if we fall away. — V. g.] Thus the subsequent axiom corre sponds to it, He cannot deny, etc. So in Dent. vii. 9, 10, He is praised as the faithful God, 6 ®sb<; 6 KHSTOS, who both rewards the godly and takes vengeance on them that hate Him. — ou dvvarai, He cannot) This impossibility is worthy of our praise: Jer. xliv. 22.
14. TaDra) of these things, which thou hast heard of me, ver. 2. — vyroftifAvqaxe, put in remembrance) them, over whom thou presides! ; Tit. iii. 1. — ev&iriov rov Kvp/ov, before the Lord) Comp. 1 Tim. v. 21, note [referring to the last judgment, but includ ing also the present time]. — /^ ^cyo/Au^ti) Logomachy here does not mean a battle about words, but a battle which is en gaged in by words, ver. 23, 24, about the most important matters, ver. 17, 18- Comp. Acts xviii. 15. — yj^Gi'Mv, useful) viz. ov [" which tends to nothing useful — to no profit" *]. The accusative absolute, as in Luke xxiv. 47. E^p^drov, admirably useful ["meet for the Master's wse"], ver. 21, corresponds to it. — IT/, tending to, or resulting in) They are not only not profitable, but they are also injurious and subvert. 'ET/ expresses the con sequence, as in 1 Thess. iv. 7, ou/t IT/ axaQapaiq,, not to unclean- ness. Subversion is opposed to edification.
15. 2fl-ou5a(ro!>, be diligent [study]) A word suited to the cha racter of the whole epistle. — ffeavrov, thyself) An antithesis to the work [ver. 21], of which workman is the conjugate. — doxi/uov) approved unto God ; not reprobate unto every good ivork, Tit. i. 16, but having his work perfect, James i. 4. Hesychius : d6xi,Mov, xpqffi/Aov., rsXsiov. — spydrriv avi<7raiff%vvrov, a workman not ashamed) to whom thy own conscience can occasion no shame. The Scholiast quoted by Pricaaus explains ave^aia^vvrov by tfappqffiafyfievov ; comp. Phil. i. 20. ' Op&oropovvra, follows, viz. one who will extend the word of truth among all others. — 6p9oTo/j,ovvra) Here many are of opinion that the idea of cutting is implied ; but the Vulgate translates it, " recte tractantem," rightly treating or handling : an excellent rendering ; comp. LXX., Prov. iii. (5, xi. 5, opOoroptfv odoi)$, the same as in Latin, secare viam, " to travel a road" to make one's way.2 Nor clo Ktvoro/Aia, xepropfa,
1 Or, perhaps, Bengel construes it rather. " Which is useful for nothing," Xpqfftftov sis oiJ^ev. — El).
2 In which the idea of cutting does not enter; so Tttivtiv o'Bo'y. — ED.