PARAPHRASE VIII. 1-15.-" Now comes my task of announcing to you the goodness of God, which I found manifested in the goodness of the congregations of Macedonia. They were plunged in deep distress and poverty, but this only served to make them more anxious to show their cheerfulness and generosity. And not only so, but even beyond their power they contributed; and not only so, but it was voluntary, and at their own eager request that they gave, not only their money, but themselves to Christ and to us, to help the Christians elsewhere. The result of this was, that Ientreated Titus to return to Corinth and complete this sign of goodness in you, as well as those other good works and feelings which he had begun to promote in the visit from which he has just returned; and truly it becomes you who have such exuberance of other great gifts and signs of God's goodness to be exuberant in this also. "I do not command, I only advise it; because of the zeal which others have shown, and to prove the genuineness of your love to men for Christ's sake, acting to them as He acted to you, in exchanging riches for poverty in your behalf, that you, through His poverty, might enjoy His riches. I give nothing but advice; and this is in fact all that you need, for already in the past year, not only the act of your collection, but the eagerness with which you made it, was apparent; and all that you have to do is to complete the act, in order that the act may correspond to the eagerness of the intention. And even in the act, remember that it is to be proportioned to your means; for it is not the amount, but the intention which is regarded in a gift. This is so always; and in this case there is no wish that you should be heavily pressed for the relief of others. There must be a fair equality. If you contribute now, they must contribute afterwards; so that in your acts of liberality, the saying will be fulfilled which we read in the account of the manna gatherers, 'Much was not too much, and little was not too little."" Whatever general instruction may be gathered from this portion of the Epistle has been sufficiently expressed in the notes on viii. 9.; 1 Cor. xvi. 1. (2.) The Mission of Titus. VIII. 16-24. 16 Χάρις δὲ τῷ θεῷ τῷ διδόντι τὴν αὐτὴν σπουδὴν ὑπὲρ The Apostle had already sent Titus with one or more Christians from Ephesus, charged with the duty of communicating the First Epistle, and of stimulating the Corinthians in the matter of this contribution. (xii 18.; 1 Cor. xvi. 12.) He now sends him again with the Second Epistle; and whereas before the contribution had, in comparison of the greater interests at stake, been a secondary considera tion, it was now to be the chief object of his mission. With him he joins two other Christians, whose names are not mentioned, but who, for that very reason, we must suppose to be well known to the Corinthian Church, and, therefore to be, either one, or both, the same as he had sent before. τὸν ἀδελφόν, xii. 18. ; τῶν ἀδελφῶν, 1 Cor. xvi. 12.) Who they were it is now impossible to ascertain. As in the case of the authorship of the Epistle to the Hebrews, we can only say who they are not. They are subordinate to Titus; and, therefore, can hardly be any of the Apostle's more equal companions, Bar nabas, or Apollos, or Silas. They are distinguished from the Macedonian Christians (ix. 4.); and, therefore, cannot be Aristarchus, Sopater, or Secundus (Acts, xx. 4.), or Epaphroditus (Phil. ii. 30.), or (if the view be correct which supposes the author of the Acts to have joined him from Philippi, Acts, xvi. 10. 40.), St. Luke. If it were worth while to hazard a conjecture, it would be that one of the two may have been Trophimus. Trophimus (see Acts, xxi. 29.) was, like Titus, one of the few Gentiles who accompanied the Apostle; an Ephesian, and therefore likely to have been sent by the Apostle from Ephesus, with the First Epistle, or to have accompanied him from Ephesus now; he was, as is implied of "this brother," "whose praise was in all the Churches," well known; so well known that the Jews of Asia Minor at Jerusalem, immediately recognised him; he was also especially connected with the Apostle on this very mission of the collection for the poor ὑμῶν ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ Τίτου, 17ὅτι τὴν μὲν παράκλησιν ἐδέξατο, σπουδαιότερος δὲ ὑπάρχων αὐθαίρετος ἐξῆλθεν πρὸς ὑμᾶς. in Judæa, for it was on that mission that the Apostle brought him to Jerusalem with him, and was seen "in the city with him." Thus far would appear from the description of himin Acts xxi. 29. From Acts xx. 4. it also appears that he was with St. Paul on his return from this very visit to Corinth.* And the mention in this last passage of his of his companion, might further suggest that the other nameless "brother” in viii. 22., was Tychicus. He also was an Ephesian (Acts xx. 4.; "of Asia,"2 Tim. iv. 12.; Eph. vi. 21. "sent to Ephesus.") He is mentioned amongst the few names which occur in the Epistle to Titus (iii. 12.) The manner in which he is spoken of in Eph. vi. 12.; Col. iv. 7. as "a beloved brother," "faithful minister and fellowservant in the Lord," "knowing the Apostle's affairs," agrees well with the language here used concerning the third messenger, so far as concerns his relations to the Apostle "our brother, whom we have oftentimes proved earnest in many things" (viii. 22.). These three men, he now proceeds to commend to their attention-Titus, merely by expressing his own confidence in him, the other two more formally. Though they must apparently have been known to the Corinthians, they had not been specially commended before for for this particular mission. He begins by expressing his gratitude to God, for the earnestness of Titus, in this particular matter, as he had before for his earnestness in behalf of the Corinthian Church generally, ii. 14.; vii. 6. 7. 15. 16. T@ SidoUTI, "who is giving," as though the Apostle saw before his eyes the working of Titus's eagerness. τὴν αὐτὴν σπουδὴν ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν, "the same earnestness in your behalf that I feel myself, and that I have just expressed" (in verses 8-15.). ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ Τίτου. Not merely in the words or deeds, but in the very heart of Titus." The word (not yet familiarised by use) is probably always to be taken in an emphatic sense in these Epistles. 17. ὅτι τὴν μὲν παράκλησιν ἐδέξατο, σπουδαιότερος δέ. “ Inasmuch as, whilst he did indeed receive the charge from me, yet he was more earnest of himself to go.” παράκλησιν. Properly" eager exhortation,' see viii. 6. σπουδαιότερος, either: (1.) more earnest than myself," or (2.) "more earnest than he Since writing the above, I observe that the same conjecture occurs in Mr. Lewin's Life of St. Paul, p. 465. 18 συνεπέμψαμεν δὲ μετ ̓ αὐτοῦ τὸν ἀδελφόν, οὗ ὁ ἔπαινος ἐν τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ διὰ πασῶν τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν 19 (οὐ μόνον δέ, 66 was before," or (3.) very earnest," like deloidalμoveσTÉpous, in Acts, xvii. 22. ὑπάρχων, instead of ὤν, expresses that this was the cause of his departure. "Because he was already so earnest, before I entreated him." See xii. 16., ὑπάρχων πανοῦργος. The avlaíperos. See on viii. 3. ἐξῆλθεν, “ left the province of Macedonia for that of Achaia." The word, when used absolutely, seems always to have an emphatic meaning of this kind. See ii. 13. tense used here and throughout this passage, σUVETTÉμaμεv, πεμa, would naturally imply that the events described had taken place before the Apostle wrote. But the whole strain of the passage so clearly indicates a present mission, that the past tense must be ascribed to the forms of ancient epistolary communication, according to which the events are represented in the light in which they will appear to the persons who receive the letter; as though he said, "You will find that Titus departed," &c. 18. συνεπέμψαμεν δὲ μετ' αὐτ τοῦ. The phrase μετ' αὐτοῦ is, properly speaking, superfluous. It is like saying, "We sent him with Titus as his companion.' For the person here meant see viii. 16. τὸν ἀδελφόν, « the brother whom you know," so xii. 18., where probably the same person is meant. 66 οὗ ὁ ἔπαινος, “ who has his praise." Comp. 1 Cor. iv. 5.; Rom. iv. 29. ἐν τῷ εὐαγγελίω, "in the preaching," or "the sphere of the glad tidings of Christ," like v XPLOTO. So x. 14.; Phil. vi. 3.; 1 Thess. iii. 2. διὰ πασῶν τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν, through the whole range of congregations through which I have passed." Compare "the care of all the Churches," xi. 28. These words are applied to St. Luke, in the longer version of the Ignatian Epistles, and by Jerome, in his commentary on the Epistle to Philemon, and his catalogue of "Illustrious Men," alluding expressly to the written Gospel. But this is a clear misunderstanding of the words ἐν τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ, aud only worth recording as such. The error was first pointed out by Grotius. 19. οὐ μόνον δέ. " And not où only is he generally praised (for the abrupt construction compare viii. 5.; Rom. ix. 10.), "but he was specially selected for the very purpose of the contribution." χειροτονηθείς. χειροτονεῖν in classical Greek is properly" to vote by show of hands," then "to elect by show of hands," Ως χειροτονεῖν τινα στράτηγον, Xen. Hell. vi. 2. 11., and |