b αὐτὸ τοῦτο τὸ κατὰ θεὸν λυπηθῆναι" πόσην κατειργάσατο [ἐν] ὑμῖν σπουδήν· ἀλλὰ ἀπολογίαν, ἀλλὰ ἀγανάκτησιν, ἀλλὰ φόβον, ἀλλὰ ἐπιπόθησιν, ἀλλὰ ζῆλον, ἀλλὰ ἐκδίκησιν. ἐν παντὶ συνεστήσατε ἑαυτοὺς ἁγνοὺς εἶναι [ἐν] τῷ πράγ ματι. 12 ἄρα εἰ καὶ ἔγραψα ὑμῖν, οὐχ ἕνεκεν τοῦ ἀδικήσαν τος, ἀλλ ̓ οὐδὲ ἕνεκεν τοῦ ἀδικηθέντος, ἀλλ ̓ ἕνεκεν τοῦ φανερωθῆναι τὴν σπουδὴν ὑμῶν τὴν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἐνώπιον the world." 9ávarov, "Death," in the highest sense, as opposed to owτnplav, as in Rom. v. 21. 11. He proceeds to point out in all its details the good effects of this sorrow, and, therefore, of his Epistle. "For look at the picture you presented to Titus" (idov). or σπουδήν, " earnestness "seriousness," is expanded into the remaining part of the verse, which exhibits their conflict of feelings. ἀπολογία. "Self-defence" for their sin. ἀγανάκτησις. "Self-accusation against it." φόβον. "Fear of Paul's arrival.” ἐπιπόθησιν, "longing for it." ζῆλον. "Zeal against the offender." ikdiknow, "punishment of his sin." ἐν τῷ πράγματι. "In the affair of the incestuous person." For this mode of referring to a painful subject, compare 1 Thess. iv. 6. v in B., omitted in C. D. G. 12. εἰ καὶ ἔγραψα, " Even though I did write to you scverely." τοῦ ἀδικήσαντος, « The in"The in cestuous person." τοῦ ἀδικηOévros, "the father of the offender, whose wife he had taken." See 1 Cor v. 1. When he says that he wrote, not on account of the offender or the injured person, but for their manifestation of the zeal of the Corinthian Church, it is in the same sense as in ii. 4. he had said that it was that they might know his love; and in verse 9., that it was that they might lose nothing. In each case, he speaks of the chief object as the only object; and also of the object which was effected by Providence, as if it had been his object. There is a variety in the MSS., occasioned partly by the similarity of sound between and in later Greek, partly by the difficulty of the scntence. Received Text, B. (e sil.), ἡμῶν τὴν ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν, G. ýμÔν TÝν ÚπÈÐρ nμv. Lachmann, C. D3. E. I. K., μôv Tη TEρì nμv. In such a confusion the sense is the only guide. On the one hand, the "manifestation of your zeal for us agrees better with the general b τοῦ Θεοῦ. 13 διὰ τοῦτο παρακεκλήμεθα· ἐπὶ δὲ τῇ παρακλή σει ἡμῶν περισσοτέρως μᾶλλον ἐχάρημεν ἐπὶ τῇ χαρᾷ Τίτου, ὅτι ἀναπέπαυται τὸ πνεύμα αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ πάντων ὑμῶν, 14 ὅτι εἴ τι αὐτῷ ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν κεκαύχημαι, οὐ κατησχύνθην, ἀλλ ̓ ὡς πάντα ἐν ἀληθείᾳ ἐλαλήσαμεν ὑμῖν, οὕτως καὶ ἡ καύχησις ὑμῶν ἐπὶ Τίτου ἀλήθεια ἐγενήθη, 15 καὶ τὰ σπλάγχνα αὐτοῦ περισσοτέρως εἰς ὑμᾶς ἐστὶν ἀναμιμνησκομένου τὴν πάντων ὑμῶν ὑπακοήν, ὡς μετὰ φόβου καὶ τρόμου ἐδέξασθε αὐτόν. χαίρω, ὅτι ἐν παντὶ θαῤῥῶ ἐν ὑμῖν. context and with the previous use of σπουδὴ in speaking of the Corinthians, in verse 11. On the other hand, "the manifestation of our zeal for you” is simpler, is borne out by the parallel of ii. 4., and suits πρὸς ὑμᾶς, which, though tautological if we adopt this reading, is unintelligible with the other; which would require it to mean "amongst yourselves," and this in a sense which would only be expressed (not by πρὸς ὑμᾶς, but) by ἐν ἑαυτοῖς. ἐνώπιον τοῦ θεοῦ, “ In the sight of God," also agrees better with a protestation of the Apostle's zeal for them, than with an allusion to theirs for him. Compare v. 11. Additional force is given to the argument by Lachmann's reading (B. C. D. G.) of dè and ἡμῶν: “For this that I 66 have mentioned, namely, the effects of my Epistle, I have been comforted. But with this comfort before me, I was still more rejoiced by the joy of Titus.” It is a stronger expression of what he had already said in verses 6. and 7. 13. 14. Observe the liveliness of the perfect tense, "we have been comforted; he has been refreshed; I have boasted." ἀπὸ πάντων. "Refreshed from your presence." 14. The same protestation of the truth of his teaching, as in i. 18-21., ii. 17., iv. 2., in little things as in great. 66 15. ἀναμιμνησκομένου. “ Recalling to himself." 16. θαῤῥῶ ἐν ὑμῖν. Not “ I have confidence in you” (which would be πέποιθα), but I am bold through your encouragement.” PARAPHRASE VI. 11-VII. 16. And now the full current of my words finds unrestricted utterance, my own Corinthian converts; for the gates of my heart, of my rejoicing heart, are open wide to receive you. If there be any narrowness, it is in your affections, not in mine. [Here begins the digression without connexion with what either precedes or follows.] Do not make ill-suited unions with heathens, which compromise the difference between righteousness and lawlessness, light and darkness, Christ and the author of evil, Christian and heathen, God's temple and false idols. You are the temple, not of a dead statue, but of a living God, of that God who in the Law, the History, and the Prophets of the old dispensation, has assured you that He will dwell with His people, and has commanded their separation from impurities, and has declared that He will receive them all. Therefore every pollution must be abandoned, not ceremonial only, but moral, in order to attain a purity not ceremonial merely but moral. [The main argument is resumed.] "Make room for me in your hearts; I have made room for you in mine. When I was with you, I did no wrong or injustice to any one; and I say this, not to taunt you, but from my love to you. I have again and again said that you are in my heart for life and death. I have no restraint with you; I am proud of your excellence; I am filled to overflowing with the comfort and the joy which after all my trouble awaited me from you in Macedonia. There, after all my anxieties, both from without and from within, I, at last, met Titus; and at once the comfort which I received from him was so great that I thankfully ascribe it to God the author of all comfort, not only the comfort which he gave me himself, but the comfort which you gave him, and which through him was transmitted to me. He told me of your affection for me, and of your sorrow for your faults; and this at once made me cease my regrets for my severity in my First Epistle. I see now that your sorrow was not mere worldly remorse, which has no good end; but sorrow as in the sight of God, which issues in a change of heart and life that tends to your highest welfare. Look only, let me look at the picture of your sorrow and its effects, its deep earnestness, showing itself in your self-defence and self-accusation, your fear and yet your longing for my arrival, your zeal and your severity towards the offender. This fear, more than any actual punishment or reparation of the crime, was the result which I sought to produce by my Epistle; and, therefore, I am now completely satisfied. And Titus's joy shows me that I had not overstated your excellence to him; that in my communications with him as well as with you, I had been sincere, and he loves you now as truly as I do." THIS passage is interesting, as giving in the most lively form the human personal sympathies of the Apostle. His great consolation, after that which he derived from communion with Christ, was the restoration of confidence towards his converts and intercourse with his friend. An exactly parallel passage, though less strongly expressed, may be seen in his description of the feelings with which he waited for the return of his other confidential friend, Timotheus, with tidings from Thessalonica (1 Thess. iii. 1-8.). This is important, as presenting that side of Christianity which distinguishes it from stoicism and from fanaticism; and also as a counterpoise to other passages which describe the calls of the Gospel as severing all human ties. "To be left at Athens alone," and "to have no man like-minded with him," 2 to have "only Luke with him," 3 to part with the Ephesian elders who "would see his face no more," are spoken of in that plaintive strain which, even more than direct expressions, implies that solitude, want of sympathy, estrangement or bereavement of friends, were to the Apostle real sorrows. And on the other hand, the unfeigned pleasure which he manifests at the restoration of intercourse, the enumeration of the names of his friends in the frequent salutations, the joy with which his heart was lighted up at his meeting with the brethren at Appii Forum, "whom, when he saw, he thanked God and took courage,' "5 indicated the true consolation he derived from the pure spring of the better human affections. His life is the first great example of the power of Christian friendship. It is also (without passing a harsh judgment on the ascetic fervour called out by peculiar times and circumstances) a perpetual protest against the seclusion from all human society, which, in a later age, was regarded as the highest flight of virtue. It is impossible to imagine the 6th and 7th Chapters of this Epistle proceeding from the pen of Simeon Stylites. 1 1 Thess. iii. 1. 2 Phil. ii. 20. 32 Tim. iv. 11. 4 Acts, xx. 25. 5 Acts, xxviii. 15. |