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(III.) THE COLLECTIONS FOR THE CHURCHES IN JUDEA.

VIII. 1-IX. 15.

THE subject of the first part of the Epistle is now concluded. He has expressed his satisfaction at the account of the Corinthian Church brought by Titus; and he now passes on to another topic distinct from the first, though to a certain degree connected with it.

In the close of the First Epistle1 he had given directions that the collection for the poor Christians in Judæa, which he had apparently ordered before, and the origin and purpose of which have been sufficiently described in the notes on that passage, should proceed as rapidly as possible, in order to be ready for his arrival. On his meeting with Titus he had learned that the collection was not yet completed; whilst, at the same time, his stay in Macedonia had impressed him with the greater zeal of the Churches in the north of Greece, although under greater difficulties from their inferiority in wealth and civilisation. Under these circumstances he had charged Titus to resume the mission which he had confided to him in the First Epistle (xvi. 11.), and to hasten the completion of the work; and he proceeds himself to urge upon them the same duty.

That this part of the Epistle, though more clearly connected with the first part (i.-vi.) than with the third part (x.-xiii.), is independent of both, appears from various points: 1. The plural, instead of the singular, first person is uniformly used, instead of the

1 1 Cor. xvi. 1—4.

mixture of the two which pervades the Chapters (vii. and x.) immediately preceding and succeeding. 2. The use of several words in a peculiar sense is peculiar to this Section, χάρις, εὐλογία, δικαιοσύνη, ἁπλότης. 3. The allusions to the prevailing topics of the two other portions are very slight.

The exhortation is enforced, first, by holding up to them the example of the Macedonian Churches (viii. 1—15.); then by describing the nature and purpose of the mission of Titus (viii. 16-23.); lastly, by suggestions as to the spirit in which the collection should be made (ix. 6-15.).

(1.) The Example of the Macedonian Churches.

VIII. 1-15.

MACEDONIA, as is well known, included, at that time, under four divisions, all the Roman province of Greece north of Thermopyla. The part, however, to which the Apostle here chiefly refers, must be that through which (Acts, xvi. xvii.) he had himself travelled, and which corresponded to the ancient kingdom of Macedonia, properly so called. By "the Churches" or "congregations" (Tais ixxλnolas) of Macedonia, he probably means those Christian congregations, of which one was to be found in each of the cities where he had preached; namely, Philippi1, Thessalonica 2, Beroa.3

Two points are noticed in these congregations: 1. Their extreme poverty (ἡ κατὰ βάθους πτώχεια, viii. 2. 3 Acts, xvii. 10.-15.

1 Acts, xvi. 12.-40. 2 Acts, xvii. 1.-9.

¿æèρ dúvaμı, viii. 3.). This poverty was probably shared by them in common with all other parts of Greece, except the two great Roman colonies of Patre and Corinth; of the latter especially since its revival by Julius. Cæsar. "The condition of Greece in the time of Augustus1 was one of great desolation and distress..... It had suffered severely by being the seat of the successive civil wars between Cæsar and Pompey, between the triumvirs and Brutus and Cassius, and lastly, between Augustus and Antonius. Besides, the country had never recovered the long series of miseries which had succeeded and accompanied its conquest by the Romans; and between those times and the civil contest between Pompey and Cæsar, it had been again exposed to all the evils of war when Sylla was disputing the possession of it with the general of Mithridates. . . . It was from a view of the once famous cities of the Saronic Gulf that Servius Sulpicius derived that lesson of patience with which he attempted to console Cicero for the loss of his daughter Tullia.2 Ætolia and Acarnania3 were barren wastes, and the soil was devoted to pasture for the rearing of horses. Thebes was hardly better than a village.1 Epirus was depopulated and occupied by Roman soldiers. Macedonia had lost the benefit of its mines, which the Roman government had appropriated to itself, and was suffering from the weight of its taxation . . . . . The provinces of Macedonia and Achaia7, when they petitioned for a dimunition of their burdens in the reign of Tiberius, were considered so deserving of compassion that they were transferred for a time from the juris

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1 Arnold's Roman Commonwealth, vol. ii. pp. 382–383.

2 Cic. ad Fam. iv. 5.

5 Strabo, vii. 7. § 3.

VOL. II.

3 Strabo, viii. 8. § 1.
Strabo, x. 5. § 3.

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4 Strabo, ix. 2. § 5.

7 Tac. Ann. i. 76.

diction of the senate to that of the Emperor [as involving less heavy taxation"].

2nd. Their extreme generosity. This agrees with what we hear of them elsewhere. In the Church of Thessalonica1 the Apostle's converts are warned against indiscriminate bounty, evidently from a fear lest they should fall into it. In the Church of Philippi, we hear of the contributions which they sent to support the Apostle both on his travels through Macedonia2, and afterwards by the hands of Epaphroditus, in his imprisonment at Rome. And in this Epistle1 he speaks of the support which was brought to him from Macedonia during his residence at Corinth; a circumstance which would impress on his Corinthian converts, in a livelier form, his present argument. It was probably the same feeling which caused some Macedonian Christians to give, not merely their money, but "themselves" to his service as constant companions.5 Such were Sopater, Secundus, and Aristarchus, of whom the last-named accompanied him to Rome.7 Such, in all probability, was the author of the Acts, who must have joined him from Philippi 8, and also accompanied him to Rome.9 Such was Epaphroditus, who "regarded not his life" in the Apostle's service.10 What renders the mention of these Macedonian converts more striking is their number, compared with the few who came from the Churches of Southern Greece, none of whom, except Sosthenes 11, appears as a permanent companion.

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Acts, xxvii. 2., xxviii. 16. Compare Col. iv. 14.; 2 Tim. iv. 11.

Phil. ii. 31.

11 1 Cor. i. 1.

V III. 1-15.

VIII. 1 Γνωρίζομεν δὲ ὑμῖν, ἀδελφοί, τὴν χάριν τοῦ Θεοῦ τὴν δεδομένην ἐν ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις τῆς Μακεδονίας, 2 ὅτι ἐν πολλῇ δοκιμῇ θλίψεως ἡ περισσεία τῆς χαρᾶς αὐτῶν καὶ ἡ κατὰ

VIII. 1. Γνωρίζομεν. See on 1 Cor. xv. 1.

dè may possibly be meant to make a contrast with the last clause of vii. 16., but more probably (see the general introduction to this Section) is meant merely as the opening of a new subject, as in 1 Cor. vii. 1., viii. 1., xv. 1.

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τὴν χάριν. This word is This word is used in these chapters (viii. 1. 4. 6. 7. 19., ix. 14.) as in 1 Cor. xvi. 3., in the peculiar sense of a "gift" or "contribution." In almost every other part of the New Testament it is used for "favour," "goodness," generally speaking of God; and the manner in which it is here introduced, "the favour of God" (Tv xáρw Tоû Jεov), shows that here also the two ideas are blended together.

Compare the use of εὐλογία in ix. 6.

Tηv dedoμévny, which has been given.

ἐν ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις. See p. 144.

2. The sense of what follows is clear. "Their poverty made their liberality more striking." The construction and the words are difficult. The construction may be either: (1.) to make

περισσεία and ἡ πτωχεία the nominative case to ἐπερίσσευσε, according to the regular order; or, (2.) to suppose an anacoluthon, in which he first expresses that their affliction was contrasted with their joy, and then that their poverty was contrasted with their wealth; so that the sentence should have been either ὅτι ἡ πολλὴ δοκίμη θλίψεως ἐπερίσσευσεν εἰς τὴν χαρὰν αὐτῶν, καὶ κ. τ. λ., or ἐν πολλῇ δοκ. θλίψ. ἡ περίσσ. τ. χαρᾶς αὐτῶν ἐγένετο καὶ ἐν τῇ κατὰ βαθ. πτωχείᾳ ἡ περισσεία του πλούτου, κ. τ. λ. This second interpretation seems preferable; the construction is not more abrupt than many others in these two chapters, and it suits the context.

Sokiμ, "trial," as in Rom. v. 4.: ἡ ὑπομονὴ δοκιμὴν κατεργάζεται.

ifis. The word most naturally indicates persecution ; and if so, might refer to some such persecutions as those which had taken place in those Churches five years before. Acts, xvi. 20., xvii. 5. 1 Thess. i. 6., ii. 14. But as the word of itself significs only "pressure," perhaps it may here be taken in the sense most conformable

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