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glorified. — h too /xspsi toutu,1 in this part) i.e. in respect of sufferings which are of a better kind. See next verse.
17. ' O xaipog, the time) that is, now is. — too dp^atrdai to xpi/xu, that judgment should begin ) It is one and the same judgment from the time of the preaching of the Gospel by the apostles until the last judgment. ” Ap^aadcu, a middle verb. — anb too oi xooroo ©foD, from the house of God) that is, the Church, ch. ii. 5. Judgment begins from this with a mild beginning : Jer. xxv. 29, xlix. 12 ; Ezek. ix. 6. — r/ to rsXog , what shall be the end) The judgment, which is more toler- able at the beginning, gradually becomes more severe. The righteous, having gone through their part, behold with security the miseries of the wicked : the wicked, while they afflict the righteous, fill up their own measure, and learn what their own portion will be ; but the righteous better know this, and therefore they are patient.
18. Ka/ si o hixcuog — paverra,/ ; and if the righteous — appear ?) Prov. xi. 31, Septuagint, si 6 /xsv hixcuog /xoXig ffw^sra/, 6 dasfirjg xai d/xa pruXog <roo <pccvsTrai ; Very heavy chastisements are inflicted upon the righteous, when they at any time meanwhile offend : how much heavier punishments shall the wicked suffer ? The persecution of Nero preceded the calamity of the Jews by a few years. The righteous , the ungodly , and the sinner. A semi-double sentence.2 A man is righteous with reference to his neighbour, ungodly with re- ference to God, a sinner with reference to himself. We must there- fore supply, by the force of the opposites in the first proposition, euffsfing, godly; and otnog , holy: in the second proposition, ddixog , unjust. — [xoXig) with difficulty [Comp. Matt. xxv. 5, 9]. This is softened, 2 Pet. i. 11, nXc ocicag, abundantly.
19. Ka/ oi <7rd(i%)ovrsg, even those who suffer) Kai, even , with the force of a concession. Ka/, even , with a participle, is the same as si xa /, and if [even though] ; with a verb, si xai ndcyoin, and if [even though ] ye suffer , ch. iii. 14. We ought not to conceive distrust from suffering. — xoltu to OeXq/xa too Qsou, according to the will of God) on account of doing the will of God in a different manner from evil- doers, who suffer according to the will of God, inasmuch as God
1 The reading \v r<5 ovofxctTt rovru, which had not been approved of by the larger Ed., is openly preferred by Ed. 2, and is confidently exhibited in the Germ. Vers. — E. B.
’O vo/xoiTi is the reading of AB Vulg. M epei is read by Rec. Text on inferior authority. — E.
2 See Append, on Semiduplex Oratio. — E.
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