*See Farrar, in ‘‘ The Expositor,” first series, x., 24; and ‘‘Life of Paul,” ii., 435.
Cu, IV.] THE EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS. 45%
Clement of this epistle has been very generally abandoned. The latter was probably a Philippian.
Other (7av Aourav). Rev., correctly, the rest.
Book of life. The phrase occurs seven times in the Apoca- lypse. Compare Luke x. 20; Heb. xii. 23, and see on Apoc. iii. 5. The figure is founded on the register of the covenant people. Isa. iv. 3; Ezek. xiii. 9; Exod. xxxii. 32; Psalm Ixix. 28; Dan. xii. 1. The phrase was also used by the Rab- bins. Thus in the Targum * on Ezek. xiii. 9: “In the book of eternal life which has been written for the just of the house of Israel, they shall not be written.” God is described as “the king, sitting upon the judgment-seat, with the books of the liv- ing and the books of the dead open before Him.”
5. Rejoice. See on ch. i. 4, and 2 Cor. xiii. 11.
Moderation (7d ézrueuxés). Wrong. Rev., correctly, for- bearance. See on gentle, 1 Pet. ii. 18.
The Lord is at hand. See on 1 Cor. xvi. 22.
6. Be careful (uwepiyuvare). See on Matt. vi. 25. Rev., bet- ter, be anxious.
Prayer and supplication. General and special. See on Luke v. 33; viii. 38. IIpocevyn prayer, only of prayer to God. The two words often occur together, as Eph. vi. 18; 1 iar Ligeyeb.
Requests (airjyara). Specific details of supplication.
Unto God (zpos tov @eov). The force of wpos is rather in your intercourse with God. See on with God, John i. 1.
7. Peace of God. As the antidote to anziety, ver. 6.
Which passeth all understanding (1) tepéyouca rdvra voov). Hither, which passes all power of comprehension, com-
* Targum means translation, and was the name given to a Chaldee version or paraphrase of the Old Testament. After the exile it became customary to read the law in public with the addition of an oral paraphrase in the Chaldee dialect. Neh. viii. 8. These were afterward committed to writing. The two oldest are the Targum of Onkelos on the law, and that of Jonathan ben Uz- ziel on the prophets,
458 WORD STUDIES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. [Cu. IV.
pare Eph. iii. 20; or, better, which surpasses every (human) reason, in its power to relieve anxiety. Compare Matt. vi. 31, 32. For understanding, see on Rom. vii. 23.
Shall keep (dpovpycer). Lit., guard, as Rev., or mount guard over. God’s peace, like a sentinel, patrols before the heart. Compare Tennyson:
“¢ Love is and was my King and Lord, And will be, though as yet I keep Within his court on earth, and sleep Encompassed by his faithful guard, And hear at times a sentinel Who moves about from place to place, And whispers to the worlds of space, In the deep night, that all is well.” “In Memoriam.”
Gurnall, a little differently: ‘The peace of God is said to gar- vison the believer’s heart and mind. He is surrounded with such blessed privileges that he is as safe as one in an impreg- nable castle” (‘‘ Christian in Complete Armor,” p. 419).
Hearts—minds (xapdias—vojpara). For hearts, see on Rom. i. 21. For minds, Rev., thoughts, on 2 Cor. iii. 14. The guardianship is over the source and the issues of thought and will. ‘ Your hearts and their fruits” (Alford).
8. Honest (ceuva). Rev., honorable, reverend in margin. In classical Greek an epithet of the gods, venerable, reverend. The word occurs only here and in the pastoral epistles, 1 Tim. iii. 8,11; Tit. ii. 2, where it is rendered grave, both in A. V. and Rev. There lies in it the idea of a dignity or majesty which is yet inviting and attractive, and which inspires rever- ence. rave, as Trench observes, does not exhaust the mean- ing. Gravity may be ridiculous. “The word we want is one in which the sense of gravity and dignity, and of these as in- viting reverence, is combined.” Ellicott’s venerable is perhaps as near as any word, if venerable be divested of its modern con- ventional sense as implying age, and confined to its original sense, worthy of reverence.