3. So foolish. Explained by what follows. Has your folly reached such a pitch as to reverse the true order of things? Comp. 1 Cor. xv. 46.
Having begun (évapEdwevor). P®°. Comp. Philip. i. 6; 2 Cor. viii. 6. Having commenced your Christian life. The
* See Aristoph. Av. 450; Just. Mart. Apol. 2, 52; Plut. Camillus, 11. So, acc. to some, Jude 4, registered for condemnation. Comp. 1 Mace. x. 36, enrolled.
+ Many of the earlier interpreters, the hearing of the faith, i.e., the recep- tion of the gospel; but the faith is not used in the Pauline epistles as = the gospel. Others, as Lightfoot and Lipsius, hearing which comes of faith. But axoy is habitually used in N. T. in a passive sense (see on 1 Th. ii. 13), and the opposition is not between doing and hearing, but between the law and faith.
Cu. III] THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 118
verb is common in Class. in the sense of beginning a sacrifice or other religious ceremony ; but it is not likely that any such figurative suggestion is attached to it here, as Lightfoot.
In the Spirit (zvevpate). Or, by means of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit, as the inspirer and regulator of the life.
Are ye made-perfect (ézutedeicfe). The word is found in connection with évdpyecPar to begin, in 2 Cor. viii. 6; Philip. i. 6. The A. V. and Rev. render here in the passive voice. ‘The active voice, always in N. T. with the object expressed, means to bring to completion. See Rom. xv. 28; 2 Cor. vii. 1; Philip. i. 6; Heb. viii. 5. The passive only 1 Pet. v. 9. It is true that the verb in the middle voice is not found in either N. T. or LXX; but it is not uncommon in Class. and answers better to the middle évapEdpevor having begun. It implies more than bringing to an end; rather to a consummation. Rend.: having begun in the spirit are ye coming to completion in the flesh? The last phrase has an ironical tinge, suggesting the absurdity of expecting per- fection on the Jewish basis of legal righteousness. ‘The pres- ent tense indicates that they have already begun upon this attempt.
The flesh. The worldly principle or element of life, rep- resented by the legal righteousness of the Jew.
4. Have ye suffered (éwdere). Or, did ye suffer. The exact sense is doubtful. By some it is held that the ref- erence is to sufferings endured by the Galatian Christians either through heathen persecutions or Judaising emissaries. There is, however, no record in this Epistle or elsewhere of the Galatians having suffered special persecutions on account of their Christian profession. Others take the verb in a neut- ral sense, have ye experienced, or with a definite reference to the experience of benefits. In this neutral sense it is used in Class. from Homer down, and is accordingly joined with both caxds evilly, and ed well. Paul habitually uses it in the
VOL, Iv. —8
114 WORD STUDIES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. (Cu. IIL
sense of suffering evil, and there is no decisive instance, either in N. T. or LXX, of the neutral sense. In Class., where it is used of the experience of benefits, it is always accompanied by some qualifying word. When it stands alone it signifies to suffer evil. ‘The evidence on the whole makes very strongly for the meaning suffer ; in which case the refer- ence is, probably, to the annoyances suffered from Judaising Christians. It must be said, on the other hand, that a refer- ence to such annoyances seems far-fetched. If we could translate did ye experience (so Weizsacker, Lipsius, Sieffert), the reference would be to the impartation of the gifts of the Spirit.
In vain (eéxy). So that ye have fallen from the faith and missed the inheritance of suffering and the rich fruitage of your spiritual gifts. See Matt. v. 10-12; Rom. viii. 17; 2 COP AV lis