Our hearts. Note the interchange of persons: we might receive, ye are sons, our hearts. Comp. Rom. vii. 4.
Crying («pafov). A strong word, expressing deep emo- tion. The verb originally represents the sound of a croak or harsh scream; thence, generally, an inarticulate cry; an exclamation of fear or pain. The cry of an animal. So Aristoph. Knights, 1017, of the barking of a dog: 286, 287, of two men in a quarrel, trying to dawl each other down: Frogs, 258, of the croaking of frogs. This original sense ~ appears in N. T. usage, as Matt. xiv. 26; xv. 23; xxvil. 50; Mk. v. 5, etc., and is recognised even where the word is used in connection with articulate speech, by adding to it the participles Aéyouv, AéyovTes saying, or dibdoKxwv teaching. See Matt. vili. 29; xv.22; Mk. iii. 11; J. vii. 28, ete. In Mk. x. 47 the ela ery and the articulate utterance are distinguished. At the same time, the word is often used of articulate speech without such additions, as Mk. x. 48; xi. 9; xy. 18,14; L. xviii. 89; Acts vil. 60; xix. 34; Rom.
1388 WORD STUDIES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. [Ca IV.
viii. 15. It falls into more dignified association in LXX, where it is often used of prayer or appeal to God, as Judg. il. 9,153 .1¥.33 Vic 7 eee. CDG xi. le ieee and in N. T., where it is applied to solemn, prophetic utter- ance, as Rom. ix. 27; J. i. 15, and is used of Jesus himself, as J. vil. 28, 87; xii. 44, and of the Holy Spirit, as here. The Spirit is represented as uttering the cry, because the Spirit gives the inspiration of which the believer is the organ. In Rom. viii. 15 the statement is inverted. The believer cries under the power of the Spirit.
Abba, Father. Comp. Mk. xiv. 36; Rom. viii. 15. ‘O raryp the Father, is not added in order to explain the Aramaic Abba for Greek readers. Rather the whole phrase ’ABSa o matnp had passed into the early Christian prayers, the Ara- maic title by which Christ addressed his Father (Mk. xiv. 36) being very early united with the Greek synonym. Such combinations of Hebrew and Greek addresses having the same meaning were employed in rabbinical writings. Comp. also Apoc. ix. 11; xii. 9.
T. Servant (dodd0s). Bondservant. See on Matt. xx. 26: Mk-ix. 353 Rom. i. 1;
Then an heir (xai xAnpoveyos). Kal marks the logical sequence. Comp. Rom. viii. 17. The figure is based upon Roman, not upon Jewish, law. According to Roman law, all the children, sons and daughters, inherited alike. According to Jewish law, the inheritance of the sons was unequal, and the daughters were excluded, except where there were no male heirs. ‘Thus the Roman law furnished a more truthful illustration of the privileges of Christians. Comp. ch. iii. 28.
Of God through Christ. The correct reading is dua Oeod through God, omitting Christ.
8. Over against their filial freedom in Christ, Paul sets their lapse into subjection to the elements of the world (ver. 3).
Cu. IV.] THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 139
Knew not God. See on 2 Th. i. 8.
Ye did service (édovAetcate). Better, were in bondage or were slaves.
By nature (dice). Not denying their eatstence (comp. 1 Cor. viii. 5) but their deity. Emphasis on by nature. Comp. 1 Cor. x. 20.
9. Rather are known of God. Rather corrects the first statement, have known God, which might seem to attach too much to human agency in attaining the knowledge of God. The divine side of the process is thrown into the foreground by are known, etc. Known does not mean approved or acknowledged, but simply recognised. Saving knowledge is doubtless implied, but is not expressed in the word. The relation of knowledge between God and his sons proceeds from God. The Galatians had not arrived at the knowledge of God by intuition nor by any process of reasoning. “God knew them ere they knew him, and his knowing them was the cause of their knowing him” (Eadie). Comp. 1 Cor. xiii. 12; 2 Tim. ii. 19; Matt. vii. 23. Dean Stanley remarks that “ our knowledge of God is more his act than ours.” If God knows a man, that fact implies an activity of God which passes over to the man, so that he, as the subject of God’s knowledge, comes into the knowledge of God. In N. T. yiwooxev often implies a personal relation between the knower and the known, so that knowledge implies influence. See 1 Cor. 1. 8; J: 3.10; ii. 24; xvii. 3. For a parallel to this interchange between the active and the passive, see Philip. iii. 12.