oi

It was essentially this revelation of our Lord which set him apart for his high office, though the outward investiture may have taken place through human agency at a later date: see Acts ix. 15-17, xiii. 2, 3. The intervention of the prophets and Church of Antioch may perhaps have given a colouring to the false representation that he was an 'Apostle of men.' See p. 98.

καὶ Θεοῦ πατρός] It might be expected that the first preposition (àñò) would have been resumed here, as more appropriate. It is incorrect however to say that dià is loosely used; for if there be any laxity of expression, it is rather in the connexion of the sentences than in the use of the prepositions. At the same time the Apostle's language, as it stands, is more forcible. By including both clauses under the same preposition, he expresses with greater emphasis the directness of his divine commission. The channel of his authority (dià) coincides with its source (dó). The point of the sentence would have been blunted by inserting åñó. Nor indeed is the extension of dià to the second clause a violation of its strict meaning, which is observed perhaps with greater precision in the New Testament than elsewhere, owing to its recognised function, as describing the mediatorial office of the Son. 'Aлó, though by far the most common, is not the only preposition which may be used in speaking of the Father. He is the beginning, middle, and end of all His works (eg aνTOû Kai δι ̓ αὐτοῦ καὶ εἰς αὐτόν, Rom. xi. 36), and may therefore be regarded as the instrument, no less than the source, in the fulfilment of His own purposes. This mode of expression will be adopted especially, where the writer is

speaking of God's manifestation of Himself in some special act, as here in the raising of Jesus from the dead. Comp. iv. 7, I Cor. i. 9, and see Winer, Gramm. § xlvii. p. 473 sq. Marcion (Hieron. ad l.) cut the knot by omitting καὶ Θεοῦ πατρός, and apparently reading ἑαυτὸν for αὐτόν.

Here the Apostle's words are ‘By Jesus Christ and God the Father': immediately after he writes 'From God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ.' The one expression supplements the other: "Thou, Father, in Me, and I in Thee' (John xvii. 21).

τοῦ ἐγείραντος αὐτὸν ἐκ νεκρῶν] who raised Him from the dead.' This expression occurs elsewhere with a more general reference to Christian faith or Christian life: Rom. iv. 24, viii. 11; comp. 1 Cor. xv. 15. Here it has a special bearing on St Paul's apostleship, as the context shows. 'I was commissioned by the risen and glorified Lord: I am in all respects an Apostle, a qualified witness of His resurrection, and a signal instance of His power.'

2. οἱ σὺν ἐμοὶ πάντες ἀδελφοί]'αλλ the brethren who are with me.' Probably the small band of his fellowtravellers is meant. See Phil. iv. 21, where he distinguishes 'the brethren who are with him' from 'all the saints,' i.e. from the resident members of the Church of Rome from which he is writing. For the bearing of this phrase on the date of the epistle, see p. 55. This company perhaps included Timothy (2 Cor. i. 1) and Erastus (Acts xix. 22). He may also at this time have been rejoined by Titus with the two brethren from Corinth (2 Cor. viii. 16-24), and may have had with him besides some of those who accompanied him afterwards on his return to Asia, as Tychicus and Trophimus

for instance (Acts xx. 4, 5), if indeed they are not to be identified with the two brethren already mentioned.

The patristic writers, followed by several modern commentators, see in this expression a desire on the part of the Apostle to fortify his teaching by the sanction of others: Faciens eis pudorem, quod contra omnes sentiunt,' says Victorinus. Such a motive seems alien to the whole spirit of this epistle, in which all human authority is set aside. The Apostle in fact dismisses the mention of his companions as rapidly as possible in one general expression. He then returns to the singular, 'I marvel,' which he retains throughout the epistle. Paul's authority has been challenged, and Paul alone answers the challenge.

ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις τῆς Γαλατίας] ‘to the Churches of Galatia.' On this mode of address, as marking the earlier epistles, see I Thess. i. 1. The abruptness of the language here is remarkable. Elsewhere the Apostle adds some words of commendation.

The

Church of the Thessalonians, for instance, is 'in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ' (1 Thess. i. 1, 2 Thess. i. 1): that of the Corinthians is composed of those 'sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints' (1 Cor. i. 2, comp. 2 Cor. i. 1). The omission of any expression of praise in addressing the Galatians shows the extent of their apostasy; see p. 64.

3. χάρις ὑμῖν καὶ εἰρήνη, κ.τ.λ.] On this form of salutation see the notes I Thess. i. I.

4. τοῦ δόντος ἑαυτόν, κ.τ.λ.] who gave Himself for our sins. A declaration of the true ground of acceptance with God. The Galatians had practically ignored the atoning death of Christ: comp. ii. 21, v. 4.

περὶ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν] The Mss here, as

in several other passages, are divided between περὶ and ὑπέρ, though here the balance of authority is perhaps in favour of repi. Generally it may be said that περὶ is used of things, ὑπὲρ of persons, as 1 Pet. iii. 18 OTL Kai Χριστὸς ἅπαξ περὶ ἁμαρτιῶν ἀπέθανεν δίκαιος ὑπὲρ ἀδίκων, but exceptions are very numerous, and in Heb. v. 3 we have περὶ ἑαυτοῦ προσφέρειν περὶ ἁμαρτιῶν (not ὑπὲρ ἁμαρτιῶν, as some read), though just before (ver. 1) the expression used is προσφέρῃ ὑπὲρ ἁμαρτ τιών. Where περὶ is used of persons, it is frequently explained by some clause added, e.g. Matt. xxvi. 28 Tò περὶ πολλῶν ἐκχυνόμενον εἰς ἄφεσιν apaρrior. With this compare the parallel passages Luke xxii. 19, 20 (VTÈρ ὑμῶν), Mark xiv. 24 (ὑπὲρ πολλῶν, the correct reading), where there is no explanatory clause. All this follows from the meaning of the prepositions, vèp having a sense of interest in,' which is wanting to repi. The distinction is marked in Athenag. Resurr. 1, λόγων διττῶν τῶν μὲν ὑπὲρ τῆς ἀλη θείας των δὲ περὶ τῆς ἀληθείας κ.τ.λ. (comp. § 11). Neither conveys the idea of a vicarious act (avrí), though such will frequently appear in the context. On ὑπὲρ and περὶ see Winer § xlvii. p. 479, and especially Wieseler's

note here.

égéλŋrai] 'deliver' strikes the keynote of the epistle. The Gospel is a rescue, an emancipation from a state of bondage. See esp. iv. 9, 31, V. I, 13.

τοῦ αἰῶνος τοῦ ἐνεστῶτος πονηροῦ] the correct reading, in which the detached position of movpoù is emphatic: 'with all its evils.' Comp. Arist. Eth. Nic. i. 13 καὶ γὰρ τἀγαθὸν ἀνθρώπινον ἐζητοῦμεν καὶ τὴν εὐδαιμονίαν ἀνθρωπίνην, Polit. ii. 9 τῶν γ ̓ ἀδικημάτων ἑκουσίων τὰ πλεῖστα συμβαίνει κ.τ.λ. The reading of the received text, roû

ἐνεστῶτος αἰῶνος πονηροῦ, is gramma tically simpler, but less forcible.

The author of the Clementines, who was certainly acquainted with this epistle (see p. 61), seems to have St Paul's expression in mind, Epist. Clem. 1, ἐπὶ τοῦ ἐνεστῶτος πονηροῦ τὸν ἐσόμενον ἀγαθὸν ὅλῳ τῷ κόσμῳ μηνύσας βασιλέα (where αἰῶνος found in some texts after movηpoû is evidently an interpolation). If so, he appears to have interpreted the words 'from the æon, the dominion, of the present evil one': comp. 1 John v. 19 ó kóσμos óλos év T@ TopCp Keira, Barnab. § 2. At all events a possible interpretation is thus suggested. Comp. Polyb. xviii. 38. 5 τὸν ἐνεστῶτα βασιλέα.

τοῦ αἰῶνος τοῦ ἐνεστῶτος] The present transitory world, elsewhere å vûv αἰών, e.g. I Tim. vi. 17, ὁ αἰὼν τοῦ κόσ μOV TOÚTOV Ephes. ii. 2, and most frequently o alov ovтos, e.g. Rom. xii. 2, as opposed to the other world, the world of eternity, ó aiwv ékeîvos Luke xx. 35, ὁ αἰὼν ὁ ἐρχόμενος Luke viii. 20, αἰών μéλλov Hebr. vi. 5, and often in the plural, οἱ αἰῶνες οἱ ἐπερχόμενοι Ephes. ii. 7, οἱ αἰῶνες τῶν αἰώνων, and οἱ αἰῶνες simply. This age, this world, is under a 'god' (2 Cor. iv. 4) or 'rulers' (1 Cor. ii. 6) of its own, who are opposed to the Eternal God, the King of the ages, ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν αἰώνων, I Tim. i 17. See especially Ephes. ii. 2-7, and comp. [Clem. Rom.] ii. § 6 ori de οὗτος ὁ αἰὼν καὶ ὁ μέλλων δύο ἐχθροί. The Apostles speak of themselves and their generation as living on the frontier of two æons, the Gospel transferring them as it were across the border. The distinction of time between the two, which is the primary distinction, becomes lost in the moral and spiritual conception.

It has been proposed to take éveTs here in the sense of 'impending,' as referring to the final apostasy. In

other passages however eveσtŵta is plainly 'present' as opposed to μéλλovra 'future,' Rom. viii. 38, 1 Cor. iii. 22 (comp. Heb. ix. 9), in accordance with the sense it bears in the language of grammar, where ὁ χρόνος ὁ ἐνεστὼς is 'the present tense.' Comp. Philo de Plant. Noe ii. § 27, p. 346 Μ τριμερούς χρόνου, ὃς εἰς τὸν παρεληλυθότα καὶ ἐνεστῶτα καὶ μέλλοντα τέμνεσθαι réuкev. Even in passages where it seems at first sight to have the sense 'impending, soon to come,' as in 1 Cor. vii. 26 διὰ τὴν ἐνεστῶσαν ἀνάγκην, 2 Thess. ii. 2 évéσtŋkev ý nμépa, its proper meaning is more appropriate.

KaTà Tò béλŋμa] 'by the will of God' and not by our own merits. St Paul is still insisting on the dispensation of grace impugned by the false teachers. Compare τοῦ καλέσαντος, ver. 6.

τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ πατρὸς ἡμῶν] Comp. Phil. iv. 20. Does ἡμῶν refer to Θεοῦ as well as marpós, 'Our God and Father'? On the whole this seems probable; for the article, not being necessary before coû, seems to be added to bind the two clauses together and connect both with v. The same construction is justified in the case of the similar expression, ὁ Θεὸς καὶ πατὴρ 'Inσoû Xpισтoû (2 Cor. i. 3, Ephes. i. 3), by John xx. 17, 'I ascend to my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God.' See Fritzsche on Rom. III. p. 233. In ver. I the word 'Father' refers especially though not solely to Christ, in ver. 4 to mankind, while in ver. 3 it seems to be used absolutely.

5. Speaking of the mercy of God, as shown in man's redemption through the death of Christ, the Apostle bursts out in an ascription of praise. 'Infinitis beneficiis infinita gloria debetur,' says Pelagius. For similar outbursts of thanksgiving see Rom. vii. 25, ix. 5, xi. 36, 2 Cor. ix. 15, Ephes. iii. 20.