όμενος θεάσασθαι ὑμᾶς, καὶ ὑφ ̓ ὑμῶν προπεμφθῆναι ἐκεῖ, ἐὰν ὑμῶν πρῶτον ἀπὸ μέρους ἐμπλησθῶ. 25 * Νυνὶ δὲ πορεύομαι εἰς Ἱερουσαλὴμ διακονῶν τοῖς ἁγίοις. a · Εὐδόκησαν y Acts 19. 21. & 24. 17. τίω 16 1 2 Cor. 8. 1, &c. & 9. 2, Gal. 2. 9, a ch. 11. 17. γὰρ Μακεδονία καὶ ̓Αχαΐα κοινωνίαν τινὰ ποιήσασθαι εἰς τοὺς πτωχοὺς τῶν ἁγίων τῶν ἐν Ἱερουσαλήμ. 27 * εὐδόκησαν γὰρ, καὶ ὀφειλέται εἰσὶν αὐτῶν, εἰ γὰρ ἅ 31.10. τοῖς πνευματικοῖς αὐτῶν ἐκοινώνησαν τὰ ἔθνη, ὀφείλουσι καὶ ἐν τοῖς σαρκικοῖς λειτουργῆσαι αὐτοῖς. b Gal. 6. 6. 28 » Τοῦτο οὖν ἐπιτελέσας, καὶ σφραγισάμενος αὐτοῖς τὸν καρπὸν τοῦτον, b Phil. 4.17. ἀπελεύσομαι δι ̓ ὑμῶν εἰς τὴν Σπανίαν. 29 € Οἶδα δὲ ὅτι ἐρχόμενος πρὸς ὑμᾶς geh. 11, 12. ἐν πληρώματι εὐλογίας Χριστοῦ ἐλεύσομαι. d e c 1. Ps. 16. 14. Phil. 2. 1. e 2 Thess. 3. 2. f Acts 18. 21. 30 4 Παρακαλῶ δὲ ὑμᾶς, ἀδελφοὶ, διὰ τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, καὶ 420.1.11. διὰ τῆς ἀγάπης τοῦ Πνεύματος, συναγωνίσασθαί μοι ἐν ταῖς προσευχαῖς ὑπὲρ ἐμοῦ πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν, 1 ο ἵνα ῥυσθῶ ἀπὸ τῶν ἀπειθούντων ἐν τῇ Ἰουδαίᾳ, καὶ ἵνα ἡ διακονία μου ἡ εἰς Ἱερουσαλὴμ εὐπρόσδεκτος γένηται τοῖς ἁγίοις· 32 ἵνα ἐν χαρᾷ ἔλθω πρὸς ὑμᾶς διὰ θελήματος Θεοῦ, καὶ συναναπαύσωμαι ὑμῖν. 33 5 ̔Ο δὲ Θεὸς τῆς εἰρήνης μετὰ πάντων ὑμῶν· ἀμήν. f ch. 1. 10. James 4. 15. g ch. 16. 20. 2 Cor. 13. 11. Phil. 4. 9. 1 Thess. 5. 23. XVI. 1 Συνίστημι δὲ ὑμῖν Φοίβην τὴν ἀδελφὴν ἡμῶν, οὖσαν διάκονον τῆς 20 Clemens Romanus, his contemporary, and a writer who appears to have been in possession of knowledge of St. Paul, derived to him from opportunities of his own, expressly affirms that his travels extended to the limits of the West, a phrase by no means applicable to Rome, particularly when used by one who was dwelling at Rome at the moment, but quite applicable to Spain, the like being expressly found in several authors in direct relation to that country (Pearson, Minor Theolog. Works, ii. 361), and both Chrysostom and Theodoret asserting, without any hesitation, in so many words, that to Spain the Apostle went after his imprisonment at Rome (Ibid. i. 392). Certain it is that Spain was amongst the nations which received the Gospel the earliest. It had its Churches, and what is more, it had long had its Churches in the time of Irenæus, for he not only refers to them, but refers to them as channels of the primitive ecclesiastical tradition, which proved the doctrine of the Church to be opposed to that which the heretics, against whom he was disputing, claimed for orthodox (Irenæus, i. c. 10, § 2). All this is very consistent with St. Paul's visit to that country. (Blunt.) Besides, the ancient Canon Muratorianus, written in the second century, mentions the "journey of Paul setting forth from the city (of Rome) for Spain." See also Neander, Geschichte u. Pflanzung, p. 265. Guerike, Handbuch, p. 52. Hug, Einleitung, and Olshausen, Studien, 1838, pp. 957-7, quoted by Jacobson in Clem. R. p. 28, and the note below on Hebrews xiii. 24. After Σπανίαν Elz. adds ἐλεύσομαι πρὸς ὑμᾶς, which is not in A, B, C, D, E, F, G. The clause ἐλπίζω-ἐμπλησθῶ is inserted parenthetically; and the thread of the sentence is taken up again after ἐμπλησθῶ at νυνὶ δὲ πορεύομαι εἰς Ἱερουσαλήμ, and the sense is,-I hope one day to set out (πορεύεσθαι) for Spain, and then to see you in my way thither, but now I am setting out in an opposite direction, namely, to Jerusalem. ὑφ ̓ ὑμῶν] Β, D, E, F, G have ἀφ ̓ ὑμῶν. ἀπὸ μέρους] in part; for such is my love, and vehement desire, felt for many years (v. 23), of seeing you, that I cannot fully satisfy it, by visit in transitu." This desire also was fulfilled, for he remained at Rome two years. (Acts xxviii. 30.) 25. Νυνὶ δὲ πορεύομαι εἰς Ἱερουσαλήμ] But now I am setting out for Jerusalem. At the end of his second visit to Achaia, from which he went by way of Macedonia to Miletus, and so to Cæsarea and Jerusalem. See Acts xx. 217; xxi. 1–17; xxiv. 17-19. 1 Cor. xvi. 1-4. 2 Cor. viii. 1—4. From these words it appears that both the Epistles to the Corinthians were written before that to the Romans. Origen. Cp. Paley, H. P. p. 8-12. The Apostle mentions this circumstance of the collection of alms made in Macedonia and Achaia for the poor Jewish Christians, in order to show that he practised what he preached. He had been exhorting the Gentile Christians to manifest their love for the Jewish Christians; he was himself going with alms from Gentile Christians to the poor Jewish Christians at Jerusalem. He was going διακονεῖν αὐτοῖς. (See also v. 31, διακονία.) He, the Apostle of the Gentile World, would do the work of a servant to them. VOL. II.PART III. The incident here mentioned, that he was now on the point of setting out for Jerusalem, confirms the opinion that this Epistle was written at the close of his stay in Achaia, and probably at Cenchrea, the eastern harbour of Corinth. See xvi. 1. 26. κοινωνίαν] contribution. κοινωνία, ἡ ἐλεημοσύνη, Phavorin. See above Gal. vi. 6. Rom. xii. 13, ταῖς χρείαις τῶν ἁγίων κοινωνοῦντες. Phil. i. 5 ; iv. 15. 27. ὀφειλέται] Macedonia and Achaia. Gentile countries are debtors to Jerusalem, for they have been admitted to partake in her spiritual privileges, and they owe in return a communion of their own carnal things. A tacit exhortation to the Gentile Christians at Rome. "Dum Corinthios laudat, hortatur Romanos." Origen. 28. σφραγισάμενος τ. καρπόν] Fruits, such as olives and grapes, when the vintage was come, and the work of their collection was finished, and the process of their manufacture into oil and wine was completed, were consigned to amphora, &c., which were sealed for safety. See Mitscherlich on Hor. Od. iii. 8, 10. The sense therefore is-When I have gathered in, and stored, and secured, and sealed up for them this fruit-this harvest or vintage of Christian Charity. 29. εὐλογίας] Elz. inserts τοῦ εὐαγγελίου τοῦ not in the best MSS. 30. συναγωνίσασθαι] to strive together with me in your prayers. For he who prays, fights. Moses praying on the hill, and Joshua fighting in the plain, were fellow-combatants against the Amalekites, and the prayer of Moses was a more powerful weapon than the sword of Joshua. (Exod. xvii. 11.) 31. ἵνα ῥυσθῶ ἀπὸ τῶν ἀπειθούντων ἐν τῇ Ἰουδαία] in order that I may be delivered from the disobedient in Judæa. Spoken prophetically; he was arrested by them, even when he was engaged in this charitable work, of "bringing alms to his nation" (Acts xxiv. 17), but he was delivered by the heathen power of Rome out of their hands. (Acts xxi. 27-34.) CH. XVI. 1. Φοίβην—διάκονον-Κεγχρεαῖς] Phabe, a deaconess of the Church at Cenchrea, is described in the Subscription to the Epistle, also in the Syr. and Lat. Versions, as the bearer of the Epistle. Cp. Origen. Chrys. On the office of Deaconesses, see Acts xviii. 18. 1 Cor. i. 11. 1 Tim. iii. 11, and the words of Pliny in his Epistle to Trajan, x. 9, where he speaks of the "ancillæ quæ ministræ vocabantur," in the Christian congregations; and the authorities in Basnage i. p. 451, Bingham II. xxii., and the special treatise of Ziegler, de Diaconis et Diaconissis, Witteberg, 1678. M M a 3 John 6. Phil. 2. 29. b Acts 10. 26. & 18. 2, 26. 2 Tim. 4. 19. c Col. 4. 15. a ἐκκλησίας τῆς ἐν Κεγχρεαῖς, 2 * ἵνα αὐτὴν προσδέξησθε ἐν Κυρίῳ ἀξίως τῶν ἁγίων, καὶ παραστῆτε αὐτῇ ἐν ᾧ ἂν ὑμῶν χρήζῃ πράγματι· καὶ γὰρ αὐτὴ προστάτις πολλῶν ἐγενήθη, καὶ αὐτοῦ ἐμοῦ. Ασπάσασθε Πρίσκαν καὶ ̓Ακύλαν τοὺς συνεργούς μου ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ, 4 οἵτινες ὑπὲρ τῆς ψυχῆς μου τὸν ἑαυτῶν τράχηλον ὑπέθηκαν, οἷς οὐκ ἐγὼ μόνος 6 kaì ε 1 Cor. 16. 15, 19. εὐχαριστῶ, ἀλλὰ καὶ πᾶσαι αἱ ἐκκλησίαι τῶν ἐθνῶν, 5° καὶ τὴν κατ ̓ οἶκον αὐτῶν ἐκκλησίαν. Ασπάσασθε Επαίνετον τὸν ἀγαπητόν μου, ὅς ἐστιν ἀπαρχὴ τῆς ̓Ασίας εἰς Χριστόν· ὁ ἀσπάσασθε Μαριάμ, ἥτις πολλὰ ἐκοπίασεν εἰς ἡμᾶς· 7 ἀσπάσασθε Ανδρόνικον καὶ Ἰουνίαν, τοὺς συγγενεῖς μου καὶ συναιχμαλώτους μου, οἵτινές εἰσιν ἐπίσημοι ἐν τοῖς ἀποστόλοις, οἳ καὶ πρὸ ἐμοῦ γεγόνασιν ἐν Χριστῷ· 8 ἀσπάσασθε ̓Αμπλίαν τὸν ἀγαπητόν μου ἐν Κυρίῳ· 9 ἀσπάσασθε Οὐρβανὸν τὸν συνεργὸν ἡμῶν ἐν Χριστῷ, καὶ Στάχυν τὸν ἀγαπητόν μου KeyXpeaîs] Cenchreæ. Kúμŋ kal λiμýv (Strabo viii. p. 380). The Eastern harbour of Corinth, 70 stadia from that city. See Col. Leake's Morea, iii. 232-237. Perhaps the Epistle was written at this port of Corinth, Cenchrea, when St. Paul was about to set out from Achaia to Northern Greece. He wrote the Epistle when he was about to leave Achaia (see xv. 23. 25), and Phoebe, a deaconess of Cenchreæ, seems to have been the bearer of the Epistle. See on v. 1. Had he written it from the city of Corinth itself, probably he would have sent it by some one of that great commercial city, where he had many friends. In Acts xviii. 18, we see him at Cenchreæ, showing his charity for the Jewish Christians, when he was about to leave Achaia, after his first visit to Corinth, and was going to Jerusalem; and now, perhaps, after his second visit to it, when on the eve of quitting Achaia, on his way toward Jerusalem, he performs another act of Apostolic charity to the Jewish and Gentile Christians, by writing this Epistle at Cenchreæ. 2. Kal yap auth] for she herself also (not avтn), a reason for her friendly reception. 3. Ασπάσασθε] Salute. No less than thirty persons are saluted by name here (vv. 3—13). It is remarkable that St. Paul should have had so many friends in a city which he had never visited (i. 13), and that he sends so many greetings in this Epistle. This fact is to be explained partly by the character of the great city to which he is writing, and to which, as to a common centre, persons flocked from all parts of the world. Cp. Juvenal (iii. 61, 62), calling Rome" Græcam urbem." Partly it is due to the character of the Apostle himself, who had now preached the Gospel through Syria, Asia Minor, Macedonia, and Achaia, and whose name had become familiar, by his preaching and by his Epistles, to a large part of the civilized world. This proof of the connexion of the Apostle St. Paul with so many persons dwelling in a city which he had never visited, opens out to us a view of the silent workings of the Gospel, by which it gradually leavened the world. Not by any violent effort, or sudden eruption, but by an almost imperceptible growth, the mustard seed of the Gospel put forth its leaves and branches, and became a great tree, and overshadowed the world. (Matt. xiii. 31. Luke xiii. 19.) Πρίσκαν] So the best MSS. Elz. Πρίσκιλλαν. καὶ ̓Ακύλαν—ὑπέθηκαν] He begins with salutations to Jewish Christians; At the same time, he puts Priscilla's name before her husband's, showing to them of the Circumcision that in Christ Jesus there is neither male nor female (Gal. iii. 18). See also above on Acts xviii. 28. Aquila and Priscilla had been driven from Rome, with the Jews, by the edict of the Emperor Claudius (Acts xviii. 2), but now had been allowed to return, "edicti cessante sævitiâ" (Origen). The names of Aquila and Priscilla were most likely to suggest themselves to the Apostle, writing from Achaia (see Acts xviii. 2), where he had laboured together with them. They had accompanied him to Ephesus; and it is probable that in the tumult there, as well as previously at Corinth, they had "laid down their necks for his sake." See Acts xviii. 16. 18; xix. 24-30. 1 Cor. xvi. 19. Origen. Paley, H. P. p. 16, 17. 252, with the additions of Mr. Birks. As Paley has observed (p. 17), Aquila and Priscilla were Jews by birth, but had boldly taken part with St. Paul and the Gentile Christians, and were specially entitled to the love of all the Gentile Churches. 5. τὴν κατ ̓ οἶκον αὐτῶν ἐκκλησίαν] The Church which as sembles for worship at their house. See v. 5, and note below on Philemon 2. 'EnaiveTov-'Aolas] Epænetus, the firstfruits of Asia. 'Arias] So the best MSS., not 'Axaías. Cp. 1 Cor. xvi. 15, where Stephanas is called the ἀπαρχὴ ̓Αχαίας. The name of Epænetus, the firstfruits of Asia, is naturally combined with that of Aquila and Priscilla, who had laboured with the Apostle in Asia. On the accentuation of 'Eraíveтos, see above on Acts xx. 4. 7. σvvaιxμаxúтous μov] my fellow captives; in some of his imprisonments, not recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, but referred to 2 Cor. xi. 23, èv quλаKаîs TEρIσσоTépws: and Clement of Rome (ad Corinth. 5) says that St. Paul was imprisoned seven times. ἐπίσημοι ἐν τοῖς ἀποστόλοις] Οf good reputation among the Apostles, that is, "coram eis et apud eos." See Fritz., Meyer, De Wette, Philippi. Сp. πionμos èv Bpoτoîs, Eurip. Hippol. 103, and Ellicott on Gal. i. 1. Not that the persons here mentioned were themselves Apostles (see above on 1 Cor. xv. 7. 2 Cor. viii. 23). But St. Paul specifies this circumstance in order to show the Jewish Christians, that his own kinsmen (cp. v. 21, and above, ix. 3) and fellow-prisoners were distinguished as persons of mark by the other Apostles, e. g. Peter, James, and John; and he thus indirectly declares the Christian communion and harmony of faith and love which subsisted between the other Apostles and himself, the last of their body,-the Benjamin of the Apostolic company, born in Christ not only after them, but after some of his own kinsmen who were not Apostles. See 1 Cor. xv. 8. 8, 9. ̓Αμπλίαν—Ουρβανόν] Amplius and Urbanus, two of the few Latin names among these members of the Church of Rome. The only other such names are Priscilla, Aquila (v. 3), Junia (v. 7), Rufus (v. 13), and Julia (v. 15). The other names are of Greek origin, and probably, for the most part, of a lower class, such as freedmen and slaves. 9. ἐν Χριστῷ] So v. 2, προσδέξησθε ἐν Κυρίῳ: v. 8, ἀγαπητόν μου ἐν Κυρίῳ : υ. 9, συνεργὸν ἐν Χριστῷ : υ. 10, δόκιμον ἐν Χριστῷ : υ. 11, τοὺς ὄντας ἐν Κυρίῳ: v. 12, τὰς κοπιώσας ἐν Κυρίῳ ἐκοπίασεν ἐν Κυρίῳ: v. 13, τὸν ἐκλεκτὸν ἐν Κυρίῳ. This frequent reiteration of these words, "in the Lord," applied to different persons and acts, brings out with force the doctrine, (1) That all Christians, whether men or women, are members of one body in Christ. (2) That all that is done and suffered by them, is to be done and suffered in the Lord; that is, for His glory, according to His will, and in reliance on His grace. See below, v. 22. (3) That St. Paul, and the Ministers of Christ who are followers of St. Paul, do not labour for themselves, but for the Lord; do not preach themselves, but Christ. (4) That He is Head over all things to His Church. (5) The non-occurrence of the name of St. Peter in this Epistle to the Church of Rome, and particularly its absence from this part of it, seems to be conclusive against the fundamental assertion of the present Church of Rome, that in order to be in Christ and in the Lord, it is necessary to be united to those who call themselves successors of St. Peter; and that all the grace, which flows from Christ, is derived through St. Peter, and through those who claim to be his successors, the Bishops of Rome, as Supreme, Visible, Heads and Lords of the Church, and Vicars of Christ upon earth. d 10 ἀσπάσασθε ̓Απελλὴν τὸν δόκιμον ἐν Χριστῷ· ἀσπάσασθε τοὺς ἐκ τῶν ̓Αριστοβούλου· 11 ἀσπάσασθε Ἡρωδίωνα τὸν συγγενῆ μου· ἀσπάσασθε τοὺς ἐκ τῶν Ναρκίσσου τοὺς ὄντας ἐν Κυρίῳ· 12 ἀσπάσασθε Τρύφαιναν καὶ Τρυφῶσαν τὰς κοπιώσας ἐν Κυρίῳ· ἀσπάσασθε Περσίδα τὴν ἀγαπητὴν, ἥτις πολλὰ ἐκοπίασεν ἐν Κυρίῳ· 13 4 ἀσπάσασθε Ροῦφον τὸν ἐκλεκτὸν ἐν Κυρίῳ, καὶ τὴν μητέρα & Mark 15. 21. αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐμοῦ· 14 ἀσπάσασθε ̓Ασύγκριτον, Φλέγοντα, Ερμήν, Πατρόβαν, Ερμᾶν, καὶ τοὺς σὺν αὐτοῖς ἀδελφούς· 15 ἀσπάσασθε Φιλόλογον καὶ Ἰουλίαν, Νηρέα καὶ τὴν ἀδελφὴν αὐτοῦ, καὶ Ὀλυμπᾶν, καὶ τοὺς σὺν αὐτοῖς πάντας ἁγίους. 16 Ασπάσασθε ἀλλήλους ἐν φιλήματι ἁγίῳ. Ασπάζονται ὑμᾶς αἱ ἐκκλησίαι πᾶσαι τοῦ Χριστοῦ. 17 ' Παρακαλῶ δὲ ὑμᾶς, ἀδελφοὶ, σκοπεῖν τοὺς τὰς διχοστασίας καὶ τὰ σκάνδαλα παρὰ τὴν διδαχὴν ἣν ὑμεῖς ἐμάθετε ποιοῦντας, καὶ ἐκκλίνατε ἀπ' αὐτῶν· 18 8 οἱ γὰρ τοιοῦτοι τῷ Κυρίῳ ἡμῶν Χριστῷ οὐ δουλεύουσιν, ἀλλὰ τῇ ἑαυτῶν κοιλίᾳ, καὶ διὰ τῆς χρηστολογίας καὶ εὐλογίας ἐξαπατῶσι τὰς καρδίας τῶν ἀκάκων· 19 * ἡ γὰρ ὑμῶν ὑπακοὴ εἰς πάντας ἀφίκετο· ἐφ' ὑμῖν οὖν χαίρω, θέλω δὲ ὑμᾶς σοφοὺς μὲν εἶναι εἰς τὸ ἀγαθὸν, ἀκεραίους δὲ εἰς τὸ κακόν. e 1 Cor. 16. 20. 12 Thess. 3. 6, 14. 1 Tim. 6. 3. Tit. 3. 10. 5, 6. g Phil. 3. 18, 19. η Μatt. 10. 16. ch. 1. 8. 1 Cor. 14. 20. 20 1'Ο δὲ Θεὸς τῆς εἰρήνης συντρίψει τὸν Σατανᾶν ὑπὸ τοὺς πόδας ὑμῶν ἐν i Gen. 3. 15. τάχει. Η χάρις τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ μεθ' ὑμῶν. 10. ̓Απελλήν] Cp. Hor. Serm. i. v. 100, “ credat Judaeus Apella," a name used by Horace, for an obvious reason, in ridicule, but not disdained by St. Paul, who adds, τὸν δόκιμον ἐν Χριστῷ, the approved in Christ, who has given him the true circumcision of the Spirit. 11. Νάρκισσος] Not the freedman of the Emperor Claudius (Suet. Claud. 28), for he had been put to death by Nero, A.D. 54, i. e. before the date of this letter; but perhaps a freedman of Nero. Dio lxiv. 3. 12. Τρύφαιναν] Tryphena. On this, and other names in this list, see Lightfoot, Journal of Class. Phil. x. 57, and Merivale, vi. p. 260, and note on Phil. iv. 22. 13. τὸν ἐκλεκτὸν ἐν Κυρίῳ] the elect in the Lord. Another proof that St. Paul does not use the word elect to designate a person who can be known by men, as one who will finally persevere, and certainly be saved. Almighty God knows who will persevere and be saved; but men have not this foreknowledge concerning themselves or others; and Christian Charity, which "hopeth all things," will suppose every one to be elect in the Lord, whom the Lord has graciously called into His Church, and has plentifully supplied with the means of everlasting salvation, and who is adorning the Christian profession of a sound faith with the good fruits of a holy life. See above on viii. 30. 14. Ἑρμῆν — Ἑρμαν] This is the order in the best MSS. Elz. puts Ερμᾶν first. Cp. v. 1 Φοίβην, v. 15 Νηρέα. Hence it would appear that the Gentile Christians at Rome did not scruple to retain names, though derived from heathen deities (Phabe, Nereus, Hermes). And one of these names (Hermas) was retained by the writer of the Ecclesiastical book entitled the Ποιμήν, or Shepherd, still extant-whom Origen and others suppose to be the Hermas here mentioned by St. Paul. But this is not probable, for the Author of that book was brother of Pius, Bishop of Rome, A.D. 150 (Canon Muratorian.). Every thing was to be appropriated and consecrated by Christianity. Heathen Temples and Basilicas were to become Christian Churches. A Phoebe (the name of Diana) is a Deaconess of the Church, and a bearer of the Epistle of St. Paul to the Christians at Rome. The names Nereus and Hermes are christianized. The ship called Castor and Pollux brings the Apostle to Rome. See on Acts xxviii. 11. How striking is the contrast between Tryphæna and Tryphosa, with their sensuous meaning and voluptuous sound, and the sterner words that follow, τὰς κοπιώσας ἐν Κυρίῳ, labouring in the Lord ! This is a consideration which may serve to remove the scruples of those who cannot prevail on themselves to conform to the common use of the names of the Months of the Year or Days of the Week, because they are derived from Heathen deities or men. Rather, these names, like the appellations in this chapter, have their appropriate uses, as mementos of the sin and misery from which the world has now been delivered, and of the blessings it enjoys under the Gospel. 16. ἐν φιλήματι ἁγίῳ] a holy kiss ; specially given in the Church at the Holy Eucharist. See Origen here, and Justin. Apol. ii. p. 97. Athenag. Legat. p. 36. Aug. c. lit. Petil. ii. 22. Cyril. Catech. 5. Cp. Bingham XV. iii., and note on 1 Thess. v. 26. A very suitable direction, after the exhortations to the Gentile and Jewish Christians in this Epistle, to Christian love, to be sealed with a kiss of peace at the Lord's Table, after hearing this Epistle read in the Church. The precept is repeated twice by St. Paul to the Corinthians (1 Cor. xvi. 20. 2 Cor. xiii. 12), for whom the epithet ἅγιον was specially needful. In the latter place, St. Chrysostom has some excellent remarks on the sanctification of the lips by the reception of the Holy Eucharist, and on the consequent duty to keep them pure from all taint of evil. αἱ ἐκκλησίαι πᾶσαι] πᾶσαι is omitted by Elz., but found in the best MSS. St. Paul, the Apostle of the Gentiles, speaks in the name of all the Churches-having the care of them all. (2 Cor. xi. 28.) 17. σκοπεῖν] mark them-have your eye upon themas a helmsman has his eye upon a rock; and steer aside from them. On the duty of shunning those who impugn the fundamentals of the Gospel, see Waterland on the Trinity (c. 4), who quotes 1 Cor. v. 5. Gal. i. 8, 9, and Gal. v. 12, in that sense, and 1 Tim. vi. 2-5. 2 Tim. ii. 16-18. Tit. iii. 10. 2 John 10, 11. 18. Χριστῷ] Elz. prefixes Ἰησοῦ, not in A, B, C. κοιλίᾳ -καρδίας] they are slaves of their own bellies, and deceive the hearts of others. 20. συντρίψει τὸν Σατανᾶν] will bruise Satan under your feet quickly. Satan now rules at Rome, but the Seed of the woman has bruised the Serpent's head, according to the first prophecy in Holy Scripture. (Gen. iii. 15.) After the recent perversion of that prophecy, in the Papal Decree on the Immaculate Conception (Rome, Dec. 8, 1854), wherein this act of bruising the Serpent's head is applied to the Virgin Mary, as her special prerogative, it is not irrelevant to cite the following testimony to the truth, from the pen of the learned Romanist Commentator, Cornelius A Lapide, in his note here (Rom. xvi. 20): “ Alludit Apostolus ad Genes. iii. 15, ut directè habent Hebraica Hic, id est Ipsum Semen, sive Proles mulieris, putà CHRISTUS conteret caput tuum.” And so the ancient Bishop of Rome, Leo I. (Serm. de Nativ. ii.), and S. Jerome in his Version of Gen. iii. 15. See his Quæst. Hebr. in Gen. iii. 15; and the masculine "IPSE" was received by Popes Sixtus V. and Clement VIII. How is the Church of Rome changed since St. Paul wrote this Epistle to it! (i. 8.) How is the gold become dim, and the fine gold changed! (Lam. iv. l.) Ἡ χάρις τοῦ Κυρίου] St. Paul's own subscription, written with his own hand in all his Epistles. See on 1 Thess. v. 28. Heb. xiii. 25. It is repeated in v. 24, where however A, B, C omit it. k Acts 13. 1. & 16. 1. & 17. 5. & 20. 4. 1 Thess. 3. 2. 1 Tim. 1. 2. 1 Acts 19. 22. 1 Cor. 1. 15. 2 Tim. 4. 20. m ch. 1. 5. & 15. 18. Eph. 1. 9. & 3. 9, 20. Col. 1. 26. 2 Tim. 1. 10. Tit. 1. 2. 1 Pet. 1. 20. Jude 24. n 1 John 1. 1. o Heb. 13. 15. 1 Tim. 1. 17. Jude 25. 1 22 21 κ' Ασπάζεται ὑμᾶς Τιμόθεος ὁ συνεργός μου, καὶ Λούκιος, καὶ Ιάσων, καὶ Σωσίπατρος, οἱ συγγενεῖς μου· ἀσπάζομαι ὑμᾶς ἐγὼ Τέρτιος ὁ γράψας τὴν ἐπιστολὴν ἐν Κυρίῳ· 23 ' ἀσπάζεται ὑμᾶς Γάϊος ὁ ξένος μου καὶ τῆς ἐκκλησίας ὅλης· ἀσπάζεται ὑμᾶς Εραστος ὁ οἰκονόμος τῆς πόλεως, καὶ Κούαρτος ὁ ἀδελφός. 24 Η χάρις τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ μετὰ πάντων ὑμῶν. ἀμήν. 25 * Τῷ δὲ δυναμένῳ ὑμᾶς στηρίξαι κατὰ τὸ εὐαγγέλιόν μου καὶ τὸ κήρυγμα Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, κατὰ ἀποκάλυψιν μυστηρίου χρόνοις αἰωνίοις σεσιγημένου, 26 * φανερωθέντος δὲ νῦν, διά τε γραφῶν προφητικῶν, κατ ̓ ἐπιταγὴν τοῦ αἰωνίου Θεοῦ, εἰς ὑπακοὴν πίστεως εἰς πάντα τὰ ἔθνη γνωρισθέντος, 2 ο μόνῳ σοφῷ Θεῷ, διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ᾧ ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας. ἀμήν. n 21. Ασπάζεται] So A, B, C, D*, F, G. Elz. ἀσπάζονται. - - Tiμóleos-Zwσinaтpos] Timothy, and Sosipater, or Sopater, of Beroa, were with St. Paul at Corinth when he wrote this Epistle, and accompanied him from it as far as Asia. (Acts xx. 2.4.) This Epistle to the Romans is almost the only letter of St. Paul, at the writing of which Timothy is known to have been present, and in which he is not joined with St. Paul in the opening address. St. Paul had not been at Rome, but he was the Apostle of the Gentiles, and so had a divine commission to address the metropolis of the Gentile world; which Timothy had not. Timothy was afterwards with him at Rome in his first imprisonment, and is associated with him in his Epistles written from Rome to the Colossians, Philemon, and the Philippians. See also Hebrews xiii. 23; and he was probably also at Rome with him at his second imprisonment and martyrdom. (2 Tim. iv. 9. v. 21.) AoUKIOS] Perhaps St. Luke the Evangelist (Origen), who was with St. Paul at this time (Acts xx. 5), and accompanied him afterwards to Rome. (Acts xxviii. 16.) On the double form of proper names in the New Testament, see above on Acts xv. 22, and Winer, p. 93. great majority of Cursive MSS., and in the Greek Lectionaries and Fathers. It is found both there and here, in A, and a few Cursives. It is omitted by D**, F, G, and was rejected by Marcion. (Origen vii. p. 453.) The Editors are divided as to its position. Among those who maintain its claim to stand here, are Erasmus, Stephens, Beza, Bengel, Koppe, Knapp, Rinck, Lachm., Scholz., De Wette, Tischendorf. Philippi, Meyer, Alford. Some few Editors and Commentators, Mill, Wetstein, Griesbach, Matthiæ, Eichhorn, would remove it to the end of Chapter xiv., and two or three deny its genuineness. The genuineness of this Doxology is substantiated by external and internal evidence. Even the involved structure of the sentence, which is such as an interpolator would scarcely have hazarded, is an argument in its favour. It was probably transposed, or rejected, in the first instance, by some who thought that the words in v. 24 marked the close of this Epistle, as of others from St. Paul's hands. To Him who is able to establish you according to my Gospel, and the doctrine preached of Jesus Christ, according to the Revelation of the Mystery, which had been kept secret in all past ages (see Tit. i. 2. 2 Tim. i. 9. Matt. xxv. 46), but has been now made manifest (in the Gospel), and through the Scriptures commandment of Eternal God, for their obedience to the Faith. See i. 5. 22. TépTios] Tertius. St. Paul employs a secretary, bearing of the Prophets made known unto all Nations, according to the a Roman name, to write to the Romans. The words v Kupiw are to be connected with what immediately precedes (Origen). The work of an amanuensis, as well as of an Apostle, may be done, and ought to be done èv Kupíw-it is as a labour of love" in the Lord." See above, v. 7, "Tertius ad gloriam Dei scribit, et ideò in Domino scribit." Origen. On St. Paul's habit of writing his Epistles by the hands of secretaries, see above on 1 Thess. v. 28. 2 Thess. iii. 17. Gal. vi. 11. 23. ráïos] Caius. See on 1 Cor. i. 14. According to some, the first Bishop of Thessalonica. Cp. Tillemont i. 103. "EpaσTos & oikovóμos τns tóλews] Erastus the Quæstor of the City, probably Corinth. (2 Tim. iv. 20.) Erastus, having a financial office at Corinth, was a fit person to be employed by St. Paul in collecting alms in Greece. He seems to have been sent by St. Paul from Ephesus to Macedonia for that purpose (cp. Acts xix. 21, 22), but having an official position, he was not, it seems, able to leave Greece to go with St. Paul to Asia and Jerusalem, with some who are here mentioned, e. g. Timotheus and Sopater. See Acts xx. 4. Cp. Birks, p. 255. This concluding sentence contains the kernel of the doctrine of the whole Epistle (see above on i. 3, and Introduction, p. 194—7), namely, that God had decreed-even before the world began (and therefore long antecedently to the Call of Abraham, and to the giving of the Levitical Law) to unite all Nations in one Church Universal by Faith in Christ; and that this Divine Decree was kept secret from former ages, though the way had been prepared for its manifestation by the Prophetical Scriptures of the Old Testament, and is now, at length, in the fullness of time, revealed to all in the Gospel. See below, Eph. iii. 3—9. Col. i. 26. 2 Tim. i. 9. v. 10. The way for this Evangelical Revelation had been quietly prepared by the Prophetical Scriptures. There was (according to Bengel's comparison) in the Old Testament the silent movement of the hands of the Clock; but it sounded forth the Hour with an audible voice in the Gospel. 4] i. e. μóv oopw ew, To the only wise God, agreeing with T duvaμéve, at the beginning of the sentence, which is resumed by, to whom through Jesus Christ be glory for ever. Amen. On this anacoluthon, see Winer, p. 501. Gal. ii. 6. In a less impassioned strain he would have written aur. See xi. 36, and particularly Eph. iii. 20, 21, which is the best exposition of this passage, and may have given occasion to the transfer. INTRODUCTION то THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. I. On the date of the Epistle to the EPHESIANS, COLOSSIANS, and PHILEMON. An interval of about three years elapsed between the date of the preceding Epistle, to the Romans, and that of the three following Epistles, to the Ephesians, Colossians, and Philemon. (1) These three last-named Epistles were written by St. Paul when he was a prisoner (déoμios, Eph. iii. 1; iv. 1. Col. iv. 18. Philemon 1. 9, 10. 13). (2) They were therefore written either at Cæsarea, or at Rome. (3) They seem to have been written about the same time. For Tychicus is the bearer of the Epistles to the Ephesians (vi. 21), and to the Colossians (iv. 7); and Onesimus is associated with him in bearing the Epistles to Colosse and to Philemon (Col. iv. 9. Philemon 10). Besides, the same persons are mentioned as present with the Apostle when he wrote both the last two mentioned Epistles; and their greetings are sent by him together with his own salutations to those whom he addressed'. (4) The place at which they were written, was most probably Rome. This is the opinion of ancient Expositors', and of the majority of modern Interpreters and Critics'. The following considerations seem to be conclusive against the recent supposition of some, that these Epistles were written at Cæsarea during St. Paul's two years' confinement there, before he was sent to Rome (Acts xxiv. 27); and in favour of the earlier and received opinion that they were written at Rome during his first imprisonment in that city; In his Epistle to the Romans St. Paul had expressed an earnest desire and intention to see Rome, after he had been to Jerusalem with the collection of alms for the poor Christians there'. It is evident that a visit to Rome was then the first object in his thoughts; and he would not form any plan of going to any other places (as soon as he had executed his mission at Jerusalem) before he had been to Rome. Further, soon after he had written his Epistle to the Romans he declared at Ephesus, "After I have been at Jerusalem I must also see Rome" (Acts xix. 21). Besides, when he had arrived at Jerusalem, he received a special commission from Almighty God to go to Rome. "Be of good cheer, Paul, for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome" (Acts xxiii. 11). Accordingly he appealed unto Cæsar. When these things are duly considered, it will not appear credible, that the Apostle should publicly declare his intention of going to other places, in a different direction, before he had been at Rome. Now, if we refer to the Epistle to Philemon, written at the same time as that to the Colossians, 1 These are Aristarchus, Mark, Epaphras, Luke, Demas. Cp. Col. iv. 10-14, and Philemon 23, 24. 2 Chrys. Prooem. ad Epist. ad Ephes. Jerome on Eph. iii. 1; iv. 1; vi. 20. Theodoret, Prooem. ad Epist. ad Ephes. 3 See Davidson's Introduction, ii. p. 362, compared with Meyer's Einleitung über den Brief an der Epheser, p. 15-19. Alford, p. 23. e. g. Schulz, Schneckenburger, Schott, Böttger, Wiggers, Thiersch, Meyer. See his Einleitung, p. 15, and cp. Alford, p. 21. 5 See Rom. i. 10-13, and Rom. xv. 23, where he says, "Now having no more place in these parts, and having a great desire these many years to come unto you," &c. 6 See note above on Acts xxv. 10. |