passive, the above rendering may be justified either by the remark of Grotius: as the active form signifies to give a possession, the passive may signify to accept it ;* or by a reference to that usage of the passive voice illustrated in such passages as Rom. 3,2. Gal. 2, 7. With verbs, which in the active have the accusative and dative, in the passive construction what was in the dative, becomes the nominative. Hence ἐκληρώθημεν is the same as ἐκλήρωσε ἡμῖν κληρονομίαν ; just as πεπίστευμαι TO εὐαγγέλιον is equivalent to ἐπίστευσέ μοι τὸ εὐαγγέλιον. 2. The inheritance of which the apostle speaks in the context, as in vs. 14 and 18, is that which believers enjoy. They are not themselves the inheritance, they are the heirs. Therefore in this place it is more natural to understand him as referring to what believers attain in Christ, than to their becom- ing the inheritance of God. As the Israelites of old obtained an inheritance in the promised land, so those in Christ become partakers of that heavenly inheritance which he has secured for them. To this analogy such frequent reference is made in Scripture as to leave little doubt as to the meaning of this passage. 3. The paral- lel passage in Col. 1, 12, also serves to determine the sense of the clause under consideration. What is there expressed by saying: ‘Hath made us partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light;’ is here expressed by saying: ‘ We have obtained an inheritance.’ Kai,
* His words are: κληροῦν dicitur, qui alteri dat possessionem, κληροῦν
σθαι, qui eam accipit.