• Sanday-Headlam, Romans^ (ICC, 1902), p. 840.
t See K. J. A. Hort in JPh iii. [1870] 56 ; and for a con- vincinfr discussion of the genuineness of this doxology aee E. H. Gi£ford in Speaker's Com., ' Romans,' 1881, pp. 22-27.
'in the Church' as the special domain where God is interested, viz. in a social brotherhood having organic life in Christ — the praise not being a thing of secular or voluntary ritual, but having its life and reason only in Christ and in a society redeemed and possessed by Him. 5. Ph i^o,— Notice here also the emphasis : the glory, that glory which is His attiibute and element. 6. 1 Ti 1". — Here we find echoes of Jewish forms : To 13^- ^'^, Enoch ix. 4, Rev 15^ The thought and phraseology are Hebraic. Bengel thought the «ons had indirect reference to Gnosticism, but this is not necessary. 7. 2 Ti 418.— 'The Lord' here refers to Christ (cf. 17), to whom this doxology is addressed.* 8. He 13^^. — This doxology may be to the ' God of peace ' of V.20, but it is both more natural and more gram- matical to refer it to Christ, immediately pre- ceding. Throughout the whole Epistle the latter has been constantly before the mind of the writer. 9. 1 P 4". — Hart well remarks that the insertion of ' is ' {idTiv) changes the doxology to a statement of fact, and thus supports the interpretation of ' whose ' (<J) as referring to the immediate ante- cedent, Jesus Christ, which seems also otherwise required. The thought is : already He possesses the glory and victory ; therefore (v. ^2) Christians endure joyfully their present suffering.! 10. 1 P 5^. — This refers to God, and 'dominion' is em- phasized as a consolation on account of the per- secution. 11. 2 P 3^. — Here we have another doxology to Christ. ' For ever ' signifies lit. ' unto the day of eternity,' and occurs only here. Cf. Sir 18'". Bigg makes the point that ei's toi>s alCivas ('unto the ages') became so immediately the ruling phrase that this doxology cannot have been written after liturgical expressions became in any degree stereotyped. 12. Jude^. — 'Majesty' (else- where He 1^ only) and ' power ' are unusual in doxologies. 13. RcY l^- ^ — ' The adoration of Christ, which vibrates in this doxology, is one of the most impressive features of the book. The prophet feels that the one hope for the loyalists of God in this period of trial is to be conscious that they owe everything to the redeeming love of Jesus. Faithfulness depends on faith, and faith is rallied by the grasp not of itself but of its object. Mysterious explanations of history follow, but it is passionate devotion to Jesus, and not any skill in exploring prophecy, which proves the source of moral heroism in the churches. Jesus sacrificed himself for us ; airi^ ij 56^a. From this inward trust and wonder, which leap up at the sight of Jesus and His grace, the loyalty of Christians flows.' + a. Rev 513.— God and Christ ('the Lamb') are linked together in this doxology, as often in thought among the early Christians (Jn 17*, 1 Ti 2^, Rev 7^° : 'salvation unto our God who sitteth on the throne, and unto the Lamb '). 13. Rev 7^. — It is a fine saj'ing of Rabbi Pinchas and Rabbi Jochanan on Ps 100- : ' Though all ofierings cease in the future, the offering of praise alone shall not cease ; though all prayers cease, thanks- giving alone shall not cease.'
A famous passage often interpreted as a doxology either to Christ or to God the Father is Ro 95. For refeniiig all words after 'of whom' (or 'from whom,' ef oiv) to Christ it may be argued that : (a) it supplies the antithesis which ' according to tlie flesh' supports, and (0) it is grammatically better, for 6 iov ('he being') naturally applies to what precedes : the person who is over all is naturally the person first mentioned. If we punctuate so as to read 'God who is over all,' there are objec- tions : (1) uii' would in that case be abnormal, and (2) ' blessed ' would be unparalleled in position, as it ought to stand first in the sentence as in Eph 1* and in the LXX. Besides, the doxology to God seems here without a motive, without either ps3'cliological or rhetorical reason, a solecism which jars on the
• See N. J. D. White, EGT, '2 Tim.,' 1910, p. 183. t J. H. A. Hart, EGT, ' 1 Pel.,' 1910, p. 73. J J. Mofifalt, EGT, 'Rev.,' 1910, p. 339, also art. in Expositor, 6Lh ser., v. 302 ff.
DRAGON
DREAM
313
harmonies of St. Paul's pen. Then almost all the ancient inter- preters, whatever their views, referred the whole to Christ. From consideration of lantjuage Socinus consented. Against this Stromann argues* that (i.) 'God blessed for ever' occurs frequently in the OT (though that does not prevent the predicate from being also used for Christ in the XT); (ii.) 'blessed for ever' is used for God in Ro 125 (but similar expressions are also given to Christ in the NT [see above], and when once the possi- bility is granted, each case must be judged on its merits) ; (iii.) where ' blessed ' is used in the NT it is always used of God (but exactly equivalent expressions are used also of Christ). It is true that the fact of St. Paul's not calling Christ ' God ' outright, but even making a distinction (1 Co S**), strikes Meyer and Denney t so strongly that they cannot allow the interpretation here. But to this theological argument it may be replied that passages like 2 Co 4* 131^, Col 113-20, Ph 25-11 ascribe no less dignity to Christ than if St. Paul had used ' God ' of Him. While a Christian Jew would ordinarily use 'God' for the Father, and ' Lord ' for Christ, he might also use ' Lord ' for the Father (1 Co 3^) and ' Spirit' for Christ (2 Co 317). As soon as the religious idea that njeant the Divinity of Christ reacted in the use of names, the word 'God' would be used of Him, as we see in John, Ignatius, Ac 202'i (the two oldest MSS), and Ti 213.: There is no impossibility in such a use here, therefore, and we are again driven back to the natural, and grammatical, inter- pretation.