glO. 15 ■-55-56. 5U-60j
(b) In Gal 2^ St. Paul speaks of an important conspiracj', but the grammatical constructions in the immediate context are very uncertain, and these difficulties are increased by the variant read- ing in 2^, where some e.xcellent scholars, including Zahn, J. Weiss, and K. Lake, omit the words of negation {oh ovoi), thus arriving at the statement ' we yielded for an hour on account of the pseudo- brethren.' Those who accept this are divided as to the nature of the concession referred to. Weiss (with Spitta) believes that St. Paul 'yielded' by circumcising Titus ; Zahn, that he yielded by going up to Jerusalem for consultation at all, but did not circumcise Titus. If the invasion of the pseudo-brethren be connected with 'we did not yield,' it will simply have defeated itself by stiflen- iiig St. Paul's resolution in the contrary direction ; but with whatever it be connected, while the nega- tive in v.^ is retained, it cannot be supposed to have accomplished much.
The scene of this uninvited visit was probably Antioch (see Ac 15'), possibly Galatia (see Gal 2^ ' continue with you ') ; almost certainly not the Council at Jerusalem, to which the ' spying out ' is not appropriate. It is quite possible that St. Paul speaks somewhat too severely, for he writes the Epistle to the Galatians at a time of acute ' dis- sension ' (cf. Ac 15'-). But, if the plot was as repre- hensible as he saj's, it would account for much of the bitterness of the Epistle, for in this he is fighting much the same battle over again, and has to deal with a similar, and almost equally perilous, inva- sion of his churches.
(c) In Gal 2^^^- St. Paul refers to a conspiracy against the ' truth of the gospel ' at Antioch, in which Peter, the 'rest of the Jews' there, and ' even Barnabas,' are all implicated. Its object, according to St. Paul, was to rebut the claim of the Gentiles to equality by refusing to eat with them. The vigour of his language is noteworthy : ' to the face,' ' condemned ' (v.'*) ; so also ' fearing ' (v.'^) ; ' dissembled,' ' dissimulation ' (v.^^) ; ' not up- rightly,' '(not) according to truth,' 'before them all ' (v.^'^). The Apostle appears to draw a conscious and pointed contrast between his own conduct and that of his opponents at Antioch, especially St. Peter ; and certainly his portrayal of the scene forms in effect a telling reply to — almost a turning of the tables on — any insinuations current in Galatia as to his own weakness and dissimulation (see, e.g., P" and, more generally, Ro 3^ 2 Co 4- 1112-15 i2ifi, 1 Th 2^).
LiTERATiRE. — The relevant Commentaries, esp. Zahn, Ram- say, Lightfoot, etc., on Galatians ; F. Spitta, Die Apo.^tcl-
244
COIs^STRAINT
CONTENTMENT
gesehiehte, Halle, 1891 ; J. Weiss, SK, 1893, p. 480 fif., and 1895, p. 252 ff. ; C. V. Weizsacker, Apostolic Age, i.2 [1897] 175-216, 252-275 ; T. Zahn, Introd. to NT, 1909, i. 152-202 ; Douglass Round, The Date of St. Paul's Epistle to the Galatians. 1900 ; W. M. Ramsay, St. Paul the Traveller and the Roman CUiMtn, 1895. C. H. WATKINS.
CONSTRAINT.— Neglecting wapa^td^onai, used in Ac 28'* (of. Lk 24^*) simply of the pressure of hospit- able invitation, we have two terms in the NT ex- pressing the notion of ' constraint ' — dvayKdl^eiv and
1. dvayKa^eiv is to constrain to some course of con- duct as a matter of necessity {dudyKrj). In Gal 6'- the Judaizers appear as an example of the sinister exer- cise of constraint, rushing the bewildered Galatian converts into circumcision exemplo suo et importuni- tate (Bengel, ad loc). Again, St. Paul himself speaks of his experience of constraint arising from a solemn sense of duty (1 Co 9^^). In neither case is the dvdyKi] an arbitrary, irresistible fate that drives men to act thus and thus. Otherwise the Galatians could not have been blamed by St. Paul for listen- ing to his opponents, nor could he have said of him- self, ' Woe is me if I preach not the gospel.'
In 1 P 5^ pastors are exhorted to do their duty ' not of constraint ' (/^■)i dvayKacrTws) ; but this is not in conflict with St. Paul's position in 1 Co 9'®. Service can only be satisfactory when along with the fundamental sense of duty there is a willing response to its demand.
In Jude* the kindred phrase dvdyKrjv ?<rxov= our simple ' I could not help ' (sc. writing).
2. (Twix^iv appears in 2 Co 5^*, and being predi- cated of ' the love of Christ,' cannot have here any suggestion of irksome pressure as in some other in- stances of its use. ' The love of Christ grips us,' says the Apostle, adding explicitly that his over- mastering sense of that love arose from his view of the Lord's death. J. S. CLEMENS.
CONTENTMENT.— The idea of ' contentment ' is more prominent in Scripture than appears on the surface. The word, indeed, is seldom used, St. Paul being the only NT writer who treats the subject explicitly. But whether the word is there or not, the thing is there. Seeing that the virtue is one of the constituent elements of earthly life and happi- ness, it would be strange if it were absent from the ethics of Scripture. No amount of worldly fortune or success, without a contented mind, brings happi- ness, while contentment makes straitened means enough. We are not surprised that the subject enters into all ethical schemes and has been a favourite text of essayists in all lands and ages.