17. Without ceasing (aécarelrrws). Comp. Rom. i. 9; mi.) 42; tuph. vi. 18; | Col..iv./2.
18. Will (@¢éAnua)}. In the sense of requirement. Comp. ch. iv. 3.
-19. Quench not the Spirit. Since he is the inspirer of prayer, and the bestower of all gifts of grace on the Church. Comp. Eph. iv. 80. The operation of the Spirit is set forth under the image of fire in Matt. iii. 11; L. xii. 49; Acts ii. 8,4. The reference here is to the work of the Spirit gener- ally, and not specially to his inspiration of prayer or prophecy.
20. Prophesyings (apodpntetas). The emphasis on proph- esyings corresponds with that in 1 Cor. xiv. 1-5, 22 ff. Prophecy in the apostolic church was directly inspired in-
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50 WORD STUDIES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. (Cu. v.
struction, exhortation, or warning. The prophet received the truth into his own spirit which was withdrawn from earthly things and concentrated upon the spiritual world. His higher, spiritual part (avedya), and his moral intelli- gence (vods), and his speech (Adyos) worked in harmony. His spirit received a spiritual truth in symbol: his under- standing interpreted it in its application to actual events, and his speech uttered the interpretation. He was not ecstatically rapt out of the sphere of human intelligence, although his understanding was intensified and clarified by the phenomenal action of the Spirit upon it. This double action imparted a peculiarly elevated character to his speech. The prophetic influence was thus distinguished from the mystical ecstasy, the ecstasy of Paul when rapt into the third heaven, which affected the subject alone and was . incommunicable (2 Cor. xii. 1-4). The gift of tongues car- ried the subject out of the prophetic condition in which spirit, understanding, and speech operated in concert, and into a condition in which the understanding was overpowered by the communication to the spirit, so that the spirit could not find its natural expression in rational speech, or speech begotten of the understanding, and found supernatural expression in a tongue created by the Spirit. Paul attached great value to prophecy. He places prophets next after apostles in the list of those whom God has set in the Church Ci Cor. xii. 28). He associates apostles and prophets as the foundation of the Church (Eph. ii. 20). He assigns to prophecy the precedence among spiritual gifts (1 Cor. xiv. 1-5), and urges his readers to desire the gift (1 Cor. xiv. 1, 89). Hence his exhortation here.
21. Prove all things (mdvra Soxiuagere). A general exhortation, not confined to prophesyings; but Paul else- where insists that a test be applied to phenomena which claim to be supernatural. See on discerning of spirits, 1 Cor. xu. 10; xiv. 29, and comp. *2)1h, ins 2.qundu inlay. 1-8: For doxeudkere prove, see on 1 Pet. i. 7. In LXX, Proy. xxvil. 21; Ps, xi. 6, So«duwor is a crucible or furnace.
Cu. V.] THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE THESSALONIANS. 51
Hold fast that which is good (76 candor xaréxyete). These words are associated in early Christian writers with an apoc- ryphal saying ascribed to Jesus, and very frequently quoted, yiverOe Sé Sdxtmot tpaTreSira show yourselves approved money- changers. By some ancient writers the two are cited together as Paul’s; by others they are distinguished, as by Origen, who cites the saying as an injunction (évToAnv) of Jesus, and adds, “and also (observing) the teaching of Paul, who says, ‘prove all things, hold fast the good, abstain from every form: of evil.’” The saying about the money-changers is probably a genuine logion of the Lord. Some have thought that the words added by Clement of Alexandria, “rejecting some things but holding fast the good,” formed part of the Lord’s. saying, and that, accordingly, Paul’s words here depend on an original utterance of Jesus. If this could be proved, eiSos form, ver. 22, might be explained as a figure of exchangers distinguishing between genuine and false coins.*