vrr/uor, 
 honourable. [Not the same word as above, (chapter 
 i, 19,) rtpiog, which refers to intrinsic preciousness, 
 this to the recognition of that preciousness by the 
 Father. — Speaker's Com.] Howsoever despised 
 and rejected by men, Jesus, as the sacrifice for a 
 lost world, is infinitely honourable in the sight of 
 God; and those who are united by faith to him 
 partake of the same honour, being members of that 
 great and glorious body of which he is the head, 
 and stones in that superb building of which he is 
 the foundation. ['Tiro avOpoiwuv psv o.ko6e6oki- 
 uaapkvov izapa 6e Qeu ekAcktuv evrifiov, by man 
 indeed rejected, (Isa. liii, 3,) but villi God choseti, 
 and highly esteemed. The word ekXektov has in 
 this place all of its three chief meanings, chosen, 
 (by God's free will,) beloved, (of the Father,) set 
 apart or designated for a purpose.] 
 
 5. Ye also, as lively stones — A/f9o/ ^uvtec, 
 living stones ; each being instinct with the life 
 which proceeds from Him who is the Foundation, 
 called above Tudov £uvra, a living stone. [The 
 stones are called living, and the house spiritual, 
 not merely to signify that they are not dead stones, 
 and the house not a material one, but on account of 
 the life which Christians derive from Christ the 
 living Stone, and of the service which they render in 
 virtue of beingabody dwelt in by the Holy Spirit. — 
 Alfurd.] Are built up a spiritual house —
 
 iri-t precious to believers, but a 
 stumbling stone to unbelievers. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 .. T>. 60. 
 
 e, 813. 
 
 hood, to offer up k spiritual sacrifices, 'accept- 
 able to God by Jous Christ. <» Wherefore 
 also it is contained in the Scripture, '" Behold, 
 I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, pre- 
 cious: and he that believeth on him shall nol 
 be confounded. 7 Unto you therefore which 
 believe he is ° precious : but unto them which 
 be disobedient, u the stone which the builders 
 
 ifcHos. 14.2; Ma!. 1.11; Rom. 12. 1: Heb. 13. 15. IK. /Phil. 
 
 4. 18; chap. 4. 11. — m Isa. 28. 18; Rom. 9. 33. — n Or, an hon- 
 our. — »Psa. 118.22; Matt. 2). 42; Arts 4. 11. — pIsa.R. 14; 
 Luke 2. 34 ; Rom. 9. 35. y 1 Cor. 1. 23. r Exod. 9. 16; Rom. 
 
 [Among believers, each is not to aim at separating 
 himself into a house by himself; they should be 
 united in the commonwealth of God, and together 
 should constitute a spiritual temple. — Speaker's 
 Ob/re.] The Church of Christ is here represented 
 under the figure of a household; and as a household 
 or family must have a place of residence, hence, by 
 a metonymy, the house itself, or material building, 
 is put for the household or family which occupies 
 it, the container being put for the contained. 
 Here, then, is the ground of the metaphor : the 
 "spiritual house" is the holy or Christian family 
 or household ; this family or household is composed 
 of the sons and daughters of God Almighty; and 
 hence the propriety of living stones, because this is 
 the living house or spiritual family. As a building 
 rests upon a foundation, and this foundation is its 
 support ; so a family or household rests on the 
 father, who is properly considered the foundation 
 or support of the building. But as every father is 
 mortal and transitory, none can be called a living 
 stone, foundation, or support, but He who liveth 
 forever, and has life independent; so none but 
 Jesus, who hath life in himself, that is, independ- 
 ently, and who is the Way, the Truth, and the Lifk, 
 eon be a permanent foundation or support to the 
 whole spiritual house. 
 
 6. Bahold, I lay in Sion— This intimates that 
 the foundation of the Christian Church should be 
 laid at Jerusalem ; and there it was laid, for there 
 Christ suffered, and the preaching of the Gospel 
 commenced. [The imagery is taken from the found- 
 ing of the temple on Mount Zion. but in its spirit- 
 ual sense " Sinn " represents the living Church in 
 (and of) which Christ is the great corner stone.] 
 A chief corner stone— This is the same as the 
 foundation stone; and it is called here the chief 
 etrner stone because it is laid in the foundation at 
 an angle of the building where its two sides form 
 the groundwork of a side and end wall. [The 
 term is applied to any principal person, as the 
 princes of Egypt. (Isa. xix, 12, margin.) It is 
 thus applied to our Lord. (Psa. cxviii, 22 ; Isa 
 xxviii, 18; Matt, xxi, 42; Eph. ii, 20.) — Smith's 
 Bib. Die/.] Elect, precious — Chosen and hon- 
 ourable. See on verse 1. Shall not be con- 
 founded — These words are quoted from Isa. xxviii, 
 It; ; but rather more from the Septuagint than from 
 the Hebrew text. The latter we translate, //< that 
 believeth shall not make haste— he who comes to 
 God through Christ for salvation, shall never he 
 confounded; he need not haste to Hee away, for no 
 enemy shall ever be able to annoy him. 
 
 7. Unto you therefore which believe — You, 
 both Jews and Gentiles. He is precious — 'IC/uv 
 oov i) Tcjiij toic TziaTEvovaiv, tin honour is tu you 
 who believe' that is, the honour of being in this 
 building; of having your souls saved through the 
 blood of the Lamb, and becoming sons and daugh- 
 
 disallowed, the same is made the head of the 
 corner, W pAnd a stone of stumbling, and a 
 rock of offence, i even to them which stumble 
 at the word, being disobedient: r whereunto 
 also they were appointed. 9 B.u1 ye are H a 
 chosen generation, 'a royal priesthood, "a holy 
 nation, v w a peculiar people; thai ye should 
 show forth the "praises of him who hath 
 
 9. 22: 1 Thess. 5. 9; Jucle 4. .vDent. Ill 15; chap 1. 2. 
 
 tKxod. 19. 5.6: Rev. 1. 6: 5. 10. wJohn 17. 19; 1 Cor. ::. 17; 
 
 2 Tim. 1. 9. r Or, it purchased /><<>/>/<. le Deut. 4. 211 : 7. 6; 
 
 14.2;26. 18,19; Acts20.28; Eph. 1. 14 ; Tit. 2. 14. « Or, virtues. 
 
 ters of God Almighty. Them which be dis- 
 obedient — The Jews who continue to reject the 
 Gospel ; imt considering that the person whom they 
 reject is head of the corner; Lord over all, and 
 has all power in the heavens and the earth. 
 
 8. A stone of stumbling — The Jews rejected 
 Christ because he did not come as a secular prince. 
 He was to them "a stone of stumbling" because 
 he was poor, and affected no worldly pomp ; and a 
 rock of offence, for his Gospel called the Gentiles, 
 whom the Jews believed to he everlastingly repro- 
 bated, and utterly incapable of any spiritual good 
 to lie among his peculiar people. Whereunto also 
 they were appointed — They stumbled and fell 
 through their obstinate unbelief; and thus their 
 stumbling and falling, as well as their unbelief, 
 were of themselves; inconsequence of this they 
 were appointed to lie broken; this was God's work 
 of judgment, 'this seems to be the meaning which 
 our Lord attaches to this very prophecy, w hich he 
 quotes against the chief priests and elders, as re- 
 corded Matt, xxi, 44. (See on Matt, xxi, 42-44.) 
 
 9. Ye are a chosen generation — The titles 
 formerly given to the whole Jewish Church — that is, 
 to all who were in the covenant of God by circum- 
 cision, whether they were personally holy or not — 
 are here given to Christians in general in the same 
 way ; that is, to all who believed in Christ, whether 
 Jews or Gentiles, and who received baptism in the 
 name of the Father, and of the Son, and of fhe 
 Holy Ghost. [Tevoc ekAekt&v, (see La. xliii, 20,) a 
 race or family toward whom God lias put forth his 
 sovereign mercy in calling them to become hisown — 
 (JaaiXEiov 'nnurtviia — a kingly priestlwod.] In the 
 New Testament Church these two elements — the 
 kingship and the priesthood — are united in every 
 individual believer. — Alford.~] [The priestly office 
 had two chief functions — to offer sacrifices and 
 to make intercessions. The first was completed 
 once for all in the sacrifice of Christ, (Heb. x, 12;) 
 the second is a perpetual service in which Christ is 
 still engaged, (Heb. vii, 25,) and with him are 
 united all his people, and thus they are a "genera- 
 tion of priests." (Exod. xix, 6,) iOmr ayiov, hut//, 
 that is, consecrated, (Psa. lxxxvi, 2,) not excluding 
 the ethical element, but rather implying it. Like 
 Israel of old, the spiritual Israel is devoted to God, 
 because the Church is to him, Tiabc tie KEpinoiijOiv, a 
 peoph intended (provided) for his men possession.'] 
 The Israelites were a chosen or elected race, to lie 
 a special people ""tu the Lord their God, above "II 
 people that were upon the face of the earth. (Deut. 
 vii, 6.) They were also a royal priesthood, or what 
 Moses calls <i kingdom of priests: (Exod. xix, 6 :) 
 for all were called to sacrifice to God : and he is 
 represented to be the King of that people, and La- 
 ther of those of whom he was King; therefore they 
 were all "royal." They were a holy nation, (Exod. 
 xix, G ;) for they were separated from all the people 
 
 4i»l
 
 I. PETER. 
 
 Admonitions to the Church against 
 yielding to evil desires. 
 
 called you out <>f > darkness into his marvellous 
 light: 10 * Which in time past were not a 
 people, hut are now the people of God: which 
 had not ohtained mercy, but now have ob- 
 tained mercy. 18 Dearly beloved, I beseech 
 you a as strangers and pilgrims, b abstain from 
 fleshly lusts, c which war against the soul; 
 
 ?/Aets2fi. 18; Eph.5.8; Col. 1. IS: 1 Thess. 5. 4.5. sHos. 
 
 1. (i, in; 2. 23; Rom. 9. 25. a 1 Chron. 29. 15; Psa. 39. 12; 119. 
 
 19; Heb. 11. 13; chap. 1. 17. b Rom. 13. 14; Gal. 5. lb'. 
 
 of the earth, that they might worship the one 
 only true (rod, and abstain from the abominations 
 that were in the heathen world. They were also a 
 peculiar people, aooc «c Trepnroiqcriv, a purchased 
 people, a private property, belonging to God Al- 
 mighty, (Deut. vii, 6;) none other having any right 
 in them, and they being under obligation to God 
 alone. All these things the apostle applies to the 
 Christians, to whom indeed they belong, in their 
 spirit and essence, in such a way as they could not 
 belong to the Hebrews of old. But they were 
 called to this state of salvation out of darkness — 
 idolatry, superstition, and ungodliness — into his 
 marvellous light, the Gospel dispensation, which, 
 in reference to the discoveries it had made of God, 
 Ids nature, will, and gracious promises toward man- 
 kind, differed as much from the preceding dispen- 
 sation of the Jews as the light of the meridan sun 
 from the faint twinkling of a star. And they had 
 these privileges that they might show forth the 
 praises of Him who had thus called them; apsrag, 
 tin- virtues, those perfections of the wisdom, justice, 
 truth, and goodness of God that shone most illus- 
 triously in the Christian dispensation. These they 
 were to exhibit in a holy and useful life, being 
 transformed into the image of God, and walking as 
 Christ himself walked. 
 
 10. Which in time past were not a people 
 — This is a quotation from Hosea i, 9, 10, and 
 ii, 23, where the calling of the Gentiles, by the 
 preaching of the Gospel, is foretold. From this it 
 is evident that the people to whom the apostle 
 now addresses himself had been Gentiles, covered 
 with ignorance and superstition, and now had ob- 
 tained mercy by the preaching of the Gospel of 
 Christ. [The apostle is again citing, or rather 
 clothing that which he had to write, in Old Testa- 
 ment words. (See Hosea ii, 23.) These words seem 
 to apply most properly to Gentile Christians. Al- 
 though spoken in the prophecy of Jews, St. Paul 
 thus uses them in Rom. ix, 25. — Afford.] [True 
 of the whole body of converts, Jews and Gentiles 
 previously antagonistic. — speaker's Com.] 
 
 11. As strangers and pilgrims — See on Heb. 
 xi, 13. These were "strangers" ami "pilgrims" 
 in the most literal sense of the word, (see chapter 
 i, 1,) for they were "strangers" scattered through 
 Asia, Pontus, etc. Abstain from fleshly lusts 
 — As ye are strangers and pilgrims, and profess to 
 be seeking a heavenly country, do not entangle your 
 affections with earthly things. While others spend 
 all their time, and employ all their skill, in acquir- 
 ing earthly property, and totally neglect the salva- 
 tion of their souls, they are not strangers, they are 
 here at home ; they are not pilgrims, they are seek- 
 ing an earthly possession : heaven is your home, 
 seek that; God is your portion, seek him. All 
 kinds of earthly desires, whether those of the flesh 
 or of the eye, or those included in the pride of life, 
 are here comprised in the words " fleshly lusts." 
 
 492 
 
 '2 d Having your conversation honest among 
 the Gentiles: that, e whereas they speak against 
 you as evil doers, 'they may by your good 
 works, which they shall behold, glorify God 
 sin the day of visitation. 13 b Submit your- 
 selves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's 
 
 ake: whether it he to the king, as supreme; 
 
 cJam"S 4. 1. f/Rnm. 12. 17; 2 Cor. 8. 21; Phil. 2. 15: Tit. 
 
 2. 8: chap. 3. 16. — eOr, wherein. — /'Matt. 5. lb\ ^LuUe 
 
 19. 41. h Matt. 22. 21 ; Rom. 13. 1 ; Tit. 3. 1. 
 
 (See Col. iii, 2, 3.) Which war against the soul 
 — Ainvec CTparavovrai Kara T7/c i/' l 'A'Wi which are 
 marshalled and drawn up in battle array to fight 
 against the soul ; either to slay it, or to bring it 
 into captivity. This is the drift and operation of 
 all earthly and sensual desires. 
 
 12. Having your conversation honest — 
 | Having your behaviour becoming, tuikhv, comely.] 
 Living in such a manner among the Gentiles, in 
 whose country ye sojourn, as to bring honour to 
 the Gospel which ye profess. That, whereas (in 
 what) they speak against you as evil doers — 
 In all the heathen countries, in the first age of the 
 Church, the Christians and the Jews were con- 
 founded together; and as the latter were every- 
 where exceedingly troublesome and seditious, the 
 Christians shared in their blame, and suffered no 
 small measure of obloquy and persecution on this 
 very account. It was doubly necessary, therefore, 
 that the Christians should be exceedingly cautious; 
 and that their conduct should prove that, although 
 many of them were of the same nation, yet they 
 who had embraced Christianity differed widely in 
 their spirit and conduct from these, whether Jews 
 or Gentiles, who had not received the faith of 
 Christ. [Christians were specially attacked by 
 Gentiles, generally at the instigation of Jews, on 
 political grounds as enemies of the state, (see Acts 
 xvii, 6, 7;) on religious grounds as atheists, that 
 is, as rejecting the objects of heathen worship; on 
 ethical grounds as introducing unlawful customs, 
 and, as it was believed, abominable impurities. 
 (Acts xvi, 20, 21.) These points were commonly 
 alleged by opponents of Christianity, and are spec- 
 ially noticed by apologists of the first two cen- 
 turies. — Speah r's Com.] In the day of visita 
 tion — I believe this refers to the time when God 
 should come to execute judgment on the disobedient 
 Jews, in the destruction of their civil polity and 
 the subversion of their temple and city. God did 
 at that time put a remarkable difference between the 
 Jews and the Christians. The "day of visitation," 
 in a general sense, means a time in which punish- 
 ment should be inflicted (Isa. x, 3.) Some think 
 that by the phrase in this place is meant the time 
 in which they should be brought before the heathen 
 magistrates, who, after an impartial examination, 
 should find them innocent, and declare them to be 
 such; by which God would be glorified, the work 
 appearing to be his own. The words, however, 
 may refer to any time in which Christians may be 
 called to suffer for the testimony of Christ; the 
 heathens, or unbelievers, seeing them bear their 
 sufferings and wrongs with patience, would be con- 
 strained to confess that God was with them. Not 
 a few, from being spectators of such sufferings and 
 patience, have become converts to Christianity. 
 
 13. Submit yourselves to every, ordinance 
 of man — In every settled state, and under every 
 form of political government, where the laws are
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 A. M. 4<iB4. A. r>. 60. 
 1. .ri.l Rome, 813. 
 
 14 Or unto governors, as unto tliem thai are 
 sent by him 'for the punishment of evil doers, 
 and u for the praise of them that do well. 
 
 15 For so is the will of God, thai ' with well 
 doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of 
 foolish men: 1<» "'As free, and not "using 
 your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness, but 
 as °the servants of God. 17 i"i Honour all 
 men. r Love the brotherhood. 'Fear God. 
 Honour the king. 18 'Servants, be subjeel 
 to your masters with all fear; not only to the 
 
 J Rom. 13. 4. X-R.im. 13. 3. /Tit. 2. 8; verse 12. — 
 
 mGal. 5. 1. 13. »6r. having. o\ Cor. 7. 22. — pRom. 
 
 12. 1": Phil. 2. 8. gOr, Esteem. r Heb. 13 I ; chap. 1. 22. 
 
 *Prov. 24. 31: Matt. 22. 21 : Rom. IS. 7. *Epli. 6 •">; ('..I. 
 
 3.22; 1 Tim. ti. 1 ; Tit. 2. 9. it Or, thank. Luke (S. 32; verse SO. 
 
 not in opposition to the laws of God, [it is the duty 
 of all to conform their actions to them, and in no 
 case to seek to overthrow or change them except 
 by peaceful and lawful means.] (See Rom. xiii, 1, 
 etc.) The words naan avdpuirivn icriaei literally sig- 
 nify every human institution, for KTiC,eiv signifies to 
 arrange, order. The meaning of St. Peter appears 
 to be this: the Jews thought it unlawful to obey 
 any ruler that was not of their own stock ; the 
 apostle tells them they should obey the civil magis- 
 trate let him be of what stock he may — whether a 
 Jew or a Gentile — and let him exercise the govern- 
 ment in whatsoever form. This is the general 
 proposition; and then he instances emperors and 
 their deputies ; and, far from its being unlawful 
 for them to obey a heathen magistrate, they were 
 to do it for the Lord's sake, did. top Kvpiov, on ac- 
 count of the Lord, whose will it was and who com- 
 manded it. 
 
 14. Or unto governors — By "king, as su- 
 preme," the Roman emperor is meant; and by 
 " governors," yys/idaiv, are meant leaders, govern- 
 ors, presidents, proconsuls, and other chief magis- 
 trates, sent by him into the provinces dependent 
 on the Roman empire. For the punishment of 
 evil doers — This was the object of their mission ; 
 they were to punish delinquents, and encourage and 
 protect the virtuous. [And this they generally did, 
 with a good degree of fidelity and justice.] 
 
 15. For so is the will of God — God, as their 
 supreme governor, shows them that it is his will 
 that they should act uprightly and obediently at all 
 times, and thus confound the ignorance of foolish 
 men, who were ready enough to assert that their 
 religion made them bad subjects. 
 
 16. As free — The Jews pretended that they were 
 a free people, and owed allegiance lo God alone ; 
 hence they were continually rebelling against the 
 Roman government, to which God had subjected 
 them because of their rebellion against him ; thus 
 they used their liberty for a cloak [iirtK&Jivfifia, 
 covering, hiding] of maliciousness — for a pretext 
 of rebellion, and by it endeavoured to vindicate 
 their seditious and rebellious conduct. But as the 
 servants of God — These were made free from sin 
 and Satan, but they were the servants of God — 
 bound to obey him; and, as he had made it their 
 duty to obey the civil magistrate, they served God 
 by submitting to every ordinance of man for the 
 Lord's sake. 
 
 17. Honour all men — That is, Give honour to 
 whom honour is due. (Rom. xiii, 7.) Respect every 
 man as a fellow creature, and as one who may be 
 a fellow heir with you of eternal life; and there- 
 fore be ready to give him every kind of succour in 
 
 good and gentle, but also to the froward. 
 19 For this h '"thankworthy, if a man for 
 conscience toward God endure grief, suffering 
 wrongfully. 20 For w what glory is it. if, 
 when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall 
 take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and 
 suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is * ac- 
 ceptable with God. 21 For y even hereunto 
 
 were ye called : because '• Christ also suffered 
 
 "for us, ' leaving us an example, thai ye should 
 follow his steps: 22 e Who did no sin, neither 
 
 /■Matt. 5. 1(1; Rom. 13. 5; chap. 3. 14. JOCllap. 3. 14: 4. 
 
 14. 15. ./'Or. thank. (/M;.tt. It;. 21; Acta II. 2: : 1 Tliess. 
 
 3. 3; 2 Tim. 3. 12. — sChnp. 3. is. — r/Some read, for yon. 
 
 fcjohn 13. 15: IMhI. 2. 5: 1 John 2. ti. clsa. 53. 9: Luke 
 
 23. 41 ; John s. -4 1 ; ; 2 (or. 5.21 : lleb. 4. 15. 
 
 your power. [As bearing the image of God, every 
 man, simply as such, is a proper object of respect- 
 ful, and even reverential, consideration ; hence all 
 slavery, oppression, and the denial of equal rights 
 is a sin against God. Whatever may be his con- 
 dition, simply because he is a man he is entitled to 
 an honourable consideration.] Love the brother- 
 hood — All true Christians, who form one great 
 family of which God is the head. Fear God — 
 Who gives you these commandments ; lest he pun- 
 ish you for disobedience. Honour the king — 
 Pay that respect to the emperor which his high 
 position requires, knowing that civil power is of 
 Cod ; that the authority with which he, in the 
 course of his providence, has invested him, must 
 be respected in order to its being obeyed ; and that 
 if the man be even bad, and as a man worthy of no 
 reverence, yet he should be respected on account of 
 his office. 
 
 18. Servants, be subject — See the notes on 
 Eph. vi, 5, Col. iii, 22, and Tit. ii, 9. "With all fear 
 — With all submission and reverence. The good 
 and gentle— Those who are ever just in their com- 
 mands, never requiring more than is necessary or 
 proper, and always allowing sufficient food and suf- 
 ficient time. The froward — 'Zno'Xio'ic, the crooked, 
 perverse, unreasonable, morose, and austere. 
 
 19. For this is thankworthy — If, in a con- 
 scientious discharge of your duty, you suffer evil, 
 this is in the sighl of God thankworthy, pleasing, 
 and proper; it shows that you prefer his authority 
 to your own ease, peace, and emolument. Relative 
 duties do not depend on the character of the person 
 to whom they are to be performed, nor on their per- 
 forming the duties they owe to others, but on the 
 unalterable relations of things established by God. 
 
 20. For what glory is it — No doubt the poor 
 Christians, while in a state of slavery, were often 
 grievously abused ; they were buffeted because 
 they were Christians, and because they would not 
 join with their masters in idolatrous worship. 
 
 21. Hereunto were ye called— Ye were 
 called to a state of suffering when ye were called to 
 be Christians ; for the world cannot endure the 
 yoke of Christ, and they that will live godly in 
 Christ must suffer persecution ; they will meet with 
 it in one form or other. Christ also suffered 
 for us — And left us the example of his meekness 
 and gentleness; for when he was reviled, he re- 
 viled not again. Imitate his example, and his 
 Spirit shall comfort and sustain you. Many MSS. 
 and most of the Versions, instead of ?)/'£»', us, read, 
 i'/iGJV, you, which is the reading now generally 
 accepted. 
 
 22. Who did no sin — He suffered, but not on 
 
 493
 
 .. n. 60. 
 
 e,81». 
 
 I. PETER. 
 
 was guile found in his mouth: 25$ r Who, 
 wlien he was reviled, reviled not again; when 
 he suffered, he threatened not; but st com- 
 mitted himself to him that jndgeth righteously: 
 24 " Wlio his own self bare our sins in his own 
 body 'on the tree, "that we, being dead to 
 sins, should live unto righteousness : * by whose 
 stripes ye were healed. 25 For >'ye were as 
 sheep going astray; but are now returned z un- 
 to the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls. 
 
 rlsa ."3. 7: Matt. 27.39: John 8. 48.49; Hen. 12. 3. * Or, 
 
 commuted his cause. 1 Luke 23. 4B. n Isa. 53. 4, 5, 6, II ; 
 
 Matt 8.17: Heb.9.28. ;■ or, to.— »Rom, 6. 2, 11 ; 7. 6. 
 
 a' Isa. 53. 5. -(/ Isa. 53. H; Ezek. 34. (J. 
 
 account of any evil he had either done or said. 
 It is very likely the apostle mentions guile, SoXoc, be- 
 cause those who do wrong generally strive to screen 
 themselves by prevarication and lies. See Isaiah 
 liii, 9. 
 
 23. But committed himself — Though he was 
 able to deliver himself from his enemies, (Matt. 
 xxxvi, 53, 54,) yet, lie committed his cause to Him who 
 is the righteous Judge. It is a great advantage in 
 all cases of provocation to be able to refer our 
 cause to God, and to be assured that the Judge 
 of all the earth will do right. 
 
 24. Who his own self — Xot another in his 
 place, as some anciently supposed, because they 
 thought it impossible that the Christ should 
 suffer. Bare our sins in his own body — Bore 
 the punishment due to our sins. In no other sense 
 could Christ bear them. That we, being dead 
 to sins — "Iva rale afmpr'uuc aTvoyevo/ievoc, [/hut 
 we having died to, become separated from, sins, that 
 is, ceased from sinning, (chapter iv, ], Col. iii, 3,)] 
 delivered out of its power and from under its 
 tyranny, should live unto righteousness ; that 
 " righteousness " should be our master now, as sin 
 was before. Peter is speaking still to servants, 
 who were under an oppressive yoke, and were 
 cruelly used by their masters — scourged, buffeted, 
 and variously maltreated. By whose stripes ye 
 were healed — The apostle refers here to Isa. liii, 
 4-6 ; and he still keeps the case of these perse- 
 cuted servants in view, and encourages them to suffer 
 patiently by the example of Christ, who was •'buf- 
 feted" and " scourged," and who bore all this that 
 the deep and inveterate wounds inflicted on their 
 souls by sin might be healed. 
 
 25. For ye were as sheep going astray — Ye 
 were like stray sheep, in the wilderness of igno- 
 rance and sin, till Christ, the true and merciful 
 Shepherd, called you back from your wanderings, 
 by sending you the Gospel of his grace. Bishop 
 of your souls — Jesus Christ is the Overseer 
 [t-/f7AfiTor] of souls. Jesus is the good Shepherd 
 that laid down his life for his sheep. All human 
 souls are inexpressibly dear to him, as they are the 
 purchase of his blood. He is still supreme Bishop 
 or Overseer in lus Church. He alone is Episcopus 
 episcoporum, "the Bishop of bishops;" a title 
 which the Roman pontiffs have blasphemously 
 usurped. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER III. 
 1. Ye wives, be in subjection — Consider that 
 your husband is, by God's appointment, the head 
 and ruler of the house; do not, therefore, attempt 
 to usurp his government ; for even though he obey 
 not the word — is not a believer in Christ — his rule 
 is not thereby impaired; for Christianity never 
 alters civil relations; and your affectionate, obe- 
 494 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 LIKEWISE, "ye wives, he in subjection to 
 your own husbands; that, if any obey not 
 the word, 'they also may without the word 
 c be won by the conversation of the wives; 
 2 a While they behold your chaste conversa- 
 tion coupled with fear. 3 e Whose adorning. 
 let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting 
 the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting 
 
 z Kzek 
 
 34 
 
 23: 
 
 37. 24: 
 
 John 10. 11, 
 
 14, lii 
 
 11 
 
 eb. 
 
 13. 20; ch 
 
 ip. 
 
 5. 4. 
 
 a 1 
 
 Cor 
 
 14. 34 
 
 : F.ph. 
 
 5. 22 
 
 Uol. 
 
 3, 
 
 IK 
 
 Tit. 2. 5.- 
 
 
 b 1 Cor. 
 
 7 It 
 
 
 rMatt 
 
 18. 15 
 
 ICor 
 
 9. 19-22. 
 
 
 -cl Chap. 2. 
 
 12. 
 
 e 1 1 
 
 nn. 
 
 2. 9 
 
 Tit. 2. 
 
 3, etc. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 dient conduct will be the most likely means of con- 
 vincing him of the truth of the doctrine which you 
 have received. (See 1 Cor. vii, 12.) Be ■won by 
 the conversation- — That your holy conduct may 
 be the means of begetting in your husbands a 
 reverence for Christianity, the preaching of which 
 they will not hear. (See on 1 Cor. xiv, 34.) 
 
 2. Chaste conversation . . . with fear — While 
 they (the unbelieving husbands) see that ye join 
 modesty, chastity, and the purest manners to the 
 fear of God. Or perhaps "fear," (j>6{3oc, is taken, 
 as in Eph. v, 33, for the reverence due to the 
 husband. 
 
 3. Whose adorning — Koo/uoc. See the note on 
 Heb. ix, 1, where the word kog/joc, world or orna- 
 ment, is defined. (See also Gen. ii, 1.) Plaiting 
 the hair, and of wearing of gold — Plaiting the 
 hair, and variously folding it about the head, was 
 the most ancient and most simple mode of dispos- 
 ing of this chief ornament of the female head. It 
 was practised anciently in every part of the east, 
 and is so to the present day in India, in China, 
 anil also in Barbary. It was also prevalent among 
 the Greeks and Romans, as ancient gems, busts, 
 and statues, still remaining, sufficiently declare. 
 Thin plates of gold were often mixed with the hair, 
 to make it appear more ornamental by the reflec- 
 tion of light and of the solar rays. Small golden 
 buckles were also used in different parts; and 
 among the Roman ladies, pearls and precious 
 stones of different colours. But it is evident, from 
 many remaining monuments, that in numerous 
 cases the hair variously plaited and curled was the 
 only ornament of the head. Often a simple pin, 
 sometimes of ivory pointed with gold, seemed to 
 connect the plaits. In monuments of antiquity the 
 heads of the married and single women may be 
 known, the former by the hair being parted from 
 the forehead over the middle of the top of the head, 
 the latter by being quite close, or being plaited and 
 curled all in a general mass. [The apostle refers 
 here to a propensity which exists in the heart of 
 woman to seek that which might be esteemed orna- 
 mental, or that which will appear well in the sight of 
 others, and commend her to them. . . . The only ques- 
 tion is, What is true and appropriate ornament '! 
 . . . . The apostle does not condemn the ornament, 
 nor does he condemn the desire to appear so as to 
 secure the esteem of others. This he does not 
 prohibit in the wife. But the grand thing which 
 she was to seek was, not that which is merely ex- 
 ternal, but that which is internal, and which God 
 regards as of so great value. — Barnes.~] [With 
 regard to the much disputed question whether, by 
 the preceding injunction, all ornament of dress is 
 forbidden, or only making such ornament the 
 adorning, it may safely be left to the Christian
 
 The ornament of a 
 
 hi quiet 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 k. D. 60. 
 
 e, 813. 
 
 on of apparel; 1 But let it be f the hidden 
 nmn of the heart, in that which is not cor- 
 ruptible, even the ornament of a meek and 
 (miel spirit, which is in the sight of God of 
 great price. 5 For after this manner in the 
 old time the holy women also, who trusted in 
 trod, adorned themselves, being in subjection 
 unto their own husbands: 6 Even as Sarah 
 
 /Psa. 4Y 13 : Rom. 2. 29 : 7. 22 ; 2 Cor. 4. 16. a Gen. 1*. 12. 
 
 h tlr. children. i 1 Cor. 7. 3; Epli. 5. 25; Col. 3. 1H. 
 
 wisdom of believing women to be not unwise, but 
 understanding what the will of the Lord is, in this 
 as in other similar matters. Within the limits of 
 propriety and decorum, the common usage is the 
 rule. There is a sin in singularity, both as minis- 
 tering to pride in ourselves and as giving offence 
 to others, and so discommending our holy religion. 
 — Alford.} [According to the usus loquendi of the 
 Scripture, when two things are compared together 
 for the purpose of giving one of them the decided 
 preference, the less favoured is (in form) wholly 
 condemned, though only a relative condemnation 
 is intended. So here, Let all outward ornamen- 
 tation be relatively disregarded, in comparison 
 with that which is inward — " a meek and quiet 
 spirit."] 
 
 4. The hidden man of the heart — The word 
 avdpairog, man, is frequently applied to the soul, but 
 generally with some epithet. Thus, 6 eacd avOpuiroc, 
 the inner man, (Rom. vii, 22,) to distinguish it from 
 the body, which is called 6 efw avSpoxog, tin- <>ni<r 
 man, (2 Cor. iv, 16;) 6 upv-rbc hvOpuiroc, the hid- 
 den man, as in the text; 6 kcivoc avOpu-oq, the new 
 man, the soul renewed in righteousness, (Eph. 
 ii, 15,) to distinguish him from 6 walaibr avdpunor, 
 tU<' old man, that is, man unregenerate, or in a 
 state of sin. (Rom. vi, 6.) And the soul is thus 
 distinguished by the Greek philosophers. A meek 
 and quiet spirit — That is, a mind that will not 
 give provocation to others, nor become irritated 
 by the provocation of others. Meekness will pre- 
 vent the first ; quietness will guard against the last. 
 Great price — All the ornaments placed on the 
 head and body of the most illustrious female are, 
 in the sight of God, of no worth ; but a meek and 
 silent spirit are, in his sight, invaluable, because 
 proceeding from and leading to himself, being in- 
 corruptible, surviving the ruins of the body and the 
 ruins of time, and enduring eternally. 
 
 5. For after this manner — Simplicity reigned 
 in primitive times ; natural ornaments alone were 
 then in use. No head ever looks so well as when 
 adorned with its own hair alone. See on 1 Cur. xi, 
 14-1 ii, and 1 Tim. ii, 9. Who trusted in God — 
 The women who trust not in God are fond of dress 
 and frippery ; those who trust in God follow nature 
 and common sense. Being in subjection unto 
 their own husbands — It will rarely be found 
 that women who are fond of display and extrava- 
 gance have any subjection to their husbands but 
 what comes from mere necessity. 
 
 6. As Sarah obeyed Abraham — The words of 
 the apostle imply that she acknowledged his supe- 
 riority, and her own subjection to him, in the order 
 of God. (See Gen. x\ hi, 12.) Whose daughters 
 ye are — As Abraham is represented as the father 
 of all his male believing descendants, so Sarah is 
 represented as the mother of all her believing female 
 posterity. A son of Abraham is a true believer ; a 
 daughter of tiarah is the same. As long as ye 
 
 obeyed Abraham, » calling him lord: whose 
 ''daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and 
 are not afraid with any amazement. 7 'Like- 
 wise, ye husbands, dwell with them according 
 to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, 
 k as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs 
 together of the grace of life ; ' that your pray- 
 ers he not hindered. 8 Finally, m be ye all of 
 
 £ 1 Cor. 12. 23 : 1 Thess. 4. 4. / See Job 42. S ; Matt. 5. 23, 24 ; 
 
 is. 19. — in Horn. 12. 16; 15. 5; Phil. 3. 16. 
 
 do well — For you cannot maintain your relation- 
 ship to her longer than ye believe ; and as long as 
 ye believe ye will continue to obey. And are not 
 afraid with any amazement — M$ (popov/ievai 
 fitjSefiiav tttui/giv may be rendered, and not fearing 
 any terror. If ye do well, and act conscientiously 
 your part as faithful wives, ye will at no time live 
 under the distressing apprehension of, or be terrified 
 at, every appearance of the discovery of improper 
 conduct. Being not. guilty of such, you will not 
 have occasion to fear detection. Happy is the wife, 
 and happy is the husband, who has no cause for such 
 fear. [Christianity is equidistant from the moral 
 degradation of the female sex, which the Moham- 
 medans and rabbins would almost deprive of im- 
 mortality, and from the secular exaltation and de- 
 dication which, especially since the Middle Ages, has 
 been defended as Christian by those who have 
 confounded Germanism with Christianity, while it 
 secured to woman any thing but happiness. — 
 Steiger.~\ 
 
 7. Dwell with them according to knowl- 
 edge — Give your wives, by no species of unkind 
 carriage, any excuse for delinquency. How can a 
 man expect his wife to be faithful to him if he be 
 unfaithful to her? and riee versa. Giving honour 
 unto the wife — Using your superior strength and 
 authority in her behalf, and thus Iwnouring her 
 by becoming her protector and support. Hut the 
 word 77////, "honour,'" signifies maintenance as well 
 as respect; maintain, provide for, the wife. As. . . 
 the weaker vessel — Being more delicately, and 
 consequently more slenderly, constructed. Rough- 
 ness and strength go hand in hand; so likewise do 
 beauty and frailty. The female has what the man 
 lacks — beauty and delicacy. The nude has what 
 the female lacks — courage and strength. The one 
 is as uooil in its place as the other: and by these 
 things God has made an equality between the man 
 and the woman, so that there is properly very little 
 superiority on cither side. See on 1 Thess. iv, 4. 
 Being heirs together — Both the man and woman 
 being equally called to eternal glory: and as prayer 
 is one great means of obtaining a meetness for it, 
 it is necessary that they should live together in 
 such a manner as to prevent all family contentions, 
 that they may not lie prevented, by disputes or 
 misunderstandings, from uniting daily in this most 
 important duty — family and social prayer. [True 
 love in the conjugal state depends upon and is 
 rooted in mutual esteem ; . . . not only of personal 
 qualities ami excellences of either party, but also 
 ami chiefly the appreciation flowing from the 
 thought of mutual relations to the divine favour, 
 and of a common inheritance in the kingdom of 
 heaven. See Lange.] 
 
 8. Finally — [To 6e t&.oc, as to the end, an ad- 
 verbial accusative.] Be ye all of one mind — 
 Unity, both in the family and in the Church, being 
 essentially necessary to peace and salvation. See 
 
 495
 
 I. PETER. 
 
 one mind, having compassion one of another; 
 no love as brethren, fie pitiful, be courteous: 
 9 i Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for 
 railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing 
 that ye are thereunto called. r that ye should 
 inherit a blessing. 10 For s he that will love 
 life, and see good days, 'let him refrain his 
 tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak 
 no guile: II Let him "eschew evil, and do 
 good; v let him seek peace, and ensue it. 
 
 n Or, loving f° the. brethren. o Worn. 12. 10; Heb. 13. 1 : 
 
 chap. 2. 17.— -v Eph. *. ■'■-■ Col. 3. 12. a Prov. 17. 18; 20. 22; 
 
 Matt, 5. 39: Rom. 12. 14, 17; I Cor. i. 12; 1 Thess. 5. 15. 
 
 •/•Mitt. 25. 31. * Psa. 31. 12, etc. £ James 1. 2(i; cliap. 2. 
 
 1, 22; Rev. 14. .5. 
 
 on Rom. xii, 16, and xv, 5. Having compas- 
 sion — Zvuiradtig, being sympathetic; feeling for 
 each other ; bearing each other's burdens. Love 
 as brethren — fyilaftOifyot; be lovers of the brethren. 
 Pitiful — E'ro-'/.ayxvoi, tender hearted; let your 
 bowels yearn over the distressed and afflicted. 
 Courteous — Qikoippovec, be friendly minded; ac- 
 quire and cultivate a friendly disposition. But in- 
 stead of this word, Taweivocj>povec, be humble minded, 
 is the generally accepted and probably correct 
 reading. 
 
 9. Not rendering evil for evil — Purposing, 
 saying, doing nothing but good; and invariably re- 
 turning good tor evil. Ye are thereunto called — 
 This, is your calling — your business in life, to do 
 good, and to do good for evil, and to implore God's 
 blessing even on your worst enemies. And this is 
 not only your duty, but your interest ; for in so 
 doing you shall obtain God's blessing, even life for 
 evermore. See Matt, v, 5, and 10-12. 
 
 10. For he that will love life — This is a quo- 
 tation from Psa. xxxiv, 12-16, as it stands in the 
 Septuagint ; only the imperative verb is changed 
 from the second into the third person, etc. He 
 who wishes to live long and prosperously must act 
 as he is here directed. As excess in action and 
 passion always tends to the shortening of life, and 
 nothing preys on the constitution more than dis- 
 orderly passions, he must live not only happiest 
 but longest who avoids them. It is an edifying- 
 story that is told in the book Mussar, chapter i, 
 quoted by Rosenmuller: "A certain person, travel- 
 ling through the city, continued to call out, Who 
 wards the elixir of life ? The daughter of Rabbi 
 Joda heard him, and told her father. lie said, 
 Call the man in. When he came in, the rabbi said, 
 What is that elixir of life thou sellest? He an- 
 swered, Is it not written, What num. is he that 
 loveth life, and desireth to see good days, let him re- 
 frain his tongue from, evil, and his lips from speak- 
 ing guile? This is the elixir of life, and is found 
 iti the mouth of man." 
 
 12. The eyes oi the Lord are over the right- 
 eous — That is, the righteous are continually un- 
 der God's care; God continually watches for them 
 ami watches over them, and they are under his 
 constant protection. And his ears arc open unto 
 their prayers — The original is very emphatic : The 
 eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears 
 toward their prayers. The righteous man ever at- 
 tracts the livine notice, and wherever he is there 
 is the ear of God; for as every righteous man is 
 a man of prayer, wherever he prays there is the 
 ear of God, into which the prayer, as soon as 
 formed, enters. But the face of the Lord — Far 
 from his eve being upon them, or his ear open to 
 496 
 
 12 For the eyes of the Lord are over the 
 righteous, "and his ears are open unto their 
 prayers : but the face of the Lord is * against 
 them that do evil. 1:5 y And who is he that 
 will harm you, if ye be followers of that which 
 is good ? D4 'But and if ye suffer for right- 
 eousness' sake, happy are ye : and • be not 
 afraid of their terror, neither be troubled ; 
 15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: 
 and h be ready always to give an answer to 
 
 u Psa. 37. 27; Isa. 1. 16, 17; 3 John II. » Rom. 12. IS; 14. 
 
 19; llf-h. 12. 14. MiJohi) 9. 31: James 5. lii. <Mir. vpnn. 
 
 yProv. 16. 7; Rom. 8. 28. zMatt. 5. in. 11. 12: James I. 
 
 12; chap. 2. 19; 4. 14. </ Isa. 8. 12, 13: Jer. 1. 8; John 14. 
 
 1, 27. It Psa. 119. 40; Acts 4. 8; Col. 4. 6; 2 Tim. 2. -J5. 
 
 their requests, (for prayer they have none,) his face, 
 his approbation, his providence and blessing, are 
 turned away from them ; and he only looks upon 
 them to abhor them, and to turn the arm of his 
 justice against them. 
 
 13. Who is he that will harm you — Is it pos- 
 sible that a man can be wretched who has God for 
 his friend? "All the devices which the devil or 
 wicked men work against such must be brought to 
 naught, and by the providence of his goodness be 
 dispersed." If ye be followers, etc. — 'Eav tov 
 'Ayadov jitiirjrai ^h'TjcOe, if ye be imitators of the 
 good One, that is, of God. '0 'Ayadbc, the good One, 
 is one of God's prime epithets, (see Matt, xix, 17,) 
 and Satan is distinguished by the reverse, 6 Kovrjp6c, 
 the evil one, (Matt, xxiii, 19, where see the notes.) 
 Instead of /-iiyr/rai, followers, or rather, imitators, 
 L,7]7^urai, zealous of what is good, is the reading now 
 generally accepted, [and this favours the rendering 
 tov hyaBov as neuter and abstract, that which is 
 c/ood, and not as masculine, " the good One," that 
 is, God.] 
 
 14. But and if ye suffer — God may permit you 
 to be tried and persecuted for righteousness' sake, 
 but this cannot essentially harm you; he "ill pi ess 
 even this into your service, and make it work for 
 your good. Happy are ye — This seems to refer 
 to Matt, v, 10, etc.; Blessed or happy are ye when 
 mm persecute you, etc. It is a happiness to suffer 
 feu- Christ; and it is a happiness because if a man 
 were not holy and righteous the world would not 
 persecute him: so he is happy in the very cause of 
 his sufferings. Be not afraid of their terror — 
 Tov 6e cpojiov avruv in, on 3r/{ /,-•. f, ,<r not their fear. 
 (Isaiah viii, 12.) Sometimes fear is put for the 
 object of a man's religious worship; as in Gen. 
 xxxi, 42; Prov. i, 26. The exhortation may mean, 
 Fear not their gods, they can do you no hurt; and 
 supposing that they curse you by them, yet be not 
 troubled; "He who fears God need have no other 
 fear." [The command amounts to this: "Be not 
 affected in heart by the fear which they strive to 
 inspire in you." — Alford."] 
 
 ir>. But sanctify the Lord God in your 
 hearts — We have often already seen that &yid r ecv 
 signifies to separate from any common use or pur- 
 pose, that the thing or person thus separated may 
 be devoted to a sacred use. Perhaps we should 
 understand Peter's words thus: Entertain just no- 
 tions of God ; of his nature, power, will, justice, 
 goodness, and truth. Do not conceive of him as 
 being actuated by such passions as are seen in men ; 
 separate him in your hearts from every thing earthly, 
 human, fickle, rigidly severe, or capriciously merciful. 
 [Instead of nvpiov 6*e tov Ql6v, the reading here fol- 
 lowed by the translators, the reading now generally
 
 If calle.l to suffering, le( it be for 
 well doing, oot evil doing. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 A. M. 4 164. A. n. 80. 
 Year jf Rome, 813. 
 
 Bbeing put to death h in the flesh, but 'quick- 
 ened by the Spirit: I!) By winch also he 
 went and k preaehed unto the spirits 'in pris- 
 on; 20 Which sometime were disobedient, 
 ,n when once the longsuffering of God waited 
 in the days of Noah, while "the ark was a pre- 
 paring, "Wherein few, that is, eighl souls were 
 saved by water. 21 p The like figure where- 
 unto even baptism doth also now save us. (not 
 the putting away of ithe filth of the flesh, 
 
 every man that asketh you a reason of the 
 hope that is in you, with meekness and • fear : 
 16 d Having a good conscience; 'that, where- 
 as they speak evil of you, as of evil doers, they 
 may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good 
 conversation in Christ. 17 For it is better, 
 if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well 
 doing, than for evil doing. IN For Christ 
 also hath 'Once suffered for sins, the just for 
 the unjust, that he might bring us to Cod, 
 
 c Or, reverence. — d lleb. 13. 18. — < Tit. 2. 8: chap. 1. 12. 
 
 /li.mi. 5. 6; Web. 9. 2h\ 28; chap. 2. 21; 4. 1. o2Cov. 
 
 13. 4. ft Col. 1. 21, 22. i Rom. 1. 4 ; 8. 11. 
 
 accepted, which Griesbach also suggested, is rbv 
 X/mgtov, which gives quite another turn to the 
 sense.] [As if Peter would say, Care only for this, 
 that your heart may he a temple of Christ, in which 
 becoming honour may he given him as Lord ; then 
 will nothing disturb you ; you have in him all that 
 you need. — Wetsinger, in Alford ] A reason of 
 the hope — An account of your hope of eternal life 
 in God's glory. This was the great object of their 
 " hope," as Christ was the grand object of their 
 faith. The word airo2.oyiav, which we translate 
 "answer," signifies a defence; from this we have 
 our word apology, which did not originally signify 
 an excuse for an act, but a defence of one. The 
 defences of Christianity by the primitive Fathers 
 are called apologies. See on Acts xxi, 1. With 
 meekness and fear — The best authorities add 
 the word u'/.'/.u, but, here, and it improves the 
 sense : Be ready always to give an answer io every 
 man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in 
 yon, but with meekness and fear. Do not permit 
 your readiness to answer, nor the confidence you 
 have in the goodness of your cause, to lead you to 
 answer pertly or superciliously to any person; de- 
 fend the truth with all possible gentleness and 
 "fear," lest while you are doing it you should for- 
 get His presence whose cause you support, or say 
 something unbecoming the dignity and holiness of 
 the religion which you have espoused, or incon- 
 sistent with that heavenly temper which the Spirit 
 of your indwelling Lord must infallibly produce. 
 [On this injunction Luther says, speaking of his 
 own experience at Worms and elsewhere : '' Then 
 must ye not answer with proud words and bring 
 out the matter with a defiance and with violence as 
 if ye would tear up trees, but with such fear and 
 lowliness as if ye stood before God's tribunal. . . . 
 So must thou stand in fear, and not rest on thine 
 own strength, but on the word and promise of 
 Christ. (Matt, x, 19.)" See Alford.] 
 
 16. Having a good conscience — The testimony 
 of God in your own soul, that in simplicity and godly 
 sincerity you have your conversation in the world. 
 ['Eweldqoiv, a conscibusness of right."] Whereas 
 they speak evil of you — See chapter ii, 11. 
 
 17. For it is better — See on chapter ii, 19, 20. 
 .18. Christ also hath once suffered— See the 
 
 notes on Rom. v, u ; Heb. ix, 28. Put to death 
 in the flesh — In his human nature. But quick- 
 ened by the Spirit— [Both oapiii and nvevfiaTi, 
 appear to be used adverbially, flesh-wise, or «.s- to the 
 fesh, (his physical nature,) and spirit-wise, or as to 
 his spirit, the supersensuous and rational soul. 
 The "spirit" here brought into notice is Christ's 
 human spirit, which being found alive after his 
 bodily death, is spoken of as quickened, ^uo-otr/dtic, 
 ■made (dice.] 
 Vol. II.— 32 
 
 /. Chap. 1. 12: 4. 6. Hsa. 42. 7: 49. 9; 61. 1.— w Gen. 6. 
 
 3, .-., 13 - a Heb. 11. 7. — oCien. 7. 7; 8. 18; 2 Pet. 2. 5. 
 
 // Eph. 5. 20. (/Tit. 3. 5. 
 
 19. By which — Spirit, his own divine energy 
 and authority. He went and preached — By the 
 ministry of Noah, one hundred and twenty yens. 
 Unto the spirits in prison — The inhabitants of 
 the antediluvian world, who, having been disobe- 
 dient, and convicted of the most fiagranl transgres- 
 sions against God, were sentenced by his just law 
 to destruction. But their punishment was delayed 
 that they might repent ; and " the longsnffering 
 of God waited " one hundred and twenty years, 
 which were granted to them fortius purpose; dur- 
 ing which time, as criminals tried and convicted, 
 they are represented as being "in prison" — de- 
 tained under the arrest of divine justice, which 
 waited either for their repentance or the expiration 
 of the respite, that the punishment pronounced 
 might lie inflicted. [See at the end of the chapter.] 
 
 20. Which sometime were disobedient — 
 [.\.TTEt6i/aaoiv, the unpersuaded, unbelieving, tvote ore, 
 then, when."] The lorgsuffering of God waited 
 — In Pirkey Aboth, cap. v, 2, we have these words : 
 " There were ten generations from Adam to Noah, 
 that the 'longsnffering' of God might appear; 
 for each of these generations provoked him to 
 anger, and went on in their iniquity, till at last the 
 deluge came." Were saved by water — While 
 the ark was preparing, onh Noah's family believed ; 
 these amounted to eight persons; and these only 
 were saved from the deluge (6i' vo~aroc.) on [through, 
 or by means of) the water; all the rest perished ; 
 unless, indeed, some of them, while the rains de- 
 scended, and the waters daily increased, did hum- 
 ble themselves before God, call for mercy, and 
 receive it. 
 
 21. The like figure whereunto baptism, etc. 
 — The rendering of Dr. Macknight makes this mean- 
 ing more clear: By which (water) [not of the flood, 
 nor of baptism, (specifically,) but water generally, 
 (Alford)] the antitype oaf /ism (not the putting away 
 
 6f the flth Of the flesh, but tile ansieie of n good 
 
 conscience toward God ) now saveth us o/\o, through 
 the resurrection of Jesus Christ. There are many 
 difficulties in this verse; but the simple meaning 
 of the place may be easily apprehended. Noah 
 believed in God, walked uprightly before him, 
 and found grace in his sight; he obeyed 1dm 
 in building the ark, and God made it the means 
 of his salvation from the waters of the deluge. 
 "Baptism" implies a consecration and dedication 
 of tlie soul and body to God, the Father, Son, 
 ami Holy Spirit. He who is faithful to his baptis- 
 mal covenant, taking God through Christ, by the 
 eternal Spirit, for his portion, is saved here from 
 his sins; and, through the resurrection of Christ 
 from the dual, has the well-grounded hope of eter- 
 nal glory. So the water of baptism, typifying the 
 regenerating influence of the Holv Spirit, is the 
 
 497
 
 I. PETER. 
 
 Jesus Christ declare.l to be In 
 heaven, on God's ri-ht band. 
 
 but 'the answer of a good conscience toward 
 God,) s by the resurrection of Jesus Christ : 
 22 Who is gone into heaven, and 'is on 
 
 r Rom. 10. 10. s Chap. 1. 3. 1 Psa. 110. 1 ; Rom. 8. 34 ; Epli. 
 
 sign of salvation to all those who receive the 
 Holy Spirit in his quickening, cleansing efficacy. 
 Ami as the waters of the flood could not have saved 
 Noah and Lis family had they not made use of the 
 ark, so the water of baptism saves no man but as 
 it is the means of his getting his heart purified by 
 the Holy Spirit, and typifying to him that purifica- 
 tion. By (Sia, through) the resurrection of Je- 
 sus Christ — [Not Christ's own resurrection from 
 the dead, but that which he effectuates in all those 
 who believe in him. (John xi, 25; Phil, iii, 10; 
 Col. iii, 1-3.)] 
 
 22. Who is gone into heaven — Having given 
 the fullest proof of his resurrection from the dead, 
 and of his having accomplished the end for which 
 he came into the world. On the right hand of 
 God — In the place of the highest dignity, honour, 
 and influence. Angels and authorities and pow- 
 ers — That is, all creatures and beings, both in the 
 heavens and in the earth, are put under subjection 
 to Jesus Christ. He has all power in the heavens 
 and in the earth. He alone can save ; and he alone 
 can destroy. None need fear who put their trust 
 in him, as he can do whatsoever he will in behalf 
 of his followers, and lias good and evil spirits un- 
 der his absolute command. Well may his enemies 
 tremble, while his friends exult and sing ! He can 
 save to the uttermost all that come unto the Father 
 through him. 
 
 ADDITIONAL NOTE. 
 
 [The three verses (18, 19, and 20) of the foregoing 
 chapter respecting Christ's preaching to " the spirits 
 in prison" have been recognised as constituting 
 one of the most difficult passages in the New Testa- 
 ment. Its difficulties, however, are not as to the 
 genuineness of the text, nor in its grammatical in- 
 terpretation, in respect to both of which it is ex- 
 ceptionally free from doubts. Its import as a 
 revelation of doctrinal truth is the only question 
 suggested that is not capable of an easy solution, 
 but thiU, is especially difficult. 
 
 [In the matter immediately preceding this pas- 
 sage, the apostle gives instructions to his brethren 
 in respect to their manner of acting when persecuted 
 for righteousness' sake — holding up the example of 
 Christ's conduct when in like circumstances. For 
 this purpose, Christ's suffering for sin is directly 
 appealed to in verse 18, the latter clause of which, 
 (and in tvhich the difficulty begins,) simply names 
 certain conditions that attended that event, namely, 
 that the death to which he was subjected was " in the 
 flesh," and the quickening which followed was " in 
 (or in respect to) the (his) spirit.'' The sense im- 
 plied in our English Version, that this quickening 
 is to be attributed to the Holy Spirit, may be given 
 up as wholly untenable. There is here a sharp 
 contrast between our Lord's bodily life, which was 
 sacrificed on the cross, and his spiritual life, (as 
 a man,) into which he came immediately after- 
 ward. The qualifying phrases, " in the flesh," and 
 " by (better, in) the spirit," are each expressed in 
 the original by a single word, (a substantive noun 
 in the dative case,) which is evidently used ad- 
 verbially, aapid, Jlesh-wise, rrvevpari, spirit-wise. 
 Physically and psychologicallv, Christ died like any 
 498 
 
 the right hand of God; "angels and author- 
 ities and powers being made subject unto 
 him. 
 
 1. 20; Col. 3. 1 ; Heb. 1. 3. u Rom. 8. 38 ; 1 Cor. 15. 24 ; Epli. 1. 21. 
 
 other man, and like others, also, his disembodied 
 (human) soul emerged into the new or pneumatic 
 life. All this is plain, and also a clear and valuable 
 statement of the historically primary stage of the 
 future life of the individual. 
 
 [The apostle next adds, apparently without any 
 break in the line of thought, kv <j, in which, (not by 
 which,) but in his living, disembodied, spiritual 
 state, he also went and preached to the spirits in 
 prison, nal ro'tg iv ^>v?.aKij nvevpaatv TropEvtielc ekij- 
 pvl-EV, which saying, taken in its grammatical sense 
 and in its obvious meaning, indicates that immedi- 
 ately after his death on the cross our Lord pro- 
 ceeded, in his human character, to the place where 
 certain "spirits" (jrvtvpaatv, souls) were de- 
 tained in some kind of custody; and to these he 
 preached. Just who these souls were, or what had 
 been their history in the flesh, this clause does not 
 determine, nor is the word in/'/pv^ei' so strictly of one 
 only significance that there may not be some doubt 
 in respect to the matter and character of his 
 preaching. If the whole subject ended with these 
 words, it would be quite rational to say that the 
 " spirits " to whom he " preached " were the right- 
 eous dead of the world then past, who were abiding 
 in the paradisaical side of hades, waiting for their 
 deliverance and glorification by and with Christ, 
 and that Christ's preaching was the announcement 
 to them of the progress of his work of redemption, 
 all of which is agreeable to the early Catholic doc- 
 trine of the intermediate state, and of Christ's de- 
 scent into hades. 
 
 [But the next clause puts quite another aspect 
 upon the case, the first word of which character- 
 izes the "spirits" as having been "disobedient," 
 aTreiOf/aaaiv, tenpersuaded, unbelieving, while (bid's 
 " longsuffering," fianpodvpia, forbearance, slowness 
 to anger, "waited," a7refeJfjero, held back, "in the 
 days of Noah," etc. The "spirits in prison" to 
 whom our Lord preached, in spirit, that is, in his 
 disembodied state, are thus identified with the ante- 
 diluvians, who heard Noah preach, but were not 
 "obedient" — did not receive his message in faith 
 — and of course were overtaken by the threatened 
 deluge. The plain words of the text seem to shut 
 us up to this rendering of the subject, which itself 
 forces into notice certain other, and especially dif- 
 ficult, inquiries. 
 
 [What must be understood by the words ev (pv?aK?i, 
 "in prison?" They certainly indicate some kind 
 of restraint or custody, and their use often implies a 
 state of punishment, but not necessarily; and as the 
 condition of the souls in hades, whether in the good 
 or the bad side, is an incomplete and constrained 
 estate, the expression may be legitimately con- 
 strued as equivalent to "in hades." (Luke xvi, 28; 
 xxiii, 43.) This, however, does not relieve the dif- 
 ficulty, as it leaves the impenitent antediluvians as 
 the specified persons to whom Christ preached. 
 Did he preach to them only, or are they named as 
 specimens of a class, in whose wider range many, 
 perhaps all, other departed souls may be included? 
 So some have thought, and upon this have based a 
 hope of a future probation, and perhaps a universal 
 redemption ; but the inference is certainly far- 
 fetched, and the argument is a very feeble one, as
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 A. M. 1064. A. D. 6( 
 
 \. 11 "I Koine, 613. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 I^ORASMUCH tlien "as Christ hath suffered 
 . for vis in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise 
 with the same mind: for 'lie that hath suf- 
 fered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; 2 c That 
 he no longer (i should live the rest of his time 
 in the flesh to the lusts of men, e but to the 
 will of God. 3 f For the time past of our life 
 
 a Chap. 3. 18. h Worn. 6. 2, 7 ; Gal. 5. 24; Col. 3. 3, 5. 
 
 cRom.lt. 7: rhaii.il. rfG..I. 2. 20; chap. 1. 14. — eJohn 
 
 1. 13; Komi. 6. 11 ; 2 Cor. 5. 15; James 1. 18. /Ezek. 44. ti; 
 
 compared with the weight that it is called to sus- 
 tain. Some who have accepted the idea that those 
 named are simply one class of the whole race of 
 mankind, and who have held that Christ's coming 
 into the world of spirits was itself a revelation of 
 his inaugurated and advanced kingdom, understand 
 the preaching indicated in this text as simply that 
 revelation. It is quite certain that the word 
 '• preach," Krjp'vacru, is not necessarily to be under- 
 stood in the sense of proclaiming grace. In clas- 
 sical Greek the Kijpvl; is simply a herald, who may 
 proclaim either life or death, and in the Septuagint 
 Version (Isa. lxi, 7) the same won! is made to cover 
 alike the proclamation of " the acceptable year of 
 the Lord," and " the day of vengeance of our 
 GoJ." As a matter of fact, it is well known that 
 the preaching of the Gospel by our Lord, while in 
 the flesh, was in not a few cases the denunciation 
 of wrath, in mo-t fearful language, against the dis- 
 obedient. May he not have continued in the same 
 way among the "spirits in prison? " 
 
 [Without pretending to have resolved even proxi- 
 mately certain of the chief obscurities of the text, 
 we may clearly learn from it some important truths : 
 as, that the condition of the human soul imme- 
 diately after the death of the body is one of con- 
 scious life and enlarged activities: that our Lord, 
 after his death, immediately renewed,, on an en- 
 larged scale, his Messianic work, carrying his Gos- 
 pel into the regions of the dead, either as " a savor 
 of life unto life " or of " death unto death." And 
 the inference is rational, leading to a strong proba- 
 bility, that his coming out of hades — which, rather 
 than the resumption of his "flesh," was the reality 
 of his resurrection — being accomplished in the sight 
 of the pious dead, became to them the assurance 
 and pledge of their own resurrection, and so he be- 
 came to all his people " the tirstfruit of them that 
 slept."] 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER IV. 
 1. As Christ hath suffered — He is your proper 
 pattern ; have the same deposition he had ; the same 
 forgiving spirit, with meekness, gentleness, and com- 
 plete self-possession. [The words for us have noth- 
 ing in the best MSS. of which they are a translation. 
 Their omission does not affect the sense.] Arm 
 yourselves . . . with the same mind (thought) 
 — [By assuming Christ's way of thinking, his esti- 
 mate of things temporal and eternal, they would lie 
 shielded against the assaults of temptation.] He 
 that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased 
 from sin— [This is best applied to Christ himself; 
 the expression then connects closely with that 
 which precedes and defines it. For he who has 
 once suffered as to the flesh, which suffering in- 
 cludes his death, (chapter iii, 18,) has now rest from 
 sin. . . . Hence he who puts on his mind, and is in 
 communion with him, henceforth must serve sin 
 no more. — Lange.J 
 
 may suffice us eto have wrought the will of 
 the (^entiles, when we walked in laseivious- 
 ness. lusts, excess of wine, revelling-, banquet- 
 ings, and abominable idolatries: 4 Wherein 
 
 they think it strange that ye run not with them 
 to the same excess of riot, ''speaking evil of 
 you: 5 Who shall give account to him that 
 is ready 'to judge the quick and the dead. 
 
 4.y !'; Acts 17. 30. g Eph. 2. 2: 4. 17; 1 Thess. 4. 5; Tit. 3. 3; 
 
 chap. 1. 14. A Arts 13. 4.5 : 18.6; Chap. 3. 16. /Acts 10.42; 
 
 17. 31 ; Kora. 14. 10, 12; 1 Cor. 15. 51, 52; 2Tim. 4. 1 ; James 5. 9. 
 
 2. That he — [Rather ye: the Greek has no pro- 
 noun, but the construction and sense require the 
 continuance of the second person plural. — Lange. \ 
 No longer should live ... in the flesh — Gov- 
 erned by the base principle of giving up his faith 
 to save life. To the lusts of men — According to 
 the will of idolatrous persecutors ; but to the will 
 of God: which "will" is, that they should retain 
 the truth, and live according to its dictates, though 
 they should suffer for it. 
 
 3. The time past of our life — [An implied 
 irony. If you believe that you are debtors to the 
 flesh, (Rom. viii, 12,) and obliged to serve sin, sure- 
 ly you have done enough of it. . . . This lessens the 
 severity of the reproach. — Lange.~\ Following is a 
 complete epitome of the Gentile or heathen state. 
 Wi ought the will of the Gentiles — [By conform- 
 ing to their heathenish practices.] They walked in 
 lasciviousness — 'Ev aoefryeiaic, lewdness. Lusts — 
 'lETridvfiiaig, irregular appetites. Excess of wine 
 — Ohnd'/i^ iiiir, drunkenness. Revellings — K&>- 
 fioig, lascivious /eastings. (See on Rom. xiii, 13.) 
 Banquetings — Hdroic, drinking matches, carous- 
 ings. Abominable idolatries — 'Adefiiroic eidwAo- 
 /arpiatc, the abominations practised at their idol 
 feasts, where they not only worshipped the idol, 
 but did it with the most impure, obscene, and 
 abominable rites. This was the general state of 
 the Gentile world ; and with this monstrous \\i< ked- 
 ness Christianity had everywhere to struggle. [The 
 severity of this reproof, and the last reference to 
 the gross sensuality of heathen worship, makes it 
 very evident that the persons addressed were Gen- 
 tile converts.] 
 
 4. They think it strange — Sevi^ovrai ; they 
 wonder and are astonished at you, that ye can re- 
 nounce these gratifications of the flesh for a spirit- 
 ual something, the good of which they cannot see. 
 Excess of riot — 'Acuriar avaxvaiv, flood of prof- 
 ligacy; bearing down all rule, order, and restraints 
 before it. Speaking evil of you — B'/.aa^/JovvTec, 
 literally, blaspheming; that is, speaking impiously 
 against God and calumniously of you. 
 
 5. To judge the quick and the dead — They 
 shall give account of these irregularities to Him who 
 is prepared to judge both the Jews and the (leu- 
 tiles. The Gentiles, previously to the preaching of 
 
 the Gospel ai lg them, were reckoned to be dead 
 
 hi trespasses mid sins. ( Eph. ii, 1-5 ;) under the sen- 
 tence of death, hi en use they had sinned. The Jews 
 had at least, by their religious profession, a name 
 to live ; and by that profession were bound to live to 
 God. [Ir obviates no difficulty to take these words 
 figuratively. They must, we think, be taken in their 
 usual sense, (as in Acts x, 42; Rom. xiv, I); 2 Tim. 
 iv, 1,) meaning those who are living when Christ 
 comes, and those who are then dead. — Whedon.] 
 [The meaning in this connexion seems to be, that 
 they should bear their trials and the opposition 
 they would meet with patiently, not feeling that 
 
 49S>
 
 A. M. 4064. A. D. 60. 
 Year of Rome, is] 3. j 
 
 I. PETER. 
 
 Christians should be sober, and 
 watch unto prayer. 
 
 6 For, for this cause k was tlie gospel preached 
 also to them that are dead, that they might be 
 judged according to men in the hVsh, but live 
 according to God in the spirit. 7 But ' the 
 
 Jc Chap. 3. 19. /Matt. 24. 13, 14; Rom. 13. 12; Phil. 4.5: Heb. 
 
 10. 25 ; James 5. 8; 2 Pet. 3. 9, 11 ; 1 John 2. is. „, Matt. 26. 41 ; 
 
 they were forgotten, nor attempting to avenge 
 themselves ; for the Lord would vindicate them 
 when they should come to judgment, and would call 
 those who had injured them to account for all the 
 wrongs which they had done to the children of God. 
 — Barnes.] [The text speaks only of " judgment ; " 
 not of a day of judgment, and that to occur quick- 
 ly, stoi/iuc. " Quick " and " dead " are an exhaustive 
 enumeration, equivalent to all men; and the whole 
 clause is equal to "who will without long delay deal 
 out equal recompense to all."] 
 
 6. Was the gospel preached also to them 
 that are dead — This is a most difficult verse ; the 
 best translations I have seen of it are the follow- 
 ing :— 
 
 "For this indeed was the effect of the preaching 
 of the Gospel to the dead, (the unconverted Gen- 
 tiles,) that some will be punished as carnal men ; 
 but others, (those converted to Christianity,) lead a 
 spiritual life unto God." — Wakefield. 
 
 " For this purpose hath the Gospel been preached 
 even to the dead, (that is, the Gentiles,) that al- 
 though they might be condemned, indeed, by men 
 in the flesh, (their persecutors,) yet they might live 
 eternally by God in the Spirit." — Macknight. 
 
 " For this cause was the Gospel preached to them 
 that were dead ; that they who live according to 
 men in the flesh may be condemned; but that, they 
 who live according to God in the Spirit may live." 
 — Knatchbull. 
 
 There are as many different translations of this 
 verse, and comments upon it, as there are transla- 
 tors and commentators. That of Sir Norton Knatch- 
 bull, could the Greek text bear it, appears the most 
 simple; but that of Dr. Macknight, which is nearly 
 the sense given by Mr. Wesley in his Paraphrase, 
 is more likely to be the true one among those al- 
 ready proposed. 
 
 But if the apostle had the same fact in view 
 which he mentions chapter iii, 19, 20, then the 
 antediluvians are the persons intended : " For this 
 cause" — that Christ is prepared ''to judge the 
 quick and the dead," and to dispense righteous 
 judgment in consequence of having afforded them 
 every necessary advantage — "was the Gospel 
 preached" by Noah to them also "that are dead" 
 — the antediluvian world, then dead in trespasses 
 and sins, and condemned to death by the righteous 
 judgment of God; but in his great compassion he 
 afforded them a respite, tltat though they were con- 
 demned as men in the flesh, (for this was their char- 
 acter — -my Spirit shall not always strive with man, 
 forasmuch as he is flesh, Gen. vi, 3,) yet, hearing 
 this Gospel by Noah, they may believe, <md tin ac- 
 cording to God in the Spirit — live a blessed life in 
 eternity according to the mercy of God, who sent 
 his Spirit to strive with them. This appears to me 
 1o be the most consistent sense; especially as the 
 apostle seems to refer to what he had said of the 
 Spirit of Christ in Noah preaching to the spirits in 
 prison — the rebellious that lived before the flood. 
 See on chapter iii. 19, 20. For this cause, etc. — 
 [Etc tovto yap, for, for this, indicating the pur- 
 pose for which the Gospel was so preached, ica't 
 vestpovc, also to those that died, or have died, (before 
 500 
 
 end of all things is at hand: ""-be ye therefore 
 sober, and watch nnto prayer. 8 "And above 
 till things have fervent charity among your- 
 selves: for "charity p shall cover the multitude 
 
 Luke 21. 34 ; Col. 4. 2 : chap. 1 13 : 5. 8. n Col. 3. 14 ; Heb. 13. 1. 
 
 a Prov. 10. 12 : 1 Cor. 13. 7 ; James 5. 20. p Or.tcill. 
 
 or after the preaching?) in. order that, indeed, Iva 
 fiev, indicating the constituting of a condition, by 
 what is next declared, suitable to what is indicated 
 further along. The Gospel was preached to "the 
 dead," (those who have died,) so that they might be 
 judged, Kara, according as men in the flesh, (are 
 judged.) Their having been so preached to, made 
 it possible (proper) that they should be so judged ; 
 and a further, and the ultimate, design of the 
 preaching was, that they should live spiritually be- 
 fore God. The proclamation spoken of chapter 
 iii, 19, has the Greek word kichpv^Ev, winch may be 
 understood as simply a proclamation, without indi- 
 cating its character; but here we have ev^y-yeXiadn, 
 which means only the preaching of good news.] 
 
 7. But the end of all things is at hand— I 
 think that here, also, St. Peter keeps the history of 
 the deluge before his eyes, finding a parallel to the 
 state of the Jews in his own time in that of the 
 antediluvians in the days id' Noah. In Gen. vi, 13, 
 God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come 
 before me. This was spoken at a time when God 
 had decreed the destruction of the world by a flood. 
 Peter says, " The end of all things is at hand ; " and 
 this he spoke when God had determined to destroy 
 the Jewish people and their polity by one of the 
 most signal judgments that ever fell upon any na- 
 tion or people. In a very few years after St. Peter 
 wrote this epistle, even taking it at the lowest 
 computation, namely, A. I*. 60 or 61, Jerusalem 
 was destroyed by the Romans. To this destruc- 
 tion, which was literally then ''at hand," the apos- 
 tle alludes; the end of the temple, the end of the 
 Levitical priesthood, the end of the whole Jewish 
 economy, was then " at hand." If these words 
 could be taken in any general sense, then we might 
 say to every present generation, "The end of all 
 things is at hand ; " the end of all the good which 
 the wicked enjoy, and the end of all the evil which 
 the righteous suffer. [The phrase "the end of all 
 things " might mean, that so fur as they wer( <■!>,,- 
 <■> rned, or, in respect t<> them, the end of all things 
 drew near. Death is to each one the end of all 
 things here below, the end of his plans and of his 
 interests in all that pertains to sublunary affairs. — 
 Barnes.] ['1 hose who accept that view find in this 
 text, as in many others of like import, proof that 
 Peter as well as Paul, and the Christians generally, 
 were at, that time expecting as near at hand the 
 second coming of Christ, to set up his earthly 
 kingdom, a notion that has survived through eight- 
 een centuries of disappointment.] Be . . . sober, 
 and watch unto prayer — " lie sober ; " make a 
 prudent and moderate use of all you possess; and 
 "watch" against all occasions of sin; and pray 
 for the supporting hand of God to be upon you for 
 good, that ye may escape the destruction that is 
 coming upon the .lews, ami that ye may be saved 
 from among them when the scourge comes. 
 
 8. Have fervent charity — 'Ay&Tvrjv kKrevij, 
 hilt use love; for lovt shall cover a multitude of sins. 
 A loving disposition leads us to pass by the faults 
 of others, to forgive offences against ourselves, and 
 to excuse and lessen, as far as is consistent with 
 truth, the transgressions of men. It does not
 
 Believers tn rejoice in sufferings 
 
 bnnie lor < _' 1 1 r 1 1 1 . 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 i. M. 41184. A. T). 60. 
 
 Year of Rome, 813. 
 
 of sins. J> ' ! Use hospitality one to another 
 r without grudging. lO "As every man hath 
 received the gift, even so minister the same one 
 to another, 'as good stewards of " the manifold 
 grace of God. II v If any man speak, let him 
 speak as the oracles ot God ; " if any man min- 
 ister, let him do it as of the ability which God 
 giveth; that x God in all things may be glori- 
 fied through Jesus Christ : >" to whom be praise 
 and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. 
 12 Beloved, think it not strange concerning 
 
 a Rom. 12. 13 : Heb. 13. 2. /• 2 Cor. 9. 7 ; I'liil. 2. II; 
 
 Philem. 14. s Rom. 12. 6; 1 Cor. 4. 7. ZMatt. 24. 45; 25. 
 
 14, 21; Luke 12. 42; 1 Cor. 4. 1. 2: Tit. 1. 7. 111 Cor. 12. 4; 
 
 Kpli. 4. 11. njev. 23. 22. w Rom. 12. 6, 7, 8; 1 Cor. 3. 10. 
 
 x Kph. 5. 20; chap. 2. 5. y 1 Tim. 6. 10; cliap. 5. 11 ; Rev. 
 
 mean that our love to others will induce God to 
 pardon our offences. (See on James v, 20.) [The 
 covering up relates to men, not God. Nothing can 
 cover thy sin before God except (the blood of Christ, 
 through) faith. But my love covers my neighbour's 
 sin, and just as God covers my sin if I believe, so 
 ought I also to cover the sin of my neighbour. — 
 Luther, quoted by Lunge.'] 
 
 9. Use hospitality — Be ever ready to divide 
 your bread with the hungry, and to succour the 
 stranger. (See on Heb. xiii, 2.) Without grudging 
 — "Avev yoy^va/iuv, without grumbling. Do nothing 
 merely because it is commanded, but do it from love 
 to God and man ; then it will be without grumbling 
 [The opposite is a cheerful, pure, and unselfish 
 spirit. (See Rom. xii, 8; 2 Cor. ix, 7.) — Lange.] 
 
 10. Hath received the gift — Xdpiaua, a gift; 
 any blessing of providence or grace. I cannot 
 think that the word means here the Holy Ghost, or 
 any of his supernatural gifts or influences ; it may 
 include those, but it signifies any thing given by 
 the mercy and bounty of God ; but perhaps in this 
 place it may signify some or any office in the 
 Church ; and this sense, indeed, the connexion 
 seems to require. Stewards of the manifold 
 grace — Whatever gifts or endowments any man 
 may possess, they are, properly speaking, not his 
 own ; they are the Lord's property, and to be em- 
 ployed in his work, and to promote his glory. 
 [With respect to God, we are "stewards" of the 
 goods committed to our keeping ; with respect to 
 our neighbour only are we owners. — Lange.] 
 
 11. If any man speak — Those who undertake 
 to teach others should speak by the influence of, 
 or according to, "the oracles" already delivered, 
 grounding all their exhortations and doctrines on 
 that revelation already given. This command is 
 sent to every man upon earth in holy orders, in 
 pretended holy orders, or pretending to holy orders. 
 Their teaching should be what the oracles of God, 
 the Holy Scriptures, teach and authenticate. Of 
 the ability which God giveth — Perhaps the 
 m I ii is..: ring here may refer to the care of the poor, 
 and the "ability" is the amount of means which 
 God may have placed in their hands; and they arc 
 to minister this as coming immediately from God, 
 and lead the minds of the poor to consider him as 
 their benefactor, that ht in "II things may be glori- 
 fied through Christ Jesus. This is implied in the 
 essence of any charitable act: the actor is not the 
 author, God is the author ; and the poor man should 
 be taught to consider him as his ultimate bene- 
 factor. Those who give anv thing as from them- 
 selves, rob God; for to him the praise for all good, 
 and the dominion, over all men and things, belong 
 
 8 the fiery trial which is to try you, as though 
 some strange thing happened unto you: 
 13 » But rejoice, inasmuch as b ye are partak- 
 ers of Christ's sufferings ; c that, when his glory 
 shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with ex- 
 ceeding joy. II d If ye be reproached for the 
 name of Christ, happy are ye ; for the Spirit 
 of glory and of God resteth upon you: e on 
 their part he is evil spoken of, but on your 
 part he is glorified. 15 But let none of you 
 suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an 
 
 1. fi. z\ Cor. 3. 13; chap. 1. 7. a Acts .">. 41 : Jamea 1. 2. 
 
 — Mtom. 8. 17: 2 Cor. I. 7; 4. 10; Phil. 3. 10; Col. 1. 24; 
 
 2 Tim. 2. 12; chap. 5. 1. 10; Rev. 1. 9. — cClmp. 1. 5, 6. 
 
 '/Matt. 5. 11 ; 2 Cor. 12. 10; Jamea 1. 12; chap. 2. 19, 20; 3. 14. 
 6 Chap. 2. 12; 3.10. /Chap. 2. 20. 
 
 for ever and ever. Amen — [Is (here used) not as 
 a note of conclusion, but of strung emotion of 
 heart. — Alford.] 
 
 12. Think it not strange concerning the 
 fiery trial — Hvpuoei, the burning. The metaphor 
 is old, but noble ; it represents the Christians as 
 having fire cast upon them for the trying of their 
 faith, as gold is tried by fire. (Chapter i, 7.) [A 
 simile of great tribulations which burn like fire, 
 but conduce to proof. — Lange.] St. Peter returns 
 here to what he had often touched upon in this 
 epistle, namely, to exhort the Christians to behave 
 with patience and integrity under their present 
 severe persecution ; for which purpose he intimates 
 that it was not an unusual thing for the people of 
 God to be persecuted, and that if they suffered 
 here as Christ did they should hereafter be glori- 
 fied with him; and in addition to the prospect of 
 that future glory, they had at present the Spirit 
 of God for their support and comfort ; that it was 
 not an honour for any of them to suffer as a male- 
 factor, but only as a Christian; and that though 
 the afflictions began with the Christians, yet the 
 weight of the storm would fall upon the unbe- 
 lievers. From these considerations he exhorted 
 them to persevere in their duty and trust all events 
 with God. [So far as the Christian's sufferings are 
 of the same kind, proceeding from the same causes, 
 as those undergone by bis Master, he is called upon 
 to rejoice, for that present participation in suffer- 
 ing secures future participation in his glory. (See 
 chapter i, 7.) — Speaker 's Com.] 
 
 14. If ye be reproached for the name of 
 Christ — To be reproached for "the name of 
 Christ " is to be reproached for being a Christian, 
 that is, for being like Christ. [The reproaches 
 cast at their persons and conversation probably 
 proceeded from unbelieving Jews, who blasphemed 
 the name of Christ. (James ii, 7.) — Lange.] The 
 Spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you 
 — As this divine Spirit rested upon Jesus, so does 
 it rest upon his persecuted followers. This is 
 agreeable to our Lord's words in Matt, v, 11, 12. 
 That which constituted them unhappy in the sight 
 of the world was their chief happiness in the sight 
 of God ; they carried Christ, the fountain of blessed- 
 ness, in their heart, and therefore could not be 
 unhappy. On their part he is evil spoken of — 
 Kara iii i' ui'Tnix flXactynfieira/, Kara rff rime doS-a^e- 
 7di, by tin in he is blasphemed, by you he is honoured. 
 [The clause is omitted by modern critics, not being 
 found in the most ancient MSS., though a very re- 
 spectable array of authorities may be made out in its 
 favour. Its omission makes no change in the sense. ] 
 
 15. But let none of you suffer ... as a busy- 
 
 GUI
 
 A. M. 4064. A. D. «0. 
 Year of Rome, 813. 
 
 I. PETER. 
 
 Believers directed to commit the 
 keeping of themselves to God. 
 
 evil doer, for as a busybody in other men's 
 matters. 16 Yet if any man suffer as a 
 Christian, let him not be ashamed; h but let 
 him glorify God on this behalf. 17 For the 
 time is come 'that judgment must begin at the 
 house of God: and k if it first begin at us. 
 1 what shall the end he of them that obey not 
 the gospel of God? 18 '"And if the right- 
 eous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungod- 
 
 <7l Thess. 4. 11; 1 Tim. 5. 13. A Acts 5. 41. s'Isa. 10. 12; 
 
 Jer. i"). 29: 49. 12; Ezek. 9. (5; Mai. a. 5. k Luke 23. 31. 
 
 / Luke lu. 12, 14. 
 
 body in other men's matters — ' ATJwTpienio- 
 KOTrog, the inspector of another; meddling with other 
 people's concerns. But some think that meddling 
 with those in public office is here intended, as if he 
 had said: Meddle not with the affairs of state; 
 leave public offices and public officers to their own 
 master; strive to live peaceably with all men, and 
 show yourselves to be humble and unaspiring. 
 
 16. If any ... as a Christian — If he be perse- 
 cuted because he has embraced the Christian faith, 
 let him not be ashamed, but let him rather glorify 
 God on this very account. Christ suffered by the 
 Jews because he bore testimony to the truth ; Christ- 
 ians sulfer because in this they resemble him. The 
 word Xpiariavoc, Christians, is used only here and 
 in Acts xi, 26, and xxvi, 28. See the note on the 
 former passage. 
 
 17. The time is come — [Rather, it is time. 
 The divine judgment was about to burst upon the 
 Jewish nation ; and therefore judgment, npifia, 
 must begin with (or from) tJie house of God, a to tov 
 oinov tov Qeov, the Christian Church, then already 
 so called.] Probably the word kihiul, which we 
 here translate "judgment," may mean no more 
 than affliction and distress; for it was a Jewish 
 maxim, that when God was about to pour down 
 some general judgment, he began with afflicting his 
 own people, in order to correct and amend them, 
 that they might be prepared for the overflowing 
 scourge. (See Ezek. ix, 1-7.) And if it first be- 
 gin at us — Who have repented, and believed on 
 the Son of God ; what shall the end be of them 
 who continue impenitent, and obey not the gos- 
 pel of God — Here is the plainest reference to the 
 above Jewish maxim ; and this, it appears, was 
 founded upon the text which St. Peter immediately 
 quotes. [The thought which lies at the root is 
 this : all men must come under the judgment of 
 God. His own family he brings first under it, 
 chastising them in this life, (lleb. xii, 7, 8;) let, 
 then, those who sutler for his sake glorify him for 
 it, as apprehending their part in his family, and as 
 mindful of the terrible lot of those whom his judg- 
 ment shall find impenitent and unchastised. It is 
 this latter thought, the escape from the weight of 
 God's hand, (chapter v, 6,) and not the thought of 
 the terrible vengeance which God will take on their 
 persecutors, which is adduced as the second ground 
 of comfort to the persecuted Christians. — Alford.] 
 
 18. And if the righteous scarcely be saved 
 — If it shall be with extreme difficulty that the 
 Christians shall escape from Jerusalem when the 
 Roman armies shall come against it with the full 
 commission to destroy it, where shall the un- 
 godly and the sinner appear — Where shall .he 
 proud Pharisaic boaster in his own outside holi- 
 ness, and the profligate transgressor of the laws of 
 God, show themselves, as having escaped the di- 
 vine vengeance ? The Christians, though with dif- 
 
 502 
 
 ly and the sinner appear? 19 Wherefore, let 
 them that suffer according to the will of God 
 "commit the keeping of their souls to Mm in 
 well doing, as unto a faithful Creator. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE elders which are among you I exhort, 
 who am also "an elder, and 'a witness of 
 the sufferings of Christ, and also c a partaker 
 
 m Prov. 11. 31: Luke 2:!. 31. » I'sa. 31. 5; Luke 23. 4fi; 
 
 2 Tim. 1. 12. a Philem. 9. h Luke 24. 28 ; Acts 1. 8, 22; 5. 32 ; 
 
 10. 39. c Rom. 8. 17. 18 ; Rev. 1. 9. 
 
 Acuity, did escape, every man; but not so the Jews, 
 whether found in Jerusalem or elsewhere. It is 
 rather strange, but it is a fact, that this verse is 
 the Septuagint translation of Prov. xi, 81 : Behold, 
 the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth; 
 much more the wicked and the sinner. For this the 
 Septuagint and St. Peter have, If the righteous 
 scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the 
 sinner appear P A remarkable latitude of con- 
 struction. I have on several occasions shown that 
 when Cestius Gallus came against Jerusalem many 
 Christians were shut up in it ; when he strangely 
 raised the siege the Christians immediately de- 
 parted to Pella in Cnelosyria, into the dominions of 
 King Agrippa, who was an ally of the Romans, and 
 there they were in safety, and it appears, from the 
 ecclesiastical historians, that they had but barely 
 time to leave the city before the Romans returned 
 under the command of Titus, and never left the 
 place till they had destroyed the temple, razed the 
 city to the ground, slain upward of a million of 
 those wretched people, and put an end to their civil 
 and ecclesiastical state. 
 
 19. Suffer according to the will of God — A 
 man " suffers according to the will of God " who suf- 
 fers for righteousness' sake ; and who, being re- 
 viled, reviles not again. Commit the keeping of 
 their souls — Place their lives confidently in his 
 hand, who, being their Creator, will also be their 
 Preserver, and keep that safely which is committed 
 to his trust. God is here represented as " faith- 
 ful," because he will always fulfill his promises, 
 and withhold no good thing from them that walk 
 uprightly. But they had no reason to hope that he 
 would care for their lives and souls unless they con- 
 tinued in well doing. He who is employed in 
 God's work will have God's protection. The path 
 of duty ever was, and ever will be, the only way of 
 safety. [If the sufferings of Christians, as Christ- 
 ians, are a sign of God's favour toward them, in 
 subjecting them to his judgments with a view to 
 their not perishing with the ungodly world, then 
 have they every reason to trust him in those suffer- 
 ings, and to take comfort, continuing in that same 
 well doing which is their very element and condi- 
 tion. — Alford.] 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER V. 
 1. The elders which are among you — In this 
 place the term Tipecjl'vTepoi, elders or presbyters, is 
 the name of an office. They were as pastors or 
 shepherds of the flock of God — the Christian people 
 among whom they lived. They were the same as 
 bishops, presidents, teachers, and deacons. (Acts 
 xiv, 23 ; 1 Tim. v, 17.) And that these also were the 
 same as bishops the next verse proves. Who am 
 also an elder — SwirpEoflvTEpog, a fellow elder; 
 one on a level with yourselves. Had he been the 
 prince of the apostles, and head of the Church, [and
 
 Ministers slimil.l not I.T.1 it 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 of the glory that shall he revealed: 2 d Feed 
 the flock of God e which is among you. taking 
 the oversight thereof ' not by constraint, but 
 willingly; enot for filthy lucre, but of a ready 
 mind ; 3 Neither as h ' being lords over k God's 
 heritage, but ' being ensamples to the nock. 
 
 ifjohn 21. 15, 16, 17 ; Acts 20. 28. — e Or, as much na in i/<>h 
 
 is. f\ Cor. 9. 17. g 1 Tim. 3. 3, 8 ; Tit. 1. 7. A Kzek. M. 
 
 4; Mitt. 20. 25, 26; 1 Cor. 3. a; 2 Cor. 1. 24. i Or, over- 
 ruling. 
 
 of an order of ministers higher that his fellow el- 
 ders,] could he have spoken of himself as he here 
 does ? It is true that the Roman pontiffs, in ail 
 their hulls, each styles himself serous servorum 
 Dei, servant of the servants of God, while each 
 affects to be rex return, king of kings, and vicar of 
 Jesus Christ. But the popes and the Scriptures 
 rarely agree. A witness of the sufferings 
 of Christ — He was with Christ in the garden, he 
 was with him when he was apprehended, and he 
 was with him in the high priest's hall. Whether 
 he followed him to the cross we know not ; prob- 
 ably he did not, for in the hall of the high priest he 
 had denied him most shamefully, and, having been 
 deeply convinced of the greatness of his crime, it 
 is likely he withdrew to some private place to 
 humble himself before (iod and to implore mercy. 
 lie could, however, with the strictest propriety, 
 say, from the above circumstances, that he was "a 
 witness of the sufferings of Christ. 1 ' A par- 
 taker of the glory — He had a right to it through 
 the blood of the Lamb ; he had a blessed anticipa- 
 tion of it by the power of the Holy Ghost ; and he 
 had the promise from his Lord and Master that he 
 should be with him in heaven to behold his glory. 
 (John xvii, 21, 24.) [The heavenly glory, the re- 
 ward of fidelity, will be common to you and me, if 
 you also will manifest due zeal in the discharge of 
 your duty. — Gerhard, in Lange.~\ 
 
 2. Feed the flock — Do not fleece the flock. 
 Taking the oversight — 'E-iokottovvtec, discharg- 
 ing the office of bishop or superintendent. This is 
 another proof that bishop and presbyter were the 
 same order in the apostolic times, though after- 
 ward they were made distinct. [Be pastors of the 
 flock that is amour/ you. He orders them to exer- 
 cise their pastoral office, not generally, nor cecu- 
 menically, but locally, as far as concerned that part 
 among them, (living where they lived.) The word 
 e-ioko-ovvteq, overseeing, which is wanting in many 
 MSS., though it tallies very much with Peter's parti- 
 cipial style, has perhaps been removed for ecclesias- 
 tical reasons, for fear TtpeafivTEpoi should be sup- 
 posed to be, as they really were, etcigko-oi. See 
 Alford.] Not by constraint — The office was labo- 
 rious and dangerous, especially in these times of 
 persecution; it is no wonder, then, that even those 
 who were best qualified for the office should strive to 
 excuse themselves with a genuine Nolo episcopari, " I 
 am unwilling to lie a bishop." Not for filthy lucre 
 — Could the office of a bishop in those early days, 
 and in the time of persecution, be a lucrative office ? 
 Does not the Spirit of God lead the apostle to speak 
 these things rather for posterity than for that time? 
 (See on 1 Tim. iii, 3.) But of a ready mind — 
 Doing all for Christ's sake, and through love to 
 immortal souls. 
 
 3. Neither as being lords over God's heri- 
 tage — This is the voice of St. Peter in his catholic 
 epistle to the catholic Church ! According to him 
 there are to be no lords over God's heritage: the 
 
 4 And when m the chief Shepherd shall ap- 
 pear, ye shall receive "a crown of glory "that 
 fadeth not away. 5 Likewise, ye younger, 
 submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea. tall 
 of you he subject one to another, and be clothed 
 with humility: for s God resist eth the proud, 
 
 /• Psa. 33. 12 : 74. 2. / Phil. 3. 17 ; 2 Thess 3. 9 : 1 Tim. 4. 12 ; 
 
 Tit, 2. 7. m lleli. 13. 20. ill Cor. 9. 25; 2 Tim. 4.8: James 
 
 I. 12. o Chap. 1.4. p Rom. 12.10; Eph.5.21; Phil.2.3. 
 
 7 James 4. 6. 
 
 bishops and presbyters who are appointed by the 
 Head of the Church are to feed the Bock, to guide 
 and to defend it, not to fleece and waste it; and 
 they are to look for their reward in another world, 
 and in the approbation of (iod in their consciences. 
 And in humility, self-abasement, sell -renunciation, 
 and heavenly-mindedness, they arc to be ensamples, 
 tvttoi, types, to the flock, moulds of a heavenly form 
 into which the spirits and lives of the flock may be 
 cast that they may come out after a perfect pattern. 
 [The word KCt.TaK.vpi.Evu refers properly to that kind of 
 jurisdiction which civil rulers or magistrates exer- 
 cise. This is an exercise of authority, (with Kara 
 in the sense of oppression,) as contradistinguished 
 from the influence of reason, persuasion, and ex- 
 ample. The latter pertains to the ministers of re- 
 ligion ; the former is forbidden to them. ... It 
 need scarcely to be said that this injunction has 
 been very little regarded in the Church. — Barnes.~\ 
 Preacher or minister, whosoever thou art, who 
 readest this, apply not the word to thy neighbour, 
 whether he be state-appointed, congregation-ap- 
 pointed, or self-appointed; take all to thyself; 
 mutato nomine de te fabula narratur. See that 
 thy own heart, views, and conduct, be right with 
 God ; and then proceed to the next verse. 
 
 4. When the chief Shepherd — That is, the 
 Lord Jesus Christ, whose is the flock, and who pro- 
 vides the pasture, and from whom, if ye are legally 
 called to the most awful work of preaching the 
 Gospel, ye have received your commission ; when 
 he shall appear to judge the world in righteous- 
 ness, ye who have fed his flock, who have taken 
 the superintendency of it, not by constraint, nor 
 for filthy lucre's sake — not as lords over the heri- 
 tage, but with a ready mind employing body, soul, 
 spirit, time, and talents in endeavouring to pluck 
 sinners as brands from eternal burnings, and build 
 up the Church of Christ on its most holy faith — ye 
 shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away, 
 an eternal nearness and intimacy with the ineffably 
 glorious Cod ; so that ye who have turned many to 
 righteousness shall shine, not merely as stars, but 
 as suns in the kingdom of your Father ! 
 
 5. Likewise, ye younger — Neurepot probably 
 means here inferiors, or those not in sacred offices ; 
 and it may be understood as referring to the people 
 at large, who are called to obey them that have the 
 rule over them in the Lord. (See Luke xxii. 26 ) 
 Be subject one to another — Strive all to serve 
 each other; let tin; pastors strive to serve the peo- 
 ple, and the people the pastors; and let there be 
 no contention but who shall do most to oblige and 
 profit all the rest. Be clothed with humilitv — 
 To be "clothed " with a thing or person is a Greek 
 mode of speech for being thai thing or person with 
 which a man is said to lie "clothed." lie ye truly 
 humble ; ami let your outward garb and conduct 
 be' a proof of the humility of your hearts. 'EyK6/j- 
 (So/ia, from the original word eynofifi&oaGde, signi- 
 fies often an outward ornamental garment, tied in 
 
 603
 
 L. M. 4064. A. D. 60. 
 Year of Rome, 813. 
 
 I. PETER. 
 
 Believers are called by God 
 unto his eternal glory. 
 
 and r giveth grace to the humble. 6 'Humble 
 yourself therefore under the mighty hand of 
 God, that he may exalt you in due time: 
 7 ' Casting all your care upon him ; for he 
 careth for you. 8 u Be sober, be vigilant; be- 
 cause v your adversary the devil, as a roaring 
 lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may 
 
 1 
 
 ■Th 
 
 i. 57. 
 
 15 ; 66 2. - 
 
 
 .s.T 
 
 lilies 4. 
 
 10. - 
 
 — t Psa 
 
 37 
 
 5 ; 55. '.'2 ; 
 
 Matt. 
 
 6 25 
 
 ; Luke 12. 
 
 11 
 
 .).) 
 
 ; Phil. - 
 
 . i.. 
 
 Heb. 13 
 
 0. 
 
 — « Luke 
 
 21 
 
 ::i 
 
 36; 
 
 1 Thess. 5 
 
 H 
 
 ol 
 
 ap. 1. 7. 
 
 
 v Job 1. 
 
 7; 
 
 2.2; Luke 
 
 22 
 
 31 
 
 Kev 
 
 . 12. 12. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 different places with knots or bows, etc. But it also 
 signifies the outward garment worn by servants, 
 slaves, girls, and shepherds, which was rather in- 
 tended to be the guard of the other garments than 
 an ornament to those thus dressed ; the apostle calls 
 upon them to be "subject" to each other; he de- 
 sires them to put on " humility," as the servant's 
 dress, that they may appear to be such as were 
 ready to serve ; so God resisteth the proud, and 
 giveth grace to the humble. The " proud." with 
 all their ornaments, God resists; while those who 
 are clothed with the humble garments he adorns. 
 
 6. Humble yourselves — Those who submit 
 patiently to the -dispensations of God's providence 
 he lifts up ; those who lift themselves up, God 
 thrusts down. If we humble not ourselves under 
 God's grace, he will humble us under his judg- 
 ments. Those who patiently submit to him he 
 exalts in due time; if his hand be mighty to de- 
 press, it is also mighty to exalt. 
 
 7. Casting all your care — THrv ukpifivav, your 
 anxiety, your distracting rare. Upon him; for he 
 careth for you — "Qrt. avrfi fj.e2.Et Kept vyuv,for he 
 concerns himself with the things thai interest you. 
 Whatever things concern a follower of God, whether 
 they be spiritual or temporal, or whether in them- 
 selves great or small, God concerns himself with 
 them: what affects them affects him; in all their 
 afflictions he is afflicted. (Psa. lv, 22.) 
 
 8. Be sober — X//i/'!/7t ; avoid drunkenness of 
 your senses, and drunkenness in your souls; be not 
 overcliarged with the concerns of the world. Be 
 sober-minded, watchful, circumspect. Be vigilant 
 — TprryoprjoaTE; awake and keep awake; be always 
 watchful. [Bengel gives to the former of these 
 words the sense of mental vigilance; to the latter, of 
 bodily; but the distinction is arbitrary and fanciful. 
 Both words apply properly to the mind, and here 
 mean nearly the same thing. See Alford.] [That 
 we may watch it concerns us to be sober. The in- 
 struction is military, and a drunken soldier is not 
 tit to be on the watch. — Lunge.] Your adversary 
 the devil — This is the reason why ye should be 
 sober and vigilant; ye have an ever active, impla- 
 cable, subtle enemy to contend with. As a roar- 
 ing lion — Satan tempts under three forms : 1 ) The 
 subtle serpent; to beguile our senses, pervert our 
 judgment, and enchant our imagination. 2) As an 
 angel of light; to deceive us with false views of 
 spiritual things, refinements in religion, and pre- 
 sumptions on the providence and grace of God. 
 3) As a roaring lion; to bear us down, and destroy 
 us by violent opposition, persecution, and death. 
 Walketh about — Traversing the earth. lie has 
 access to you everywhere ; he knows your feelings 
 and your propensities, and is aware of all your cir- 
 cumstances ; only God can know more and do more 
 than he, therefore your care must be cast upon (bid. 
 (See Job ii, 2.) Seeking •whom he may devour 
 — Tiva nara-in, whom he may gulp down; those 
 
 504 
 
 devour: 9 "Whom resist steadfast in the 
 faith, » knowing that the same afflictions are 
 accomplished in your brethren that are in the 
 world. 10 But the God of all grace, y who 
 hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ 
 Jesus, after that ye have suffered z a while, 
 make you perfect, ''stablish, strengthen, settle 
 
 w Eph. 6. 11. 13; James 4. 7. a- Acts 14. 22; 1 Thess. 3. 3; 
 
 2 Tim. 3. 12; chap. 2. 21. i/lCor. 1.9; 1 Tim. 6. 12. 2 2 Cor. 
 
 4. 17 ; chap. 1. 6. a lleb. 13. 21 ; Jude 24. b 2 Thess. 2. 17 ; 
 
 9 Q 
 
 who are sober and vigilant he cannot swallow 
 down; those wdio are drunken with the cares of 
 this world, etc., and are unwatchful, these he may 
 swallow down. [The use of the words rendered " be 
 sober," and " be vigilant," which primarily relate to 
 the avoidance of vinous intoxication, is evidently not 
 without a purpose, as is forcibly though quaintly 
 expressed in the next note, lis practical lesson is 
 total abstinence from all that intoxicates.] Hear 
 this, ye drunkards, topers, tipplers. Strong drink 
 is not only the way to the devil, but the devil's way 
 into you ; and ye are such as the devil particularly 
 may swallow down. 
 
 9. Whom resist — Stand against him, avTiaTjjre; 
 though invulnerable, he is not unconquerable; the 
 weakest follower of God can confound and over- 
 power him if he continue steadfast in the faith, 
 believing on the Son of God, and walking uprightly 
 before him. To a soul thus engaged, Satan can do 
 no damage. The same afflictions are accom- 
 plished in your brethren — It is the lot of all the 
 discipies of Christ to suffer persecution. The 
 brothi rhnod. adeMoTT/g, the Christian Church, every- 
 where is exposed to the assaults of men and devils; 
 vou are persecuted by the heathen among whom ye 
 live, and from among whom ye are gathered into 
 the fold of Christ : but even those who profess the 
 same faith with you, and who are resident among 
 the Jews, (for so I think kv udo/iip, in the world, is 
 here to be understood,) are also persecuted, both 
 heathens and Jews being equally opposed to the 
 Gospel. 
 
 10. But the God of all grace — The Fountain 
 of infinite compassion, mercy, and goodness ; the 
 God who is the most merciful and the most com- 
 passionate ; who is an exuberant Fountain of love 
 and compassion to all his intelligent offspring. 
 Who hath called us — By the preaching of the 
 Gospel. [Which was the first proof of his grace 
 toward you. — Alford.] Unto his eternal glory 
 — To the infinite felicity of the heavenly state. 
 [Etc t'/v aiuvtov aiirov do^ar. in respect 'o, i/i order 
 to (your obtaining) his eternal glory. .] By Christ 
 Jesus — Through the merit of bis passion and 
 death ; by the influence of his Holy Spirit; by the 
 precepts of his Gospel ; and by the splendour of his 
 own example. After that ye have suffered 
 awhile— -OAiyov tradovrac, having suffered a little 
 time; that is, while ye are enduring these persecu- 
 tions God will cause all to work together for your 
 good. Make you perfect — Karaprioet, arqpitjei, 
 adevuaei, tieye'/juaet. All these words are read in 
 the future tense, [and yet they are not less prayi ra 
 than predictions.] He will put you in complete joint, 
 as the timbers of a building; make you firm in 
 every part ; cramp and bind every part, so that 
 there shall be no danger of warping, splitting, or 
 falling. Cause all to rest evenly and firmly upon 
 the best and surest foundation, a holy temple in 
 
 I the Lord ; in a word, that ye may be complete in all
 
 Salutation from the Chi 
 Babylon. Beuedicl 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 M. 4fifi4. A. P. 60. 
 Ve:ir of Rome. 813. 
 
 you. 11 c To him be glory and dominion 
 for ever and ever. Amen. 12 d By Silvanus, 
 
 a faithful brother unto you, as I suppose, I 
 have e written briefly, exhorting, and testifying 
 f that this is the true grace of God wherein ye 
 
 cChap. 4. 11: Rev. 1. fi. d-2 Cur. 1. 1ft. e Heb. 13. 
 
 /Acts 20. 24; 1 Cor. lo. 1 ; 2 Pet. 1. 12. 
 
 the mind that was in Christ ; supported in all your 
 trials and difficulties ; strengthened to resist and 
 overcome all your enemies; and after all to abide, 
 firmly founded, in the truth of grace. All these 
 terms are architectural. 
 
 11. To him— The God of all grace. Be glory 
 — All honour ami praise be ascribed. Dominion 
 — The government of heaven, earth, and hell. For 
 ever — Through time. And ever — To eternity. 
 Amen. 
 
 12. By Silvanus, a faithful brother unto you, 
 as I suppose — To say the least of this translation, 
 it is extremely obscure, and not put together with 
 that elegance which is usual to our translators. I 
 see no reason why the clause may not be thus trans- 
 lated : 1 have written to ii<>k. as I consider briefly, 
 by Silvanus, the faithful In-other. This Silvanus 
 was, no doubt, the same as Silas, Paul's faith fid 
 companion in travel. (Acts xv, 40; xvi, 19.) Of 
 him St. Peter says: "I conclude him to be one by 
 whom I may safely send this letter ; who will take 
 care to travel through the different regions in Asia, 
 Pontus, Galatia, and Bithynia; read it in every 
 Church ; and leave a copy for the encouragement 
 and instruction of Christ's flock." And in such a 
 state of the Church, in such countries, no ordinary 
 person could have been intrusted with such a mes- 
 sage. ['$2c 7ioyi£ofj.ac, so I assume. The bearing of 
 the apostle's letter to the persecuted Christians of 
 Asia was a difficult and delicate service, for which, 
 on account of his recognised fidelity, the apostle 
 reckoned him to lie equal.] Exhorting — Calling 
 upon you to be faithful, humble, and steady. And 
 testifying — 'JhrcfiapTvpav, earnest/// witnessing that 
 it is the true grace — the genuine Gospel of Jesus 
 Christ, wherein ye stand, and in which ye should 
 persevere to the end. 
 
 13. The church that is at Babylon — After 
 considering all that has been said by learned men 
 ami critics on this place, I am quite of opinion that 
 the apostle does not mean Babylon in Egypt, nor 
 Jerusalem, nor Rome as figurative Babylon, but the 
 ancient celebrated Babylon in Assyria, which was, 
 as Dr. Benson observes, the metropolis of the east- 
 ern dispersion of the Jews. (See the preface.) 
 Elected together with you — ~Zvv£k1ekttj, fellow 
 elect, or elected jointly with you. Probably mean- 
 ing that they and the believers at Babylon received 
 the Gospel about the same time. On the election 
 of those to whom St. Peter wrote, see the notes on 
 chapter i, 2. [See also at the end of the chapter.] 
 And . . . Marcus my son — This is suppo-ed to 
 be the same person who is mentioned Acts xii, 12, 
 and who is known by the name of John Mark ; he 
 was sister's son to Barnabas, (Col. iv, 10,) his 
 mother's name was Mary, and he is the same who 
 wrote the gospel that goes under his name. He is 
 called here Peter's son, that is, according to the 
 faith, Peter having been probably the means of his 
 conversion. This is very likely, as Peter seems to 
 have been intimate at his mother's house. (See 
 Acts xii, 6-17.) 
 
 14. Greet ve one another with a kiss of 
 
 stand. Hi The church that is at Babylon, 
 
 elected together with you, saluteth you; and 
 so doth e Marcus my son. 1-1 h Greet ye one 
 .•mother with a kiss of charity. 'Peace be with 
 you all that are in Christ Jesus. Amen. 
 
 (/Acts 12. 12, 25. //Ron,, lit. lfi: 1 Cor. Ifi. 20; 2 Cor. 13. 1£ 
 
 1 Thess. 5. 2ii. i Eph. 6. 2.;. 
 
 charity — See the notes on Rom. xvi, 16, and on 
 1 Cor. xvi, 20. In the above places the kiss is called 
 a holy hiss ; here, en'/ i^uin ayanqg, n kiss of love ; 
 that is, a mark of their love to each other, in 
 order that misunderstandings might be prevented. 
 Peace be with you aU — May all prosperity, 
 spiritual and temporal, be with all that are in 
 Christ Jesus ; that are truly converted to him, 
 and live in his Spirit obedient to his will. Amen 
 — Is wanting, as usual, in the principal MSS. and 
 Versions. 
 
 As the true Church of Christ has generally been 
 in a state of suffering, the epistles of St. Peter have 
 ever been most highly prized by all believers. 
 That which we have just finished is an admirable 
 letter, containing some of the most important 
 maxims and consolations for the Church in the 
 wilderness. No Christian can read it without de- 
 riving from it both light an*l life. Ministers, es- 
 pecially, should study it well, that they may know 
 how to comfort their flocks when in persecution 
 or adversity. He never speaks to good effect in 
 any spiritual case who is not furnished out of the 
 divine treasury. God's words invite, solicit, and 
 command assent: on them a man may confidently 
 rely. The wordsof man may be true, but they are 
 not infallible. This is the character of God's 
 word alone. 
 
 ADDITIONAL NOTE. 
 
 [Two questions of considerable interest grow out 
 of the first clause of the 13th verse of this chapter. 
 1) Who were the persons or person indicated by the 
 words ij gwekAekt?/, and joining in the apostle'.-- sal- 
 utation '? and 2) What place is intended by the 
 words iv Ba($v?.G)vi ? The former is assumed in our 
 English Version to have been the local Church of 
 that place, though there is no word in the original 
 that answers to the word Church, (literally, she, the 
 fellow-elect,) ami with this rendering of our Version 
 the great majority of commentaries have agreed. Put 
 Alford, after granting that this interpretation may 
 be legitimate, remarks: "Still it seems hardly 
 probable that there should be joined together in 
 the same sending of salutation, an abstraction, 
 spoken of thus enigmatically, and a man, Marcus 
 I iv name. No mention has occurred in the epistle 
 of the word iia&noia, to which reference might be 
 made." In view of these and other subsidiary 
 considerations, Alford favours the opinion, which 
 has had a respectful backing, that the person here 
 referred to was no other than Peter's own wife, the 
 adeTupr) yvvfj (sister woman) whom Peter jrepid] 
 (led about,) (see 1 Cor. ix, 5,) of whom he speaks in 
 this somewhat indirect way. Lange, though rather 
 dissenting, grants that "the view of thTise who ex- 
 plain it of Peter's wife, or some noble lady of 
 Babylon, has in its favour the circumstance that 
 the names of individuals are mentioned immediately 
 before and after this salutation." The Speaker's 
 Commentary, which represents no inconsiderable 
 share of the best English biblical scholarship of 
 the day, remarks : "But for the consent of old and 
 
 505
 
 I. PETER. 
 
 Additional remarks or 
 of this chapte 
 
 modern interpreters, the word lady or woman would 
 naturally be supplied ; and the elect lady of 2 John 1 
 comes nearest to the expression. There, however, 
 the lady probably means the Church addressed by 
 St. John. The question must therefore remain an 
 open one." 
 
 [The second question, What should be understood 
 by the words tv BafivAtlivc, (in Babylon ?) is equally 
 difficult to answer. Many commentators have quite 
 naturally assumed that the words are to be accepted 
 in their literal sense ; and such hold that Peter 
 was then in the Assyrian capital ministering to the 
 local Church whose salutation he sends with his 
 epistle. Some things in the epistle has been con- 
 strued as favouring this opinion; but both the in- 
 ternal and the collateral evidence seem to be against 
 it, while the entire lack of external evidence in its 
 favour renders that opinion especially doubtful. 
 Though there were probably Jews in considerable 
 numbers in Babylon in the days of the apostles, 
 absolutely nothing is said of a Christian Church 
 among them. The general consent of Christian 
 antiquity favoured the opinion that Peter passed 
 the later years of his lifetime, not in the far East, 
 but in the West, and at last suffered martyrdom at 
 Rome. It was evidently merely to escape from the 
 difficulties of the subject, that the insignificant Ro- 
 man camp in Egypt called Babylon was conjectured 
 to be the place of the writing of this epistle. In 
 
 favour of the symbolical use of the name, with 
 Rome for the antitype, the Speaker's Commentary 
 remarks: " Babylon was well known in Asia Minor 
 during the lifetime of John as the symbolical des- 
 ignation of Rome. Accordingly, we find an absolute 
 consensus of ancient interpreters that here Babylon 
 must be understood as equivalent to Rome. There 
 were good reason why such a name shoidd be here 
 given to it. All the persecutions then impending — 
 in fact, already in progress — came from the city 
 which succeeded Babylon as the type and centre of 
 anti-Christian forces. The Church elect, together 
 with other Churches, suggested the remarkable con- 
 trast ; from that little community, faithful and loved 
 by all, came the salutation of peace in anlithesis 
 to the bowlings of persecution. We adopt without 
 the least misgivings this explanation of the word as 
 alone according with the mind of the apostle, and 
 with the testimony of the early Church." 
 
 [It is quite evident that a pretty good case can be 
 made out in favour of most of the opinions that 
 have been given as answers to the questions above 
 propounded ; and while the great leaders of opinions 
 continue to be divided, the lesser lights may be free 
 to select among them the theory that may please them 
 best, or, better still, suspend their decision, which 
 may be done in this case without incurring any 
 great danger. The value of the epistle is not 
 affected by the place of its writing.]
 
 PREFACE TO THE SECOND EPISTLE 
 
 OF 
 
 PETEE. 
 
 rpHE question of both the genuineness and the authenticity of what is known 
 -L as the second epistle of Peter must for the present be regarded as unsettled, 
 with a decided and increasing balance of proofs against them. It is conceded 
 that of all the books of the New Testament it is the one for which the smallest 
 amount of external evidence can be produced, while at the same time it offers in- 
 ternally not a few formidable difficulties. The unfavourable side of this question 
 is presented by Farrar, not, however, as a partisan or advocate, but apparently 
 judicially and fairly, as follows : 
 
 " As regards the external evidence, the epistle is not quoted, and is not certainly 
 referred to by a single writer, in the first or second century. Neither Polycarp, 
 nor Ignatius, nor Barnabas, nor Clement of Rome, nor Justin Martyr, nor The- 
 ophilus of Antioch, nor Irenseus, nor Tertullian, nor Cyprian, can be proved even 
 to allude to it. It is not found in the Peshito-Syriac, nor in the Vetus Itala. It 
 is unknown to the Muratorian Canon. During the first two centuries the only 
 traces of it, if traces they can be called, are to be found in the " Pastor " of Hennas, 
 and in a recently discovered passage of Melito of Sardis ; but even these are of 
 so distant and general a nature that it is impossible to determine whether we 
 should regard them as reminiscenses of the language of the epistle, or accidental 
 approximations to it. If the writers of the first and second centuries did, indeed, 
 know the epistle, it is inconceivable that not one of them should have hinted at 
 the authority which it would have derived from the name of its author. When we 
 come down to later writers, we find, that in all his learned works, it is not once 
 alluded to by St. Clement of Alexandria, who even seems to exclude it by the 
 expression, ' Peter in the epistle.' Origen knew of it, but seems to question its 
 genuineness, though in the loose (and unreliable) Latin translation of Rufinus he 
 refers to it as Peter's, in a casual quotation. Firmian, (A.D. 270,) a friend of 
 Origen, in a letter to Cyprian, (extant only in a Latin version,) refers to it, but 
 neither is this letter beyond suspicion, nor the reference decisive. Didymus, in 
 a Latin translation of his Commentary, calls the epistle l falsata? (spurious,) and 
 says that .'it is not in the Canon.' Eusebius knew of it, but only recognised one 
 genuine epistle. It was rejected by Theodore of Mopsuestia, and was still re- 
 garded as uncertain in the times of St. Gregory of Nazianzen, (about the middle 
 of the fourth century.) . . . The first epistle was almost universally recognised 
 by the ancient Church ; the second was ignored for nearly two hundred years, 
 and next controverted for more than a hundred years longer. But during 
 the fourth century it began to be looked upon more favourably, and 
 
 *507
 
 PREFACE TO THE SECOND EPISTLE OF PETER. 
 
 it was passively accepted by Athanasius, Basil, Jerome, and Augustine, 
 and at length it was accepted as canonical by the Council of Laodicea, (A.D. 363,) 
 and its canonicity was confirmed by those of Hippo (A.D. 393) and of Carthage, 
 (A. D. 396.) . . . The intrinsic value of the epistle, and the growing habit of 
 loosely referring to it as 'St. Peter's,' would lead to its gradual admission with- 
 out any further debate, at a period when competent critics were few and far 
 between. St. Jerome, wmile admitting its doubtfulness, did more than any other 
 man to hasten its acceptance by admitting it into the Vulgate, (which it seems he 
 did on his own individual authority.) 
 
 "During the thousand years from the fifth to the fifteenth century, while crit- 
 icism was in a state of universal torpor, and the Church would tolerate no breath 
 of dissent, of course the proper canonicity of the epistle was not once called in 
 question. But as soon as this torpor was broken by the first breath of the 
 Reformation, doubts as to its genuineness began to revive. Erasmus, Luther, 
 and Calvin freely expressed them, and they were shared by Cajetan, Grotius, 
 Scaliger, and Salmasius. In modern times, since the days of Semler, an increasing 
 number of critics have decided against its genuineness — Baur, Schegler, Hil- 
 genfeld, Meyerhoff, Bleek, Davidson, Weiss, and Huther; while Bertholdt, 
 Ullmaun, Bunsen, and even Lange, hold that though genuine in part it has been 
 largely interpolated. (A not improbable conclusion.) Renan, with characteristic 
 egotism, pronounces it to be ' certainly apocryphal, and without a single 
 defender among true critics ;' a remark that is not to be commended while such 
 men as Schmid, Guericke, Windeschmann, Theirsch, Alford, and Bruckner are 
 among those who accept the epistle as genuine. 
 
 "An entirely new and very formidable difficulty in this case has recently been 
 brought to light by Dr. Abbott, who makes it certain by abundant proofs, that 
 either the author of this epistle had read Josephus, (A.D. 93,) or else Josephus 
 had read the epistle, the latter supposition being scarcely supposable. The re- 
 semblances between the writer of the epistle and the Jewish historian cannot be 
 accidental,' 1 '' (being found not only in words and phrases, but in historical facts 
 and incidents related or referred to by both.) 
 
 Against this array of adverse criticism Bishop Wordsworth appeals to the 
 authority of the Councils that placed this epistle in the Canon, and to the 
 authority of the Church which has held it in its place through all the subsequent 
 ages. " There is scarcely a single writing of all antiquity, sacred or profane," he 
 affirms, "which must not be given up as spurious if the second epistle of 
 St. Peter be not received as a genuine writing of the apostle, and as a part of 
 Holy Writ." And much in the same spirit he adds, that we receive it on " the 
 testimony of the universal Church, the spouse and body of Christ, enlightened by 
 the Holy Ghost;" and still further, and more strangely, he adds, that if this be 
 " not the word of God, but the work of an impostor, then, with reverence be it 
 said, Christ's promise to his Church has failed, and the Holy Spirit has not been 
 given to guide her into all truth:" which Canon Farrar characterizes as "not 
 argument, but dogmatizing traditionalism," and justly adds, that " such assertions, 
 if listened to, would render criticism impossible, and reduce all inquiry to medi- 
 aeval torpor." The question at issue is one that must be settled, not by ecclesias- 
 tical authority but by scholarly criticism, and at that tribunal the decision of the 
 Council of Laodicea would not be of much avail, and the silent acquiescence of 
 the Church of the Dark Ages of none at all. 
 
 Among the advocates of the genuineness of this epistle, none is more worthy 
 
 508
 
 PREFACE TO THE SECOXD EPISTLE OF PETER. 
 
 of a respectful hearing than Dean Alford, who, at the end of an elaborate dis- 
 cussion of the whole ease, remarks, quite modestly, and with characteristic cau- 
 tion: 
 
 "Our general conclusion from all that has preceded must be in favour of the 
 genuineness and canonicity of this second epistle ; acknowledging, at the same 
 time, that the subject is not without considerable difficulty. . . . Our epistle is one 
 of those later fruits of the great outpouring of the Spirit on the apostles, which, 
 not being intrusted to the custody of any one Church or individual, required some 
 considerable time to become generally known ; which when known, w r ere sus- 
 pected, bearing, as they necessarily did, traces of their late origin, and notes of 
 polemical argument ; but of which, as apostolic and inspired writings, there never 
 was, when once they became known, any general doubt, and which, as the sacred 
 Canon became fixed, acquired and have since maintained their due and provi- 
 dential place among the books of the New Testament.'" 
 
 Neander decides against the genuineness of the second epistle on internal 
 evidence, drawn from both its matter and manner, while others, scarcely his in- 
 feriors, find in these a strong argument in its favour. He remarks: "' The principal 
 marks of the spuriousness of this epistle are the difference of the whole character 
 and style compared with the first, and the use here made of the epistle of Jude, 
 which is partly copied and partly imitated. . . . The allusion to the words of 
 Christ, (John xxi, 18,) in chapter i, 14, is brought forward in an unsuitable manner. 
 . . . Among the circumstances that excite suspicion is the manner in which the 
 same false teachers who, in the epistle of Jude are described as actually existing, 
 are here represented, with prophetic warning, as about to appear. The doubts 
 respecting the second coming of Christ, occasioned by the (prevalent) expectation 
 of the immediate occurrence of that event in the first age of the Church, and the 
 disappointment of that expectation, lead us to recognise a later period (as its 
 date.) What is said of the origin of the world from water, and its destruction by 
 fire, does not correspond to the simplicity and practical spirit of the apostolic 
 doctrine, but rather indicates the spirit of a later age. [The notion of the destruc- 
 tion of the world by fire was, as to its origin, certainly not apostolical nor rabbinical, 
 but of the Stoics.] So also the application of the word " Scriptures," ygatpai, to 
 the epistles of St. Paul, a term wdiich in the apostolic epistles is always used only 
 to designate the writings of the Old Testament, is an expression which one apostle 
 would certainly not have used respecting the epistles of another apostle." 
 Neander, therefore, concludes that the epistle was written not before the latter 
 part of the second century, and that it was designed to combat the then growing 
 Gnostic heresies. The use of the names of certain apostles or early Church 
 Fathers, to give authority to later writings, was not an unusual practice in the 
 second and third centuries. 
 
 The argument for the other side is briefly but felicitously expressed in the 
 introduction to Lange's Commentary on this epistle : "The second epistle is an 
 integral part of the first, which deals with external enemies, while the second 
 cautions against internal adversaries of the truth. The two cannot w r ell be 
 separated from each other. The doctrinal contents of the second epistle essen- 
 tially agree with the first in the conception of Christianity as the fulfilment of 
 Old Testament prophecy, (chapter i, 19-21,) and in the prominence given to the 
 coining of Christ. ... It is not inferior in spirit, power, vivacity, and glowing 
 zeal against evil ; in originality and wealth of thought ; and no production of the 
 second century can compare with it." From these considerations the writer last 
 
 500
 
 PREFACE TO THE SECOND EPISTLE OF PETER. 
 
 quoted concludes that the balance of the arguments are in favour of the genuine- 
 ness of the epistle. 
 
 RELATION OF THIS EPISTLE TO THAT OF JUDE. 
 
 On this subject the writer last quoted from remarks : " The second chapter 
 of the present epistle to the beginning of the third chapter, and the epistle of 
 Jude, exhibit so remarkable an agreement, that the dependence of one epistle on 
 the other is undeniable. (See Jude, verses 4, 6-13, 16; compared with 2 Peter ii, 
 1, 4, 6, 10-13, 15, 17; and Jude 17, IS, with 2 Peter iii, 2, 3.) The view which 
 makes the epistle of Jude the original that was used by the author of the second 
 epistle of Peter has become dominant in modern times." It is alleged that the 
 language of Jude is more simple, and that many passages in second Peter cannot 
 be thoroughly understood without the light derived from the epistle of Jude ; but 
 this assumption is earnestly and learnedly opposed by a considerable number of 
 modern critics of the highest authority. The question, however, turns largely 
 upon the previous one of the genuineness and authenticity of second Peter, for if 
 that is decided against, the priority of Jude will be readily conceded, while if that 
 is maintained, the question of priority is still an open one, with, however, a decided 
 pi-eponderance in favour of the claims of Peter's epistle. Alford {Prolegomena, 
 section 3) pronounces for the priority of Jude, while Wordsworth reaches just 
 the opposite conclusion. The authorities who favour the genuineness of this 
 epistle are very much divided over this question of priority, while those who 
 oppose are generally unanimous in favour of Jude, which is certainly favoured by 
 internal evidence. 
 
 There can be no question that the results of modern criticism, which is the 
 only competent authority in such a case, are increasingly unfavourable to the 
 Petrine authorship of this epistle, though the intimation that it may have been 
 framed, with additions, out of some writing of Peter, has some things in its 
 favour. Its place seems, on the whole, to be clearly determined to be among " the 
 other books " of which St. Jerome says, " The Church doth read [them] for example 
 of life and instruction of manners, but yet doth it not apply them to establish any 
 doctrine.'''' It certainly is not one of the books " of whose authority was never 
 
 any doubt in the Church." 
 
 510
 
 THE SECOND GENERAL EPISTLE 
 
 OF 
 
 PETEE. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 SIMON "PETER, ca servant and an apostle 
 of Jesus Christ, to them that have ob- 
 tained 'like precious faith with us through the 
 righteousness c of God and our Saviour Jesus 
 Christ: 2 d Grace and peace be multiplied 
 
 a Or, Symeon. Acts 15. 14. & Rom. 1. 12: 2 Cor. 4. 13: 
 
 Kph. 4. 5; Titus 1. 4. c(?r. of our God and Saviour, Titus 
 
 2. 13. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER I. 
 1 . Simon Peter — Symeon, rather Y/ojie 6v, is the 
 reading of many of the Versions and most import- 
 ant MSS. [Its occurrence (in this form) is, at all 
 events, a testimony in favour of the independence 
 of the second epistle. It was not adapted to the 
 first ; which, considering that it refers to the first, 
 is a note, however slight, on the side of its genuine- 
 ness. — Alford.] And although the surname of 
 Peter occurs upward of seventy times in the New 
 Testament, it is invariably read Hi/xuv, Simon, 
 except here and in Acts xv, 14, where James gives 
 him the name of Symeon. A servant — Employed 
 in his Master's work. And an apostle — [In the 
 second century the term apostle was applied to itiner- 
 ant evangelists.] Precious faith — 'laon/uov iriariv, 
 valuable faith. [" Faith," that is, substance of truth 
 believed; objective, not subjective. — Alj'ord.] The 
 word " precious " literally signifies valuable, of 
 great price, costly. That " faith " must be of infi- 
 nite value, the grace of which Christ purchased by 
 his blood ; and it is of infinite value also because it 
 is the instrument by which the soul is saved. With 
 us — God having given to you, believing Gentiles, 
 the same faith and salvation which he had given to 
 vs, believing Jews. Through the righteousness 
 of God — Through his method of bringing a lost 
 world to salvation by Jesus Christ. [Here we find this 
 writer setting forth the eminently but not peculiarly 
 Pauline doctrine of salvation through Christ, in 
 Paul's own and favourite terms.] (See on Rom. iii, 
 21-26.) Of God and our Saviour Jesus 
 Christ — Toil Qeov fjyuv nai awTijpoc 'Iqaov Xpiorov, 
 literally, of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ. St. 
 Peter here calls Jesus Christ God, even in the full 
 sense of the word, with the article prefixed. [The 
 translation should be, Of our God and the Sav- 
 iour Jesus Christ. It is possible to explain both 
 " God " and " Saviour" here as titles given to Jesus 
 Christ; . . . but as the Father and Son are spoken 
 of in contradistinction in the next verse, it is better 
 to preserve the distinction here also. — Speaker's 
 Commentary.] 
 
 unto you through the knowledge of God, and 
 of Jesus our Lord, 3 According as his divine 
 power hath given unto us all things that per- 
 tain unto life and godliness, e through the 
 knowledge of him f that hath called usM<> glory 
 and virtue : 4 ''Whereby are given unto us 
 
 d Dan. 4. 1 ; 6. 2-3 ; 1 Peter 1. 2 : Jude 2. e .Tnlm 17. 3. — ■ 
 
 yiThees. 2. 12; 4. 7: 2Thess. 2. 14: 2 Tim. 1. 9; 1 Peter 2. 9; 
 
 3. 9. flOr, by— —hi Cor. 7.'l 
 
 2. Grace and peace be multiplied — [See 
 1 Pet. i, 2.] Through the knowledge of God 
 — 'Ev enr/vucrei, by the acknowledging of God and 
 of Jesus our .Lord. [The word denotes acknowl- 
 edgment^ a knowledge which enters into an object 
 and takes affectionate cognizance of it. — Lange.] 
 
 8. As his divine power — The power of Christ, 
 which no power can resist, because it is truly divine 
 — and which properly belongs to the infinite God- 
 head. Hath given unto us — Aedupfffiivne, hath 
 endowed us with the gifts ; or, hath gifted us, as I>r. 
 Macknight translates it, who observes that it refers 
 to the gifts which the Holy Spirit communicated to 
 the apostles to enable them to bring men to life 
 and godliness. [TJiat his divine power having 
 granted to you <rfl things, those for life and godli- 
 ness, through the perception (recognition) of him 
 Jtaving called(wbo hath called) you to his own glory 
 and virtue. (The whole sentence to this point is 
 held by the force of the initial particle, wc, carry- 
 ing the chief affirmation of the sentence over into 
 the latter clauses.) Aia fioi;y nai apery, belong to 
 God, (rov natecavTog,) not to us, as seems to be im- 
 plied in our English Version.] [&6£;7] {glory) is the 
 essential conception of the Godhead ; aperij, {virtue,) 
 the manifestation of God working in and for be- 
 lievers. (Eph. i, 17.) — Speaker's Com.] 
 
 4. Whereby (that is, by his glory and virtue) are 
 given unto us — By his own glorious power he hath 
 freely given unto us exceeding great and invaluable 
 promises. ['Erra;-; t?.uara, engagements, assured 
 promises.] The Jews were distinguished in a very 
 particular manner by the promises which they, re- 
 ceived from God; the promises to Abraham, Isaac, 
 Jacob, Moses, and the prophets. God promised to 
 be their God ; to protect, support, and save them ; 
 to give them what was emphatically called the 
 promised land ; and to cause the Messiah to spring 
 from their race. St. Peter intimates to these (un- 
 tiles that God had given unto them also exceeding 
 great promises; superlatively those which came 
 through the great price : enrolment with the Church 
 of God, redemption in and through the blood of the 
 
 511
 
 A. M. 4064. A. T). 6 
 Year of Rome, 313. 
 
 II. PETER. 
 
 r is to be constantly 
 : to his graces. 
 
 exceeding great and precious promises; that 
 by these ye might be 'partakers of the divine 
 nature, '< having escaped the corruption that is 
 in the world through lust. 5 And besides this, 
 1 giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue ; 
 and to virtue, '"knowledge; ti And to knowl- 
 edge, temperance; and to temperance, pa- 
 tience; and to patience, godliness; 7 And to 
 godliness, brotherly kindness ; and n to broth- 
 
 J2 Cor. 3. 18.; K|ih.4 21; Heb. 12. 10 ; 1 John 3. 2. tChap. 
 
 2. L8, l'ii. 1 Chap. 3. IS. ml Peter 3. 7. «Gal. ij. 10; 
 
 1 TIipss. 3. 12; 5. 15; 1 John 4. 21. 
 
 cross, tlie continual indwelling influence of the Holy 
 Ghost, and eternal rest at the right hand of God. 
 It 'was of considerable consequence to the comfort 
 of the Gentiles that these promises were made to 
 them, and that salvation was not exclusively for the 
 Jews. That by these ye might be partakers 
 — As we have partaken of an earthly, sensual, and 
 devilish nature, so the design of God by Christ is 
 to remove tins, ami to make us " partakers " of the 
 divine nature; and save us from all the corrup- 
 tion in principle and fact which is in the world ; 
 the source of which is lust, eTudv/j.ia, [whether 
 appetites or passions,l irregular, unreasonable, in- 
 ordinate, and impure desire ; desire to have, to do, 
 and to be what God lias prohibited, and what 
 would he ruinous and destructive to us were the 
 desire to lie granted. [As Christ's human nature 
 partook of the divine nature, so believers are to be- 
 come partakers of the divine nature. The reference, 
 consequently, is not only to a moral resemblance, 
 an ideal communion, but to a veritable communion of 
 being, which begins here below in our regeneration, 
 (1 John i, 8,) but will be consummated hereafter. 
 — Calvin.] This blessing may be expected only by 
 those who are continually escaping, airo<j>vy6vTEg, 
 flying from, the corruption that is in the world and 
 in themselves. God purifies no heart in which sin 
 is indulged. 
 
 5. And besides this — [Kat avrb tovto, and also 
 by this very thing, equivalent to wherefore.] Giv- 
 ing all diligence — Furnishing (on your part) all 
 earnestness and activity; the original is very em- 
 phatic. Add to your faith — 'Era ^opnyrjaarE, ?""l 
 up hand in hand; alluding, as most think, to the 
 chorus in the Grecian dance, who danced with 
 joined hands. (See on 2 Cor. ix, 10.) Yourfaith — 
 That faith in .Jesus by which ye have been led to 
 embrace the whole Gospel, and by which ye have 
 the evidence of things unseen. [Cod's gift of faith 
 is to be evidenced (and turned to account) by its 
 fruits ; and the apostle begins the enumeration of 
 these with a word in common use among heathen 
 writers for the summit of moral excellence. — 
 Speaker's Com.~\ Virtue — 'Aperr/v, courage or 
 fortitude. [The energy to" be used in the Christian 
 calling.] Knowledge — True wisdom, by which 
 your faith will be increased, and your courage di- 
 rected and preserved from degenerating into rash- 
 ness. 
 
 6. Temperance — {Self-control,) keeping every 
 sense under proper restraints, and never permitting 
 the animal part to subjugate the rational. Patience 
 — Bearing all trials and difficulties with an even 
 mind, enduring in all, and persevering through all. 
 | No mere callous, stoical indifference, but in it, and 
 constituting the main part of it, is to be that true 
 fear of God which makes men ready to endure 
 hardships and wrongs for his sake and in his ser- 
 vice.] Godliness — Piety toward God; a deep, 
 
 512 
 
 erly kindness, e 
 be in you, and 
 ye shall neither 
 the knowledge 
 9 But he that 
 and cannot see 
 that he was 
 JO Wherefore 
 srence 5 to make 
 
 uirity. 8 For if these things 
 abound, they make you that 
 lie "barren Pnor unfruitful in 
 of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 lacketh these things i is blind, 
 afar off, and hath forgotten 
 
 r purged from his old sin-. 
 
 the rather, brethren, give dili- 
 
 your calling and election sure: 
 
 <lr. idle. /.> John 15. 
 
 , 11. /• Eiili. 5. 26; lleb. 
 
 . ID. 
 
 Titus 3. 14. q\ John 2. 
 
 14; 1 John 1. 7. .si John 
 
 reverential, religious fear; not only worshipping 
 God with every becoming outward act. but adoring, 
 loving, and magnifying him in the heart; a dispo- 
 sition indispensably necessary to salvation. 
 
 7. Brotherly kindness — <bi/.adt'/(piav, love of ' 
 the brotherhood — the strongest attachment to 
 Christ's flock ; feeling each as a member of your 
 own body. Charity — 'Ay&Tvqv, love to the whole 
 human race, even to your persecutors; love to Cod 
 and the brethren they had ; love to all rn.ank.ind 
 they must also have. [See note on 1 Cor. xiii, 1.] 
 
 8. For if these things be in you, and abound 
 — If ye possess all these graces, and they increase 
 and abound in your souls, they will make (show) 
 you to be neither apyovc, idle, nor anapirovc, un- 
 fruitful, (not barren,) in t/u acknowledgment of 
 our Lord Jesus Christ. The graces already men- 
 tioned by the apostle are in themselves active prin- 
 ciples ; he who was possessed of them, and had them 
 abounding in him, could not be inactive ; and he who 
 is not inactive in the way of life must he fruitful. 
 
 '.». But he that lacketh these things — He who 
 professes to have faith in God, and has not added 
 to that faith fortitude, knowledge, temperance, pa- 
 tience, godliness, brotherly kindness, and universal 
 love ; is blind — his understanding is darkened, and 
 he cannot see afar off, /ivund^uv, shutting his eyes 
 against the lig/it, winking, not able to look truth in 
 the face, nor to behold that God "horn he once 
 knew was reconciled to him ; and thus it appears he 
 is wilfully blind, and hath forgotten that he 
 ■was purged from his old sins; has at last, 
 through his non-improvement of the grace which he 
 received from Cod, his faith ceasing to work by 
 love, lost the evidence of things not seen. By these 
 means darkness and hardness increase, memory 
 becomes indistinct and confused, till at length the 
 work of God on the soul is forgotten, next denied, 
 and at hist it is asserted that the knowledge of sal- 
 vation by the remission of sins is impossible, and 
 that no man can be saved from sin in this life. In- 
 deed, some go so far as to deny the Lord that 
 bought them: to renounce Jesus Christ as having 
 made atonement for them ; and finish their career 
 of apostasy by utterly denying his Godhead. Many 
 cases of this kind have I known; and they are all 
 the consequence of believers not continuing to be 
 workers together with God, after they had expe- 
 rienced his pardoning love. [Want of spirituality 
 is the fruitful occasion of low views respecting re- 
 ligious things, and of the rationalizing tendencies of 
 thought so often detected in unspiritual dabblers 
 in such matters ; and nothing else so surely and 
 thoroughly corrects any tendencies to false notions 
 as the baptism of the Holy Ghost.] 
 
 10. Wherefore — Seeing the danger of apostasy, 
 and the fearful end of them who obey not the 
 Gospel, and thus receive the grace of God in vain. 
 Give all [jiallov, all the more] diligence — 2~ov-
 
 ■ calling. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 A. M. 4(164. A. t>. 60. 
 Y«ir of Rome, 813. 
 
 for if ye do these things, 'ye shall never fall: 
 
 11 For SO an entrance' shall be ministered un- 
 to you abundantly into the everlasting king- 
 dom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 
 
 12 Wherefore "I will not be negligent to put 
 you always in remembrance of these things, 
 v though ye know them, and be established in 
 the present truth. 13 Yea. 1 think it meet, 
 
 tChap. 3. 17. — u Horn. 15. 14, 15: Phil. 3. 1; chap. 3. 1; 1 John 
 2. 21 ; Jaded. r 1 Peter 5. 12; chap. 3. 17. «>2Cor. 5. 1,4. 
 
 Saaare, hasten, he deeply careful, labour with the 
 most intense purpose of soul. To make your call- 
 ing — From deep Gentile darkness into the marvel- 
 lous light of the (Jospel. And election — Your 
 being chosen, in consequence of obeying the heavenly 
 culling, to lie the people and Church of God. In- 
 stead of KAijcriv, culling, the Codex Alexandrians has 
 '/r/aiv, consolation. Sure — Bcflaiav, firm, 
 solid: for your calling to believe the Gospel, and 
 your election to be members of the Church of 
 Christ, will he ultimately unprofitable to you un- 
 less you hold fast what you have received by add- 
 ing to your faith virtue, knowledge, temperance, 
 etc. [Let it be your lifelong effort to render cer- 
 tain your "calling" and "election." How this is to 
 be reconciled with the fact that our K/.i)aic (calling) 
 and ticXoyq (election) proceed entirely and freely from 
 God would not be difficult to show, but it must not 
 be done, as Calvin attempts it, by wresting plain 
 words and context. They must be made " sure," for 
 both are insecure, (in as far as we look on them 
 from the lower side, not able to penetrate into the 
 counsels of God,) unless established by holiness of 
 life. There is, indeed, no uncertainty in God's fore- 
 knowledge and purpose ; but in our vision and ap- 
 prehension of them, as they exist in and for us, 
 there is much, until they are made secure in the 
 way here pointed out. (Phil, ii, 3.) See Alford.] 
 [Concerning the methods in which the divine coun- 
 sels are made effective, the wisest of men are very 
 incompetent judges, and all that can be known of 
 them must he learned from God's word and dispen- 
 sations. While on his own side his counsels stand 
 sure, and are not subject to contingencies, on ours the 
 things that belong to salvation are, by God him- 
 self, conditioned upon our faith and obedience.] 
 For if ye do these things — If ye be careful and 
 diligent to work out your own salvation through 
 the grace which ye have already received from God ; 
 ye shall never fall, oh /xy -raicyrk ttotc, ye shall at 
 no time stumble or fall. But they who do not these 
 things shall fall ; and therefore there is nothing 
 absolute and unconditional in their election. He 
 who does not by good works confirm his calling and 
 election, will soon have neither ; and although no 
 good works ever did purchase or ever can purchase 
 the kingdom of God, yet no soul can ever scriptu- 
 rally expect to see God who has them not. / was 
 hungry, mid ye gave me no meat; thirst//, and ye 
 gave nn- no drink: go, ye cursed. I was hungry. 
 and ye gave me incut, etc.: come, ye blessed. 
 
 1 1 . For so an entrance shall be ministered 
 — If ye give diligence, and do not fall, an abundant, 
 free, honourable, and triumphant entrance sjiall he 
 ministered to you into the everlasting kingdom. 
 There seems to be here an allusion to the triumphs 
 granted by the Romans to their generals who had 
 distinguished themselves by putting an end to a 
 war, or doing some signal military service to the 
 State. (See on 2 Cor. ii, 14.) 
 Vol. II. — 33 
 
 w as long as I am in this tabernacle, "to stir 
 you up by putting yon in remembrance; 
 14 >' Knowing that shortly I must put off this 
 my tabernacle, even as z our Lord Jesus Christ 
 hath showed me. 15 Moreover 1 will en- 
 deavour that ye may he able after my decease 
 to have these things always in remembrance. 
 
 ./•Chap. 3. 1. (/See Deut. 4. 21, 22; 31. 14: 2 Tim. 4. R. ■ 
 
 ^ Juhn 21. 18, 19. a I Cor. 1. 17; 2. 1,4; 2 Cor. 2. 17; 4. 2. 
 
 12. Wherefore I will not be negligent — 
 
 Peter had already written one epistle, this is the 
 second; and probably he meditated more, should he 
 he spared. He plainly saw that there was no way 
 of entering into eternal life but that which he de- 
 scribed. Though ye know them — Although 
 those to whom he wrote knew and were established 
 in the present truth, yet he deemed it necessary to 
 bring these things frequently to their recollec- 
 tion. 
 
 13. As long as I am in this tabernacle — By 
 "tabernacle" we are to understand his body. The 
 body was not Peter, but Peter dwelt in that body. 
 He believed his soul to he quite distinct from his 
 body. As a man's house is the place where he 
 dwells, so the body is the house where the soul 
 dwells. 
 
 14. Knowing that shortly I must put off — 
 Peter plainly refers to the conversation between 
 our Lord and himself related John xxi, 18, 19. Ami 
 it is not unlikely that he had now a particular inti- 
 mation that he was "shortly" to seal the truth 
 with his blood. But as our Lord told him that his 
 death would take place when he should be old, 
 being aged now he might on this ground fairly sup- 
 pose that his departure was at hand. [T<i\ir/;, 
 "shortly," is usually rendered suddenly; and it may 
 here refer not to the nearness of Peter's death, but 
 to its suddenness, that, is, by martyrdom.] 
 
 15. Moreover I will endeavour — By having 
 these two epistles among them, even after his de- 
 cease, they had these tilings always in remembrance. 
 After my decease — Merd tt/v ky.fjv itjofiov, after 
 my going out, that is, of his tabernacle. The real 
 Peter was not open to the eye, nor palpable to the 
 touch ; he was concealed in that tabernacle vulgarly 
 supposed to be Peter. There is a thought very sim- 
 ilar to this in the last conversation of Socrates with 
 his friends. As this great man was about to drink 
 the poison to which he was condemned by the 
 Athenian judges, his friend Crito said, "But how 
 would you be buried?" "Just as you please," 
 replied Socrates, " if yon can hut catch me, and I do 
 not elude your pursuit." Then, gently smiling, he 
 said: "I cannot persuade Crito, wc eyu ei/ti oiroc 
 6 "LuKparnc 6 vwl 6ia"kEy6fievoc, that / am that So- 
 crates who now converses with you; but he thinks 
 that / am he, bv diperat bXiyov vorepov vekoov, unl 
 ipura rrwc edi //£ OdnTEiv, whom In shall shortly see 
 di, id: and he asks how I would be buried? I have 
 asserted that, after I have drunk the poison, / 
 should no longer remain with you, lml shall depart 
 tn a rtainfi licitit s if tin Id, ssed. ,y Platonis, P/ucdo, 
 Oper., vol. i, edit, Bipont., page 200. [From such 
 considerations as these, some have argued that after 
 death the human body is nothing better than any 
 other mass of earth; and because it is no part of 
 the real person it will have no part in the resur- 
 rection.] 
 
 16. Cunningly devised fables — SeaoCjicrufro/r 
 
 513
 
 II. PETER. 
 
 vised fables, when we made known unto you 
 the power and coming of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, but ''were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 
 17 For he received from God the Father 
 honour and glory, when there came such a 
 voice to him from the excellent glory. c This is 
 my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. 
 IS And this voice which came from heaven 
 Ave heard, when we were with him in d the 
 holy mount. 19 We have also a more sure 
 
 &Matt. 17. 1, 2; Mark 9. 2: John 1. 14: 1 John 1. 1 ; 4. 14. 
 
 cM;itt. :!. 17: 17. ."> ; Mark 1. II ; !>. 7; Luke :;. -.'i : 9. 35. 
 
 dSee Exod. o. 5; Josh. 5. 1.3 ; Matt. 17. 6. ePsa. 11','. 105; 
 
 pvOoic. [The mythologies of the heathen, the caba- 
 listic stories of the Jews, and perhaps also the fables 
 of the Gnostics. — Alford.] The . . . coming — 
 [Ylapovaiav, the appearance, or revelation, evidently 
 referring to the transfiguration of Christ.] Here 
 the indescribably resplendent majesty of the great 
 God was manifested. And ire, says the apostle, 
 were i~6~rai, belwlders, r/]r eKeivov ueyaTieidrnTog, 
 of his own majesly. Here was no trick, no feigned 
 show ; we saw Him in his glory whom thousands 
 saw lie fore and afterward ; and we have made 
 known to you the " power and coming," wapovaiav, 
 the appearance and presence, of our Lord Jesus. 
 These things we have witnessed, and these things 
 ye have experienced ; and therefore we can confi- 
 dently say that neither you nor we have followed 
 cunningly devised fables. 
 
 17. For he received. . . honour and glory — 
 In his transfiguration our Lord received from the 
 Lather ''honour" in the voire or declaration which 
 said, This is my Son, the beloved One, in whom / 
 have delighted. And he received "glory" when, 
 penetrated with and involved in that excellent 
 "glory," the fashion of his countenance was alt' red, 
 for his fare did shine as the sun, and his raiment 
 was white and glistering, exceeding white tiki snow. 
 
 18. And this voice . . . we heard — That is, 
 himself, James, and John heard it, and saw this 
 glory ; for these only were the eno-rai, beholders, 
 on the holy mount, [borne out of heaven, i\f 
 obpavov .'':■ x'h^av, that is, out of the cloud. (Matt. 
 xvii, 5.)] When we were with him in the 
 holy mount — This reference renders it certain that 
 the writer of this epistle either was, or pretended 
 to be, the apostle Peter. " The epithet hoi;/," says 
 Alford, " would naturally arise when the gospel his- 
 tory was known, as marking a place where a mani- 
 festation of the divine presence and glory had taken 
 place." [So the place where Moses stood before the 
 burning bush was called holy ground.] 
 
 19. We have also a more sure word of 
 prophecy — 'Eynittv ^ejiaidrepov ruv 7rpo07?rwcdx> 
 Aoyov, we hare the prophetic doctrine more firm, or 
 more (full v) confirmed. (S^e 1 Cor. i, 6 ; 2 Cor. i, 
 •21 ; Col. ii,' 7 ; Heb. ii, 3 ; and vi, 10.) This is the 
 literal sense of the passage in question; and this 
 sense removes that ambiguity from the text which 
 has given rise to so many different interpretations. 
 The meaning of the apostle appeals to be this: The 
 law and the prophets have spoken concerning Jesus 
 Christ. Now, both at Ins baptism (Matt. iii. t7) 
 and at his transfiguration, Jesus Christ was declared 
 to be Gud's aid;/ Son, the beloved One in whom he 
 delighted. The voice, therefore, from heaven, and 
 the miraculous transfiguration of his person, have 
 confirmed the prophetic doctrine concerning him. 
 Ye do wsll that ye take heed— And to 
 
 514 
 
 word of prophecy ; wherennto ye do well 
 that ye take heed, as unto °a light that 
 sliineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, 
 and f the day star arise in your hearts: 
 20 Knowing this first, that ?no prophecy 
 of the Scripture is of any private interpreta- 
 tion: 21 For h the prophecy came not 'in 
 old time by the will of man : k but holy men 
 of God spake as they loere moved by the Holy 
 Ghost. 
 
 JohnS. 35. /See 2 Cor. 1.4,6: Rev. 2. 28; 22.16. g Rom. 
 
 12. 6. //2Tim. :!. 16; 1 Peter 1. 11. i Or, at any time. 
 
 /. 2 Sam. iJ. 2; Luke 1. 7U; Acts 1. 16; 3. 18. 
 
 this doctrine, thus confirmed, ye do well to take 
 heed; for it is that light that shines in the dart 
 place — in the whole world ; giving light to them 
 that sit in darkness, and bringing the prisoners out 
 of the prison, house: and this ye must continue to 
 do till the day [dawn, ?},utpa 6iavya.cn ;] and the 
 day star, <pua<p6poc, this light-bringer, arise in your 
 h> a lis — manifest himself to your eternal consola- 
 tion. Or perhaps the latter clause of the verse 
 might be thus understood : The prophecies concern- 
 ing Jesus, which have been so signally confirmed to 
 us on the holy mount, have always been as a light 
 shining in a dark place from the time of their de- 
 livery to the time in which the bright dan of gospel 
 light and salvation dawned forth, and the sun of 
 righteousness has arisen in our souls with healing 
 in his rays. And to this all who waited for Christ's 
 appearing have taken heed. [The writer distin- 
 guishes between two degrees of the Christian life : 
 in the first, faith rests upon outward evidences ; in 
 the second, on inward revelations of the Spirit. In 
 the first, each detail is believed separately as such ; 
 in the second, each is recognised as a necessary 
 part of the whole ; and hence the being in the for- 
 mer is naturally called a walking in the light of a 
 lamp, /r\voc, while the being in the latter is a 
 walking in the light of morning. — Huther, quoted 
 and approved by Alford.] 
 
 20. Knowing this first — Considering this as 
 a first principle, that no prophecy of the Scrip- 
 ture, whether that referred to above or any other, 
 is of any private interpretation — proceeds from 
 the prophet's own knowledge or invention, or was 
 the offspring of calculation or conjecture. The 
 word i~i/.vctc signifies also impetus, impulse; and 
 probably this is the best sense here ; not by the 
 mere private impulse of his own mind. [But espec- 
 ial///, and first of all, be ye aware of this — keep it 
 well in mind — that prophecy never, ov 7707/, came, 
 etc. This kirihvaeuc {explanation) is not the subse- 
 quent interpretation of a prophecy already given, hut 
 the intelligent apprehension of the meaning of the 
 propheev, out of which the prophecy itself springs. 
 — Alford.] 
 
 21. For the prophecy came not in old time 
 (that is, in any former time) by the will of man 
 — By a man's own searching, conjecture, or calcu- 
 lation ; but holy men of God — persons separated 
 from the world, and devoted to God's service — 
 spake as . . . moved by the Holy Ghost. So far 
 were they from inventing these prophetic declara- 
 tions concerning Christ, or any future event, that 
 they were <j>ep6y.evoi, carried away, out of themselves 
 and out of the whole region, as it were, of human 
 knowledge and conjecture, by the Holy Ghost, who, 
 without their knowing any thing of the matter, dic- 
 tated to them what to speak and what to write ;
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 .. M 4064. A. D. 60. 
 Year ol Rome, 813. 
 
 chapter ir. 
 
 BUT a there were false prophets also among 
 the people, even as 'there shall be false 
 teachers among you, who privily shall bring 
 
 ffDeut 13. 1. ^ Matt. 24. II; Arts 20. 30; 1 Cor. 11. 
 
 13; 1 lira. 4. 1; 2 Tim. o. 1-3; 1 John 4. 1; Jude 18. 
 
 < Juile 4. 
 
 and so far above their knowledge were the words of 
 the prophecy that they did not even know the in- 
 tent of those words, but starched what, or what 
 manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in 
 them did signify, when it testified beforehand the 
 sufferings of Christ, and the '/lory that should 
 follow. (See on 1 Pet. i, 11, 12.) 
 
 ADDITIONAL NOTES. 
 
 1. It is not unfrequent for the writers of the New 
 Testament to draw a comparison between the Mosaic 
 and Christian dispensations; and the comparison 
 generally shows that, glorious as the former was, it 
 had no glory in comparison of the glory that excel- 
 leth. St. Peter seems to touch here on the same 
 point; the Mosaic dispensation, with all the light 
 of prophecy by which it was illustrated, was only as 
 a lamp shining in a dark place. There is greal 
 propriety and delicacy in this image. A lampinthe 
 dark gives but a very small portion of light, and 
 only to those who are very near to it : yet it always 
 gives light enough to make itself visible, even at a 
 great distance; though it enlightens not the space 
 between it and the beholder, it is still literally the 
 lamp shining in a dark place. Such was tin? Mo- 
 saic dispensation: it gave a little light to the .reus, 
 but shone not to the Gentile world any further than 
 to make itself visible. This is compared with the 
 Gospel under the emblems of daybreak and the 
 rising of the sun. When the sun is yet below the 
 horizon daybreak commences, as the rays of light 
 begin then todiffuse themselves in our atmosphere, 
 by which they are reflected upon the earth. By 
 this means a whole hemisphere is enlightened, 
 though but in a partial degree; yet this, increasing 
 every moment as the sun approaches the horizon, 
 prepares for the full manifestation of his resplen- 
 dent orb : so the ministry of John Baptist, and the 
 initiatory ministry of Christ himself, prepared the 
 primitive believers for his full manifestation on the 
 day of penteeost and afterward. Here the sun rose 
 in his strength, bringing light, heat, and life to all 
 the inhabitants of the earth. So far, then, as a lan- 
 tern carried in a dark night differs from and is in- 
 ferior to the beneficial effects of daybreak, and the 
 full light and heat of a meridian sun, so far was the 
 Mosaic dispensation, in its beneficial effects, inferior 
 to the Christian dispensation. 
 
 2. Perhaps there is scarcely any point of view in 
 which we can consider prophecy which is so satis- 
 factory and conclusive as that which is here stated ; 
 that is, far from inventing the subject of their own 
 predictions, the ancient prophets did not even know 
 the meaning of what themselves wrote. They were 
 carried beyond themselves by the influence of the 
 divine Spirit, and after ages were alone to discover 
 tin:' object of the prophecy; and the fulfilment was 
 to be the absolute proof that the prediction was of 
 God, and that itwasof noprivate invention — no dis- 
 covery made by human sagacity and wisdom, lint 
 the especial revelation of the all-wise God. This is 
 sufficiently evident inall the prophecies which have 
 been already fulfilled, and wiU no doubt be equally 
 
 in damnable heresies, even c denying the Lord 
 d that bought them, e and firing upon them- 
 selves swift destruction. 2 And many shall 
 follow their 'pernicious ways; by reason of 
 
 d i Cor. H. Si: Gal. 3. 13; Eph. 1. 7; Heb. 10. 29; 1 Pet. 1. 18; 
 Rev. 5, '■'. — e l'liil. 3. 19. — yOr, lascivious ways, a? some 
 copies read. 
 
 so in those yet to be fulfilled ; the events will point 
 out the prophecy, and the prophecy will be seen to 
 be fulfilled in the event. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER II. 
 
 1. But there were false prophets — There 
 were not only holy men of God among the Jews who 
 prophesied by divine inspiration, but there were 
 also false prophets, whose prophecies were from 
 their own imagination, and these perverted many. 
 As there shall be false teachers among you — 
 [In contrast with the tjjevdoirpoffiTai (false proph- 
 ets) of the former times were the ipevdodidaaicaAoi., 
 ("false teachers,) that would appear in later times. 
 The ipevdo in both these words is ambiguous, 
 leaving it uncertain whether the falsehood in either 
 case was subjective or objective; in themselves per- 
 sonally or in what they prophesied or taught. 
 Perhaps in both.] At a very early period of the 
 Christian Church many heroics sprung up; but 
 the chief were those of the Ebionites, Cerinthians, 
 tsicolaitans, Menandrians, and Gnostics, of whom 
 many strange things have been spoken by the prim- 
 itive Fathers, and of whose opinions it is difficult to 
 obtain any satisfactory view. They were, no doubt, 
 bad enough, and their opponents in general have 
 doubtless made them worse. By what name those 
 were called of whom the apostle here speaks we can- 
 not tell. (See the preface.) Damnable heresies — 
 Alpeaeic airuTielag, heresies of destruction. ; such as, 
 if followed, would lead a man to perdition. And 
 these irapeiaa^ovaiv they will bring in privately — 
 cunningly, without making much noise, and covertly 
 as possible. It would be better to translate de- 
 structive heresies than " damnable." Denying the 
 Lord that bought them — [The word SeairdTTjv 
 (master or lord) may refer either to the] Father or 
 Christ ; for God is said to have purchased the Is- 
 raelites, (Exod. xv, 16,) and to lie the Father that 
 had bought them, (Deut. xxxii, fi,) and the words 
 may refer to these or such like passages; or they 
 may point out Jesus Christ, who had bought than 
 with his blood; and the "heresies," or dangerous 
 opinions, may mean such as opposed the divinity of 
 our Lord, or his meritorious and sacrificial death. 
 It seems, however, more natural to understand the 
 "Lord that bought them," as applying to Christ 
 rather than otherwise. 
 
 2. Many shall (will) follow — [Simply a state- 
 ment of what will lie done, without any intimation 
 of cause or necessity.] Pernicious ways — Talc 
 <ir;i'/)tiai(\ lasciviousnesses or uncleannesses. The 
 word lasciviousnesses points out what the nature of 
 the heresies was; a sort of Antinomianism, that 
 pampered and indulged the lusts of the flesh. If 
 the Nicolaitans are meant, it is very applicable to 
 them, for they taught the community of wives, etc. 
 By reason of whom — These persons professed 
 Christianity; and as they were called Christians, 
 and followed such abominable practices, the -way 
 of truth — the Christian religion — pTmafyriiirfiijaeTai, 
 was blasphemed. Had they called themselves by any 
 other name but that of Christ, his religion would 
 not have suffered. 
 
 515
 
 M. 4064. A. T>. 60. 
 Ye:ir of Rome, 813. 
 
 II. PETER. 
 
 litions against indulgence 
 
 whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken 
 of. 3 And ^through covetousness shall they 
 with feigned words h make merchandise of 
 you: 'whose judgment now of a long time 
 lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth 
 not. 4 For if God spared not k the angels 
 1 that sinned, but '"cast them down to hell, and 
 delivered them into chains of darkness, to be 
 reserved unto judgment; 5 And spared not 
 the old world, but saved "Noah the eighth 
 person, °a preacher of righteousness, ['bringing 
 
 Rom. 16. 18; 2 Cor. 12. 17, 18: 1 Tim. 6. 5; Titus 1. 11. 
 
 7- > Cor. 2. 17: chap. 1. 16. i Deut. 32. 35s Jmle 4, 15. 
 
 /■Job 4. 18; .ki'lf 6. /John 8. 44; 1 John 3. 8. m Luke 
 
 8. 31 ; Rev. 2i>: 2, 3. 
 
 8. And through covetousness — That, they 
 might get money to spend upon their lusts. With 
 feigned words — TI/motoic Xdyoic, conntt rfeit tales; 
 false narrations of pretended facts, lying miracles, 
 fabulous legends. "In this single sentence," says 
 Dr Macknight, "there is a clear prediction of the 
 iniquitous practices of those great merchants of 
 souls, the Romish clergy, who have rated all crimes, 
 even the most atrocious, at a fixed price." How 
 the popish Church has made merchandise of souls 
 needs no particular explanation here. It was this 
 abominable doctrine that showed to some, then in 
 that Church, the absolute necessity of a reforma- 
 tion. Whose judgment now of a long time — 
 [For whom judgment all along does not linger, nor 
 / destruction slumber.] From the beginning 
 
 God has condemned sin, and inflicted suitable pun- 
 ishments on transgressors; and lias promised in 
 his word, from the earliest ages, to pour out his in- 
 dignation on the wicked. 
 
 4. For if God spared not the angels — The 
 angels were originally placed in a state of proba- 
 tion ; some having fallen and some having stood 
 proves this. How long that probation was to last 
 to them, and what was the particular test of their 
 fidelity, we know not; nor indeed do we know what 
 was their sin ; nor when nor btow they fell. St. 
 Jude says, they kept not their first estate, but left 
 their own habitation ; which seems to indicate that 
 they got discontented with their lot, and aspired to 
 higher honours, or perhaps to celestial domination. 
 The tradition of their fall is in all countries and in 
 all religions, but the accounts given are various and 
 contradictory; and no wonder, for we have no di- 
 rect revelation on the subject. TJiey kept not their 
 first estate, and they sinned, is the sum of what we 
 know on the subject ; and here curiosity and con- 
 jecture are useless. But cast them down to 
 hell, and delivered them into chains of dark- 
 ness — 'A'/'/a oeipolc i^oipov raprapuaac irapeduKev eic 
 Kp'tOLV 7. 7i i: i. a. 'iviiv, but with chains of darkness 
 confining them in Tartarus, delivered them over to 
 be kept to judgment ; or, sinking than into Tartarus, 
 delivered them over into custody for punishment, to 
 i h.i Ins of darkness. " Chains of darkness" is a highly 
 poetic expression. Darkness binds them on all 
 hands : and so dense and strong is this " darkness " 
 that it cannot be broken through; they cannot de- 
 liver themselves, nor be delivered by others. [See 
 Additional Note A, at the end of the epistle.] 
 
 5. Spared not the old world — The apostle's 
 argument is this : If God spared not the rebellious 
 angels, nor the sinful antediluvians, nor the cities 
 of Sodom and Gomorrah, he will not spare those 
 wicked teachers who corrupt the pure doctrines of 
 Christianity; Saved Noah the eighth — Some 
 
 516 
 
 in the flood upon the world of the ungodly ; 
 6 And i turning the cities of Sodom and 
 Gomorrah into ashes condemned them with an 
 overthrow, r making them an ensample unto 
 those that after should live ungodly ; 7 And 
 s delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy con- 
 versation of the wicked: 8 (For that right- 
 eous man dwelling among them, 'in seeing and 
 hearing, vexed Ms righteous soul from day to 
 day with their unlawful deeds:) 9 "The Lord 
 kuoweth how to deliver the godly out of temp- 
 
 wGen.7. 1,7,23; Heb. 11. 7:1 Peter 3. 20. o\ Peter 3. 19. 
 
 V Ch.'ip. 3. 6. q Hen. 19. 24 ; Deut. 29. 23; .Hide 7. r Num. 
 
 26. 10. — ■ 8 Gen. 19. 16. t Psa. 119. 13!), 158 ; Ezek. 9. 4. 
 
 u P=a. 34. 17, 19 : 1 Cor. 10. 13. 
 
 think that the words should be translated, Noah 
 the eighth preaclier of righteousness ; but it seems 
 most evident, from 1 Pet. iii, 20, that eight persons 
 are here meant, which were the whole that were 
 saved in the ark, namely, Shem, Ham, Japheth, and 
 their three wives, six ; Noah's wife seven ; and Noah 
 himself the eighth. The form of expression, oytioov 
 N'jf, Noah the eighth, that is, Noah and seven 
 more, is common in the Greek language. A 
 preacher of righteousness — [We have no inti- 
 mation of this in the Scripture, but we may see 
 from Josephus, (Ant., i, '6, 1.) that there was a tra- 
 dition of the kind among the Jews. And so in the 
 Midrash (Bereshith Rabbi, xxx, fi) we find, " There 
 rose up a herald for Gpd in the age of the deluge, 
 that was Noah." — Sj>: akt r's < 'ommt ntary.~\ World 
 of the ungodly — A whole race without God — 
 without any pure worship or rational religion. 
 
 6. The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah — See 
 the notes on Gen. xix, for an account of the sin 
 and punishment of these cities. Making them, 
 an ensample — These three words, i -6<fct- pa, -vapa- 
 Seiyfia, and dtiyua, are used to express the same 
 idea ; though the former may signify an example to 
 In ,sA unned, the second an example to be followed, 
 and the third a simple exhibition. But these dif- 
 ferences are not always observed. 
 
 V. Vexed with the filthy conversation — 
 K.arairovovy.Evov vnb rrjc tuv adeoftuv ev eioi'/'eia 
 avaoTpotpijc, 6< ing exceedingly pained with the unch an 
 conduct of tlwse lawless persons. What this was, 
 see in the history, Gen. xix, and the notes there. 
 
 8. That righteous man d welling among them 
 — Lot, after his departure from Abraham, A. M. 
 2086, lived at Sodom till A. M. 2107, a space of 
 about twenty years ; and, as he had a righteous soul, 
 he must have been tormented with the abomina- 
 tions of that people from day to day. The word 
 k(3aoavi£ev, tormented, is not less emphatic than 
 the word Karairovovyevov, grievously pained, in the 
 preceding verse, and shows what this man must 
 have felt in dwelling so long among a people so 
 abandoned. 
 
 9. The Lord knoweth how to deliver the 
 godly — The preservation and deliverance of Lot 
 gave the apostle occasion to remark, that God knew 
 as well to save as to destroy ; and that his goodness 
 led him as forcibly to save righteous Lot as his 
 justice did to destroy the rebellious in the instances 
 already adduced. And the design of the apostle in 
 producing these examples is to show to the people 
 to whom he was writing, that, although God would 
 destroy those false teachers, yet he would power- 
 fully save his faithful servants from their contagion 
 and from their destruction. We should carefully 
 observe, 1) That the godly man is not to be pre-
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 k, M.4064. A. 11. BO. 
 fear <il Home, 813. 
 
 tation, and to reserve the onjjust anto the day 
 of judgment to be punished: 10 But chiefly 
 'them thai walk after the flesh in the lust of 
 unci eann ess, and despise "government. x Pi'e- 
 sumptuous are they, self willed, they are not 
 afraid to speak evil of dignities. 11 Whereas 
 y angels, which are greater iu power and might, 
 bring not railing accusatiou 'against them be- 
 fore the Lord. 12 But these, "as natural 
 brute beasts made to be taken and destroyed, 
 speak evil of the things that they understand 
 
 n Jude 4, 7.?, 10, 16. w Or, dominion. cr.Tucle 8. 
 
 j/.Iuile ;». — eSome read, against tht mselves. — a Jer. 12. 3 : 
 
 1 from temptation. 21 That he will be pre- 
 served in temptation. 3) That he will be delivered 
 out of it. 
 
 10. But chiefly them that walk— That is. God 
 will in the most signal maimer punish them that 
 walk after the flesh — addict themselves to sodom- 
 itical practices, and the lust of pollution ; probably 
 alluding to those most abominable practises where 
 men abuse themselves and abuse one another. 
 Daspise government — They 1 nave the power and 
 authority of the civil magistrate, practising their 
 abominations so as to keep out of the reach of the 
 letter of the law ; and they speak evil of dignities 
 — they blaspheme civil government, they abhor the 
 restraints laid upon men by the laws, and would 
 wish all governments destroyed that they might 
 live as they list. Presumptuous are they — 
 Tn'/ar/rcii; bold and daring, headstrong, regardless 
 of fear. Selfwilled — AvOdSeig; self-sufficient ; 
 presuming on themselves; following their own 
 opinions, which no authority can induce them to re- 
 linquish. Are not afraid to speak evil of 
 dignities — They are lawless and disobedient, 
 spurn all human authority, and speak contemptu- 
 ously of all legal and civil jurisdiction. Those in 
 general despise governments, and speak evil of 
 dignities, wdio wish to be under no control, that they 
 may act as freebooters in the community. 
 
 11. Whereas angels, etc — This is a difficult 
 verse, but the meaning seems to lie this: The holy 
 angels, who are represented as bringing an account 
 of the actions of the fallen angels before the Lord 
 in judgment, simply state the facts without exag- 
 geration, and without permitting any thing of a 
 latter, reviling, or railing spirit to enter into their 
 accusations. (See Zech. iii, 1.) But these persons 
 not only speak of the actions of men which they 
 conceive to be wrong, but do it with untrue colour- 
 ing- and the greatest malevolence. Michael, the 
 archangel, treated a damned spirit with courtesy; 
 he only said, The Lord rebuke thee! but these 
 treat the rulers of God's appointment with disrespect 
 and calumny. Before the Lord — TLapa Kvpiu is 
 wanting in a number of MSS. and most of the 
 Versions. 
 
 12. But these, as natural brute beasts — 
 '£2; a/D}(i. £<pa tyvauca, as natural animals void of 
 reason. [Wild beasts, such as may be hunted down 
 and killed] 
 
 1 '■',. They that count it pleasure to riot in 
 the daytime —.Must sinners, in order to practise 
 their abominable pleasures, seek the secrecy of the 
 night ; but these, bidding defiance to all decency 
 and shame, take the open day, and thus proclaim 
 their impurities to the sun. Spots . . . and 
 blemishes — They are a disgrace to the name of 
 men. Sporting themselves — Forming opinions 
 
 not; ami shall utterly perish in their own cor- 
 ruption; Hi h And shall receive the reward of 
 unrighteousness, as they thai counl it pleasure 
 •to riot in the daytime. d Spots they are and 
 
 blemishes, sporting themselves with their own 
 deccivings while e they feast with you; 
 11 Having eyes full of ""adultery, and that 
 cannot cease from sin: beguiling unstable 
 soul-: f- r a heart they have exercised with 
 Covetous practices ; cursed children: 15 Which 
 have forsaken the right way. and are gone 
 
 .In.l.- in. — fcphil. 3. 19. cSee Rom. 13. 13. — tf Jude 12.- 
 
 e 1 Uor. 11. 20, '21. — f(2r. an adulteress. — a Jude 11. 
 
 which give license to sin, and then acting on tho~e 
 opinions; and thus rioting in their own deceiiP. 
 
 [ .Mi. iimi EVTpVi n.irr: r. s/mrl i)nl hi slnnnr (i lebaucheiy ) 
 
 in their deceivings, airaratg, instead of which Jude 
 
 (verse 12) has aydiraig, love feasts, which leading is 
 also found in this place in some ancient authori- 
 ties. The congregations have established these 
 common meals to cheer the hearts and strengthen 
 the affection between their members. The false 
 teachers come and share like the rest — join in the 
 banquet of the Church's bounty — but are spots and 
 blemishes in the body of Christians, for it is no feast 
 of brotherly love which they seek to share, but by 
 their boldness and license to lead others astray, 
 and turn the ayairij (feast of charity) into ' 
 (delicate feasting ) — Speaker'si ommentary^ With 
 their own deceivings — 'Ev raig anarqig; but 
 instead of this, AB, and almost all the Versions and 
 several of the Fathers, have kv ralg aydiraig, in your 
 love feasts, which is probably the true reading. 
 While they feast with you — ft appears they 
 held a communion with the Church, and attended 
 sacred festivals, which they desecrated with their 
 own unhallowed opinions and conduct. 
 
 14. Having eyes full of adultery— Mo^a/Udoc, 
 of an adulteress; being ever bent on the gratifica- 
 tion of their sensual desires, so that they are rep- 
 resented as having an adulteress constantly before 
 their eyes, and that their eyes can take in no other ob- 
 ject. But instead of //ofjaPi/rfof, of an adidi 
 some of the authorities have fiot }<i'/iar, of adult < ry. 
 Cannot cease from sin — Which cease not from 
 sin ; they might cease from sin, but they do not ; 
 they love and practise it. Instead of aKarattavaTOvg, 
 " which cannot cease," the best authorities have 
 aKaTawaarovg, which requires the place to be read, 
 having eyes full of adultery mid incessant sin. The 
 images of sinful acts were continually floating 
 before their disordered and impure fancy. Be- 
 guiling unstable souls — The metaphor is taken 
 from adulterers seducing unwary, inexperienced, 
 and light, trilling women ; so do those false ' 
 era seduce those who are not established in right- 
 eousness. Exercised with covetous practices 
 — These persons had their hearts schooled in 
 nefarious practices; they had exercised themselves 
 till they were perfectly expert in all the arts of se- 
 duction, overreaching, and every kind of fraud. 
 Cursed children — [Karapag rkuva, children <>/ a 
 curse, and so inheriting all its fearful visitation.] 
 Such not only live under God's curse here, but they 
 are heirs to it hereafter. 
 
 15. Which have forsaken the right way — 
 [They have abandoned the true way, going astray.] 
 as Balaam did, who, although God showed him the 
 right way, took one contrary to it, preferring the 
 reward offered him by Balak to the approbation 
 
 517
 
 A. M. 4"64. A. D. fiO. 
 Year of Rome, M3. 
 
 IT. PETER. 
 
 • The dreadful state of backsliders 
 nod apostates. 
 
 astray, following the way of h Balaam tht son 
 of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteous- 
 ness; 16 But was rebuked for his iniquity: 
 the dumb ass speaking with man's voice for- 
 bade the madness of the prophet. 17 'These 
 are wells without water, clouds that are carried 
 with a tempest ; to whom the mist of dark- 
 ness is reserved for ever. 18 For when k they 
 speak great swelling words of vanity, they 
 allure through the lusts of the flesh, through 
 much wantonness, those that ' were '"clean es- 
 caped from them who live in error. 19 While 
 
 h Num. 22. 5, 7, 21, 23, 28; Jnde 11. i Jude 12, 13. 
 
 jfc.Tude I". /Acts 2. -I": chap. 1. 4: verse 20 m Or, for a 
 
 little, or, a while, as some read. nGal. 5. 13; 1 Pet. 2. 16. 
 
 and blessing of God. The way of Balaam — He 
 
 counselled the Moabites to give their most beautiful 
 young women to the Israelitish youth, that they might 
 be enticed by them to idolatry. (See Num. xxii, 5, 
 etc., and xxiii, 1, etc.) The son of Bosor — Instead 
 of Boaop, Bosor, [several of the very best] ancient 
 MSS. and some of the Versions have Beoip, Beor, 
 [which better agrees with] the Hebrew text and the 
 Septuagint. 
 
 16. The dumb ass speaking with man's 
 voice — (Sec Num. xxii, 28.) The madness of the 
 prophet — Is not this a reference to the speech of 
 the ass as represented in the Targums of Jonathan 
 ben Uzziel and Jerusalem ? " Woe to thee, Balaam, 
 thou sinner, thou madman; there is no wisdom 
 found in thee." [It was the angel, and not the ass, 
 from whom the rebuke came, the ass havingmerely 
 deprecated ill treatment at Balaam's hands. But 
 the apostle evidently regards not so much the 
 wmds of rebuke uttered, as the miraculous fact, as 
 being the hinderance. — Alfonl.~] 
 
 17. These are wells without water — Teach- 
 ers without ability to instruct ; sowers, that have no 
 seed in their baskets. Nothing is more cheering in 
 the deserts of the East than to meet with a well of 
 mat r ; and nothing more disappointing, when 
 parched with thirst, than to meet with a well that 
 contains no water. Clouds that are carried 
 with a tempest — In a time of great drought, 
 to see clouds beginning to cover the face of the 
 heavens raises the hope of rain; but to see these 
 suddenly driven off by a strong wind is a dreary 
 disappointment. These false teachers were equally 
 as unprofitable as the empty well, or the light, dis- 
 sipated cloud. To 'whom the mist of darkness 
 is reserved — That is, an eternal separation from 
 the presence of God and the glory of his power. 
 They shall be thrust into outer darkness, (Matt, viii, 
 12 ;) into the utmost degrees of misery and de- 
 spair. False and corrupt teachers will be sent into 
 the lowest hell ; and be " the most downcast, 
 underfoot vassals of perdition." [A dark life is 
 justly punished with darkness, especially because 
 of the seduction of so many souls. Eh; aluva, (into 
 the ages,) down to the remotest periods, no matter 
 what changes may take place with the earth and 
 the world. — La>tc/e.~\ 
 
 18. They speak great swelling words of 
 vanity — The word vnkpoyna signifies things of 
 great magnitude, grand, superb, sublime ; it some- 
 times signifies, inflated, tumid, bombastic. These 
 false teachers spoke of great and high things, and 
 no doubt promised their disciples the greatest priv- 
 ileges, as they themselves pretended to a high degree 
 of illumination. Those that ■were clean escaped 
 
 518 
 
 they promise them "liberty, they themselves 
 are" the servants of corruption: for of whom 
 a man is overcome, of the same is he brought 
 in bondage. 2© For p if after they i have es- 
 caped the pollutions of the world 'through the 
 knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus 
 Christ, they are again entangled therein, and 
 overcome, the latter end is worse with them 
 than the beginning. 21 For -'it had been bet- 
 ter for them not to have known the way of 
 righteousness, than, after they have known it, 
 to turn from the holy commandment delivered 
 
 oJohn 8. 34: Rom. (J. IB. p Matt. 12. 45: Luke 11. 26: 
 
 lleli. 15. 4. etc. ; 10. 26,27. ffChap. 1. 4: verse 18. rt'liap. 
 
 1. 2. s Luke 12. 47. is; John 9. 41 : 15. 22. 
 
 — [Tovc o/iywc cnroipEvyovTag, those scarcely escaped, 
 or those escaping, partly persuaded but not yet 
 confirmed in the faith.] 
 
 19. While they promise them liberty — From 
 the yoke of the law, or what they might term need- 
 less restraints. Their own conduct showed the 
 falsity of their system ; for they were slaves to 
 every disgraceful lust. For of whom a man is 
 overcome — ["Hrr^rat, dominated, made a captive.] 
 The ancient law was, that a man might either kill 
 him whom he overcame in battle or keep him for a 
 slave. Thus the person who is overcome by his 
 lusts is represented as being the slave of those 
 lusts. (See Rom. vi, 16.) 
 
 21 ». The pollutions of the world — Sin in gen- 
 eral, and particularly superstition, idolatry, and 
 lasciviousness. These are called fuaoftara, mias- 
 mata, things that infect, pollute, and defile. The 
 word was anciently used, and is in use at the 
 present day, to express those noxious particles of 
 effluvia proceeding from persons infected with con- 
 tagious and dangerous diseases; or from dead and 
 corrupt bodies, stagnant and putrid waters, marshes, 
 etc., by which the sound and healthy may be infected 
 and destroyed. The world is here represented as 
 one large, putrid marsh, or corrupt body, sending 
 off its destructive miasmata everywhere and in 
 every direction, so that none can escape its conta- 
 gion, and none can be healed of the great epidemic 
 disease of sin, but by the mighty power and skill 
 of God. Now, it is through (in) the knowledge 
 of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ [the full 
 knowledge, kirijvuaig] that we escape the destructive 
 influence of these contagious miasmata. [A clear 
 indication that these " destroyers of much good " 
 were once soundly converted.] But if, after having 
 been healed, and so having escaped the death to 
 which we were exposed, we get again entangled, 
 iu-'/.anh-EQ, enfolded, enveloped with them ; then 
 the latter end will be worse . . . than the begin- 
 ning; forasmuch as we shall have sinned against 
 more light, and the soul, by its conversion to God, 
 having had all its powers and faculties greatly im- 
 proved, is now being repolluted, more capable of 
 iniquity than before, and can bear more expres- 
 sively the image of the earthly. 
 
 21. For it had been better for them not to 
 have known — For the reasons assigned above ; 
 for they who have sinned against more mercy are 
 capable of more sin, [have fallen into a lower con- 
 dition spiritually, with less hope of ever being re- 
 covered,] and are liable to greater punishment. 
 The holy commandment — The whole religion of 
 Christ, contained in the one commandment, "Thou 
 shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with
 
 The npoctle 
 
 states his design in 
 is two epistles. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 unto them. 22 But it ia happened unto them 
 according to the true proverb, 'The dog is 
 
 turned to his own vomit again: and, The sow 
 that was washed to her wallowing ill the mire. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THIS second epistle, beloved, I now write 
 unto you; in both which •! stir up your 
 pure minds by way of remembrance: 2 Thai 
 ye may be mindful of the words winch were 
 
 tVrov. 26. 11. ffdiap. 1. 13. ft.Tixle 17. cl Tim. 4. 1; 
 
 2 Tim. 3. 1 ; Jude 18. d Chap. 2. in. 
 
 all thy soul, with all thy mind, ami with all thy 
 strength ; ami thy neighbour as thyself." (Matt. 
 
 x\ii. :;7. 38; Rom.' \ii, 9-11.) 
 
 22. According to the true proverb — This 
 
 seems to be a reference to Prov. xxvi, 11, as a 
 dog retui neth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his 
 folly. This is called a "true proverb;" for it is a 
 fact that a dog will eat up his own vomit ; and the 
 swine, howsoever carefully washed, will again wal- 
 low in the mire. As applied here it is very ex- 
 pressive: the poor sinner, having heard the Gospel 
 of Christ, was led to loathe and reject his sin ; 
 and, on his application to God for mercy, was 
 washed from his unrighteousness. But he is here 
 represented as taking up again what lie had hefore 
 rejected, and defiling himself in that from which 
 he had been cleansed. Here is a sad proof of the 
 possibility of falling from grace, anil from very 
 high degrees of it too. These had escaped from 
 the contagion that was in the world ; they hail had 
 true repentance, and cast up "their sour-sweet 
 morsel of sin ; " they had been washed from their 
 filthiness, and this must have been through the 
 blood of the Lamb ; yet, after all, they went back, 
 got entangled with their old sins, swallowed down 
 their formerly rejected lusts, and wallowed anew in 
 the mire of corruption. It is no wonder that God 
 should say, The latter end is worse with them than 
 the beginning; reason ami nature say it must be so; 
 and divine justice says it ought to be so; and the 
 person himself must confess that it is right that it 
 should be so. But how dreadful is this state ! How- 
 dangerous when the person has abandoned himself 
 to his old sins ! Yet it is not said that it is impossible 
 for him to return to his Maker; though his case be 
 deplorable, it is not utterly hopeless ; the leper may 
 yet be made clean, and the dead may be raised. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTEK III. 
 
 1. This second epistle — In order to guard 
 [those addressed] against the seductions of false 
 teachers, [the writer] calls to their remembrance 
 the doctrine of the ancient prophets, and the com- 
 mands or instructions of the apostles, all founded 
 on the same basis. He possibly refers to the 
 prophecies of David (Psa. 1, 1, etc.,) and of Daniel 
 (xii, -2) relative to the coming of our Lord to judg- 
 ment; and he brings in the instructions of the 
 apostles of Christ, by which they were directed how 
 to prepare to meet their God. 
 
 3. Knowing this first— Considering this in an 
 especial manner, that those prophets predicted the 
 coming of false teachers ; and their being now in 
 the Church proves how clearly they were known to 
 God. There shall come . . . scoffers — Persons 
 who shall endeavour to turn all religion to ion- 
 tempt, as this is the most likely way to depreciate 
 truth in the sight of the giddy multitude. The 
 
 spoken before by the holy prophets, b and of 
 
 tlie commandment of us the apostles of the 
 Lord and Saviour: 55 c Knowing this first, 
 that there shall come in the last days scoffers, 
 d walking after their own lusts, -B And say- 
 ing, e Where is the promise of his coming '. for 
 since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue 
 as they were from tic lie-inning of the crea- 
 tion, o For this they willingly are ignorant 
 of, that f by the word of God the heavens were 
 
 e Isa. 5. 19; Jer. 17. 15 : Ezek. 1-:. 22, 27 ; Matt. 21. 48 : Luke 12. 45. 
 /Oen. 1.8,9; Psa. 33. 6; Heb. 11.3. 
 
 "scoffers," having no solid argument to produce 
 against revelation, endeavour to [turn it to ridicule, 
 and so] affect to laugh at it, and get superficial 
 thinkers to laugh with them. Walking after 
 their own lusts — Here is the true source of all 
 infidelity. The Gospel of Jesus is pure and holy, 
 and requires a holy heart and a holy life. They 
 wisli to follow their own lusts, and consequently 
 cannot brook the restraints of the Gospel ; there- 
 fore they labour to prove that it is not true, that 
 they may get rid of its injunctions, and at last suc- 
 ceed in persuading themselves that it is a forgery ; 
 and then throw the reins on the neck of their e\il 
 propensities. Thus their opposition to revealed 
 truth began and ended in their own " lusts." [The 
 best authorities are agreed that the true read- 
 ing of this text is:] There shall conn hi the 
 last, days, in mockery, tv e piracy fiovrj, scoffers walking 
 after their own lasts. They come in mockery; 
 this is their spirit and temper; they have no 
 desire to find out truth; they take up the Bible 
 merely with the design of perverting it. The last 
 days probably refer to the conclusion of the 
 Jewish polity, which was then at hand. 
 
 4. Where is the promise of his comirg — 
 Perhaps the " scoffers " here referred to were per- 
 sons who believed in the eternity of the world: the 
 prophets and the apostles had foretold its destruc- 
 tion, and these took it for granted, if this were true, 
 that the terrestrial machine would have begun long 
 ago to have shown some symptoms of decay ; but 
 they found that since the patriarchs died all things 
 remained as they were from the foundation of the 
 world ; that is, one was horn and another died, and 
 the course of nature continued regular in the Ma- 
 sons, succession of day and night, generation and 
 corruption of animals and vegetables, etc. >As, 
 therefore, they saw none of these changes, they 
 presumed that there would be none, and they inti- 
 mated that there never had been any. The apostle 
 combats this notion in the following verse. Since 
 \a<fi i]r, sc, Tjfikpac, from tin day] the fathers fell 
 asleep, all things continue, [oirroc, thus,] nut as 
 they were, but rather, as they are, unchanging. 
 The time of waiting for tlie promise dates from the 
 death of the fathers, and the duration of tlie 
 present order of things runs back to that time, 
 (that is, the whole anterior period of history.) But 
 who were the "fathers?" They may be either the 
 progenitors of the race, or, more probably, the an- 
 cients generally. [Well authenticated written 
 history presents the world. n6apoc, in much the 
 same condition in which it is now found. But 
 modern science has opened another volume, that of 
 the natural history of the earth, which somewhat 
 modifies the notions formerly entertained.] 
 
 5. For this they willingly are ignorant of 
 — [Aavdavec yap ubrouc roi-ru v t'/orrae, for this es- 
 
 519
 
 II. PETER. 
 
 vens and earth are 
 oyed by fire. 
 
 of old, and the earth e h standing out of the 
 water and in the water: 6 'Whereby the 
 world that then was, being overflowed with 
 water, perished: 7 But k the heavens and 
 the earth, which are now, by the same word 
 are kept in store, reserved unto ' fire against 
 
 oGr. consisting. APsa. 2J. 2; 13f>. 6; Col. 1. IT. iGen. 
 
 7. 11, 21, 22, 23: chap. 2. 5. 
 
 capes recognition, as to themselves so willing.] 
 They shut their eyes against the light, and refuse 
 all evidence; what does not answer their purpose 
 they will not know. And the apostle refers to a fact 
 that militates against their hypothesis, with which 
 they refused to acquaint themselves; and their ig- 
 norance he attributes to their unwillingness to 
 learn the true state of the ease. By the word of 
 God the heavens were of old — I shall set down 
 the Greek text of this extremely difficult clause: 
 Ovpavol fjaav eiardXai Kai ;// e£ vt'iaToc nal oV vdaroc 
 GWEOTuca T(j roll Qeov ?i6}o>, translated thus by 
 Mr. Wakefield: "A heaven and an earth formed 
 out of water, and by means of water, by the ap- 
 pointment of God, had continued from old time." 
 By Dr. Macknight thus : " The heavens were an- 
 ciently, and the earth, of water; and through water 
 the earth consists by the word of God." By Kypke 
 thus: "The heavens were of old, and the earth, 
 which is framed, by the word of God, from the 
 waters, and between the waters." However we 
 take the words, they seem to refer to the origin of 
 the earth. It was the opinion of the remotest an- 
 tiquity that the earth was formed out of water, or 
 a primitive moisture which they termed vTii], 
 hide, it first mill t<r or nutriment for all things. 
 That the earth was at first in a fluid mass is evident 
 from its form; it is not round, but flattened at the. 
 pules. And this is the form that any soft or 
 plastic body would assume if whirled rapidly round, 
 as the earth is around its axis. Standing out of 
 the water is certainly not the sense of 6t' vfiarog. 
 If we translate between the waters, it will bear 
 some resemblance to Gen. i, 6, 7, and then it 
 may refer to the whole of the atmosphere, with 
 which the earth is everywhere surrounded, and 
 which contains all the vapours which belong to our 
 globe. Thus, then, the earth, or terraqueous globe, 
 which was originally formed out of water, subsi-is 
 by water ; and by means of that very water — the 
 water compacted with the earth — the fountain* of 
 the great deep, and the waters in the atmosphere, 
 the windows of heaven, (Gen. vii, 11,) the antedilu- 
 vian earth was destroyed, as St. Peter states in the 
 next verse : the terraqueous globe, which was 
 formed originally of a fluid substance — the chaos 
 or first matter— -and which was suspended in the 
 heavens — the atmosphere, enveloped with water, by 
 means of which water it was preserved ; yet, because 
 of the wickedness of its inhabitants, was destroyed 
 by those very same waters out of which it was 
 originally made, and by which it subsisted. 
 [De Wette goes after traces of farfetched cosmo- 
 gonical references, Indo-Egyptian and Greek; but 
 the whole interpretation of our passage lies in the 
 book of Genesis. — Alfordi\ [And yet it is certain 
 that some of the references of this epistle (and 
 still more so of Jude) are to things not found in 
 the canonical Scriptures. (See chapter ii, 4, 5.)] 
 
 7. But the heavens and the earth, which 
 are now — The present earth and its atmosphere, 
 which are liable to a like destruction, [are reserved, 
 520 
 
 the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly 
 men. § But, beloved, be not ignorant of this 
 one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a 
 thousand years, and '" a thousand years as one 
 day. 9 "The Lord is not slack concerning his 
 promise, as some men count slackness ; but 
 
 k Verse 10.- 
 
 -ZMatt. 25. 41 : 2 T!ie?s. 1. 8 — 
 n Hab. 2.3: Heb. 10.37. 
 
 rsdijoavpiGfievoi, (kept in store,) for or by fire, 
 (rrvpl,) guarded, (pjpov/uevoi,) in respect to (fie) the 
 •lay of judgment.] From all this it appears that 
 those " scoffers " affected to be ignorant of [ re- 
 fused to believe] the Mosaic account of the forma- 
 tion of the earth, and of its destruction by the waters 
 of the deluge ; and indeed this is implied in their 
 stating that all things continued as they u ere from 
 the creation. But St. Peter calls them back to the 
 Mosaic account, to prove that this was false ; for 
 the earth, etc., which were then formed, had per- 
 ished by the flood; and that the present earth, etc., 
 which were formed out of the preceding, should, at 
 the day of judgment, perish by the fire of God's 
 wrath. [In this instance, as in most others relating 
 to natural things, the sacred writers seem to have 
 conformed their methods of expression to the pre- 
 vailing notions of their contemporaries, many of 
 which have been superseded or exchanged in later 
 times. We are, therefore, not at liberty to infer 
 any thing of a simply scientific character from w hat 
 is here stated.] 
 
 8. Be not ignorant — Though they were wilfully 
 ignorant, neglect not ye the means of instruction. 
 One day is with the Lord as a thousand years 
 — That is: All time is as nothing before him, be- 
 cause in the presence, as in the nature, of God all 
 is eternity; therefore nothing is long, nothing short, 
 before him ; no lapse of ages impairs his purposes, 
 nor need he wait to find convenience to execute 
 those purposes. And when the longest period of 
 time has passed by, it is but as a moment or indivis- 
 ible point in comparison of eternity. (See Psa. 
 xc, 4.) [It is logically absurd to predicate of God 
 the accidents of time, since he is by virtue of his 
 absolute being time itself, which is differentiated 
 from eternity only by its accidents. God said to 
 Moses, "I am," signifying his eternity; and Jesus 
 said to the Jews, "'Before Abraham was, 1 am," 
 indicating in each an eternal present. As applied to 
 the events of Christ's kingdom the expression im- 
 plies the utter worthlessness of all mathematical 
 reckonings respecting the fulfilment of prophecies, 
 or the times of things yet in the future.] 
 
 9. The Lord is not slack — They probably in 
 their scoffing said, "Either God had made no such 
 promise to judge the world, destroy the earth, and 
 send ungodly men to perdition ; or, if he had, he 
 had forgotten to fulfil it, or had not convenient 
 time or leisure." To some such mocking the 
 apostle seems to refer; and he immediately shows 
 the reason why deserved punishment is not inflicted 
 on a guilty world. [" Is not slack : " BpafivvEi, does 
 delay, procrastinate. The word is not taken in 
 relation to a definite point of time, according to 
 human expectation, but with reference to the pur- 
 pose and counsel of God ; for although with refer- 
 ence to the former the author admitted delay, (the 
 postponement of former expectations,) he denied the 
 title to such an expectation, (according to verse 8,) 
 because God's views of time (as well as his thoughts 
 and ways, Isa. lv, 8) are different from men's. He
 
 ■ heaven? and the 
 ■w earth. 
 
 CHAPTER ITT. 
 
 . M. 4064. A. P. CO. 
 Sfeun Rome, .S13. 
 
 is "longsuffering to usward, Pnot willing that 
 any should perish, bur ithat all should come 
 to repentance. 10 But r thedayof the Lord 
 will come as a thief in the night ; in the which 
 
 s 1 1 1 o heawns shall pass away with a great 
 noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent 
 heat, the earth also and the works that are there- 
 in shall he burned up. 11 Seeing then that 
 all these tilings shall be dissolved, what man- 
 ner of persons ought ye to be ' in all holy con- 
 versation and godliness, 12 u Looking for and 
 ''hasting unto the coming of the day of God, 
 wherein the heavens being on fire shall w be 
 dissolved, and the elements shall "melt, with 
 
 O Isa. 30. 18; 1 Pet. 3. 20: verse 15. p Ezek. 18.23,32; 33. 11. 
 
 '/ Roin. 2. 4; 1 Tim. 2. 4. /'Malt. 2-1. 43; Luke 12. 39: 
 
 1 Tliess. 5. 2; Rev. 3. ::.- 16. 15. sPsa. 102.26; Isa. 51. ti; Matt. 
 
 24 36: Mark 13. 31: Rom. 8. 12; Ueb. 1. 11; Kev. 20. 11; 21. 1. 
 1\ Pet. 1. 15. 
 
 is not tardy after the manner of men, from pro- 
 crastination or neglect, but from longsuffering. 
 [" The Lord," Kvpiog, here refers to God the Father.] 
 As some men count slackness — ["S2c tlveq 
 ^padvTtjra. The reference here is not to scoffers 
 who deny the coming of Christ, but to weak be- 
 lievers. — Lange.] But is longsuffering — It is 
 not slackness, n missness, nor want of due displacence 
 at sin that induced God to prolong the respite of un- 
 godly men; but his longsuffering, his unwillingness 
 that any should perish ; and therefore he spared 
 them, that they might have additional offers of 
 grace, and come to repentance — to deplore their 
 sins, implore God's mercy, and find redemption 
 through the blood of the Lamb. 
 
 10. The day of the Lord will come — See 
 Matt, xxiv, 43, to which the apostle seems to allude. 
 [The time of the divine visitation, for judgment, 
 (not reckoned by the calendar,) "will come" to the 
 scoffers, and those who scout at the words of 
 threatening, unexpectedly and suddenly.] The 
 heavens shall pass away with a great noise — 
 The " heavens " mean here, and in the passages 
 above, the whole atmosphere, in which all the ter- 
 restrial vapours are lodged. The elements shall 
 melt with fervent heat — [Sroixeia, elements, the 
 substances of the world; navoovueva TwOf/cerai, 
 burning shall disappear; mi ;// nal ra e.v avrij ipya 
 evpeO/jaerai, both the. earth and the works in it shall 
 be discovered, (that is, exposed for judgment.) 
 [This whole passage has usually been explained as 
 a prophecy of the final catastrophe of the material 
 world, which perhaps was the intent of the writer. 
 It will, however, bear another interpretation, which 
 would better accord with the exhortations that 
 follow, namely, that all this imagery is designed to 
 set forth both the certainty and the severity of the 
 divine judgments against the " scoffers," that is, 
 all who reject Christ and his Gospel.] 
 
 11. All these things shall be dissolved — 
 [hvofievav, literally, washed. All earthly things are 
 perishable, and destined to lie dissolved, and there- 
 fore, since we are to enter upon a new order of 
 things, in which our state will be according to 
 our conduct here, the added exhortation becomes 
 necessary,] What manner of persons ought 
 ye to be — Only those who walk in holiness, who 
 live a godly and useful life, can contemplate with 
 joy this most awful time. The word oirevSovrag, 
 which we translate hasting unto, should be rendered 
 tirm stlii desiring, or wishing for ; which is a fre- 
 quent meaning of the word in the best Greek writers. 
 
 fervent heat ? 13 Nevertheless we, according 
 to bis promise, look for > new heavens and a 
 new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. 
 II Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look 
 for sucll things, be diligent z t lint ye maybe 
 found of him in peace, without spot. .-,:■ ! 
 blameless. 15 And account that 'the long- 
 suffering of our Lord is salvation ; even as our 
 beloved brother Paul also according to the 
 wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; 
 1<» As also in all his epistles, b speaking in 
 them of these things; in which are some 
 tilings bard to be understood, which they that 
 are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do 
 
 a 1 Cor. 1. 7: Tit. 2. 13. 8 Or, hasting the coming. 
 
 n- Psa. 50. :; : I-a. ::4. 4. ,r Micali 1. 4 : verse in. u Isa. ' ~>. 17 : 
 
 fit}. 22: Kev.21. 1,27. slCor. 1.8; 15.58; Phil. 1. 10; 1 Thess. 
 
 :;. 13; 5. 2.;. — n Rom. 2. I: 1 Pet 3.20; verse9. tRom.a 19; 
 
 1 Cor. 15.24; 1 Tl:ess. 4. 15. 
 
 12. The heavens being on fire — See on 
 
 verse 10. It was an ancient opinion among the 
 heathens that the earth should lie burnt up with 
 tire. [See the additional note, at the end of the 
 chapter.] 
 
 13. We, according to his promise, look for 
 new heavens— The promise to which it is sup- 
 posed the apostle alludes is found Isa. Ixv, IT: 
 Behold, I create new Iieavens and a new earth ; and 
 tlf former shall not In remembered, //<>/■ come- into 
 mind .- and chapter lxvi, 2'_'. For <<* the new heavens 
 and the new earth which I will make shall remain 
 before me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed, etc. 
 [All these are properly interpreted as descriptive 
 of the glory of the gospel dispensation, and by so 
 applying them here, a just significance is given to 
 the writer's language.] 
 
 14. Seeing that ye look for such things — As 
 ye profess that such a state of things shall take 
 place, and have the expectation of enjoying the 
 blessedness of it, be diligent in the use of every 
 means and influence of grace, that ye may be 
 found of him — the Lord Jesus, the Judge of quick 
 and dead — without spot — any contagion of sin in 
 your souls — and blameless — being not only holy 
 and innocent, but useful in your lives. 
 
 15. And account that the longsuffering of 
 our Lord — Conclude that God's longsuffering 
 with the world is a proof that he designs men to he 
 saved. As our beloved brother Paul — [The date 
 of this epistle belongs to a time when the Pauline 
 epistles were no longer the property only of the 
 Churches to which they were written, lint were dis- 
 persed through and considered to belong to the whole 
 Christian Church. The particular parts referred to 
 are probably those referring to the subject here 
 specially in hand. See Afford.] According to 
 the wisdom given unto him — That is, according 
 to the measure of the inspiration by which he was 
 qualified for the divine work, and by which he was 
 so capable of entering into the deep things id' God. 
 It is worthy of remark that Paul's epistles are 
 ranked among the Scriptures: a term applied to 
 those writings which are divinely inspired, and to 
 those only. [And this has been taken by some as 
 indicating a later date for this epistle, than the 
 lifetime of the apostles.] 
 
 16. In which [ev air, in which epistles] are 
 some things hard to be understood 
 
 Tiva. This would intimate that there were difficul- 
 ties in all the epistles of Paul ; and indeed in what 
 ancient writings are there not found difficulties? 
 
 521
 
 A. NT. 4064. A. D. 60. 
 Year of Rome, M3. 
 
 II. PETER. 
 
 Caution against falling away, and 
 exhortation to grow in grace. 
 
 also the other Scriptures, unto tlieir own de- 
 struction. 17 Ye therefore, beloved, c seeing 
 ye know these tilings before, d beware lest ye 
 also, being led away with the error of the 
 
 (•Mark 13. 23: chap. 1. 12. d Epli. 4. 14; chap. 1. 10.11; 2. 18. 
 
 [For the tilings difficult to understand, Do Wette 
 refers to 2 Thessalonians ii, 1, etc., in respect to 
 which the opinions of Christians are still unsettled. 
 The unlearned, a/iadelg, may be such from many 
 causes, but especially from ignorance of the epis- 
 tles, and still more from a heart of unbelief. The 
 unstable ones named, acrypiKroi, are those who, 
 wanting firm foundation and anchorage, waver and 
 drift about with every wind of doctrine. Such 
 persons are moved from their Christian stability by 
 every apparent difficulty, are rendered anxious and 
 perplexed by hard texts, and, showing more anxiety 
 to interpret them somehow than to wait upon God 
 for their solution, rush upon erroneous and dan- 
 gerous ways of interpretation. See Alford.] But 
 as it is only the "unlearned" and the unestablished 
 (that is, young Christian converts) [or those who 
 are wanting in Christian docility] that are in danger 
 of wresting such portions; the learned, that is, the 
 experienced and the established in the knowledge and 
 life of God, are in no such danger; and to such we 
 may safely go for information : and these abound 
 everywhere, especially in Protestant countries ; 
 and by the labours of learned and pious men on the 
 sacred writings there is not one difficulty relative 
 to the things which concern our salvation left un- 
 explained. I may just add that the verb gt/k >/o<,>, 
 which the apostle uses here, signifies to distort, to 
 put tn the rack, to torture, to overstretch and dislo- 
 cate the limbs ; and hence the persons here intended 
 are those who proceed according to no fair plan of 
 interpretation, but force unnatural and sophistical 
 meanings on the word of God ; a practice which 
 the common simple Christian is in no danger of fol- 
 lowing. I could illustrate this by a multitude of 
 interpretations from popish writers. [The schools 
 of biblical criticism of later dates have afforded 
 abundant and most lamentable examples of this 
 '•wresting" of Scripture from its evident meaning, 
 making it mean any thing or nothing, most com- 
 monly nothing, according to each one's fancy.] 
 
 17. Seeing ye know . . .before — Seeing that 
 by prophets and apostles you have been thus fore- 
 warned, beware, QvMoasoOe, keep watch, cleave to 
 God and the word of his grace, lest ye be led away 
 from the truth delivered by the prophets and aims- 
 ties, by the error of the wicked, adec/iuv, of the 
 lawless — those who wrest the Scriptures to make 
 them countenance their lusts, exorbitant exactions, 
 and lawless practices. Pall from your own stead- 
 fastness — From that faith in Christ which has put 
 you in possession of that grace which establishes 
 the heart. 
 
 18. But grow in grace — Increase in the image 
 and favour of God. Every grace or divine influence 
 which ye have received is a seed, a heavenly seed, 
 which, if it be watered with the dew of heaven 
 from above, will endlessly increase and multiply 
 itself. He who continues to believe, love, and obey, 
 will grow in grace, and continually increase in the 
 knowledge of Jesus Christ as his sacrifice, sancti- 
 fier, counsellor, preserver, and final saviour. The 
 life of a Christian is a growth; he is at first born 
 of God, and is a little child ; becomes a young man, 
 and a father in Christ. Those who content them- 
 
 522 
 
 wicked, fall from your own steadfastness. 
 J 8 e But grow in grace, and in the knowledge 
 of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 'To 
 him be glory both now and for ever. Amen. 
 
 e Eph. 4. 15 ; 1 Pet. 2. 2. /2 Tim. 4. 18 ; Kev. 1. 6. 
 
 selves with the grace they received when converted 
 to God are, at best, in a continual state of infancy; 
 but we find, in the order of nature, that the infant 
 that does not grow, and grow daily, too, is sickly 
 and soon dies ; so, in the order of grace, those who 
 do not grow up into Jesus Christ are sickly, and 
 will soon die, die to all sense and influence of 
 heavenly things. To him — The Lord Jesus. Be 
 glory — All honour and excellency attributed — 
 Both now — In this present state. And forever 
 — ~E\c ?'//jt/Hiv a'lCovor, to the day of eternity. Amen — 
 So let it be ! and so it shall be ! Though this word 
 is wanting in some reputable MSS., yet it should be 
 retained, as it has here more than usual authority in 
 its support. 
 
 We have now passed over all the canonical 
 writings of Peter that are extant ; and it is worthy 
 of remark, that in no place of the two epistles al- 
 ready examined, nor in any of this apostle's sayings 
 in any other parts of the sacred writings, do we 
 find any of the peculiar tenets of the Romish 
 Church ; not one word of his own or the pope's 
 supremacy ; not one word of those who affect to be 
 his successors; nothing of the infallibility claimed 
 by those pretended successors ; nothing of pur- 
 gatory, penances, pilgrimages, auricular confession, 
 power of the keys, indulgences, extreme unction, 
 masses, and prayers for the dead ; and not one 
 word on the most essential doctrine of the Romish 
 Church, transubstantiation. Now, as all these 
 things have been considered by themselves most 
 essential to the being of that Church, is it not 
 strange that lie, from whom they profess to derive 
 all their power, authority, and influence, in spiritual 
 and secular matters, should have said nothing of 
 these most necessary things ? It is no wonder that 
 the rulers of this Church endeavour to keep the 
 Scriptures from the common people; for, were they 
 permitted to consult these, the imposture would be 
 detected, and the solemn, destructive cheat at 
 once exposed. 
 
 ADDITIONAL NOTES. 
 
 Note A. — Chapter ii, 4. 
 
 [For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but 
 east them dawn to hell, and delivered them into 
 chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment — 
 This passage, with the corresponding ami almost 
 identical one in Jude, (verse 5.) constitutes about the 
 only direct scriptural evidence of the transactions 
 to which they relate; for all others that seem to 
 corroborate this evidently received tlieir direction 
 and application from what is here stated. Three 
 passages' are usually referred to as at least recog- 
 nising the facts stated in the text, neither of which, 
 however, necessarily, nor indeed naturally, implies 
 any thing of the kind. In John viii, 44, our Lord 
 says of the devil, that "he was a murderer 
 from the beginning, and abode (ecrwKev, stood) not 
 in the truth ; " but here is certainly no intimation 
 that Satan is a fallen angel, or that he ever was in 
 the truth, in which he stood not. Without a pre- 
 cedent conception that he is an "archangel fallen,"
 
 Additional note on chap, ii, SO, 81, 
 and on chap. iii. 1", 12. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 nothing respecting his fall would have been de- 
 tected in those words. In Luke x, 18, are found 
 our Lord's words spoken on the occasion of the re- 
 turn of the Seventy, who had been sent out to pro- 
 elaim the coming of the kingdom of God, and their 
 report of the success of their mission, when he re- 
 plied, " I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heav- 
 en;'' an expression evidently prophetical rather 
 than historical, intimating the approaching discom- 
 fiture of Satan, and his deposition, as the god of 
 the world, through the power of the Gospel. Siill 
 farther fetched is the attempted use of Isaiah xiv, 
 12, where the prophet, in high poetical imagery, 
 addresses the king of Babylon as Lucifer, (light- 
 brinyer,) evidently havingin his mind the morning 
 star, or, possibly, the sun, of whom he says, in ref- 
 erence to his impending overthrow, "How art thou 
 fallen!" Two or three places in Revelation have 
 also been made to do service in the same, all of 
 which, however, if they have any reference at all to 
 Satan, must refer to something future rather than 
 past ; to the casting down of the devil by the power 
 of Christ in the Gospel, not to his expulsion from 
 heaven at some unknown point in the ages before 
 the foundation of the world. It is therefore con- 
 ceded, even by those who still hold that Satan is a 
 fallen angel, that most of the common notions on 
 the subject are drawn from traditions popularized 
 by Milton, but without a vestige of scriptural au- 
 thority. See M' Clint ock and Strong's Cyclopaedia. 
 
 [The story of tliefall of the angels, with many other 
 extra-scriptural notions that have passed current 
 as integral parts of divine truth, may be traced 
 back to pre-Christian times among the Jews, and 
 they appear to have been among the things learned 
 in Babylon, or else coined out of the fertile brains 
 of the post-exilian rabbins, the Schoolmen of the 
 later Jewish Church. In the writings of those 
 worthies we find expressions almost identical with 
 those under discussion. The presence and influence 
 of these extra-biblical fancies among the Jews in 
 the time of our Lord, and during the earliest years 
 of the Church, are manifest from a variety of allu- 
 sions in the Gospels and the Acts and Epistles, but 
 they received no countenance either from Christ or 
 the apostles. But they begin to be seen in the 
 writings of the Fathers even before the close of 
 the first century; and their presence becomes more 
 and more manifest, till at length they were accepted 
 as virtually parts of the doctrines of the Gospel, 
 giving their colouring to the patristic and medieval 
 literature, forming the burden of their hym- 
 nology, and peopling the world with phantoms and 
 chimeras of which the written word knows abso- 
 lutely nothing:. 
 
 [The language of the verse before us is peculiar. 
 The words rendered " cast them down to hell " have 
 for their original simply the word, raprapuaag, lit- 
 erally, tartarized them. This word is not found in 
 any of its forms in any other place in the New 
 Testament, nor in the Septuagint, nor in the later 
 classical Greek. Homer and Hesiod make tartarus 
 the prison house of such gods as may be doomed 
 to suffering, as erebus is the place for lost souls of 
 men. No doubt it is here used as equivalent to 
 gehenna, or else the worse side of hades. But 
 the mythological origin of its imagery and appa- 
 ratus is obvious.] 
 
 [Note B.— Chapter ii, 20, 21. 
 
 [20. If after they have escaped the pollutions of 
 
 the world throuyh the knowledge of the Lord iCnd 
 
 Saviour Jesus Christ, [the only possible way of 
 escaping them,] they are again entangled therein, and 
 overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the 
 beginning. 
 
 [21. Fur it had been better for them not to have 
 known the way of righteousness, thou, after they had 
 known it, to lam from the holy commandment de- 
 livt red unto tlu m. 
 
 [Those who so effectually know Christ as by that 
 knowledge to have escaped the pollutions of the 
 world, may yet fall back into those pollutions, and 
 perish everlastingly. That the knowledge of the 
 way of righteousness which they had attained was 
 an inward, experimental knowledge, is evident 
 from that other expression, they had " escaped 
 the pollutions of the world;" an expression par- 
 allel to that of the preceding chapter, (verse 4 :) 
 " Having escaped the corruption which is in the 
 world." And in both places this effect is ascribed to 
 the same cause, termed in the first " the knowledge 
 of him who hath called us to glory and virtue;" 
 and in the second, more explicitly, "the knowledge 
 of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." And yet 
 they lost that experimental knowledge of Christ 
 and the way of righteousness; they fell back into 
 the same pollutions they had escaped, and were 
 " again entangled therein and were overcome." 
 They "turned from the holy commandment deliv- 
 ered to them," so that their " latter end was worse 
 than the beginning." Therefore those who so 
 effectually know Christ as by that knowledge to 
 have escaped the pollutions of the world, may yet 
 fall back into those pollutions, and perish everlast- 
 ingly. And all this is perfectly consistent with 
 St. Peter's words in the former epistle, (chapter i,l 
 " Who are kept by the power of God through faith 
 unto salvation." Undoubtedly, so are all they who 
 ever attain eternal salvation. It is the power of 
 God only, and not our own, by which we are kept 
 one day or one hour. — J. Wksley, Works, vi, 87, 
 Am. ed.j 
 
 [Note C— Chapter iii, 10, 12, 13. 
 
 [10. But the day of the Lord ir ill mm,: as a thief; 
 [" in the night ," is probably not genuine;] in (lie 
 which the heavens shall pass avail with a great 
 noise, and tlu elements shall melt with fervent heat, 
 the earth also and the works that are therein shall 
 be burned up. 
 
 [12, 13. Looking for and hasting unto the coming 
 (TTfipovGiav) of the day of God, wherein the heavens 
 being on fire shall be dissolved, and tlu elements 
 shall melt with fervent heat. But, according to his 
 promise, we look for new heavens and a new earth, 
 w/ierein dwelleth righteousness. 
 
 [The statements contained in these two verses, 
 while they embody some of the chief features of 
 the traditional and popular eschatology of the his- 
 torical Church, are much more in harmony with the 
 prevailing Jewish thought of the times just before 
 and after the incarnation than with any thing 
 found in other parts of the New Testament, except 
 the epistle of dude. The Old Testammt is entirely 
 s',1, ill respecting tlie end of the world, (uoa/tor.) Nor 
 is there any thing in either the historical books of 
 the New Testament or in the undisputed canonical 
 epistles that illustrates the subject, except as they 
 are interpreted in the light of such passages a- those 
 given above; but in nearly every mythological sys- 
 tem the doctrine forms a distinguishing feature. It 
 is well known that the Jews who returned from 
 Babylon, where most of those who returned had 
 J 523
 
 . Tt. f.O. 
 e, 813. 
 
 II. PETER. 
 
 Additional note on chapter 
 .iii, in, 1.', 13. 
 
 been born and reared, brought with them not a 
 few extra-biblical notions respecting the future 
 life, traces of which may lie seen in the language 
 and imagery of the New Testament, hut the notions 
 themselves were not sanctioned by either Christ or 
 the apostles. But as the Church became enlarged, 
 and many parts of it removed both by time and 
 place from apostolical authority, these Babylonian 
 or Persian myths found their way into the teachings 
 and the literature of the earlier as well as the later 
 patristic times. The subsequent advent of the 
 Dark Ages, reaching downward a thousand years 
 from the fall of the Western Empire, gave the time 
 and conditions requisite for the complete ascendency 
 of these myths, and their incorporation into the 
 Church's liturgies and hymnology, while priest- 
 craft eagerly seized upon and appropriated to its 
 nefarious purposes the imagery of this non- 
 scriptural eschatology, as appealing most forcibly 
 to men's imaginations, and being thus aptly suited 
 to become an instrument of ghostly domination. 
 
 [The various apostolic utterances which have 
 been understood as teaching the second coming of 
 Christ, in outward form, to set up his kingdom 
 in the world as a civil state, present great diffi- 
 culties, however they may be interpreted. How 
 they were understood by the apostles themselves 
 is itself one of the chief issues. With the precon- 
 ceptions that have long dominated the mind of 
 Christendom, it seems very difficult to doubt that 
 the first generation of believers lived in the con- 
 stant expectation of Christ's coming again in bodily 
 form, with a retinue of angels, and with spectacular 
 manifestations in midheaven. So the announce- 
 ment made by the angels to the disciples at the 
 ascension was interpreted, even to the details of 
 the manner of his appearance, 6v t/>6~oi>, usually 
 translated in like manner, as implying that Christ 
 would return again to the earth, much as he was 
 seen go away from it " into heaven." He who reads 
 the language' of the apostles after that event, 
 whether in preaching or writing, referring to that 
 assurance, may, with the prevalent mental bias, 
 readily presume that they — the apostles — shared 
 the common expectation of that event, as has been 
 well said, during the lifetime of those then living. 
 But the long time that has elapsed without the 
 fulfilment of the supposed promise has compelled 
 men to seek for some method of interpreting the 
 words of the apostles in a sense that will not com- 
 pel the conclusion that they spoke unadvisedly, 
 and that time has demonstrated their error. Per- 
 haps their words will bear such an interpretation, 
 though it is quite certain that they were understood 
 by their hearers to add the weight of their words 
 to the prevalent notions respecting the parousia. 
 
 [But much more than a question of verbal criticism 
 and interpretation is found in the fact that the ex- 
 pected coming of Christ is often and earnestly 
 urged by the apostles as a motive to endurance 
 and diligence, because the time of suffering or 
 labour would be brief, for that the Lord was at hand 
 524 
 
 to cut short his work in righteousness, to reward 
 those whom he should find "waiting for his ap- 
 pearance," and to overthrow and destroy their per- 
 secuting adversaries, and the use made of these 
 assurances and exhortations, proceeded on the as- 
 sumption that the individuals addressed might ex- 
 pect that the promised deliverance and recompense 
 would come in their day. 
 
 [It is easy to conceive how potent such an expecta- 
 tion would be with the suffering and persecuted 
 saints ; and it is equally easy to see how completely 
 that hope would be dashed by the further revela- 
 tion, could it have been made, that after eighteen 
 centuries the expected coming would be still de- 
 layed. If we say that the apostles had no expecta- 
 tion of Christ's coming again till after other events 
 had occurred, which would occupy hundreds, per- 
 haps thousands, of years, then it may be asked, By 
 what law of sincerity could the apostles not only 
 allow their words to be misunderstood by those 
 who waited to be taught by them, but much more, 
 how could they make use of the misapprehen- 
 sions of their hearers as motives to right actions'? 
 And if, to avoid such formidable difficulties as 
 these things present, we shall say that the apostles 
 themselves had misapprehended the matter, and 
 were, in common with others, in error in their un- 
 derstanding of the subject, then must we accept a 
 theory of apostolic inspiration and infallibility 
 very largely modified from that which has usually 
 been held among nearly all classes of Christians. 
 
 [The period of the earth's existence in the past, 
 and of its probable continuance in the future, has 
 till quite recently been reckoned by comparatively 
 a few years. The Old Testament chronology, as 
 usually interpreted, carried back "the beginning" 
 less than ten thousand years, and the conception 
 common to both the learned and the unlearned 
 fixed the Berkshith, the beginning of the first sen- 
 tence of Genesis, in immediate connexion with the 
 initial moment of the six ordinary solar days 
 during which the work of creation began and pro- 
 ceeded to its completion, and man stood forth fully 
 developed, the lord of the newly created world. 
 .Men's minds were unused to contemplate the ex- 
 tended (eons of mundane existence with which they 
 have now become familiar, and it was quite natural 
 lor them to suspect that the time for a change and 
 a passing away was at hand. Certainly the words 
 of solemn warning used by some of the apostles, 
 and here by St. Peter, indicate their abiding con- 
 viction that a great cosmic change was imminent ; 
 that Jire was to be the agent, and that because 
 Christians looked for " these things " — in their own 
 time, of course, or the warning would be without 
 significance to them — they were earnestly exhorted 
 to "give diligence that they might be found in 
 peace," [by Christ at his coming?] These are 
 questions that await an explanation; but happily, 
 Christian duty and privileges are very little affected 
 by them. To every soul Christ will surely come 
 quickly, and for that coming all may prepare.]
 
 PKEFACE TO THE FIRST EPISTLE 
 
 OF 
 
 JOHN. 
 
 GENUINENESS. 
 
 THAT this epistle is identical in its authorship with the gospel of St. John, 
 scarcely admits of a doubt, and indeed it has scarcely ever been called in 
 question even by the most stubborn sceptics. De Wette remarks on this subject: 
 " So much is certain, that both the writings, this epistle and the fourth gospel, 
 proceed from the same author ; for both bear the most definite stamp of relation- 
 ship, as well in style as in conceptions ; both impress upon the reader the same 
 charm of a kind nature." It is also recognised by all the authorities of the ancient 
 Church, with almost absolute unanimity, as the production of the beloved disciple, 
 the author of the gospel of St. John. [It was used by Polycarp — a disciple 
 of John about A.D. 115. Eusebius states that Papias, who lived in Asia Minor 
 in the first half of the second century, and is called by Irenreus a hearer of John, 
 " made use of testimonies from the first epistle of John." Nor could Eusebius be 
 mistaken in this matter, for he had before him the work of Papias; and the 
 peculiar style of John's epistle, even though unnamed, is easily recognised wher- 
 ever quoted. This epistle in the Peshito-Syriac Version, and in the Canon of 
 Muratori, is attributed to the apostle John, and it formed a part of the earliest 
 Latin Version. It is quoted by Irenaeus as the writing of John the disciple of the 
 Lord ; also by Clement of Alexandria and Tertullian of Carthage. It is 
 attributed to John by Origen and Eusebius ; and Jerome remarks that it " is 
 approved of by all ecclesiastics and learned men." — ITarman.] 
 
 IDENTITY OF AUTHORSHIP WITH JOHN'S GOSPEL. 
 The internal evidence to the common authorship of the gospel of John and 
 this first epistle is also very strongly corroborative of the external. The proofs 
 of this are too abundant to allow of their introduction. The genuineness of the 
 epistle is inseparably united with that of the gospel, and the attacks that have 
 been made upon either have been uniformly directed against both. [The re- 
 marks of Liicke at this point are pertinent. He says: "The affinity between 
 the epistle and the gospel is indeed very great, but altogether of such a kind 
 that, according to the rules of sound criticism, we are led to conclude that the 
 author of each is the same, and consequently the genuineness of the gospel being 
 presupposed, as is granted by the most competent .authorities, that of the epistle 
 must follow. In the epistle there is nowhere to be found the smallest trace of 
 
 servile imitation : on the contrary, it appears throughout as a free and original 
 
 525
 
 PREFACE TO THE FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN". 
 
 production of the spirit of St. John. An interpolator would have taken great 
 care, even outwardly, to impress on his counterfeit the stamp of St. John in every 
 possible manner ; he would have mentioned the name of the evangelist ; he would 
 not have forgot to put in a prolix superscription and a formal salutation ; he 
 would have interspersed the epistle, in many places, with personal and local 
 allusions, and made the time and the circumstances of St. John as conspicuous as 
 possible. But at the same time such an author, however able an imitator of the 
 manner of St. John, would, according to the custom of the interpolators of the 
 second century, never have failed to introduce both his own sentiments and circum- 
 stances, and those of his age, and scarcely would have been able entirely to avoid 
 contortions and misrepresentations of the ideas of St. John and of his mode of 
 expression. But where is there the slightest trace of all this in the epistle? Form 
 and language, doctrine and manners, heresies exposed and attacked — in short, the 
 entire substance of the epistle — establish it as a production of the apostolic age 
 and of the canonic literature. In this particular it presents very much stronger 
 claims than the somewhat disputed second epistle of Peter and the epistle of 
 Jude ; while on the other hand the idiomatical agreement between the apocalypse 
 and the unquestionably genuine writings of St. John will sooner be accepted as 
 proving it to be genuine and canonical than that this epistle is a forgery of the 
 second century."] 
 
 INTEGRITY. 
 
 Beyond most other portions of the New Testament, the several parts of this 
 epistle are conceded to belong to each other, and to stand or fall together. And 
 yet to this general statement two brief sentences form rather remarkable ex- 
 ceptions. The words in chapter ii, 23, translated, "He that acknowledged the 
 Son hath the Father also," are omitted in our common Version, but usually inserted 
 by later editors, either in italics or enclosed in brackets, to indicate its lack of 
 authority. It is, however, amply supported by the very best modern authorities, 
 and is now generally accepted as genuine. On the other hand, the famous passage 
 constituting parts of the seventh and eighth verses of the fifth chapter, which two 
 verses read, (in English,) " For there are three that bear record [in heaven, the 
 Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one. And there are 
 three that bear witness in earth,] the Spirit, the water, and the blood, and these 
 three agree in one," has been the occasion of a great amount of learned discussion 
 and controversy, which, however, may be said to have ended in completely dis- 
 crediting the part contained above in brackets. See the notes, and especially the 
 additional note at the end. 
 
 ARRANGEMENT AND PURPOSE. 
 On account of its aphoristic and apparently tautological character some 
 (especially Calvin, Episcopius, et al.) have been induced to believe that there is 
 no contextual connexion in the epistle. Lucke, acknowledging his indebtedness 
 to Knapp and Riekli, holds the proper theme of the epistle, the object, ground, 
 and binding together of all its doctrinal and practical sayings, to be this prop- 
 osition : "As the ground and root of all Christian fellowship is the fellowship 
 which each individual has with the Father and the Son, in faith and in love, so 
 this latter necessarily unfolds and exhibits itself in the former, namely, in the 
 fellowship with the brethren." Having laid this down, he divides the epistle 
 into many sections, all unfolding in various ways this central truth. Liicke's 
 method has been judged to be defective, (see Dusterdieck,) as only following the 
 
 526
 
 PREFACE TO THE FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN". 
 
 steps of the writing without attempting to grasp the master thought which runs 
 through the whole epistle and determines its character. It may nevertheless be 
 correct as far as it proceeds. "He has," says Alford, "given the sequence of 
 thought, as it stands, but he has not accounted for it, (shown the purpose in hand.) 
 The complete statement of the disposition of the matter of the epistle must tell 
 us not only hoio the train of thought proceeds, but why it thus proceeds." 
 
 De Wette conceives the design of the epistle to be to confirm the readers in 
 the Christian life, as consisting in purity (love) and faith, and to this end to 
 awaken and sharpen the moral conscience by reminding them of the great moral 
 axioms of the Gospel, and of the inseparableness of morality and faith, so guard- 
 ing them against the influence of false teachers. 
 
 Diisterdieck objects to this statement as too superficial, and failing to appre- 
 ciate the full purport of the writer's design, which he sees presented in two 
 master thoughts, namely, 1) "God is light,'''' and 2) "God is righteous.'''' These 
 themes are impressed on the reader both by positive and negative unfolding, 
 and by polemical defense against erroneous teachers ; and this being done, each 
 principal portion is concluded with a corresponding promise. And both of these 
 chief thoughts tend throughout to illustrate and enforce the great subject of the 
 ■whole, Fellowship with God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 Presenting these great truths as spiritual and life-giving realities, to be 
 apprehended experimentally rather than speculatively, the apostle is able to show 
 why the epistle was written, the ravra eyoa^pa (chapter v) answering to the ravra 
 ygdcpofiev of chapter i, 4, to teach them, so that they may surely believe that our 
 fellowship with the Father and with one another rests on our fellowship with 
 our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. See Alford. 
 
 PERSONS ADDRESSED. 
 
 Nothing in the epistle itself directly indicates who the persons were to whom 
 it was primarily addressed. Its designation as a catholic epistle implies the 
 persuasion of the early Church that its design was somewhat general, and that its 
 instructions were intended not entirely for one particular Church but for many, 
 and all over whom the writer exercised his apostolical watchcare. And yet 
 evidently the writer had in mind a class of persons with whom he stood in close 
 personal relations, and who were exposed to the seductive doctrines of unsound 
 and heretical teachers. Augustine says that it was addressed to the "Parthians,"' 
 and (apparently on his authority) this inscription appears in some copies of the Vul- 
 gate ; but while this statement is not sustained by external evidence, it is rendered 
 improbable by the fact that it does not appear that John had any relations to the 
 Christians of that country. The prevalent and altogether credible tradition that 
 John was for a long time very intimately related to the Church of Ephesus, 
 and only a little more remotely to other Churches in that region, seems to make 
 it probable that this epistle was primarily intended for the same Churches to 
 whom he afterward conveyed Christ's own messages as given in Revelation, 
 chapters i, ii, iii. Lardner's declaration may therefore be accepted as altogether 
 probable and quite satisfactory, "that it was primarily meant for the Churches 
 in Asia under John's inspection, to which he had already orally delivered his 
 
 doctrine." 
 
 CONTEXTS. 
 
 The writer does not appear to have followed any systematic plan in the composi- 
 tion of the epistle, but rather to have written out of a full heart. Of the contents 
 
 527
 
 PREFACE TO THE FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN". 
 
 of the letter Fairbairn gives the following analysis: "He asserts the preexistent 
 glory and the real humanity of our Lord, in opposition to false teachers, and for the 
 comfort of the Church. (Chapter i, 1-7.) Then follows a statement of the sin- 
 fulness of man and the propitiation made by Christ, this propitiation being well cal- 
 culated to stir up to holiness and love. (Chapter i, 8 ; ii, IV.) Jesus and the 
 Christ are asserted to be one, in opposition to the false teachers. (Chapter 
 ii, 22.) The next chapter seems devoted to a statement of the singular love of God 
 in adopting us to be sons, and of the happiness and the duties arising out of it, 
 especially that of brotherly love. (Chapter iii.) The following chapter is prin- 
 cipally occupied with marks by which to distinguish the teachings of the Spirit of 
 God from those of false teachers and of antichrist, with repeated exhortations to 
 love of the brethren. (Chapter iv.) The apostle then shows the connexion 
 between faith, renewal, love to God and to the brethren, obedience, and victory 
 over the world, and concludes with a brief summary of what had been already 
 said. (Chapter v.)" It appears quite evident, that the Avriter had in view certain 
 false teachers who were then troubling the Church, and by whose influence the 
 Christians were in danger of being seduced from the faith of Jesus as the incar- 
 nate Son of God; and the whole epistle bears strong internal evidence that it was 
 intended to combat the beginnings of certain well known heresies that soon after- 
 ward so greatly divided and devastated the Church. 
 
 PLACE AND TIME OF WRITING. 
 
 Tradition has usually placed the writing of this epistle at Ephesus, though it 
 was said by some to have been written in Patmos. From internal evidence it 
 appears to belong to Asia Minor, but to what particular city or place there is no 
 means of determining. The claim in favour of Ephesus appears the most prob- 
 able, but even for this we have no histoiucal data. 
 
 There is a like uncertainty in respect to its date, though it is generally sup- 
 posed that it was written after the gospel, and that the gospel is referred to in 
 1 John i, 4. Liicke concludes, from its resemblance to the gospel in its apologetical 
 and polemical allusions, that it indicates the existence of a state of- society that 
 proves it to have been written after the date of St. Paul's epistles. From the 
 expression, " This is the last time," (chapter ii, 18,) assuming that to refer to the 
 ending of the Jewish Church and nation, with the destruction of Jerusalem, it 
 has been argued that it was written before the occurrence of that great catastro- 
 phe, [though it having occurred would have more certainly indicated that this was 
 indeed ''the last time."] The plea that the epistle was written when its author 
 had attained a very great age is certainly not sustained by any signs of senility 
 in either its conceptions or statements, though the frequent use of the expression 
 " little children," and generally its loving, fatherly spirit, may indicate the quiet 
 serenity of age. Altogether the question respecting both the time and the place 
 of the writing of this epistle can be only proximately settled ; it was pretty cer- 
 tainly written at, or not far from, Ephesus, during the later years of the lifetime 
 of its apostolic author; and possibly, but scarcely probably, before the destruction 
 of Jerusalem. 
 
 528
 
 THE FIKST GENEEAL EPISTLE 
 
 OF 
 
 JOHN. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THAT "which was from the beginning 1 , 
 which we have heard, which we have seen 
 with our eyes, ''which we have looked upon, 
 and °our hands have handled, of the Word of 
 Life; 2 (For d the Life e was manifested, and 
 we have seen it, f and bear witness, sand show 
 unto you that eternal Life, h which was with 
 
 rtJohn I. 1; chap. 2. 13. Mohn 1. 14; 2 Pet, 1. 16; chap. 
 
 4. 14. cl.uke 24. 39: John 20. 27. '/John 1. 4; 11. 25; 14. t>. 
 
 e Rom. 16. 26; 1 Tim. 3. 16; chap. 3. 5. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER I. 
 [St. John gives his readers an assurance that his 
 evangelical statement is founded on his own infal- 
 lible evidence respecting the dignity, the doctrine, 
 and the deeds of Jesus Christ, and that it has no 
 other object than to enlarge and establish more 
 firmly the communion of the true disciples of 
 Jesus ; that with the same view he now writes to 
 them, in order to strengthen their faith, and thus 
 render complete their joy in the Lord. — Lilcke.] 
 
 1. That -which was from the beginning — 
 That glorious personage, Jesus Christ the Lord, 
 who was from eternity; him, being manifested in 
 the flesh, we have heard proclaim the doctrine of 
 eternal life ; with our own eyes have we seen him, 
 not transiently, for we have looked upon him fre- 
 quently ; and our hands have handled — frequent- 
 ly touched — his person ; and we have had every proof 
 of the identity and reality of this glorious being 
 that our senses of hearing, seeing, b aK//K6a/uev, b 
 iwpanauEV role ixptia'A/to'tc >}uuv, and feeling, ml al 
 %etpes rjfiuv etpr/Aacpz/crav, could possibly require. 
 
 2. For the Life was manifested — The Lord 
 Jesus, who is the creator of all things, and the 
 fountain of life to all intellectual beings, and from 
 whom eternal life comes, was '•manifested 1 ' in the 
 flesh, and we have seen him, and bear witness 
 to him as the fountain and author of eternal life; 
 for he who was from eternity with the Father teas 
 manifested unto us his apostles. 
 
 3. That which we have seen and heard — 
 We deliver nothing by hearsay, tradition, or con- 
 jecture. [A highly involved sentence, including the 
 first three verses, the substance of which is con- 
 densed into the words these things, ravra, of 
 verse 4. The whole sentence, expressed in idio- 
 matic English, may be rendered, " In order that 
 (iva) ye may have fellowship (koivuvUl, common in- 
 terest) with us, we declare unto you that which we 
 have seen and heard, that which was from the. be- 
 ginning, which we have heard, which we have seen 
 
 Vol. II.— U 
 
 the Father, and was manifested unto us;) 
 
 3 'That which we have seen and heard de- 
 clare we unto you, that ye also may have fel- 
 lowship with us: and truly k our fellowship is 
 with the Father, and with his Sun Jesus Christ. 
 
 4 And these things write we unto you, ' that 
 your joy may be full. 5 m This then is the 
 message which we have heard of him, and de- 
 
 ./'John 21. 24; Acts 2. 32. g L'lifip. 5. 20 /, John 1. 1, 2. 
 
 /Acts 4. 2n. /'.John 17. -.1; 1 Cor. 1. P; chap. 2. 24. 
 
 Uohn 15. 11; in. 24; 2 John 12. m Chap. 3. 11. 
 
 with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our 
 hands have handled, concerning the Word of Life ; 
 (for the Life was manifested, and we have seen it, 
 [him,] and bear witness, and show unto you that eter- 
 nal Life, which was with the Father, and was mani- 
 fested unto us,) and truly our fellowship is with the 
 Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these 
 things write we unto you, that your joy may be full."] 
 That ye also may have fellowship -with us — 
 [The apostle here brings out that he (along with 
 the rest of the apostles) has fellowship with the 
 Father and with the Son, and no doubt in order to 
 intimate by this that his readers, if they have fel- 
 lowship with him, are thereby received with him 
 into that fellowship. — Huther.] 
 
 4. That your joy may be full — [lie -/ rjpufitvi) ; 
 may lie filled hji, or on/, made complete.] Ye have 
 already tasted that the Lord is good ; but I now 
 show you the height of your Christian calling, that 
 your happiness mag be comjAete, [being brought into 
 the fulness of the blessing of the grace of Christ.] 
 
 5. This then is the message — [Kai ianv a in/ 
 ayyeXia, and this is the message, the thing an- 
 nounced.] (See John i, IS.) God is light — 
 [What the Son has announced from the Father, 
 that the apostle, having received from the Son, has 
 re-announced to us. — Erasmus.'] " Light " implies 
 every essential excellence, especially wisdom, holi- 
 ness, and happiness. Darkness implies all imper- 
 fection, and principally ignorance, sinfulness, and 
 misery. "Light" is the purest, the most subtile, 
 the most useful, and the most diffusive of all God's 
 creatures; it is, therefore, a very proper emblem 
 of the purity, perfection, and goodness of the di- 
 vine nature. God is to human souls what the light 
 is to the world ; without the latter all would be de- 
 nial and uncomfortable, and terror and death would 
 universally prevail; and without an indwelling 
 (rod even religion would be at best only an empty 
 science, a dead letter, a system unauthoritative and 
 uninfluencing, and the soul a trackless wilderness, 
 
 529
 
 M. 4073. A. D. 69 
 i'ear of Rome, 822. 
 
 I. JOHN. 
 
 dare unto you, that n God is light, and in him 
 is no darkness at all. 6 °ll we say that we 
 have fellowship with him, and walk in dark- 
 ness, we lie, and do not the truth. 7 But if 
 we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we 
 have fellowship one with another, and Pthe 
 blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us 
 
 u John I. 9: 8. 12; 9. 5: 12. ::., :'.r,. o2 Cor. B. 14; chap. 2. 4. 
 
 1>\ Cor. 6. 11; Eph. 1. 7; lleb. 9. 14; 1 Pet. 1. 19; chap. 
 
 2. 2; Rev. 1. 5. 
 
 a howling waste, full of evil, of terror, and dismay. 
 No wonder the apostle lays this down as a first and 
 grand principle, stating it to be the essential " mes- 
 sage" which he had received from Christ to deliver 
 to the world. 
 
 6. If we say that we have fellowship — Hav- 
 ing "fellowship" (tcoivuvia, communion) with God, 
 necessarily implies ^.partaking qftht divine nature. 
 Now, if we profess to have such communion, and 
 yet walk in darkness — live an irregular and sinful 
 life — [we are false in our profession, ipEv66/ueda, and 
 are enacting a falsehood, ov ttoiov/jev t//v akifii iav.~\ 
 ['itviSo/ieda (we lie) expresses the moral objec- 
 tionableness of such a contradiction between the 
 deed and the word. The negative clause (do not 
 the truth) is not. a mere repetition of the same 
 thought, but introduces along with it a new idea, 
 . . . namely, the practice of akrjQzia (the truth) in 
 word and deed. (See John iii, 21.) — Huther.] The 
 gnostics, against whose errors it is supposed this 
 epistle was written, were great pretenders to 
 knowledge, to the highest degrees of the divine il- 
 lumination and the nearest communion with the 
 fountain of holiness, while their- manners were ex- 
 cessively corrupt. 
 
 7. But if we walk in the light — If, having 
 received the principle of holiness from him, we live 
 a holy and righteous life. We have fellowship 
 one with another — That is, we have communion 
 with God, and God condescends to hold communion 
 with us. Those who are deeply experienced in di- 
 vine things converse with God, and God with them. 
 What John says is no figure ; God and a holy 
 heart are in continual correspondence. The 
 blood of Jesus Christ — The meritorious efficacy 
 of his passion and death having purged our con- 
 sciences from dead works, now cleanseth us, 
 Kadapi£et q/iac, continues to cleanse us, that is, to 
 keep clean what it has made clean, for it requires 
 the same merit and energy to preserve holiness in 
 the soul of man as to produce it. [The work of 
 redemption is a whole, and not mechanical but or- 
 ganic and moral, so that this cleansing takes place 
 inside the fellowship of the Church — of the fellow- 
 ship essential to and established for redemption. — 
 Brauiw.] [" The blood of Jesus Christ," according 
 to the Hebrew idiom, denotes the bloody death of 
 Christ, the principal point of his redeeming activity 
 on earth. St. Paul chiefly connects with this ex- 
 pression the power of justification, dinatucr/c ; but 
 St. John here connects with it the power of puri- 
 fying from sin. The notions are essentially one ; 
 the form only differs. — Lucke.~] 
 
 8. If we say that we have no sin — This is 
 tantamount to verse 10: "If we say that we have 
 not sinned." " All have sinned, nml comeshort <</' 
 the glory of God;" and therefore every man needs 
 a Saviour, such as Christ is. [Purification from 
 sin (as a continuous process, expressed by the 
 present tense) presupposes the existence of sin in 
 530 
 
 from all sin. 8 i 1f we say that we have no 
 sin, we deceive ourselves, r and the trat'h is not 
 in us. 9 s If we confess our sins, lie is faith- 
 ful and just to forgive us our sins, and to 
 •cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If 
 we say that we have not sinned, we make him 
 a liar, and his word is not in us. 
 
 q 1 Kiiifrs 8. 4fi; 2 Chron. fi. 3ti ; Job 9. 2: 15. 14 ; 25. 4 : Prov. 
 
 20. '.' ; Eecles. 7. 20; J;enes 3. 2. r Chap. 2. 4. « l'.-a. :;■-'. 5 ; 
 
 Prov. 28. 1 I. — t Psa. 51. 2 ; verse 7. 
 
 believers; the denial of this is self-deception. 
 I See J. Lesley's Sermon on "Sin in Believers.") 
 The first person plural, exo/iev, (we have,) is to be 
 noticed as showing that having sin is true of all 
 Christians, (but not therefore dominating in them.)] 
 We deceive ourselves — By supposing that we 
 have no guilt, no sinfulness, and consequently have 
 no need of the blood of Christ as an atoning sacri- 
 fice ; this is the most dreadful of all deceptions, as 
 it leaves the soul under the guilt and pollution of 
 sin, exposed to hell, and utterly unfit for heaven. 
 The truth is not in us — We have no knowledge of 
 the Gospel of Jesus, the whole of which is founded 
 on this most awful truth — all have sinned, all are 
 guilty, all are unholy; and none can redeem him- 
 self. Hence it was necessary that Jesus [Christ 
 should become incarnated, and suffer and die to 
 bring men to God. 
 
 9. If we confess our sins — If, from a deep 
 sense of our guilt, impurity, and helplessness, we 
 humble ourselves before God, acknowledging our 
 iniquity, his holiness, and our own utter helpless- 
 ness, and implore mercy for his sake who lias died 
 for us ; he is faithful, because to such he has 
 promised mercy, (Psa. xxxii, 5, Prov. xxviii, 13,) 
 and just, for Christ has died lor us, and thus made 
 an atonement to the divine justice; so that God 
 can now be just, and yet the justifier of him that 
 believeth in Jesus. [If God is just when he just i ties 
 the penitent and believing sinner, (Rom. iii, 26,) not 
 to justify, in the same conditions, would argue in- 
 justice ; for the same act, among the same con- 
 ditions, must in all cases possess the same ethical 
 qualities.] And to cleanse us from all unright- 
 eousness — Not only to forgive the sin, but to 
 purify the heart. 
 
 10. If we say that we have not sinned — 
 [Not a mere repetition, but a confirmation and in- 
 tensification of verse 8. . . . If we deny the fact of 
 our commission of sins in our Christian state, we 
 make him (God) a liar — The climax gradually 
 reached of the falsehood of verse 6, and the self- 
 deception of verse 8. See Alford.] 
 
 Observe here, 1) Sin exists in the soul after two 
 modes or forms: (1) In guilt, which requires for- 
 giveness or pardon. (2) In pollution, which re- 
 quires cleansing. 2) Guilt, to be forgiven, must 
 be confessed ; and pollution, to becleansed, must be 
 also confessed. In order to find mercy, a man must 
 know and feel himself to be a sinner, that he may 
 fervently apply to God for pardon; in order to ob- 
 tain a clean heart, a man must know and feel its 
 depravity, acknowledge and deplore it before God, 
 in order to be fully sanctified. 3) If few are par- 
 doned, it is because most men do not feel and confess 
 their sins ; and few are sanctified or cleansed from 
 all sin, because many Christians do not feel and 
 confess their own sore, and the plague of their 
 hearts. 4) As the blood of Jesus Christ, the merit
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 L. M. 4073. A. P. 6 
 Year of Rome, B22. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 MY little children, these things write I un- 
 to you, that ye sin not. And if any man 
 sin, "we have an advocate with the Father, 
 Jesus Christ the righteous: 2 And 'he is the 
 propitiation for our sins: and not for ours 
 
 a Rom. 8. 34; 1 Tim. 2. i 
 2 I'or. ■"). 18; chap. 1. 7 : 4. 
 
 ; lleb. 7. 25; 9 
 10. t'Ji'hn 1. 
 
 2-1. h Rnm. 3. 25; 
 
 29; 4. 42; II. 51, 52; 
 
 only, hut c also for the sins of the whole world. 
 il And hereby we do know that we know 
 him, if we keep his commandments. 4 d lie 
 that saith, I know him, and keepeth no1 his 
 commandments. H is a liar, and the truth is nol 
 in him. 5 But f whoso keepeth his word, &'m 
 
 chap. 4. 14. (/Chap. 1. 6; 4. 20. e Chap. 1.8. -/John 14. 
 
 21, 2 i. t;Chap. 4. 12. 
 
 of his passion and death, applied by faith, purses 
 the conscience from all dead works, so the same 
 cleanses the heart from all unrighteousness. 5) As 
 all unrighteousness is sin, so he that is cleansed 
 from all unrighteousness is cleansed from all sin. 
 To attempt to evade this, and plead for the contin- 
 uance of sin in the heart through life, is ungrateful, 
 wicked, and even blasphemous; for as he who 
 says he has not si mini (verse 10) makes God a liar, 
 who lias declared the contrary through every part 
 of his revelation; so he that says the blood of 
 Christ either cannot or will not cleanse us from all 
 sin, gives also the lie to his Maker, who has declared 
 the contrary, and thus shows that the word — the 
 doctrine — of dud is not in him. [And yet since this 
 cleansing is a work ever proceeding, the perpetual 
 tendency to relapse into sin is here recognised. 
 The same grace that cleansed the soul at the first 
 is perpetually required to keep it clean.] 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER II. 
 1. My little children — Tsicvia fiov, my beloved 
 children ; the address of an affectionate father to 
 children whom he tenderly loves. The term also 
 refers to the apostle's authority as their spiritual 
 father, and their obligation to obey as his spiritual 
 children. These things — Tavra, which had been 
 named in what goes before, these are there written 
 for a purpose, namely, that ye sin not, Iva y.ij 
 dudpTTjTE, in order that you may not fall into sin.] 
 [The object of writing this passage was to bring- 
 about in them the forsaking of sin. The very an- 
 nouncement there made, that if we confess our 
 sins he in his faithfulness and righteousness will 
 cleanseusfrom all sin, sufficiently substantiates what 
 the apostle here says. — Alford.] That ye sin not 
 — This is the language of the whole Scripture ; of 
 every dispensation, ordinance, institution, doctrine, 
 and word of God. " Sin not," do not run into ruin ; 
 live not so as to promote your own misery ; be 
 happy, for it is the will of God that ye should be 
 so; therefore he wills that ye should be holy: 
 holiness and happiness are inseparable; sin and 
 misery are equally so. And if any man sin — 
 If, through ignorance, inexperience, the violence of 
 temptation, unwatcht'ulness, etc., ye have fallen 
 into sin, and grieved the Spirit of God, do not con- 
 tinue in the sin, nor under the guilt; do not de- 
 spair of being again restored to the favour of God ; 
 your case, it is true, is deeply deplorable, but not 
 desperate; there is still hope, for we have an 
 advocate with the Father: we still have Him 
 before the throne who died for our offences, and 
 rose again for our justification ; and there he makes 
 intercession for us. He is the righteous ; he who 
 suffered, the just for the unjust, that he might 
 bring us to God. Do not, therefore, despair, but 
 have immediate recourse to God through him. 
 ["An advocate,'' -a/ianTiT/Tov, (see on John xvi, 16, 
 where the Holy Spirit, is so named with special ref- 
 erence to the work of the comforter. Here the 
 sense is evidently forensic, aud the j/arackk, here 
 
 referring to Christ,) is our advocate, causae 
 patronus, a legal assistant, whether as witness ot 
 pleader, or both in one. In this case Christ is box \ : 
 he presents the propitiation, (his own blood,) and 
 also pleads our cause before the throne.] [The 
 office of Christ as TrapaK&nTog (advocate) with God is 
 founded on this, that he himself has become the 
 i2aa/u6r (atoning sacrifice) for our sins. . . . 
 Without Christ's redeeming and atoning activity on 
 earth, his activity in heaven (in our behalf) cculd 
 not be conceived. — Liuke.~\ [Grotius uses this pas- 
 sage as a strong support of his doctrine of satisfac- 
 tion, " de placatione et reconciliatione, de redemp- 
 tione, de expatione nostra per Christi mortem facta," 
 saying, "Christ, has, as our V/.aouuc, or iXacrrjpiov, 
 that is, as a (our) sin offering, reconciled God and 
 us by nothing else but by his voluntary death as a 
 sacrifice; has by this averted the wrath of God from 
 ics.~\ 
 
 2. And he is the propitiation — 'I?.ao/u6c, the 
 atoning sacrifice, for our sins. This is the proper 
 sense of the word as used in the Septuagint, where 
 it often occurs; and is the translation of asliam, an 
 oblation for sin, (Amos viii, 14 ;) chattath, a sacrifice 
 
 fur sin, (Ezek. xliv, 27;) kippur, an atonement. 
 (Num.v, 8.) See the note on Rom. iii. 25, and particu- 
 larly the note on Luke xviii, 13. The word is used 
 only here and in chapter iv, 10. And not for ours 
 only — It is not for us apostles that he has died, nor 
 exclusively for the Jewish people, but -Trt/i'i b/.ov ~ov 
 Koufjov, for the 'whole world, Gentiles as well as 
 Jews — all the descendants of Adam. The apostle 
 does not say that he died for any select part of the 
 inhabitants of the earth, or for some out of every 
 nation, tribe, or kindred; but for ALL MANKIND; 
 and the attempt to limit this is a violent outrage' 
 against God and his word. ["The whole world " is 
 here mentioned in contradistinction to all Christians, 
 to whom St. John speaketh in this place; that whole 
 world of which he says below (chapter v, 19) that 
 it lieth in wickedness. — I)r. Barrow. | 
 
 3. And hereby \iv tot ru, in or by this ; that is, 
 the signs next named] we do know that we 
 know him — If we keep the commandment- ot' 
 God, loving him with all our heart, and our neigh- 
 bour as ourselves, we have the fullest proof tliat 
 we have the true saving knowledge of God and Ins 
 Christ. The Gnostics pretended to much knowl- 
 edge, but their knowledge left them in possession 
 of all their bad passions and unholy habits; nor is 
 any man properly acquainted with God "ho is .-til 1 
 under the power of Ids sins. 
 
 4. He that saith, I know him — This is a -e\ en 
 blow against those false teachers, and against all 
 
 pretenders to religious knowledge who live under 
 the power of their sins; and against all Antinomians, 
 and false boasters in the righteousness of Chris! as 
 a covering for their personal unholiness. They are 
 all liars, and no truth of God is in them. 
 
 .">. But whoso keepeth Iris word — Conscien- 
 tiously observes his doctrine, the spirit and letter of 
 the religion of Christ. Is the love of God per- 
 
 5U1
 
 A.M. 4073. A. D. 6! 
 Year of Rome, SS2. 
 
 I. JOHN. 
 
 Love and obedience the evidence 
 of abiding in God. 
 
 him verily is the love of God perfected: h here- 
 by know we that we are in him. 6 ' He that 
 saith he ahideth in him k ought himself also so 
 to walk, even as he walked. 7 Brethren, 'I 
 write no new commandment unto you, but an 
 old commandment '"which ye had from the 
 beginning. The old commandment is the 
 word which ye have heard from the begin- 
 ning. § Again, "a new commandment I write 
 
 &Ghnp. 4. 13. /.John 15. 4, 5. fcMatt. 11. 29: John 13. 
 
 15: 1 Pet. 2. 21. 1 2 John 5. mChap. 3. 11; 2 John 5. 
 
 Mjnhn 13. 34; 15. 12. 
 
 fected — The design of God's love in sending Jesus 
 Christ into the world to die for the sin of man, 
 TsreXeiuTat, is accomplished in that man who re- 
 ceives the doctrine and applies for the salvation 
 provided for him. [It is according to the economy 
 of grace that he who diligently and watchfully 
 keeps God's commandments in both the letter and 
 the spirit shall steadily grow in grace, and in him 
 the love of God (his love to God) shall be ever- 
 more approximating to fulness.] Hereby know 
 we that we are in him — ['Ev tovtu, (see 
 verse 3,) that is, by thus continually growing up 
 into him, coming nearer and nearer to that ideal 
 perfection of which God himself is the essentially 
 perfect prototype.] 
 
 6. Abideth in him — Living a life of devotion 
 and obedience to God, and of benevolence ami 
 beneficence to his neighbour. Thus Christ walked ; 
 and he has left us an example that we should follow 
 his steps. To "be in Christ," (verse 5,) is to be 
 converted to the Christian faith and to have re- 
 ceived the remission of sins. To abide in Christ, 
 is to continue in that state of salvation, grow- 
 ing in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ. [The phrases iv Xptorw and kv avrC) 
 occur often in the New Testament, as indicating the 
 saved soul's relations to Christ, certainly implying 
 peculiar and very intimate relations of the two to 
 each other. To be saved in Christ is much moce 
 than simply to be saved by him. See John xv, 1-7.] 
 
 7. Brethren, I write no new commandment 
 • — There seems to be a contradiction between this 
 and the next verse. But the apostle appears to 
 speak, not so much of any difference in the essence 
 of the precept itself, as in reference to the degrees 
 of light and grace belonging to the Mosaic and 
 Christian dispensations, ft was ever the command 
 of Cod that men should receive his light, walk by 
 that light, and love him and one another. But this 
 commandment was renewed by Christ with much lat- 
 itude and spirituality of meaning; and also with 
 much additional light to see its extent, and^raceto 
 observe it. It may therefore be called the old 
 commandment which was from the beginning.; and 
 also a new commandment revealed afresh and illus- 
 trated by Christ, with the important addition to the 
 meaning of Thoushalt love thy neighbour asthyself;. 
 ye shall love the brethren so as to lay down your 
 lives for each other. (See on John xiii, 34.) In- 
 stead of adeTupoi, brethren, ayawnToi, beloved, is 
 without doubt the true reading. [But the sense is 
 the same] 
 
 8. Which thing is true in him and in you— - 
 It is true that Christ loved the world so well as to 
 lay down his life for it ; and it was true in them, in 
 all his faithful followers at that time, who were 
 ready to lay down their lives for the testimony of 
 Jesus. There is a saying in Synopsis Sohar, page 
 
 532 
 
 unto you, which thing is true in him and in 
 you: "because the darkness is past, and rthe 
 true light now shineth. 9 i He that saith he 
 is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in 
 darkness even until now. lO 'lie that loveth 
 his brother abideth in the light, and s there is 
 none 'occasion of stumbling in him. 11 But 
 he that hateth his brother is in darkness, "and 
 walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither 
 
 oUom. 13.12; Eph. 5. 8- 1 Thess. 5. 5, 8. p Johnl. 9; 8. 12; 
 
 12. 35. ij\ Cor. 13. 2: 2 Pet. 1. 9: chap. 3. 14, 15. *Chap. 
 
 3. 14. s2 Pet. 1. 10. tGv. scandal. u John 12. 35. 
 
 94, note 51, that may cast some light on this pas- 
 sage: Tliat way in which the just have walked, <d- 
 though it be old, yet may be mid to be new in the 
 love of the righteous. The love that the righteous 
 bear to God and to each other is a reneival of the 
 commandment, [The commandment, ivrn/.r/, in 
 each case (verses 7 and 8) is the same, but seen 
 indifferent aspects. Thus Alford : " The evtoTJ] i3 
 the command to walk as Christ walked, passing as 
 the passage advances into the law of love. The 
 kvroXn (commandment) is not kxuvt], (new,) but 
 TraXaid, (old,) seeing that they had it a-' apxvs, 
 from tht beginning of their faith, and it was in fact 
 the sum of the /d; oc (doctrine) which they anovaav, 
 (heard.)"] The darkness is past — The thick 
 darkness of the heathen world, and the comparative 
 darkness of the Mosaic dispensation, are now pass- 
 ing away; and the pure and superior light of 
 Christianity is diffusing its beams everywhere. He 
 does not say that the darkness was all gone by, but 
 -apayira/, it is passing away ; he does not say that 
 the fulness of the light had appeared, but f/dq (paivei, 
 it is //<)/'• shining, and will shine more and more to 
 the perfect day. 
 
 9. He that saith he is in the light — He that 
 professes to be a convert to Christianity, even in the 
 lowest degree. And hateth his brother — Does not 
 love him. Is in darkness — [ Is without the] saving 
 knowledge of the truth. [The "light," ru Owe, de- 
 notes the holy sphere of the divine life. . . . The 
 apostle regards his "brother," particularly the 
 believer in Christ, as begotten of God; the love of 
 the brethren, as the children of a loved father, rests 
 on the love of God, who litis regenerated them. 
 (Chapter iii, 10; v, 1.)] 
 
 10. He that loveth his brother — That is, 
 [primarily his fellow-believer, but also, in a some- 
 what different sense,] his neighbour, his fellow- 
 creature, whether Jew or Gentile, so as to bear him 
 continual goodwill, and to be ready to do him 
 every kind office, abideth in the light; not 
 only gives proof that he has received Christ Jesus 
 the Lord, but that he walks in him, that he ret tins 
 the grace of his justification, and grows therein. 
 And there is none occasion of stumbling in 
 him — KoJ aKa.v6a2.ov kv avrti ovk eanv, and then is 
 n<> stand, limy block in him ; he neither gives nor re- 
 ceives offence ; love prevents him from giving any to 
 his neighbour, and love prevents him from receiving 
 any from his neighbour, because it leads him to 
 put the best construction on every thing. Many 
 fall into sin because they do not see the snares that 
 are in the way ; and they do not see the snares be- 
 cause they either have not received, or do not abide 
 in, the light. 
 
 11. But he that hateth his brother is in 
 darkness — ['0 6e (jliouv, hat he hating, a positive 
 term, signifying a real ill will ; for, as Bengel says,
 
 Description of the different states 
 in tlie family of God. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 A. M. 4073. A. D. G9. 
 Ycur of Rome, 82J. 
 
 he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded 
 his eyes. 12 I write unto you, little children, 
 because v your sins are forgiven you for his 
 name's sake. 13 I write unto you, fathers, 
 because ye have known him « that is from the 
 beginning. I write unto you. young men, be- 
 cause ye have overcome the wicked one. I 
 write unto you, little children, because ye have 
 known the Father. 14 I have written unto 
 you. fathers, because ye have known him that 
 
 V Luke 24. 47; Acts 4. 12; 1". 43; 13. 38: chap. 1. 7 if Chap. 
 
 1. 1.- r Eph. 6. 10. y Rom. 12. 2. 
 
 " Where there is no love there is hatred, for the 
 heart is never empty;" rbv uiSt'/.unr avrov. (See 
 verse 10)] He is still in his heathen or uncon- 
 verted state; and walketh in darkness, his con- 
 duct being a proof of that state ; and knoweth 
 not whither he goeth — Having no proper 
 knowledge of God or eternal things. 
 
 12. I write unto you, little children — Texvia, 
 beloved children. (See on verse 1.) [Of all of whom 
 it may lie said, that their sins are forgiven for his 
 (Christ's) name's sake,] who had died for them, and 
 was now their .Mediator at the right hand of God. 
 
 13. I write unto you, fathars — [Ilariper, 
 either aged men, or those who had been believers 
 for a long time ; for there were many such in the 
 Ephesian Church.] Ye have known him. . . . 
 from the beginning — [Toy an-' apxVQ, him (that 
 was) from the beginniug, (that is, Christ, John i, 1 )| 
 I write unto you, young men — ['Seavianoi, young 
 persons.} These were continued disciples of Christ ; 
 persons who were well grounded in the truth, had 
 been thoroughly exercised in the Christian warfare, 
 and were in the prime of life and in the zenith of their 
 faith and love. [The proper attribute of youth is 
 to carry on the parts of life; if soldiers, to be en- 
 gaged in all active service ; that of age, to contem- 
 plate, and arrive at sound and matured knowledge. 
 — A/ford.} [There may also be here an allusion to 
 the peculiar force of temptation felt by the young, 
 which these had overcome.] I write unto you, 
 little children— HaiSia, not reiivia, (verse 12,) 
 [probably including all the before named classes.] 
 If the apostle does not use these two words indiffer- 
 ently, four states instead of three are here described : 
 
 1) Fathers, Tra-epec, those who had been converted 
 at the very commencement of Christianity, and had 
 seen the eternal Word manifested in the flesh. 
 
 2) Young men, veavioiioi, youths in the prime of 
 their spiritual life, valiant soldiers, fighting under 
 the banner of Christ, who had confounded Satan in 
 his wiles, and overcome him by the blood of the 
 Lamb. 3) Little children, Traidia, disciples of 
 Christ, not of very long standing, nor of much ex- 
 perience, but who had known the Father ; that is, 
 persons who had been made sons, God having sent 
 the Spirit of his Son into their hearts, whereby they 
 cried, Abba, Father I 4) Beloved children, 
 TiKvta, the most recent converts, and particularly 
 those among young men and women who, from 
 their youth, simplicity, opeuheartedness, and affec- 
 tionate attachment to God and his cause, were pe- 
 culiarly dear to this aged apostle of Jesus Christ. 
 All these are represented as having their sins for- 
 given them on account of his mime, 6ia to bvoua 
 avrov, that is, for the sake of Jesus, or on account 
 of his merit or worthiness. 
 
 14. Ye have known him that is from the be- 
 ginning — [In regard to the fathers, iraTtpec, the 
 
 is from the beginning. I have written unto 
 you, young men, because x ye are strong, and 
 the word of God abideth in you, and ye have 
 overcome the wicked one. 15 J' Love not the 
 world, neither the things that, arc in the world. 
 z If any man love the world, the love of the 
 Father is not in him. 16 For all that, is in 
 the world, the lust of the flesh, a and the lust 
 of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the 
 Father, but is of the world. 17 And 'the 
 
 sMatt. 6. 2-4; (oil. 1. 10: James 4. 4. a Ercles. 5. 11. 
 
 7. 31 ; James 1. HI ; -4. 14 ; 1 Pet. 1. 24. 
 
 -Z/lCor. 
 
 apostle brings out the same thing in both groups, 
 (verses 13 and 14,) that they had "known him "(thai 
 
 was) " from the beginning." (It is much disputed 
 whether the words a-' hpxyQ, from the beginning, 
 should be understood of Christ, or of the early date of 
 their conversion. Both senses are grammatically 
 admissible, and both are in harmony with the con- 
 text.) John ascribes that knowledge to the fathers, 
 because he might with justice assume that they hail 
 not contented themselves with a superficial knowl- 
 edge of Christ. In regard to the young men, it is 
 said in both groups that they had overcome the 
 wicked one, t'ov Tvovt/pov, the, devil : not that the 
 same was not true also of the fathers; but John 
 attributes this eminently to the young men, because 
 they, in accordance with their age, had more recently 
 obtained tins victory, and their care must be specially 
 not to lose what they had lately won. . . . Thev 
 are said to be strong in spirit, iaxvpoi, with special 
 reference to the fght to which they are called. 
 This conquering power is not their own moral 
 strength, but the effect of the word of (hid that, 
 abode (utrti. continued) in them, (through continuous 
 faith.) See Huther.] 
 
 15. Love not the world — Though these 
 several classes were so well acquainted with divine 
 things, and had all tasted the powers of the world 
 to come ; yet so apt are men to be drawn aside by 
 sensible things that the Holy Spirit saw it necessary 
 to caution these against the love of the world — the 
 inordinate desire of earthly things. Covelovsness 
 is the peculiar vice of old age : Ye fat furs, loV( not 
 the world. The things which are in the world, its 
 profits, pleasures, and honours, have the strongest 
 allurements for youth ; therefore, ye young men, 
 little children, and babes, love not the things of this 
 world. Let those hearts abide faithful to God who 
 have taken him for their portion. The love of 
 the Father is not in him — The love of God and 
 the love of earthly things are incompatible. If you 
 give place to the love of the world, the love of (iod 
 cannot dwell in you. " The love of the Father," 
 // ayairn tov Trarpbc, is to be understood of neither 
 the love of God to us, nor the divinely originated 
 spirit of universal love in the soul, but (of our) love 
 to God. — Hutlier ] 
 
 16. For all that is in the world — All that it 
 can boast of, all that it can promise, is only tran- 
 sient gratification, and even this promise it cannot 
 fulfil ; so that its warmest votaries can complain 
 loudesl of their disappointment. The lust of the 
 flesh — Sensual desires which seek their gratifica- 
 tion in [whatever ministers to the appetite-,] 
 Lust of the eyes — Inordinate desires after finery 
 ol' every kind — gaudy dress, splendid houses, superb 
 furniture, expensive equipage, trappings, and deco- 
 rations of all sorts. Pride of life — Cravings after 
 honours, titles, and pedigrees; boasting of ancestry, 
 
 533
 
 L M. 4073. A. D. I 
 Year of Rome, 82>i 
 
 I. JOHN. 
 
 world passeth away, and the lust thereof : but 
 he that doeth the will of God abidetb for ever. 
 I§ c Little children, cl it is the last time: and 
 as ye have heard that e antichrist shall come, 
 1 even now are there many antichrists ; where- 
 
 c.lolin 21. 5. <i Heb. 1. 2. e2Thess. 2. ?,; 2 Pet. 2. 1 ; chap. 
 
 4.3. filntt. 24.5,24; 2 John 7. g\ Tim. 4. 1; 2 Tim. 3. 1. 
 
 family connexions, great offices, honourable ac- 
 quaintance, and the like. Is not of the Father — 
 Nothing of these inordinate attachments either 
 comes from or leads to God. They are of this 
 world ; here they begin, flourish, and end. They 
 deprave the mind, divert it from divine pursuits, 
 and render it utterly incapable of spiritual enjoy- 
 ments. ['E~idv/jla T7/c oeipKoc, appetite — EmQvjJ.ia 
 ruv I'lijOri'/ ii<"n\ taste, esthetic desire — r/ aXa^ovia tov 
 (iiov, worldly ambition — are all of them not originally 
 evil in themselves, but because of the depravity of 
 the moral nature in man they have become 
 occasions of sin. The highest forms of spiritual 
 sanctification and practical devotion to God's 
 service do not contemplate their extirpation, 
 but rather their radical and thorough renovation, 
 and their complete subordination to the indwelling 
 Spirit of God. These in their now perverted state 
 constitute that "world," the "love" of which, as a 
 dominant principle, "is not of the Father," but in di- 
 rect and earnest opposition to him. To extirpate 
 rather than to sanctify and properly restrain, and to 
 subordinate to the properly spiritual elements in- 
 wrought by the Holy Ghost, is the fatal error of 
 asceticism. St. Paul's purpose to keep his b'ody 
 under, not to destroy it, is the true economy of the 
 Christian life.] 
 
 17. The world passeth away — All these 
 tilings aie continually fading and perishing; and the 
 very state in which they are possessed is changing 
 perpetually. And the lust thereof — The men of 
 this world, their vain pursuits and delusive pleas- 
 ures, are passing away in their successive gener- 
 ations, and their very memory perishes. But he 
 that doeth the will of God— That seeks the 
 pleasure, profit, and honour that conies from above, 
 shall abide forever, always happy through time and 
 eternity, because God, the unchangeable source of 
 felicity, is his portion. [With the world passes away 
 also the t-t6v/iia (hist, desire) which dwells in it, 
 (and is of it.) Doing the will of God is put over 
 against the world, u hog/hoc, which in its emOvfiia 
 (Ins/) docs not do the will of God. The expression 
 ms used by the apostle is synonymous with loving 
 God, for the doing of the divine will is the effect of 
 love to him. The abiding forever, etc tov alum, is 
 in antithesis to the passing away, Trapaysrai, of the 
 world, noofioc. To the world belongs death, to the 
 children of God eternal life. See Huther.] 
 
 18. Little children, it is the last time — This 
 place is variously understood. This is the last dis- 
 pensation of grace and mercy to mankind; the 
 present age is the conclusion of the Jewish state, 
 as the temple and holy city are shortly to be de- 
 stroyed. But as there are many who suppose that 
 this epistle was written after the destruction of 
 Jerusalem, consequently the words cannot, on that 
 supposition, refer to this. [Why not? if that event 
 was understood to indicate " the last time."] Others 
 think that iaxorn upa should be translated, a most 
 difficult, perilous, and wretched time ; a time in which 
 all kinds of vices, heresies, and pollutions shall have 
 their full reign; that time which our Lord predicted 
 
 534 
 
 by we know s that it is the last time. 19 h They 
 went out from us, but they were not of us ; 
 for 'if they had been of us, they would no 
 doubt have continued with us: but they went 
 out, k that they might be made manifest that 
 
 ADeut. 13. 13: Psa. 41. 9: Acts 20. 30.- 
 6. 37; li'. 28, 29; 2 Tim. 2. 19. — 
 
 — iMatt. 24. 24: John 
 k\ Cor. 11. in. 
 
 Matt, vii, 15; xxiv, 11, 12, 24, 25. Now the apostle 
 may allude to these predictions ; but all these refer 
 to a time antecedent to the destruction of Jerusalem. 
 I am therefore inclined to think, whatever may be 
 here the precise meaning of the " last time," that the 
 epistle before us was written while Jerusalem yet 
 stood. Antichrist shall come — Who is this 
 avTixpiCToe, antichrist? Any person, thing, doc- 
 trine, system of religion, polity, etc.. winch is 
 opposed to Christ, and to the spirit and spread of 
 his Gospel, is antichrist. Even Protestantism may 
 therefore have its antichrist as well as Popery. 
 Every man who opposes the spirit of the Gospel, 
 and every teacher and wi iter who endeavours to 
 lower the Gospel standard to the spirit and taste of 
 the world, is a genuine "antichrist," no matter 
 where or among whom he is found. The heresies 
 which sprang up in the days of St. John were the 
 " antichrist " of that time. As there has been a 
 succession of oppositions to Christianity in its spirit 
 and spread through every age since its promulga- 
 tion in the world, so there has been a succession 
 of antichrists. We may bring this matter much 
 lower; every enemy of Christ, every one who op- 
 poses his reign in the world, in others or in himself, 
 is an antichrist ; and consequently every wicked 
 mint is an antichrist. But the name has been gen- 
 erally applied to whatever person or thing systemat- 
 ically opposes Christ and his religion. The last 
 time — ['Kcryiir/y upa, indicated by the appearance 
 of the antichrists, uvri \pinrni, may be, in fact, the 
 whole Christian era. In Old Testament prophecy 
 the appearance of the Messiah was promised ev -ale 
 ecxo.Ta.lc t'/yr/pai?, in /be Inst days. (See Isa. ii, 2; 
 IIos. iii, 5; Micah iv, 1 ; see also Acts ii, 17.) In 
 the New Testament is also found the idea that 
 Christ appeared in " the last time." (See Heb. i, 2 ; 
 1 Peter i, 20.) Inasmuch as the period which 
 begins with the birth of Christ is now the last, 
 preceding the ovvrt/.tia, the consummation, (when- 
 ever and whatever that may lie,) it may be described 
 by the expression " the last time." . . . This is the 
 view given bj most of the old commentators; but it 
 seems evident, however, that the apostle cannot here 
 mean the whole period extending from the first ap- 
 pearance of Christ to his second coming, but only 
 the time immediately preceding its termination. 
 See Huther.] 
 
 19. They went out from us — These heretics 
 had belonged to our Christian assemblies, they 
 professed Christianity, and do so still ; but they have 
 given up or explained away its most essential prin- 
 ciples ; they have' mingled the rest with heathenish 
 rites and Jewish glosses. They were not of us 
 — Before they left our assemblies they gave proofs 
 that they hail departed from the faith. [John does 
 not say that they never were of vs, but that at the 
 time of their going <>nt they were nut of us, having 
 ceased to be such by listening to the false teachers. 
 and partaking of their spirit.] For if they 
 had been of us — If they had continued to lie 
 faithful to the Christian doctrines, they would not 
 have departed from us to form a sect ofthemselves.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 they were not all of us. 20 But 'ye have an 
 unction "from the Holy One, and "ye know 
 all things. 2 8 I have not written unto you 
 because ye know not the truth, but because ye 
 know it, and that no lie is of the truth. 
 22 "Who is a liar hut he that denieth that 
 Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that de- 
 
 /2 Cor. 1. 21 : Ileb. 1. 9; verse '27. — m Mark 1. 24: Acts 3. 14. 
 ra John 10. 4, 5; 14.26; 10. 13 ; verse 27. 
 
 That they were not all of us — These false 
 teachers probably drew many sincere seals away 
 with them ; and to this the apostle may allude when 
 hi' says, "they were not ALL of us." Some were ; 
 others were not. [They all pretend to be "of us," 
 and the heathen confound them with us; but their 
 secession from us and opposition to us clearly prove 
 that they are "not all of us." — Bishop Words- 
 worth J 
 
 20. But ye have an unction — Xpiafxa, an 
 ointment. Probably this is an allusion to the holy 
 anointing oil of the law, and to Psa. xlv, 7 : God 
 huth anointed thee with tin "if of gladness — he hath 
 given thee the plenitude of the Spirit, which none 
 of thy fellows — none of the prophets — ever 
 received in such abundance. By this evidently 
 not only the gifts of the Spirit, but the Holy 
 Spirit himself, is intended. [To every true Christ- 
 ian the Holy Ghost was communicated; he was 
 filled with Christ's Spirit. He received this gift 
 as soon as he entered into the Saviour's com- 
 munion, and was conscious of possessing it as 
 long as he continued in that communion. Inas- 
 much as the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of Christ, 
 (2 Cor. iii, 17, Eph. hi, 16, Phil, i, 26,) is by 
 Christ himself called the Spirit of truth, who was 
 to teach his disciples and guide them into all truth, 
 (John xiv, 17, xv. 26, xvi, 3,) we here find, in con- 
 formity to these declarations, nal olfiare iravro, and 
 tie shall know all things — all that concern the truth 
 of the Gospel. — Liicke."\ Ye know all things — 
 [niwra, every man.'] ' St. John is guarding the 
 CI istians against seducers and deceivers, who were 
 even then disturbing and striving to corrupt the 
 Church. Accordingly, he desires them to try the 
 spi rits whether they were of God, (chapter iv, 1,) 
 by that anointing — that spiritual light and discern- 
 ment which they had received from God ; and also 
 by comparing the doctrine of these men with what 
 they had heard from tin beginning. The anointing 
 here mentioned seems to mean the spirit of illumi- 
 nation, or knowledge and discernment in spiritual 
 things. By this they could readily distinguish the 
 false apostles from the true. 
 
 21. I have not written, etc. — I write to you, 
 not because ye are ignorant of these things, but 
 because you know them, and can by these judge of 
 the doctrines of those false teachers, and clearly 
 perceive that they are liars. [Not that I would 
 teach you these things, but I would confirm those 
 already taught. — A. Lapide, in Huther.] 
 
 22. Who is a liar but he that denieth that 
 Jesus is the Christ — Here we see some of the false 
 doctrines which were then propagated in the world. 
 There were certain persons who, while they ac- 
 knowledged Jesus to be a divine teacher, denied 
 him to be the " Christ," that is, the Messiah. He is 
 antichrist, that denieth the Father and the 
 Son — He is "antichrist " who denies Jesus to be the 
 Son of God, and who denies God to be the Father 
 of the Lord Jesus ; thus he denies the Father and 
 
 nieth the Father and the Son. 23 p Whoso- 
 ever denieth the Sou, the same hath not til 
 Father: [out] ihe tlmt acknowledged the Son 
 hath the Father also. 24 Let that therefore 
 abide in you, ""which ye have heard from the 
 beginning. If that which ye have heard from 
 the beginning shall remain in you, s ye also 
 
 flCliap. t. 3: -J John 7. 
 7,9,10 s chap. 4. 15.— 
 
 -pjnhn 15. '-'::: 2 John 9. w John 14. 
 
 2 John 6. s John 14. 23; chap. 1. :!. 
 
 the Son. The Jews in general, and the Gnostics in 
 particular, denied the miraculous conception of 
 
 .lesus ; with both he was accounted no more than a 
 common man, the son of Joseph and Mary. These 
 were antichrists, who denied Jesus to lie the Christ. 
 |'t) avr't \j)inroe is obviously here used not as predi- 
 cating the one person in whom the character shall 
 be finally and centrally realized, but as setting 
 forth identity of character with him. and participa- 
 tion in the same development of the anti-Christian 
 principle. — Alford.] 
 
 23. Whosoever denieth the Son — He who 
 denies Jesus to be the Son of God, he hath not 
 the Father, because no one can be a. child of God 
 except by faith in Christ Jesus. He that ac- 
 knowledged! the Son hath the Father also — 
 This clause is printed by our translators in Italics, 
 to show it to be of doubtful authority, as it was 
 probably wanting in the chief of those MSS. which 
 they consulted, as it was in Tindal's Text, printed 
 1548; and in all the early printed editions (which 
 I have seen) previously to 1566; the Bible of 
 Richard Cardmarden, printed in English at Rouen, 
 where this clause is inserted in a different letter 
 between brackets. But that the clause is genuine, 
 and should be restored to the text without any 
 mark of spuriousness, as I lane done in the text of 
 this work, is evident from the authorities by which 
 it is supported. [It is now generally accepted by 
 the best authorities.] [The antichrists denied that 
 Jesus, the definite person whom the apostles had 
 seen, heard, and handled, is the Christ. In whatever 
 sense this denial is to be taken, the apostle speaks 
 merely of the fact, as known to his readers. . . . 
 And in the denial of the Son is involved necessarily 
 the denial of the Father, since the Father cannot 
 be known without the Son, . . . or otherwise than 
 through him; that is, the Son manifested in the 
 flesh, the Christ, which is Jesus. So that in St. 
 John's development of the argument there are 
 three essentially connected points: the denial of 
 the Christ, of the Son, of the Father. The 
 middle link of the chain, the denial of the Son of 
 God, shows how the denial of the Father is of 
 necessity involved in the denial of Christ, . . . The 
 anti-Christian false doctrine consists mainly in ne- 
 gation — in the denial of the fundamental Christian 
 truth that .lesus is the Christ. But in this is in- 
 volved the denial of the essence of the Son as wed 
 as of the Father; and again in this denial is involved 
 the losing — the virtual not having — of the Son 
 and the Father. . . . And this necessary connexion 
 between denying and not having is perfectly clear 
 the moment we understand the ethical character, 
 the living realism, of St. John's way of regarding 
 the subject. — DusterdieckJ] 
 
 24. Let that therefore abide in you — ['I> b/iiv, 
 in you, is used emphatically in contrasl with what, 
 is said of the false teachers.] Which ye have 
 heard from the beginning — [Meaning the whole 
 Gospel, (see verse 7,) but here especially the funda- 
 
 535
 
 I. JOHK 
 
 shall continue in the Son, and in the Father. 
 25 'And this is the promise that he hath 
 promised us, even eternal life. 26 These 
 things have I written unto you "concerning 
 them that seduce you. 27 But "the anoint- 
 ing which ye have received of him abideth in 
 you, and w ye need not that any man teach 
 you : but as the same anointing * teacheth you 
 of all tilings, and is truth, and is no lie, and 
 even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in 
 y him. 2§ And now. little children, abide in 
 him; that, 2 when he shall appear, we may 
 have confidence, "and not be ashamed before 
 
 /John 17. 3: chap. 1. 2: 5 11 is Chap. 3. 7; 2 John 7. 
 
 « Verse 20. wJer. Ml. :'.:!, 31; lleh. 8. 10, 11. /'John 14. 26; 
 
 16. 13; verse 20. // Or,//. z Chap. 3. 2. '/Chap. 4. 17. 
 
 b Acts 22. 14. i-6\;kniTW ye. d Chap. 3. 7. 10. a John 
 
 mental doctrine that Jesus is the Christ. . . . If the 
 word remain in you, ye also shall remain in the Son, 
 and in the Father. That our remaining in the Son is 
 the immediate result of the word remaining in us, 
 is explained by the fact that the words of Christ 
 substantially contain nothing else than a self reve- 
 lation or explanation of his person and his appear- 
 ing, and similarly the evangelical proclamation of 
 the apostles is only the copy of this preaching of 
 Christ himself. — Huther.~\ 
 
 25. This is the promise — God has promised 
 eternal life to all who believe on Christ Jesus. So 
 they who receive his doctrine, and continue in com- 
 munion with the Father and the Son, shall have 
 this eternal life. 
 
 26. These things have I ■written — Either 
 meaning the whole epistle, or what is contained in 
 the preceding verses, from the beginning of the 1 8th 
 to the end of the 25th. Them that (would) se- 
 duce you — Ylepl ruv tt/mvuvtuv iiuag, that is, the 
 deceivers that were among them, and who were 
 labouring to pervert the followers of Christ. 
 
 27. But tho anointing ■which ye have re- 
 ceived — That ointment, the gifts of the Holy 
 Spirit, mentioned verse 20, where see the note. 
 Ye need not that any man teach you — St. 
 John does not say that those who had once received 
 the teaching of the divine Spirit had no further 
 need of the ministry of the Gospel ; no, but he 
 says they had no need of such teaching as their 
 false teachers proposed to them ; nor of any other 
 teaching that was different from that anointing, 
 that is, the teaching of the Spirit of God. No man, 
 howsoever holy, wise, or pure, can ever be in such a 
 state as to have no need of the gospel ministry ; 
 they who think so give the highest proof that they 
 have never yet learned of Christ or his Spirit. And 
 is truth — Because it is the Spirit of truth. (John 
 xvi, 13.) 
 
 28. And now, little children, (tekv'm, beloved 
 children,) abide in him — In Christ. Jesus. Let his 
 word and Spirit continually abide in you, and have 
 communion with the Father and the Son. That, 
 when he shall appear — ['Ev rij irapovaia avrov, 
 at his parousia, appearing, or in his presence. The 
 apostle acted in all things with devout reference to 
 the account they should render to Christ for their 
 ministry. The time of accounting is spoken of as 
 the occasion of Christ's self-manifestation in judg- 
 ment ; which to each one is a parousia ; but the 
 idea of a common and simultaneous calling to 
 judgment of all men does not seem to be the 
 meaning of this term as used in various places.] 
 
 29. If ye know that he is righteous— That 
 536 
 
 him at his coming. 29 b If ye know that he 
 is righteous, c ye know that d every one that 
 doeth righteousness is born of him. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 BEHOLD, what manner of love the Father 
 hath bestowed upon us, that "we should 
 be called the sons of God : therefore the world 
 knoweth us not, ''because it knew him not. 
 2 Beloved, c now are we the sons of God. and 
 J it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but 
 we know that, when he shall appear, e we shall 
 belike him; for f we shall see him as he is. 
 
 1. 12. — 
 
 -//John In. 18 
 
 l'.i; 
 
 16. 3; 
 
 7. 25.— 
 
 — clsa 
 
 . 56. 5 
 
 Rom. 8. 
 
 15: Ga 
 
 3 21 
 
 : 4. 6: c 
 
 iftn 
 
 5. 1. — 
 
 d Roir, 
 
 \ 18; 
 
 2 Cur. 
 
 4. 17. 
 
 < Rom. 
 
 s 29: 
 
 1 Cor. ] 
 
 5 4! 
 
 : Phil. 
 
 ,. 21: ('• 
 
 1. 3. 4 
 
 2 Pi t 
 
 1. 4. 
 
 /Job i 
 
 9. 26 : 
 
 Psa. lti. 
 
 11 ; 
 
 Matt. 5 
 
 8: lCr 
 
 r. 13. 
 
 2 , 2 C 
 
 ir. 5. 7. 
 
 God is a holy God. Ye know (also) that every 
 one "who doeth righteousness — Who lives a holy 
 life, following the commandments of God. Is born 
 of him — Begotten "of him;" he is made a par- 
 taker of the divine nature, without which he could 
 neither have a holy heart nor live a holy life. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER III. 
 
 1. Behold, what manner of love — Whole 
 volumes might be written upon this and the two 
 following verses, without exhausting the extraordi- 
 nary subject contained in them, namely, the love of 
 God to man. The apostle himself, though evidently 
 filled with God, and walking in the fulness of his 
 light, does not attempt to describe it; he calls on 
 the world and the Church to "behold" it, to look 
 upon it, to contemplate it, and wonder at it. What 
 manner of love — Horanf/V aydirqv, what great 
 love, both as to quantity and quality ; for these ideas 
 are included in the original term. The length, the 
 breadth, the depth, the height, he does not attempt 
 to describe. The Father hath bestowed— For 
 we had neither claim nor merit. That we should be 
 called — That is, constituted or made. The sons of 
 God — "Who were before children of the wicked one, 
 animal, earthly, devilish; therefore, the love which 
 brought us from such a depth of misery and degra- 
 dation must appear the more extraordinary and im- 
 pressive. After k/i<6uiut, that we might be called, 
 aai eagev, and we are, is added by [many of the 
 very best authorities, and they are now generally 
 accepted.] Therefore the world — ['0 koc/ioc.] 
 All who know not God, and are seeking their 
 portion in this life. Knoweth us not — Do not 
 acknowledge, respect, lore, or approve of us. In 
 this sense the word yivacKEiv is here to be under- 
 stood. The "world" knew well enough that there 
 were such persons; but they did not recognise 
 them, [in their distinguishing character of children 
 of God.] Because it knew him not — The world 
 did not acknowledge Jesus [in either his divinity 
 or his Messianic works] 
 
 2. Now are we the sons of God — He speaks 
 of those who are begotten of God, and who work 
 righteousness. See the preceding chapter. And 
 it doth not yet appear what we shall be — 
 Ov-u tyavepuOij, it is not yet manifest ; though we 
 know that we are the children of God, we do not 
 know that state of glorious excellence to which, as 
 such, we shall be raised. [Now we are children ; of 
 that we may be fully assured ; but in respect to 
 our future state of blessedness we are not as yet 
 clearly informed. In respect to that we still walk 
 by faith, not by sight.] When he shall appear
 
 He that abideth In Hmst 
 is preserved from sin. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 A. M. 4"73. A. D. CO. 
 Year of Rome, 8'22. 
 
 55 e And every man that hath this hope in hhn 
 purifieth himself, even as he is pure. 4 Who- 
 soever committeth sin transgresseth also the 
 law: for h sin is the transgression of the law. 
 5 And ye know 'that he was manifested k to 
 take away our sins; and 'in him is no sin. 
 G Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: 
 
 </Chnp. 4. 17. // Horn. 4. 15; chap, a. 17. iChap. 1. 2. 
 
 — fclsa. 53. 5, 6, 11; 1 Tim. 1. 15; lleb. 1. 3; 9. 2ti; 1 Peter 
 2. 24. 
 
 — 'Ear </>av£pudy, when lie shall be manifested. [The 
 subject of <" i <<,/', is oi/rog, [understood,) referring 
 to Qeov, (above,) God, not Christ. The manifesta- 
 tion here spoken of is not that of Christ, "at his 
 coming," but of God the Father revealed in the 
 beatific vision ; and the being like him, b/ioioi, is the 
 spiritual assimilation of saved souls to the image 
 of God. (Rom. xii, 2 ; Col. iii, 10.)] We shall be 
 like him . . . we shall see him — V0ip6/iti)a, 
 (God.) Toman, in his earthlybody, God is certainly 
 invisible ; but it is different with the glorified man 
 in his spiritual body; then he will not merely know, 
 (the believer has knowledge already,) but see, God, 
 face to face. (1 Cor. xiii, 12.) — Huther.] 
 
 3. And every man that hath this hope in 
 him — [The hope of seeing God in the open vision 
 of the glorified state becomes a powerful incentive 
 to labour for the present purification of both the 
 heart and the life.] [This self-purification neces- 
 sarily follows from the Christian's hope, because 
 the object of this is to be like God, and therefore 
 also to be holy. . . . The active impulse of this 
 does not lie in the natural freewill of man, but in 
 the hope which presupposes God's work of salva- 
 tion in man. This purification takes place after 
 the pattern (kuOcjc) of Christ, (kutivoc, verse 3,) 
 who is ayvoq, that is, " pure from every sinful 
 stain." . . . The purity of Christ is the pattern for 
 Christians, which the Christian !>v self-purification 
 strives to copy in his life also. — /lather.] 
 
 4. Whosoever committeth sin — [Ilac 6 nocuv 
 duapriav, (every one doing sin,) corresponding with 
 the beginning of verse 3, 7raf 6 ex (0V t V v EMriSa. 
 The apostle is anxious to emphasize the truth of the 
 thought as being without exception. To " commit 
 sin,'' as the antithesis of to do righteousness, (chap, ii, 
 29.) is contrasted with purifieth himself. (Verse 3.) 
 See Huther.] Sin is the transgression of the law 
 — The spirit of the law as well as of the Gospel is, 
 that " we should love God with all our powers, and 
 our neighbour as ourselves." All disobedience is 
 contrary to love; therefore "sin is the transgres- 
 sion of the law," whether the act refers immediately 
 to God or to our neighbour. ['H duapria early ?'j 
 avogia, sin is lawlessness, (the abstract opposite 
 of righteousness, which is the essential spirit and 
 substance of the divine law. Rom. vii, 12.) The 
 figurative idea of actively passing over a line 
 (transgressing) is not found in dvofiia, which ex- 
 presses not a concrete action but an abstract prin- 
 ciple. Sin, as avouia, is, when realized in the soul, 
 an essential disconformity to the divine righteous- 
 ness, the opposite of God's essential holiness.] 
 
 5. And ye know that he was manifested to 
 take away our sins — lie came into the world to 
 destroy the power, pardon the guilt, and cleanse 
 from the pollution, of sin. This was the very de- 
 sign of his manifestation in the flesh. He was 
 born, suffered, and died for this very purpose. 
 [The end of redemption, (by Christ,) (rdr dfiaprlar 
 up?j, that he might take (bear) away sin,) prohibits 
 
 '"whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, nei- 
 ther known him. 7 Little children, "let no 
 man deceive yon: "lie that doeth righteous- 
 ness is righteous, even as he is righteous. 
 * pHe that committeth sin is of the devil; for 
 the devil sinneth from the beginning. For 
 this purpose the Son of God was manifested, 
 
 /■l Cor. 5. 21 ; Heb. 4. 15; 9. 28; 1 Peter 2. 22. — r,i Chap. 2. 4; 
 I. s ; 3 John II. — ?i Chap. 2. 26. — uEzek. 18. 5-9; Rom. 2. 13 ; 
 chap. 2. 29. p Malt. 13. 38 ; John 8. 44. 
 
 every one who lives in communion with the Re- 
 deemer to sin. The primary meaning of apn, as 
 here used, is the actual removal of indwelling sin, 
 though the idea of suffering for sin lies behind it. 
 Christ's sinlessness is recognised with reference to 
 both his fitness for the work of redeeming us, 
 (Heb. vii, 26,) and his being the pattern toward 
 which we are to aspire.] 
 
 6. Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not — 
 Because his heart is purified by faith, and he is a 
 worker together with God, and consequently does 
 not receive the grace of God in vain. (See on 
 verse 3.) Hath not seen him — [Abiding in 
 Christ and sinning are irreconcilable opposites ; not, 
 indeed, that genuine Christians never do sin, nor 
 that every one who sins at any time is therefore not 
 in Christ ; for the apostle shows (see chapter i, 
 8-10; if 1,2; iii, 3) that there is still in believers a 
 liability to fall into sin. But just in proportion as 
 the soul abides in Christ by a living, active faith, 
 may all sin be avoided. Abiding in Christ and ^in- 
 ning are alternative opposites ; the full prevalence 
 of either is the certain exclusion of the other.] 
 [The believer] who sins against God </<</// not see 
 him, neither doth he know him: the eye of his faith 
 is darkened, so that he cannot see him as he for- 
 merly did ; and he has no longer the experimental 
 knowledge of God as his Father and portion. 
 
 T. Let no man deceive you— Either by as- 
 serting that "you cannot be saved from sin in this 
 life," or, "that sin will do you no harm and capnot 
 alter your state, if you are adopted into the family 
 of God; for sin cannot annul this adoption." He 
 that doeth righteousness is righteous, acconling 
 to his state, nature, and the extent of his moral 
 powers. Even as he (Christ)is righteous — Allow- 
 ing for the disparity that must necessarily exisl be- 
 tween that which is bounded, and that which is with- 
 out limits. As God, in the infinitude id' his nature, 
 is righteous ; so they, being filled with him, are in 
 their limited nature righteous. [We should ever 
 bear in mind that St. John here and everywhere 
 speaks, not of the different degrees of perfection 
 which struggling Christians have reached, but the 
 ideal and absolute (essential) difference between 
 Christian virtue and piety, and sin in general. — 
 Luck<\\ 
 
 8. He that committeth sin is of the devil — 
 Hewho " committeth sin is a child of the devil," and 
 shows that he has still the nature of the devil in 
 him. For the devil sinneth from the beginning 
 — He was the father of sin, brought sin into the 
 world, and maintains sin in the world by living in 
 the hearts of his own children, and thus leading 
 them to transgression. ["E« roe dia '6Xov (of the 
 devil) must nol lie rationalized away, so as to deny 
 the personal existence of the devil. It is the dis- 
 tinct opposite correlative of en rem Qeov, (verse 
 10, et «/,) and implies a personal root and agency 
 just as much as the other does. — AlfordJ] [As 
 man's righteousness is from Cod, but. becomes Ins 
 
 537
 
 I. JO UK 
 
 itliat lie might destroy the works of the devil. 
 
 9 r Whosoever is bom of God doth not com- 
 mit sin ; for ! his seed remaineth in him : and 
 he cannot sin, because he is born of God. 
 
 10 In this the children of God are manifest, 
 and the children of the devil: 'whosoever 
 doeth not righteousness is not of God, " nei- 
 ther he that loveth not bis brother. 11 For 
 
 (?Oen. 3. 15: l,uke 10. 18: John 16. 11: Heb. 2. 11. rChap. 
 
 5. 18. si I'et. 1. 23. M'hap. 2. 29. a Chap. i. 8. — 
 
 »Chap. 1.5; 2. 7. — w Or, commandment. 
 
 own by his willing acceptance of it, so his sinful- 
 ness is not the spontaneous production of the soul, 
 but is in man the result of diabolical influence, 
 which was originally made man's own by being 
 voluntarily accepted, and is now the property of 
 the individual, primarily by his relation to the first 
 transgressor, but continued and made effective in 
 each case by the freewill of the person himself.] 
 ['At' apxVQ (''from the beginning.") What 
 does this mean V Bede and others understand it 
 of the creation. (Whose creation?) Others, to 
 avoid all chance of dualism, make it mean not 
 from the time of his creation, but from that of 
 his fall. And still others take it to express the 
 beginning of sin. (John viii, 44.) This tempter to 
 sin lias ever been the depositary of the thought and 
 life Of sin ; the fountain out of which sin has come, 
 as God is the fountain out of which has come right- 
 eousness. — Afford.] [In respect to the origin of sin 
 in the spiritual cosmos, and of the devil, its great em- 
 bodiment and author, (as a reality,) the Scriptures 
 are profoundly silent. The idea of his being a 
 fallen angel is not found in the Old Testament, nor 
 in the New, except in 2 Peter and Jude. Its post- 
 exilian appearance in Jewish literature is now 
 fairly ascertained, and its Zoroastrian origin as- 
 sured. To us, in our present state, he is simply 
 the tempter, through whom sin came at first, and 
 who is still its perpetual embodiment and source.] 
 For this purpose — Etc tovto, for this very end — 
 with this very design was Jesus manifested in the 
 flesh, tbat he might destroy, Iva Man, that 
 lie might loose, the bonds of sin, and dissolve the 
 power, influence, and connexion of sin. (See on 
 verse 3.) 
 
 9. Whosoever is born of God — Yeyewmigvoc, 
 begotten " of God." Doth not commit sin — [To be 
 '• born of God" and to "commit sin" are mutually 
 exclusive contraries, for the child is of the same na- 
 ture with him of whom he is born. . . . By his seed, 
 antpjia aiiTov, is to be understood the divine element 
 of which the new man is produced, and which, as the 
 essence of his being, keeps him from sin. — Huther.~\ 
 [The phrase oil 6'vvarai dpaprdveiv (he cannot sin) 
 indicates the sufficiency of divine grace to preserve 
 the faithful child of God from falling into sin ; but 
 it does not exclude the possibility of temptation, 
 nor the exclusion of man's free agency. On God's 
 part all needful provisions are made against sin, 
 but now, as always, even the child of God may 
 yield to temptation, and choose death by sin.] 
 
 10. In this the children of God are manifest 
 — Here is a fearful text. Who is a child of the 
 devil V He that commits sin. Who is a child of 
 God? He that works righteousness. By this text 
 we shall stand or fall before God, whatever our 
 particular (need may say to the contrary. Neither 
 he that loveth not Ms brother — No man is of 
 God who is not ready at all times to do any act of 
 kindness for the comfort, relief, and support of any 
 
 538 
 
 v this is the "message that ye heard from the 
 beginning, "that we should love one another. 
 12 Not as y Gain, who was of that wicked one, 
 and slew his brother. And wherefore slew lie 
 him? Because bis own works were evil, and 
 bis brother's righteous. 13 Marvel not, my 
 brethren, if z the world hate you. 14 "We 
 know that we have passed from death unto 
 
 a- John 13. :14 ; 15. 12: verse 23; chap. 4. 7, 21 : 2 John 5. 
 
 i/Oen. 4. 4. 8; Heb. 11,4: Jude 11. 3 John 15. is, 19; 17. 14; 
 
 2 Tim. 3. 12. a Chap. 2. 10. 
 
 human being. For as God made of one blood all 
 the nations of men to dwell upon the face of the 
 whole earth, so all are of one family ; and con- 
 sequently all are brethren, and should love as 
 brethren. 
 
 11. For this is the message — See chapter i, 5. 
 Nrom the beninning — [That is, of the message, >/ 
 ayyeTiia, the Gospel.] That we should love one 
 another — All are dependent upon all ; all upon 
 each, and each upon all. Mutual love makes this 
 dependence pleasant and doubly profitable. 
 
 12. Not as Cain — Men should not act to each 
 other as Cain did to Abel. He murdered him be- 
 cause he was better than himself. But who was 
 Cain ? 'E/v rov irovnpo'v tjv, he was of the devil; and 
 such are they who for ambition, gain, etc , murder 
 each other in wars and political contentions. To 
 attempt to justify the principle, and excuse the in- 
 stigators, authors, abettors, etc., of such wars, is as 
 vain as it is wicked. They are opposed to the 
 nature of God, and to that message which he has 
 sent to man from the beginning : Love one another. 
 Love your enemies. And wherefore slew he 
 him — Because his brother was righteous, and he 
 was wicked ; and the seed of the wicked one which 
 was in him induced him to destroy his brother, be- 
 cause the seeil of God — the divine nature — was 
 found in him. [Cain murdered his brother; 
 therefore he (must have) hated him; and hate be- 
 longs to the children of the evil one, and this classes 
 him at once among those whose works are evil, and 
 who hate those who, like Abel, are testified to (Heb. 
 xi, 4) that they are the children of God because they 
 work righteousness. Whatever might be the excit- 
 ing occasion of the murder, this lay at the root — the 
 hatred wdiich the children of the devil ever bear to 
 the children of God.— A/ford.] [Philo, in his 
 writings, L)e Sacrificiis Abelis d Cain/, interprets 
 the history of Gen. iv after such a manner that 
 Cain appears as the representative of the selfish 
 sophistical principle, as the father of all sensual, 
 covetous, contentious, uncharitable, and ungodly 
 men ; but Abel, on the contrary, as the prototype 
 and the father of all who are pious, sincere, and 
 righteous. — Lucke.~\ 
 
 13. Marvel not . . .if the world hate you — 
 Expect no better treatment from unconverted Jews 
 and Gentiles than Abel received from his wicked 
 and cruel brother. This was a lesson to the Church 
 preparatory to martyrdom. Expect neither justice 
 nor mercy from the men who are enemies of God. 
 They are either full of malice and envy, hateful, 
 hating one another, or they are specious, hollow, 
 false, and deceitful. 
 
 14. We know that we have passed from 
 death unto life — " Death " and " life" are repre- 
 sented here as two distinct territories, states, or 
 kingdoms, to either of which the inhabitants of 
 either may lie removed. The believers to whom 
 St. John writes had been once in the region of
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 life, because we love the brethren. b He that 
 loveth not his brother abideth in death. 
 15 c Wliosoever hateth bis brother is a mur- 
 derer: and ye know that d no murderer hath 
 eternal life abiding in him. 1<» ' Hereby per- 
 ceive we the love of God, heeause he laid down 
 his life for us: and we ought to lay down our 
 lives for the brethren. 17 But ' whoso hath 
 this world's good, and seeth his brother have 
 need, and shutteth up his bowels of compos- 
 sion from him, -how dwelleth the love of Cod 
 in him? US -My little children, Met us not 
 
 6Ch:ip. 2. '.'. II. I'M ilt. 5. 21, 22: etiap. 4. 20. — tf Gal. 5. 
 
 21 : Rev. 21. 8. e .lohn 3. IH: 15. 13; Rom. 5. 8; Eph. 5. 2, 25: 
 
 chap. 4. !'. 11. — fDeut, 15. 7: Luke 3. 11.— pChap. I. 20. 
 /< Kzek. 33. Ml : Rom. 12. ;i : Eph. 1. 15; James 2. 1.3, lti; 1 Pet. 
 1. 22. i John 18. 37; chap. 1. 8. 
 
 death, where sin and death reigned ; hut they had 
 left that kingdom of oppression and wretchedness, 
 and had come over to the kingdom of "life," 
 whose king was the Prince and Author of life. 
 Because we love the brethren — [This love is 
 simply the sign and mark (and fruit as well) of 
 recognition that our justification (and regeneration 
 also) has taken place; that we are justified, (and 
 made new creatures in Christ.) — Branne, in LangeA 
 
 15. Whosoever hateth his brother is a 
 murderer — He has the same [ruling] principle in 
 him which was in Cain, and it may lead to the 
 same consequences. [The living spirit in man 
 being incapable of a state of indifference, he who 
 lias banished brotherly love has in fact abandoned 
 himself to the rule of the opposite state. In the 
 ethical depth of the apostle's view, love and hate, 
 like light and darkness, life and death, necessarily 
 replace, as well as exclude, one another. — Alford.] 
 No murderer hath eternal life — Eternal life 
 springs from an indwelling God; and God cannot 
 dwell in the heart where hatred and malice dwell. 
 [Sooinus gives this in the form of a syllogism. No 
 homicide has eternal life abiding in him. But he 
 who hates his brother is a homicide. Therefore, 
 he who hates his brother, has not eternal life abid- 
 ing in him. By this syllogism, he adds, the apostle 
 shows that he who does not love his brother abides 
 in death.] 
 
 16. Hereby perceive we the love of God — 
 This sixteenth verse of this third chapter of John's 
 first epistle is, in the main, an exact counterpart of 
 the sixteenth verse of the third chapter of St. 
 John's gospel : God so loved the world, thai he gave 
 his only begotten Sou, etc. Here the apostle says, 
 We perceive, eyvunagev, roe have known, the love 
 of Cod, because he laid down his life for us. " Of 
 God " is not in the text, but it is necessarily under- 
 stood, or [its equivalent] tov Xpiarov, of Chris/. 
 A higher proof than this of his love Christ could 
 not have possibly given to the children of men. 
 We ought to lay down our lives for the 
 brethren — [By this the climax is stated, as in 
 John xv, 13 ; but even every self-denying sacrifice 
 for our brethren belongs to the laying down the 
 life, to which we are bound by the example of 
 Christ, and by virtue of our fellowship in him. — 
 ffuther. | 
 
 17. But whoso hath this world's good — 
 Here is a test of this love. Whatever love we may 
 pretend to mankind, if we are not charitable and 
 benevolent, we give the lie to our profession. 
 This world's good — Tov jiiov rov K6agov, the life 
 of this -world, that is, the means of life ; for so fiioc 
 
 love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed 
 and in truth. !!) And hereby we know 'that 
 we are of the truth, and shall '■ assure our 
 hearts before him. 20 ' For if our heart con- 
 demn us, God is greater than our heart, and 
 knoweth all things. 21 "Beloved, if our 
 heart condemn us not, " then have we confidence 
 toward Cod. 22 And ° whatsoever we ask, 
 we receive of him, because we keep his com- 
 mandments, land do those things that are 
 pleasing in his sight. 23 ''And this is his 
 commandment, That we should believe on the 
 
 /,c,v. persuade. — 1\ Cm-. 4. 4. — jiijnb 22. 2fi. — n Heb. 
 
 If). 22: chap 'J. 28: 4. 17. o Pea. 34. 15: 14">. Is, 19; I'rnv. 15. 
 
 2H; Jer. 29. 12: Matt, 7. 8: 21.22; Mark 11. 21; John 14.13; 15. 
 7; IH 23. 24; James 5. 16; chap. b. 14. — pJohn 8. 29; 9. 31. 
 y John 6. 29; 17. 3. 
 
 is often used. (See Mark xii, 44 ; Luke viii, 43 ; 
 xv, 12, 30; xxi,4.) 
 
 18. My little children, (reKvia, beloved chil- 
 dren,) let us not love in -word — In merely allow- 
 ing the general doctrine of love to God and man to 
 be just and right. Neither in tongue — In mak- 
 ing professions of love. But in deed — By humane 
 and merciful acts. And in truth — Feeling the dis- 
 position of which we speak. 
 
 19. Hereby we know that we are of the 
 truth— That we have the true religion of the Lord 
 Jesus. [" Hereby," ev tovtu, in this, that is, by the 
 strength and truthfulness of our love. (See verses 
 10 and 1 6. )] We are of the truth— [T//c ahj6eiag, 
 that pure objective "truth " which is the common 
 substratum and essential quality of the Spirit him- 
 self, of the Word, of those who are born of the 
 Word by the Spirit. — Alford.] And shall assure 
 our hearts — Be- persuaded in our consciences, that 
 we have the truth as it is in Jesus. He that loves 
 feels that he does love; and he who feels that he 
 loves God and man has true religion ; and he who 
 is careful to show the fruits of this love, in obedi- 
 ence to God and humane acts to man, gives others 
 the fullest proof that he has the loving mind that 
 was in Jesus. ["And shall assure (neicofiev) our 
 hearts." Our human affections.] Before him — 
 [Not at his future coifting, but now. The conscious- 
 ness of the depth and sincerity of our love of the 
 brethren becomes the assurance of our hearts he- 
 fore God.] 
 
 20. 21. If our heart condemn us — ["E/nvponOev 
 avrov, judges us unfavourably; we may be quite 
 sure that he, knowing more than our heart does, 
 judges us more unfavourably still. If our heart 
 condemn us not — Again, iu-pooOn' avrov ; judging 
 and seeing in the light of his countenance, then 
 we know that we are at one with him, and those 
 consequences follow which are set forth in verse '-'2. 
 —Alford.] 
 
 22. Whatsoever we ask — In such a spirit. 
 We receive of him — For he delights to bless the 
 humble, upright, and sincere soul. [The necessary 
 limitation lies in the subject itself; the child of 
 God asks for nothing which is contrary to his 
 Father's will. — Huther.] Because we keep his 
 commandments— Namely, by loving him and lov- 
 ing our neighbour. These are the great command- 
 ments both of the old covenant and the new. And 
 whoever is idled with this love to God and man will 
 do those things which are pleasing to him; for 
 love is the very soul and principle of obedience. 
 
 23. That we should believe on the name of 
 his Son — We are commanded to believe on Christ, 
 
 539
 
 A. M. 4073. A. D. 
 Year of Rome, 82 
 
 I. JOHN. 
 
 The Churrh directed to try their teachers, 
 whether they be of God. 
 
 name of his Son Jesus Christ, r and love one 
 another, s as he gave us commandment. 
 24 And ' he that keepeth Ids commandments 
 11 dwelleth in him, and he in him. And 'here- 
 in- we know that he ahideth in us. by the 
 Spirit which he hath given us. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 BELOVED, "believe not every spirit, but 
 1 try the spirits whether they are of God: 
 because c many false prophets are gone out 
 
 r.Matt. 22. 39: John 13. 34; 15. 12; Eph. 5. 2; 1 Thess. 4. 9; 
 
 1 Pet. 4. 8; verse 11; chap. 4. 21. sOhap. 2. 8,10. /John 
 
 14. 23; 15. 10; chap. 4. 12. u John 17. 21, etc. r Rom. 8. 9; 
 
 chap. 4. 13. (fJer. 29. 8; Matt, 24. 4. b\ Cor. 14. 29; 
 
 1 Thess. 5. 21 ; Rev. i. 2. 
 
 that for the sake of his passion and death we may 
 be justified from all things from which we could 
 not be justified by the law of Moses ; and being 
 through him redeemed from the guilt of sin, restored 
 to the divine favour, and made partakers of the 
 Holy Ghost, we are enabled to love another, as 
 he gave us commandment; for without a re- 
 newal cf the heart, love to God and man is impos- 
 sible, and this renewal comes by Christ Jesus. 
 
 24. Dwelleth in him— That is, in God. [" Dwell- 
 eth in him," fitvere ev ahrC), the great keynote of the 
 epistle. This keeping the Commandments of God 
 is the abiding in God. — Alford.] And he (God) 
 in him — The believer. And hereby — ['Er rovru, 
 that is, by the witness of the indwelling Spirit.] 
 We know — We know not by conjecture or infer- 
 ence that we are in the favour of God, but by the 
 testimony of God's own Spirit in our hearts ; and 
 this testimony is constant and abiding. Every 
 [true Christian] is a temple of the Holy Ghost, and 
 wherever he is, he is both light and power. By his 
 power he works ; by his light he makes both him- 
 self and his work known. Peace of conscience 
 and joy in the Holy Ghost must proceed from the 
 indwelling of that Holy Spirit; and those who have 
 these blessings must know that they have them. 
 And this Spirit in the soul of a believer is not only 
 manifest by its effects, but it bears its own witness 
 to its own indwelling. So that a man nor only 
 knows that he has this Spirit from the fruits of 
 the Spirit, but he knows that he has it from its own 
 direct witness. (See John xiv, 21.) 
 
 NOTES ON CHATTEK IV. 
 1. Beloved, believe not every spirit — Do not 
 
 be forward to believe every teacher to be a man 
 sent of God. As in those early times every teacher 
 professed to be inspired by the Spirit of God, be- 
 cause all the prophets had come thus accredited, 
 the term "spirit" was used to indicate the man 
 who pretended to be and teach under the Spirit's 
 influence. (See 1 Cor. xii, 1-12; 1 Tim. iv, 1.) 
 [This passage (verses 1-6) takes up again, with 
 reference to this portion of the epistle, the similar 
 warning given in the former portion. (Chapter ii, 
 18, 19.) It is intimately connected with what has 
 immediately preceded. By brotherly love we are 
 to know that we are of the truth, (chapter iii, 19,) 
 ami the token that he abideth in us is to be the 
 Spirit which he gives us. This Spirit — the Spirit of 
 truth — it becomes then all important for us to be 
 able to distinguish, and not to be led astray by any 
 false spirits pretending to his character and office. 
 Such false spirits there are, which are not of God, 
 but of the world, and which make up that spirit of 
 540 
 
 into the world. 2 Hereby know ye the Spirit 
 
 of God : d Every spirit that confesseth that 
 Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God : 
 3 And e every spirit that confesseth not that 
 Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God : 
 and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof 
 ye have heard that it should come; and 'even 
 now already is it in the world. 4 »"Ye are of 
 God, little children, and have overcome them : 
 because greater is be that is in you, than ''he 
 that is in the world. 5 'They are of the 
 
 c Matt. 24. 5, 24 ; Acts 20. 30; 1 Tim. 4. 1 ; 2 Pet, 2. 1 ; chap. 
 
 2. 18; 2 John 7 d\ Cor. 12. 3; chap. 5. 1. e Chap. 2. £2; 
 
 2 John 7. f-2 Thess. 2. 7 : chap. 2. 18, 22. g Chap. 5. 4. 
 
 h Jo!,,, li>. 31; H. 30; IB. 11; 1 Cor. 2. 12; Eph. 2. 2 ; 6. 12. 
 
 i John 3. 31. 
 
 antichrist of which prophecy has already spoken. 
 — A/ford] Try the spirits — AoKi/jA^ere fa kvev- 
 fiara, put thesi teachers to the proof. Try them 
 by that testimony which is known to have come 
 from the Spirit of God, the word of revelation 
 already given. Many false prophets— Teachers 
 not inspired by the Spirit of God. Are gone 
 out into the world — Among the Jewish people 
 particularly, as well as among those who are carnal 
 and have not the Spirit. [The name ipevdo-pocpf/- 
 rai (false prophets) indicates that the teachers 
 proclaimed their doctrine, not as the result of 
 human speculation, but as a revelation communi- 
 cated to them by the Holy Spirit. — Hutlwr.~] 
 
 2. Hereby — ['Ev ttovto), by this, as a criterion, 
 (see chapter iii, 10, 16, 19, 24.)] Know ye the 
 Spirit of God — We know that the man who 
 teaches that Jesus Christ is the promised Messiah, 
 and that he is come in the flesh, is of God ; is in- 
 spired by the divine Spirit ; for no man can call 
 Jesus Lord but by the Holy Ghost. 
 
 3. Every spirit — Every teacher. That con- 
 fesseth not that Jesus ... is not of God — 
 Has not been inspired by God. The words tv caput 
 i'Arj7a<66ra, is come in the flesh, are wanting in several 
 highly respectable authorities, and. Griesbach left 
 them out of the text ; [so also Tischendorf, but 
 they are generally accepted by modern critics.] 
 Spirit of antichrist — All the opponents of Christ's 
 incarnation, and consequently of his passion, death, 
 and resurrection, and the benefits to be derived 
 from them. [The believing confession of One, 
 Jesus Christ, uniting in himself the Godhead and 
 the manhood, even the confession of the historical 
 Christ, is essentially Christian, (and indispensable 
 to the true faith.) — Braune.] Ye have heard 
 that it should come — See 2 Thess. ii, 7. Even 
 now already is it in the world — [In the persons 
 of these false prophets. (Verse 1.) — Alfurd.] 
 
 4. Ye are of God, . . . and have overcome 
 them — [As faithful, and born of God, . . . they al- 
 ready had overcome the anti-Christian principle, the 
 world in general ; and because this total victory 
 conditions and secures the victory in detail over 
 the separate powers of the anti-Christian world, St. 
 John says, " Ye have overcome them," that is, the 
 anti- Christians, (verse 8,) taken as a collective force, 
 
 . . . for God's Spirit, which remains in you, is 
 greater than the world, (the antichrist.) — Lilcke.~\ 
 
 5. They are of the world — They have no 
 spiritual views, they have no spirituality of mind ; 
 they seek the present world and its enjoyments. 
 Their conversation is worldly, and worldly men 
 hear them in preference to all others. Thus they 
 have their partisans.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 world : therefore speak they of the world, and 
 l! thu world heareth them. <» We are of God: 
 'he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is 
 not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we 
 '"the spirit of troth, and the spirit of error. 
 7 "Beloved, let us love one another: for love 
 is of God; and every one that loveth is horn 
 of God, and knoweth God. W He that loveth 
 not, 'knoweth not God; for pGod is love. 
 9 ''in this was manifested the love of God 
 toward us, because that God sent his only 
 begotten Son into the world, 'that we might 
 live through him. 10 Herein is love, f not 
 
 /•John 15. 19; 17. 1-1. /John B. 17: in. 27: 1 Cor. 14. 37: 
 
 2Coi-. Hi. 7. — mlsa. 8. 20; John 1 1. 17. - n Chap, 3. in, 1 1 , 23. 
 
 "Chap. 2. 4: 3.6. V Verse 16.- '/.Mm 3. 16; Rom. 5. 
 
 8; 8. 32; chap. 3. IS.- — r Chap. 5. 11. sJohn 15. 16; Rom. 
 
 6. We are of God — We, apostles, [and all who 
 hold with us,] have the Spirit of God, and speak 
 and teaeh by that Spirit. He that knoweth God 
 — Who has truly spiritual discernment. Heareth 
 us; acknowledges that our doctrine is from God ; 
 that it is spiritual, and leads from earth to heaven. 
 Hereby know we the spirit of truth — The 
 doctrine and teacher most prized and followed by 
 worldly men are not from God ; they savour of the 
 flesh, impose no restraints, prescribe no cross- 
 bearing, and leave every one in full possession of 
 his heart's lusts and easily besetting sins. And by 
 this, false doctrine and false teachers are easily 
 discerned. [The apprehension and recognition of 
 (iod is the peculiar property of God's children, not 
 any natural faculty in which one unrenewed man 
 differs from another. All rationalistical interpre- 
 tations of these words are quite beside the pur- 
 pose. — A IforeL] 
 
 V. [After the apostle, induced by the appearance 
 of the anti-Christian nature, has characterized (con- 
 tradistinguished) the spirit of truth and the spirit 
 of error, he passes on directly to a detailed account 
 of the elements of faith and love alluded to in 
 chapter iii, 23. — Huther.] Beloved, let us love 
 one another — And ever be ready to promote each 
 other's welfare, both spiritual and temporal. For 
 love is of God — He that loveth most has most of 
 God in him ; and he that loveth God and his 
 neighbour, as before described and commanded, 
 is born of God, is a true child of his heavenly 
 Father, for he is made a partaker of the divine 
 nature ; and this, his love to God and man proves. 
 [Being born of God does not follow from love, but 
 love follows from being born of God. Verse 10.] 
 
 8. He that loveth not (as already described) 
 knoweth not God — Has no experimental knowl- 
 edge of him. God is love — An infinite fountain of 
 benevolence and beneficence to every human being. 
 ["0"£ 6 9«ic ayaiTT] early, for God islove, is assigned 
 as a reason why Christians should love one another. 
 (Verse 7.) 'Ay-air?/ is used without the article, be- 
 cause it is considered as a general definition of the 
 nature of God. Love is not so much a quality 
 (an attribute) which God has, as the all-embracing 
 total of which he is. — Huther.] [And yet this does 
 not exclude the existence of other perfections in 
 equal fulness, as 6 Gedc 0wc icriv, God is light. 
 (Chapter i, 5.) And these several perfections, 
 though absolute in his person, are nevertheless 
 conditioned, each by the others, in the divine dis- 
 pensations.] 
 
 9. In this was- manifested the love of God — 
 
 that Ave loved God, hut that he loved us, and 
 sent his Son, ' to be the propitiation for our 
 sins. 11 Beloved, "if God so loved ns, we 
 ought also to love one another. 12 "No man 
 hath seen (iod at any time. If we love one 
 another, (iod dwelleth in ns, and "his love is 
 perfected in ns. 13 x Hereby know we that 
 we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath 
 given us of his Spirit. 14 And Mve have 
 seen and do testify that z the Father sent the 
 Son to be the Saviour of the world. 15 "Who- 
 soever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of 
 God, God dwelleth in him, and he in (iod. 
 
 5. 8, 1"; Tit. 3. 4. /Chap. 2. 2. u Matt. is. 33; John 15. 12, 
 
 13: chap. 3. 16. pjohn 1. 18; 1 Tim. i;. 16; verse 2n. 
 
 w Chap. 2. .3: verse I s . — a" John 14. 2d: chap. 3. 24. ;/ John 
 
 1. 14; chap. 1. 1,2. s John 3. 17. a Rom. 10. it; chap. 5. 1.5. 
 
 The mission of Jesus Christ was the fullest proof 
 that God could give, or that man could receive, of 
 his infinite love to the world. That we might 
 live through him — The whole world was sen- 
 tenced to death because of sin ; and every indi- 
 vidual was dead in trespasses and sins; and Jesus 
 came to die in the stead of the world, and to quicken 
 every believer, that all might live to Him who died 
 for them and rose again. (John iii, 16.) 
 
 10. Not that we loved God — And that he was 
 thereby induced to give his Son to be the pro- 
 pitiation for our sins. We were enemies to (iod, 
 and yet Christ died for [us, while we were yet alto- 
 gether] ungodly. (See Rom. v, 6-11, and the notes 
 there.) So it was God's love, not our merit, that 
 induced him to devise means that his banished ones 
 might not be forever expelled from him. 
 
 11. If God so loved us — Without any reason 
 or consideration on our part, and without any desert 
 in us ; we ought also, in like manner, to love 
 one another; and not suspend our love to a 
 fellow-creature, either on his moral worth or his 
 love to us. We should love one another for God's 
 sake; and then, no unkind carriage of a brother 
 would induce us to withdraw our love from him ; 
 for if it have God for its motive and model it will 
 never fail. 
 
 12. No man hath seen God at any time — 
 [We cannot immediately return to the invisible God 
 the love which he has shown to us ; for no man has 
 ever seen him, (John i, 18.) that is, he is not to be 
 seen by any. But if we love our brethren whom 
 we do see, God abides in us, we are his children, 
 objects of his love, and so, by love to our brethren, 
 love to God is perfected in us. — Lilcke.~\ 
 
 13. Hereby know we, etc. — See the note on 
 chap, iii, 24. 
 
 14. And we have seen — Jesus Christ mani- 
 fested in the flesh. (See chap, i, 1, etc.) And do 
 testify — Bear witness, in consequence of having 
 the fullest conviction that the Father sent the 
 Son to be the Saviour of the world. We have 
 had the fullest proof of this from his doctrine and 
 miracles which we heard and saw during the whole 
 time that he sojourned among men. [The laic 
 here is certainly such as would be inappropriate to 
 any but an eyewitness. — Speaker's Com.] 
 
 15. Whosoever shall confess — Much stress 
 is laid on this confession, because the false teach- 
 ers denied the reality of the incarnation; but this 
 confession implied also such a belief in Christ as 
 put them in possession of his pardoning mercy and 
 indwelling Spirit. 
 
 641
 
 M. 4073. A. D. 69. 
 Yea.ro! Romi , -.. 
 
 I. JOHN. 
 
 JO And we have known and believed the love 
 that God hath to us. '-God is love; and c he 
 that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God 
 in him. 17 Herein is d our love made perfect, 
 
 that e we may have boldness in the day of 
 judgment: f because as he is, so are we in this 
 world. IS There is no fear in love; but per- 
 fect love casteth out fear: because fear hath 
 torment. He that feareth sis not made per- 
 fect in love. 19 We love him, because he 
 first loved us. 20 h If a man say, I love God, 
 and hateth his brother, he is a liar : for he 
 
 b Verse 8 c Chap. 3. 2\ : verse 12. d Gr. love with vs. 
 
 eJaraes 2. 13; chap. 2. 28; 3. 10, 21. /Chap. 3. 3. 
 
 g Verse 12. AChap. -J. 4; 3. 17. 
 
 16. God is love — See on verse 8. He that 
 dwelleth in love — lie who is full of love to God 
 and man is full of God, for God is love ; and where 
 such love is, there is God, for he is the fountain 
 and maintainer of it. 
 
 17. Herein — 'Ei> tovtg), in this. See on verse 2. 
 Is our love made perfect — By God dwelling 
 in us, and we in him. Thus the love is made 
 perfect ; when it fills the heart it has all its de- 
 grees ; it is all in all; and all in every power, pas- 
 sion, and faculty of the soul. May have bold- 
 ness in the day of judgment — Uapp?jdiav; 
 freedom of speech and liberty of acecss; seeing 
 in the person of our Judge him who has died 
 for us, regenerated our hearts, and who him- 
 self fills them. As he is — Pure, holy, and 
 loving. So are we in this world — Being saved 
 from our sins, and made like to himself in right- 
 eousness and true holiness. No man can contem- 
 plate the "day of judgment" with any comfort 
 or satisfaction but on this ground, that the blood 
 of Christ hath cleansed him from all sin; and that 
 he is kept by the power of God, through faith, unto 
 salvation. This will give him "boldness in the day 
 of judgment." ['Ev rij i/iiqia r/'/r Kpiacug, "in the 
 day of judgment," when we shall be called to render 
 our account to God. It is not necessary to refer 
 this to a general day of. judgment, but rather to the 
 perpetually occurring judgment of God, manifested 
 through our own Christian consciousness. (S e 
 chap, iii, "21.)] 
 
 18. There is no fear in love — The man who 
 feels that he loves God with all his heart can never 
 dread him as his Judge. The perfect love (that 
 fulness of love, which he has received) casteth 
 out fear — Removes all terror relative to this day of 
 judgment. He that feareth — He who is still un- 
 certain concerning his interest in Christ. Is not 
 made perfect in love — Has not yet received the 
 abiding witness of the Spirit that he is begotten of 
 God ; nor that fulness of' love to God and man 
 which excludes the enmity of the carnal mind, and 
 which it is his privilege to receive. We must not 
 suppose that the love of God shed abroad in the 
 heart is ever imperfect in itself; it is only so in 
 degree. There may be a lesser or greater degree of 
 what is perfect in its kind ; so it is with respect to 
 the love which the followers of God have; theymaj 
 have measures or degrees of perfect love without 
 its fulness. There is nothing imperfect in the 
 love of God, whether it lie considered as existing in 
 himself or as communicated to his followers. Nor 
 are we to suppose that the love of God easts out 
 every kind of fear from the soul ; it only casts out 
 that which has torment. A filial fear is consis- 
 
 642 
 
 that loveth not his brother whom he hath 
 seen, how can he love God 'whom he hath 
 not seen ? 21 And k this commandment have 
 we from him. That he who loveth God love 
 his brother also. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 WHOSOEVER 'believeth that b Jesus is the 
 Christ is c born of God: d and every one 
 that loveth him that begat loveth him also that 
 is begotten of him. 2 By this we know that 
 we love the children of God, when we love 
 
 
 iX 
 
 •rse 12. 
 
 
 h Matt, 
 
 22 37 
 
 39 
 
 .Tofc 
 
 n 13 
 
 34; 
 
 15. 12: 
 
 chap. 
 
 3. 
 1. 
 
 23. 
 
 13. 
 
 aJ( 
 
 — r/Ju 
 
 hi) 
 
 1. 12.— 
 
 15. 23. 
 
 —b Ch 
 
 ip. 
 
 - —' 
 
 23; 
 
 4. 2, 
 
 15. 
 
 c John 
 
 tent with the highest degrees of love ; and even 
 necessary to the preservation of that grace. This 
 is properly its guardian; and without this, love 
 would soon degenerate into listlessness or pre- 
 sumptuous boldness. 
 
 19. We love him, because he first lov&d us 
 — This is the foundation of our love to God. 
 
 1) We love him because we find he has loved us. 
 
 2) We love him from a sense of obligation and 
 gratitude. 3) We love him from the influence of his 
 own love ; from his love shed abroad in our hearts 
 our love to him proceeds. It is the seed whence 
 our love springs. 
 
 2b. If a man say, I love God, and hateth 
 Iris brother — This, as well as many other parts of 
 this epistle, seems levelled against the Jews, who 
 pretended much love to God while they hated the 
 Gentiles ; and even some of them who were brought 
 into the Christian Church brought this leaven with 
 them. It required a miracle to redeem St. Peter's 
 mind from the influence of this principle. (See 
 Acts x.) Whom he hath seen — We may have 
 our love excited toward our brother. 1) By a con- 
 sideration of his excellences or amiable qualities. 
 2) By a view of his miseries and distresses. The 
 first will excite a love of complacency and delight; 
 the second a love of compassion and pity. Whom 
 he hath not seen — If he love not his brother, it 
 is a proof that the love of Cod is net in him ; and 
 if he have not the love of God, he cannot love God, 
 for God can be loved only through the influence of 
 his own love. (See on verse 19.) The man who 
 hates his fellow does not love Cod. He who does 
 not love God has not the love of God in him, and 
 he who has not the love of God in him can neither 
 love God nor man. 
 
 21. That he who loveth God love his 
 brother also — The love of God and the love of 
 man can never be separated ; he who loves God 
 will love his brother; he who loves his brother 
 gives this proof that he love- God, because he 
 loves with a measure of that love which, in its in- 
 finitude, dwells in God. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER V. 
 
 1. Whosoever believeth, etc. — Expressions of 
 this kind are to be taken in connexion with the 
 subjects necessarily implied in them. He that be- 
 lieveth that Jesus is tin.' Messiah, and confides in 
 him for the remission of sins, is begotten of God; 
 and they who are pardoned and begotten of God 
 love him in return for his love, and love all those 
 who are his children. 
 
 2. By this we know that we love the chil- 
 dren of God — Our love of God's followers is a
 
 The love of God enables the believer 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 God, and keep his commandments, 'i e For 
 this is the love of God, that we keep his com- 
 mandments: and f his commandments are nol 
 grievous. I For ^whatsoever is born of God 
 overcometh the world: and this is the victory 
 thai overcometh the world, even our faith. 
 5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but 
 h he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of 
 
 eJohn 14. 15, 21,23; 15. M: 2 John 6. 
 11.30. — a John 16.33; chap. 3. 9; ■».-!.- 
 
 - /Mic:ih 6. 8; Matt. 
 -it 1 C"r. 15. ,"i7 : chap. 
 
 proof that we love God. Our love to God is the 
 cause why we love his children; and our keeping 
 the commandments of God is the proof that we 
 love him. 
 
 3. For this is the love of God— This the love 
 of God necessarily produces. It is vain to pretend 
 love to God while we live in opposition to his will. 
 His commandments — To love him with all our 
 heart, and our neighbour as ourselves, is not griev- 
 ous — not burdensome ; for no man is burdened with 
 the duties which his own love imposes. The old 
 proverb explains the meaning of the apostle's 
 words, " Love feels no loads." Love to God brings 
 Strength from God ; through his love and his 
 strength, all his commandments are not only easy 
 and light, but pleasant and delightful. 
 
 4. For whatsoever — [flan, all. The neuter is 
 here used as gathering together in one, under the 
 category of ''born of God," the we, tjueIc, implied 
 in the last verse. The whole mass of the horn of 
 God conquer the world. And this is the victory 
 . . . our faith — The identification of the victory 
 with the faith which gained it is a concise and em- 
 phatic way of linking the two inseparably to- 
 gether, so that wherever there is faith there is 
 victory. — Alford.] [The active antagonism of the 
 world, rov Korruov, to those who are " born of God," 
 and that the salvation of these is effected only by 
 conquering " the world " in battle, is conspicuously 
 implied in all that is here said.] 
 
 5. He that believeth that Jesus is the Son 
 of God — The person who believes this comes to 
 God tor the benefits of the incarnation and passion 
 and eternal priesthood of Jesus Christ, and re- 
 ceives the blessings which are secured through the 
 divine mission of Christ. 
 
 (5. This is he that came by water and blood 
 — Jesus was attested to be the Son of God and 
 promised Messiah by " water," when, at his bap- 
 tism, the Spirit of Cod came down from heaven 
 upon him, and the voice from heaven said, TIds is 
 mil beloved Son, in whom 1 tun well pleased. Jesus 
 Christ came also by "blood." He shed his blood 
 for the sins of the world ; and this was in accord- 
 ance with all that the Jewish prophets had written 
 
 C erning him. Here the apostle says that the 
 
 Spirit witnesses this; that he came not by water 
 only — being baptized, and baptizing men in his own 
 name that they might be his followers and disci- 
 ples ; but by water and blood — By his sacrificial 
 death, without which the world could not be saved, 
 and he could have had no disciples. Moses in- 
 itiated tin' people into the covenant of God by 
 bringing them under the cloud and through the 
 sea. Aaron confirmed that covenant by shed- 
 ding the blood, sprinkling part of it upon them, and 
 the rest before the Lord in the holy of holies. 
 Moses came only by " water," Aaron only by 
 '•blood;" and both came as types. Bui Christ 
 came both by " water " and " blood" — not typically. 
 
 God ? O This is he that came 'by water and 
 blood, even Jesus Christ; nol by water only, 
 
 hut l>y water and blood. ''And it is the Spirit 
 that beareth witness, because the Spirit is 
 truth. 7 For there are three that bear record 
 in heaven, the Father, 'the Word, and the 
 Holy Ghost: '"and these three are one. 
 * And there are three that bear witness in 
 
 4. 15. iJohn 1!». 34. 1- John 14. 17: 15. 26: 16. 1"; 1 Tim. 
 
 3.16. /John 1.1; Rev. 19. 13. mJohu 10.30. 
 
 but really; not by the authority of another, but by 
 his own. Jesus initiates his followers into the 
 Christian covenant by the baptism of water, and 
 confirms and seals to them the blessings of the 
 covenant by an application of the blood of the 
 atonement ; thus purging their consciences and 
 purifying their souls. It may be said, also, that 
 the Spirit bears witness of Jesus by his testimony 
 in the souls of genuine Christians, and by the 
 spiritual gifts and miraculous powers with which 
 lie endowed the apostles and primitive believers. 
 (See John xv, 26, 27.) "When the Comforter is 
 come . . . the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from 
 the Father, he shall testify of me; and ye also 
 shall bear witness, because ye have been with me 
 from the beginning." This place the apostle seems 
 to have in his eye ; and this would naturally lead 
 him to speak concerning the three witnesses, the 
 Spirit, the water, and the blood. (Verse 8.) [The 
 weirds of prayer in our baptismal service, by refer- 
 ring the water from the pierced side to baptism, 
 would seem to imply the application to the other 
 sacrament also: "Who for the forgiveness of our 
 sins did shed out of his most precious side both 
 water and blood; "and where these sacraments arc 
 present, and rendered vitally effective by a present 
 faith, they two with the promised Spirit are the 
 three that hear taitness on earth, that is, in the 
 Church. Without the witness of the present Spirit, 
 the sacraments themselves cease to be witnesses ; 
 without the sacraments, the Spirit's testimony lacks 
 its divinely ordained attestation.] 
 
 1. There are three that bear record— The 
 Father, who bears testimony to his Son; the 
 Word, (or Aojof, Logos,) who bears testimony to 
 the Father; and the Holy Ghost, who bears testi- 
 mony to the Father and the Son. And these three 
 are one in essence, and agree in the one testimony, 
 that Jesus came to die for, and give life to, the 
 world. But while accepting the doctrine here 
 implied, it must still be conceded that beyond all 
 question this verse is not genuine. To make the 
 wdiole more clear, and that every reader may see 
 what has been added, 1 shall set down these verses, 
 with the inserted words in brackets. "6. And it is 
 the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit 
 is truth. 7. For there are three that bear record 
 [in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy 
 Ghost, and these three are one. 8. And there are 
 three that bear witness in earth,] the Spirit, and 
 the water, and the blood, and these three agree in 
 one. '.'. If we receive the witness of men, the 
 witness of God is greater," etc. Any man may 
 see, on examining the Words, that if those included 
 in brackets, which are wanting in the MSS. and 
 Versions, lie omitted, there is no want of connec- 
 tion; and as to the sense, it is C plete and per- 
 fect without them ; and, indeed, much more so than 
 with them. [See additional note at the end of the 
 
 chapter.] 
 
 1 543
 
 I. JOHN". 
 
 earth, the spirit, and the water, and the blood : 
 and these three agree in one. 9 If we receive 
 "the witness of men, the witness of God is 
 greater: "for this is the witness of God which 
 he hath testified of his Son. 10 He that be- 
 lieveth on the Son of God Phath the witness in 
 himself: he that believeth not God "J hath made 
 him a liar; because he believeth not the record 
 that God gave of his Son. 11 r And this is 
 the record, that God hath given to us eternal 
 life, and -this life is in his Son. 12 'lie that 
 hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not 
 
 n John 8. 17,18. 
 4. 6.- 
 
 — o Matt. 3. lfi, 17; 17. 5. v Rom. 8. 16; Gal. 
 
 -q John 3. 33: 5. 38. rChap. 2. 25. 
 
 8. The Spirit, and the water, and the blood 
 — ["The Spirit" — in the word confirmed by mira- 
 cles; "the water" — in baptism, wherein we are 
 dedicated to the Son, (with the Father and the 
 Holy Spirit.) typifying his spotless purity, and the 
 inward purifying of our nature ; "and the blood" 
 — represented in the Lord's Supper, and applied to 
 the consciences of believers ; and all these har- 
 moniously agree in the same testimony, that Jesus 
 Christ is the divine, the complete, the only Saviour 
 of the world. — Wesley.] By the written word, 
 which proceeded from the Holy Spirit, that Spirit 
 is continually witnessing upon earth, that God hath 
 given unto us eternal life. By baptism, which 
 points out our regeneration and the renewing of 
 the Holy Ghost, and which is still maintained as an 
 initiatory rite in the Christian Church, we have an- 
 other witness on earth of the truth, certainty, im- 
 portance, and efficacy of the Christian religion. 
 The same may he said of the " blood," represented by 
 the holy eucharist, which continues to show forth 
 the death and atoning sacrifice of the Son of Cod 
 till he come. (See the note on verse 6.) 
 
 9. If we receive the witness of men — 
 Which all are obliged to do. and which is deemed 
 a sufficient testimony to truth in numberless cases. 
 The witness of God is greater — lie can neither 
 be deceived nor deceive, but man may deceive and 
 lie deceived. [No special testimony (of men) need 
 lie thought of, as touching this present case — the 
 proposition is general. . . . The testimony here 
 spoken of is not any particular testimony, as the 
 prophecies concerning Christ, etc.; it is general, as 
 the testimony of men, with which it is compared. 
 The particular thing testified is introduced in the 
 following words. — Afford.] 
 
 10. He that believeth on the Son of God — 
 This is God's witness to a truth the most important 
 and interesting to mankind. Cod has witi. 
 that whosoever believeth on his Son shall be saved, 
 and have everlasting life; and shall have the witness 
 of it in himself, the Spirit hearing witness with his 
 spirit that he is a child of God. To know, to feel, 
 Ins sin forgiven, to have the testimony of this in 
 the heart from the Holy Spirit himself, is the 
 privilege of every true believer in Christ. [The 
 testimony spoken of is not merely an historical one, 
 but abiding and present; and these verses (10, 12) 
 explain to us what that, testimony is. — Alford.] 
 
 11. This is the record — The great' truth to 
 which the Spirit, the water, and the blood bear 
 testimony. God hath given to us eternal life 
 — A right to endless glory, and a meetness for it. 
 And this life is in his Son — It comes by and 
 through him; he is its author and its purchaser; 
 it is only in and through him. [The essential prac- 
 
 544 
 
 the Son of God hath not life. 13 "These 
 things have I written unto you that believe on 
 the name of the Son of God; v that ye may 
 know that ye have eternal life, and that ye 
 may believe on the name of the Son of God. 
 14 And this is the confidence that we have 
 "in him, that, x if we ask any thing according 
 to his will, he heareth us: 15 And if we 
 know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we 
 know that we have the petitions that we de- 
 sired of him. 16 If any man see Ins brother 
 sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, 
 
 sJohn 1. -t ; chap. 4. 9. <John 3. R6; 5. 24. u John 20. 31. 
 
 pChap. 1. I, 2. tr Or, eonc< mi m/ him. ,r C'hnp. 3. 22. 
 
 tical substance of this record (fiaprvpia) may he 
 divided into two parts ; declaring in the first place 
 that God really has given to us eternal life; and, 
 secondly, that this eternal life is granted to us in 
 his Son; (that is, to the quickened spiritual con- 
 sciousness of the individual.) (See John iii, 33.) — 
 Llickc] 
 
 VI. He that hath the Son hath life— As the 
 eternal life is given in the Son of God, it follows 
 that it cannot be enjoyed without him. No man 
 can have it without having Christ ; therefore he 
 that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath 
 not the Son . . . hath not life — An indwelling 
 Christ and glory ; no indwelling Christ, no glory. 
 Coil's record must stand. (See John iii. 36.) 
 
 13. That ye may know that ye have eter- 
 nal life — I write to show your privileges — to lead 
 you into this holy of holies — to show what believ- 
 ing on the Son of (hid is, by the glorious effects it 
 produces: it fs not a blind reliance for, but an 
 actual enjoyment of. salvation; Christ living, work- 
 ing, and reigning in the heart. And that ye 
 may believe — That is. continue to believe; for 
 Christ dwells in the heart only by faith, and faith 
 works by love, and love continues only by obkdi- 
 ence. He who obeys, loves; he who loves, be- 
 lieves ; he who believes, has the witness in him- 
 self; he who has this witness, has Christ in his 
 heart, the hope of glory. 
 
 14. This is the confidence — Tlappjjaia, the 
 liberty of access and speech, that, if we ask any 
 thing according to his will — That is, which he 
 has promised in his word. He heareth us — [Re- 
 gards our askings, to grant or withhold the specific 
 thing asked, but always to bestow the consolations 
 of his Spirit.] Prayer is the language of depen- 
 dence on God. Faith and prayer are not boldly to 
 advance claims upon God ; we must take heed that 
 what we ask and believe for is agreeable to the 
 revealed will of (hid. 
 
 15. And if we know that he hear us — [Kal 
 kav oWapev. By the indicative after edv this 
 knowledge is emphasized as something undoubt- 
 edly belonging to the believer. — Huther.~\ We 
 know that we have the petitions — The answer 
 to the "petitions." That we desired of him — 
 For he cannot deny himself. "We are not to ask 
 to-day for mercy that we now need, and not re- 
 ceive it till to-morrow, or some future time. God 
 gives it to him who prays, when it is needful. 
 
 ](i. If any man see, etc — ['Edv tic ifiy, here 
 the particle lav, followed by a veil) in the sub- 
 junctive mood, shews that the case is simply a hy- 
 pothetical one, and not assured, as inverse 15.] 
 His brother — [Tor adetybv avrov. By this term 
 we are to understand not the neighbour in general,
 
 Whosoever is born of God 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 and? he shall give him life for them that sin 
 not unto death. 2 There is a sin unto death: 
 ■ I do not say that he shall pray for it. 17 ''All 
 unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not 
 unto death. 18 We know that 'whosoever 
 is horn of God sinneth not; hut he that is 
 
 j/Job 42. s ; James a. 14, 15. z Matt, 12. 31, H2: Mark :!. 29; 
 
 Luke 12. 10: lleli. 6. 4, ; HI. 26. a Jer. T. lt> ; 14. 11; John 
 
 hut the Christian brother. — Huther.] [There is 
 here a aecessarj implication, 1) that a Christian may 
 fall into sin, and yet not wholly apostatize ; and in 
 all such cases it is the privilege and the duty of 
 Christians to pray for the sinning brother, with 
 the assurance that they do not pray in vain : 
 2) and also that it is fearfully possible for one 
 who has really become "a brother" in Christ to 
 sin unto death, after which there is no more re- 
 pentance, nor does the Spirit in the hearts of be- 
 lievers intercede for such.] A sin ■which is not 
 unto death — [IXpoc Oavarov, aula death, is the sin 
 which leads to damnation — spiritual death leading 
 certainly to eternal death. But as all sin does this, 
 if not effectually resisted by grace, the distinction 
 in the text must imply an inevitableness of ten- 
 dency. The guilt incurred by some sins into which 
 Christians may fall is not absolutely irreversible; 
 for those who may have fallen into such it is law- 
 ful and a duty to pray. But there is another order 
 of sins, whose inevitable sequence is death, with 
 all that is expressed by that term as applied to the 
 wages of sin. The objection to this obvious sense 
 of the text is not from Scripture, nor reason, but 
 from sentiment.'] And he (God) shall give him 
 life — [Them that sin not unto death. Them in the 
 second clause simply extends the him of the first 
 to all of the same class.] [The restoration of the 
 divine life, from which, by an act of sin, he was in 
 peril, and indeed in process of falling, but his sin 
 was not an actual, absolute fall. — Afford.] [But 
 for the unscriptural dogma of " final perseverance," 
 absolutely assured to the regenerate, there would 
 be no difficulty in applying this language to the 
 "reconversion" of the actually backslidden soul — 
 its evident intent.] [As to this, {the sin unto death,) 
 four tests are positively discoverable in the text it- 
 self : a) It does not mean a single sin, (one individual 
 action,) but sin of a peculiar kind — "there is a sin." 
 b) From the emphatic way in which " brother " is 
 used, it could only occur among Christians in the full 
 communion of the Church, c) It would seem to 
 be such a sin as was in some sense perceptible and 
 visible — "if any man see." d) According to the 
 Johannic sense of the word, the " death " spoken of 
 cannot be bodily death from the judgment of God; 
 nor the mere spiritual losses, however grave and 
 real, of a deserved excommunication. It must 
 mean nmral ami spiritual death, (chapter iii, 24,) 
 depravation of the life. (Verse 12.) It might seem 
 that its lineaments were traced in the previous part 
 of this epistle. By heresy, by unbelief, by obstinate 
 worldliness, by want of love, issuing in a Cain-like 
 hatred, we may reverse the blessed transition 
 " from death unto life," (chapter iii, 14,) and pass 
 from "life unto death," that is, to a state of spiritual 
 (not yet necessarily eternal) death. The completion 
 of this state is the passing out from the light of 
 Christ and his Church into darkness, possibly apos- 
 tasy and idolatry, or into atheism. This explana- 
 tion seems to meet the whole context from verse 16 
 on. St. John does not state whether such a sin- 
 ner's case is absolutely hopeless, or whether he is 
 Vol. II.— 35 
 
 begotten of God d keepeth himself, and that 
 wicked one toucheth him not. 19 And we 
 know that we are of God, and "the whole world 
 lieth in wickedness. 20 And we know thai 
 the Son of God is come, and f hath given us an 
 understanding, s-'that we may know him that 
 
 17. 9. ftChap. 3. 4. cl Pet, 1. 23; 
 
 1. 27. .- Gal. 1. 4. /Luke 2t. 45.- 
 
 chap. 3. ! 
 (7 John 17 
 
 definitely capable of conversion. But lie will not 
 desire Christians to intercede for those who, as far 
 as in them lies, have voluntarily dipped the roots 
 of their souls in poison, and sought to destroy their 
 Christian life. The reference is here, as so often, 
 to the Gospel of St. John. Even among Christians 
 there was the possibility of incurring the doom 
 of which Jesus warned the unbelieving Jews, "Ye 
 shall die in your sin ... in your sins. 1 " (John 
 viii, 21-24.) — Speaker's Commentary.] 
 
 17. All unrighteousness is sin — Ylaaa cuunia. 
 Every act contrary to justia is "sin" — {$ a trans- 
 gression (f tin lair which condemns all injustice. 
 [If the first term is taken abstractly, the adatia and 
 a/uapria are simply synonymous; if concretely, then 
 this sentence declares that in every act of injustice 
 or wrong "sin" is the ruling element.] 
 
 18. Whosoever is born of God sinneth not 
 — This is spoken of adult Christians; they are 
 cleansed from all unrighteousness, consequently 
 from all sin. (Chapter i, 7-9.) [Though (liability to) 
 sin is still found in the life of the believer, who as 
 such is born of God, yet it is nevertheless foreign 
 to him, opposed to his (renewed) nature, and in the 
 strength of faith he is ever becoming more and 
 more free from it. — Huther.] Keepeth himself 
 — That is, in the love of God, (Jude 21,) by building 
 up himself on his most holy faith, and praying in 
 the Holy Ghost. And that wicked one— The 
 devil. Toucheth him not — Finds nothing of his 
 own nature in him on which he can work, Christ 
 dwelling in his heart by faith. 
 
 ] 9. We know that we are of God — Have the 
 fullest proof of the truth of Christianity, and of 
 our own reconciliation to God through the death of 
 his Son. The whole world lieth in wicked- 
 ness — 'Ei' 7<i TTOvqpu KElrai, lieth in the wicked om ; 
 is embraced in the arms of the devil, where it lies 
 fast asleep and carnally secure, deriving its heat 
 and power from its infernal fosterer. "In tins 
 short expression," says Mr. Wesley, "the horrible 
 state of the world is painted in the most lively 
 colours ; a comment on which we have in the 
 actions, conversations, contracts, quarrels, and 
 friendships of worldly men." [The Christian con- 
 sciousness in response to the voice of the Spirit in 
 the soul attests our gracious state, that we are of 
 God. The we, iiu&c, the implied subject of en rov 
 Qeov iafiiv, represents the whole commonwealth of 
 believers, the Holv Catholic Church, who are not of 
 the world. " The whole world," 6 Kdafioq u'/nr, the 
 great undistinguished residue of mankind, all men 
 not in Go.d — in Christ. IAeth in the wicked one, 
 is in the bosom of Satan. " We" and " the whole 
 world" are alternate opposites, as are also "Cod " 
 and the wicked one. Christians are such by vir- 
 tue of their ingrafting into Christ; the "world," all 
 unconverted men, are in Satan. " Lieth," Ksirai, 
 lies passively, unresistingly, under the dominance of 
 " the Cod of this world."] 
 
 20. We know that the Son of God is come 
 — In the flesh, and has made his soul an offering 
 for sin. And hath given us an understanding 
 
 515
 
 I. JOHN. 
 
 is true; and we are in him that is true, even in 
 Lis Son Jesus Christ. h This is the true God, 
 
 h Isa. 9. 6 ; 44. 6 ; 54. 5 ; John 20. 28 ; Acts -JO. 28 ; Rom. 0. 5 ; 1 Tim. 
 
 — A spiritual understanding, that we may know 
 him who is true, even the true god, and receive 
 eternal life from him through his Son, in whom 
 we are by faith, as the branches in the vine, deriv- 
 ing all our knowledge, light, life, love, and fruitful- 
 ness from him. And it is through this revelation 
 of Jesus that we know the ever-blessed and glori- 
 ous Trinity; and the Trinity — Father, Word, and 
 Holy Ghost — in the eternal, undivided unity of the 
 ineffable Godhead. 
 
 21. Little children — Tenvta, beloved children ; 
 John concludes with the same affectionate feeling 
 with which he commenced. Keep yourselves 
 from idols — Avoid the idolatry of the heathens ; 
 not only have no false gods, but have the true God. 
 Have no idols in your houses, none in your churches, 
 none in your hearts. Have no object of idolatrous 
 worship ; no pictures, relics, consecrated tapers, 
 wafers, crosses, etc., by attending to which your 
 minds may be divided, and prevented from worship- 
 ping the infinite Spirit in spirit and in truth. The 
 apostle, says Dr. Macknight, cautioned his disciples 
 against going with the heathens into the temple of 
 their idol gods, to eat of their feasts upon the sac- 
 rifices they had offered to these gods ; and against 
 being present at any act of worship which they 
 paid them ; because, by being present, they par- 
 ticipated in that worship, as is plain from what St. 
 Paul has written on the subject. (See 1 Cor. 
 viii, 10.) 
 
 ADDITIONAL NOTE. 
 
 [The question respecting the genuineness of the 
 passage concerning the "three heavenly witnesses " 
 (1 John v, 7) is no longer an open one, there being 
 nothing of any real value to plead in its favour. It is 
 not found in any Greek MS. written before the inven- 
 tion of printing, with a single unimportant exception. 
 (See below.) It is not found in any of the older 
 Versions, except the Vulgate, and even the older 
 copies (before the eighth century) of that do not 
 contain it; and it is never quoted or referred to by 
 the Greek Fathers, and not certainly by any of the 
 Latins. During the celebrated Arian controversy, 
 which engaged all the learning of its age, and was 
 extended over a long period of time, no writer 
 refers to it, as would certainly have been the case 
 had it been in existence. A passage in Tertullian 
 has been supposed to refer to it, but the probabili- 
 ties are against it; and one in Cyprian lias some 
 resemblance to it, but not such as to prove that it 
 has any reference to it. Words of nearly equivalent 
 import are found in some of the more inconsider- 
 able controversial writings of the latter part of the 
 fifth century and later times, but they do not 
 usually appear as quotations. As a question of 
 criticism, tins subject is briefly disposed of by Huther 
 in terms that will receive the assent of all who will 
 examine the evidence in the case : " The weight of 
 the evidence against the genuineness of the dis- 
 puted words is so strong that it is opposed to the 
 fundamental principles of a sound and unprejudiced 
 criticism to regard them as genuine." 
 
 [The words, as a part of the text, begin to appear 
 
 in the Latin MSS. (of the Vulgate) in the eighth or 
 
 ninth century. In the sixteenth century they were 
 
 found in most copies of the Vulgate, and of course 
 
 546 
 
 ' and eternal life. 21 Little children, k keep 
 yourselves from idols. Amen. 
 
 3.10; Tit. 2.13; Heb. 1.8.- 
 
 : Verses 11, 12, 13. 1~ 1 Cor. 10. 14. 
 
 they appear in the translations made from that 
 Version. It is first found in. Greek in the fa- 
 mous Complutensian Polyglot, prepared under the 
 auspices of Cardinal Ximenes, (A. D. 1504-1514.) 
 The Greek MSS. used in constructing this worK 
 were of recent date and of but little authority, and 
 the compilers, in not a few cases, corrected the 
 Greek text from the Vulgate, and by that means 
 the text in question was carried over from the 
 Latin of the Vulgate to the Greek of the Polyglot. 
 Erasmus, in his earlier editions, rejected them, and 
 so also did Aldus Manutius, in the Venetian edition 
 of 1522 ; but in his later editions Erasmus accepted 
 them on the authority of Codex 34, (which is be- 
 lieved to be identical with the Codex Montefiori, 
 and Stephanus and Bezae did the same. Luther 
 never admitted the words to any of his translations ; 
 but they appear in the German Bible printed in 
 Zurich in 1529, mutilated in part, and in small 
 print. After this date they are found in most 
 editions, sometimes in brackets, and sometimes 
 without any marks of discredit. 
 
 [The words in question are found in the Codex 
 Montefiori, preserved in the library of Dublin 
 University, (G. ( .>7,) an octavo cursive Greek MS. of 
 the whole New Testament, written in the fifteenth 
 or sixteenth century. It is doubtless the "Codex 
 Britannicus," referred to by Erasmus as his sole 
 authority lor inserting the disputed words in his 
 later editions. As a critical authority it is entirely 
 without value. The text came into our English 
 Bibles from the Vulgate, which was the authority 
 almost explicitly followed by the earliest translators, 
 and their Versions have been followed in all other 
 generally accepted Versions, though the best En- 
 glish scholars of the century (among them es- 
 pecially Dr. A. Clarke) have been agreed in reject- 
 ing them as not sustained by any competent au- 
 thority. 
 
 [Alford, after traversing the whole subject, and 
 arriving at the only rational conclusion possible, 
 that the words are spurious, adds: "Something re- 
 mains to be said on internal grounds, on which we 
 have full right to enter now that the other is se- 
 cured. And on these grounds it must appear on any 
 fair and unprejudiced consideration that the words 
 are, 1) Alien from the context. 2) In themselves in- 
 coherent and betraying another hand than the 
 apostle's. For the context, as above explained, is 
 employed in setting forth the reality of the sub- 
 stance of the faith which overcomes the world, 
 even of our eternal life in Jesus the Son of God. 
 And this is shown by a threefold testimony sub- 
 sisting in the revelation of the Lord himself and 
 reproduced in us his people. And this testimony is 
 the water of baptism, the blood of atonement, and 
 the Spirit of truth, concurrent in their witness to 
 the one fact that he is the Son of God, and that we 
 have eternal life in him. Now between two steps of 
 this argument — not as a mere analogy referred to 
 at its conclusion — insert the words, 'For there are 
 three that bear witness in heaven, the Father, the 
 Word, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are 
 one,' and who can fail to see, unless prejudice 
 have blinded his eyes, that the context is disturbed 
 by the introduction of an irrelevant matter ? "
 
 PREFACE TO THE SECOND EPISTLE 
 
 OF 
 
 JOHN. 
 
 JOHN'S Second Epistle is addressed to some one whom the writer calls ekXekt^ 
 tcvpla, which some have regarded as designating the Church collectively ; 
 others, a particular congregation; and others, an individual, which last seems 
 to he altogether the most probable. But among those who accept this application 
 there are three distinct renderings of the words themselves: 1) "The Lady 
 Electa;" 2) "The elect kuria ; " and 3) " The elect lady," as in our English Ver- 
 sion. Accepting the last of these as the most probable, though either of the 
 others if accepted would not change the sense, it would appear that at the time 
 of the writing the apostle was with the sister of the person addressed. He ex- 
 presses the hope soon to see the latter and converse with her on matters of which he 
 could not then write. The purpose of the epistle — and probably the same things are 
 intended by those respecting whom he hopes soon to converse with — seems to be to 
 warn her against the false teachers, and to dissuade her from showing them undue 
 kindness ; and to give force to his exhortation he styles himself b 7TQeaj3vrepog, 
 the elder. He also commends to her the practice of the great principle of love, 
 which with him means right affection, springing from a sound faith, and issuing 
 in right conduct; and in this spirit, so characteristic of St. John, he denounces the 
 " deceiver," whom he calls " antichrist." 
 
 THE AUTHORSHIP. 
 
 There is no reason to doubt that this epistle was written by the apostle John, 
 as it bears the genuine impress of his writing. 
 
 IrenEeus quotes verse 11, directly referring it to "John, the disciple of the 
 Lord." Clement of Alexandria quotes 1 John v, 16, 17, with the remark : " And 
 John is seen to show in the larger epistle that there are different kinds of sins;" 
 which shows that he recognised more than one epistle of John. Tertullian, in 
 one place, speaks of what John asserts in his "first epistle," (in prima quidem 
 ephtola,) which shows his knowledge of at least one other. Cyprian, on the 
 contrary, quotes numerous passages from the first epistle of John, but without 
 seeming to recognise the existence of any other. Dionysius, bishop of Alex- 
 andria about the middle of the third century, speaks of a second and third epis- 
 tle ascribed to the apostle John. Origen, after remarking that St. John left 
 one epistle of a very few lines, also speaks of a second and third, respecting 
 which he adds: " All do not afhrm that these are genuine, but both of them are not 
 
 of a hundred lines." Eusebius, after stating that the first epistle of John was 
 
 547
 
 PREFACE TO THE SECOND EPISTLE OF JOHN. 
 
 acknowledged without dispute, both by the Christians of bis time and by the 
 ancients, says: "But the remaining two are disputed." 
 
 In the Canon of Muratori two epistles of John are recognised, of which one 
 is our first epistle, and probably the other is our present second epistle. This 
 epistle, and also the third of John, are wanting in the ancient Syriac Version ; 
 nor were they received by the Syrian Church as late as the first half of the sixth 
 century. It is, however, found in the Memphitic, Thebaic, ^Ethiopic, and 
 Armenian Versions. Jerome remarks that the second and third epistles of John 
 " are asserted to be those of the presbyter John, of whom another tomb is shown, 
 even to-day, at Ephesus, although some suppose that both monuments belong to 
 the same John the evangelist." 
 
 The epistle was not in the Canon of Chrysostom, but it formed apart of that of 
 Cyril of Jerusalem, of Rufinus, of Epiphanius, and of Augustine. Its genuineness is 
 acknowledged by Bleek and Neander, and favoured by De Wette. See Harman. 
 The epistle has all the marks of a private letter designed for personal Christian 
 greetings, and perhaps very gentle admonition; and though quite worthy of its 
 great author as a contribution to either doctrine or reproof, and while its value 
 may not be great, yet it may still be useful, as giving a slight glance into the 
 
 contemporary private life of the Church. 
 
 548
 
 THE SECOND EPISTLE 
 
 OF 
 
 JOHN. 
 
 THE elder unto the elect lady and her chil- 
 dren, "whom I love in the truth; and not 
 1 only, but also all they that have known 'the 
 truth ; 2 For the truth's sake, which dwell- 
 eth in us, and shall be with us for ever. 
 3 c Grace d be with you, mercy, and peace, 
 from God the Father, and from the Lord Je- 
 
 er 1 John 3. 18: verse 3; 3 John 1. h John 8. 32: Gal. 2. 5, 14 ; 
 
 3. 1 ; 5. 7 ; Col. 1. 5: 2 Thess. 2. 13 ; 1 Tim. 2. 4 ; Heb. 10. 20. 
 
 NOTES ON II. JOHN. 
 
 1. The elder — John the apostle, who was now 
 a very old man, generally supposed to be about 
 ninety, and therefore he uses the term 6 Trpeaj3vrepog, 
 presbyter or elder, not as the name of an office, but 
 as designating his advanced age. This title led 
 some of the ancients to attribute this epistle to a 
 person called John the presbyter, a member of the 
 Church at Ephesus, and not to John the apostle. 
 The elect lady — 'Ek/skti] nvpia. As nvpia (kuria) 
 may be the feminine of n'vptoq (kurios) lord, there- 
 fore it may signify lady ; and so several, both an- 
 cients and moderns, have understood it. Others 
 have considered it the proper name of a woman, 
 Ki/ria ; and that this is a very ancient opinion is 
 evident from the Peshito St/riae, the oldest Version 
 we have, which uses it as a proper name, as does 
 also the Arabic. Some have thought that EcJecta 
 was the name of this matron, from the word 
 £/i/fK7//, which we translate " elect," and which here 
 signifies the same as excellent, eminent, honourable, 
 or the like. Others think that a particular Church 
 is intended, which some suppose to be the Church 
 at Jerusalem, and that the "elect sister" (verse 13) 
 means the Church at Ephesus ; but these are con- 
 jectures which appear to me to have no good 
 ground. I am satisfied that no metaphor is here 
 intended ; that the epistle was sent to some eminent 
 Christian matron not far from Ephesus, who was 
 probably a deaconess of the Church, who, it is 
 likely, had a Church at her house, or at whose 
 house the apostles and travelling evangelists fre- 
 quently preached and were entertained. This will 
 appear more probable in the course of the notes. 
 Whom I love in the truth — Whom I love as the 
 Christian religion requires us to love one another. 
 And not I only — She was well known in the 
 Churches ; many had witnessed or heard of her 
 fidelity and partaken of her hospitality; so that 
 she had a good report of all Christians in that 
 quarter. 
 
 •1. For the truth's sake — On account of the 
 Gospel. Which dwelleth in us — By the grace 
 
 sus Christ, the Son of the Father, e in truth 
 and love. 4 I rejoiced greatly that I found 
 of thy children r walking in truth, as we have 
 received a commandment from the Father. 
 5 And now I beseech thee, lady, ?not as 
 though I wrote a new commandment unto 
 thee, but that which we had from the besin- 
 
 c\ Tim. 1. 2. rfGr. shall be. e Verse 1.- 
 
 g\ John 2. 7,8; 3. 11. 
 
 -/3 John 3.- 
 
 which it has proclaimed. And shall be 'with us 
 — For God will preserve not only the Christian re- 
 ligion but its truth — all its essential doctrines — 
 forever. And they that abide in the truth shall go 
 whither that truth leads, that is, to glory. [This 
 salutation is eminently Johannean, in both its sub- 
 stance and form.] 
 
 '3. Grace be with you — This is addressed to 
 her, her household, and probably that part of the 
 Church which was more immediately under her 
 care. The Son of the Father— The apostle still 
 keeps in view the miraculous conception of Christ, 
 a thing which the Gnostics absolutely denied; a 
 doctrine which is at the groundwork of our sal- 
 vation. 
 
 4. That I found of thy children walking in 
 truth — The children mentioned here may either be 
 her own children, or those members of the Church 
 which were under her care, or some of both. The 
 apostle was glad to find, by some means not named, 
 that the work of God was prospering in the place 
 where she lived, and also in her own household. 
 ["Walking in the truth:" not only in honesty 
 and uprightness (of outward conduct,) but in that 
 "truth" which is derived from and is part of the 
 truth of God and Christ. (See on verse 1.) 'Ek tuv 
 tekvuv, " of thy children : " the apostle had prob- 
 ably lit upon some of the children of the Kvpia, 
 (lady,) and [now for her comfort] sends her word of 
 their good report. Respecting the rest, (whom he 
 had not seen,) he makes no mention or insinuation. 
 —Alford. \ 
 
 5. Not as though I wrote (ovx <jc ypafyuv, not as 
 writing) a new commandment — But only gently 
 reminding the person addressed of a duty already 
 recognised and practised by her.] That which 
 we had from the beginning — The commandment 
 to love one another was what they had heard from 
 the first publication of Christianity, and what he 
 wishes this excellent woman to inculcate on all 
 those under her care. The mode of address here 
 shows that it was a person, not a Church, to which 
 the apostle writes. 
 
 f>49
 
 A. M. 4inn. A. D. 95. 
 y e :ir ol Rome, »49. 
 
 II. JOHN". 
 
 ning, h that we love one .'mother. 6 And 
 'this is love, that we walk after his command- 
 ments. This is the commandment, That, k as 
 ye have heard from the beginning, ye should 
 walk in it. 7 For ' many deceivers are en- 
 tered into the world, '" who confess not that 
 Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. "Tins is a 
 deceiver and an antichrist. § "Look to your- 
 selves, Pthat we lose not those things which 
 we have i wrought, hut that we receive a full 
 reward. 9 r Whosoever transgresseth, and 
 ahideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not 
 
 ft John 13. 34; 15. 12: Ephesians 5. 2; 1 Peter 4. 8; 1 John 
 
 3. 23. ('.John 14. 15, 21: 15. 10; 1 John 2. a: 5. 3. . 1 John 
 
 2. 24. / 1 Jnlm 4. 1. m 1 John 4. 2, 3. n 1 John 2. 22 ; 
 
 4. 3. oMark 13. 9. pGalatians 3. 4; Hebrews 10. 32, 35. 
 
 (J Or, gained : Some copies read, which ye have gained, 
 
 6. And this is love — That is, our love is shown 
 and proved by our walking according to the com- 
 mandments of God ; for love is the principle of 
 obedience. ['A}-a-;/, love, here (as in other places 
 in these epistles) denotes Christian love simply, of 
 which the basis is the love of God, and the essen- 
 tial manifestation of which is to love the breth- 
 ren. — Liicke.'] 
 
 7. For many deceivers, etc. — Of these he had 
 spoken before. (See 1 John iv, 1, etc.) And these 
 appear to have been Gnostics, for they denied that 
 Jesus was come in the flesh. And this doctrine, 
 so essential to salvation, none could deny but a de- 
 ceiver and an antichrist. Instead of slorjMov, 
 are entered in, the best MSS. and Versions have 
 E^ijWav, are gone out. [The necessity for fresh ex- 
 hortation to walk in love lies in the fact that there 
 are many deceivers gone forth, denying the truth, 
 of whom we are to beware, and not, by extending 
 to them a spurious sympathy, to become partakers 
 with them. — Al/ord."] 
 
 8. Look to yourselves — Be on your guard 
 against these seducers; watch, pray, love God and 
 each other, and walk in newness of life. That we 
 lose not those things which we have wrought 
 — That we apostles, who have been the means of 
 your conversion, may not be deprived of you as our 
 crown of rejoicing in the day of the Lord Jesus. 
 [The now generally accepted reading of this pas- 
 sage is (SMtzete iavroiig, "iva urj cnroteaqTe a rjpya- 
 aa/isda, a/Jia uiodbv wAT/py anokifiijTE : Look to 
 yourselves that you do not lose that which we have 
 wrought, but that ye receive a full reward. The 
 idea is a complex one.] 
 
 9. Whosoever transgresseth — Xlapafiaivuv ; 
 he who passes over the sacred enclosure, or goes be- 
 yond the prescribed limits, and abideth not in 
 the doctrine, but indulges himself either in ex- 
 cesses of action or passion, hath not God for his 
 Father, nor the love of God in his heart. Hath 
 both the Father and the Son — He who abideth 
 in the doctrine of Christ, his body is a temple of 
 the Holy Trinity, and he has communion with the 
 Father as his Father, and with the /Son as his 
 Saviour and Redeemer. [Instead of napajiaivuv, 
 transgressing, a decisive preponderance of the best 
 authorities have irpoayuv, going before, or ahead. 
 It seems here to include two ideas, going beyond 
 the line of truth, (perhaps referring to the vaunted 
 progress of advanced Gnostic thought,) and carry- 
 ing others with him — leading them, with bold and 
 selfwilled ambition, outside the barriers. — Speak- 
 er's < Commentary. \ 
 
 10. If there come any unto you — Under the 
 550 
 
 God. He that ahideth in the doctrine of 
 Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. 
 10 If there come any unto you, and bring not 
 this doctrine, receive him not into your house, 
 B neither bid him God speed: 11 For he that 
 biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil 
 deeds. 12 'Having many things to write 
 unto you, I would not write with paper and 
 ink : but I trust to come unto you, and speak 
 "face to face, "that w our joy may .be full. 
 13 x The children of thy elect sister greet thee. 
 Amen. 
 
 hut that ye receive, etc. r\ John 2. 23. « Romans 
 
 in 17; 1 Corinthians 5. 11; 16. 22; Galatians 1. 8, 9; 2 Tim- 
 othy 3. 5; Titus 3. ID. ft John 13. it Gv. mouth to 
 
 mouth. r.Iohn 17. 13; 1 John 1. 4. w Or, your. 
 
 x 1 Peter o. 13. 
 
 character of an apostle or evangelist, to preach in 
 your house ; and bring not this doctrine, that 
 Jesus is come in the flesh, and has died for the re- 
 demption of the world. Receive him not into 
 your house — Give him no entertainment as an 
 evangelical teacher. Let him not preach under 
 your roof. Neither bid him God speed — Kal 
 Xa.ipeiv abrC) gij /1}ete, and do not say, Health to 
 him — do not salute him with Peace be to thee ! — the 
 usual salutation among friends and those of the 
 same religion in the East; which those of the same 
 religion will use among themselves, but not to 
 strangers. [The exercise of the love of the breth- 
 ren is conditioned and limited by the truth, and is 
 not to be extended to those who are enemies and 
 impugners of the truth. Those who harbor or 
 encourage such make common cause with them and 
 their evil deeds. — Alford.] 
 
 11. Is partaker of his evil deeds — No sound 
 Christian should countenance any man as a gospel 
 minister who holds and preaches erroneous doc- 
 trines; especially concerning the Lord Jesus. Nor 
 can any Christian attend the ministry of such 
 teachers without being criminal in the sight of 
 God. We should not deny such the common offices 
 of humanity, charity, and mercy ; far less should 
 we persecute such on account of their heretical or 
 heterodox sentiments. 
 
 12. Having many things to write — That is, 
 I have many things that I might write to thee, but 
 I think it best not to commit them to paper, be- 
 cause 1 hope to visit thee shortly, and speak fully 
 of those matters, which will be a means of increas- 
 ing the comfort both of thee and thy family, as 
 well as my own. There is more comfort in mutual 
 interviews among friends than in epistolary corre- 
 spondence. 
 
 13. The children of thy elect sister — Prob- 
 ably her own sister, living at Ephesus ; and, being 
 acquainted with the apostle's writing, desired to be 
 thus remembered to her. "Elect," both in this and 
 the first verse, signifies excellent, eminent, or hon- 
 ourable. (See verse 1.) Amen is wanting in the 
 most ancient MSS. and in most of the Versions; but 
 >'/ ,V'/"f uira gov and ue& vuuv, graa be with thee, 
 or with you, is found in several MSS. and Ver- 
 sions. 
 
 This epistle is remarkable for the spirit of Chris- 
 tian love which it breathes, and scarcely less so 
 for its warnings against the heretical teachers. 
 They were to hold no communion with them, and 
 afford them no support as teachers, but not perse- 
 cute them. Thus far, we have apostolical author- 
 ity ; farther, we have none.
 
 THE THIRD EPISTLE 
 
 OF 
 
 JOHN. 
 
 THE elder unto the well bfeloved Gains, 
 "whom I love 'in the truth. "2 Beloved, 
 1 "wish above all things that thou mayest 
 prosper and be in health, even as thy soul 
 prospereth. 3 For I rejoiced greatly, when 
 the brethren came and testified of the truth 
 that is in thee, even as d thou walkest in the 
 
 a 2 John 1. b Or, truly. cOr, pray. d2 John 4. 
 
 This epistle being of nearly the same complexion 
 with the former, and evidently written about the 
 same time, and ineontestably by the same person, 
 it is not necessary to give it any particular pref- 
 ace, as the subject of the authenticity of all John's 
 three epistles has been treated already so much at 
 large. 
 
 This and the preceding epistle are, by Dr. Lard- 
 ner, supposed to have been written between A D. 
 80 and 90. There are no ?iotes of time in the epis- 
 tles themselves to help us to fix any date, there- 
 fore all is conjecture concerning the time in which 
 they were written; but to me it appears as likely 
 that they were written before the destruction of 
 Jerusalem as after ; for it is scarcely to be sup- 
 posed that so signal a display of the justice of 
 God, and such a powerful argument in favour of 
 Christianity and of the truth of Christ's predic- 
 tions, could be passed unnoticed and unappealed 
 to by any of the inspired persons who wrote after 
 that event. However, where there is no positive 
 evidence, conjecture is useless. 
 
 NOTES OX III. JOHN. 
 
 1. The elder — (See on the first verse of the 
 preceding epistle, and also the preface.) The well 
 beloved Gaius — Taioc, Gains, is the Greek mode 
 of writing the Roman name Caius. Several per- 
 sons of the name of Caius occur in the New Testa- 
 ment ; [but which one of these, or whether some 
 other may not be intended, is matter of pure con- 
 jecture.] 
 
 2. I wish above all things — Tie pi tt&vtuv 
 t'i<\ouai, above all things I pray that thou mayest 
 prosper and be in health, Kai vyialveiv. The prayer 
 of St. John for Gains includes three particulars: 
 1) Health of body; 2) Health of soul; and 3) Pros- 
 perity in secular affairs. " That thou mayest PROS- 
 PER and In- in HEALTH, as tin/ SOOX PROSPERETH." 
 
 For these three things, so necessary to the comfort 
 of life, every Christian is authorized to pray, [for 
 himself and for others,] and we should have more of 
 all three if we devoutly prayed for them. 
 
 truth. 4 I have no greater joy than to hear 
 that -my children walk in truth. 5 Beloved, 
 thou doest faithfully whatsoever thou doest to 
 the brethren, and to strangers; ii Which 
 have borne witness of thy charity before the 
 church: whom if thou bring forward on their 
 journey ' after a godly sort, thou shalt do well : 
 
 el Cor. 4. 15; Pliilem. in. -/Or. worthy of God. 
 
 3. When the brethren came — Probably the 
 same of whom he speaks in the fifth and following 
 verses, and who appear to have been itinerant 
 evangelists. The truth that is in thee — The 
 soundness of thy faith and the depth of thy re- 
 ligion. 
 
 4. To hear that my children — The apostle 
 probably uses the term •' children" here in respect 
 to those immediately under his pastoral care; and, 
 as an old man, addressing his juniors both in age 
 and grace ; and there is much both of propriety 
 and dignity in the appellation coming from such a 
 person. 
 
 5. Thou doest faithfully — Utariiv ttoieIq, thou 
 hast acted as the faith — the Christian religion — re- 
 quired thee to act, in oil that thou hast dour, both to 
 the brethren at home and to the strangers, the 
 itinerant evangelists, who, in the course of their 
 travels, have called at thy house. There is not a 
 'word here about the pilgrims and penitential jour- 
 neys which the papists contrive to bring out of 
 this text. [The apostle in this praise has specially 
 in view what Gains had dene to the brethren who 
 had come to him, and all this had been done by 
 him TTiGTov, "faithfully," as a believer, and also as 
 a servant of the Church, for Christ's sake.] 
 
 (i. Which — [Ot, w7io, that is, the brethren and 
 strangers to whom (iaius had ministered.] Have 
 borne witness of thy charity — Of thy love and 
 benevolence. Before the Church — The believers 
 at Ephesus ; for to this Chun h the apostle seems to 
 refer. Whom if thou bring forward — If thou 
 continue to assist such, as thou hast done, thou 
 shalt do well — The " brethren " of whom St. 
 John speaks may have been apostles; the "stran- 
 gers." assistants to these apostles, as John Mark was 
 to Barnabas. Both were itinerant evangelists; 
 After a godly sort — 'Aftuc tov Beov; in a man- 
 ner worthy of God, in such a way as he can ap- 
 prove. [He who honours such faithful servants of 
 Cud, honours Christ who sends them. . . . The 
 apostle expects Christians to do this action worthily 
 of (in reference to) God, implying that this is the 
 
 551
 
 A. M. 4089. A. D. 85. 
 Year of Rome, 838. 
 
 III. JOHN". 
 
 7 Because that for his name's sake they went 
 forth, staking nothing of the Gentiles. 8 We 
 therefore ought to receive such, that we 
 might be fellow helpers to the truth. 9 1 
 wrote unto the church : but Diotreph.es, who 
 loveth to have the preeminence among them. 
 receiveth us not. 10 Wherefore, if 1 come, I 
 will remember his deeds which he doeth, prat- 
 ing against us with malicious words : and not 
 content therewith, neither doth he himself re- 
 ceive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that 
 would, and casteth them out of the church. 
 
 1 Cor. 9. 12, 15. h Psa. 37. 27 : Isa. 1. 16, 17 ; 1 Pet. 3, 11. 
 
 i\ John 2. 29; 3. 6,9. 
 
 standard by which every action is to be measured. 
 — Speaker's Coin.] 
 
 1. For his name's sake they went forth — 
 For the sake of preaching the Gospel of the grace 
 of God, and making known Jesus to the heathen. 
 Taking nothing of the Gentiles — Receiving no 
 emolument for their labour, but in every respect 
 showing themselves to be truly disinterested. 
 Sometimes, and on some special occasions, this 
 may be necessary; but the labourer is worth;! of 
 his hire is the maxim of the author of Christianity. 
 And those congregations of Christians are ever 
 found to prize the Gospel most, and profit most by 
 it, who bear all expenses incident to it, and vice versa. 
 But some construe kt-ijTSav, they went out, with cnrb 
 tuv kdvav, from the Gentiles, or rather, by the <•'< ri- 
 ffles, and give the passage this sense : They went out, 
 that is, were driven out by the Gentiles, taking noth- 
 ing with ih' in, that is, leaving all their property be- 
 hind, so that they were in a state of great destitution. 
 A curious reading here, (now accepted as correct,) 
 iv, heathenish men, for idvav, Gentiles, which 
 latter might imply those who were converted from 
 among the Gentiles, while the sense of the other 
 term seems to be restrained to those who were 
 still unconverted, may seem to strengthen the 
 above interpretation. 
 
 8. We therefore ought to receive such — 
 Those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, 
 and have professed the truth at the hazard of their 
 lives, and the loss of all their worldly substance. 
 
 We ought, bif>ei?M/j.EV, it is a matter of debt and duty, 
 i -<>/,, ,i laveiv, to take up, undertake for, or kindly 
 receive. Fellow helpers to the truth — And 
 thus encourage the persecuted, and contribute to 
 the spread and maintenance of the Gospel. [And 
 so they who by their gifts aid those wdio carry the 
 Gospel to the heathenish men, whether at home or 
 abroad, become fellow helpers (owepyot) in the work 
 of the Lord. (2 Cor. vi, 1.)] 
 
 9. I wrote {somewhat, ri) unto the Church 
 — [The "t<" docs not imply that the thing written 
 was specially important, nor on the other hand due- 
 it depreciate ; but merely designates indefinitely. 
 . . . The contents of the epistle are not hinted at. 
 " Unto the ( Jhurch ; " the ini</:ma is apparently the 
 Church of which Gnus was a member. — Alford.] 
 But Diotrephes, who loveth to have the pre- 
 eminence — fyifanrpoTEvov, who loves the presidency, 
 or chief place in the Church. He was doubtless an 
 officer in the Church, at least a deacon, probably a 
 bishop ; and. being such, he magnified himself in 
 his office. Receiveth us not — Does not acknowl- 
 edge the apostolical authority. [It does not ap- 
 pear, ^avs Alford, that Diotrephes was, as Bede 
 
 HI Beloved, h follow not that which is evil, 
 but that which is good. 'He that doeth good 
 is of God : hut he that doeth evil hath not seen 
 God. 12 Demetrius k hath good report of all 
 men, and of the truth itself: yea, and we also 
 bear record; ] and ye know that our record is 
 true. 13 '"I had many things to write, but 
 I will not with ink and pen write unto thee: 
 14 But I trust I shall shortly see thee, and we 
 shall speak "face to face. Peace be to thee. 
 Our friends salute thee. Greet the friends by 
 name. 
 
 -I John 21. 24. tn 2 John 12 
 
 to mouth. 
 
 -n Gr. mouth 
 
 and others have said, a heresiarch; and yet it is 
 evident that a rather violent conflict, leading to 
 schism, had arisen many times among the professed 
 Christians.] 
 
 10. If I come, I ■will remember — I will show 
 him the authority which, as an apostle of Jesus 
 Christ, I possess. Prating against us — [QXvapav 
 r/yac, speaking idly, of us; 2.6yoig novr/pole., with 
 wicked words.] Diotrephes may have been a con- 
 verted Jew, who was 'unwilling that the Gentiles 
 should be received into the Church; or a Judaizing 
 Christian, who wished to incorporate the law with 
 the Gospel, and calumniated the apostles who 
 taught otherwise. This would give a fuller mean- 
 ing to the words, neither doth he himself re- 
 ceive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that 
 would, and casteth them out of the Church. 
 
 ] 1. Folio w not that which is evil — My yiyov 
 ~b naabp, do -not imitate that wicked man, that is, 
 Diotrephes. Be merciful, loving, and kind. For 
 whatever profession any man may make, it will 
 ever appear that he that doeth good is of God ; 
 he alone is the person who uses rightly the 
 grace received from God, and he alone shall enjoy 
 the divine approbation. While he that doeth 
 evil — He who is unfeeling, unmerciful, unkind. 
 Hath not seen God — Has no proper knowledge 
 of that (iod whose name is mercy, and whose na- 
 ture is love. 
 
 VI. Demetrius hath good report — Perhaps 
 another member of the Church where Gaius was; 
 or he might have been one of those whom the 
 apostle recommends to Gaius ; possibly the bearer 
 of this letter from John to Gaius. [The truth of 
 God was the mirror in which the work of Demetrius 
 was reflected ; and his form thus seen in the mirror 
 of God's truth, in which the perfect form of Christ 
 is held up to us, (1 John ii, (3 ; iii, 3, 1(5,) appeared 
 in the likeness of Christ. — Alford.] 
 
 13. I had many things to write — That is, I 
 have many things that I might write ; but having 
 the hope of seeing thee shortly, I will not commit 
 them to paper. Ink soft pen (jieAavoe nal na'/.anov) 
 are here mentioned ; paper and ink (x&prov nai 
 pt?.avoc) in the preceding epistle. 
 
 14. Peace be to thee—E'ipr'/vn aot. Mayest 
 thou possess every requisite good, both of a spirit- 
 ual and temporal kind. Our friends salute thee 
 — Desire to be affectionately remembered to thee. 
 Greet the friends by name— Remember me to 
 all those with whom I am acquainted, as if I had 
 specified them by name. [The reason why St. John 
 mentions o/'/m, and not adeXtpoi, is probably to be 
 found in the personal character of the epistle, as 
 from friend to friend. — Alford.]
 
 PREFACE TO THE GENERAL EPISTLE 
 
 OF 
 
 JUDE. 
 
 ITS AUTHORSHIP. 
 
 RESPECTING the writer of this epistle, our only trustworthy information is 
 that given by himself in his opening words : " Jude, a servant of Jesus 
 Christ, and brother of James." As the word servant, dovXog, is wholly indefinite 
 beyond the fact of discipleship, and as it was often used indiscriminately by all 
 classes of believers, its use in this case avails nothing for the identification of the 
 writer. The second designation is likewise of very uncertain import, since there 
 were certainly two, perhaps three, Jameses of apostolical character — James the 
 son of Zebedee, James the son of Alpheus, and, perhaps, " James the brother of 
 the Lord " — and each of the last two, it is supposed, had a brother named Judos 
 or Jude. It would seem the most obvious that the reference is to the well-known 
 James, sometimes called the first bishop of Jerusalem, respecting whom there is 
 also much doubt whether he was that one of the twelve known as "James the 
 Less," or whether he was " the brother of the Lord," a son of Joseph and Mary. 
 (See preface to the epistle of James.) If the writer was the brother of James the 
 Less, then he was himself one of the twelve; and if of "the Lord's brethren," 
 then his own apostleship would stand or fall with that of his brother; and there 
 seems to be some evidence that these " brethren of the Lord " were accepted as 
 of equal rank and authority with the original apostles. 
 
 ITS GENUINENESS AND CANONIC IT Y. 
 
 Scarcely any other of the New Testament writings has been so much called in 
 question as this epistle. It is not found in the oldest and best MSS. ; it is 
 wanting in the Peshito, but is named in the Canon of Muratori. It is not named 
 by Irenseus, but is quoted by Clement of Alexandria, and by Tertullian, as the 
 apostle Jude's. Origen also says of it: "Jude wrote an epistle of a few lines, 
 but filled with words powerful in heavenly grace." In the Latin translation 
 of Origen by Rufinus, he is spoken of as an apostle, but not only is the word 
 " apostle," as there used, of uncertain meaning, but also the words used are prob- 
 ably those of the translator, as he is known to have used great liberties with the 
 text. Eusebius places this epistle among disputed books; but says also, that it 
 had been " publicly read in most churches," as had also several of the canonically 
 apocryphal books. It is contained in the Canon of Cyril of Jerusalem (A. D. 350) 
 and in that of Gregory Nazianzen, (A. D. 375,) but with the remark that some did 
 
 not receive it. Athanasius has a passage that seems to be a quotation from this 
 
 553
 
 PREFACE TO THE GENERAL EPISTLE OF JUDE. 
 
 epistle; and it was received by Didymus and Rufinus, (about A. D. 375-400.) 
 Jerome accepted it as "one of the seven catholic epistles;" but not so Chrysostom. 
 It was contained in the Memphitic, Thebaic, Ethiopian, and the Armenian 
 Versions. It was included in the canon formed by the council of Laodicea, (A. D. 
 363,) and confirmed by the third council of Carthage, (A. D. 39 7;) which fact, 
 though of but little critical value, proves that it was then generally accepted, 
 especially among the African Churches, with which it had most favour from the 
 beginning. It is evident that this epistle, in very nearly the shape in which it 
 now stands, was not unknown in the early Church; but that its title to a place 
 among the genuine apostolic writings was doubted by many. It was accepted 
 during the Middle Ages without question, and though not much valued by the 
 Reformers, its canonicity was not much questioned by them. 
 
 From all the evidence before him, Michaelis concludes that the canonical 
 authority of this epistle is extremely dubious; that its author is either unknown 
 or very uncertain. Others have spoken of it in strains of unqualified commenda- 
 tion and praise, and think that its genuineness is established by the matters 
 contained in it, which in every respect are suitable to the character of an inspired 
 apostle of Christ. 
 
 Modern scholars and critics generally accept it as canonical, (by ecclesiastical 
 authority,) and though of uncertain authorship, and containing some things of a 
 doubtful kind, yet worthy of respectful consideration, though not to be accepted 
 as of sufficient authority to prove any otherwise uncertain point of doctrine. 
 
 TO WHOM ADDRESSED, AND ITS DATE. 
 
 Respecting both these questions there is an absolute want of trustworthy 
 authority beyond what is found in the epistle, which certainly is very meager. 
 The researches of a hundred years since his time have added little or nothing to 
 the following, from Michaelis: 
 
 "I am really unable to. determine who the persons were to whom this epistle 
 was sent; for no traces are to be discovered in it which enable us to form the 
 least judgment on this subject; and the address with which this epistle commences 
 is so indeterminate, that any Christian community might be denoted by it. 
 Though this epistle has a very great similarity to the second epistle of Peter, 
 there is no ground for assuming that it was sent to the same persons, namely, the 
 Christians who resided in Pontus, etc., because no mention is made of them in 
 this epistle. Nor can it have been sent to the Christians of Syria and Assyria, 
 where (it is said) Jude preached the Gospel, if he be the same person as the 
 apostle of the Syrians; for in this case the epistle would not have been written 
 in Greek, but in Syriac or Chaldee, and would certainly have been received into 
 the old Syriac Version. 
 
 " With respect to the date of this epistle, all that I am able to assert is, that it 
 was written after the second epistle of Peter; but how many years after I confess 
 I am unable to determine, at least from any certain data. The expression, ' in the 
 last time,' which occurs verse 18, as well as in II. Pet. iii, 3, is too indeterminate to 
 warrant any conclusion respecting the date of this epistle; for though, on the one 
 hand, it may refer to the approaching destruction of Jerusalem, it may, on the 
 other hand, refer to a later period, and denote the close of the apostolic age; for 
 in the first epistle of St. John a similar expression occurs which must be taken in 
 this hitter sense. The inference, therefore, that the epistle of St. Jude was written
 
 PREFACE TO THE GENERAL EPISTLE OF JF/DE. 
 
 before the destruction of Jerusalem, is very precarious, because it is drawn from 
 premises which are themselves uncertain. 
 
 RELATIONS OF JUDE TO II. PETER. 
 
 The similarity, and even identity, of certain parts of this epistle with matters 
 found in the second epistle of Peter is obvious, and it is not to be supposed that 
 the two statements were of independent origins. Either Peter quoted from Jude, 
 or Jude from Peter. Those who hold the former, say that Peter used Jude's 
 matter, which was older than his own, in an abridged form; while those who 
 favour the latter, claim that Jude, in writing his epistle, finding the subject of 
 which he designed to write already treated of by an apostle, took his matter, but 
 enlarged and elaborated it in fuller details, and with the addition of other 
 instances and authorities. Both sides of this question have been taken and sus- 
 tained by great authorities, and with an abundant display of learning, but noth- 
 ing conclusive has been reached. The question of priority between the two 
 epistles is at best only a matter of inference, and this is made to do service on 
 both sides. Origen classed second Peter as apocryphal, but quoted Jude as an 
 epistle of whose authority he had no doubt; and nearly the same may he said of 
 Clement of Alexandria and Tertullian; though Dr. Lardner believed that a more 
 thorough reading of those Fathers would discover, even in them, decided prefer- 
 ences for II. Peter over Jude. lie adds: " For I really cannot comprehend how 
 any impartial man who has to choose between these two epistles, which are very 
 similar to each other, can receive the epistle of St. Jude, the contents of which 
 labour under great difficulties, and at the same time reject, or even consider as 
 dubious, the second epistle of St. Peter, the contents of which labour under no 
 such difficulties. 1 ' 
 
 Still another theory, which the critics seem not to have noticed, 'may not be 
 altogether unworthy of attention. The matter common to the two epistles is 
 well known to exist in certain apocryphal Jewish writings, which were evidently 
 known to the authors of both these epistles, or else the legends contained in them 
 were commonly accepted tradition at that time, and with which both writers 
 w T ere acquainted, and therefore each might draw his matter from a common 
 source, independently of the other. What is now known respecting the Booh of 
 Enoch, and that of The Death of Moses, seems to render probable this view of 
 the subject. 
 
 THE DISPUTE ABOUT THE BODY OF MOSES. 
 
 On this point, Dr. Lardner remarks: 
 
 " Origen found in a Jewish Greek book called the Assumption of Moses, which 
 was extant in his time, this very story related concerning the dispute of the 
 Archangel Michael with the devil about the body of Moses. And from a com- 
 parison of the relation in his book with St. Jude's quotation, he was thoroughly 
 persuaded that it was the book from which St. Jude quoted. 
 
 "Besides the account given by Origen, there is a passage in the works of 
 OZcumenius which likewise contains a part of the story related in the Assun^tion 
 of Moses, and which explains the reason of the dispute which St. Jude has men- 
 tioned concerning Moses's body. According to this passage, Michael was em- 
 ployed in burying Moses; but the devil endeavoured to prevent it by saying that 
 he had murdered an Egyptian, and was therefore unworthy an honourable burial. 
 
 "There is still extant a Jewish book, written in Hebrew, and entitled TIte 
 Death of Moses, which some critics supposed to be the same work as that which
 
 PREFACE TO THE GENERAL EPISTLE OF JITDE. 
 
 Origen saw in Greek. Now if this were so, it would throw a great light on our 
 present inquiry; but I have carefully examined it, and can assert that it is a 
 modern work, and that its contents are not the same as those of the Greek book 
 quoted by Origen." 
 
 The book here referred to, as it now exists, is certainly altogether worthless 
 and puerile, and very likely it has been freely interjjolated and changed since it 
 was seen by Origen. But that Father's evident cast of mind, and his method of 
 allegorizing, lays him open to the suspicion of being capable of setting a high 
 estimate upon a wholly worthless book. And if Jude is found to have quoted 
 from such a book, that fact may be used to disparage his epistle. So Dr. Lardner 
 believed, though he would not believe (for dogmatic reasons) that Jude could 
 have used that writing, which he stigmatizes as " stuff." But not a little of '•such 
 stuff" may be found among the Jewish writings of that age, and also in those of 
 the later Fathers, and especially of those who claimed to be of the school of Origen. 
 There is certainly great similarity of tone and methods of thought between these 
 disparaged Jewish writings and some things in Jude, and also in II. Peter. 
 Thoughtful readers will give to these things their due consideration; and what- 
 ever doubts may be suggested respecting this epistle, neither the authority nor the 
 integrity of the Holy Scriptures will be affected by any conclusion to which in- 
 telligent criticism may conduct the devout believer. 
 
 THE PROPHECY OF ENOCH. 
 
 In verses 14, 15, the writer of this epistle quotes from an apocryphal work, 
 thpn extant, The Book of Enoch, and which, though long unknown, is now 
 recovered and published, both in the Coptic (in which language it was found) and in 
 several modern versions. " The book " (says Dr. J. R. Lumby, in the Speaker's 
 Commentary) "was known in the early centuries of Christianity, and passages 
 are quoted from it in the Chronograph;/ of Georgius Syncellus, a monkish his- 
 torian who lived at Constantinople at the end of the eighth and the beginning of 
 the ninth century. His extracts were no doubt made from a copy of the work in 
 Greek, as were those which appear to indicate a knowledge of the book in Justin 
 Martyr and Anatolius, and the quotations in Clemens Alexandrinus and Origen, 
 and in the (apocryphal) Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs. It may also, with 
 much probability, be assumed that it was from a Greek version that Tertullian 
 and Augustine drew their knowledge of it. 
 
 Michaelis, in whose days none of the recent discoveries of original documents 
 had been made, reading the passage simply as a critical scholar, concedes that 
 there is here a tacit recognition of the book in question as a genuine prophecy of 
 " Enoch, the seventh from Adam," (which the book itself purports to be,) and 
 remarks: "St. Jude has a quotation (verse 14, 15) from an apocryphal book called 
 the Prophecies of Enoch / or, if not from any written book, from oral tradition. 
 It is manifest, however, that the book called the Prophecies of Enoch was a mere 
 Jewish forgery, and that, too, a very unfortunate one, since in nil human prob- 
 ability the use of letters was unknown in the time of Enoch, and consequently he 
 could not have left behind him any written prophecies. But St. Jude, in the 
 place where he speaks of Enoch's sayings, does not speak of them as prophecies 
 which had been made known to him (Jude) by a particular revelation; on the 
 contrary, he speaks of them in such a manner as implies that his readers were 
 ahead v acquainted with them," 
 
 550
 
 THE GENEEAL EPISTLE 
 
 OF 
 
 JUDE. 
 
 JUDE, the servant of Jesus Christ, and 
 "brother of James, to them that are sanc- 
 tified by God the Father, and preserved in 
 Jesus Christ, and c called : 2 Mercy unto you, 
 and d peace, and love, be multiplied. 3 Be- 
 loved, when I gave all diligence to write unto 
 you e of the common salvation, it was needful 
 
 a Luke 6. 16 ; Acts 1. 13. b John 17. 11, 12, 15 : 1 Pet. 1. 5. 
 
 C Kdiii. 1. 7. d\ Pet. 1. 2; 2 Pet. 1. 2. e Tit. 1. 4. 
 
 /Phil. 1.27; 1 Tim. 1. 13; 6. 12; 2 Tim. 1. 13; 4. 7. 
 
 NOTES ON JUDE. 
 
 1. Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ — Prob- 
 ably Jude the apostle, who was surnamed Thad- 
 deus and Lebbeus, was son to Alpheus, and 
 brother to James the Less, Joses, and Simon. See 
 Matt, x, 3, and collate with Luke vi, 16; Matt, 
 xiii, 55. (See the preface.) Brother of James 
 — Supposed to be James the Less, bishop of Jeru- 
 salem, mentioned here, because he was an eminent 
 person in the Church. (See the preface to St. 
 James.) To them that are sanctified by God 
 — Instead of yyiaopkvoic, to the sanctified, a con- 
 siderable number of respectable authorities have 
 ijya-npevoiQ, to them that are beloved; and before 
 iv toi 0£<j5, in God, some MSS., with the Syriac and 
 Armenian, have idveaiv, to the Gentiles, in God the 
 Father. The first is only a probable reading, the 
 second is much less so. St. Jude writes to all 
 believers everywhere, and not to any particular 
 Church; hence this epistle has been called a gen- 
 eral (catholic) epistle. "Sanctified" signifies here 
 consecrated to God through faith in Christ. Pre- 
 served in (or by) Jesus Christ — That is, those 
 who continued unshaken in the Christian faith ; 
 the phrase implies, also, that none can be preserved 
 in the faith that do not continue in union with 
 Christ, by whose grace alone they can be " pre- 
 served " and called. This should lie read con- 
 secutively with the other epithets, and should be 
 rather, in a translation, read first than last, to the 
 saints in God the Father, called and preserved by 
 Christ Jesus. Saints is the same as Christians; to 
 become such they were " called " to believe in 
 Christ by the preaching of the Gospel, and having 
 believed, were "preserved" by the grace of Christ 
 in the life and practice of piety. 
 
 2. Mercy unto you — For even the best have 
 no merit, and must receive every blessing and grace 
 in the way of "mercy." Peace — With God and 
 your consciences. Love — Both to God and man. 
 Be multiplied — lie unboundedly increased. 
 
 3. When I gave all diligence — This phrase, 
 
 for me to write unto you, and exhort you that 
 f ye should earnestly contend for the faith which 
 was once delivered unto the saints. 4 P For 
 there are certain men crept in unawares, h \vho 
 were before of old ordained to ibis condemna- 
 tion, ungodly men, 'turning k the grace of our 
 God into Iasciviousness, and 'denying the only 
 
 (7 Gal. 2. 4; 2 Pet. 2. 1. // Rom. 9. 21, 22: 1 Pet. 2. 8. 
 
 i-2 Pet. 2. 10. A- Tit. 2. 11 ; Heb. 12. 15. ITit. 1. 16; 2 Pet. 
 
 2. 1 ; 1 John 2. 22. 
 
 naaav o~7rov6yv noiovpevoc, is a Grecism for being 
 exceedingly intent upon a subject; taking it up 
 seriously with determination to bring it to good 
 effect. Some think that St. Jude intimates that he 
 had at first purposed to write to the Church at 
 large, on the nature and design of the Gospel ; but 
 seeing the dangers to which the Churches were ex- 
 posed because of the false teachers, he changed his 
 mind, and wrote pointedly against those false doc- 
 trines, exhorting the believers strenuously to con- 
 tend for the faith. The common salvation — 
 The Christian religion, and also the salvation which 
 it brings, is called " common " because it equally 
 belongs to Jews and Gentiles; it is the saving 
 grace of God which has appeared to every man, 
 and equally offers to every human being that re- 
 demption which is provided for the whole world. 
 
 4. For there are certain men crept in un- 
 awares — TlapetGEo'vijoav ; they had got into the 
 Church under specious pretences ; and, when in, 
 began to sow their bad seed. Before of old or- 
 dained — Ot Tra'/ai npoyeypafifiivoc ; such as were 
 long ago proscribed, and condemned in the most 
 public manner ; this is the import of the word 
 Trpoypa(f>Eiv in this place, and there are many ex- 
 amples of this use of it in the Greek writers. To 
 this condemnation — To a similar punishment to 
 that immediately about to be mentioned. In the 
 sacred writings all such persons, false doctrines, 
 and impure practices have been most openly pro- 
 scribed and condemned; and the apostle imme- 
 diately produces several examples, namely, the dis- 
 obedient Israelites, the unfaithful angels, and the 
 impure inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah, This 
 is most obviously the apostle's meaning. Turning 
 the grace of our God into Iasciviousness — 
 Making the grace and mercy of <i<>d a covering for 
 ciiincs; intimating that men might sin safety who 
 believe the Gospel, because in that Gospel grace 
 abounds. The only Lord God, and our Lord 
 Jesus Christ — M6vov 6eoir6TTn> Qebv xai K 
 i,in,)V 'Iqoovv Xpiorui' apvovpevoi. [The words 9 bv
 
 JUDE. 
 
 God's judgments shown on tbe 
 wilfully disobedient. 
 
 Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. 5 I 
 will therefore put you in remembrance, though 
 ye once knew this, how that "'the Lord, hav- 
 ing saved the people out of the land of Egypt, 
 afterward "destroyed them that believed not. 
 6 And "the angels which kept not their p first 
 estate, but left their own habitation, ihe bath 
 reserved in everlasting chains under darkness 
 r unto the judgment of the great day. 7 Even 
 
 as s Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about 
 them in like manner, giving themselves over to 
 fornication, and going after ' strange flesh, are 
 set forth for an example, suffering the ven- 
 geance of eternal tire. 8 "Likewise also these 
 filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise do- 
 minion, and v speak evil of dignities. 9 Yet 
 w Michael the archangel, when contending with 
 the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, 
 
 mi Cor. 10. 9. raNum. 14. 29,37; 26. 64: Psa. 106. 26; lleb. 
 
 3. 17, 19. o John 8. 44. p Or, principality. <? 2 Pet. 
 
 2. 4. r Rev. 20. 10. 
 
 sa\ are not found in most of the oldest and best 
 MSS., nor is it agreeable to the New Testament usage 
 to apply that term to Christ.] It is very likely 
 that it was originally inserted as a gloss, to as- 
 certain to whom the title of rbv uovov SemroTijv, 
 the only sovereign, belonged ; and thus make two 
 persons where only one seems to be intended. 
 The passage evidently belongs solely to Jesus Christ, 
 and may be read thus: Denying the only sovereign 
 Ruler, even our Lord Jesus Christ. The Simoni- 
 ans, Nicolaitans, and Gnostics denied God to be 
 the creator of the world ; and Simon is said to 
 have proclaimed himself as Father to the Samari- 
 tans, as Son to the Jews, and as the Holy Ghost 
 to all other nations. All such most obviously 
 denied alike Father, Son, and Spirit. 
 
 5 I will therefore put you in remembrance 
 — That is, how such persons were proscribed, and 
 condemned to bear the punishment due to such 
 crimes. Though ye once knew this — The word 
 ana!;, here translated "once," has greatly puzzled 
 many interpreters. It has two recognised mean- 
 ings. 1) It signifies once, one time, as opposed to 
 twice, or several times. 2) Altogether, entirely, per- 
 fectly. St. Jude is to be understood as saying. / 
 will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye 
 are thoroughly instructed in this. Saved the 
 people — Delivered them from the Egyptian bond- 
 age. Afterward destroyed them — Because they 
 neither believed his word nor were obedient to his 
 commands. This is the first example of what was 
 mentioned verse 4. 
 
 6. The angels which kept not their first es- 
 tate — T/)v eav-uv apxvv ', their own principality. 
 The words may be understood of their having in- 
 vaded the office or dignity of some others, or of 
 their having by some means forfeited their own. 
 This is spoken of those generally termed the fallen 
 angels; but from what they fell, or from what cause 
 or for what crime, we know not. It is generally 
 thought to have been pride; but this is mere 
 conjecture. These are produced as the second 
 example. But left their own habitation — 
 [To idcov oiK7/T/'/piov, their own habitation, possession, 
 dominion.] This seems to intimate that they had 
 invaded the office and prerogatives of others, and 
 attempted to seize on their place of residence and 
 felicity. He hath reserved in everlasting 
 chains — That is, in a state of confinement from 
 which they cannot escape. Under darkness — 
 Alluding probably to those dungeons or dark cells 
 in prisons where the most flagitious culprits were 
 confined. The judgment of the great day — The 
 final judgment, when both angels and men shall 
 receive their eternal doom. (See on 2 Pet. ii, 4.) 
 In Sohar Exod., fol. 8, c. 32 : " Rabbi Isaac asked : 
 Suppose God should punish any of his heavenly 
 family, how would he act? R. Abba answered: 
 He would send them into the flaming river, take 
 558 
 
 sGen. 19. 24; Deut. 29. 23; 2 Pet. 2. 6. tGr. other. 
 
 u 2 Pet. 2. 10. V Exod. 22. 28. w Dan. 10. 13 ; 12. 1 ; Kev. 
 
 12. 7. 
 
 away their dominion, and put others in their 
 place." Some suppose that the saints are to oc- 
 cupy the places from which these angels, by trans- 
 gression, fell. [A baseless supposition.] 
 
 7. Even as Sodom and Gomorrah — What 
 their sin and punishment were may be seen in 
 Gen. xix, and the notes there. This is the third 
 example to illustrate what is laid down in verse 4. 
 Are set forth for an example — Both of what 
 God will do to such transgressors, and of the posi- 
 tion laid down in verse 4, namely, that God has in 
 the most open and positive manner declared that 
 such sinners shall meet with the punishment due to 
 their crimes. Suffering the vengeance of eter- 
 nal fire — Subjected to such a punishment as an 
 endless fire can inflict. Some apply this to the 
 utter subversion of these cities, so that by the 
 action of that fire which descended from heaven 
 they were totally and eternally destroyed; for as to 
 their being rebuilt, that is impossible, seeing the 
 very ground on which they stood is burned up, and 
 the whole plain is now the immense lake Asphal- 
 tites. (See on Gen. xix.) The first sense applies 
 to the inhabitants of those wicked cities ; the second, 
 to the cities themselves ; in either case the words 
 Trvpbq alurviov signify an eternally destructive fire; 
 it has no end in the punishment of the wicked 
 Sodomites, etc. ; it has no end in the destruction 
 of the cities; they were totally burnt up, and never 
 were and never can be rebuilt. In either of these 
 senses the word aluvtoc, denial, has its grammat- 
 ical and proper meaning. 
 
 8. Likewise also these filthy dreamers— He 
 means to say that these false teachers and their 
 followers were as unbelieving and disobedient as 
 the Israelites in the wilderness ; as rebellious 
 against the authority of God as the fallen angels; 
 and as impure and unholy as the Sodomites; and 
 that consequently they must expect similar punish- 
 ment. Our translators, by rendering ewirvia£6fievoi 
 filthy dreamers, seem to have understood St. Jude 
 to mean, in plain English, self-pollution, with all its 
 train of curses and cursed effects on body, soul, and 
 spirit. The idea of our translators seems to be 
 confirmed by the words capua yev yiaivovoi, they 
 indeed pollute the flesh. Despise dominion — 
 KvpioTTfTa <5t- aderovai, they set all government at 
 naught; they will come under no restraints; they 
 despise all law, and wish to live as they list. 
 Speak evil of dignities— Aofa? de ffiampTjyovoiv, 
 they blaspheme or speak injuriously of supreme 
 authority. (See 2 Pet. ii, 10, 11.) They treat gov- 
 ernors and government with contempt, and calum- 
 niate and misrepresent all divine and civil institu- 
 tions. 
 
 9. Yet Michael the archangel — Of this per- 
 sonage many things are spoken in the Jewish 
 writings. " Rabbi Judah Hakkodesh says : Wher- 
 ever Michael is said to appear, the glory of the
 
 Cautions against th 
 of a presmnptuc 
 
 • indulgence 
 is spirit. 
 
 JUDE. 
 
 , M. 4«69. A. T>. 65, 
 V far of Rome, 818. 
 
 durst Miot bring against him a railing accusa- 
 tion, but said, >' The Lord rebuke thee. 10 z But 
 these speak evil of those things which they 
 know not: but what they know naturally, as 
 brute beasts, in those things they corrupt them- 
 
 selves. 11 Woe unto them! for they have 
 gone in the way "of Cain, and ''ran greedily 
 after the error of Balaam for reward, and per- 
 ished '-iii the gainsaying of Core. 12 d These 
 are spots in your e feasts of charity, when they 
 
 a-2 Pet. 2. 11. j/Zech. 3. 2. z 2 Pet. 2. 12. a Gen. 4. 5; 
 
 1 John 3. 12. 
 
 divine Majesty is always to be understood." So 
 that it seems as if they considered Michael in some 
 sort as we do the Messiah manifested in the flesh. 
 Let it be observed that the word "archangel" is 
 never found in the plural number in the sacred 
 writings. There can be properly only one " arch- 
 angel," one chief or head of all the angelic host. 
 Nor is the word devil, as applied to the great 
 enemy of mankind, ever found in the plural ; there 
 can be but one monarch of all fallen spirits. " Mi- 
 chael " is this " archangel," and head of all the an- 
 gelic orders; the •'devil," great dragon, or Satan, 
 is head of all the diabolic orders. (See Rev. xii, 7.) 
 Disputed about the body of Moses — What 
 this means I cannot tell ; or from what source St. 
 Ju le drew it, unless from some tradition among his 
 countrymen. There is something very like it in 
 I) barim Rabba, sec. ii, fol. 263, 1 : " Samael, that 
 wicked one, the prince of the satans, carefully 
 kept the soul of Moses, saying : When the time 
 comes in which Michael shall lament, I shall have 
 my mouth filled with laughter. Michael said to 
 him : Wretch, I weep, and thou laughest. Rejoice 
 not against me, O mine enemy, became I have fallen; 
 for I shall rise again: when I sit in darkness, the 
 Lord is my light. (Micah vii, 8.) By the words 
 because I have fallen, we must understand the death 
 of Moses ; by the words / shall rise again, the 
 government of Joshua," etc. [Jude supposes his 
 readers familiar with the incident referred to. The 
 Jews had from ancient times various traditions of 
 the burial of Moses, and a contest about his soul. 
 According to (Ecumenius, the tradition runs that 
 God had charged Michael the archangel with the 
 burial of Moses ; that Satan opposed him, bringing 
 an accusation against him relating to the murder 
 of the Egyptian ; in consequence of which he was 
 unworthy of^such honourable burial. Jude, like 
 Paul, (2 Tim. iii, 8,) probably drew from this 
 tradition; the Spirit of God directing him to ex- 
 tract the truth from these traditions. — Fronmuller 
 in Lange. (See the preface.)] Another contention 
 of Michael with Satan is mentioned in Yalcut 
 Rubeni, fol. 43, 3: " At the time in which Isaac 
 was bound there was a contention between Michael 
 and Satan. Michael brought a ram, that Isaac 
 might be liberated, but Satan endeavoured to carry 
 off the ram, that Isaac might be slain." The con- 
 tention mentioned by Jude is not about the sacri- 
 fice of Isaac, nor the soul of Moses, but about the 
 body of Muses ; but why or wherefore we know not. 
 Some think the devil wished to show the Israelites 
 where Moses was buried, knowing that they would 
 then adore his body; and that Michael was sent to 
 resist this discovery. Durst not bring against 
 him a railing accusation — Dr. Macknight says : 
 In Dan. x, 13, 21 ; xii, 1, Michael is spoken of as 
 one of the chief angels who took care of the Israel- 
 ites as a nation ; he may, therefore, have been the 
 angel of the Lord before whom Joshua the high 
 priest is said (Zech. iii, 1) to have stood, Satan 
 being at his right hand to resist /urn; namely, in his 
 design of restoring the Jewish Church and State, 
 
 7. 21; 2 Pet. 2. 15. cNum. 16. 1, etc. i/2Pet. 
 
 2. 13. e 1 Cor. 11. 21. 
 
 called by Jude the body of Moses, just as the 
 Christian Church is called by Paul the body of 
 Christ. Zeehariah adds, And tin Lord, that is, the 
 angel of the Lord, (as is plain from verse 1,)' said 
 inii'i} Satan, l'h< Lordrebukt thee, <> St/tan! even the 
 Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem, rebuke thee." This 
 is the most likely interpretation which I have seen; 
 and it will appear the more probable when it is 
 considered that, among the Hebrews, body is often 
 used for a thing itself. So, in Rom. vi, 6, aciya 
 rijg auapriac, the body of sin, signifies sin itself: so 
 the body of Moses n ty signify Moses himself; or 
 that in which he was particularly concerned, name- 
 ly, his institutes, religion, etc. It may he added, 
 that the Jews consider Michael and Samael, one as 
 the friend, the other as the enemy, of Israel. 
 Samael is their accuser, Michael their advocate. 
 " Michael and Samael stand before the Lord ; Satan 
 accuses, but Michael shows the merits of Israel. 
 Satan endeavours to speak, but Michael silences 
 him: Hold thy tongue, says he, and let us hear 
 what the Judge determines: for it is written, He 
 will speak peace to his people, and to his saints, 
 (Psa. lxxxv, 9.) " 
 
 10. Speak evil of those things which they 
 know not — They do not understand the origin and 
 utility of government; and they revile that which 
 ever protects their own persons and their property. 
 This is true in most insurrections and seditions. 
 But what they know naturally— They are des- 
 titute of reflection ; their minds are uncultivated ; 
 they follow mere natural instinct, and are slaves to 
 their animal propensities. As brute beasts — '£2c 
 ra a7.oja C,ua ; like the irrational animals; but in 
 the indulgence of their animal propensities they 
 corrupt themselves beyond the example of the 
 brute beasts. A fearful description ; and as true 
 as fearful. 
 
 11. They have gone in the way of Cain — 
 They are haters of their brethren, and they that are 
 such are murderers; and by their false doctrine 
 they corrupt and destroy the souls of the people. 
 [Like Cain, who in spite of the warning of God fol- 
 lowed his own wicked lusts, these, acting on the 
 selfish impulses of their nature, and in contempt of 
 the warnings of Cod, continued in their wicked 
 courses. See Fronmuller.] The error of Balaam 
 — For the sake of gain they corrupt the word of 
 God and refine away its meaning, and let it down 
 so as to suit the passions of the profligate. This 
 was literally true of the Nicolaitans, who taught 
 most impure doctrines, and followed the most 
 lascivious practices. Gainsaying of Core — See 
 the account of the rebellion of Korah, Dathan. and 
 Abiram, and their company, in Num. xxii. It ap- 
 pears that those persons opposed the authority of 
 the apostles of our Lord, as Korah ami his asso- 
 ciates did that of Moses and Aaron : and St. Jude 
 predicts for them a similar punishment. In this 
 verse he accuses them of murder, covetousness, and 
 rebellion against the authority of God. 
 
 1 2. Spots in your feasts of charity — [^-r/nthr • 
 rocks, breakers, threatening shipwreck.] It appears 
 
 soy
 
 A. M. 4069. A. D. 65. 
 Year of Roiik-, SI8. 
 
 JUDE. 
 
 Description of false teachers in the 
 infancy of Christianity. 
 
 feast with you, feeding themselves without 
 fear: f clouds they are without water, s carried 
 about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, 
 without fruit, twice dead, h plucked up by the 
 roots; 13 'Raging waves of the sea, k foam- 
 ing out their own shame ; wandering stars, ' to 
 whom is reserved the blackness of darkness 
 
 /Prov. 25. 14:2 Pet. 2. 17. (?Enh. 4 14. A Matt. 15. 13. 
 
 8 Isa, 57. 20. k Phil. 3. 19. H Pet. 2. 17. mi Gen. 5. 18. 
 
 that these persons, unholy and impure as they were, 
 still continued to have outward fellowship with the 
 Church ! This is strange : but it is very likely that 
 their power and influence in that place had swal- 
 lowed up, or set aside, the power and authority 
 of the real ministers of Christ ; a very common 
 case when worldly, time-serving men get into the 
 Church. The " feasts of charity," the dyd~ai or 
 love feasts, of which the apostle speaks, were in use 
 in the primitive Church till the middle of the fourth 
 century, when, having been abused, they were, by 
 the council of Laodicea, prohibited to be held in 
 the Churches, and fell into disuse. In the early 
 Church the richer members would occasionally 
 make a general feast, at which all the mem- 
 bers attended, and the poor and the rich ate 
 together. The fatherless, the widows, and the 
 s trangers were invited to these feasts, and their 
 eating together was a proof of their love to each 
 other; whence such entertainments were called 
 love feasts. The love feasts were at first cele- 
 brated before the Lord's supper ; in process of 
 time they appear to have been celebrated after it. 
 But they were never considered as the Lord's sup- 
 per, nor any substitute for it. Feeding them- 
 selves without fear— Eating, not to suffice na- 
 ture, but to pamper appetite. It was this which 
 brought the love feasts into disrepute in the Church, 
 and was the means of their being at last wholly 
 laid aside. Clouds . . . without water — The 
 doctrine of God is compared to the rain, (Deut. 
 xxxii, 2,) and clouds are the instruments by which 
 the rain is distilled upon the earth. These false 
 teachers are represented as "clouds;" they have 
 the form and office of the teachers of righteous- 
 ness, and from such appearances pure doctrine 
 may be naturally expected ; but these are " clouds 
 without water ; " they distil no refreshing showers, 
 because they have none ; they are carried away and 
 about by their passions, as those light fleecy clouds 
 are carried by the winds. (See on 2 Peter ii, 17.) 
 Trees whose fruit withereth — Mv6pa fydivo- 
 ■mopivd, galled or diseased trees; for although there 
 are blossoms, and the fruit shapes or is set, the 
 galls in the trees prevent the proper circulation of 
 the sap, and therefore the fruit never comes to 
 perfection. Hence the apostle immediately adds, 
 without fruit; that is, the fruit never comes to 
 maturity. This metaphor expresses the same thing 
 as the preceding. They have the appearance ol 
 ministers of the Gospel, but they have no fruit. 
 Twice dead — First, naturally and practically dead 
 in sin, from which they had been revived by the 
 preaching and grace of the Gospel. Secondly, dead 
 by backsliding, or apostasy from the true faith, by 
 which they lost the grace they had before received ; 
 and are now likely to continue in that death, be- 
 cause plucked up by the roots; their roots of 
 faith and love being no longer fixed in Christ Jesus. 
 13. Raging waves of the sea, foaming out 
 their own shame — The same metaphor as in Isa. 
 5GU 
 
 forever. 14 And Enoch also, '"the seventh 
 from Adam, prophesied of these, saying. Be- 
 hold, "the Lord cometh with ten thousand of 
 his saints, 15 To execute judgment upon all, 
 and to convince all that are ungodly among 
 them of all their ungodly deeds which they 
 have ungodly committed, and of all their "hard 
 
 n Deut. 3:!. 2 ; Dan. 7. 1(1 ; Zech. 14. 5 : Matt. 25. 31 : 2 Tliess. 1. 7 ; 
 Kev. 1. 7. — ol Sam. 2. 3; Psa. 31. IS: 94. 4 ; Mai. 3. 13. 
 
 lvii, 20: Tin- wicked are like the trout, ltd sea, what 
 it cannot rest, whose waters cast v/i mii't and dirt. 
 These are like the sea in a storm, where the swells 
 are like mountains ; the breakers lash the shore, 
 and sound like thunder ; and the great deep, stirred 
 up from its very bottom, rolls its muddy, putrid 
 sediment, and deposits it upon the beach. Such 
 were those proud and arrogant boasters, those 
 headstrong, unruly, and ferocious men, who swept 
 into their own vortex the souls of the simple, and 
 left nothing behind them that was not indicative of 
 their folly, their turbulence, and their impurity. 
 Wandering stars — 'Aarepec rr/.ari/rai. planets; the 
 fixed stars never change their place, but the planets 
 have their revolution round the sun ; and to appear- 
 ance, there is an irregularity in their motions. So 
 these are as uncertain, anomalous meteors, ignes 
 fatal, wilh-d 1 -the-wisp ; dancing about in darkness, 
 and leading astray simple souls who have ceased 
 to walk in the light, and have no other guide but 
 those devious meteors. The blackness of dark- 
 ness — They are such as are going headlong into 
 that outer darkness where there is wailing, and 
 weeping, and gnashing of teeth. 
 
 14. Enoch also, the seventh from Adam — 
 He was the seventh patriarch, and is distinguished 
 thus from Enoch, son of Cain, who was but the 
 third from Adam. Of the book of Enoch, from 
 which this prophecy is thought to have been taken, 
 much has been said ; but as the work is apocry- 
 phal, and of no authority, I shall not burden my 
 page with extracts. (Seethe preface.) Perhaps the 
 word kirpoijn/Tevoe, prophesied, means no more than 
 preached, spoke, made declarations, etc., concern- 
 ing these things and persons; for doubtless he re- 
 proved the ungodliness of his own times. It is 
 certain that a book of Enoch was known in the 
 earliest ages of the primitive Church, and is quoted 
 by Origen and Tertullian, and is mentioned by St. 
 Jerome in the Apostolical Constitutions, by Niceph- 
 orus, Athanasius, and probably by St. Augustine. 
 Such a work is still extant among the Abyssinians. 
 Ten thousand of his saints — This seems to be 
 taken from Dan. vii, 10. [See at the end.] 
 
 15. To execute judgment — This was originally 
 spoken to the antediluvians; and the coming of the 
 Lord to destroy that world was the thing spoken of 
 in this prophecy or declaration. But as God had 
 threatened this, it required no direct inspiration to 
 foretell it. " To execute judgment," etc. This is 
 a very strange verse as to its composition, and is 
 loaded with various readings ; the MSS. and Ver- 
 sions being at little agreement among themselves 
 on its phraseology. Abruv, which we translate 
 '• among them," is omitted by the best MSS. ami 
 Versions, and is, in all probability, spurious. Many 
 also omit act -kiar after epyuv, ungodly deeds. 
 Many insert 7.6yuv, words or speeches, after ck'/ >//><■)'', 
 hard; and this word our translators have supplied. 
 And instead of auapru'/ni, " sinners," the Sahidic 
 has avOpuiroi, men. There are others of less note ;
 
 Description of the character of 
 the false teachers. 
 
 JITDE. 
 
 A. M. 4nfi9. A. D. 6 
 Year of Home, 818. 
 
 speeche* which ungodly sinners have spoken 
 against him* 16 These are murmurers, coin- 
 plainers, walking after their own lusts ; and 
 p their mouth speaketb great swelling words, 
 'having men's persons in admiration because 
 of advantage. S7 r lint, beloved, remember 
 ye the words which were spoken before of the 
 apostles of our Lord -Ions Christ; IS How 
 that they told you "there should be mockers 
 in the last time, who should walk after their 
 own ungodly lusts. 19 These be they 'who 
 
 V 2 Pet. 2. 18. o P'-ov. 28. 21 : James 2. 1, 9. >■ 2 Pet, 3. 2. 
 
 .vl Tim. 4. 1 ; 2 Tim. 3. I : 4. 3; i Pet. 2. 1 ; 3. 3. 1 Prov. 
 
 18. 1; Fzek. 14. 7; Hos. 4. 14; 9. 10; lleb. 1U. 2o. u\ Cor. 
 
 2. 14 : James 3. 15. 
 
 but the frequent recurrence of all and ungodly 
 makes the construction of the sentence very harsh. 
 [For a fuller account of the Book of Enoch, see 
 the preface and the note on that topic at the close 
 of the epistle.] 
 
 16. These are murmurers — Grudging and 
 grumbling at all men, and at all tiling^. Com- 
 plainers — Me/irpifioipoi, complainers of their fate 
 or destiny; finding fault with God and all his 
 providential dispensations, making and governing 
 worlds in their own way ; persons whom neither 
 God nor man can please. Walking after their 
 own lusts— Taking their wild, disorderly, and im- 
 pure passions for the rule of their conduct, and not 
 the words of the prophets and apostles. Great 
 swelling words — 'YKtpojKa ; see 2 Pet. ii, 18. 
 Having men's persons in admiration — Time- 
 servers and flatterers ; persons who pretend to be 
 astonished at the greatness, goodness, sagacity, 
 learning, wisdom, etc., etc., of rich and great men, 
 hoping thereby to acquire money, influence, power, 
 friends, and the like. Because of advantage — 
 'il(j)£?.iac x^P lv i f or the sake of lucre. All the flat- 
 terers of the rich are of this kind ; and especially 
 those who profess to be ministers of the Gospel, 
 and who, for the sake of a more advantageous set- 
 tlement or living, will soothe the rich even in their 
 sins. With such persons a rich man is every 
 thing ; and if he have but a semblance of grace, 
 his piety is extolled to the skies. 
 
 17. Remember . . . the words — Instead of 
 following those teachers and their corrupt doctrine, 
 remember what Christ and his apostles have said, 
 for they foretold the coming of such false teachers 
 and impostors. 
 
 18. Mockers in the last time — See the notes 
 on 1 Tim. iv, ] ; 2 Tim. hi, 1, etc. ; and particularly 
 2 Pet. iii, 2, 3, etc. ; to which Jude seems to refer. 
 "The last time" — the conclusion of the Jewish polity. 
 
 19. Who separate themselves — From the true 
 Church, which they leave from an affectation of 
 superior wisdom. Sensual — irvyiKoi, animal ; 
 living as brute beasts, guided simply by their own 
 lusts and appetites, their Bible being the manifold 
 devices and covetousness of their own hearts; for 
 they have not the Spirit; they are not spiritually 
 minded, and have no Holy Ghost, no inspiration 
 from God. 
 
 20. Building up yourselves — Having the 
 most holy faith, the Gospel of our Lord Jesus, 
 and the words of his apostles, for your foundation; 
 founding all your expectations on these, and seek- 
 ing from the Christ who is their sum and substance 
 all the grace and glory ye need. Praying in the 
 Holy Ghost — Holding fast the divine influence 
 which ye have received, and under that influence 
 
 Vol. II.— 36 
 
 separate themselves, "sensual, having not the 
 Spirit. 20 But ye, beloved, "building up 
 yourselves on your most holy faith, " praying 
 in the Holy Ghost, 21 Keep yourselves in 
 the love of God, x looking for the mercy of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. 22 And 
 of some have compassion, making a difference : 
 23 And others J' save with fear, 'pulling them 
 out of the fire; hating even a the garment 
 spotted by the flesh. 21 'Now unto him that 
 is able to keep you from falling, and c to pre- 
 
 r Col. 2. 7: 1 Tim. I. 4. IP Rom. *. 2H; E)ih. H. 18. »• Tit. 
 
 2. 13: 2 Pet. 3. 12. v Rom. 11. 14: 1 Tim. 4. 16.- — aAmos 1. 
 
 11 : Zech. 1 2; 1 Cor. 3. 15. nZech. 3. 4, :. ; Rev. 3. 4. 
 
 b Rom. 16. 35 ; Epta, 3. 20. cCol. 1. 22. 
 
 making prayer and supplication to God. The 
 prayer that is not offered through the influence of 
 the Holy Ghost is never likely to reach heaven. 
 
 21. Keep yourselves in the love of God — 
 By building up yourselves on your most holy faith, 
 and praying in the Holy Ghost ; for without this 
 we shall soon lose the love of God. Looking for 
 the mercy of our Lord — For although they were 
 to build themselves up, and to pray in the Holy 
 Ghost, and keep themselves in the rove of God, yet 
 this building, praying, and keeping cannot merit 
 heaven; for, after all their diligence, earnestness, 
 self-denial, watching, obedience, etc., they must 
 look for the mercy of the Lord Jesus Chris/, to 
 bring them to eternal life. 
 
 22. And of some have compassion, making 
 a difference — Ye are not to deal alike with all 
 those who have been seduced by false teachers; ye 
 are to make a difference between those who have 
 been led away by weakness and imprudence mid 
 those who, in the pride and arrogance of their 
 hearts, and their unwillingness to submit to whole- 
 some discipline, have separated themselves from 
 the Church, and become its inveterate enemies. 
 
 23. And others save with fear — " Some of 
 them snatch from the fire; but when they repent, 
 have mercy upon them in fear." — Syriac. " And 
 some of them rebuke for their sins ; and on others 
 have mercy when they are convicted ; and others 
 save from the fire and deliver them." — Erpen's 
 Arabic. Mr. Wesley's note has probably hit the 
 sense: "Meantime watch over others as well as 
 yourselves; and give them such help as their 
 various needs require. For instance, ] | Some tliat 
 are wavering in judgment, staggered by others' or 
 by their own evil reasoning, endeavour move deeply 
 to convince of the truth as it is in Jesus. 2) Some 
 snatch with a swift and strong hand out of the 
 fire of sin and temptation. 3) On others show 
 compassion, in a milder and gentler way ; though 
 still with a jealous fear, lest you yourselves lie in- 
 fected with the disease you endeavour to cure. See 
 therefore that, while ye love the sinners, ye retain 
 the utmost abhorrence of their sins, and of any. the 
 least, degree of or approach to them." Hating 
 even the garment spotted by the flesh — 
 Fleeing from nil appearance of evil. There may 
 be an allusion to a case of leprosy, for that infected 
 the garments of the afflicted person, and these gar- 
 ments were capable of conveying the contagion to 
 others. 
 
 24. Now unto him that is able to keep you 
 from falling — Who alone can preserve you from sin, 
 and from falling into any kind id' error that might 
 be prejudicial to your souls, and thus to present 
 you faultless, or, as many others read, am 
 
 501
 
 A. M. 4069. A. T). 85. 
 Year of Rome, M8. 
 
 JTJDE. 
 
 Ascription of praise to God 
 
 sent you faultless before the presence of his 
 glory with exceeding joy, 25 d To the only 
 
 d Rom. It!. 27 ; 
 
 without spot, alluding to the spotted garments 
 of the leprous. Before the presence of his 
 glory — Where nothing can stand that does not 
 resemble himself. With exceeding joy — In 
 finding yourselves eternally out of the reach of the 
 possibility of falling, and for having now arrived at 
 an eternity of happiness. 
 
 25. To the only wise God — Who alone can 
 teach, who alone has declared the truth ; that truth 
 in which ye now stand. See on Rom. xvi, 27. 
 Our Saviour — Who has by his blood washed us 
 from our sins, and made us kings and priests unto 
 God the Father. Be glory— Be ascribed all light, 
 excellence, and splendour. Majesty — All power, 
 authority, and preeminence. Dominion — All rule 
 ami government. And power — All energy and 
 operation to every thing that is wise, great, good, 
 holy, and excellent. Both now — In the pres- 
 ent state of life and things. And ever — Elc 
 Travrac tovq aluvac, to the end of all states, places, 
 dispensations, and worlds; and to a state which 
 knows no termination, being that eternity in which 
 this " glory, majesty, dominion," and " power " in- 
 effably and incomprehensibly dwell. Amen — So 
 let it be, so ought it to be, and so it shall be. 
 After "to the only wise God our Saviour," many 
 excellent MSS., Versions, etc., add dia'lrjoov Xpiorov 
 rar Kvplov t)f-iuv, by Jesus Christ our Lord; and after 
 . '• dominion and power " they add irpb navrbc rov 
 aluvoc, before all time; and both these readings 
 Griesbach has received into the text. [And they 
 are now generally accepted.] The text, therefore, 
 may be read thus: To the only wise God our 
 Saviour, by Christ Jesus our Lord, be glory and 
 majesty, dominion and power, before all time, and 
 now, and through all futurity. Amen Let the 
 whole creation join in one eternal " Amen ! " 
 
 ADDITIONAL NOTE— THE BOOK OF ENOCH. 
 [The reference (verses 14, 15) to a prophecy of 
 " Enoch, the seventh from Adam," in a canonical 
 book of the New Testament, is a curious and some- 
 what startling fact. In the fifth chapter of 
 Genesis, which is made up of the genealogies of 
 the antediluvian patriarchs, in the direct line from 
 Adam to Noah, consisting of ten persons, in the 
 seventh place occurs the name of Enoch, the son of 
 Jared and the father of Methuselah, who was the 
 grandfather of Noah, the tenth in the line. The 
 whole biography of Enoch is comprised in verses 
 18 to 24 of that chapter, giving the name of his 
 father, (Jared,) and his. (the father's) age at the 
 birth of his son, (Enoch,) and how long he lived 
 afterward ; then giving the age of Enoch at the 
 birth of Methuselah, and how long he lived after that 
 event, the account concluding with the significant 
 but somewhat enigmatical statement, "And Enoch 
 ■walked with God : and he was not ; for God took 
 him." It is somewhat remarkable that in all the 
 subsequent parts of the canonical Scriptures of the 
 Old Testament there does not appear to be a 
 single reference to any of the remarkable facts of 
 the life and the "translation" of Enoch, nor, in- 
 deed, any recognition that such a man had ever 
 existed. In the apocryphal book of Ecclesiasticus, 
 562 
 
 wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, do- 
 minion and power, both now and ever. Amen. 
 
 1 Tim. 1. 17; 2. 3. 
 
 (chap, xliv, 16; xlix, 14) he is named among the 
 "famous men," and as " translated," or " taken " 
 up "from the earth;" and the same thing re-ap- 
 pears with considerable amplification in Hebrews, 
 (xi, 5,) by which the tradition of his translation 
 becomes incorporated into a canonical book. The 
 translation of Enoch, and also that of Elijah, be- 
 came a fruitful theme for speculation with the 
 Church fathers, the predominant literalistic and 
 materialistic portion of them accepting the trans- 
 lation as real, so bearing two human bodies into 
 heaven, and therefore proofs and pledges of the 
 resurrection of the body without essential changes ; 
 while the more spiritual school, represented by 
 Origen, hesitated to accept what to them seemed to 
 be so gross a conception of the nature of the future 
 life. A little later in the history of the Church, 
 Enoch and Elijah were held to be the "two wit- 
 nesses " spoken of in Rev. xi, 3, etc. 
 
 [Jude makes a quotation from a prophecy, either 
 written or oral, which he evidently assumes to be 
 the veritable production of the Enoch whose his- 
 tory is given in the place that has been named, 
 though to suppose that any such a prophecy had 
 floated down through the ages from antediluvian 
 times, outside of the recognized "Scriptures" of 
 the Jewish Church, is a rather violent presumption. 
 The identification of the author of the book quoted 
 from, with " Enoch, the seventh from Adam," is 
 evidently an error, and one of a rather flagrant 
 character to be found in a canonical book. That 
 there is such a book is now well known, and its 
 history is rather remarkable. It appears to have 
 been well known during the second century, and 
 afterward, for it is referred to by Justin Martyr, 
 Irenseus, Anatolius, Clement of Alexandria, and 
 Origen. Tertullian quotes from it as a book "not 
 received by some, nor admitted into the Jewish 
 canon," but still he defends it. Extracts and frag- 
 ments from it may be found scattered through the 
 Church literature of the Middle Ages, but the work 
 itself was for a long time believed to be lost. 
 But during the eighteenth century it became known 
 that a book answering to it existed in Abyssinia, 
 and at length, in 1773, the traveler Bruce brought 
 home from Africa three MSS. containing the com- 
 plete work in an Ethiopic translation, which was 
 published at Oxford — more than fifty years later — 
 in 1838. The Ethiopic text has since been edited 
 from five MSS. by Dillman, and published at Leip- 
 sic, with a German translation. An English trans- 
 lation has also been issued by the Clarks of Edin- 
 burgh, thus bringing it within the reach of any 
 who may wish to read it. The Ethiopic translation 
 evidently belongs to the third or fourth century, 
 and probably was made from the Greek ; but 
 whether that was its original form, or itself a trans- 
 lation from an older Aramaic original, is an open 
 question. 
 
 [The date of the original writing is variously fixed 
 somewhere within the three hundred years, half 
 before and half after the birth of Christ; and it 
 very well reflects the Jewish thought of that age, 
 out of which the apostles gathered certain names 
 and facts that are not found in the Old Testament.
 
 PKEFACE 
 
 TO 
 
 THE REVELATION 
 
 OF 
 
 ST. JOHN THE DIVINE. 
 
 ITS AUTHORSHIP. 
 
 THE author of the Apocalypse describes himself as the " servant " of Jesus 
 Christ, (chapter i, 1 ;) as one who bore witness " of the word of God, and of 
 the testimony of Jesus Christ," (chapter i, 2;) expressions which seem to identify 
 him with the writer of John i, 14; xix, 35, and 1 John i, 2. He is the "brother" 
 of those whom he addresses, and partaker with them in the " tribulation and 
 kingdom and patience which are in Christ Jesus." (Chapter i, 9.) The angel 
 who speaks to him addresses him as his "fellow servant," and as of his "brethren 
 the prophets." (Chapter xxii, 8, 9.) The writer also names himself John, (chap- 
 ter i, 1, 4, 9, and xxii, 8,) a not unusual name in both the Old and New Testa- 
 ments, and in other Jewish writings; and yet among the many bearers of the 
 name there could hnve been but little doubt in the early Church respecting the 
 person referred to in the various places in which the name occurs in the New 
 Testament, that he was no other than John the son of Zebedee, the brother of 
 James, *both of whom were prominent among the twelve apostles. Accordingly, 
 it is agreed with almost complete unanimity among all classes and schools of 
 critics, that a strong preponderance of evidence points to the John of the twelve 
 apostles as the author of the Apocalypse. 
 
 I. External Evidence in the Eastern Church. 
 
 Andreas, bishop of Cesarea, toward the close of the fifth century composed a 
 connected commentary on the Apocalypse, in which he cited in proof of its in- 
 spiration the testimony of Gregory Nazianzen and Cyril, as well as the more 
 ancient writers, Papias, Iremeus, Methodius, and Hippolytus. Papias is spoken 
 of as " a successor of the evangelist John, whose Revelation lay before him." 
 Most of the works of Papias are lost, and we know of them chiefly from references 
 and extracts made by Eusebius in his Church History; and though Papias might 
 not be accepted as either a reliable interpreter or as an authoritative guide in 
 theology, still there can be no question as to the value of his testimony respecting 
 the existence of the Apocalypse in his time. Papias was a millenarian, and Euse- 
 bius wrote in opposition to all properly chiliastic views; but yet he neither ques- 
 tioned Papias's reference to the Apocalypse, nor depreciated the book as a Christ- 
 ian authority; and he also remarks, rather incidentally, that " he (Papias) has 
 
 563
 
 PREFACE TO THE REVELATION" OF ST. JOITtf THE DIVINE. 
 
 also handed down in his books other accounts which Aristion has given of the 
 Lord's words ; and also traditions of the presbyter John." The introduction of 
 a second John into this record, has been laid hold of by some as presenting a 
 possible alternative author of the book of Revelation, although the apostle John 
 is clearly recognised as another and a greater than the presbyter. [But all this 
 matter about the " presbyter John " seems much more like a subterfuge than a 
 solid argument.] 
 
 It is recorded by Irena?us that the apostle John lived till the times of Trajan, 
 (A. D. 96,) and that both Polycarp and Papias were among his hearers, and that 
 both of these Fathers suffered martyrdom at nearly the same time, (not far from 
 A. D. 155;) and as it is known that Polycarp was of a great age at the time of his 
 death, it is altogether probable that both he and Pajnas were disciples of the 
 apostle John. Justin Martyr published his Apology about A. D. 145, in which 
 he treats the Apocalypse as a sacred book, and names the apostle John as its 
 author. Melito, bishop of Sardis, (about A. D. 109,) is said by both Eusebius and 
 Jerome to have written " concerning the Apocalypse of St. John," by which name 
 they evidently understood the apostle John to be intended. Apollonius, who 
 was bishop of Ephesus, (about A. D. 170-180,) living just where St. John had 
 lived and died, in his treatise against the Montanists refers to the Apocalypse, 
 which he says explicitly was written by St. John; and at about the same date 
 Theophilus of Antioch, as quoted by Eusebius, names among his authorities, 
 (/laprvQiaL,) " the Apocalypse of John." Irenaeus, bishop of Lyons, (A.D. 130-202,) 
 who claimed to have been conversant with men who had associated with the 
 apostles, refers in the clearest terms to " the visions which John saw," and seems 
 not to have entertained any doubt in respect to either the genuineness or the 
 authorship of the work. Clement of Alexandria (A. D. 165-220) and Origen (A. D. 
 186-253) both refer to the Apocalypse as to a divine book; and in the same list 
 may be named Hippolytus, Methodius, Gregory, Cyril of Alexandria, and Basil. 
 Ephraem Syrus, though he used the Peshito Version as his standard New Testa- 
 ment, in which the Apocalypse is not found, nevertheless refers to it, as to any 
 other parts of the Scriptures, and he ascribes it to St. John. Eusebius treats the 
 question somewhat critically; but although, as an anti-chiliast, he had strong 
 reasons for rejecting it had he entertained any doubt respecting it, he frequently 
 refers to it as " Holy Scripture." In all the Eastern Church, therefore, during the 
 second and third centuries, the Apocalypse was known and generally accepted as 
 the work of the apostle John; and by many, not all, it was received as an un- 
 doubted portion of the inspired word of God. 
 
 II. External Evidence in the Western Church. 
 The Muratorian Fragment (A. D. 142-157) may be regarded as a summary of 
 the decision of the Western Church as to the Canon of the New Testament down 
 to the middle of the second century, and in this the Apocalypse is named, and 
 ascribed to the " blessed John." It is also named in the Codex Claromontanus 
 of the third century. The Montanists regarded the Apocalypse as the work of the 
 apostle John, and Tertullian (A. D. 160-240) quotes from it freely as undoubtedly 
 written by him; Cyprian (A. D. 250) knows no difference of canonical authority 
 between the Gospels and the Apocalypse, and Victorinus (martyred A. D. 303) 
 Avrote a commentary upon it, and fully conceded both its canonicity and its 
 Johannean origin. And Lactantius (A. D. 320) quotes it by name in company 
 with John's Gospel. Though for doctrinal reasons (its apparent support of 
 
 564
 
 PREFACE TO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN THE DIVIXE. 
 
 Montanism and Millenarianism) it was sometimes called in question, yet even 
 so careful a critic as Dr. S. Davidson observes : " The historical tradition relative 
 to the Apocalypse seems to have been interrupted by doctrinal views alone. Had 
 no Montanism or Millenarianism appeared, we should have heard of no voice 
 raised against John's authorship." 
 
 There was, however, another side to this question, and it is only just to con- 
 cede that the book was either rejected or treated as of doubtful authority by not 
 a few really able writers among the Fathers. Dionysius of Alexandria (A. D. 
 24S-265) gives the unfavorable views of some of his predecessors concerning the 
 Apocalypse, and then says for himself that the book is covered with such a thick 
 veil that he cannot penetrate its meaning; yet he confesses that it may have a 
 sense too deep for him, in which statement of the case he has been imitated by 
 some eminent modern biblical scholars. Eusebius of Cesarea, the church his- 
 torian, seems to have held the whole question of the Apocalypse an open and 
 unsettled one. Though it is found in most of the lists or catalogues of the sacred 
 books, still it is wanting in others. It is not in the Peshito, nor in the catalogue 
 of Cyril of .Jerusalem, nor in the Canon of Gregory Nazianzen, nor that of Chry- 
 sostom, nor in that of the Synod of Laodicea, It was rejected by Theodoret; and 
 by Nicephorus, patriarch of Constantinople, (A. D. 806-815,) it was placed among 
 disputed writings. 
 
 " At the period of the Reformation," says De Wette, " doubts respecting the 
 apostolic origin of the Apocalypse generally again awoke with criticism, and 
 Erasmus, Carlstadt, Luther, and Zwingle expressed themselves, either by hints or 
 decidedly, against it." Modern critics have also expressed doubts on this sub- 
 ject, but these have rested rather on internal than external reasons. 
 
 III. Internal Evidence. 
 
 Turning from the outward evidence in the case to the inward, we find that 
 the ablest critics have been divided in respect to their verdict. It is confessed on 
 all hands that there are very considerable differences in the style of the Apocalypse 
 and that of the acknowledged writings of the apostle John; but it is also claimed 
 that these are readily accounted for by considering the widely different char- 
 acters and purposes of those writings, these being simply narrative and didactic 
 in form, while that is highly poetical and imaginative. Though it is granted that 
 the gospel and epistles of John were written by divine inspiration, it is still evi- 
 dent that in uttering prophecies received in ecstasies the individual would be 
 more fully lifted out of himself, and that his language would to some extent be 
 subject to the same spiritual influences that possessed his whole soul. [It is im- 
 possible for a writer, in such an ecstatic state, not to speak and write in a lofty 
 and symbolic style. The human spirit labours to give utterance to its magnifi- 
 cent conceptions; language is taxed to its utmost; and the mind, excited to the 
 highest degree of tension, lays hold upon whatever will express its deep emo- 
 tions. And it must be borne in mind that John wrote in the very midst of his 
 awful visions. — Harmani\ 
 
 But this difference extends only to the tone and imagery of the Apocalypse 
 as contrasted with the plainer and less picturesque language of the gospel and 
 epistles. To a closer examination of the words and phrases and forms of expres- 
 sion, and the mental conceptions, it will be found that a marked similarity is 
 clearly to be seen. Certain words and forms of statement that are character- 
 istic of the gospel and epistles of John, and are but seldom met with in any 
 
 565
 
 PREFACE TO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN" THE DIVIXE. 
 
 other parts of the New Testament, are found again in like frequency in the 
 Apocalypse. The specifically Johannean conception of doctrines, and the re- 
 markable alternations of gentleness and severity toward those spoken of, are the 
 same in all of the books commonly ascribed to the apostle John. Its doctrinal 
 conceptions, which constitute such a conspicuous feature of the book, are not only 
 eminently evangelical, but also specifically Johannean, and as such they are dis- 
 tinguished from the peculiarities of other New Testament writers. In reading 
 the Apocalypse, whether critically or devotionally, one seems to catch in its un- 
 dertones the characteristics of the fourth gospel and of the Johannean epistles — 
 criteria of identity that can neither be counterfeited nor their evidence set aside. 
 
 PLACE AND TIME OF ITS COMPOSITION. 
 That John saw the visions of the Apocalypse on the island of Patmos, (Rev. 
 i, 9,) whither he had been banished on account of the word of God, did, rbv Xoyov 
 tov Qeov, is the undisputed tradition of the ancient Church, against which no valid 
 reason has ever been urged. Whether all the visions were seen at once, or in 
 close connexion, or at considerable intervals of time, and whether the writing 
 them out and setting the whole prophecy in order as the seer was directed to do 
 was accomplished during the apostle's exile, (of the continuance or end of which 
 we have no information,) or whether that was done after his return to Ephesus, is 
 alike uncertain and unimportant. Patmos was certainly the place where the 
 Revelation was received; and not improbably it was there reduced to writing, 
 though it is not altogether absurd to conjecture that this may have been com- 
 pleted at Ephesus. 
 
 The precise date of these transactions is not so easily determined, some con- 
 tending for the time of Nero and others for that of Domitian. Irenaeus, who is 
 quoted by Eusebius, says explicitly that the Apocalypse was written near the end of 
 the reign of Domitian Cesar; and with this view most of the Latin Fathers agree. 
 Epiphanius makes its date as early as the reign of Claudius, but alleges no 
 proof for his assertion. Between these extremes many writers have fixed on the 
 time of Nero as the most probable date of these things. In the Muratorian 
 Fragment, John is named as Paul's predecessor, whom the latter followed in writ- 
 ing epistles to the Churches; and as Paul suffered martyrdom under Nero, 
 (A. D. OS,) this would remove the composition of the Apocalypse to a still earlier 
 date. Both Tertullian and Origen refer to John's exile, but they fail to indicate 
 its date. Victorinus and Sulpicius attribute John's banishment to Domitianus 
 Ccesar; and understanding that name to indicate the Emperor Domitian, the last of 
 the Cesars, the early Church by a kind of common consent accepted the time of 
 his reign, near the end of the first century, as the date of this book, which, how- 
 ever, has the disadvantage of implying that all these things occurred when John 
 must have been not less that ninety years old. But while the preponderance of 
 the early testimony is favourable to this later date, it is still quite evident that 
 very little was really known about it, and that the prevailing traditions rested on 
 a very uncertain foundation. Origen, who was certainly the most critical of the 
 early Christians writers, much more so than any of his predecessors, refrains from 
 expressing any opinion himself on the date of the Apocalypse, because John him- 
 self, in giving the place of the vision, had failed to fix its time, and no other writer 
 had supplied this lack of definite information. " Such an opinion," says Stuart, 
 "from such a man as Origen, the greatest critical scholar of the first three cen- 
 turies, is entitled to very serious consideration, and I do not perceive how we are 
 
 5GG
 
 PREFACE TO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN THE DIVINE. 
 
 to draw less from it than the conclusion, that Origen did not regard the question 
 respecting the time when the Apocalypse was written, as settled by any thing 
 within his knowledge. . . . After the ancient testimony given above, it is almost 
 superfluous to repeat that all succeeding writers hang upon Irenseus for support. 
 The testimony (so derived) in respect to the matter is evidently successive and 
 dependent, not coetaneous and independent. We may safely follow, then, the 
 plain and unequivocal evidences of the time when the Apocalypse was written 
 which are contained within the book itself." The question, therefore, between 
 the times of Nero and Domitian must remain an open one, to be determined 
 exegetically, and agreeably to each one's accepted theory of the proper interpre- 
 tation of the Apocalyptic prophecies, and in respect to which the present tenden- 
 cies of opinions are evidently toward the earlier date. 
 
 SCHEMES OF INTERPRETATION. 
 
 As the author of this Commentary gives no theory by which to interpret its 
 prophecies, and indeed confesses that he has none, for the benefit of the readers 
 of this revised edition the following summary of the principal systems as held 
 and taught by the various schools of interpreters is subjoined. It is taken, slightly 
 abridged, from the Speaker's Commentary. 
 
 I. The Preterist System. 
 
 According to this system, the successive statements of the Revelation apply 
 chiefly to the history of the Jewish nation down to the destruction of Jerusalem, 
 and to the history of pagan Rome. Among the earliest expositors of this class 
 is to be named Alcazar, (1614,) who prepared the way for the commentaries of 
 Hugo Grotius, (1644,) Bossuet, and AVetstein, and more recently of Stuart and 
 F. D. Maurice. Rationalistic writers, as they deny the predictive element of 
 prophecy, must of course be "Preterists." The horizon of the prophet's vision 
 does not extend, they assert, beyond his own lifetime; and consequently all that 
 St. John has written must relate to events that occurred before his death. In 
 carrying out this principle Eichhorn follows Grotius; but he argues as if the 
 Apocalypse were composed at the end of the reign of Nero. According to 
 Herder, Hartwig, Kappe, and others, the Apocalypse relates chiefly to the over- 
 throw of the Jewish state; according to Ewald, De Wette ; Bleek, and others, to 
 Rome and the pagan emperors. Other rationalists, like Eichhorn, make the 
 book apply both to the Jews and to pagan Rome. To these names may be added 
 those of Reville, Reuss, Renan, and Mr. Desprez, (of England, 1870.) 
 
 II. The Historical or Co^tixuous System. 
 
 The "historical" school includes the great majority of commentators. To it 
 belong those who uphold the " year-day " theory ; as well as they who interpret 
 chronologically. Writers of this school differ widely among themselves. They 
 differ, for example, as to the questions, a) Whether the Apocalypse is strictly 
 continuous, or consists of "synchronous" prophecies, (Mede, Ilengstenberg,) re- 
 garding the seals, trumpets, and vials as being complementary ; b) Whether the 
 sixth seal refers to Constantine, (Elliott,) or to the first French Revolution, 
 (Faber.) In this class we also find the names of Abbot Joachim, (1180,) of De 
 Lyra, (1520,) Wiclif, Bullinger, Brightman, Vitringa, (who wrote in reply to 
 
 Bossuet,) Sir Isaac Newton, (who agrees generally with Mede,) Robert Fleming, 
 
 567
 
 PREFACE TO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN THE DIVINE. 
 
 Gaussen, etc. A general tendency to allegorize is another characteristic of this 
 school. 
 
 III. The Futurist System. 
 
 The " Futurists " apply the predictions of the Apocalypse to the events which 
 are immediately to precede, or immediately to follow, the second advent of 
 Christ. The writers of this school usually (although they are not always con- 
 sistent) interpret literally: Israel is the literal Israel; the temple is the literal 
 temple rebuilt at Jerusalem; three and a half "times," forty-two months; twelve 
 hundred and sixty days are three and a half natural, literal years. It is clear that 
 there can be no discussion as to the accuracy or inaccuracy of the results of this 
 system of interpretation in any of its forms. The future defies criticism. Ribera 
 (1592) seems to have been the earliest Futurist. He has been followed by La- 
 cunza (ben Ezra, born in 1731,) Tyso, Maitland, De Burgh, Todd, W. Kellev. 
 [Modern "Adventists" (Millerites) are substantially "Futurists."] 
 
 IV. The Spiritual System. 
 There is yet another principle of interpretation which adopts for its leading 
 idea the great conception of St. Augustine, as to the " Philosophy of History." 
 This system may be styled the "spiritual," and has for its adherents (more or less 
 closely) Hofmann, Ebrard, Auberlen, and Hengstenberg. The last named is also 
 ranked among the adherents of the "historical" and allegorical system. The 
 majority of such writers consider that to predict the future conversion of Israel, 
 and the return of God's ancient people to their land, was the chief object of St. 
 John. Ebrard closes his commentary with this concise statement, which all con- 
 sistent "spiritualists " must accept : "The Book of Revelation does not contain 
 presages of contingent, isolated events; but it contains warning and consolatory 
 prophecies concerning the great leading forces which make their appearance in 
 the conflict between Christ and the enemy. So full are its contents that every 
 age may learn therefrom, more and more, against what disguises of the serpent 
 one has to guard oneself; and also how the afflicted Church at all times receives 
 its measure of courage and of consolation." 
 
 The " spiritual " system of interpretation receives support from the apoca- 
 lyptic symbolism, which has found favour with many. The imagery of the book 
 describes very naturally, in accordance with the whole spirit of prophecy, the 
 various conditions of the kingdom of God on earth, during its successive struggles 
 against the prince of this world. The figurative utterances of the seer are 
 specially suited for this purpose, owing to the latitude of application which all 
 symbolism allows; and this, without distorting the sense or offering any violence 
 to the language of a single passage. Reuss, indeed, objects that this system does 
 not really differ from the " historical," inasmuch as it merely substitutes the re- 
 ligious history of the kingdom of God for the political history of the Church; 
 but this objection is manifestly unsound, for whereas the "spiritual" applica- 
 tion is never exhausted, but receives additional illustrations as time rolls on, the 
 " historical " system assumes that single events, as they come to pass in succession, 
 exhibit the full accomplishment of the different predictions of the Apocalypse. 
 
 PLANS OF THE APOCALYPSE. 
 I. The "Preteritf." {Wetstein.) 
 Wetstein supposes the book of the Apocalypse to have been written a con- 
 siderable time before the destruction of Jerusalem. The events described from 
 
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 PREFACE TO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN THE DIVINE. 
 
 the fourth chapter to the end he supposes to refer to the Jewish war, and to the 
 civil commotions which took place in Italy while Otho, Vitellius, and Vespasian 
 were contending for the empire. These contentions and destructive wars occu- 
 pied the space of about three years and a half, during which, Professor Wetstein 
 thinks, the principal events took place which are recorded in this book. On these 
 subjects he speaks particularly in his notes, at the end of which he subjoins what 
 he calls his avdnefiac Xaiucic, or synopsis of the whole work, which I proceed 
 now to lay before the reader. 
 
 "This prophecy, which predicts the calamities which God should send on the 
 enemies of the Gospel, is divided into two parts. The first is contained in the 
 closed took; the second, in the open booh. 
 
 I. The first concerns the earth and the third part, that is, Judah and the 
 Jewish nation. 
 
 II. The second concerns many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings, 
 (chapter x, 11 ;) that is, the Roman empire. 
 
 1. The book written within and without, and sealed with seven seals, (chapter 
 v, 1,) is the bill of divorce sent from God to the Jewish nation. 
 
 2. The crowned conqueror on the white horse armed with a bow (chapter vi, 2) 
 is Artabanus, king of the Parthians, who slaughtered multitudes of the Jews in 
 Babylon. 
 
 3. The red horse, (verse 4,) denotes the Sicarii and robbers in Judea, in the 
 time of the proconsuls Felix and Festus. 
 
 4. The black horse, (verse 5,) the famine under Claudius. 
 
 5. The pale horse, (verse 8,) the plague which followed the robberies and the 
 famine. 
 
 6. The souls of those who were slain, (verse 9,) the Christians in Judea, who 
 were persecuted, and were now about to be avenged. 
 
 7. The great earthquake, (verse 12,) the commotions which preceded the Jew- 
 ish rebellion. 
 
 8. The servants of God from every tribe, sealed in their foreheads, (chapter 
 vii, 3,) the Christians taken under the protection of God, and warned by the 
 prophets to flee immediately from the land. 
 
 9. The silence for half an hour, (chapter viii, 1,) the short truce granted at 
 the solicitation of king Agrippa. 
 
 Then follows the rebellion itself. 
 
 1. The trees are burnt, (verse 7,) denoting the ravages of the fields and villages, 
 and unfortified places of Judea, which first felt the bad effects of the sedition. 
 
 2. The burning mountain cast into the sea, which in consequence became blood, 
 (verse 8;) and, 
 
 3. The burning star falling into the rivers, and making the icaters bitter, 
 (chapter viii, 10, 11,) the slaughter of the Jews at Cesarea and Scythopolis. 
 
 4. The eclipsing of the sun, moon, and stars, (verse 12,) the anarchy of the 
 Jewish commonwealth. 
 
 5. The locusts like scorjnons hurting men, (chapter ix, 3,) the expedition of 
 Cestins Gallus, prefect of Syria. 
 
 6. The army with arms of divers colours, etc, (verses 1G, 17,) the armies 
 under Vespasian in Judea. 
 
 About this time the Roman emperors Nero and Galba died; after which fol- 
 lowed the civil war, signified by the sounding of the seventh trumpet. (Chapter 
 x, 7, 11; xi, 15.) 
 
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 PREFACE TO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN" THE DIVINE. 
 
 1. The two prophetic witnesses, two olive trees, two candlesticks, (chapter xi, 
 3, 4,) teachers in the Church, predicting the destruction of the Jewish temple 
 and commonwealth. 
 
 2. The death of the witnesses, (verse 7,) their flight, and the flight of the 
 Church of Jerusalem, to Pella, in Arabia. 
 
 3. The resurrection of the witnesses, after three days and a half, (verse 11,) 
 denoting that the predictions began to be fulfilled at a time in which their accom- 
 plishment was deemed impossible; and the doctrine of Christ begins to prevail 
 over Judea, and over the whole earth. 
 
 4. The tenth part of the city fell in the same hour, and seven thousand names 
 of men slain, (verse 13,) imports the seizure of Jerusalem by the Idumeans; and 
 that many of the priests and nobles, with Annas, the high priest, signified by 
 names of men, that is, men of name, were slain by the Zealots. 
 
 5. The woman clothed with the sun, the moon under her feet, and a crown of 
 ticelve stars on her head, (chapter xii, 1,) the Christian Church. 
 
 6. The great red dragon seen in heaven, with seven heads, seven diadems, and 
 ten horns, (verse 6,) the first six Cesars, who were all made princes at Rome, 
 governing the armies and the Roman people Avith great authority; especially 
 Nero, the last of them, who, having killed his mother, cruelly vexed the Christ- 
 ians, and afterward turned his wrath against the rebellious Jews. 
 
 7. The seven headed beast from the sea, having ten horns surrounded with, dia- 
 dems, (chapter xiii, 1,) Galba, Otho, and Vitellius, who were shortly to reign, 
 and who were proclaimed emperors by the army. 
 
 8. This beast, having a mouth like a lion, tin: body like a leopard, the feet like a 
 bear, (verse 2.) represents the avaricious Galba; the rash, unchaste, and incon- 
 stant Otho; Vitellius, cruel and sluggish, with the German army. 
 
 9. One head, that is, the seventh, cut off, (verse 3,) Galba. 
 
 10. lie who leadeth into captivity shall be led into captivity' he who killeth 
 with the sword shall be killed with the sivord, (verse 10,) Otho, who subdued 
 the murderers of Galba, and slew himself with a dagger; Vitellius, who bound 
 Sabinus with chains, and was himself afterward bound. 
 
 11. Another beast rising out of the earth, with two horns, (verse 11,) Ves- 
 pasian and his two sons, Titus and Domitian, elected emperors at the same time 
 in Judea. 
 
 12. The number of the wild beast, 6G6, the number of a man, TEITAN, Titan 
 or Titus: T, 300; E, 5; I, 10; T, 300; A, 1 ; N, 50— making in the whole 666. [But 
 some very respectable MSS. have 616 for the number; if the N be taken away 
 from Teitan, then the letters in Teita make exactly the sum 616.] 
 
 13. A man sitting upon a cloud, with a crown of gold upon his head, and a 
 sickle in his hand, (chapter xiv, 14,) Otho and his army, about to prevent sup- 
 plies for the army of Vitellius. 
 
 14. An angel of fire commanding another angel to gather the vintage; the 
 winepress trodden whence the blood flows out 1,600 furlongs. The followers of 
 Vitellius laying all waste with fire, and the Bebriaci conquering the followers of 
 Otho with great slaughter. 
 
 Then follow the seven plagues: 
 
 1. The grievous sore, (chapter xvi, 2,) the diseases of the soldiers of Vitel- 
 lius through intemperance. 
 
 2. The sea turned into blood, (verse 3,) the fleet of Vitellius beaten, and 
 
 the maritime towns taken from them by the Flavii. 
 
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 PREFACE TO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN THE DIVINE. 
 
 3. The rivers turned into blood, (verse 4,) symbolize the slaughter of the ad- 
 herents of Vitellius at Cremona and elsewhere, near rivers. 
 
 4. The scorching of the sun, (verse 8,) the diseases of the Vitellii increasing, 
 and their exhausted bodies impatient of the heat. 
 
 5. The seat of the beast darkened, (verse 10.) all Rome in commotion through 
 the torpor of Vitellius. 
 
 6. Euphrates dried up, and a way made for the kings of the east; the three 
 unclean spirits likt frogs. The Flavii besieging Rome with a treble army, one 
 part of which was by the bank of the Tiber. 
 
 The shame of him who is found asleep and naked ; Vitellius, (verse 15 ;) Arma- 
 geddon, (verse 16 ;) the pretorian camps. , 
 
 1. The fall of -Babylon, (verse 19,) the sacking of Rome. 
 
 1. The whore, (chapter xvii, 1,) Rome. 
 
 2. The seven kings, (verse 10,) Cesar, Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Clau- 
 dius, Nero, and Galea. 
 
 3. The eighth, which is of the seven, (verse 11,) Otho, destined by adoption to 
 he the son and successor of Galba. 
 
 4. The ten horns, (verses 12-16,) the leaders of the Flavian factions. 
 
 5. The merchants of the earth, (chapter xviii, 11;) that is, of Rome, which was 
 then the emporium of the whole world. 
 
 6. The beast and the false prophet, (chapter xix, 20,) Vespasian and his family, 
 contrary to all expectation, becoming extinct in Domitian, as the first family of 
 the Cesars, and of the three princes, Galba, Otho, and Vitellius. 
 
 7. The millennium, or a thousand years, (chapter xx, 2,) taken from Psa. 
 xc, 4, a time appointed by God, including the space of forty years from the 
 death of Domitian to the Jewish war under Adrian. 
 
 8. Gog and Magog, going out over the earth, (verse 8,) Barchochebas, the 
 false Messiah, with an immense army of the Jews, coming forth suddenly from 
 their caves and dens, tormenting the Christians, and carrying on a destructive 
 war with the Romans. 
 
 9. The New Jerusalem, (chapter xxi, 1, 2,) the Jews being brought so low 
 as to be capable of injuring no longer; the whole world resting after being ex- 
 piated by wars ; and the doctrine of Christ propagated and prevailing everywhere 
 with incredible celerity. 
 
 Wetstein contends (and he is supported by very great men among the ancients 
 and moderns) that " the book of the Revelation was written before the Jewish 
 Avar, and the civil wars in Italy ; that the important events which took place at 
 that time, the greatest that ever happened since the foundation of the world, were 
 worthy enough of God's notice, as the affairs of his Church were so intimately 
 connected with them; that his method of exposition proves the whole book to 
 be a well connected, certain series of events; but the common method of interpre- 
 tation, founded on the hypothesis that the book was written after the destruction 
 of Jerusalem, is utterly destitute of certainty, and leaves every commentator 
 to the luxuriance of his own fancy." 
 
 II. The Historical. 
 
 * 
 
 Those who consider the Apocalypse as a prophecy and scenical exhibition of 
 
 what shall happen to the Christian Church to the end of the world, lav this 
 
 down as a proposition, which comprises the subject of the whole book: The contest 
 
 of Christ with his enemies; and his final victory and triumph over them. See 
 
 571
 
 PEEFACE TO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN THE DIVINE. 
 
 1 Cor. xv, 25; Matt, xxiv ; Mark xiii; Luke xxi. But what is but briefly hinted 
 in the above Scriptures is detailed at large in the Apocalypse, and represented by 
 various images, nearly in the following order: 
 
 1. The decrees of the divine providence, concerning what is to come, are 
 declared to John. 
 
 2. The manner in which these decrees shall be executed is painted in the most 
 vivid colours. 
 
 3. Then follow thanksgivings to God, the ruler and governor of all things, for 
 these manifestations of his power, wisdom, and goodness. 
 
 After the exordium, and the seven epistles to the seven Churches of Asia 
 Minor, to whose angels or bishops the book seems to be dedicated, (chapters i, 
 ii, iii,) the scene of the visions is opened in heaven, full of majesty; and John 
 receives a promise of a revelation relative to the future state of the Church. 
 (Chapters iv, v.) 
 
 The enemies of the Church of Christ which the Christians had then most to 
 fear were the Jews, the heathens, and the false teachers. All these are overcome 
 by Christ, and over them he triumphs gloriously. First of all, punishments are 
 threatened to the enemies of the kingdom of Christ, and the preservation of his 
 own followers in their greatest trials determined; and 'these determinations are 
 accompanied with the praises and thanksgivings of all the heavenly inhabitants, 
 and of all good men. (Chapters vi-x.) 
 
 The transactions of the Christian religion are next recorded. (Chapters xi- 
 xiv, 5.) The Christians are persecuted, 
 
 1. By the Jews; but they are not only preserved, but they increase and 
 prosper. 
 
 2. By the heathens; but in vain do these strive to overthrow the kingdom of 
 Christ, which is no longer confined within the limits of Judea, but spreads among 
 the Gentiles, and diffuses itself over the whole Roman empire, destroying idol- 
 atry, and rooting out superstition in every quarter. (Chapters xii, xiii, 1-10.) 
 
 3. False teachers and impostors of various kinds, under the name of Christians, 
 but enemies of the cross of Christ, more intent on promoting the interests of 
 idolatry or false worship than the cause of true religion, (chapter xiii, 11-18,) 
 exert their influence to corrupt and destroy the Church; but, notwithstanding, 
 Christianity becomes more extended, and true believers more confirmed in their 
 holy faith. (Chapter xiv, 1-5.) Then new punishments are decreed against the 
 enemies of Christ, both Jews and. heathens, and the calamities to come on the Jew- 
 ish nation before its final overthrow are pointed out. (Chapters xiv, xv.) Next 
 follows a prediction of the calamities which shall take place during the Jewish 
 war, and the civil wars of the Romans during the contentions of Otho and Vitel- 
 lius, (chapter xvi, 1—16,) who are to suffer most grievous punishments for their 
 cruelties against the Christians. (Chapter xvii.) The Jewish state being now 
 finally overthrown, (chapter xviii,) the heavenly inhabitants give praise to God 
 for his justice and goodness; Christ is congratulated for his victory over his 
 enemies, and the more extensive progress of his religion. (Chapter xix, 1-10.) 
 
 Opposition is, however, not yet totally ended: idolatry again lifts up its head, 
 and new errors are propagated; but over these also Christ shows himself to be 
 conqueror. (Chapter xix, 11-21.) Finally, Satan, who had long reigned by the 
 worship of false gods, and other superstitions and wickedness, is deprived of all 
 power and influence; and the concerns of Christianity go on gloriously. (Chap- 
 ter xx, 1-6.) But toward the end of the world new enemies arise, and threaten 
 
 572
 
 PREFACE TO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN THE DIVINE. 
 
 destruction to the followers of Christ; but in vain is their rage, God appears in 
 behalf of his servants, and inflicts the most grievous punishments upon their 
 adversaries. (Chapter xx, 6-10.) The last judgment ensues, (verses 11-15,) all 
 the wicked are punished, and the enemies of the truth are chained so as to be able 
 to injure the godly no more; the genuine Christians, who had persevered unto 
 death, are brought to eternal glory; and, freed from all adversities, dwell for- 
 ever in blessedness that knows no bounds. (Chapters xxi and xxii.) See Rosen- 
 m tiller. 
 
 Eichhorn takes a different view of the plan of this book; though in substance 
 not differing much from that above. According to this writer the whole is rep- 
 resented in the form of a drama, the parts of which are the following: I. The 
 title. (Chapter i, 1-3.) II. The prologue, (chapter i, 4-iii, 22;) in which it is 
 stated that the argument of the drama refers to the Christians; epistles being 
 sent to the Churches, which, in the symbolic style, are represented by the number 
 seven. Next follows the drama itself, the parts of which are: 
 
 The prelude, (chapter iv, 1-viii, 5;) in which the scenery is prepared and 
 adorned. 
 
 Act the first. (Chapter viii, 6-xii, IV.) Jerusalem is taken, and Judaism 
 vanquished by Christianity. 
 
 Act the second. (Chapter xii, 18-xx, 10.) Rome is conquered, and heathen- 
 ism destroyed by the Christian religion. 
 
 Act the third. (Chapter xx, 11-xxii, 5.) The New Jerusalem descends from 
 heaven; or, the happiness of the life to come, and which is to endure forever, is 
 particularly described. (Chapter xxii, 6-11.) Taken in this sense, Eichhorn 
 supposes the work to be most exquisitely finished, and its author to have had a 
 truly poetic mind, polished by the highest cultivation; to have been accurately 
 acquainted with the history of all times and nations, and to have enriched himself 
 with their choicest spoils. 
 
 My readers will naturally expect that I should either give a decided prefer- 
 ence to some one of the opinions stated above, or produce one of my own. I can 
 do neither, nor can I pretend to explain the book : I do not understand it ; and 
 in the things which concern so sublime and awful a subject, I dare not, as my 
 predecessors, indulge in conjectures. I have read elaborate works on the subject, 
 and each seemed right till another was examined. I am satisfied that no ctrt'iiu 
 mode of interpreting the prophecies of this book has yet been found out, and [ 
 will not add another monument to the littleness or folly of the human mind by 
 endeavouring to strike out a new course. I repeat it, I do not understand the 
 book; and I am satisfied that not one who has written on the subject knows any 
 thing more of it than myself. As to other matters, I must leave them to God, 
 or to those events which shall point out the prophecy; and then, and probably not 
 till then, will the sense of these visions be explained. 
 
 A conjecture concerning the design of the book may be safely indulged: thus, 
 then, it has struck me, that the booh of the Apocalypse may he considered as a 
 I'iKiFHET continued in the Church of God, uttering predictions relative to all times, 
 which have their successive fulfilment as ages roll on; and thus it stands in the 
 Christian Church in the place of the succession of prophets in the Jewish 
 Church; and by this especial economy prophecy is still continued, is always 
 speaking, and yet a succession of prophets rendered unnecessary. If his be so, 
 Ave cannot too much admire the wiedom of the contrivance which still continues 
 the voice and testimony of prophecv, by means of a very short book, without the 
 
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 PREFACE TO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN THE DIVINE. 
 
 assistance of any extraordinary messenger, or any succession of such messengers, 
 whose testimony would at all times be liable to suspicion, and be the subject of 
 infidel and malevolent criticism, howsoever unexceptionable to ingenuous minds 
 the credentials of such might appear. 
 
 After having lived in one of the most eventful eras of the world; after hav- 
 ing seen a number of able pens employed in the illustration of this and other 
 prophecies; after having carefully attended to those facts which were supposed 
 to be the incontestable proofs of the fulfilment of such and such visions, seals, 
 trumpets, thunders, and vials of the Apocalypse; after seeing the issue of that 
 most terrible struggle which the French nation, the French republic, the French 
 consulate, and the French empire, have made to regain and preserve their liber- 
 ties, which, like arguing in a circle, have terminated where they began, without 
 one political or religious advantage to them or to mankind; and after viewing 
 how the prophecies of this book were supposed to apply almost exclusively to 
 these events, the writers and explainers of these prophecies keeping pace in their 
 publications with the rapid succession of military operations, and confidently 
 promising the most glorious issue in the final destruction of superstition, despo- 
 tism, arbitrary power, and tyranny of all kinds, nothing of which has been real- 
 ized; I say, viewing all these things, I feel myself at perfect liberty to state that, 
 to my apprehension, all these prophecies have been misapplied and misappre- 
 hended ; and that the key to them is not yet intrusted to the sons of men. My 
 readers will therefore excuse me from any exposure of my ignorance or folly by 
 attempting to do what many, with much more wisdom and learning, have at- 
 tempted, and what every man to the present day has failed in, who has preceded 
 me in expositions of this book. I ha"^e no other mountain to heap on those 
 already piled up; and if I had, I have not strength to lift it: those who have 
 courage may again make the trial; already we have had a sufficiency of vain 
 efforts. 
 
 [More than fifty years have passed since the above was written, during which 
 time whole libraries have been jjroduced on the subject, which have not even 
 approximately settled any thing; and large portions of the Protestant world have 
 been standing on tiptoe in expectation of the " speedy " denouement of the great 
 drama of Revelation, which, however, does not appear. Three difficulties seem to 
 stand in the way of all calculations respecting these matters: 1) The beginning of 
 the cycle is not determined. 2) Its duration is uncertain. 3) It is not known 
 what will occur at its ending.] 
 
 574
 
 THE KEVELATION 
 
 OF 
 
 ST. JOHN THE DIVINE. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 mire 
 
 J_ God gave unto him, to show unto his 
 servants tilings which b inust shortly come to 
 pass; and c he sent and signified it by his 
 angel unto his servant John: 2 J Who bare 
 record of the word of God, and of the tes- 
 
 a John 3. 32; 8. 26: 12. 49. /'Verse 3: cliap. 4. 1. cChap. 
 
 22. 115. d 1 Cor. 1. 6; verse 9; chap. ti. 9; 12. 17. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER I. 
 
 1 . The Revelation of Jesus Christ — The word 
 awonaTivipic, apocalypse, signifies literally, a revela- 
 tion, or discovery of what was concealed or hidden. 
 It is here 1 said that this " revelation," or discovery of 
 hidden things was given by God (the Father) to 
 "Jesus Christ; " that Christ gave it to his angel; 
 that this angel showed it to John ; and that John 
 sent it to the Churches. Thus we find it came from 
 God to Christ, from Christ to the angel, from the 
 angel to John, and from John to the Church. It 
 is properly, therefore, the revelation of God, sent 
 by these various agents to his servants at large. 
 [The man Christ Jesus, even in his glorified state, 
 receives from the Father, by his hypostatic union 
 with him, that revelation which by his Spirit he im- 
 parts to his Church. — Afford.] Things 'which 
 must shortly come to pass — If the book were 
 written before the destruction of Jerusalem, and 
 the prophecies in it relate to that destruction and 
 the civil wars among the Romans, which lasted but 
 three or four years, then it might be said the 
 "revelation" is of things which ''must shortly 
 come to pass." But if we consider the book as re- 
 ferring to the state of the Church in all ages, the 
 words here, and those in verse 3, must be under- 
 stood of the commencement of the events predicted. 
 [Alford. rather sharply antagonizing Hengstcnberg, 
 makes ev ra^ei signify certainly rather than shortly, 
 referring to Luke xviii, 8 for a like use of the 
 phrase. (See preface.)] [The plain and obvious 
 sense of ev rd^ei (in this place) is speedily, quickly, 
 shortly; so 6 mipbc iyyvc (verse 3) plainly inter- 
 prets it. (See Rev. ii, 16; iii, 11; xi, 14; xxii, 1, 
 12, 20.) If any thing clear can be made out from 
 the Apocalypse, it is at least clear that chapters 
 iv-xi have special reference to Jerusalem and 
 Judea. — Stuart.] 
 
 2. Who bare record of the word of God — 
 Is there a reference here to the first chapter of 
 John's Gospel, " In the beginning was the Word, 
 and the Word was with God," etc. ? Of this 
 "Word" John did bear record. Or, does the 
 
 timony of Jesus Christ, and of all tilings 
 e that he saw. 3 f Blessed is he that read- 
 eth, and they that hear the words of this 
 prophecy, and keep those things which 
 are written therein : for s the time is at 
 hand. 
 
 4 JOHN" to the seven churches which are 
 
 eljohn 1. 1. — -/Luke 11. 28; chap. 22. 7.— g Rom. 13. 11; 
 James 5. 8 : 1 Pet. 4. 7 ; chap. 22. 10. 
 
 writer mean the fidelity with which lie noted and 
 related the word — doctrines or prophecies — which 
 he received at this time by revelation from God ? 
 This latter seems more consistent with the latter 
 part of the verse. 
 
 3. Blessed is he that readeth — This is to be 
 understood of the happiness or security of the 
 persons who, reading and hearing the prophecies of 
 those things which were to come to pass shortly, took 
 proper measures to escape from the impending 
 evils. The time is at hand — Either in which they 
 shall be all fulfilled or begin to be fulfilled. 
 ['0 yap naipbc iyyir. (See chapter xxii, 10.) This 
 adjective is used in the New Testament to indicate 
 neaimess, whether of time or place, but with a kin- 
 dred phrase, as in verse 1. All'ord construes it, 
 because of its relations to God's eternity, as not to 
 be circumscribed by merely natural limitations. 
 He remarks : " The nearness spoken of is to be 
 understood, as the ev ra^ec, (verse 1,) which see. We 
 know little now of relative nearness or distance in 
 point of time ; when the day of the Lord shall have 
 opened our eyes to the true measure, we shall see 
 how near it always is." This seems to say that 
 words which attempt to indicate nearness, in sub- 
 jects of prophecy, have no meaning.] 
 
 These three verses contain the introduction to the 
 entire revelation ; now the dedication to the seven 
 Churches commences. 
 
 4. John to the seven Churches ... in Asia 
 — The apostle begins this much in the manner of 
 the Jewish prophets. They often name themselves 
 in the messages which they receive from God to 
 deliver to the people ; for example, " The vision of 
 Isaiah, the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning 
 Judah and Jerusalem," etc. The " Asia " here 
 mentioned was what is called Asia Minor, or Pro- 
 consular Asia. We are not to suppose that these 
 Churches were the only Christian Churches then in 
 Asia Minor: but these "seven" were those which 
 lay nearest to the apostle, ami were more partic- 
 ularly under his care; though the message was sent 
 to the Churches in general, and perhaps it concerns 
 
 575
 
 A. M. 4100. A. D. ! 
 Year of Rome, N19 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 Ascription of pr; 
 redemption ai 
 
 i to Jesus for 
 elevation. 
 
 in Asia : Grace be unto vera, and peace, from 
 him h which is, and 'Which was, and which is 
 to come; k and from the seven Spirits which 
 are before his throne ; 5 And from Jesus 
 Christ, ' who is the faithful witness, and the 
 m firstbegotten of the dead, and "the prince 
 of the kings of the earth. Unto him "that 
 loved us, land washed us from our sins 
 
 h. Exori. 
 
 3. 14; 
 
 verse 8. — 
 
 Mo 
 
 in I. 
 
 1. kZech. 
 
 3.9; 
 
 4. 
 
 10; 
 
 cliap. 3. 1 
 
 : 4. :. ; 
 
 5. K 
 
 /J(i 
 
 in x 
 
 14; 
 
 1 Tim. 6. 13; 
 
 chap 
 
 . 8 
 
 14. 
 
 ml C 
 
 or. 15. 
 
 :>(); 
 
 Col. 1. 
 
 1" - 
 
 — 11 
 
 Eph. 1. 20; < 
 
 hap. 
 
 7. 
 
 14; 
 
 19. 16. — 
 
 -oJol 
 
 n 13 
 
 :>4; 15 
 
 . 9: 
 
 Gal. 
 
 2. 20. v 
 
 Heb. 
 
 9. 
 
 14; 
 
 the whole Christian world. Grace be unto you 
 — This form of apostolical benediction we have 
 often seen in the preceding epistles. From him 
 which is, and which was, and which is to 
 come — This phrase is purely Jewish, and is sup- 
 posed to include in itself all duration, past, present, 
 and future. And for that purpose it is exceedingly 
 appropriate, and strongly expresses the eternity of 
 God ; for we have no other idea of time than as 
 past, or now existing, or yet to exist ; nor have we 
 any idea of eternity [outside of time] but as the 
 eternity that was before time, and the endless du- 
 ration that shall be when time is no more. That 
 which " was " is the eternity before time ; that 
 which "is" is time itself; and that which "is to 
 come " is the eternity which shall be when time is 
 no more. [The words following citto are all (in the 
 genitive case) taken together as one indeclinable 
 noun, corresponding to and expressive of Jehovah, 
 which is indeclinable, and admits of no variation of 
 form. — Stuart.] The seven Spirits . . . before 
 his throne — ["Spirits," that is, angels, or minis- 
 tering spirits.] The ancient Jews, who represented 
 the throne of God as the throne of an eastern 
 monarch, supposed that there were seven minister- 
 ing angels before this throne, as there were seven 
 ministers attendant on the throne of a Persian 
 monarch. We have an ample proof of this in Tobit 
 xii, 15 : " / am Raphael, one of the seven holy 
 angels which present the prayers of the saints, and 
 which go in and out before the glory of the Holy 
 One..' 1 '' Sometimes they were represented as seven 
 cohorts or troops of angels, under whom are thirty 
 inferior orders. That seven angels are here meant, 
 and not the Holy Spirit, is most evident from the 
 place, the number, and the tradition. Those who 
 imagine the Holy Uhost to be intended suppose the 
 number "seven" is used to denote his manifold 
 gifts and graces. (See chapter iii, 1 ; iv, 5 ; and 
 v, 6.) 
 
 5. And from Jesus Christ —[Here Xpiarov 
 (Christ) stands connected with TrpuToronoc and ap- 
 Xuv, (without any connectives) both indicative of 
 supremacy; that is, the Saviour, the anointed One. 
 means the lawfully constituted supreme Lord and 
 King. — Stuart.] The faithful witness — The true 
 teacher, whose testimony is infallible, and whose 
 sayings must all come to pass. The firstbegotten 
 of the dead — See the note on Col. i, 18. The 
 prince of the kings — '0 apxuv, the chief or In ml, 
 of all earthly potentates ; who has them all under 
 his dominion and control, and can dispose of them as 
 he will. Unto him that loved us — This should 
 begin a new verse, as it is in the commencement of 
 a new subject. Our salvation is attributed to the 
 love of God, who gave his Son ; and to the love of 
 Christ, who died for us. (See John iii, 16.) 
 Washed us from our sins — The redemption of 
 the soul, including both remission of sins and 
 570 
 
 in his own blood, 6 And hath i made us 
 kings and priests unto God and his Father; 
 r to him be glory and dominion for ever and 
 ever. Amen. 7 'Behold, he cometh with 
 clouds : and every eye shall see him, and ' they 
 also which pierced him : and all kindreds of 
 the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, 
 Amen. 8 U I am Alpha and Omega, the be- 
 
 1 J..hn 1. 7. <?1 Pet. 2. 5, 9; chap. 5. 10: 20. 6. r\ Tim. fi. 
 
 16; Heb. 13. 21 ; 1 Pet. 4. 11 •, 5. 11. *Dan. 7. 13; Matt. 24. 30: 
 
 26.64; Acts 1. 11. tfZech. 12. 10; John 19. 37. « Isa. 41.4; 
 
 44. 6; 48. 12; verses 11, 17; chap. 2. 8; 21. 6; 22. 13. 
 
 purification from unrighteousness, is here, as in all 
 the New Testament, attributed to the blood oj 
 Christ shed on the cross for man. (See 1 John i, 7.) 
 
 6. Kings and priests — See on 1 Pet. ii, 5, 9. 
 But instead of (iaoikeis not iepeic, Lings and priests, 
 the most reputable MSS., Versions, and Fathers 
 have jJaat/.tiav itptir. a kingdom and priests, that is, 
 a royal priesthood. The regal and sacerdotal dig- 
 nities are the two highest that can possibly exist 
 among men; and these two are here mentioned to 
 show the glorious prerogatives and state of the 
 -children of God. To him be glory — That is, tc 
 Christ ; for it is of him that the prophet speaks, 
 and of none other. For ever and ever — EJc 
 robg aluvac tuv aluvuv, to ages of ages ; or rather, 
 through all indefinite periods ; through all time, 
 and to eternity. [Twv a'iCivuv is omitted by many 
 of the best authorities.] Amen — A word of 
 affirmation and approbation; so it shall be, and so 
 it ought to be. 
 
 7. Behold, he cometh with clouds — This re- 
 lates to his coming to execute judgment on the 
 enemies of his religion; perhaps to his coming to 
 destiny Jerusalem, as he was to be particularly 
 manifested to them that pierced him, which must 
 mean the incredulous and rebellious Jews. [Among 
 the later Jews the Messiah is actually called the 
 Cloud-man ; God is also said to have his dwelling 
 among the clouds. (I'sa. xcvii, 2; xviii, 11.) The 
 cloud is, so to speak, a material symbol of the 
 divine presence, or the divine mystery, partly veil- 
 ing, partly revealing. — Leuigc.\ And all kin- 
 dreds of the earth — Ylaoai ai 4>vlai T?/r }?/c, all 
 tin tribes of the la ml. By this the Jewish people 
 are most evidently intended, and therefore the 
 whole verse may be understood as predicting the 
 destruction of the Jews; and is a presumptive 
 proof that the Apocalypse was written before the 
 final overthrow of the Jewish state. [This language 
 is borrowed from the ancient Hebrew Scripture, 
 where the Jews are often spoken of as the twelve^ 
 tribes, among whom all the land was partitioned, 
 here designed to denote all who dwelt (might then 
 be dwelling) in the land here referred to, the land 
 where Christ was crucified. See Stuart.] Even 
 so, Amen — Nai, a/apt; gen, Amen. It is true, so 
 be it. Our Lord will come and execute judgment 
 on the Jews and Gentiles. This the Jews and 
 Romans particularly felt [at the destruction of 
 Jerusalem.] 
 
 S. I am Alpha and Omega — T am from eternity 
 to eternity. This mode of speech is borrowed from 
 the Jews, who express the whole compass of things 
 by aleph and tau, the first and last letters of the 
 Hebrew alphabet; but as St. John was writing in 
 Greek, he accommodates the whole to the Greek al- 
 phabet, of which "alpha" and "omega" are the 
 first and last letters. With the rabbins, from 
 aleph to tau, expressed the whole of a matter, from
 
 Christ directs John to send hi 
 
 to the seven Church e 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 . M. -linn. A. P. 9S. 
 ITear of Rt 849. 
 
 ginning and the ending, saith the Lord, * which 
 is, and which was, and which is to conic, the 
 Almighty. 9 I John, who also am your 
 brother, and "companion in tribulation, and 
 » in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, 
 was in the isle that is called Patmos, > for the 
 word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus 
 Christ. 10 z I was in the Spirit on "the Lord's 
 
 e Verse t: chap. 4. 8; II. 17: 16. 5. loPhil. 1. 7: 4. 14; 
 
 2 Tim. I. 8. x Rom. 8. 17 ; 2 Tim. 2. 12. u Verse 2; chap. 
 
 6. 9. 
 
 the beginning to the end. The beginning and 
 the ending — [This clause is not found in the best 
 MSS. ami is now generally rejected.] 
 
 9. Your brother — A Christian, begotten of 
 God, and incorporated in the heavenly family. [No 
 inference can be drawn against the apostleship of 
 the writer from this designation of himself. It is 
 eminently Johannean.] Companion in tribula- 
 tion — Suffering under the persecution in which 
 you also suffer. In the kingdom — Introduced by 
 the spirit into the kingdom of God. And patience 
 of Jesus — Meekly bearing all indignities, privations, 
 and sufferings for the sake and after the example 
 of our Lord and Master. [The conjunction of 
 these terms seems to be made to express a par- 
 taker, as in the kingdom, so in the tribulation and 
 endurance which are in ami by Christ. — AlfordJ] 
 The isle that is called Patmos — This island is 
 one of the Sporades, and lies in the ^Egean Sea, 
 between the island of Icaria, and the promontory 
 of Miletus. It is now call Pactino, Patinol, or Pal- 
 mosa. It has derived all its celebrity from being 
 the place to which St. John was banished by one 
 of the Roman emperors — whether Domitian, Clau- 
 dius, or Nero, is not agreed ; most probably the 
 latter. The island has a convent on a well fortified 
 hill, dedicated to John the apostle. Patmos is the 
 name of its capital and chief harbour. The whole 
 island is about thirty miles in circumference. For 
 the testimony of Jesus Christ — For preaching 
 Christianity, and converting heathens to the Lord 
 Jesus. [A«d rbv Tuoyov rov Qeov, on account of the 
 word of the Lord. Why was John in Patmos ? 
 The traditional understanding has been, that he had 
 been banished thither by some persecuting edict, 
 and with that the language may be made to agree, 
 though (ha is not commonly used to express an un- 
 desired necessity. Besides the usually received 
 idea of an exile, two others have been suggested by 
 eminent authorities: 1) that he was there in the 
 prosecution of his apostolic office, preaching " the 
 word of the Lord," and 2) that he had been led 
 thither, as Christ was " driven into the wilderness," 
 to receive this apocalypse.] 
 
 10. I was in the Spirit— That is, I received 
 the Spirit of prophecy, and was under his influence 
 when the first vision was exhibited. ['E; ov6fim> ev 
 TzvEvfiaTi, J became transported out of the ordinarv 
 every day ( normal) consciousness, and placed in the 
 condition of the prophet's trance, ttiarrabic, (Acts 
 x, 10 ; xi, 5 ; xxii, 17 ; 1 Cor. xiv, 2.) The contrast 
 is, 1) To be in one's ordinary state of mind, with 
 the reflecting consciousness holding intercourse 
 with the world through the senses; or, 2) in a 
 higher or polarly opposed form of consciousness, 
 in which direct spiritual consciousness predomi- 
 nates. By " the Spirit," therefore, we are undoubt- 
 edly to understand, not the Spirit of God, but that 
 spiritual life of man which stand- contrasted with 
 his relations to the (outward) world, which (how- 
 
 Vol. II. — 37 
 
 day, and heard behind me b a great voice, as of 
 a trumpet, 11 Saying, C I am Alpha and 
 Omega, d the first and the last: and, What, 
 thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto 
 the seven churches which are in Asia; unto 
 Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Perga- 
 mos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, ami 
 unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea. 12 And 
 
 z Acts in. 10; 2 Cor. 12.2; chap. 4. 2 ; 17.3: 21. 10. rtJolin 
 
 20. 2H ; Acts 211. 7 ; 1 Cor. IS. 2. Chap. 4. 1 ; 10. 8. c Verse X. 
 
 <l Verse 17. 
 
 ever) as a prophetic state is inconceivable without 
 the operation of the Holy Spirit, and hence pre- 
 supposes the more general life in the Spirit as its 
 basis. (Rom. viii, 9.) — Lanr/e.] [A state, says 
 Ebrard, in which "connexion with surrounding 
 objects through the senses is suspended and a con- 
 nexion with the invisible world established."] The 
 Lord's day — The first day of the week, observed 
 as the Christian sabbath, because on it Jesus Christ 
 rose from the dead ; therefore it was called the 
 Lord's day, and has taken place of the Jewish sab- 
 bath throughout the Christian world. [On any 
 probable hypothesis of the date of this book this 
 is the earliest mention of the day by this name. — 
 Alford.] And heard behind me a great 
 voice — This voice came unexpectedly and sud- 
 denly. He felt himself under the divine afflatus, 
 but did not know wdiat scenes were to be repre- 
 sented. As of a trumpet — Thus God prepared 
 Moses to receive the law. (See Exod. xix, 10, 
 19, etc) 
 
 11. I am Alpha and Omega, the first and 
 the last — [This whole clause is wanting in the best 
 MSS. etc.; probably it was taken from verse 8.] 
 Saying . . . What thou seest, -write in a book — 
 Carefully note down every thing that is represented 
 to thee. John had the visions from heaven ; but 
 he described them in his own language and man- 
 ner. Send it unto the seven Churches — The 
 names of which immediately follow. In Asia — 
 This is wanting in the principal MSS. and Versions. 
 Ephesus — This was a city of Ionia, in Asia Minor, 
 situated at the mouth of the river Cayster, on the 
 shore of the yEgean Sea, about fifty miles south of 
 Smyrna. (See preface to the epistle to the Ephe- 
 sians.) Smyrna — Now called also Ismir, is the 
 largest and richest city of Asia Minor. It is situ- 
 ated about one hundred and eighty-three miles west 
 by south of Constantinople, on the shore of the 
 vEgean Sea. It is supposed to contain about one 
 hundred and forty thousand inhabitants, Greeks, 
 Armenians, Roman Catholics, Jews, and Turks, and 
 a very few Protestants. It is a beautiful city, but 
 often ravaged by the plague, and seldom two years 
 together free from earthquakes. Pergamos — A 
 town of Mysia, situated on the river Caicus. It 
 was the royal residence of Eumenes, and the kings 
 of the race of the Attali. It was anciently famous 
 for its library, which contained, according to Plu- 
 tarch, two hundred thousand volumes. It was here 
 that the membranes Pergamenice, Pergamenian 
 skins, were invented ; from which we derive our 
 word parchment. Pergamos was the birthplace of 
 Galen; and in it P. Scipio died. It is now known 
 as Pergamo and Bergamo. Thyatira — Now called 
 Akissat and Ak-kissar. a city of Natolia, in Asia 
 Minor, seated on the river Ilermus, in a plain 
 eighteen miles broad, and is about fifty miles south 
 from Pergamos. Numeaous remarkable ancient 
 inscriptions have been discovered in this place. 
 
 577
 
 A. M. 41"0. A. D. 96. 
 Year of Rome, -4'.i. 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 Glorious description of the Lord 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 I turned to see the voice that spake with me. 
 And being turned, e I saw seven golden candle- 
 sticks; 13 f And in the midst of the .-even 
 candlesticks zone like unto the Son of man, 
 h clothed with a garment down to the fuot, and 
 'girt about the paps with a golden girdle. 
 14 His head and v his hairs were white like 
 wool, as white as snow ; and ' his eyes were as 
 a flame of fire; 15 '"And his feet like unto 
 fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and 
 
 e Exod. 25. 37 ; Zect). 4. 2 ; verse 20. -/Chap. 2. 1. a Ezek. 
 
 1. 20; Dan. 7. 13; In. hi: chap. 14. 14. li Dan. in. 5. /Chap. 
 
 15. 6. fcDan. 7. 9. H)an. in. 0; chap. 2. 1*: 19. 12. 
 
 in Ezek. 17: Dan. 10.6; chap. 2. 18. » Ezek. 43. 2; Dan. 10. 6; 
 
 Chap. 14. 2; 19. 6. 
 
 Sardis — Now called Sardo and Sart, a town in 
 Natolia, about forty miles east from Smyrna. It is 
 seated on the side of mount Tmolus, and was once 
 the capital of the Lydian kings, and here Croesus 
 reigned. It is now a poor, inconsiderable village. 
 Philadelphia — A city of Natolia, seated at the 
 foot of mount Tmolus, by the river Cogamus. It 
 was founded by Attains Philadelphus, brother of 
 Eumenes, from whom it derived its name. It is 
 now called Alah-sheker, and is about forty miles 
 eastward of Smyrna. Laodicea — A town of Phryg- 
 ia, on the river Lyeus ; first called Diospolis, or 
 the city of Jupiter. It was built by Antiochus 
 Theos, and named after his consort Laodice. (See 
 on Col. ii, 1.) 
 
 12. And I turned— For he had heard the voice 
 behind him. To see the voice — That is, the 
 person from whom the voice came. [I gave 
 full attention.] Seven golden candlesticks — 
 'Ettto. Xvxvlag xP ma S, seven golden lamps. 
 These seven lampstande represented the seven 
 Churches, in which the light of God was con- 
 tinually shining, and the love of God continually 
 burning. And they are here represented as •'guld- 
 en " to show how precious they were in the sight of 
 God. This is a reference to the temple at Jeru- 
 salem, where there was a candlestick or chandelier 
 of seven brandies, or rather six branches, three 
 springing out on either side, and one in the centre. 
 (See Exod. xxxvii, 17-23.) 
 
 13. In the midst — ['Ev fie ay, intimates that he 
 was in a position where he was surrounded by the 
 seven lights. — Stuart] Like unto the Son of man 
 — This seems a reference to Dan. vii, 13. This was 
 our blessed Lord himself. (Verse 18.) [^Ofioiov vlbv 
 avdpuTrov, onelikeason of man; that is, like a man 
 in form and appearance.] Clothed with a gar- 
 ment down to the foot — ^Evdedvfievov -odr/pri, 
 arrayed in apodera, the priestly robe, covering the 
 whole body to the feet.] This is a description of 
 the high priest in his sacerdotal robes. (See on 
 Exod. xxviii, 4, etc.) Jesus as our high priest 
 even in heaven, is still discharging the sacerdotal 
 functions before the throne of God. Golden 
 girdle — The emblem both of regal and sacerdotal 
 dignity. 
 
 14. His head and his hairs were white like 
 wool — The whiteness or splendour of his head and 
 hair doubtless proceeded from the rays of light and 
 glory which encircled his head, and darted from it 
 in all directions. The splendour around the head 
 was termed by the Romans nimbus, and by us a 
 glory; and was represented round the heads of 
 gods, deified persons, and saints. It is used in the 
 same way through almost all the nations of the 
 earth. His eyes were as a flame of fire — 
 
 578 
 
 "his voice as the sound of many waters. 
 16 °And he had in his right hand seven 
 stars: and rout of his mouth went a sharp 
 twoedged sword: 'land his countenance was 
 as the sun shineth in his strength. 17 And 
 'when I saw him, 1 fell at his feet as dead. 
 And "he laid his right hand upon me, saying 
 unto me, Fear not ; 1 1 am the first and the 
 last: 18 U I am he that liveth, and was 
 dead ; and, behold, v I am alive for evermore, 
 
 o Verse 20; chap. 2. 1; 8. 1. ;>Isa. 49 2; Eph. 6. 17: Heh. 
 
 4. 12; chap. 2. 12, 1(5: 19. 15, 21. q Acts 20. 1:1; chap. 10. 1. 
 
 /•Ezek. 1.28. *Dan. 8. 18: 10. 10. tls&. 41.4: 44.0: 4>. 12: 
 
 chap. 2. 8; 22. 13; verse 11. u Rom. 6.9. v Chap. 4. 9; 
 
 5. 14. 
 
 To denote his omniscience, and the all-penetrating 
 nature of the divine knowledge. 
 
 15. His feet like unto fine brass — An em- 
 blem of his stability and permanence, brass being 
 considered the most durable of all metallic sub- 
 stances or compounds. The original word, x a/K °- 
 '/ 1 lava, means the famous anrichalcum, or facti- 
 tious metal, which, according to Suidas, was ehhc 
 i/tKTjiov. Tijuu-epov xP V(J °v< " a kind of amber, 
 more precious than gold." It seems to have been 
 a composition of gold, silver, and copper, and the 
 same with the Corinthian brass, so highly famed 
 and valued. His voice as the sound of many 
 waters — (See Ezek. xliii, 2 ) [In allusion to the 
 rpiiet majesty of the sea. — Ebrard.~\ 
 
 16. In his right hand seven stars — The 
 " stars " are afterward interpreted as representing 
 the seven angels, messengers, or bishops of the 
 seven Churches. Their being in the "right hand " 
 of Christ, shows that they are under his special 
 care and most powerful protection. [The idea con- 
 veyed by this symbol is, that they who were repre- 
 sented by the stars were altogether at tin disposal 
 ofhim in whose hand they icere held. As to the 
 imagery it is not necessary to inquire further. — 
 Stuart.] Out of his mouth went a sharp two- 
 edged sword — This is no doubt intended to point 
 out the judgments about to be pronounced by 
 Christ against the rebellious Jews and persecuting 
 Romans; God's judgments were just now going to 
 fall upon both. Or the " sharp two-edged sword " 
 may represent the word of God in general. (Heb. 
 i\, 12; Eph. vi, 17.) And his countenance was 
 as the sun shineth in his strength — His face 
 was like the disk of the sun in the brightest sum- 
 mer's day. when there are no clouds to abate the 
 splendour of his ravs. (See Judges v, 31.) 
 
 17. I fell at hisfeet as dead— (See Ezek. i, 28, 
 and Dan. viii, 17.) The terrible splendour of such 
 majesty was more than the apostle could bear, and 
 he fell down deprived of his senses, but was soon 
 enabled to behold the vision by a communication 
 of strength from our Lord's right hand. [There is 
 no discrepancy in this bodily action with the 
 spiritual nature of the vision, for ev irvevfiari 
 (verse 10) does not supersede the existence (nor 
 the simply muscular action) of the body. — Al/ord.] 
 
 IS. I am he that liveth, and was dead — I am 
 Jesus the Saviour, who, though the fountain of 
 life, died for mankind ; and being raised again from 
 the dead I shall die no more, the great sacrifice 
 being consummated. And have the keys of 
 hell and of death — So that I can destroy the 
 living and raise the dead. The keys, here, signify 
 his power and authority over life, death, and the 
 grave. This is also a rabbinical form of speech.
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 M. 4100. A. IX 96. 
 li'.-ar of K , 849. 
 
 Amen; and "have the keys of hell and of 
 death. 19 Write "the things which thou 
 hast seen, rand the things which are, s and 
 the things which shall he hereafter; 20 The 
 mystery »of the seven stars which thou saw- 
 
 WPsa.63. 211; chap. 20. 1. ./-Verse 12, etc. (/Chap. 
 
 etc. eCbap. 4. 1, etc. 
 
 [*Ejw rag /c/f/c . . . aldov, mine are the keys of 
 death and hades; that is, mine is the power to open 
 the gates of the underworld, or region of the dead, 
 and to rescue whomever I please from the power of 
 death and hades — Stuart.] We should understand 
 hades, here, not as hell, nor the place of separate 
 spirits, hut merely as the grave. [The resurrection 
 of Christ vanquished death, and he came forth a con- 
 queror. And having done this in his humanity, and 
 as a part of his Messianic work, he did it for all 
 men ; the conquest was made in behalf of the whole 
 race. 
 
 Then first humanity triumphant 
 Passed the crystal ports of light J 
 
 19. Write the things which thou hast seen 
 — These visions and prophecies are for general in- 
 struction, and therefore every circumstance must 
 be faithfully recorded. What he had "seen" was 
 to be written ; what he was about to see, relative 
 to the seven Churches, must be also written; and 
 what he was to see afterward, concerning other 
 Churches and States, was to be recorded like- 
 wise. 
 
 20. The mystery — That is, the allegorical 
 explanation of the seven stars is the seven 
 angels or ministers of the Churches ; and the alle- 
 gorical meaning of the seven golden lamps is the 
 seven Churches themselves. [The import of the 
 ayyeloi, angels, has been much disputed. Very 
 many commentators take them for the presiding 
 presbyters, or bishops of the Churches. This view 
 derives probability from the analogy of the vision 
 itself, in which, seeing that the candelabra repre- 
 sent the Churches themselves — existing vessels 
 containing much light— the "stars," concentrated 
 sparks of light, should represent some actually ex- 
 isting persons in, or connected with, the Churches. 
 Again, throughout the seven epistles (chapters ii 
 and iii) the angel is treated as representing and 
 responsible for the particular Church. ... As re- 
 gards the symbolism, stars are symbols of the 
 angels of the Churches, inasmuch as angels are 
 beings of light. (Heb. i, 7 ; Psa. civ, 4 ; Job xxviii, 
 7 ; Isa. xiv, 12.) That stars are also used to sym- 
 bolize earthly authorities is what might be ex- 
 pected from the very nature of the symbol, and 
 should not be alleged here as against this interpre- 
 tation of ayye/.of. The Churches themselves are 
 represented by candlesticks, agreeably with the 
 universal symbolism both of the prophetic and the 
 evangelic Scriptures. (Prov. iv, 18; Isa. xxi, 1, 3; 
 Matthew v, 14, 15; Luke xii, 35; Phil, ii, 15.)— 
 Alford.] 
 
 NOTES OX CHAPTER II. 
 PRELIMINARY. 
 [The preparation being thus made (by the majes- 
 tic appearance of the Saviour and his condescend- 
 ing kindness) for John to receive communications, 
 ami he being enjoined by Christ to commit to writ- 
 ing both the explanation of what he had already seen 
 and what was about to be disclosed, the seven 
 epistles to the seven Churches are first dictated to 
 
 est in my right hand, 'and the seven golden 
 candlesticks. The seven stars are c the an- 
 gels of the seven churches: and d the seven 
 candlesticks which thon sawest are the seven 
 churches. 
 
 — h Verse 12. c Mai. 2. 7; chap. 
 
 </Zech. 4. 2; Matt. 5. 15; Phil. 2. 15. 
 
 him, that he may write them down, and send them 
 to those Churches in order that they might be 
 read. It is not necessary to affirm that John heard 
 with his outward ear all the contents of these 
 epistles ; for as he was in a state of ecstasy (cha li- 
 ter i, 10) it would be difficult to determine how 
 much belonged to the outward and how much to 
 the inward man. But, being in the Spirit, he seems 
 to himself tO hear the words of the epistles; or the 
 ideas which they comprise are so deeply impressed 
 upon his mind and memory that he could easily 
 commit them to writing. It is not necessary to 
 suppose a mechanical and verbal dictation of all 
 the words. It is enough that the inner man be- 
 comes so thoroughly imbued, in vision, with the 
 subject-matter to lie contained in the epistles, that 
 John is altogether furnished for the work of writ- 
 ing and sending them. He receives his commission 
 to do this from the Lord Jesus Christ; and is in- 
 structed so as to make an official communication 
 from him. That the writing was done after suc- 
 cessive intervals, and between parts of the vision, 
 is the first and natural impression derived from 
 a continuous reading of the whole. But it is not 
 necessary to attach much importance to that sup- 
 position; it is enough that John was under divine 
 influence and guidance (ev Trvevfian) when he wrote 
 these epistles, and that the Lord Jesus commis- 
 sioned him to disclose to the Churches the things 
 which they contain. The epistles themselves seem 
 to wear the appearance of having been dictated to 
 the writer, and that they are even more than ordi- 
 narily the result of special divine influence, as to the 
 manner as well as the matter. Of this, however, 
 not much use can be made in criticism, and yet t lie 
 manner in which these epistles are composed de- 
 serves special attention : 
 
 [1. In each of the seven epistles the address to 
 the Churches is prefaced by (a reference to) some 
 of the characteristics ascribed to the Saviour, in 
 chapter i, either as displayed in his person, or ex- 
 plicitly ascribed to him. The regularity with which 
 this is done (in each case) deserves to be specially 
 noted. From all this it is plain that the writer, in 
 composing the epistles, had his mind filled with the 
 vision as related in chapter i, and that the same 
 hand is plainly employed in both — that is, the 
 vision in chapter i, and the epistles in chapters ii 
 and iii. Throughout the plan is uniform ; while 
 the manner of executing it is constantly, indeed 
 sedulously, varied. 
 
 [2. After the salutation, and mention of the attri- 
 butes belonging to Him who addresses the Churches, 
 next in order comes (in each case) olSa ra 
 i I know thy works,) — which means that all their de- 
 meanour is known to Jesus Christ ; to which is added 
 a specification of the various characteristic- of 
 each Church, whether for praise or blame. Two 
 of the Churches, those of Smyrna and Philadelp 
 received almost unmixed approbation ; to those of 
 Sardis and Laodicea sharp rebukes are adminis- 
 tered, while to those of Ephesus, Pergamos, and 
 Thyatira, both praise and rebukes are addressed. 
 
 579
 
 A. M. 41H0. A. D. 96. 
 Year of Rome, S4H. 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 Christ's message to the Church 
 at Ephesus. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 UNTO the angel of the church of Ephesus 
 write; These tilings saith 'lie that hold- 
 eth the seven stars in his right hand, b who 
 walketh in the midst of the seven golden can- 
 dlesticks; 2 C I know thy works, and thy la- 
 
 a Chap. 1. It!, 2d. — -b Chap. 1. 13. c Psa. 1. (j; verses 9, 13, 19 ; 
 
 chaps. 3. 1, 8, lo. 
 
 But the approbation in all cases comes first, and 
 the blame, when given, later. 
 
 [3. Encouragement, admonition, exhortation or 
 warning, then follows, according to what the 
 nature of the cases respectively demands. Particu- 
 lars are stated wherein reformation is needed ; and 
 grounds of hope and encouragement are placed be- 
 fore those who are making vigorous efforts in the 
 way of duty. All are admonished that the Lord 
 Jesus Christ is at hand, and that he will punish or 
 reward, as their respective conduct and character 
 may require. 
 
 [4. The closing parts of the epistles exhibit a 
 remarkable uniformity, which is mingled with 
 variety. Each close exhibits the admonition, '0 
 ix uv ovq amvaciTu ri to irvev/xa Tisyei raZc £KK.'A?joia/g, 
 {He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit sa ith 
 ta the Churches?) in the very same words. In con- 
 nexion with this, 6 vua,>>\ {he that shall overcome,) 
 or rut Uikuvti, {to him that shall overcome,) appears, 
 ami to each person (or Church) thus characterized 
 promises are made, all of which vary in costume 
 and maimer, but convey substantially the same 
 i lea-. . . . Thus while all the epistles are exactly 
 alike as to the admonition which urges them to 
 hearken to Him who addresses the Churches, yet all 
 vary in regard to the costume and tenor of the 
 promises which are made, in case of final victory 
 over spiritual enemies. 
 
 [It should also be observed, that in nearly all of 
 these epistles the manner of the threat or the 
 promise, near the close of the epistle, is intimately 
 connected with the attributes of the Redeemer 
 described at the commencement of it. Let the 
 comparisons be carefully made, and the result must 
 be a conviction that more closely interwoven com- 
 position cannot be imagined. It is surely no ordi- 
 nary hand that can perform such a task with so much 
 skill. 
 
 [It may also be noted, that in conformity with 
 the trichotomy of the book throughout, each of 
 these epistles is divided into three parts, namely : 
 a) A reference to some of the attributes of Him who 
 addresses the Church, b) Disclosures of the char- 
 acteristics of the Church, with appropriate admoni- 
 tion, encouragement, or reproof, c) Promises of 
 reward to all who persevere in their Christian 
 course and overcome the spiritual enemies who 
 assault them. This trichotomy has no special in- 
 fluence on the interpretation of these epistles, 
 but it is worthy of special note as it regards the 
 rhetorical characteristics of the book, (which are 
 certainly of a very high order.)— Abridged from 
 Stuart.] 
 
 I must here advertise my readers, 1) That I do 
 not perceive any metaphorical or allegorical mean- 
 ing in the epistles to these Churches. 2). I con- 
 sider the Churches as real ; and that their spiritual 
 state is here really and literally pointed out; and 
 that they have no reference to the state of the 
 Church of Christ in all ages of the world, as has 
 been imagined ; and that the notion of what has 
 580 
 
 hour, and thy patience, and how thou canst 
 not hear them which are evil: and d thon hast 
 tried them e which say they are apostles, and 
 are not, and hast found them liars : 3 And 
 hast borne, and hast patience, and for my 
 name's sake hast laboured, and hast f not 
 
 -e2 Cor. 11. 13: 2 Pet. 2. 1. -/Gal. 6. 0: Ileb. 
 
 12. 3, 5. 
 
 been termed the Ephesian state, the Smyrnian 
 state, the Pergamenian state, the Thyatirian state, 
 etc., etc., is unfounded, absurd, and dangerous ; and 
 such expositions should not be entertained by any 
 who wish to arrive at a sober and rational knowl- 
 edge of the Holy Scriptures. 3) I consider the 
 angel of the Church as signifying the messenger, 
 the pastor, sent by Christ and his apostles to teach 
 and edify that Church. 4) I consider what is 
 spoken to this angel as spoken to the whole Church ; 
 and that it is not his particular (personal) state 
 that is described, but the states of the people in 
 general under his care. 
 
 The Epistle to the Church at Ephesus. 
 
 1 . Unto the angel of the Church of Ephe- 
 sus — The Church at Ephesus is first addressed, as 
 being the place where John chiefly resided ; and 
 the city itself was the metropolis ot that part of 
 Asia. The angel or bishop at this time was most 
 probably Timothy, who presided over that Church 
 before St. John took up his residence there, and 
 who is supposed to have continued in that office 
 till A. D. 97, and to have been martyred a short 
 time before St. John's return from Patmos. Hold- 
 eth the seven stars — Who particularly pre- 
 serves, and guides, and upholds, not only the min- 
 isters of those seven Chinches, but all the genuine 
 ministers of his Gospel in all ages and places. 
 Walketh in the midst of the seven golden 
 candlesticks — Is the supreme bishop and head, not 
 only of those Churches, but of all the churches or 
 congregations of his people throughout the world. 
 [These two images — Christ holding the stars in his 
 right hand, and walking among the golden candle- 
 sticks — very beautifully symbolizes his intimate as- 
 sociation with his ministers and Churches, with 
 supervisory care and sustaining power.] 
 
 2. I know thy works — Ta ipya gov, general 
 demeanor, good and bad. Whatsoever is praise- 
 worthy in any of these ( Jhurches is first mentioned ; 
 thereby intimating that God is more intent on 
 finding out the good than the evil in any person or 
 Church; and that those who wish to reform such 
 as have fallen or are not making sufficient advances 
 in the divine life should take occasion, from the 
 good which yet remains, to encourage them to set 
 out afresh for the kingdom of heaven. And thy 
 labour, and thy patience — [Kal rbv kotvov teal t?jV 
 vwoyovrp gov, thy active and passive virtuesJ\ He 
 knew their works in general. They had not 
 ceased to labour, and they were enabled to bear 
 persecution patiently, and to keep the faith; for 
 they could not tolerate evil men, and they had 
 put fictitious apostles to the test, and had found 
 them to be liars, [ipevdeig, untrue, not genuine dis- 
 ciples of Christ,] pretending a divine commission 
 while they had none, and teaching false doctrines 
 as if they were the truths of God. 
 
 3. And hast borne— [These (ica/covc) are here 
 regarded as a burden, an incubus, which the 
 Ephesian Church had thrown off. The assertion is 
 as yet general ; it is particularized in the next
 
 at Ei.he 
 
 • to the Church 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 A. M. MOO. A. r>. 96. 
 Year of Iconic, S4U. 
 
 fainted. 4 Nevertheless I have sonn what 
 against thee, because thou hast, left thy first 
 love. 5 Remember therefore from whence 
 thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first 
 works; sor else I will come unto thee quick- 
 ly, and will remove thy candlestick out of 
 
 oMatt. 21. 41, 43. h Verse 15. /Matt. 11. 15; 13. 9, 43; 
 
 verses 11, 17. 'J'.i ; chap. 3. Ii, 13, 22; 13. 9. 
 
 clause. — Alford.] And hast not fainted — [This 
 exhibits two aspects of the Church's good conduct 
 — suffering in general for Christ's name's sake, and 
 
 endurance under these sufferings. — Lange."\ ['Ttto- 
 uovijv, (patience,) in verse 2, and the same word in 
 verse 3, with a sense equivalent in English, signifies, 
 in the former case, both in Greek and English, more 
 especially the suffering side of patience, (that is, I 
 know what you suffer;) in the hitter, the spirit of 
 Christ-like endurance under suffering, (that is, 1 
 recognise your godly spirit of endurance.)] 
 
 4. Nevertheless I have somewhat against 
 thee — The clause should lie read, according to the 
 Greek, thus : But I hurt- against thee that thou hast 
 lift thy first love. They did not retain that strong 
 and ardent affection for God and sacred things 
 which they had when they were first brought to 
 the knowledge of the truth and justified by faith in 
 Christ. [The love of first conversion had waxed 
 (comparatively) cold, and given place to a lifeless 
 and formal orthodoxy. (2 Cor. vii, 11.) — Alford.'] 
 
 5. Remember — Consider the state of grace in 
 which you once stood ; the happiness, love, and joy 
 which you felt when ye received remission of sins; 
 the zeal ye had for God's glory and the salvation 
 of mankind; your willing, obedient spirit, your 
 cheerful self-denial, your fervour in private prayer, 
 your detachment from the world, and your heaven- 
 ly mindedness. Whence thou art fallen — Fallen 
 from all those blessed dispositions and gracious 
 feelings already mentioned. Or, remember what a 
 loss you have sustained; for so eKTvliTTeiv is frequent- 
 ly used by the best Greek writers. Repent— Be 
 deeply humbled before God for having so careless- 
 ly guarded the divine treasure. Do the first 
 works — Resume your former zeal and diligence ; 
 watch, fast, pray, reprove sin, carefully attend all 
 the ordinances of God, walk as in his sight, and 
 rest not till you have recovered all your lost ground, 
 and got back the evidence of your acceptance with 
 your Maker. I will come unto thee quickly — 
 In the way of judgment. And will remove thy 
 candlestick — Take away my ordinances, remove 
 your ministers, and send you a famine of the word. 
 [These lamps (candlesticks) are symbols of the 
 seven Asiatic Churches. To remove one of them 
 from its place would be to withdraw it from the 
 special and immediate presence and care of the 
 Saviour, and thus to cut off its privileges and take 
 away its precedence. — Stuart.] 
 
 6. The deeds of the Nicolaitans — These were, 
 as is commonly supposed, a sect of the Gnostics, who 
 taught the most corrupt doctrines, and followed 
 the most impure practices. They are supposed to 
 have derived their origin from Nicolas, one of the 
 seven deacons mentioned Acts vi, 5, where see the 
 note. The "Nicolaitans" taught the community 
 of wives, that adultery and fornication were tilings 
 indifferent, that eating meats offered to idols was 
 quite lawful ; and mixed several pagan rites with 
 the Christian ceremonies. Augustine, tremens. 
 Clemens Alexandrinus, and Tertullian have spoken 
 largely concerning them. [The manner in which the 
 
 his place, except thou repent. 6 But this 
 thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of L the 
 Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7 'He that 
 hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit 
 saith unto the churches; To him thai over- 
 cometh will I give k to eat of ' the tree of life, 
 
 jfcChap.22. 2,14. 
 
 -ZGen. 2. 9 
 
 appellation (Nicolaitans) is used here and in verse 15 
 would seem to import that the name was current in 
 the churches at Ephesus and Pergamos. That there 
 were some persons in these Churches who practised 
 the vices named in verse 14 there can be no good 
 ground for doubt ; and also at Thyatira. (Verse 20.) 
 Now, as these were the very same vices into which 
 the Israelites of old fell, (Num. xxv, 1—3 ; Cor. x, 
 7, 8) — and into which they fell, as it would seem, 
 through the devices of Balaam (verse 14) — so those 
 who practised them were called iialaamites, N/m/</- 
 rar in Greek, [that is, conquerors — leaders into sin — 
 of the people.] Whether some person by the name 
 of Nicolaus was actually their leader, or whether 
 mere popular impulse, guided by the nature of the 
 case, invented and bestowed the appellation, must 
 remain an uncertainty. Nor can it be of any im- 
 portance to determine this. The whole aspect of 
 the various cases (in verses 6, 15, ami 20) seems 
 plainly to denote that the name was actually cur- 
 rent at the time, and that the practices intended to 
 be designated by the use and application of it were 
 then well known, so that no doubt could exist in 
 the mind of the reader with regard to the meaning 
 of John's words. As to the rise of such a sect 
 among Christians, one would indeed naturally think 
 it to be strange. Yet the abuse of certain declara- 
 tions of Paul (see 1 Cor. viii, 4, x, 25, and vi, 12) 
 might easily give rise, among the ignorant and 
 viciously inclined, to the indiscriminate eating of 
 meats, and to the indulgence of carnal desires. 
 Still these very things had been expressly forbid- 
 den by the apostles, (Acts xv, 20; xxi, 25,) and 
 therefore such vices are mentioned here, as we 
 might well expect, with an expression of severe 
 displeasure against them. Such a view of the case 
 seems to afford the most natural and easy solution 
 of the difficulty in regard to the passage before us ; 
 and by taking this course we are unembarrassed 
 with the obstacles that lie in the way of tracing 
 the heresy in question to Nicolaus, one of the seven 
 deacons, while we educe from the passage a very 
 significant meaning. — Stuart.] [See also Neander, 
 Alford, Smith, etc.] 
 
 7. He that hath an ear — Let every intelligent 
 person, and every Christian man, attend carefully 
 to what the Holy Spirit, in this and the following 
 epistles, says to the Churches. (See on Matt, 
 xi, 15.) To him that overcometh — To him who 
 continues steadfast in the faith, and (incorrupt in his 
 life; who faithfully confesses Jesus, and neither 
 imbibes the doctrines nor is led away by the error 
 of the wicked ; will I give to eat of the tree of 
 life. There is here an evident allusion to Gen. ii, 
 0, where it is said, God made the tree of life to grow 
 in the midst of tin- garden. This •'tree,'' in ail 
 the lifegiving effects which it symbolizes, is secured 
 and restored to man by the incarnation, death, and 
 resurrection of Christ. The "tree of hie" is fre- 
 quently spoken of by the rabbins; and by ii they 
 generally mean the immortality of the soul, ami a 
 final state of blessedness. [ to eat of the tret of 
 life, the heavenly-earthly antitypes of the tree of 
 
 581
 
 .. M. 4100. A. D. 96. 
 
 Ye;ir ol Koine, !<49. 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 s~s;:e to the Chnrch 
 i Smyrna. 
 
 which is in the midst of the paradise of God. 
 S And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna 
 write; These things saith '"the tirst and the 
 last, which was dead, and is alive : 9 D I know 
 thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (hut 
 thou art ° rich,) and / know the blasphemy of 
 pthem which say they are Jews, and are not, 
 i but are the synagogue of Satan. 10 r Fear 
 none of those things which thou shalt suffer: 
 behold, the devil shall cast some of you into 
 prison, that ye may be tried ; and ye shall 
 
 m Chap. 1. 8, 1 7, 18. n Verse 2. o Luke 12. 21 ; 1 Tun. 
 
 6. 18; James 2. 5. p Rom. 2. 17, 28, 20; 9. 6. q Chap. 3. 9. 
 
 /• Matt. 10. 22. 
 
 life in the first paradise, an emphatic promise of 
 eternal life, of the enjoyment of eternal nourish- 
 ment to eternal rejuvenation. — Lange.~\ 
 
 The Epistle to the Church at Smyrna. 
 
 8. Unto the angel — This was probably the fa- 
 mous Polycarp. [Scarcely. Polycarp suffered mar- 
 tyrdom A. D. 155 (lo6?), and the latest possible date 
 of the writing of the Apocalypse must therefore have 
 been earlier than the beginning of the " episcopate " 
 of Polycarp.] These things saith the first and 
 the last — [See chapter i, 4, 7.] Which was 
 dead — Who died for the redemption of the world ; 
 and is alive, [and rose again to life,] to die no more 
 for ever, his glorified humanity being enthroned at 
 the Father's right hand. [Appropriately does the 
 speaker claim to be a living Saviour, in the most 
 extensive use of the word, for how else could he 
 perform the promises which he makes, or execute 
 the threatenings which he utters. — Stuart.] 
 
 9. I know thy works— I know all that thou hast 
 done, and all that thou hast suffered. The tribula- 
 tion here mentioned must mean persecution, either 
 from the Jews, the heathens, or from the heretics, 
 who, because of their flesh-pampering doctrine, 
 might have had many partisans at Smyrna. And 
 poverty — Stripped probably of all their temporal 
 possessions, because of their attachment to the 
 Gospel. But thou art rich — Rich in faith, and 
 heir to the kingdom of Christ. [It seems well to 
 remind them, at the moment, of the infinite com- 
 pensation of spiritual wealth which they were per- 
 petually receiving.] The blasphemy of them 
 which say they are Jews — There were persons 
 there who professed Judaism, and had a synagogue 
 in the place, and professed to worship the true 
 God ; but they had no genuine religion, and they 
 served the devil rather than God. They applied a 
 sacred name to an unholy thing; and this is one 
 meaning of the word " blasphemy " in this book. 
 [In contrast with inidajaia (verse 8) is here placed 
 cvvayuyfj tov "Larava, (the synagogue of Satan.) 
 The former was specifically Christian, while the 
 synagogue, by its rejection. of Christ, had gone over 
 to Satan, the adversary.] 
 
 10. Fear none of those things which thou 
 shalt suffer — [A general warning of coming 
 troubles preceded by a ringing word of cheer.] 
 Behold, the devil, etc. — [The prison is indicative 
 of persecution on the part of the magistracy, which, 
 however, in persecuting, is unwittingly the devil's 
 servant. (See chapter xii.) — Lange.] Ten days 
 — As the days in this book are what is commonly 
 called prophetic days, each answering to a year, 
 the ten days of tribulation may denote ten years 
 of persecution ; and this was precisely the duration 
 
 582 
 
 have tribulation ten days: s be thou faithful 
 unto death, and 1 will give thee ' a crown of 
 life. 11 u Ile that hath an ear, let him hear 
 what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He 
 that overcometh shall not be hurt of v the 
 second death. 12 And to the angel of the 
 church in Pergamos write; These things saith 
 w he which hath the sharp sword with two 
 edges; 13 x I know thy works, and where 
 thou dwellest, even J where Satan's seat is : 
 and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not 
 
 8 Malt. 24. 13. ?James 1. 12; chap. 3. 11. ii Vr rse 7; 
 
 chap. 13. 9. «Chap. 20. 14: 21. 8. Jt'Chap. 1. 16. 
 
 X Verse 2. y Verse 9. 
 
 of the persecution under Diocletian, during which 
 all the Asiatic Churches were grievously afflicted. 
 Others understand the expression as implying fre- 
 quency and abundance, as it does in other parts of 
 Scripture. (See Gen. xxxi, 7,41; Neh. xii, 12; 
 Job xix, 3 ; Dan. i, 20.) Some think the shortness 
 of the affliction is here intended, and that the 
 "ten days" are to be understood as only a short 
 time. Be thou faithful unto death — Be firm, 
 hold fast the faith, confess Christ to the last, and 
 at all hazards, and thou shalt have a crown of 
 life ; thou shalt be crowned with life — have an 
 eternal happy existence, though thou suffer tem- 
 poral death. [The singular pronoun must not be 
 construed as addressed to one person, but rather to 
 the whole body of Christians upon whom the per- 
 secution was about to fall. Fidelity "unto death," 
 axpi Oavarov, refers not so much to a lifelong 
 faithfulness as to the martyr spirit which continues 
 to be trie in the very face of death.] [Over 
 against the death of the body, which they were not 
 to count dear to themselves, is set the "crown of 
 life." " A crown" — the diadem of royalty, and the 
 garland of victory.] 
 
 11. He that overcometh — The conqueror who 
 has stood firm in every trial and vanquished all 
 his adversaries. Shall not be hurt of the second 
 death — That is, an eternal separation from God 
 and the glory of his power ; or what we commonly 
 mean by final perdition. 
 
 The Epistle to the Church at Pergamos. 
 
 12. The angel of the Church in Pergamos 
 — See the description of this place, chapter i, 2. 
 Which hath the sharp sword — See on chap, i, 16. 
 The sword of the Spirit, which is the ivord of God, 
 cuts every way ; it convinces of sin, righteousness, 
 and judgment; pierces between the joints and the 
 marrow, divides between the soul and spirit, dis- 
 sects the whole mind, and exhibits a regular anat- 
 omy of the soul. It not only reproves and exposes 
 sin, but it slays the ungodly, pointing out and de- 
 termining the punishment they shall endure. Jesus 
 has the sword with the two edges, because he is the 
 Saviour of sinners and the Judge of quick and dead. 
 
 13. Where Satan's seat is — "0~ov 6 O/wroq 
 tov Zarava, where Satan has his throne. It was a 
 maxim among the Jews, that where the law of God 
 was not studied, there Satan dwelt ; but he was 
 obliged to leave the place where a synagogue or 
 academy was established. Thou holdest fast my 
 name — Notwithstanding that the profession of 
 Christianity exposed this Church to the bitterest 
 persecution, they held fast the name of Christian, 
 which they had received from Jesus Christ, and 
 did not deny his faith ; for when brought to the trial
 
 Christ's inessnse to tlie Church 
 
 CHAPTER IT. 
 
 A.M. 4ino. A. P. 96. 
 Year of Rome, 849. 
 
 denied my faith, even in those days wherein 
 Ami pas was my faithful martyr, who was 
 slain among you, where Satan dwelleth. 
 14 But I have a few things against thee, be- 
 cause thou hast there them that hold the doc- 
 trine of ■ Balaam, who taught Balak to east a 
 stumblingblock before the children of Israel, 
 a to eat things sacrificed unto idols, l, and to 
 commit fornication. 15 So hast thou also 
 them that hold the doctrine c of the Nicolai- 
 tans, which thing I hate. 16 Repent; or else 
 I will come unto thee quickly, and d will fight 
 against them with the sword of my mouth. 
 17 e He that hath an ear, let him hear what 
 
 e Num. 24 14 ; 25. 1 ; 31. 16 ; 2 Peter 2. 15 ; Jurte 11. a Acts 
 
 15. 20: 1 Cor. 8. 9, 10; 10. 19,20; verse 20. hi Cor. 6. 13, etc. 
 
 c Verse 6. d Isaiah 11. 4; 2 Thess. 2. 8: chap. 1. It! ; 
 
 they openly professed themselves disciples and fol- 
 lowers of their Lord and Master. Antipas was 
 my faithful martyr — Who this Antipas was we 
 cannot tell. We only know that he was a Christ- 
 ian, and probably bore some office in the Church, 
 and became illustrious by his martyrdom in the 
 cause of Christ. It is supposed that he was mur- 
 dered by some mob, who chose this way to vindi- 
 cate the honour of their god yEsculapius, in oppo- 
 sition to the claims of our Lord Jesus. [All of the 
 apocryphal stories of the martyrdom of Antipas 
 are entirely unworthy of credit.] 
 
 14. I have a few things against thee — The 
 good deeds of this Church are first sought out and 
 commended ; what was wrong in them is touched 
 with a gentle but effectual hand. The followers of 
 Balaam, (that is, the Nicolaitans) and the Gnos- 
 tics, were probably all the same kind of persons. 
 (See on verse 6.) What the doctrine of Balaam 
 was, see the notes on Num. xxii, xxiii, and xxiv. 
 It appears that there were some then in the Church 
 at Pergamos who held eating things offered to idols 
 in honour of those idols, and fornication, indifferent 
 things. They associated with idolaters in the 
 heathen temples, and partook with them in their 
 religious festivals. 
 
 15. The doctrine of the Nicolaitans — See 
 on verse 6. 
 
 16. Will fight against them with the sword 
 of my mouth — See on verse 12. He now speaks 
 for their edification and salvation ; but if they do 
 not repent, he will shortly declare those judgments 
 which shall unavoidably fall upon them. 
 
 17. The hidden manna — It was a constant 
 tradition of the Jews that the ark of the covenant, 
 the tables of stone, Aaron's rod, the holy anoint- 
 ing oil, and the pot of manna, were hidden by 
 King Josiah when Jerusalem was taken by the 
 Chaldeans ; and that these shall all be restored in 
 the days of the Messiah. This " manna " was " hid- 
 den," but Christ promises to give it to him that is 
 conqueror. And will give him a white stone 
 — It is supposed that by the " white stone " is 
 meant pardon or acquittance, and the evidence of 
 it ; and that there is an allusion here to the cus- 
 tom observed by judges in ancient times, who 
 were accustomed to give their suffrages by white 
 and black pebbles ; those who gave the former 
 were for absolving the prisoner, those who gave 
 the latter were for his condemnation. This is 
 probably what is elsewhere called, the earnest of 
 the Spirit. (See on Eph. i, 14.) He then who has 
 received and retains the witness of the Spirit that 
 
 the Spirit saitli unto the churches; To him 
 that overcometh will I give to eat of the hid- 
 den manna, and will give him a white stone, 
 and in the stone f a new name written, which 
 no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it. 
 18 And unto the angel of the church in Thy a- 
 tira write; These things saitli the Son of God, 
 Effho hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, 
 and his feet are like fine brass; 19 h I know 
 thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, 
 and thy patience, and thy works; and the last 
 to be more than the first. 20 Notwithstand- 
 ing I have a few things against thee, because 
 thou sufferest that woman 'Jezebel, which 
 
 10. 15,21.- 
 1. 14, 15. 
 9. 7. 
 
 -, V.rses 7, 11. 
 - A Verse 2. — 
 
 —/Chap. 3. 12; 10. 12. g Chap. 
 
 H Kings 16. 31; 21. 25; 2 Kings 
 
 he is adopted into the heavenly family may hum- 
 bly claim, in virtue of it, his support of the bread 
 and water of life ; the hidden manna — every grace 
 of the Spirit of God ; and the tree of fife — im- 
 mortality, or the final glorifieation of his body and 
 soul throughout eternity. By this state of grace 
 into which he is brought he acquires a new name, 
 the name of child of God ; the earnest of the 
 Spirit shows him this "new name." And this name 
 of child of God no man can know or understand 
 but he who has received the divine witness. As 
 his friend and redeemer may be found everywhere, 
 because he fills the heavens and the earth, every- 
 where he may, on retaining his seal of adoption, 
 claim direction, succour, support, grace, and glory ; 
 and therefore the privileges of him who over- 
 cometh are the greatest and most glorious that 
 can be imagined. 
 
 The Epistle to the Church at Thyatira. 
 
 1 8. These things saith the Son of God — See 
 the notes on chap, i, 14, 15. 
 
 19. I know thy -works — And of these he first 
 sets forth their charity, ri/v ayanr/v, their love to 
 God and each other ; and particularly to the poor 
 and distressed ; and hence followed their faith, 
 rfjv ttigtiv, their fidelity, to the grace they had re- 
 ceived ; and service, rip tiiaicoviav, and ministra- 
 tion ; properly pious and benevolent service to 
 widows, orphans, and the poor in general. And 
 thy patience — Tijv v-oitovt/v oov, thy perseverance 
 under afflictions and persecutions, and thy con- 
 tinuance in well-doing. I put " faith " before 
 " service," according to the general consent of the 
 best MSS. and Versions. Thy works — The con- 
 tinued labour of love, and thorough obedience. 
 The last to be more than the first — They not 
 only retained what they had received at first, but 
 grew in grace, and in the knowledge and love of 
 Jesus Christ. This is a rare thing in most Christ- 
 ian Churehes ; they generally lose the power of 
 religion, and rest in the forms of worship ; and it 
 requires a powerful revival to bring them to such 
 a state that their last works shall be more than 
 their first. [This praise is the opposite of the 
 blame conveyed by verse 5 to the Ephesian Church. 
 — Afford.] 
 
 20. That woman (thy wife) Jezebel — An 
 allusion to the history of Ahab and Jezebi 1, 
 (see 1 Kings xxi, 25,) [from which text the phrase 
 is transferred entire, importing that this Jezebel 
 was to the Church of Thyatira what that other 
 
 583
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 message to the Church 
 at Thy&tira. 
 
 calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to 
 seduce my servants k to commit fornication, 
 and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. 21 And 
 1 gave Iter space ' to repent of her fornication ; 
 and slie repented not. 22 Behold, I will cast 
 her into a bed, and them that commit adultery 
 with her into great tribulation, except they 
 repent of their deeds. 23 And I will kill her 
 children with death: and all the churches shall 
 
 t- Exod. 34. 15: Acts 15. 20. 29; 1 Tor. 10. 19, 20; verse 14. 
 
 7 Rom. 2. 4; chap. 9. 20. m I Sam. l<5. 7: 1 Chron. 28. 9; 29. 
 
 17 ; 2 Chron. 6. 30; l'sa. 7. 9; Jer. 11. 20; 17. 10; 20. 12; John 
 
 to Ahab. The very fact of the name Jezebel was 
 being chosen, (for it is impossible, even were this 
 actually the name of a woman, that it should 
 be used here with any other than a symbolical 
 meaning,) coupled with rhi> yvva'tKa aov, (thy wife,) 
 takes us out of the realms of simple facts into 
 those of symbolism. The figure of " Jezebel thy 
 wife" being once recognised in its historical im- 
 port, (as given in the Old Testament,) it would 
 not be needful that an individual woman should be 
 found to answer to it ; the conscience of the 
 Thyatirian Church could not fail to apply the severe 
 reproof to whatever influence was being exerted 
 in the direction here indicated. The sect or in- 
 dividuals being once concentrated as Jezebel, y 
 /lEyovoa eavTrjv -r/jooiJTiv, would follow, of course, in 
 tiie propriety of the figure. . . . This clause per- 
 haps points to an individual ; but there is no 
 reason why a sect claiming prophetic gifts should 
 not be indicated. — Alford.-] 
 
 21. I gave her space to repent — God first 
 sent Elijah to Ahab to pronounce a severe 
 judgment upon him; upon which Ahab showed 
 tokens of repentance, and so God put off his pun- 
 ishment. By these means the like punishment 
 pronounced against Jezebel was also put off. Thus 
 God gave her time to repent, which she did not, 
 but instead of that seduced her sons to the same 
 sins. (See t Kings xxi.) According to the Mosa- 
 ical law, the punishment of idolatrous seducers was 
 not. to be delayed at all ; but God sometimes showed 
 mercy, and now much more under the Christian 
 dispensation, though that mercy is often abused, 
 and thus produces the contrary effect, as in the 
 case of this Jezebel. (See Eccles. viii, f 1.) [For- 
 bearance had already been exercised, and the time 
 had now come in which other measures would be 
 resorted to. llopveiag avrrjc may possibly mean 
 the corrupt and abominable doctrines which she 
 taught ; but it seems likely that doctrine and prac- 
 tice went together. — Stuart] 
 
 22. Behold, I will cast her into a bed— 
 This again alludes to the same history. Ahaziah, 
 son of Ahab and Jezebel, by his mother's ill in- 
 struction and example, followed her ways. God 
 punished him by making him fall down, as is sup- 
 posed, from the top of the terrace over his house, 
 and so to be bedridden for a long time under great 
 anguish, designing thereby to give him time to re- 
 pent ; but when, instead of that, he sent, to consult 
 Baalzebub, Elijah was sent to pronounce a final 
 doom against his impenitence. Thus the son of 
 Jezebel, who had committed idolatry with and by 
 her advice, was long enxf. into the bed of affliction, 
 and not repenting, died : in the same manner his 
 brother Jehoram succeeded likewise. All this 
 while Jezebel had time and warning enough to re- 
 pent ; and though she did not prevail with Jehoram 
 
 584 
 
 know that '"I am he which searelieth the reins 
 and hearts: and "I will give unto everyone 
 of you according to your works. 24 But un- 
 to you I say, and unto the rest in Thyntira, as 
 many as have not this doctrine, and which have 
 not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; 
 °I will put upon you none other burden. 
 25 But rthat which ye have already, hold 
 fast till I come. 26 And he that overcoincth, 
 
 2.24,25; Acts 1.24; Rom. 8. 27 n Psa. fi2. 12: Matt. 16.27; 
 
 Rom. 2 tj; 14. 12: 2 Cor. 5. 10; Gal. 6. 5; chap. 20. 12. 
 
 o Acts 15. 28. ;/ Chap. :;. II. 
 
 to continue in the idolatrous worship of Baal, yet 
 she persisted in her own way, notwithstanding 
 God's warnings. The sacred writer, therefore, 
 here threatens the Gnostic Jezebel to make that 
 wherein she delighteth, as adulterers in the bed of 
 lust, to be the very place, occasion, and instrument 
 of her greatest torment. So in Isaiah, the "bed" 
 is made a symbol of tribulation and anguish of 
 body and mind. (See Tsa. xxviii, 20 ; Job xxxiii, 19.) 
 
 23. And I will kill her children with death 
 — That is, I will certainly destroy her offspring 
 and memory, and thereby ruin her designs. Jeze- 
 bel's two sons, being both kings, were both slain; 
 and after that, all the seventy sons of Ahab, 
 (2 Kings x, 1 ;) in all which the hand of God was 
 very visible. In the same manner God predicts 
 the destruction of the heretics and heresies re- 
 ferred to. (See verse 16.) It should seem by the 
 expression, I am he which searcheth the reins 
 and hearts, that these heretics linked about and 
 sowed their pernicious doctrines secretly. But our 
 Saviour tells them that it was in vain, for he had 
 power to bring their deeds to light, searching into 
 the wills and affections of men. The Son of God 
 hath eyes like a flame of fire, to search into every 
 thing, and burn up the chaff which cannot stand 
 his trial ; so also (he depths of Satan (mentioned 
 in the next verse) shall avail nothing to those who 
 think by their secret craft to undermine the Christ- 
 ian religion; he will not only bring to light but 
 baffle all their evil intentions. (See chap, xvii, 9.) 
 
 24. But unto you I say, and unto the rest 
 — ['Y/niv, you, and ~o'ig /.ot-ojg, the rest, stand in 
 apposition, and refer to the same persons, and so] 
 it evidently shows that the rest of the epistle 
 wholly concerns the faithful, who have not received 
 the former doctrine of error. I will put upon 
 you none other burden — Is a commendation of 
 the sound part of the Church, that they have no 
 need of any new exhortation or charge to be given 
 them, no new advice but to persevere as usual. 
 (See Rom. xv, 14, 15.) ["None other burden:" 
 not the entire law of Moses.] The expres-ion 
 "burden" is taken from the history of Ahab, 
 (2 Kings ix, 25 :) "The Lord laid this burden upon 
 him;" a word often used by the prophets to signify 
 a prophecy threatening heavy things to be suffered. 
 (See on Isa. xiii, 1, and Num. iv, 19.) It is worthy 
 of remark that the Gnostics called their doctrine 
 "the depths of God," and "the depths of Bythos," 
 intimating that they contained the most profound 
 secrets of divine wisdom. Christ here calls them 
 the depths of Satan, being masterpieces of his 
 subtlety. Perhaps they thought them to be of God. 
 
 25. That which ye have — That is, the pure 
 doctrine of the Gospel, of which they were now in 
 possession. Hold fast till I come — Till I come 
 to execute the judgments which 1 have threatened.
 
 Christ's messace to the Church 
 at Sardis. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 A. M. 41(1(1. A. D. 9 
 Vear of Rome, 849. 
 
 and keepeth 'ray works unto the end, r to liini 
 will I give power over the nations: 27 s And 
 he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the 
 vessels of a potter shall they he broken to 
 shivers: even as I received of ray Father. 
 2* And I will give him 'the morning star. 
 29 "He that hath an ear, let him hear what 
 the Spirit saith unto the churches. 
 
 A 
 
 CITAPTER III. 
 NT) unto the angel of the church in Sardis 
 write; These things saith he "that hath 
 
 g John 0. 29; 1 John 3. 23. r Mutt. 19. 28; Luke 22. 20. 30; 
 
 I tor. H. 3; ch ip. 3. 21 ; 20. 4. * Psa. 2. 8. 9; lit. 14 : Dan. 
 
 7 22; chap. 12. 5; 19. 15. — ti Pet.. I. 19; chup. 22. 10. 
 
 II Xese 7. it Chap. 1. 4, hi; 4. 5; 5. 6. 
 
 26. Power over the nations — Every witness 
 of Christ has power to confute and confound all 
 the false doctrines and maxims of the nations of 
 the world, for Christianity shall at last rule over 
 all ; the kingdom of Christ will come, and the 
 kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our 
 God and of his Christ. [The power of Christianity 
 over the heathen world, which power is to be per- 
 fected at the end of the world, (as time advances,) 
 begins with the victorious power of the Christian 
 spirit over heathen works and ways. — Lange.] 
 
 27. He shall rule [iroi/iavei, sliepherdize] them 
 with a rod of iron — He shall restrain vice by the 
 strictest administration of justice; and those who 
 finally despise the word and rebel shall be broken 
 and destroyed, so as never more to be able to make 
 head against the truth. [A preponderance of 
 spiritual power over the carnal mind (seethe para- 
 ble of the leaven) is also expressed by the antith- 
 esis of the iron sceptre and the earthen vessel 
 dashed in pieces by it. Of course the dashing in 
 pieces is a spiritual act, and one that is performed 
 only in the proportion to the resistance offered. — 
 Lange.] 
 
 28. And I will give him the morning star 
 — He shall have the brightest and most glorious 
 empire, next to that of Christ himself. It is well 
 known that sun, moon, and stars are emblems, in 
 prophetic language, of empires, kingdoms, and 
 states. And as the morning star is that which im- 
 mediately precedes the rising of the sun, it proba- 
 bly here intends an empire which should usher in 
 the universal sway of the kingdom of Christ. [I 
 will clothe him with radiance like that of the " morn- 
 ing star." (See Rev. xii, 1 ; xxii, 16; Psa. civ, 2.) 
 — Stuart.'] 
 
 29. He that hath an ear — Let every Christ- 
 ian pay the strictest regard to these predictions of 
 Christ; and let them have a suitable influence on 
 his heart and life. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER III. 
 
 The ErisTLE to the Church at Sardis. 
 
 1. The seven Spirits of God — See the note 
 on chapter i, 4, 16, etc. Thou hast a name that 
 thou livest — Ye have the reputation of Christians, 
 and consequently of being alive to God, through 
 the quickening influence of the divine Spirit ; but 
 ye are dead — Ye have not the life of God in your 
 souls, ye have not walked consistently and steadily 
 before God, and his Spirit has been grieved with 
 you and he has withdrawn much of his light and 
 power. [The word veupdc, dead, is here used in a 
 
 the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; 
 'I know thy works, that thou hast a name 
 that thou livest, c and art dead. 2 He watch- 
 ful, and strengthen the things which remain, 
 that are ready to die : for I have not found 
 thy works perfect before God. IS d Remember 
 therefore how thou hast received and heard, 
 and hold fast, and e repent. f If therefore thou 
 shalt not watch, 1 will come on thee as a thief, 
 and thou shalt not know what hour I will 
 come upon thee. 4 Thou hast ?:i few names 
 even in Sardis which have not h defiled their 
 
 feChap. 2. 2. cEph. 2. 1, 5; 1 Tim. 5. K. d\ Tim. h\ 2"; 
 
 2 Tim. 1. 13; verse 11. e Verse 19. -/Mutt. 21 42,4:!; 2". 13 J 
 
 Mark 13. 33; Luke 12.39,40: 1 Thess. 5. 2, 0; 2 l'et. 3. 10; chap. 
 10. 15. U Acts 1. 15. h Jude 23. . 
 
 modified sense ; for the speaker does not mean to 
 deny that there are some Christians in Sardis ; but 
 rather that they are generally in a cold and lifeless 
 (not lively) state. — Stuart.] 
 
 2. Be watchful — Ye have lost ground by care- 
 lessness and inattention. Awake, and keep awake! 
 Strengthen the things which remain — The 
 convictions and good desires, with any measure of 
 the fear of God and of a tender conscience, which, 
 although still subsisting, are perishing because the 
 Holy Spirit, who is the author of them, being re- 
 peatedly grieved, is withdrawing his power. Thy 
 works perfect — YlETil^pufiiva, Jilted up. They 
 performed duties of all kinds, hut no duty com- 
 pletely. They were constantly beginning, but never 
 brought any thing to a proper end. Their resolu- 
 tions were languid, their strength feeble, and their 
 light dim, [their beginnings became abortive.] 
 They probably maintained their reputation before 
 men, but their " works " were not " perfect " before 
 God. 
 
 3. Remember — Enter into a serious considera- 
 tion of your state. How thou hast received — 
 With what joy, zeal, and gladness ye heard the 
 Gospel of Christ when first preached to you. Hold 
 fast — Those good desires and heavenly influences 
 which still remain, [and the doctrines which have 
 been delivered to you.] And repent — Be humbled 
 before God, because ye have not been workers to- 
 gether with him, but have received much of his 
 grace in vain. If therefore thou shalt not 
 watch — If you do not consider your ways, watch- 
 ing against sin, and for opportunities to receive 
 and do good. I will come on thee as a thief — 
 As the thief conies when he is not expected, so will 
 I come upon you if ye be not watchful, and will cut 
 you off from life and hope. 
 
 4. Thou hast a few names even in Sardis — 
 A few persons — "names" being put for those who 
 bore them. When persons are admitted into the 
 Church, or when baptized, their names are enrolled 
 in a book. (See verse 5.) ['Oro/wra (names) in 
 the plural appears to be employed only when some 
 enumeration is supposed to take place. So also 
 the adjective bX'rya (few) implies some kind of 
 enumeration in order to ascertain the fact which 
 it asserts. — Stuart] Have not defiled their gar- 
 ments — Their souls. The Hebrews considered 
 holiness as the garb of the soul, and evil actions as 
 stains or spots on this garb. [This is not absolute 
 praise, as it is simply negative, (in form;) still it. 
 is great praise, as the persons referred to have 
 withstood the general infection. — Lange.] [They 
 had not corrupted their lives, not disgraced their 
 
 585
 
 A.M. 4100. A. P. 96. 
 
 Year of K..iiih, ^4:'. 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 Christ's message •<> the Cburvh 
 at 1'hilaJeljiljia. 
 
 garments; and they sliall walk with me 'in 
 white: for they are worthy. 5 lie that over- 
 cometh, k the same shall he clothed in white 
 raiment ; ami I will not ' blot out his name out 
 of the "'book of life, but "I will confess his 
 name before my Father, and before his angels. 
 6 " He that hath an ear, let him hear what the 
 Spirit saith unto the churches. 7 And to the 
 angel of the church in Philadelphia write; 
 These things saith Phe that is holy, i he that is 
 true, he that hath r the key of David, s he that 
 openeth, and no man shutteth ; and | shutteth, 
 
 i Ch:ip. 4. 4 ; 6. 11 : 7. 9, 13.— £ Chap. 19. 8. 1 Exod. 32. 32 ; 
 
 Psa. 69. 28. in Phil. 4. 3; chap. 13. 8: 17. 8; 20. 12; 21. 27. 
 
 11 Matt. HI 32; Luke 12. 8. »Chap. 2. 7. p Acts 3. 14. 
 
 q 1 John 5. 20: verse 14; chap. 1.5; 6.10; 19. 11. 
 
 professions by falling into sin.] They shall walk 
 with me in -white — They shall be raised to a 
 state of eternal glory, and shall be forever with 
 their Lord. [The "white," here, is not to be iden- 
 tified with the undefiled garments which they now 
 wear ; it is a new and glorious hue of victory. (See 
 chapter vi, 11; vii, 9; xix, 8.) — Alford.] For 
 they are worthy — ["Af«M e'iglv. Not the worthi- 
 ness of personal merit, but the fitness induced by 
 the grace of Christ, the Father's love, the merits of 
 Christ's atonement, and the sanetifieation of the 
 Holy Spirit.] 
 
 5. I -will not blot out his name — This may be 
 an allusion to the custom of registering the names 
 of those who were admitted into the Church in a 
 book kept for that purpose, like the baptismal 
 registers in churches. These are properly books 
 of life, as there those who were born unto God 
 were registered ; as in the latter those who were 
 born in that parish were enrolled. [The conditional 
 promise not to blot out their names from the book 
 of life implies that in any case of failure, the lia- 
 bility to which is supposed, names already writ- 
 ten in the book of life will be blotted out.] 
 I will confess his name— I will acknowledge 
 that this person is my true disciple, and a member 
 of my mystical body. [The Church (both here and 
 hereafter) is conceived of as a city, and those ad- 
 mitted to dwell there are citizens, having their names 
 inscribed in the register ; and for all those who 
 fulfil the prescribed conditions — repentance, faith, 
 sanetifieation, and continuance in well-doing — 
 Christ, the head of that city of God, himself be- 
 comes surety.] 
 
 6. He that hath an ear — The usual caution 
 and counsel carefully to attend to the things spoken 
 to the members of that Church, in which every 
 leader is more or less interested. 
 
 The Epistle to the Church at Philadelphia. 
 
 7. He that is holy — In whom holiness essen- 
 tially dwells, and from whom all holiness is derived. 
 He that is true — He who cannot lie, and from 
 whom all truth proceeds. He that hath the key 
 of David — See tl is metaphoi explained in note on 
 Matt, xvi, 1 '.'. The key " is the emblem of authority 
 and knowledge; the key of David is the regal 
 right or authority of David. He could dispose 
 the affairs of his kingdom as he pleased. The 
 kingdom of the Gospel and the kingdom of heaven 
 are at the disposal of Christ. He can shut against 
 whom he will ; he can open to whom he pleases. 
 If he shuts, no man can open ; if he opens, no man 
 can shut. His determinations all stand fast, and 
 
 586 
 
 and no man openeth ; 8 "I know thy works: 
 behold, I have set before thee v an open door, 
 and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little 
 strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not 
 denied my name. 9 Behold. I will make " them 
 of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are 
 Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, "I will 
 make them to come and worship before thy 
 feet, and to know that I have loved thee. 
 10 Because thou hast kept the word of my 
 patience, > I also will keep thee from the hour 
 of temptation, which shall come upon z all the 
 
 rlsa. 22. 22: Luke 1. 32; chap. 1. 18. 8 Matt. 1«. 19. 
 
 ^Joh 12. 14. it Verse 1. vl Cor. 16. 9; 2 Oor. 2. 12.- 
 
 wChap. 2. 9. a'lsa. 49. 23; 60. 14. j/2 Peter 2. 9. 
 
 z Luke 2. 1. 
 
 none can reverse them. [In Isaiah xxii, 22, the 
 metaphor of the "key" stands connected with the 
 house of David, which makes the meaning obvious. 
 Access to, and control over, the house of David, 
 that is, the regal house or palace, is plainly desig- 
 nated by the " key." ... So here, the Messiah, who 
 is the holy and the true, has power to perform all 
 his promises, for his control is supreme and entire. 
 (See Matt, xxviii, 18.) — Stuart.'] 
 
 8. I have set before thee an open door — 
 [Still holding on to the figure of the key.] I have 
 opened to thee a " door " to proclaim and diffuse my 
 word; and, notwithstanding there are many adver- 
 saries to the spread of my Gospel, yet none of 
 them shall be able to prevent it. [Perhaps this 
 originally referred to the opening of the door of 
 the Church to the Gentiles, which was at that time 
 a question violently controverted ; its perpetual 
 significance is in the ministrations of the divine 
 providence and Spirit, affording the Church op- 
 portunities to do good and to propagate itself in the 
 world.] Thou hast a little strength — A little 
 authority or influence ; and thou hast kept my 
 word, and hast not denied my name, by taking 
 shelter in heathenism when Christianity was perse- 
 cuted. The " little strength " probably refers not 
 to the littleness of their grace, but to the smali- 
 ness of their numbers and influence. 
 
 9. I will make them — Show them to be of the 
 synagogue of Satan, which say they are 
 Jews, pretending thereby to be of the synagogue 
 of God, and consequently his true and peculiar 
 children. I will make them to come and wor- 
 ship — [As it was prophesied in the Old Testament 
 that the Gentiles should be converted and come 
 unto Zion, to the Jews, so here it is predicted that 
 the Judaizing Jews shall in their conversion come 
 to the Church of Christ as the true Zion. — Lunge.] 
 To know that I have loved thee— That the 
 (distinguishing) love which was formerly fixed on 
 the Jews is now removed, and transferred to the 
 Gentiles. [To the faithful of all nations.] 
 
 10. The word of my patience — The doctrine 
 which has exposed you to so much trouble and per- 
 secution, and required so much patience and mag- 
 nanimity to bear up under its attendant trials. 
 The hour of temptation — A time of sore and 
 peculiar trial which might have proved too much 
 for their strength. He who is faithful to the 
 grace of God is often hidden from trials and diffi- 
 culties which fall without mitigation on those who 
 have been unfaithful in his covenant. [Whether 
 or no some particular persecution is here referred 
 to, and if so what one, cannot now be determined.] 
 To try them that dweU upon the earth. — [" I
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 A.M.4inr,. A.D. 96. 
 Hear ol Rome, 849. 
 
 world, to try them that dwell "upon the earth. 
 
 11 Heboid, b I come quickly: "hold that fast 
 which thou hast, that no man take ''thy crown. 
 
 12 Him that overcometh will I make "a pillar 
 in the temple of my God, and he shall go uo 
 more out: and f I will write upon him the 
 name of my God, and the name of the city of 
 my God, which is snew Jerusalem, which Com- 
 eth down out of heaven from my God: ''and 
 I will write upon him my new name. Hi 'He 
 that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit 
 
 fllsa. 24. 17. ft Phi. 4. .->: chap. 1. 3: 22. 7, 12, 20. — 
 
 cVerseS; chap. 2. 25. '/Chap. 2. 10. — e I Kin>rs 7. 21 ; Gal. 
 
 2. 9. -/Chap. 2. 17; 14. 1; 22. 4. ?Gal. 4. 2tj ; lleb. 12. 22: 
 
 will exempt you from the severe trials of perse- 
 cution which will be experienced by all the coun- 
 tries around you, or I will mitigate those trials." 
 This shows that an active and widespread perse- 
 cution was then either going on or about to be 
 commenced when this book was written; (and it 
 points to Nero's lifetime, as the persecution eeased 
 at his death.) — Stuart.] 
 
 11. Behold, I come quickly — These things will 
 shortly take place ; and I am coming with conso- 
 lations and rewards to my faithful followers, and 
 with judgments to my adversaries. [We must 
 insist on the fact that this is no definition of time, 
 in the common chronological sense ; it is to be ap- 
 prehended in an exalted and religious sense. The 
 term rax'", quick!;/, always involves the surpris- 
 ingness of the coming, as sudden and unexpect- 
 ed. — Lange.] Take thy crown — God has pro- 
 vided crowns and mansions for you ; let none 
 through your negligence occupy those seats of bless- 
 edness. [Perseverance is a condition essential to 
 the final reward.] 
 
 12. A pillar in the temple — The Church is 
 the "temple;" Christ is the foundation on which 
 it is built ; and his ministers are the pillars by 
 which, under him, it is adorned and supported. 
 (See Gal. ii, 9.) I will write upon him the name 
 of my God — That is, I will make him a priest 
 unto myself. The priest had written on his fore- 
 head, "Holiness to the Lord." And the name of 
 the city of my God — As the high priest had on 
 his breastplate the names of the twelve tribes en- 
 graved, and these constituted the " city " or Church 
 of God, Christ here promises that in place of them 
 the name of the Church shall be written, which 
 is called the New Jerusalem, and which God has 
 adopted in place of the twelve Jewish tribes. [To 
 indicate its heavenly or spiritual nature, it is re- 
 presented as descending from God out of heaven. — 
 Stuart.'] My new name — The Saviour of all ; 
 the Light that lightens the Gentiles ; the Christ ; 
 the Anointed One ; the only Governor of his 
 Church ; and the Redeemer of all mankind. There 
 is here an intimation that the Christian Church is 
 to endure forever; and the Christian ministry to 
 last as long as time endures : He shall go no more 
 out forever. 
 
 The Epistle to the Church of the Laodioeans. 
 
 14. These things saith the Amen — That is, 
 He who is true or faithful ; as immediately inter- 
 preted, The faithful and true witness. (See chap, 
 i, 5.) The beginning of the creation of God 
 — That is, the head and governor of all creatures ; 
 the king of the creation. (See on Col. i, 15.) By 
 
 saith unto the churches. 11 And unto the 
 angel of the church k of the Laodiceans write; 
 
 'These things saith the Amen, '"the faithful 
 and true witness, "the beginning of the crea- 
 tion of (iod; 15 °I know thy works, that 
 thou art neither cold nor hot : 1 would thou 
 wert cold or hot. 16 So then because thou 
 art lukewarm, ami neither cold nor hot, I will 
 spew thee out of my mouth. 17 Because 
 thou sayest, pI am rich, and increased with 
 goods, and have need of nothing; and knovvest 
 
 chap. 21. 2, 10. /(Chap. 22. 4. /Chap. 2. 7. /'Or. in 
 
 Lnodieea.- Jlsa, 65. IK. — mChap. I. .">: 19. 11: 22. ti; 
 verse 7. n Col. 1. 15. o Verse 1. p llos. 12. 8 ; 1 Cor. 4. g. 
 
 his titles, here, he prepares them for the humili- 
 ating and awful truths which he was about to de- 
 clare, and the authority on which the declaration 
 
 was founded. ['E apxv "'/? uriceoc rue Oeov, the 
 chief, oi'head, of all created things. In him (not 
 as subject, but source) the whole creation of (iod is 
 begun and conditioned. He is its source and pri- 
 mary fountain-head . — Alford^] [The word apxy, 
 beginning, (better, the chief apx^v,) is not an ex- 
 pression of time, or historical sequence, but of 
 headship or supremacy, in all the created universe.] 
 
 15. Thou art neither cold nor hot — They 
 were listless and indifferent, and seemed to care 
 little whether heathenism or Christianity prevailed; 
 and yet they had such a general conviction of the 
 truth and importance of Christianity that they 
 could not readih give it up. I would thou wert 
 cold or hot — That is, ye should be decided ; adopt 
 some part or other, and be in earnest in your at- 
 tachment to it. They had good dispositions which 
 were captivated by evil ones, and they had evil 
 dispositions which in their turn yielded to those 
 that were good; even the divine justice and mercy 
 seemed puzzled to know what to do to or with 
 them. This was the state of the Laodicean Church. 
 [^vxpdc, cold, would imply a state absolutely un- 
 christian ; ^ttTToc, hot, means a fervid and zealous 
 state. X'/wifi6r here designates tepid, as tepid 
 water, which is odious to the palate and provokes 
 vomiting. . . . This balancing between Christ and 
 the world, (especially) when dangers press and 
 difficulties are frequent and formidable, is not al- 
 lowed to soldiers of the cross. — Stuart.] 
 
 16. Because thou art lukewarm — Irresolute 
 and undecided. I will spew thee out of my 
 mouth — He alludes here to the known effect of 
 tepid water upon the stomach ; it generally pro- 
 duces a nausea. I will cast thee off. Thou snalt 
 have no interest in me. Though thou hast been 
 near to my heart, yet now I must pluck thee thence, 
 because slothful, careless, and indolent ; thou art 
 not, in earnest for thy soul. [The i/wxpoc, cold, 
 as openly belonging to the world and having no 
 part or lot in Christ's Church, and actively opposed 
 to it, anil tjtaroc, the opposite state of spiritual 
 fervour, are intelligible and plainly marked condi- 
 tions; at all events, free fromMiat danger of mixed 
 motive ami disregard of principle which belongs to 
 the lukewarm state, inasmuch as a man in earnest, 
 be he right or wrong, is ever a better man (,/"<,,,</, 
 hoc) than one professing what he does not feel. — 
 Alford.] 
 
 17. I am rich — [Growing in wealth, self- 
 sufficient, a climax of worldliness. This imagined 
 self-sufficing may have been the outgrowth of 
 an outwardly prosperous condition ; but the great 
 
 687
 
 A. M. 410O. A. D. C'fi. 
 i'eur of Rome, 349. 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 not that thou art wretched, and miserable, 
 and poor, and blind, and naked : 1§ I coun- 
 sel thee i to buy of me gold tried in the fire, 
 that thou mayest be rich ; and r white raiment, 
 that thon mayest be clothed, and that the 
 shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and 
 anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thon may- 
 esl see. 12) s As many as 1 love, I rebuke and 
 chasten : be zealous therefore, and repent. 
 
 <?Isa. 55. 1 ; Matt. 13. 44; 25.9. ?-2Cor. 5. 3: chap. 7. 13; 
 
 16. 15; 19. 8. .s-JobS. 17; Prov. 3. 11, 12; Heb. 12. 5,0; James 
 
 1. 12. 
 
 self-deception related to the spiritual estate.] It 
 was this most deceitful conviction that paralyzed 
 their spiritual diligence; they rested in what they 
 had already received, and seemed to think that 
 once in grace must be still in grace. Thou art 
 wretched — Ta?.ai-upor, most wretched, worn out 
 and fatigued with grievous labours. In the sight 
 of God, the most abject slaves. And miserable 
 — '0 t/f/ror, most deplorable, to he pitied by all 
 men. And poor — Having no spiritual riches, no 
 holiness of heart. And blind — The eyes of thy 
 understanding being darkened, so that thou dost 
 not see thy state. And naked — Without the 
 image of God, not clothed with holiness and purity. 
 A more deplorable state, in spiritual things, can 
 scarcely he imagined than that of this Church. 
 And it is the true picture of many Churches, and 
 of innumerable individuals. 
 
 18. I counsel thee— fallen and deceived soul ! 
 Buy of me — [Of him alone can the beggar buy, 
 (Isa. iv, 1, 2,) buy for naught, and yet buy inas- 
 much as it is only under moral forms and conditions 
 that the free gift is received. Its reception im- 
 plies the surrender of a world of counterfeit value, 
 and thus there is a difference between its bestowal 
 and the actual (unconditioned) giving of alms to a 
 beggar. — Lange.] Gold tried in [£/t v~d, 6i/] the 
 fire — Faith that shall stand in every trial. White 
 raiment — Holiness of heart and life. Anoint 
 thine eyes — The lightening influences of the Holy 
 Spirit. [By " gold " may be understood the spiritual 
 endowments of the soul, the riches of God's grace ; 
 by the " white raiment " the beautifying of the sou] 
 by indwelling righteousness, and by anointing the 
 eyes with eyesalve, the reception of the illuminating 
 power of the Spirit. This describes a true spir- 
 itual enriching, in contrast to the fancied one, 
 which was indeed only the most abject poverty.] 
 
 19. As many as I love — So it was the love he 
 still had for them that induced him thus to repre- 
 hend and thus to counsel them. Be zealous — Be 
 in earnest, to have your souls saved. He now stirs 
 them up to diligence in the use of the means of 
 grace, and repentance for their past sins and re- 
 missness. 
 
 2l ». Behold, I stand at the door, and knock 
 — Christ stands — waits long at the "door" of the 
 sinner's heart; he knocks — uses judgments, mer- 
 cies, reproofs, exhortations, etc., to induce sinners 
 to repent and turn to him; he lifts up his voice — 
 calls loudly by his word, ministers, and Spirit. 
 [Probably there is here a reference to Canticles 
 v, 2, and if so, the imagery there presented may be 
 used to explain the present. It is the bride- 
 groom knocking at the door of his own bridal 
 chamber, with the suggestion of the infidelity of 
 the bride, and yet we have here the picture of 
 Christ long and patiently waiting and calling, and 
 58S 
 
 20 Behold, 'I stand at the door, and knock: 
 "if any man hear my voice, and open the door, 
 1 I will come in to him, and will sup with him, 
 and he with me. 21 To him that overcometh 
 w will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even 
 as I also overcame, and am set down with my 
 Father in bis throne. 22 * lie that hath an 
 ear. let him hear what the Spirit saith unto 
 the churches. 
 
 rfCant. 5. 2. u Luke 12. 37. r John 14. 23. w Matt. Hi. 
 
 28: Luke 22. 30; 1 Cor. 6. 2; 2 Tim. 2. 12; chap. 2. 20, 27. 
 
 a' Chap. 2. 7. 
 
 suing for admittance to his own most sacredly con- 
 secrated shrine.] If any man hear — If the sinner 
 will seriously consider his state, and attend to the 
 voice of his Lord. And open the door — This 
 must he his own act, receiving power for this pur- 
 pose from his offended Lord, who will not break 
 open the door; he will make no forcible entry. 
 I will come in to him — I will manifest myself to 
 him, heal all his backslidings, pardon all his in- 
 iquities, and love him freely. Will sup with him 
 — Hold communion with him, feed him with the 
 bread of life. And he with me— I will bring 
 him at last to dwell with me in everlasting glory. 
 [A striking and decisive testimony to the practical 
 freedom of man's will to receive or reject the 
 heavenly guest; without the recognition of which, 
 the love and tenderness of the saying would be a 
 hideous mockery. We open the door to Christ 
 when we admit him, his voice, his commands, his 
 example, to a share in our inner counsels and 
 sources of actions, (and if to a share the?) the whole, 
 for though he pleads as a suppliant for admission, 
 he will enter only as a Sovereign.) To say that 
 this can be done without grace is ignorance; to say 
 that it is done only by that grace irresistibly 
 exerted is far worse ; it is to deprive his gracious 
 pleading of all meaning. — Atford.} 
 
 21. To sit ■with me in my throne — In every 
 case it is to him that overcometh, to the con- 
 queror, that the final promise is made. He that 
 conquers not is not crowned, therefore every prom- 
 ise is here made to him that is faithful unto death. 
 Here is a most remarkable expression ; Jesus has 
 conquered, and is set down with the Father upon 
 the Father's "throne;" he who conquers through 
 Christ sits down with Christ upon his " throne ; " but 
 Christ's throne and the throne of the Father is the 
 same ; and it is on this same tltrone that those who 
 are faithful unto death are finally to sit ! How as- 
 tonishing is this state of exaltation ! The dignity 
 and grandeur of it who can conceive ? 
 
 This is the worst of the seven Churches, and yet 
 the most eminent of all the promises are made to 
 it, showing that the worst may repent, finally con- 
 quer, and attain even to the highest state of glory. 
 
 22. He that hath an ear, let him hear — Mr. 
 Wesley has a very judicious note on the conclusion 
 of this chapter, and particularly on this last verse. 
 Hi that hath an ear, etc. "This (counsel) stands 
 in three former letters before the promise, in the 
 four latter after it; clearly dividing the seven into 
 two /mils, the first containing three, the last foivr 
 letters. The titles given our Lord in the three 
 former letters peculiarly respect his power after his 
 resurrection and ascension, particularly over his 
 Church ; those in the four latter, his divine glory 
 and unity with the Father and the Holy Spirit. 
 Again, this word being placed before the promises in
 
 Descripti"" of the throne nfOod. 
 The four and twenty .-,.1, ,-. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 A. M. IVn. A. T>. 96. 
 Year a Rome, S49. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 AFTEE this I looked, and, behold, a door 
 was opened in lieaven: and "the tirsl 
 voice which 1 heard was as it were of a 
 trumpet talking with me; which said, '-Come 
 up hither, c and I will show thee things which 
 must be hereafter. 2 And immediately ''I 
 was in the Spirit: and, behold, "a throne was 
 set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. 
 J{ And he that sat was to look upon like a 
 jasper and a sardine stone: 'and there was a 
 rainbow round about the throne, in sight like 
 unto an emerald. 4 & And round about the 
 throne were four and twenty seats : and upon 
 the seals I saw four and twenty elders sitting, 
 
 oChap. 1. 10. 7* Chap. 11. 12. cChnp. 1. 19; 22. fi. 
 
 tfChap. I. 10: 17. 3; 31. 10. — elsa. fi. 1; Jer. 17. 12; Ezek. 
 
 1. 2H: 10. I; Dan. 7. '.'. if Ezek. 1. 28. yCliap. 11. Hi. — 
 
 h Chap. :!. 1,5; 6. 11:7. 9,13, 14; ID. U. 
 
 the three former letters excludes the false apostles 
 at Ephesus, the false Jews at Smyrna, and the par- 
 takers with the heathens at Pergamos, from having 
 any share therein. In the four latter, being placed 
 after them, it leaves the promises immediately 
 joined with Christ's address to the angel of the 
 Church to show that the fulfilling of these was 
 near: whereas the others reach beyond the end of 
 the world. It should be observed that the over- 
 coming or victory (*o which alone these peculiar 
 promises are annexed) is not [primarily] the ordi- 
 nary victory obtained by every believer, Out a 
 special victory obtained over great and peculiar 
 temptations by those that are strong in faith." 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER IV. 
 
 1. After this — [After these things, fiera ravra, 
 indicating a succession of events, and probably a 
 second ecstasy ami vision, as is implied in the next 
 verse.] A door was opened in (into) heaven — 
 [The " door . . . opened " here denotes the disclo- 
 sure of the highest revelation, and hence the insight 
 of John. The voice is expressive of the heavenly 
 inspiration and legitimation of this view. It distin- 
 guishes the real ecstasy of the seer from an enthu- 
 siastical and fanatical exultation. — Lange.~\ 
 
 2. I was in the Spirit — Rapt in an ecstasy. 
 (See chap, i, 10.) A throne was set — [Not that he 
 saw the placing of the throne, but as already fixed.] 
 And one sat on the throne — [The unnameable, 
 indescribable Godhead. (See Rev. xx, 11.)] 
 
 o. And he that sat — There is here no descrip- 
 tion of the divine Being, so as to point out any 
 similitude, shape, or dimensions. The description 
 aims to point out the surrounding glory and < fful- 
 gence rather than the person of the almighty King. 
 (See Num. xxiv. 10.) Jasper — ["laty-tc, a beautiful 
 stone of wavy colours, semi-opaque, granulous in 
 texture, used in ancient- times for gems and orna- 
 ments, but in more modern ones, on a larger scale, 
 for pavements and tables.] Sardine — [2<z/j(fooc, a 
 red stone, commonly supposed to answer to our 
 cornelian. — Aiforci] A rainbow — ['l[>'c, a veil of 
 soft light to soft.cn its radiance] Emerald — 
 [Z,t/<'ipaytSoc, a stone of a lovely green colour, Mill 
 well known in the arts.] 
 
 4. Four and twenty elders — Perhaps this is 
 in reference to the smaller sanhedrin at Jerusalem, 
 which was composed of twenty-three elders ; or to 
 the princes of the twenty-four courses of the Jew- 
 ish priests which ministered at the tabernacle and 
 
 ''clothed in white raiment; 'and they had on 
 their heads crowns of gold. 5 And out of the 
 throne proceeded k lightnings and thunderings 
 and voices: 'and there v-< /■<■ seven lamps of 
 tire burning before the throne, which are ,n the 
 seven Spirits of God. <> And before the throne 
 there was "a sea of glass like unto crystal: 
 "and in the midst of the throne, and round 
 about the throne, irerc four beasts full of eyes 
 before Panel behind. 7 ( iAnd the first beast 
 was like a lion, and the second beast like a 
 calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, 
 and the fourth beast was like allying eagle. 
 8 And the four beasts had each of them 'six 
 wings about him; and they were full of eyes 
 
 
 i Verse 10. 
 
 
 -/•Chap. 
 
 8. 5; 
 
 Ifi. 
 
 18. 
 
 -7 Ezek 
 
 s 
 
 7. 23 
 
 2 Chron. 
 
 4. 
 
 20; 1 
 
 Zrk 
 
 1 
 
 13: '/..-.' 
 
 .. 4 
 
 2 
 
 — m Chart. 1. 
 
 4 
 
 :: 1 
 
 : 5. 6. 
 
 h 
 
 Exod 
 
 88. 
 
 8; 
 
 chap. 1} 
 
 2 — 
 
 — o 
 
 Ezek. 
 
 1. s. - 
 
 
 pXr 
 
 rse 8. 
 
 '/ 
 
 Num. 
 
 ■J. •-', 
 
 el 
 
 j. ; Ezek. 
 
 1. Ill 
 
 ; io 
 
 14. — 
 
 -•/• Isa. 
 
 6. 
 
 
 
 the temple, at first appointed by David. Clothed 
 in white raiment — The garments of the priests. 
 On their heads crowns of gold — An emblem 
 of their dignity. [The white robes and crowns are 
 the rewards of endurance and conquest. (See chap- 
 ter ii, 10 ; iii, 5.)] 
 
 5. Seven lamps of fire — Seven angels, the at- 
 tendants and ministers of the supreme King. (See 
 on chapter i, 4.) Lightnings and thunderings 
 — [Lightning and thunder are the ensigns of God's 
 presence and awful majesty ^ (Exod. xix, 1G; Ezra 
 i, 13, 24.)— Stuart.] 
 
 6. Four beasts — Tiaaepa £ua, four living 
 ones. The word "beast" is very improperly used 
 here and elsewhere in this description. 
 
 1. The first beast was like a lion — It is sup- 
 posed that there is a reference here to the four 
 standards or ensigns of the four divisions of the 
 tribes in the Israelitish camp, as they are described 
 by Jewish writers. The first living creature was 
 like a "lion;" the standard of Jiuau with the 
 two tribes of Issachar and Zebulun. The second, 
 like a calf or ox, which was the emblem of Ern- 
 raim, with the two tribes of Manasseh and Benja- 
 min. The third, with the face of a man, was the 
 standard of Reuben, with the two tribes of Simeon 
 and Gad. The fourth, which was like a flying 
 (spread) eagle, was the emblem on the ensign of 
 Dan, with the two tribes of Asher and Naphtali. 
 This traditionary description agrees with the four 
 faces of the cherub in Ezekiel's vision. [Rut for any 
 properly exegetical use all this is entirely worthless. ] 
 
 8. The four beasts had each of them six 
 •wings — Both the phraseology and the imagery of 
 this book are rabbinical. We have almost a coun- 
 terpart of this description in Pirkey Elieser, chap- 
 ter^ "Four troops of ministering angels praise 
 the holy, blessed God : The first is Michael, at the 
 right hand ; the next is Gabriel, at the left ; the 
 third is Uriel, before; and the fourth is Raphael, 
 behind him. The. shechinah of the holy, blessed 
 God is in the m\dst, ami he himself .-it- upon a 
 throne high and elevated, hanging in the air; and 
 his magnificence i> a- amber in the midst of the 
 fire. (Ezek. i, 1.) On his head is placed a crown 
 and a diadem, with the incommunicable name }'<- 
 hovah inscribed on the front of it. His eyes go 
 throughout the whole earth ; a, pari of them is fire, 
 and a part of them hail. At his right hand -' 
 I, lie. and at his left hand Death: and he has a 
 tierv sceptre in his hand. Before him is the veil 
 
 589
 
 A. M. 41 "0. A. T). 96. 
 Year of Rome, S4S. 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 The book which John saw sealed 
 
 within:? and qthey rest not day and night, 
 saying, r Holy, holy, lioly, s Lord God Al- 
 mighty, « which was, and is, and is to come. 
 9 And when those beasts give glory and hon- 
 our and thanks to him that sat on the throne, 
 u who liveth for ever and ever, 10 v The four 
 and twenty elders fall down before him that 
 sat on the throne, "and worship him that liv- 
 eth for ever and ever, * and cast their crowns 
 before the throne, saying, 11 yThou art 
 worthy, O Lord, to receive glory. and honour 
 and power: z for thou hast created all things, 
 and for thy pleasure they are and were created. 
 
 A 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 ND I saw in the right hand of him that 
 sat on the throne "a book written within 
 
 V Verse fi. q(iv. they hare no rent. rlsa. ti. 3. 
 
 gChap. 1. 8. <Chap. 1. 4. u Chap. 1. 18; 5. 14; 15. 7. 
 
 eChap. 5. 8, 14. to Verse 7. x Verse 4. yChap. 5. 12. 
 
 sGen. 1. 1; Acts 17. 21; Eph. 3. 9; Col. 1. Id; chap. 
 
 10. 6.' 
 
 spread, that veil which is between the sanctuary 
 and the holy of holies; and seven angels minister 
 before him within that veil; the veil and his foot- 
 stool are like fire and lightning; and under the 
 throne of glory there is a shining like fire and 
 sapphire, and about his throne are justice ami 
 judgment." [Others of the images in the text are 
 found also delineated more at length in the writings 
 of the rabbins.] 
 
 10. Cast their crowns before the throne- 
 In acknowledgment of the infinite supremacy of 
 God, and that they have derived their being and 
 their blessings from him alone. This is an allusion 
 to the custom of prostrations in the East, and to 
 the homage of petty kings acknowledging the 
 supremacy of their suzerain. 
 
 11. Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive — 
 Thus all creation acknowledges the supremacy of 
 God ; and we learn from this song that he made 
 all things for his pleasure; and through the same 
 motive he preserves. [This fourth chapter consti- 
 tutes the magnificent exordium to the principal 
 vision of the book. Chapter v is intimately con- 
 nected with it, but it is rather to be regarded as a 
 special proem to chapters vi-xi. The holy seer was 
 duly prepared by such an august vision for the 
 disclosures that follow. — Stuart.'] 
 
 NOTES OX CHAPTER V. 
 
 1. A book written within and on the back 
 side — That is, the book was full of solemn con- 
 tents " within," but it was sealed ; and on the 
 " back side " was a superscription indicating its 
 contents. It was a labelled book, or one written 
 on each side of the skin, which was not usual. 
 Sealed with seven seals — As seven is a number 
 of perfection, it may mean that the hook was so 
 sealed that the seals could neither be counterfeited 
 nor broken; that is, the matter of the book was 
 so obscure and enigmatical, and the work it en- 
 joined and the facts it predicted so difficult and 
 stupendous, that they could neither be known nor 
 performed by human wisdom nor power. [It would 
 be quite natural to understand by this "sealed" 
 book the secret counsels of the Almig/Uy, which no 
 creature can know or reveal, but which Christ, the 
 Lion of Judah, has unsealed to men in his revela- 
 tions of the Father.] 
 
 2. A strong angel— One of the chief of the 
 590 
 
 and on the hack side, ''sealed with seven seals. 
 2 And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with 
 a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, 
 and to loose the seals thereof? 3 And no 
 man c in heaven, nor in earth, neither under 
 the earth, was able to open the book, neither 
 to look thereon. 4 And I wept much, because 
 no man was found worthy to open and to read 
 the book, neither to look thereon. 5 And one 
 of the elders saith unto me, Weep not : behold, 
 d the Lion of the tribe of Juda, e the Root of 
 David, hath prevailed to open the book. f and 
 to loose the seven seals thereof. 6 And I be- 
 held, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of 
 the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, 
 stood E£i Lamb as it had been slain, having 
 seven horns and h seven eyes, which are 'the 
 
 (ir.zvk. 2. 9, 10. Msa. 29. II : Dan. 12. 4. e Verse 13. ■ 
 
 d Gen. 49. 9, 10: Heb. 7. 14. e Isa. 11. 1, 10; Rom. 15. 12; chap. 
 
 22. lrt. /Verse 1 : cliap. fi. 1. a Isa. 5:-!. 7; John I. 29, 36; 
 
 1 Pet. 1. 19; chap. 13. 8; verses 9, 12. AZech. 3. 9; 4. 10. 
 
 i Chap. 4. 5. 
 
 angelic host. ['Iff^iyw, strong to proclaim. So 
 Homer represents his heralds.] Proclaiming — ■ 
 As the herald of God. To open the book, and 
 to loose the seals — To loose the seals that lie 
 may open the book. Who can tell what tins book 
 contains? Who can open its mysteries V The book 
 may mean the purposes and designs of God rela- 
 tive to his government of the world and the Church. 
 
 3. And no man — OwiJetc, no person or being. 
 In heaven — Among all the angels of God. Nor 
 in earth — No human being. Neither under the 
 earth — Nor disembodied spirit, nor any demon. 
 Neither angels, men, nor devils can fathom the 
 decrees of God. Neither to look thereon — 
 None can "look" into it unless it be opened, and 
 none can open it unless the seals be unloosed. 
 [Heaven, earth, and the underworld, by the com- 
 mon usus loqueridi of the Hebrews, denote the 
 (whole) universe ; as if it were said, no being in the 
 universe could be found who was able to open the 
 book and survey its contents. — Stuart."] 
 
 4. I wept much — Because the world and the 
 Church were to be deprived of the knowledge 
 of the contents of the book. [It had been prom- 
 ised to him (chapter iv, 1) that he should be shown 
 future events; and now it seemed as if this promise 
 were about to be frustrated by the lack of one 
 worthy to open the book. — A/ford.] 
 
 5. The Lion of the tribe of Juda — Jesus 
 Christ, who sprang from this tribe. (Matt. i. and 
 Luke iii.) There is an allusion here to Gen. xlix, 9, 
 "Judah is a lion's whelp :" the " lion " was the 
 emblem of this tribe, and was supposed to have 
 been emblazoned on its ensigns. The Root of 
 David— (See Isa. xi. 1.) Christ was the "root" 
 of David as to his divine nature; he was a branch 
 out of the stem of Jesse as to his human nature. 
 [The "Root of David," the branch or sucker came 
 up from the ancient root, (Isa. xi, 1,) and so repre- 
 sented it ; not the divine root, which brought forth 
 David, for the evident design here is to set forth 
 Christ as sprung from the tribe of Judah and 
 lineage of David, in his victory and his exaltation 
 through suffering. — A/ford.] Hath prevailed— 
 By the merit of his incarnation, passion, and death. 
 To open the book — To explain and execute all the 
 purposes and decrees of God in relation to the 
 government of the world and the Church, 
 
 6. Stood a Lamb — Christ, so called because he
 
 The Lamb prevails tn open the book. 
 Prai=e given t<> die Lamb. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 {. M. 41HI1. A. D. 96. 
 Year of Rome, 849. 
 
 seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the 
 earth. 7 And he came and took the hook 
 out of the right hand k of him that sat upon 
 the throne. § And when lie had taken the 
 hook, 'the four beasts and four and twenty 
 elders fell down before the Lamb, having every 
 one of them '"harps, and golden vials full of 
 ■odours, "which are the prayers of saints. 
 
 9 And i' they sung a new song, saying, i Thou 
 art worthy to take the hook, and to open the 
 seals thereof : r for thou wast slain, and s hast 
 redeemed us to God by thy blood ' out of every 
 kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation ; 
 
 10 "And hast made us unto our God kings 
 
 /•Chap. 4. 2. 1 Chap. 4. S, 10. m Chap. 14. 2; 15. 2. 
 
 ii Or, incense. o Psa. 141. 2; chap 8. ?„ 4. p Psa. 40. 3; 
 
 chap. 1!. 3. Q Chap. 4. 11. r Verse 6. « Acts 20. 28 ; 
 
 Rom. 3. 24: 1 Cor. R. 20: 7. 23: Eph. 1. 7; Col. 1. 14; Heb. 9. 
 12; 1 Pet. 1. 18, 19; 2 Pet. 2. 1 ; 1 John 1. 7; chap. 14. 4. 
 
 was a sacrificial offering; apviov signifies a little or 
 df licate lamb. As it had been slain — As if now 
 in the act of being off' red. So important is the 
 sacrificial offering of Christ in the sight of God, 
 that he is still represented as being in the very act 
 of pouring out his blood for the offences of man. 
 Thus all succeeding generations find they have the 
 continual sacrifice ready, and the newly shed blood 
 to offer. Seven horns — As the horn is the em- 
 blem of power, and seven the number of perfection, 
 the "seven horns" may denote the all-prevailing 
 and infinite might of Jesus Christ. (Heb. vii, 25.) 
 Seven eyes — As these "seven eyes" are said to 
 be the seven Spirits of God, they seem to denote 
 the perpetual ministration of the Holy Spirit, 
 spoken of in respect to its completeness as seven 
 or sevenfold, and said to be sent forth into all 
 the earth. (See on chapter i, 4.) [At the refer- 
 ence to Christ as the one who could open the sealed 
 book, he himself appears in the vision, in his 
 priestly character, and also as the victim of sacri- 
 fice, standing in the area before the throne, (ev 
 fiiou,) newly slain, wc iooayukvov, as being slain.] 
 [This (being slain) is that whereby the Lion (verse 5) 
 has overcome. ... It is only in the omnipotence 
 of all-suffering love that the greatness of (his) 
 omnipotence could be proved. — Ebrard in Lange.] 
 [As the seven burning lamps before the throne 
 (chapter iv, 5) represented the Spirit of God im- 
 manent in the Godhead, so the "seven eyes" of 
 the Lamb represent the same Spirit in his sevenfold 
 perfection, profluent from the incarnate Redeemer, 
 and busied in his worldwide energy. — Alford.] 
 
 f J. He came and took the book — This verse 
 may be properly explained by John chapter i, 18 : 
 " No man hath seen God at any time ; the only 
 begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, 
 he hath declared him." With Jesus alone are all 
 the counsels and mysteries of God. 
 
 8. The four beasts . . . fell down before 
 the Lamb — The whole Church of God, and all his 
 children in heaven and earth, [all "principalities 
 ami heavenly powers,"] acknowledge that Jesus 
 Christ is alone worthy and able to unfold and exe- 
 cute all the mysteries and counsels of God. (See 
 on verse 9.) Having every one of them harps, 
 and golden vials — There were "harps" and 
 " vials ; " and each of the eld< rs and living creatures 
 had one. Odours, -which are the prayers of 
 saints — The frankincense and odours offered at 
 the tabernacle were emblems of the prayers and 
 praises of the people. (See Psa. clxi, 2.) [The 
 
 and priests: and we shall reign on the earth. 
 II And I beheld, and I heard the voice of 
 many angels » round about the throne, and the 
 beasts, and the elders: and the number of 
 them was w ten thousand times ten thousand, 
 and thousands of thousands; 1*2 Saying with 
 a loud voice, *• Worthy is the Lamb that was 
 slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, 
 and strength, and honour, and glory, and bless- 
 ing. 13 And y every creature which is in 
 heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, 
 and such as are in the sea, and all that are in 
 them, heard I saying, z Blessing, and honour, 
 and glory, and power, be unto him "that sit- 
 
 ?Dan. 4. 1; 6. 25; chap. 7. 9; 11. 9; 14. 6. kExocI. 19. 6; 
 
 1 Pet. 2. 5, 9: chap. 1. 6; 20. 6: 22. h. /-Chap. 4. 4. 6. 
 
 "I'sa. 1.18. 17; Dan. 7. 10: Heb. 12. 22. SBChap. 4. 11. 
 
 yl'hil. i. 10; verse ;'.. z 1 Chi on. 29. 11: Horn. 9. 5: 16. 27; 
 
 1 Tim. 0. 16; 1 Pet. 4. 11; 5. 11: chap. 1.6. a Chap. 6. 16; 7. 10. 
 
 twenty-four elders, representing as they do the 
 whole Church of God, offer their praises and the 
 prayers of the whole Church ; the harps symbolize 
 the former, the censers — vials — the latter. — Alford.] 
 
 9. A new song — Composed on the matters 
 and blessings of the Gospel, which was just now 
 opened on earth. (See Psa. xevi, 1 ; cxliv, 9 ; 
 Isa. xlii, 10.) [New occasions call forth new songs, 
 and doubtless new supplications also. — Stuart."] 
 Thou . . . hast redeemed us to God . . . out 
 of every . . . nation — It appears, therefore, that 
 the living creatures and the elders represent the 
 aggregate of the followers of God ; or the Christian 
 Church in all nations, and among all kinds of 
 people, and perhaps through the whole compass of 
 time ; and all these are said to be redeemed by 
 Christ's blood, plainly showing that his life was a 
 sacrificial offering for the sins of mankind. Out 
 of every kindred, etc. — [The " holy catholic 
 Church " of the Apostles' Creed, including all re- 
 deemed souls. (Luke xiii, 29 ; Acts x, 35 ; 1 Cor. 
 xii, 13.)] 
 
 10. Kings and priests — See Exodus xix, ('> ; 
 1 Pet. ii, 5, 9, and the notes there. And we shall 
 reign on the earth— [Christians of all nations — 
 the aggregate but scattered abroad Church — shall 
 yet reign on and over the earth, not, however, as a 
 worldly but a spiritual kingdom, governing by moral 
 and spiritual forces.] 
 
 11. The voice of many angels — These also 
 are represented as joining in the chorus with re- 
 deemed mortals. Ten thousand times ten 
 thousand — " Myriads of myriads and chiliads of 
 chiliads; " that is, an infinite or innumerable mul- 
 titude. (See Dan. vii, 10.) 
 
 12. To receive power — That is, Jesus Christ is 
 worthy to take, /.afciv, to have ascribed to him, 
 " power " — omnipotence. Riches — Beneficence. 
 Wisdom — Omniscience. Strength — Tower in 
 prevalent exercise. Honour — The highest reputa- 
 tion for what he has done. Glory — The praise 
 due to such actions. Blessing — The thankful 
 acknowledgments of the whole creation. Here are 
 seven different species of praise ; and this is 
 exactly agreeable to the rabbinical forms, which 
 the author of this book keeps constantly in view. 
 
 13. Every creature — All parts of the creation, 
 animate and inanimate, are represented here by a 
 personification, as giving praise to the Lord Jesus, 
 because by him all things were created. We find 
 the whole creation gives precisely the same praise, 
 and in the same terms, to Jesus Christ, who is 
 
 591
 
 A.M. 41no. A, 
 Year of Rome 
 
 REVELATION". 
 
 The opening of the first and 
 second seals. 
 
 teth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for 
 ever and ever. 14 p And the four beasts said, 
 Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell 
 down and worshipped him i that liveth for 
 ever and ever. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 AND a I saw when the Lamb opened one of 
 the seals, and I heard, as it were the 
 noise of thunder, l, one of the four beasts say- 
 ing, Come and see. 2 And I saw, and behold 
 
 V Chap. 19. 4. q Chap. 4. 9, 10. a Chap. 5. 5, (5, 7. b Chap. 
 
 4. 7. cZech. 6. 3: chap. 19. 11. 
 
 undoubtedly meant here by the Lamb just slain, as 
 they give to God who sits upon the throne. 
 
 14. The four beasts said, Amen — Acknowl- 
 edging that what was attributed to Christ was his 
 due. The four and twenty elders — The word 
 euioaiTEGaapEQ, twenty-four, is wanting in the most 
 eminent MSS. and Versions. [Its absence does not 
 change the sense.] Fell down and wor- 
 shipped — 'Erreoav ml npoaeKvvrjaav, fell down on 
 their knees, and then prostrated themselves, before 
 the throne. This is the eastern method of adoration; 
 first, the person worshipping fell down on his 
 knees ; and then, bowing down, touched the earth 
 with his forehead. This latter act was prostration. 
 Him that liveth for ever — [This clause is want- 
 ing in most of the best MSS., etc., and is now 
 omitted by common consent, but the sense is still 
 the same.] 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER VI. 
 
 [Chapters vi-xi : First catastrophe, or overthrow 
 of the Jewish persecuting power. — Stuart.] [As 
 preliminary to the exegesis of this section, I 
 may observe that it is of the first importance to 
 bear in mind that the openings of these seals corre- 
 spon i to the various arrangements of God's provi- 
 dence by which the way is prepared for the final 
 opening of the closed book of his purposes to his 
 glorified Church. That opening shall not fully and 
 freely be made till his people will know even as 
 they are known. And that will not be till they are 
 fully gathered into his heavenly garner. This book 
 the Lamb opens, containing, as it does, matters which 
 '■no man knows, nor the angels which are in heav- 
 en, neither the Son, but (only) the Father." (Mark 
 xiii, 32,) first by the acts and procedures of his 
 establishment of his reign over the earth, and then 
 finally by his great second coming, (wapovala, self- 
 manifestation,) the necessary condition (the assured 
 accompaniment) of his elect being gathered out of 
 the four winds into his glory. When these prepa- 
 rations have taken place, and Christ himself shall 
 be fully revealed, (to the quickened spiritual con- 
 sciousness of his saints,) then the last hinderance to 
 our perfect knowledge will be removed, and the 
 book of Cod's eternal purposes will lie open, the 
 theme of eternity's praise. — A/ ford.] 
 
 1 . When the Lamb opened one of the seals 
 — It is worthy of remark that the opening of the 
 se.iN is not merely a declaration of what God will 
 do, but is the exhibition of a purpose then accom- 
 plished ; for whenever the seal is opened the sen- 
 tence appears to be executed. It is supposed, that 
 from chapter vi to xi inclusive the calamities 
 which should fall on the enemies of Christianity, 
 and particularly the Jews, are pointed out under 
 various images ; as well as the preservation of the 
 5112 
 
 c a white horse: '■ and he that sat on him bad 
 a bow; °and a crown was given unto him: 
 and lie went forth conquering, and to conquer. 
 
 3 And -when he had opened the second seal, 
 f I heard the second beast say. Come and see. 
 
 4 e And there went put another horse that 
 was red: and power was given to him that sat 
 thereon to take peace from the earth, and that 
 they should kill one another: and there was 
 given unto him a great sword. 5 And when 
 he had opened the third seal, h I heard the third 
 
 f/Psa. 45. 4, 5, LXX. e Zech. 6. 11: chap. 14. 14. 
 
 4. 7. ^ Zech. 6. 2. h Chap. 4 7. 
 
 -/Chap. 
 
 Christians under those calamities. One of the 
 four beasts— Probably that with the face of a 
 lion. (See chapter iv, 7.) Come and see — 
 Attend to wdiat is about to be exhibited. 
 
 2. A white horse — Supposed to represent the 
 Gospel system, and pointing out its excellence, 
 swiftness, and purity He that sat on him — 
 Supposed to represent Jesus Christ. A bow — 
 The preaching of the Gospel, darting conviction into 
 the hearts of sinners. A crown — The emblem of 
 the kingdom which Christ was to establish on earth. 
 Conquering, and to conquer — Overcoming and 
 confounding the Jews first, and then the Gentiles; 
 spreading more and more the doctrine and influence 
 of the cross over the face of the earth. [The 
 loosing of the first seal sheds a joyful light over 
 the whole dark history of the world. The Rider 
 upon the white horse rides at the head of all the 
 others. ... He is the Prince, all the rest are es- 
 quires. Thus all apparently fatal events must 
 serve his purposes — redemption, and its diffu- 
 sion through the world — not yet judgment, as at 
 his forthgoing in chapter xix, 11.) — Lange.] 
 
 3. The second beast — That which had the face 
 of an ox. 
 
 4. Another horse . . . red — The emblem of 
 war; perhaps also of severe persecution, and the 
 martyrdom of the saints. Him that sat thereon 
 — Some say, Christ; others, Vespasian ; others, the 
 Roman armies ; others, Artabanus, king of the Par- 
 tisans, etc. Take peace from the earth — To 
 deprive Judea of all tranquillity. They should 
 kill one another — This was literally the case with 
 the Jews, while besieged by the Romans. A 
 great sword — Great influence and success, pro- 
 ducing terrible carnage. [I need not say how 
 wildly that horse was plunging in the days after 
 the death of Nero, and before the establishment of 
 Vespasian. — F. I). Maurice.] " Red : " [The colour 
 of the war-horse of Zech. i, 8, and vi, 2, and of the 
 dragon, (chapter xii, 3,) " fiery red," or " blood red," 
 showing his mission to be to shed blood. — Speafa r's 
 Com.] [All these are unequivocal symbols of 
 slaughter, that is, of war, signifying that by war or 
 slaughter the power of the adversary is to be weak- 
 ened. — Stuart.] [ War in its most fearful form, . . . 
 that dark power to which is granted to take peace 
 from the earth, to set on foot reciprocal slaughter 
 on countless battle fields. — Lange.] [The key to 
 the interpretation of this (the second) seal is to be 
 found in Matt, x, 34 ; Luke xii, 51. It represents 
 to us the taking away of peace from the earth, the 
 slaying of one another, and the reign of the sword, 
 as one of the destined concomitants of the growing 
 and conquering power of Christ. — A/ford.] 
 
 5. The third beast— That which had the face 
 of a man. A black horse — The emblem of
 
 Opening of tlie third, f urth, 
 fifth, and sixth 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and 
 lo 'a Mack horse; and he that sat on him had 
 a pair of balances in his hand. 6 And 1 heard 
 a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, k A 
 measure of wheat for a penny, and three meas- 
 ures of barley for a penny; and l see thou hurt 
 not the oil and the wine. 7 And when he had 
 opened the fourth seal, m I heard the voice of 
 the fourth beast say. Come and see. 8 "And 
 I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his 
 name that sat on him was Death, and Hell fol- 
 lowed with him. And power was given "unto 
 them over the fourth part of the earth. i'to kill 
 with sword, and with hunger, and with death, 
 ''and with the beasts of the earth. 9 And 
 
 fZech. <i. 2. k The word ehmnix siprnifieth a measure con- 
 taining one wine quart, and the twelfth part of a quart. 
 
 iChap. 3. 4. mChap. 4. 7. rcZech. 6. 3. — o Or. to Mm. 
 
 p Ezek. 14.21. o Lev. 26.22. r Chap. 8. 3 ; 9. 13; 14. 18. 
 
 famine. Some think that which took place under 
 Claudius; (see Matt, xxiv, 7;) the same which was 
 predicted by Agabus. (Acts xi, 28.) A pair of 
 balances — To show that the scarcity would he such 
 that every person must he put under an allowance. 
 
 6. A measure of wheat for a penny — The 
 V'ivc, choinix, was a measure of dry things, and it 
 is generally agreed that it contained as much as a 
 man could consume in a day ; and a penny, the 
 Roman denarius, was the ordinary pay of a labourer. 
 So it appears that, in this scarcity, each might be 
 able to obtain a bare subsistence by his daily la- 
 bour; but could not provide for a family. Three 
 measures of barley— This seems to have been 
 the proportion of value between the wheat and the 
 barley. Hurt not the oil and the wine — Be 
 sparing of these; use them not as delicacies, but 
 for necessity; because neither the vines nor the 
 olives will be productive. [The rider of the black 
 horse symbolizes famine, i billowing the war typi- 
 fied by the redhorse.) — Afford.] 
 
 7. The fourth beast — That which had the face 
 of an eagle. 
 
 8. A pale horse — The symbol of death. Pal- 
 Vnla mors, pale death, was a very usual poetic 
 epithet; of this symbol there can be no doubt, lie- 
 cause it is immediately said, His name that sat on 
 him was Death. And hell (hades) followed with 
 him — The abode of the dead, which received the 
 slain. This is a very elegant prosopopoeia, or per- 
 sonification. And power was given unto them 
 — [That is. to death and hades.] Over the fourth 
 part of the earth — One fourtn of mankind was to 
 feel the desolating effects of this seal. To kill 
 with sword — War. With hunger — Famine. 
 With death — Pestilence. With the beasts of the 
 earth — Lions, tigers, hyaenas, etc., which would mul- 
 tiply iu consequence of the devastations occasioned 
 by war, famine, and pestilence. [With regard to 
 the question whether these four visions are to be 
 regarded as consecutive or contemporaneous: In 
 their fulness (that is. their fulfilment) 1 believe them 
 
 to In ntemporaneous, and each of them to extend 
 
 through the lifetime of the Church. ... As regards 
 their ultimate fulfilment, there can benodoubt that 
 all these judgments on the world without, as well 
 as the manifestation (of which they form a pari ) 
 of the conquering career of the kingdom of Christ, 
 will reach their culminating point before the com- 
 ing of the great and terrible day of the Lord. — 
 Alford.] 
 
 Vol. II.— 38 
 
 when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw un- 
 der 'the altar "the souls of them that were 
 slain 'for the word of God, and for "the testi- 
 mony which they held: lO And they cried 
 with a loud voice, saying, v How long, () Lord, 
 w holy and true, "dost thou not judge and 
 avenge our blood on them that dwell on the 
 earth ''. I 1 And >' white robes were given unto 
 every one of them; and it was said unto them, 
 'that they should rest yet for a little season, 
 until their fellow servants also and their breth- 
 ren, that should he killed as they were, should 
 be fulfilled. 12 And 1 beheld when he had 
 opened the sixth seal, "and, lo, there was a 
 great earthquake; and ''the sun became black 
 
 sChap. 20. 4. -iChap. 1. 9. u'2 Tim. 1. 8: chap. 12. 17; 
 
 19. 10. — »See Zech. 1. 12. ?oChap. 3. 7. sr-Chap. II. l«; 
 
 19. 2. y Chap. ;;. 4, 5 ; 7. 9, 14. sHeb. 11. 40 : chap. 14. 13. 
 
 a Chap. 16. 18. b Joel 2. 111. 31 ; 3. 15 ; Matt. 24. 29 : Acts 2. 20. 
 
 9. The fifth seal — There is no living creature, 
 nor other being, to introduce this seal, nor does 
 there appear to be any new event predicted; but 
 the whole is intended to comfort the followers of 
 God under their persecutions, and to encourage them 
 to bear up under their distresses. I saw under 
 the altar — A symbolical vision was exhibited, in 
 which John saw an " altar ; " and under it the souls 
 of them that were slain for the word of God — 
 martyred for their attachment to Christianity — are 
 represented as being newly slain as victims to idol- 
 atry and superstition. [The representation here, in 
 which they are seen under the altar, is simply sym- 
 bolical, carrying out the likeness of them to victims 
 slain on the altar. — Alford.] 
 
 10. And they cried with a loud voice — 
 That is, their blood, like that of Abel, cried for 
 vengeance. We sometimes say, Blood cries for 
 blood ; for that is the order of divine justice. O 
 Lord — '0 Aro--o7>/r: sovereign Lord, supreme 
 Ruler; one having and exercising unlimited and un- 
 controlled authority. Holy — In thine own nature 
 hating iniquity: and true — in all thy promises 
 and tlireatenings : dost thou not judge — the 
 persecutors : and avenge our blood — inflict 
 signal punishment: on them that dwell on the 
 earth — probably meaning the persecuting Jews; 
 they dwelt etti ttjc yrjr, upon that hind. 
 
 11. White robes — The emblems of purity, in- 
 nocence, and triumph. [The white robe is, in this 
 book, the vestment of acknowledged and glorified 
 righteousness ; it was rather assured than actually 
 bestowed.] They should rest yet for a little 
 season — This is a delaration that, when the cup of 
 the iniquity of the Jews should be full, they should 
 then be punished in a mass. If this book was 
 written before the destruction of Jerusalem, as is 
 most likely, then this destruction is that which was 
 to fall upon the Jews; ami the little /inn or season 
 was that which elapsed between their martyrdom, 
 or the date of this book, and the final destruction 
 of Jerusalem by the Romans. What follows may 
 refer to the destruction of the heathen Roman 
 empire. 
 
 12. The sixth seal — This seal also is opened and 
 introduced by Jesus Christ alone. A great earth- 
 quake — A most stupendous change in the civil and 
 religious constitution of the world. If it refer to 
 Constantine the Great, the change that was made 
 by his conversion to Christianity might be very 
 properly represented under the emblem of an "earth- 
 
 593
 
 A. M. 4inn. A. P. 06. 
 Year of Rome, S4'J. 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 s accompanying fhe opening 
 of the sixth seal. 
 
 as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became 
 as blood; 13 c And the stars of heaven fell 
 unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her 
 untimely d tigs, when she is shaken of a mighty 
 wind. 14 °And the heaven departed ;is a 
 scroll when it is rolled together; and f every 
 mountain and island were moved out of their 
 places. 15 And the kings of the earth, and 
 the great men, and the rich men, and the chief 
 captains, and the mighty men, and every bond 
 man, and every free man, s hid themselves in 
 the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; 
 16 h And said to the mountains and rocks, 
 
 cChnp. 8. 10; 9. 1. tf Or, green Jigs. — -e Psa. 102. 2fi; Isa. 
 
 34 4; Heb. 1. 12, 13. /Jer. 3. 23; 4. 21; chap. 16. 20. 
 
 Cls.i. 2. 19. 
 
 quake," and the other symbols mentioned in this and 
 the following verses. The sun — The ancient pagan 
 government of the Roman empire, was totally dark- 
 ened ; and, like a black hair sackcloth, was degraded 
 and humbled to the dust. The moon — The eccle- 
 siastical state of the same empire became of blood 
 — was totally ruined, its altars cast down, its tem- 
 ples destroyed, or turned into places for Christian 
 worship. 
 
 13. The stars of heaven — The gods and god- 
 desses, demi-gods, and deified heroes of their 
 poetical and mythological "heaven" were pios- 
 truted indiscriminately, and lay as useless as the 
 tigs or fruit of a tree shaken down before ripe by 
 a tempestuous wind. 
 
 14. And the heaven departed as a scroll — 
 The whole system of pagan and idolatrous worship, 
 with all its spiritual, secular, and superstitious in- 
 fluences, was blasted, shrivelled up. And every 
 mountain — All the props, supports, and depen- 
 dencies of the empire were [in vision] taken away. 
 And island — [Isolated or remote colonies or coun- 
 tries.] 
 
 15. The kings of the earth, etc.— [Men of all 
 classes and conditions, because of the complete sub- 
 version of the civil order, were alarmed, and sought 
 to escape from the impending ruin.] 
 
 16. Said to the mountains and rocks — Expres- 
 sions which denote the strongest perturbation and 
 alarm. From the face of him that sitteth on 
 the throne — They now saw that all these terrible 
 judgments came from the Almighty ; and that 
 Christ, the author of Christianity, was now judg- 
 ing, condemning, and destroying them for their 
 cruel persecutions of his followers. 
 
 17. For the great day of his wrath — The de- 
 cisive and manifest time in which he will execute 
 judgment on the oppressors of his people. [The 
 cry of the terrified trembling ones (unbelievers) to 
 the mountains and rocks implies that they seek ab- 
 solute concealment from the face of God and the 
 wrath of the Lamb ; this present life is so trans- 
 formed for them into an invasion of that terrible 
 beyond that they now picture even that beyond as 
 more endurable than the life they now live. — 
 Lange.] Who shall be able to stand— All these 
 things may literally apply to the final destruction 
 of Jerusalem, and to the revolution which took 
 place in the Roman empire under Constantine the 
 Great. Some apply them to the day of judgment, 
 but they do not seem to have that awful event in 
 view. These two events were the greatest that 
 have ever taken place in the world from the flood 
 to the eighteenth century of the Christian era; and 
 
 591 
 
 Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him 
 that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath 
 of the Lamb: 17 'For the great day of his 
 wrath is come; k and who shall be able to 
 stand ? 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 AND after these things ] saw four angels 
 standing on the four corners of the earth, 
 "holding the four winds of the earth, 'that the 
 wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the 
 sea, nor on any tree. 2 And I saw another 
 angel ascending from the east, having the seal 
 of "the living God: and he cried with aloud 
 
 hllos. 10. S: Luke 23. 30; chap. 9. fi. — 
 
 Zeph. 1. 14, etc. ; chap. 113. 14. k Psa. 76. 7. 
 
 I' Chap. 9. 4. 
 
 Hsm. 13. fi, etc. 
 — a Dan. 7. 2. — 
 
 may well justify the strong figurative language used 
 above. 
 
 Though I do not pretend to say that my remarks 
 on this chapter point out its true signification, yet I 
 find others have applied it in the same way. Dr. 
 Dodd observes, that the fall of Babylon, Idumea, 
 Judah, Egypt, and Jerusalem have been described 
 by the prophets in language equally pompous, figu- 
 rative, and strong. "Now," says he, "it is certain 
 that the fall of any of these cities or kingdoms was 
 not of greater concern or consequence to the world, 
 nor more deserving to be described in pompous 
 figures, than the fall of the pagan Roman empire, 
 when the great lights of the heathen world — the sun, 
 moon, and stats, the powers civil and ecclesiastical — 
 were all eclipsed and obscured, the heathen emper- 
 ors and Caesars were slain, the heathen priests and 
 augurs were extirpated, the heathen officers and 
 magistrates were removed, the temples were demol- 
 ished, and their revenues were devoted to better 
 uses. This is, therefore, a triumph of Christ over 
 his heathen enemies, and a triumph after a severe 
 persecution; so that the time and all the circum- 
 stances, as well as the series and order of the 
 prophecy, agree perfectly with this interpretation. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER VII. 
 [We are brought (in chapter vi) to the very 
 threshold itself of the great day of the Lord's com- 
 ing, (whether the destruction of Jerusalem, or the 
 overthrow of paganism, or the "day of judgment.") 
 It has not yet happened ; but the tribes of the earth 
 are troubled at its immediate approach. . . . He is 
 seen, as it were, coming; but before the vengeance 
 is fully accomplished the elect of God must be 
 gathered out of the four winds of heaven, from 
 among the inhabitants of the earth. — Afford.] 
 
 1. And after these things — Mera ravra, after 
 the preceding vision, [marking a change of scene.] I 
 saw four angels — Instruments which God employs 
 in the dispensation of his providence, [in caring for 
 his saints.] On the four corners of the earth — 
 On the extreme parts of the land. Holding the 
 four ■winds — Preventing evil from every quarter. 
 Earth ... sea, nor on any tree — Keeping the 
 whole of the land free from evil, till the Church of 
 Christ should wax strong, and each of his followers 
 have time to prepare for his flight from Jerusalem, 
 previously to its total destruction by the Romans. 
 
 2. The seal of the living God — This angel is 
 represented as the chancellor of the supreme King, 
 and as ascending frcm the east, a~d avafo7a,g 
 '/' / ""') from the rising of the sun. Some understand
 
 The sealing of the servants nf God. 
 The great number of the saved. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 A. M. -linn. A. D. 96. 
 Year ..f Rniiir, B49. 
 
 voice to the four angels, to whom it was given 
 to hurt the earth and the sea, J5 Saying, 
 c Unit not the earth, neither the sea, nor the 
 trees, till we have ■' scaled the servants of our 
 God e in their foreheads. 4 '"And I heard the 
 number of them which were sealed : and there 
 were sealed fa hundred and forty and four 
 thousand of all the tribes of the children of 
 Israel. 5 Of the tribe of Juda were sealed 
 twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Reuben 
 were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of 
 Gad were sealed twelve thousand. 6 Of the 
 tribe of Aser were sealed Twelve thousand. Of 
 the tribe of Nephthalim were sealed twelve 
 thousand. Of the tribe of Manasses were 
 sealed twelve thousand. 7 Of the tribe of 
 Simeon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the 
 tribe of Levi were sealed twelve thousand. 
 Of the tribe of Issachar were sealed twelve 
 thousand. 8 Of the tribe of Zabulon were 
 sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Jo- 
 seph were sealed twelve thousand. Of the 
 
 cChap. ti. 6: 9. 4. d Ezek. S. 4: chap. 14. 1. e Chnp. 
 
 22. 4 /'Chap. 0. 16. Q Chap. 14. 1. h Rom. 11. 25. 
 
 i Chap. 5. 9. *Ch«p. 3. 5, 18; 4. 4 ; 6. 11 : verse 14. 
 
 this of Christ, who is called avarofo}, the east. (Luke 
 i, 78.) Four angels, to ■whom it was given to 
 hurt — Particular agents employed by divine provi- 
 dence in the management of the affairs of the 
 earth. 
 
 3. Till we have sealed the servants of our 
 God — Here is manifestly an allusion to Ezek. i.\, 4. 
 By sealing we are to understand consecrating the 
 person in a more especial manner to God, and show- 
 ing, by this mark of God upon them, that they were 
 under his more immediate protection, and that 
 nothing should hurt them. It was a custom in the 
 East, and indeed in the West too, to stamp with a 
 hot iron the name of the owner upon the forehead 
 or shoulder of his slave. It is worthy of remark 
 that not one Christian perished in the overthrow of 
 Jerusalem. 
 
 4. I heard the number of them which were 
 sealed — In the number of 144,000 are included all 
 the Jews converted to Christianity ; 12,000 out of 
 each of the twelve tribes; but this must be only a 
 definite for an indefinite number ; for it is not to 
 be supposed that just 12,000 were converted out of 
 each of the twelve tribes. 
 
 5-8. Of the tribe of Juda, etc. — First, we are 
 to observe that the tribe of Levi is here mentioned, 
 though that tribe had no inheritance in Israel ; but 
 they now belonged to the spiritual priesthood. 
 Secondly, that the tribe of Dan, which had an in- 
 heritance, is here omitted ; as also the tribe of 
 Ephraim. Tliirdly, that the tribe of Joseph is here 
 added in the place of Ephraim. Ephraim and Dan, 
 being the principal promoters of idolatry, are left 
 out in this enumeration. [With verse 9 a new scene 
 seems to open, beginning with the usual formula, 
 M ra ravra elSov, which is quite distinct from the 
 preceding one. (Verses 1-8.) By many commenta- 
 tors the time of this vision is supposed to be after 
 the consummation of the world's history ; its place, 
 heaven. " In this sublime vision," says Alford, 
 " we are admitted to a sight of the finished state of 
 glory in which the seventh seal shall be opened."] 
 
 9. A great multitude — This appears to mean 
 the Church of Christ among the Gentiles, for it was 
 
 tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thou- 
 sand, f) After this 1 beheld, and, lo, h a great 
 multitude, which no man could number, 'of 
 till nations, and kindreds, and people, and 
 tongues, stood before the throne, and before 
 the Lamb, N clothed with white robes, and 
 palms in their hands; BO And cried with a 
 loud voice, saying, 'Salvation in our God 
 m which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the 
 Lamb. 11 "And all the angels stood round 
 about the throne, and about the elders and 
 the four beasts, and fell before the throne on 
 their faces, and worshipped God, 12 "Say- 
 ing. Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, 
 and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, .and 
 might, be unto our God for ever and ever. 
 Amen. 13 And one of the elders answered, 
 saying unto me, What are these which are 
 arrayed in p white robes? and whence came 
 they? 14 And 1 said unto him, Sir. thou 
 knowest. And he said to me, "> These are they 
 which came out of great tribulation, and have 
 
 ZPsa. 3. 8: Tsa. 4?.. II ; .ler. 
 
 in ( h i|i. 5. 13. ii Chap. 4. 
 
 q Chap. t>. 9; 17. ti. 
 
 3. 23; Hos. 13. 4: chap. Hi. 1. 
 
 Chap. 5. 13, 14. p Verse S<. 
 
 different from that collected from the twelve tribes ; 
 and it is here said to be of all nations, kindreds, 
 people, and tongues. Clothed with white robes 
 — As emblems of their Christian purity. [Washed 
 in the blood of the Lamb. (Verse 14.)] And 
 palms in their hands — In token of victory 
 gained over the world, the devil, and the flesh. 
 
 10. Salvation to our God — That is, God alone 
 is the author of the salvation of men ; and this sal- 
 vation is procured for and given to them through 
 the Lamb, as their propitiatory sacrifice. 
 
 11. All the angels, etc. — As there is joy in the 
 presence of God among these holy spirits when one 
 sinner repents, no wonder that they take such an 
 interest in the gathering together of such innumer- 
 able multitudes who are fully saved from their sins. 
 
 12. Saying, Amen — Giving their most cordial 
 and grateful assent to the praises attributed to Gqd 
 and the Lamb, [and uniting in that worship.] 
 Blessing, and glory, etc. — There are here seven 
 different species of praise attributed to God, as in 
 chapter v, 12, where see the note. [The same dox- 
 ology, tor substance, occurs in chapter v, 12. . . . 
 There the ascription is to the Lamb, here to our 
 God. The same praise is of course rendered to 
 \>i\\h.—Stuart.~\ 
 
 13. One of the elders answered — A Hebraism 
 for spoke. The question is here asked that the 
 proposer may have the opportunity to answer it. 
 
 14. Sir, thou knowest — That is, I do not know, 
 but thou canst in form me. Came out of great 
 tribulation — Persecutions of every kind. If 
 these saints had not met with trouble and distresses, 
 in all likelihood they had not excelled so much in 
 righteousness and true holiness. When all avenues 
 of worldly comfort are shut up we are more readily 
 inclined to seek our all in God ; ami there is noth- 
 ing sought from him that is not found in linn. 
 [Some have rendered this, the great tribulation, 
 which the original will allow, and understand il a- 
 referring to the Diocletian persecution.] And 
 have washed their robes — Have obtained tin ir 
 pardon and purity through the blood of the Lainb. 
 Their white robes cannot mean the righteousness 'if 
 
 o'J5
 
 L. M. 4100. A. D. 96. 
 Ifear i fRome, s49. 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 The opening of the seventh sea!. 
 
 washed r their robes, and made them white in 
 the blood of the Lamb. 15 Therefore are 
 
 they before the throne of God, and serve him 
 day and night in Ins temple: and he that sit- 
 teth on the throne shall s dwell among them. 
 16 'They shall hunger no more, neither thirst 
 any more; "neither shall the sun light on 
 them, nor any heat. 17 For the Lamb which 
 is in the midst of the throne v shall feed them. 
 and shall lead them unto living fountains of 
 
 >-I-a. I. 18: Heb. 9. 14; 1 John 1. 7; chap. 1. 5: see Zech. 3. 
 
 3, 4, 3. — sls-i, 4. 5, 0; chap. 21. 3. tUd. 49. 10. u Psa. 
 
 121. 6; chap. 21. 4. 
 
 Christ, for this cannot be washed and made white 
 in his own blood. This white linen is said to be 
 the righteousness of the saints, (chapter xix, 8,) and 
 this is the righteousness in which they stand befort 
 the throne ; therefore it is not Christ's (personal) 
 righteousness, but it is a righteousness wrought in 
 them by the merit of his blood and the power of 
 his Spirit. [The act (of washing) was a lifelong 
 one, the continued purification of the man, ... by 
 the application of the blood of Christ in its cleans- 
 ing power. — Alford.] 
 
 15. Therefore— Because they are washed in the 
 blood of the Lamb. Are they before the throne 
 — Admitted to the immediate presence of God. 
 And serve him day and night in his temple 
 — Without ceasing ; being tilled with the spirit of 
 prayer, faith, love, and obedience. ["Temple:" 
 vaoc,, sanctuary. The earthly life of the faithful is 
 already represented by being made priests unto God. 
 (Chapter i, 6; v, 10.) (How much more the 
 heavenly ?) — Speak, r's ( 'om. ] Shall dwell among 
 them — He lives in his own Church, and in the 
 heart of every true believer. [Whatever interpre- 
 tation we may give to the passages in question, it is 
 a thought of unique grandeur that the glory or she- 
 kinah of (rod is now in a permanent and apparent 
 glory, to sink down from the throne upon the 
 blessed and spread itself out over them. — Lange. \ 
 
 16. They shall hunger no more — They shall 
 no longer be deprived of their religious ordinances, 
 and the blessings attendant on them, as they were 
 when in a state of persecution Neither shall 
 the sun light on them — Their secular rulers, 
 being converted to God, became nursing father- to 
 the Church. Nor any heat — Neither persecution 
 nor affliction of any kind. These the Hebrews ex- 
 press by the term heat, scorching, etc. [" Hunger" 
 and "thirst," and the satisfaction of both these 
 needs, are throughout the Scriptures the fixed 
 figures of spiritual circumstances. As the body is 
 a fixed symbol of the soul, so the conditions of 
 bodily existence and satisfaction are a fixed symbol 
 of the corresponding spiritual conditions. — Lange.'] 
 
 17. The Lamb — The Lord Jesus, enthroned with 
 his Father in ineffable glory. Shall feed them — 
 Shall communicate to them every thing calculated 
 to secure, continue, and increase their happiness. 
 Living fountains of waters — A sptnng, in the 
 Hebrew phraseology, is termed Urine/ voter, because 
 constantly boiling up and running on. By these 
 perpetual fountains we are to understand endless 
 sources of comfort and happiness, which Jesus 
 Christ will open out of his own infinite plenitude to 
 all glorified souls. These eternal living fountains 
 will make an infinite variety in the enjoyments of 
 the blessed. There will be no sameness, and con- 
 sequently no cloying with the perpetual enjoyment 
 
 596 
 
 waters : "' and God shall wipe away all tears from 
 their eves. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 AND "when he had opened the seventh seal, 
 there was silence in heaven about the 
 space of half an hour. 2 b And I saw tin 
 seven angels which stood before God; c and to 
 them were given seven trumpets. 3 And an- 
 other angel came and stood at the altar, having 
 a golden censer; and there was given unto 
 
 ■cPsa. 23. 1; 3fi. 8: John in. 11, 14. TOlsa. 25. 8: ch-p. 
 
 21.4. n Chap. t;. 1. b Matt. IS. 10; Lukel. 10. c2Chron. 
 
 29. 25-28. 
 
 of the same things ; every moment will open a 
 new source of pleasure, instruction, and improve- 
 ment ; they shall make an eternal progression into 
 the fulness of God. God shall wipe away (in 
 the most affectionate and fatherly manner) all tears 
 from their eyes — Shall remove all causes of dis- 
 tress and grief. They shall have pure, unmixed 
 happiness. Reader, this is the happiness of those 
 who are washed from their sins. Art thou washed '! 
 0, rest not till thou art prepared to appear before 
 God and the Lamb. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 1. The seventh seal — This is ushered in and 
 opened only by the Lamb. Silence in heaven — 
 A sublime metaphor ; " silence " being suggestive 
 of the deep and solemn expectation of the stupen- 
 dous things about to take place, which the opening 
 of this seal had produced. [This image seems to 
 have been borrowed from the silence kept by the 
 people while the priest offered the incense. The 
 silence here is preparatory to the sacerdotal act of 
 the angel, in verse 3. (See Luke i, 10; 1 Chron. 
 xxix, 25-20.) — Speaker's Com.] Half an hour — 
 ["Silence" lasting but "half an hour " denotes that 
 the consummation of all things, to which the 
 seventh seal directly leads up, is to follow the 
 opening of that seal after a period absolute/// short. 
 (For a period absolutely long, see chapter xx, 2, 
 " the thousand years.") — Speaker's Com.] There is 
 here, and in the following verses, a strong allusion 
 to different parts of the temple worship ; a pre- 
 sumption that the temple was still standing, and 
 the regular service of God carried on. The 
 " silence" here refers to this fact — while the priest 
 went in to burn incense in the holy place, all the 
 people continued in silent mental prayer without till 
 the priest returned. (See Luke i, 10.) The angel 
 mentioned here appears to execute the office of 
 priest, as we shall by and by see. 
 
 2. The seven angels which stood before 
 God — Probably the same as those called the seven 
 spirits which an before his tin-one. (Chapter i, 4.) 
 There is still an allusion here to the seven minis- 
 ters of the Persian monarehs. (See Tobit, chapter 
 xii, 15.) 
 
 3. Another angel — About to perform the office 
 of priest. Having a golden censer — This was a 
 preparation peculiar to the day of expiation. "On 
 other days it was the custom of the priest to take 
 fire from the great altar in a silver censer, but on 
 the day of expiation the high priest took the fire 
 from the great altar in a golden censer: and 
 when he was come down from the great altar he 
 took incense from one of the priests, who brought 
 ii to him, and went with it to the golden altar; and 
 while he offered the incense the people prayed
 
 The first four of the seven angels 
 sound ilieir tru:i pets. 
 
 CHAPTER VI IT. 
 
 him much incense, that he should ''offer it 
 with e the prayers of all saints upon f the gold- 
 en altar which was before the throne. 4 And 
 ethe smoke of the incense, which came with 
 the prayers of the saints, ascended up before 
 God out of the angel's hand. 5 And the 
 angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of 
 the altar, and cast it h into the earth: and 
 'there were voices, and thunderings, and light- 
 nings, k and an earthquake. 6 And the seven 
 angels which had the seven trumpets prepared 
 themselves to sound. 7 The first angel sound- 
 ed, ' and there followed hail and fire mingled 
 with hlood, and they were cast '"upon the 
 earth: and the third part "of trees was burnl 
 up, and all green grass was burnt up. § And 
 the second angel sounded, "and as it were a 
 great mountain burning with fire was cast into 
 the sea: rand the third parti of the seaibe- 
 
 iJ Or, ttdd \tto the primers. <?Chap. 5. 8. fExod. 30. 1 ; 
 
 chap. t;. 9. o i'sa. 141. 2; lAike 1. 10. h Or, upon. 
 
 /' • hap. 16. 1& X '-' Sam. 22. 8; 1 Kings 19. 11 ; Acts 4. 31. 
 
 IV.Z'-k. 38. '22. m Chap. 10. 2. ttlsa. 2. 13, chap. 9. 4. 
 
 without in silence, which is the silence in heaven for 
 half an hour." (See Sir Isaac Newton.) Much 
 incense, that he should offer it — Judgments of 
 God are now about to be executed; the saints, 
 the genuine Christians, pray much to God for pro- 
 tection. The angelic priest comes with " much in- 
 cense," standing between the living and those con- 
 signed to death, and otters his incense to God with 
 the prayers of tin saints. 
 
 4. The smoke of the incense, . . . 'with the 
 prayers — Though incense itself be an emblem of 
 the prayers of the saints, (Psa. cxli, 2,) yet here 
 they are said to ascend before God, as well as the 
 incense. The angel presents the incense, and the 
 prayers ascend with it. The ascending of the in- 
 cense shows that the prayers and offering were 
 accepted. 
 
 5. Cast it into the earth — That is, upon the 
 land of Judea, (?) intimating the judgments and 
 desolations which were now coming upon it, and 
 which appear to be further opened in the sounding 
 of the seven trumpets. There were voices — All 
 these seem to point out the confusion, commotions, 
 distresses, and miseries which were coming upon 
 these people in the wars which were at hand. 
 
 <>. Prepared themselves to sound — Wars are 
 here indicated ; the trumpet was the emblem of 
 war. 
 
 7. Hail and fire mingled with blood — This 
 was something like the ninth plague of Egypt. 
 (See Kxod. ix, 18-24.) In the "hail and fire min- 
 gled with blood " some fruitful imaginations might 
 find gunpowder and cannon balls, and canister 
 shot, and bombs. They were cast upon the 
 earth — Etc t/)v yfp>, into that land, Judea, thus 
 often designated; [f'ic, to, or toward, indicating 
 motion.] And the third part of trees— [Follow- 
 ing the preceding clause, and before that next 
 named, are these words, now accepted as undoubt- 
 edly genuine : mi rb rpirov t/]c yfjc KaTEKaq, and tin 
 third part of the earth was Intent tip. Some authori- 
 ties omit t lie next clause.] The land was wasted ; 
 the trees — the chiefs of the nation — were destroyed ; 
 and the grass — the common /»<>/>lc — slain, or cai ried 
 into captivity. High and low, rich and poor, were 
 overwhelmed with one general destruction. This 
 seems to be the meaning of these figures. Manv 
 
 came hlood; 9 r And the third part of the 
 creatures which were in the sea, and had life, 
 died; and the third part of the ships Were de- 
 stroyed. BO And the third angel sounded, 
 "and there fell a great star from heaven, burn- 
 ing as it were a lamp, 'and it fell upon the 
 third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains 
 of waters; 11 "And the name of the star is 
 called Wormwood : 'and the third part of the 
 waters became wormwood; and many nun 
 died of the waters, because they wen- made 
 hitter. 8 "2 " And the fourth angel sounded. 
 and the third part of the sun was smitten, and 
 the third part of the moon, and the third 
 part of the stars; so as the third part of them 
 was darkened, and the (hay shone not for a 
 third part of it, and the night likew ise. 
 13 And I beheld, "and heard an angel flying 
 through the midst of heaven, saying with a 
 
 oJer. 51. 25; Amos 7. 4. pCh:\p. tfi. 3. q Rzek. 14. 19. 
 
 rChtip. 16. 3. -visa. 14. 12; chap. 9 1. 1( hap. 16. 4. 
 
 uRnth I. 20. r Kxml. 15. 23; Jer. 9. 15; 23. 15. u>Isa. 
 
 13. 10; Amos 8. 9 ./Chap. 14. 6; 19. 17. 
 
 eminent men suppose that the irruption of the bar- 
 barous nations on the Roman empire is here in- 
 tended. It is easy to find coincidences when fancy 
 runs riot. Later writers might find here the irrup- 
 tion of the Austrians and British, and Prussians, 
 Russians and Cossacks, on the French empire! 
 
 8. A great mountain burning 'with fire — Sup- 
 posed to signify the powerful nations winch invaded 
 the Roman empire. " Mountain," in prophetic 
 language, signifies a kingdom. ( Jer. li, 25, 27, So, 
 58.) Great disorders, especially when kingdoms 
 are moved by hostile invasions, are represented by 
 mountains being cast into the midst of the sea. 
 (Psa. xlvi, 2.) Seas and collections of waters mean 
 peoples, as is shown in this book, chapter xvii, 15. 
 Therefore, great commotions in kingdoms and 
 among their inhabitants may be here intended, but 
 to whom, where, and when these happened, or are 
 to happen, we know not. The third part of the 
 sea became blood — Another allusion to the 
 Egyptian plagues. (Exod. vii, 20, 21.) "Third 
 part'' is a rabbinism, expressing a considerable 
 number. 
 
 9. The third part of the ships were de- 
 stroyed — These judgments seem to be poured out 
 upon some maritime nation, destroying much of its 
 population and much of its traffic. 
 
 10. There fell a great star from heaven — 
 
 This has given rise to various conjectures. S e 
 
 say the star means Attila and his Huns; otheis, 
 Genseric with his Vandals falling on the city of 
 Rome ; others, Eleazer, the son of Annus, spurn- 
 ing the emperor's victims, and exciting the furj of 
 the Zealots; others, Alius, infecting the pure 
 Christian doctrine with his heresy, etc., etc. It 
 certainly cannot mean all these; and probably non, 
 of them. Let the reader judge. 
 
 1 1. The star is called Wormwood — So called 
 from the bitter or distressing effects produced b) 
 its influence. 
 
 12. The third part of the sun was smitten 
 . . . moon, . . . stars — Supposed by some to mean 
 Rome, with her senates, consuls, etc., eclipsed by 
 Odoacer, king of the Ileruli, and Theodoric, king 
 of the Ostrogoths, in the fifth century. But all 
 this is uncertain. 
 
 13. I . . . heard an angel flying — Instead of 
 
 597
 
 A.M. 4Kn. A.T>. S6. 
 Yen- of Rome, 849. 
 
 REVELATIOX. 
 
 loud voice, > Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters 
 of the earth by reason of the other voices of 
 the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet 
 to sound! 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 AND the fifth angel sounded, a and J saw 
 a star fall from heaven unto the earth: 
 and to him was given the key of 'the bottom- 
 less pit. 2 And he opened the bottomless 
 pit ; c and there arose a smoke out of the pit, 
 as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun 
 and the air were darkened by reason of the 
 smoke of the pit. 3 And there came out of 
 the smoke ''locusts upon the earth: and unto 
 them was given power, e as the scorpions of the 
 earth have power. 4 And it was commanded 
 
 V Chnp. 9. 12: 11. 14. a Luke 10. 18; chap. 8. in. M.uke 
 
 S. 31 ; verses 2, 11: chap. 17. * : 20. 1. — c Joel 2. 2,10. rfExod. 
 
 in. 4; Judg. 7. 12. e Verse 10. /Chap. 6. 6; 7.3. s/Ch;ip. 
 
 ayjEAov TitTufitvov, an angel flying, almost every 
 MS. and Version of note has aerov ttetu/j.evov, an 
 eagle flying. The " eagle " was the symbol of the 
 Romans, and was always on their ensigns. The 
 thret woes which are here expressed were probably 
 to be executed by this people, and upon the Jews 
 and their commonwealth. Taken in this sense the 
 symbols appear consistent and appropriate; and 
 the reading eagle instead of angel is undoubtedly 
 genuine. [The absolute want of any thing ap- 
 proaching to agreement among even the ablest, 
 most scholarly, and discreet commentators respect- 
 ing these visions of the trumpets renders quite 
 hopeless any attempt to find among them a proba- 
 ble solution of the mysteries here set forth] 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTEE IX. 
 [Chapters ix-xi. (The last three, the woe trum- 
 pets.) These, as well as the first four, have a char- 
 acter of their own, corresponding in some meas- 
 ure to that of the visions at the opening of the 
 three last seals. The particulars related under 
 them are separate and detailed, not symmetrical 
 and correspondent. And as in the seals, so here, 
 the seventh forms rather the solemn conclusion 
 to the whole than a distinct judgment of itself. 
 Here also, as there, it is introduced by two episod- 
 ical passages, having reference to the visions which 
 are to follow, and which take up the thread of 
 prophecy again at a period previous to things de- 
 tailed before.— A Iford.] 
 
 1. A star fall from heaven — An angel encom- 
 passed "ith light suddenly descended, and seemed 
 like a "star" falling from heaven. (See Isaiah 
 xiv, 12.) The key of the bottomless pit — 
 Power to inundate the earth with a flood of tem- 
 poral calamities and moral evils. (?) 
 
 2. He opened the bottomless pit — To 6peap 
 TTJQ u Ivggov, the pit of Ike abyss. Some think the 
 angel means Satan, and the bottomless pit hell. 
 Some suppose Mohammed is meant ; and Signior 
 Pastorini professes to believe that Luther is in- 
 tended ! There arose a smoke — False doctrine, 
 obscuring the true light of heaven. (?) 
 
 o. Locusts — Vast hordes of military troops. 
 The description which follows certainly agrees bet- 
 ter with the Saracens than with any other people 
 or nation, but may also apply to the Romans. As 
 the scorpions of the earth have power — Name- 
 ly, to hurt men by stinging them. Scorpions may 
 signify archers ; and hence the description has been 
 598 
 
 them 'that they should not hurt & the grass of 
 the earth, neither any green thing, neither any 
 tree ; but only those men which have not h the 
 seal of God in their foreheads. 5 And to 
 them it was given that they should not kill 
 them, 'but that they should be tormented five 
 months: and their torment was as the torment 
 of a scorpion, when he striketh a man. 
 6 And in those days k shall men seek death, 
 and shall not find it; and. shall desire to die, 
 and deatli shall flee from them. 7 And 'the 
 shapes of the locusts were like unto horses pre- 
 pared unto battle; m and on their heads were 
 as it were crowns like gold, "and their faces 
 were as the faces of men. 8 And they had 
 hair as the hair of women, and ° their teeth 
 
 8. 7. /(See Exod. 12. 23: F.zek. 9. 4; cliap. 7. 3. iVeise 10; 
 
 chap. 11. 7. k .Job 3. 21 : Isa. 2. 19 : Jer 8. 3 : chnp. li. 16. 
 
 I Joel 2. 4. m Nah. 3. 17. n Dan. 7. 8. o Joel 1. 6. 
 
 applied to Cestius Gallus, the Roman general, who 
 had many archers in his army. 
 
 4. They should not hurt the grass — Neither 
 the common people, the men of middling condition, 
 nor the nobles. However, this appears rather to 
 refer to the prudent counsels of a military chief, 
 not to destroy the crops and herbage of which they 
 might have need in their campaigns. Which have 
 not the seal of God — All false, hypocritical, and 
 heterodox Christians. 
 
 5. To them it was given — That is, they were 
 permitted. That they should be tormented 
 five months — Some take these months literally, 
 and apply them to the conduct of the Zealots, who, 
 from May to September, in the year of the siege, 
 produced dreadful contests among the people ; or 
 to the afflictions brought upon the Jews by Cestius 
 Callus when he came against Jerusalem, before 
 which he lay one whole summer, or nearly five 
 months. (See Josephus, Bell. Jud., I. ii, c. 19.) 
 Others consider the " months " as being propheti- 
 cal months, each day being reckoned for a year; 
 therefore this period must amount to one hundred 
 and fifty years, counting thirty days for each month, 
 as was the general custom of the Asiatics. [Pro- 
 phetical arithmetic and chronology are especially 
 uncertain.] Their torment was as the torment 
 of a scorpion — The phraseology here is peculiar, 
 and probably refers to the warlike weapon called a 
 " scorpion," (that is, a poisoned arrow,) several of 
 which, or men armed with them, Cestius Gallus 
 brought with him in his army. 
 
 6. In those days shall men seek death — So 
 distressing shall be their sufferings and torment 
 that they shall long for death in any form, to be 
 rescued from the evils of life. 
 
 7. The locusts were like unto horses — This 
 description of the locusts appears to be taken from 
 Joel ii, 4. The whole of this symbolical description 
 of an overwhelming military force agrees very well 
 with the troops of Mohammed. The Arabs are the 
 most expert horsemen in the world ; they live so 
 much on horseback that the horse and his rider 
 seem to make but one animal. The Romans also 
 were eminent for their cavalry. Crowns like 
 gold — Not only alluding to their costly tiaras or 
 turbans, but to the extent of their conquests and 
 the multitude of powers which they subdued. 
 Their faces were as the faces of men — That is, 
 though locusts symbolically, they are really men. 
 
 8. Hair as the hair of women — No razor
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 L M. 4100. A. P. 06. 
 Year of Rome, 840. 
 
 were as the teeth of lions. 9 And they had 
 breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; 
 ami the sound of their wings was Pas the sound 
 of chariots of many horses running to battle. 
 
 lO And they had tails like unto scorpions, 
 and there were stings in their tails: ''and their 
 power was to hurt men five months. 11 r And 
 they had a king- over them, which is 'the angel 
 of the bottomless pit, whose name in the He- 
 brew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek 
 tongue hath his name ' Apollyon. 12 "One 
 woe is past; and, behold, there come two 
 woes more hereafter. 13 And the sixth 
 angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the 
 four horns of the golden altar which is before 
 God, 14 Saying to the sixth angel which had 
 the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are 
 bound v in the great river Euphrates. 15 And 
 the four angels were loosed, which were pre- 
 
 • Joel 2. .">■ ti, 
 
 /That is 
 K IS 
 
 I. 5, fi, 7. — g Verse 5. r Eph. 2. 2. * Verse 1. 
 
 to say, A destroyer. ((Chap. 8. 13. sChap. 
 
 passes upon their flesh. Their hair long, and their 
 beards unshaven. Their teeth were as the 
 teeth of lions — They are ferocious and cruel. 
 
 9. They had breastplates ... of iron — They 
 seemed to be invulnerable, for no force availed 
 against them. The sound of their wings — Their 
 hanging weapons and military trappings, with the 
 clan;; of their shields and swords when they make 
 their tierce onsets. (See Joel ii, 5-7.) 
 
 10. They had tails like unto scorpions— 
 This may refer to the consequences of their vic- 
 tories. They infected the conquered with their 
 pernicious doctrines. Their power -was to hurt 
 men five months — The locusts make their prin- 
 cipal ravages during the five summer months. 
 But probably these may be prophetic months, as 
 above, in verse 5 — 150 years. 
 
 11. A king over them — A supreme head; 
 some think Mohammed, some think Vespasian. 
 The angel of the bottomless pit — The chief en- 
 voy of Satan. Abaddon — A destroyer. Apollyon 
 — From (ixo, intensive, and o/'/.'vo), to destroy. The 
 meaning is the same both in Hebrew and Greek. 
 
 12. One woe is past — That is, the woe or deso- 
 lation by the symbolical scorpions There come 
 two woes more — In the trumpets of the sixth 
 and seventh angels. 
 
 13. The four horns of the golden altar — 
 This is another not very obscure indication that the 
 Jewish temple was yet standing. 
 
 11. Loose the four angels — These four angels, 
 bound, or hitherto restrained, in the Euphrates — 
 are by some supposed to be the Arabs, the Sara- 
 cen-, the Tartars, or the Turks ; by others, Ves- 
 pasian's four generals, one in Arabia, one in 
 Africa, one in Alexandria, and one in Palestine. 
 
 1 5. For an hour, and a day, and a month, 
 and a year — We have in tins place a year re- 
 solved into its component parts. Probably no 
 more is meant than that these four angels were at 
 all times prepared and permitted to inflict evil on 
 the people against whom they had received their 
 commission. There are some who understand these 
 divisions of time as prophetical periods, and to 
 these I must refer, not professing to discuss such 
 uncertainties. 
 
 16. Two hundred thousand thousand — A<r 
 fivpLadec, juvpidduv, two myriads of myriads; that is, 
 
 pared "for an hour, and a day. mid a month, 
 and a year, for to slay the third part of men. 
 
 16 And "the number of the army 7 of the 
 horsemen were two hundred thousand thou- 
 sand : z and I heard the number of them. 
 
 17 And thus 1 saw the horses in the vision, 
 and them that sat on them, having breastplates 
 of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: 'and 
 the heads of the horses wen as the heads of 
 lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and 
 smoke and brimstone. 18 By these three was 
 the third part of men killed, by the fire, and 
 by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which 
 issued out of their mouths. 19 For their 
 power is in their mouth, and in their tails; 
 'for their tails were like unto serpents, and 
 had heads, and with them they do hurt. 
 *20 And the rest of the men which were not 
 killed by these plagues c yet repented not of 
 
 W 0r, at. — -a-Ps-i. 68. 17; D;m. 7. 10. V Ezek. 38. 4.' 
 
 z Chap. 7. 4. a 1 Chron. 12. b ; Isa. 5. 28, 29. b l*a. 9. 15. 
 
 C Deut. 81. 29. 
 
 two hundred millions; an army that was never yet 
 got together from the foundation of the world, and 
 could not find forage in any part of the earth. 
 Perhaps it only means vast numbers, multitudes 
 without number. Such a number might be literal- 
 ly true of the locusts. Those who will have their 
 particular system supported by the images in this 
 most obscure book tell us that the number here 
 means all the soldiers that were employed in this 
 war, from its commencement to its end ! Those 
 who can receive this saying let them receive it. 
 
 17. Breastplates of fire, . . .jacinth, and brim- 
 stone — That is, red, blue, and yellow; the first is 
 the colour of fire, the second of jacinth, and the 
 third of sulphur. And the heads of the horses — 
 Is this an allegorical description of great ord- 
 nance: cannons, on the mouths of which horses' 
 heads were formed, or the mouth of the camion cast 
 in that form ? Fire, . . . smoke, . . . brimstone, 
 is a good allegorical representation of gunpowder. 
 The Ottomans made great use of heavy artillery in 
 their wars with the Greeks of the lower empire. 
 
 18. By these three was the third part of 
 men killed — That is, by these was great carnage 
 made. 
 
 19. Their power is in their mouth — From 
 these the destructive balls are projected ; and in 
 their tails, the breech where the charge of gun- 
 powder is lodged. Their tails were like unto 
 serpents, and had heads — If cannons are in- 
 tended, the description, though allegorical, is plain 
 enough ; for brass ordnance especially are fre- 
 quently thus ornamented, both at their muzzles and 
 at their breech. 
 
 20. Yet repented not — The commission which 
 these horsemen had was against idolaters; and 
 though multitudes of them were destroyed, yet the 
 residue continued their senseless attachment to 
 dumb idols, and therefore heavier judgments might 
 be expected. These things are supposed to refer 
 to the desolation brought upon the Greek Church 
 by the Ottomans, who entirely ruined that Church 
 and the Greek empire. The Church which was 
 then remaining was the Latin or Western Church, 
 which was not at all corrected by the judgments 
 which fell upon the Eastern Church, but continued 
 its senseless adoration of angels, saints, relics, etc., 
 and does so to the present day. If, therefore- 
 
 599
 
 L. M. 4100. A. D. 96. 
 Ye:ir of Rome, 849. 
 
 REVELATION". 
 
 the works of their bands, that they should not 
 worship "devils, "and idols of gold, and silver, 
 ami brass, and stone, and of wood; which 
 neither can see, nor bear, nor walk: 21 Nei- 
 ther repented they of their murders, Pnor of 
 their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of 
 their thefts. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 AND I saw another mighty angel come 
 down from heaven, clothed witb a cloud: 
 'and a rainbow was upon his head, and 'bis 
 face was as it were the sun, and c his feet as 
 pillars of fire: 2 And he had in his hand a 
 little book open : d and he set his right foot 
 upon the sea, and hi* left foot on the earth, 
 3 And cried witb a loud voice, as ichen a lion 
 roareth: and when he had cried, e seven thun- 
 ders uttered their voices. 4 And when the 
 
 »Lev. 17. 7: Nent 32. 17; Psa, 
 ©Psa. 115. 4; 135. 15; Dan. 5. 23 — 
 1. 28. I, Matt, 17. -J; chap. 1. 16.- 
 
 106. 37; 1 Cor. in. 2(1. 
 
 -joChap. 22. 15. a Ezek. 
 
 -cChap. 1. 15. 
 
 God's wrath be kindled against such, this Church 
 has much to fear. 
 
 21. Neither repented they of their mur- 
 ders — Their cruelties toward the genuine follow- 
 er- of God, the Albigenses, and Waldenses, [and 
 Lollards,] and others, against whom they published 
 crusades, and hunted them down, and butchered 
 them in the most shocking manner. Tlie innumer- 
 able murders by the horrible inquisition need not 
 be mentioned. Their sorceries — Those who apply 
 this also to the Romish Church understand by it 
 the various tricks, sleights of hand, or legerdemain, 
 by which they impose on the common people in 
 causing images of Christ to bleed, and the various 
 pretended miracles wrought at the tombs, etc., of 
 pretended saints, holy wells, and such like. Forni- 
 cation — (iiving that honour to various creatures 
 which is due only to the Creator. Their thefts — 
 Their exactions and impositions on men for in- 
 dulgences, pardons, etc. These things may be in- 
 tended, but it is going too far to say that this i~ 
 the true interpretation [The character of these 
 sins (named in verse '21) points out very plainly 
 who are the sufferers by this sixth, or second woe 
 trumpet, and the survivors who do not repent. We 
 are taught by St. Paul that the heathen are with- 
 out excuse for degrading the majesty of God into 
 an image made like unto corruptible things, and 
 for degenerating into gross immoralities in spite 
 of God's testimony given through the natural con- 
 science. . . . Nor will. these terrible inflictions 
 themselves bring those to repentance who shall 
 ultimately reject the Gospel which shall be preached 
 among all nations. . . . We are not yet dealing 
 with the apostasy and fornication within the Church 
 herself. — Afford.] [All the attempts that have 
 been made to construct an historical interpretation 
 ot these visions (and their name is Legion) in- 
 variably break down when submitted to any 
 properly rational tests. They are indeed, as to 
 their purposes, attempts to be " wise above what 
 is written," and as to their results, "darkening 
 counsel by words' without knowledge."] 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER X. 
 
 [Two episodes, that of the " Little Rook," (chapter 
 
 x, 2,) and that of "Measuring the Temple," (chapter 
 
 xi, 1-13,) now separate the end of the sixth from 
 
 the beginning of the seventh trumpet-vision, (chap- 
 
 600 
 
 seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was 
 about to write: and I heard a voice from 
 heaven saying unto me, f Seal up those things 
 which the seven thunders uttered, and write 
 them not. 5 And the angel which I saw 
 stand upon the sea and upon the earth e lifted 
 up bis hand to heaven, 6 And sware by him 
 that liveth for ever and ever, h who created 
 heaven, and the things that therein are, and 
 the earth, and the things that therein are, 
 and the sea, and the things which arc therein, 
 that there should be time no longer. 7 But 
 k in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, 
 when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of 
 God should be finished, as he bath declared to 
 his servants the prophets. § And 'the voice 
 which I heard from heaven spake unto me 
 again, and said, Go and take the little book 
 
 rfMatt. 2?. is. fChap. ». 5. f Dan. 8. 26; 12. 4,9.- 
 
 S/Exod. 6.8; Dan. 12. 7. — - AXeli. 9. fi; eliap. 4. II; 14. 7.- 
 iDan. 12. 7; chap. 16. 17. /fcOhap. 11. la. — I Verse 4. 
 
 terix, 21 ; xi, 15,) just as the two episodes of chap- 
 ter vii, 4, 9. separate the sixth and seventh seals. 
 The relation of this tenth chapter to the general 
 drift of the Vision is more difficult to discern. 
 — Speaker's Com^\ [The tenth chapter of Revela- 
 tion presents a succession of highly sublime images, 
 but its prophetic or symbolical import has effec- 
 tually baffled all the attempts of learned commen- 
 tators to find them out.] 
 
 1. Another mighty angel — Either Christ or his 
 representative. Clothed with a cloud — A sym- 
 bol of the divine majesty. A rainbow was upon 
 his head — The token of God's merciful covenant 
 with mankind. His face was as it 'were the 
 sun — So intensely glorious that it could not be 
 looked on. His feet as pillars of fire — To de- 
 note the rapidity and energy of his motions, and 
 the stability of his counsels 
 
 2. A little book open — Meaning probably some 
 design of God long concealed, but now about to be 
 made manifest. But who knows what it means? 
 His right foot upon the sea, and his left . . . 
 on the earth — To show that he had the command 
 of each, and that his power was universal, all things 
 being under his feet. 
 
 3. Seven thunders — Seven being a number of 
 perfection, it may here mean many great, loud, and 
 strong peals of thunder, accompanied with distinct 
 voices ; but what was said St. John was not per- 
 mitted to reveal. (Verse 4.) 
 
 5. Lifted up his hand to heaven — As one 
 making an appeal to the Supreme Being. 
 
 G. By him that liveth for ever and ever — 
 The eternal, self-existent Jehovah. That there 
 should be time no longer — That the great coun- 
 sels relative to the events already predicted should 
 be immediately fulfilled. This has no reference to 
 the day of judgment. [Xo more delay.] 
 
 7. The mystery of God should be finished — 
 What this "mystery" refers to who knows? Nor 
 have we more knowledge concerning the sounding 
 of the seventh angel, (in these points there is 
 little agreement among learned men. Whether it 
 mean the destruction of Jerusalem, or the destruc- 
 tion of the papal power, or something else, we know 
 not. Declared to his servants the prophets — 
 It is most likely, therefore, that this trumpet belongs 
 to the Jewish State. 
 
 8. Take the little book which is open —
 
 The orik-r 
 Tin 
 
 the temple. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 A.M. .lino. A. P. 96. 
 ^ ear "t Rome, 1-49. 
 
 which is open in the hand of the angel which 
 stand etb upon the sea and upon the earth. 
 9 And I went unto the angel, and said unto 
 him, Give me the little book. And he said 
 unto me, "Take //, and eat it up; and it shall 
 make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy 
 mouth sweet as honey. 10 And 1 took the 
 little book out of the angel's hand, and ate it 
 up; "and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: 
 and as soon as I bad eaten it, n iny belly was 
 bitter. II And he said unto me, Thou must 
 prophesy again before many peoples, and na- 
 tions, and tongues, and kings. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 AND there was given me a a reed like unto 
 a rod : and the angel stood, saying, 'Rise, 
 and measure the temple of God, and the altar, 
 and them that worship therein. 2 But c tbe 
 court which is without the temple d leave out, 
 
 m Jer. V\ Ifi : Ezek. 2. S; 3. 1, 2, 3. n Ezek. 3. 3. o Ezek. 
 
 2. 10. a !•>. k. 4n. :;. . t,\ : Zech. 2. 1 : chap. 21. 1.".. // Num. 
 
 2;;. i\-- r Ezek. 40. 17,20. — ddr. cast out. — el'sa. 79. 1; 
 
 l.uke 21. 24. /Dan. 8. 1" ffChap. 13. :>. //Or, / will 
 
 give unto )nu ttco u itnesses that tlicu may prop/ieny. 
 
 Learn from this angel what should be published to 
 the world. 
 
 9. Take it, and eat it up — Fully comprehend 
 its meaning; study it thoroughly. 
 
 10. It was in my mouth sweet as honey — 
 There was in it some pleasing, some impleasing, in- 
 telligence. I read of the consolations and protection 
 of the true worshippers of God, and did rejoice ; I 
 read of the persecutions of the Church, and was 
 distressi d. 
 
 11. Thou must prophesy again — Thou must 
 write not only for the instruction of the Jews in 
 Palestine, but of those in the different provinces, as 
 well as the heathens and heathen emperors and 
 potentates in general. 
 
 The reader will find, on comparing this chapter 
 with Dan. viii and xii, and Ezek. ii and iii, that 
 there are several tilings similar in both ; and the 
 writer of the Apocalypse appears to keep these two 
 prophets continually in view. I must once more 
 say that I do not understand these prophecies, 
 therefore I do not take upon me to explain them. 
 The word XP° V0 C (time,) in verse 0, seems to signify 
 delay simply, and probably refers to the long-suffer- 
 ing of God being ended in reference to Jerusalem; 
 for I all along take for probable that this book was 
 written previously to the destruction of that city. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER XI. 
 [St. John, having taken rank after his new con- 
 secration (chapter x, 11) among the prophets of 
 the former covenant, now proceeds to perform a 
 symbolical action Mich as we read of in their case. 
 (See Isa. xx, '2 ; Jer. xix, 1.) — Speakei-'s Com.] 
 
 1. And there was given me a reed — See 
 Ezek. xl, 3, etc. Measure the temple of God — 
 This must refer to the temple of Jerusalem; and 
 this is another presumptive evidence that it was yet 
 standing. 
 
 2. But the court ... is given unto the Gen- 
 tiles — The measuring of the temple perhaps refers 
 to its approaching destruction, and the termination 
 of the whole Levitical service; and tins we find 
 was to be done by the Gentiles, (Romans,) who 
 were to tread it down forty-two months : that is, 
 
 and measure it not; e for it is given unto the 
 Gentiles: and the lady city shall they f tre;,d 
 under foot sforty and two months, 3 And ''1 
 will give power unto my two 'witnesses, k and 
 they shall prophesy 'a thousand two hundred 
 a ml threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. 
 4 These are the '"two olive trees, and the two 
 candlesticks standing before the God of the 
 earth. 5 And if any man will hurt them, 
 "fire proeeedeth out of their mouth, and de- 
 voureth their enemies: "and if any man will 
 hurl them, he must in this manner he killed. 
 6 These I'bave power to shut heaven, that it 
 rain not in the days of their prophecy: and 
 'i have power over waters to turn them to 
 blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, 
 as often as they will. 7 And when they 
 'shall have finished their testimony, s the beast 
 that ascendeth ' out of the bottomless pit "shall 
 make war against them, and shall overcome 
 
 iChap. 20.4. /-Chap. 19. 10. JChap. 12. C\ m Psa. 52. 
 
 >-: Jer. 11. Id: Zech. 4. ;i, 11, 14. // 2 Kings 1. 10, 12: Jer. 1. Hi; 
 
 5. 11: Kzek. 4:;. 3: Hos. K. .i. o Num. Hi. 29. — 1>\ Kings 17. 
 
 1 ; James a. 16, 17. q Exocl. 7. 10. /-Luke 13.32. *i hap. 
 
 13. 1, 11; 17. 8. 1 Chap. 9. 2. « Dan. 7. 21 ; Zech. 14. 2. 
 
 just three years 'aid a haij\ or twelve hundred and 
 sixty days. This must be a symbolical period. 
 
 8. My two witnesses — This is extremely ob- 
 scure ; the conjectures of interpreters are as un- 
 satisfactory as they are endless on this point. 
 Those who wish to be amused or bewildered [or 
 wdio delight in solemn trifling] may have recourse 
 both to ancients and moderns on this subject. 
 
 4. These are the two olive trees — This 
 whole account seems taken from Zech. iv, 1-14. 
 Whether the prophet and the apostle mean the 
 same things by these emblems we know not. 
 
 5. Fire proeeedeth out of their mouth- 
 That is, these ''two witnesses" are commissioned 
 to denounce the judgments of God against all who 
 would attempt to prevent them from proceeding in 
 their ministry. 
 
 6. These have power to shut heaven — As 
 Elijah dirl. (1 Kings xvii and xviii ) To turn 
 them to blood — As Moses did. (Exod. vii.) They 
 shall have power to afflict the land with plagues, 
 similar to those which were inflicted on the Egyp- 
 tians. 
 
 1. The beast that ascendeth out of the bot- 
 tomless pit — This may be what is called anti- 
 christ ; some power that is opposed to genuine 
 Christianity. But what or whence, except from 
 the bottomless pit, that is, under the influence and 
 appointment of t he devil, we cannot tell ; nor do we 
 know by what name this power or being should be 
 called. The conjectures concerning the "two wit- 
 nesses " and " the beast " have been sufficiently mul- 
 tiplied. If the whole passage, as some think, n fer 
 in the persecution raised by the Jews against the 
 Christians, then some Jewish power or person is 
 the "beast" from the "bottomless pit." If it 
 refer to the early ages of Christianity, then "the 
 beast" may be one of the persecuting heathen 
 emperors. If it refer to a later age of Christianity, 
 then "the beast" may he the papal power, and t lie 
 Albigenses and Waldenses the two witnesses, which 
 were nearly extinguished by the horrible persecu- 
 tions raised up against them by the Church of 
 Rome. Whatever may he here intended, the earth 
 has not vet covered their blood. 
 
 601
 
 A. M. 410\ A. O. 96. 
 Year of Rome, 849. 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 The seventh trumpet sounded. 
 Rejoicing! which follow. 
 
 them, and kill them. § And their dead bodies 
 shnll lie in the street of 'the ureal city, which 
 spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, w where 
 also our Lord was crucified. 9 "And they of 
 the people and kindreds and tongues and na- 
 tions shall see their dead bodies three days and 
 a half, - v and shall not suffer their dead bodies 
 to be put in graves. lO z And they that dwell 
 upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and 
 make merry, H and shall send gifts one to an- 
 other; 'because these two prophets tormented 
 them that dwelt on the earth. 11 "And after 
 three days and a half d the Spirit of life from 
 God entered into them, and they stood upon 
 their feet; and great fear fell upon them which 
 saw them. 12 And they heard a great voice 
 from heaven saying unto them, Come up 
 hither. e And they ascended up to heaven 
 f in a cloud; sand their enemies beheld them. 
 13 And the same hour ''was there a great 
 earthquake, 'and the tenth part of the city 
 fell, and in the earthquake were slain k of men 
 
 r Chap. II. 8: 17. 1, 5: 18. 1ft. wHeh. 13. 12: chap. IS. -24. 
 
 ■ ntChap. 17. 15. >/Psa. 70. 2,3. «Chap. 12. 12: 13. 8. — 
 
 a Ksth. !i. 19, 22. ■— h Chap. 16. 10. c Verse 9. tfEzek. 37. 
 
 5, 9, in. 1 1. — e Isa. 14. 13 ; chap. 12. 5. /Isa. HO. 8: Acts 1. 9. 
 
 -172 Kings 2. 1, 5,7. //Chap. 6. 12. iChap. 10. 19. 
 
 : .. ...... I ■' I 
 
 k Gr. names oj nun. chap. 3. 4. 
 
 8. The great city — Some say Rome, which 
 may be spiritually called Sodom for its abomina- 
 tions; Egypt for its tyrannous cruelty; and the 
 place where our Lord -was crucified, because 
 of its persecution of the members of Christ ; but 
 Jerusalem itself may be intended. All these things 
 I must leave to others. 
 
 9. Shall not suffer their dead bodies to be 
 put in graves — Refusal of burial to the dead was 
 allowed to be the sum of brutality and cruelty. In 
 popish lands they will not suffer a Protestant to 
 have Christian burial, or to have a grave in a 
 churchyard. 
 
 10. Shall send gifts— See Esther ix, 19, 22. 
 
 11. They stood upon their feet — Were re- 
 stored to their primitive state. 
 
 12. They ascended up to heaven — Enjoyed 
 a state of great peace and happiness. 
 
 13. A great earthquake — Violent commotions 
 among the persecutors, and revolutions of states. 
 Slain of men seven thousand — Many perished in 
 these popular commotions. The remnant were 
 affrighted — Seeing the hand of God's judgments 
 so remarkably stretched out. Gave glory — Re 
 ceived the pure doctrines of the Gospel, and glori 
 tied God for his judgments and their conversion. 
 
 14. The second woe is past — That which toot 
 place under the sixth trumpet, and lias been already 
 described. The third woe cometh — Is about to 
 be described under the seventh trumpet, which the 
 angel is now prepared to sound. Of the three woes 
 which were denounced, (chapter viii, 13,) the first is 
 described in chapter ix, 1—12; the second, in chap- 
 ter ix, 13-21. These woes are supposed by many 
 learned men to refer to the destruction of Jerusalem. 
 The first woe — the seditions among the Jews them- 
 selves. Thf second woe — the besieging of the city 
 by the Romans. The third woe — the taking and 
 sacking of the city, and burning the temple. This 
 was the greatest of all the woes, as in it the city and 
 temple were destroyed, and nearly a million of men 
 lost their lives. 
 
 602 
 
 seven thousand : and the remnant were af- 
 frighted, ' and gave glory to the God of heav- 
 en. 14 "'The second woe is past; and, he- 
 hold, the third woe cometh quickly. 15 And 
 the seventh angel sounded; "and there were 
 great voices in heaven, saying, r The kingdoms 
 of this world are become the Mngdoms of our 
 Lord, and of his Christ; land he shall reign 
 for ever and ever. 16 And r the four and 
 twenty elders, which sat before God on their 
 seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped 
 God, 17 Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord 
 God Almighty, s which art, and wast, and art 
 to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy 
 great power, 'and hast reigned. IS "And the 
 nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, 
 v and the time of the dead, that they should be 
 judged, and that thou shouldest give reward 
 unto thy servants the prophets, and to the 
 saints, and them that fear thy name, w small 
 and great ; * and shouldest destroy them which 
 y destroy the earth. 19 And z the temple of 
 
 /Josh. 7.19: chap. 14. 7: 15. 4. — m Chap. 8. 13: 9. 12: 15. 1. 
 
 n Chap. 10.7. olsa. 27. 13: chap. I«. 17; 19. 6. pChap. 
 
 12. 111. q Dan. 2. 44: 7. 14. 18,27 /'Chap. 4. 4: 5. 8; 19. 4. 
 
 6- Chap. 1. 4, 8: 4. 8; 16. 5. /Chap. 19. 6. U Verse- 2, 9. 
 
 /-Dan. 7. 9, 10: chap. 6. 10. w Chap. 19. 5. * Chap. 13. 
 
 10 ; 18. 0. u Or, corrupt. z Chap. 15. o. 8. 
 
 15. There were great voices in heaven — All 
 
 the heavenly host — angels and redeemed human 
 spirits — joined together to magnify God that he had 
 utterly discomfited his enemies, and rendered his 
 friends glorious. This will be truly the case when 
 the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms 
 of God and of his Christ. But when shall this be? 
 Some say, what is meant by these words has al- 
 ready taken place in the destruction of the Jewish 
 State, and sending the Gospel throughout the Gen- 
 tile world. Others say, that it refers to the millen- 
 nium, and to the consummation of all things. [Re- 
 specting both of these events there is a remarkable 
 disproportion between what is really found in the 
 Scriptures and what is commonly, but ignorantly, 
 believed.] 
 
 16. The four and twenty elders — The repre- 
 sentatives of the universal Church of Christ. (See 
 on chapter v, 8-10.) 
 
 17. O Lord God Almighty, which art — This 
 gives a proper view of God in his eternity ; all times 
 are here comprehended, the present, the past, and 
 the future. This is the infinitude of God. Hast 
 taken to thee — Thou hast exercised that power 
 which thou ever hast; and thou hast broken the 
 power of thy enemies and exalted thy Church. 
 
 18. The nations were angry — Were enraged 
 against thy Gospel, and determined to destroy it. 
 Thy wrath is come — The time to avenge thy 
 servants and to destroy all thy enemies. The time 
 of the dead, that they should be judged — The 
 word Kpiveiv, to judge, is often used in the sense of 
 to avenge. "The dead," here, may mean those who 
 were slain for the testimony of Jesus, and the judg- 
 ing is the avenging of their blood. Give reward 
 unto thy servants — Who have been faithful unto 
 death. The prophets — The faithful teachers in 
 the Church. The saints — 'the Christians. And 
 them that fear thy name — All thy sincere fol- 
 lowers. Destroy them which destroy the earth 
 — The authors and eneouragers of bloody wars. 
 
 19. The temple of God was opened in
 
 The temple of God ope 
 TwoKieal wonde 
 
 ed hi beaven. 
 appear. 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 M. 41un. A. I). 96. 
 Year of Rome, B49. 
 
 God was opened in heaven, and there was seen 
 in his temple the ark of his testament: and 
 i there were lightnings, and voices, and thun- 
 derings, and an earthquake, ''and groat hail. 
 
 A 
 
 chapter xir. 
 
 XI) there appeared a great 
 
 wonder in 
 
 V Chap. «. 5 ; IB. 18. rj Chap. 16. 21. a Or, sign. b Isa. 66. 
 
 heaven — The true worship of God was established 
 and performed in the Christian Church ; this is the 
 true temple, that at Jerusalem being doomed. 
 And there were lightnings, and voices, and 
 thunde rings, and an earthquake, and great 
 hail — These great commotions were intended to 
 introduce the following vision; for the 12th 
 chapter is properly a continuation of the 11th, 
 and should be read in strict connexion with it. 
 
 [We must call to mind that all here is symbol. 
 The temple of God on earth was a pattern of the 
 heavenly one, as conceived of by the Jews. (Heb. 
 viii, 1—15.) in this temple the ark of the covenant 
 was deposited in the most holy place, and none but 
 the high priest, once in a year, on the great day of 
 atonement, was permitted to see or approach it. 
 When the Saviour expired, the veil that concealed 
 the most holy place was rent, (Matt, xxvii, 51,) 
 thus indicating the end of the ancient dispensation. 
 Here is another symbol expressing still more signifi- 
 cantly that Judaism is now at its close. No longer 
 is the ritual of the temple to be kept up. Even 
 the most holy place is thrown open to the eyes of 
 all. God is now to be approached by every spirit- 
 ual worshipper for himself in the name of the 
 great High Priest, the minister of the sanctuary 
 above. (Heb. viii, 2 ; ix, 8.) — Stuart.] 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER XII. 
 
 I now come to a part of this book that is deemed 
 of the greatest importance by the Protestant 
 Church, but is peculiarly difficult and obscure. I 
 have often acknowledged my own incapacity to 
 illustrate these prophecies. I might have availed 
 myself of the labours of others, but I know not 
 who is right ; or whether any of the writers on 
 this book have hit the sense is more than I can 
 assert, and more than I think. An illustration of 
 the xiith, xiiith, and xviith chapters, drawn up and 
 displayed with great industry and learning by 
 another hand, I shall insert in this place, as by far 
 the most probable I have yet seen; but I leave the 
 learned author responsible for his own particular 
 views of the subject. 
 
 Before I introduce that comment, I think it 
 necessary to state that the phraseology (and 
 imagery) of the whole chapter is peculiarly rab- 
 binical. 
 
 Notes ox Chapter XII, by J. E. C. 
 1. There appeared a great wonder in 
 heaven; a woman clothed with the sun — 
 That the woman here represents the true Church 
 of Christ most commentators are agreed. In other 
 parts of the Apooalypse, the pure Church of Christ 
 is evidently portrayed by a woman. (See chapter 
 xix, 7 ; xxi, 9.) That the Christian Church is meant 
 will appear also from her being 4> clothed with the 
 sun, 1 ' a striking emblem of Jesus Christ, the Sun 
 of righteousness, the light and glory of the Church; 
 for the countenance of the Son of God is as tin sun 
 shinelh in his strength. The woman has the moon 
 
 heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and 
 the moon under her feet, and upon her head 
 
 a crown of twelve stars: *2 And .she be- 
 ing with child cried, 'travailing in birth, and 
 p ;ined to be delivered. 3 And there appeared 
 another c wonder in heaven; and behold d a 
 great red dragon, ''having seven heads and ton 
 
 7 : Gal. 4. 19. c Or, sign. d Chap. 17. 3. e Chap. 17. 9, 10. 
 
 under her feet — Bishop Newton understands this 
 of the Jewish typical worship. The moon is the 
 less light, ruling over the night, and deriving all its 
 illumination from the sun ; so the .Jewish dispen- 
 sation was the moonlight of the world, and pos- 
 sessed a portion of the glorious light of the Gospel ; 
 and as at the rising of the sun the lunar light is no 
 longer necessary, so has the whole Jewish system 
 of types and shadows been superseded by the birth, 
 life, crucifixion, death, resurrection, ascension, and 
 intercession of Jesus Christ. A crown of twelve 
 stars — A significant representation of the twelve 
 apostles. (See chapter i, 20.) 
 
 2. And she being with child cried, travail- 
 ing in birth, etc. — This is a striking figure of the 
 persecutions which the Church of Christ should 
 suffer under the heathen Roman emperors, more 
 especially that under Diocletian. The woman is 
 represented as " being with child," to show that the 
 time would speedily arrive when God's patient for- 
 bearance with the heathen would be terminated, 
 and that a deliverer should arise in the Christian 
 world who would execute the divine vengeance 
 upon paganism. 
 
 3. There appeared another wonder ... a 
 great red dragon — The dragon is a symbol of the 
 heathen Roman empire. This great pagan power 
 must have, therefore, been thus represented from 
 the religion which it supported. As the dragon is an 
 entirely fabulous beast of antiquity, so the very 
 foundation of the heathen religious system is built 
 upon fable. In the eighth chapter of Daniel, God 
 has represented the kingdom of the Greeks by a 
 he goat, because that was the national military 
 standard of the Grecian monarchy ; and for a like 
 reason the pagan Roman empire is called a 
 dragon, for the "dragon" was the principal 
 standard of the Romans next to the eagle, in the 
 second, third, fourth, and fifth centuries of the 
 Christian era. Having seven heads— As the 
 "dragon" is an emblem of the heathen Roman 
 power, its "heads" must denote heatlien forms of 
 government. (See on chapter xvii, 10.) These 
 were exactly "seven," as enumerated by Tacitus, 
 namely: 1) The regal power; 2) The consulate; 
 3) The dictatorship ; 4) The decemvirate ; 5) The 
 consular power of the military tribunes; (i) The 
 triumvirate; and, 7) The imperial government. 
 And ten horns — As the "ten horns" of Daniel's 
 fourth beast point out as many kingdoms, so the 
 horns of the dragon have a similar meaning. And 
 although the Roman empire was not divided into 
 several independent kingdoms lill a considerable 
 time after it became Christian, yet it was the Roman 
 monarchy, in Us sir, nth Draconic form of yon fit- 
 ment, which was dismembered by the barbarians. 
 And when the heathen barbarous nations di- 
 vided the Roman empire among themselves, they 
 might very properly be denominated horns <f the 
 dragon, as it was by means id' their inclusions that 
 the imperial power, founded by the heathen 
 Cesars, was abolished. Machiavel ami Bishop 
 
 603
 
 A. AT. -lion. A. T>. 9 
 Ye:ir of Rome, JS-i9. 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 horns, f ancl seven crowns upon his heads. 
 4 And ehis tail drew the third part h of the 
 stars of heaven, 'and did east them to the 
 earth: and the dragon stood k before the wom- 
 an which was ready to be delivered, 'for to 
 
 /ihap. 1C. 1. gCha.p.9. in, 19. A Chap. 17. 18. iDan. 
 
 8. 10. 
 
 Llovd enumerate the horns of the dragon thus : 
 1) The kingdom of the Huns; 2) The kingdom of 
 the Ostrogoths ; 3) The kingdom of the Visigoths; 
 4) The kingdom of the Franks ; 5) The kingdom 
 of the Vandals ; 6) The kingdom of the Sueves 
 and Alans; 7) The kingdom of the Burgundians ; 
 8) The kingdom of the Heruli, Rugii, Scyrri, and 
 other tribes which composed the Italian kingdom 
 of Odoacer ; 9) The kingdom of the Saxons; and 
 10) The kingdom of the Lombards. And seven 
 crowns upon his heads — In the seven Roman 
 forms of government already enumerated heathen- 
 ism has been the crowned, or dominant, religion. 
 
 4. And his tail drew the third part of the 
 stars of heaven — It is not unusual in Scripture, as 
 Dr, Mitchell observes, to call the hindmost of an 
 enemy the "tail," as in Josh, x, 19: Ye shall cut 
 off' the hindmost of them, which is literally in 
 Hebrew, "Ye shall cut off their tail." (See, also, 
 Dent, xxv, 18.) The " tail "of the dragon is there- 
 fore the heathen Roman power in its seventh or 
 last form of government, namely, the imperial 
 power. The heathen imperial power is said to draw 
 "the third part of the stars of heaven," by which 
 has generally, but incorrectly, been understood that 
 the Roman empire subjected the third part of the 
 princes and potentates of the earth. Rut the 
 Roman empire was always considered and called, 
 by ancient writers, the empire of the world. The 
 whole mystery of this passage consists in the mis- 
 apprehension of its symbolical language. In or- 
 der, therefore, to understand it, the symbols here 
 used must be examined. By "heaven," is meant 
 the most eminent, or ruling part, of any nation. 
 Tiiis is evident from the very nature of the symbol, 
 for " heaven is God's throne ; " they, therefore, who 
 are advanced to the supreme authority in any State 
 are very properly said to be taken up into heaven, 
 because they are raised to this .eminence by the 
 favour of the Lord, and are ministers of his to do 
 his pleasure. The meaning of " heaven " being 
 thus ascertained, it cannot lie difficult to compre- 
 hend the meaning of earth,, this being evidently its 
 opposite, that is, everything in subjection to the 
 heaven or ruling part. " Stars " have already been 
 shown to denote ministers of religion; for as the 
 stars give light upon the earth, so are ministers the 
 lights of the cause they advocate; and their posi- 
 tion in "heaven," the symbol of domination, very 
 fitly betokens the spiritual authority of priests or 
 ministers over their flocks. Hence, as the woman, 
 or Christian Church, has upon her head a crown of 
 twelve s'ars, which signifies the guidance of the 
 twelve apostles, the lights of the Christian world, 
 so has the dragon also his stars or ministers. The 
 "stars," therefore, which the dragon draws with 
 his tail must represent the whole body of pagan 
 priests, who were the stars or lights of the heathen 
 world. The religious world in the time of St. 
 John was divided into three grand branches, name- 
 ly, the Christian, the Jewish, and the heathen and 
 pagan world ; and so it is said the tail of the 
 dragon draweth after him tin whole heathen world. 
 604 
 
 devour her child as soon as it was born. 
 5 And she brought forth a man child, "'who 
 was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and 
 her child was caught up unto God, and to his 
 throne. 6 And " the woman tied into the 
 
 k Verse 2. 1 Ezek. 1. 1(1. m Psa. 2. 9 ; chap. 2. 27 ; 19. 15.- 
 
 n Verse 4. 
 
 And did cast them to the earth — That is, re- 
 duced all the pagan priests under the Christian- 
 Roman yoke. The heathen imperial government is 
 doubly represented, first, by one of the seven dra- 
 conic heads, to show that it was one of those seven 
 heathen forms of government which have been suc- 
 cessively at the head of the Roman State; and 
 secondly, by the dragon's "tail," because it was the 
 last of those seven. For a justification of this 
 method of interpretation, see on the angel's double 
 explanation of the heads of the beast in chap, xvii, 
 9, 10, 16. And the dragon stood before the 
 woman, etc. — Constantius Chlorus, the father of 
 Constantine, abandoned the absurdities of pagan- 
 ism, and treated the Christians with great respect. 
 This alarmed the pagan priests, whose interests 
 were so closely connected with the continuance of 
 the ancient superstitions, and who apprehended 
 that, to their great detriment, the Christian religion 
 would become daily more general and triumphant 
 throughout the empire. Under these anxious fears 
 they moved Diocletian to persecute the Christians. 
 Hence began what is termed the tenth and last gen- 
 eral persecution, which was the most severe of all, 
 and continued nearly ten years ; and as it was the 
 divine pleasure that at tins time a great deliverer 
 should be raised up in behalf of his suffering peo- 
 ple, the woman, or Christian Church, is very appro- 
 priately represented as overtaken with the pangs of 
 labour, and ready to be delivered. Before the 
 deatli of Constantius. the heathen party, aware that 
 t'onstantine would follow the example of his father, 
 who so much favoured the Christians, beheld him 
 with a watchful and malignant eye. Many were 
 the snarps that were laid for him; but the dread of 
 the armies of the west, which were mostly com- 
 posed of Christians, was a sufficient check to all 
 attempts of that kind. Thus the dragon, or heathen 
 power, stood before the woman, or Christian 
 Church, to devour her son, or deliverer, as soon as 
 he was born. 
 
 5. And she brought forth a man child — The 
 Christian Church, when her full time came, obtained 
 a deliverer, who, in the course of the divine provi- 
 dence, was destined to rule all nations — the 
 heathen Roman empire — with a rod of iron — a 
 strong figure to denote the very great restraint that 
 should be put upon paganism, so that it should not 
 be able longer to persecute the Christian Church. 
 The " man child " mentioned in this verse is the 
 dynasty of Christian emperors, beginning with 
 Constantine's public acknowledgment of thedivinity 
 of the Christian religion, (A. D. 312,) after the del eat 
 of the Emperor Maxentius. And her child was 
 caught up unto God, and to his throne — A suc- 
 cession of Christian emperors was raised up to the 
 Church ; for the Roman throne, as Bishop Newton 
 observes, is here called the throne of God, because 
 there is no power but of God ; the powers that be 
 arc ordained of God. 
 
 6. And the woman fled into the wilderness 
 — The account of the woman's flying into the 
 wilderness immediately follows that of her child
 
 el fijrhts against and prevails 
 tin- dragon and bis angels. 
 
 CHAPTER XIT. 
 
 wilderness, where she hatli a place prepared 
 of God, that they should feed her there °a 
 thousand two hundred and threescore days. 
 7 And there was war in heaven: i 1 Michael 
 and his angels fought <i against the dragon; 
 and the dragon fought and his angels, 8 And 
 prevailed not; neither was their place found 
 any more in heaven. © And ' the great drag- 
 on was cast out, "that old serpent, called the 
 Devil, and Satan, 'which deceiveth the whole 
 world: "he was cast out into the earth, and 
 his angels were cast out with him. 10 And 
 
 oChap. 11. R. 7>n.in. in. 1:1, 21 ; 12. 1. g Verse 3; chap. 
 
 0. 2. rLuke 10. 18; John 12.31. S(ien. 3. 1, 1; chap. 20. 2. 
 
 — t Chap. 20. 3. u Chap. 9. 1. 
 
 being caught up to the throne of God, to denote the 
 great and rapid increase of heresies in the Christian 
 Church after the time that Christianity was made 
 the religion of the empire. Where she hath a 
 place prepared of God — -See on verse 14. 
 
 1. And there was war in heaven — As 
 "heaven" moans here the throne of the Roman 
 empire, the war in heaven consequently alludes to 
 the breaking out of civil commotions among the 
 governors of this empire. Michael and his 
 angels fought against the dragon — " Michael " 
 was the man child which the woman brought forth, 
 and signifies the dynasty of Christian Roman em- 
 perors. The dynasty is represented by Michael, 
 because he is "the great prince which standeth for 
 the children of God's people." (Dan. xii, 1.) And 
 the dragon fought and his angels — Or ministers. 
 
 S. And prevailed not — Against the cause of 
 Christianity. Neither was their place found 
 any more in heaven — The advocates of the 
 heathen idolatry were prevented from having any 
 further share in the government of the empire. The 
 wonderful success of Constantine over all his 
 enemies, and his final triumph over Licinius, corre- 
 spond exactly to the symbolical language in this 
 verse. [Upon this passage (verses 7 and 8) was 
 built up the legend of the revolt of the angels in 
 heaven, under the lead of Satan himself, till then an 
 archangel, and their expulsion and confinement in 
 " Tartarus.'' The clearly mythical character of 
 which is, of course, entirely obvious.] 
 
 9. And the great dragon was cast out, etc. — 
 The heathen power is called that old serpent . . . 
 which deceiveth the whole world, from its 
 subtlety against the Christians, and its causing the 
 whole Roman world, as far as it was in its power, to 
 embrace the abominations of paganism. It is called 
 the devil, [the adversary, or slanderer,] from its 
 continual false accusations and slanders against the 
 true worshippers of God, for "the devil" is a liar 
 from the beginning. (John viii, 44.) The dragon 
 and his angels are said to be "cast out," that is, 
 he is entirely cast out from all offices of trust in 
 the empire; his religion is first only tolerated, and 
 then totally abolished, by the imperial power. This 
 great event was not the work of a reign ; it took 
 up many years, for it had to contend with the deep- 
 rooted prejudices of the heathen, who to the very 
 last endeavoured to uphold their declining super- 
 stition. Paganism received several mortal strokes 
 in the time of Constantine and his sons, Constans 
 and Constantius. It was further reduced by the 
 great zeal of Jovian, Valentinian, and Valens; and 
 was finally suppressed by the edicts of Gratian, 
 Theodosius I., and his successors. It was not till 
 
 I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, 'Now 
 is come salvation, and strength, and the king- 
 dom of our God, and the power of his Chrisl : 
 for the accuser of our brethren is casl down, 
 "which accused them before our God day and 
 night. 11 And "they overcame him by the 
 blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their 
 test imony ; y and they loved not their lives unto 
 the death. 12 Therefore 'rejoice, ye heav- 
 ens, and ye that dwell in them. a Woe to the 
 inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the 
 devil is come down unto you, having great 
 
 »Chap 11.15; 19. 1. — icjobl. 9; 2. 5; Zech.3. 1. — a; Rom. 
 
 8. 33,34, 37; Hi. 20. V I.ok.- I I. 26. ssPsa. 9(5. 11; Isa. 4X13; 
 
 chap. 18.20. — a Chap. 8. 13; 11. 10. 
 
 A. D. 388 that Rome itself, the residence of the 
 emperor, was generally reformed from the absur- 
 dities of paganism ; but the total suppression of 
 paganism soon followed the conversion of the met- 
 ropolitan city, and about A. D. 395 the dragon may 
 be considered, in an eminent sense, to have been cast 
 into the earth, that is, into a state of utter sub- 
 jection to the ruling dynasty of Christian emperors. 
 
 10. And I heard a loud voice saying . . . 
 Now is come salvation, etc. — This is a song of 
 triumph of the Christian Church over the heathen 
 idolatry, as expressive of the great joy of the 
 Christians upon this most stupendous event. The 
 loud voice of triumph is said to be in heaven, to 
 show that the Christian religion was now exalted to 
 the " heaven " or tin-one of the Roman empire. " It 
 is very remarkable,' as Bishop Newton observes, 
 "that Constantine himself, and the Christians of 
 his time, describe his conquests under the image of 
 a dragon, as if they had understood that this 
 prophecy had received its accomplishment in him. 
 A picture of Constantine was set up over the palace 
 gate, with the cross over his head, and under his 
 feet the great enemy of mankind, who persecuted 
 the Church by means of impious tyrants, in the 
 form of a dragon, transfixed with a dart through 
 the midst of his body, and falling headlong into the 
 depth, of the sea." When, therefore, the apostle 
 saw the woman "in heaven," well might he call it, 
 in the spirit of prophecy, a great wonder. 
 
 1 1 . And they overcame him by the blood 
 of the Lamb — Here is given the reason why the 
 followers of Christ prevailed at this time against 
 all their adversaries. "They overcame him by the 
 blood of the Lamb:" by proclaiming salvation to 
 sinners through Christ crucified, and by their con- 
 tinual intercession and labours for the conversion 
 of the heathen world. And by the word of 
 their testimony — By constantly testifying against 
 the errors and follies of mankind. And they 
 loved not their lives unto the death — They re- 
 garded not their present temporal estate, but even 
 gladly delivered up their lives to the fury of their 
 persecutors, and thus scaled with their blond the 
 truth of what they spake. 
 
 12. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye 
 that dwell in them — Let the Christians, who are 
 now partakers of the present temporal prosperity, 
 and advanced to places of trust in the empire, 
 praise and magnify the Lord who has thus so sig- 
 nally interfered in their behalf. But it is added, 
 Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of 
 the sea ! for the devil is come down unto yon 
 — Here is a woe denounced against the whole 
 Roman world, which will be excited by the devil, 
 
 605
 
 A, M. 41^0. A. P. 9*. 
 Year of Rome, S-49. 
 
 revelation. 
 
 The dragon persecutes tlie woman 
 which brought forth the child. 
 
 wrath, b because he knoweth that he hath but 
 a short time. 13 And when the dragon saw 
 that he was east unto the earth, he persecuted 
 c the woman which brought forth the man 
 child. 14 d And to the woman were given 
 two wings of a great eagle, e that she might 
 fly f into the wilderness, into her place, where 
 
 h Chap. 10. 6. c Verse 5. d Exod. 19. 4. e Verse G. 
 
 the father of lies, the heathen party being thus 
 denominated from the method they pursued in their 
 endeavours to destroy the religion of Jesus. (See 
 on verse 15.) Having great wrath, because he 
 knoweth that he hath but a short time — The 
 pagan party see with great regret, that the Christian 
 religion is rapidly gaining ground everywhere; and, 
 if not timely checked, must soon brave all opposi- 
 tion. 
 
 13. And when the dragon saw that he was 
 cast unto the earth — When the heathen party 
 saw that they were no longer supported by the 
 civil power. He persecuted the woman which 
 brought forth the man child — The heathens per- 
 secuted the Christian Church in the behalf of which 
 divine providence had raised up a dynasty of 
 Christian Roman emperors. 
 
 14, And to the woman were given two wings 
 of a great eagle — Tov aerov tov ueya2.ov, of the 
 great eagle. The " great eagle " here" mentioned is 
 an emblem of the Roman empire in general, and 
 therefore differs from the dragon, which is a sym- 
 bol of the heathen Roman empire in particular. 
 The two wings of the great eagle refer to the two 
 grand independent divisions of the Roman empire, 
 which took place January 17, A. D. 395, and were 
 given to the woman, Christianity being the estab- 
 lished religion of both empires. That she might 
 fly into the wilderness, into her place, etc. — 
 The meaning of verses 6 and 14, when taken in 
 connexion with their respective contexts, is, that 
 the woman began to make a rapid flight toward the 
 desert almost immediately after her elevation to 
 the heaven or throne of the Roman empire, and in 
 the course of \er flight was furnished with the 
 wings of the great eagle that she might fly into 
 that place prepared of God, where she should he 
 fed a thousand two hundred and threescore days. 
 The Holy Spirit, when speaking of years symboli- 
 cally, has invariably represented them by dags ; 
 the one thousand two bundled and threescore days, 
 therefore, that the woman is fed " in the wilder- 
 ness," must be understood symbolically, and conse- 
 quently denote as many natural years. The 
 "wilderness" into which the woman flies is the 
 Greek and Latin worlds, for she is conveyed into 
 her place by means of the two wings of the great 
 eagle. " We must not understand the phrase living 
 "into her place" of her removing from one part of 
 the habitable world into another, hut of her speedy 
 declension from a state of great prosperity to a for- 
 lorn and desolate condition. The woman is nour- 
 ished for one thousand two hundred and threescore 
 years from the face of theserpent. The empires 
 in the east ami west were destined, in the course of 
 the divine providence, to support the Christian 
 religion, at least nominally, while the rest of the 
 world should remain in pagan idolatry or under the 
 influence of the dragon, here called the "serpent," 
 because he deceiveth the whole world. The Christ- 
 ian Church, supported by the eastern and western 
 empires, two mighty dominations, was at the same 
 
 606 
 
 she is nourished efor a time, and times, and 
 half a time, from the face of the serpent. 
 15 And the serpent h cast out of his mouth 
 water as a flood .after the woman, that he 
 might cause her to be carried away of the 
 flood. 10 And the earth helped the woman; 
 and the earth opened her mouth, and swal- 
 
 /Chap. 17.3. (7 Dan. 7. 25; 12. 7. ftlsa. 59. 19. 
 
 time in "the wilderness;" strongly denoting that, 
 though many professed Christianity, there were 
 but very few who "kept the commandments of God, 
 and had the testimony of Jesus Christ." 
 
 1 5. And the serpent cast out of his mouth 
 water as a flood — The " water," here, evidently 
 means great multitudes of nations and peoples. 
 (See chap, xvii, 15.) This " water," then, which the 
 dragon "cast out of his mouth," must be an inunda- 
 tion of heathen barbarous nations upon the Roman 
 empire; and the purpose which the dragon has in 
 view by this inundation is, that he might cause 
 the woman, or Christian Church, to be carried 
 away of the flood — entirely swept away from 
 the face of the earth. Dr. Mosheim, in the com- 
 mencement of his second chapter upon the tilth 
 century, observes " that the Goths, the Heruli, the 
 Franks, the Huns, and the Vandals, with other 
 fierce and warlike nations, for the most part 
 strangers to Christianity, had invaded the Roman 
 empire, and rent it asunder in the most deplorable 
 manner. Amid these calamities the Christians were 
 grievous — nay, we may venture to say the principal 
 — suffeters. It is true these savage nations were 
 much more intent upon the acquisition of wealth 
 and dominion than upon i the propagation or 
 support of the pagan superstitions ; nor did their 
 cruelty and opposition to the Christians arise from 
 any religious principle, or from an enthusiastic 
 desire to ruin the cause of Christianity ; it was 
 
 merely by tin INSTIGATION of the pagans vim n- 
 
 mainedyet in tlie empire, that they were excited to 
 treat with such severity and violence the followers 
 of Christ." Thus the woe which was denounced 
 (verse 1 'J) against the inhabiiers of tin earth ami 
 of lln' sea tame upon the whole Roman world; 
 for, in consequence of the excitement and mali- 
 cious representations of the pagans of the empire, 
 "a transmigration of a great swarm of nations" 
 came upon the Romans, and ceased not their 
 ravages till they had desolated the eastern empire, 
 even as far as the gates of Byzantium, and finally 
 possessed themselves of the western empire. "The 
 contemporary authors who beheld that scene of 
 desolation," says Dr. Robertson, "are at a loss for 
 expressions to describe the horror of it. Tlie 
 scourge of God, the destroyer of nations, are the 
 epithets by which they distinguish the most noted 
 of the leaders; and they compare the ruin which 
 they had brought on the world to the havoc 
 occasioned by earthquakes, conflagrations, or del- 
 uges, the most formidable and fatal calamities 
 winch the imagination of man can conceive." Hut 
 the subtle design which the serpent or dragon had 
 in view, when he vomited out of his mouth a flood 
 of waters, was most providentially frustrated ; 
 for— 
 
 16. The earth helped the woman — "Noth- 
 ing, indeed," as Bishop Newton excellently ob- 
 serves, " was more likely to produce the ruin and 
 utter subversion of the Christian Church than the 
 irruptions of so many barbarous nations into the
 
 The draeon maltes - 
 seed of the w< 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 lowed up the flood which the dragon cast out 
 of his mouth. 17 And the dragon was wroth 
 with the woman, 'and went to make war with 
 the remnant of her seed. k which keep the com- 
 mandments of God, and have 'the testimony 
 of Jesus Christ. 
 
 iGen. 3. 15; chap. 11.7; 13. 7. ifcChap. 14. 12. 11 Cor. 2. 1; 
 
 1 John o. 10; chap. 1. 2. H; t>. 9; 20. 4. 
 
 Roman empire. But the event proved contrary te 
 human appearance and expectation. The earth 
 . . . swallowed up the flood — The barbarians were 
 rather swallowed up by the Romans than the Ro- 
 mans by the barbarians; the heathen conquerors, 
 instead of imposing their own, submitted to the 
 religion of the conquered Christians; and they not 
 only embraced the religion, but affected even the 
 laws, manners, customs, language, and the very 
 name, of Romans, so that the victors were in a 
 manner absorbed and lost among the vanquished." 
 17. And the dragon was wroth 'with the 
 woman— The heathen party, foiled in their subtle 
 attempt to destroy Christianity, were greatly en- 
 raged, and endeavoured to excite the hatred of the 
 multitude against the religion of Jesus. " They 
 alleged that before the coming of Christ the world 
 was blessed with peace and prosperity; but that 
 since the progress of his religion everywhere, the 
 gods, filled with indignation to see their worship ne- 
 glected and their altars abandoned, had visited the 
 earth with those plagues and desolations which in- 
 creased every day." (See Mosheim's Ecclesiastical 
 History, Century v, part i, and other works on this 
 subject.) Went to make war with the remnant 
 of her seed — The dragon, airi/We, departed — that 
 is, into the wilderness, whither the woman had 
 fled: and in another form commenced a new spe- 
 cies of persecution, directed only against the rem- 
 nant of her seed, who keep the commandments of 
 U<>'/, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. (See 
 on chapter xiii, 13.) 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER XIII. 
 By J. E. 0. . 
 1. And I stood upon the sand of the sea, 
 and saw a beast rise up out of the sea — Before 
 we proceed in the interpretation of this chapter, it 
 will be highly necessary to ascertain the meaning 
 of the prophetic symbol "beast." In this investi- 
 gation it is wisest to resort to the authority of 
 Scripture, for the Holy Ghost is his own best in- 
 terpreter. Daniel (chapter vii, 15-27) being very 
 desirous to "know the truth of the fourth beast, 
 which was diverse from all the others, exceeding 
 dreadful," the angel declares to him: "The fourth 
 beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which 
 shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall de- 
 vour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, ami 
 break it in pieces." The term " beast " is there- 
 fore the prophetic symbol for a kingdom. As to 
 the nature of the kingdom which is represented by 
 tin- term "beast," [it should be noticed that the 
 Greek word here used is deplov, a wild beast, in con- 
 tradistinction to y.>or, a living one, in chapter iv. 
 G, etc., and, therefore,] an earthly belligerent power 
 is evidently designed. And as the carnivorous wild 
 beast acquires its strength and magnitude by prey- 
 ing upon the feebler animals, so most earthly 
 monarchies are raised up by the sword, and derive 
 their political consequence from the unsuccessful 
 resistance of the contending nations. The king- 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 AND I stood upon the sand of the sea, and 
 saw "a beast rise up out of the sea, ' hav- 
 ing seven heads and ten horns, and upon his 
 hornsten crowns, and upon his heads the c name 
 of blasphemy. 2 d And the beast which 1 saw 
 
 -fcChnp. 12. 3; 17. 3. P. 12. cOr, names, 
 
 chap. 17. 3. d Dan. 7. ti. 
 
 dom of God, on the other hand, is represented as "a 
 stone cut out of the mountain without hands;" 
 ami is never likened to a beast. This "beast" is 
 said to " rise up out of the sea," in which particu- 
 lar it corresponds with the four beasts of Daniel. 
 The "sea" is the symbol of a great multitude of 
 nations. The "sea," here, is doubtless the same 
 against the inhabiters of which a woe was de- 
 nounced, (chapter xii, 12;) for St.' John was stand- 
 ing "upon the sand of the sea " when the vision 
 changed from the woman and the dragon to that 
 recorded in tins chapter. It therefore follows that 
 the kingdom or empire here represented by the 
 "beast "is that which sprung up out of the ruins 
 of the western Room,, empire. Having seven 
 heads and ten horns, ard upon his horns ten 
 crowns — The beast here described is the Latin 
 empire, which supported the Romish or Latin 
 Church; for it has -'upon his horns ten crowns," 
 that is, is an empire composed of ten distinct 
 monarchies in the interest of the Latin [or self- 
 styled Roman Catholic] Church. (See on chapter 
 xvii, 10, 12, 16.) And upon his heads the name 
 of blasphemy — 'Qvouara I'fyaG&jiiiac, a name of 
 blasphemy. A "name of blasphemy" is the pros- 
 titution of a sacred name to an unholy purpose. 
 (See chapter ii, 9.) Wicked men, by calling them- 
 selves Jews, blasphemed the name, that is, used it 
 in an injurious sense. The term Jews, applied to 
 the synagogue of Satan, is a "name of blasphemy," 
 that is, a sacred name blasphemed. A "name of 
 blasphemy," or a blasphemous appellation, is said to 
 be upon all the seven heads of the beast. See the 
 notes on chapter xvii, 9, 10, 11. where the heads are 
 explained to have a double meaning, namely, that 
 they signify the seven eleetoratcs of the German < m- 
 pire, and also seven forms of Latin government. 
 Here, "the seven heads are seven mountains on 
 which the woman sitteth ; " and the name of blas- 
 phemy will consequently lie found upon the seven 
 electorates of Germany. This, therefore, can be 
 no other than that which was common, not only to 
 the electorates, but also to the whole empire of 
 Germany, which called itself "The Sacred (or Bolt) 
 Roman Empire." Here is a sacred appellation 
 blasphemed by its application to the principal power 
 of the beast. No kingdom can properly be called 
 holy but that of Jesus; therefore it woidd be 
 blasphemy to unite this epithet with any other 
 power. But it must lie horridly blasphemous to 
 apply it to the [mediaeval] German empire, the 
 -rand supporter of antichrist from his very lise to 
 temporal authority. 
 
 2. And the beast which I saw was like un- 
 to a leopard — This similitude of "the beast " to 
 a " leopard " appears to be an allusion to the third 
 beast of Daniel, which represented the empire of 
 the Greeks. (Dan. vii, 12) The Latin empiri 
 in the lirst place, like to its contemporary, because 
 both adhered to an idolatrous system of worship, 
 professedly Christian, but really anti-Christian. 
 Roth empires were ulso similar iu their opposition to 
 
 607
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 was like unto a leopard, ''and his feet were as 
 the feet of a bear, ' and his month as the mouth 
 of a lion: and ethe dragon gave him his pow- 
 er, h and his scat, 'and great authority. '.I And 
 I saw one of his la-ads k as it. were ' wounded 
 to death ; and his deadly wound was healed : 
 and '"all the world wondered after the beast. 
 4 And they worshipped the dragon which 
 
 i Dan. :. 5. —/Dan. 7. 4. — pChap. 1?. 9. — h Chap. 16. 10. 
 —i Chap, 12. 4. k Verses 12, 14. lOi: slain. 
 
 the spread of pure Christianity ; and both empires 
 were similar in respect to the civil authority being 
 powerfully depressed by the ecclesiastical. But the 
 beast of St. John, though in its general appear- 
 ance it resembles a "leopard," yet differs from it 
 in having feet like those of a bear, very properly 
 likened to this animal because it was one of the most 
 inhuman governments that ever existed, and a bear is 
 the well known scripture emblem of cruelty, a strik- 
 ing characteristic of the papal Latin empire. (See 
 2 Sam. xvii, 8, and Hos. xiii, 8.) And the dragon 
 gave him his power, and his seat, and great 
 authority — It was said of the "dragon," (chapter 
 xii, 8,) that his place was found no more in heaven ; 
 the " dragon " here cannot, therefore, be the heat hen 
 Human empire, as this was abolished previously to 
 the rising up of the beast. It must, then, allude to 
 the restoration of one of the Draconic heads of the 
 beast, as will be seen in the explanation of the fol- 
 lowing verse, and more fully in the notes on chap- 
 ter xvii. 
 
 3. And I saw one of his heads as it were 
 wounded to death — The head that was wounded 
 to death can be no other than the seventh draconic 
 head, which was the sixth head of the beast, name- 
 ly, the imperial power; for "this head," as Bishop 
 New ton pbserves, "was, as it were, wounded to 
 death when the Roman empire was overturned by 
 the northern nations, and an end was put to the 
 very name of emperor in Momyllus Augustulus." 
 It was so wounded that it was wholly improbable 
 that it could ever rise again to considerable power, 
 for the western empire came into the possession of 
 several barbarous nations of independent interests. 
 And his deadly -wound was healed — This was 
 effected by Charlemagne, who, with his successors, 
 assumed all the marks of the ancient emperors of 
 the west, Majesty, First Prince of the Christian 
 World, Temporal Chief of the Christian People, 
 and Rector or Temporal Chief of the Faithful in 
 Germany. (Modern Universal History, vol. xxxii, 
 p. T'.i.) But it is said in verse 2 that the dragon 
 gave the beast his power, diiva/uv, his armies or 
 military strength; that is, he employed all his im- 
 perial power in defence of the Latin empire, which 
 supported the Latin Church. lie also gave his 
 seat, Opovov, literally his throne, to him: that is, 
 his whole empire formed an integral part of the 
 Latin empire, by its conversion to the Roman 
 Catholic faith. lie also gave him great authority. 
 This is literally true of the Roman empire of Ger- 
 many, which, by its great power and influence in 
 the politics of Europe extended the religion of the 
 empire over the various states and monarchies of 
 Europe, thus incorporating them, as it were, in one 
 vast empire, by uniting them in one common faith. 
 And all the world wondered after the beast 
 — "Q'/j] i) yrj, all the earth. As the original word 
 signifies earth, and not "world," as in our transla- 
 tion, the Latin world, which is the " earth " of the 
 003 
 
 gave power unto the beast : and they wor- 
 shipped the Least, saying, "Who is like unto 
 the beast? who is able In make war with him ? 
 5 And there was given unto him °a mouth 
 speaking great things and blasphemies; and 
 power was given unto him Pto continue i forty 
 and two months. O And he opened his mouth 
 in blasphemy against God. to blaspheme his 
 
 m Chap. 17. 8.--M Ohnp. 18. 18.- 
 p Or, to null.,/ war.— 
 
 -nDan. 7. 8, 11, 25; 11. 36. 
 -g Chap. 11. 2; 12. 6. 
 
 "beast," is here intended; and the meaning of the 
 passage consequently is, that the whole body of the 
 Roman Catholics were affected with great astonish- 
 ment at the mighty sway of the Latin empire, con- 
 sidering it as a great and holy power. 
 
 4. And they •worshipped the dragon— Wor- 
 shipping the dragon here evidently means the 
 voluntary religious subjection of the members of 
 the Latin Church to the revived western empire, 
 because of the eminent part it has taken in the 
 support of their faith. And they worshipped 
 the beast — Not only the dragon, or revived western 
 empire was worshipped; the "beast," the whole 
 Latin empire, is a partaker in the adoration. The 
 manner in which it is worshipped consists in the 
 subjects of it saying, Who is like unto the 
 beast — Is it not the only holy power in the uni- 
 verse? Is it possible for any person not a subject 
 of it to be saved? Who is able to make war 
 with him — Can any nation successfully fight with 
 if'.' 1 Is not the Roman empire, which is its princi- 
 pal bulwark, invictissimum, most invincible? 
 
 5. And there was given unto him a mouth 
 speaking great things — That is, there was given 
 to the rulers of the Latin empire, who are the 
 month of the beast, (and particularly the Roman 
 emperors of Germany,) power to assume great and 
 pompous titles, indicative of their mighty sway 
 over many subjugated countries, (see the imperial 
 instruments of the middle centuries in the corps 
 diplomatique,) and also to utter against their op- 
 ponents the most terrible edicts. And blas- 
 phemies — The system of worship supported by 
 the beast is a system of blasphemy, as there will 
 be occasion to show presently. And power was 
 given unto him to continue forty and two 
 months — As these forty-two months are prophetic, 
 they must mean so many jears as there are days 
 contained in them; namely, 1260, each month con- 
 taining 30 days. The beast, therefore, will con- 
 tinue in existence at least 1260 years ; but when 
 the termination of this period will take place is 
 difficult to say, as the beginning cannot be at pres- 
 ent indubitably ascertained, [It must have ended 
 neatly a hundred years ago.] 
 
 6. And he opened his nouth in blasphemy 
 against God, to blaspheme his name — The 
 Latin empire is here represented as a blasphemous 
 power in three respects. First, he blasphemes the 
 name of God. This has been most notoriously the 
 case with the different popish princes, who continu- 
 ally blaspheme the sacred names of God by using 
 them in their idolatrous worship. The mouth of 
 blasphemy against God cannot be more evident 
 than in the impious words which form parts of the 
 popish bulls. And his tabernacle — The beast's 
 blasphemy of the tabernacle of God is his impious 
 doctrine of transubstantiation. This doctrine was 
 first advanced among the Latins in the tenth cen- 
 tury ; and in 1215 was fully received as an article
 
 The beast in.-il.-e 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 name, r and his tabernacle, and them that dwell 
 in heaven. 7 And it was given unto him s to 
 make Avar with the saints, and to overcome 
 them: 'and power was given him over all 
 kindreds, and tongues, and nations. 8 And 
 all that dwell upon the earth shall worship 
 him, "whose names are not written in the 
 
 /•John 1.14; Cnl. 2.0. *Datl. 7. 21 : chsip. 11. 7; 10. 17. 
 
 *Chap. 11. 18 j 17. 15. MExod. 32.32; Dan. 12. 1 ; Phil. 4.3; 
 
 of the Roman Catholic faith. It is for the pages of 
 ecclesiastical history to record the incredible num- 
 bers which have been martyred by the papists for 
 their non-reception of this most unseriptural and 
 anti-Christian doctrine. And them that dwell 
 in heaven — By "heaven" is here meant the 
 throne of God, and not the throne of the beast, 
 because it is against God the beast blasphemes. 
 This must therefore allude to his impious adora- 
 tion of the saints and angels, whose residence is 
 in heaven. He blasphemes against God by paying 
 that adoration to the celestial inhabitants which 
 belongs to God alone. That this sort of worship 
 has been and still is kept up among the Roman 
 Catholics, their mass-book is a sufficient evidence. 
 7. And it was given unto him to make war 
 with the saints, and to overcome them — 
 " Who can make any computation," says Bishop 
 Newton, " or even frame any conception, of the 
 numbers of pious Christians who have fallen a 
 sacrifice to the bigotry and cruelty of Rome? 
 Mede upon this place hath observed, from good au- 
 thorities, that in the war with the Albigenses and 
 Waldenses there perished of these poor creatines 
 in France alone a million. From the first institu- 
 tion of the Jesuits to the year 1580, that is, in little 
 more than thirty years, nine hundred thousand 
 orthodox Christians were slain, and these all by the 
 common executioner. In the space of scarce thirty 
 years the inquisition destroyed, by various kinds of 
 torture, a hundred and fifty thousand Christians. 
 Sanders himself confesses that an innumerable 
 multitude of Lollards and Sacramentarians were 
 burnt throughout all Europe, who yet, he says, 
 were not put to death by the pope and bishops, 
 but by the civil magistrates." The dragon in a 
 new shape, or Roman empire of Germany, acted a 
 very conspicuous part in this nefarious warfare 
 against the remnant of the woman's seed who kept 
 the commandments of Cod, and had the testimony 
 of Jesus Christ. And power was given him 
 over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations — 
 As the book of the Revelation is a prophecy of all 
 that should come upon the Christian world till the 
 end of time, all kindreds, and tongues, and 
 nations must imply the whole Christian world. 
 That the Latin empire in the course of its reign has 
 had the extensive power here spoken of is evident 
 from history. It is well known that the profession 
 of Christianity was chiefly confined within the 
 limits of the Greek and Latin empires, till the 
 period of the Reformation. By means of the cru- 
 sades the Latins extended their empire over sev- 
 eral provinces of the Greeks. In 1097 Baldwin 
 extended his conquests over the hills of Armenia 
 and the plain of Mesopotamia, and founded the 
 first principality of the Franks or Latins, beyond 
 the Euphrates, which subsisted fifty-four years. 
 In 1204 the Greeks were expelled from Constanti- 
 nople by the Latins, who set up an empire there 
 which continued about fifty-seven years. The 
 Vol. II.— 39 
 
 hook of life of the Lamb slain 'from the foun- 
 dation of the world. 9 w If any man have an 
 ear, let him hear. lO x lie that leadeth into 
 captivity shall go into captivity: > he that, 
 killeth with the sword must he killed with the 
 sword. 'Here is the patience and the faith of 
 the saints. II And i beheld another beast 
 
 chap. 3. 5: 20. 12, 15: 21. 27. ©Chap. 17. 8 ir Chnp. 2. 7. 
 
 (Blsa. 33. 1. 3/ Gen. 9. ti; Matt. 2t>. hi. ~ Chap. 14. 12. 
 
 total overthrow of the Latin States in the East 
 soon followed the recovery of Constantinople by 
 the Greeks; and in 1291 the Latin empire in the 
 East was entirely dissolved. Thus the Latins have 
 had power over the whole world professedly Chris- 
 tian ; but it is not said that the whole world was 
 in utter subjection to the beast, for we read in the 
 following verse — 
 
 8. And all that dwell upon the earth sha T l 
 worship him, whose names are not written in 
 the book of life of the Lamb — All who are in- 
 habitants of the Latin world shall submit to the 
 religion of the empire, except " those faithful few 
 whose names, as citizens of heaven, were enrolled 
 in the registers of life." Slain from the founda- 
 tion of the world — Jesus Christ was in the divine 
 purpose appointed from the foundation of the 
 world to redeem man by his blood; he therefore is, 
 in a very eminent sense, " the Lamb slaii. from the 
 foundation of the world." 
 
 9. If any man have an ear, let him hear — 
 These words are evidently introduced to impress 
 the reader with the awfulness of what has just 
 been spoken — "All shall worship him irho.se names 
 are not written in the book of life" — as well as to 
 fix his attention upon the following words : — 
 
 10. He that leadeth into captivity shall go 
 into captivity — The Latin empire here spoken of 
 must "go into captivity," because it has led into 
 captivity, by not only propagating among the 
 various nations its abominable anti-Christian sys- 
 tem, but also in compelling them to embrace it 
 under the penalty of forfeiting the protection of 
 the empire. He that killeth with the sword 
 must be killed with the sword — The Latin em- 
 pire must be also broken to pieces by the sword, 
 because it has killed the saints of Cod. This 
 prophecy will not receive its full accomplishment 
 till the kingdoms of this world heroine the kingdoms 
 of our Lord and of his Christ. Here is the 
 patience and the faith of the saints — By these 
 words, as Dr. Mitchell observes, "God calls upon 
 his saints to keep in view, under all their persecu- 
 tions, his retributive justice; there is no violence 
 that lias been exercised upon them but what shall 
 be retaliated upon the cruel and persecuting gov- 
 ernment and governors of the Latin empire." 
 
 11. And I beheld another beast coming up 
 out of the earth — As a " beast " has already been 
 shown to be the symbol of a kingdom or empire, 
 the rising up of this second beast must consequent- 
 ly represent the rising up of another empire. This 
 beast comes up "out of the earth ;" therefore it is 
 totally different from the preceding, which rose up 
 out of the sea. "Earth," here, means the Latin 
 world, for this word has been shown to import this 
 already in several instances; the rising up of the 
 beast out oithis "earth " must, consequently, repre- 
 sent the springing up of some power out of a state 
 of subjection to the Latin empire; therefore the 
 beast, here called "another beast," is another Latin 
 
 OU'J
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 The two-horned beast deceive the 
 world by false miracles. 
 
 coming* up out of the earth ; and he had two 
 horns like a lamb, and lie spake as a dragon. 
 12 And he exerciseth all the power of the 
 first beast before him, and causeth the earth 
 
 a Chap. 11. 7. & Verse 3. eDeut. 13. 1, 2, 3; Matt. 24. 24: 
 
 empire. This beast is the spiritual Latin empire, 
 or, in other words, the Romish hierarchy; for with 
 no other power can the prophetic description yet to 
 be examined be shown to accord. In the time of 
 Charlemagne the ecclesiastical power was in sub- 
 jection to the civil, and it continued to be so for a 
 long time after his death ; therefore the beast, 
 whose deadly wound was healed, ruled over the 
 whole Latin world, both clergy and laity ; these, 
 consequently, constituted but one beast or empire. 
 But the Latin clergy kept continually gaining more 
 and more influence in the civil affairs of the em- 
 pire, and in the tenth century their authority was 
 greatly increased. In the subsequent centuries the 
 power of the Romish hierarchy ascended even above 
 that of the emperors, and led into captivity the 
 kind's of the whole Latin world. Thus the Romish 
 hierarchy was at length entirely exempted from the 
 civil power, and constituted "another beast," as it 
 became entirely independent of the secular Latin 
 empire. And this "beast" came up out of "the 
 earth;" that is, the Latin clergy, which composed 
 a part of the " earth," or Lathi world, raised their 
 authority against that of the secular powers, and 
 in process of time wrested the superintendence of 
 ecclesiastical affairs from the secular princes. And 
 he had two horns — As the seven-headed beast is 
 represented as having ten horns, which signify so 
 many kingdoms leagued together to support the 
 Latin Church, so the beast which rises ''out of the 
 earth " has also " two horns," which must conse- 
 quently represent two kingdoms. As the second 
 beast is the spiritual Latin empire, the two horns 
 of this beast denote that the empire thus repre- 
 sented is composed of two distinct spiritual powers, 
 that is. the two grand independent branches of the 
 Romish hierarchy, namely, the Latin clergy, regu- 
 lar and secular — the monastic orders and the 
 parochial clergy. These two grand branches of the 
 hierarchy originally constituted but one dominion, 
 as the monks as well as the other clergy were in 
 subjection to the bishops ; but the subjection of 
 the monks to their diocesans became by degree's 
 less apparent; and in process of time, through the 
 influence and authority of the Roman pontiffs, they 
 were entirely exempted from all episcopal jurisdic- 
 tion, and thus became a spiritual power entirely 
 independent of that of the secular clergy. Like a 
 lamb — As "lamb," in other parts of the apoca- 
 lypse, evidently means Christ, who is the Lamb of 
 God, it must have a similar import in tnis passage. 
 The meaning here is evidently that the two horns 
 of the beast, or the regular and secular clergy, pro- 
 fess to be the ministers of Christ, to be like him in 
 meekness and humility, and to teach nothing that 
 is contrary to godliness. The two-horned beast, or 
 spiritual Latin empire, has in reality the name, and 
 in the eyes of the Latin world the appearance, of a 
 Christian power. But he is only so in appearance, 
 and that alone among his deluded votaries; for 
 when lie spake, he spake as a dragon. The doc- 
 trines of the Romish hierarchy are very similar to 
 those contained in the old heathen worship; for 
 he has introduced " a new species of idolatry, 
 nominally different, but essentially the same, the 
 610 
 
 and them which dwell therein to worship the 
 first beast, b whose deadly wound was healed. 
 13 And c he doeth great wonders, d so that he 
 inaketh fire come down from heaven on the 
 
 2 Thess. 2 9: chap. lit. It. d 1 Kings 18. 38, 2 Kings 1. 10. 12. 
 
 worship of angels and saints instead of the gods 
 and demi-gods of antiquity." 
 
 12. And he exerciseth all the power of the 
 first beast before him — In the preceding verse 
 the two-horned beast was represented as rising 
 " out of the earth," that is, obtaining gradually 
 more and more influence in the civil affairs of the 
 Latin world. Here he is represented as having 
 obtained the direction and management of all the 
 power of the first beast, or secular Latin empire, 
 "before him," evd>-iov avror, in his presence. That 
 the Roman hierarchy has had the extensive power 
 here spoken of is evident from history ; and for a 
 long time the civil power was in subjection to the 
 ecclesiastical. The Romish hierarchy has exercised 
 " all the power of the first beast " in lax sight, both 
 temporal and spiritual; and therefore, with such 
 astonishing influence as this over secular princes, 
 it was no difficult matter for him to cause the 
 earth and them which dwell therein to wor- 
 ship the first beast, whose deadly wound was 
 healed: that is, he causes the whole Latin world 
 to submit to the authority of the Latin empire, 
 with the revived western empire at its head, per- 
 suading them that such submission is beneficial to 
 their spiritual interests, and absolutely necessary for 
 their salvation. Here it is observable that both 
 beasts have dominion over the same "earth ;" for 
 it is expressly said that tire second beast " causeth 
 the earth, and them which dwell therein, to worship 
 the first beast;" therefore it is imperium in im- 
 perio, " an empire within an empire." ^Ve have, 
 consequently, the fullest evidence that the two 
 beasts consist in the division of the great Latin 
 empire, by the usurpation of the Latin clergy, into 
 two distinct empires, the one secular the other 
 spiritual, and both united in one anti-Christian de- 
 sign, namely, to diffuse their most abominable 
 system of idolatry over the whole earth, and to 
 extend the sphere of their domination. Here we 
 have also an illustration of that remarkable passage, 
 (chapter xvi, 10,) the kingdom of the beast, that is, 
 the kingdom of the Latin kingdom; which is ap- 
 parently a solecism, but in reality expressed with 
 wonderful precision. The fifth vial is poured 
 out upon the throne of the beast, and his kingdom 
 is darkened, that is, the Latin kingdom in sub- 
 jection to the secular Latin empire. 
 
 13. And he doeth great wonders — That we 
 may have the greatest assurance possible that the 
 two-horned beast is the spiritual Latin empire, it 
 is called in chapter xix, 20 — a passage illustrative 
 of the one now under consideration — the false 
 prophet, "than which," as Bishop Newton observes, 
 "there cannot be a stronger or plainer argument to 
 prove that false doctors or teachers were particu- 
 larly designed;" for prophet, in the Scripture 
 style, is not (infrequently used for a preacher or 
 expounder of God's word. (See 1 Cor. xiv.) It 
 hence follows that the two-horned beast is an em- 
 pire of false doctors or teachers. He persuades his 
 followers that the clergyof the Church of Rome are 
 the only true ministers of Christ ; that they have 
 such great influence in the court of heaven as to be 
 able not only to forgive sins, but to grant indul-
 
 CHAPTER XITT. 
 
 A. M. 41iio. A. IX 96. 
 Vcar of R t, 84S. 
 
 earth in the sight of men, 14 And e deceiveth 
 tliem that dwell on the earth f by the means of 
 those miracles which he had power to do in 
 
 the sight of the beast; saying to them that 
 dwell on the earth, that they should make an 
 image to the beast, which had the wound by 
 
 e Chap. 12. 9 ; 19. 20. /2 Thess. 2. 9, in. g 2 Kings 20. 
 
 acmes in sin, on receiving certain stipulated sums. 
 He persuades them, too, that they can do works of 
 supererogation. He pretends that an incredible 
 number of miracles have been wrought and are 
 still worked by the Almighty, as so many evidences 
 of the great sanctity of the Latin Church; and the 
 false prophet has such an astonishing influence over 
 his flock as to cause them to believe all his fabulous 
 legends and lying wonders. He pretends also (and 
 is believed!) that his power is not confined to this 
 world; that he is able by his prayers to deliver the 
 souls of the deceased from what he calls purgatory, 
 a place which he has fabled to exist for the purifi- 
 cation of sinful souls after their departure from this 
 world. Maketh fire come down from heaven 
 ... in the sight of men — " Fire." in Scripture, 
 when it signifies wrath, represents that species of 
 indignation which is attended with the destruction 
 of whatever is the cause of it. (See Psa. xviii, 7, 8 ; 
 Jer. iv, 4.) Therefore the "fire" which the false 
 prophet bringeth down from " heaven " upon the 
 earth, is the fiery indignation which he causes to 
 come down from the " heaven," or throne, of the 
 Latin empire, upon all those of the " earth," or Lat- 
 in world, who rebel against his authority. All this 
 has been fulfilled in the Romish hierarchy; the 
 Latin clergy have denominated all those that op- 
 pose their authority heretics, they have instituted 
 tribunals to try the cause of heresy, and all those 
 that would not submit to their idolatry they have 
 condemned to various kinds of tortures and deaths. 
 It is said of the false prophet that he bringeth 
 fire from heaven upon the earth ; that is to say, 
 he will only try the cause of heresy, and pass the 
 sentence of condemnation. Secular princes and 
 magistrates must execute the sentence of death 
 upon all that are capitally condemned by the spir- 
 itual power. " He maketh fire come down from 
 heaven:" he compels secular princes to assist him 
 against heretics ; and if any rebel against his 
 authority he immediately puts them under the ban 
 of the anathema, so that they are deprived of their 
 offices, and exposed to the insults and persecution 
 of their subjects. Under the appearance of great 
 sanctity he persuades men to believe all his lying 
 doctrines, and enforces his canons and decretals 
 with the sword of the civil magistrate. 
 
 14. Saying to them that dwell on the earth, 
 that they should make an image to the beast, 
 which had the wound by a sword, and did 
 live — The "image to the beast" must designate a 
 person who represents in himself the whole power 
 of the Latin empire, therefore it cannot be the 
 emperor; for though he was, according to his own 
 account, supremum caput Christianitatis, supreme 
 head of Christendom, yet he was only the chief of 
 the Germanic confederation, and consequently was 
 only sovereign of the principal power of the Latin 
 empire. The "image to the beast" must be the 
 supreme ruler of the Latin empire; and as it is 
 through the influence of the false prophet that this 
 image is made for the first beast, this great chief 
 must be an ecclesiastic. Who, is plainly obvious. 
 
 a sword, ^and did live. 15 And he had power 
 to give h life unto the image of the beast, that 
 the image of the beast should both speak, 'and 
 cause that as many as would not worship the 
 image of the beast should be killed. 1<» And 
 he causetb all, both small and great, rich and 
 
 AGr. breath. i Chap. 16. 2; 19. 20; 20. 4. 
 
 15. And he had power to give life unto the 
 image of the beast, that the image of the 
 beast should both speak, and cause that as 
 many as ■would not worship the image of the 
 beast should be killed — Bishop Newton observes: 
 "The influence of the two-horned beast, or cor- 
 rupted clergy, is further seen in persuading and in- 
 ducing mankind to make an image to tin' beast 
 which had tlu woundby a sieord, anddidlive. This 
 image and representative of the beast is the pope. He 
 is properly the idolot the [Roman Catholic] Church. 
 He represents in himself the whole power of the 
 beast, and is the head of all authority, temporal 
 as well as spiritual, lie is nothing more than ;i 
 private person, without power and without author- 
 ity till the two-horned beast, or corrupted clergy, 
 by choosing him pope, give life unto him, and 
 enable him to speak and utter his decrees, and to 
 persecute even to death as many a,s refuse to sub- 
 mit to him and to worship him. As soon as he is 
 chosen pope he is clothed with the pontifical robes, 
 and crowned and placed upon the altar, and the 
 cardinals come and kiss his feet, which ceremony 
 is called adoration. They first elect and then they 
 worship him, as in the medals of Martin V., where 
 two are represented crowning the pope, and two 
 kneeling before him, with this inscription, Qiiem 
 creant <i<Jo^nit. ■ Whom they create they adore.'" 
 The false prophet said " to them that dwell on 
 the earth, that they should make an image to the 
 beast which had the wound by a sword, and did 
 live;" that is, the Romish priesthood preached up 
 the pope's supremacy over temporal princes ; and. 
 through their astonishing influence on the minds of 
 the people, the bishop of Rome at last became the 
 supreme sovereign of the secular Latin empire, and 
 thus was at the head of all authority, temporal and 
 spiritual. The papists have in their various super- 
 stitions professed to worship God. But they are 
 said, in the unerring words of prophecy, to worship 
 the dragon, beast, and image of the bea>t, and to 
 blaspheme God ; for they received as holy those 
 commandments of men that stand in direct opposi- 
 tion to the sacred Scriptures, and which have been 
 imposed on them by the Romish bishops, aided by 
 the secular powers. "God is a Spirit, and they 
 that worship him must worship him in spirit and in 
 truth." 
 
 16. And he causeth all, both small and 
 great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive 
 a mark — To ascertain the meaning of the "mark " 
 which the two horned beast causes all orders and 
 degrees of men in the Lai in world to receive, we 
 need only refer to chapter xiv, 11, where the 
 "mark" imposed by the two-horned beast is called 
 tht mark of his name. The name of the beast is (he 
 Latin empire: the mark of his name must there- 
 fore lie his Latin worship; for this very reason, 
 that it is the two-horned boast, or false prophet, 
 who causes all descriptions of persons to receive it. 
 Now, it is well known that the continual employ- 
 ment of the Latin clergy is to enforce the Latin idol- 
 atry upon their flocks. The mass and offices of the 
 
 Gil
 
 , M. 4100. A. D. 96. 
 Year of Rome, S49. 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 The Lamb ami the redeemed 
 
 poor, free and bond, k ' to receive a mark in 
 their right hand, or in their foreheads: 
 117 And that no man might buy or sell, save 
 lie that had the mark, or '"the name of the 
 beast, "or the number of his name. 18 "Here 
 is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding 
 count nthe number of the beast : 4 for it is the 
 number of a man: and his number is Six hun- 
 dred threescore and six. 
 
 fcChap. 1-1. 9; in. '2H; 20. 4. /Or. to give them. 
 
 niChap. 14. II. raChap. 15. i. u Chap. 17.9. //Chap. 
 
 15. i 
 
 Church, which are in Latin, and contain the sum 
 and substance of their idolatrous worship, are of 
 different kinds, and abound in impious prayers to 
 the Virgin Mary and the saints and angels. In a word, 
 the Latin worship is the universal badge of distinc- 
 tion of the Latin Church from all other Churches 
 on the face of the earth ; and is therefore the only 
 infallible "mark" by which a genuine papist can 
 be distinguished from the rest of mankind. But 
 the two-horned beast causes all to receive this 
 mark in their right hand, or in their fore- 
 heads. " Right hand,'' in Scripture language, when 
 used figuratively, represents the physical power of 
 the person of whom it is spoken ; and when ap- 
 plied to God designates a signal manifestation of 
 divine power against his enemies, and in behalf of 
 his people. (See I'.-a. xvii, 7; xx, 6; xxi, 8; xlv, 
 3,4, etc.) The reception of the mark "in the right 
 han I " must therefore mean, that all so receiving it 
 devote the whole powers of their mind and body to 
 the propagation of the Latin worship, and to the 
 eradication of all they denominate heresies out of 
 their Church. But some receive the mark "in 
 their foreheads." By" any thing being impressed 
 upon the foreliead, is meant the public profession of 
 whatever i< inscribed or marked upon it. (See 
 chapter i.\, 4; xiv, 1 ; x.xii, 4, etc.) The mark of 
 the beast being received on the forehead, there- 
 fore, mean.- that all those so marked make a public 
 profession of the Latin worship; whereby it is evi- 
 dent to all that they form a part of the Latin Church. 
 
 17. And that no man might buy or sell, 
 save he that had the mark — " If any,'' observes 
 Bishop Newton, "dissent from the stated and 
 authorized forms, they are condemned and excom- 
 municated as heretics ; and in consequence of that 
 they are no longer suffered to 'buy or sell ; ' they 
 are interdicted from traffic and commerce, and all 
 t.ie benefits of civil society." 'the form of excom- 
 munication in the Romish Church is to take lighted 
 torches, throw them upon the ground with curses 
 and anathemas, and trample them out under foot 
 to the ringing of the bells. It is in this and sim- 
 ilar ways that the false, prophet has terrified the 
 Latin world, and kept it in subjection to the secular 
 an 1 spiritual powers. Those interdicted by the 
 two-horned beast from all offices of civil life are 
 also such as have not the name of the beast, or 
 the number of his name — See on the following 
 verse. 
 
 18. Here is -wisdom. Let him that hath 
 understanding count the number of the beast: 
 for it is the number of a man ; and his num- 
 ber is Six hundred threescore and six — In 
 this verse we have the very name of the beast 
 given under the symbol of the number 666. 
 Before the invention of figures by the Arabs, in 
 the tenth century, letters of the alphabet were used 
 lor numbers. [A variety of values were given to 
 
 612 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 AND I looked, and, lo, "a Lamb stood on 
 the mount Sion, and with him ''a hundred 
 forty and four thousand, c having his Father's 
 name written in their foreheads. 2 And I 
 heard a voice from heaven, d as the voice of 
 many waters, and as the voice of a great thun- 
 der: and 1 heard the voice of e harpers harp- 
 ing with their harps: 3 And 'they sung as 
 
 Q Chap. 21. 17. "Chap. 5. 6. b Chap. 7. 4. eChap. 
 
 7. :i; 13. 1U. (/Chap. 1. 10; 19.6. e Chap. 5. 8. /Chap. 
 
 5. 9 ; 15. 3. 
 
 the several letters of the Greek alphabet; ami 
 according to one of these the three words, >'/ 
 Aariv?/ j3aai?.ela, the Latin kingdom, are made to 
 answer to the number 666, thus : ij — 8 ; \ = 80 ; 
 a = 1 ; r = 300 ; I = 10 ; v — 50 ; n = 8 ; /? = 2 ; 
 a = 1 ; c = 200 ; i = 10 ; 2, = 30 ; e = 5 ; i = ]0 ; 
 a — ] — fJ66. On this calculation, the writer 
 of the foregoing reaches the conclusion, that 
 he has demonstrably determined " the name of the 
 beast," a conclusion with which probably very few 
 who are capable of forming an independent opinion 
 will coincide. Divine revelations are not to be de- 
 termined by such riddles. While declining to ac- 
 cept this exposition of the text we are entirely un- 
 able to give any other, and so we leave the mystery 
 unsolved. The historical facts that are applied in 
 the notes to the two preceding chapters, to show 
 that certain well-known events which have since 
 occurred are there predicted, seem to agree in very 
 many points with the predictions ; and yet even 
 that ingeniously wrought scheme would hopelessly 
 break down under a direct and searching cross- 
 examination.] 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER XIV. 
 [Chapter xiv seems to be a kind of interlude be- 
 tween the dark prophecies of the two preceding 
 chapters and the visions of wrath that follow in 
 chapters xv, xvi. 1) The Lamb on Mount Zion. 
 (Verses 1-5.) 2) The three angels of judgment. 
 (Verses 6-11.) 3) Blessedness of the faithful after 
 death. (Verses 12, 13.) 4) The harvest and the 
 vintage. (Verses 14-19.)] 
 
 1. A Lamb stood on the mount Sion — This 
 represents Jesus Christ in his sacrificial office; 
 "mount Sion" was a type of the Christian Church. 
 And with him a hundred forty and four thou- 
 sand — Representing those who were converted to 
 Christianity from among the Jews. (See chapter 
 vii, 4.) His Father's name written in their 
 foreheads — They were professedly, openly, and 
 practically the children of God, by faith in Christ 
 Jesus. Different sects of idolaters bear the pecul- 
 iar marks of their gods on their foreheads. This is 
 practised in the East to the present day, and the 
 mark is called the seetarial mark. Between eighty 
 and ninety different figures are found on the fore- 
 heads of different Hindoo deities and their follow- 
 ers. [The corrected Greek text, following a great 
 preponderance of authorities, has, alter the word 
 exovaai, having, and before to ovofia rue -ar/joc 
 avrov, the name of his Father, the words re oro/ua 
 aiirov, his own name.J 
 
 2. The voice of many waters — That is, of 
 multitudes of various nations. The voice of 
 harpers — Though the sounds were many and ap- 
 parently confused, yet both harmony and melody 
 were preserved. 
 
 '6. They sung ... a new song — See on chap-
 
 Message of tlie angel having the 
 everlasting Gospel t<> preach. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 A. M. 4ino. A.D. 96. 
 Year of Home, 84!). 
 
 it were a new song before the throne, and he- 
 fore the four beasts, and the elders: and no 
 man could learn that song - hut the hundred 
 and forty and four thousand, which were re- 
 deemed from the earth. 4 These are they 
 which were not defiled with women: h for 
 they are virgins. These are they 'which fol- 
 low the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These 
 kl were redeemed from among men, '"being 
 the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb. 
 5 And "in their mouth was found no guile: 
 for "they are without fault before the throne 
 of God. 6 And I saw another angel rfly in 
 the midst of heaven, i having the everlasting 
 gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the 
 earth, r and to every nation, and kindred, and 
 tongue, and people, 7 Saying with a loud 
 voice, s Fear God, and give glory to him; for 
 
 Verse 1. hi Cor. 11. 2. /Chap. :!. 4; 7. 15, 17; 17. 14. 
 
 A" Or. toerfi bought. /Chap. 5. 9. m James 1. IS. — 
 
 v Psa. 32. 2; Zeph. 3. 13. o Eph. 5. 27: Jude 24. — pChap. 
 
 f>. 13. f/Kpli. 3. <>, 10, 11; Tit. 1. 2. /'('hap. 13. 7.— *Chap. 
 
 11. I*; 15. 4. *Neh. 9. 6; Psa. 33. (i: 124 8; 14ii. 5, 0: Acts 
 
 ter v, 9. No man could learn that song — As 
 none but genuine Christians can worship God ac- 
 ceptably, because they approach him through the 
 only Mediator, so none can understand the deep 
 things of God but such ; nor can others know the 
 cause why true believers exult so much in God 
 through Christ, because they know not the com- 
 munion which such hold with the Father and the 
 Son through the Holy Ghost. 
 
 4. These are they which were not denied 
 with women — They are pure from idolatry, and 
 are presented as unspotted virgins to their Lord 
 and Saviour Christ. (See 2 Cor. xi, 2.) There may 
 be an allusion here to the Israelites committing 
 idolatry through the means of their criminal con- 
 nexion with the Midianitish women. (See Num. 
 xxv, 1-4, and xxxi, 16.) Follow the Lamb 
 whithersoever he goeth — They go through good 
 and through evil report, bear his reproach, and love 
 not their lives even to the death. The first- 
 fruits unto God — The reference appears to be to 
 those Jews who were the first converts to Chris- 
 tianity. 
 
 5. In their mouth was found no guile — 
 When brought before kings and rulers they did not 
 dissemble, but boldly confessed the Lord Jesus. 
 
 6. Another angel fly in the midst of heaven, 
 having the everlasting gospel — [Not to be iden- 
 tified with any of those who appeared in the earlier 
 scenes, as chapter i, 1, and x, 4.] [Eiayyiliov, gos- 
 pel, has a fixed and technical meaning in all the 
 apostolical writings, "the gospel." The epithet 
 aluviov, everlasting, (here only applied to the Gos- 
 pel,) indicates its perpetuity, the same essentially 
 from age to age, though continually revealing itself 
 in new forms and features. This "Gospel" is de- 
 signed for and must be preached to the whole 
 human race. See Alford.] 
 
 7. Fear God, and give glory to him — This 
 is the general language of the sacred writings. 
 Worship the true God, the creator and governor of 
 all things; and give him glory, for to him alone, 
 not to idols or men, all glory and honour belong. 
 
 8. Babylon is fallen, is fallen — This is gen- 
 erally understood to be a prediction concerning 
 I!"iiie; and it is certain that Rome, in the rabbini- 
 cal writings, is termed "Babylon." That great 
 city — Among the same w liters this " city " is styled 
 
 the hour of his judgment is come : 'and wor- 
 ship him that, made heaven, and earth, and the 
 sea. and the fountains of waters. S And there 
 followed another angel, saying, "Babylon is 
 fallen, is fallen, 'that great city, because she 
 made all nations drink of the wine of the 
 wrath of her fornication. 9 And the third 
 angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, 
 " If any man worship the beast and his image, 
 and receive Ma mark in his forehead, or in his 
 hand, lO The same "shall drink of the wine 
 of the wrath of God, which is >' ] ion red out 
 without mixture into z the cup of his indigna- 
 tion; and H he shall be tormented with Mire 
 and brimstone in the presence of the holy 
 angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: 
 II And c the smoke of their torment ascend- 
 etli up for ever and ever: and they have no 
 
 14. 15 i 17. 24. — wlsa. 21. 9: Jer. 51. 8; chap. 1*. 2. — cJer. 
 
 51. 7: chap. 11. 3: 16. 19; 17. 2. 5: la 3, 10, 18, 21: 19. 2. 
 
 w Chap. 13. 14, 15, Hi. «• Psa. 75. 8; Isa. 51. 17; Jer. 25. 15. 
 
 ,/n, ;ip. is. c. — -•chap. 16. 19. — aChap. 20. 10. — 6Chap. 
 
 19. 20. C Isa. 34. Ill ; chap. 19. 3. 
 
 the great city, and the great Rome. But which 
 Rome is meant? Pagan or papal Rome? Some 
 parts of the description apply best to the former. 
 The wine of the wrath of her fornication — 
 There is an allusion here to a custom of impure 
 women, who give philters or love potions to those 
 whom they wish to seduce and hind to their will ; 
 and these potions are generally of an intoxicating 
 nature, greatly inflaming the blood, and disturbing 
 the intellect. Fornication and adultery arc fre- 
 quently used in Scripture as emblems of idolatry 
 and false worship. "The wine of the wrath" is 
 another expression for the envenomed or poisoned 
 cup given by such women. No nation of the earth 
 spread their idolatries so far as the ancient Ro- 
 mans; they were as extensive as their conquests. 
 And papal Rome has been not less active in dis- 
 seminating her superstitions. She has given her 
 rituals, but not the everlasting Gospel, to most na- 
 tions of the earth. [Rome, both pagan and papal, 
 but principally papal, is intended. A clear in- 
 stance of the "double vision" of prophecy, where 
 the two objects lie in the same line, one nearer, and 
 one more remote.] 
 
 9. And the third angel followed— Bi. -Lop 
 Bale considers these three angels as three descrip- 
 tions of preachers, wdio should bear their testimony 
 against the corruptions of the papal Church. The 
 beast and his image — See the notes on chapter 
 xiii. Mark in his forehead — Such as the sec- 
 tarial marks of the idolatrous Hindoos, as has been 
 observed before. 
 
 10. The ivine of the wrath of God — As they 
 have drunk the intoxicating wine of idolatry or 
 spiritual fornication, they shall now drink the wine 
 of God's wrath, which is poured out into the cup of 
 his indignation. Without mixture — ['AKp&Tov, 
 undiluted, in its full power to destroy.] Shall be 
 tormented with fire and brimstone— An allu- 
 sion to the punishment of Sodom and Gomorrah 
 for their unnatural crimes. (Isa. xxxiv, 10.) Pres- 
 ence of the holy angels, and ... of the Lamb 
 — These being the instruments employed in their 
 destruction ; the " Lamb " — the Lord Jesus Chrisl — 
 acting as judge. [Their torments are visible to 
 the angels and the Lamb. — Alford.] 
 
 1 1. The smoke of their torment — Still an allu- 
 sion to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. 
 
 613
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 rest day nor night, who worship the beast and 
 his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark 
 of his name. 12 d Here is the patience of the 
 saints : e here are they that keep the command- 
 ments of God, and the faith of Jesus. 13 And 
 J heard a voice from heaven saving unto me, 
 Write, f Blessed arc the dead s which die in the 
 Lord h from henceforth : Yea, saith the Spirit, 
 that 'they may rest from their labours; and 
 their works do follow them. 14 And I 
 looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon 
 the cloud one sat k like unto the Son of man, 
 1 having on his head a golden crown, and in 
 his hand a sharp sickle. 15 And another an- 
 gel m came out of the temple, crying with a 
 loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, n Thrust 
 in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come 
 for thee to reap ; for the harvest °of the earth 
 
 tfChap. 13. 10. eChap. 12. 17. /"Eccles. 4. 1,2; chap. 
 
 20. 6. — o\ Cor. 15. 18; 1 Thess. 4. 16. h Or, from hence- 
 forth Kiiitlt the Spirit, Yen. i 2 Thess. 1. T; Heb. 4. 9, 10; 
 
 chap. ti. 11. k Ezek. 1. 2t5: Dan. 7. 13; chap. 1. 13. 
 
 12. Here is the patience of the saints — Here 
 the faith of the true Christians shall be proved ; 
 they will follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth, 
 they keep the commandments of God, and are 
 steadfast in the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 Sometimes ?} vTro/iovij, patience or perseverance, is 
 taken for the reward of these virtues; the text, 
 therefore, may be thus understood: Here is the 
 reward of the perseverance of the true Christians; 
 for although they die for the testimony of Jesus, 
 yet they shall be unutterably blessed. See the 
 next verse. 
 
 13. [In order to comfort and support the Church 
 still militant on earth, three angels have proclaimed 
 the history of the Christian ages: the diffusion of 
 the "eternal Gospel," (6, 7,) the fall of the world 
 power, (8,) the doom of the ungodly, (9-11.) And 
 now, lest the faithful should be discouraged by the 
 prospect opened out in verses 10, 11, the loving 
 admonition already given in chapter xii, 10 is once 
 more repeated. (See chapter xix. 9, 10.)— Speak- 
 er's Com.] I heard a voice from heaven — As 
 the information now to be given was of the utmost 
 importance, it is solemnly communicated by a voice 
 from heaven ; and the apostle is commanded to 
 write or record what is said. Blessed are the 
 dead — Happy are they. They are happy in two 
 respects: 1) They do not see the evil that shall 
 come upon the world, and are exempted from any 
 further sufferings. 2 i They actually and consciously 
 enjoy happiness in a state of blessedness. Which 
 die in the Lord — These are the only glorious 
 dead. They die, not in the field of battle, in either 
 what are called lawful or unlawful wars against 
 their fellowmen ; but they die in the cause of God, 
 they die under the smile and approbation of God, 
 and they die to live and reign with God for ever 
 and ever. From henceforth — 'A-' apri, from this 
 time; now; immediately. [At this time it is that 
 the complete blessedness of the holy dead com- 
 mences: when the garner is tilled, and the chaff 
 cast out. — Afford.] Yea, saith the Spirit — The 
 Holy Spirit confirms the declaration from heaven, 
 and assigns the reasons of it. That they may- 
 rest from their labours — Have no more tribula- 
 tion and distress. .And their works do follow 
 them — "Epya avruv aKoTvovdel /tsf avruv, and their 
 works follow with than. They are in company. 
 
 614 
 
 is Pripe. 16 And he that sat on the cloud 
 thrust in his sickle on the earth ; and the earth 
 was reaped. 17 And another angel came out 
 of the temple which is in heaven, he also hav- 
 ing a sharp sickle. 18 And another angel 
 came out from the altar, i which had power 
 over fire ; and cried with a loud cry to him that 
 had the sharp sickle, saying, r Thrust in thy 
 sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine 
 of the earth ; for her grapes are fully ripe. 
 19 And the angel thrust in his sickle into the 
 earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and 
 cast it into s the great winepress of the wrath 
 of God. 20 And 'the winepress was trodden 
 u without the city, and blood came out of the 
 winepress, "even unto the horse bridles, by the 
 space of a thousand and six hundred fur- 
 longs. 
 
 ZChap. 6. 2. ?7?Chap. 1(5. 17. v Joel 3. 13; Matt. 13. 39. 
 
 r>Jer. 51. 33; chap. 13. 12. p Or. dried. ffChap. 16. 8. 
 
 /-.loel 3. 13. sChap. 19. 15. f Isa. 63. 3; Lam. 1. 15. 
 
 u Heb. 13. 12; chap. 11. 8. — cChap. 19. 14. 
 
 Here is an elegant prosopopoeia or personification ; 
 their good works, sufferings, etc., are represented 
 as so many companions escorting them on their 
 way to the kingdom of God. 
 
 14. A white cloud— It is supposed that from 
 this verse to the end of the chapter the destruc- 
 tion of Rome is represented under the symbols of 
 harvest and vintage — images very frequent among 
 the ancient prophets, by which they represented 
 the destruction and excision of nations. (See Joel 
 iii, 12-14; Isa. xvii, 5; lxiii, 1 ; and Matt, xiii, 87.) 
 A golden crown — In token of victory and regal 
 power. 
 
 15. Thrust in thy sickle — Execute the judg- 
 ments which God has decreed. For the harvest 
 of the earth is ripe — ['Efz/partf;/, is overripe.] 
 The cup of the people's iniquity is full. 
 
 16. The earth was reaped — The judgments 
 were executed. But where, or on whom, who can 
 tell? 
 
 18. Power over fire — Probably meaning the 
 same angel which is mentioned chapter viii, 3, 
 ix, 13, who stood by the altar of burnt offering, 
 having authority over its fire to offer that incense 
 to God which represents the prayers of the saints. 
 
 19. The great winepress of the wrath of 
 God — The place or kingdom where God executes 
 his judgments on the workers of iniquity, whether 
 pagans or persecuting Christians; Rome pagan, 
 or Rome papal. (See Isa. lxiii, 3.) 
 
 20. And the ■winepress was trodden ■with- 
 out the city — " Eternally without the city of the 
 heavenly Jerusalem, and far from the presence of 
 God ; eternally crushed and trodden down by his 
 justice; eternally tormented in body and soul, with- 
 out any hope either of living or dying ! This is 
 the miserable lot and portion of those who shall 
 have despised the law of God, and died in impeni- 
 tence. My God, pierce my heart with a salutary 
 dread of thy judgments!" — Quesnel. Whatever 
 the passage may mean, this is a prudent and 
 Christian use of it. Even unto the horse bri- 
 dles—An hyperbolical expression to denote a great 
 effusion of blood. The Jews said, " When Hadrian 
 besieged the city called Hitter, he slew so many that 
 the horses waded in blood up to their mouths." The 
 same kind of hyperbole with that above. See Wet- 
 stein on this verse. The space of a thousand
 
 Introduction of the seven angels 
 with the hist plagues 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 AND a I saw another sign in heaven, great 
 and marvellous, 'seven angels having the 
 seven last plagues; c for in them is tilled up the 
 wrath of God. '2 And I saw as it were <] a sea 
 of glass e mingled with tire: and them that had 
 gotten the victory over the heast, f and over 
 ins image, and over his mark, ami over the 
 number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, 
 shaving the harps of God. 3 And they .sing 
 h the song of Moses the servant of God, and 
 the song of the Lamb, saying, 'Great and mar- 
 vellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; 
 k just and true are thy ways, thou King of 
 1 saints. 4 m Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, 
 and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy : 
 
 rtChap. 12. 1,3. //Chap. 16.1; 21. P. c Chain 14. 10. 
 
 rfChap. 4. 6; 21. 18. eMatt. 3. 11. — f'Chap. 1:!. 15, K 17. 
 
 ffCluip. 5. 8: 14. 2. h Exod. 15. 1 ; Deut. 31. 3l>; chap. 14. 3. 
 
 i Deut. 32. 4: Psa. 111. 2; 139. 14. k I'sa. 145. 17; Hos. 14. 9; 
 
 chap. 16. 7. /Or, nations, or, ages. 
 
 and six hundred furlongs — It is said that the 
 stale of the Church, or St. Peter's patrimony, ex- 
 tends from Rome to the Po, two hundred Italian 
 miles, which make exactly owe thousand six hundred 
 furlongs ! If this be really so, the coincidence is 
 certainly surprising, and worthy of deep regard. 
 [We may fairly say, either that the number is as- 
 signed simply to signify completeness and magni- 
 tude, or else this is one of the riddles of the apoc- 
 alypse to which not even a proximate solution has 
 ever yet been given. — Alford.'] 
 
 NOTES OX CHAPTER XV. 
 [The sixth chief vision of the Revelation prop- 
 erly opens here. The vision of the seven vials 
 themselves is contained in chapter xvi; but pre- 
 viously, in chapter xv, the seer beholds " seven 
 angels," (verse 1,) as in chapter viii, 2 ; and before 
 the angels execute their office the "just made per- 
 fect " sing the praise of God, (verses 2-4 ; ) as in 
 chapter viii, 2-5, there is a solemn offering of 
 prayer an J its results before the trumpet-angels 
 " prepare themselves to sound." ... As in the vis- 
 ions of the seals and trumpets, the sixth vial is 
 separated from the seventh by an episode announ- 
 cing (in verses 13-16) the assembling of the kings 
 for Armageddon. . . . Here St. John again recapitu- 
 lates. He reascends to an earlier point in the 
 prophecy, and enlarges on the judicial chastisements 
 to be inflicted on the empire of the beast. — Speak- 
 er's Commentary!] 
 
 1. Seven angels having the seven last 
 plagues — Under the emblems of harvest and vint- 
 age God's judgments on the enemies of his Church 
 have already been pointed out; but these are fur- 
 ther signified by the seven vials, which are called 
 the "seven last plagues" of God. The "seven last 
 plagues " appear to fall under the seventh and last 
 trumpet. As the seventh seal contained the seven 
 trumpets, so the seventh trumpet contains the 
 seven vials. And as seven angels sounded the 
 seven trumpets, so seven angels are appointed to 
 pour out the seven vials, angels being always the 
 ministers of Providence. This chapter contains the 
 opening vision, which is preparatory to the pouring 
 out of the vials. 
 
 2. A sea of glass — A spacious lucid plain 
 around the throne, from which fiery coruscations 
 were continually emitted ; or, the reflection of the 
 light upon this lucid plain produced the prismatic 
 
 for "all nations shall come and worship before 
 thee; for thy judgments arc made manifest. 
 5 And after that I looked, and, behold, °tlie 
 temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in 
 heaven was opened: <• PAnd the seven an- 
 gels came out of the temple, having Hie seven 
 plagues, i clothed in pure and white linen, and 
 having their breasts girded with golden girdles. 
 
 7 r And one of the four beasts gave unto the 
 seven angels seven golden vials full of the 
 wrath of God, "who liveth for ever and ever. 
 
 8 And 'the temple was filled with smoke 
 "from the glory of God, and from his power; 
 and no man was able to enter into the temple, 
 till the seven plagues of the seven angels were 
 fulfilled. 
 
 m Exod. 15. 14, 15, Hi; Jer. 10. 7. u Isa. 66. 2:1. npee 
 
 Num. 1.5"; chap. 11.10. p Verse 1. g Exod. 28. 6, 8: Ezek. 
 
 44. 1",, 18: chap. 1. 13. rChap. 4. 6. * 1 Thess. 1. 9; chap, 
 
 4. 9 ; 10. 0. 1 Exod. 40. 34 ; 1 Kings 8. 10 ; 2 Chron. 5. 14 ; Isa. 
 
 6.4. m2 Thess. 1.9. 
 
 colours of the rainbow. Over the beast, and 
 over his image — [That is. over the temptation to 
 worship his image and to receive the mark con- 
 sisting of the number of his name. — Alford.] (See 
 on chapter xiii, 17, 18.) 
 
 3. They sing the song of Moses — That which 
 Moses sang (Exod. xv, 1) when he and the Israelites, 
 by the miraculous power of God, had gotten safely 
 through the Red Sea, and saw their enemies all 
 destroyed. The song of the Lamb — The same 
 song adapted to the state of the once suffering but, 
 now delivered Christians. Great and marvellous 
 are thy works — God's works are descriptive of 
 his infinite power and wisdom. Lord God Al- 
 mighty — Nearly the same as Jehovah, God of hosts. 
 Just and true are thy ways — Every step God 
 takes in grace or providence is according to justice, 
 and he carefully accomplishes all his threateninga 
 and all his promises; to this he is bound by his 
 truthfulness. 
 
 4. Who shall not fear thee— That is, all 
 should fear and worship this true God, because he 
 is just and true and holy ; and his sainis should 
 love and obey him, because he is their King; and 
 they and all men should acknowledge his judg- 
 ments because they are made manifest. 
 
 5. The temple of the tabernacle of the testi- 
 mony — The " temple " which succeeded the " tab- 
 ernacle," in which was " the testimony," namely, 
 the two tables, Aaron's rod, pot of manna, holy 
 anointing oil, etc. : all bearing " testimony " to the 
 truth of God and his miraculous interposition in 
 the behalf of Israel. 
 
 6. The seven angels came out of the temple 
 — To show that they were sent from God himself. 
 Clothed in pure and white linen — Habited as 
 priests. (See Exod. xxviii, 6, 8; and on chapter 
 i, 13.) 
 
 8. The temple was filled with smoke — So 
 was the tabernacle when consecrated by .Moms, 
 (Exod. xl, 34, 35,) and the temple when dedicated by 
 Solomon. (1 Kings viii, 10, 11. See also [sa. vi, 4.) 
 When the high priest entered into the holy of 
 holies, and the ordinary priest into the holy place, 
 they always carried with them a great deal of 
 smoking incense, which tilled those places with 
 smoke and darkness, which prevented them from 
 considering too attentively the parts and orna- 
 ments of those holy places, and thus served to 
 produce an air of mystery in the temple, which 
 
 615
 
 A.M. 41"fi. A. D. £6. 
 Year of Rome, 849. 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 AND I heard a great voice out of the tem- 
 ple saying "to the seven angels, Go your 
 ways, and pour out the vials 'of t lie wrath of 
 God upon the* earth. 2 And the first went, 
 and poured nut Ins vial c upon the earth; and 
 d there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon 
 the men e which had the mark of the beast, 
 and upon them f which worshipped his image. 
 3 And the second angel poured out his vial 
 eupon the sea; and ''it became as the blood 
 of a dead man: 'and every living soul died in 
 the sea, 4 And the third angel poured out 
 his vial k upon the rivers and fountains of 
 waters; and they became blood. 5 And 1 
 heard the angel of the waters say, '"Thou 
 art righteous, O Lord, "which art, and wast, 
 and sbalt be, because thou hast judged thus. 
 6 For "they have shed the blood Pof saints 
 and prophets, i and thou hast given them blood 
 to drink ; for they are worthy. 7 And I 
 
 rtChap. 15. I. &Chap. 14. 10. 15.7. cChap. 8. 7. 
 
 dExod. !'. 9, 111, 11. 6 Chap. 13. 1(5, 17. /Chap. 13. 14 
 
 g Chap. 8 8. // Exod 7. 17, 20. /'Chap. 8. 9. /fcChap. 
 
 8.10. {Exod. 7. 20. ///Chap. 15. 3. mChap. 1. 4. 8i I. 
 
 8; 11. 17. /.M tt. 21. 34, 35; chap. 13. 15. p Chap. 11. 18; 
 
 18. 20. visa. 49. 20. /'Chap. 15. 3. sChap. 13. 10; 14. 
 
 none dared to approach without the deepest rever- 
 ence. To this Calmet thinks the allusion may be in- 
 tended. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 1. Go your ways, and pour out — These min- 
 isters of the divine justice were ready to execute 
 vengeance upon transgressors, having full power: 
 but could do nothing in this way till they received 
 especial commission. Nothing can be done without 
 the permission of God ; and for the manifestation 
 of justice or mercy by other than divine agency, 
 there musl be positive command. 
 
 2. A noisome and grievous sore — Similar to 
 the sixth Egyptian plague, boils and blahis. (Exod. 
 ix, 8, etc) 
 
 3. As the blood of a dead man — Blood in a 
 state of putrescence. 
 
 4. Upon the rivers and fountains of waters 
 — Like the first Egyptian plague: (Exod. vii, 20:) 
 and to those plagues in general there appears to 
 be allusions tlnoughout this chapter. 
 
 5. The angel of the waters — We have al- 
 ready seen the angel of the bottomless pit, (chapter 
 ix, 11,) and the angel of the tire, (chapter xiv, 18.) 
 The angel of the earth is spoken of in Yulcut Rubeni, 
 fol. 13, 2, and is called Admael. The rabbins have 
 also an angel that presides over the grass ; another 
 that presides oxer the cattle which feed upon the 
 grass. It is plain from several places that the 
 writer of the apocalypse keeps these notions dis- 
 tinctly in view. 
 
 6. Thou hast given them blood to drink — 
 They thirsted after blood and massacred the saints 
 of God ; and now they have blood to drink. [A 
 recognition of the great truth of divine retribu- 
 tion. (Matt, vii, 1.)] 
 
 8. Poured out his vial upon the sun — [The 
 seven angels are regarded as retaining their station 
 in the upper region. . . . The sun thus smitten sends 
 out the fiercest and most scorching rays. . . . The 
 sirocco, the stroke of the sun, and the mirage, all 
 serve to aid us in conceiving of the nature of the 
 plague thus inflicted. — Stuart.] 
 
 9. They repented not — [However great their 
 616 
 
 heard another out of the altar say, Even so, 
 r Lord God Almighty, 8 true and righteous are 
 thy judgments. 8 And the fourth angel 
 poured out his vial ' upon the sun ; " and power 
 was given unto him to scorch men with fire. 
 9 And men were T scorched with great heat, 
 and "blasphemed the name of God, which 
 hath power over these plagues: x and they re- 
 pented not > to give him glory. 10 And the 
 fifth angel poured out his vial mpon the seat 
 of the beast; "and his kingdom was full of 
 darkness; 'and they gnawed their tongues for 
 pain, 11 And c blasphemed the God of heav- 
 en because of their pains and d their sores, 
 e and repented not of their deeds. 12 And 
 the sixth angel poured out bis vial f upon the. 
 great river Euphrates; eand the water thereof 
 was dried up, h that the way of the kings of the 
 east might be prepared. 13 And I saw three 
 unclean ' spirits like frogs come out of the 
 mouth of k the dragon, and out of the mouth 
 
 10; 19. 2. CChap. 8. 12. v Chap. 9. 17, IS; 14. 18. V Or, 
 
 hiirn'd. W Verses 11, 21. 3' Dan. 5. 22, 23 ; chap. 9. 20. 
 
 2/ Chap. 11. 13; 14. 7. sChap. 13. 2. rt Chap. 9. 2. 
 
 h Chap. 11. 10. <• Verses 9, 21. d Verse 2. e Verse 9. 
 
 /'Chap. 9. 14. a See Jer. 50. 38; 51. 3ti. h Isa. 41. 2, 25. 
 
 i 1 John 4. 1, 2, 3. k Chap. 12. 3, 9. 
 
 griefs or sufferings were, they did not bring them 
 to such an attitude of mind as made them submis- 
 sive, nor inspired them with filial awe. (See chap, 
 ix, 20, 21.) — Stuart] [Respecting the different 
 results of chastisements on different classes of per- 
 sons, see Hell, xii, 5—11.] 
 
 10. The seat of the beast — 'Eirl tov dpovov tov 
 6///iioi\ upon the throne of the wild beast. [That is, 
 on the spot where the power and presence of the 
 "beast " had its proper residence. And his king- 
 dom—Those lands which owned his rule became 
 darkened, (as in the ninth Egyptian plague, Exod. 
 x, 21 ;) the darkness is specially sent over the land, 
 not occasioned by any failure of the light of heaven, 
 etc. — Stuart] 
 
 11. Blasphemed the God of heaven — Neither 
 did they repent ; therefore other judgments must 
 follow. [To blaspheme God, as here, is the token 
 of entire allegiance to the beast. (See chap, xiii, 6.) 
 — Speaker's Com.] 
 
 12. Upon the great river Euphrates — Proba- 
 bly meaning the people in the vicinity of this river ; 
 though some think that the Tiber is intended. 
 The water thereof was dried up — The people 
 discomfited, and all impediments removed. The 
 kings of the east — There seems to be an allusion 
 here to the ruin of Babylon by Cyrus, predicted 
 by the prophet Jeremiah, chapters 1 and li. [In 
 order to understand what we here read, we must 
 carefully bear in mind the context. The time of 
 the gathering of the kings of the whole earth to 
 the great battle against God is now come, and by 
 the drying up of the Euphrates the way of those 
 kings who were to come to it from the East is made 
 ready. — Alford.] 
 
 13. Three unclean spirits — Perhaps false 
 teachers, called afterward spirits of devils, which 
 persuade the kings of the earth, by lying miracles, 
 to come forth to the place of general slaughter. 
 (Verses 14, 16.) [It is the uniform testimony of 
 the prophetic Scriptures that the anti-Christian 
 powers shall work signs and wonders as a means 
 of deceiving mankind. (See Matt, xxiv, 24 ; 2 Thess. 
 ii, 9.)— Alford.]
 
 1 llo 
 
 the 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 M. 4100. A. n. 96. 
 Year jf Rome, B49. 
 
 of the beast, and out of the mouth of Mhe 
 false prophet. 24 ''For they are the spirits 
 of devils, 'working 1 miracles, which go forth 
 unto the kings of the earth k and of the whole 
 world, to gather them to 'the battle of that 
 great day of (iod Almighty. 15 '"Behold, 1 
 come as a thief. Blessed is he that wratcheth, 
 and keepeth his garments, "lest he walk naked, 
 and they see his shame. 16 "And he gath- 
 ered them together into a place called in the 
 Hebrew tongue Armageddon. 17 And the 
 seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; 
 and there came a great voice out of the tem- 
 ple of heaven, from the throne, saying, Pit 
 is done. 18 And i there were voices, and 
 thunders, and lightnings; r and there was a 
 great earthquake, 5 such as was not since men 
 were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, 
 
 ffChap. 19. 20: 20. 10. 7/1 Tim. 4. 1; James 3. 15. 
 
 i2 Thess. 2. 9; chap. 13. 13, 11: 19. 20. ALuke 2. I. 
 
 /('lnp. 17. 14; 111. 19; 20. 3. ///Matt. 21. 43. 1 Thess. -V 2; 
 
 2 Pet 3. 10: chap. 3. 3. // 2 Cor. 5. 3: chap. :'.. 4, K ./Chap. 
 
 19. 19. //('hap. 21. 6. 7 Chap. 4.5; 8. 5 ; 11. 19. /'Chap. 
 
 15. Behold, I come as a thief — Here is a sud- 
 den but timely warning to put every man on his 
 guard, when this sudden and generally unexpected 
 tribulation should take place. [Respecting what 
 this predicted coming may mean, there is rather 
 more than the average degree of uncertainty, and 
 of want of agreement, among the commentators.] 
 Keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked — 
 [He (Christ) wills that no one, because he Ua- 
 promised deliverance, should remit for a moment 
 his entire vigilance. He who is guilty of such re- 
 mission will be like the man who, not expecting 
 the thief, lays his garments aside, and gives him- 
 self to sleep. In the meantime the thief comes, 
 and takes them away, and then he is obliged to go 
 forth naked, and thus to be exposed in that state 
 to the gaze of men. So will it be with the unfaith- 
 ful and heedless disciple. — Sluart.] 
 
 16. Armageddon — The original of this word 
 has been variously formed, and variously translated. 
 It is har-megiddon, " the mount of the assembly ; " 
 or choymah gedehon, " the destruction of their 
 army;" or it is har-megiddo, "Mount Megiddo," 
 the valley of which was remarkable for two great 
 slaughters, oneof the Israelites, (2 Kings xxiii, 'J9.) 
 the other of the Canaanites. (Judg. iv, 16; v, 19.) 
 [Megiddo was a village in the hilly country near 
 Mount Tabor. . . . Into a valley ominous of over- 
 throw ami slaughter, then, the unclean spirits, under 
 the special guidance of a superintending Providence, 
 (chapter xvii, 17,) conduct the assembled forces of 
 the beast and his allies ; and there in due time 
 they come to a final end (chapter xix, 19) by the 
 interposition of an Almighty conqueror. — 8tuart.~\ 
 
 17. Poured out his vial into the air — [The 
 "air" is the common life-sphere of men. The 
 anger-vial in the air is therefore, in the first place, a 
 dea llv decomposition of the spiritual life-sphere of 
 men, resulting in the falling asunder of great com- 
 munities. And this is the immediate result de- 
 picted in verse 19. But with the separation of the 
 three powers, Babylon, the Beast, Gog ami Magog, 
 is also introduced the cosmical decomposition of the 
 earthly life-sphere, the end of the world. (!!? ) — 
 LangeJ] It is done — It is said (chapter x, 7) that 
 in the days of the seventh trumpet the mystery el' 
 God should be finished ; so here we find it com- 
 
 ////// so great. If) And 'the great city was 
 divided into three parts, and the cities of the 
 nations fell: and great Babylon "came in re- 
 membrance before God, ' to give Ullto hel' the 
 cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. 
 20 And "every island tied away, and the 
 mountains were not found. 21 * And there- 
 fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every 
 stone about the weight of a talent : ami > men 
 blasphemed God because of 'the plague of the 
 hail ; for the plague thereof was exceeding 
 great. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 AND there came a one of the seven angels 
 which had the seven vials, and talked 
 with me, saying unto me, Come hither; 'I will 
 show unto thee the judgment of c the great 
 whore d that sitteth upon many waters; 
 
 pleted. Tiyove, all's over. [The passing of some 
 great crisis, like Cesar's at the Rubicon, or Christ's 
 upon the cross, though much is yet to follow it, 
 has, in itself, the character of finality, because it 
 renders certain that which comes after it. J [One 
 who has fired a train would say, " It isdone," though 
 the explosion had not yet taken place. — Alford!\ 
 
 18. A great earthquake — Most terrible com- 
 motions, both civil and religious. 
 
 19. The great city — Some say Jerusalem, 
 others Rome pagan, others Rome papal. The cup 
 of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath — 
 Alluding to the mode of putting certain criminals 
 to death by making them drink a cup of poison. 
 
 20. Every island fled away — Perhaps mean- 
 ing the capture of seaport towns and fortified places. 
 
 21. A great hail . . . about the w eight of a 
 talent — The words wc rdXavTiaia, as a talent, are 
 used to express something great, excessively op- 
 pressive. [According to Ebrard, the hail of a hun- 
 dred pounds weight symbolizes the tremendous 
 blows of suffering and sorrow which the world 
 sustains in this time of revolution. Glasgow finds 
 the objective of this prophecy in the tremendous 
 cannon-balls, some of six hundred pounds weight, 
 employed in modern warfare. ( ! ! ) — See Lange.J 
 
 NOTES OX CHAPTER XVII. 
 This chapter is, on several accounts, very im- 
 portant, and particularly as it appears t<> explain 
 several of the most remarkable symbols in the 
 book. The same author who has written so largely 
 on the twelfth and thirteenth chapters, has also 
 obliged me with his interpretation of this chapter. 
 Not pretending to explain these things myself, 
 I insert this as the most elaborate and learned ex- 
 position I have yet seen, leaving my reader.- at 
 perfect liberty to reject it, and adept any other 
 mode of interpretation which they please. God 
 alone knows all the secrets of his own wisdom. 
 
 Notes r.v J. E. C. 
 1. And there came one of the seven angels 
 which had the seven vials, and talked with 
 me, saying unto me, Come hither ; I will 
 show unto thee the judgment of the great 
 whore that sitteth upoa many waters — Idola- 
 
 G17
 
 A. M. 410(1. A. T>. 96. 
 Y«ir of Rome, &J9. 
 
 REVELATION". 
 
 2 ° "With whom the kings of the earth have 
 committed fornication, and f the inhabitants of 
 the earth have been made drunk with the 
 wine of her fornication. 3 So lie carried me 
 away in the spirit sinto the wilderness: and I 
 saw a woman sit h upon a scarlet coloured 
 beast, full of 'names of blasphemy, k having 
 seven heads and 'ten horns. 4 And the wom- 
 an ,n was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, 
 "and "decked with gold and precious stones 
 and pearls, p having a golden cup in her band 
 i full of abominations and filthiness of her for- 
 nication: 5 And upon her forehead icas a 
 nun- written, 'MYSTERY, BABYLON 'THE 
 GREAT, 'THE MOTHER OF "HARLOTS 
 AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. 
 
 <>Ch-ip. 18. 3. /Jer. 51. 7; chap. 14.8; 18.3. o-Chap. 
 
 12 (j, 14. ACIi:»p. 12. 3. * Chap. 13. 1. A' Verse 9. 
 
 J Verse 12. m Chap. 18. 12, 16. u Dan. 11. 38. o dr. 
 
 ffilfieil. pJer. 51. 7; chap. 18. 6. 3 Chap. 14. 8. 
 
 r 2 Thess. 2. 7. 
 
 tnms worship is frequently represented in Scrip- 
 ture under the figure of whoredom. (See 1 Chron. 
 v, 25 ; Ezek. xvi, xxiii, etc.) The woman men- 
 tioned here is called " a great whore," to denote 
 her excessive depravity and the awful nature of 
 her idolatry. She is also represented as sitting 
 " upon many waters," to show the vast extent of 
 her influence. (See on verse 13.) 
 
 '2. With whom the kings of the earth have 
 committed fornication, and the inhabitants 
 of the earth have been made drunk with the 
 wine of her fornication — Kings have committed 
 , spiritual fornication with her, and their subjects 
 have drunk deep, dreadfully deep, into the doctrine 
 of her abominable errors. 
 
 3. So he carried me away in the spirit into 
 the wilderness — [To obtain a sight of the self- 
 styled Church in its deep spiritual abasement.] I 
 saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured 
 beast, full of names of blasphemy, having 
 seven heads and ten horns— The Latin Church, 
 which, as it appeared from the commencement of 
 the fourteenth century to the time of the Reforma- 
 tion, corresponds with remarkable exactness to this 
 prophetic description. The beast is " full of names 
 of blasphemy." (See on chapter xiii, 5.) 
 
 4. And the woman was arrayed in purple 
 and scarlet colour, and decked -with gold 
 and precious stones and pearls, having a 
 golden cup in her hand full of abominations 
 and filthiness of her fornication — This striking- 
 ly represents the most pompous and costly manner 
 in which the Latin Church has held forth to the 
 nations the rites and ceremonies of its idolatrous 
 and corrupt worship. 
 
 5. And upon her forehead was a name writ- 
 ten, Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother 
 of Harlots and Abominations of the Earth — 
 This inscription is exactly the portraiture of the 
 Latin Church, which is, as Bishop Newton well ex- 
 presses it, a mystery of iniquity. This woman is 
 also called " Babylon the Great;" the antitype of 
 the ancient Babylon in her idolatry and cruelty: 
 but the ancient city called Babylon is only a draw- 
 ing of her in miniature. This is indeed "Babylon 
 THE Cheat." 
 
 6. And I saw the woman drunken with the 
 blood of the saints, and with the blood of the 
 martyrs of Jesus : and when I saw her, I 
 wondered with great admiration — Ifow ex- 
 
 618 
 
 6 And I saw 'the woman drunken "with the 
 
 blood of the saints, and with the blood of x the 
 martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I won- 
 dered with great admiration. 7 And the an- 
 gel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel ? 
 I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and 
 of the beast that carrieth her, which bath the 
 seven heads and ten borns. § The beast that 
 thou sawest was, and is not ; and > shall ascend 
 out of the bottomless pit, and z go into perdi- 
 tion: and they that dwell on the earth "shall 
 wonder, ''whose names were not written in the 
 book of life from the foundation of the world, 
 when they behold the beast that was, and is 
 not, and yet is. 9 And c here is the mind 
 which hath wisdom. d The seven heads are 
 
 sChap. 11. 8; 14. 8; 111. 10; IS. 2, in, 21. /Chap. 18. 9: 19. 2. 
 
 uO\\ fii'it lent ions. /' Chap. I s . 21. K'Cliiip. 13. 15; 
 
 1«. t>. .'Chap. 6. !i, 10; 12. II. //Chap. II. 7; 1:1. 1. 
 
 gChap. 1:;. 10; verse II. a Chap. 13. 3. — b Chap. 13.8. 
 
 eChap. 13. 18. (/Chan. 1.:. 1. 
 
 actly the cruelties exercised by the Latin Church 
 against all it has denominated heretics correspond 
 with this description the reader need not be in- 
 formed. Admiration — Rather, amazement. 
 
 7. And the angel said unto me, Wherefore 
 didst thou marvel ? I will tell thee the mys- 
 tery of the woman, and of the beast that car- 
 rieth her, which hath the seven heads and 
 ten horns — The angel undertakes to explain to 
 St. John the vision which had excited in him so 
 great astonishment. 
 
 ^. The beast that thou sawest was, and is 
 not ; and shall ascend out of the bottomless 
 pit, and go into perdition — The beast is the 
 Latin kingdom, ('II Xanvij /3aoi7ieia ; ) consequently 
 the beast "was," that is, it had been in existence 
 previously to the ti 1' St. John, but " is not." lie- 
 cause it had ceased long before to be an indepen- 
 dent power ; but " shall ascend out of the bottomless 
 [lit : " that is, the Latin kingdom, the anti-Christian 
 power, or that which ascen'deth out of the abyss or 
 bottomless pit, is yet in futurity. And they that 
 dwell on the earth shali wonder, whose 
 names were not written in the book of life 
 from the foundation of the world, when they 
 behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet 
 is — In the preceding part of the verse the bea>t is 
 considered in three states — as that which was, and is 
 not, and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit ; here 
 a fourth is introduced, "and yet is." The mean- 
 ing of the whole verse seems to be as follows: 
 The corrupt part of mankind shall have in great 
 admiration the Latin empire yet in futurity, 
 which has already been, but is now extinct, the 
 Romans having conquered it; and yet is still in 
 being; for, though the Latin nation has been sub- 
 jugated, its conquerors are themselves Latins. 
 
 9. Here is the mind which hath wisdom — 
 It was said before, (chapter xiii, 18,) Here is wis- 
 dom. L<t him Unit hath a mind, or understanding, 
 (vovv,) count the number of the bedst. " Wisdom," 
 therefore, here means a correct view of what is 
 intended by the number 666; consequently the 
 parallel passage, "Here is the mind which hath 
 wisdom," is a declaration that the number of the 
 beast must first be understood before the angel's 
 interpretation of the vision concerning the whore 
 and the beast can admit of a satisfactory explana- 
 tion. The seven heads are seven mountains, 
 on which the woman sitteth — It has been
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 V. D. 96. 
 
 e, S49. 
 
 seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. 
 10 And there are seven kings : five are fall- 
 already shown that " the woman" here mentioned 
 is an emblem of the Latin Church in her highest 
 state of anti-Christian prosperity. The "moun- 
 tains" upon which the woman sitteth are seven great 
 powers j and as the mountains are heads of the 
 beast, they must be the seven greatest eminences 
 of the Latin world. As no other power was 
 acknowledged at the head of the Latin empire but 
 that of Germany, how can it be said that the beast 
 has seven heads? The Germanic confederation 
 ■was, speaking in the 6gurative language of Scrip- 
 ture, a country abounding in " hills," or containing 
 an immense number of distinct principalities. 
 Among these were a few which might, with the 
 greatest propriety, be denominated mountains, or 
 states possessing a very high degree of political im- 
 portance. But as the seven mountains on which 
 the woman sits must have their elevations above all 
 the other eminences, they can be no other than 
 the seven electorates of the German empire. 
 These were, indeed, mountains of vast eminence ; 
 for in their sovereigns was vested the sole power 
 of electing the head of the empire. They were 
 sovereign and independent princes in their respec- 
 tive dominions. And as the Roman empire of 
 Germany had the precedence of all the other mon- 
 archies of which the "Latin kingdom" was com- 
 posed, " the seven mountains " very filly denote the 
 seven i'rincipal powers of what has been named the 
 holy Roman empire. The representation of the 
 woman sitting upon the beast is a figure of the 
 Latin Church in the period of her greatest authority, 
 spiritual and temporal ; this we know did not take 
 place before the commencement of the fourteenth 
 century, a period subsequent to the institution of 
 the seven electorates. Therefore the woman sits 
 upon the seven mountains to denote that she has 
 the whole German empire under her direction and 
 authority, and also that it is her chief support and 
 strength. Supported by Germany, she is under no 
 apprehension of being successfully opposed by any 
 other power ; she sits upon the seven mountains, 
 therefore she is higher than the seven highest 
 eminences of the Latin world ; she must therefore 
 have the- secular Latin empire under her complete 
 subjection. But this state of eminence did not 
 continue above two or three centuries ; for there 
 was a visible declension of the papal power in the 
 fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. And in the 
 sixteenth century the woman no longer sat upon 
 the seven mountains, the electorates not only hav- 
 ing refused to be ruled by her, but some of them 
 having also despised and abandoned her doctrines. 
 The changes, therefore, which were made in the 
 seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries, 
 in the number of the electorates, will not affect in 
 the least the interpretation of the seven mountains 
 already given. 
 
 10. And there are seven kings — Before it was 
 said, " They are seven mountains ; " here, " They are 
 also seven kings," which is a demonstration that 
 kingdoms are not here meant by mountains; and 
 this is a further argument that the seven electo- 
 rates are represented by seven mountains, fur 
 though the sovereigns of these states ranked with 
 kings they were not kings. But the seven heads 
 of the beast are also seven kings, that is, the Latin 
 empire has had seven supreme forms of govern- 
 
 en, and one is, and the other is not yet come; 
 and when he cometh, he must continue a short 
 
 nient ; for king is used in the prophetical writings 
 for any supreme governor of a state or people. 
 i See Deut. xxxiii, 5.) Of these seven kings, or su- 
 preme forms of Latin government, the angel informs 
 St. John, five are fallen, and one is; five 
 heads, or forms of government, had fallen before 
 St. John's time. And the angel expressly says, 
 when speaking to St. John, that ''one is," that is, 
 the sixth head, or Latin form of government, was 
 then in existence; which could be no other than 
 the imperial power, this being the only independent 
 form of Latin government in the apostolic age. 
 Before the subjugation of the Latins bythe Romans 
 four of the Roman or draeonic forms of govern- 
 ment had fallen, the regal power, the dictatorship, 
 the decenivirate, and the consular power of the mil- 
 itary tribunes, the last of which was abolished 
 about Slit) years before the commencement of the 
 Christian era ; none of these, therefore, ruled over 
 the whole Latin nation. But as the Latins were 
 finally subdued about 336 B. C, the consular gov- 
 ernment of the Romans, which was then the supreme 
 p< wer in the state, must be the fourth head of the 
 beast. This form of government continued, with 
 very little interruption, till the rising up of the tri- 
 umvirate, the fifth head of the beast, B. C. 43. The 
 sixth head of the beast, or that which existed in the 
 time of St. John, was consequently the imperial 
 power of the heathen Cesars, or the seventh dra- 
 eonic form of government. And the other is not 
 yet come — That was the Carlovingian /"</ riciatt , 
 the seventh head of the beast. A supreme, inde- 
 pendent form of government, [at first represented 
 in the person of Charlemagne.] Bishop Newton 
 considers the Roman duchy, under the eastern em- 
 peror's lieutenant, the exarch of Ravenna, the 
 seventh head of the beast. But this cannot be the 
 form of government signified by the seventh head, 
 for a head of the beast, as we have already shown, 
 is a supreme, independent form of Latin govern- 
 ment; consequently the Roman duchy cannot be 
 the seventh head, as it was dependent upon the 
 exarchate of Ravenna; and the exarchate cannot 
 be the head, as it was itself in subjection to the 
 Greek empire. In the twenty-six years that elapsed 
 between the conquest of Lombardv and the impe- 
 rial coronation, Rome, which had been delivered by 
 the sword, was subject, as his own, to the sceptre 
 of Charlemagne. The people swore allegiance to 
 his person and family; in his name money was 
 coined and justice was administered ; and the election 
 of the popes was examined and confirmed by his 
 authority. Except an original and self-inherent 
 claim of sovereignty, there was not any prerogative 
 remaining which the title of emperor could add to 
 the patrician of Rome. The seven heads of the 
 beast are therefore the following : The regal power, 
 the dictators] tip, the power of the praetors, the <•<<,/- 
 sulate, the triumvirate, the imp' rial power, and the 
 patriciate. And when he cometh, he must 
 continue a short space — The seventh form of 
 government was only to remain a short time, which 
 was actually the case; for from its first rise to in- 
 dependent power to its utter extinction, there 
 passed only about forty-five years; a short time in 
 comparison to the duration of the regal and the 
 imperial governments, which unitedly lasted more 
 than nine hundred years. 
 
 619
 
 A. M. 41(in. A. D. 96. 
 Year of Rome, S4it. 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 Christ is Lord of lords, and 
 Kin g of kings. 
 
 space. 11 And the beast that was, and is 
 not, even lie is the eighth, and is of the seven, 
 e arid goeth into perdition. 12 And f the ten 
 horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which 
 have received no kingdom as yet ; but receive 
 power as kings one hour with the beast. 
 13 These have one mind, and shall give their 
 power and strength unto the beast. 14 e These 
 shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb 
 shall overcome them : h for he is Lord of lords, 
 and King of kings: 'and they that are with 
 
 e Verse K fVah. 7. 20; Ze«h. 1. 18, 19,21 ; chap. 13. 1. 
 
 f/Chap. 16 II; 19. 1'. h Deut. 10. 17; 1 Tim. 6. 15; chap. 
 
 19. 16. — «Jer. 50. 41, 45; chap. 14. 4. 
 
 him are called, and chosen, and faithful. 
 15 And he saith unto me, -The waters which 
 thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, "are 
 peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and 
 tongues. 16 And the ten horns which thou 
 sawest upon the beast, '"these shall hate the 
 whore, and shall make her desolate "and 
 naked, and shall eat her flesh, and ° burn her 
 with fire. 17 pFoi- God' hath put in their 
 hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give 
 their kingdom unto the beast, i until the words 
 
 f f . And the beast that -was, and is not, even 
 he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and go- 
 eth into perdition — That is to say, the Latin 
 kingdom that has already been, but is now no longer 
 nominally in existence, shall immediately follow the 
 dissolution of the seventh form of Latin govern- 
 ment ; and this dominion is called dySoog, an eighth, 
 because it succeeds to the seventh. But this head 
 of the beast is, ek tuv knra, one of the seven — is the 
 restoration of one of the preceding ones. The re- 
 stored head can be therefore no other than the 
 regal state of the Latins, or in other words the 
 Latin kingdom, ('H Aarivn Sao&eia,) which fol- 
 lowed the patriciate, or seventh head of Latin gov- 
 ernment. But the beast in his eighth state, o v 
 under his first head restored, "'goeth into perdi- 
 tion." No other form of Latin government shall 
 succeed ; but the beast in his last or anti-Christian 
 condition shall be taken together with the false 
 prophet that wrought miracles in his sight, " and 
 cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brim- 
 stone." The beast upon which the woman sits is a 
 representation of that secular power which supports 
 the Latin Church, and the seven heads represent 
 the seven electorates of the Germanic empire. 
 (See on verse 18.) 
 
 12. And the ten horns which thou sawest 
 are ten kings, which have received no king- 
 dom as yet ; but receive power as kings one 
 hour with the beast — The ten horns refer to ten 
 Latin kingdoms yet in futurity, and consequently 
 they have received no dominion as yet; for that 
 part of the Latin domination now in power is the 
 sixth head, or imperial government of the heathen 
 Cesars. But the ten states of the Latins receive 
 dominion as monarchies, fuav upav, one time, (as it 
 may be properly translated,) that is, at the same 
 time with the beast, which was in futurity in the 
 apostolic age. 
 
 13. These have one mind, and shall give 
 their power and strength unto the beast — The 
 ten horns will constitute the principal strength of 
 the Latin empire ; that is, this empire is to be com- 
 posed of the dominions of ten monarchs indepen- 
 dent of each other except in their obedience to the 
 Latin Church. The " beast " in this and the pre- 
 ceding verse is distinguished from its horns, as the 
 whole Latin empire is distinguished in historyfrom 
 its constituent powers. (See on verse 16.) 
 
 14. These shall make war with the Lamb, 
 and the Lamb shall overcome them : for he 
 is Lord of lords, and King of kings : and they 
 that are with him are called, and chosen, and 
 faithful — The ten powers of the beast must com- 
 pose the secular kingdom of antichrist, for they 
 make war "with the Lamb,'' who is Christ Jesus. 
 
 020 
 
 ^'Isa. 8. 7: verse 1. / Chap. 13. 7. m Jer. 50. 41, 4i; chap. 
 
 16. 12. jiEzek. 16. 37-41; chap. IS. 16. o Chap. 18. S. 
 
 p-2 Thess. 2. 11. q Chap. 10. 7. 
 
 This is perfectly true of all popish states, for they 
 have constantly opposed, as long as they have had 
 any secular power, the progress of pure Christian- 
 ity. They make war with the Lamb by persecut- 
 ing his followers ; " but the Lamb shall overcome 
 them, for he is the Lord of lords, and King of 
 kings " — all lords have their authority from him, 
 and no king can reign without him ; therefore the 
 ten Latin kings are God's ministers to execute his 
 vengeance upon the idolatrous nations. But when 
 these anti-Christian monarchies have executed the 
 divine purpose, those that are with the Lamb — the 
 called, the chosen, and the faithful, those who have 
 kept the truth in the love of it — shall prevail 
 against all their adversaries, because their battles 
 are fought by the Lamb, who is their God and De- 
 liverer. (See chapter xix, 19, 20.) 
 
 15. And he saith unto me, The waters 
 which thou sawest, -where the whore sitteth, 
 are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and 
 tongues — She glories in the title of the Catholic 
 Church, and exults in the number of her votaries 
 as a certain proof of the true religion. Cardinal 
 Bellarmin's first note of the true Church is, The 
 very name of the Catholic Church; and his fourth 
 note is, Amplitude, or multitude, and variety of be- 
 lievers; for the truly Catholic Church, says he, 
 ought not only to comprehend all ages, but likewise 
 aMplaces, all nations, all kinds of men. 
 
 16. And the ten horns which thou sawest 
 upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, 
 and shall make her desolate and naked, and 
 shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire — 
 Here is a clew to lead us to the right interpretation 
 of "the horns" of the beast. It is said the ten horns 
 shall hate the whore ; by which is evidently meant, 
 when connected with what follows, that the wliole 
 of the ten kingdoms in the interest of the Latin 
 Church shall finally despise her doctrines, be re- 
 formed from popery, assist in depriving her of all 
 influence and in exposing her follies, and in the 
 end consign her to utter destruction. The Roman 
 Catholic powers which existed at the Reformation 
 are to be numbered among the horns of the beasl ; 
 and of these there were exactly ten, namely, France, 
 Spain, England, Scotland, TheEmpire, [which was 
 one of the Latin monarchies,] Sweden, Denmark, 
 Poland,, Hungary, and Portugal. These ten king- 
 doms constituted the power and strength of the 
 beast. 
 
 17. For God hath put in their hearts to ful- 
 fil his will, and to agree, and give their king- 
 dom unto the beast, until the words of God 
 shall be fulfilled — Let no one imagine that these 
 ten Latin kingdoms, because they support an idola- 
 trous worship, have been raised up merely by the
 
 >man who reigneth over 
 kings of the earth. 
 
 CHAPTER XYIT. 
 
 of God shall be f ul tillotl. 18 And the woman 
 which thou eawest 'is that greal city, 'which 
 reigneth over the kings of the earth. 
 
 A 
 
 XD 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 'after these things I saw another 
 
 •/•Chap. Ki. 19. sChap. 12. 4. a Chap. 17. 1. b Ezek. 
 
 43. 2. — clsa. I ^. 19; 21. 9; Jer. fl. 8: chap. 11. 8. 
 
 power of man or the chances of war. No kingdom 
 or state can exist without the will of God. It is 
 said of the kings in communion with the Church of 
 Rome, that " God hath put in their hearts to fulfil 
 his will." This was accomplished in causing ten 
 Latin kings to unite their dominions into one 
 mighty empire for the defence of the Latin Church. 
 Here is a dreadful -dispensation of Jehovah; but it 
 is such as the nations have most righteously de- 
 served, because when they had the truth they lived 
 not according to its most holy requisitions, but 
 loved darkness rather than light, because their 
 deeds were evil. But, this deplorable state of the 
 world is not perpetual, but continues only till every 
 word of Cod is fulfilled upon his enemies ; and when 
 that time arrives, then shall the Son of Cod slay 
 that wicked " with the spirit of his mouth, and shall 
 consume him with the brightness of his coming." 
 
 18. And the woman which thou sawest is 
 that great city, 'which reigneth over the 
 kings of the earth — It has already been shown 
 that the woman sitting upon the seven-headed 
 beast is a representation of the Latin Church ; here 
 she is called a " city," which is a much plainer em- 
 blem of a Church, as the word is used unequivo- 
 cally in this sense in so many parts of Scripture 
 that we cannot well mistake its meaning. (See 
 chapter iii, 12; xi, 2; xxi, 10; xxii, 19; and also 
 Psa. xlvi, 4; lxxxvii, 3; Heb. xii, 22, etc.) "The 
 woman," therefore, must be the Latin Church; and 
 as the apostle saw her sitting upon the beast, this 
 must signify that // i:\nvna jiaau.siav, she hath a 
 kingdom over the Lings of the earth, that is, over 
 the kings of the Latin world. (See on chapter 
 xiii, 18.) The woman is also called a "great city," 
 to denote the very great extent of her jurisdiction ; 
 foi' she has comprehended within her walls the 
 subjects of the mighty dominations of Fiance, 
 Spain, England, Scotland, The Empire, Sweden, 
 Denmark, Poland, Hungary, and Portugal. What 
 an extensive city was this ! Surely such as to 
 justify the prophetic denomination, " that great 
 city." "The beast," in the largest acceptation of 
 this term, is a symbol of the Latin power in gen- 
 eral, from its commencement to the end of time; 
 his seven heads denoting seven kings or supreme 
 forms of Latin government, during this period. 
 The beast of the bottomless pit, which followed 
 the fall of all the heads of the sea-beast, or general 
 Latin empire, is, according to the angel's interpreta- 
 tion, bydoog, ( laoifavc,) an eighth king, that is, an 
 eighth species of Latin power, or, in other words, a 
 supreme form of Latin government, but differing 
 from all the foregoing. The first beast of chapter 
 xiii is a description of the eighth or last condition 
 of the GENERAL Latin empire, and is said to arise 
 £k r?]c ija'/Aannc, out of t lie sea, because the beads 
 are there taken in a double sense, sea being a gen- 
 eral term to express the origin of every great em- 
 pire which is raised up by the sword; but when (as 
 in verse 11) one of the heads of the sea-beast 
 (namely, that secular power which is still in being, 
 
 angel come down from heaven, having great 
 power; ''and the earth was lightened with his 
 glory. t> And he cried mightily with a strong 
 voice, saying, c Babylon the greal is fallen, is 
 
 fallen, and "is become the habitation of devils, 
 and the bold of every foul spirit, and "a cage 
 
 </Isa. 13. 21; 21. 8; 31. It; Jer. 50. 39; 51. 37. e Isa. 11. 23; 
 
 34. 11; Mark o. 2,3. 
 
 and has supported the Latin Church for more than 
 a thousand years) is peculiarly styled The Beast, 
 the Holy Ghost, speaking of this secular Latin em- 
 pire exclusively, declares it to be ek rijg a/3vo~aov, 
 from the bottomless pit. 
 
 [At the end of this chapter (xvii) Stuart, who 
 agrees substantially with the foregoing interpreta- 
 tion of the vision, adds: "Thisisso graphic and 
 specific that no room is left for doubt as to who is 
 meant. The great city is spoken of by way of em- 
 inence, fia : -)r'/i,,r i) ueyakij. Yet this is not all : the 
 great city which hath dominion over the kings of the 
 earth; that is, the ten confederate kings named in 
 the preceding context. The number ten, like nearly 
 all the numbers in this book, is to be regarded as 
 symbolical. Whether there were more or less 
 than this number of independent kings when the 
 apocalypse was written, matters not to the pur- 
 pose of the writer or speaker. The number 
 evidently alludes to Dan. vii, lit, where ten kings 
 are mentioned, who in various respects were to 
 have dominion over and oppress the Jews. So in 
 the present case, ten kings, with the beast, will 
 unite in persecuting the Church and in efforts to 
 destroy it. But they can proceed no further than 
 the plan of an all-wise and overruling Providence 
 permits."] 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER XVIII. 
 [The approaching fall of Babylon is announced 
 in this chapter. (See verse 21.) The actual over- 
 throw is assumed to have taken place between 
 chapter xviii, 24, and chapter xix, 1. In chapter 
 xix, 1-10, that overthrow is celebrated. The ap- 
 pearance of the three angels (chapter xiv, 6-13) 
 exhibits the chief Stages of the vision. 1) In verses 
 1—3 the announcement of chapter xiv, s is re- 
 peated and developed; 2) The fall of Babylon, 
 (see chapter xvi, 19,) an event still future, is de- 
 scribed with minute details in verses 4-20; 3) The 
 overthrow of the city is represented by a signifi- 
 cant action. (Verses 21-24.) . . . The narrative 
 follows the division, which has marked the seals, 
 trumpet^, and vials into seven clauses, the sixth 
 being divided from the seventh by an interposed 
 section. Thus we have, 1) the fall of Babylon and 
 her sin, (chapter xiv, ,s ; xvii, 2,) in verses 1-3; 
 
 2) The invitation to Cud's people to depart from 
 out of her, (Isa. Hi, 11,) for her iniquities have come 
 "in remembrance before God," in verses 1, •"> ; 
 
 3) The angel's address to those who are to inflict 
 the judgments, in verses 6—8; 4) The lament of the 
 "kings," of the "merchants," of the mariners, is 
 given severally in verso 9, 10; 11-17; ami 17-19. 
 On tins is interposed a brief utterance id' triumph 
 in verse 20; and then comes tip- symbolical action 
 which declares her overthrow. — Speaker^t < \ 
 
 1. Another angel — [Different from those named 
 in chapter xvii, 1, and x, 1. His errand was to an- 
 nounce the impending destruction of Babylon.] 
 
 2. Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen — 
 See Isa. xxi, 9. Is become . . . the hold of 
 
 621
 
 M. 4100. A. D. 96 
 Year of Rome, M9. 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 of every unclean and hateful bird. 55 For all 
 nations f have drunk of the wine of the wrath 
 of her fornication, and the kings of the earth 
 have committed fornication with her, Band the 
 merchants of the earth are waxed rich through 
 the h abundance of her delicacies. 4 And I 
 heard another voice from heaven, saying, ' Come 
 out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers 
 of her sins, and that ye receive not of her 
 plagues. 5 k For her sins have reached unto 
 heaven, and 'God hath remembered her iniq- 
 uities. 6 m .Reward her even as she rewarded 
 you, and double unto her double according 
 to her works: "in the cup which she hath 
 filled, "fill to her double. 7 pHow much she 
 hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so 
 much torment and sorrow give her: for she 
 saith in her heart, 1 sit a i queen, and am no 
 widow, and shall see no sorrow. 8 Therefore 
 shall her plagues come ' in one day, death, and 
 mourning, and famine; and s she shall be ut- 
 terly burned with fire: 'for strong is the 
 Lord God who judgeth her. 9 And "the 
 kings of the earth, who have committed for- 
 nication and lived deliciously with her, "shall 
 bewail her, and lament for her, w when they 
 shall see the smoke of her burning, 10 Stand- 
 ing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, 
 
 /Chap. 14. 8; 17. 2. 7 Verges 11, 15; Isa. 47. 15 //Or, 
 
 poice-. ilsa. i\ 20: 59. II; Jer 50. 8; 51- t>, 45; 2 Cor. 6. 17. 
 
 /-Cm. 18. l'ii, 21: Jer. 51. 9; Jonah 1.2. JChap. K 19. 
 
 m I'sa. 137. 8: Jer. 50. 15. 29; 51. 21. 19; 2 Tim. 4. 14; chap. 
 
 13. in. — ii Chap 14. 10. — oChap. Hi. 19. — /< Ezek. 28. 2, etc. 
 <j Isa. 47. 7, 8; Zeph. 2. 15. /■ Isa. 47. 9 ; verse 10. 
 
 every foul spirit — The figures here point out the 
 most complete destruction. A city utterly sacked 
 and ruined, never to be rebuilt. 
 
 3. The wine of the -wrath — The punishment 
 due to her transgressions, because they have par- 
 taken with her in her sins. (See on chapter xiv. 8.) 
 
 4. Come out of her, my people — See Isa. 
 xlviii. 20; Jer. i, 8; li, 6, 45. 
 
 5. Her sins have reached unto heaven — 
 They are become so great and enormous that the 
 longsutfering of God must give place to his justice. 
 
 6. Reward her even as she rewarded you 
 — [The "voice" speaking in the name of God, 
 (verse 8,) now turns to address those who are to 
 inflict the judgments.— Speaker's Com.~\ 
 
 7. How much she hath glorified herself — 
 By every act of transgression and sinful pampering 
 of the body she has been preparing for herself a 
 suitable and proportionate punishment. 
 
 8. Therefore shall her plagues come — Death, 
 by the sword of her adversaries ; mourning, on ac- 
 count of the slaughter; and famine, the fruits of 
 tin' held being destroyed by the hostile bands. 
 Utterly burned with fire — [Utterly overthrown 
 and destroyed.] Rome pagan has never been thus 
 treated. 
 
 9. The kings of the earth — Those who copied 
 her superstitions and adopted her idolatries. 
 
 10. Standing afar off — Beholding her desola- 
 tions with wonder and astonishment, utterly un- 
 able to afford her any assistance. [The general 
 sentiment here is, that in the final ruin of papal 
 Rome the kin^s and governments that had sus- 
 tained her, and had been sustained by her, would 
 see the source of their power taken away, but that 
 they would not, or could not, attempt her rescue. — 
 
 622 
 
 x Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that 
 mighty city ! >' for in one hour is thy judg- 
 ment come. 11 And 'the merchants of the 
 earth shall weep and mourn over her ; for 
 no man buyeth their merchandise anymore: 
 12 "The merchandise of gold, and silver, and 
 precious stones, and of pearls, and fine lin- 
 en, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all 
 ''thyme wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, 
 and all manner vessels of most precious wood, 
 and of brass, and iron, and marble, IS And 
 cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and 
 frankincense, and wine, and oil, and tine flour, 
 and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, 
 and chariots, and c slaves, and d souls of men. 
 
 14 And the fruits that thy soul lusted after 
 are departed from thee, and all things which 
 were dainty and goodly are departed from 
 thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all. 
 
 15 e The merchants of these things which 
 were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for 
 the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, 
 
 16 And saying, Alas, alas, that great oity, 
 f that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and 
 scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious 
 stones, and pearls! 17 eFor in one hour so 
 great riches is come to naught. And h every 
 shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and 
 
 sChap. 17. lfi. rjer. 50. 34: chap. 11. 17. JiEzek. 2ii. 16, 
 
 17: chap. 17. 2; verse 3. i-Jer. 50. 40. w Verse 18; chap. 
 
 19. 3. .i Isa. 21. 0: chap. 14. 8. V Verses 17, 19. .= Ezek. 
 
 27. 27-36; verse 3. a Chap. 17. 4. !> Or, xtceet. < Or, 
 
 i odiex. <i Ezek. 27. 13. e Veises 3, 11. J Chap. 17. 4. 
 
 g Verse 10. h Isa. 23. 14; Ezek. 27. 21<. 
 
 Barnes!\ [Recent events in the world's history 
 seem to answer to this prophecy.] 
 
 11. The merchants of the earth — These are 
 represented as mourning over her, because their 
 traffic with her was at an end. 
 
 12. The merchandise of gold, and silver, 
 etc. — [Keuss remarks on this passage: ''All the 
 objects of luxury which formed the basis of com- 
 merce and of the riches of the whole world are 
 enumerated here with an evident sentiment of dis- 
 dain and repulsion. Commerce itself, so often 
 signalized by the ancient prophets as an agent of 
 corruption, as a destroying element of national 
 purity, is also execrated by their disciple, (the 
 Apocalyptist,) who takes pleasure in making an in- 
 ventory of its disaster."] [Each article specified 
 here is an instance of extreme luxury. — Speaker's 
 Commentary. .] 
 
 14. And the fruits that thy soul lusted after 
 — Kal ?; o-upa gov rr t r eiridvfiiac rfjc ipvxyc. As 
 brrupa signifies autumn, any and all kinds of au- 
 tumnal fruits may be signified by the word in the 
 above clause. Dainty and goodly — Td Tanapa, 
 delicacies for the table. Td '/.a/i-pa, what is splendid 
 and costly in apparel. 
 
 15. Stand afar off— See verse 10. 
 
 10. Clothed in fine linen, and purple, etc — 
 The verb weptfiaXKecdaL, which we here translate 
 "clothed." signifies often to abound, le enriched, 
 laden with. These articles are not to be considered 
 here as personal ornaments, but as articles of trade 
 or merchandise, in which this city trafficked. 
 
 17. Every shipmaster — Captains of vessels; 
 some think pilots are meant, and this is most likely 
 to be the meaning of the original word 
 (See Ezek. xxvii, 26-28.) And all the company
 
 Lamentations and rejoicings over 
 the fall of Babylon. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood 
 afar off, i§ 'And cried when they saw the 
 smoke of her burning, saying, k What city is 
 like unto this great city! 19 And 'they casl 
 dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and 
 wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, 
 wherein were made rich all that had ships in 
 the sea by reason of her costliness! '"for in 
 one hour is she made desolate. 20 " Rejoice 
 over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles 
 and prophets; for ° God hath avenged you on 
 her. 21 And a mighty angel took up a stone 
 like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, 
 Baying, i Thus with violence shall that great 
 city Babylon be thrown down, and 'i shall be 
 found no more at all. 22 r And the voice of 
 harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and 
 trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in 
 
 i Ezek. 27. 30, 31 : verse 9. h Chap. 13. 4. I Jnsh. 7. 6 ; 
 
 1 Sam. 4. 12 ; Job 2. 12 : Ezek. 27. 30. rn Verse 8. n Isa. 
 
 44. 23 : 40. 13 : Jer. 51. 48. o I.uke 11. 40, 50: chap. 19. 2. 
 
 jaJer. 51. iU. — ? Chap. 12. 8; 16. 20. rlaa.. 24. 8: Jer. 7. 34; 
 
 in ships — Instead of ical ~ar i~l tuv ttTloIuv 6 b/u- 
 /ioc, the crowd or passengers aboard, the best 
 MSS. and Versions have nal izdg 6 £-i tottov ttAeuv, 
 those who sail from place to place, or such as stop 
 at particular places on the coast, without perform- 
 ing the whole voyage: the traffic on the coast of 
 the Mediterranean Sea. [The words here import 
 all sailors from place to place. — Afford.] 
 
 18. What city is like unto this great city — 
 Namely, in magnitude, power, and luxury. 
 
 19. They cast dust on their heads — They 
 showed every sign of the sincerest grief. The 
 picture of the lamentation over this great ruined 
 city, from verses 9 to 19, is exceedingly strong and 
 well drawn. Here is no dissembled sorrow ; all is 
 real to the mourners and affecting to the spec- 
 tators. 
 
 20. Rejoice over her, thou heaven -This is 
 grand and sublime; the fall of this bad city was 
 cause of grief to bad men: but as this city was a 
 persecutor of the godly, and an enemy to the works 
 of God, angels, apostles, and prophets are called to 
 rejoice over her fall. [The angel concludes with 
 calling on the heavens and (Jod's holy ones to re- 
 joice at her fall. — A/ford.] 
 
 21. Thus with violence shall that great city 
 Babylon be thrown down — [A symbolical proc- 
 lamation by an angel (the same as in verse 1, or 
 another) of Babylon's complete overthrow and 
 ruin.] Shall be found no more at all — [A stone 
 cast into the deep sea can no more be found. . . . 
 Babylon will fall to rise no more. — St/tar/.] 
 
 22. The voice of harpers, etc. — [If this be un- 
 derstood to apply to papal Home, then the utter 
 overthrow of that system of superstition and false 
 faith, whose history is one of crime and corruption, 
 is surely predicted. ] 
 
 2:i. By thy sorceries — Political arts, state 
 tricks, counterfeit miracles, and deceptive manoeu- 
 vres of every kind. [The angel now ceases to ad- 
 dress the fallen city; and, adopting the narrative 
 style, speaks out this last great cause of her over- 
 throw as a fact respecting her. — Speaker's Com- 
 mentary^ 
 
 2t. In her was found the blood of prophets, 
 etc. — She was the persecutor and murderer of 
 prophets and of righteous men. And of all that 
 were slain upon the earth — This refers to her 
 
 thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft 
 he be, shall be found any more in thee; and 
 the sound of a millstone shall be heard no 
 more at all in thee; 23 "And the light of a 
 candle shall shine no more at all in thee; 'and 
 the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride 
 shall be heard no more at all in thee: for "thy 
 merchants were the great men of the earth; 
 "for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived. 
 24 And ,v in her was found the blood of 
 prophets, and of saints, and of all that * were 
 slain upon the earth. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 AXD after these things *I heard a great 
 voice of much people in heaven, saying, 
 Alleluia; 'Salvation, and glory, and honour, 
 and power, unto the Lord our God : 2 For 
 
 16. 
 
 9: 
 
 25. 
 
 10; 
 
 Ezek. 
 
 2fi 
 
 13- 
 
 — * Jer. 25 
 
 10- 
 
 — f Jer. 7 
 
 34 
 
 Ifi 
 
 fl- 
 
 2o. 
 
 10 
 
 : 33. 
 
 11. 
 
 — It] 
 
 sa. 
 
 ■_•: H 
 
 — 1-2 Kings 9 
 
 22: Nah. 
 
 .: i 
 
 cl 
 
 ap 
 
 17. 
 
 2, 
 
 3 — 
 
 — n 
 
 Chap 
 
 17. 
 
 i; — 
 
 -fl' Jer. 51. 
 
 49- 
 
 —a Chap. 
 
 II 
 
 In. 
 
 
 Chap. 4 
 
 11 
 
 ; 7. 10 
 
 12 
 
 ; 12. 
 
 10. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 counsels and influence in exciting other nations and 
 people to persecute and destroy the real followers 
 of God. Bishop Bale, who applies this to the 
 Romish Church, has, on verse 22, given some in- 
 formation to the curious antiquary. "But be cer- 
 taine," says he, "and sure, thou myserable Church, 
 that thou shalt no longer enjoy the commodious 
 pleasures of a free cittye. The merry noyse of 
 them that play upon harpes, lutes, a.nd fldels; the 
 sweet voice of musicians that sing with virginals, 
 rials, and chinas; the armonye of them that pipe in 
 recorders, flutes, and drums; and the shirle showt 
 of trumpets, waits, and shawmes shall no more be 
 heard in thee to the delight of men. Neyther 
 shall the sweet organs containing the melodious 
 noyse of all maner of instruments and byrdes he 
 plaied upon, nor the great belles be ror.g after that, 
 nor yet the fresh discanl, pi'ick-song, counter-point, 
 and faburden be called for in thee, which arl the 
 very sinagog of Sathan. Thy lascivious armonye, 
 and delectable musique, much provoking the weake 
 hartes of men to meddle in thy abhominable whor- 
 dom, by the wantonnes of idolatry in that kinde, 
 shall perish with thee for ever." This is very 
 plain language, and thus on all hands a monstrous 
 system of superstition and idolatry was attacked 
 by our Reformers; and with these unfurnished 
 weapons, directed by the Spirit of the living God, 
 popery was driven from the throne, from the bench, 
 from the universities, and from the Churches of 
 this favoured kingdom. [But the end is not yet. J 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER XIX. 
 1. I heard a great voice of much people in 
 heaven — The idolatrous city being destroyed, and 
 the blood of the martyred saints being avenged, 
 there is a universal joy among the redeemed of the 
 Lord, which they commence with Praise ye Jah, 
 or Jehovah; which the Septuagint, (and St. John 
 from it,) puts into Greek letters thus: 'A////"</e, 
 Allelou-ia. Salvation — He is the sole author of 
 deliverance from sin; the glory of this belongs to 
 him, the honour should be ascribed to him, and 
 his power is that alone by which it is effected. 
 [Deliverance from enemies, (and specifically from 
 the "beast,") and majesty and might, are to be as- 
 cribed to God, and he is to be praised on account 
 of them. — Stuart. 
 
 623
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 c true and righteous are his judgments; for he 
 hath judged the great whore, which did cor- 
 rupt the earth with her fornication, and d hath 
 avenged the blood of his servants at her hand. 
 3 And again they said, Alleluia. And e her 
 smoke rose up for ever and ever. 4 And f the 
 four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell 
 down and worshipped God that sat on the 
 throne, saying, sAnien; Alleluia. 5 And a 
 voice came out of the throne, saying, ''Praise 
 our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear 
 him, ' both small and great. 6 k And 1 heard as 
 it were the voice of a great multitude, and as 
 the voice of many waters, and as the voice of 
 mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for ' the 
 Lord God omnipotent reigneth. 7 Let us be 
 glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for 
 '"the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his 
 
 rChap. 15. 3: IB. 7. rfDeufc. 32. 43: chap. 6. 10: IS. 20. — 
 
 < I-a 34 10: chap. 14. 11 : 18. 9, 18. — /'Chap. 4. 4, 6, 10: 5. 14. 
 
 <7l Chron. lii. 3H: Neh. o 13: 8. 6: <aiap ■">• 14. APsa- 
 
 134. 1 : 135. 1. /Chap. 11. IS: 20. 12. k Ezek. 1. 24; 43. 2; 
 
 chap. 11. 2. /Chap. 11. 15, 17: 12. 10: 21. 22. m Matt. 22. 
 
 2; 25. 10; 2 Cor. 11. 2; Eph. 5. 32; chap. 21. 2,9. 
 
 2. For true and righteous — His judgments 
 displayed in supporting his followers, and punish- 
 ing his enemies, are "true" — according to his pre- 
 dictions: and "righteous," being all according to 
 infinite justice and equity. 
 
 3. Her smoke rose up — There was, and shall 
 be, a continual evidence of God's judgments exe- 
 cuted on this great whore or idolatrous city; nor 
 shall it ever be restored. 
 
 4. The four and twenty elders — The true 
 Church of the Lord Jesus converted from among 
 the Jews. (See chapter iv, 10; v, 14.) [A kind 
 of antistrophe to the strophe, (verses 1, 2) — a 
 responsive song of triumph between earth and 
 heaven.] 
 
 5. Praise our God, etc. — Let all, whether re- 
 deemed from among Jews or Gentiles, give glory 
 to God. 
 
 6. The voice of a great multitude — This is 
 the catholic or universal Church of God gathered 
 from among Jews and Gentiles. The Lord God 
 omnipotent reigneth — 'E/3aoifevoe Kvptog 6 0edc 
 6 wavroKparup. An ascription of rightful dominion 
 to God, in respect to his almightiness. 
 
 7. The marriage of the Lamb is come — The 
 meaning of these figurative expressions appears to 
 be this: After this overthrow of idolatry and super- 
 stition, and the discomfiture of antichrist, there 
 will be a more glorious state of Christianity than 
 ever was before. [These words introduce to us, 
 transitionally, a new series of visions respecting 
 the final consummation of the union between Christ 
 and his Church, which brings about the end, (chap- 
 ter xxi, 1,) the solemn opening of which now im- 
 mediately follows. (Verse 11.) The series, properly 
 speaking, includes in itself the overthrow of the 
 kings of the earth, the binding of Satan, the thou- 
 sand years' reign, the loosing of Satan, the final 
 overthrow of the enemy, and the general judgment. 
 But it is not consummated except in the entire 
 union of Christ and ms, with which the book con- 
 cludes. — Alford.~] 
 
 8. Arrayed in fine linen — A prediction that 
 the Church should become pure in her doctrines, 
 pious in her experience, and righteous in her con- 
 duct. The "fine linen " here spoken of is not the 
 righteousness of Christ imputed to believers, for it 
 
 C21 
 
 wife hath made herself ready. S And "to 
 her was granted that she should be arrayed in 
 tine linen, clean and "white: rfor the lino 
 linen is the righteousness of saints. 9 And 
 he saith unto me, Write, 1 Blessed are they 
 which are called unto the marriage supper of 
 the Lamb. And lie saith unto me. ' These are 
 the true sayings of God. 1© And S I fell at 
 his feet to worship him. And he said unto 
 me, ' See thou do it not: 1 am thy fellow ser- 
 vant, anil of thy brethren "that have the tes- 
 timony of Jesus: worship God: for the tes- 
 timony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. 
 11 v And I saw heaven opened, and behold " a 
 white horse; and he that sat upon him was 
 called "Faithful and True, and sin righteous- 
 ness he doth judge and make war. 12 'His 
 eyes were as a flame of fire, "and on his 
 
 rcPsa. 45. 13, II; Ezek. lfi. 10; chap. 3. is. o Or, bright. 
 
 V I'sa. 132. 9. it Matt. 22. 2, 3; Luke 14. 15, IK. /Chap. 
 
 21.5; 22.6. sChap. 22. 8. — /Acts 10. ?li ; 14. 14, 15; chap. 
 
 22. 9. U\ John 5. 10; chap. 12. 17. v Chap. 15. 5. — 
 
 K-Chap. 6. 2. seChap. 8. 11. i/Isn. 11.4. sChap. 1. 14; 
 
 2. 18. «Chap. ti. 2.- 
 
 is here called the righteousness of saints — 
 that which the grace and Spirit of Christ has 
 wrought in them. 
 
 0. Blessed are they -which are called unto 
 the marriage supper — This is an evident allusion 
 to the marriage of the king's son, as given in Matt. 
 xxii, 2, etc., where the incarnation of our Lord, 
 and the calling of Jews and Gentiles, are particu- 
 larly pointed out. See the notes there. Blessed 
 are all they who hear the Gospel, and are thus 
 enabled to lay hold on everlasting life. 
 
 10. I fell at his feet to worship him — His 
 prostration was merely an act of that sort of rev- 
 erence which any Asiatic would pay to a superior. 
 His mistake was the considering that he was under 
 obligation to the angel for the information which 
 he had now received, but which was from Cod 
 alone. I am thy fellow servant — No higher in 
 dignity than thyself; employed by the same God, 
 on the same errand, and with the same testimony. 
 Testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy 
 — The "spirit of prophecy" is a general testimony 
 concerning Jesus, for he is the scope ami design of 
 the whole Scripture ; to him gave all the /in>/>h</s 
 witness. [John and his coadjutor (the angel) are 
 both sent on the same errand, are engaged in the 
 same business, and are partakers of the same 
 prophetic spirit— <S'/»<7?-/.] 
 
 1 1. [I saw heaven opened — In chapter iv, 1, a 
 door is opened in heaven in order that the Seer 
 may ascend thither, in spirit, and gaze within and 
 learn the secret things of God. Here the "heav- 
 en" itself is opened, in order that the Lord may 
 issue forth with his hosts. These Ewald would 
 identify with the 144,000 of chapter xiv, 1-5, as they 
 were there seen prepared for their victory. — Speak- 
 er's Commentary.] A white horse— this is an 
 exhibition of the triumph of Christ after the de- 
 struction of his enemies. The " white horse " is 
 the emblem of this, and " faithful " and "true " 
 are characters of Christ. (See chapter iii, 14.) 
 [There seems to be here a reference to chap, vi, 2, 
 which see. Under the former seal the Rider went 
 forth to his work of conquest; here he comes forth 
 to execute the last acts of judgment ] 
 
 1 2. His eyes were as a flame of fire — To de- 
 note the piercing and all-penetrating nature of
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 A. M. 41(10. A. D. 96. 
 Year of Koine, 849. 
 
 head were many crowns; ''and ho had a name 
 written, that no man knew, but he himself. 
 13 c And he was clothed with a vesture clipped 
 in blood: and his name is called d The Word 
 of God. 14 e And the armies which were in 
 heaven followed him upon white horses, 
 f clothed in fine linen, white and clean. 
 15 And eout of his mouth goeth a sharp 
 sword, that with it he should smite the nations ; 
 and h he shall rule them with a rod of iron: 
 and ' he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness 
 and wrath of Almighty God. 16 And k he 
 hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name 
 written, ' KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF 
 LORDS. 17 And I saw an angel standing in 
 the sun ; and he cried with a loud voice, say- 
 ing m to all the fowls that fly in the midst of 
 heaven, "Come and gather yourselves together 
 unto the supper of the great God; 18 "That 
 
 fiChap. 2. 17; verse 16. c Isaiah 63. 2, 3. rfjohn 1. 1; 
 
 1 John 5. 7. flChap. 14. 20. fMatt. 28. 3: chap. 4. 4; 
 
 7. 9. r? Isaiah 11. 4; 2 Thess. 2. 8: chap. 1. 16: verse 21. 
 
 h Psalm 2. 'J ; chap. 2. 27 ; 12. 5. i Isaiah 63. 3 ; chap. 14. 19, 20. 
 
 k Verse 12. 
 
 his wisdom. On his head were many crowns 
 
 — To denote the multitude of his conquests, and 
 the extent of his dominion. A name written, 
 that no man knew — The name we call Jehovah 
 the Jews never attempt to pronounce : when they 
 meet with it in the Bible they read Adonai for it, 
 and they all declare that no man can pronounce it ; 
 and that the true pronunciation has been lost, at 
 least since the Babylonish captivity; and that God 
 alone knows its trite interpretation and pronuncia- 
 tion. This, therefore, is the name " that no man 
 knew," but he himself. 
 
 13. He was clothed with a vesture dipped 
 in blood — To show that he was just come from 
 recent slaughter, [having stained his garments with 
 the blood of his enemies, and not with his own 
 blood, shed as a propitiation.] (Isa. lxiii, 3.) The 
 Word of God — The Word of Jehovah, by which 
 the Jewish writers always mean a person, and not 
 a word spoken. (See on John i, 1, etc.) 
 
 14. The armies which were in heaven — 
 Angels and saints over whom Jesus Christ is Cap- 
 tain. [These now have a share in his conflict, and 
 will at length have a part in his triumph.] Clothed 
 in fine linen — All holy, pure, and righteous. 
 
 15. Out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword 
 — (See on chapter i, 16.) This appears to mean 
 the word of the Gospel, by which his enemies are 
 confounded, and his friends supported and com- 
 forted. With a rod of iron — He shall execute 
 the severest judgment on the opposersof his truth. 
 He treadeth the winepress — As the grapes are 
 trodden to express the juice, so his enemies shall 
 be bruised and beaten, so that their life's blood 
 shall be pressed out. 
 
 16. On his vesture and on his thigh a name 
 written — Dr. Dodd has well observed on this pas- 
 sage, that "it appears to have been an ancient 
 custom among several nations to adorn the images 
 of their deities, princes, victors at public games, and 
 other eminent persons, with inscriptions expressing 
 either the character of the persons, their names, 
 or some other circumstance which might contribute 
 to their honour; and to that custom the description 
 here given of Christ may possibly have some allu- 
 sion. 
 
 Vol. II.— 40 
 
 ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh 
 of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and 
 the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on 
 them, and the flesh of all mem, both free and 
 bond, both small and great. 19 r And I saw 
 the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their 
 armies, gathered together to make war against 
 him that sat on the horse, and against his 
 army. 20 lAnd the beast was taken, and 
 with him the false prophet that wrought mir- 
 acles before him, with which he deceived them 
 that had received the mark of the beast, and 
 1 'them that worshipped his image. s These 
 both were cast alive into a lake of fire ' burn- 
 ing with brimstone. 21 And the remnant 
 "were slain with the sword of him that sat 
 upon the horse, which sword, proceeded out of 
 his mouth: v and all the fowls "were filled 
 with their flesh. 
 
 /Dan'el 2. 47; 1 Tim. 6. 15: chap. 17. 14. m Veise 21. 
 
 ■» Ezek. MO. 17. — oEzek. 39. 18,20. v Chap. 16. 16; 17. 13, 14. 
 
 <7diap. 16. 13,14. rChap. 13. 12, 13. sChap. 20. In; 
 
 see Daniel 7. 11. ^Chap. 14. 10; 21. 8. u Verse 15. 
 
 * Verses 17, 18. noChap. 17. 16. 
 
 17. An angel standing in the sun — Exceed- 
 ingly luminous; every part of him emitting rays of 
 light. All the fowls that fly — The carcasses of 
 God's enemies shall be food for all the fowls of 
 heaven. It is well known that both beasts and 
 birds of prey are accustomed to frequent fields of 
 battle, and live upon the slain. [Complete and 
 final victory is now expected with so much certainty 
 that the whole army of the enemy are seen in 
 anticipation as lying dead upon the field of battle, 
 and the ravenous birds are summoned to devour 
 their carcasses. (Verses 17, 18.) — Stuart.] 
 
 18. That ye may eat the flesh of kings — 
 There shall be a universal destruction ; the kings, 
 generals, captains, and all their host, shall be 
 slain. 
 
 19. I saw the beast — See the notes on chapters 
 xii, xiii, and xvii. [The army encircling the victo- 
 rious Leader is here presented to our view. But 
 they act, after all, only a secondary part. The 
 great Captain of salvation is competent alone to 
 achieve the victory. — Stuart.] 
 
 20. And the beast was taken, and . . . the 
 false prophet — See the notes on chap, xvii, 8, etc. 
 [The " beast " and the " false prophet " had been 
 united in deceiving the nations and in persecuting 
 the Church. Their doom is therefore the same. Both 
 are cast alive into the lake of fire, that is, gehenna : 
 a touch of the pencil with a design to make the 
 colouring intense. — Stuart.] That worshipped 
 his image — The "beast" has been represented as 
 the Latin empire; the "image" of the beast, as 
 the popes of Rome ; and the " false prophet," as the 
 papal clergy. [Others would find the antitype of 
 the false prophet in Islamism.] Were cast alive 
 into a lake of fire — Were not only discomfited, 
 but were taken "alive" — while in the zenith of 
 their power — and destroyed with an utter destruc- 
 tion. 
 
 21. With the sword of him that sat upon 
 the horse — lie who sat on the white horse is 
 Christ ; and his "sword " is his word — the unadul- 
 terated Gospel. [The instrument by which Christ 
 will subdue the world and establish his kingdom is 
 the Gospel, as a body of divinely revealed truth, 
 preached to the nations.] 
 
 625
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 Blessedness of those who live 
 and reign with Christ. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 AND I saw an angel come down from heav- 
 en, "having the key of the bottomless pit 
 and a great chain in his hand. 2 And he laid 
 hold on ''the dragon, that old serpent, which 
 is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thou- 
 sand years, 3 And cast him into the bottom- 
 less pit, and shut him up, and c set a seal upon 
 him, d that he should deceive the nations no 
 more, till the thousand years should be ful- 
 filled : and after that he must be loosed a little 
 season. 4 And I saw e thrones, and they sat 
 upon them, and f judgment was given unto 
 them : and I saw ^the souls of them that were 
 
 a Chap. 1. IS; 9. 1. b Chap. 12. 9: see 2 Pet. 2. 4 : Jude 6. 
 
 cDan. 6. 17. d Chiip. It). 14, 16: verse 8. e Dan. 7. 9, 
 
 22,27: Matt. 19. 28: Luke 23. 30. f\ Cor. 6. 2, 3. cChap. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER XX. 
 
 1. An angel come down from heaven — One 
 
 of the executors of the divine justice, who arrests 
 criminals, and keeps them in prison, and delivers 
 them up only to he tried and executed. The key 
 of the prison and the chain show who he is ; 
 and as the chain was great, it shows that the cul- 
 prit was impeached of no ordinary crimes. 
 
 2. The dragon — See the notes on chapter xii, 9. 
 That old serpent, which is the Devil, and 
 Satan — He who is called the "old serpent" is the 
 Devil, the calumniator; and Satan, the opposer. 
 ['0 bote 6 apxaioc, the old serpent, probably a mere 
 paraphrase of dpanovra, who is (not is called) the 
 devil, and Satan, so identifying as the same person 
 him to which these several epithets are applied.] 
 A thousand years — This (and verses 3-5) no 
 doubt refers to a time in which the influence of 
 Satan will lie greatly restrained, and the true Church 
 of God enjoy great prosperity, which shall endure 
 for a long time. But it is not likely that the num- 
 ber, a thousand years, is to be taken literally here, 
 and year symbolically and figuratively in all the 
 book beside. The doctrine of the millennium, or 
 of the saints reigning on earth a thousand years, 
 with Christ for their head, has been illustrated and 
 defended by many Christian writers, both among 
 the ancients and moderns. It has long been the 
 idle expectation of many persons that the millen- 
 nium, in their sense, was at hand ; and its com- 
 mencement has been expected in every century since 
 the Christian era. It has been fixed for several 
 different years dining the short period of my own 
 life! [Scarcely a generation has lived since the 
 ascension that has not heard it proclaimed that the 
 day is at hand, " even at the door." And though 
 more than fifty generations have seen the failure of 
 these expectations, men still continue to prophesy 
 and to expect.] I believe all those predictions to 
 be vain. Yet there is no doubt that the earth is in 
 a state of progressive moral improvement ; and that 
 the light of true religion is shining more copiously 
 everywhere, and will shine more and more to the 
 perfect day. But when the religion of Christ will 
 be at its meridian of light and heat we know not. 
 In each believer this may speedily take place ; but 
 probably no such time shall ever appear in which 
 evil shall be wholly banished from the earth, till the 
 consummation of all things. The phraseology of 
 the apostle here seems partly taken from the an- 
 cient prophets, and partly rabbinical ; and it is 
 from the Jewish use of those terms that we are to 
 look for their interpretation. 
 
 626 
 
 beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the 
 word of God, and h which had not worshipped 
 the beast, 'neither his image, neither had re- 
 ceived his mark upon their foreheads, or in 
 their hands; and they lived and k reigned with 
 Christ a thousand years. 5 But the rest of 
 the dead lived not again until the thousand 
 years were finished. This is the first resurrec- 
 tion. 6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part 
 in the first resurrection : on such ' the second 
 death hath no power, but they shall be m priests 
 of God and of Christ, n and shall reign with 
 him a thousand years. 7 And when the thou- 
 sand years are expired, "Satan shall be loosed 
 
 6. 9. AChap. 13. 12. /Chap. 13. 15, 16. A- Rom. 8. 17; 
 
 2 Tim. 2. 12: chap. 5. 10. /Chap. 2. 11; 21. 8. m Isa. 61. 6; 
 
 1 Pet. 2. 9: chap. 1. 6; 5. 10. n Verse 4. o Verse 2. 
 
 3. He should deceive the nations no more 
 — Be unable to blind men with superstition and 
 idolatry as he had formerly done. 
 
 4. I saw thrones — Christianity established in 
 the earth, the kings and governors being all Christ- 
 ians, [Christian principles prevailing.] And judg- 
 ment was given unto them — [This points to the 
 moral "judgment " of humanity spoken of by Christ, 
 (John v, 22,) the execution of which is here dele- 
 gated to him and to his saints, as promised in 
 chapter iii, 21. — Speaker's Com.] Reigned with 
 Christ a thousand years — I am satisfied that this 
 period should not be taken literally. It may signify 
 that there shall be a long and undisturbed state of 
 Christianity; and so universally shall the gospel 
 spirit prevail, that it will appear as if Christ reigned 
 upon earth ; which will, in effect, be the case, be- 
 cause his Spirit shall rule in the hearts of men; 
 and in this time the martyrs are represented as liv- 
 ing again ; their testimony being revived, and the 
 truth for which they died, and which was confirmed 
 by their blood, being now everywhere prevalent. 
 As to the term " thousand years," it is well known 
 that it is a mystic number among the Jews. 
 
 5. The rest of the dead lived not again — It 
 is by some supposed from these passages that all 
 who have been martyred for the truth of God shall 
 be raised a thousand years before the other dead, 
 and reign on earth with Chiist during that time, 
 after which the dead in general shall be raised ; 
 but this also is very doubtful. [The spiritual 
 sense of death, as well as of life, implying a moral 
 resurrection, is to be retained here. . . . All man- 
 kind from the beginning who have not shared on 
 earth in that life which Christ came to confer, 
 and which he alone could bestow, (John i, 4, v, 40,) 
 . . . the ungodly of all ages and nations. — Speaker's 
 Com.] 
 
 6. Blessed — Mampioe, happy. And holy — 
 He was holy, and therefore he suffered for the tes- 
 timony of Jesus in the time when nothing but 
 holiness was called to such a trial. The first 
 resurrection — Supposed to be that of the mar- 
 tyrs, mentioned above. The second death — 
 Punishment in the eternal world ; such is the ac- 
 ceptation of the phrase among the ancient Jews. 
 Hath no power — Or/c ej« ktjovaiav, hath no 
 authority . . . no dominion over him. This is also 
 a rabbinical mode of speech. " Rab. Elieser says : 
 The fire of hell hath no power over the disciples of 
 the wise men." 
 
 7. Satan shall be loosed — How can this bear 
 any kind of literal interpretation? Satan is bound
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 A. M. 4inn. A. D. 96. 
 Year of koine, sjy. 
 
 out of Iiis prison, § And shall go out Pto de- 
 ceive tlie nations which are in the four quar- 
 ters of the earth, "J Gog and Magog, r t<> gather 
 them together to battle: the number of whom 
 is as the sand of the sea. 9 'And they went 
 up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed 
 the camp of the saints about, and the beloved 
 city: and fire came down from God out of 
 heaven, and devoured them. lO 'And the 
 devil that deceived them was cast into the lake 
 of fire and brimstone, u where the beast and 
 the false prophet are, and 'shall be tormented 
 day and night for ever and ever. 11 And I 
 saw a great white throne, and him that sat on 
 it, from whose face w the earth and the heaven 
 
 v Verses 3, 10. n Ezek. 38. 2: 39. 1. rChap. 16. 14. 
 
 *l-a. 8. 8; Ezrk. 38. 9, Hi. averse 8. (/Chap. 19. 20. — 
 
 eChap. 1-1. in, ll. wl Pet, 3. 7, in, 11; chap. 21. 1. ;■ Dan. 
 
 2. ii. //Chap. 19. 5. *Dan. 7. 10. a l*sa. 69. 28; Dan. 
 
 a thousand years, and the earth is in peace ; right- 
 eousness flourishes, and Jesus Christ alone reigns. 
 This state of things may continue forever if the 
 imprisonment of Satan he' continued. Satan, how- 
 ever, is loosed at the end of a thousand years, and 
 goes out and deceives the nations, and peace is 
 banished from the face of the earth, and a most 
 dreadful war takes place, etc. These can he only 
 symbolical representations, utterly incapable of the 
 sense sometimes put upon them. 
 
 8. Gog and Magog — This seems to be almost 
 literally taken from the Jerusalem Targum and that 
 of Jonathan ben Uzziel, on Num. xi, 26. In the 
 very end of time Gog and Magog and their army 
 shall come up against Jerusalem, and they shall 
 fall by the hand of the King Messiah ; and for 
 seven whole years shall the children of Israel light 
 their fires with the wood of their warlike engines, 
 and they shall not go to the wood nor cut down any 
 tree. This account seems most evidently to have 
 been copied by St. John, but how he intended it to 
 be applied is a question too difficult to be solved by 
 the skill of man : yet both the account in the rab- 
 bins and in St. John is founded on Ezekiel, chap- 
 ters xxxviii and xxxix. The rabbinical writings are 
 full of accounts concerning "Gog" and "Magog." 
 Under these names the enemies of God's truth are 
 generally intended. 
 
 9. The beloved city — Primarily, Jerusalem ; 
 typically, the Christian Church. 
 
 10. And the devil . . . was cast into the 
 lake — Before, Satan was bound ; that is, his power 
 was curtailed and restrained: now, he is cast into 
 the lake of fire, his power being totally taken away. 
 
 11. A great white throne— Refulgent with 
 glorious majesty. Him that sat on it — The inde- 
 scribable Jehovah. From whose face the earth 
 and the heaven fled away — Even the bright- 
 ness of his countenance dissolved the universe, and 
 annihilated the laws by which it was governed. 
 This is a very majestic figure, and finely expressed. 
 There was found no place for them — The 
 glorious majesty of God filling all things, and being 
 all in all. 
 
 12. The dead, small and great — All ranks, 
 degrees, and conditions of men. This description 
 seems to refer to Dan. vii, 9, 10. And the books 
 were opened — See Dan. xii, 1. "Rabbi Jehuda 
 said: All the actions of men, whether good or bad, 
 are written in a book, and of all they shall give ac- 
 count." And in another place : " How careful 
 
 tied away; * and there was found no place 
 for them. 12 And I saw the dead, y small 
 and great, stand before God; z and the books 
 were opened ; and another 'book was opened, 
 which is the hook of life: and the dead \v<'\-<' 
 judged out of those things which were writ- 
 ten in the books, 'according to their works. 
 Hi And the sea gave up the dead which were 
 in it; c and death and d hell delivered up the 
 dead which were in them; e and they were 
 judged every man according to their works. 
 
 14 And 'death and hell were cast into the 
 lake of fire. eThis is the second death. 
 
 15 And whosoever was not found written in 
 the book of life h was east into the lake of fire. 
 
 12. 1 ; Phil. 4. 3: chap. 3. 5: 13. 8; 21. 27.---'- . Tit. 17. 10; 32. 19; 
 Matt. 16. 27: Rom. 2. 6; chap '. 23; 22. 12; verse 13 - cChap. 
 
 6. 8. il Or, the grave. c Verse 12. — f\ Cor. 15. 26, -34, 55. 
 
 g Verse ij ; chap. 21. 8. /< Chap. 19. 20. 
 
 should men be to shun vice, and to act uprightly 
 before the holy blessed God, seeing there are so 
 many which go throughout the earth, see the 
 works of men, testify of them, and write them in a 
 book/" And again : " In the first day of the new 
 year the holy blessed God sits that he may judge 
 the world; and all men, without exception, give an 
 account of themselves ; and the books of the living 
 and the dead are opened.'''' The books mentioned 
 here were the books of the living and the dead, or 
 the book of life and the book of death ; that is, the 
 account of the good and evil actions of men ; the 
 former leading to life, the latter to death. St. John 
 evidently alludes here to Dan. vii, 10, on which the 
 rabbinical account of the books appears to be 
 founded. The expressions are figurative in both. 
 According to their works — And according to 
 their faith also, for their " works" would be the 
 proof whether their faith was true or false ; but 
 faith exclusively could be no rule in such a pro- 
 cedure. 
 
 13. The sea gave up the dead — Those who 
 had been drowned in it ; and those millions slain 
 in naval contests, who had no other grave. And 
 death — All who died by any kind of disease. 
 Death is here personified, and represented as a 
 keeper of defunct human beings ; probably no more 
 than earth or the grave is meant, as properly lie- 
 longing to the empire of death. And hell — "Afinc, 
 hades, the place of separate spirits. The " sea " 
 and " death " have the bodies of all human beings ; 
 hades has their spirits. That they may be judged, 
 and punished or rewarded according to their works, 
 their bodies and souls must be reunited; hades, 
 therefore, gives up the spirits ; and the " sea " and 
 the "earth" give up the bodies. 
 
 14. And death and hell were cast into the 
 lake — Death himself is now abolished, and the 
 place for separate spirits is no longer needful. 
 This is the second death — The first "death" 
 consisted in the separation of the soul from the 
 body for a season; the second "death " in the 
 separation of body and soul from God forever. 
 The first death is that, from which there may be a 
 resurrection; the second death is that from which 
 there can be no recovery. By the first the body is 
 destroyed during time; by the second, body and 
 soul are destroyed through eternity. 
 
 15. Written in the book of life — Only those 
 who had continued faithful unto death were taken 
 to heaven. All whose names were not found in the 
 
 627
 
 A. M. -linn. A. D. 96 
 W.r nf Rome, J49. 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 AND A I saw a new heaven and a new earth : 
 '■for the first heaven and the first earth 
 were passed away: and there was no more 
 sea. 2 And I John saw c the holy city, new 
 Jerusalem, coming down from God out of 
 heaven, prepared d as a hride adorned for her 
 husband. 11 And I heard a great voice out of 
 heaven saying. Behold, e the tabernacle of God 
 is with men, and he will dwell with them, and 
 they shall be'his people, and God himself shall 
 !>,■ with them, and be their God. 4 f And 
 God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; 
 and -there shall be no more death, h neither 
 
 «[-;i. B5. 17: 66. 22; 2 Pet. 3. 13. fcChap. 20. 11. clsa. 
 
 5>. ! ; (Jul. 4.26; Heh. 11. 10: 12. 22 : 13. 14: chap. 3. 12: verse 10. 
 
 rflsa. 54. 5; 61. 10; 2 Cor. 11. 2. e Lev. 26 11, 12; I'.zek. 
 
 4 i. 7: i Cor. 6. 16; chap. 7. 1">. rlsa. 25. 8; chap. 7. 17. 
 
 a 1 Cor. 15. 26, 54 ; chap. 20. 14. h Isa. 35. 10 ; 01. 3 ; 13. 19. 
 
 public registers, who either were not citizens, or 
 whose names had been erased from those registers 
 because of crimes against the State, could claim 
 none of those emoluments or privileges which be- 
 long to the citizens ; so those who either did not 
 belong to the new and spiritual Jerusalem, or who 
 had forfeited their rights and privileges by sin, 
 ami had died in that state, were cast into the 
 lake of fire. [If the things named in the earlier 
 part of this chapter are to be understood as figura- 
 tive, then why not also the resurrections and the 
 judgments of the iater part?] 
 
 This is the way in which God, at the day of judg- 
 ment, will proceed with sinners and apostates. 
 Reader, see that thy name be written in the sacred 
 register; and, if written in, see that it never be 
 blotted out. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 1. A new heaven and a new earth — The 
 ancient Jews believed that God would renew the 
 heavens and the earth at the end of seven thou- 
 sand years. This general supposition theyfounded 
 on Isa. lxv, 17. There was no more sea- The 
 " 3ea " no more appeared than did the first heaven 
 and earth. All was made new ; and probably the 
 new sea occupied a different position and was dif- 
 ferently distributed from that of the old sea. 
 However, with respect to these subjects as they 
 stand in this most figurative book, I must express 
 myself in the words of Calmet : " To pretend to say 
 what is meant by this new heaven and new earth, 
 and what are their ornaments and qualities, is in 
 my opinion the greatest of all presumptions. In 
 general these figures of speech point out great alter- 
 nations in the universe." 
 
 2. And I John — The writer of this book. 
 | See preface.] New Jerusalem — (See the notes 
 on Gal. iv. 24-27.) This doubtless means the 
 Christian Church in a state of great prosperity and 
 purity; but some think eternal blessedness is in- 
 tended. Coming down from God — It is a max- 
 im of the ancient Jews that both the tabernacle 
 and the temple, and Jerusalem itself, came down 
 from heaven. Rabbi Jeremias said: "The holy 
 blessed God shall renew the world, and build 
 Jerusalem, and shall cause it to descend from 
 heaven." Their opinion is, that there is a spiritual 
 Ifemple, a spiritual tabernacle, and a spiritual 
 Jerusalem ; and that none of these can be destroyed, 
 becauSe they subsist in their spiritual representa- 
 tives. 
 
 628 
 
 sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any 
 more pain: for the former things are passed 
 away, o And 'he that sat upon the throne 
 said, u Behold, I make all things new. And he 
 said unto me, Write : for ' these words are 
 true and faithful. 6 And he said unto me, 
 "It is done. "I am Alpha and Omega, the 
 beginning and the end. °I will give unto him 
 that is athirst of the fountain of the water of 
 life freely. 7 He that overcometh shall in- 
 herit Pall things; and 1 1 will be his God, and 
 he shall be my son. 8 r But the fearful, and 
 unbelieving, and the abominable, and murder- 
 ers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and 
 
 ?'Chap. 4. 2,9; 5. 1 ; 20. 11. J- Isa. 43. 19: 2 Cor. 5. 17. 
 
 /Chap. 19.9. mChap. 16. 17. « Chap. 1. 8; 22.1! o Isa. 
 
 12. 3; 55 1; John 4. 10, 14: 7. 37: chap. 22. 17. pOr, thexe 
 
 thin, ,x. tf Zech. 8. 8; Heb. 8. 10. r\ Cnr. H. 9, 10: Gal. 5. 
 
 19,20, 21 : Eph. 5. 5; 1 Tim. 1. 9; lleb. 12. 14; chap. 22. 15. 
 
 3. The tabernacle of God is with men — God, 
 in the most especial manner, dwells among his fol- 
 lowers, diffusing his light and life everywhere. [See 
 John i, 14.] 
 
 4. There shall be no more death — This is the 
 inference winch St. Paul draws from his doctrine of 
 a general resurrection, (1 Cor. xv, 26,) where he 
 says, " The last enemy that shall be destroyed is 
 death." But death cannot lie destroyed by there 
 being simply no further death ; death can only be 
 destroyed and annihilated by a general resurrection. 
 If there be no general resurrection, it is most evi- 
 dent that death will still retain his empire. There- 
 fore, the fact that "there shall be no more death " 
 assures the fact that there shall be a general 
 resurrection; and this also is a proof that, after 
 the resurrection, "there shall be no more death." 
 
 5. Behold, I make all things new — As the 
 creation of the world at the beginning was the 
 work of God alone, so shall be also this new crea- 
 tion. These words are true and faithful — 
 Truth refers to the promi.se of these changes; 
 faithfulness, to the fulfilment of these promises. 
 
 6. It is done — All is determined, and shall be 
 fulfilled in due time. The great drama is finished, 
 and what was intended is now completed; referring 
 to the period alluded to by the angel. I am Alpha 
 and Omega — (See on chapter i, 8.) The foun- 
 tain of the water of life — (See on John iv, 10, 
 14 ; vii, 37, etc.) The rabbins consider the foun- 
 tain of the world to come as one of the particular 
 blessings of a future state. R. Nathan said, "He 
 will show them the excellency of the fountain of the 
 
 future world, that they may accurately see and 
 consider, and say. Woe to us ! what good have we 
 lost ! and our race is cut off from the face of the 
 earth." 
 
 7. Inherit all things— Here he had no inheri- 
 tance; there he shall inherit the kingdom of heaven, 
 and be with God and Christ, and have every possi- 
 ble degree of blessedness. 
 
 8. But the fearful — teikuc ; those who, through 
 fear of losing life or property, either refused to re- 
 ceive the Christian religion, though convinced of 
 its truth and importance, or, having received it, in 
 times of persecution fell away, not being willing 
 to risk their lives. And unbelieving — Those who 
 resisl against full evidence. The abominable — 
 'E 36eXvyfievoig • those who are polluted with un- 
 natural lust. And murderers — $ovevm; those 
 who maliciously take away the life of man, and 
 those who hate a brother m their heart. And
 
 CHAPTER XXL 
 
 idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in 
 •the lake which burneth with fire and brim- 
 stone: which is the second death. 9 And 
 there came unto me one of 'the seven angels 
 which had the seven vials full of the seven 
 last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come 
 hither, I will show thee "the bride, the Lamb's 
 wife. 10 And he carried me away v in the 
 spirit to a great and high mountain, and 
 showed me "that great city, the holy Jeru- 
 salem, descending out of heaven from God. 
 11 * Having the glory of God: and her light 
 was like unto a stone most precious, even like 
 a jasper stone, clear as crystal ; I'i And had 
 a wall great and high, mul had y twelve gates, 
 and at the gates twelve angels, and names 
 written thereon, which are the names of the 
 
 * Cliai). 20. 14. 15. iChap. 15. 1, 6, 7. u Chap. 19. 7; 
 
 ver-<e 2. rChap. 1 10; 17. 3. w Ezekiel 18: verse 2. 
 
 «■ Verse 23 ; chap. 22. 5. 
 
 whoremongers — HSpvoic ; adulterers, fornicators, 
 whores, prostitutes, and rakes of every description. 
 Sorcerers — Qapiianolc ; persons who, by drugs, 
 philtres, fumigations, etc., pretend to produce 
 supernatural effects, chiefly by spiritual agency. 
 Idolaters — EiSuhj/.drpacg ; those who offer any 
 kind of worship or religious reverence to any thing 
 but God. All image worshippers are idolaters in 
 every sense of the word. And all liars — Kal 
 iraai role ipevdeai. Every one who speaks contrary 
 to the truth when he knows the truth, and even he 
 who speaks the truth with the intention to deceive ; 
 that is, to persuade a person that a thing is differ- 
 ent from what it really is, by telling only a part of 
 the truth, or suppressing some circumstance which 
 would have led the hearer to a different and to the 
 true conclusion. All these shall have their part, to 
 fiepoc, their share, what belongs to them, their 
 right, in the lake which burneth with fire and 
 brimstone. This is the second death, from 
 which there is no recovery. 
 
 9. The bride, the Lamb's wife — The pure and 
 holy Christian Church. 
 
 10. To a great and high mountain — That, 
 being above this city, he might see every street and 
 lane of it. The holy Jerusalem — (See on verse 2.) 
 
 11. Having the glory of God — Instead of the 
 sun and moon, it has the splendour of God to en- 
 lighten it. Unto a stone most precious, even 
 like a jasper stone, clear as crystal — Among 
 precious stones there are some even of the same 
 species more valuable than others ; for their value 
 is in proportion to their being free from flaws, and 
 of a good water, that is, a uniform and brilliant 
 transparency. A "crystal" is perfectly clear; the 
 oriental " jasper " is a beautiful sea-green. The stone 
 that is here described is represented as a perfectly 
 transparent "jasper," being as unclouded as the 
 brightest crystal, and consequently the most precious 
 of its species. Nothing can be finer than this de- 
 scription ; the lij^ht of this city is ever intense, 
 equal, and splendid; but it is tinged with this green 
 hue, in order to make it agreeable to the sight. 
 Nothing is so friendly to the eye as blur or green; 
 all other colours fatigue, and if very intense, injure 
 the eye. These are the colours of the earth and 
 sky, on which the eye of man is to be frequently 
 fixed. To these colours the structure of the eye is 
 adapted ; and the general appearance of the earth 
 and sky is adapted to this structure. 
 
 twelve tribes of the children of Israel : 13 z On 
 the east three gates; on the north three gates; 
 on the south three gates; and on the west 
 three gates. 14 And the wall of the city had 
 twelve foundations, and 'in them the names 
 of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. 15 And 
 he that talked with me 'had a golden reed to 
 measure the city, and the gates thereof, and 
 the wall thereof. 16 And the city lieth four- 
 square, and the length is as large as the 
 breadth: and he measured the city with the 
 reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length 
 and the breadth and the height of it are equal. 
 17 And he measured the wall thereof, a hun- 
 dred and forty and four cubits, according to 
 the measure of a man, that is, of the angel. 
 1§ And the building of the wall of it was 
 
 V Ezekiel 48. 31-34. z Ezekiel 48. 31-34. a Matthew 16. 
 
 Ik; Gal;itians2. 9: Ephesians 2. 20. b Ezekiel 40. 3; Zecha- 
 
 riah 2. 1 ; diap. 11. 1. 
 
 12. Had a wall great and high — An almighty 
 defence. Twelve gates — A gate for every tribe 
 of Israel, in the vicinity of which gate that tribe 
 dwelt ; so that in coming in and going out they did 
 not mix with each other. This description of the 
 city is partly taken from Ezek. xlviii. 30-35. 
 
 13. On the east three gates — The city is here 
 represented as standing to the four cardinal points 
 of heaven, and presenting one side to each of these 
 points. 
 
 14. The wall . . . had twelve foundations 
 — Probably twelve stones, one of which served for 
 a foundation or threshold to each gate; and on 
 these were inscribed the names of the twelve apos- 
 tles, to intimate that it was by the doctrine of the 
 apostles that souls enter into the Church, and thence 
 into the new Jerusalem. 
 
 15. Had a golden reed — This account of meas- 
 uring the city seems to be copied, with variations, 
 from Ezek. xl, 3, etc. 
 
 16. The city lieth foursquare — Each side was 
 equal, consequently the length and breadth were 
 equal; and its height is here said to be equal to 
 its length. It is hard to say how this should be 
 understood. It cannot mean the height of the 
 buildings, nor of the walls, for neither houses nor 
 walls could be twelve thousand furlongs in height. 
 Some think this means the distance from the plain 
 country to "the place where the city stood. But 
 what need is there of attempting to determine such 
 measures in such a visionary representation ? The 
 quadrangular form intimates its perfection and 
 stability, for the square figure was a figure of per- 
 fection among the Greeks. 
 
 1 7. The wall ... a hundred and forty and 
 four cubits — This is twelve, the number of the 
 apostles, multiplied by itself. The measure of a 
 man, that is, of the angel— The cubit, so called 
 from cubitus, the elbow, is the measure from the tip 
 of the elbow to the tip of the middle finger, and is 
 generally reckoned at one foot and a half, Or 
 eighteen inches; though it appeals, from some 
 measurements at the pyramids of Egypt, thai the 
 cubit was, at least in some cases, twenty-one 
 inches. By the cubit of a man we may here un- 
 derstand the ordinary cubit, and that this was 
 the angel's cubit who appeared in the form of a 
 man. 
 
 18. The building of the wall of it was of 
 jasper — The oriental jasper is exceedinglv hard, 
 
 629
 
 L. D. 96. 
 
 e, S49. 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 The foundations and gates of 
 the holy city. 
 
 of jasper : and the city was pure gold, like un- 
 to clear glass. 19 c And the foundations of 
 i lie wall of the city were garnished with all 
 manner of precious stones. The first foun- 
 dation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the 
 third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; 
 
 ami almost indestructible. Pillars made of this 
 stone have lasted some thousands of years, and ap- 
 peav to have suffered scarcely any thing from the 
 tooth of time. Pure gold, like unto clear glass 
 — Does not this imply that the walls were made of 
 some beautifully bright yellow stone, very highly 
 polished ? This description has been most injudi- 
 ciously applied to heaven ; and in some public dis- 
 courses, for the comfort and edification of the 
 pious, we hear of heaven with its golden walls, 
 golden pavements, gates of pearl, etc., etc., not 
 considering that nothing of this description was 
 ever intended to be literally understoo 1 ; ami that 
 gold and jewels can have no place in the spiritual 
 and eternal world. The ancient Jews teach that 
 " when Jerusalem and the temple shall be built, 
 they will be all of precious stones, and pearls, and 
 sapphire, and with every species of jewels." They 
 also divide paradise into seven parts or houses ; 
 the third they describe thus : " The third house is 
 built of gold and pure silver, and all kinds of 
 jewels and pearls. It is very spacious, and in it all 
 kinds of the good things, either in heaven or earth, 
 are to be found. All kinds of precious things, 
 perfumes", and spiritual virtues, are there planted. 
 In the midst of it. is the tree of life, the height of 
 which is five hundred years ; (that is, it is equal in 
 height to the journey which a man might perform 
 in five hundred years ;) and under it dwell Abra- 
 ham, Isaac, Jacob, the twelve patriarchs, and all 
 that came out of Egypt and died in the wilderness. 
 Over these Moses and Aaron preside, and teach 
 them the law," etc. — Yalcut Rubeni, fol. 13, 4. In 
 the same tract, fol. 182, 1, we find these words: 
 " Know that we have a tradition, that when the 
 Messiah, with the collected captivity, shall come to 
 the land of Israel, in that day the dead in Israel 
 shall rise again ; and in that day the fiery walls of 
 the city of Jerusalem shall descend from heaven, 
 and in that day the temple shall be builded of 
 jewels and pearls." 
 
 19. The foundations of the -wall — Does not 
 this mean " the foundations " or thresholds of the 
 gates ? The gates represented the twelve tribes, 
 (verse 12,) and these foundations or thresholds, 
 the twelve apostles, (verse 14.) There was no en- 
 trance into the city but through these gates, and 
 none through the gates but over these thresh- 
 olds. The whole of the Mosaic dispensation was 
 the preparation for the Gospel ; without it, the 
 Gospel would have no original ; without the Gos- 
 pel, it would have no reference nor proper object. 
 Every part of the Gospel necessarily supposes the 
 law and the prophets. They are the gates, it is 
 the threshold ; without the Gospel no person could 
 enter through those gates. The doctrine of Christ 
 crucified, preached by the apostles, gives a solid 
 foundation to stand on ; and we have an entrance 
 into the holiest by the blood of Jesus. (Heb. x, 
 19, etc.) And in reference to this we are said to 
 be built on the foundation of the apostles and 
 prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner- 
 stone. (Eph. ii, 20.) The iflrst foundation was 
 630 
 
 20 The fifth, sardonyx ; the sixth, sardius ; 
 the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; 
 the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus ; 
 the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an ame- 
 thyst. 21 And the twelve gates were twelve 
 pearls ; every several gate was of one pearl : 
 
 54. n. 
 
 jasper — A stone very hard, some species of which 
 are of a sea-green colour; but it is generally a bright 
 reddish brown. The second, sapphire — This is 
 a stone of a fine blue colour, next in hardness to 
 the diamond. The third, a chalcedony — A 
 genus of the semipellucid gems, of which there are 
 four species : 1) A bluish white ; this is the most 
 common sort. 2) The dull milky veined ; this is 
 of little worth. 3) The brownish black ; the least 
 beautiful of all. 4) The yellow and red ; the most 
 beautiful, as it is the most valuable, of all. Hith- 
 erto this has been found only in the East Indies. 
 The fourth, an emerald — This is of a bright 
 green colour without any mixture, and is one of 
 the most beautiful of all the gems. The true orient- 
 al emerald is very scarce, and said to be found only 
 in the kingdom of Cambay. 
 
 20. The fifth, sardonyx — The onyx is an ac- 
 cidental variety of the agate kind ; it is of a dark 
 horny colour, in which is a plate of a bluish white, 
 and sometimes of red. When on one or both sides 
 of the white there happens to lie also a plate of 
 a reddish colour, the jewellers call the stone a sard- 
 onyx. The sixth, sardius — The sardius, sardel, 
 or sardine stone, is a precious stone of a blood-red 
 colour. The seventh, chrysolite — The gold 
 stone. It is of a dusky green with a cast of yellow. 
 It is a species of the topaz. The eighth, beryl 
 — This is a pellucid gem of a bluish green colour. 
 The ninth, a topaz — A pale dead green, with a 
 mixture of yellow. It is considered by the miner- 
 alogists as a variety of the sapphire. The tenth, 
 a chrysoprasus — A variety of the chrysolite, 
 called by some the yellowish green and cloudy 
 topaz. It differs from the chrysolite only in hav- 
 ing a bluish hue. The eleventh, a jacinth — A 
 precious stone of a dead red colour, with a mixture 
 of yellow. It is the same as the hyacenet, or cin- 
 namon stone. The twelfth, an amethyst — A 
 gem generally of a purple or violet colour, com- 
 posed of a strong blue and deep red. These 
 stones are nearly the same with those on the breast- 
 plate of the high priest, (Exod. xxviii, 17, etc.,) 
 and probably were intended to express the mean- 
 ing of the Hebrew words there used. 
 
 21. The twelve gates were twelve pearls — 
 This must be merely figurative, for it is out of all 
 the order of nature to produce a pearl large enough 
 to make a gate to such an immense city. But St. 
 John may refer to some relations of this nature 
 among his countrymen, who talk much of most 
 prodigious pearls. " When Rabbi Jochanan (John) 
 once taught that God would provide jewels and 
 pearls thirty cubits every way, ten of which should 
 exceed in height twenty cubits, and would place 
 them in the gates of Jerusalem, according to what 
 is said Isaiah liv, 12, / will make thy windows of 
 agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, his disciples 
 ridiculed him, saying, Where can such be found, 
 since at present there is none so large as a pigeon's 
 egg? Afterward, being at sea in a ship, he saw 
 the ministering angels cutting gems and pearls; 
 and he asked them for what purpose they were
 
 No temple in heaven ; God and the 
 Lamb manifestly present. 
 
 CHAPTER XXT. 
 
 and d the street of the city was pure gold, as 
 it were transparent glass. 22 'And I saw no 
 temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty 
 and the Lamb are the temple of it. 23 'And 
 the city had no need of the sun. neither of the 
 moon, to shine in it: for the glory tit' God did 
 lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. 
 24 ' And the nations of them which are saved 
 shall walk in the light of it: and the kings 
 of the earth do bring their glory and honour 
 into it. 25 h And the gates of it shall not be 
 shut at all by day : for 'there shall be no night 
 there. 26 k And they shall bring the glory 
 and honour of the nations into it. 27 And 
 
 rfChap. 22. 2. e.Tohn 4. 23. /"Isa. 24. 23: fid. 19, 20; 
 
 verse 1 1 ; chap. 22. 5. a Isa. 60. :>, 5,11 ; liii. 12 // Isa. 60. 11. 
 
 ilsa. 60. 20 ; Zecta. 14. 7 ; chap. 22. 5. k Verse 21. Hsa. 
 
 preparing those. They answered, To plaee them in 
 the gates of Jerusalem." 
 
 22. I saw no temple — There was no need of a 
 " temple " where God and the Lamb were mani- 
 festly present. 
 
 23. No need of the sun — This is also one of 
 the traditions of the ancient Jews, that "in the 
 world to come the Israelites shall have no need of 
 the sun by day, nor the moon by night." God's 
 light shines in this city, and in the Lamb that 
 light is concentrated, and from him everywhere 
 diffused. 
 
 24. The nations of them which are saved — 
 This is an allusion to the promise that the Gentiles 
 should bring their riches, glory, and excellence to 
 the temple at Jerusalem after it should be rebuilt. 
 (See verse 26.) 
 
 25. The gates of it shall not be shut at all— 
 The Christian Church shall ever stand open to re- 
 ceive sinners of all sorts, degrees, and nations. 
 There shall be no night there — Xo more idola- 
 try, no intellectual darkness ; the Scriptures shall 
 be everywhere read, the pure word everywhere 
 preached, and the Spirit of God shall shine and 
 work in every heart. 
 
 2(3. The glory and honour of the nations 
 into it — Still alluding to the declarations of the 
 prophets, (see verse 24, etc.,) that the Gentiles 
 would be led to contribute to the riches and glory 
 of the temple by their gifts, etc. 
 
 27. There shall in no •wise enter into it any- 
 thing that defileth — (See tsaiah xxxv, 8; Hi, 1.) 
 No impure person — one who turns the grace of God 
 into lasciviousness. Neither . . . maketh a lie 
 — He that holds and propagates false doctrines. 
 But they which are written — The acknowl- 
 edged persevering members of the true Church of 
 Christ shall enter into heaven, and only those who 
 are saved from their sins shall have a plaee in the 
 Church militant. 
 
 All Christians are bound by their baptism to 
 renounce the devil and all his works, the pomps 
 and vanities of this wicked world, and all the sin- 
 ful lusts of the flesh ; to keep God's holy word and 
 commandments ; and to walk in the same all the 
 days of their life. This is the generation of them 
 that seek thy face, God of Jacob ! Reader, art 
 thou of this number? Or art thou expecting an 
 eternal glory while living in sin ? If so, thou wilt 
 be fearfully disappointed. Presuming on the 
 mercy of God is as ruinous as despairing of his 
 grace. Where God gives power both to will and to 
 
 'there shall in no wise enter into it anything 
 that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abom- 
 ination, or maketh a. lie: but they which are 
 written in the Lamb's "' book of life. 
 
 CHAPTER XXir. 
 
 AND he showed me "a pure river of water 
 of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of 
 the throne of God and of the Lamb. 2 'In 
 the midst of the street of it, and on either side 
 of the river, was Hutu the tree of life, which 
 bare twelve manner of fruits, ami yielded her 
 fruit every month : and tin- leaves of the tree 
 were d for the healing of the nations. 3 And 
 
 35. 8; 52. 1: 60. 21 ; Joel 3. 17; chap. 2?. 14. 15.- -»i Phil. I 3 ; 
 
 chap. ::. a; 13. 8; 20. 12. a Ezek. 47. 1 ; Zech. 14 8. h Ezek. 
 
 47. 12; ch.ip. 21. 21. cOen. 2. 9; chap. 2. 7. J Chap. 21. 21. 
 
 do, the individual should work out his salvation 
 with fear and trembling. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 1. Pure river of water of life — [See chapter 
 xxi, 10.] This is evidently a reference to the gar- 
 den of paradise, and the river by which it was 
 watered. As this was a great and spacious city, 
 one fountain was not sufficient to provide water for 
 it, therefore a river is mentioned ; a great river, 
 by which it was sufficiently watered. (See Ezek. 
 xlvii, 7-12) "Water of life," as we have seen lie- 
 fore, generally signifies spring or running water ; 
 here it may signify incessant communications of 
 grace proceeding from God. 
 
 2. In the midst of the street of it — That is, 
 of the city which was described in the preceding 
 chapter. [Streams, not of physical water, but of 
 spiritual life. (Psalm xlvi, 4; John iv, 10, 14; vii, 
 38.) — Speakers Co?n.] The Iree of life — An al- 
 lusion to Gen. ii, 9. As this "tree of lite" is 
 stated to be in the street of the city, and on 
 either side of the river, •' tree " must here lie an 
 enallage of the singular for the plural number, 
 trees of life, or trees which yielded fruit by which 
 life was preserved. The account in Ezekiel is this: 
 "And by the river upon the bank thereof, on this 
 side and on that side, shall grow all trees for meat, 
 whose leaf shall not fade ... it shall bring forth new 
 fruit according to his months . . . and the fruit there- 
 of shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medi- 
 cine." (Chapter xlvii, 12.) Twelve manner of 
 fruits — KapTcoix; dude/ca, twelve fruits, (fruitings,) 
 that is, fruit twelve times in the year, as is imme- 
 diately explained, yielded her fruit every month. 
 ["Indicating," says Hengstenberg, "that the en- 
 joyment of life shall lie without interruption."] 
 And the leaves of the tree were for the 
 healing of the nations — [If the scene of this 
 prophecy is heaven, and its persons saved souls, 
 how are they in need of healing? Hengstenberg 
 insists that the "healing" is limited to the present 
 life, since there can be no disease in heaven. I La. 
 xxxiii, 24; chapter vii, 16.) De Wette and others 
 understood by " the nations " " those who dwell 
 outside of the heavenly city;" and Bengel, "those 
 to which the Gospel was not preached in this life;" 
 while Ebrard makes the work of healing "not the 
 healing from sin, but from the state of undeveloped 
 faith in Christ," (which is rather a growth.) If the 
 field of the vision may be understood to be the 
 Church, in its later prosperity and universal in- 
 crease, then all is plain.] 
 
 631
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 '• there shall be no more curse: f but the throne 
 of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his 
 servants shall serve him : 4 And s they shall 
 see Ins face; and h his name shall be in their 
 foreheads. 5 'And there shall be no night 
 there; and they need no candle, neither light 
 of the sun ; for k the Lord God giveth them 
 light : ' and they shall reign for ever and ever. 
 <» And lie said unto me, m These sayings are 
 faithful and true: and the Lord God of the 
 holy prophets "sent his angel to show unto his 
 servants the things which must shortly be 
 done. 7 ° Behold, I come quickly : p blessed 
 is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy 
 of this book. 8 And I John saw these things, 
 and heard them. And when I had heard and 
 seen, i 1 fell down to worship before the feet 
 of the angel which showed me these things. 
 9 Then saith he unto me, r See thou do it not : 
 for I am thy fellow servant, and of thy breth- 
 ren the prophets, and of them which keep the 
 
 eZech. 14. II. fEzek. 48. 35. (7 Matt. 5 8; 1 Cnr. 13. 12; 
 
 1 John 3. 2. /(Chap. :!. 12; 14. 1. i Chap. 21. 23,25. 
 
 tPsa. 36. 9; 84. 11. 1 Dan. 7. 27; Rom 5. 17: 2 Tim. 2. 12; 
 
 chap. 3. 21. — w.Chap. IS*. 9; 21.5. n Chap. 1.1. o Chap. 
 
 3 11; verses 10, 12, 20. p Chap. 1. 3. tfChap. 19. 10. 
 
 /•Chap. 19. 10. .sD.tn. 8. 2ti; 12. 4, 9; chap. 10. 4. 
 
 3. No more curse — Karafcfia, cursed person. 
 
 As there shall be no more sinning against God, so 
 there shall be no more curse of God upon the 
 people ; for they shall be all his servants, and 
 serve him. Our first parents came under the 
 curse by sinning against their Maker in paradise; 
 these shall never apostatize, therefore neither they 
 nor the earth shall be cursed. 
 
 4. See his face — Enjoy what is called the 
 beatific vision : and they shall exhibit the fullest 
 evidence that they belong entirely to him, for his 
 name shall be written on their foreheads. 
 
 5. There shall be no night there -See on 
 chapter xxi, 23 and 25. And they shall reign, 
 etc. — [Not for a definite period, (however long,) 
 as in chapter xx, 4, 6, but unto the ages of the ages, 
 Etc rovr alavac ruv aidivcjv.] 
 
 6. These sayings are faithful and true — See 
 the preceding chapter, verse 5. From this verse to 
 the end of the chapter is reckoned the epilogue of 
 this book. 1) The angel affirms the truth of all 
 that had been spoken. (Verses 6-11.) 2) Jesus 
 Christ confirms what has been affirmed, and pledges 
 himself for the fulfilment of all the prophecies con- 
 tained in it. i Verses 12-17..) 3) John cautions his 
 readers against adding or diminishing, and con- 
 cludes with the apostolical blessing. (Verses 18-21.) 
 The things which must shortly be done — 
 There are many sayings in this book which, if taken 
 literally, would intimate that the prophecies de- 
 livered in the whole of the apocalypse were to be 
 fulfilled in a short time after their delivery to 
 John ; and this is a strong support for the scheme 
 of Wetstein, and those who maintain that the 
 prophecies of this book all referred to those times 
 in which the apostle lived, and to the disturbances 
 which then took place, not only among the Jews, 
 but in the* Roman empire. {_'Ev t&xei, shortly. 
 These words, or their equivalents, occur quite fre- 
 quently in this book. If taken literally they seem 
 to confine this prophecy to the times that came 
 "shortly" after their utterance; or else, by giving 
 another meaning to the phrase, the whole chronology 
 
 632 
 
 sayings of this book : worship God. 10 s And 
 he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the 
 prophecy of this book: 'for the time is at 
 hand. II "lie that is unjust, let him be un- 
 just still : and he which is filthy, let him be 
 filthy still : and he that is righteous, let him 
 be righteous still : and he that is holy, let him 
 be holy still. 112 v And, behold, I come quick- 
 ly; and w my reward is with me, x to give 
 every man according as his work shall be. 
 13*1 am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and 
 the end, the first and the last. 14 z Blessed 
 are they that do his commandments, that they 
 may have right a to the tree of life, 'and may 
 enter in through the gates into the city. 
 
 15 For c without are ''dogs, and sorcerers, and 
 whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, 
 and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie. 
 
 16 e I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify 
 unto you these things in the churches. f 1 am 
 the root and the offspring of David, and the 
 
 <Chap. 1. 3. u Kzek. 3. 27: Dan. 12. 10: 2 Tim. 3 13. 
 
 v Verse 7. w Isa. 40. Ill; 62. 11. a- Rom. 2. fi: 14. 12; clr.ip. 
 
 20. 12. f/Tsa. 41. 4: 44. 6; 4s. 12; etiap. 1. 8, 11: 21. 0. 
 
 z Dan. 12. 12 ; 1 John 3. 24. a Chap. 2. 7 ; verse 2. // Chap. 
 
 21. 27. </l Cor. li. II, 10: (ial. 5. 1:'. ill, 21 ; Col. .!. II; chap. 9. 
 
 2u, 21 ; 21. 8. t/Phil. 3. 2. e Chap. 1. 1. /Chap. 5. o. 
 
 of the prophecy is changed — the " shortly " be- 
 comes surely, which is perhaps the more probable 
 sense.] 
 
 8. I fell down to 'worship — I prostrated my- 
 self before him as before a superior being, to ex- 
 press my gratitude, and give him thanks for the 
 communications he had made. (See on chapter 
 xix, 10.) 
 
 10. Seal not the sayings — Do not lay them up 
 for future generations; they concern the present 
 times; they must shortly come to jmss. For the 
 time is at hand — See verse 6. What concerned 
 the Jews was certainly "at hand." 
 
 11. He that is unjust, let him be unjust still 
 — The time of fulfilment will come so suddenly that 
 there will be but little space for repentance and 
 amendment. What is done must be done instantly ; 
 and let him that is holy persevere, and hold fast 
 what he has received. 
 
 13. I am Alpha and Omega— See on chapter 
 i, 8, 18. 
 
 14. Blessed are they that do his command- 
 ments — They are happy who are obedient. That 
 they may have right to the tree of life — 
 ['E:<>vaia, a title.] Without grace no <•/•< <1<< net ; 
 without obedience no title to the tree of life ; God?& 
 grace through Christ produces the good, and then 
 rewards it as if all had been our own. 
 
 15. Without are dogs — All those who are un- 
 eircumcised in heart. The Jews call all the uncir- 
 cumcised "dogs." And sorcerers — See the note 
 on chapter xxi, 8. 
 
 16. Jesus — [See chapter i, 1. The apocalypse 
 resumes here, as at the beginning, the form of an 
 epistle. — Speakers Com.'] Have sent mine angel 
 — An especial messenger from heaven. I am the 
 root and the offspring of David — [See chapter 
 v, 5. "Root," not the stem from which David 
 sprang, but a shoot from the wider root. (See Isa. 
 xi, 1.)] Christ is the "offspring" of David as to 
 his human nature: for that he took of the stock of 
 David, becoming thereby heir to the Jewish throne, 
 and the only heir which then existed ; and it is re-
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 s bright and morning star. 17 And the Spirit 
 and b the bride say, Come. And let him that 
 lieareth say, Come. 'And let him that is 
 athirst come. And whosoever will, let him 
 take the water of life freely. 18 For I testify 
 unto every man that heareth the words of the 
 prophecy of this book, k If any man shall add 
 unto these things, God shall add unto him the 
 plagues that are written in this book : 19 And 
 
 Nam 24. 17 : Zech. 6. 13 ; 2 Pet. 1. 19 : chap. 2. 28. h Chap. 
 
 21. 2, ft. (Isa. 53. 1 ; John 7. 31 j Chap. 31. 6. /'Dent. 4. 2: 
 
 13. 32; Prov. 30. 6. 1 Exod. 32. 3;i; Psa. H9. 28; chap. 3. 5: 
 
 markable that the whole regal family terminated in 
 Christ; and as he liveth forever, he is the alone true 
 David and everlasting "King. The bright and 
 morning star — 1 am splendour and glory to my 
 kingdom ; as the "morning star " ushers in the day 
 so shall I usher in the unclouded and eternal 
 glories of the everlasting kingdom. 
 
 17. The Spirit and the bride — All the proph- 
 ets and all the apostles; the Church of God under 
 the Old Testament, and the Church of Christ under 
 the New. [The Holy Spirit, as a universal Presence 
 in the world, (John xvi, 7-14,) perpetually invites 
 men to Christ, and his invitations are perpetually 
 and earnestly seconded by the witnessing Church.] 
 Say, Come — Invite men to Jesus, that by him they 
 may be saved and prepared for this kingdom. Let 
 him that heareth — Let all who are privileged with 
 reading and hearing the word of God join in the 
 general invitation to sinners. Him that is athirst 
 — He who feels his need of salvation, and is longing 
 to drink of the living fountain. And whosoever 
 will — No soul is excluded ; Jesus died for every 
 man ; every man may be saved ; therefore let him 
 who wills, who wishes for salvation, come and take 
 the water of life freely — without money or 
 price. 
 
 18. If any man shall add — Shall give any- 
 other meaning to these prophecies, or any other ap- 
 plication of them, than God intends, he, though not 
 originally intended, shall have the plagues threat- 
 ened in this book for his portion. 
 
 19. If any man shall take away — If any man 
 shall lessen this meaning, curtail the sense, explain 
 away the spirit and design, of these prophecies, God 
 shall take away his part out of the book of life, 
 etc. Thus Jesus Christ warns all those who con- 
 sider this book to beware of indulging their own 
 conjectures concerning it. I confess that this 
 warning has its own powerful influence upon my 
 mind, and has prevented me from indulging my 
 own conjectures concerning its meaning, or of 
 adopting the conjectures of others. [And, on the 
 other hand, it is quite possible " to take away " the 
 substance of a prophecy by failing to recognise its 
 mystical and prophetical import.] This is termed 
 a revelation, but it is a revelation of symbols ; an 
 exhibition of enigmas, to which no particular 
 solution is given, and to which God alone can give 
 the solution. 
 
 '20. Surely I come quickly — This may be 
 truly said to every person in every age ; Jesus the 
 Judge is at the door. Even so, come, Lord 
 
 if any man shall take away from the words of 
 the hook of this prophecy, 'God shall take 
 away his part '"out of the book of life, and 
 out of "the holy city, and from the things 
 which are written in this book. 20 He which 
 testifieth these things saith, "Surely 1 come 
 quickly: pAmen. 9 Even so. come. Lord .Te- 
 stis. 21 r The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ 
 be with yon all. Amen. 
 
 13. 8. mOr, from the. tree of life. a Chap. 21. 2. - 
 
 o Verse 12. p John 21. 25. q'l Tim. 4. 8. /• Rom. ltj. 
 
 24: 2Thess. 3. 18. 
 
 Jesus — The wish and desire of the suffering 
 Church, and of all the followers of God, who are 
 longing for the coming of his kingdom. [To re- 
 duce Christ's promised coming quickly to a simple 
 recognition of the brevity of life, is to present what 
 appears in its form as a special wanting to simply 
 a commonplace recognition of a universally con- 
 fessed truth.] 
 
 21. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ — 
 Instead of tt&vtw ifiuv, you all, the most excel- 
 lent MBS. and Versions have rem a)iuv, the saints, 
 which reading is now received as indisputably gen- 
 uine. Amen — So be it ! and so shall it be for ever 
 and ever. The opinion of Dr. Priestley concerning 
 the authenticity of this book, and the manner in 
 which it is written, should not be withheld from 
 either the learned or pious reader. " I think it im- 
 possible for any intelligent and candid person to 
 peruse this book without being struck in the most 
 forcible manner with the peculiar dignity and sub- 
 limity of its composition, superior to that of any 
 other writing whatever ; so as to be convinced 
 that, considering the age in which it appeared, none 
 but a person divinely inspired could have written 
 it. These prophecies are also written in such a 
 manner as to satisfy us that the events announced 
 to us were really foreseen, being described in 
 such a manner as no person writing without that 
 knowledge could have done. This requires such a 
 mixture of clearness and obscurity as has never yet 
 been imitated by any forgers of prophecy whatever. 
 Forgeries, written of course after the events, have 
 always been too plain. It is only in the Scrip- 
 tures, and especially in the book of Daniel and this 
 of the Revelation, that we find this happy mixture 
 of clearness and obscurity in the accounts of future 
 events." — Notes on Revelation. 
 
 Hating now brought my short notes on this very 
 obscure book to a conclusion, it may be expected 
 that although I do not adopt any of the theories 
 which have been delivered concerning it, yet I 
 should give the most plausible scheme of the an- 
 cients or moderns which has come to my knowl- 
 edge. This I would gladly do if I had any scheme 
 to which I could give a decided preference, but I 
 have not. Though I give the date of the book in 
 A. D. 95 or 96, I do so not following my own 
 opinion, but on the authority of others. I think 
 from internal evidence it was written before the 
 destruction of Jerusalem.] 
 
 633
 
 TRUTHS WHICH, ON CAREFULLY STUDYING THE SACRED WRIT- 
 INGS, I THINK I FIND REVEALED THERE. 
 
 1. That there is one uncreated, unoriginated, infi- 
 nite, and eternal Being ; the Creator, Preserver, and 
 Governor of all things. 
 
 2. That there is in this Infinite Essence a plurality 
 of what are commonly called persons, not separately 
 subsisting, but essentially belonging to the God- 
 head ; which persons are commonly termed Father, 
 Son, and Holy Ghost; or God, the Logos, and 
 the Holy Spirit : and these are generally named 
 the Trinity, which term, though not found in the 
 New Testament, seems sufficiently proper. 
 
 3. That the sacred Scriptures, or holy books 
 which form the Old and New Testaments, contain 
 a full revelation of the will of God in reference to 
 man ; and are alone sufficient for every thing rela- 
 tive to the faith and practice of a Christian ; and 
 that they were given by the inspiration of God. 
 
 4. That man was created in righteousness and 
 true hpliness, without any moral imperfection or 
 any kind of propensity to sin; but free to stand 
 or "fall. 
 
 5. That he fell from this state, became morally 
 corrupt in his nature, and has transmitted his moral 
 defilement to all his posterity. 
 
 6. That to counteract the evil principle, and 
 bring man into a salvable state, God, from his in- 
 finite love, formed the purpose of redeeming man 
 from his lost estate by Christ Jesus ; and that in the 
 interim he has sent his Holy Spirit to enlighten, 
 strive with, and convince men of sin, righteousness, 
 ami judgment. 
 
 7. That in due time the divine Logos, called 
 afterward Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, the 
 Saviour, etc., became incarnate, and sojourned 
 among men, teaching the purest truths, and work- 
 ing the most stupendous and beneficent miracles. 
 
 8. That this divine person, foretold by the 
 prophets and described by evangelists and apos- 
 tles, is really and properly God ; and has assigned 
 to him by the inspired writers every attribute es- 
 sential to the Deity; being one with Him who is 
 called God, Jehovah, etc. 
 
 0. That he is also perfect man in consequence of 
 his incarnation ; and that in that man or manhood 
 dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead bodily ; so 
 that his nature is twofold^divine and human, or 
 God manifested in the flesh. 
 
 10. That as he took upon him man's nature, so 
 he died for the whole human race, without respect 
 of persons; equally for all, and for every man. 
 
 11. That on the third day after his crucifixion 
 and burial he rose from the dead ; and after show- 
 ing himself many days to his disciples and others, 
 he ascended to heaven, where, as God manifest in 
 the flesh, he continues and shall continue to be the 
 Mediator of the human race, till the consummation 
 of all things. 
 
 12. That there is no salvation but through him ; 
 and that throughout the Scriptures his passion and 
 death are considered as sacrificial — pardon and 
 
 634 
 
 salvation being obtained by the shedding of his 
 blood. 
 
 13. That no human being since the fall either 
 has or can have merit or worthiness of or by him- 
 self, and therefore has nothing to claim from God 
 but in the way of his mercy through Christ ; there- 
 fore pardon, and every other blessing promised in 
 the Gospel, were purchased by his sacrificial death, 
 and are given to men, not on account of any thing 
 they have done or suffered, or can do or suffer, 
 but for his sake, that is through his merit alone. 
 
 14. That these blessings are received by faith, 
 and not of works or of sufferings. 
 
 15. That the power to belit ve, or the grace of faith, 
 is the free gift of God, without which none can be- 
 lieve ; but that the act of faith, or actual believ- 
 ing, is the act of the soul under the influence of 
 that power. But this power to believe, like all 
 other gifts of God, may be slighted, not used, or 
 misused ; in consequence of which is that declara- 
 tion, " He that believeth shall be saved ; but he 
 that believeth not shall be damned." 
 
 16. That justification, or the pardon of sin, is an 
 instantaneous act of God's-jntinite mercy in behalf 
 of a penitent soul trusting only in the merits of 
 Jesus Christ ; that this act is absolute in respect 
 of all past sin, all being forgiven where any is for- 
 given. 
 
 17. That the souls of all believers may be puri- 
 fied from all sin in this life; and that a man may 
 live under the continual influence of the grace of 
 Christ, without sinning against God, all evil tem- 
 pers and sinful propensities being destroyed, and 
 his heart filled with pure love both to God and man. 
 
 18. That unless a believer live and walk in the 
 spirit of obedience he will fall from the grace of 
 God, and forfeit all his Christian privileges and 
 rights ; in which state of backsliding he may per- 
 severe, and, if so, perish everlastingly. 
 
 19. That the whole period of human life is a 
 state of probation, in every part of which a sinner 
 may repent and turn to God, and in every part of 
 it a believer may give way to sin and fall from 
 grace ; and that this possibility of rising, and lia- 
 bility to falling, are essential to a state of trial or 
 probation. 
 
 20. That all the promises and threatenings of 
 the word of God are conditional, as they regard 
 man in reference to his being here and hereafter ; 
 and that only on this ground can the sacred writ- 
 ings be consistently interpreted or rightly under- 
 stood. 
 
 21. That man is a free agent, never being im- 
 pelled by any necessitating influence either to do 
 evil or good, but has it continually in his power to 
 choose the life or death that is set before him ; 
 therefore he is an accountable being, and right- 
 eously answerable for his own actions. 
 
 22. That his free will is a necessary constituent 
 of his rational soul, without which man would be a
 
 Truths Derived from the Sacred Writing*. 
 
 mere machine, either the sport of blind chance, or 
 the passive subject of an irresistible necessity ; and, 
 therefore, not justly accountable for his conduct. 
 
 23. That every human being has his freedom of 
 will, with a sufficiency of light and power to direct 
 its operations ; and that tins powerful light is not 
 inherent in any man's nature, but is graciously be- 
 stowed by Him who is the true Light that lightetb 
 every man that cometh into the world. 
 
 2-i. That as Christ has made, by his once offer- 
 in"; himself upon the cross, a sufficient sacrifice, 
 oblation, and satisfaction for the sins of the whole 
 world ; and that as his gracious Spirit strives with 
 and enlightens all men, thus putting them in a 
 salvable state; therefore every human soul will be 
 saved, except through his own fault. 
 
 25. That Jesus Christ has instituted, and com- 
 manded to be perpetuated in his Church, two sac- 
 raments: baptism (sprinkling, washing with, or 
 immersion in water) in the name of the holy and 
 ever blessed Trinity, as a sign of the cleansing and 
 regenerating influences of the Holy Ghost in token 
 of death unto sin, and a new birth unto right- 
 eousness ; and the eucharist, or Lord's supper, as 
 commemorating the sacrificial death of Christ. 
 That by the first, once administered, every person 
 may be initiated into the visible Church ; and by 
 the second, frequently administered, all believers 
 may be kept in mind of the foundation on which 
 their salvation is built, and receive grace to enable 
 them to adorn the doctrine of God their Saviour in 
 all things. 
 
 26. That the soul is immaterial and immortal, 
 and can subsist independently of the body. 
 
 27. That there will be a general resurrection of 
 the dead, both of the just and unjust ; that the 
 souls of both shall be reunited to their respective 
 bodies ; and that both will be immortal and live 
 eternally. 
 
 28. That there will be a clay of judgment, after 
 which all shall be punished or rewarded according 
 
 to the deeds done in the body; the wicked being 
 sent to hell, and the righteous taken into heaven. 
 
 29. That these states of reward and punishment 
 shall have no end, forasmuch as the time of proba- 
 tion or trial is forever terminated, and the succeed- 
 in- state must necessarily be fixed and unalter- 
 able. 
 
 30. That the origin of human salvation is found 
 in the infinite love of God to mankind; and that on 
 this principle the unconditional reprobation of any 
 soul is absolutely impossible. 
 
 Though no man is required to believe a doc- 
 trine that contradicts reason, he may safely credit 
 (in any thing that concerns the nature of God) 
 what is above his reason, and even this may be a 
 reason why he should believe it. I cannot com- 
 prehend the divine nature, therefore I adore it : if 
 I could comprehend I could not adore, forasmuch as 
 the nature or being which can be comprehended by 
 my mind must be less than that by which it is com- 
 prehended, and therefore unworthy of its homage. 
 The mote knowledge increases, the more we shall 
 see that reason and learning, sanctified by piety 
 toward God, are the best interpreters of the sacred 
 oracles. 
 
 Thou, who dwellest between the cherubim, 
 shine forth, and in thy light we shall see light ! 
 
 1 have but two words more to add at the conclu- 
 sion of this long and severe work ; one concerning 
 myself : 
 
 Like travellers, when they see their native soil, 
 Writers rejoice to terminate their toil. 
 
 And one to my readers : 
 
 My latest labour's end at length is gained, 
 My longest journey's welcome goal attained, 
 By God's assistance has the work been wrought, 
 By his direction to your dwellings brought. 
 Adam Clarke. 
 
 Millbrook, July 26, 1817. 
 
 635
 
 CHBONOLOGY OE SOME BEM ARK ABLE EVENTS 
 EXTENDING EBOM A. M. 3999 TO A. D. 100. 
 
 A.M. 
 3999 
 
 4000 
 
 40M1 
 
 4(H )2 
 
 400? 
 
 4007 
 
 4008 
 
 4010 
 4011 
 
 4012 
 
 4015 
 
 4016 
 4017 
 
 4018 
 
 4019 
 
 4021 
 
 4022 
 
 4023 
 4026 
 
 4030 
 
 B.C. 
 
 6 iTiberius (afterward emperor) is invested by Augustus with the tribunitian power for five 
 ; years ; and soon after he retired to Rhodes. 
 Miraculous conception of John Baptist. 
 5 Miraculous conception of Jesus Christ. 
 / Birth of John Baptist. 
 
 4;Jesus Christ, the Son of God, born of the Virgin Mary, at Bethlehem in Judea. 
 Wise men from the East come and worship the new-born King of the Jews. 
 
 3 Herod the Great, king of Judea, orders all the male children of Bethlehem and its vicinity, 
 under two years of age, to be put to death, in order to destroy Jesus Christ, who was 
 providentially carried into Egypt before this cruel edict was put into execution. 
 
 2 Death of Herod the Great, in the thirty-seventh year of his reign. He is succeeded by his 
 son, Archelaus. 
 A.D. 
 
 Augustus Cesar is called Dominus, Lord, by the people ; with which title he is displeased, and 
 
 publicly forbade it by an edict. 
 Augustus Cesar, who had, ten years before, been appointed to the government of the Roman 
 empire, has the same conferred upon him for ten years more. 
 
 4 Tiberius returns from Rhodes to Rome, and is adopted by Augustus. 
 Tiberius receives again the tribunitian power. 
 The temple of Janus, after it had been closed ever since B. C. 8, is opened again on account 
 
 of fresh disturbances in Germany. 
 Tiberius subdues the Caninetali, the Attuarii, the Bructeri, and the Cherusci, Germans, who 
 
 had revolted from the Romans. 
 Augustus, that he might raise a ta'x in Italy, accepts of the proconsular power. 
 6,The Jews and Samaritans complain to Augustus of the tyranny of Archelaus. 
 7 Archelaus, king of Judea, deposed ; and his dominions reduced to the form of a Roman 
 
 province, and annexed to Syria. 
 About this time Judas of Galilee arose, and drew away much people after him ; but he, and 
 
 as many as obeyed him, were dispersed. Acts v, 37. 
 Jesus Christ, twelve years of age, disputes with the doctors in the temple, who are astonished 
 
 at his understanding and answers. 
 
 11 Tiberius, in consequence of his very important services, is made by Augustus his colleague in 
 the empire, both in the civil and military government, August 28. 
 
 12 Imperial edict against diviners and astrologers. 
 
 13 Augustus Cesar is again appointed emperor for ten years longer, the last prorogation expiring 
 I the end of this year. 
 
 11 Death of Augustus Cesar, (in the consulship of Sextus Pompeius and Sextus Apuleius,) at 
 Nola, August 19, being seventy six years of age all but thirty-live days. 
 Tiberius Nero Cesar succeeds Augustus in the empire, August 19. 
 
 loAchaia and Macedonia become provinces to Cesar, having been governed before by procon- 
 suls. 
 
 17 Terrible earthquake in Asia, which overthrew twelve celebrated cities: among these was 
 Sardis, which suffered the most. 
 
 Death of Titus Livy, the historian, at Padua ; and of Ovid in his exile in Scythia. 
 
 18 The kingdoms of Cappadpcia and Commagena reduced into the form of Roman provinces. 
 Q. Varanius is made governor of the former, and Q. Servams of the latter. 
 
 19 Death of Germanicus. He is buried at Antioch. 
 22 Death of Junia, niece of Cato, sister of Brutus, and wife of Cassius. She had survived the 
 
 battle of Philippi sixty-three years. 
 26 John Baptist began to baptize in Judea about this time. 
 
 Pontius Pilate made governor of Judea, which office he held for ten years. 
 
 In the fifteenth year of the principality of Tiberius Cesar, which was the twelfth of his mon- 
 archy, Jesus Christ, thirty years of age, is baptized by John in Jordan, and enters upon his 
 public ministry. 
 
 4031 27 Great fire in Rome, which consumed all the quarter of Mount Coelius. 
 
 4032 28]John Baptist beheaded about this time, by order of Herod Antipas. 
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 CHRONOLOGY OF REMARKABLE EVENTS. 
 
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 The Jews, by the permission of Pontius Pilate, crucify Jesus Christ; who, on the third day 
 after his crucifixion, rises from the dead; and forty days after his resurrection ascends up 
 into heaven. 
 
 Miserable death of Judas the traitor. 
 
 Peter's sermon on the day of Pentecost, by means of which three thousand persons are con- 
 verted to Christianity. 
 
 Ananias and his wife Sapphira suddenly struck dead for their hypocrisy. 
 
 Death of Nero, eldest son of Germanieus. 
 
 Stephen stoned to death by the Jews. 
 
 A great persecution of the followers of Christ at Jerusalem takes place after the martyrdom 
 of Stephen. 
 
 An angel sends Philip to baptize the ^Ethiopian eunuch. 
 
 Conversion of Saul of Tarsus, afterward called Paul. 
 
 The number of the followers of Christ greatly increases. 
 
 At Lydda, Peter cures Eneas of the palsy ; and at Joppa, restores Tabitha to life. 
 
 Fire at Rome, which destroyed part of the circus, and the quarter of Mount Aventine. 
 
 Tiberius declares himself friendly to the Christians, and wishes to enrol Christ among the 
 gods; but is opposed by the senate 
 
 Death of Tiberius Nero Cesar, on the 16th or 26th of March, in the seventy-eighth year of 
 his age, after having reigned twenty-two years, six months, and twenty-six days, if we 
 reckon from the death of Augustus; and twenty-five years, six months, and fifteen davs 
 from the time when he was first associated in the empire with Augustus. He is succeeded 
 by Caius Caligula. 
 
 Disgrace and death of Pilate, governor of Judea. 
 
 The conversion of Cornelius, the centurion, happened about this time. 
 
 The Emperor Caligula slain on the fourth day of the Palatine games. He is succeeded by 
 his uncle, Claudius Cesar. 
 
 The followers of Jesus first called Christians at Antioch. 
 
 Claudius vanquishes the Britons in several battles, and at his return to Rome is honoured 
 with a triumph. 
 
 James, the brother of John, put to death by Herod. 
 
 An eclipse of the sun on the birthday of the Emperor Claudius. To prevent the supersti- 
 tious drawing thence any inauspicious omens concerning him, he caused notice to be posted 
 up some time before it happened, giving a physical explanation of the phenomenon. 
 
 The dreadful famine foretold by Agabus rages in Judea, Acts xi, 27, 28. 
 
 Secular games celebrated at Rome, in honour of the 800th year of Rome. 
 
 Claudius by a census is said to find 6,900,000 citizens in Rome. 
 
 The Gauls admitted into the senate, and to the dignities of the empire. 
 
 Herod Agrippa, king of the Jews, eaten up of worms: Acts xii, 23. 
 
 Seneca recalled from banishment, and made preceptor to Agrippa's son. 
 
 The Jews expelled Rome by Claudius. 
 
 Caractacus, the British king, is defeated, made prisoner, and carried to Rome. 
 
 Nero's marriage with Octavia. 
 
 Claudius Felix made governor of Judea in the room of Ventidius Cumanus. 
 
 Caius Tiberius Claudius Nero Cesar, the Roman emperor, poisoned by the Empress Agrip- 
 pina, after a reign of thirteen years, eight months, and twenty-one days; and is succeeded 
 in the empire by Xero Cesar, his wife's son. 
 
 Paul preaches at Athens. 
 
 Apollos, an eloquent man, and mighty in the Scriptures, preaches at Corinth, Acts xviii, 24. 
 
 Laodicea, one of the most famous cities in Asia, destroyed by an earthquake. 
 
 King Agrippa confers the high priesthood on Israel, the son of Phabius. 
 
 Death of Mark the evangelist. He is said to have been buried at Alexandria. 
 
 St. Paul sent in bonds to Rome. He is shipwrecked at Malta. 
 
 Nero puts his empress, Octavia, to death. 
 
 On the fifth of February, a violent earthquake happened in Campania, which destroyed a great 
 part of the city of Pompeii, at the foot of Mount Vesuvius, and did considerable damage 
 to Herculaneum. 
 
 James, the brother of our Lord, is, according to Eusebius, thrown down from a pinnacle of 
 the temple, and stoned; and a fuller, striking him on the head with a club, kills him. 
 
 Great tire in Rome, by which upward of two thirds of this great city was consumed. 
 
 Xero, charging the late conflagration of the city upon the Christians, persecutes them with 
 all manner of cruelties and torments. 
 
 The Jews revolt from the Romans, and pelt their governor, Floras, with stones, which begins 
 the first Jewish war. 
 
 Vespasian sent by Nero to make war against the Jews. 
 
 Disturbances in Cesarea between the Jews and the idolaters who inhabited that city. 
 
 Sedition in Jerusalem, occasioned by Floras. This may he considered the proper commence- 
 ment of the Jewish war. It, took place, according to Joscphus, on the sixteenth day of the 
 month Artemisius, which, according to Scaliger's calculation, corresponds to our J/"//. 
 
 The Jews of Cesarea slain, to the number of twenty thousand. 
 
 All Syria filled with slaughter by the battles between the Jews and the Syrians. 
 
 Jerusalem besieged by Caestius Gallus. 
 
 637
 
 CHRONOLOGY OF REMARKABLE EVENTS. 
 
 A.D. 
 
 gg The Christians leave Jerusalem, and fly to Pella in Coelosyria. 
 
 g- Vespasian invades Judea with an army of 60,000 men, and carries fire and sword wherever he 
 
 goes ; immense numbers of Jews are slain in the various sieges. 
 
 I St. Peter and St. Paul put to death about this time. 
 
 The Emperor Nero, on account of his great cruelty and injustice, is obliged to fly from Rome 
 
 to the house of Phaon, one of his freedmen, about four miles from Rome, where he kills 
 
 himself; upon which the senate declares Galba emperor. 
 
 69 Vespasian acknowledged emperor by a great part of Italy, and all the western provinces. 
 The capitol besieged and taken by Vitellius's soldiers. 
 The temple of Jupiter Capitolinus destroyed by fire. 
 Vitellius is killed, after a reign of eight months and a few days, and Vespasian succeeds him 
 
 in the empire. 
 
 70 Vespasian orders the capitol to be rebuilt, the first stone of which was laid on the 21st of June. 
 Titus, son of Vespasian, sent by the emperor to besiege Jerusalem. 
 The Jewish temple burnt, notwithstanding the endeavours of Titus to preserve it. 
 Jerusalem taken, Sept. 7, and destroyed by Titus, which ends the Jewish war. Josephus 
 
 reckons that not less than eleven hundred thousand persons perished in this siege, bv fire, 
 sword, misery, and famine. If to this number be added all that were killed in the several 
 battles fought out of Jerusalem, and in the taking of the several towns which the Romans 
 stormed, it will be found that the Jews lost, in the whole course of the war, one million 
 three hundred and fifty-seven thousand six hundred and sixty men. The number of pris- 
 oners during the war, according to the same historian, amounted to ninety-seven thousand 1 
 See on Matt, xxiv, 31. 
 
 71 Magnificent triumph of Vespasian for his victories over the Jews. 
 Peace being re-established in the world, the temple of Janus is shut. This is the sixth time 
 
 of its being. shut, according to Orosius. 
 
 74 Vespasian, who had made his son Titus his colleague in the censorship, celebrates with him 
 the ceremony of closing the lustrum ; and of numbering the Roman citizens. 
 
 75 Dedication of the temple of Peace. Vespasian places in it the golden vessels belonging to 
 the temple of Jerusalem, and a great number of the finest performances of the best painters 
 and sculptors. 
 
 Nero's colossus, erected by his order at the entrance of the golden palace, is dedicated to 
 Apollo, or the sun, by Vespasian. 
 70 Vespiixiuii dies, after a reign of nine years, eleven months, and twenty-four days; and is suc- 
 ceeded in the Roman empire by his son Titus. 
 
 Dreadful eruption of Mount Vesuvius, which devastated a considerable part of Campania. 
 
 Death of the elder Pliny, who was suffocated by the smoke and ashes from the mountain, 
 while employed in examining this dreadful phenomenon. 
 
 80 Terrible fire at Rome, which raged with great violence for three days and three nights. 
 Many of the public buildings were destroyed, among which were the Pantheon, the Oc- 
 tavian library, and the Capitol, which had not been long rebuilt. 
 
 Dedication of the amphitheater begun by Vespasian and finished by Titus. 
 
 81 Titus dies on Sept. 13, after a reign of two years, two months, and twenty days; and is suc- 
 ceeded in the Roman empire by his brother Domitian. 
 
 84 The fleet of Agricola sailed round Great Britain; before this circumnavigation was made the 
 
 Romans were not sure that Britain was an island. 
 S5 Domitian orders the nativity of all the great men in Rome to be cast ; and such as were 
 said to be born for empire, he destroyed. 
 Philosophers banished from Rome by Domitian. 
 86 Institution of the Capitoline games. 
 89 Domitian banished the astrologers from Rome. 
 
 91 Domitian changes the names of the months of September and October, and calls them Gcr- 
 manicus and Domitianus; which continued only during his life. 
 About this time the temple of Janus is again shut. 
 
 Cornelia, chief of the vestals, accused by the emperor of incontinence, is buried alive. 
 93 Death of Agricola, the governor of Britain, on the 23d of August, in the year when Collega 
 
 and Priscus were consuls. 
 95 Commencement of the second persecution against the Christians. 
 
 About this time St. John was thrown into a caldron of boiling oil, near the Latin gate at 
 Rome; but, being miraculously preserved, is afterward banished to Patmos, where he is 
 supposed to have written his Revelation some time in the course of this or the following year. 
 
 06 Domitian killed in his palace by Mime of his freedmen, after a tyrannical reign of fifteen 
 years and five days, lie was the last of the twelve Cesars, and is succeeded in the empire 
 by Nerva. 
 
 07 Trajan, who commanded the army in Lower Germany, adopted by Nerva. 
 98;Nerva dies, Jan. 21, after having reigned one year, four months, and eight days, and is suc- 
 
 ' ceeded in the empire by Trajan, a Spaniard. 
 99 Trajan, who was in Germany when he was proclaimed emperor, enters Rome without the 
 least parade. 
 100 Adrian, afterward emperor, married to Sabina, daughter of Trajan's nephew. 
 
 The death of St. John, the apostle and evangelist, is generally supposed to have happened 
 about this time. 
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