Robert S. Franks.
BENEDICTION [eiiKoyla, benedictio).— This term has in tlie NT all the senses of berdkdh in the OT. It signifies : (a) praises given to God or Christ (Rev 512. 18 712^ Ja 310) ; {b) in a sense exclusively biblical, f.avour or blessing from God (He 6'') ; (c) a blessing asked for (He 12''') ; (d) the blessing of the Christian gospel or calling (Ro 15"\ Gal 3'*, Eph 1'^ IPS*); (e) the gifts or temporal goods bestowed on others (2 Co 9^) ; (/) by a figure, tlie cup of the Lord's Supper, on account of the thanksgiving and praise ottered in connexion with it (1 Co 10'^) ; (g) the fine and flattering speeches (Ro 16'**) used by false teachers to lead away Christians — the only place in the NT where the word has its classical sense. It is tlie thought of the Apostle that Christianity is specially a religion which leads its followers to help and bless others (Ro 12'^ 1 Co 4'^ 14^", 1 P 3")— an altruistic faith which reminds one by contrast of the luxuriant use of anathema and excommunication in the Middle Ages. From the
BEIs^EDICTIOX
BENEDICTIU^^
U<
verb ev\oy€lv has come tlie purely biblical and ecclesiastical word ev\oyr]T6s, Vulg. bencdictus, ' blessed,' which is the LXX translation of bdriik, participle of brJrdk. God is called thus because praises are made to Him and He is the source of blessings (Ro P^ 95^ 2 Co P IP\ Eph P, 1 P P).
The word ' benedictions ' is more commonly used of those well-wishings or spiritual blessings in Christ which form such a characteristic part of the closing sentences of the Epistles of the NT, especi- al]_y those of St. Paul. One of these benedictions, under the title of the Apostolic Benediction, has jiassed into use in the public worship of many Churches of Christendom. Let us take these sentences in chronological order. (1) 'The peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you' (1 Th 5'**). The verb in these greetings is omitted, but it is better, with nearly all scholars, to interpret them as prayers, and so supply etr], than as declarations and sujjply iari.* The usual closing good wish in the letters of this period was eppoiao or eppwcr^e = vale, 'farewell,' lit. 'be strong.' With St. Paul everything was looked upon from the standpoint of Christ, and even courtesies were to receive a new significance. (2) 'The peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all ' (2 Th 3]»). _ This is preceded bj'a statement that the greeting is added by St. Paul in his own handwriting, and that this will be a constant custom as a certificate of genuineness. Compare the aecryjuelwixai (' I have noted [or written, or sealed]'), generallj' contracted into (xea-q, with which many of the Egyptian papyrus letters and ostraca close. t or the postscript in one's own handwriting (^vfi^oXov) which guaranteed an ancient letter. J (3) ' The peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, bretlu-en. Amen' (Gal G"*). The word ' spirit ' is added as in keeping with the emphasis on spirit in the letter, and the word ' brethren ' is given as a token of St. Paul's affec- tion in closing an Epistle in which he had to use stern rebuke. (4) ' The peace of our Lord Jesus Ciirist be with you. My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen' (1 Co 16-^--'*). The second clause is peculiar here. It is explained by the fact that St. Paul had been compelled to use censure.s, and he wished the Corinthians to know that his love Avas still abounding towards them. It never failed (13-). It was, as Chrysostom says, 'some- thing spiritual and exceedingly genuine.' But that love is only in the sphere of Christ, so that everywhere the verb of desire (err?) is to be under- stood, as in the strict sense St. Paul could not love those who did not love the Lord (v.-^) or who de- stroyed God's temples (3"). § P. Bachmann speaks of St. Paul's final benediction here in these fitting words: 'So ends a sound of faith, of hope and of love out of the deepest soul of the writer, and after such changing and manifold discussions he turns in his conclusion to the sentiment of his friendly and warm beginning.' || (0) 'The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the comnnmion of the Holy Spirit, be with you all' (2 Co 13'^). The genitives here are subjective. It is the love which God has to us. This is always the use of St. Paul after aydini, 'love' (Ro 5^ 8^^, 2 Co 5'-* 131^ etc.). It is not communion with the Holy Spirit as an object, but a communion belong- ing to the Spirit, of mIucIi the Son is the founder and centre, and of Avhich the Spirit is the means
* For an able defence of the contrary view (eori), see J. J. Owen in Bibliotheca Sacra, 1862, p. 707 ff.
t G. Milligan, St. Paul's Ed. to the Thessalonians, 1908, p. 130.
t Deissniann, Lioht vom Osten, 105 (Eng. tr., Light from the Ancient East-, 1911, p. 153).
§G. G. Findlay, EOT, '1 Cor.' 1900, p. 953. See also the excellent remarks of Robertson-Plummer, 1 Cor. (ICC, 1911), p. 402.