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δι' ἐπαγγελίας κεχάρισται ὁ Θεός. τί οὖν ὁ νόμος; τῶν παραβάσεων χάριν προσετέθη, ἄχρις οὗ ἔλθη τὸ σπέρμα ᾧ ἐπήγγελται, διαταγεὶς δι ̓ ἀγγέλων ἐν

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ciently wide to admit either meaning. But the latter is to be preferred here; for (1) The language of the Epistle to the Romans shows this to be St Paul's leading conception of the purposes and functions of the law; and (2) This sense seems to be required by the expressions in the context, able to give life' (ver. 21), 'included all under sin' (ver. 22). Comp. ii. 19.

Tроσeтéon] This reading, which is much better supported than ἐτέθη, expresses more strongly the adventitious character of the law; comp. Émidiaráσσetai ver. 15, and Rom. v. 20 νόμος δὲ παρεισῆλθεν ἵνα πλεονάσῃ τὸ παράπτωμα.

0] For the omission of av see A. Buttmann § 33, p. 198; for the conjunctive, the note on rρéxw ii. 2.

TÒ σTÉρμа K.T.λ.] 'the seed to whom the promise has been given,' i.e. Christ. énnyyedraι is probably a passive, as 2 Macc. iv. 27.

διαταγεὶς δι ̓ ἀγγέλων] ordered, or administered by the medium of angels.' The first mention of angels in connexion with the giving of the law is in the benediction of Moses,

,ואתה מרבבת קדש 2 .Deut. xxxiii

literally, 'and He came from (amidst) myriads of holiness,' i.e. countless angels who attend Him. Some modern commentators (see Knobel in loc.) obliterate the mention of angels by translating, 'He came from the heights of Kadesh,' pointing the word p with the LXX; but though the parallelism gains by this, the sense thus assigned to na is unsupported: and Ewald, Gesch. des V. Isr. II. 257, still

מריבת into רבבות furtlier changes

The Lxx render the words σὺν μυριάσι Kádŋs, but introduce the angels in the following clause ἐκ δεξιῶν αὐτοῦ ἄγγελοι per' auroù, where they must have had

GAL.

a different reading from our present Hebrew text (see Gesen. Thes. p. 358). Aquila, Symmachus, the Targums, and Jewish expositors generally, agree in the common rendering of na

p. Other allusions in the New Testament to the angels as administering the law are Acts vii. 53 ‹λáβετε τὸν νόμον εἰς διαταγὰς ἀγγέλων (comp. vv. 35, 38), Heb. ii. 2. See also Joseph. Ant. xv. 5. 3 μŵv dè ta κάλλιστα τῶν δογμάτων καὶ τὰ ὁσιώτατα τῶν ἐν τοῖς νόμοις δι ̓ ἀγγέλων παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ μαθόντων, Philo de Somn. p. 642 м, and the Book of Jubilees c. 1 (Ewald's Jahrb. II. p. 233, III. p. 74). The angels who assisted in the giving of the law hold a very important place in the later rabbinical speculations. See the interpretation of Deut. xxxiii. 2 in the Jerusalem Targum, and the passages cited by Gfrörer Jahrh. des Heils 1. p. 226, p. 357 sq, and by Wetstein here. The theology of the schools having thus enlarged upon the casual notices in the Old Testament, a prominence was given to the mediation of angels, which would render St Paul's allusion the more significant.

In St Stephen's speech (Acts vii. 53), as in the passage of Josephus, the angels are mentioned to glorify the law, being opposed to mere human ministers. Here the motive is different. The interposition of created beings is contrasted with the direct agency of God himself. So also in Heb. ii. 2, where an a fortiori argument is drawn from the superiority of the salvation spoken by the Lord over the word spoken by angels (di' ȧyyéλwv). Paul's contrast here between the directness of the one ministration and the indirectness of the other has a parallel in 2 Cor. iii. 12 sq.

10

St

χειρὶ μεσίτου· Θεός εἷς ἐστίν.

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ὁ δὲ μεσίτης ἑνὸς οὐκ ἔστιν, ὁ δὲ Ως ὁ οὖν νόμος κατὰ τῶν ἐπαγγε

ἐν χειρί] A Hebraism or Aramaism, nearly equivalent to diá: comp. Acts vii. 35. It is a frequent LXX translation of 7, occurring especially in the expression ἐν χειρὶ Μωϋσῆ, e.g. Num. iv. 37, 41, 45, etc. In Syriac we

ܒܝܕ ܪܘܚܐ meet with such phrases as

(i.e. ἐν χειρὶ πνεύματος, Acts iv. 25, Pesh.), or (i.e. év xe‹pì TíσTews, Hab. ii. 4, Hexapl.).

peoírov] The mediator is Moses. This is his common title in Jewish writers. In the apocryphal áváßaois or ανάληψις Moses says to Joshua προεθεάσατό με ὁ Θεὸς πρὸ καταβολής κόστ μου εἶναί με τῆς διαθήκης αὐτοῦ μεσί

Fabric. Cod. Pseud. V.T. 1. p. 845. την, See the rabbinical passages in Wetstein, and Philo Vit. Moys. iii. 19, p. 16ο Μ οἷα μεσίτης καὶ διαλλακτής. There would appear to be an allusion to this recognised title of Moses also in Heb. viii. 6 (comp. ix. 15, xii. 24), where our Lord is styled 'a mediator of a better covenant.' Though the word itself does not occur in the Mosaic narrative, the mediatorial functions of Moses appear clearly, e.g. Exod. xx. 19, and Deut. v. 2, 5, Kú

ριος

ὁ Θεὸς ὑμῶν διέθετο πρὸς ὑμᾶς διαθήκην...κἀγὼ εἱστήκειν ἀνὰ μέσον Κυρίου καὶ ὑμῶν κ.τ.λ. The reference in St Paul seems to be to the first giving of the law if extended to its after administration, the μeoirns would then be the high priest; see Philo Mon. ii. 12, p. 230 M μεθόριον ἀμφοῖν ἵνα διὰ μέσου τινὸς ἄνθρωποι ἱλάσκωνται Θεόν: but this extension does not seem to be contemplated here.

On the other hand Origen (IV. p. 692, ed. Delarue), misled by 1 Tim. ii. 5, understood the mediator of Christ, and, as usual, carried a vast number of later commentators with him. Thus it is taken by Victorinus, Hilary, Jerome, Augustine, and Chrysostom. So

also Concil. Antioch. (Routh Rel. Sacr. III. p. 295), Euseb. Eccl. Th. i. 20. II, Athan. c. Apoll. i. 12. Much earlier than Origen, Marcion would seem to have entertained this view, Hippol. Haer. vii. 31, p. 254. Basil however clearly showed that Moses was meant, referring to Exod. xx. 19, de Spir. Sanct. xiv. 33 (III. p. 27, Garnier), and it was perhaps owing to his influence that the correct interpretation was reinstated. So Theodore Mops., Theodoret, Gennadius; and comp. Didym. in Ps. pp. 1571, 1665 (Migne). Pelagius gives the alternative.

It will be seen that St Paul's argument here rests in effect on our Lord's divinity as its foundation. Otherwise He would have been a mediator in the same sense in which Moses was a mediator. In another and a higher sense St Paul himself so speaks of our Lord (1 Tim. ii. 5).

20. The number of interpretations of this passage is said to mount up to 250 or 300. Many of these arise out of an error as to the mediator, many more disregard the context, and not a few are quite arbitrary. Without attempting to discuss others which are not open to any of these objections, I shall give that which appears to me the most probable. The meaning of the first clause seems tolerably clear, and the range of possibility with regard to the second is not very great.

ὁ δὲ μεσίτης ἑνὸς οὐκ ἔστιν] ‘no mediator can be a mediator of one. The very idea of mediation supposes two persons at least, between whom the mediation is carried on. The law then is of the nature of a contract between two parties, God on the one hand, and the Jewish people on the other. It is only valid so long as both parties fulfil the terms of the contract. It is therefore contingent

λιῶν [τοῦ Θεοῦ]; μὴ γένοιτο. εἰ γὰρ ἐδόθη νόμος ὁ δυνάμενος ζωοποιῆσαι, ὄντως ἐκ νόμου νόμου [ἂν] ἦν ἡ δικαιοσύνη 33 ἀλλὰ συνέκλεισεν ἡ γραφὴ τὰ πάντα

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and not absolute. The definite article with peoirns expresses the idea, the specific type, as 2 Cor. xii. 12 rà onμεῖα τοῦ ἀποστόλου, Joh. x. II ὁ ποιμὴν ó kaλós: see Winer § xviii. p. 132.

ὁ δὲ Θεὸς εἷς ἐστίν] ‘but God (the giver of the promise) is one.' Unlike the law, the promise is absolute and unconditional. It depends on the sole decree of God. There are not two contracting parties. There is nothing of the nature of a stipulation. The giver is everything, the recipient nothing. Thus the primary sense of 'one' here is numerical. The further idea of unchangeableness may perhaps be suggested; but if so, it is rather accidental than inherent. On the other hand this proposition is quite unconnected with the fundamental statement of the Mosaic law, 'The Lord thy God is one God,' though resembling it in form.

21. Thus the law differs widely from the promise. But does this difference imply antagonism? Did the law interfere with the promise? Far otherwise. Indeed we might imagine such a law, that it would take the place of the promise, would justify and give life. This was not the effect of the law of Moses.'

τῶν ἐπαγγελιών] The plural. See the note on ver. 16.

νόμος ὁ δυνάμενος] a law, such as could. For the position of the article see note i. 7, and comp. Acts iv. 12. (woronoa] including alike the spiritual life in the present and the glorified life in the future, for in the Apostle's conception the two are blended together and inseparable. The 'inheritance' applies to both. Compare the scriptural use of 'salvation,' ,"the kingdom of heaven,' etc. 22, 23. In this metaphor, which

describes the position of the Jews before Christ, two ideas are involved. First, that of constraint or oppression. They were brought under the dominion of sin, were locked up in its prison-house, and so were made to feel its power. Secondly, that of watchful care. They were fenced about as a peculiar people, that in due time they might become the depository of the Gospel and the centre of its diffusion. The first idea is prominent in ver. 22, the second appears in ver. 23.

22. 'On the contrary, as the passage of Scripture testifies, the law condemned all alike, yet not finally and irrevocably, but only as leading the way for the dispensation of faith, the fulfilment of the promise.'

συνέκλεισεν ἡ γραφή] The Scripture is here represented as doing that which it declares to be done.

The passage which St Paul has in mind is probably either Ps. cxliii. 2, quoted above ii. 16, or Deut. xxvii. 26, quoted iii. 10. In Rom. iii. 10— 18 indeed the Apostle gathers together several passages to this same purport, and it might therefore be supposed that he is alluding here rather to the general tenour of Scripture than to any special text. But the following facts seem to shew that the singular ypapǹ in the N.T. always means a particular passage of Scripture; (1) where the reference is clearly to the sacred writings as a whole, as in the expressions, 'searching the scriptures,' 'learned in the scriptures,' etc., the plural ypadaí is universally found, e.g. Acts xvii. 11, xviii. 24, 28. (2) We meet with such expressions as another scripture' (Joh. xix. 37), 'this scripture' (Luke iv. 21), 'every scripture' (2 Tim. iii. 16). (3) 'H

ὑπὸ ἁμαρτίαν, ἵνα ἡ ἐπαγγελία ἐκ πίστεως Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ δοθῇ τοῖς πιστεύουσιν. 33πρὸ τοῦ δὲ ἐλθεῖν τὴν πίστιν, ὑπὸ νόμον ἐφρουρούμεθα συνκλειόμενοι εἰς τὴν μέλλουσαν πίστιν ἀποκαλυφθῆναι. 34 ὥστε ὁ νό μος παιδαγωγὸς ἡμῶν γέγονεν εἰς Χριστόν, ἵνα ἐκ

γραφὴ is most frequently used in introducing a particular quotation, and in the very few instances where the quotation is not actually given, it is for the most part easy to fix the passage referred to. These instances are Joh. ii. 22 (Ps. xvi. 10; see Acts ii. 27), Joh. xvii. 12 (Ps. xli. 10; see Joh. xiii. 18), Joh. xix. 28 (Ps. lxix. 22), Joh. xx. 9 (Ps. xvi. 10). The biblical usage is followed also by the earliest fathers. The transition from the 'Scriptures' to the 'Scripture' is analogous to the transition from Tà βιβλία to the “Bible.

συνέκλεισεν ὑπὸ ἁμαρτίαν] i.e. subjected to the dominion of sin without means of escape, a pregnant expression: comp. Rom. xi. 32 συνέκλεισεν γὰρ ὁ Θεὸς τοὺς πάντας εἰς ἀπείθειαν ἵνα τοὺς πάντας ἐλεήσῃ. The word συγκλείειν seems never to mean simply to include.' The A.V. has the more correct but somewhat ambiguous rendering conclude' here. Συγκλείειν εἰς 18 a common construction; see Fritzsche Rom. II. p. 545.

τὰ πάντα] The neuter is naturally used where the most comprehensive term is wanted: comp. Ι Cor. i. 27, Col. i. 2o, Ephes. i. 10.

ἵνα] The consciousness of sin is a necessary step towards justification. See note ii. 19, and comp. Rom. 1.c.

ἐκ πίστεως κ.τ.λ.] Not a mere tautology after τοῖς πιστεύουσιν. St Paul's opponents agreed with him that only a believer could obtain the promise. They differed in holding that he obtained it not by his faith but by his works.

23-25. 'Before the dispensation of faith came, we were carefully

guarded, that we might be ready for it, when at length it was revealed. Thus we see that the law was 'our tutor, who watched over us as children till we should attain our manhood in Christ and be justified by faith. But, when this new dispensation came, we were liberated from the restraints of the law.'

ἐφρουρούμεθα

συγκλειόμενοι]

23. 'were shut up and kept in ward': comp. Wisd. xvii. 15 ἐφρουρεῖτο εἰς τὴν ἀσίδηρον εἱρκτὴν κατακλεισθείς, Plut. de Def. Οrac. p. 426 Β οὐδὲ φρουρεῖν συγκλείσαντας τῇ ὕλῃ.

The use of πίστις in these verses (vv. 22, 23, 25) links together its extreme senses, passing from the one to the other, (1) Faith, the subjective state of the Christian, (2) The faith, the Gospel, the objective teaching, the system of which 'faith' is the leading feature. See the note i. 23, and p. 157.

24. παιδαγωγός] Comp. 1 Cor. iv. 15. The pædagogus or tutor, frequently a superior slave, was entrusted with the moral supervision of the child. Thus his office was quite distinct from that of the διδάσκαλος, so that the English rendering, 'schoolmaster,' conveys a wrong idea. The following passage of Plato (Lysis p. 208 c) is a very complete illustration of the use which St Paul makes of the metaphor; Σὲ αὐτὸν ἐῶσιν ἄρχειν σεαυτοῦ, ἢ οὐδὲ τοῦτο ἐπιτρέπουσί σοι; Πῶς γάρ, ἔφη, ἐπιτρέπουσιν; 'Αλλ ̓ ἄρχει τίς σου; Οδε παιδαγωγός, ἔφη. Μῶν δοῦλος ὤν; ̓Αλλὰ τί μήν; ἡμέτερός γε, ἔφη. Η δεινόν, ἦν δ ̓ ἐγώ, ἐλεύθερον ὄντα ὑπὸ δούλου ἄρχει σθαι· τί δὲ ποιῶν αὖ οὗτος ὁ παιδαγωγός σου ἄρχει; Αγων δήπου, ἔφη, εἰς διδασ κάλου. Μῶν μὴ καὶ οὗτοί σου ἄρχουσιν.

πίστεως δικαιωθῶμεν· 35 ἐλθούσης δὲ τῆς πίστεως οὐκέτι ὑπὸ παιδαγωγόν ἐσμεν. παιδαγωγόν ἐσμεν. πάντες γὰρ υἱοὶ Θεοῦ ἐστὲ διὰ τῆς πίστεως ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ· ὅσοι γὰρ εἰς Χριστὸν ἐβαπτίσθητε, Χριστὸν ἐνεδύσασθε.

οἱ διδάσκαλοι; Πάντως δήπου. Παμπόλ λους ἄρα σοι δεσπότας καὶ ἄρχοντας ἑκὼν ὁ πατὴρ ἐφίστησιν. On the 'paedagogus' see Becker and Marquardt Rom. Alt. v. I, p. 114, and Smith's Dict. of Antiq. s. v. As well in his inferior rank, as in his recognised duty of enforcing discipline, this person was a fit emblem of the Mosaic law. The rabbinical writers naturalised the word παιδαγωγός, 1975 (see Schöttgen here), and in the Jerusalem Targum it is used to translate JN (A.V. ‘a nursing father”) Numb. xi. 12.

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The tempting explanation of παιδαγωγὸς εἰς Χριστόν, one to conduct us to the school of Christ,' ought probably to be abandoned. Even if this sense did not require πρὸς Χριστὸν οι εἰς Χριστοῦ, the context is unfavourable to it. There is no reference here to our Lord as a teacher. 'Christ' represents the freedom of mature age, for which the constraints of childhood are a preparation; compare Ephes. iv. 13 εἰς ἄνδρα τέλειον (full grown”), εἰς μέτρον ἡλικίας τοῦ πληρώματος τοῦ Χριστοῦ. The metaphor of the predagogus seems to have grown out of ἐφρουρούμεθα and thus the main idea is that of strict supervision. The παιδαγωγός had the whole moral direction of the child, so that παιδαγωγία became equivalent to 'moral training,' and the idea conveyed by the term need not be restricted to any one function. Compare Plut. Num. 15 ἐκ δὲ τοιαύτης παιδαγωγίας πρὸς τὸ θεῖον οὕτως ἡ πόλις ἐγεγόνει χειροήθης κ.τ.λ., and Liban. IV. 437 ed. Reiske (quoted in Wetstein) πρῶτον μὲν νόμῳ παιδαγωγήσομεν αὐτῶν τὴν προαίρεσιν, ὡς ἂν τὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ νόμου ζημίαν ἀναδυόμεναι σωφρονεῖν ἀναγκάζωνται.

25, 26. ἐσμέν, ἐστέ] See a similar

instance of the interchange of the first and second persons in I Thess. v. 5 πάντες γὰρ ὑμεῖς υἱοὶ φωτός ἐστε καὶ υἱοὶ ἡμέρας ̓ οὐκ ἐσμὲν νυκτὸς οὐδὲ σκό

τους.

26. πάντες γὰρ κ.τ.λ.] 'for ye all are sons of God by your faith, sons of God in Christ Jesus.' The stress of the sentence lies on πάντες and υἱοί ; Fall, Jews and Gentiles alike, those under the law and those without the law; 'sons' (vioí), claiming therefore the privileges, the liberty of sons, 30 that the rigorous supervision of the tutor (παιδαγωγός) ceases when you cease to be children (παῖδες).

υἱοὶ Θεοῦ] In St Paul the expressions, 'sons of God,'' children of God,' mostly convey the idea of liberty, as iv. 6, 7, Rom. viii. 14 sq (see however Phil. ii. 15), in St John of guilelessness and love, e.g. 1 Joh. iii. I, 2, 10. In accordance with this distinction St Paul uses υἱοὶ as well as τέκνα, St John τέκνα only.

ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ] The context shows that these words must be separated from διὰ τῆς πίστεως. They are thrown to the end of the sentence so as to form in a manner a distinct proposition, on which the Apostle enlarges in the following verses: 'You are sons by your union with, your existence in Christ Jesus.'

27. In Christ Jesus, I say, for all ye, who were baptized into Christ, did put on Christ': yàp introduces the explanation of the foregoing ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ.

ἐνεδύσασθε] The metaphor has been supposed to be taken from the white garments in which the newly baptized were clothed; see Bingham Christ. Antig. xi. 11, § 1. It is scarcely pro

bable however that the ceremonial of

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