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with the enemy , even till their deliverance is fully accomplished , ver. 24, ch. viii. 23, V. g.] — mvpafiivog, sold) A man, sold to be a slave, is more wretched, than he who was born in that condition, and he is said to be a man sold, because he was not originally a slave. The same word occurs in Judg. iii. 8, 1 Kings xxi. 25. Sold : Captive , ver. 23.
15. *o yap, for that which ) He describes slavery in such a way as not to excuse himself, but to accuse the tyranny of sin, and to deplore his own misery, ver. 17, 20. Tap, for, tends to strengthen the word sold. The slave serves an unworthy master, first, with joy, then afterwards, with grief, lastly, he shakes off the yoke. — ou yivuxrxu, I do not acknowledge [ allow~\ ) as good ; ([y/i/cuo'X'w] the same as to consent to it, that it is good, ver. 16, which forms the antithesis) ; its opposite is I hate. — I would, \wisKf) he does not say, I love, which would imply more, but I would, intending to oppose this [I would] to, I hate, following immediately after. — npa<Mw — voiZi) There is a distinction between <7pa<Mu and voiu commonly acknowledged among the Greeks ; 1 — the former implies something weightier than the latter. The former is put twice in the present tense, first in a negative asser- tion, and then in an affirmative assertion, ov rrpaMu I practise not, the thing is not put in practice ; voim I do, refers to action both internal and external. These words are interchanged, ver. 19, xiii. 3, 4 ; and this interchange is not only not contrary to the nature of the discourse which is gradually rising to a climax, but it even supports and strengthens it ; for at ver. 15, the sense of the evil is not yet so bitter, and therefore he does not so much as name it, but by the time he reaches ver. 19, he is now become very impatient [takes it exceedingly ill] that he should thus im- pose evil on himself. The farther the soul is from evil, the greater is its distress [torture], to touch even the smallest particle of evil with so much as one finger.
16. I consent) 2uvjjdo^a/, I delight is a stronger ex- pression, ver. 22, note. The assent of a man, given to the law against himself, is an illustrious trait of true religion, a powerful testimony for God. — xaXog, beautiful) The law, even apart from
1 See my previous note. Upuaaa is ago. Timka, facio. ’E py*£opcotc, operor. — Ed.
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