“to give subtilty to the simile, to the young man knowledge and dis- cretion. A WISE MAN WILL HEAR, AND WILL INCREASE LEARNING; AND A MAN OK UNDERSTANDING SHALL ATTAIN UNTO WISE COUNSELS.” — PROV. I. 4. 5.
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016
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1. nauXos, Paul. The beginning of the Epistle, the inscription.1 The Scriptures of the New Testament, as compared with the books of the Old Testament, have the epistolary form ; and in those, not merely what has been written by Paul, Peter, James, and Jude, hut also both the treatises of Luke, and all the writ- ings of John. Nay, it is of more consequence, that the Lord Jesus Christ Himself wrote seven letters in His own name, by the hand of John (Rev. ii. and iii.) ; and the whole Apocalypse is equivalent to an epistle written by Himself. Epistles were usually sent, not to slaves, but to free men, and to those espe- cially who had been emancipated ; and the epistolary style of writing is better suited, than any other, for extending, as widely as possible, the kingdom of God, and for the most abundant edification of the souls of men. Moreover, Paul alone laboured in this field more than all the other apostles put together ; for
1 [ The Address , or Heading. — Ed.] The ancient Greeks and Romans used to put, at the beginning of their letters, those things which now, ac- cording to our mode of Subscription, come under the name of the Address and previous Salutation, and this generally very brief, as if it were to be said : Paul wishes health ( sends compliments ) to the Christians at Rome. But the apostle expresses those things, from a very large measure of spiritual feeling, in great exuberance of style, while he chiefly preaches Jesus Christ and His gospel, and forcibly declares his evangelical office of Apostle — V. G.