OT-HISTORY.filter - rwp earliest:

rwp@1Corinthians:13:1 @{With the tongues} (\tais glssais\). Instrumental case. Mentioned first because really least and because the Corinthians put undue emphasis on this gift. Plato (_Symposium_, 197) and many others have written on love, but Paul has here surpassed them all in this marvellous prose-poem. It comes like a sweet bell right between the jangling noise of the gifts in chapters 12 and 14. It is a pity to dissect this gem or to pull to pieces this fragrant rose, petal by petal. Fortunately Paul's language here calls for little comment, for it is the language of the heart. "The greatest, strongest, deepest thing Paul ever wrote" (Harnack). The condition (\ean\ and present subjunctive, \lal kai m ech\, though the form is identical with present indicative) is of the third class, a supposable case. {But have not love} (\agapn de m ech\). This is the _crux_ of the chapter. Love is the way _par excellence_ of strkjv@12:31|. It is not yet clearly certain that \agap\ (a back-formation from \agapa\) occurs before the LXX and the N.T. Plutarch used \agapsis\. Deissmann (_Bible Studies_, p. 198) once suspected it on an inscription in Pisidia. It is still possible that it occurs in the papyri (Prayer to Isis). See _Light from the Ancient East_, p. 75 for details. The rarity of \agap\ made it easier for Christians to use this word for Christian love as opposed to \ers\ (sexual love). See also Moffatt's Love in the N.T. (1930) for further data. The word is rare in the Gospels, but common in Paul, John, Peter, Jude. Paul does not limit \agap\ at all (both toward God and man). Charity (Latin _caritas_) is wholly inadequate. "Intellect was worshipped in Greece, and power in Rome; but where did St. Paul learn the surpassing beauty of love?" (Robertson and Plummer). Whether Paul had ever seen Jesus in the flesh, he knows him in the spirit. One can substitute Jesus for love all through this panegyric. {I am become} (\gegona\). Second perfect indicative in the conclusion rather than the usual future indicative. It is put vividly, "I am already become." Sounding brass (\chalchos chn\). Old words. Brass was the earliest metal that men learned to use. Our word _echoing_ is \chn\, present active participle. Used in strkjv@Luke:21:25| of the roaring of the sea. Only two examples in N.T. {Clanging cymbal} (\kumbalon alalazon\). Cymbal old word, a hollow basin of brass. \Alalaz\, old onomatopoetic word to ring loudly, in lament (Mark:5:38|), for any cause as here. Only two N.T. examples.

rwp@1Corinthians:13:4 @Verses 4-7| picture the character or conduct of love in marvellous rhapsody. {Suffereth long} (\makrothumei\). Late _Koin_ word (Plutarch) from \makros\, long, \thumos\, passion, ardour. Cf. strkjv@James:5:7f|. {Is kind} (\chrsteuetai\). From \chrstos\ (useful, gracious, kind) and that from \chraomai\, to use. Not found elsewhere save in Clement of Rome and Eusebius. "Perhaps of Paul's coining" (Findlay). Perhaps a vernacular word ready for Paul. Gentle in behaviour. {Envieth not} (\ou zloi\). Present active indicative of \zlo\ (contraction \oei=oi\, same as subjunctive and optative forms). Bad sense of \zlos\ from \ze\, to boil, good sense in strkjv@12:31|. Love is neither jealous nor envious (both ideas). {Vaunteth not itself} (\ou perpereuetai\). From \perperos\, vainglorious, braggart (Polybius, Epictetus) like Latin _perperus_. Only here in N.T. and earliest known example. It means play the braggart. Marcus Anton. V. 5 uses it with \areskeuomai\, to play the toady. {Is not puffed up} (\ou phusioutai\). Present direct middle indicative of \phusio\ from \phusis\ (late form for \phusa, phusia\ from \phusa\, bellows), to puff oneself out like a pair of bellows. This form in Herodas and Menander. Is not arrogant. See on ¯4:6|.

rwp@1Corinthians:14:28 @{But if there be no interpreter} (\ean de m i diermneuts\). Third class condition. Earliest known instance and possibly made by Paul from verb in verse 27|. Reappears in Byzantine grammarians. {Keep silence in church} (\sigat en ekklsii\). Linear action (present active imperative). He is not even to speak in a tongue once. He can indulge his private ecstasy with God.

rwp@Galatians:3:17 @{Now this I say} (\touto de leg\). Now I mean this. He comes back to his main point and is not carried afield by the special application of \sperma\ to Christ. {Confirmed beforehand by God} (\prokekurmenn hupo tou theou\). Perfect passive participle of \prokuro\, in Byzantine writers and earliest use here. Nowhere else in N.T. The point is in \pro\ and \hupo tou theou\ (by God) and in \meta\ (after) as Burton shows. {Four hundred and thirty years after} (\meta tetrakosia kai triakonta et\). Literally, "after four hundred and thirty years." This is the date in strkjv@Exodus:12:40| for the sojourn in Egypt (cf. strkjv@Genesis:15:13|). But the LXX adds words to include the time of the patriarchs in Canaan in this number of years which would cut the time in Egypt in two. Cf. strkjv@Acts:7:6|. It is immaterial to Paul's argument which chronology is adopted except that "the longer the covenant had been in force the more impressive is his statement" (Burton). {Doth not disannul} (\ouk akuroi\). Late verb \akuro\, in N.T. only here and strkjv@Matthew:15:6; strkjv@Mark:7:13| (from \a\ privative and \kuros\, authority). On \katargsai\ see strkjv@1Corinthians:1:28; strkjv@2:6; strkjv@15:24,26|.

rwp@Hebrews:11:28 @{He kept} (\pepoiken\). Perfect active indicative of \poie\, to make, "he has made," emphasizing the permanent nature of the feast. {The sprinkling of the blood} (\tn proschusin tou haimatos\). Rather, "the pouring of the blood" (\proschusis\ from \prosche\, to pour upon), only here in the N.T. (earliest known example). An allusion to the command in strkjv@Exodus:12:7,22| but in the LXX \prosche\ is the usual term for the act (Exodus:24:6; strkjv@29:16; strkjv@Leviticus:1:5,11; strkjv@Deuteronomy:16:6|). {That the destroyer of the first-born should not touch them} (\hina m ho olothreun ta prtotoka thigi autn\). Negative final clause with \hina m\ and the second aorist active subjunctive of \thiggan\, old verb to touch with genitive, in the N.T. only here, strkjv@12:20; strkjv@Colossians:2:21|. The articular participle \ho olothreun\ is from strkjv@Exodus:11:23|. For \prtotoka\ see strkjv@Luke:2:7; strkjv@Exodus:12:29|.

rwp@Info_James @ THE DATE If the Epistle is genuine and James was put to death about A.D. 62, it was clearly written before that date. There are two theories about it, one placing it about A.D. 48, the other about A.D. 58. To my mind the arguments of Mayor for the early date are conclusive. There is no allusion to Gentile Christians, as would be natural after A.D. 50. If written after A.D. 70, the tone would likely be different, with some allusion to that dreadful calamity. The sins condemned are those characteristic of early Jewish Christians. The book itself is more like the Sermon on the Mount than the Epistles. The discussion of faith and works in chapter strkjv@James:2| reveals an absence of the issues faced by Paul in strkjv@Romans:4; strkjv@Galatians:3| after the Jerusalem Conference (A.D. 49). Hence the date before that Conference has decidedly the better of the argument. Ropes in his Commentary denies the genuineness of the Epistle and locates it between A.D. 75 and 125, but Hort holds that the evidence for a late date rests "on very slight and intangible grounds." Songs:we place the book before A.D. 49. It may indeed be the earliest New Testament book.

rwp@Info_James @ THE PURPOSE If James is writing solely to non-Christian Jews, the purpose is to win them to Christ, and so he puts the gospel message in a way to get a hearing from the Jews. That is true, whether he has them in mind or not, though he does not do it by the suppression of the deity of Jesus Christ. In the very first verse he places him on a par with God as "the Lord Jesus Christ." In strkjv@James:2:1| he presents Jesus as the object of faith: "as you believe in our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Glory" (Moffatt's Translation), where Jesus is termed the Shekinah Glory of God. It is true that there is no discussion in the Epistle of the cross and the resurrection of Jesus, but there is an allusion to the murder of Jesus in strkjv@James:5:6| and the second coming in strkjv@James:5:8|. The chief aim of the Epistle is to strengthen the faith and loyalty of the Jewish Christians in the face of persecution from rich and overbearing Jews who were defrauding and oppressing them. It is a picture of early Christian life in the midst of difficult social conditions between capital and labor which also exist today. Songs:then it is a very modern message even if it is the earliest New Testament book. The glory of the New Testament lies precisely at this point in that the revelation of God in Christ meets our problems today because it did meet those of the first century A.D. Christian principles stand out clearly for our present-day living.

rwp@James:1:6 @{In faith} (\en pistei\). Faith here "is the fundamental religious attitude" (Ropes), belief in God's beneficent activity and personal reliance on him (Oesterley). {Nothing doubting} (\mden diakrinomenos\). Negative way of saying \en pistei\ (in faith), present passive participle of \diakrin\, old verb to separate (\krin\) between (\dia\), to discriminate as shown clearly in strkjv@Acts:11:12, strkjv@15:9|, but no example of the sense of divided against oneself has been found earlier than the N.T., though it appears in later Christian writings. It is like the use of \diamerizomai\ in strkjv@Luke:11:18| and occurs in strkjv@Matthew:21:21; strkjv@Mark:11:23; strkjv@Acts:10:20; strkjv@Romans:2:4; strkjv@4:20; strkjv@14:23|. It is a vivid picture of internal doubt. {Is like} (\eoiken\). Second perfect active indicative with the linear force alone from \eik\ to be like. Old form, but in N.T. only here and verse 23| (a literary touch, not in LXX). {The surge of the sea} (\kludni thalasss\). Old word (from \kluz\ to wash against) for a dashing or surging wave in contrast with \kuma\ (successive waves), in N.T. only here and strkjv@Luke:8:24|. In associative instrumental case after \eoiken\. In strkjv@Ephesians:4:14| we have \kludoniz\ (from \kludn\), to toss by waves. {Driven by the wind} (\anemizomeni\). Present passive participle (agreeing in case with \kludni\) of \anemiz\, earliest known example and probably coined by James (from \anemos\), who is fond of verbs in \-iz\ (Mayor). The old Greek used \anemo\. In strkjv@Ephesians:4:14| Paul uses both \kludoniz\ and \peripher anemi\. It is a vivid picture of the sea whipped into white-caps by the winds. {Tossed} (\ripizomeni\). Present passive participle also in agreement with \kludni\ from \ripiz\, rare verb (Aristophanes, Plutarch, Philo) from \ripis\ (a bellows or fire-fan), here only in N.T. It is a picture of "the restless swaying to and fro of the surface of the water, blown upon by shifting breezes" (Hort), the waverer with slight rufflement.

rwp@John:5:4 @All of this verse is wanting in the oldest and best manuscripts like Aleph B C D W 33 Old Syriac, Coptic versions, Latin Vulgate. It is undoubtedly added, like the clause in verse 3|, to make clearer the statement in verse 7|. Tertullian is the earliest writer to mention it. The Jews explained the healing virtues of the intermittent spring by the ministry of angels. But the periodicity of such angelic visits makes it difficult to believe. It is a relief to many to know that the verse is spurious.

rwp@John:17:2 @{Authority over all flesh} (\exousian pass sarkos\). \Sarkos\ is objective genitive. Stupendous claim impossible for a mere man to make. Made already in strkjv@Matthew:11:27; strkjv@Luke:10:22| (Q, the Logia of Jesus, our earliest known document about Jesus) and repeated in strkjv@Matthew:28:18| after his resurrection. {That} (\hina\). Secondary purpose with \hina dsei\ (future active indicative) carrying on the idea of \hina doxasi\. See strkjv@13:34; strkjv@17:21| for \hina, kaths, hina\. {Whatsoever} (\pn ho\). A peculiar classical Greek idiom, the collective use of the singular \pn ho\ as in strkjv@6:37,39| and \ho\ in strkjv@17:24| and the nominative absolute (_nom. pendens_) with \autois\ (to them), the dative plural explaining the construction. See Robertson, _Grammar_, p. 653.

rwp@Luke:4:2 @{Being tempted} (\peirazomenos\). Present passive participle and naturally parallel with the imperfect passive \geto\ (was led) in verse 1|. This is another instance of poor verse division which should have come at the end of the sentence. See on ¯Matthew:4:1; strkjv@Mark:1:13| for the words "tempt" and "devil." The devil challenged the Son of man though also the Son of God. It was a contest between Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, and the slanderer of men. The devil had won with Adam and Eve. He has hopes of triumph over Jesus. The story of this conflict is given only in strkjv@Matthew:4:1-11; strkjv@Luke:4:1-13|. There is a mere mention of it in strkjv@Mark:1:12f|. Songs:then here is a specimen of the Logia of Jesus (Q), a non-Markan portion of Matthew and Luke, the earliest document about Christ. The narrative could come ultimately only from Christ himself. It is noteworthy that it bears all the marks of the high conception of Jesus as the Son of God found in the Gospel of John and in Paul and Hebrews, the rest of the New Testament in fact, for Mark, Matthew, Luke, Acts, Peter, and Jude:follow in this same strain. The point is that modern criticism has revealed the Messianic consciousness of Jesus as God's Son at his Baptism and in his Temptations at the very beginning of his ministry and in the oldest known documents about Christ (The Logia, Mark's Gospel). {He did eat nothing} (\ouk ephagen ouden\). Second aorist (constative) active indicative of the defective verb \esthi\. Mark does not give the fast. strkjv@Matthew:4:2| has the aorist active participle \nsteusas\ which usually means a religious fast for purposes of devotion. That idea is not excluded by Luke's words. The entrance of Jesus upon his Messianic ministry was a fit time for this solemn and intense consecration. This mental and spiritual strain would naturally take away the appetite and there was probably nothing at hand to eat. The weakness from the absence of food gave the devil his special opportunity to tempt Jesus which he promptly seized. {When they were completed} (\suntelestheisn autn\). Genitive absolute with the first aorist passive participle feminine plural because \hemern\ (days) is feminine. According to Luke the hunger (\epeinasen\, became hungry, ingressive aorist active indicative) came at the close of the forty days as in strkjv@Matthew:4:2|.

rwp@Romans:1:2 @{He promised afore} (\proepggeilato\). First aorist middle of \proepaggell\ for which verb see on ¯2Corinthians:9:5|. {By} (\dia\). Through, by means of, intermediate agency like strkjv@Matthew:1:22| which see. {In the holy scriptures} (\en graphais hagiais\). No article, yet definite. Perhaps the earliest use of the phrase (Sanday and Headlam). Paul definitely finds God's gospel in the Holy Scriptures.

rwp@Romans:2:11 @{Respect of persons} (\prospolmpsia\). Milligan (_Vocabulary_) considers this word (in N.T. only here, strkjv@Colossians:3:25; strkjv@Ephesians:6:9|) and \prospolmpts\ (Acts:10:34|) and \prospolmpte\ (James:2:9|) the earliest definitely known Christian words, not in LXX or non-Christian writings. See on ¯Acts:10:34| for the formation in imitation of the Hebrew to take note of the face (\prospon, lamban\), to judge by the face or appearance.