123
20. Ka/' b/jjsTg yp/fffia, s ysrs arro rov ay/ou, and ye have an unction from the Holy One ) An abbreviated expression (as John i. 18, xiv. 10, notes), with this meaning : you have an anointing (a chrism) from Christ ; yon have the Holy Spirit from the Holy One. But the title of anointing ( chrism ) has an allusion to the name of antichrist , in an opposite sense: ver. 18; o yjp'nsac, Qsog, He who hath anointed us is God , 2 Cor. i. 21 ; Xp/erog, Christ, the Anointed , is the Son of God, Acts iv. 26, 27 ; Xpie^a, the anointing , is the Holy Spirit ; Heb. i. 9. Ta rrath'ia, the little children , have this spiritual anointing; for together with baptism, which they received, was joined the gift of the Holy Spirit ; and for the sake of signifying this, it appears to have been a subsequently received practice, from this very passage, for the bodies of the baptized to be anointed with oil. See Suicer’s Thesaurus on the word yp'ns/Ma. He speaks respecting the Holy Spirit more plainly, ch. iii. 24, iv. 13, v. 6. For this is often the custom of John, to touch upon any subject immediately, intending to handle it more plainly and fully after some interval. Thus, is horn , ver. 29, comp, with ch. iii. 9 ; thus, liberty or confidence , ch. iii. 21, comp, with ch. v. 14. — kko rou dy/ov , from the Holy One) the Righteous, ver. 1, 29; the Son of God, John x. 36. See respecting the anoint- ing of the most Holy , Dan. ix. 24. Formerly there was a sacred ointment of a material nature, Ex. xxx. 25 ; now it is of a spiritual kind. — xat) and from thence. — navra) all things , which it is most needful for you to know. Seducers were to be repelled with this answer : just as a prudent man answers an importunate vender, 1 want nothing.
21. "E/poc-vj/a, I have written) He did that at the end of ver. 13. — on, because) Thus ver. 13, note. The address is very confirmatory: Be assured that ye know : comp. ver. 3. — aX^g/av) the truth , re- specting the Son, and so respecting the Father: the verse cited above. — *rav 4/gOdos, every lie) The truth is altogether true, and nourishes no falsehood.
22. Tig ; who f) Thus, who ? ch. v. 5. — 6 UrY\g) 6 has a force relative to the abstract, a lie , ver. 21 ; that is, who is guilty of that lie and imposture ? — on, that) The chief truth is, that Jesus is the Christ : John xx. 31. In the Acts, Paul continually demonstrated this main point ; and in his Epistles he presupposed it. John often makes mention of this main point in his Gospel, and in this and the following Epistle. From which it may be inferred that these books were not written by him altogether at the close of his life. — 6 dvn- yjiffrog, antichrist) ver. 18. The truth respecting Jesus, that He is
124